So this is jet lag

I've been back in the states for a little over a week now, and I still feel like the walking dead. I somehow made it through training in DC, saw the babies Brunner and Winkler, and came back home for some sleep.

I will update the blog soon, and post pictures which I'm sure is what everyone really wants to see on here. But first a little more sleep...

Nepalese National Forest

The past 2 days have been tiring, but awesome. Yesterday morning after breakfast we got in these wooden canoes that were basically long rectangular boxes. They rocked more than a novice crew boat and our seats were these little wooden stools that weren't all that comfortable but kept your bum from getting wet. We floated down the river for about an hour and a half--it was very relaxing and scenic (except for the part where a bird shat on me), and we say 2 crocodiles!!! They are fish eating crocodiles and have evolved so that they have this really long (2-3 feet) skinny skinny snout. We got out of the canoes and climbed up the bank and then split into two groups with our guides for our forest walk.

we trekked through tall grasses, lush forest, and wetlands for about 3 hours in the morning, and saw a few monkeys, a handful of spiders, some elephants on patrol (the military has bases and outposts in the national forest and they try to prevent poachers), and lots of fresh rhino and tiger footprints.

Our guides were excellent--pointing out birds and prints, but the going was tough. We were practically forging our own path, and the grasses were dense and vicious. There were also leeches (which I thought was odd since we weren't trekking through water), and our guides had given us salt to sprinkle in our socks to help repel them. unfortunately, dad got like 6 leech bites and they were just gushing blood because of the anti-coagulant that the leeches inject, but he insists that they didn't really hurt or itch and they seem to be healing up nicely now.

We stopped by a log over a stream to eat our box lunches, and then trekked on for another hour or two. Because of the time of year and height of the grass (7-8 feet, easily) we didn't really get to see any animals, but we were prepared. If a rhino charges at you you're supposed to climb 2 metres up a tree, run in zig zags changing direction every 4 metres, or at the very least hide behind a tree.

At the end of the hike we crossed the river again, in even more precarious canoes, and arrived at our "hotel." The rooms were in rows and were basic, but clean, with mosquito nets and fans. There was a "restaurant" area--a covered patio with a table, and one toilet and one shower stall. A shower never felt so good... when we were hiking it was approx. 100 degrees and 85% humidity, and we were streaming sweat out of every pore. I felt like I was in a bikram yoga class, heavily clothed.

We had a few sodas and beers and just spent the rest of the afternoon and evening hanging out. We had a delicious Nepalese buffet dinner (very simple, rice, dhal, some curries, etc.), and I was in bed by 8:30.

In the morning we opted to take jeeps to our next stop and we bounced around local dirt roads past villages and farmers until we got to a bridge leading back to the national forest. we walked for about 30 minutes to get to the crocodile breeding center, but on the way our eagle eyed guide caught a glimpse of a rhino (it looked like a big rock) and we tiptoed into the forest a bit to see it. It was amazing... we got so close---maybe 200 feet--and watched it eat.

Rhinos are super dangerous---they kill more people than lions or elephants or crocodiles or any other animal here. However, this one was injured--it had deep gashes on its rear from a fight with another rhino--so it was seeking safety by grazing near some of the military buildings. It knew that humans wouldn't hurt it, and if it was close enough to human habitation the other rhinos wouldn't come bother it, so it just kind of ignored us, though its ears would prick up occasionally to make sure we weren't encroaching enough that it needed to act.

After this photo op we continued down the path to the crocodile breeding center and conservation area. There were big pens with crocodiles of all hatchling ages, including 1 of the man-eating crocodiles (looks more like a normal croc). Some of the crocs can grow to 21 feet or so (but we didn't see any like that).

a little further back, after following signs that say "orphan" and "tiger" we came to a huge wood pen (the fences were maybe 30 feet high) with a tiger in it. Its mother was a man-eater that killed 4 humans in 60 days. Apparently once tigers taste human they prefer it to all other prey, so it's not safe to leave them in the wild anymore (there are currently ~100 tigers in the wild in the forest). In trying to capture the mother it was unfortunately killed. They left the cubs to see if they could survive, but although they were old enough to attack humans their hunting skills weren't developed and two of the three cubs died in the wild. They were able to rescue the third, but it was dicey whether she would live. She survived and although they endeavored to return her to the wild they decided it was just too dangerous because of how aggressive she was towards humans, so they reluctantly decided to keep her in captivity.

It was sad to see her like that, but she completely freaked me out. I was standing kind of near the fence (which was wood slats with maybe 3/4 inch space at most between each one), and changing the setting on my camera when she jumped up towards the fence. I must have jumped a mile.

We left the park and road in the back of the jeeps which dated from the 2nd world war and remarkably still worked (they were open top and we sat sideways on the benches in the back). We wound through the countryside for over an hour before we got back to our hotel in the town.

After lunch we took an elephant ride through the jungle which was bumpy and lurchy and great. We were 4 to an elephant and rambled around for over an hour. We saw a peacock, some fish, some deer, and another rhino. The rhino don't seem to see the humans--just the elephants, so it just moved around and grazed as we shot a million photos.

We sat down by the river and had beers watching sunset at one of the many riverside restaurants (just a small building where they cook, and lots of chairs and tables down on the river bank). We were treated to dinner by the hotel in honor of the festival which just finished, and now I’m here, in the internet cafe, swarmed by little bugs.

Nepal has, on the whole, been wonderful. It’s calmer, cleaner, nicer, and almost imperceptibly cooler than India was. I was ready to call it quits a week ago, but I’m glad that wasn't an option because I would have missed all this.

Tomorrow we head to Katmandu, and then the trip is over!!! In 4 days I’ll be back in the states, which is kind of inconceivable.

This trip has made me turn mostly vegetarian... when you see the scrawny mangy chickens in the pens, or dead and hanging off bike handles, or when you see the goats and buffalos eating trash you think twice about eating a meat dish. There’s also the Buddha angle. I accidentally stepped on a snail and felt terrible. However, that's not to say that I’m not craving a huge steak as soon as I get home... and a margarita. The beer here is good, but a nice cold margarita on the rocks or blending, enjoyed in a/c, sounds splendid.

Anyway, hope all is well back home. I’ll be there soon for better and for worse.

