Aaron in India

bye bye

2006-04-18T20:21:00.000-05:00

It's funny how calm and orderly mid-town traffic seems to well...I rest my case (btw - that was stuck in traffic on a "two lane" street...

I feel kinda guilty that I sort of kept the blog in the dark about what the hell happened to the end of my trip. The longer I went without writing the harder and harder it became to catch back up again. So, I'll just start with today and we'll see if you can conjure a guess as to what's happened to me from the beginning of feb till today.

Well, I walked out the door to work after slamming a few cups of coffee. (somehow I feel like this morning ritual is pretty familiar to a lot of people) Was at work till 8; then something was funky with my subway line tonight and it took twice as long to get home; where I had to make sure the apt looked passable before Lindsey got back in town tonight.

While that doesn't seem like anything out of the ordinary, I find it pretty extraordinary seeing as how I'm now going on my second month of work at a t.v. ad-sales company in New York. What else? Oh yeah...Lindsey and I are sharing a rather 'cozy' apt in the east village. Now what it took, on many people's ends, for that to happen is a whole other story. For now, I just wanted to clear the air and get blogging again.

**I'm going to see what I can do about making a reasonable effort at keeping this thing somewhat up to date. "somewhat" at this point is still a little murky...lol

More Bhutan

2006-01-20T08:36:00.000-06:00

I love it here! The people are so nice--quicky to smile and nothing at all like they are in India. They say that instead of measuring things here by their Gross National Product...they measure things by their gross national happiness. Our guide for the day, Karma, said that the Bhutanese live by the hedonistic saying, eat, drink (and aparently they drink a lot) and be merry....it shows too.

We did a bunch of touring around today in the valley of Paro. It was so beautiful. We saw their national museum...the ONLY one in Bhutan. It was filled with Bhutanese history, culture and charm.

I have to say though, that the highlight of the day was touring a monestary. Parts of it were over 1500 years old & amazingly have NEVER been renovated. Our tour was conducted in a clockwise direction--and thinking back to the museum it dawned on me that we also toured that in a clockwise direction, which I later learned is the custom here. We walked into one of the inner sanctums to a group of monks praying. We were told that they start praying at 4 am every morning and go till past sundown, with only a few short breaks for food. I wish I could have taken pictures of both the statues and the monks inside, but that is a big no no. Just inside the courtyard is an orange tree, they refered to it as a sacred orange tree; apparently, orange tree don't grow at this altitude (we're at about 7,300 ft), nor do they blossom and grow fruit more than once a year...but this orange tree not only grows here, as it has for hunderds of years, but it also flourishes so much so that it grows fruit year round. As we were finishing up our tour we were standing in the courtyard when I heard a thump behind me and turned around to find a tiny orange sitting on the paving stone about a foot away. I looked up from the orange to a senior monk who was perched on the steps close by staring at me with wide eyes. He told me to pick it up and keep it. A bit confused I did what he asked. Karma, our guide, came over and told me that in the 150+ times he's visited this monestary he has never once seen an orange fall from the tree. He said that it's considered very good luck to whomever is standing there when it happens. :) what can I say, I'm just blessed. Since I won't be able to export the fruit out of Bhutan, or into India, I was thinking that later tonight we'll squeeze a bit of orange juice into everyone's gin &tonics to see if we can't spread the good luck around a bit.

Tomorrow we're heading out of here at 7:30 am to go to Thimpu the capital of Bhutan for their saturday market. I can't wait. Maybe I'll find some good/fun buys with my newly bestowed goodluck.

Ranthambore

2006-01-20T08:20:00.000-06:00

Creeping along in the back of an open jeep in the Ranthambore Natinoal Tiger Reserve, the driver looks down occasionally, apparently following fresh tiger print along the dusty road. Suddenly, he stops and points off to the right side of the jeep. Through the woods about 100m off you can just make out the brilliant stripes of a female tiger bathing in the first rays of the morning light. She notices a human presence and gets up to retreat off deeper into the woods, perhaps in search of food......

Too bad I saw this on the discovery channel the night before and not on our tour the next morning in the park. The 5 of us bumped along the dusty roads that criss-crossed the park for four hours keeping a vigilant watch...but alas we didn't see a single tiger. We did however see a few tiger prints....that we later learned could have been fakes purposely put there to get out hopes up. We learned later the next day that the two top officials who oversee the park were sacked for doing just that. Also, the Indian gov't suspects that there are actually 11 fewer tigers in the reserve then they originally though. Too bad. We did see all kinds of other animals: deer, antelope, crocodiles, all kinds spectacular birds...tons of peacocks. Despite not seeing tigers it was a lot of fun!

Maybe next time I go on a tiger safari I'll actually get to see a tiger.

Taj Mahal

2006-01-20T07:56:00.000-06:00

I have to say that the Taj Mahal was much more impressive then I would have expected. I know, I know, it's the most famous monument in India--and now I know for good reason too. It is not only stunning from afar, but it becomes more beautiful the closer you get to it. I first saw it the day before the fam got to Agra when I toured the Red Fort. There is a side of the fort the overlooks the Yamuna river and the Taj. Then, when I checked into the Oberoi hotel in Agra I walked out onto the balcony and smack-dab infront of me was the Taj...looking even more impressive than the day before. A few hours later the family arrived from Delhi and we ran to tour the complex before they closed at sundown. First off--India loves to rip off the tourists. Most of the time I tour places and it's about Rs. 10 for Indians to get in and then usually between Rs. 150-300 for foreigners...but at the Taj it was a whopping Rs. 900!!! to get in. (My budget per day is Rs 1200) But, I guess thats what happens when you're one of the most recoginized monuntents in the world. (although, I wasn't paying either)

The whole complex is perfectly semetrical. Everything that you see on the right is repilicated on the left. The work and craftmenship is stunning! Our guide told us that the most beautiful parts of the Taj have been looted and plundered over the years. I guess, there used to be huge stores of gold and jewels adorning the inside and outside of the structure that have all been striped away through a series of 7 raids. Anyway....pictures don't really do it any justice. And I can't really bring it anymore to life with words. The only way to truly appreciate it is to see it in real life. :) Which I can say I've done.

Bhutan

2006-01-19T11:15:00.000-06:00

Greetings from Bhutan! We had a flight early this morning from Delhi, though Khatmhandu in Nepal, to Paro, Bhutan...which happens to be the only place in the whole kingdom that has an airprot. For anyone who doesn't know, Bhntan is a small country, Kingdom actually, a bit northeast of India in the Himalaya mountains. It is absolutely BEAUTIFUL!!!!! We're staing at the lavish Uma Paro Hotel (http://uma.como.bz/paro/default.asp).

