The Final, Much Delayed Entry!

Wow, this is SO incredibly late! Suffice to say that things went HELLA crazy on those last few days in India.

One thing I've learned from the trip is NO ONE escapes the dreaded the Delhi Belly before they leave, and just a few hours after I posted my last entry on this blog, I discovered I wasn't an exception.

I blame the condiments at McDs. I guess in some effort to save on costs, they ask that you don't throw away your extra ketchup packages when you finish, but return them to be reused instead. Fair enough. My grandparents used to do the same thing at their restaurant; the difference being that they CLEANED the packs before handing them out again. In India ( or at least agra) I don't think they do, so that when I opened a pack with my teeth(STUPID!), I think I contracted something.

The result? 4 days of laying in hotel beds and wishing I was dead. High fever and constant diarrhea forced Suji to call the doctor, and then I got the antibiotics my body sorely needed. Unfortunately, I was so sick that I was confined to a Delhi hotel for my last few days and had to cancel the Calcutta lag of the trip.

All is well now, and new health problems aside, I did survive!

It's kind of a shame that it happened, but at the same time I'm glad it occurred at the end of the trip rather than the beginning...it seems like I always get sick at the end of trips lol.

Anyway, I still had a wonderful time throughout my travels in India, and it's definitely on the cards to go back some day soon.

Great place, wonderful people, interesting culture. If there's one regret I have about this trip, it's that 21 Days just wasn't enough

Life blood

Thought for the day

Save water, save yourself. Something like this is found in every hotel bathroom I've been in. I guess to remind us to conserve water.

Reality. You have to run water for 10mins< to have a 5 min shower with hot water.

Anyone else see the contradiction?

Agra-vating

Today was our Agra tour, and not wanting to be tired or cranky by the time we went, we opted to visit the Taj Mahal first.

Another short, impolite pat down later we were there; walking down that same photo opt lane that everyone sees in their pictures.

Our guide gave us some info on the site itself, but like always= info in -> info out. I just want my picture dammit!


Damn You Apecture Shooting!

We do our history lesson like good little tourists and walk around, takings pics of the main building, the four towers, and the mosque and guest house on the opposite sides.

The grave itself, belonging to the wife (Mumtaz Shah) of the king who built it, is underground and can't be seen. In the temple, though, they've set up a mock grave that you can walk around and see. No photos though..for some reason.

After seeing it...I wasn't as blown away as I thought I'd be. I'm probably at sightseeing fatigue now, but I didn't get the "wowz" that I was hoping for.

It's still a beautiful place, but doesn't live up to the hype for me.

It was about 1pm now, time flew inside, so we went for a quick curry and then onto our final stop: Agra Fort.

It was another fort. Not a lot to say. There were two interesting things for me, tho.

First, this is where the king was held after he wanted to bankrupt the country building the black Taj Mahal - his own grave. Apparently his son locked hm in the fort after he wouldn't agree to stop building. Not to say the place was a jail, it's still a palace, and the king was placed in a part of the fort where he could still see the monument to his dead wife.

The second thing about the fort are the animals. Like everywhere in India the place has monkeys, but it also has chipmunks. Best of all, the chipmunks are tame and will climb into your hands if you feed them! It tickled!

They don't even poop in your hand!

Upon finishing the fort, we said bye to our guide and his plethora of facts, and then came back to the hotel for a rest. As this trip gets longer I'm finding naps are essential.

Being Valentines Day, Suji and I decided to go see a Bollywood movie, something she's wanted to do together for a while now. We chose a romcom based off the movie "What Happens in Vegas", and even tho it was in Hindi I really liked it.

The plot wasn't that hard to figure out, and Suji was there to translate. We also bought the best seats in the theater , recliners, so the whole thing was great. Definitely my favorite part of the day. Sorry taj :(.

Tomorrow is our last day as we head back to Delhi. Thursday, Suji flies out and I go to Kolkata for my last two days.

Hard to believe my 21 days is almost up!

City of God/City of Sin

Quick stop in Mathura today before heading onto Agra for the night. Mathura is the supposed birthplace of Krisnha - the Hindu Jesus, and has a very Mecca-Ish feel to it. It's also the capital of the Hare Krisnhas - you know, the guys in the airport who try to sell you flowers?

So, before going to the main temple, we stopped at a few smaller ones for photos. The thing that surprised me about the city was how aggressive the touts are.

We were stopped at a train crossing for about 15 mins, and through that time "guides" kept coming up to our car and pestering us for tours. In every other city I've been to, you say no and they will (eventually) walk away, but here they put their hands in your car so you can't drive away, follow you when you try to get out, and even open your car door!

The 3 experiences we had with them were enough to give me a bad vibe about the city.

Then we reached the temple. This place supposedly has the rock that Krishna was born on, and because it's such a holy place security is very tight: no cameras, phones, or other electronic devices are allowed in, and before you do go in, you're patted down twice.

Whites beware: the second pat down is very personal, especially if you stand out.

After you get in, the first thing you'll notice are all the guards standing around with their assault rifles. Like I said, the place is protected.

Suji went to the main temple and said her prayers, and then deposited a gift of money, which she was told not to give to the priest because they tend to take it for themselves.

Finally, after that, we went down a long tunnel to the chamber that held the stone. It was very intricately carved, but after a minute the priest drew a curtain for prayers. Exit me. Stage right.

When Suji finished her prayers we walked around some more and got some lassi - Krisnhas favorite drink, apparently. Our driver gave us a quick history lesson about Krishna and then we made our way back to the car...followed by more touts of course.

We later found out that these guides spend all their money drinking and are, essentially, beggars.

The whole time we were there, I was surprised; it's really sad that this is how corrupt such a holy place could be become.