On to Nepal!

It’s amazing what a border crossing can do... upon entering Nepal you feel like you can finally breathe again. Its subtle differences--the streets are slightly less crowded, somewhat cleaner, and some of the people's features are more Asian. If you didn't know (and hadn't spent an hour doing visa formalities--which was very efficient, so I’m not complaining), however, you could easily believe you were still in India. When we crossed over there was no marked change in dress, cows still amble in the roads and settle right in the middle for a nap, and passersby either wave jollily or stare as you pass by.

It’s just calmer somehow.

Getting there took nearly the 8 hours predicted, but it was pretty smooth sailing in fairly roomy SUVs (though we declined to pay $20 for the driver to use the a/c, so it was a bit dusty). The other car didn't take the road around a town that we did, and in going through they ended up stopped at an impromptu roadblock by a group of kids with a barrel in the road. after 10 minutes of arguing the driver was able to buy them off for 10 rupees (about 25cents) and they were on their way again.

8 hours in a car is kind of dull, but it's a great way to see the scenery without exerting yourself. Yesterday was the last day of the festival of lights, and people were winding down in jubilation. We frequently got stopped in traffic as hordes of chanting singing cheering people followed pickup trucks that were removing the huge gaudy statues of different gods that had been on display in big temple like tents all over town. The towns were all strung with lights and tinsel, and loudspeakers blasted a variety of Hindi music. I’m definitely deafer as a result.

When we arrived in Nepal, the border town was dead since it was a festival day there as well. Most of the shops were closed and we had to drive to three different hotels to find one that had a kitchen that was open and staff that could prepare meals. after a brief lunch and beer stop (no one had had a drink in the past few days since Varanasi is a holy city and you're not supposed to drink there, and I haven't drunk since Delhi since my stomach has been protesting everything except tea, soda, chocolate, toast, ice cream, and spaghetti), we headed on to our hotel. The further we got from the border town, the more "Nepalese" it became. There’s just more space here. Even when houses are crowded together they seem roomier, they seem tidier and less ramshackle. It’s not a huge difference, but it's discernible.

Our hotel in Lumbini was a gorgeous resort like place with a mango garden, a jogging track, a lotus pond, and a Buddha shrine. The rooms were spacious and well-appointed, though we had to pay $10 for a/c. It was so muggy; dad forked over the money immediately and it was splendid. It was definitely a rip-off though, since I’ve stayed in places for the amount just the a/c cost.

After a quick turnaround we jumped in rickshaws to visit the birthplace of Buddha. (I had taken a quick rinse off shower before we left, but within five minutes I felt just as dirty and grimy as I had before.) The rickshaws provided a nice breeze and we arrived at the park just before sunset.

The legend has it that Buddha’s mother was taking a swim in this pool/pond and when she got out she walked 25 steps and then squatted down and gave birth. the pool is still there (though it looks like it was probably refurbished) and the ruins of the village or wherever she was are still there--now housed under a cement and steel building to protect them from the elements I guess (which is kind of strange since these rocks and ruins are over 2000 years old and still there). There is a rock in a glass case with a spotlight and a sign that heralds it as the exact birthplace of Buddha.

There are a lot of trees in the park, including a very large one that supposedly Buddha sat under (but I think there are a lot of trees with that claim), and strings of prayer flags crisscross the whole garden. It’s a very serene and peaceful place. There is also a large building/temple with a typically tacky bronze statue of Buddha and brilliant frescoes on all the walls depicting Buddha lore.

Once we got back to the hotel my stomach decided to revolt again, in earnest this time, so I spent the rest of the night in the room and the bathroom. at 830 this morning we jumped in the private bus (intrepid was going to pay for public transport which would include 2 bus switches and over 5 hours travel time, so we forked over an additional $3 a person to hire the private bus). It was still cramped, but pretty much everyone had their own seat and it was much nicer than being crammed on public transport, though I have a suspicion that the Nepalese are probably kinder traveling companions than the Indians. Less pushy and starey.

We tumbled through the Nepalese countryside for 3 hours, and it was beautiful. Similar to India, but nicer. Lots of trees and rivers, and the beginnings of hills. We gained quite a bit of altitude and drove up an actual mountain before coming back down a ways into the national park area. All along the way you saw cows and buses with people crowded on top and some motorbikes, but it's far less dense and crowded than anywhere in India was.

The "highlight" was our toilet stop, at the top of the mountain. there was nowhere to hide really--we were at the edge of a cliff below, and a pretty steep mountain wall above so there was this one bush that kind of shielded me from our bus. however, our guide, the bus driver and the driver's 2 assistants (no idea why there were there other than to keep him company) wandered all over--clearly violating the western rules of staying on the other side of the vehicle. Public toileting is just so common here that it doesn't faze anyone. When the buses and cars drove by I felt compelled to hide my face--which is silly really, I mean, none of them will ever see me again, but it was just a very disconcerting experience.

The Nepalese seem to have an affinity for swings, because they are everywhere. some hang from doors, some from trees, and every couple of miles you would spot one made from a bunch of really long (like 30-40 foot) poles strapped together like a teepee with a swing hanging down below. It was so nice to see the kids playing and laughing.

We arrived at our hotel in Chitwan after about 3.5 hours, and we have cute little cabin like rooms. Pretty rustic, but nice. We’ll be here tonight, check out tomorrow for a 2 day trip into the park/forest, and then stay here again that 2nd night. Some people were cycling to an elephant breeding site this afternoon, but I’ve seen a lot of elephants and we're going on a 1.5 hour elephant ride day after tomorrow, so I decided to pass and shop/rest/internet instead. Tonight there is a cultural show at the hotel and tomorrow we head out early. I think we walk a total of about 10 km, we also go in canoes for a bit to try and see crocodiles, and we stay at a very basic hotel that only has 1 bathroom. Yikes! I hope my stomach cooperates.

Other than the stomach, however, I feel fine. I’m oddly rejuvenated just being in Nepal, and it might even be a few degrees cooler because there's so much shade. It’s still miserable and sweaty in the sun though... I can't wait for autumn back home.