We took off from Delhi and had a short flight to Nepal, where we stopped and picked up a few passangers, mostly Buddhist monks, then took off again....past mount everest. (I snuck a few pics from the plane) When landing in Bhutan we literally had to fly AROUND mountain peaks, as opposed to over them. It was funny to picture our huge Boeing jumbo jet having to navigate its way around these lush green mountains. The airport was in built in a traditional native Bhutanese style...and was situated next to a pristine bubbling brook. I can't get over how absolutely beautiful and clean it is here; especially coming from India.

Everyone is so nice and friendly! The hotel/resort we're staing at is beautiful! And it's funny because besides another couple here from Brazil, the 5 of us are the only people in the whole place. It's like having your own gigantic mansion resort spa with a fulltime staff to wait on you.

This has got to be a quick post because it's late here and I have any early massage appointment (rough, I know). But I just wanted to say that it is amazing here! Oh yeah, and the internet is free, so I'm hopefully going to catch up on a bit of my blogging. b/c before the Gem Palace--- I also saw the Taj Mahal in Agra, and went on a tiger safari in Ranthambore park; you'll have to stay tuned to find out if we say any tigers. Good night for now. There'll be more tomorrow.

The Gem Palace

2006-01-17T22:37:00.000-06:00

Jaipur is known as the pink city because about 200+ years ago all of the building fronts inside the palace walls were painted with terracotta and one of the British said it was the "pink city" and the name stuck. Now they are famous, not only for being pink, but also for their traditional block fabric printing and also stones/gems.

Yesterday, we were buying tons of jewelry at the Gem Palace from a rather unassuming man (can't remember his name right now). Between Mom, Adri, Deedee Randy and I we had a few thousand dollars worth of stuff & per usual we were negotiating on the price--as you have to do with everything here. *Lets back up for one sec. Adri among her many other talents, is a jewelry designer, certified and all by the gemnological institute. She brought with her some sketches to see if there were any jewelers here to make some of her pieces. With the Gem Palace we hit the jackpot! Not only will he make her pieces, at an amazing rate!!! but he will also have someone bring them to her in London to see if they meet her approval. If so she buys, if not then the guy brings it back to Jaipur--no harm, no foul & and best of all, no charge! Totally no strings attached! It turns out the man we were dealing with is the owner of the gem palace. His family has been in the jewelry business for the last 300+ years. They were the personal jewelers to the Maharaja, in fact the still are. After we bought a few pieces he started showing off his rare collection.

He rummaged through cabinets and started pulling out box after box of the most amazing stunning necklaces and earrings I have EVER seen, and let Adri try them on. He was pulling out things that were owned by the Maharaja over a hundred years ago...This one thing he put on Adri had, by my estimates (whatever that's worth) over 90 carets of diamonds!!!!!! With matching diamond earrings...The backs of the earring were encrusted with diamonds. We were taking pics like crazy. The amazing thing was it was nothing to him. I feel like if we had been any other place in the world there would have been armed guards in fancy suits keeping a very watchful eye on us. Here in Jaipur though it seemed to be no big deal. At one point he was stacking boxes of necklaces on multi-million dollar pieces like they were costume jewelry. Most other people would gingerly handle this stuff, he would just throw it around.

Then he took us out back and showed us his private car collection. It had one of the biggest Cadillac I've ever seen! An old school Mercedes touring car, a few old ambassadors, a Humber (never heard of that one) and some other old school cars that were crank-start engines....

THEN he took us up into his jewelry factory. There seemed to be about 75-100 employees working for him. One of the rooms he brought us into had millions of dollars of uncut stones. Uncut rubies and saphires that must have weighed over 50 lbs. There were containers of gems just piled everywhere. Men were working meticulously making jewelry by hand--doing gold enameling and inlaying...Setting stones...Stringing necklaces....Cutting and polishing stones. It was amazing! I'm so happy that mom had her video camera and captured it all on tape.

This one guy we saw was working on a very Egyptian looking piece. He told us that later next year the Met in New York is having an Egyptian show and they commissioned his shop to make the jewelry that they sell in their giftshop. So then we go back into his store and I start looking at the pics on the wall. There was a pic of his with the current Maharaja...one of his father with the Maharaja of Jaipur that died in London in the '70's while playing Polo (apparently that guy was the number 1 polo player in the world). There were pics of Jackie Kennedy at the Gem Palace...Princess Diana and Prince Charles shaking his hand after buying up half the store...the list of Celebes goes one and on.

And of coarse I couldn't leave without buying a very very very cool piece for Lindsey. Sorry hon, you'll just have to wait till I get back to see it. It's a totally fun piece, I'm sure you'll love it!

Close encounters of the barnyard kind

2006-01-11T10:28:00.000-06:00

Cows, chickens, goats, buffalo, pigs....am I missing anything? Not too sure--

This post is about the dangerous encounters I've had thus far with seemingly docile and harmless animals...lets see, where to start.

Most recently, when I was in Goa over new years we rented scooters b/c thats the easiest, cheapest & most fun way to get from beach to beach. Nate was driving. We were buzzing along minding our own business when out of the underbrush ran (what I think was) a wild pig, who then stopped in the middle of the road and stood there as we rapidly approached. Thankfully there wasn't any other traffic on the narrow road otherwise I might have had my fist trip to an Indian hospital. Nate slammed on the brakes and we skidded & slid around the thing as it just stared (like everything else in India) right at us not seeming to care at all that it almost got hit. Oh geez, I just remembered that a few nights before that it was super early...like 7 in the morning and we were in a taxis on our way home from a marathon night--as usual the driver was going WAY WAY WAY too fast for the roads, but they never seem to mind. *I wake up some mornings with sore legs because in my terror I push against the floor of the car; one day I'll get a rusted-out old cab and probably push my feet right through the metal to the otherside. Anyway, the driver is flying along and most of us had our eyes closed, either out of fear or we were just too inebriated, when the car swerved and the driver lightly tapped his brakes as we ran right over a dog. Not really sure if it survived or not, but the driver made a very good point. He said it was better to run over a dog (because seriously, they're everywhere!) then have us run off the road...fair enough.

Then there was the time I was in Mysore walking down the road toward the market. A huge delivery truck was coming down the road behind me and a cow, with very big and pointy horns I might add, was sauntering his way up the road in my direction. Now, the truck has got some pretty good speed--remember, might is right-- so I move to the side a bit to make some extra room. This is when it quickly became apparent, either get squashed by the truck, or have an encounter with the seemingly harmless cow...I opted for the cow. He didn't seem to pleased by this choice and as the truck was passing me he lowered his head, snorted a bit, then tried to scure me with his horns. I jumped sideways just in time. The truck whizzed by inches from me as the cow landed a direct hit with my backpack sending it flying in the air. Thankfully he missed me, and all the valuables in my bag like my video camera. phew!

There have been a few other small incidents where dogs have gotten in fights very near me and I had to take shelter in a nearby store so I wouldn't get in the way.....and other things like the roosters that are sometimes around who start crowing at 5am...and usually don't stop till about 9 or 10...

