Sports in India

Volleyball match in Mysore.

Yesterday, I saw girls playing in ground for the first time. I saw a lot of boys playing soccer but no girls playing in grounds in Bangalore. My roommate said that girls may play with boys in physics class but usually girls don't play with boys from childhood, it is Indian custom, and almost all primary school don't have swimming pool.
Volleyball players in these photos are playing volleyball but all of them hold and throw ball, nobody pass to same team mates, directly throw to opposite side. I asked a lady watching from street what this sport is, the lady said "volleyball", but I think it isn't volleyball, so I said that, she walked away with saying nothing. It seems that there are particular rules in India, I shouldn't say what the volleyball should be, because maybe girls can't play volleyball in ordinary schools.


Cross legged sitting...like as meditation style at award time.



There is only one public pool in Mysore. Mysore University Swimming Pool is about 20 minutes walk from Youth Hostel. Ladies only can swim from 16:00 to 16:45. Ladies and gents are strictly separated, because gents are very dangerous to ladies^^. Indian ladies fear that all of gents want to fuck whenever they have chance.

Dirty city

Photoed in Bangalore city. A lot of shops along streets don't have toilets, there isn't public toilet, a lot of people working in these small shops(look like small garages) also pass water on streets. Usually, I can only see gents along streets, no ladies on streets. Females can't go out to go shopping because many gents are proud of their action towards females on streets, I also think that very dangerous to see self satisfied gents on streets, their purpose is to show their penis towards females^^.

Where am I?

Photed by Mr.Yd at FunkyMonkeyHostel


FunkyMonkeyHostel * has 2 rooms of 16 beds dorm, and usually they use only one room of 16 beds, you can always stay there without any reservation. We must take off our shoes in this hostel, so if you feel taking off shoes is uncomfortable, I recommend DD2, Ban Mixay, Norkeokoummane RD, opposite side of Douang Deuane Hotel, north side of RD Guesthouse, next to Mixay Guesthouse. Tel:856-21-254806&7 E-mail:DD2_Dorm@hotmail.com private single fan room 40,000 kip / day. This hostel doesn't have website and maybe always has vacancies.

From Vientiane central bus station to Nongkhai costs only 15,000 kip, from Nongkhai to Vientiane costs 55 bahts, Departure timings are just same as from Vientiane. Counter staff can't accept Lao kip in Nongkhai, there are some restaurants near Nongkhai bus station, and you can change money at a restaurant which has a lady who can speak Thai Lao Chinese English language. When go back from Nongkhai, we must pay 1000 kip or 5 bahts at friendship bridge, please check the counter to get pass card before fill out your passport information in Laos.

We can buy AirAsia ticket at a lot of travel offices in Vientiane, using staff's VISA card with paying fee $10. But if you can, it is better to go to Bangkok international airport to buy air ticket. At airport, staffs are very kind and smooth to contact. Maybe it is dangerous to use own VISA card, if PC monitor shows "error" and you payed again, it is hard to ask AirAsia to pay back. Once you payed, you can't cancel whenever something happened with you.

Please be careful of using VISA card^^.

Photoed by Niha

I was photoed by my roommates at Mysore Youth Hostel yesterday afternoon. I think maybe this youth hostel is the cheapest in this world, student:75 Rs/day, not student:100 Rs/day without Youth Hostel membership card.
I searched at website of hosteling international, the cheapest hostel in India is Bangalore Youth Hostel with membership card as 100 Rs/day, but there isn't Mysore youth hostel. Maybe there are a lot of youth hostels cheaper than $2/day.
It is hard to find a room to live in India, especially for foreign women. Indian women also can't live in one room by oneself, because they believe that it is very dangerous to live alone. It is better to live in ladies PG(dormitory with every meal), but all of them require ID proof in India, can't accept tourists without Indian certification. They never believe who came from other countries.

For example, Sri Vishwakarma Hostel opposite side of Mysore Youth Hostel is only for gents, costs 16,000 Rs/year includes meals. I want to stay at more cheaper hostel.


My English is very poor, but I can't input Japanese language at internet cafe in India now. Regional and Language Options don't have language between Italian and Kazakh, neither Chinese nor Korean language. I don't know why Ajax IME also doesn't work. It is very hard to use PC in internet cafe because a lot of internet cafes are full of children(only boys) and students, playing games or writing reports for a long time. There are no wifi in a lot of hostels and cafes in Bangalore. There isn't internet cafe near Bangalore Youth Hostel, Bangalore Youth Hostel provides Wifi service 20Rs/hour, after every 1 hour, staffs turn off the wifi system. Only a few people use PC in the hostel, not similar to hostels in Thailand or Laos. Mysore Youth Hostel doesn't have Wifi, but there are 3 internet cafes near hostel, very few people use PC in Mysore, so I can use as this^^.