I am reading a great book right now though, that perhaps would have prepared me more for India had I read it before I left... it's called "Holy Cow" and it's by Sarah McDonald--an Australian woman who moved to India to be with her fiancé who was the Australian broadcasting company's foreign correspondent there for a few years. She’s witty and funny and sarcastic (a bit like Bill Bryson), and describes things perfectly without being unjustly critical or romanticizing it. Highly recommend it for a fun light read.

Anyway, that's all for now. I’m going to go spend some Nepalese rupees. :-)

India continued...

I’m getting annoyed with our guide, and just India in general. I worry that I’m turning into that stereotypical American "why can't they do things the way we do things..." I’ve been travelling too long. I think what I’ve learned is that 4-5 weeks is my max, and I really shouldn't travel to hot hot countries. However, today was a good day.

This morning we got up and were on the river at dawn in a large rowboat. We cruised up the Ganges watching the morning rituals at the ghats. Basically there are wide stairs--almost like football stadium bleachers--leading down to the water all along the banks. Each has a different name, and many have different purposes--some are for bathing, some are for cremating, some are only for people of certain sects, some were built by the gov't, some by maharajas, etc. People come down and bathe in the water--some just splash water on; others fully immerse themselves and seem to have a ritual. They pray, or dunk their heads a certain number of times, etc. A few use soap, and it's kind of funny to see them sitting on the steps lathering up. (also kind of sickening since you know how dirty the water is and you want to stop them as they put handfuls of the water in their mouth to drink or clean their teeth).

No one is naked... they strip down to their "under-under clothes"... sometimes wrapping a separate piece of cloth, or washing under what they're wearing, etc.

We passed by a few of the cremation ghats: on one there were the smoldering remains, and an another a body wrapped in a white shroud was stacked with wood ready to be burnt. There was also a crematorium, and I think the guide said it's cheaper to be cremated in there than out on the ghats where they use wood.

I thought that maybe Varanasi is where the movie Water took place (but it turns out it was Benares, which isn't far), in any event, it’s a heartbreaking but beautiful movie set in the 1930s maybe, about widows in India. Caroline and I saw it last spring at an indie theater in Charlottesville and both left sobbing.

Anyway, this afternoon I had a traditional ayurvedic massage, and it was excellent. It started with oil being poured on my head, then a scalp massage, and then a brisk full body massage with different oil. Very relaxing--I feel great!

Spent the rest of the afternoon repacking and watching Goonies on TV, and at sunset we set off on a big rowboat again to watch the sun set and do a Hindu flower ceremony. At night people don't bathe at the ghats, but they pray and there is music and chanting and usually some sort of fire. While waiting for it to get dark enough, we saw a few river dolphins surface near us. They’re such strange creatures--they really resemble marlins more than regular dolphins, and supposedly they're blind.

Once it was dark, our boat crew lit hundreds of little candles and placed them in these little bowls made of leaves, filled with flower petals (bougainvillea I think). When you release the little bowl into the water you make a wish. Soon there were hundreds of these little jewels floating away down the river and it was beautiful. It was a lovely peaceful night, with cool breezes and it was a perfect way to end the India portion of the trip.

We headed back to the banks, shopped a little, and had dinner. Tomorrow we leave at 5am for an 8-hour drive to the border. From there we hop a bus to Lumbini, and sightsee and spend the night there. The next morning we head to the national park/forest for a 2-day walk, before heading to Katmandu.

I’m torn about India. I expected to love it, and I don't know if my expectations were naive or if I’m just not in the right portion of India, or not here long enough, or coming to it in the wrong frame of mind. I love certain things about it, and I’m glad I came, but it wasn't the life-altering voyage I kind of thought it might be... of course, if you want life altering I guess you don't go on a 2 week tour--you wind through the country on your own with no exit date in sight. You don't resist, you assimilate. Maybe next time...

Okay, off to scavenge food for the journey tomorrow.

Allahabad and Varanasi

I’m soooo ready to come home. If it was at all an option, I would seriously consider it, but as it would a) be expensive and b) I have a bag full of stuff in Bangkok, I guess it's not really feasible. Oh well.

I haven't been feeling well for a few days, and have basically been subsisting on toast and tea and soda with as little Indian food as possible. I don't know that I actually ate anything bad; I think it was just too much of a change to my diet. But still. I’ve been grouchy and headachy and worried briefly in my hypochondriac way that I might have contracted malaria, so as I was jostled around not quite sleeping on the overnight train, I was trying to figure out, geographically, where I wound want to be in a hospital if it came to that and I actually had malaria. I couldn't really figure out anyplace safe and close. The best I could come up with was someplace down in Asia, like Singapore, or maybe someplace like Dubai. But those are still really far. luckily it didn't come to that... and as it turns out there are apparently very nice private hospitals in India and westerners actually come here for certain medical procedures b/c it's cheaper and the places are really nice.

Anyway, our last day in Orcha we spent at the pool and river rafting. The pool was glorious, as they always are, and the rafting was a great way to see another perspective of all the temples and palaces and ruins. Our guide was a drill master and made sure we knew how to follow directions, but it was all fun and games once we proved adept and the paddlers at the front took "stop" to mean "splash the hell out of everyone." Very refreshing...

We took the overnight train to Allahabad, and it was an experience. I don't know that anyone got much sleep between the rocking of the train in ALL directions, snorers, etc.

Once in Allahabad we had breakfast and toured the house of Nehru. Then we hopped on a chartered bus (meaning it was only the 12 of us, the driver, our guide, and a porter instead of us and 100 others) for hours of bumpetybump through the countryside. We then got on these small wooden boats with awnings and "sailed" down the Ganges River for a few hours. While the boats technically had sails, the wind was not in our favor and the poor boatmen had to basically row the entire way yesterday and today. The river was brown and looked pretty dirty, but there are dolphins (although they're blind), and the locals swim and drink it (and still occasionally put burning bodies into it)

We camped on the sand dune of sorts--and it was glorious. The weather was nice and cool, sunset was gorgeous, and at night the stars came out and it was surreal--the river was in front of us, but across in the distance you could see the lights from towns and hear the trains and the very loud musical celebrations going on for the festival that's going on. it was very cool, and probably the highlight of my trip so far (well, apart from the Taj Mahal).

We left around 7ish this morning and "sailed" until 2. Then we loaded into SUVs for ~ 2 hours to get to Varanasi.

