What to do in Srinagar - 10 tips

1. Upon arriving take your time to find the perfect houseboat to stay. As you probably are arriving late from either Leh or Jammu, spend the first evening just chilling on the front deck of the boat and soaking in the Kashmiri atmosphere.

There's nothing quite like Srinagar in the evening: the air fills with prayers from the numerous mosques around the city and the different coloured lights of the houseboats give the lake an evocative feel.

2. On your second day go and explore the city. Be forewarned though: the maps in guide books (LP 2007 and Rough Guide 2009) are particularly bad on the city center. So you just have to ask around. In Srinagar that's a pleasure as the people will go out of their way to help you around - free of charge, no guiding. I spent my first day in Srinagar with the wonderful Hilal whom I met in the Jama Mashid, a grand mosque and Srinagar's main place of worship. From there he took me through the bazaars to the

slightly bizarre brick tomb of Mother of Zain-ul-Adidin, to the astonishingly beautiful shrine of Shah-i-Hamadan (in the pic), to Sufi shrine Pir Dastgir Sahib and to a Sikh temple.

3. When visiting the mosques don't be shy about your camera. Do ask before taking any pics but at least in my case the attendants were all too quick to tell me to take photos before I managed to open my mouth. The oddest thing was that the most photogenic looking old men with either piercing eyes or a cool costume came to me and asked me to take their photo as if they knew I wanted to picture them. I'm telling you, they are doing your work for you.

4. Girls, do keep a scarf with you all the time if you intend to visit the mosques. It's mandatory. There's a sign at the Pir Dastgir Sahib saying visitors are not allowed in naked, but that's a serious understatement.

5. If you come here during the Ramadan like I unknowingly did, visit the silly secret cafes. There men, who are supposed to be fasting and keeping a way from cigarettes, make chimneys seem like a blast from the Middle Ages. You will recognise a secret cafe from the curtains on the door. It's like going back to sixth grade when the bad boys smoked behind the corner, away from the eyes of the teachers.

6. On your second day hire a shikara (a roofed little boat, with plush pillows to lie on) for tour of the lake. You'll see floating gardens (the lotuses are in full bloom in end of May), fishermen, floating markets if you get moving early enough (5AM), more of beautiful houseboats and the amazing reflections of the mountains and clouds on the clear, quiet lake.

On the way you can stop to Hazratbal mosque, which with its Taj Mahal -like features, is the only big mosque in the city which looks like a mosque. The others, Kashmiri styled square mosques with balconies are apparently unique in the islamic world.

A full day shikara tour will cost you 600-1000 rupees per boat (9-13 euros).

7. If you are on a low budget like I am, travelling alone and not having anyone to share the cost of boat with, a cheaper alternative is to do the tour on a normal paddle boat and paddle along with your guide. I can tell you, it's good exercise. The cost of renting just the boat with no boatman and no guide is 200-250 rupees for a day. But I think this way you'll only get lost as there are not that many boats on the big Dal lake to get directions from,

8. You should visit one of the gardens for which Srinagar is famed for. I stopped at the Nishat Bagh, a lovely garden built by the emperor Jehagir. I spent a jolly hour there with Ahmed and Zahoor, professors of English and physics. They tought me some Persian:Agar Firdous Baroai Zameen Ast, Hamin Ast, Hamin Ast, Hamin Ast. It means "if there is a paradise on earth, it is here, it is here, it is here. The words which refer to Kashmir are by the emperor Jehangir. In turn I tought Ahmed and Zahoor that Nokia is a town in Finland. I never claimed to be much of a poet.

9. Here's an odd tip: Visit the ATM at the headquarters of Jammu and Kashmir bank at the beginning of Lal Chowk, close to Dal Gate 1. The ATM is housed within the building and you have to ask the guards who are there 24/7 to escort you to the ATM. On the way they might show you pictures of the president of the bank shaking hands with important people and give you some dates to munch on while you withdraw money in the presence of an armed guard. Pretty sweet, eh?

10. Should it rain one evening, watching Enemy at Gates with Jude Law with your 61-year-old houseboat owner is perfect entertainment. The movie, in which Jude Law plays a Russian sniper in the Battle of Staliningrad has absolutely nothing to do with anything which is why it makes such a funny topic of discussion.

As a general rule I can safely state, that the people of Srinagar are the most welcoming I've met during my four trips to India. They are eager to talk to you and will want you to tell friends at home to visit Srinagar as the lovely city is dying to get foreign tourists back. The tourists left Srinagar 20 years ago, when the Hindu-Muslim tensions got to yet another breaking point and a series of terrorist attacks shattered the image of the city - not to mention kidnapping of foreing tourists. But now, and I'm not saying this at gunpoint: if you thinking of visiting India, try to fit Srinagar into your itinerary. It's simply wonderful.

