Heading back to Europe

Well, that's it, my first trip is over. In a couple of hours I'll be checking out and the driver will be picking me up to take me to the airport.

I've had a lazy day, reading by the pool. I did have a quick walk down Church Street to St Mark's and then back down MG Road. I didn't want to have anything too spicy to eat as I'll only have aircraft toilets for the next few hours so I ordered a Nasi Gorang which turned out to be possibly the spiciest thing I've had all week.... Oh well.

I'm actually quite sad to be leaving. I was starting to feel comfortable here and the work was very interesting. I've now got to go back to my old job, but it's only for a few weeks so I'll manage to survive. And anyway, I'm off to the UK next weekend for two drinking sessions, then I've got friends visiting for a weekend and it's the film festival in March, so things will pass quickly.

I'll update with some more thoughts later as I don't feel in the mood for a long post today.

Just a couple of random thoughts though:

People here seem to have a very good habit of covering their mouths when talking on a mobile phone. This means that you don't need to listen to other people's conversations.

People on the streets keep trying to sell me one of the following : wooden snakes, travel chess sets or maps of India.

I've discovered that it is actually not that difficult to avoid beggars and hawkers, just pretend that you know where you are going and keep walking. That may seem rude but the problem is so much larger than anything that can be solved with just a few rupees.

I like it here and certainly look forward to exploring it much more.