Finish Line: Minneapolis

This is it! My last and final post on this travel blog. Somehow this trip turned into an around the world venture without meaning to do so. I didn't book most of it in advance, and stumbled my way around until I reached the Midwest again.

There are always strange feelings at the end of a journey, because there are many changes along the way, but none of them as grand as the finish. I must admit that I am not entirely sure what is in store for me next, but I do know that I have learned a tremendous amount. More than could ever be written or described all in one go. I woke up this morning in my own bed trying to remember if everything really did happen or if it was just a long dream, like the ending of a poorly written Hollywood film.

I am sure everyone hears about a phenomenon they call "culture shock" and "reverse culture shock". I was lucky enough to understand what things in Asia shocked me and coped with them exceedingly well. Now I am not sure what things will or will not shock me, but I am excited to find out, maybe this will be the steepest learning curve to understanding my own background. I have heard many many times that by traveling you learn the most about where you are from, because after all it is the main reference to which we make our constant comparisons on our first and continued travels.

I was somehow expecting to be mugged in Chicago, because I thought that the irony would be overwhelming. I had managed to travel many poverty stricken countries in Asia without having even one thing picked off of me and made it nearly home. But my lucky streak has prevailed. I had stopped in Chicago to save a bit of money on my flight, visit some friends, sight see a bit in my own country and take a couple days to adjust. It was incredibly strange being able to understand everyone around me while riding the El or walking around the loop, so much so, that I found myself making a trip to Chinatown. In the midst of traditional Chinese characters, Cantonese, and all the restaurants I had found a place that seemed like a mix of China and Chicago.

I had the warmest welcome home ever, my dad picked me up at the Megabus stop and we made it to the front door. I knocked and got the dog excited, but he stopped barking when I started calling 'Escher'. He seemed extremely confused and realized it was my dad, wagged his tail... And then somehow it hit him who I was. I have never ever heard such a noise from any dog in my life. His whole body froze and he did this shrieking-squealing thing for a whole minute. I was pretty sure I had just given my dog a heart attack. He had done all of this while peeing himself and took him five minutes to calm down a bit. I must say it is nice to feel so loved and missed. I don't think anyone else will pee themselves since I am home, I should hope not, it might be kind of awkward....

I am home now and if anyone wants or needs any help with trying to figure out any travel to anywhere I have been, definitely let me know. I am more than willing to explain essential logistics, accommodation, sights and what else if I have not already done so in my blog. I was probably along the lowest ends of the price scale, so if you can imagine how rough some of the travels were. I left out a lot of details about the cockroaches, rats outside restaurants and grotesque things I thought might make people a little uncomfortable or downright sick. (I am pretty surprised at how clean Italy and the U.S.A. are). But I am sure I can give some good advice--the best always comes from fellow travelers, not guidebooks.

I hope that everyone enjoyed sharing a small piece of my experience along the way. Please let me know if you any questions, want to meet up, or if there is something you are just dying to know. I will be posting pictures to a flickr account in the next week, but in the meanwhile I will dissolve the email list. This is my final post and I am a bit sad it is all over. Thank you for all the support.

Italia

Since I was all finished with India and I wanted a quick respite before returning to the states, a gentle easing back into Minnesotan culture (yes there is a culture in the midwest). So I choose Italy, which I have such a soft spot for and I wanted to practice my language skills for a week. The additional ticket cost was marginal, but I have to say there was a quite a shock going from Rupees to Euros...

Italia....
I am not sure that the comparison between Italy and India is a proper one, but I couldn't help myself from making it. Elizabeth Gilbert does it in her widely popular book "Eat, Love, Pray", but the other way around starting in Italy. I arrived expecting to feel like I stood out a bit less and that I could easily sit down at a cafe and wait the last couple hours before my train to Senigallia without much notice from anyone. Instead of fitting in, I stood out even more than I had in Mumbai during my last days in India. I am pretty sure the short pants, large yellow backpack, and numerous bags helped make a target for all the stares at Roma Termini.

I had forgotten how fashionable and glamorous Italians look in all the leather, black jackets and sunglasses; in addition I had forgotten what cold temperatures felt like. I made it to Senigallia after nearly 24 hours of straight travel. Italy was a bit of redemption for me. The months of harsh travel seemed to melt away amongst the mouth watering al dente pasta, wine, gorgeous architecture in every direction, and practicing my rusty (not rustica) Italian. Memories came flashing back from my last visit nearly two years ago, I hadn't realized how much my heart ached for this country, since it stands as a symbol of freedom for me. Italy was my real first global trip out of the United States, and it was equally symbolic for me on my return. By the end of the very short and fun week, I could understand a great deal more Italian and I put on a couple pounds showing my real love for Italian food.

My friend and his family were more than accommodating in every respect and made me feel as if I was a part of the family. I wanted to say that his mom was a wonderful cook (she most definitely is), but in fact the whole family had the same glorious attitude towards food. I have no idea how I have been so lucky or deserving of all the kindness and hospitality I have received in the last year. I just hope my luck does not run out anytime soon, or before I am able to bestow some of the kindness back or forward in return.

I achieved all that I wanted to in Italy. I had a lot of espresso (yum), pasta, pizza, appertivi, gelato, visited Ancona and Roma, and went to a local play production all done in various dialects (I understood maybe 50%). The visit to Italy concluded with a couple days wandering around Rome. I love Rome, and I could wander for weeks without ever getting bored. The city is so vibrant and antique at the same time, not many places in the world retain the old treasures as well as Rome does and moves forward at the same time. I am not sure I was quite ready to leave Italy, I could have spent a bit longer, but my bank account was telling me otherwise and off to Chicago I was.

I am here now in Chicago, visiting for a couple days and being a tourist in my own country. The flight was significantly cheaper, even when I factor in the cheap bus ticket home. I will be home soon.

Another note: Please check out my friend's pictures that he took while we traveled. Some are from other travels, but there are a great deal from Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand. He is an awesome photographer, and the same guy who took all the sand dune pictures that people have commented on. Link---> http://www.flickr.com/biggiebiz

Mahive Mumbai, My Love Mumbai!

My friend's parents dropped me at the station, their hospitality never ended even until the last possible second. After anxiously awaiting for the 3 and a half hour train to reach Mumbai. I thought that Bittu might have trouble seeing me at the train station, since after nearly 6 weeks I felt like I fit in and didn't notice any of the stares; oh, and the fact that my extremely fair skin has since tanned (not really, but I can always pretend right?). It was a good thing that I spotted him right away, maybe it was the other way around, it's really that important :).

The next 3 days flashed by so quickly that I had hardly any idea that I was leaving India so soon. The family took me around, I saw my good friend Neel's family's flat, Bandra and the infamous laundry slums, Dobi Ghats. I saw a very high profile Hindu temple that was packed (even though it was an off day) with people to bring offerings. Apparently around exam times it takes hours to pass through the long lines. Many of the temples in India start with a simple shrine or stone that is regarded to have spirital properties, and then bigger and bigger structures are built around expanding the existing structure well beyond its original size.

