Desert Boys ft. The Blue City

Well well well look what we have here. Another diary entry from Mr Worldwide aka your favourite Pom Bear aka Harrogate's finest export after Yorkshire tea.

So, what's been happening with me? I have travelled further north to Jaisalmer and then onto Jodhpur. You may remember last time I was heading to the desert near the Pakistan border, this is Jaisalmer. I had quite frankly a great time there.
Within 2 hours of arriving I met a German, 2x Yanks, a Scot, a Canadian, a Spaniard and an Israeli. Normally this would sound like the start of a bad joke but when you're travelling it's the norm. We all got acquainted, I broke a girls sandle and we went to eat Dossa's and Momo's (Indian streets food answer to savoury crêpes and dumplings). This was followed by rooftop beers, cards and an Indian delicacy known as bhang. Just to clarify Mother it is in fact legal, a major part of Indian culture and good for the soul.

The following day we took a camel ride into the desert and stayed under the stars in sand dunes with some local desert folk. I kid you not when I say my breakfast was; super noodles, biscuits, bananas, toast and green oranges. Apparently green oranges here are known as satsumas, let me tell you they are no easy peels from Waitrose. My camel was called Pineapple and had quite the penchant for shooting snot out of his nose and shitting every 5 steps. I spent around 30 minutes with the assistance of my Scottish friend to explain the UK's plastic bag hierarchy to the collective group (Lakeland are the best i challenge you to show me a more durable bag). Needless to say this conversation fell on deaf ears....

The final chapter of my time in Jasialmer involved a mad rush to sunset in a tuktuk with my new international friends. We made sunset, just about. However we were told we couldn't drink our beers down by the lake by the Tourism Protection Police and were asked to move the party further afield. We took the 8 man deep tuktuk into the desert and it stopped working. After 30 minutes to finish our beers and failed attempts at bump starting the tuktuk we were introduced to a great childhood Canadian game from our buddy Wade. Simply called "rock rock" you don't need much to play. 2 rocks surprisingly is all you need. You throw one rock into the air and attempt to hit it with a second rock. It sounds easier than it is and after 4 extra strong bottles of Kingfisher (the only beer in India except for Tubourg) it took me a few shots to get it. Eventually we got the tuktuk running again and to say thanks our driver took us all back to his house for poppadom's and rice.

Let's move forward onto Jodhpur, known as the blue city. It's got a big fort (like most cities in Rajasthan) and lots of blue houses. I can't be arsed to explain why but feel free to Google it.

Some of you won't believe this but I did a cycling tour of Jodhpur and got up at 7am for the privilege. It was actually quite insightful and great to hear the history from a reputable(ish) source. My attitude thus far on forts has been "they look better from the outside so why should I pay to go inside" however I was informed Jodhpur is worth the money and I dropped some cash to go in. It was far from a disappointment, the audio guide was riveting stuff and I was full of history.

My final day in Jodhpur took me to Mandore Gardens where I was hissed at by monkeys and also got to meet some lovely Chilean friends. They informed me that whilst I'm in Chile they are hosting the largest wine festival of the year and I should go and visit it with them. Only a fool would turn this offer down and so it looks like I've got my first South American friends in the bag! I also got invited to a wedding in Australia with a Mancunian vet and popped my head into an Indian wedding.

As always India is keeping it 100 and stinking of piss and shit. As I only have 6 days left I'm beginning to reflect on my time here. I need more time here.

It is Jaipur next to try and find my Dad the finest rugs India has to offer.

Peace out.

Udaipur and beyond

City of lakes, "The Venice of India" What on earth would that be like? Well assembled online community let me tell you all about Udaipur.

After travelling from very busy and heavily populated cities it was a welcome relief when I arrived in Udaipur. Located in Rajasthan, Udaipur is a little more prominent on the tourist trail and I was treated to a whole host of pale skinned fellow travelers.

