A Crossing to Remember

A few pictures of a ferry crossing from Ao Thammachat pier in Trat to Tha Dan Kao on Koh Chang Island.  Koh Chang or Elephant Island is one of the few places untouched by mass tourism. I was on the search for a few days of solitude and was heading to the south of the island around Lonely Beach.

It was a beautifully sunny day, and we were fortunate to have taken a deluxe mini van service. This service,  from Bangkok has its merits for the price tag. Firstly it is door to door, it boards the ferry, no luggage for you to tow.  So you are free to move around, enjoy the ride. Its a brief 45 minute crossing. Let me take a few more snaps before the driver beckons me back inside the van for the drop off.

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I shot my Travel Guide

I despise travel itineraries, I hate packaged holidays, I avoid group tours, so why on earth did I get involved with a travel guide whom I ended up shooting later.

I had a good idea of how I wanted my trip to shape up and getting a guide was one of the steps to maximise the brief time I had in Siem Reap by touring smartly and getting to hear some local stories in comprehensible English. I was staying at the Siem Reap Hostel, more on that later as it is a venue worth a dedicated post. I had left a note at the tour desk and they had told me that the guide will meet me later that night. My first afternoon was spent at the less majestic and much less crowded temples of the Roluos group. We got back a bit after sunset, I got some rest, showered and came down to the bar for the happy hour. My guide, Aen joined me a bit later, and I shared my expectations with him. He suggested a site for the next morning and the rest we will plan as we go along. I confirmed the fees, 30 US dollars for him and 25 US dollars for the tuk-tuk for a full day of touring. He left me soon after, and urged me to rest as well for the day ahead.
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I spent two good days with Aen, his English was satisfactory but the knowledge of the temple relief was unfortunately was text bookish. With my Hindu background, I had a better understanding of the stories and the myths associated with the deities of the Angkor temples. The one thing which did impress me though, he learnt how to work my Nikon DSLR very fast and went out of his way to take my pictures. I had to thank him for that effort, so I shot him in return.

The Great Train Robbery

All my grand plans to enjoy my sunset at Calton Hill followed by a twilight stroll on Princess Street were trashed by the chain of events today. I was booked on the 10 am East Coast service out of Kings Cross, and was hoping to ease into my hotel by 3 pm. I was tired and jet lagged having landing in Heathrow a few hours earlier from Bahrain.

Kings Cross was packed and busy, and as you are allowed on the platform just before your scheduled train arrived there was a continuous musical chairs for the limited seating available in departure hall.

London to Edinburgh Train East Coast

I was not that lucky so decided to go for a round, fulfill my Harry Potter curiosity at the dull platform 9 3/4  and eventually venture out of the complex to check the weather outside.

Kings Cross harry Potter

Making most use of the time, I get myself a Lyca phone sim-card from a corner shop a few blocks away, called my parents at home and wandered back inside just in time for the announcement of the train.

London to Edinburgh Train East Coast

I had done this route a few times before, when the Great North Eastern Railway were running the show. They had marketed it as the “Route of the Flying Scotsman”, apt as all trains on this route since 1862 have been named after the legend. Railway buffs note that though historic, the real views only start after crossing the Tyne. More of that later, Newcastle was still hours away. We started off on time and as we left London behind I fell comfortably asleep.

London to Edinburgh Train East Coast

 

The aroma of coffee from the trolley service cut my sleep short so I helped myself to a muffin and some overpriced juice. I get my camera out and take a few test shots, second guessing the speed of the train with the amount of motion blur it was producing.

London to Edinburgh Train East Coast

Crossing Peterborough, I glance at my watch, we were on time and my mind started making flash forward notes for the evening ahead.

London to Edinburgh Train East Coast

 

We cruised through York, what a beautiful city. Memories of walks in the Shambles, pints at some old pubs with university buddies came flooding back. I was getting a bit hungry, so I make the 4 carriage trek to the restaurant car. I grab my sandwich and coke and am heading back when I feel a sudden jerk forward and the screeching of the vacuum brakes. By the time I am back on my tabled seat, we have come to a complete halt. I glance around, there is this electrical post, farmland and a few trees. Taking this as a normal signal stoppage I go about with eating my lunch.

