In Chennai waiting for business cards

8/9/11

   Got the 6 month visa and very happy about it, now on to India hehe. My flight left at 13:00 and got to Chennai about 14:30, where I mucked around a bit getting money and smaller change before catching a taxi to the hotel.

   Went for a walk to find the tourist information center but failed. When I got back to the hotel there was a man there who was wandering if I wanted to be in a movie as an American soldier. Yes that is right I may end up in a Bollywood action film hahahaaa. As you get free room and food as well as $30US a day, plus the fact that I can meet expats there and hopefully get some information about motorbikes.

The hotel car park provides a reasonable feed it seems lol.

9/9/11

   Have managed to talk to a few people and get some info about good places to go in India, plus got put in touch with a man in Pondicherry who has helped me narrow down the bike options to either the Bajaj Pulsar 220/200 or Honda Hero Karizma 223, now I just need to find some lol.

Turns out the agent who got me into this is selling his Karizma, mmmmm if only I could get the price down a bit I may consider it.

   The film set is very Indian done lol and if this is anything like USA movie making, I can understand why they cost so much in the states. You are all paid to sit and talk all day then do one hour of “training”. Which is making you do bits that will be in the movie, holding the gun right, falling right, dieing right lol.

Chennai Beach, 15km long i think.

10/9/11

   Another day of sitting around till afternoon when we did some more training, got to meet another Kiwi he is the shot firer for the movie.

11/9/11

  Sunday is a day of rest for this movie. So I rested, games, sleep, movies etc.

12/9/11

   Went to the movie set after a bit of stuffing around to be told most of us aren't good enough so go home, so that is the end of my movie experience lol.

   The agent man ask if I wanted to be in another movie so I said yes, free accommodation and food why not.

A tuk tuk man found some Karizmas for me to look at, they are OK but I had had some vodka so no test riding. The good part is this was the street I've been looking for, second hand bike street, and it's only 2 blocks from the hotel.

13/9/11

   Spent the morning in waiting for the people to come and get me for the movie but they never came. So I went for a walk to find a place that could make me some flags, this actually proved more difficult than I though, but I found a place in the end that prints signs and they are printing the material I just have to get it stitched up.

14/9/11

   Went to an amusement park for the filming of the other movie, yes they finally come to get me the next day lol. Definitely a different movie this one, did nothing most of the morning. till I got ask to walk across in the back ground, but it always got cut before I walked past. Then just before lunch we had to walk out of a tour bus, the best one I've seen in a long time lol. Then had to walk past the bus door into some photographers who where waiting for us to get off the bus, and it was funny watching the umbrella man run in when they said cut and shade the one guy out of all the photographers, I'm guessing he is one of the main stars over here.

   In the afternoon we did a bit on the beach, but they couldn't find a suit that would fit me, so I had to walk across in front of the camera holding a light on a photo shoot, looks like the movie is about some budding photographer and some older famous guy, keep an eye out for it you may see me lol. No I do not know the name of it, will try to find out.

The amusement park entry

The cool ride i played on at lunch

The beach scene was done here, and well bored i made a ....

15/9/11

   I went back to second hand bike street (bell st) today, and had a look in all the shops. I found 7 shops with 11 bikes I'm interested in, 7 Karizma and 4 Pulsar 200 or 220, nice.

Not as flash as your cow shed use to be dad lol, he just moved her into a side street to get his milk.

16/9/11

   Went for a test ride on the bike I'm most likely to buy, Karizma '09 model, but not wanting to seem to keen went to some of the other shops around. Also had a chat to a friend of Karl's who lives in Chennai and he said the Karizma is the best for touring, and also that he could come in tomorrow to look at the bikes with me heehee hopefully will have a bike soon.

   I want bore you with the little bits, but I eventually bought the '09 Karizma for a little under $1000US. I still have a little bit more to sort out but will probably do that in Pondicherry as I want to get out of Chennai.

Has been interesting here tho, what with being in the movies lol, sitting on the roof of the hotel when the call to prey starts up, watching TV, and walking on the beach and around town, I've enjoyed it.

 The new bike Hero Honda '09 Karizma 223, 28,652 on the clock, now serviced with new spark plug, air filter, oil, chain and sprockets, still need a new back tyre tho.

  I'm really going to have to stay aware on the roads here i had not even considered the idea of practicing safe sex well driving. And as you can see there is a reason for all the horn blowing, the trucks and buses ask you to sound your horn before passing. 

   Bugger just found out my business cards aren't ready so am going to have to stay till Monday probably end up going Tuesday as nothing opens here till 11am so I probably want get the cards till 6pm.

I like this one, one old guy reading the other a paper, just up from them there was four rubbish gatherers playing music with rubbish and singing.

25/9/11

   Rode up to Andhra Pradesh just to test the bike out, it is nice having quick response and being able to cruise at 80km is nice, able to get up to 120km even, unloaded. So I'm looking forward to getting her loaded and seeing how she goes.