Varanasi is one of the 7 holy cities of Hinduism. Supposedly if you die here you go straight to heaven and skip the rest of your cycles of reincarnation. Knowing that, it's no wonder that it's so heavily populated. The population is "officially" 1.2 million, but I think it's probably much much higher. I can't even imagine trying to do a census.

Here the rivers are at their worst. The guidebook says it is considered septic b/c there is no dissolved oxygen left. People bathe in it every day b/c it's so "holy" but meanwhile 30 sewers are continually discharging into it!!!! I’ll think I’ll stay dry, thanks.

Anyway, we spend tomorrow and tomorrow night here--sunrise and sunset sightseeing, and we leave at 6 the following a.m. for an 8 hour drive to the Nepalese border.

India continues to be overwhelming. It is like so many places I’ve travelled, and there are so many times I feel like I could be in Mauritania (from behind women in saris look like women in mullafahs), and yet it is like no place and indescribable. I keep waiting to see the nice parts, the stuff from the "incredible India" ad campaign... but I don't think that’s part of our itinerary. I guess the images are just sanitized and put on the TV screen--absent the smells and sounds and most of all the stifling heat and humidity, which is what makes the real experience (and what makes it fairly miserable at times).

I have to say, more than anything else, I’m looking forward to walking out of the house after taking a shower and not immediately feeling gross and grimy and hot again. But even my discomfort is a double edged sword. Knowing that I can go back to comfort makes me feel even worse about my discomfort now, precisely because I have the option to leave. Yeah, I’ll be overworked... but it will be nicely compensated and in air conditioning, which you certainly cannot say for our boat operators. I can see more and more why religious beliefs in reincarnation are so strong. It’s the only way to justify what life doles out to some.

Anyway, my appetite is coming back so I’m going to try to get some dinner. Hope all is well back home. Can’t wait to join you all.

Orcha

Day 2 in Orcha, and it's quite lovely. Getting here was quite an ordeal... in that sweaty hot cramped 3+ hour bus trip kind of way. I wasn't feeling great, so I decided to take the afternoon off. I think all the Indian food is working a number on my system--I haven't eaten anything bad or contaminated, I think it's just too radical a change in diet and all the oils are upsetting my stomach.

Everyone else went walking around the town and I bunkered down in the room/cottage with tea, a good book (currently The Count of Monte Cristo), and alternatively read, napped, and watched TV all in air-con splendor. After the sun went down, however, the bugs came out in force. Not mosquitoes or roaches, thankfully, but loads of little beetles, crickets, gnats, and other little annoying things. I had a hard time sleeping because I was sure they were all over me (and they were). Ugh.

I felt somewhat better today, and this morning we set off on a tour of these palaces in town, which were incredible. Beautiful frescos in vegetable dye paint on the ceilings, a king’s room with tunnels to the rooms of 6 concubines, the remnants of blue tile that used to cover the place, and an interesting mix of Hindu and Muslim architecture--arches and domes with lotus flowers and elephants.

We also went to a Hindu temple that resembles a church, a mosque, and a palace all at once. Around town and in the distance you can also see the remains of these other palaces/temples that strongly resemble Cambodian architecture, which is interesting.

We also toured a paper factory run by an ngo that employs 70 percent women, and makes all its paper from old cotton cloth. the process is very labor intensive, but pretty cool, and the end result is all sorts of cards, notebooks, paper lanterns, bags, etc.

After lunch we shopped a bit and rested, and then went to a cooking class. We sat in this woman's house and she demonstrated how to make a bunch of Indian dishes and then we ate up on her roof. The food was delicious! We did a little bit of shopping and I bought two wall hangings, and now I think it's time for bed.

Tomorrow we have all day here before taking the overnight train to Allahabad. We might go rafting, as the town is right on the banks of what is supposedly the cleanest river in India. Now, "in India" is quite a qualifier, but it actually looks blue and pretty.

India!

India is hot and hectic and exhausting, but pretty damn cool.

Our group met for the first time Saturday afternoon, and set off for a city tour.

besides me and dad, there is a guy in his 40s (?) from Sacramento, a grandmother (late 60s/70s) and her granddaughter (early 20s) and their son/uncle (40s) from Australia, a couple from Australia who emigrated from south Africa (early 50s), a gay couple from Australia (early 30s), a brat girl (late 20s/early 30s) and a British guy (mid 20s). All nice, and a pretty well balanced group. This is our guide's first tour for Intrepid Travel, but he was a guide for a French company for 5 years prior. He is really nice, and is really trying hard to please.

We took local bus, rickshaws, and the metro, and we saw the largest mosque in Delhi (maybe India too?), markets, old Delhi and just the hustle and bustle of it all. The highlight was the spice market--a bunch of little dark alley ways with shops filled to the brim with sacks of spices. At first it smells wonderful and looks exotic... but soon you start to cough and your eyes start to water from the air, which is permeated with chilies and all sorts of other spicy pungent aromatic goodness.

we finished off the day with a beer at this bizarre bar with a Texan theme... all the waiters wore black cowboy boots, black jeans, black shirts, red bandanas and cowboy hats, and the stools at the bar were saddles.

Anyway, we set off at 6am the next morning and traveled to Agra by train. We ate lunch and hit the red fort and then the Taj Mahal. Anyone that says it's not that impressive in person either a) wasn't there or b) is an idiot. The red fort was very cool, incredible architecture, and it's very very old. It used to be protected by an outer wall, a moat with crocodiles, an inner wall (70 feet high), and then an area with lions and tigers and bears (oh my!). If by some amazing feat an enemy was able to breach all of this, the road up to the palaces is very steep and they would roll huge boulders down it!

There are beautiful views of the Taj Mahal from the fort, but nothing prepares you for how beautiful and ornate and massive it is. It was truly spectacular.

The whole group went out for a great dinner afterwards and I slept like a rock because the day was so tiring. The heat really saps everything out of you.

This morning we left by local bus at 9ish for a 3+ hour ride to Galion. It was hot and harrowing--the driving is absolutely insane here--but actually kind of cool to see all the scenery.