Repose in Reshikesh

A light day today.

After the whirlwind of rituals and driving yesterday, I woke up pretty exhausted.

Sadly, more touring.

We met our new guide early in the morning, and the day started out bleak...these guides, why am I paying them again?

We took our car down the hill of the hotel that we were staying on to a small ashram at the bottom. Ashrams, to my understanding, are like boarding schools: you stay there with the yogis and learn meditation and yoga. At most this is taught free of charge, and you get a free room too, while at others you pay a small fee, but nothing too high(1-200 rupees).

So we went to this place to see the altar of some very famous yogi - I don't remember the name. I said before how I feel uncomfortable faking ceremony in religion, and that was apparently very evident here, as I was told I had to meditate and then get the blessing of a priest. Again, I don't believe in this stuff so I hate having to pretend I do.

We did  that, longest 20 mins of my life, then the guide takes Suji to another temple while I wait outside. Lol, this will become a recurring theme for the day.

After the ashram, the day began to improve as we were taken to the heart of the town, and had to cross a suspension bridge. The bridge was very narrow and went across the Ganges- stunning views of the river and Himmialya mountains.

The bridge is supposedly only for foot traffic, but that didn't stop motorbikes and horse arts from using it as well. As a result, it's a bit crowded, but still a great place to be.

From there we arrived on the other river bank and, of course, did more temple hopping.

It was fine, tho, Suji visited them and I relaxed outside. One thing I learned today: cows like coffee. I had a cup in my hand, and one cow was following me all over, trying to take it; at one point even rubbing his head against me to try to steal it.

Of course cows aren't the worst thieves there: monkeys are. Reshikesh is crawling with the buggers, and they steal food every chance they get.

Earlier in the day we saw a baby monkey staking out a fruit cart, just waiting for the vendor to look away. Of course, the moment he did the monkey darted in and got a once grape before he was shooed off.

Don't be fooled by the cuteness - They WILLfuck you up!

Later in the day I had my own encounter as a monkey knocked a bag of chips out of my hand while I was trying to take a picture. I tried to shoo him away, but he wasn't having any of that and bared his teeth at me in a, "let's go, tough guy" kind of way.

Tempting as a monkey fight was, I let it go and walked away.Yeah, I'm being the bigger primate today.

Other than the temples, the only highlight, besides shopping, was a great 30 min boat ride along the river. It was cool to see everything from the water, and to actually be in the water itself. Everything was so quiet and clean, I was surprised.

After the ride we were taken to some more shops, where I got to see Suji do her bargaining thang, entertainment in itself, and then back to the hotel for a relaxing evening.

It wasn't a long day, but I've really enjoyed my time here and it's another of my favorite places, especially with all the city traveling I've done: it's a nice contrast.

Tomorrow is a stopover in Delhi again, and then back on the road again.

Next stop: Agra!

The Modern Brahmin and The Great Ganga

Finally made it to Reshikesh today, a small town about 300km north of Delhi. It's been an interesting day to say the least.

After 5 hours of driving, we made our first stop 20km before Reshikesh, in a bigger town called Hardiwar. Hardiwar is one of the more important religious places in India because the Ganges passes through it.

We got here just before sundown at around 6pm and met our guide for this leg of the race. He was younger than the last one, seemed more comfortable talking in Hindi than English, and so directed most of his attention to Suji and not me.

He offered Suji the chance to do pujah (prayers) with a Brahmin (priest) on the Ganges, and she agreed. We were then taken across a bridge over the river, which is just breath takingly beautiful, and met a guy dressed in hipster clothes who introduced himself as the priest.

He took Suji down to the water, and together they discussed prayer packages: yes, there are different types of prayer/offerings you can buy, apparently. Having settled that, he was off for a bit and left us to soak the atmosphere in.

The place is amazing.

Hindus believe that the "Ganga" Is sacred, and that when you stand or bathe in, you can wash away your sins. At this location in India the water is coming straight from the Himmialyas, and so is much cleaner than other places like Varanasi in the south.

There are Brahmins everywhere, sitting on makeshift tables and each with his own alter to various gods. My understanding is people come to these priest and pay them to say a prayer for themselves, family, and friends. I don't know where the money goes, but I'm pretty sure its not to these guys- they definitely don't look to be rolling in the dough. Also, and this was part of Sujis package, you can pay to feed them as they don't buy their own meals. It's something like 50 rupees for one Brahmins dinner, which is usually some daal and rice.

Anyway, our guy comes back and takes Suji down into the river. There, he starts chanting the prayers and making the offerings, along the way asking for information about family and relationships to pray, accordingly.

Interesting fact: boyfriend/girlfriends are looked down upon in India, and Suji was asked whether I was her friend or fiancé. I went with friend since it seemed closer, but the guy apparently was unsatisfied and reminded her that you can't tell lies in the holy water (lol).

So he finishes with her, and then gets me to come down.

Now, I am fine with other peoples religious views, and don't mind watching ceremonies, but I get uncomfortable when they want me to participate. I'm not Hindu, don't believe in god, and feel like I'm demeaning the rites when I participate - its pure lip service to me, so why should I insult the people's views like that?

I still did it.

Thankfully, I got the cliffnotes prayer (Sujis took 15 mins, mine 5), but still had to stand in the water, which, let me tell you, in February is dead freezing. The guy asked me to keep the river in my mind as he prayed, and as cold as it was, there was no way I WASNT being reminded of where I stood.

So he says the prayers, and then at one hilarious point while in mid prayer, takes a tablet out of his jacket and checks it quickly, puts it back and finishes. The modern Brahmin knows how to multitask!

