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November 28, 2003

For the next India trip

Because there MUST be another. We'll be back, badder than Arnie. Here's a short list of places we want to see again, or for the first time, on India II: Khajuraho. More time to re-examine the temples, and to see...

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Posted by Ant at 11:15 PM
Comments (5)
November 27, 2003

And now, the good stuff about Delhi

Venting is good, but it's done. For now. Delhi hasn't been all bad, just mostly annoying. Here's some of the good things that happened in Delhi: Bengali Sweet Shop. Yum. Milk sweets, pistachio, chocolate... again, YUM. (Oh, and Claudia, the...

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Posted by Ant at 05:00 AM
Comments (3)
November 26, 2003

Now DON'T piss me off!!!

As Ant has mentioned, we had some "issues" with our guesthouse, the H.K. Choudary Paying Guest House. Ant just called them the H.K. Chowderheads, but whatever, Let's Go was wrong in recommending them, they BLOW. We reserved a room weeks...

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Posted by Claudia at 07:02 AM
Comments (5)

8 hours left in India

Delhi. Ugh. 2 days in Delhi. No, wait, 2 and a half, if you include the time from landing at the airport, to when I flew out for Varanasi — 2 months ago. Delhi has not made a good impression...

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Posted by Ant at 06:18 AM
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November 24, 2003

A lizard groped me

Ok, I expected horny Indian men, but not horny Indian lizards (or LEEEzards as Ant says). As I was killing mosquitos (29 for me, 50 for Ant) the other night, I went to close the curtain near our door. As...

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Posted by Claudia at 03:43 AM
Comments (3)

The Divine and the Dump

There are certain cliches about traveling in India. Getting off a plane in Delhi, for example, is almost always described as "walking into an oven." Agra, on the other hand, is always described as "a dump." Claudia and I have...

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Posted by Ant at 03:16 AM
Comments (2)

Rickshaw Formula 1

And you thought the Formula 1 races were in some swanky European city like Monte Carlo. Apparently Khajaraho has one of it's own kick ass drivers and his name is Santosh and he drives this beast of a vehicle. Santosh...

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Posted by Claudia at 02:40 AM
Comments (1)

Keychains, waterfalls, rickshaw drivers...

... and the best chai in India. Just don't try to find it in the dark. Which we just about had to do. I was about to start typing the rest of this post, when the power went out, if...

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Posted by Ant at 02:11 AM
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SMUT!!!!

How do they DO that??? This was a common question Ant and I would ask when we were walking around the erotic temples complex in Khajaraho. You would be amazed at the flexibility at some of these guys and chickies......

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Posted by Claudia at 01:23 AM
Comments (2)
November 20, 2003

LONG days

We've been traveling for days.... Ant and I wanted to very much see the smutty temples at Khajaraho. However, they are a major pain to get to. The nearest train is 4-6 hours away in Jhansi, a dump of a...

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Posted by Claudia at 10:36 AM
Comments (5)

Homemade Lemon Pickle & Gin... Rummy

Some of the coolest people we've met in India, were in our compartment on the Mumbai-Jhansi train (if you're playing the home game, that's the #1057 Amritsar Express, schedule 4 in Trains at a Glance). They asked to borrow our...

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Posted by Ant at 09:21 AM
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November 18, 2003

Laziness for 800R a night

When I travel, I like to do things that I don't do at home. Like check out temples, or swim in warm seas... or watch cable and drink soda. Claudia took on finding us a place in Mumbai. After conversations...

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Posted by Ant at 05:20 AM
Comments (6)
November 17, 2003

Rocking out in Mumbai

But where are the 14 million people who supposedly live here?? Ant and I rolled into Mumbai (formerly Bombay) on Sunday morning at 6:30am. We fought with our taxi driver and still got ripped off, but on our way to...

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Posted by Claudia at 05:09 AM
Comments (7)
November 15, 2003

Who does what?

