Depsite being warned not to take the bus in the middle of the day, Shauna and I were determinded to prove we were robust travellers. (We also might have slept in because we were drinking the night before.) This proved to be our biggest adventure yet.
It is school holiday time in India and whole families are taking the bus to vacation but not buying seats. So when 3 women with new born babies got on the bus and attmepted to stand for the ride, our 2 seater quickly turned into a 5 seater with a mom and baby, and a 2 year old on my lap. The rest of the children just leaned forward on our seat a foot from out face staring at us. Although we will only be in India for a short time the amount of pictures that have been taken of us will assure our presence here for years to come.
After our long sweaty bus ride we headed straight to the budget hotel which stated it had a pool. But when our AC konked out, we had no sheets or towels and the pool was green, we headed out to find a "mid-range" option. ( or maybe a mid-aged option) We were stopped by the manager to look at their new hotel. For $5 more per person we are staying at a newly built luxury hotel. It is gorgeous and we do not want to leave... ever. We were so happy with them that we decided to book out camel safari with them. Even though there was a 47 degree forcast our tour guide said it was "no problem." And then gave the Indian head wobble...
Needing a break from Indian food we headed to an Italian restuarant. Although this may seem obvious, when in India eat Indian food.
The next day we headed out on our 2 day camel safari. And I will now copy directly from Shauna's group email
" WE spent 2 days veiwing cactus type bushes, dry rocky terrain, local villagers comingto get water from their wells, wandering goats and a few scattered gazelles. We spent the night sleeping open on the dunes under the starry skies while our guide along with his 10 year helper ( that he told us was 17 or 18 to soothe, I'm sure, our disdain of child labour), made us dinner, packed and unpacked the farting camels, sang aloud, and intimated to us that he didn't get paid much by the camel safaria people -- but if we are happy he is double happy-- we are his guests. The french couple we were with could hardly eat, and had been obviously been promised quite a different safari (they were expecting a camp and a buffet dinner, not blankets of the sand and rice, daal and chapatis cooked on the open fire) and did not do so well. The next day they went home early by a jeep that came and met us while we took the afternoon to rest under a tree. Yodi and I were a little smug, commenting to ourselves once again that our robust appetites and sturdy bodies seems to cope remarkably well with the heat and all these so called "stomach viruses" everyone else seemed to be troubled by. We later heard that yesterday while we were trekking inthe desert, the temperatures reached a record breaking 49 degrees celcius and had to really question whether we are making really good travel choices--and wondering when our smugness will come to bite us in out disease riddled behinds.
But today we are back at 'er. Eating ice-cream, shopping out little hearts out, and getting told that almost every shop and restuarant is closed--" Now is not the busy time. It's very very hot." Yes. We know. "
So we will head back to our hotel for a little AC and somemore amazing Indian food before heading east tomorrow.
Sunday, May 23, 2010
Jodhpur- Yes like the pants
As we keep congradulating oursleves on how well we our dealing with the heat, we took a 7 hour non AC bus to Jodhpur. Very hot, very long enough said.
Jodhpur is known as the blue city and yes it is literally painted blue. We rode around the blue city in a rickshaw and were again stunned by the history, artistry and magnificence of this province. Stunned as well by the smells, the shit and the cows everywhere. After a day we were ready to head to Jaiselmer.
Jodhpur is known as the blue city and yes it is literally painted blue. We rode around the blue city in a rickshaw and were again stunned by the history, artistry and magnificence of this province. Stunned as well by the smells, the shit and the cows everywhere. After a day we were ready to head to Jaiselmer.
Udaipur
As our plane landed in Udaipur the captain announced 43 degree heat at 7:30pm! We hopped in a cab and noticed first off that the heat was different than Goa. Although at these temperatures hot is hot.
The next morning in a fruitless attempt to beat the heat we headed out at 8am ( yes that is early for a traveller) to see temples and palaces. At 8:15am and one temple down, we realized nothing else was open til 945am. So we made ourselves comfortable at a hole in the wall restaurant and drank chai and ate samosas until the heat of the day.