The ceremony ends with an offering to the river: a banana leaf-like boat carrying a candle, which is pushed out and sails down the river.

Then, while waiting for the goodies bag that accompies the prayers, the best part of the night happens.

Every evening, as the sun goes down, the priest perform the aarti - a fire ritual, where lamps soaked in ghee (curd) are lit on the shores of the Ganges and prayers are sung as they slowly burn out.

It's an experience.

The whole crowd becomes involved, singing the prayers, horns bellowing in the background.The priests offer the fire, swinging it up and down along the water, probably 20+ fires in all. The ghee is also scented, giving off a fairly sweet aroma.

People come down and hold the lamps, singing along, and then receive a blessing from the priest after. It's probably the closest I've come to a full on religious experience.

I absolutely loved it.

Things settled down then, and after some quick stall shopping, we were off to Reshikesh and a much needed rest at our hotel. Tomorrow we get to see more of this beautiful place and the Ganges.

Can't wait!

Distance is Relative

You don't appreciate how good highways are back home until you've been to India.

In Canada, if the sign says 300km to your destination, you know you've got a 3ish hour trip ahead of you. Maybe less, no more.

Here, with narrow roads, lax traffic laws, and people/pedestrians who constantly run across the road, 300km can = 6+ hours of travel. It's seriously like a game of frogger here, and my respect for our driver has doubled after seeing what he has to put up with on the road.

Still, you'll never appreciate how long those last 10km of a trip can be til youve been down an Indian highway.

They say time is relative, but spend some of it here and you may start to disagree...

Delhi Daze

Hey Delhi! Why so serious?

Woke up this morning and transferred to my new hotel to start the official second half of this trip.

Checked in and waited for Suji to arrive- we decided to meet up here in Delhi and do an 8 day tour of the mid-northern part of the country together. Of course she was jet lagged after her flight, and I was wrecked after all this traveling so the night was spent quietly watching Hindi spiderman on the Hindi Disney network. Suji passed out earlier than me so I made a quick Mickey Ds run for more Maharajah goodness. Came back and also passed out.

The next day we were up bright and early as we met our tour guide in the lobby and waited to be wowed by Delhi. At least, that's what we hoped for.

The tour started off at a huge Mosque called Jama Masjid - the largest mosque in India. The guide, like most tour guides, was fairly unhelpful and directed us inside where we were left to our own devices. There's a courtyard in the center of the complex, and in the middle is a large pool where people could cleanse themselves before going in the main temple - of course judging from what I could see, it was mostly used as a thing for people to sleep on.

Don't be fooled: It's not as interesting as it looks.

The temple itself isn't that impressive. It's big, but hollow, and since there were no prayers at the time we went: very empty.

We found out that for an extra 100 rupees you could climb up to the top of the left miranet to get a good view of the city. After paying ( and discovering women weren't allowed to go alone) , we climbed up the 100+ spiraling stairs and made it to the top. The whole tower was very small, maybe 2 meters wide, and the top wasn't much better. Add in three other tourists and the place was very cramped. The view was nice, though, and you could see the whole city so it was definitely worth it.

After descending, we met up with our guide again and took a short drive to Rajghat,the burial place of Ghandi.

Just hanging with Ghandi...nothing to see here.

Our guide told us that in Hinduism, when the person dies, the body is always cremated and then the ashes (should be) spread on the Ganges. That being the case, Ghandis body isn't here, but this is where he was cremated.

The burial site itself is in a national cemetery, where the VIPs of India are laid to rest. Ghandi has his own acre, it seems, and you follow a long path down to either go directly around the marker, or see it from a route above. The place itself is very quiet and peaceful- a lot like the cemeteries back home. We've all heard the name of course, but here in India Ghandi is revered and you can see the respect the Indians have when they stand next to, and pray at the grave. Just ignore the obnoxious people like me taking photos beside it.

After the cemetery, As we were heading back to the car we came across the oddest thing. Suji noticed him first. It was a snake charmer! This was one of the things I'd wanted to see before I got here, someone who plays the flute and had a cobra come out of a basket.

It's all fun and games until I get poisoned!

It cost me 200 rupees, but I got to see it and hold the cobra as well - one of the scariest things I've ever done! Totally worth the money

From there, we were taken to the Gate of India: Delhi, which frankly wasn't as impressive as Mumbais, and then quickly drove passed the parliament and presidents home before having lunch at a very posh (and touristy) restaurant. This is where things started to go downhill with the guide, as we were clearly being taken to places where the guide was getting commissions. Worse, the food at the restaurant wasn't that great and ended up costing us 2000 rupees - the most expensive meal I've had in India yet!

From there it was a quick stop at the lotus temple- a giant lotus shaped hall where people practised meditation. There were too many people trying to get in, tho, so we settled for a photo opt and left.

The tour ended with shop after shop of things we didn't want to buy. Suji wanted to go to a local market and find some things, but the guide kept taking us to "his" places, which were government approved (read:expensive) and only had touristy junk. In fact, i think the only reason he took us to the last place was so he could get a ride home.

Suffice to say, we weren't pleased with how our day in Delhi went and for the guide that = no tip.

It was about 6 at this point, and the day just kept getting busier as we made our way out to a suburb of Delhi, sans guide, to visit the Kingdom of Dreams.

The KoD is kind of like a very concentrated broadway complex, and features India's first and only Bollywood musical, Zangoora.

First, let me say that the place is REALLY tacky. Before the show starts you can go into this large shopping arcade which is done up like different parts of India; think disney world in a street. On the bottom floor you can get foods from around the country at various cafeterias - I got momos from a Rajahstani place that came with the spiciest sauce I've had here yet!

On the top floor are shops where you can buy more touristy stuff but at exhubarant prices. Actually, the prices weren't so bad but the way you had to buy things was.