However the trip to Udaipur almost didn't happen. The gentleman who was supposed to book my bus didn't. Thankfully I arrived 1 hour earlier than required to find out my ticket was merely a reservation and not in fact for a bus that day at all. After a brief discussion with management I was placed on the back of a motor bike and taken across town (safely and securely mother) to a nearby bus depot who actually had a bus running that day. Once on the bus my backpack chose to dislodge itself from the roof rack and fell into the face of the Indian man sat next to me, as you can imagine not ideal. Thankfully he accepted my apology and I took a selfie with him (whilst he was asleep) to commemorate the occasion *see previous blog post*

Anyway back to Udaipur. I arrived at 20:30 and decided the 3.8km walk was nothing for a fit young lad such as me. In all fairness it wasn't that bad but when I arrived at my hostel I was a little hot under the collar. The staff at the hostel were amazing and cooked me up a mean curry whilst I jumped in the shower. This hostel in my humble opinion had the best views of the city, banging food, great staff and an all round solid vibe. If you're in Udaipur check out Backpacker Panda Lake Pichola (I have not been paid for this endorsement). I met some awesome German guys from Stuttgart and a group of Aussies who decided to come to India on a whim from their quintessential trip to Thailand/Vietnam/Laos/Burma delete as appropriate. We proceeded to drink the night away regaling each other with tales of travels and light racism directed at each others country of origin.

The city itself is quite simply beautiful. There is and abundance of  lakes, you are surrounded by picturesque mountains and you get a much more mellow vibe than in other parts of northern India. After many sunsets on roof tops and walks around the lakes, it was time for a boat trip around the whole city. By chance I made the acquaintance of two fellow Brits from Bournemouth who are also travelling the world, visiting the best swimming pools in every city. As a result they found us a rooftop pool overlooking the lake for a mere 200 rupees (£2.38) per day.

In summary Udaipur is great and I thoroughly enjoyed my time there. I liked it that much I extended my stay from 3 days to 8.

After I wrapped things up in Udaipur, I have moved even further north into the desert. I'm currently writing this from a hostel in Jaisalmer, having just got back from a camel safari and night under the stars in the desert up near the Pakistan border. Despite popular belief isn't even that dangerous. I was only shot at twice, I hear it's worse in Peckham. More on my desert exploits next time...

Over half way (India)

I have been informed that 10 days is simply too long to wait for a new blog post and I must update my "fans" at least once a week. So hence forth I will commit to a new blog before COP Sunday.

Since my last update I have travelled further north out of Gujarat into Rajasthan.  Whilst in Gujarat I visited their 2 major cities; Surat and Ahmadabad.

Both of these cities are not on the "backpacker" trail and provided me with an insight into how real Indians live. What can I tell you about Surat and Ahmadabad I hear you cry?! Well they are fairly densely populated and are certainly the most polluted places I have ever visited.

I didn't see another white person for 4 days, which I must confess was quite refreshing. However I did start to feel a little lonely given my nature as a social butterfly.

The streetfood was incredible at both locations, costing approx 20p for a meal. The markets rival even the mighty Kirkgate market (largest in Europe) for size and diversity with absolute chaos reigning supreme. I managed to locate an Indian carnival and got to witness with my own eyes Indian carnies in their natural habitat. I also dropped into a national park/zoo and aquarium which was excellent. I got to hold a turtle and meet some very vocal otters at feeding time.

Finance is also an interesting issue. As some of you may already be aware the Indian prime minister announced on 8/11/16 that all 500 and 1000 rupee notes will cease to be legal tender, they also limited the amount you can withdraw from a bank to 2000 rupees per day (£20) That's like Theresa May going "Oi you scummy lot all £5 and £10's no longer work whilst we change queeny's face for Prince Charles" I shan't get into the reasons why this happened. However by a stroke of luck I had 15,000 in cash on me as I was going to the strip club (joking)

Anyhow as you may have seen on the news pandemonium has engulfed the nations banks. Old men can be seen punching and elbowing the poor and disabled trying to get their "black money" into the bank. Whilst you can swap old money for new in a bank this is limited to 4000 per day... Not to worry I'm good at spending cash.

