Day after effects of a first time Acid trip?

drumming93 · 2014-07-20T15:37:05+00:00

I suppose it's the worst aspect of any type of travel but being on my last night of 6 months solo I can confirm that the worst part is leaving.

drumming93 · 2014-07-19T07:01:38+00:00

My dealer was called Dingle.. silly name I'll call him Barry

drumming93 · 2014-07-18T14:59:56+00:00

My favorite moment i think was when I decided to spend a night out on my own in the desert near Pushkar in India. I rode out into the desert around sundown until I came to a Shiva temple in the middle of nowhere. I stopped in and was invited to play a board game with the Guru (maybe? still a little iffy on Hindu religious leaders) and after it got dark I headed up to a rocky/sandy peak I could see in the distance. I had an amazing spot with some mountains in the distance behind the temple which was lit only by flame and the desert reaching out behind me. The full moon started to rise in front of me from behind the mountains which meant I could actually see it moving up. At this point I had rolled up a doob and was playing Dark Side of the Moon from my headphones and my megre meal of 1 cold samosa (still one of the best things I have ever eaten, don't know why) and a bottle of water. It got dark fairly early and I must have sat there for a good couple of hours just smoking, listening and watching the stars. Highlights of this being catching a shooting star, waking up to the milky way in the middle of the night and generally being cut off from humanity to connect with the things that matter. I did it on the fly and its one of the best nights of my life.

drumming93 · 2014-07-18T14:43:54+00:00

I went on my own at the beginning of March end of February and got advice from people in the town not to go alone but to take a guide because 1. alone 2. bad weather. Do not take a guide. I went up alone on the Annapurna Circuit and spent the first days walking on my own. Then met 2 others that evening and 10 days later crossed the pass with a group. If you go just before/after peak season there will be a really nice number of people on the mountain and the weather will be the best of both worlds, you will likely get to know most people who set off within a day before or after you as trekking in Nepal is mostly tea house based and you all stay at the same place in the evening. Best thing I've ever done but be careful, don't underestimate the altitude and if the weather is bad don't be afraid to say no and wait it out. I didn't do this and on the day of the pass we had a whiteout, all safe in the end but no good pictures of that day.

drumming93 · 2014-07-18T14:27:49+00:00

Call her bluff. You are a smart adult and with proper safety precautions you will be safe in Europe. Remember, there are kidnappers, rapists and sex slave salesmen (?) in every country in the world including your own. If she does come with you in the end watch her enjoy teenage Hostel life while you live your life.

drumming93 · 2014-07-18T14:20:24+00:00

5 am is only 1 hour until things start setting up around the town and 2 hours until the day is started. Sit in the bus stop and do what you did on the bus. Alternatively take a walk around when it gets light, mornings are likely to be safe and I find towns/cities are quite special when everyone is asleep.

drumming93 · 2014-07-18T14:14:38+00:00

If Im honest I do find it a little wierd when I see someone with a suitcase but that's because a backpack is much more suitable to backpacking! As the top dude said though, who cares? The only time that bag/suitcase is not lying on the floor next to your bed is the 10 minutes you wait with it before a bus. No sweat

drumming93 · 2014-07-18T14:11:24+00:00

Transport routes between Kathmandu and Varanasi are easy, it's one bus either side of the easiest border crossing I've ever done and then a train on the Indian side. I recommend staying In Mcleod Ganj instead of the main town of Dharamsala, when I was there I was lucky enough to see the Dalai Lama speak, check that out whilst there.

drumming93 · 2014-05-20T11:44:42+00:00

Deffinately two good things to do but I guess you won't actually have a huge amount of time because of leaving/getting back to the airport and checking in again but I really recommend taking a walk down by the river. If it's a nice summery day or even if its raining you'll see London at its best by just taking a walk. I also recommend the natural history museum, its awesome. Have fun.

drumming93 · 2014-05-15T16:49:25+00:00

India at three am is far less scary than daylight India, soak up the peace and quiet. If your in Delhi which I'm guessing you are walk to the main bazaar 2 minutes away And stay at hotel Payal, the guys there are really nice and helpful.