After lunch we went to a palace of one of the richest maharaja families in India. It was a tribute to excess. The palace is huge, and still used--but a handful of rooms are open to the public as a museum. One of the most elaborate things was a crystal chandelier from Belgium... (Actually there were two!). Each one weighed 3.5 tons. Before they were able to hang them from the ceiling in the reception hall, the maharaja had a 50 meter ramp built so that 8 elephants weighing 1 ton each could be taken up to the roof. After the elephants were up there for a week and the roof didn't collapse, they determined it was safe to hang the chandeliers. Crazy.

After that we went to the Gwalior fort. Again--amazing architecture and gorgeous views of the city. Hard to describe w/o the photos. Unfortunately dad forgot to bring his camera charger and his battery has already run down. Hopefully someone else has a similar camera and he'll be able to charge it.

I think tonight we're going to go to a music and light show at the fort, and tomorrow we head to a small village where I think we'll be for 3 days. Doubtful that there's internet there, but you never know!

Besides the traffic, what's shocking about India is the contrast between rich and poor. It really makes you wonder how rich Indians view the rest of their countrymen, because it seems there have always been fabulously obscenely rich families, while the vast majority of the people just eke by. I suppose the belief in castes and reincarnation "justifies" it all, while also stifling impetus for change.

Anyway, I’m disgustingly sweaty and gross, so I’m going to go try and shower before dinner.

On to Delhi....

After an incredibly frustrating encounter with the airline in Phuket, which didn't seem to think that the fact that no one answered a single phone at any of their offices the day before, nor the fact that internet was out on the entire island, was an excuse for not changing a flight in advance... I finally paid the late change fee, and we were able to book new flights. Once in Bangkok we shopped a little and I tried (somewhat unsuccessfully) to pack light for India. I dropped a bag off for storage at our old hotel since they are switching airports in Bangkok next week and there is no provision for left luggage that spans the switch, and headed to the airport.

Air India is even stricter about what you can carry on than the US department of homeland security and they were confiscating batteries, tiger balm, chapstick, umbrellas, etc. The flight was only 4 hours, but I managed to sleep a bit which was good since I didn't get to my hotel until 6am.

Delhi is very quiet in the pre-dawn hours, and what was most surprising was the number of people sleeping outside--on top of push carts on the side of the road, on the sidewalk along the train tracks, everywhere. I checked in and slept until noon, when I decided to venture out. It’s hot, but not as miserable as Cambodia and South Vietnam were. The people are very friendly and keep welcoming me to India, but what is weird is that there are very few women around. Men are out, walking and hanging out everywhere, but very few women. Tuk tuk drivers (don't know what the vehicles are called here) won't take no for an answer and will follow you down the street telling you it's way too hot to walk, and they'll take you where you want to go for just 10 rupees.

I finally caved and got into one, not really knowing where I wanted to go, and ended up at a huge crafts bazaar building. I felt obligated to walk around at least--and I wanted the driver to go away--but inside I was greeted and followed in every room by at least 3 salespeople.

I left shortly, and wandered to an Indian fast food restaurant where I had a delicious curry w/ naan bread which I unfortunately managed to spill all over my one pair of clean pants. When I left the restaurant I managed to evade taxi drivers and helpful pedestrians and ducked into an Internet cafe.

I have all afternoon.... dad doesn't get here till tonight, and the tour doesn't start until tomorrow, but I have no idea what I want to do. I don't have an India guidebook, and no one seems content to just let me wander on my own, so I’m somewhat at a loss. It seems a waste to sit in the hotel though, so I’ll figure something out.

Cultural differences are so interesting... the tour information keeps warning that society is very conservative and knees and shoulders must be covered at all times.... yet women are draped in saris with bare midriffs showing everywhere. I would think shoulders are less racy, but clearly I’m wrong.

Anyway, the fan is blowing very high causing wisps of hair to tickle my ears and get in my eyes and it's driving me crazy, so I need to go.

Thailand

Well... the rest was all travel, but THIS is a vacation. After a relaxing 2 day/1 night trip to Halong Bay, we made a last minute decision Sunday night to leave Hanoi, and jumped on the last plane to Bangkok. After several indecisive hours in the Bangkok airport debating which flight to try to take in the a.m., whether to pay $50 for a hotel room near the airport (highway robbery!), and proving ourselves inept at using payphones, the desire for sleep in a bed with a lock on the door won out over rock-paper-scissoring for who would stay up and watch the luggage while the other slept for the first shift.

In the a.m. we headed back to the airport and booked a flight to Phuket. We were a little nervous b/c the 5 day forecast for pretty much every beach destination was thunderstorms, thunderstorms, thunderstorms. However, when we finally arrived (after an aborted attempt to board the plane, and a return to the departure lounge for an additional 3 hours while they fixed a mechanical problem), it was gorgeous and sunny and has been for the past 2 days.

We tried to find a budget hotel at Patong Beach and were so underimpressed with the offerings that we decided to splurge and got a cab down to Karon Beach where we checked into a $30/night (low season has its benefits... it's normally ovre $100/night) resort hotel right across from the beach. The room is gorgeous, the pool is divine, the buffet-style "American breakfast" is a welcome change from bread and the occasional banana pancake.

We spent yesterday a.m. at the beach, yesterday afternoon at the pool, and then headed to the travel agent so I could purchase my ticket to India. After stepping on a piece of glass in their office and bleeding all over the floor (foot wounds...) I got one of the last 2 seats on the flight and we set off in search of sunset.

This was the sunset of the trip. Sunset over Angkor Wat was just as disappointing as sunrise over Angor Wat and Machu Picchu. But here it was glorious. Then we wandered through town to Kata, and ended up being ferried by motorbike to a salon where Jo got her hair cut and I got my legs waxed. The girl was precise, and deft, but SLOOOW. It took an hour. Jo was completely done and I still had half a leg to go.

After that we had dinner, booked our day trip, and headed back to the hotel. We were supposed to fly out tonight after the day trip so we were starting to pack, and decided to see if there was anything on TV. We flipped on the BBC and "BANGKOK TANKS! MILITARY COUP! THANKSIN DECLARES STATE OF EMERGENCY! MILITARY SURROUNDS GOVERNMENT BUILDINGS IN BANGKOK! MARTIAL LAW IN THAILAND!"