I think Dobi Ghats was my favorite, because most people stand a very safe distance away and snap pictures on the overlooking bridge. Knowing me, this wasn't enough, and there is not anything wrong with trying to enter. Bittu went up and asked them, while switching into the local language and accent pretending to be a kid from the neighborhood. They said 100 rupees and let us in. All of the people in Dobi Ghats many years ago put their money together to buy the cement wash basins that they do a good portion of the city's laundry in. So many people were friendly and excited to have a picture snapped of them, and I am always sure to ask 'acha', which means good in Hindi when I show them the picture. Bittu got a lot of attention from people wanting to partner with him to set up a tour guide racket for foreigners; he caught all of the comments about how smart he was for bringing me and how much I must of paid him, one father told his son not to do laundry and follow my friend's example. I had no idea any of this was being mentioned until after, but smiled nevertheless as I interacted with people, snapped pictures, squeezed around tubs and machines. No piece of clothing is ever lost, and the whites are bleached by the sun atop the houses on clotheslines.

I am thankful to have such amazing people to show me around and get a better taste for the places I have visited. I felt as if I was a part of so many families, but most noteably in Pune and Mumbai. I never once felt alone nor timid to keep continuing onwards. I had mixed feelings as the trip in India ended, excitement for going to Italy and returning home, and a strong desire to experience more. My entourage dropped me at the airport with enough time to make it through the rigorous security in Mumbai's airport and jet off once again.

I am currently in Senigallia, Marche, Italia eating homemade tiramisu about to have a fresh espresso and make my way to Ancona for the day. I am very happy, cold, and recovering my Italian language skills very slowly. Ciao!

Going to Goa and Visiting the Peshwars in Pune

I know that as this trip ends, I am trying to savor everything. Take in the last breaths of my trip, smelling the curries and actually opening my eyes as wide as they go to see it all. This is perhaps the main reason for my delinquency in posting about India. I regret that I cannot do all of my experiences justice in writing.

I had a long journey making my way from Varkala to Goa, first a night in Ernakulam, and then a 16 hour train to Margao (central Goa); and then 3 different buses to make it to the cheap, but very touristy Anjuna beach. Goa is a place known for its party scene and lovely beaches, but these aren't the only reasons one should visit. I absolutely loved Goa, partly for the company that I met and the ability to interact with the locals a bit more. Goa has a lot of cash inflows from tourists (meaning high structural development) and only recently kicked out the Portuguese in the 60s. There are remnants of this colonialism everywhere and perhaps the extremely high literacy rate is just a side-effect of this small state's history.

I made friends almost instantly and had the pleasure of attending a Halloween costume competition (mostly for children) and learning how to play backgammon. The best and winning costume was a boy who was the head from a failed science experiment, this might be one of those things that you have to see to understand. I was dressed as something in between a beach bum, backpacker, and many other things that give a spectator my level of apathy towards my dress while traveling. I found it unnecessary in India to be trendy, but covering oneself and protecting against the sun's ever powerful UV rays is important. There are quite a few of long-term foreign residents in Goa, and I had the pleasure of meeting many of them. The community is small, but there are a lot that have over 30 years of experience in relaxing or working along the stretches of white sand.

The following day I spent on a gorgeous beach up north, pleasantly deserted and busiest on Sundays. On Sundays the regulars make their way there by motorcycle. I met up with my friend from the previous day to hitch a ride there. Children of the foreign residents played soccer and splashed through the water, I think this stop was a good respite before the end of my traveling in India.

The next two days passed by very quickly as I rented a motorbike and rode around alone talking to random people and snapping tons of pictures. I saw pretty much all of the surrounding area, Fort Agunda, and many of the very crowded beaches. There is an abnormally large Russian tourist population in Goa, signs and much else are written in Russian or catered completely for them. A smiling boy approached me in the grocery store and I am sure he could see my confusion, since I didn't understand any of the Russian he was speaking. I met a couple locals at their shops that told me they only meet a couple Americans in that part each year (strange since the U.S. supplies the highest number of tourists each year to India).

The last day I spent a great deal of my time on buses. At 7 am I started with the first of three buses to make my way to Old Goa and its world heritage sites; Anjuna to Mapusa, Mapusa to Panjim, and finally Panjim to Old Goa (maybe an hour and a half total). Old Goa has a high density of 400 year old cathedrals and churches for its size, many remnants of the abundant missionary activity under Portuguese rule. The churches are well respected and adorned with wide boulevards and succulent-green grounds. Many of the old remnants of colonial sites I have visited on my entire trip, confuse my preconceptions, because they mesh two things such as India and Europe that I had previously kept separate in my mind. After generous picture taking, I decided that I would just grab a bus to make my way south to catch my afternoon train to Pune. I ended up taking the slowest bus ever to Ponda, and then getting on another to Margao, a quick 2 hours... And off I was on my last sleeping class train ride in India on this trip.

I arrived in Pune quite early, too early, and I wanted to spare my friend's parents some hassle by waiting to wake them up. Little did I know that most people know the general arrival times for the common train routes, and since I waited, I had worried them. Indians are such amazing hosts and hold themselves responsible for everything. I felt bad about this, but we made contact and I rode in one of the very fast rickshaws to their lovely house with a large yard, big German Shepard and their own street named after the my friend's great-grandfather.

Pune was a definite on my list of places to visit on my route. Mainly because it has a rich history from its position as a Maratha stronghold against the British. We visited the world renowned Pune University, the Peshwarship castle, and the walking paths on the hill over looking town. I met up with a couple of my friend's childhood friends and ate at a restaurant mixing all of my past 8 months in a couple dishes. Indian-Chinese food, which is perfect since I think of my past months as an Sino-Indo experience and a primary topic of many debates and conversations with strangers along the way. I was sad to leave Pune only after two days, but equally happy to have a couple to spend with my friend and his family in Mumbai.

Fleeting the Fort Onwards to Sunny Varkala....

I am not entirely sure how time has flown by so fast! I only have one more week in India and then onwards for a brief layover in Italy to regain my language skills, Chicago and then home. I must say since this is nearly the end, I am looking forward to coming home and seeing everyone that I've missed.

Fort Cochin was a nice place to sit back and relax. Even though this is a trip and more-or-less a vacation, it doesn't mean that it's always relaxing (usually quite the opposite). Two of my friends and I decided to stay on the Ernakulam side for pure convenience. The boat jetty is just down the road and convenient enough for us to make our way to Cochin proper.

The Lonely Planet describes this area as the flourishing cosmopolitan area of Kerala (albeit nice, it's still a bit of an over exaggeration). Some times the brutally honest description of a place in India, just doesn't fit either, I prefer to think of these descriptions as riddles. Meaning that pay close attention to the chosen adjectives and items described in any guide book. The maps and logistical information have become the only really helpful things, ignore the rest, well maybe sometimes the sights too (broken go-kart tracks should not be a point of excitement in a guide, reference Ooty).

After some much needed rest and buckets of hot water for showers, we made our way on the ferry. Finally, it had been a while since I've touched any hot water, soap cannot remove all of the dirt and pollution when it does not lather. Apparently, we cast a curse on anything mechanical around us. Our bus broke down on the way from Coimbatore to Fort Cochin and then our ferry broke down on the way to Cochin proper!! The only way to really handle this is to laugh it off and hope your life-jacket-less boat doesn't sink.

