Maybe try Paris

He could go to Vientiane Laos, give us his take on the faux Arch De Triumph they have there.

I'm guessing he won't be very impressed by it though. Also Vientiane is just about the most boring city you can imagine. They do have some good food though, and beer lao dark is one of the best domestic beers in all of Asia. So I will give Vientiane credit where credit is do in those two areas.

Pretty sure OP will dinf Vientiane a nice place.

Yeah, actually it's a fine city to go to, but only for a day or two. Longer than that, I'd get too bored.

Might be more enjoyable for a French men though, as he could see some of the cultural influences he might miss from home, while not actually having to be back in Paris. Obviously lots of French style architecture there, as well as French cuisine in many of the restaurants and French bread sold in alot of the shops there.

Could say the same thing about cambodia. Except cambodia is not boring, because, you know, ...

2 MONTHS TRAVELING TO INDIA

Almost 2 months traveling in India. Can't believe it, I've done it !

Here is how traveling in my road trip has been like :



Varanasi

Goa : Agonda, Palolem, Kolam, Patnem, and Benaulim beaches

Mangalore

Calicut

Fort Kochi

Munnar

Vagamon

Allepey

Varkala

Chennai

Mahabalipuram

I 'saw those cities in 2 months, these are not that much when you think about it but the country is so huge and so are the distances that I couldn't do more. And to be honest, I didn't try to rush, I just went where I felt like going to. Thing is, when you're traveling the world, it is of no use to try to see everything, what matters is to fully enjoy where you are and get the most of it.

However, there are still so many things to see, so many places to go in India, I just can't believe it. I just scratched the surface.

The shock hasn't been as hard as I thought it would be. And I really played the game, sleeping in cheap accomodations, living and spending most of my time with locals, eating only where they were eating, taking buses and trains in both AC and sleeper classes. I didn't try to be where tourists are, I live as close as I could with indians, and I enjoyed every second of this journey.

I missed the spiritual side of this country and for sure I will have to go back to try to understand it better. Now, to be honest, I didn't really try to get in touch with it. Next time I guess.

The food was great, but after almost 2 months I have to admit that I got a little bored and the very last days I used to eat mainly omelettes and fried chicken. I couldn't stand no more all the flavours, spices, sauces and gravies. Oh, btw I love all their bread ! We mainly only know nan (at least in France) but there are so many others kinds ! Roti, Parotha were so good !

It's been very hot there, especially in the south and at the end of my trip. 37° (more than 95F I guess) and with 65 to 70% of humidity. I've been able to handle the heat with just fans, but AC is really a must. Problem is that rooms with AC were triple price and I couldn't afford them.

Too bad I couldn't travel in the north. Besides Varanasi, I went nowhere. Because I've been so sick there I chose to hit Goa's beaches and keep on going south. I'm very happy I chosed to do so, but next time I will explore the north of India.

Now, I'm almost pretty sure that indians living in the north are not as friendly as the ones I've been in touch with in the south. This has been a huge surprise and a big lessons of kindness ! Indians in the south part of the country are the sweetest and friendliest people I've ever met. No kidding, it was just amazing !

I could have stayed 4 more months since my visa ends in June, but reaching almost the southest point of Kerala, I founded myself being stuck there. Going more in the south was pointless, going back to the north wasn't an option, so I decided to cross the country. Very happy about it since it allowed me to be in probably the city that I enjoyed the most : Mahabalipuram ! Net time I will go there - and I will - I will take some time to go to Pondicherry.

To be honest I found Kerala beautiful but not as much as I expected it to be. On that regard, it's been a bit of a disappointment.

The 4 best spots to me were : Varanasi, Goa, Munnar, Mahabalipuram. Calicut and Mangalore were lame, Kochi so so finally, Vagamon ok for just 1 day, and Varkala sucked. Oh, I loved Allepey, almost forgot to mention it !

India is very cheap, probably one of the cheapest country in the world (with Bangladesh I guess). I've spent less than 1500€ for those 2 months, and EVERYTHING included. Now, wherevever I will go will seems costy to me for sure.