Anyway I think I'm going to call it for now as its about lunchtime and ya boy is peckish.

I will be writing again later this (before Sunday) about my new favourite place in India called Udaipur.

Toodle pip!

Hoppy Joe - Quick Tipple

Beer Type: American Red Ale

Brewers: Lervig Aktiebryggeri

Location: Stavanger, Norway

"Lervig produces a wide range of beers on its 25000L brew house. However, we prefer to focus on brewing better beer focused on quality and the best ingredients. We believe that you should drink less, but drink better."

"Rate Beer has ranked Lervig one of the world’s 100 best breweries. Out of those one hundred, 80 were American. The same ranking also handed us the title Norway’s best beer."

Colour: Copper coloured beer with a very slight cloud and has a good amount of head which is not to persistent 

Smell: Good smell to it with a slightly sweet note. Deep and malty with a dampened fruity smell.

Taste: A very nice dark malty taste with subtle yet sweet fruit notes coming through and the lovely caramel like taste of a darker beer coming through.
Feel: Lower amounts of carbonation, quite heavy in the mouth.

A very nice beer which makes me crave after a pulled pork sandwich.

3.75 out of 5 

India thus far

I may have only been here two days but good lord it is something else. There are a number of observations I have made which I feel are worth sharing. As a disclaimer I have fallen quite hard for India and these comments are meant to be taken with a pinch of salt and not in fact slurs upon this great nation.

- When Indian people take a photo they have to do 3 different poses and pout fiercely. Every selfie is like  an episode of Bombay's Next Top Model. Also the number of power poses are immense.

- White people (me) are as rare as unicorns. I have been stopped no less than 6 times since arriving to be in people's photos. I either give off a famous white guy vibe, or they're just really happy to see me.

- Mumbai is the most intense place ever. It makes King's Cross at 5pm look like a stroll in the Yorkshire Dales.

- Car horns are used to signify just about everything from good day to go fuck yourself.

- Whilst I knew cows roamed the streets here I wasn't expecting Dogs, Goats, Horses and Monkeys. 

I saw a monkey take a bottle of water out of a woman's hand, run away and then proceed to open and drink it.

In short I love India and it's great. Although craft beer seems to be eluding me somewhat. I'm heading north from Mumbai to Surat.

Until next time folks...

Mikkeller Raspberry Trippelbock

I wrote a good half page on this beer last night and through the wonderment of technology and my good friend Lucille delivering a drunken goodbye - I lost the whole thing.

Here are my thoughts yet again on this excellent beer.

Mikkeller are one of the top names in brewing globally and with a reputation like that to uphold it's not often they have a "miss". Today was not one of those days.

I have quite the penchant for sours and a strong abv. So this made the perfect gift and thanks go to Ben, Oliver and Carla for my leaving present.

The nose is thick with raspberry with subtle notes of malt and powerful deep booze odour.

The mouth feel is thick and luxurious, think Calpol meets Vimto with a subtle hint of booze. Coating the mouth on first sip you get a "wow" moment.

The raspberry hit is strong at first finishing on sour and almost bitter hints of potentially coffee? All in all a taste sensation and one to try if you get the chance.

8.6/10

13% but boy does it taste good

Taking a year out

Good day one and all,

You may know me personally, or you may not. I am currently a 24 year old Yorkshireman about to embark on what I like to call my "world tour".

Along the way I will be drinking beer, eating great food and visiting culturally significant/incredibly beautiful locations.

As a result of this I thought it might make sense to share my experiences and adventures with the internet and maybe even some real people.

I shall be visiting (subject to change):

India
China
New Zealand
Australia
Chile
Brazil
Uruguay
Argentina
Bolivia
Peru
Columbia
Panama
Mexico
USA

Feel free to follow my exploits here and also on Instagram

Auf wiedersehen,

Jordan