Best and worst of - journeys

The Vypeen Ferry - the women's section in the bow. And some photos from the boat trip to Baku.

So what were the best and worst of our journeys? We both probably vote for one of the worst being the taxi ride up the mountain to Kurseong in West Bengal (and we have told you about that already) although Brian might suggest that discovering just how painful kidney stones are whilst traveling on a rough mountain road in a tuk tuk is also best avoided. Mind you the road journey from Delhi to Agra was in some ways worse, several hours of dust, delay, noise and downright danger and stress. Our advice to any future travellers is do anything and pay anything to avoid travelling this route by road.

For Tessa however the worst might have to be the trip from the centre of Kolkata to the airport. We had had a great day before finally leaving India for Singapore but Tessa had managed to drink something inadvisable. We walked to the underground station and the next hour was absolutely horrible, not only for Tessa but the people traveling in the carriage with us. Fortunately Tessa had a supply of carrier bags with her and after the metro journey, a search for taxis and an uncomfortable ride to the airport she was grateful to reach ladies loos with washing facilities. Tessa had spare clothes of course - just as well as none of those she was wearing could be worn again!. The saddest thing was that for our overnight flight wonderful Singapore Airlines offered the best food we had seen (on a plane) and Tess could have had a free Singapore Sling, all she could manage was water and apple juice!

Better to focus on the best journey. This is harder, journeys were great for all kinds of reasons; comfort (rare), scenery, people etc. A short journey could be great, for example one tuk tuk ride in Udaipur where we got caught up in a noisy wedding procession in a very narrow street was a riot of colour, noise and exhuberance literally right in our faces.

But for Brian - one of the best might be the journey from Fort Kochi in Kerala to Vypeen Island and the bus ride that was part of it. We had decided to spend just a few hours at one of Kerela's beaches and set off first on the short ferry hop across to Vypeen Island itself - in a large open wooden boat with space for men standing in the stern, a middle compartment for the two crew and engine, and a bow section for the women.

We were soon onto one of the many buses that draw up at the ferry terminal. It was crowded but we got seats right at the back for the 20km drive to the other end of the island. The road was village all the way, with endless small shops, temples and churches sitting among the palm trees - typical South Indian and very attractive. But the road was also crowded, so the three man bus crew had to work hard to keep us going at a good speed. The driver worked the horn in usual Indian fashion getting people, carts, bicycles out of the way or swerving around them if they didn't. The conductor at the rear sold the tickets and helped hurry people on and off the bus at the rear exit.

But the vital member of the crew was the whistle guy at the front entrance. He hurried people on an off that exit and controlled the bus movement, one blast on the whistle for stop and two for go. At the front of the bus was a picture of a god, illuminated by flashing lights. Everyone seemed to know everyone and exchanged greetings, and jokes were played on the conductor with one guy tapping the conductor's 'wrong' shoulder so he kept turning to see who wanted him. The easy going nature of South India was very much on display.

So we bowled along at a good lick with the whistle man blowing his one or two blasts, loud popular Indian music playing and people rushing on and off. We were already smiling at the happy scene but then the music changed to a particularly frantic version of 'Jingle Bells' - this seemed totally incongrous given the location, the humid heat and the date but we sang or hummed along. But then the whistle man also got caught up in the tune and was soon blowing along to Jingle Bells as loud as he could - and we could not stop laughing. A nice start to the day.

But Tessa enjoyed the boat trip out to Baku National Park in Sarawak best. Riding out to the ferry terminal in William and Becky's car, William being greeted like an old friend by all the guys at the terminal, the wobbly feeling of getting into a small boat and squeezing into the life jacket. Speeding through the brown, muddy water as we passed by houses on stilts and creeping mangroves, the possibility that we might see a crocodile and then moving out into more open waters and round the headland to Baku. It was so exiting and the anticipation of a walk in the rain forest and the animals we might see, Tessa really liked that.

Brian and Tessa