Back on the road

2006-01-08T15:26:00.000-06:00

I'm excited to really get back on the road and start sightseeing again. I'm back in Bangalore for a day then I'm off to Agra--via Delhi-- where I meet mom (no that wasn't a typo) Deedee, Adri and Randy. **Can I say that I never in my life thought I'd be saying something like, "I'm meeting up with my mother to see the Taj Mahal." But then again, I never thought I'd meet someone at 4:30 am Christmas morning at a house in Bangalore --Indian born no less-- that knows a person that both Nate and I know....it was truly a strange scene. X-mas eve night started out with a double sapphire and tonic at "sunny's," the over-the-top even for the US place, where I had that exquisite meal. Then we headed to the Opus lounge where Nate was playing sax that night with a band he had never met before. It was ridiculous! Carlton, the lead singer was on stage for 4 hours and only took one break. His enthusiasms totally made up for the way he jumped between songs when he forgot (or never knew) the words. Either way, the crowd loved it! It was Christmas eve and that was reason enough for people to have fun...Everyone was up dancing and singing along-- after grabbing a quick non-veg thali & shutting down another bar, we headed out to some houseparty WAY out in a Bangalore suburb. 7 of us crammed in some tiny Indian car and drove forever to a party that was dying...which led us to another house party a bit closer in town where Nate and I overhear the two Indian kids behind us talking about big 10 football. One of the guys goes to Madison and knows a TON of the guys Nate went to high school with in Milwaukee; some of whom I also know because Lindsey and Nate went to the same HS....

But anway, I'm way off coarse. I talking about things I never thought I'd be saying like meeting my mother at the Taj Mahal-- From Agra we'll be heading to Jaipur, but with an overnight stopover in Ranthambor (?) tiger reserve; where we'll hopefully get to spot a tiger or two. Then after a few days in Jaipur, the 'pink city,' we're flying to Bhutan to...well, i'm not really sure what we're going to be doing there. lol. Marvel at the Himalayas. :) I've been told my mission, which I gladly accepted, was to meet them in Agra on the 12'th....and well, thats what I'm doing. This should be a lot of fun. I'm just keeping my fingers crossed that everyone can handle India. It's definately not for everyone. You just sort of have to accept it for what it is--which I'm not really sure what that is-- because if you try to fight it you will lose.

I've posted a bunch of new pictures. They're not really in any kind of order because of the piecemeal way I've uploaded them so far--

howdy

2006-01-04T08:51:00.000-06:00

Wow! This last week has been an insane amount of fun thanks to Nate, Winnie, Laura and Scot. Thats part of the reason why it's been so long since I've had time to make an entry. Both Christmas and New Years was wonderful.

I had xmas in Bangalore where we stuffed ourselves full in a posh over-the-top restaurant where I had a 6 course meal and a bottle of Moet--and the bill was under $70...so delicious! Then for new years we went to Goa and partied like rockstars! I've never been with so many people to bring in the new year. I was on a beach with probably 20,000 other people. It was massive, loud and booze-filled event...I took a bunch of pics and posted them on photobucket...so check 'em out.

I've gotta run for now and go eat dinner. But I'll try to sort my way through the last couple of days in a little bit.

bye for now

The staring thing

2005-12-22T09:49:00.000-06:00

Being from the west I guess Im a bit of a celebrity. Sorry if I've written about this already, but it's becoming a recurring theme....

First incident. I was waiting for my bus from Bombay to Goa--I was sitting there quietly reading and I could feel people's eyes on me. Out of the corner of my eye I see 5 teenage boys crowded together peering over my way. I went on reading ignoring them when one of them came up to me with a camera and asked to take a picture. I thought they wanted me to take a picture OF them...it turns out they really wanted me to take a picture WITH them. These guys were from a smaller town about 150Km northeast of Bombay...I asked why they wanted a pic with me --actually each one of the individually sat down and posed with me-- and they quite honestly replied, "because you are from the west."

Later- I was climbing to the top of the hilltop fort in Aurungabad...some 600+ steps up to the top & it's HOT! I'm all sweaty and grimy and these kids come up again with a camera and pose for pictures...then an older couple....then an entire grade school class --those kids ended up 'escorting' me back down the mountain buzzing around like flies the whole time-- and almost every tourist place I've been I've posed for pictures with total strangers. I usually try to talk to them for a bit, which gets a little old after a while; especially when it's the end of the day or there is more than just 1 or 2 people...but i try not to be rude...

People are just plain old curious! They want to know who I am. What my name is. What country I'm from. Why I'm in India. How long I'm in India. What my profession is (or alternately if I'm a student). If I'm married. Not married, do you have a girlfriend. Those are sort of the general everyday questions I get...oh, and how old are u? is another big one.

The picture thing isn't that bad. I find it funny mostly. I really wish I could go back and find out what happened to those pics. People want pics b/c they don't come in contact with all that many westerners.

The thing that gets really annoying is all the staring. First of all it isn't considered rude like it is in the west. For instance, my train ride the other day from Mysore to Hassan was about 2 hours. For those 2 hours there was a kid peering over the back of the seat in front of me...the whole time. And it's like that everywhere...well, not everywhere, but it's worse the farther outside of large cities u are. I'm kind of getting used to it now...living life under a microscope. I guess it's sort of how celebrities feel--their every move is being watched. It really makes you hypersensitive to every move u make because it's being examined so closely. Any time I make a move heads turn to see what I'm doing...and it increases exponentially if I have any sort of electronics out, like my iPod. The worst though is eating because I still don't know what I'm doing. That sounds strange...but there are SO many options...and certain stuff is supposed to go with other stuff (descriptive, i know)...and I don't know what anything is, or how you're supposed to eat it. I don't know when to scoop things up with bread, versus using your fingers to eat. I don't know what sauce goes with what food. And people are ALWAYS watching...I'm learning though. I try something new every day. To be honest it all looks virtually the same.

K the cafe is closing so I gotta go. Tomorrow I'm heading to Bangalore so see my friend Nate. YEA for English!

more pics

2005-12-21T03:57:00.000-06:00

Hey all-

It took over an hour, but I got about 10 more pics on the net...lol now only about 200 more to go: http://photobucket.com/albums/c391/aperlstein/

Photo Bucket Album

hopefully one of those 2 links works

Guided Tour

2005-12-21T03:07:00.000-06:00

Mysore is known as the city of palaces. It was the seat of power during the age of the Maharaja. The centerpiece in town is a magnificant palace which was recently reconsturcted after the old one burned down in the late 1800's. The new one is made from metal and stone, unlike it's older now toasted, wooden predocessor.

Now, usually before touring sites I try to do my homework and figure out what it is I'm looking at. Usually I use my guide books and some internet resources to help out that way I don't have to hire a guide or buy one of the cheesy books that guys are always selling (really pushing actually) out front. But this time I decided to hire a guide; I mean why not....

Maybe it was becuase I negotiated a cheaper rate on my tour...perhaps I just got stuck with a bad guide...maybe I just caught him at a moment when he was off his game, but this guide sucked!