A lot of travel, is taking care of things. When you travel with someone, you develop routines. Ideally, those routines take into account each other's strengths, and helps make for a better trip for the both of you. Claudia and...

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Posted by Ant at 09:34 AM
Comments (10)
November 14, 2003

Boss Madam

It cracks me up every time. Last night we wound up geeking out at the cybercafe for way longer than we thought. Stumbling in the dark back towards the beach, our rumbling tummies decided we were going to dinner. The...

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Posted by Ant at 08:35 AM
Comments (7)
November 13, 2003

Steaks Walking on the Beach

Yes, there really were steaks walking on the beach and it didn't make my mouth water this time. For starters, after yesterday's amazing feat of going IN the water, I repeated it today. In fact, it was even better. Ant...

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Posted by Claudia at 09:57 AM
Comments (6)
November 11, 2003

I don't know much about hippies...

... but I can see why they like Goa. For starters, getting around is ridiculously easy. The intrastate bus system is quite good, and cheap and... dare I say it... on time. The train station is in Margao, in South...

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Posted by Ant at 06:51 AM
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Pigs are Flying

And hell has frozen over. For those who know me well, you know due to my vampiric skin, I hate beaches, sun, sand, and water. I have been proven wrong. I have found the ideal beach for myself. It's in...

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Posted by Claudia at 06:43 AM
Comments (5)
November 10, 2003

Pics from Jan

I just wanted to include a few pics that Jan emailed to me from our trip. The first is a photo of our sunrise cruise down the Ganges The other is a group photo which is missing the person taking...

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Posted by Claudia at 07:27 AM
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Even Poor People Meditate Here

Fffffthick, ffffthick.... Everyone is entitled to a bit of spiritual enlightenment. What form it takes is up to you. I've found that the poor people here in India seem to have what seems to be an original way to ease...

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Posted by Claudia at 07:10 AM
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November 08, 2003

We are sooooo going to hell...

Or we're going to be reincarnated as snails. Something like that. Claudia's already talked about our Amma Ashram experience at pretty good length, but this has been one of our most interesting and disturbing experiences so far, so I'll chime...

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Posted by Ant at 06:06 AM
Comments (4)

There Is No Spoon

I am going to be a guru. Ant had mentioned our plans of becoming gurus in a prior post and I have to reaffirm that idea after our recent excursion to the ashram of Amma, The Hugging Mother. I had...

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Posted by Claudia at 06:05 AM
Comments (2)
November 04, 2003

The Coolest Silk Shop in Maha: Suba Silk House

Claudia and I have alluded to this a bit here and there, both on the blog and on our various posts on the BootsnAll message boards, but the silk shop she gots some shirts from deserves a wee plug. As...

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Posted by Ant at 06:13 AM
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Scary moment with Doxycycline

It's not the rush that kills you, it's the sweats at the end... If you're going to India, you're supposed to take some sort of antimalarial. There's quite a few on the market, such as Larium, but most of these...

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Posted by Ant at 04:20 AM
Comments (2)
November 03, 2003

Chennai ROCKS MY SOCKS

I can't believe it, there is efficiency in India outside of Bangalore. I've been in India 1.5 months now and I have gotten used to things taking a while to get done. Train tickets, bus tickets, whatever. So the prospect...

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Posted by Claudia at 12:04 PM
Comments (3)
November 02, 2003

It Came Out of the Drain

Or, The Cockroach from Hell Call me Ishmael... No, stuff that, call me Anthony, and call me shell-shocked by some severe entomological homicide-induced post-traumatic stress disorder. After a lovely day of haircuts, laughter, mid-afternoon rain and then sunshine and clambering...

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Posted by Ant at 11:56 AM
Comments (4)

Among goats and rocks, but no dancing rats

After lopping off most of Claudia's hair, we ventured back out into the wide world of Maha. First, the beach (about 2 minutes walk). Just off the beach and behind some fence (to keep non-Indians from dodging the $10 entrance...