See my previous post on how to find the perfect houseboat here.

Travel update: 4 more days to take-off

I've been blogging about this trip for nearly 2 months. I'm taking off next Monday,

only 4 days from now. Here's what I've learned about travel preparations in the last two weeks.

1. You cannot possibly start getting rid of you stuff early enough. Even though I managed to sell quite a bit of books, clothes and records I still had loads left when the last week at home began. They just kept coming up from everywhere, boxes in the attic and upper shelves of closets. As it was already too late to auction them or to organize a garage sale, I ended up throwing some stuff away and giving some to charity. I so could have used that money, even if it was just a matter of a little more than a few bucks.

2. Spare loads of time for seeing your family and friends. Between my last day at work and my day of take-off I had nine days which just didn't suffice. As those nine days also included two days scheduled for final packing and moving out of my apartment, I reeked of alcohol when my folks came to pick me and the rest of my stuff up. It was not so cool, but then hey, the previous night might just as well have been the last time I'm going to see my best friend for God knows how long. Or at least one of the last times.

3. Don't you dare think that your work related nightmares are over with your last day of work. I spent the other night paralyzed, sweating and screaming while a bad dream involving a series of articles on swine flu rolled in front of my eyes.

4. Make sure that you've had all of your doctor's and dentist's appointments well in advance. I was rather unhappy when I got a call from my dentist's receptionist saying that my last minute appointment had been canceled as my dentist is bed-ridden because of the ominous swine flu influenza.

5. Packing up your house is a lot harder when you are storing stuff away and not just moving them to another apartment. When switching apartments, in the new one you can always tuck away the same old Christmas presents you've always tucked away but when it's a question of how much stuff you can store in someone else's house, it becomes a matter of deciding what's really valuable. I'm so glad my grandma doesn't speak English.

6. For your last days of work you should have a witty response in store to claims such as "what do you care, you are leaving". "I care, because I have a strong work ethic", is not going to make the cut.

7. Lying to your grandma about the places you are going to go to is more than acceptable. Australia is a lot better than say, Bangladesh.

8. When telling your grandma that you are going to be writing a travel blog, it's a good idea to explain, what is a blog and that for example, members of the parliament, celebrities and other prominent people have blogs. That might help you to change her mind about you having been sacked and leaving because you need to escape some serious law suits.

9. Seeing your apartment empty and ready for the tenants can be emotionally disturbing. Don't look back.

10. An all-inclusive list of things to do would have been nice. At the moment I've got no idea whether I've got everything under control and it's a lot more stressful than work ever.

Where to eat in Delhi - 12 great eats for 100 rupees or less

1. Nizam’s Kathi Kabab

Location: PVR Plaza, Middle Circle, Connaught Place

This place serves fantastic authentic Calcuttan Kathi Rolls (kebab wrapped in a paratha). Warning! These kababs are huge, so order only one at first. Like most of the cheaper eateries in Delhi this one doesn’t serve alcohol, so after dining head over to one of the many liqour shops of Connaught place and wash down your kabab with a cold 0,5L can of Kingfisher Strong (only 40 rupees!)

Protip: A liqour store is easily identified by the many rickshaws parked in front of it. In addition, rickshaw-wallahs make great beer buddies, at least if you’re a guy.

2. Khan Chacha’s

Location: Middle Lane, Khan Market

The Khan Market is an overpriced shopping enclave for Delhi’s financial elite that is of little for a tourist, save for what are possibly the best kebabs on the planet. There’s always a queue, but it’s worth it, and vegetarian’s can enjoy this one thanks to the splendid Paneer Tikka Roll.

Fun fact: This place is so popular, it even has a namesake in Hounslow.

3. Nathu’s Sweets and Bengali Sweet House

Location: Bengali Market, Connaught Place

Both these places serve great vegetarian food and excellent shingaras (Bengali samosas). The Bengali Sweet House’s thali deserves a special mention.

4. Rajinder Da Dhaba

Location: Kamal Complex, Safdarjung Enclave, South Delhi

If you’re on your way to see the Qutb Minar, stop here to satisfy carnivorous appetite with some of Delhi’s best tandoori chicken.

5. Multan Moth Bhandar

Location: Near Sheila Cinema, Desh Bhantu Gupta Road, Multani Dhanda, Paharganj

Situated in one of the side lanes behind the Sheila Cinema, this dhaba specializes in one thing: making the best kachori in the world.