Did I feel scared or bored or lonely or sad or whatever ? Never. This is also a big surprise. Never did I find myself alone, there was always someone to talk to and so many things to do or see !

When I look back, I just can't believe it. I read the very 1st articles of this blog, when I was still in France, about to sell my appartement, recording some vids from the garden of my father's house, and now, 2 months later, I'm here in Asia and I've just spent 2 months in India, happier than never.

2 months. Only 2 months, but such a long way has been made since the very first posts...

Now I have to move on, to keep on traveling. I have still millions of places and people to see and meet. The world is too big for me to see it all during this human life and my scope is not to see everything, but to fully enjoy every place I'll go.

Life is an incredible adventure and after all the dark hours I've been through since the death of my father, I'm grateful to be able to live this. This is only justice in my book.

Always keep faith. Even when you're hitting the ground and feel unable to stand up, as long as you can breath there is a way out.

I'm really enjoying this. Quite the adventure.

I'm curious. In all of your pictures of meals, I see very few, if any, women. Is this the norm? Or just a coincidence?

Thanks, glad you enjoy the read/ride

Very good question. India is a **** country haha., This is what I told to a friend, joking. On a more serious note, I saw way more men than women ! So odd.. And in hotels (indian canteens where indians eat), there were indeed a huge majority of men. Few women, really just a few here and there but mostly males. Maybe busy cooking in the kitchen ? lol

I wasn't able to see any women who appeared to be alone on the beaches,either. Or, at least there were no pictures of sunbathers. Not many female shoppers. I don't know why, but I found this surprising.

I agree with you. Males have a tremendous influence and importance within this society so it might be the reason (but tbh, I have no real idea).

In any case, India has been awsome and I really encourage all of you to travel there, you won't feel disappointed. This country has many to offer and is just amazing !

I find it strange you complementing their bread coming from France.

God I miss your baguettes.

Croissants > Baguette

actually the french croissant is quite disappointing when you try the ones in Naples, with so much flavour ! (french ones seem bland in comparison).

well, when you're used to something, you enjoy novelty, reason why I loved their bread made in 1 million way different (we're not aware of that, just eating the standard "nan" in our indians restaurants where we live but there are so many more kinds of indians breads !).

NEW COUNTRY : HELLO MALAYSIA !

Didn't know where to go. At 1st I tried to go to Thailand but there was a technical bug and I took this as a sign so I chose to go somewhere else.

Didn't have that many options. Or I did but none were really that appealing.

So, long story short I decided to go to Malaysia, not knowing what I would find there. I knew nothing about the country, it was just a shot and it would be hit or miss.

New country, new hopes, new adventures.

Will this country be as pleasant and rewarding as India ?

Never been, but from what I've heard it's a lot cleaner and a lot less interesting than India.

Just spent two months there, great food!

Hi Sandra,

Thanks for your post. I wil answer both those points in my future posts.

Chop', where have you been in Malaysia ? Did you enjoy the country ?

But the real question is, how were the smoothies there?

Loving the thread by the way. I am hooked. I often wonder what it would be like to do this, but I'm about to get a mortgage hopefully so no such adventures for me

Not sure how you didn't call her a bitch and walk away while she was screaming at you and telling you what to do. Girl sounds ****ing nuts. Props to not travelling with her after your hook up. All she'd do is tell you more tragic stories of her childhood while mixing in sobbing, yelling at you and lots of sex.

After that, you'd be able to make a thread about being with a girl with borderline personality disorder like somebody else once did in OOT.

-------------------

Anyway if you're going to Malaysia, throw in Singapore as well. It's super-close though super-expensive by Asia standards. Not a great place to stay for a super long time, but nice for a few days.

+1 on Singapore.

Psy - Kuala Lumpur. Meant to head up to Penang but never got there. Enjoy the nasi lemak. Spicy squid meals also top notch.

IT - Malay smoothies have nothing on Thai smoothies!

This travel blog seems to have a theme lol

I've been wanting to go to Penang ever since the Anthony Bourdain show went there. He seemed to rave about the food on a different level to other places on No Reservations.