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Posted by Ant at 11:21 AM
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Hare Krishna, Hairy Krishna

I had had it with my hair. Back in Bangalore, I had meant to get my haircut, but I kept forgetting or was busy with something else. Either we were hanging out with Dusty, eating, having a frappe at Cafe...

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Posted by Claudia at 09:53 AM
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Ant's Gone LOCAL!!!

Or maybe "loco." Being a westerner in India, my bathroom habits are somewhat different than the local Indian. I use toilet paper and not my left hand. It's a habit and custom I like to keep for myself. Some people...

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Posted by Claudia at 09:39 AM
Comments (14)
November 01, 2003

Mahabalipuram

"Maha", for short, like "Baja California". From Pondicherry, Claudia and I were planning to go to Chennai for a day or two, to see if we can do some finagling with our Bangkok tickets. Over breakfast the day we were...

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Posted by Ant at 09:59 AM
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Gurus & Ashrams

After all these days of basking in the warm darshan glow of ashrams, ashram communities, and our ashram-run guesthouse, the divine has guided me and Claudia to accept our destiny as gurus. 1000 rupees, please. Our ashram will be called...

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Posted by Ant at 03:18 AM
Comments (4)
October 31, 2003

Mmmm... Beer & Chicken

Tempting fate, yes, but probably for the last time. We lounged a lot yesterday. Our room is huge, comfy, with a couch and a seaside balcony. We didn't want to leave, but finally we admitted that we needed to eat....

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Posted by Ant at 03:09 AM
Comments (2)
October 30, 2003

Anthony 6, Claudia 3

When mozzies (mosquitoes) bite, we fight back. Before leaving for India, I went to REI and spent about $20 on insect repellent. I haven't used a drop. Claudia will be inheriting all of it; apparently, she's the only insect repellent...

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Posted by Ant at 02:35 AM
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October 29, 2003

Deep in Pondicherry

Auroville is FREAKY Today Ant and I decided to take a tour of the city of Pondicherry. Most of the tour was uninteresting except for a surreal stop at Auroville. Auroville is an alternative way of living, which is summed...

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Posted by Claudia at 11:40 AM
Comments (3)
October 26, 2003

Bangalore is like Portland

No kidding. After a few days here, the greenery, the coffee, the tech, the laidback feeling — constantly the thought runs through my head that this town is similar to Portland, Oregon. And that is a compliment Bangalore deserves. Claudia...

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Posted by Ant at 12:00 PM
Comments (2)
October 25, 2003

Chillin in Bangalore

Happy Diwali!!! Today is the Indian New Year. Ant and I have been spending some quality time relaxing at the home of Dustyshoes, a friend of ours who with her family has been extremely generous in putting our sorry butts...

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Posted by Claudia at 06:02 AM
Comments (2)
October 22, 2003

Hotel Potma

And The Eagles say, "Welcome, to the Ho-tel Mar-i-juana..." Every time I leave our room, the smell of burning pot transports me back to Eugene, home of hippies and hemp. Some contact buzz, huh? Our first day at Hotel Potma...

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Posted by Ant at 12:05 PM
Comments (2)
October 21, 2003

A short man in India

An exchange with an Indian chap (maybe in his mid-50s?), on the sleeper train from Varanasi to Kolkata: "How old are you?" he asks me. "25, sir." "You look much younger," he says. Claudia snickers. "You very small, more like...

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Posted by Ant at 04:16 AM
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October 20, 2003

Bhubaneswar Lites

My first real job was at a newspaper, The Roanoke Times, in Virginia. One of my favorite parts of the job was skimming the news wires, and over the New York Times wire there would now and again be an...

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Posted by Ant at 02:34 PM
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Improved Attitude, Sort Of

I'm almost 100% recovered from my battle with dehydration and all seems to be back to normal, including my appetite. One of the things I have been making sure to do is to be really vigilant with my choices of...

