Off To See The World

Well, I hope everyone had a fantastic Valentine’s day. No, John and I didn’t do anything special for the day… we aren’t tight like that.

We are in Sri Lanka now. Getting here was pretty uneventful… our flights were actually on time and we arrived late at night on the 13th.

Sri Lanka has been a pleasant surprise… it is MUCH nicer than the places we went in India. The beaches are beautiful, the people are very friendly (and not in a “trying-to-sell-you-something” kind of way), the streets are much cleaner, people don’t pee in public… etc. It’s exactly what I needed to pick up the spirits. A good friend of mine has family out here and they helped set us up at a beautiful beach resort with tours.

So, we spent Valentine’s Day touring Colombo… we went to a few Buddist Temples (one of which was on a magnificent lake), then we went to a huge museum, and then to the zoo. It’s kind of funny seeing animals that we saw in the wild in Africa, behind bars in a zoo in Sri Lanka. It’s just not the same… but the zoo was actually really fun… I can’t remember the last time I was at a zoo.

Then today, we woke up early to make the drive to Pinnawala. This is where there is a huge elephant orphanage. There are about 80 elephants at the orphanage and we got to watch them all go down to the river to bath and play…it was wicked. We spent quite a bit of time at the orphanage watching these incredible animals. Then, we even got to ride bareback on one in the jungle… that was sweeeeet. She was really big… and we got to bath her. Man, I can’t wait to post pictures. After the elephant ride and bath, we went to a HUGE botanical garden place in Kandy. Wow, the plants here are so lush, colorful, and beautiful. If it wasn’t like 30-some degrees out, I could have spent all day there… but it’s hot here… and us Canadians melt here.

Now we are at a CRAZY nice hotel in Kandy… it’s up on a mountain kind of and we can see a HUGE Buddha statue a little ways away… like, the statue is bigger than this hotel. I think we are going to go see that tomorrow… at least, I hope we are.

Anyway, I’m glad to report that our spirits are rejuvenated… and we look forward to our last couple days here before going to Hong Kong for Chinese New Year!

For those of you who know me, you probably know that I love the ocean. I used to think I loved it for the surfing but I’ve come to realize that I think I love the setting… the open air, the warm sun, the rythmic waves, and the light ocean breeze. I could sit out here for hours just day dreaming… which is what I’m doing right now (written on paper a couple days ago).

[Random thoughts and corny moment alert…do not continue readind if you aren’t in the mood for random thoughts and corny moments]

As I pass the halfway point on this trip (yes, I’ve been gone for more than 4.5 months now!), it still slaps me in the face sometimes that, “Holy Crap! I’m on the other side of the world!!”. The places I’ve been and the things I’ve seen have surely changed my life. I thank my lucky stars that I even have the opportunity to do this.

I’ve learned that in countries, people actually require an invitation letter from the country they want to visit to even be considered for a visitors visa… bunk. It makes me feel almost like a snob… Like, what makes a Canadian any different than, for example, an Ethiopian? So does this mean that an adventurous person in Ethiopia can’t go see the world freely? Do they need an invitation from every country they want to go visit?? Seems like a pretty raw deal, yet, here I am traveling the world… Makes me feel so guilty! Damn politics. Somebody should do something about this… Grrr….

Anyway, after almost 5 months on the road, I’ve also realized how awesome people in my life are… everyone from my mom, to my tight circle of friends, to every random person I’ve met on my travels. I’m a firm believer that everything happens for a reason and I believe meeting all these people along the way has really changed my life in one way or another. Everyone seems to play some role in building the character that I am today… a little nutty sometimes but that’s just how I like it.

I think I might have wrote a similar blog post earlier but it’s almost like I’m starting to “get high” on life now… haha. Everytime I get a comment on the blog or a personal email, it makes me feel like you’re on this trip with me. It brings a tear to to my eye… hehe. Not that John isn’t great company but seeing the same person day in and day out isn’t always rainbows and lollipops. So, hearing from different people is always refreshing.

So, once again, thanks to everyone for coming on this trip with me… I know a few of you are studying for exams… many of you are probably at work right now sneaking a peak on a quick break (Don’t worry, I won’t tell)… or maybe you’re just checking in before heading to bed. Where ever you are, you rule!!