The only adjective he knew in English was "beautiful." And thats how he started--Standing outside the palace he sweeps his hand in front of him and proceeds, "This is the beautiful maharaja's palace. The older, beautiful, wooden palace burned down, so he rebuilt this beautiful palace out of metal and stone." blah blah blah.

So we head into the first hall. "This is the beautiful car hall. This is where the Maharaja would drive his cars in, this way...On your left you can see the beautiful carvings of the statues he would give Puja to." "And these are the beautiful carved Rosewood doors." "And this beautiful...." I was ready to scream after 10 minutes!!! Okay, I said to myself--he doesn't speak very good English, thats okay...after all my Hindi isn't too good. The palace was very crowded, as most stuff usually is, and people tended to gravitate towards our 'tour' he was giving, if you could call it that. And before I knew it I was pushed out to the outskirts of a crowd numbering about 30 people as he explains, "And this is the beautiful painting of the Maharaja's elephant and the Mysore state horse." I started to laugh because under the painting is a sign that reads, "Maharaja's elephand with Mysore State horse" He obviously missed the humor in the situation. And he pushes me onto the next painting--this one read, "Maharaja's standard and personal body guards" Pandering to the crowd following us he says, louder now because of all the people, "This is the beautiful painting of the Maharaja's standard and his personal bodyguard." Okay, this isn't funny anymore; it's quickly turning into a very annoying, crowded &smelly, waste of money.

-- time for some quick background-- the murals that he was showing me was from the anual Dasara procession. It dates back to when there was a Maharaja (king/ruler) before there was a united India. He would head a huge 10 day festival with parades that celebrated Mysore, it's kings, its people and its Gods. So the murals I was looking at were from a specific Dasara festival, although I never learned what year. --

I got frustrated because he didn't seem to know anything other that what was posted in front of him. As I just mentioned, the murals were painted in celebration of a specific Dasara & the artist made each figure individualised. Underneath the captions was a list of the names that corresponded to the people in each mural panel. I started asking about who the people were & his answer, simple enough, was "they are the people in the Dasara." I pressed on trying to figure out WHO they were. I mean, I can see that this is Lt. Major 'Hollander' or whomever...but I wanted to know why they were important and he couldn't tell me so I finally had enough. I gave him Rs 70 half of what we agreed on, and told him to go away so I could enjoy the rest of the tour in peace.

put me to work

2005-12-21T02:39:00.000-06:00

I was wandering around the market in Mysore the other day & noticed that they had a lot of oil and incense shops, unlike many of the other markets I've been to. It turns out that Mysore is famous for it's incense making and Sandalwood trade. I had a great time one day hanging out in the market where I learned how to me incense with one of the proprietors, Noor. I happened upon his booth just as he was churning out a batch of Sandalwood incense. So I came around back and sat down with him. We drank Chai- and he showed me how to mix up the sandalwood paste with a gum resin...then add water and kneed it into a dough which is then rolled onto bamboo sticks. We took the batch up to the roof for about 2 hours for it to dry. While waiting he started into his oil sales bit, and I have to say it worked on me. He sells pure oils: lotus, gardenia, lavender, amber...And they are all SUPER strong. A few drops put right on your skin lasts for about 36 hours...Even after a shower. (and a proper shower at that...Not one of those crummy bucket showers that Indians take). For the few weeks I've been here I have been continually bombarded by people are trying to sell me stuff. Because I'm white, the phrase I hear most in English is, "hello friend...Hello sir...Would u like to come take a look." I've never counted but it has to be at least 100 times in any given day. So, needless to say I've become a little tired of the sales pitches.

What sold me on Noors oils were his customer books. He had maybe 30 books filled with customer names and testimonials. They were broken down by country: Egnland, USA, Canada, Spain, Holland, Italy, Germany, Japan....(and on) going back quite a few years too! What was especially interesting were the warning messages of other shops outside the market, who sell oils at 3x the price that aren't as good. And in fact, there were 2 shops in particular that were named many times as being shady. There were notes telling others to, "Be weary of the lady in the tattered red Sari who speaks VERY good English." She takes tourists out of the market into 'handy-craft shops' (as they're known) where the price is Rs 300 per bottle of oil. The deal is she is on the take from the shops, so she gets Rs 150 for each bottle sold and the shop pockets the other half. The notes claim that the oil from these shops is watered down and not as good...and obviously Noor backs this claim up. He told me the only place to buy oils is in the market...Normally I wouldn't believe him, but his customer books sealed the deal. I ended up buying about 10 bottles at which point he threw in about 200 sticks of incense (including the batch I helped him make) and a box to store the oils I too.

And sure enough as I was leaving the market looking for a place to eat I ran into the lady in the red sari. When I told her I already bought oils in the market -from Noor specifically- she cursed and spat and said nasty things about him and his oils...Just as Noor had said about her...

and the battle goes on--score one (hopefully) for the good guys

The ride to Mysore

2005-12-16T05:28:00.000-06:00

So, I had to get out of Goa! I would have had to have waited three days to get a train, so I booked a bus out of Goa to Mangalore on the western coast. In theory, from there I could get on any local train that leaves a few times a day that heads to Mysore...The only problem is once I got to Mangalore I learned that the tracks are 'under repair.' Which meant that I had to go BACK to the bus station where I was lucky enough to be in time to get a seat on the 6:30 am bus leaving for Mysore.

Now the fact that the bus was basically a sardine can didn't bother me too much. The seats were wood with worn out foam padding...Okay fine, can handle it. In typical Indian fashion there are bars on the windows and only 2 exits from the bus...Well, at least there were 2 exits and not just 1. So I'm locked and barred into a small death trap that's now barreling down the road as fast as the driver can push the throttle...Wait, lets back up here. I don't know of "road" is exactly the right word. Maybe 20 years ago it was a road, but now it is more like a continual series of pot holes about 1.5 lanes wide--and there is 2 way traffic, mind you-- throw in the little tid bit that we're traveling through mountains (which were beautiful) and you now have a recipe to scare the hell out of me for 4 hours! These 'roads' switchback up and down the foothills between Mangalore and Mysore for about 4 of the 7 HOURS I was on the bus. I tried as hard as I could not to be scared, I mean no one else on the bus had white knuckles or looked terrified...But then I started thinking about how the Hindu religion has a totally different outlook on life...And also a different value placed on human life. The driver figures that if we run off the road it was "probably our time" and that's why he felt the need to drive like Hunter S. Thompson. H.S. Thompson always said that he would drive "at top speed, in any weather conditions and in any type of terrain" and boy did he ever.