After a tour of the city palace, we thought we could sneak to the 7 star hotel palace that is usually in the middle of the lake. Since it was mostly dried up we headed out in the full force of the afternoon sun on the muckish lake bed. This turned into a 2 hour walk in direct sunlight with no shade, no water and no map. And no, they would not let our muddy feet even near the palace.
Fortunately we recovered from our walk to still manage a few hours of shopping before our cooking lesson. This combined 2 of Shauna and Yodi's favorite things, paper and pen classroom learning and food. Right now we have the best intentions to cook for our family and friends but we will see what happened when we return.
The next morning in a fruitless attempt to beat the heat we headed out at 8am ( yes that is early for a traveller) to see temples and palaces. At 8:15am and one temple down, we realized nothing else was open til 945am. So we made ourselves comfortable at a hole in the wall restaurant and drank chai and ate samosas until the heat of the day.
After a tour of the city palace, we thought we could sneak to the 7 star hotel palace that is usually in the middle of the lake. Since it was mostly dried up we headed out in the full force of the afternoon sun on the muckish lake bed. This turned into a 2 hour walk in direct sunlight with no shade, no water and no map. And no, they would not let our muddy feet even near the palace.
Fortunately we recovered from our walk to still manage a few hours of shopping before our cooking lesson. This combined 2 of Shauna and Yodi's favorite things, paper and pen classroom learning and food. Right now we have the best intentions to cook for our family and friends but we will see what happened when we return.
Goan slow in the heat.
From Mumbai we headed to Goa. Feeling luxurious we opted for 2nd class AC train. Passing by a goat on the platform and watching the arms dangle out of the windows in general seating we were happy with our decision.
Although not the lap of luxury we met a lovely Scottish couple who were on the bunks above us. As much as we love telling our stories to eachother it was nice to have a new audience. Right across from us was a nice Belgium couple we met on the Bollywood set. (fresh with bed bug bites reaffirming to Shauna and I we are no longer budget travellers)
We headed to Anjuna where Shauna promised everyone painted elephants at the night market. Despite having a master's in English, Shauna cannot read. So when we showed up at sundown for the market everyone was closing shop for the season and it was dark. Fortunately we had been drinking on the beach all afternoon which prevented us from getting too upset. Instead we had a nice dinner with new friends and headed home to our first night with no AC- it is soo much cheaper!
We spent the next two days on mopeds that cost under $4 per person per day. We rode up and down the coast line drinking lassi's, eating seafood and baring our bodies innapropriately. We had to continually repeat the mantra "Stay left! Stay left!" and when we would forget responded well to shouts of " Hey Madam, where are you going?" No helmets either, so don't tell our moms.
After our 2nd night of no AC (only happened because we felt pressured by other "real backpacers" ) we promised eachother to never pretend again that we can sleep in the heat.
After one more day on lounging on the beach, drinking good coffee and getting a pinkish hue, we hopped a plane to Udaipur, in the province of Rajisthan.
Although not the lap of luxury we met a lovely Scottish couple who were on the bunks above us. As much as we love telling our stories to eachother it was nice to have a new audience. Right across from us was a nice Belgium couple we met on the Bollywood set. (fresh with bed bug bites reaffirming to Shauna and I we are no longer budget travellers)
We headed to Anjuna where Shauna promised everyone painted elephants at the night market. Despite having a master's in English, Shauna cannot read. So when we showed up at sundown for the market everyone was closing shop for the season and it was dark. Fortunately we had been drinking on the beach all afternoon which prevented us from getting too upset. Instead we had a nice dinner with new friends and headed home to our first night with no AC- it is soo much cheaper!
We spent the next two days on mopeds that cost under $4 per person per day. We rode up and down the coast line drinking lassi's, eating seafood and baring our bodies innapropriately. We had to continually repeat the mantra "Stay left! Stay left!" and when we would forget responded well to shouts of " Hey Madam, where are you going?" No helmets either, so don't tell our moms.
After our 2nd night of no AC (only happened because we felt pressured by other "real backpacers" ) we promised eachother to never pretend again that we can sleep in the heat.
After one more day on lounging on the beach, drinking good coffee and getting a pinkish hue, we hopped a plane to Udaipur, in the province of Rajisthan.
