Australia Part 3

I write this from the comforts of Underhill House, London. It's too cold
outside! Yes, I'm back! (NYC to London on Thursday 14 December.)

It's been a fantastic tour and I want to relive every minute of it. The only
way I can do that is to write about it...that's all I feel like doing right
now...but unfortunately I must also find a job!

I feel like writing but I am also afraid of it...for what will I do 'relive'
the experience after I've finished? 

Anyway, here's the next part...


TUESDAY 25 JULY

What did I do this morning? It's difficult to recall. It's always best to write
about uneventful days as soon as possible, not nearly two months later! What
did I do today? Nothing memorable, I guess.

We didn't have our passports with us on Monday so couldn't collect the rail
passes. It was lunch time when we'd eventually sorted out all the paper work.
For lunch we went to an 'all you can eat for 3USD" Hari Krishna place.
(Vegetarian, of course) It wasn't as good as I'd imagined for two reasons:- we
got there just as they were about to close so there wasn't much left and, more
seriously, the dhal had cauliflower in it! Did I take the rough with the
smooth? Tried to but couldn't. It was very bland anyway. Though the poppodum
(tell me how?) and chutney were good listening to a cockney explain how Krishna
'sorted out all the badies' was perhaps more enjoyable.

We then headed for Perth Central Mosque. On the way we popped in to an Iranian
take-away shop to ask for the mosque's whereabouts. The paintings on the wall
of near naked young women surrounding old blokes with Ayatollah style beards
left us disgusted to ask. As I write this I feel ashamed for not protesting at
the paintings and just passively walking out.

The mosque was built by Afghani Muslims over a century ago. For those of you
unfamiliar with their arrival in Australia, they were brought over by the
British (who else!) for their expertise with camels and deserts. It was a
pretty little mosque; well facilitated, all white with a small dome and walled
front and back courtyards.

We asked the Egyptian Imam about the Muslim population of Perth. Most of the
Muslims are from Indonesia and Malaysia, not surprisingly. We then asked if
there were many Iranians, mentioning the restaurant. "He is a bastard!" "Yeah,
the wall is pretty bad", I understated. "He is a bastard", he repeated. Then I
asked something I can't quite remember. "He is a bastard, I tell you!" in a
tone that made my question look ridiculous. First time I'd heard an Imam call
anybody a bastard but it was quite justified.

After the mosque we crossed the Swan River over the Narrows Bridge to South
Perth to get good views of the river and skyline. It was good. We were also
hoping to capture the city's reflection on the lake-like river but
unfortunately this didn't materialise. Prayed Maghrib and took a ferry back to
the North. Mustafa then went to visit an ex-boss of his while I spent some time
emailing before returning to Brian and Lee's. 

Our friends had gone out for the evening but left dinner in the fridge. The
pasta, rice, potatoes and vegetable salad was very good. Do you remember the
chess-set that we bought in Penelokan? Well, we bought it for Brian and Lee. I
explained that theirs was still with that guy in Bali!