Anyway, enough with all my corniness… next thing you’ll know, is that I’ll be saying that I’m destined for greater things… haha, yeah right. Nah, I’ll always be little ol’ Ev. I did want to answer some re-occuring questions though…

1. What has been your favorite place?
Ev-It’s a tie between Tanzania and Switzerland… both of which I plan to visit again.
John- Tanzania

2. Has it been tough finding vegetarian food?
It was tough in some places (Oktoberfest, Romania…) but for the most part it’s been easy… especially here in India.

3. Any major ailments?
Ev- None right now but I puked 3 times so far, no poo problems, at one point I had 58 bug bits on me, got some pretty bad sun burns, and almost passed out once.
John- Puked twice, had a couple buttery poos, only like 7 bug bites, sunburn, and one big cut due to clumsiness….

Nothing Major… knock on wood.

4. Favorite Food so far?
Ev- That vegetarian restaurant in Madrid… and pizza in Rome too.
John- Lamb dish with almonds, butter, prunes, and veggies cooked in a tangine (Morocco).

5. Worst Experience?
Ev- Getting violated in India
John- Chasing the bus in Romania and thinking that he may have lost me and been stranded there.

6. Best Experience?
Ev- Summiting Mount Kilimanjaro.
John- Ditto

7. Funniest thing I’ve seen?
Ev- Watching John get his hair cut at a small local Tanzanian barber shop. It was the guys first time cutting a white guys hair… haha… he took his time (1.5 hours) but it looked good… hehe.
John- Watching Ev constantly swat bugs and get bitten while I sit there carefree… I guess they like chinese food.

8. Awesomest thing I’ve seen?
Ev- Man-made thing: Everything in Dubai
Natural: Kilimanjaro
John- Man Made thing: St. Peter’s Basilica
Natural: Kilimanjaro

9. Things that Urk us?
Ev/John: Hockers, perverts, excessive noise, pushy people/salespeople, public urination/defication, feeling ripped off when we buy something because we suck at bartering, and people inviting themselves to “help” us find something and then expecting us to pay them.

10. Biggest Surprise?
Ev- How great this trip has turned out so far. After a year of planning my ass off, I had prepared for the worst and hoped for the best. I guess I thought I’d run into at least some things that just took us for a spin but we have definitely been blessed so far.
John- How much more he appreciates the space/cleanliness of Canada after seeing the conditions/pollution in some of the other Countries.

I think that’s all for now… oh, and to reply to my brother’s last comment, Yes, I think I will be hitting the range quite a bit when I return :).

See y’all in Sri Lanka!

Well, our stay in peaceful paradise is almost over. We have a quick stop in Mumbai and then Chennai before heading to Sri Lanka. Goa has calmed my nerves a bit… I got some much needed peace and space. I’m not really looking forward to another train ride but I’m sure it will be fine.

The Goa train station is nothing like the other stations we’ve been to… it’s clean and there are signs posted warning of fines for littering and spitting! What a great thing to see. Anyway, our train comes soon. Catch y’all later.

Wow, After what felt like ages; we left Varanasi. Our train actually arrived in Varanasi on time but arrived in Delhi 2 hours late. So instead of being a 17 hour train ride, it was about 19 hour ride.

There was a pretty funny momemnt though… as we were waiting for the train, a cow sauntered by slowly… on the tracks. There wasn’t anywhere it’d be able to go if a train came… and what do ya, know? A train came! If belted it’s horn and pulled on the brakes as the cow turned around and started running. I thought we were definetly going to see this cow splatter on the tracks but luckily the train stopped on time and the cow managed to jump over the barrier… it probably isn’t that funny a story in writing but it was hilarious to see.

These trains aren’t exactly like riding the Eurail but it wa actually quite decent. I didn’t order the spicy dinner but John did and apparantly that wasn’t too bad. Good thing one train wasn’t too late because we had to head to the airport to catch our flight to Goa.

At the airport, we managed to get through eveything alright. Apparently eating almost nothing for the past 6 days caught up to me though because I nearly blacked out in the security line. John said I pretty much lost all my color… as if I didn’t stand out enough already. I was good after a bit of food… mmm food… man, I miss food from home… tasty delicious food that won’t make me sick … mmmm. Anyways, we are in Goa now and I’m actually having a great time. We are staying at a nice guest house. Next to the beach. It’s about 30 degree celsius during the day… cooling down to about 25 degree celsius at night. It’s quite humid though so it feels hotter. I’m sure all of you in Edmonton are really sympathizing with me about this heat and himididty… Hehe.