The whole complex uses a card system, where you had to put a balance on a debit card and pay. It was really annoying- we wanted food and were wiling to pay cash, but no! We had to run around trung to find a stall that issued these cards instead. Horrible way to do business.

Anyway, we browsed the arcade for an hour or so until it was finally time to go in for the show. We took our seats, which were actually perfect, and waited for it to start.

Now, I didn't know how this was going to go, all I knew about it wad that it would be in Hindi and there would be singing. That's all. Honestly I was expecting to be bored.

I wasn't.

The story is about a prince who is rescued from his palace on the night of his parents assassination and taken in and raised by gypsies. As he gets older he becomes the typical Han Solo-lovable rogue and falls in love with a princess whom he must eventually save and win back his kingdom from the man who took it. Typical fantasy story.

Along the way, there's lots of singing and dance numbers, all of which put west end/broadway to shame, ad well ad great wire work and special effects.

I loved it.

It was definitely an Indian experience, and even though I didn't understand what they were saying, all the bollywood theatrics (along with Sujis translating) made it an exciting time.

The best part for me? At the end, rather than take a boring bow and curtain close, the actors actually do a closing dance routine and try to get some audience participation from the crowd. The music and dance is so enthralling that even I wanted to get up and join in( i didnt).

It was a great time; definitely a highlight for the trip.

When the musical ended it was past 10, and being an hour out if the city proper, we got in our car and our driver brought us back to the hotel. Reading it now, it doesn't look like we did much, but this was one of the fullest days I've had here, and I'm exhausted. The next 7 days promise to bring me more of the same...

Next up: Reshikesh!

What? No Tip?

I just got back from a day of light shopping and had my first Delhi rip off experience.

I needed to visit an HSBC to withdrawal some money - there are other banks around here, but I'm getting tired of the 500 rupee surcharge they take, as well as the 10,000 rupee limits. So my bank is on Connaught Street, which is in the hub of the shopping distinct, and since I needed a new coat as well, I figured I'd go over and kill two monkeys with one banana.

But this is Delhi. Home to bloodthirsty cabbies who prey on tourists for every cent. I certainly wasn't going to be one of their victims! I'll be smrt! I'll have the hotel call me a cab!

This is usually the best way to get transport somewhere since the hotel supposedly has your concerns at heart. Of course it doesnt always work that way.

I should've known I waxing for a ride (hehe) when I told that the cabbie was going to charge me for a return trip regardless of what I wanted, and that the "best" choice would just be to hire him for the day. The ride cost 550 rupees, or about $6. Coming from the land of $20 fares, it didn't bother me that much. It was annoying, but not worth fighting over. I DID get annoyed when I off handedly said the fare was expensive and the manager replied, " not really." I'd like to him pay that kind of price for a short trip, but whatever.

So I agreed and took the cab to Connaught street. The very beginning of it, apparently.

We get there, the cabbie pulls onto the OPPOSITE side of the road and points down the way and tells me thats where the bank is. Even after I asked him to drive me down there, he refused (another tip off), and so I paid (stupid) and set off down the street.

A minute or so later, when I didn't see the bank, I asked for directions and was told there was no HSBC! The cabbie had screwed me over.now, this could have been really bad; being lost in a strange city with no idea where you are. But thankfully I'd used google maps to map out the route before I left the hotel.

Google maps is awesome, it has an offline GPS that tells you where you (providing you downloaded your city map first), and you can use it to navigate to places you want to go (walking, bus, or car), which I did.

I found out I was about 1 km away from where I wanted to be, and thanks to that map, made my way there none the worse for wear. I got my money, bought a jacket, and had a nice afternoon walking around the district, which is definitely more upscale than I'm used in India.

When it was time to come back, I smartened up and took a pedicab which was a quarter of the first price, came back to the hotel and complained. Fortunately the manager seemed a bit shocked and called the guy up. Not sure how things will play out now, but hopefully there's an apology coming my way.

All in all an interesting day, saved thanks to google maps! Glad I didn't leave home without it!

On a side note, what was that guy thinking? If this wasn't a scam in cahoots with the hotel, then why would he do something so stupid? I mean the manger used his cell to call the guy so obviously he or the company is getting some business thrown their way from this hotel. Why would you burn that bridge and scam a person whose obviously going to go back to the hotel and report you?

Makes no sense.

Pink City Blues

I arrived in Delhi last night after spending two days in Jaipur, the capital of Rajahstan. I was expecting my trip there to be one of the high points of the holiday...I was wrong.

After my twelve hour bus ride which, aside from having to stopping the bus to pee and stepping in shit, went well, I arrived in Jaipur at 5:30am. I grabbed an autorickshaw and paid a cutthroat price of 100 rupees to get my hotel...and that's where it all went wrong.

Hotels have a responsibility, not just as a place to sleep safely, but also to represent the place that youve just arrived in. In most cases they'll actually be your first contact with the people/customs of said place and shouldn't take that lightly.

I was stuck waiting outside in the cold, at 5:30 in the morning alone. For 30 mins. Great first impression.

In fact the ONLY reason I got in at all was another guess had woken early and got the management to let me in. From there things got worse.

Too tired (bus lagged?) to go out that day, I decided to spend the day in. The room that I was given was WAY too cold though; the reason being there was no insulation around the bathroom fan, which allowed the cold air in. Even with three blankets and a heater I was still cold, but at least managed to sleep thru it.

At around 1 I woke up and "enjoyed" a 3 minute hot shower. 3 min because the hot water ran out after that. Almost shaking to death, I got dressed and went to the restaurant for some food. Now in the last place, the food had been great, so I was a bit more adventurous and ordered a cheese curry, naan, and cheese appetizer. I was sick for the rest of the day, and didn't dare touch any other food from the place.