We arrived unscathed! At which point I had my first run-in with a tout. I walked up to the pre-paid taxi stand and as opposed to actually using it to get where I wanted I got into a rickshaw with someone who walked up to me offering a ride. I had two or three places I thought I wanted to stay and passed the addresses along to the driver...at which point he pulls out and goes the opposite direction. He tells me those places are "under demolition" (which was a lie I found out only later when I called one of the places). I wanted to go to the hotel Mauyara--he took me to the hotel Mauyara Place...about a Rs 400 a night difference. After getting annoyed and angry and showing him on the map EXACTLY where I wanted to go he still took me some where different. Annoyed (and stupidly) I took a room at one of the places he took me...The room sux! First off, the guy shows me a rate sheet...Rs 380 a night. I told it was too much and walked away. The guy ended up knocking the price down to Rs 225 a night, okay fine...but after I took the room, I realized how not fine it is. The place is just crappy...and I'm paying too much for it. So, I'll stay there tonight and move on to where I want to stay tomorrow.

that's what I get for using a tout. Grrr

Shoulder to shoulder

2005-12-16T04:54:00.000-06:00

My last 24 hours in Goa were pretty funny...

I started talking with a few people while I was eating dinner, and came away meeting this guy, Anthony, from London (I've been meeting lots of Londoner). He supposedly is a musician, although I suspect he has a day job too...He had JUST landed in Goa and was excited to get drunk and meet girls...the only problem is Benaulim beach, while excellent, isn't girls gone wild; like he was wishing. I tried, in vain, to explain that if he wanted huge parties he needed to head to other beaches, so finally we went down to the beach together so I could show him as opposed to keep wasting my breath. Some of the guys who worked at Domincks were lighting fireworks when we got down to the beach...and being guys we were naturally drawn to the loud explosions...like moths to light.

These looked like Black Cat fireworks...the sounded like Black Cat fireworks...but with one essential (and just so Indian) difference. The fireworks back home have the nice slow-burning green wicks--but in typical Indian fashion the wicks were more akin to cotton strings sticking up....

So, you light the wick & wait. You're supposed to wait till the cotton burns off and it stats to 'fizzle' at which point you throw them in the air...pop pop pop...they blow up. Anthony almost manages to blow his hand off a few times. I mean, when the Indian kids are YELLING at you that it's time to throw them...u know it's pretty much too late. lol. A few burns later he and I retied off to a cafe to play pool and let his charred hands recover a bit. And thats when we started taking whiskey shots. By the end of the night I swear they were serving us shots in what looked like tiny glass flower pots, or maybe they were beakers. Either way, it was the strangest container I've ever been served in. Oh yeah, when we started drinking....our first shot, he looks over at me and mumbles something about "an American and a Brit, shoulder to shoulder." And that became our toast...

So by the end of the night I'm beyond wasted and I turn around and he's trying to talk to this Russian woman sitting there. His Russian is nill, her English is okay but she starts talking in Spanish instead- go figure- somehow (mostly through alcohol) they hit it off and as I was walking back home the two of them were dancing in circles at the edge of the surf taking their clothes off....

It turns out she was married, first oops, and definitely over 50. The next afternoon when I saw him about 3:30 "well, cross that one off me list" he says. Anyway, after that we rode around on his scooter and just sort of got lost in Goa....Although it turned into a problem when it got dark and we were REALLY lost and I had a bus to catch that night. U can ask people for directions...But it won't do much good. For instance, you point down the road and ask "Benaulim? Is Benaulim this way?" More than likely someone will say "yes" and point down the road the same way you're pointing...And you come to find out later it was exactly the OPPOSITE way of where it is you needed to be going.

Cheers! Shoulder to shoulder, mate.

Maybe this works

2005-12-14T07:13:00.002-06:00

Okay, so I'm going to try to see if this works. I dumped a few pictures onto photobucket.com. I didn't really pic& choose just cause i'm seeing if this works. I'm going to try linking to the photo album...keep the fingers crossed

Jesus Boat

This is one of the boats in Goa...supposedly the population is about 30% Catholic....

Go Carting

This would be me go carting

Shiva Head

This is a carving from Elephanta Island; the 3 faces of Shiva (creator, preserver and destroyer)

Mini Taj

The mini Taj Mahal in Aurungabad....in interesting and sad monument...it WAS so beautiful and loved at one time, but now it's fallen into disrepair...

okay, lets publish this and see if the links work. :)

Yesterday

2005-12-14T06:51:00.000-06:00

I went fishing yesterday, but not with bait and tackle, but a giant net instead. I was laying out when one of the guys from the cafe behind me asked to come help "fish." Another guy I met (from NE London)Mark, Raju (who works at the cafe) and I all swam out a few hundred yards dragging a fishing net behind us. At first it wasn't' so hard, but after it got stretched out it felt like progress was slow going. Each wave would pass and drag us a few feet back toward shore; or so it seemed. Finally Raju decided he had had enough and we swan back to shore and waited. A few hours later we pulled in the net and turned up an embarrassing display...maybe about 8 or 9 catfish, none longer than a foot and about 10 crabs. So, I'm not much of a fisherman--especially compared to the guys I saw that morning pulling in the sardine catch....They pulled in the long net and produced thousands upon thousands of sardines that flopped out onto the beach- which they then swept up into baskets& bags and carried off.

Anyway, happy to have caught anything at all I went back to my chair to read when Raju tapped my on the shoulder about 30 minutes later holding a huge bowl of Crab Curry....the very same crab I helped catch. I joined he and Mark to enjoy the fruits of our labor, if u will.

Mark, it turns out, is here with his girlfriend and two other of her friends on "holiday" for a few weeks staying at this one girl's parents' place. So, after getting some dinner with them we took over a rickshaw for the night and drove out to a spot in outside of Margoa where they have go cart racing. We bought a few tickets & raced a few times; but the funniest part of the evening had to be when these 3 other Indian guys got on the track. It was pretty obvious, by virtue of 3 accidents in the first 200 yards, that two of the men had never driven ANYTHING in their lives before...let alone anything something that is supposed to be 'raced.' While one guy was speeding around it seemed as though the other two guys were having a contest to see who could go the absolute slowest. I didn't mean to laugh, but I couldn't help it. The first lap took over 4 minutes to complete.

Right now I'm trying to get OUT of Goa, but it's hard. The train is booked, but there are "Tourist Quota" tickets available -- each train has some 'tourist' tickets set aside for people like me but they have to be purchased in person @the train station, and not booked by an agent here in town-- needless to say I never made it to the train station today, so I'm going first thing tomorrow morning so I can get a move on. Goa has been really good, but it's time to see new stuff.

I'll keep trying to get my pics up somewhere....bye for now

Fish Guy

2005-12-14T06:26:00.000-06:00

So, this is the fish guy I was talking about.

