Bon Voyage Dogster!
Feb 15th, 2009, 06:37 PM
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Bon Voyage Dogster!
I know the countdown is on for your grand departure back to India next week. Please bring your trusty camera and don't forget us here in the Asia Forum if you have time to give us some mini trip reports as you travel along.
Have a great time! Jaya.
Have a great time! Jaya.
Feb 15th, 2009, 07:30 PM
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... oh, my, 'bon voyage', indeed, 'd' ...
... (but just between us - are you doing it right this time? : SQ F/J, ex-MEL, a few days/nights of joyous 'in-room' massages at the FS SIN, followed by, well, I hope, tales of 7000 and 8000 metre ascents ... (and not, 'boat cruises') ...
... as always, all the best, and in future, do kindly consider: SQ - thank you ...
macintosh (robert)
Hey, hey Cripple Creek ferry/
Butting through the overhanging trees/
(neil young)
Feb 16th, 2009, 01:07 AM
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Hey guys - what a nice surprise. Thanks for your thoughts. Yup, that countdown is well and truly on. I seem to have slipped into that dangerous free-fall where I do a little bit of this, a little bit of that, then a little bit of... you get the picture. Scattered.
It's always a relief to sink into that seat at the airport. Alas robert: not S.A. If you can just make their business class prices come down that weeny $1800 to match Thai I'll be there.
So it's an overniter MEB/BKK on the 20th. I've done it many times before. I can't conjure up a single detail about any of them. I'm usually so pickled by the time of my flight [00.45 a.m.] that I wake up in BKK not entirely sure where I am.
Then it's two nights at the Banyan Tree - 'cos of that deal then yahooo! Kolkata. The adventures begin. I'll be back in THE ZONE. All is just proceedure up till then.
I'll stick the latest itinerary in a separate post - even now it keeps changing. At the end of ten weeks I seem to have ended up in Egypt. How? Another story entirely. That wasn't my plan, at all.
Ahhh, I feel myself falling... head over heels into India. I'm excited. I can't eat. Wanna come?
It's always a relief to sink into that seat at the airport. Alas robert: not S.A. If you can just make their business class prices come down that weeny $1800 to match Thai I'll be there.
So it's an overniter MEB/BKK on the 20th. I've done it many times before. I can't conjure up a single detail about any of them. I'm usually so pickled by the time of my flight [00.45 a.m.] that I wake up in BKK not entirely sure where I am.
Then it's two nights at the Banyan Tree - 'cos of that deal then yahooo! Kolkata. The adventures begin. I'll be back in THE ZONE. All is just proceedure up till then.
I'll stick the latest itinerary in a separate post - even now it keeps changing. At the end of ten weeks I seem to have ended up in Egypt. How? Another story entirely. That wasn't my plan, at all.
Ahhh, I feel myself falling... head over heels into India. I'm excited. I can't eat. Wanna come?
Feb 16th, 2009, 02:45 AM
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We all wanna come!!!!!
I thought you were ending up in Athens - how come Egypt?
Have a great time and check in occasionally so we don't send out the dog catchers.
Lots of love Mary (the roo-scarred one also sends his regards)
I thought you were ending up in Athens - how come Egypt?
Have a great time and check in occasionally so we don't send out the dog catchers.
Lots of love Mary (the roo-scarred one also sends his regards)
Feb 16th, 2009, 04:24 AM
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Dogster, sorry to barge in here!
But I stumbled into this post and read that you are going to Kolkata.
I was there a few years ago and had a marvelous guide named Anup Saha.
He has been the best guide bar none that we have ever had and I am sure our experience would not have been as rich if it weren't for him.
We loved his informal style, he obviously knows and loves his city and so he would ask us every morning what we wanted to do and off we went.
The only time he preplanned something was when he took us out on a boat in the early morning to cruise the Hooghly river, it was fantastic to say the least!
I checked in with him about 9 months ago and he was still working as a guide so if you are interested in his email address I will be happy to give it to you.
Make sure you visit the flower market at sunrise, the activity is unbelievable. The vendors are all men, I'm pretty sure I was one of the only women there.