Protip: To get the most out of a kachori you need to do the following:

-Purchase the world’s best kachori from Multan Moth Bhandar

-Acquire some curd

-Find some jalebis ( the Old & Famous Jalebi Wala in Chandni Chowk excels in this field)

-Break a hole on the top of the kachori

-Pour some curd in the hole

-Apply one or two kachoris on top of the curd filled jalebi

-Feast upon your creation, then repeat process

6. Frontier Samosa Shop

Location: Panchkuian Road, Connaught Place

If it’s the traditional potatoes-onion-green peas-samosa you’re craving for, look no further.

7. Sita Ram Diwan Chand

Location: Raignu Marg, Paharganj

Just off the Main Bazaar Road lies this fantastic little roadside eaterie. Assuming that you’re staying Paharganj, you should should start your day with Sitaram’s famed Chole Bhature.

8. Gali Paranthe Wali

Location: Chandni Chowk, Old Delhi

As the name suggests, this narrow bylane is devoted to making and selling parathas., and has been doing so since the late 19th century. Lined up are dozens of street stalls all making parathas with different and imaginative fillings. Most stalls are open until midnight, and they’re all “pure vegetarian” (i.e. no onions or garlic).

9. Lala Babu Chaat Bhandar

Location: Chandni Chowk, Old Delhi

Yet another great dhaba in Chandni Chowk . Especially popular are the gobi mutter samosas.

10. Natraj Café

Location: Chandni Chowk, Old Delhi

Allways full of Indian men making a deafening noise, the charming Natraj Café with it’s down-to-earth milieu is a great place for lunch. Grab a seat on the second floor balcony and gaze down on the frantic streets of Old Delhi while enjoying Natraj’s famous Aloo Tikki and Chaat.

Protip: To avoid embarrassment in front of Delhiites, remember that in the capital Pani Puris are called Gol Guppas.

11. Japani Samosa

Location: Chandni Chowk, Old Delhi

In one the many side streets of Chadni Chowk sit’s a man who is responsible for making what I consider the best samosa ever devised by man . The Japani Samosa doesn’t look anything like a samosa, nor did I get a proper explanation as to why it is called ‘Japani’, but that is all irrelevant once you bite into it. Filled with spicy potatoes, peas and awesomeness, and served with delicious choley and pickles, this is a must.

12. Ghantewala

Location: Chandni Chowk, Old Delhi

Set in the heart of Old Delhi, this iconic structure is one India’s oldest and most famous halwais. Although focusing primarily on sweets, the Ghantewala also does great salty snacks and their namkeens are the perfect treat for long train journeys. And if that didn’t convince you, get this: since 1790 this store has catered to the emperors and prime ministers of India. You think you know more about good food than the ruler of India?

This list was composed by Aleksi, a.k.a Toxic Waste Man

What to do in Mumbai? 10 cool do's

Mumbai is often seen as a place to be deserted as soon as possible, but that's not entirely fair. Here's what I would do if I had four days on my hands in Mumbai.

1. Do the few points of interest: Gateway of India (a must, even if it is just another disappointing colonial monument) and Chor Bazaar (pic on the right), the thieves market. I hear that the Prince of Wales museum in Colaba is actually pretty decent. Instead of displays on Charles and Camilla it boasts a wide collection of ancient vedic sculptures and at least used to offer free audio guides. And don't forget the Oval Maiden (pic on the left), where people play cricket in a wicked colonial surrounding.

2. Did you always dream of becoming an actor one day? This is the site of Bollywood and this is your chance! In case the Bollywood recruiters fail to find you in Colaba, ask around and you'll find one. They hire extras for commercials and even movies.
You can count on being payed about a thousand rs (14 euros) for a long day, which involves a lot of waiting around, doing nothing. But in the end of the day, you've been to a Bollywood film. That is still cool. They'll fetch you from your guesthouse and give you a ride back.


3. Eat lunch every day at Cafe de Paris. Despite its name, this is a bare bones all you can eat thali joint with possibly the best price-quality ratio in Mumbai, which at least on Indian standards tends to be expensive. Incredibly popular with the locals, it serves fantastic thalis for the whopping price of 40 rupees (that's 60 cents, folks) and can not be found in the Lonely Planet. It's located on the Southern end of the Colaba Causeway, past the main hubbub.


4. You've seen the Slum Dog Millionaire and now want to see the real deal? One such place is the ominous red lights district, left out from the LP but featured with ample warnings in the Footprints guide. Some girls wear saris, some Western gear, some are kept behind bars. A stroll around the area is not as shocking as it could be but it's definitely not another Reperbahn.
It's a rather straight forward but longish walk from the Central Train Station to Falkland Road and the way is badly signposted. But if you don't mind asking for directions to prostitutes, then it's not too hard to find. I succeeded with my second attempt.