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Posted by Claudia at 10:17 AM
Comments (6)
October 19, 2003

I'm a Liar

Right now, Ant and I are in Bhubaneswar, a city on the eastern side of India, about a third way down from the top. It's known for it's temples, and there are hundreds of 'em!!! As with all other tourist...

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Posted by Claudia at 09:40 AM
Comments (1)

The Taxi Haggle of Howrah

Bottled water: 10R Sweet lassi: 13R Toilet paper: 25R Taxi to Kolkata's Howrah train station? Well, that depends... Chowringhee Street at the corner of Sudder was a taxi scrum. A river of yellow tops stood stalled; there was hardly room...

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Posted by Ant at 09:30 AM
Comments (4)
October 18, 2003

Eye contact

How Claudia and I look at India is totally, literally different: she looks down, and I look at. Today is the first time that difference has hit me. We were walking down Kolkata's Chittaranjan Ave., a massive thoroughfare with tons...

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Posted by Ant at 04:41 AM
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October 17, 2003

Functioning at 80%

Like the title says, I think I'm on the mend. I watched minimal TV, which is also a sign. It also could have been the oh so pleasant documentary on how global warming is going to lead to Armageddon in...

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Posted by Claudia at 03:50 AM
Comments (3)

City of Carnivores

Well, 2 carnivores anyway. Yes, yes, we know that eating meat in India is poo-poo'ed. Vegetarian, vegetarian, vegetarian. If meat, then expect lots of toilet. Telling that to me and Claudia though... well, look, we aren't Hindus. We. Like. Meat....

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Posted by Ant at 03:24 AM
Comments (4)
October 16, 2003

Low Tolerance for BULLSHIT

I'm going to beat the shit out of someone. I am still not 100% mended. However, I can't lie around all day in a hotel room so Ant and I went out to Barista, as a treat for me. Barista...

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Posted by Claudia at 04:41 AM
Comments (7)

All's Chill in Kolkata

Well, save for the weather, though today hasn't been nearly as bad as the past couple of days - mainly because it's raining. Claudia and I ducked into NetFreaks on Sudder Street, which has some pretty fast connections and a...

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Posted by Ant at 04:12 AM
Comments (2)
October 14, 2003

Calcutta Madness

Calcutta is CRAAAAAAAAAAAZY. We arrived in Calcutta this morning after a long-ish train ride from Varanasi. People are just everywhere. We attempted to go find a place to eat and between the heat and the hunger, Ant and I almost...

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Posted by Claudia at 11:04 AM
Comments (5)
October 13, 2003

Morning in Varanasi

On our last day in Varanasi, Claudia and I thought about taking a sunrise boat ride up the Ganges. She's still not feeling quite up to snuff though, so after getting up at 5:30 we talked it over and decided...

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Posted by Ant at 10:52 AM
Comments (7)
October 12, 2003

New face

Well, we can't let Claudia have all the fun. This is Anthony, chiming in for the first time on here. I just joined up with Claudia in Varanasi, and now that the jetlag has worn off and - so far...

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Posted by Ant at 11:09 AM
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Still Sick in Varanasi

Well, Ant arrived safe and sound. Instead of him being jet-lagged and pooped, it is me who was beat and all lathargic. I keep coughing and hacking, which is very tiring. I might have a few hours with no coughing...

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Posted by Claudia at 11:08 AM
Comments (4)
October 08, 2003

"Deep" Spirituality in Rishikesh

Too many deep people... I have been in Rishikesh's Swarg Ashram area for about a day and a half now. I must say, I am throughly unimpressed. I am staying at a blah hotel (Green Hotel) that has a redeeming...

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Posted by Claudia at 08:24 AM
Comments (0)
October 04, 2003

Varanasi Ain't So Bad!!!

Since coming to India, and before, people have warned me about Varanasi, the city where my tour concludes. It's evil, you will be molested, it's a terrible place is the consensus. I disagree. Maybe it's my ability to stick my...