Kolkata is an incredible city and while at first it seems chaotic it really is quite easy to get around once you get your bearings.
It is set up in sections e.g. fabrics, brass, books, flowers, wedding invitations and the list goes on.
You could literally spend all of your time there wandering aimlessly through the streets and never see the same thing twice.
Also don't miss the potter's village, fish market and subway.
Have a great trip!
But I stumbled into this post and read that you are going to Kolkata.
I was there a few years ago and had a marvelous guide named Anup Saha.
He has been the best guide bar none that we have ever had and I am sure our experience would not have been as rich if it weren't for him.
We loved his informal style, he obviously knows and loves his city and so he would ask us every morning what we wanted to do and off we went.
The only time he preplanned something was when he took us out on a boat in the early morning to cruise the Hooghly river, it was fantastic to say the least!
I checked in with him about 9 months ago and he was still working as a guide so if you are interested in his email address I will be happy to give it to you.
Make sure you visit the flower market at sunrise, the activity is unbelievable. The vendors are all men, I'm pretty sure I was one of the only women there.
Kolkata is an incredible city and while at first it seems chaotic it really is quite easy to get around once you get your bearings.
It is set up in sections e.g. fabrics, brass, books, flowers, wedding invitations and the list goes on.
You could literally spend all of your time there wandering aimlessly through the streets and never see the same thing twice.
Also don't miss the potter's village, fish market and subway.
Have a great trip!
Feb 16th, 2009, 07:38 AM
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It sounds like a wonderful trip. And yes, I wanna come!
Ending in Egypt! Just reading those words conjured up images of my trip there. I assume you'll take a cruise on the Nile... That was my introduction to river cruising. I think we spent 8 days on the Nile between Luxor and Aswan.
Have a great time and keep us posted on your adventures as you can.
Ending in Egypt! Just reading those words conjured up images of my trip there. I assume you'll take a cruise on the Nile... That was my introduction to river cruising. I think we spent 8 days on the Nile between Luxor and Aswan.
Have a great time and keep us posted on your adventures as you can.
Feb 16th, 2009, 09:18 AM
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How lovely to get all those good wishes. Now I feel like I'm going in for major surgery.
It's a diddle. I'll be in Kolkata before I know it. Having said that, it will doubtless be one rolling catastrophy after another. It's all up the pointy end - although Thai's Business Class is more the blunty end of point. Just sufficient grovel to get by.
I've just remembered why I stopped going to the Banyan Tree in BKK. The last time I was there the receptionist in the Club Lounge actually knelt on the floor at my feet, her little head disappearing in a deep bow before emerging again, a little flushed, to take my credit card details.
I thought that was TOO much grovel.
We'll see if she drops to her knees this time...
Dogster's latest symphony really begins with an extended overture in familiar haunts in Kolkata where he can guzzle an excellent chicken curry for room-service if he's jet lagged, watch CNN in his huge Classic Suite at the Oberoi - courtesy a juicy upgrade from a grateful management, wobble up to Aaheli to mow his way through their 'Special' thali when inspired, then sip fresh lime juice at a stall on a bustling Kolkata street, watching the world go by.
I'd imagine a Jimmy or two will sidle up to me...
'He-e-e-e-ey! Australia...!'
Let's hope HE doesn't sink to his knees in a deep bow of welcome. But it's Kolkata - he'd only be doing that so he could suck blood from my toes.
As for Egypt - I thought I'd get off in Alexandia two days early. I'm more drawn to Egypt than Greece right now. I've been there three times before. Even Egypt is a stretch. I get culturally confused. Thailand to India to Egypt is really quite a panoply of different behavior.
I keep bowing when I should be wiggling, eating with the wrong hand, saying 'Insha'Allah' at inappropriate moments. If I can get it wrong - I do.
But Egypt is fun - once you step off the well-trodden path. Alas, just when I most need my energy, to do battle with the scurrulous rogues of Cairo, Luxor and Aswan I'm already ten weeks on the road. I'm approaching my use-by-date; getting battered, strangely silent, comatose, alone.
In order to combat this - I have done a most un-Dogster-like thing.
I'm too ashamed to tell you.