Bollywood Bling
Shauna and I arrived on set giddy with excitement and to a big breakfast. We were then rushed off to hairdressing, where they spent close to an hour blowing drying my hair. Which was to make more sense later as the only talent Shauna and I displayed was that of being blond.
Although there was a Bollywood star on stage and a famous Bollywood director, we actually were shooting a "Bling" cell phone comercial. Our little excursion turned out to be a whole day affair as we became the token blondes that seem to be need in everyshot. But we were served 4 delicious buffet meals and since we will do anything for food the 700 rupees we earned was just a little spneding money for later.
Look for us soon on a u-tube video near you- we are all the blonds.
The next day we headed to Elephanta caves which is a gigantic Hindu temple carved out of one rock. This was where we realized out complete and utter ignorance to one of the world's oldest religions. Islam, Judaism and Christianity all seem like variations on the same theme but Hinduism is a whole other world. To our embarassment we keep being surprised there are so many devote followers. And we are still not sure of what to make of all the variations of idols and gods ie small rocks with googlie eyes in a shrine.
Although there was a Bollywood star on stage and a famous Bollywood director, we actually were shooting a "Bling" cell phone comercial. Our little excursion turned out to be a whole day affair as we became the token blondes that seem to be need in everyshot. But we were served 4 delicious buffet meals and since we will do anything for food the 700 rupees we earned was just a little spneding money for later.
Look for us soon on a u-tube video near you- we are all the blonds.
The next day we headed to Elephanta caves which is a gigantic Hindu temple carved out of one rock. This was where we realized out complete and utter ignorance to one of the world's oldest religions. Islam, Judaism and Christianity all seem like variations on the same theme but Hinduism is a whole other world. To our embarassment we keep being surprised there are so many devote followers. And we are still not sure of what to make of all the variations of idols and gods ie small rocks with googlie eyes in a shrine.
Sunday, May 9, 2010
I like Bombay and I cannot lie....
The trip started well with being upgraded to first class. Yes, it was everything I have always dreamed about! Lots of food and seats that practically lay down.
Shauna found me easily enough and our adventure began. So far so good. I am already loving all the sights and sounds of Bombay/ Mumbai. Not so much the smells. We seem to be handling the heat well so far, and accepting the constant sweat dripping from us. Of course we took a room with air conditioning and are right now taking refuge from the 40degree heat in an internet cafe.
Many people warned me to be prepared for India and that it was going to be hard, and it is hard, but it has also been different then I expected. The people are lovely and kind (for the most part.) Shauna and I just spent the afternoon with the women at the Haji Ali Mosque who were so excited to sit and talk with us and brought us in to say a prayer and get blessed. Despite feeling like we were in a sauna and were being pushed to the front of a concert at the same time, it was pretty amazing.
We have already started on what I am sure is going to be a few week long shopping spree and the markets are so much fun and so cheap!
We were also asked to be extras in a Bollywood movie tomorrow, there was no need to ask us twice. Shauna is debating whether or not she is going to have to send 15% of the 500 rupees ($10) to her agent in Vancouver. They had Shauna and I with "free breakfast and lunch."
One and a half days in and we are not sick yet but I will keep you all posted.
Shauna found me easily enough and our adventure began. So far so good. I am already loving all the sights and sounds of Bombay/ Mumbai. Not so much the smells. We seem to be handling the heat well so far, and accepting the constant sweat dripping from us. Of course we took a room with air conditioning and are right now taking refuge from the 40degree heat in an internet cafe.
Many people warned me to be prepared for India and that it was going to be hard, and it is hard, but it has also been different then I expected. The people are lovely and kind (for the most part.) Shauna and I just spent the afternoon with the women at the Haji Ali Mosque who were so excited to sit and talk with us and brought us in to say a prayer and get blessed. Despite feeling like we were in a sauna and were being pushed to the front of a concert at the same time, it was pretty amazing.
We have already started on what I am sure is going to be a few week long shopping spree and the markets are so much fun and so cheap!
We were also asked to be extras in a Bollywood movie tomorrow, there was no need to ask us twice. Shauna is debating whether or not she is going to have to send 15% of the 500 rupees ($10) to her agent in Vancouver. They had Shauna and I with "free breakfast and lunch."