At this very moment, i’m sitting on a beach chair watching a beautiful sunset… it’s ironic, but the pollution I’ve been complaining about causes the sunset to be some beautiful shades of purple, orange, red and yellow… and with the waves gently crashing in front of me, it makes for a perfect setting. I guess i was bound to find something beautiful in India sooner or later.

Well, another day did bring another story but unfortunately my stories aren’t good. Right after I wrote the last post, I was violated by some punk-ass bitch kid… yeah, people say never to give anything to begging kids but nobody warned me that the kids would have the !*@#**% nerve to stick his hand where no strangers hand should be then laugh and run away. So, as I plotted how I was going to rip this kid’s hand off, shove it down his throat and then throw him in front of a train, John quietly (and somewhat fearfully) coersed me into getting away from that area. I eventually got calm enough to go back to the waiting area… but it’s too bad… this kid really closed my mind and I find it difficult to think anything other than “I really don’t like it here”. I’ll do my best to forgive and forget but this wasn’t the last incident… I’ll write about the other one after.

Anyway, our train was late… about 7 hours! So we were at that train station for a total of 14 hours before hopping on the train. The train itself wasn’t bad… we were in a sleeper car so it wasn’t too crammed. We still slept with our bags pretty much strapped to us though. 17 hours later, we made it to Varnasi. It was already later afternoon so we just went to the hotel.

The next morning, at 6:30am, we headed for a boatride on the Ganga River to see what is supposed to be a beautiful sunrise. Unfortunately, there was so much fog/clouds/pollution that all we saw was grim grey skies. So that kind of sucked but the ride itself was interesting in that we saw how people live off the river… bathing, washing, etc. There are also many nice temples on the banks.

The rest of the morning consisted of visiting different temples which again was interesting but awkward because of our lack of knowledge about the customs.

Then we went to a silk shop… the places where they make pagminas, sarees, and other silk things is very….. basic. Many people are crammed into a room with hand looms and they weave all day. It’s really amazing what they can make though. We bought a couple things and it was all good until the guy insisted I try on a Saree…..I guess there was no harm in that… but when he went to tuck in the waist part…. I’m 99% sure he didn’t need to dig around and tuck it in my underwear (you can correct me if I’m wrong)… and I’m sure it didn’t need to be tucked in as deep as he did it. John took a pic of me in the Saree… and when he was taking it off of me, I’m certain he didn’t have to reach his hand all the way down to pull out that section…. he pretty much copped a feel…. I was so violated… dirty bastard. (Pardon my language). So now, I feel totally violated by India . I’m frustrated because this was one of the places I was most excited to see… and so far, all it’s done is slap me in the face. I still have more than a week left here and I’m still hoping to find the something that will wow me.

Well, we managed to wake up in time for our 6am jungle safari, in search of the beautiful Tigers of India. The drive to the National park was surprisingly chilly… well, nothing like the -20 back at home but it had to be about 5 degrees celcius or something like that. It felt colder than that when we were driving since it was an open top truck. The locals were bundled up like it was -20 degrees…balaclavas, scarves, blankets, gloves… it was kind of funny. We entered the park just as it started to get brighter out… the “jungle” wasn’t really a jungle at all… just some trees… there were some nice lakes, and some grasslands too. Interestingly, there were some ancient ruins amongst the trees and up in the mountains too… it made for a cool setting. There was actually a fort that was 10km long and 6km wide on top of one of the mountains that flanked the park… very cool.

In terms of wildlife, there were tons of deer (mostly spotted deer), wild boars, all sorts of birds, monkeys… those were the ones we saw. Unfortunately, we didn’t see any of the col animals like crocodiles, leopards, and yes, Tigers. Sigh… at first, I was a little upset that we didn’t see any tigers but then it dawned on me… we’ve seen some pretty incredible things on this trip, and we can’t win them all…. oh well.

Since we woke up so early, we spent a couple hours napping in the afternoon. There isn’t much to do in Ranthampore other than go on tiger safari so we pretty much spent the afternoon doing nothing… We had the option to go on another safari but we just didn’t have the money… (ahem, mom)…

The next day, we drove to Agra to see the Taj Mahal. On the way, we stopped at some tiny town where there was a temple that warded off bad spirits. Prakash dropped us off like a block away so we walked… now, I’m sorry if this next part offends anyone but I’m not going to sensor my blogs… The one-block walk that we took just really set something off in me… I’ve been trying to find this “Incredible India” that I’ve heard of… and yes, there are definietly some beautiful things/people/places here… but its getting damn near impossible to see past the public urination/pooing, loud hoarking, pushy beggars/salespeople, piles of garbage (which double as food for livestock), never-ending staring, car horns, and overwhelming smells. I mean, we’ve experienced these in some other countries but not as much… Like, a man will whip out his willy and take a leak a couple feet away… and the constant throat-clearing “HHAAAUUUGGGHHHHKKK” sound followed by a juicy spit sound…. makes me want to gag everytime. It just seems like everything and everyone is so “in-your-face”. It’s times like this that make me realize how much I appreciate the space and peace at home. I’m doing my best to keep an open mind but I won’t like, it won’t be easy.