  From the roof of the hotel, a nice breezy place to sit if there is a power cut, almost every day from 1600 to 1800 lol

26/9/11

  Watch TV, went for a walk, packed everything, got the wire for flags on the bike, and yes finally at 19.30 my business cards are ready. Hehehe I'm off tomorrow.

Leave for Chennai tomorrow

28/8/11

   Arrived Colombo and headed for the YMCA which is apparently the cheapest place in Colombo. The room is nice window and every thing but the toilet is pretty bad, not that worries me that much lol.

29/8/11

   Went to the Indian visa place and waited for a while looking at the numbers not chancing, then people started running for the counters so I sat and waited while the numbers didn't change. After a while some order was restored and people where selected to go to the counters. I had been told I would need to write a letter explaining why I wanted a six month visa so had included that in my paper work, when I got to the counter the man said some of the paper work was wrong and I could get it redone over the road, but he did love the letter explaining that i'm trying to ride around the world. Once I had the paper work right I went for a feed, at McDonald's lol, and come back to find the numbers still had not changed. After waiting for about 4 hours we where told to keep are numbers and come back tomorrow as the number machine was broken. The nice young man who I had first seen had told me that the visa would be ready for pick up on the 9^th, which was a problem as I had already bought a ticket to Chennai on the 8^th, but he went and had a chat to the boss when they kicked everybody out and came over to tell me he would sort it for me to pick up the visa on the 7^th, but when I came back in the morning I should just go to his window.

30/8/11

   I rocked up at the visa place nice and early only to find the young man not there mmmm. Luckly he rocked up before my number came up and called me over, filled in the forms and said I should go to the High Commision to explain to them why I wanted a 6 month visa. So I went to the high commision and was told they couldn't see me that day and to come back tomorrow, which was a public holiday, I said ok and went for a walk around town.

 Tree in an unused lot?

They like to fly kite in Sri Lanka.

31/8/11

   Yes it was a public holiday and yes the high commission was closed, oh well just walked around a bit checking things out and hiding from the infriquent showers. Found a super market so bought some bread and bananas for some sandwiches later on.

This is all one big tree, these bit dangle down out of the branches and if the reach the ground the root in and get bigger, making it look like lots of trees.

   I meet a nice man well wandering back to the hostel and had a good chat to him, after getting his phone number etc he invited me to his place in Matale, near Kandy when I finished the visa things.

1/9/11

   Went back to the high commision, which was open this time, to be told I would only get a 3 month visa. So I explained to the lady what I was trying to do and that 3 months would probably not be enough to make it across India and up to Bangladesh then back through India to Nepal. She said wait a minute and went to talk to a man out the back, after a few minutes she came back with a big grin on her face and said yes you will be getting a 6 month visa, yes, I hope will see on the 7^th.

Back to the hostel and had a couple of cellabration rums.

2/9/11

   Found out I could not store my extra bags at the hostel but they had lockers at the train station. So after waking up late I went to see if my bags would fit, which they did with no problem and sat and watched some movies for the rest of the day.

3/9/11

  Got down to the train station and put my motorbike gear into a locker there, then got the train to Kandy to meet up with Captain Wijekoon. From Kandy train staion we headed out to his place in Matale and a nice family home there.

4/9/11

  Went to Anuradhapura again this time with the family as they needed to thank Buddha for the grandson, I think, which made it more special than the first time round although not on a bike, so not such an enjoyable drive lol.

 The family

5/9/11

   Went to Kandy for the day to see the bitanical gardens, which I didn't actually go into as I only had about 1 hour to visit them and although it is 50 r for locals it is 1100 for foreigners ($10-11US) which I was not prepered to pay for an hour walking around a garden.

   I did make it to the Buddhist temple later that day, which is a bit similar price wise, nothing for locals and 1000 for foreigner, we even get our own special shoe holding place which cost 5 times the amount of the locals shoe holding place. The temple was nice but Kandy did leave a bit of a dirty taste in the mouth with all the rip offs going on, especially as they are so blatent about it.

View from YMCA Kandy, which is cleaner than Colombo but my bed had bed bugs.

6/9/11

Back by train to Colombo which was a nice trip as I found the second class seats that I had been charged for on both trips, although saying that I did spend a bit of time sitting in the open door watch/filming the veiw as the train went along. It was a good trip. 

Back in the Colombo YMCA and they have managed to get rid of some of the smell from the toilet lol, but I need to get use to that smell as i'm off to India next lol.

7/9/11

Went down to the Visa place nice and early to get my visa, well try to, they will hopefully have it ready by 1730 today. Otherwise it will be a bit of a rush to get to the airport tomorrow.

 Well next time i update i should be in India hopefully with my own motorbike again. I'm not sure what internet is going to be like in India as i hear their phone service is not the best and i don't know how much Wifi is about. Anyway i will find out tomorrow afternoon all going well hehe.

  Enjoy your life.