It's a diddle. I'll be in Kolkata before I know it. Having said that, it will doubtless be one rolling catastrophy after another. It's all up the pointy end - although Thai's Business Class is more the blunty end of point. Just sufficient grovel to get by.
I've just remembered why I stopped going to the Banyan Tree in BKK. The last time I was there the receptionist in the Club Lounge actually knelt on the floor at my feet, her little head disappearing in a deep bow before emerging again, a little flushed, to take my credit card details.
I thought that was TOO much grovel.
We'll see if she drops to her knees this time...
Dogster's latest symphony really begins with an extended overture in familiar haunts in Kolkata where he can guzzle an excellent chicken curry for room-service if he's jet lagged, watch CNN in his huge Classic Suite at the Oberoi - courtesy a juicy upgrade from a grateful management, wobble up to Aaheli to mow his way through their 'Special' thali when inspired, then sip fresh lime juice at a stall on a bustling Kolkata street, watching the world go by.
I'd imagine a Jimmy or two will sidle up to me...
'He-e-e-e-ey! Australia...!'
Let's hope HE doesn't sink to his knees in a deep bow of welcome. But it's Kolkata - he'd only be doing that so he could suck blood from my toes.
As for Egypt - I thought I'd get off in Alexandia two days early. I'm more drawn to Egypt than Greece right now. I've been there three times before. Even Egypt is a stretch. I get culturally confused. Thailand to India to Egypt is really quite a panoply of different behavior.
I keep bowing when I should be wiggling, eating with the wrong hand, saying 'Insha'Allah' at inappropriate moments. If I can get it wrong - I do.
But Egypt is fun - once you step off the well-trodden path. Alas, just when I most need my energy, to do battle with the scurrulous rogues of Cairo, Luxor and Aswan I'm already ten weeks on the road. I'm approaching my use-by-date; getting battered, strangely silent, comatose, alone.
In order to combat this - I have done a most un-Dogster-like thing.
I'm too ashamed to tell you.
Feb 16th, 2009, 09:35 AM
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But how could I not crow at this excellent little deal I stumbled upon.
http://www.azamaracruises.com/search...Search+Results
Let me cut to the chase: total cost; single occupany, 1A veranda cabin [up the top] 24 nights: US$2300.
'Yup' I said, 'book it,' with not a minute's thought.
What is wrong with this deal? [Apart from the the entire concept of Dogster taking a cruise of this kind?] So far nothing. For under $100 a day I'll put up with almost anything. I see it as anthropology - as extreme as anything India can throw up.
Hmmm - I remember, way back, a similar fabulous deal being offered, a two week cruise off the coast of Goa...
What happened to that? I've quite forgotten. I seem to remember I lasted - eight hours?
http://www.azamaracruises.com/search...Search+Results
Let me cut to the chase: total cost; single occupany, 1A veranda cabin [up the top] 24 nights: US$2300.
'Yup' I said, 'book it,' with not a minute's thought.
What is wrong with this deal? [Apart from the the entire concept of Dogster taking a cruise of this kind?] So far nothing. For under $100 a day I'll put up with almost anything. I see it as anthropology - as extreme as anything India can throw up.
Hmmm - I remember, way back, a similar fabulous deal being offered, a two week cruise off the coast of Goa...
What happened to that? I've quite forgotten. I seem to remember I lasted - eight hours?
Feb 16th, 2009, 10:35 AM
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No question, it's a great deal... if you can stand it for that long.
"For under $100 a day I'll put up with almost anything. " As I remember the last cruise that proved to be true for only a few hours. I do hope this one will be better - much better. But if it's worse, do give us all the gory details.
BTW, your link only took me to the make a reservation page, I couldn't see your itinerary. Do you want to give us any hints other than that you'll disembark in Alexandria?
"For under $100 a day I'll put up with almost anything. " As I remember the last cruise that proved to be true for only a few hours. I do hope this one will be better - much better. But if it's worse, do give us all the gory details.
BTW, your link only took me to the make a reservation page, I couldn't see your itinerary. Do you want to give us any hints other than that you'll disembark in Alexandria?
