From the title, I could be writing about London. I'm not, though, I'm writing about Singapore, which is utterly fabulous in every way and just what we needed to recharge our batteries.
Our last couple of days in Ko Tao were, of course, wonderful - I've already described the glory that was that beautiful island and all the fun things we did there. Nick and Rob turned up on our last afternoon, and we all went out for dinner, and sat around on the beach reminiscing about how far we have all come since the heady days of Dharamsala (which I now fondly pronounce Dharum-salahhhh, gap-yah style). It's both strange and brilliant to have made such close friends on our journey - we have spent over a month of our lives intensely together, so in a sense we know each other inside out. But with none of the history of our childhoods/adolescence, unless we choose to share or reveal it. This is the last we will see of them on our trip, as Rob heads home from Bangkok in a few days' time to start a new, exciting chapter of his life, and Nick heads onwards to do the Laos/Vietnam/Cambodia circuit, before flying out to Australia to live there for a little while. So while I will see Rob very soon in London I'm sure, it'll be a lot longer before we're all reunited. But when that day comes, it will, of course, be awesome.
Charlotte and I then headed by boat, another boat, bus and another bus to Phuket, where we spent the night before our flight to Singapore the next day. We were kindly met at the airport by the wonderful Simon, Irene and Robin, who we are staying with. We had a pretty chilled day, going for lunch by the seafront and a walk around the Botanic Gardens, before an amazing dinner of maccaroni cheese with broccoli and Ben and Jerrys ice cream. Those who have been travelling for a long time will understand the true luxury, no Eden-esque, implication of those food items. Last night, we had broccoli and stilton soup, complete with amazing fresh granary bread and real cheddar. Tonight, Charlotte and I are cooking - garlic chicken with roasted vegetables, pesto and goats' cheese. Guess who chose that menu and bought the groceries... A massive thank you to Simon and Irene (and Robin too, who has very kindly allowed us to totally take over his room for three nights and who has humoured my teacher-like requests to identify the difference in the narrative styles of J.K. Rowling and other authors with enthusiasm) who could not have been kinder or made us feel more welcome. It has been such a slice of home, and we now feel ready to pack our backpacks up again for the last quarter of our travels.
We went to the National Museum on Sunday, mainly because it was free. It was really excellent. We got out around 3.30 and there, waiting for us on the steps with an amazing sign, was the wonderful Kai! We met Kai back in March in Dharamsala, and since he is a Singapore native, we were fortunate enough to catch him at home. So we spent the afternoon together; Kai gave us a tour of some of the more amazing/ridiculous areas of Singapore down by the coast (a shopping centre with a dry ice rink and a river running through that you could boat on). It was so great to see Kai again, although it made us all a little nostalgic for our amazing life in Dharamsala. Those two and a bit weeks remain my favourite of the trip so far. The people, the place, all came together for me - which is so rare - and whatever I have experienced since, no matter how fantastic it has been (and it has been fantastic), that time still seems a little magical to me.
Today, we got up a little earlier and headed out to meet Charlotte's friend Gabi, who we are travelling Indonesia with, at a shopping mall in town.
She came bearing gifts (well, one gift. One particular, very special gift).
A new pair of Topshop ballet flats. In my size. Exactly the colour I wanted.
Talk about an amazing first impression. I couldn't have been happier if she'd bought me a house.
I nearly cried I was so excited. I know how relieved you will all be, too - my shoe plight has (probably) been affecting your dreams/nightmares as much as it has mine. So you will be extremely reassured to know that the heartache is over, and I am in possession of a shiny (literally) new pair of flats, and I don't hate them, and it's all going to be okay.
Singapore is full of Western shops and we hit them pretty hard (though I only spent £20, so actually, I didn't hit them that hard. We did shop all day though). I bought things to replace broken things so I now have a basically functioning lot of clothes again, which is nice. Although my leggings are still broken beyond repair and I wasn't able to find a suitable replacement pair, so I will just go on wearing the broken ones, which doesn't seem skanky/trampy when you're travelling, it seems economically sensible. Charlotte left to get her hair done and Gabi and I carried on shopping, I bought some groceries for dinner and we went around the food hall pretending to be rich and looking like we might buy things so we got given lots of free tasters - perfect free afternoon snack.
I then headed back to Simon and Irene's in a cab, where I am now, and am about to start making dinner I think, even though Charlotte's not back, or it will start to get late. We are meeting Gabi at the airport tomorrow for our flight to Jakarta, and then our Indonesian adventure will begin!
I am three quarters of the way through my journey now and, much as I am enjoying it, I feel ready to come home. It has been hard being away for so long. By the time I get back, I won't have seen my dad for at least 6 months, and as a very close family that seems pretty absurdly long to be apart for. I oscillate, though, between longing for home and absolute certainty that once I have officially settled back in, I will long to be out here again, doing this, so I am trying to forget about the weariness and keep pushing on. Not that I am not enjoying travelling - of course I am, hugely so, and I am very aware of my good fortune to be in this position. I am just a little tired of packing up and putting on that backpack, of not being able to hide my greasy hair with dry shampoo, of wearing the same clothes, of constantly missing my friends and family, of figuring out new currencies, of figuring out new people. But all those things, apart from missing people, are negligible compared to all the absolutely incredible things about travelling. New places, new people, new experiences, the best and the worst in everything and everyone. Discovery and adventure and connecting. Beauty everywhere, challenging my traditional perception of the concept, the conceit of it. More laughter than I remember in a long time, and a new happiness and peace that I haven't experienced before. Those who knew me before will find me, on my return, a better person. I don't fool myself that I have made any great impact on the wider world through my journey (besides contributing in a minor way to the local economy, I suppose) - I haven't. But I have certainly changed myself a little.
School taught me that I wasn't anything special, that I will always be pretty average - not the cleverest, not the prettiest, not the most musical, the funniest, the most fashionable, not anything else in particular. University taught me that all of that is and will always be true. But travelling has taught me that all of that is probably still true, but that none of it matters. That it doesn't pay to compete with other people, even if they are trying to compete with you - it wastes time and energy and happiness. That all I can do is be the best person I can be, and that's enough, and that alone will make me a beautiful person. This lesson might seem pretty obvious to everyone else, written down it looks so dumb, but it really has taken me twenty one years of my life to realise that being perfect isn't about being skinny or having great hair or being really smart (though I do have great hair), it's about being the best you. I mean, not that I'm giving up makeup completely when I get home, obviously. I'm not going mad or anything. And I'm sure it's a lesson I won't always remember and some days I'll still wake up and hate every single outfit in my wardrobe and hate the fact that I don't look like Pixie Lott. But finally, I think the gist of it has kind of sunk in.
How introspective of me. I don't know why I went off on a self-righteous rant about beauty, I'm not sure where that came from. I apologise for any unintentional foray into an American teen drama with a life-lesson at the end that I may have made.
Whilst in Singapore I have managed to skype my mum, brother and dad, which has been amazing - first time I have talked to them in over a month I think. Emails just aren't the same and I can't wait to see them all again.
Plans for Indonesia include some diving, a moon party in Bali - half-moon, maybe - some orangutans and a volcanic crater. Not all at the same time, obviously. We have got three weeks, then a week in Sri Lanka and then home on July 2nd.
So into the last quarter of our trip we go, and we are still alive and well and happy, and acutely aware of how much we have to be thankful for. Good times.
Lots of love xxxxxxxxxxxxxx <3
No comments:
Post a Comment