We were shocked to say the least, and it was infuriating b/c this happened to be at the time Bush was giving his platitude-filled, inappropriately smirky speech at the UN so BBC was giving live coverage of that with just the breaking news headlines.

The German(?) satellite station DW thankfully had it's English news journal on at the same time, so we watched that. By this point, it was the only station still broadcasting b/c BBC mysteriously cut out (turns out it was on purpose...) and the Thai stations--if they were broadcasting anything--were showing karaoke versions of the Thai "we love our king" song (in english... very very odd).

Anyway, we called the Embassy and they said they're monitoring the situation but don't see any reason to flee the country or not come to Bangkok for our flights out, so we went to bed and got up way too early this morning for our boat trip out to Ko Phi Phi.

The islands were absolutely gorgeous. Very similar to Halong Bay (which was another amazing boat trip---absolutely stunning scenery, but a very uptight annoyingly shrill tour guide) with huge limestone formations covered with greenery jutting out of the water. Here however there are also islands with beautiful beaches. The water here is turquoise and visibility is something insane like 30 feet. (Halong Bay has green water, which is gorgeous. In Halong we kayaked into a cove, which was beautiful).

Today we snorkeled a little, swam a little, sunbathed a little (I got a little too much sun, but it's not too bad), and ate a delicious lunch before heading back.

We were supposed to fly out tonight and spend all day shopping in Bangkok, but given the situation we've decided to bump our flight to tomorrow. Today was declared a compulsory holiday in Bangkok, and we're not certain anything is even going to be open tomorrow.

We really are in the best place to be riding this out, and it really doesn't seem to be that big of a deal. The PM doesn't seem to have a lot of support, the Thai love their king and will go along with whatever he decides, and so far there hasn't been any violence or anything. (Which is more than you can say for further south, but luckily we're not there and not going down to Malaysia).

Mauritania had a bloodless coup a year or so ago, and this appears to be the same kind of thing. Enshallah.

Hanoi part 2

I think I'm getting homesick. It's just tiring... and I still have over three weeks of travelling left!!! We did our city tour today, and Hanoi continues to underimpress. To be fair, I don't think it's the city per se, rather I think it's just the fatigue that settles in after approx. 2 weeks. The day started off on a frustrating foot as they told us they would pick us up between 7:30 and 8, and we were ready at 7:30. At 8:20 we had the hotel call... 15 minutes later a guy showed and corralled us into a cab with 2 British girls (who had a similar pick-up experience). We think the tour company actually forgot about us and when both hotels called they threw something together.

Anyway, it was hot and sunny and our guide repeatedly chose to expound on long explanations of Ho Chi Minh's character and how it was exemplified while standing in the blistering sun!!! (Though Ho Chi Minh is a fascinating individual and I really want to learn more about "uncle ho")

We saw the outside of the mausoleum (closed on Thursdays...), his old house, his house on stilts, etc. Very pretty grounds, trees and foliage from all over Vietnam, and the buildings are painted a bright yellow with red trim.

The highlight of the day was the Ho Chi Minh museum. It opened in 1990, and while it has very limited subject matter, the presentation is fantastic. It’s quite possibly the coolest museum I’ve ever been too--I’ll have to post pictures, because I just can't figure out how to describe the decorations.

We saw a few temples and pagodas (the difference, we learned, is that a pagoda is dedicated to worship of Buddha only, and temples are dedicated to other individuals and spirits etc), and the temple of literature which was essentially the first university in Vietnam, dating back hundreds if not thousands of years. Again, beautiful grounds, cool stone carvings of turtles commemorating the scholars, and enormous drums made out of wood and buffalo hide.

The tour ended early so we headed over to bank of America.... only it wasn't there. The guidebook (2006 version!) said there was a BofA on the ground floor of this one hotel, but when we got there they said it had closed several years ago and there were no other locations. this was disappointing since JoAnn banks w/ BofA and we thought she would be able to take out money w/o a fee... here ATMs charge $2, our banks charge $5 (despite only charging $2 in every other country either of us has been to--outside of Asia), and there is a per transaction limit of 2million dong, which seems like a lot but is really only $126. UNLIKE South America, it appears VERY easy to cash traveller's checks here, and some of the banks don't even charge a commission. Unfortunately, after the difficulties that both Jen and I had finding people to take or change traveller's checks in South America, I chose to travel w/o here. Live and learn...

Back at the hotel we booked our trip to Halong Bay for tomorrow (we'll sleep overnight on the boat and go kayaking, etc, amongst karst rock formations and caves), napped, and then headed out to dinner at Kangaroo Cafe because we were both craving some western comfort food. A cheeseburger and club sandwich later we were revived...

Hanoi

In travel, as in life, there are ups and downs, it ebbs and flows. Yesterday was just one of those days.

It started off well enough... we got all our clothes, everything fit, we picked up our cute little silk flats with matching handbags and they were adorable, I was admiring a pair of tweed flats in the shop and amazingly they actually were my size (which is unheard of here since, by local standards we are both enormous), we got to the airport on time, our flight was uneventful, etc.

However, I was already a little out of sorts because I realized that I had somehow lost (or had stolen) one of my favorite new silk purses, and then I thought I had lost jewellry I had bought (but it turned up in a pocket of a bag).

Anyway, we are leaving the airport in Hanoi and this guy tries to shove past us. Rude, but hey--there's just a different concept of personal space and a lack of respect for, you know, lines and order here. No big deal. Then we're climbing on the mini-bus, and this woman shoves right past us to get on. Again... annoying, but I let it slide, until I realize that the woman speaks perfect English and is probably an American on holiday. She's obviously integrated better than we have.

Then the driver collects money for the bus. The airline magazine and our guidebooks said it should be 20,000dong. He charges us 30,000 ($2) but he asks where our hotel is and it appears he's going to take us there instead of just the main stop.

When we arrive at the stop however he says some gibberish about how he was going to do us a favor, but since we had to wait so long at the stop (?!?!? nonsense) it would cost another $2 to take us to our hotel (which, it must be noted, was less than 1km away).

We say no, and we ask for the extra money back and it becomes clear that the price really IS 20,000 dong for Vietnamese (or anyone who looks Asian) and $2 for "foreigners" even if you pay in dong. There is a sign to this effect. And the guy is just a jerk. We were mobbed by taxi drivers and people trying to explain why it was okay we were being charged more and I just snapped.