Fort Cochin is very small and easy to navigate by foot. We visited old Jew Town, the remnants of the Dutch palace (both closed and somewhat unimpressive), and of course tried to avoid all of the shop hawkers at all costs. Rickshaw drivers are keen on picking up tourists in Fort Cochin since the commission racket is very much alive (even sponsored by the government shops). Some rickshaw drivers were offering money to us and a free ride, if we stopped in a couple shops and looked at the things (and from experience I am doubtful that the stores make up the money lost on commission fees). We ended up running into the other trio that comprised our whole group in Ooty at the Kashi Art Cafe (wonderful food by the way). We hammered out our plan (or really lack thereof) for the backwaters. Next day buses for them to Alleppey, and us a lovely lovely train.

This lovely lovely train just happened to be 1 hour late and another 1.5 hours on the train. We were so crammed in sleeper class and not really paying attention that we nearly missed our stop. The other trio managed to line up accommodation and transit (we made it a rule for them to go first and find a place after the bed bugs incident in Ooty). We stayed at the Brown House in the center of town (a lovely place and very very clean!!). The Swedes had to part, as one was off to make another journey in SE Asia and was a bit short on time. The remaining four of us booked a house boat and did the typical 24 hour boat tour. Good food, very little actual boating, asked for 'school pens' by a couple adults (no children in sight), lots of insects (I hope not the malarial-type), and excellent company.

Next onwards to Varkala, which is a bit more south. We lined up our accommodation through our man Ameer at the Brown House, and I was pretty ecstatic when we were picked up for free at the station (even though we were 4 hours later than the tickets predicted, oops). And get this, the owners are Italian! The Skyline Resort was nice and fairly inexpensive, but I enjoyed the company most. I spent a couple nights going out with the owners and their friends; they made me feel at home. Everyone was so shocked to meet an American who speaks another language, especially Italian. I hope I broke that stereotype a bit, fingers crossed. My visit was very short, but I found that I could have spent much more time there indeed. I bid my Irish friends a goodbye, (already we were old friends, in travel time 3 weeks is a long while) and started making the long trek to Goa for a brief stop over.

Here I am in Goa and on my way once again to Pune to visit a friend's family before settling things in Mumbai and catching my flight on November 9th.

Mysore onwards to the Fort!

Mysore is a particularly important city historically. It was one of the last quasi-recognized states to fall to the British Empire. As well as one of the last remaining states that was once dependent on Vijayanagar empire (literally means "victory place") or today known as Hampi. (I've been reading up on my history along the way from "India: A History, 1999, John Keay.)

The Mysore area had long established trade with the Middle East and even Europe and flourished under the careful development of a two successive sultans. Mysore was known to be one of the most advanced cities in Asia in administrative and development measures before it was a part of British India. Some of these advancements you can still see, such as the palace that was rebuilt in the early 1900s after a devastating fire, and the wide streets and carefully planned round-abouts. Even the history of silk production was artificially cultivated and came about under the ambitions of Sultan Tipu in the late 1800s.

I enjoyed the laid back attitude and the wonderful bazaar in the center of town. The bazaar is known for the wide array of fragrances for sale and the colorful cone-shaped mounds of powder used for paints and other ceremonial purposes. I was delighted at all of the photo opportunities.

After sauntering around the hot and semi-closed-for-Diwali Mysore for a couple days, we decided to stop over for a couple nights on the way to Fort Cochin in Ooty.

Ooty is known as a hill-station town with a bit cooler temperatures that lures the weekend crowds from Bangalore and Mysore. We arrived just after the sunset (after a 6 hour bus ride, check to make sure you are on the fast bus), and found a place to stay. It was 6 of us in all, and we found a reasonably priced place, but had to suffer waking up to the shouting of the desk clerks, cell phone ring tones, and dealing with bed bugs :( (luckily, I wasn't bitten by the bed bugs).

The food in Ooty was only sub-par, we managed to have only one decent meal and some yummy chocolates during our stay. The rest of the food was either old, microwaved, or just plain awful. It ended up being a joke of sorts that we couldn't find a decent meal, most of the restaurants were touristy and therefore had marginalized Indian and Western dishes.

We did a couple of the touristy things around town including the Thread Garden, the first time in the world that it's ever been done folks! 50 people spent 12 years making realistic-looking flowers out of thread, I bet you can imagine this spectacle. I was more impressed by the most dangerous go-kart track, the rules included strongly suggested advice to drive slow... Most of the cars were on the side of the track in pieces.

We decided to go early and catch the bus the next morning onwards to Fort Cochin with a brief stop over in Coimbatore. Two of us fell asleep and woke up with the bus completely packed with people, it's safe to assume that whatever means of transportation you'll be taking will be full. The changes in the surrounds appear almost instantly, Kerala is a bit more developed than the rest of other states. I'll have to continue about this more later...

I think this post is long enough and I have to find a means of transportation further south. Only 2 weeks left in India, and a few more after that until I am home again. November 22nd I will be back in Minneapolis. I hope everyone is doing well!

Gokarna to Mysore, Karnataka

After a nice restful stay in Hampi, I made my way to Gokarna. Gokarna literally means cow's ear, because the piece of land on which it sits resembles a cow's ear on a map. The town is about an hour and a half south of the infamous ex-Portuguese-colonized-beach-haven state of Goa. Gokarna is known primarily as a pilgrimage town for Hindus (and the occasional westerner). I took the deluxe luxury sleeper bus from Hampi, (I'm not entirely sure if there was an intended sarcasm in the terms used in the marketing), and I arrived in the wee hours of the morning. I had met a couple girls going to one of the beaches (Om Beach) relatively close to the main town and I decided that it would be best to try to share the rickshaw at 5 am with them. After an hour of being crammed into a rickshaw winding around pothole-filled roads, we made it to the beach. I promptly began looking for places to stay and realized that there were no ATMs or any other places for exchanging money near by. This meant that I would have to walk to town and I was somehow under an original impression that it would only be a 20 minute walk.

Well, 20 minutes was right, but only for the short trek to the next beach, Kudle, and then another 25 minutes onwards to town. There were plenty of decent looking deserted places to stay on both beaches. It's not quite high season yet, a couple more weeks and these beaches will both be packed. The path ends as it descends down a hill, from which the town merely looks like a palm tree grove, and right in front of the important temples in town. The temples are quite plain on the outside, and I have no idea what they look like on the inside, as non-believers/followers are not allowed to enter or take any pictures.

Most of the guest houses and hostels were, well, mostly unsuitable for life other than roaches, mosquitoes or bacteria (and usually I'm not a very picky person). I finally found one, Hotel Nimmu and made my way around town. Hotel Mahalaxi did not have such nice rooms, but it had the best food in town by far (if you are ever there, try the banana lassi)! There really is not much to do here other than relax on a beach, and seeing as the sun isn't really so kind to my skin, I don't usually last too long. I did a bit of shopping and writing, and meeting some fellow travelers along the way.

I vowed to head to Mysore to meet up with some fellow Bollywood extras and continue on together to Kerala. There were no seats on any of the trains heading south, since it was the couple days preceding one of the largest festivals in India, Diwali*. Everyone is traveling home for the celebration, most people have a break from school and work for the festivities. It was just like China all over, competing with a billion vacationers for train seats!