One and a half days in and we are not sick yet but I will keep you all posted.
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
The Holy Land
Our fear of borders has evolved from fear to excitement. We breezed through security with no issues. We did notice however that Israel is a little more serious about security than Jordan or Egypt. I mean, Jordanian immigration flirted with Yode and gave her an extra month on her visa just so she would stay longer.
We were finally here! We triumphantly entered Jerusalem. On my friend Clare's recomendation, we did a free tour of Jerusalem, and got the low down on the four quarters of the old city... Jewish, Muslim, Christian, Armenian. 2 points to anyone who knows why the Armenians get a quarter. Oh we don't know either, both of us tuned out for a second. For me some soldier with a gun walked by (a new obsession of mine) and Yode has the attention span of a 4 year old... her words not mine.
We saw some amazing sights, the place of the crucifixion, the place of the ascension to heaven, the garden of Gethsemane and the stations of the cross (where Jesus walked with the cross.) To be honest our reactions to these sights were mixed and might be worth a longer conversation later. Striking was the tourists that rent crosses to carry them through the streets. We didn't check on the going "cross rate"... not our style.
Bethleham was the most interesting. Specifically crossing over to Palestine in the West Bank. There were a lot of moments on this trip where I felt slightly ignorant of world politics, but this was the worst. The wall surrounding Palestine was unnerving. Again, perhaps a conversation for later.
A notable moment for me was a soldier with a gun at the checkpoint. Wow, do they get models to do this work?
We went off the beaten tourist path and explored the markets of Bethleham. We got caught in a random rain storm and had to take shelter under a tarp with a bunch of Palestinians, who welcomed us with perfect English. Yode wants me to mention that Bethleham had the best shwarma yet this trip. Neither of these things were what we were expecting from Bethleham.
Jerusalem with its Suqs and sights tired us out a bit. However we woke up early Sunday to see one more sight, The Dome of The Rock. Again, one more insight into the difficult religous/political situation here, as this one rock is sacred to Jews, Muslims and Christians.
We left Jerusalem tired and thoughtful, and welcomed the laid back style of Tel Aviv. Arriving in Tel Aviv, we saw people walking around practically naked. Strapless dresses, tank tops, and shorts! There were people jogging in the streets in tight work out gear and lounging in bathing suites, these people should be ashamed. Wait a minute, did we just find the Isreali Kitsilano? To be honest, my slight self esteem issues had warmed to the conservative Muslim and Jewish dress codes. Great, I would have to look at my body again... worse yet, I would have to look at Yode's!
We had planned to stay for only 2 nights in Tel Aviv and then move on to the North, but we have now discovered a new passion .. surfing. We tried surfing in Brazil, but as our instructor didn't speak english, this didn't go well (the only thing we learned there was the portugues word for wave). We had high hopes for Tel Aviv. It turns out that our surfing instructor was from Newfoundland. Strangley, this did not actually help us surf. We are going out again tomorrow, despite the fact that the act of typing kinda hurts Yode's arms and I think I might have broken my toe.
We also had the chance to meet up with my friend Clare's parents and her cousin for a nice night out. We spent some time talking to Clare's cousin regarding all our questions on Isreal that we thought might be inapproapriate to ask. Turns out she thought we were funny, not inappropriate. I think we might have been a bit of both .. and a little tipsy.
We still have a few days left before I head home and Yode heads to India, so I will leave it up to Yode to update her blog from now on. I have a feeling she might pawn this off again. Shauna beware. Guest writer out.
We were finally here! We triumphantly entered Jerusalem. On my friend Clare's recomendation, we did a free tour of Jerusalem, and got the low down on the four quarters of the old city... Jewish, Muslim, Christian, Armenian. 2 points to anyone who knows why the Armenians get a quarter. Oh we don't know either, both of us tuned out for a second. For me some soldier with a gun walked by (a new obsession of mine) and Yode has the attention span of a 4 year old... her words not mine.