I stubbornly refused to get in a cab that was only going to charge us a dollar, and started off down the road carrying my backpack, my shoulder bag, and the ENORMOUS duffle bag that I bought to hold all the stuff I've acquired.

I'm struggling down the road, I trip and skin my knee, and JoAnn continues to handle the situation beautifully and lets me have my tantrum. We go into Vietnam airlines where I complain about what happened and the woman was not sympathetic at all and launched into some BS explanation about exchange rates. Which was as far from a valid point as anyone could have at that point. You can charge 2 prices in 2 different currencies... but that fact that people actually prefer dollars here, and the fact that we paid in local currency, no dice.

Anyway, we bumble around some more, trying to find out hotel. It didn't help that Vietnam air had offices caddy-corner to each other, and only one was on the map, so we took an unscheduled detour. Twice more we tried to get a cab, and the drivers asked for ridiculous amounts. We were seriously 2 blocks from our hotel and the guy wanted $5. We finally arrived, and there was a miscommunication so we ended up with a room that is roughly the size of 2 twin beds, with a foot in between. The shower is over the toilet. But it's clean, and cheap ($10 night, total), so we went with it.

We showered, I collected myself and was able to laugh about how ridiculous it was to get upset over $1, and to try to explain the principle of the matter to a booking agent at an airline (though I am going to write a very stern letter to the airline about the impropriety of an officially sanctioned double rate, that is not explained in the airport information). We decided to head out to see the water puppetry shows and grab dinner.

On the way, however, JoAnn was the victim of a balcony phlegmer. She's walking behind me and all of a sudden she starts screaming. I turn around and there is spit/phlegm (we hope) dripping off her arm and hand. This was the first time during the trip that neither of us was carrying anti-bacterial wipes (an oversight that will NOT occur again), and we had the hardest time finding a place where she could clean up.

We ended up in this big building that had a German restaurant on one level, and a fancy coffee shop on the 2nd. We decided to skip the water puppets and retreat into air-conditioned westerness... I had spaghetti and a green salad. She had steak. We drank pints of German lager.

I feel on-kilter today, so hopefully yesterday was just an aberration. However... we're waiting for our city tour to pick us up and they are very late. Hanoi just isn't winning me over.

I realize that most of this is ludicrously insignificant, and just a result of travelling for so long. It's just lucky that this wasn't our first experience with Vietnam...

Unfortunately I think we have to drop Laos from the itinerary. Due to flight schedules--when we can leave Hanoi and when we need to get to Bangkok--we would basically pay at least $300 extra to spend maybe 1.5 days in one town. Since there are so many great things to see up in the north of Vietnam, we're probably going to stay and go to Sapa for 2 days (in the mountains), and Halong Bay for 2 days as well.

Ho Chi Minh City

Ho Chi Minh City/Saigon was a lot of fun. We met this very nice girl from Switzerland named Stephanie on the bus and we all spent the rest of the day together afterwards--dinner, fixing her hotel fiasco, and then met the 2 Israeli guys from the day before for drinks later on.

The highlight of the city tour was the War Remnants Museum. Not because it was a fabulous museum, but because it was so unsettling and upsetting and informative. Granted, many of the exhibits would have a different slant if the museum was located elsewhere, but it was incredibly moving.

Every generation partakes in events that shock and mortify the subsequent generations, and can be reevaluated and criticized in retrospect, and yet the terrible cycle continues. My generation can condemn what our country did in Vietnam, your generation can remember how difficult that time was, and yet here we are again. Iraq, Afghanistan... we shake our heads and mutter "never again" about the Holocaust, and Cambodia, and Rwanda, and yet there's Darfur. It's frustrating and humbling, and you just don't know what to do, and you realize that your paralysis--in the aggregate--is why these things keep happening.

The pictures were horrible. People who were showered with napalm, children born affected, deformed, by agent orange, a family about to be executed (by forces working with the Americans) with the caption that the photographer had asked the soldiers to wait to kill them until he had taken a photo. It's all too horrible to imagine, even as you're seeing the photos of carnage, and it seems unreal.

It made me think of my September 11th experience. I wasn't in the US when it happened, and seeing the photos and the footage for the first time, 2 weeks later, on Senegalese television in French, made it seem like a bad action movie. I couldn't grasp it, and while the memories of that time and the images still affect me, I think it is in a different way than everyone who woke up that morning to the footage on television, or even worse the people in New York and Washington that saw it all unfold before their eyes and had to flee.

There were 2 exhibits that shook and unsettled and upset me more than the rest, even though they were less graphic, I think because they somehow were more accessible to my conceptual understanding of the world and what I've experienced. 1) There was a whole exhibit dedicated to the 130-odd journalists who were killed in action, which included several photos that were the last photos taken with their cameras. Most of them weren't photos of anything, so you knew that as they died their fingers still released the shutter. 2) There was a wall with the details of the massacre that former Sen. Bob Kerrey was involved with. That had me reeling for a long time. I remember vaguely when the details of that came out, and when he "confessed" his involvement back in 2000--maybe during the election? But I never knew the specifics. Seeing the photos and reading about what happened (granted, it might have been slanted, but still...) I just don't know how to process that. Here is a respected statesman, who was elected by the American people, who did things that I like to believe no normal person could do, things that don't even begin to make sense.

And I know that's hopelessly naive. I can't even pretend to understand war. But attaching a face I at least know of, to a situation I can't begin to comprehend... it shook me. And as much as it's tempting to condemn I feel such incredible sorrow for everyone involved in the whole war--that they had to experience and live that, and live with the legacy.

Anyway, the rest of our stay in Ho Chi Minh City was nice. What astounds me more and more, the more I think about it, is how friendly everyone is, and how resilient the country and the people are. Stephanie--who has dual US/Swiss citizenship asked us that first morning how it was traveling on a US passport, and to be honest we hadn't even thought of it. We have not encountered ANY anti-American hostility yet (knock wood).

Of course, that might be because people think I'm Vietnamese (!?!?!?!?!) I'm not joking--one woman in Cambodia thought I was Cambodian, and since we've been in Vietnam 2 or 3 people have asked if I was Vietnamese. One woman was telling us how she went to high school with a man who was half-American and half-Vietnamese, and looked at me and said "like you." It must be the dark hair and eyes...