I was lucky enough to discover that the KSTC (Karnataka state) bus starts at 6:45 am from the central bus station to Mangalore and continued onto Mysore reaching at about 9 pm. I went for it, and after 12 lovely, sweaty, cramped, and bumpy hours I made it to Mysore. I think we even hit another bus or truck at one point; I didn't pay much attention as this is quite the usual occurrence here. The bus merely backs up for the other to pass and keeps cutting around the sharp cliff-side turns (still not as scary as the Bollywood bus, it was daylight and even if it was night we had headlights). The view of the Western Ghats from the bus window was lovely. This area is one of the last areas where large stretches of the mangrove forests have not been completely decimated, and those areas that have are replaced by rubber and palm farms. The small, quaint, and relatively-clean towns where the bus would occasionally slow down so people could push on and off, were lit up with chains of white lights. This created a somewhat serene atmosphere in these hill-topping towns, which tempted me a couple times to stop and stay at one of the many hotels and home stays, but instead I pushed onwards to Mysore.

There are often so many things I would like to write about, but have not yet found the perfect adjectives to explain the real India. I have plenty of pictures I intend on uploading to this blog and showing people upon returning home, but even those lose the real olfactory and tangible sensations that India elicits. I best describe India as a country of dichotomies, meaning that often the poor and the rich are situated next to each other in extreme contrast; or meaning that there are just two things that in most countries would not have such a close association to each other. There are always surprises here, and I'm not sure much will surprise me elsewhere. Even ordering food is like Christmas, you never know what you're going to get, which as you can imagine isn't always a good thing. India is good, bad, wonderful, tiring, colorful, tasty, diverse, old, new, and every other descriptor you could think of, all rolled into an explanation of one country. Perhaps you just have to travel to one of the other diverse-mini-country-like states to experience it all.

*Sidenote: Diwali is a festival celebrating the victory of good over evil. Sikhs, Hindus, Buddhists and Jains all celebrate this holiday often with very bright and loud fireworks. (You can read the wiki article from some background knowledge here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diwali).

Slow days in Hampi

I have spent the last couple days trying to learn a bit about yoga (it's actually called yog, not yoga), bicycling in ridiculous heat, climbing rocks, drumming, meeting people, and learning a lot about Hinduism and the history of the empire that was here before.

The Royal Enclosure and Vittala temple are both spectacular, but I have to say the temple in town Virupaskha is nice, but overrun with people trying to scrape an extra couple rupees from you. Try to avoid talking to anyone in the temple unless you want to pay them, even for a shadow on the wall of an inverted image (I couldn't help but think about the Jesus potato chip story, I think it's $30k+ price on ebay.com is enough for y'all to conjure up some memories). I also bicycled from the guest houses across the river to the site of Anegundi. There isn't much to see on the other side, but the 10 km bike ride was a nice trip.

I have practised yoga numerous times over the last 5 days and learned a lot about the postures and rhythms that are essential to enjoying a proper session of yoga. I met Yogi Nanda (across from the Shanti Guesthouse in Hampi Bazaar) and have had a good couple workouts. My body has stiffened a bit from sitting continuously on so many trains and buses over the last 4 months. So the yoga has been very refreshing and has shown me how inflexible I am! I practice with him in the morning and then, in the afternoon, I have been going to a free 10-day yoga camp (mostly for the locals). The yoga camp is mostly in Kaarna (the local language in Karnataka) with a few commands in English. The Yogi of these sessions has to be at least 65 years old with a body of a 20 years old. Talk about motivation!

Hampi has an impressive landscape, unlike anything else I have ever seen in my whole entire life. At a distance, it looks as if someone took granite pebbles and dropped them at random from the sky. The pebbles will balance on much smaller stones at bizarre angles and locations. I could spend a whole day staring at the landscape. I spent a half-day climbing them and trying to make my way up the highest point with a couple other resident travellers (they will be Hampi for two weeks). We endured some cuts and bruises, which were all worth it just to see the vistas. I also had perfect cell phone service in the remotest areas and none while I am in town.

I have met many people that have spent a month (or more) in this town, but my 5 days has sufficed enough for me. I am heading to Gokarna next instead of Goa. Gokarna is about an hour and a half south of Goa and is a pilgrimage town for Hindus with nice beaches on the side. From what I have heard, it is really the sort of place to sunbathe, meaning that a more conservative dress is encouraged. I have been dressing quite conservatively, but that does not stop the staring nor the many attempts of young Indian boys to befriend me. I've learned to say a couple things in the local language here, such as 'illa' (meaning no) to get them to leave me alone a bit faster. The staring doesn't bother me nearly as much as being followed or having pictures snapped of me so that boys can show off 'their' foreign girlfriend to their friends. After travelling in Hyderabad, nothing has even come close to real harassment, and I have enjoyed the more relaxed pace of the locals here. Although, I get the feeling that no one is a local here and they have come merely to start a business to cater to the foreign tourists.

I have met a lot of people here, everyone ranging from Abdul with the drum shop (and no Bittu I did not buy a drum) to my fellow Bollywood extra peers. Our story of Bollywood fame has spread and I imagine many other tourists will heed our warnings (most I am sure are still determined to get into an actual film, who can blame them when it is Bollywood!).

Okay, well I believe this is long enough and I should be heading out to catch my bus to Gokarna. India is definitely a place where it is never boring, and there are ups and downs, but in the end it all balances. Whenever something frustrates me, another thing that elicits some joy just happens to be around the corner.

Random tip: If you have problems getting a train ticket for a day train, book the lowest class and find a spot in the sleeper class cars. The seats are much larger than the space required for the people actually booked on the berths during the day, and you will only have to pay the difference of 100 rs. Or you can try the 30% extra taktal system, but booking online in advance is pretty easy. Too bad China didn't have this system!

Traversing the Indian railway system, going southward

I hope that everyone enjoyed my last email or post about the Bollywood experience.

I made my way from Mumbai to Aurangabad to visit the Ajatha and Ellora caves. I took a second class seat on the train, which ended up being hassle free, except for the beggars and men selling key chains on the train. The only hassle I encountered was when I got off the train and was immediately approached by rickshaw drivers, who were a bit overly aggressive and circling me. I managed to pull my scarf over my head and walk out of the crowd (avoid crowds, especially if you are a solo female during the late evening or night hours). I made my way down the street to a couple hotels that ended up being a bit precarious and made my way instead to a hotel that had been recommended to me. It was full, but the austere YHA hostel around the corner happened to be open with its 10 pm curfew and all. The hostel ended up being quite secure even if it reminded me a bit of the prison cells one sees on TV.

All of the caves are man made, but some are close to being a thousand years old. Ajantha caves are all Buddhist caves, but were primarily built by Hindu kings. Many of the paintings still remain and tell a great deal about the different kings, beliefs about Buddha and much other important information of the era. I joined a tour for the Ajantha caves since public bus is a bit more tricky and I thought that it would be a good way to meet some other people. The tour from the MDTC Resort was a bit too rushed for my liking and we spent most of the time following around a guide with no idea of what he was talking about. The hour on our own was much better to let the murals and frescoes sink into our memories.

The following day I met up with a friend I had eaten with the previous day at a nearby restaurant. She is also a solo female traveler (I am actually quite surprised by the number of solo women travelers I have met so far). We headed to Ellora on our own, which was incredibly easy and managed to miss the crowds since we headed out at 7 am. The buses run almost constantly, and I think that they even start before dawn. By 1:30 pm we were done and made our way back to town for a much needed siesta, meal and Internet downtime.