Few More Random pics--

2005-12-12T09:17:00.000-06:00

Okay, test 1 worked, lets see if I can't throw another few pics up here....

but while I'm waiting for them to upload, let me tell you about the market I went to in Aurungabad. Syed, my driver that, day asked me if I wanted to go to the animal market...i was a little hesitant at first, but said "yeah, lets go." I have to say, it was AMAZING! Exactly what you would expect, right....One section is all livestock. Sheep, cows, buffalo, goats, Yaks....then it spills over into a fish market, and hopefully there will be a few pics on here from the fish section. People have their product out there and you come buy and pick out however much it is you want. They use hand scales to weigh out your fish, crabs, lobster, prawn eels...whatever you need....from there it goes into a vegetable market, then a special sugar section, which then leads into the spice section...and finally the "goods" market where you can get anything from pots and pans to car parts.

I got this one pic I LOVE of a guy scaling fish, hes looking up, smiling, and there are scales flying everywhere. We'll see if the picture makes it up on this post.

One of the guys who was selling buffalo was telling me about how sometimes the baby calf will die (it happens all the time he says) and subsequently either the mothers milk goes bad, or she stops making it all together...so what they do is skin the calf and stuff it with straw and dirt and lay it out in front of the mom to trick it into thinking she still had a calf...and hence keeps giving good milk.

u learn something new everyday

argh!!! so the pics won't upload now...don't know why....but I'll try again later

2005-12-12T08:53:00.000-06:00

okay--this was a test run. There should be (and again let me stress SHOULD BE) a picture of a sunset on this post...but chances are it won't show up for some reason or another. I found a place where I can upload pics...but the problem is they're SO SO SO SO SO slow it will cost me a fortune to even get 10 picures up. I have a yahoo photo album, but I need to know if there is anything better out there. Yahoo takes TOO long to upload (or it could be the internet here, but it's pretty fast really)...so let me know a good site that I can throw some pics up cause I want everyone to see the stuff i see.....some if it is WILD! just like you would imagine...I mean, you have to rub your eyes and pinch yourself to make sure you're not dreaming.....

**and by the way, the Mefloquin (my melaria meds) do give you very VERY VIVID and fucked up dreams! I've never woken up so many times and wondered if my dream just happened in reality or not.

Example (of reality) - I was laying on the beach soaking up the sun when I look up from my book and see two guys leading a small heard of buffalo into the water for a bath.

Or earlier, when I was Aurungabad at one intersection we had to break for a MASS of people, about 15 bikes, 5 cows, 2 pics, a goat...and a partridge in a pear tree...oh yeah, don't forget about BIG trucks, other cars and a ton of auto rickshaws...

Another India experience: I went into town today to pick up a few things. The bus only cost Rs 5 (very cheap) I get on and its already crowded. I counted, there is seating on the bus for 30 people...but there are about 40 people in seats...then I would estimate about another 40 people standing...now, this is a VERY small bus, not too much bigger than a short-bus...and as I'm standing there bunched up with all these people I see through a visable slice of window an elephand kneeling down being washed....

gotta say, fucking love it!

I'm outie for now--time for some dinner; I hear those tiger prawn calling my name.

HAHAHAHHAH

2005-12-11T08:06:00.001-06:00

People keep leaving messages about the snow, and how it's piling up....all i have to say is HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA

Today it was so hot!!! I think i burned the bottom of my feet walking from my sunbed to one of the cafes for a cold refreshing 'Kingfisher' beer.

I was sitting at Dominic's cafe today and....
(classic example of the attitude in Goa--the ad for dominics in their menu goes something like this: Dominic's, in Benaulim, on the left, 4th shack down.)

watching yet another stunning sunset when they came in with their fresh catch. I decided on Tuna steak again tonight...I was going to get something else, but it looks so big and juicy, I couldn't pass it up. Tomorrow, I think I'm going to try the Tiger Prawn- Goan style, of coarse!

Misha--I haven't had to bribe anyone as of yet...(thank god) and i haven't seen anyone squat in the street, but I did see a little kid take a dump on the beach...mmmm tasty....

To be honest, the train food wasn't all that bad. But then again I ate vegetarian because I didn't feel like testing the meat on the train. While my compartment was nice, I know (from first-hand experience now) that be 'facilities' aren't all that stellar. They're pretty much a hole in the floor, and when you flush it just opens up and drops out the bottom of the train.....Mm tasty, yet again

I want to say that I miss the snow...but, I'd be lying if I did.

Goa is something else. It's nothing like either Bombay (i learned today that most people still call it Bombay not Mumbai)or Aurungabad. For one thing most people here are Catholic, and the architecture is more Portuguese then anything else. Now with that being said, when I was taking the bus back from Margoa to Benaulim our bus stopped three times at various places so the guy who collected $ on the bus could hop out and put a flower wreath over a cross that incorporated but a crucifix and traditional Hindu symbols. Funny....(and yet the kind of thing that fascinates a religious studies person).

While the beach is so nice!!! The walk to the beach sometimes can get quite annoying. In the half-mile between my room and the beach there is something like 25 streetside shacks all selling the same crap. Everyone wants you to stop. If you tell them no, the insist!!! Then they more or less start begging...and still as you blow them off the come back with one last line...every one of them without fail will say something like..."well just look...Looking is free, right?"
If u tell them later and walk away the remember you, and the next time you come by they'll hold you to it. They're good like that.

I sat down and talked to the guy who runs the booth outside the guest house I'm staying at. His name is Casheu--pronounced like the nut--he's from Karnataka, which is the state directly south of Goa...he says he lives here for 8 months a year running the booth, then during the rainy season he goes back home for 4 months. He's been doing this for the last 15/16 years, ever since he was abandoned by his parents when he was 6 years old! He said someone took him here, to Goa, and he's been working on the street in one of these booths ever since. I asked him about the tsunmi...he said Goa wasn't effected at all, but that day after the earthquke when rumors of the tsunami started to spread everyone quick went down to the beach....he said it was dark and cloudy...then they all turned tail and ran inland!!! He said that they all went about 20km in and stayed for about a week...then some people came back, and others went to help out in the areas that were hit hard.

Okay, i've gotta cut this one off here 'cause my minute are about to run out...that and I've gotta run through the shower then head back to dominics for some live music! Hope everyone is keeping warm, I know I am!

Love u much! more to come tomorrow, I'm sure.

HAHAHAHHAH

2005-12-11T08:06:00.000-06:00

:( No pics

2005-12-10T08:21:00.000-06:00

I've tried in vain to upload my pictures many times. The first time the computer in Mumbai was too old to recognize my camera. Then the next time the internet was too slow to get them up in anything less than a day...and now at this cafe they "don't have the rights" to uploads pics from the camera...

I just figured out that "don't have the rights" means that the network administrator settings are done in such a way that its not possible. BUT, never fear...there is another internet cafe down the street. If that doesn't work then the latest I'll have pictures up is around Christmas when I go to meet a friend in Bangalore. I know he'll have a place and the know-how to do it.....

to patience, please...

Hello Goa!!!

2005-12-10T07:38:00.000-06:00

WOW!!!!!