We saw some amazing sights, the place of the crucifixion, the place of the ascension to heaven, the garden of Gethsemane and the stations of the cross (where Jesus walked with the cross.) To be honest our reactions to these sights were mixed and might be worth a longer conversation later. Striking was the tourists that rent crosses to carry them through the streets. We didn't check on the going "cross rate"... not our style.
Bethleham was the most interesting. Specifically crossing over to Palestine in the West Bank. There were a lot of moments on this trip where I felt slightly ignorant of world politics, but this was the worst. The wall surrounding Palestine was unnerving. Again, perhaps a conversation for later.
A notable moment for me was a soldier with a gun at the checkpoint. Wow, do they get models to do this work?
We went off the beaten tourist path and explored the markets of Bethleham. We got caught in a random rain storm and had to take shelter under a tarp with a bunch of Palestinians, who welcomed us with perfect English. Yode wants me to mention that Bethleham had the best shwarma yet this trip. Neither of these things were what we were expecting from Bethleham.
Jerusalem with its Suqs and sights tired us out a bit. However we woke up early Sunday to see one more sight, The Dome of The Rock. Again, one more insight into the difficult religous/political situation here, as this one rock is sacred to Jews, Muslims and Christians.
We left Jerusalem tired and thoughtful, and welcomed the laid back style of Tel Aviv. Arriving in Tel Aviv, we saw people walking around practically naked. Strapless dresses, tank tops, and shorts! There were people jogging in the streets in tight work out gear and lounging in bathing suites, these people should be ashamed. Wait a minute, did we just find the Isreali Kitsilano? To be honest, my slight self esteem issues had warmed to the conservative Muslim and Jewish dress codes. Great, I would have to look at my body again... worse yet, I would have to look at Yode's!
We had planned to stay for only 2 nights in Tel Aviv and then move on to the North, but we have now discovered a new passion .. surfing. We tried surfing in Brazil, but as our instructor didn't speak english, this didn't go well (the only thing we learned there was the portugues word for wave). We had high hopes for Tel Aviv. It turns out that our surfing instructor was from Newfoundland. Strangley, this did not actually help us surf. We are going out again tomorrow, despite the fact that the act of typing kinda hurts Yode's arms and I think I might have broken my toe.
We also had the chance to meet up with my friend Clare's parents and her cousin for a nice night out. We spent some time talking to Clare's cousin regarding all our questions on Isreal that we thought might be inapproapriate to ask. Turns out she thought we were funny, not inappropriate. I think we might have been a bit of both .. and a little tipsy.
We still have a few days left before I head home and Yode heads to India, so I will leave it up to Yode to update her blog from now on. I have a feeling she might pawn this off again. Shauna beware. Guest writer out.
Ahlan Wa Sahlam-Welcome to Jordan!
With a five hour wait at the ferry station (which resulted in the creation of my first blog entries) we finally made it to Jordan. We met up with a bunch of French Canadians and some Finnish people. We ended up sharing a cab with the Finnish people for a 2 hour ride to Wadi Musa (Moses Valley) outside of Petra. The cab ride annoyed me (perhaps lack of sleep) with the Finnish guy and the Arabic driver attempting to speak English to eachother... Neither of you are doing it right, kept running through my head.
Our taxi driver refused to take us to our chosen hotel and took us to his friends hotel. We are no fools. The Lonely Planet warned us about this. It also said that the hotel operater would then tell us that the hotel we wanted to go to had burnt down. When we arrived at the suggested hotel, they told us the other hotel had burnt down. This is where things got weird, Yode implied that he was lying. He then told us to leave as he was a Muslim man and did not lie. In fairness to Yode, we had not found this to be universally true. However, as he had offered us good deal, a broken English apology session then ensued and we ended up staying at the hotel. We later found out the other hotel had burnt down.
Petra-What can we say? No really, what can we say? We would need a thesaurus to accurately describe this incredible site, now voted one of the new wonders of the world. We spent 10 hours walking/hiking/exploring this park. The only mild set back was not packing a lunch as the Lonely Planet had told us, it is not like the Lonely Planet is always right... There was the taxi driver incident. So we hiked this world wonder on one snickers bar and a banana each.