5. Elephanta Island. A welcome retreat from the polluted city, Elephanta Island is a 40 minute boat ride away. It has pretty decent sculptures in caves (pic above) and a big monkey population. I liked it.


6. As you probably have never seen a man powered Ferris wheel, Chowpatty beach is the place to spend an evening. These crazy dudes climb up the wheel and then grab a down-going gondola and hang from it until it reaches the ground in order to give it extra weight and thus an extra pull down. You should see it yourself. It's mind-boggling. The beach is particularly popular with locals at evenings. They just come there to hang out.


7. Go clubbing! As Mumbai is the home of India's elite, it has quite a few crazy ass clubs where the bold and the beautiful hang out drinking champagne. But don't bother trying to get in wearing the baggy pants brigade armour and flip flops. Dress to impress.


8. Okay, this is a lousy suggestions as you'll probably end up inCafe Leopold's anyway, but I happen to really like this restaurant/bar even if it is overpriced. And if you decide to steer clear from the Taj hotel, then this is your place should you want to do some terrorist tourism as Leopold's was one of the sites of Mumbai terror attacks in November 08.


9. If you do decide to check out the Taj then there is a new option for the Lonely Planet recommended drinks or tea at Taj's top floor. There's a new restaurant there serving nouveau Indian cuisine, meaning that the food is prepared without ghee and is thus not fatty. It requires a splash, but the food is amazing,


10. If you have read Shantaram, a novel I recommended in my list of books to read in India, then you might want to walk the route he walks every night through Bombay's alleys. The walk gives you a cool perspective although I'd do it in the daytime.

5 do's for Port Barton, Palawan, Philippines

5 do's for a few lazy days in Port Barton, Palawan. This is a vintage post from February 09.

1. Finally get some serious tanning done on the picture perfect beach of Port Barton. It was about time!

2. Join a bonfire party of local boatmen and a few random foreigners on the beach. Grill fish and drink rum with Nestea. When sufficiently drunk, sing along to a campfire version of Zombie, the ever lasting Philippino favourite.

3. Try finding yet another waterfall and a white beach. Fail miserably as the thought of leeches still creeps you out, but hey, in the Philippines there is always a waterfall in the next town.

4. Remain in an oblivious state for a few days as there's no internet connection nor coverage for the phone. Wonder when was the last time when you actually managed to stay out of it all for so long. Then gorge on a two day old newspaper, the Philippine Inquirer, when you finally manage to find one. Read about basketball.

5. On the last morning get up before sunrise. Pack your gear in the dark. Wake up the sweet lady downstairs so that she can whip up some food. Have a candle lit breakfast while watching the night turning into morning before embarking on a five hour banca boat ride to El Nido. Try to get some sleep.

Some people do manage to sleep on the bancas. Lucky bastards.

Where to go - some fresh ideas for travel

Where to go after traveling the usual suspects? Here are some new ideas I came up with surfing the net while recovering from a Monday night drinking binge yesterday.

1. Samar and Leyte in the Eastern Visayas, Philippines.

Why: I could use a Red Horse* beer.

The general idea: Buy a motorbike, tricycle or a Filipino style used jeepney that says "Jesus is with me" on the sides and "Guns'n'Roses" on the front and tour these relatively little known islands.

Jeepney, the way to go.

2. Bangladesh.

Why: A detox in muslim country might be welcome.

The general idea: See the Sundarbans sanctuary for tigers, well known for the fact that a person (usually a honey collector) is eaten alive by a tiger every third day. The tourists still claim of course that it's hard to catch a glimpse of one. I can't wait to join their doomsday choir.

3. Papua New Guinea.

Why: The country has a population of 6.25 million. They vote for 45 different political parties and speak 800 different languages.

The general idea:

a) Travel to Wabag. Claim to fame according to the LP: "People sit around a lot."

b) Travel to Wewak. Claim to fame: The Japanese Peace Memorial park, locally referred to as Pis Park. I guess those 800 languages don't help with English pronunciation.

c). Travel to Wau and Bulolo. Claim to fame: Insect Farming and Trading Agency which ships locally collected insects and butterflies to collectors around the world. And I once thought I didn't have a life. I was mistaken.

*If Red Horse is not the most sympathetic beer in the world then I am the queen of Cambodia. The trick with Red Horse is that every casque of twelve beers has one bottle of Happy Horse, which has a slightly different label - the horse figure on the bottle is smiling. And of course it's a little stronger than the average horse.