On the up-side, the Taj Mahal was absolutely beautiful. The marble work, the architecture, the gardens, the surrounding buildings… everything was so amazingly done. The amount of detail in both the carving and marble inlay was incredible… and they don’t allow hockers in there so we took in the beauty and the peace for a while before exiting back into the barrage of peole and noise. Actually, the art, textiles, carvings, gems, sarees… they are all very beautiful and I wish I bought more but it’s almost like a stressful task to look because once you look, you are going to have to either buy it or deal with a pushy salesperson. For example, John really likes his stone and stoneword here but everytime he asks a question, they think he wants to buy something big and that he has the money to do it. Then they try to sell him something ridiculous. AHHHH!! It’s so frustrating because I want India to take my breath away! We drove around Agra for a bit more before Prakash dropped us off… for the last time!

Yeah, this was the end of our trip together with him… he is a very nice man and I felt bad that we seemed like such boring people but it’s just really trying here.

Sigh, now we are at the train station in Tundla. I must tell you, I wrote this blog post (on paper) at this station… with pissing men, begging children, hoarking people, and nasty smells all around so it hasn’t been the most inspiring time and place. Our train is in 4 hours so we have a while to wait and our spirits are low… as are our expectations of what this ride will be like.

Again, sorry if this post offended anyone… I’m just keepin’ it real. Tomorrow is another day and hopefully another story as well…

Damnit, I just lost a long post and I really don’t feel like doing it over again…. so you’re going to get kind of a crappy post today…

So, we went to Pushkar, a very religious place (They don’t serve any meat there)… There, we went to the Bramah (sp?) Temple and then down to the lake that is apparently very Holy. Again, it was a little weird but we did a little prayer thing, offered the gods red (good blood), yellow (good education/business), rice (good food), sugar (sweet life), and a flower (happy life). We then got a little rope to tie around our wrists which the people here call the “Pushkar Passport”. After that, we went on a camel safari to the desert… this time we rode on the camels for a long time… it was pretty fun. John’s camel had a mangled face…. you’ll have to see the pics. Mine was a bit of a loose cannon but we made it there alive… had dinner in the desert, watched some indian dancing, and then rode the camels back in the dark… I think that was the first time there was a little bit of silence!

The next day we drove to Jaipur…. Jaipur and Pushkar aren’t as polluted as Delhi so we actually got to see some blue sky… which helped lift the spirits. In Jaipur, we went to see a big Buddist temple that was almost completely made of marble… actually, lots of stuff here is made with marble… and the craftsmanship is amazing. Then we drove around to find out most of the things were closed so we just returned to the hotel. The next day, we went and saw a couple HUGE palaces, a tomb for the Maharajas, an astrological/astronomical observatory place, and then we went on an Elephant ride! However, after we saw the stick that they hit the elephant with, we felt pretty guilty for going on the ride…. at least it wasn’t that long of a ride….

Now we are in Ranthambhur…. known for it’s Tigers! We will be going on a jungle safari tomorrow! Hopefully we get to see some tigers. As for now, I’m ready to head back to the hotel…. I jinxed myself by saying we haven’t had any stomach problems because I threw up this morning and haven’t been able to hold down food…. on the up side, at least it is coming up and not going down…

The next day was just another long day of driving….. We stayed in Delhi for a night before another long day of driving to Pushkar.

I’ll have to thank my lucky stars that I can sleep through anything…. and why is that? Because…. only in India could I find somebody that sings worse than my friend Arun… HOURS of blaring music… like and Indian rendition of “Pretty Woman’…. Oh god…. And even when we had english music… like Queen’s greatest hits… our driver’s over-powering version of “Vee Vill Vee Vill Rocking You!” (We will we will rock you) prevailed….. The eardrum torture and Death Defying driving made it a heck of a long drive… but I’ll have to say, I’m still having a good time.