Hyderabad

I am presently in Hyderabad (also referred to as Secunderabad) and waiting to see if I will make the evening train to Hospet JN, which happens to be the nearest station to the touristy and legendary Hampi in Karnakata, India. There really isn't much to see in Hyderabad other than the wonderful bazaars, Charminar, museums and food.

The museums just happen to be closed today (Friday, due to religious significance) and I had a less than favorable experience in the Nehru Tribal Museum. The museum itself was fine and informative, but the young man who followed me the entire time and proceeded to harass me (even when I asked him to not follow me around) was not. I ended up yelling at him and a tour guide and security guard stepped in and kicked him out. I guess one thing I don't understand is that the very few men who do cause problems here do not treat their own women like that, and I don't understand how it is somehow more acceptable when directed towards foreign women. The museum staff was embarrassed and horrified at his behaviour. I am dressed very conservatively, even in a relatively benign kurti (tunic top and baggy cotton pants with a scarf). But overall, I have to say I am quite surprised at how safe traveling around India is, especially since I had hear so many stories and warnings from everyone. My guard is still up, but I don't feel endangered.

I have not seen too many foreigners in this city, due to the untouristy nature of the city. The city is fairly wealthy with the technology industry supplementing plenty of high paying jobs. Rickshaw drivers have been quite accommodating in using the meter and providing quasi-fair prices, and the overwhelming majority helpful with directions and the like. But I am ready to head to the supposedly beautiful and serene Hampi for some sightseeing, bouldering, yoga, some more good food, and much needed fresh air.

Note to the readers: If you are on the email list and would like to be un-subscribed, please let me know and I can remove you. To those that enjoy this blog and emails, thank you for your continued support and emails. I really enjoy hearing from everyone and I hope that all of you are doing well at home or wherever you may be in the world :).

So you want to be a Bollywood star??

So many of you might have heard that I was to be an extra in a Bollywood film. Well, the truth is I was an extra in a Bollywood-produced-TV Series-in-its-3rd season. Recruiters often hang around South Mumbai, also known as Colaba, looking for foreigners to partake in Bollywood films. They pay a small wage, but most are more excited about participating than the money.

The recruiter (Imran Giles) lied to the 31 of us backpackers about what we would be doing, where we would be going and the fact that it wasn't even a movie. We hadn't realized until we were on a bus for nearly 3.5 sweaty hours up a foggy mountain 50 km away from Pune in Lonavala and saw the Bigg Boss Season 3 signs. Bigg Boss is the Indian version of the US TV show Big Brother. At least, we were there for the season premiere. When we arrived, no one seemed to have idea of what we would be doing. We were waiting for costumes and make-up, but apparently that was a false promise and we all showed up looking exactly like dingy and scruffy backpackers not dressed for the cooler temperatures of the mountain.

After a brief snack, water and chai we were ushered after the six thousand Indians into the entrance way for the contestants. There was a red carpet rolled out along with rails lined with hundreds of people leading up to the door for the stage area. We could not figure out the exact role of having 31 foreigners cheer for hours for these people, who ended up being not even B-list Bollywood stars, comedians, and a German model (that dreams of being a star here in India). The closest one to looking familiar was one that I was pretty sure was Professor Snape from Harry Potter (in reality he was a fashion designer). Since we had no idea of what was planned or going on, or that if we had known that we would be standing for 5 hours cheering, most of us would not have signed up. It started raining tremendously hard, and we were warned that we would have to spend the entire night there and leave in the morning. Most of us were less than pleased upon hearing this announcement.

I was determined to get on camera since I was there and I would make the most of it. We laughed so hard at the absurdity of the situation and made each other laugh. There were plenty of jokes about becoming a YouTube star by doing something absurd down the red carpet in front of the cameras, but then thought becoming disliked by a billion people and getting kicked out of the country outweighed stardom. We were the worst extras I think in the history of Bollywood TV. Most of us were freezing, upset, complaining to our wrangler, disappearing for the occasional chai and crackers, cigarette or bathroom break. We also looked like bums that they found on the street, maybe they regretted not giving us costumes as promised. Finally, the last contestant came down the red carpet and we thought we were home-free. Instead it was time for a curry rice dinner and the to the bus.

Once we arrived to the bus, noticed that all of our stuff was still there. They wouldn't let us bring our stuff with us to the shoot and forced us to leave it on the bus. I called the family I was staying with to let them know that we were just leaving and that the rain would slow us down. That's when the driver noticed that hey there aren't any headlights. This was a bit scary as we noticed the dozen or so signs that said "dangerous monsoon rains, drive slowly" and the thick layer of fog and low visibility. The driver and others worked for a half hour on the lights, but no luck. We drove around the set area trying to figure out what to do, and every time we stopped the thousands of stranded Indians looking for a way home noticed the bus full of foreigners and tried many times to get a ride (a tiny bit scary at the time).

The lot of us had a discussion whether to spend the night or go, after demanding a new bus (no luck with that). We were promised a convoy style of transport, where the front bus had headlights (and no tail lights) and the back seemed to have both. I managed to sleep a couple hours and would wake up to everyone screaming for their dear lives for the driving to stop, slow down, or pull over. My heart raced as I could not see more than a meter or two in front of the bus out of the front window. We managed to make it off of the mountain in only 2 hours (only 30 minutes to get there originally), and onto the expressway. The driver hit a retaining barrier and my heart just about leaped out of my chest. This adventure deceivingly seemed to get better and then much worse. We made it to a road stop for food and drinks and decided that it was best to wait another 40 minutes for the sun to come up. Once the sun peeked in the sky we got back on the bus and headed straight and quickly for Mumbai. Our driver only nodded off once, and woke up at our screams as we b-lined right for the edge of the road.

I made it back safely at 7 am (instead of the promised 2 am) and yes I was on TV a couple times in my T-shirt, Tevas and fisherman cropped pants. I'm not sure I have ever laughed so hard or experienced so many emotions in such a short span of time. I guess this was a nice introduction to India, because the rest will seem like a breeze. I am thankful I am alive and have both of my kidneys. I'm not sure I am cut out for Bollywood movies.

Jai ho Bharat - Welcome to India!!!

I think India really gets a poor rap as a place to travel to. I don't think it is really as intimidating as people may assume or expect. People will stare, but that isn't much of a problem, as long as you don't give people the opportunity to steal from you by being careless with your things or too trusting on the given prices. I also think I lucked out by having friends here who could take me around and show me the city. I am staying in Dadar-East which is on the edge of the city proper, but only a 15-20 motorbike ride from South Mumbai. I am loving the bird's eye view from my my friend's apartment, and I am able to see almost the entire living and breathing city in the distance.

I wouldn't even think to drive a motorbike or a car around in India, because the rumors are quite true about the chaotic nature of the traffic. But my friend informs me that Mumbai has the best roads and the most orderly and behaved traffic in all of India. I suppose I will learn more about this firsthand when I start traveling around in a couple days. I really have enjoyed the rides on the motorbike to South Mumbai and around Dadar, because I have really been able to see a lot more than I think I would have been able to without such convenient transportation.

I have visited Chor Bazaar (thieves bazaar), Crawford Market, the Gateway of India, Taj Hotel, Colaba Causeway, the CS Museum of Indian History, Marine Drive, a few more beaches, and plenty of little stores and restaurants. I think it may actually take years to savor and really see all of the nooks and crannies that Mumbai keeps hidden. It's absolutely never boring in India.