Photed by Bageshi

K-Bank in Thailand

Sawasdee Guest House
402 meechai road, a.muang nongkai(opposite srikunmaung temple) Tel:(042)412-502
7 minutes walk from international bus station. Drum sounds from the opposite temple in early morning at 5:00 is very noisy.
It is heard that Foreigners can't make bank accounts in Thailand without work-permittion, but I could open a bank account in Kasicorn Bank in Nongkai, near Sawasdee Guest House. A counter staff in K-Bank said that I must apply with whoever Thai people, so I asked a lady who was sweeping floor in Guest House to go to K-Bank with me, and I opened account without work-permition.
I wanted to make a USD account, but nobody can open USD account in K-Bank now. K-Bank only provides THB accounts and only supplies with VISA or MASTER card. Nobody can get K-Bank's ATM card without VISA or Master service, if you can't get VISA card in your country, it is very easy to get VISA card at K-BANK in Thailand. You can also go to USA with applying for ESTA requiring $14 through card service. K-Bank's open account application form was written as I was a worker(automatically corrected by staff) and the Debit card(I got platinum) is for workers only, annual fee is very expensive. If you can ask K-Bank staff, maybe you can get a cheaper card for non-workers, but they recommend us to make a debit card for workers, because they earn money by annual fee of ATM card.

-From Nongkai to Bangkok
A Japanese traveler I met at Funky Monkey Hostel in Vientiane said that A/C 2nd class seat can't open window and the air in train is not so clean. I bought a Fan Seat ticket From NongKhai(departure time 6:00) to Bangkok(arriving time 17:15) at 253 Bahts, I also think that the air coming into compartment isn't clean especially back of chimney. I bought the next seat of chimney(the width of chimney is one or two seats), very hot and noisy.

Apple 2 Guest House have only 1 room used as dorm, only 4 person can stay at 100 Bahts/day, and the dorm is always full. Manager of Apple 2 requested me to stay at the next hostel, Green Guest House - 9/2 Trok Kaichae, Phrasumain Road, Banglumpoo, Bangkok Tel:(66)02-2816910
I stayed at 170 Bahts single room with private toilet&shower.

I opened a K-Bank account and got ATM card in Nongkai, but K-Bank's ATM system needs 50 Bahts / 1 time outside of Nongkai, so if you use ATM frequently in Bangkok, it is better to open account in Bangkok.

It is easy to buy SIM card(get phone number) in Thailand. Probably every 7-eleven in Thailand has international calling card and calling fee charge system. Calling to Japan only needs 1 Bart/min^^.

LuangPrabang

I stayed in this hostel about 300m from south bus station at 60,000 kip/day, doubled bed with private shower and toilet.
Manager of Vilayvan Guesthouse is Japanese speaker and his family lived in Japan for a long time.
we can see a guideline about guest house in LuangPrabang using English and Japanese language in guest room, such as we must return room key whenever we go out from guest house, or the gate of guest house must be closed at midnight for our safe etc.


Guest House in South bus station - 70,000 kip/day, single room and public toilet.


There are some restaurants outside of south bus station.

There is Chinese shopping center at eastern side of T cross to go to Vilayvan Guesthouse from south bus station.



Old lodge behind of NEW PHOU VAO GUEST HOUSE is called as Phou Vao guesthouse.
NEW PHOU VAO GUEST HOUSE 100,000 kip/day
PHOU VAO GUEST HOUSE 50,000 kip/day per lodge
You should ask staffs to give a receipt not to let them ask you for more room fee again^^.

International Bus from China to Laos

Photed from subway station
昆明南部客运站

We can't buy international bus tickets over 5 days before departure, and also can't buy go buck(from Laos) tickets in Kunming. It is very easy to buy international tickets, we always can buy tickets about half hour before departure. All Chinese train tickets have real name or passport number of own passenger but bus tickets don't have identified mark, nobody show identity card or passport in Kunming South Bus Station to buy ticket.

I asked a bus stuff to buy ticket instead of me, he bought the best seat to go to LuangPraBang. This No.29 seat at the center part of bus didn't have next seat and didn't bound so much. The road from China is very bumpy in Laos, it is painful especially at upper seat. Usually, international buses have a lot of vacant seats because the seats(beds) are very narrow and uncomfortable(It should be two beds per person), and Chinese embassy in Laos doesn't permit to apply for visa without go-buck air ticket from China, so all of Lao international students in China (over two weeks students, except who extended in China) have air ticket to go buck to home country.

International Bus from LuangPrabang to Kunming costs 425,000 kip, departure time is everyday 7:00 in morning.
From Kunming to LuangPraBang is 398 RMB, to Vientiane is 587 RMB.
Local Bus from LuangPraBang to Vientiane is 110,000 kip, You should buy ticket before departure day because staffs can say no bus at 110,000 kip and only have VIP bus at 155,000 kip. It is necessary to have enough time to know such things.

Timetable I saw at domestic bus station is as below:
From Vientiane to Luang prabang
110,000 kip - 6:30/7:30/8:30/11:14/16:30/18:30
150,000 kip - 8:00/9:00/19:30
From Luang prabang to Vientiane
110,000 kip - 6:30/7:30/8:30/11:00/13:30/16:00/18:00
130,000 kip - 8:00/9:00/19:30
150,000 kip - 20:00
But I don't know whether the time table shows the truth or not.

Naluang Southern Bus Terminal in LuangPraBang
Left:Domestic bus station
Right:International bus station (photoed from domestic bus station)