Later in the evening I wanted to be proactive and asked the hotel to book some train tickets to Delhi for me on the 7th. Now, I've had no problems doing this in ANY of the other hotels I've stayed at - most have been more than happy to arrange transport. Not here. After hemming and hawing, they finally tried to do it....and failed. It took an hour.

I still don't know why it took them so long to basically do nothing, but it did. Exasperated, I went to bed.

The next day I went sightseeing. On my own. I didn't trust the hotel to hire a guide/driver for me like I did with the other places I visited, so I decided to forge out on my own. The comedy of errors continues.

To say that Indian streets are laid out chaotically would be unfair to chaos. You might not be aware of it, but in the western world our cities are laid in grid patterns, with the streets being connected in square like patterns. It's a testament to the city first, people later type of development. In India the people were here first, so the cities have had to grow around them. What's resulted from this is a maze like set of roads, where a round turn winds you up in a dead end staring at an angry cow (true story). With no help, and poor direction sense it's no surprise that I got lost.

Not to say being least is a bad thing; it's usually times like this when you stumble onto things the guidebooks miss, and while I didn't find any hidden temples or shifty bazaars, I did get some nice exposure to daily city life. On my misadventure I got to see men doing their daily jobs (a surprising amount of welding), women doing the house chores in wonderfully brilliant saris; it's a strange contrast there, the saris are vibrant reds and beautiful, but the women wearing them are in drab, Impoverished looking places. And animals... So many animals. And not just the cows and street dogs that I'm getting used to: Jaipur has pigs, goats and Monkeys walking the street! The goats were cute,especially with the bleating they do, but let me tell you how surreal it is the first time you see a monkey hanging on telephone wire! "we're not in Kansas anymore toto!"

So after about two hours of being lost, I finally meet up with a pedicab driver who offers to take me to the City Palace, the place I want to go. Of course when I ask for a price I get the worse thing you want to hear, "Up to you,"

"up to you" usually means, "I'm going to ass rape you on the price whitey", and its never a good idea to get into any transport with that sentence hanging in the air. Why? Because no matter what you might think is a fair price, the driver is going to double it. Unfortunateoy, after two hours of walking i was getting tired and annoyed, and so a short bike ride and 200 rupee fare later, I arrived at the city palace.

The palace itself, is still apparently home to the royal family, and because of that a lot of it is sectioned off. You pay the fare, go through a gate, and then your faced with a large courtyard where apparently dignitaries were met. Judging from all the saddles I saw, this seemed like more of a garage, so I went thru the second gate to another courtyard which held an entrance to the throne room to the left, and a small pavilion dead center.

The pavilion was interesting only because it held 2 giant pots that were made of thousands of boiled down silver coins. They were big. Wow. The throne room was alright, but no photography was allowed, which was annoying. I get that you can't take photos of paintings because the flash damages the paint, but why not this room? Reverence? Please, if there was a respect for the station they would have a cafeteria next to the pavillion or be charging admissions. Stupid rule.

Back outside the third gate takes you into the last courtyard with three areas to see: a textile museum( clothes the royalty wore), a demonstration workshop, or as I like to call them " try before you have to buys", and an armory.

The textile museum was boring to me, just because I don't find clothes that interesting. I'm sure afficandoes would love it...I'm just thankful it was ceramics. *yawn*

I opted not to go to the workshop just because I had no desire to be pressured to buy something that day, and ANY time you see the word workshop you WILL be pressured to buy!

The armory wad probably the most interesting, and the collection of weapons was huge. For me the most interesting thing were the guns. The Maharaj was a fan of them apparently and put them on everything: swords, hatchets, punch daggers...it was a gunblade fans wet dream!

From there the tour was finished! And the next stop was Jantar Mantar - the kings observatory, directly across the street. I went in and was impressed by how beautiful it was. Across the very green laws were huge sculptures that actually turned out to be giant instruments for studying astronomy. There was an audio guide for 150 rupees that I passed up, which I really shouldn't have. The information on the exhibits was very math heavy, and not having a head for that, i didn't understand a lot. I think the audio guide could have cleared things up more. It was distill a relaxing place, and a nice respite from all the noise of the city.

The final destination for the day was the attraction that most people come to Jaipur to see, Hawa Mahal - the Pink City. If your direction poor like me, you're going to have some problems finding the place, but its really simple. From Jantar just follow the road all the way up and towards the miranet in the distance. Go through the gate and turn left. Follow the road until you see the sign for the place. Youve gone too far if you come to the roundabout.

I went too far the first time. On the plus side I got a nice picture of the honey combed front that way!

The name itself is a bit misleading. It's not so much the link city as the pink building, with brownish buildings beside it. It was built for the royal ladies as a way for them to watch the comings and goings if city life in peace. The lower levels are a bit sparse and boring, with two Bowen courtyards in them. One with an empty fountain that needed a good cleaning.

On the left you can find the sloped entrance that leads five stories up to the top of site, with each story having its own level you can stop off at. The entire structure is empty, save for a concession stand at the bottom, so once you've seen one floor, you've seen them at. The top is interesting in that it's where all the honeycombs are, and is really just a photo opt for yourself, nothing more. Crowds make the place slightly dangerous, too, as people jostle to get by you for their photos.

I took a few of the building + some monkeys across the way and left. Slightly disappointed by what I'd seen.

After that, I wad done with the sightseeing. I'd seen the big three, and after the bad morning, had had enough.