I am venturing out on the train today. I thought that I would be heading to Goa, but due to the torrential rains and flooding, I am heading to Ellora and Ajantha first. These cities are best known for their carvings in the caves of Buddhist, Hindu and Jain rock cut temples. I will be staying in Aurangabad and making my way in the wee hours of the morning to view the caves in emerging daylight.

I was so excited and happy that I was able to meet up with an old friend from my exchange in Milano, Italia in Mumbai. She is traveling around and visiting family for quite a few months. We had a lot of catching up to do only in a few hours, but I really enjoyed seeing her and the fact that we have maintained contact over such a long span of time and distance.

Goodbye Thailand, off to India!

I am still in Thailand and about to head out to India in an hour to the airport. I have a couple friends to meet up with, but I really have not planned a lot for India. A friend is going to come pick me up at the airport and I get to stay with him and his family. I know them through a very good mutual friend from the University of Minnesota. I don't know how after nearly 3 months of travel, I still have such good luck.

I like Thailand a lot, but the main problem is the abundance of tourism. People expect money and prey on those that they think they can get the most money from. If you dare, and I recommend to do so, venture outside the touristy areas, you will find that Thai people are amazingly nice and interesting people. I managed to visit some of the touristy areas in Bangkok, but those outside the dreaded Khao San Road area, which means that they are much nicer. Khao San Road is the epicenter of all people coming to Southeast Asia to let loose, travel for a couple weeks or live what they call the so-called hippy life of a traveler. Khao San Road used to be far less everything only just ten years ago, but with the abundance of cheap flights, Lonely Planet travel guides and everything else that encourages wanderlust, the place has utterly flourished. Although, I'm not sure flourished is the right word. Many people might know the area from the infamous move The Beach with Leonardo Di Caprio.

I saw the Grand Palace today, which is truly grand and was created in the 1700s as the new center of the Rama government. Everything seems to be adorned with gold and brightly and intricately painted scenes of legendary tales. Also, I visited the market surrounding Thamasaat University, which was full of yummy eats, Buddha idols, knick-knacks, clothes and everything else that reminded me of a bizarre garage sale. Thamasaat University was my second choice for my study abroad, but some how I was chosen for my first choice in Taiwan. After visiting tons of markets including one of the largest night markets in the world (which was very fashionable and trendy) and the very jaw dropping Chatuchak Market (the best I have seen for clothes shopping, although the sizes are on the smaller side).

I most definitely enjoyed Thailand, but I am think I am ready to head onto India, well as ready as anyone could be for such a complex and intense country.

Overland from Cambodia to Bangkok

First of all, I just wanted to let everyone know that I am still alive, and somewhere on a tropical island on the coast of Thailand (Koh Tao) doing an open water diving course at Seashell Resort on Sairee Beach. Secondly, I wanted to let everyone know that I am coming home around Thanksgiving (I still have yet to book my flight). Thirdly, I am heading to Mumbai, India on September 30th from Bangkok.

Even though it has been nearly two weeks since I was in Cambodia, the country still lingers in my mind. I think the disparities between the two contrasting classes is stark and confusing. The people are very addictive and the history is quite troubled. I can't help but think about all the friends I made at the school in the countryside or the children I befriended in Siem Reap, even when I didn't buy anything from them.

Thailand is surprisingly expensive and I had the most visa issues here. I have managed now to extend my visa so that I have three weeks instead of the two you get when you cross overland. (I am convinced that there is an airline-lobbying-conspiracy that influences the government's visa issuing structure. The law seemed to change when the awful stretch of road between Siem Reap and Bangkok was finally redone, handy huh?).

I have managed to spend a couple head-spinning and hectic days in Bangkok and then made my way down to Krabi on the southwestern side of the peninsula. Krabi is one of the best locations in the world for rock climbing, and naturally I felt the urge to climb 40 meters up. Alfonso and I signed up for a course over three days, two days then a day break and then the final day. The rocks are perfect to climb, limestone with some smooth to small hand grips overlooking white beaches, lush islands and miles of turquoise blue ocean. We both learned to lead, abseil, and just in general improve our ability to climb. My arms were sore the first day and by the last day, I felt it in my legs more as I remembered to steady my weight on my legs and use my hands just for balance. Krabi was our last stop traveling together, Alfonso was heading back to Bangkok from Krabi and then home, and I made my way to Koh Samui.

Random tip: In Thailand, there are people who sleep under the bus with the bags, they go through every one's stuff even if you have locks on it. I am pretty sure that they have lock picking kits or something like that. Don't trust to leave anything valuable. They surely won't steal clothes, but electronics, money, etc. This was the first time I had anything like this happen the whole time I have been traveling, but nothing was taken, just moved a lot around in my bag.

I met a big group of people on my way to Koh Samui, so I was not alone for long and after spending a couple days in the over touristy island I was ready for a change of scene. I skipped Phuket (too much in every sense of the phrase) and headed to Koh Tao to do some scuba diving. I have been planning on doing scuba diving here (still here now) for the last 3 months. I have already completed my first 4 dives and open water certification through PADI. I am going to do the advanced course and will go down to 30 meters.

I am getting ready to fly to Mumbai on September 30th and getting excited thinking about home coming up soon. I hope everyone has not forgotten about me yet :). I wish everyone a wonderful autumn. More updates soon :).

Takeo Province, Phnom Pehn - Cambodia

There are still remnants of the Khmer Rouge genocide everywhere. Pol Pot, the leader of the massacre, only died in 1998 while in exile. After a very very slow boat from Chau Doc on the Vietnamese side of the Mekong Delta, we made it to Phnom Pehn.

Phnom Pehn is a city where you see hoards of tuk tuk drivers pushing through the lanes of Hummers and BMWs while children rummage through discarded waste on the roadside. The city has a deafening pulse from the motorbikes, food stalls, windy little streets and people trying to sell you everything. Most surprisingly of all, despite Cambodia's recent tragic history of the country, the people have such big smiles and a jovial sense of humor.

We managed to make our way to the National Museum, the S21 Prison museum, and the killing fields 14 km outside the city. We did all of this despite the fact that September is the rainiest month in Cambodia.

Besides the typical touristy things that someone does in Phnom Pehn we made our way to a little village in Takeo province to do some good ol' fashion teaching. At the Sorya School (http://www.sorya.org/index.php) established 8 years ago by a Cambodian-German to make a difference. We were not entirely sure if we were on the right bus heading into the countryside in Cambodia and exactly how we would get to the school, but we managed to get to the closest town and asked about the school. Of course the town knew which school that we were talking about. The impact of the school has been tremendous in the community. When we walked down the road, people were stopping us to demonstrate their English proficiency acquired at Sorya.

I met so many different students and heard some of their stories. Their stories were filled with sorrow, frustration and such an immense desire to change their situation, that I could not help but be captivated. One girl, Csreytouch a.k.a. Suzie, invited us over to her house during the lunch break to meet her family and see her home. As we ate a coconut that she picked from the 15 meter tall tree, we met her family and heard her horror stories of working in textile factories. She made only $50 a month and worked some 70 hours (all while standing) with little ability to save any for her family. She has very simple dreams, but almost no ability to achieve even the smallest of them.