Since we had finally established some trust with the hotel, they arranged a private tour of the rest of the sites in Jordan that we wanted to see. First stop, bathroom on the side of the road, do you guys think Yodi is ok? Dairn? Second, third and fourth stops, castles and pretty things. Apparently some Christian Soldiers came through her on some sort of "crusade"?
Fifth stop THE DEAD SEA!! They say this is the hottest place on earth. I don't think "they" have been to Luxor. This is the saltiest sea in the world, with 33.7% salinity and growing. As we had chosen to visit the Dead Sea on the Jordan side, wearing our bathing suits caused a bit of a stir. We also covered ourselves in dead sea mud, we are not sure why, but we no longer dared doubt the Lonely Planets advice. Although everybody knows you can float in the dead sea, our first words to eachother were "hey you really can float in this!" A very weird sensation.
A few girls wanted to take our picture and practice their English. Which was good, but consisted of " Where are you from?" and " What is your name?" and "Welcome to Jordan!" I loved the Jordanian people, they were so friendly and welcomed us every chance they got. We later found out that they use welcome as hello and good-bye.
We left the Dead Sea, after a quick stop by Mt. Nebo to view "The Land of Milk and Honey" Moses style, we proceeded to the town of Madaba. There we discovered even buying beer in this country was easier. The liquor store clerk gave us some excellent advice: " When we drink we get drunk. When we are drunk we go to sleep. When we sleep we don't sin. When we don't sin we go to heaven. So we should all drink and go to heaven." Any guesses on what religion he was? I don't know, I would have picked Calvinist if that didn't seem highly unlikely.
The next day we proceeded to Israel...
Our taxi driver refused to take us to our chosen hotel and took us to his friends hotel. We are no fools. The Lonely Planet warned us about this. It also said that the hotel operater would then tell us that the hotel we wanted to go to had burnt down. When we arrived at the suggested hotel, they told us the other hotel had burnt down. This is where things got weird, Yode implied that he was lying. He then told us to leave as he was a Muslim man and did not lie. In fairness to Yode, we had not found this to be universally true. However, as he had offered us good deal, a broken English apology session then ensued and we ended up staying at the hotel. We later found out the other hotel had burnt down.
Petra-What can we say? No really, what can we say? We would need a thesaurus to accurately describe this incredible site, now voted one of the new wonders of the world. We spent 10 hours walking/hiking/exploring this park. The only mild set back was not packing a lunch as the Lonely Planet had told us, it is not like the Lonely Planet is always right... There was the taxi driver incident. So we hiked this world wonder on one snickers bar and a banana each.
Since we had finally established some trust with the hotel, they arranged a private tour of the rest of the sites in Jordan that we wanted to see. First stop, bathroom on the side of the road, do you guys think Yodi is ok? Dairn? Second, third and fourth stops, castles and pretty things. Apparently some Christian Soldiers came through her on some sort of "crusade"?
Fifth stop THE DEAD SEA!! They say this is the hottest place on earth. I don't think "they" have been to Luxor. This is the saltiest sea in the world, with 33.7% salinity and growing. As we had chosen to visit the Dead Sea on the Jordan side, wearing our bathing suits caused a bit of a stir. We also covered ourselves in dead sea mud, we are not sure why, but we no longer dared doubt the Lonely Planets advice. Although everybody knows you can float in the dead sea, our first words to eachother were "hey you really can float in this!" A very weird sensation.
A few girls wanted to take our picture and practice their English. Which was good, but consisted of " Where are you from?" and " What is your name?" and "Welcome to Jordan!" I loved the Jordanian people, they were so friendly and welcomed us every chance they got. We later found out that they use welcome as hello and good-bye.
We left the Dead Sea, after a quick stop by Mt. Nebo to view "The Land of Milk and Honey" Moses style, we proceeded to the town of Madaba. There we discovered even buying beer in this country was easier. The liquor store clerk gave us some excellent advice: " When we drink we get drunk. When we are drunk we go to sleep. When we sleep we don't sin. When we don't sin we go to heaven. So we should all drink and go to heaven." Any guesses on what religion he was? I don't know, I would have picked Calvinist if that didn't seem highly unlikely.
The next day we proceeded to Israel...
Saturday, May 1, 2010
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