I love the beach!!! It was my first day in Goa today. I decided to go to Benaulim Beach, it is about 4km away from the city of Margoa. In between now and Aurungabad I spent almost 24 FREAKING HOURS on the train. I only thought it was going to take about 16 hours, at least thats what the guy at the train station told me...think again!!!

I had a 6 am train out of Aurungabad....so of coarse I woke up at about 5:20 am and was only half packed...so I threw everything into my bag and went downstairs where there, in theory, should have been a rickshaw waiting for me...well surprise!! no one was there.

***side note--the help at the hotel sleeps in the front lobby at night**

So I asked the guy sleeping there, who let me out of the hotel, which way was the train station, he pointed down the road and said, "5 minutes." so I went the way he pointed for about 45 seconds when I happened upon some road construction, if you can call it that. It was more like a 30 foot crater in the middle of the road that was totally impossible to get around....so 15 minutes till my train I had to turn around and RUN the other direction to get around the massive hole where the road should have been. 5 blocks later I flagged down a rickshaw and negotiated a ride to the station for 10 rupees (u have to haggle over EVERYTHING here) and it turns out that it really WAS just a few minutes down the road. I made my train and the connection in the city of Manmed. I shared a sleeper berth with two Israelis and a middle aged Frenchman who were also on their way to Goa. The Frenchman (who I cannot remember his name for the life of me) was a total weirdo, but in a good way. He works in Leon 4 months a year as a boat tour guide through this national park, and the rest of the year he spends in either India or Indonesia (following the good weather) lounging around on the beach and Kite Surfing. He's been to Goa many times and recommended that I tag along with him to Benaulim--it turned out to be great advice because it's beautiful here!

I am very proud of myself, because before I hit the beach I found my way to the bus stop, hopped on the bus to Margoa, found a respectable bank and an electronics store (so I could buy a plug converter and charge my camera--so I could later upload pics) then found the bus BACK to Benaulim. It doesn't sound like much, but right now in my world that is quite the accomplishment!

THEN, I walked a half mile to the beach and did nothing but lay around, read and subbathe. I figure I'll spend another few days here soaking up the sun then head further south to Mangalore...although right now I don't have the tour book in front of my and I cannot remember why it was I wanted to go there. I'm sure there was some good reason.

ARGH!!!!

2005-12-08T07:51:00.000-06:00

So, I just wrote this huge post and it was deleted when the power went out, which happens all the time here in Aurungabad. I'd retype it, but I've got to get out the door becaues I have an invite to go to someone's house for dinner tonight! Very excited! Things here are good! Just wish I could have kept the post. Tomorrow I leave for Goa, and if there is an internet cafe there I will surely have the time to write lots becuase I have nothing to do there but lounge around on the beach and enjoy the warm weather.

I just wanted to say that I miss everyone! I hope everyone is healthy and happy. More later from Goa--stupid power outages!--

Much love
Aaron

Hello Friend....

2005-12-05T01:51:00.000-06:00

I wasn't sure if language was going to be a problem...so far that could not be anything further from the truth. U walk down the street and every street vendor and hustler calls out (b/c obviously I'm a foreigner)..."hello friend, hello friend" "Hello Sir- Would like to buy...." at which point you fill in the blank whether its: shoes, shirts, pants, DVD, software, juice, belts, underwear, saris, statues, phones, radios.....the list goes on forever! Then behind the street stands there are stores, selling nike shoes, or levi jeans.....

So today is my last day in Mumbai for now, and I'm just taking it easy. I checked out of my hotel and subsequently have to schlep all of my stuff around...which in theory isn't that bad because I bought this really nice bag, with a fancy internal frame that BROKE when the crammed it onto the plane on the way over and has hence been rendered useless, the frame that is. And while it was comfortable to wear around for about before it has since become like a 30lb rock pulling at my back and shoulders--so not much walking around for me today, which is fine b/c I'm a bit jetlagged still and tired from the last few days of non-stop sight seeing.

Tonight @8:30 my bus is supposed to roll out of Victoria Terminal and head northeast to the city of Aurungabad. The city itself is relatively unexciting, but I'm heading up there to see the Ellora and Ajunta caves. Both are these (supposedly) huge complexes of intricate statues and carvings cut straight out of the rock walls about 1500 years ago. Each site has multiple installations carved at different times by Buddhist, Hindu and Jain devotees. Then after that I'm planning catching a train to Goa to relax on the beach and hopefully finally make some much needed friends.

Yesterday I took a trip out to see Elephanta Island...more cave carvings...lol...but super interesting! Anyway, the boat is supposed to leave from the Gateway to India, but it was still closed, for two reasons...there were Navy Day celebrations--a big deal here apparently and also the King of Morocco was in...so things around there were closed down. Since the boats weren't leaving from the gateway they were bussing people north to the docks....the only problem was I couldn't find the bus. I asked the guy who I got the ticket from, and he said it was around the corner. I went around the corner and found 10 busses sitting there! After asking at each one with no luck I went back to the ticket counter where I found a Scottish couple in the same predicament; so together we set out circling the busses and asking everyone around, "Elephanta Island??? Which bus is Elephanta Island?" after about 10 minutes we found a group of people waiting for the bus. Minutes later it pulled up and complete MADNESS ensued! The Indians have no concept of a line, it's first come-first serve and the more muscle you have the better! We pushed and shoved our way on and managed to get a seat!!! and soon we were off....getting off the bus...more pushing and shoving from the dock...across two boats and onto the third...then off to the island.
The Scottish couple (Eric& Margret) and I opted not to do the guided tour, which worked out great because it turns out that a history and religious studies degree is good for something. I had no problem interpreting the statues and the relaying what I knew onto them. They were thankful to have saved the rupees and I was proud tell them everything I knew, which turned out to be a lot. The caves were devoted to Shiva one of the main Hindu Gods...and the crowning gem at this site is a massive carving with three Shiva heads with three different faces depicting Shiva the creator, the preserver and the destroyer.

After walking around and taking pictures we went to the cafe and hung out, had a few beers and talked. The weather was beautiful high up a hill overlooking the Mumbai harbor. I was so thankful to have latched onto them for the afternoon.

okay, so this is getting to be a MASSIVE post, so I'll cut it off here and see if I can't figure out how to upload some pics so you all can see what I'm talking about.

Bye for now...

one quick post b4 bed

2005-12-03T11:53:00.000-06:00

Ahhh.....

I have a full stomach of Vegetable stir fry and 4 pints of Fosters...I'm feeling good...lol

I accomplished my various missions for the day. I saw the Taj Hotel,and the Gateway of India. Walked around the huge market and made it to 2 art museums.

sorry this post has to be a bit brief, the cafe is closing in 10 minutes.

I DID get a phone number, so if anyone feels like calling me I am reachable.

The number is +91 922 426 6571

For those of you calling from america the + mean 011 (i think)
so if you were calling it would be (011) 91 922 426 6571
91 by the way is the country code.

anyway...I think the guy is kicking me out. He wants to go home, and I don't blame him. i'll see what I can do as far as filling you in on my day tomorrow...cause I had quite the series of adventures. Things like walking down the street and eating have (obviously) never been SO foreign!

okay, time to go for now....