The organization has helped the village make a great deal of progress with regards to access to clean drinking water, meeting dietary needs, education and helping the community build for the future. The organization has provided concrete rainwater collection barrels for each of the village's homes. The school uses satellite Internet and is solar powered to really enhance the students' educations. The hardest part about the school was leaving, people were so kind and excited to have a conversation. They truly did not want us to go, even after such a short while we felt like we were a part of the community.

Appreciate every single spoonful of rice you eat. John, one of the students at Sorya, yelled to us on the road asking if we wanted to help with the rice. We were in a rush back to Sorya for the afternoon classes and told him no, but asked when they start in the morning. He laughed and said 7 am with the expectation that we were joking. He had a very large smile and his mother laughed when we showed up the next morning for work. There is a definite rhythm to picking rice without damaging the plant. The plants were only 2 months old and still in their seedbeds, we were helping pick them so they could be spread out over more fields to properly produce rice. This technique ensures a high gross and suitable quality. After two hours of perfecting my picking technique my legs were sore and my hands dyed from the purple residue on the plants, the rice farmer's tattoo. We headed back to Phnom Pehn, but I doubt I will forgetting the experience at Sorya any time soon.

The Last Couple Weeks--Vietnam Baby!

I have had intermittent access to Internet, at best, for the last couple weeks and I have been pretty bad about updating my blog. I finished my travels in Vietnam without any problems and I am not in Cambodia. Sorry that these updates on the below mentioned cities is shortened.

Halong Bay--
After Hanoi we headed to Halong Bay where we encountered one of the many scams around, tours of Halong Bay. Fortunately, we were not real victims of this scam, and found out that in one case we paid 1/5 of some of the passengers. Be careful when booking tours through agencies, they have no incentive not to rip you off. We spent a couple nights on Cat Baa Island, which is the only inhabited island in the bay. One of the days we spent motorbiking around the island, and doing a short hike up to a viewing tower to see the sharp, lush, and green peaks on the island. From Halong Bay we made our way back to Hanoi and off to Hue.

Hue--
Hue is gorgeous with the old town heavily influenced by the French and the ancient empire that once inhabited the area. After spending a couple days motorbiking around, playing cards with the locals, visiting the tombs and locals' beach, we headed to Hoi An.

Hoi An--Saigon
From Hoi An, we headed to Mui Ne and from there to Saigon a.k.a. Ho Chi Min City, and onwards to the Mekong Delta. I am skipping many stories I would love to tell and hope to come back to in order to catch up a little bit. Please send me a comment, email or message if you have any questions.

Hello Hanoi!!!

The Chaos

Taipei x 5 times as many scooters + rickshaws + more construction + more people = Hanoi.

I think the equation above best explains why I love Hanoi. I love Taipei, and if you add a little more chaos I love it all the more. I think it would be very hard to get bored in a city like Hanoi. Tourism adds a great deal to the economy, but it is not the sole boon of the economy. There are thriving financial companies, restaurants, retailers and manufacturers. Vietnam has experienced extreme growth, the same type of growth that countries like S. Korea and Taiwan went through in the early '90s. The estimated growth rate over the last couple years is roughly 8%, which puts it in league with China, but (of course) at a smaller scale with only 85 million people in the country.

Hanoi boasts a wonderful night market with tons of wares, goodies and foods that could even tempt the most frugal or picky person. I spent a great deal of time taking pictures and talking to locals. There are a bunch of wonderful Pho places that charge almost nothing for a bowl of soup with cilantro, lime and chili. Yummy!!

Hostel and Booking Tours??

We stayed at the Hanoi Backpacker's hostel, which is a bit more expensive than the others since it is run by two Aussie expats and tends to fill up early with people. They run tours to Halong Bay and Sapa that are highly recommended, but they are waaaay too expensive for the average backpacker. We went to Cat Ba Island in Halong Bay without booking anything and managed to find a semi-decent tour for $30 including meals, transport back to Hanoi, accomodation, etc. Which was a pretty fair price, since many of the others in our group paid double or up to 5 times as much.

Choosing a booking agency is very important, and it definitely pays to double-check everything. People have no incentive to charge you a fair price when they can get a tremendous amount more from you and if you only come once to Vietnam. Businesses change so fast that reputation also holds little value over time. So far, I have yet to really pay full price for anything in Vietnam :). Especially after a month in China and a couple weeks in Vietnam, my ability to haggle has definitely increased.

Remnants of a Different Era...

I managed to see Uncle Ho, which is quite a surreal experience. Uncle Ho as he is affectionately called in the Lonely Planet has been embalmed since his death in 1969 and still envokes a very powerful sense of pride and admiration from the Vietnamese people. The rules are very very strict and cameras are checked at the door. We only had to wait 20 minutes to get through the long line and took all of 5 minutes to pass by the three sides of the glass coffin of the very short and sensei-like man.

There are tons of other things that you can see in Hanoi, but we managed to see a couple temples and what the American POWs dubbed the "Hanoi Hilton" during the Vietnam War. The Hanoi Hilton has an even longer history that is interlinked with the French occupation. Vietnam's history is pretty scattered, meaning that they have experience wars, occupations and clashes with all sorts of countries over the last 1000 years; including China, Japan, France, Vietnam War, Cambodia, and others. There are a couple museums that explain the history of the Viet people much better than I could do in a couple paragraphs.

Okay, that was a very brief description of Hanoi. I am finding it hard to explain everything in such a short amount of space (only one blog post). I have found that the very small things are the most impactful. These things consist of the changes in food, manners, signs, language, and the like. I will be sure to explain more in upcoming posts. I am currently in Mui Ne and a bit behind in my posts. I hope everyone is doing well and I will continue to stay safe and learn lots along the way. Bacissimi !!

Serene and Touristy Sapa

We negiotiated a mini-bus to Sapa and parked ourselves at the Queen Hotel, which was an absolutely fabulous find. Almost all of the places were booked in the little touristy town of Sapa, and, of course, we haggled the price down (by now I am pretty good at this, I haggle for everything). We stayed one night and then did a 2-day trek with a homestay. Sapa is known for the high proportion of H'mong, Dai and other minority groups that add a great deal of character to the colorful and friendly culture of the area.

After China, I appreciated their approach to selling me things "Hello, what is your name? Where are you from? Do you have any brothers and sisters? etc... Would you like to buy from me?". They make almost everything by hand and use the interactions with tourists to learn better English.

There are a couple different groups of the H'mong peoples. Our guide also told us that the languages varied so much that it is incredibly difficult for each of the groups to understand each other. Our guide also told us that the red H'mong (which wear red head dressing) shave their eyebrows and the front part of their hair when they get married. This is because they take over any of the cooking duties and hygiene is a definite concern for the new family. The black H'mong tribe only use a comb to ensure that all of their remains in place; the styles and interpretations of seemingly similar traditions varied greatly among each of the H'mong groups.

The 2 day trek and homestay is a must, even though the trekking was more of a walk along rice patties and traversing the mild hills in the area. We swam in the river with the local children who were giddy with the delight of shoving each other in the water and pushing their way up through the current.

After Sapa we ended to lovely Hanoi!! I am a little behind on my blog as internet access is now always the most accessible, and I still mean to post pictures the next time I get a chance.

Moving On.. Out of China....