I made my way to MI street, a street of shops, for some lunch at Mickey Ds (maharajah Mac!) and then finished the day with a trip to lassiwala - the oldest lassi shop in town. Lassi would be the equivalent of a yoghurt milkshake- thick and very sweet, they provide a nice contrast to the spiciness of curry. The lassis at this shop come in jumbo sizes of plain, banana, and mango.i got the plain, which was served in a giant clay cup, and was surprised by how tasty it was. This place easily makes the best lassi I've had in India so far. Price is good too, being 35 rupees for one (about .75 cents).

From there I took another pedicab back to the hotel and tried again to book my train ticket. It's ironic that while their wifi was good, their cable connection sucked, and the computer was horribly virus ridden.

Giving up on the train, I asked them to book a bus ticket for me and was told, " Sure, the bus station is down the road. Just walk about five mins and you'll be there." customer service is not this hotels string suit.

Yes, I get that I sound lazy not wanting to walk the 5 mins and take care of things myself, but I'm on holiday and was hoping for a bit of hotel convienece. In fact, the other hotels I stayed in which were 4x cheaper than one, readily did all this menial stuff for me. To me that's why it's a holiday: so I don't have to do this crap myself.

Frustrated after that, I went and booked an early ticket - I wanted out of Dodge as soon as possible. Went back to my room, and watch some stuff on the iPad until it wad time for bed.

The next day I was up and ready to go. Boarded my bus with a package of Masala Magic chips (tres spici!), and did the 7 hour ride to Delhi. Got here at 9 lady night, checked into my hotel and... Wonderful! Everything the Laxmi wasn't, this place was! Great service and a great nights sleep have improved my spirits as Im now in my next hotel waiting until tomorrow, when the second half of my trip begins!

Next up: Delhi tours!

Killing Time in the Khuri

It's quarter to 3 now and I still have 2 hours of waiting before I can go to the bus station for my ride to Jaipur. Waiting sucks.

This morning I went back to the fort and checked out the Jain temples - a series of seven connected temples in the middle of the fort itself. I was hoping that this might kill a few hours, but they were much smaller than I expected and only took 30 mins to see.

After that it was just walking around the markets; fun I'd you plan to buy something, but boring if you don't intend to spend money. I did cave and buy a phone and sim card for an "in case of emergency" kind of thing, but the rest of the time has just been waiting...soon to be followed by sitting.

* for anyone who wants to buy a card and phone in India, it's easy difficult. The phone is no problem and can be bought at a bevy of shops ranging from $3-100s of dollars. The real pain is the sim - the card which locks you into one of Indias mobile networks. To get the sim you must present a copy of your passport, a photo of yourself, as well as a reciept from your hotel. Without even one of these the shop won't sell to you. Fortunately, they're easy to get. Just annoying to find.

Sim cards are availible at all phone shops and most corner stores and Internet cafes. The best two networks are vodaphone and airtel, which apparently have great range over the entire country. Airtel seems to be the best plan, with the Sim and 100 ruppes of talk time costing 500 ruppees. After those minutes have expired, you can top up with cards ranging from 200-1000 rupees.

Even with a lot of wifi options out there, you might find that a phone is a good thing to have.

Surfin' Safari or a Canadian, A Belgian, and an Argentinean walk into the desert one day...

Jaisalmer - The Wall City of the Khuri

Today marks my first week here in India, and my first day back in Jaisalmer.

I arrived earlier yesterday. For those who don't know, Jaisalmer is about 5 hours North of Jodphur by bus, and is most famous for the Kuri Desert around it.

A pretty standard morning - got here early, checked into my hotel and then went to see the local fort (there's always a fort). The old city is located in the fort, and the minute you cross the first gate, you're assaulted by all the shops in the main square. In fact, walking around it seems like there was Nothing but shops and hotels inside. It was a pleasant enough afternoon, but I still say Jophur was better for this kind of thing.

The highlight was having lunch on a roof top at a restaurant called Free Tibet (no political affiliation to my knowledge). Rooftop dinning is really popular in this part of India, and it's definitely something to be experienced. Enjoying a meal while the whole city is laid out in front of you: it's fantastic. This was also my first time trying tibetian food. In this case cheese and onion momos - a kind of steamed dumplings that comes in a marinara sauce. Absolutely delicious and tres filling!

The rooftops of the city

Afterwards I came back to my hotel, the roop mahal, went to bed early as the following day I had to be up early for my next activity.

The desert may be what Jaisalmer is known for, but it's the camel safaris that draw the tourists, and the main reason why I took such an out of the way detour here. You can book tours from 1,2,3 up to 20 days almost anywhere, but the owner of the hotel offered me his tour when I got here. I'm normally wary of this; lots of hotels have shady deals and your normally overcharged for what you get, but this guy was saying all the right things; 2 days/1 night, private camel, lots of blankets, food, and water, and most importantly- NOT the Sam dune ( the place where all the tourists go). Price was good, too, so I signed up.

I left the next morning in a jeep along with 9 other people, of which I was the only one to whom English was a first language. We drove 40km out of the city to the middle of no where where our camels and guides were waiting for us.

With only a small pamphlet that was given to us the night before, and gave us brief instructions on how to ride, we mounted our camels and were off!

I WAY more confident then I felt

Camel riding is ... An experience. You're mounted in a saddle like a horse, but about 3 or 4 feet further off the ground. While the first hour is bearable, soon the saddle is essentially raping you every step. By early today I was almost in tears getting out of the saddle.

For anyone who wants to try one, two words: Icy hot. You'll need it.

That aside, the safari was fantastic. The drivers took us about 20km through the desert. On the way we passed two villages, which were full of kids not afraid to ask for rupees or school pens, and lots of sand.

The Desert

The desert was just amazing. Totally quiet except for the camel bells that ring as they walk, and a surprising amount of wild deer and foxes.