After our driving experience yesterday, we were more than happy to find out we would be walking around Amritsar today. We headed out on foot, stopping at a few smaller temples along the way. They are very religious here so there are many temples. John didn’t have anything to conver his head too so he ended up getting this bandana that makes him look like a pirate… I’m going to have to post those pictures too.

I wish I wasn’t so ignorant about Hinduism because it was a little awkward entering these temples not knowing if we were wearing or doing something disrespectful. We did whatever Prakesh told us to do… take off our shoes, wash our feet, give and offering, etc. But it felt really awkward. When we finally got to the Golden Temple, Prakesh took us in the wrong way so we basically butt in front of hundreds of people lining up to go inside to pray… oops. Inside, people crowded around the center to receive an orange cloth… I’m not too sure of the meaning of it but it seemed very important. I didn’t want to push my way to the front so we gave our offering and squeezed our way out of the temple. The Golden Temple is very beautiful… but I find it amazing how such a loud and busy culture believes so strongly in meditation…. it seems funny how they can achieve inner peace when it is impossible to find any outer peace.

On the way out of the temple gates, we stopped for lunch at a kind of community kitchen. Basically, it’s a bit like a soup kitchen in Canada… we were given a tin tray, a cup, and a spoon. We then went into a large hall where everyone sat crossed-legged on the ground in rows…. then we waited…. and the food came out. The food was served by people carrying buckets and a ladel… and they literally came around and schlopped whatever they had in the buckets onto your tin plate… then people with bread (roti) came around and threw bread into your hands… and then another guy with a bucket would come with something else… it was quite the experience… I’ll admit though… the only thing going through my head was whether I’d be sitting on the porcelain throne all night. However, the food turned out quite good and John and I still haven’t had to whip out any immodium (knock on wood).

After, we weaved our way through some back streets and through a park where many innocent people were shot and killed… it is now a monument of peace.

India has almost been like an oxy moron… it’s packed with loud, busy people, yet there’s a kind of quiet tranquility about a lot of it. Anyway, we finally made it back to the hotel after I narrowly missed getting hit by a bus… hehe. oops. I haven’t quite mastered weaving my way through India traffic yet. As long as I make it outta here alive, I guess!

Sooo, we returned to the hotel in one piece… and apparently our driver really likes his whiskey so he asked if we wanted to go drink with him…. John took one for the team and went for a beer with him. Apparently Prakesh downed a mickey of Whiskey in the time John drank his beer……. I just hope he’s sober when he’s driving! It’s hard to tell with all the swirving….

Next stop, Pushkar and Jaipur……

(I haven’t had a chance to get to a computer so I’ve been writing blog entries on paper… so the posts might come in big clumps but they were written back a few days ago)

Imagine this… 10’s of thousands of people and every kind of military imaginable lining the streets. A pretty rank smell that I can’t really describe, garbage in almost every corner you look in, people accidentally touching your ass, and hundreds of people trying to sell you anything from one sandal to “real gold”. All of this crowding is to see a parade that runs about 5 blocks to celebrate Republic Day. Not exactly the most desireable place to be……… which is why we didn’t go… haha.

We actually had to start our drive to Amritsar pretty early so we didn’t stick around in Delhi for the Republic Day parade… but our driver (Prakesh) said we didn’t miss out on much. He was like an hour late because the army checks vehicles randomly everywhere on this day and he got stopped a few times. So, as Prakesh said, he was running on Indian time….. “India is great but we are always late”.

So, we finally got on our way out of Delhi for the long drive to Amritsar (about 8 hours). However, this drive is nothing like the boring drive to Calgary from Edmonton. We were lucky if there was a divided highway… otherwise, it was hours of dodging oncoming traffic in a 8 hour game of chicken. There were a few times where I thought I might need to change my underwear because Prakesh’s little Geo Metro-like care happens to only be about 5 feet wide… which leaves plenty of space to pass a semi while there is another oncoming semi… that’s right… apparently riding the centerline is on a highway is the most efficient way to get to your destination because you can fit between both lanes of traffic moving in opposite directions! All I know is that I’m pretty sure I lost a few years of my life from my heart missing so many beats.

8 hours later, we arrived in Amritsar… I guess Prakesh didn’t know where the hotel was so we drove around in the dark… that was probably the only thing scarier than driving around India during the day… But, we finally found the hotel and not a minute too soon because I think I was developing chest pains from the stress…. man…. 18 more days of this…