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Posted by Claudia at 08:58 AM
Comments (8)

Sunset at the Amazing Taj

In the immortal words of Keanu Reeves, "whoa." There are a few times I have been awed like this. No, I take that back, just one. When I saw the Pyramids, my breathe was taken away. When I saw the...

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Posted by Claudia at 08:45 AM
Comments (4)

Random Jaipur Extravagances

As I was about to write about my experiences in Agra, I realized I had forgotten about a great day in Jaipur. The begining of the day slips my mind and I think it involved the Amber Fort which I...

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Posted by Claudia at 08:13 AM
Comments (1)
September 30, 2003

Pushkar

"Madam, everything is possible" I visited the small holy Hindu city of Pushkar for a few days and this was the catch phrase of every salesman. I felt like I was back in Yangshuo, China because of all the eastern/western...

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Posted by Claudia at 04:05 AM
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ET is out to get me in Japiur!!!

Anyone who knows me, knows I was traumatized as a kid by the movie ET. It has never ceased to haunt me, and I never thought it would happen again in India. Ok, so the group decided to stop at...

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Posted by Claudia at 03:44 AM
Comments (12)
September 27, 2003

Bundi

Bundi is the city of tubas and pharmacies. As our train rolled into the smallish town of Bundi, we had a strange predicament, no rickshaws!! Most train stations are packed to the brim with pain in the ass richshaw-wallahs who...

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Posted by Claudia at 07:35 AM
Comments (10)
September 24, 2003

Luxury and Decadence in Udaipur

Bond, James Bond Last night I dined at the Lake Palace Hotel here in Udaipur. This is the amazing hotel/palace where where the James Bond flick Octopussy was filmed. It did not disappoint. Opulent huge chandeliers, small intimate rooms scattered...

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Posted by Claudia at 08:54 AM
Comments (1)
September 23, 2003

Frustration and then Relaxation in Udaipur

I was in a very "anti-India" mood last night. Nothing was working out the way I wanted it to because of Diwali in October. I couldn't get train tickets for the days I needed because they were all booked up....

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Posted by Claudia at 06:01 AM
Comments (4)
September 20, 2003

Trains and Jaisalmer

The train system in India actually makes sense. Loads of other things don't but for some reason (I suspect the British influence), the trains are well organized and generally on time. However, booking a ticket can be wacky because each...

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Posted by Claudia at 03:05 AM
Comments (5)
September 19, 2003

One hump, two humps

Those would be camel humps. For the last day I was out in the Thar Desert riding a very tall camel whose name I forget. He was a well behaved camel and I couldn't complain. The group was a bit...

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Posted by Claudia at 08:45 AM
Comments (7)
September 16, 2003

Holy RATS!!!!!!!!

I am Indiana Jones.... This morning I visited the Karni Mata temple. This temple is where thousands of rats run free among a temple, while you walk around barefoot. Being this is a holy Hindu temple, shoes are not an...

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Posted by Claudia at 09:31 AM
Comments (12)
September 15, 2003

Delhi #2

Waiting for it.... I'm waiting for Delhi Belly. It hasn't happened yet and I've been here 2.5 days. I've been so busy today and yesterday. Today was definately more fun. As I have never been to India before and arrived...

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Posted by Claudia at 09:33 AM
Comments (4)
September 13, 2003

Delhi

I have arrived, and I am about to melt. It is about 1pm here in Delhi and I'm in a small internet shop, with a fan blowing on me, and I'm ROASTING. I guess I'll get used to it!! This...

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Posted by Claudia at 03:53 AM
Comments (2)
August 01, 2003

The Indian Consulate

I figured today's chore, acquiring an entry visa for India, was going to be a painful one. When I applied for my Egypt visa it was a long day of being questioned "why am I going to Egypt", the shuffling...

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Posted by Claudia at 09:23 AM
Comments (6)
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