We left Ho Chi Minh City the night of Sept. 10 by overnight (15 hours) train to Danang (north of Hoi An). The train ride was fine, but we're flying to Hanoi! Once was enough.

Our hotel in Hoi An is beautiful--it has a pool and a garden and very nice room and bathroom and it only costs $18/night for the room. Hoi An is a world heritage historic city and I'd love to say that we've seen all the sights, but honestly most of our time has been spent in various stages of undress at tailor shops.

We've each gotten a ton of clothes made--2 three piece suits each, a bunch of button down shirts, a dress each, some other tops, etc. the tailoring is pretty high quality, and the prices are great. You know you've provided good business though when the tailor shop pays for your taxi there and back, and then feeds you!!! The ladies at our main shop ordered us a traditional Hoi An dinner the other night, which was delicious.

We decided we needed to actually see more of Hoi An so we spent yesterday afternoon and part of today walking around the town, which is very picturesque and lovely with small alleys and colorful buildings, a river, and beautiful lanterns.

This morning we took a trip out to My Son, which is an hour away and has ruins dating back to the 7th century. Very beautiful, but after you've spent 2 days at the Angkor temples in Cambodia nothing else really compares.

Anyway, we have to get to one last fitting, and then to packing...

Vietnam...part 3

Sorry... it's been a tiring few days and I just haven't felt like typing, especially with slow internet, etc.

After our day trip in Ho Chi Minh, we took a boat tour in the Mekong Delta. It was nice to be out of the city, it was relaxing and quite pretty. We saw how coconut candy and rice paper are made, heard some local music, etc.

We spent our last day in Saigon just walking around, shopping, etc. and then hopped on an overnight train to Danang. The train wasn't too bad... we had our own cabin for 1/2 the way, we both slept a lot, and the scenery was very beautiful. However, the conductor was heavy handed with the break, and my body is still kind of stiff and sore.

We got into Hoi An yesterday late afternoon, wandered around, and began the search for a good tailor. It's a very small town, anD there are 300 tailoring shops!!!

We're actually off to one now...

Vietnam.., continued

Yesterday we took a city tour all day, saw a few temples, pagodas, the
catholic cathedral, the post office, the reunification palace
(basically a glorified conference center... do you think if it was
called the New Orleans Palace they would have been more concerned
about evacuating all those trapped there during Katrina?), and the War
Crimes museum--now called the "War Remnants" something or other to be
more politically correct and I suppose less offensive to the American
tourists.

There's a lot to write, but our breakfast is on the table and we are
jumping on a bus to take a boat tour of the Vekong Delta in 15 minutes
so i've got to go. more tonight...

Saigon

This morning we took a bus from Phnom Penh to Saigon (aka Ho Chi Minh City). The bus was nearly identical to the bus that we took from Siem Reap to Phnom Penh, including duration (~6 hours) with two very important differences: 1) We were seated way in the back this time, so we were relatively clueless as to how many moto drivers, bicyclists, cattle, and pedestrians we nearly killed, and as to how many times we veered dangerously near to not actually being on the road. 2) This bus did NOT utilize the dvd/tv set up, so we were thankfully NOT subjected to 6 hours of bad Cambodian karaoke videos and weird sketch comedy shows. (also thankfully, on the last bus no one sang along. I would say that I cannot even imagine the torture that would have been, except I kind of can since the girl at the internet cafe last night was wearing headphones and singing along with the karaoke on the computer screen. odd).

When we got on the bus we gave the bus operator (not the driver) our passports so he could do our paperwork. Very convenient, and I appreciate the service, but I wonder if the fact that my entry card is "signed" IGE will come back to haunt me...(the last three letters of my middle name of all things... JoAnn's is similarly signed "Meri" which is actually her whole middle name). I think the whole name order thing confuses them as much as it does us.

We did actually have to get off the bus and go into the border station, but I really think that was only so that we could pay our 10 cents entry tax, because our operator handled our passports and got everything stamped and then called our names (Paige? Meri?) and herded us through to the pay booth.

Once in Saigon we went to our hotel, the Ngoc Dang (pronounce that!), which has a bootleg CD/DVD store downstairs (any requests? seriously... even movies currently in the theater). Our room is large, has a spotless bathroom, a fridge, satellite tv (including a few English channels), and is only costing us $16 night, total.

Granted, the beds are incredibly firm and we're on the 4th or 5th floor and there is no elevator, but it's very very very nice.

We were kind of exhausted from the past week, so we took naps and just chilled for a few hours. then we went to dinner, booked a city tour for tomorrow, and went for a few drinks.

Our hotel, in addition to being both nice and cheap, is also in the backpackers haven. tons of restaurants, bars, hotels, guest houses, and shops, all within a few blocks.

We started out at this very western-esque bar where the beers were 25,000 dong (~$1.70), and where our waiter asked if we were lesbians, said I looked like Katie Holmes, and then told us a few kind of dirty jokes. we were about to call it a night when these two guys came over and started talking to us and asked if we wanted to walk down the street to a local establishment with them. Since we've really only talked to ourselves and service sector personnel, we said sure!

We ended up a block down the street where the tables were on the sidewalk, there were Chihuahua puppies on the way to the bathroom (you essentially walked through someone's living room I think, but it was all high ceilings, marble floors, and very open), and a litre of beer was 7000 dong (less than 50cents).

Our drinking companions were very 2 very nice Israeli guys in their mid 20s. They've been travelling for like 8 months!!!!

Both have finished their military service, and one just graduated law school like us and has a job awaiting him back in Israel, and the other is a ski instructor. (who knew there was a mountain that gets snow in Israel? not me...)

We also ran into this Japanese guy who speaks Hebrew, English, French, and who knows what else, who had been at the same restaurant as us for dinner, and who knew the 2 guys from meeting them yesterday. Small world.

We had great travel convos, steered clear of politics, and parted ways since we all have early morning plans.

Tomorrow JoAnn and I are taking a city tour of Saigon. we're going to take a Mekong Delta day tour the following day, visit the tunnels of the Viet Cong the next morning, and hopefully head up to Hoi An by train that afternoon.