I'll write it all up tomorrow when I wake up...

bye for now

I'm alive!

2005-12-02T11:02:00.000-06:00

I made it here!

I'm in Mumbai! By the time I made it out of the airport it was dark dark dark! Oh yeah, and also rush hour! I was scared at first because the area around the airport was a total slum...but an hour and a half later (fighting SERIOUS bumper to bumper traffic the whole way) I made it to my hotel. In a much nicer part of town near the CST (train station that has a name too long for me to remember)

Now driving here is chaotic at best! There don't really seem to be any rules other than watch out for the area in front of you. There are a few traffic lights...but other than that it's a total free for all! People use their horns...ALL THE TIME, if you don't you're liable to get killed. Its just the way it goes. At one point we were speeding down (what I think was) a highway...lined on both sides with people sleeping on the street, or in cardboard shanties...then there were people trying to cross the street! How do you cross the street in India, you ask??? FAST!!! would be the answer. Cause I don't think the cars are going to stop

LOL.

We made it to the hotel in one piece...mission number 1 was now accomplished. Standard room: bed, tv, tea pot, bathroom...and thats about it.
The bathroom has a shower, which is really just a faucet sticking out of the wall about 5 feet up & and I drains somewhere...hopefully not into my room...don't know really, I haven't tried it out yet. There is a western style toilet, which is also nice...but no toilet paper to be found...ahh but there is a hose and nozzle that looks like the ones that pulls out of the kitchen sink....hmmmm-

Anyway...I dropped off my things, washed my face and explored the few blocks around my hotel. Right now it's like 11:30 at night and everything is closing up...and by everything I mean all of the street stalls everywhere. It seems like I can buy almost anything off the street...clothes, phones, watches, bags, trinkets, food...u name it& someone is selling it in a street stall. Then at the end of the night people pack up& go home...or hunker down right there and go to sleep.

--At least that seems to be my first impression---

I'm a little hungry, but right now I don't trust any of the food stands around, and I didn't want to chicken out and go to the McDonalds across the street. We'll tackle this problem tomorrow.

For now I think I'm heading back to my hotel room cause it's past 11@ night. I need to go plan what I'm going to do tomorrow. I think I'll go see the "Gateway to India", the Colaba market place& then a museum or two thats in the area. I'll report back and see how it goes. Hopefully tomorrow, after some sleep...in the daylight...things will make a little more sense. Right now, they're just a bit overwhelming.

Culture shock does not even begin to describe it.

Time to go find a bottle of water so I can brush my teeth and swallow a sleeping pill.

over &(sort of freaking) out!

Amerigo Ves-Perlstein

2005-11-30T15:00:00.000-06:00

How do you plan an itinerary for a country that is almost as large as the Unites States? How do you know what it is you want to see? I mean, I have plenty of tour books...but can you really trust them??? lol.

Like I said before, I'm landing in Mumbai, which is one of India's largest cities ringing in with a population of about 16 MILLION people! The plan right now is to stay for my first few nights at the Residency Hotel (http://www.residencyhotel.com) Now one night there is about as much as I was planning on spending per day, but I figured for the first 4 nights it couldn't hurt to sleep in a place with soft beds, sit-down toilets and hot showers because the time difference is 11.5 hours ahead of StL time.

Mumbai moves at a frenetic pace, so I don't think I want to spend more then about 4-5 nights there. So I think the plan is to head out of there and go a ways north by train to the city of Aurangabad which will act as my base camp for 2-3 nights while I explore the ancient cave carvings in the cities of Ellora and Arjuna...which date back to about the year 800.

Ahh, then it's time for the BEACH! Goa here I come! It's a tiny (essentially all beach) state to the south of Maharashtra (where Mumbai and Aurangabad are) where I'll sleep in thatched huts on the beach& fully recover from the jet-lag. But I have to be careful not to get sucked in since I'll be back there with Nate on New Years.

From there I plan to head further south to Mangalore for a few nights before I head inland toward the city of Hassan which I'll use as a base camp to visit the HUGE temples of Channekeshave in Belure& Hoysaleswars in Halebid. Which I know means nothing to you, but soon enough there'll be pictures to help make sense of things.

Then I plan on heading to Bangalore for Christmas by way of Mysore, one of the renound Maharaja capitals before Indian independence. They're supposedly famous for their silk & sandalwood trade...and also yoga ashrams! (which I fully intend on visiting). I plan on spending the days between Christmas and New Years in Bangalore with a friend...then make my way BACK to Goa to party party party for New Years.

After that I've got approximately 12 days till my mother, of all people, is arriving in Delhi with my Aunt Deedee and cousin Adri. That is such a strange turn of events, but I'll get into that one later.

So...there you have it. The ROUGH rough rough plan as I see it unfolding so far for the first month and a half on the other side of the world...but the thing about backpacking is that may not be how it goes down at all! Stay tuned to find out what happens. 16 hours+/- till I leave...time to cram in as much America as I can before I go.

On my way

2005-11-27T10:12:00.000-06:00

!!!!!INDIA HERE I COME!!!!!!

But not quite yet.

Right now it's only Sunday Nov 27th....
I'd have to say that my journey started about a year ago when I got serious to the idea. From there the next stop along the way was Kansas City, where two of my very good friends were nice enough to (not only) give me a summer job, but also crash @their place rent free!!!! From KC I moved back home to St. Louis for a few weeks to spend time with fam. and get outfitted for (what I hope will be) a crazy 4 months of backpacking through the subcontinent.

While there is a ton that happened between then and now, I won't bore you with the details at this point; which brings us to last night where I was thrown 'em back with an old friend Mr. (2nd Lt.) William (blood& guts) Fox.

Don't let the suit & closed eyes fool you...Because eyes open, or closed, he will blow u apart with "disproportionate fire-power" as he likes to say. Having gotten the Fox 'thumbs up' blessing I think I'm set to role.

Slowly but surely, I'm inching my way closer& closer to India. First KC--> then StL--> now New York from Monday to Thursday to see the beautiful and wonderful Ms. Lindsey Unterberger who currently writes/edits/publishes for iVillage.com. Thats a pic of she & I out one night with "that guy" Mark Hirsch acting foolish as usual (but thats why I love him!!!)

If you haven't read her stuff I suggest it. Take a look if you ever get a chance http://www.ivillage.com she writes for the Diet& fitness and Home& Food sections (or channels as they call them).

Then comes THE DAY. Dec. 1 2005, I board a flight on Emmerites Air...Making a quick stop-over in Dubai (in the UAE) I go on to Mumbai (formerly Bombay). In theory my flight lands around 5:45 pm on Dec 2nd. Mumbai is about halfway down the west coast in the state of Maharashtra.

HOLY HELL....HERE I GO!

hop on board & hold on tight!