At about 1, when it was the hottest, we took a break in a local sheep pasture and the drivers made us a lovely daal lunch - I'm actually surprised by how well they cooked. Every meal was great and no bad side effects after!

When we finished lunch there was a short siesta, and then we made our way to camp: a beautiful set of sand dunes. Here we got to watch the sun set and then have another great curry. After, just before bed, there was some singing and then camping out under the stars.

The next morning we woke up to chai tea and the sun rising over the hills. After a breakfast of porridge, eggs, and toast we mounted the camels again and made our way back home. 3 excruiating hours later we were under a tree having another dinner, and waiting for the jeep back.

SOOOO CUTE!

I had originally planned on doing a 3 day safari, but after one night it was enough. Saddle sores are very real and there's only so much adventure one can have in a day.

Now I'm back at the hotel, killing time til 5pm tomorrow where I catch a 12 hour bus to Jaipur, the pink city. 12 hours... With a sore ass... Can't wait.

Gems of A One Day Stopover

Jodphur - The Blue City

Left Mumbai earlier today at 10am. I decided to treat myself and spend the last night there at a 4 star hotel. Of course as it turned out, while nice to look at, the cheaper hotel proved better. More helpful, better locale, and wifi that actually worked at 8 times a lower price. Slumming is good, apparently.

So I took my first Indian flight today as well, from Mumbai - Jodphur. At the comedy show the night before they slammed Air India, the company I was flying with, and I really didnt know what to expect. Again, maybe because I live in Vietnam and I'm used to poor service, I was actually impressed by how good they were. Nice, comfy seats, an inflight meal for a 2 hour flight, constant attention from the air hosts...it puts other budget airlines like Airasia to shame!

After the very short flight, I got to Jodphur around 2pm. I arrived at my hotel, the blue house, I which is a lovely B - B (Bed no Breakfast). The hotel is run by the Jain family and their mission is to make you feel like your staying at their home and not a hotel. Mission accomplished. They were so helpful and friendly and it was a joy to stay there.Now Jodphur wasn't even in my original plan, and was intended to be a rest day in the hotel, but I decided to book a tour thru the guest house and see the major sites. Wise decision.

Jodphur is exactly the kind of place you want to see when you go on a holiday. It's a walled city overshadowed by a giant fortress on the far hill, and a small, but still huge palace on the right. The whole city is walled, with a lot of the houses built into those walls. Streets are about 2 meters wide, barely enough for the auto rickshaw I was taking on the tour, and certainly too small when cows, people, or carts blocked the wall. The general vibe of the city was just "exotic", and I could certainly see it being a place where some word blocked writer might go for inspiration.

You get walk up there!....Yay?

My driver, a nice guy who spoke basic English in a very thick Hindi accent, took me first to Merangarh Fort. A giant fortress that served as the Maharajah first home and is built on top of a mountain. The fort was fantastic, and again, you really get that old world India feel as your walking through the rooms. Of course being on a mountain, you can expect a lot of uphill climbing, with no steps either. Just steep uphill incline = me tired.

After that, we went across the way to Jaswant Thada, a cenotaph or small temple made of stone. After all the hecticness of my first three days it was strange to be in this lakeside temple in absolute quiet. Very refreshing.

I'd have been more impressed if they'd let me see more than 2 rooms

From there the last place we went was Ra Ka Bag Palace, the last palace built here. Today, the palace has become a super exclusive hotel, so only a fraction of it has been opened to the general public. Because of that, I was a bit underwhelmed here. Only a small wing was open, and while the Maharaj who built and lived here had an impressive life - it couldn't compare with the places I'd just been.

After we finished the palace, it was getting late, but like any good tour guide, the tour couldn't be completed without a trip to the local markets. I managed to get away from the tailors shop, but wasn't as lucky with the handicrafts shop, and ended up buying a few things that I now regret having to carry for the rest of my trip.

The last stop on the tour made the shopping worthwhile, as I was taken to a local Spice Shop - one that Gordon Ramesay had visited when he came to India last year. That was a lot of fun, as the owner took me through all the spices and teas they made, as well as giving me samples. I kind of let myself go here, and bought a lot including a tea that's supposed to be good for hangovers!

Finally it was getting dark, so we headed back to the guest house where, before going in, I gave the driver a tip of 100 rupees for the trip ( about 2 USD). With a five am wake up for my bus to Jaisalmer, there's not much else I can do except for sleep. Yeah, one stereotype that definitely isn't true of India? It's extremely cold. I'm hunkered down under a very heavy blanket and am still cold. I can't believe it; I thought Canadians were immuned to this!

Tomorrow morning: Jaisalmer!

Mumbai Reports

I finished my time in Mumbai yesterday and made my way to my next destination.

It was an interesting city, and not in a bad way. I met my friend Aru there, and she took me around to see the sights. Best travel trip for anyone who intends to visit another country on their own: Make friends with someone who lives there already. It saves you so much time and energy, not to mention money.

Highlights of Mumbai include:

Now with 20% less Slumdogs!

Visiting the Chhatrapali Shivaji train station - the King's Cross of the city. The station was designed in Victorian style, and the ticket lobby is grandiose to say the least. The charm does fade slightly when you walk out to the platforms and see all the rubbish on the ground (not to mention crows eating dead rats). But it is a nice place. It's also where the train scene at the end of Slumdog Millionaire takes place.