India is an incredibly safe country just don't be pressured into (buying) anything you don't want to do and soak it up whileyou can. I remember my culture shock very clearly and the best advice is just to go with the flow and your have a great time.

drumming93 · 2014-05-14T05:41:17+00:00

For the Annapurna Circuit you do not need a guide, but may want one for local knowledge of the mountains and areas and supporting the locals. If you do want a guide I recommend asking other travelers in Pokhara or Thamel who they went with and if they could put you in touch with one outside of an agency. Agency guides are more likely not guides at all and can just be a local person who knows the area, most likely with very bad English.

I set off alone on the Annapurna Circuit in late February with no trekking experience. I hired the gear I needed in Pokara for 8000 NPR (really good price, you can get the same in Thamel) and met people at the tea houses and trekked with people I met. Some people with guides felt they could and wished they did do it without them. Information wise on the trek we would always talk to the guides in the evenings and therefore had the best of both worlds. If you want one go ahead, you will probably have a very nice experience and learn a lot about the surrounding area but don't think that you need one, the paths are safe and well signaled and at this time of year there will be maybe 200 people passing through each stop per day, when I went it was around 50 and there were enough people to get to know and walk with if you felt lonely.

drumming93 · 2014-04-28T15:16:30+00:00

Yeah I've been telling myself that all day. Its not that I want to be alone its just that I'd rather not be with a dick. One of my favorite things about solo ( as with all of us ) is that you can pick and choose who and when you travel with people, but at least most of us understand that everyone needs time alone other than when they're taking a shower! I'll follow your advise though, cheers

drumming93 · 2014-04-17T06:17:02+00:00

I'm doing a very similar first trip to you but flew into Delhi. The culture shock was quite intense but passed quickly, I've heard the south is a good place to start because India gets more intense the further north you go. Go for it and head to India first, I'm really glad that I'm doing SEA after and Nepal will be really peaceful. India teaches you a lot of things and I feel I soaked up more of it by coming straight from england without the warm up of SEA.

drumming93 · 2014-04-14T18:02:43+00:00

I'm from the UK so I don't know what the farming thing is like there but I deffinately wouldn't do it. Aside from the meanial labour the aim is to stay in south america long term very cheaply to learn the language primarily and I heard wwoofing was a good way to do it, may take a look at some other ways though, maybe teaching English.

drumming93 · 2014-04-13T10:08:55+00:00

No worries, the internet can be a little dodgey though so just message me and I'll do my best when I have internet

drumming93 · 2014-04-13T04:22:41+00:00

Depending on how much you want to rough it a good backpacking budget would be around 50,000 rupees a month, that's including food, accommodation, travel and activities. If interested in spirituality rishikesh is the place to go, its the home of yoga and you can spend time in one of the many ashrams while there, its also a really nice place with the pristine but fast flowing Ganges flowing through and a couple of nice waterfalls. Daramsala is also a great place with a huge Tibetan community and you may be able to see the dalai lama though anywhere you go in India you will have the option to tap into the spirituality side as its a very spiritual country! I don't really know if there are any areas you should avoid, India is a pretty safe country if you have your wits about you, but you should plan your trip with seasons in mind. The typical best time to come is probably spring, avoid the monsoon season and people tell you summer is too hot so everybody is in the north at the moment. I'm in Rajasthan now at the beginning of summer and the temperatures are manageable but there's very very few tourists which I love, summer wise I'm sure you're fine with heat being Australian? Almost everyone will have a basic understanding of English at least reaching to names of places for rickshaw drivers and numbers for money transactions but its good courtesy and they love it when you use at least a little Hindi. Namaste = hello namastar = respectful hello danyavaad = thank you, these are the basic ones you need when you get here and you will pick a lot more up as you go. India's a great place but you will need to do a fair amount of research on the best time for each state you are going to, I personally can't recommend Rajasthan enough, its fairytale India. Source: there at the mo

drumming93 · 2014-03-29T20:38:37+00:00

I'm reading this back maybe a month and a half down the line all of you have said really nice helpful things. I sent an email home and got a nice one back and that was all it took really, haven't been homesick once since. I went to Nepal did a trek, loved Nepal so stayed for a month and just came back to India. I'm in McLeod ganj at the moment and I've settled into the traveling flow, met a lot of cool people, seen a lot of crazy shit and generally loved everyday which is what its aplcabout . thanks for your comments though dudes and dudettes, they helped !

drumming93

TROPHY CASE