How to save money: 7 tips before the trip

How to save money and piss your friends off by being cheap - this is the tedious girl's guide to budgeting.

1. Release your inner hippy immaterialist and sell your stuff. So far I've made 200 euros out of my books, 700 euros out of my cd's and vinyl singles and a few bucks out of the few clothing items that were designer wear. Money I made equals three months in India or two in South East Asia.

2. Lock up your inner bored-to-death materialist and stop buying stuff. It's surprisingly easy and actually quite releaving as you can now pass by all the sale signs without thinking that you should go in and buy something because it's cheap. In the last 7 months I've only bought stuff that I'll take along for the trip. These are:

- New Osprey Waypoint 80 backpack: bought online from a store in Germany. I don't speak German, but if you really want something and the price is right, you'll manage it even if you have to file the order in German. Cost: 219 €

- Haglöfs sleaping bag from a summer sale. Cost: 40 €

- Haglöfs fleece (have mercy on me) from a summer sale. Cost: 70 €

- A mozzie net bought online. Cost: 0 € - cheers daddy-o!

- Samsung NC 10 laptop. Cost: 330 €

3. Cut the food costs. Don't eat out or cook meals for which you would have to buy ingredients such as exotic spices. You won't have enough use for them in the future. Bugger off with diets and eat pasta. See mom and dad a lot.

4. Cut the cost of drinking. Try staying at home on Fridays, Saturdays and all the other days. If it's too hard then stick to beer. I of course saved a billion this way.

5. Never ever say no when asked to work overtime. I've done this once in the past two years and that was because I had promised to meet up with a friend who had just started going out again after an arduous row of cancer treatments. So it was kind of special.

6. Say goodbye to your hairdresser. Now every day is a bad hair day but it could be worse, like I could be a leper. And hey, even Madonna has been spotted with multi-inch roots. Over the past 7 months I've saved 400 euros which, again, equals a month in India.

7. This one is truly tedious but do start keeping a diary of your expenses. Set yourself a weekly budget and stick to it. When buying that one beer, bear in mind that it always takes you 5 euros closer to your weekly limit. In case of the 6th beer, mourn the next morning and promise yourself you'll never ever do this again.

The source of mourning.

Increasing country count: How to collect flags quickly?

Collecting flags by traveling to as many countries as possible is probably just as senseless as collecting stamps. These days though, when no one asks "how was Thailand" out of interest in the country - nothing new there - but out of politeness, it does however bring you some leverage in a bar chat if you get to tell people that you've already been to, let's say, 50 countries.

That would mean that one had been to about every forth country in the world.

(United Nations has recognized 192 countries. In addition to that there are a few countries which have proclaimed themselves independent, but which have yet to be recognized by the international community.) To most people at least that's more interesting then having stamps from 50 different countries, unless of course all the those countries were ruled by blond Amazonian Xena - warriors who in their free time like to flash their grape fruit sized tits to unassuming dolphins, making Paris Hilton gulp in awe of their imagination.

So if you don't have a billion dollars and a private jet, here's what you can do to increase your country count, and see a bit of the world in the process, while staying in budget.

1. Travel Europe, but plan well. With the strong euro Western Europe is probably dearer than ever. Instead, book a no frills flight to Split, Croatia (www.airberlin.com, www.easyjet.com), or Belgrade, Serbia (www.germanwings.com) and tour the Balkans. All the former Yogoslavic countries are rather small, so getting around does not take much time. I spent three weeks traveling Serbia, Bosnia, Croatia and Slovenia. Ad two weeks to that and see Montenegro and Macedonia, from where you can easily make it to Albania. That's seven countries in five weeks. Doable, if a wee bit rushed.

2. Hop on an overland truck in Africa. As Africa tends to be awfully expensive, overland trucks are a cheap way to collect a few flags. Taking a truck tour usually means lodging at campsites and participating in cooking and shopping food. This crazy-ass tour for example at African Trails takes you to 29 countries such as Burkina Faso and Malawi in 43 weeks and costs around 7000 euros, including meals (cooked by you or your fellow travelers) and accommondation. There are shorter tours as well of course. And if you hit Kenya in the fall you can witness the wildebeest migration which is so much more hip than any lion will ever be.

3. Skip India! You'll only get stuck. For monetary reasons skip Oz and US.

4. Central America is packed with small countries. Choose them instead of Brazil.

5. Travel to any country that is in the verge of splitting up and then decide that if you've been to the territory it counts as a country even if it wasn't at the time of visit. A Soviet Union trip added Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaidzan to my country count in 1991, a few years after the trip.

Recommendations and tips

... under construction. Will feature recommendations, duh.