Along with the train visit, I also got a culture lesson, as we took a train to one of its stops and got off. There are supposedly over a billion people in this country, and I believe over half of them were waiting at the station we got off at. Indian trains don't have doors on them, so besides being horribly dangerous, there's also no crowd control. As we arrive at the station, the smart people jumped off first ( while the train was moving no less!). We waited til the train stopped, and almost didn't make it off. The platform was full of people and the moment the train stopped they ALL swarmed to get in. The force was so strong, in fact, that you had to fight to get off before you either got stuck, pinned to the train as it started moving, or tramppled. I walked away with a few light bruises, nut most people seem to do this everyday without killing themselves. Having experienced it, that baffles my mind!

Playing a game of monopoly at some cafe for 3 hours- it really is the simple things that are the most impressive. I lost badly both times, but that was some of the most fun I had in my entire stay there!

I've missed you choloestrol!

Trying my first Indian McDonalds meal. It's exaggerated when they say the entire menu is vegetarian. It's not, and there are plenty of meat options. Just no beef. I had the maharajah burger - the equivalent to a regular Big Mac, but with chicken instead of beef. It was different but good, and I might try it again before I leave.

Going to the comedy store, basically like Second City in the states, and seeing a comedy show. It was very much a "People from Bengal do this" kind of show but still funny. The Irish MC was the high point for me: just because I understood ALL his jokes lol.

Other sites included: the Gates of India, the big attraction to the city but nothing that special to me. The Taj hotel, the oldest in the city and site of the terrorist attacks a few years ago. The hotel was nice, but reminds me too much of the Rex in HCMC. The Beverly Hills of Mumbai. Mumbai is the movie capital of the country, and also it's business center so this is where most of the rich people live. Just like in Hollywood, too, you can see people standing in front of actors homes and taking pictures. Very funny! Probably the most amazing thing I saw was the home of the richest man in India: a skyscraper! The guy built a 60 floor building at seventy million dollars ( now worth a billion) as his own, personal residence. Wow. You want to feel humbled? Go there.

Speaking of humbling, the divide in this city between rich and poor really is apparent, and you do see begging child in most parts of the city. One thing that surprised me were the slums. We took an auto rickshaw out to one and it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. Yes, it was still pretty shabby, but I guess the years of living in Vietnam have gotten me used to such things, because to me it didn't look that bad.

I had to get up pretty early on Tuesday to fly out, but Mumbai turned out to be a lot more interesting than I had expected it to be. Overall, what I thought would be a drab 3 days turned out to be what might be a highlight of the trip!












There's been almost no down time at all since i arrived in India - everyday I'm up up before seven and on my way

Asteroids in Real Life

The inside of an auto-richshaw. Takes notes: You'll be using these a lot!

I have officially arrived in the land of Curry and ... Uh, more Curry. And after the worse luck with my first flight, actually wound up arriving 30 mins early for my Mumbai flight.

Not a lot to report right now, I'm still pretty knocked out from last night, and because I can't sleep on moving vehicles = still going on 3 hours of sleep from yesterday.

So I'm pretty knackered right now.

But, that said, I did have my first Indian experience tonight: riding in a car! I've always heard how dangerous it is to drive in India, and 've seen all the amazing race/ travel shows that give you proof that it's not a wise thing to do. Brother, TVs got nothing on the real thing!

Remember the game Asteroids that used to be in every arcade in the 80s? For any of you who can't recall, in Asteroids you are the pilot of a small rocket ship as you try to find your way out of an asteroid storm. You can shoot the rocks to make them smaller, but the end result is the same: there's a shit ton of stuff constantly moving towards you...see where I'm going with this?

Just change the ship to taxi and the rocks to others cars and it's like you're in India!

It's absolutely crazy! I thought Vietnam was bad, but these guys actually SPEED UP when something's in front of them! At first I found it kind of quaint - a little queerity that belonged to India, but when we almost hit a woman and tried to run down a kid on a bike (to be fair he wasn't yielding), I got that "so this is how it ends" thought in my head.

Thankfully we got to the hotel okay, which has to be a testament to the drivers skill and not the worn breaks or tiled roads we drove on... Yeah, the roads are tiled here, not paved. Doesn't that make them more slippery?

Anyway, the main thing is I made here and learned a valuable lesson: no matter how bad you think drivers in your country are, there always be worse ones somewhere else .

Day 0 - Sleepless Nights, Big Feet, and A Touch of Meat

Well,after months of planning D-Day is finally here. Yesterday was a mad rush to finish a million errands that should've been taken care of weeks ago...what can I say? I procrastinate.

I had A LOT of clothes that needed buying for this trip, and stupidly forgot that yesterday was the last day of the Chinese New Year - a holiday I spend 500km trying to get rid of. I spent most of my time at a small "resort" in Mui Ne, and stupidly believed that when I got back on Thursday, that I would've missed the brunt of shops closing. Wrong!

All the major stores were still closed yesterday afternoon, so I wasted a good four hours trying to find the clothes i needed at the roadside stalls.

I managed to get TWO shirts that fit and a pair of shoes that feel half a size too small. Lucky for me too, because these are going to be my "trekking shoes" too. At least I got a discount on them.

The rest of yesterday was spent finishing up the other websites work, which took a lot longer than expected. I didn't eat anything until 10ish last night, and then I made the mistake of drinking pepsi = caffeine rush... Yeah, I'm going on three hours of sleep right now

But that's okay! I've made it to the airport, gouty my way through Viets who can't understand why people would ever queue for something when they could jump the line instead, gone through customs and ate at the first Burger King in Vietnam!

That will probably be my last taste of meat for quite a while. It seems like everything Indian I've ever met is a vegetarian so I'm expecting a lot of veggies when I get there. And no Beef. For a month. Me = Sad face.

Yup, in q few more minutes my flight will leave from Saigon, and after a layover in Kuala Lumpur, I'll be arriving late tonight in Mumbai. Can't wait as the 21 Days of India starts today!