London to Edinburgh Train East Coast

The delay makes each bite a drag, so I wrap up the leftovers and start shooting some sights around the track. Twenty minutes on, and I have exhausted all creative and subjective possibilities which the scene before me can pose.

London to Edinburgh Train East Coast London to Edinburgh Train East Coast London to Edinburgh Train East Coast

 

Believe it or not we sit there for a good one hour before crawling away at the speed of 20 km per hour. Nobody around us seems to have a clue of why the we halted for so long or why we were competing for the “slowest train in the world” competition.

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Finally an announcement on the speaker system delivers us the great, but limited news that a train ahead of us has caught fire and broken down, period. We finally pass this so called train, and guess what ? it is sitting on the southbound track.

London to Edinburgh Train East Coast

The only possibility here is they stopped all traffic around the distressed train for some safety period. I had assumed the problem was localized between that point and Durham, but we continued at the same snail pace even after passing it leading to more sighs and murmuring in the cabin.

London to Edinburgh Train East Coast

 

Now after losing a good 1hr 40 minutes comes the next round of great but limited news on the public address system. It goes something like, “due to the delay this train will now terminate at Newcastle”.

Oh great, now you will understand what I mean by great but limited. Ok ! the train will terminate or do a full stop at Newcastle, we get that part. But we are booked to Edinburgh, how do we get there.

London to Edinburgh Train East Coast

 

New Castle London to Edinburgh Train East Coast                                                                                                                                                          So we somehow get to Newcastle and look around for East coast staff to guide us. But like some preconceived drill not even one can be seen on the platform. An announcement is made of another train bound to Glasgow coming in after 20 minutes. Do we get onto the train ? what do we do ? we are helpless. I needed a cigarette badly and answers even more badly so I head out of the train station first and then to the main information counter. I show my ticket, repeat my situation and wait for instructions. “Yes,  you board the next train”, is the reply. The third great, but limited news of the day, another Shakespearan tragedy in the making.

Newcastle London to Edinburgh Train East Coast

I head back to the platform, the next train arrives, and with it pandemonium. I get onto the nearest carriage, its packed to capacity. I walk a good two carriages slowly with all my luggage and am greeted with stare after stare. Some of my fellow passengers who innocently took seats are now vacating because the ticket holders have arrived. People talk of impropriety and chaos on train systems in Asia and other developing places. But this was the UK, a developed country with consumer rights and what have you. I finally found a carriage with some space near the door where I could drop my bags and sit on them. People going to the toilet or passing by watch me with interest, more stares follow. We reach Berwick where this train halts longer than I expected. My heart dreads of any more hiccups, so I engage a tough looking attendant on the platform through the open window, yes ! you heard right, an open window on a high speed train.

London to Edinburgh Train East Coast

He calms me down, and gives me an estimate of 6 pm as this was a slow service with more stops. I rotate between standing near the door and and sitting on my belongings. The beaches around Berwick, the postcard greens littered with sheep, the winding views through hillocks are reduced to a passing spectacle.

London to Edinburgh Train East Coast London to Edinburgh Train East Coast

 

Finally at just after 6 pm, we wheel into Edinburgh Waverly. The journey was a total robbery, they robbed me of my time, comfort and any positive memories. I hurried up the taxi ramp up to Waverley Bridge, crossed over and looked up.

London to Edinburgh Train East Coast

The silhouette of the castle gleaming against the orange and red skyline brought a smile to my face, at least i was not robbed of my twilight view.

Edinburgh North Bridge Twilight

Inside India and Outside Bahrain

Our Manama photo walkers went for an excursion Saturday evening. Starting off with a photo exhibition titled ‘Inside India’, at the Bin Matar House. The exhibit showcased the works of four Bahrain based photographers.

After which soaking and debating over the pictures, we headed for the Muharraq Souq to get our dose of the street. The weather played truant with a brief drizzle, for which we found shelter in a traditional tea shop in the back alleys. There were quite a few stares and interesting company in the tea shop including the gentleman in the featured picture.

Continue reading Inside India and Outside Bahrain

Breakfast Wars

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This photo comic is my take on one of those mornings.