First of all, I wanted to let everyone know that I have made it to Vietnam safe and sound! I ended up meeting up with my Italian friend in Kunming and hopped a night bus to Hekou on the Vietnam/China border. We had exchanged messages when I was still in Dali and he purchased the bus ticket for me. I literally had 30 minutes between exiting one bus and catching the other; I had to run to another station (lucky for me, it was the right one and only a couple blocks away, and I was especially lucky since there are 4 stations only a couple blocks away from each other).

The bus ride from Kunming could not have been any more, well, rough and sleepless. Sleeper buses are not always the best, and after yelling for a couple minutes in Chinese that one was my seat and that I would not sleep at the back in a 5 person bed with random Chinese (because afterall, it was not my seat), I was finally in rest mode. At least, that's what I thought. The bus driver said to me as I got on hao kan nide dongxi... which means good look your things... aka people are going to try and steal your stuff. My rusty Italian allowed me to eek out a warning to Alfonso about watching his things during night. Alfonso had already met the Dutch couple that joined us on the bus, both of them would later become our travel partners to Sapa.

The bus stopped maybe 8 times all together for the occasional repair, dropping off construction materials, the driver's proper dinner, and all sorts of other things I couldn't really figure out. The most surprising this is that the bus was still on-time, meaning that they knew how long each of the stops would take. But in the end we made it and the border was only 5 blocks away from the bus station (extremely easy to walk to, don't listen to what anyone tells you). [Head right from the bus station and walk towards the river]. I think the border crossing is much easier going from China into Vietnam and in the wee hours of the morning. We were there at 8:30 AM (Vietnam time, China is an hour behind since there is only one time zone for the extremely large country), and we slipped through without a second glance. I thought maybe as an American that I would encounter some hostility, but there was none. There were tons of Vietnamese crossing over into China, perhaps for the start of their work day and the others seemed to have cheap wares to sell.

Random tip: Don't exchange money at the border (Yuan into Dong or US Dollars at all). There will be plenty of places to buy your money. I get the feeling that Yuan is heavily demanded as people almost fought each other to exchange with us. US Dollars are preferred to Dong, most prices are even quoted in USD first. Always ask the exchange rate, if you can't haggle the price, then try to haggle the exchange rate.

I managed to avoid all hassle with my visa for China being so extremely close to expiration and move on to the next country, while finding a travel mate in the process. Life is good and I feel fortunate to keep finding such luck. I hope every0ne is enjoying their summer at home. I hope to be able to post pictures again soon, good internet access is hard to find for long periods and on computers without viruses...

Leaving China!

Leaving China, and I am ready for a change of scenery. I have spent over 6 months in Chinese speaking areas with similar cultural norms and ancestry, so Vietnam might be just what I am looking for. My Chinese at this point is passable, which means I can haggle, buy tickets, food, anything necessary, and get directions. I am satisfied with the progress, but expect that I will lose it as I leave the country. I can still understand quite a bit of Italian, but end up speaking Chinese instead (strange, eh?).

I woke up this morning with a question of whether I should attempt visiting the rice paddy fields in Yuanyang, Yunnan or head straight for the border. I have decided to go for the straight shot to Sapa in Northern Vietnam to avoid the risk of overstaying my Chinese visa. I have heard rumors that they charge up to 500Y a day (about $90) for overstaying. I have met an Italian guy who is heading the same way and I am hoping to meet up with him in Kunming before catching a night bus to the border.

Old Dali is very nice, but of course a lot of the touristy things to do in China are heavily over-developed and lacking any originality. Yunnan, at least, has the very best coffee I have had yet in China. So after a cup or two today, I am ready to catch my 1:30 pm bus back to Kunming.

I managed to have a kind of mixed up day yesterday. I attempted to hike up the Changban Shan, but once I arrived at the muddy excuse for a path, I decided that wandering around in the woods by myself for 4 hours was too precarious for me (which was a good decision as I read later that a many solo-hikers were robbed hiking the path) and paid for the chairlift to the top. I had assumed that there would be other hikers to meet up with, but there were none, and the Chinese tend to only hike on paved paths. On the way up, I was trying to remove my camera from my purse and lost the case in the process. Upon my return down after 3 hours or so of hiking around and overlooking the Erhai Hu (Ear-Shaped Lake), I spent 20 minutes with the hopefulness that I would regain my case, no luck. I spent the rest of the day relaxing and catching up on some reading and planning my approach to the border. I imagine the crossing is easier from this side anyway.

I just wanted to post this in case anyone was worried about my location and plans. My Chinese phone will no longer work once I cross, but at least I will have uncensored Internet, which means Facebook and actual access to my blog (right now I use a proxy). Thank you to anyone who is reading this blog and supporting my adventures, it really means a lot.

Riding the Rails Down to Yunnan

After a very very long train ride from Xian to Kunming, I found my way through the somewhat small city to my hostel. The train ride was 41 hours long and filled with little Chinese girls calling me jiejie (older sister) and pictures with the conductor. There was an interesting British fellow for the first 15 hours and after that I was left to fumble through Chinese and English with my fellow hard-sleeping-compartment-mates alone. After the 36th hour, I was definitely ready to be off the train.

I decided (sorry Sarah) to skip Chengdu and head directly south, especially since my visa for China is running out. I have to get into Vietnam by August 10th or I run the risk of violating the terms of my visa (not really something I intend on doing).

After a day in Kunming, I met a fellow traveler to accompany me to the Tiger Leaping Gorge, which is about two hours directly north outside Qiaotou. We were told that the hike was very long and managed to finish after 7.5 hours. We found out that most do it spread out over two days. The views were absolutely breath taking and sometimes the trail was a bit rough. This is perhaps a trail that I would avoid in rainy weather, especially since you have to watch out for falling rocks. I will definitely upload pictures soon, so that people can see.

I am currently in Lijiang and will be heading to Dali tomorrow, and once again heading south towards the rice paddies bordering Vietnam. I will not be making it to the Laos border to do some jungle trekking, perhaps I will just have to on the other side.

I have learned a great deal about the minorities in China. Yunnan has a great deal of Naxi people and Hui (Chinese Muslims). You can definitely see the influences in the dress and knick-knacks. The Naxi traditional dress resembles the ones I saw during the Hmong presentations in elementary school. Embroidered clothing and tapestries with brightly colored thread and intricate patterns. The influences of southeast Asia are particularly strong here.

Okay! I should go and catch up on some sleep after a bit of walking the last couple days. Traveling isn't always a vacation, I think often it can be frustrating and tiring planning the logistics, but much much more rewarding and educational than anything else. I have continued to improve my Chinese, and I cannot believe how handy speaking a little actually is. I hope everyone is doing well!

Still in China

I just wanted to post this so people knew that I am still alive and in China. The govt here blocks FB and blogs, which just happen to be my primary means for contacting people at home. Reporters are not allowed in Xinjiang and even international phone calls are blocked from Xinjiang.

I am currently in Xi'an and have thoroughly enjoyed my experiences here in China thus far. I will spend about a week in Yunnan before I cross the border into Vietnam. I will see the infamous rice paddies of Sapa and southern Yunnan.

I have been meeting lots of other travels and people. Traveling by yourself seems like a daunting experience, but I have enjoyed it a lot. Traveling alone means that you are more likely to meet locals and other travellers. I have not had any problems finding a sidekick for a day. Also, I think that by being a female the locals are much more receptive of me, even when I cannot understand one word of their thickly accented Chinese.

I will write a bit more about my actual experiences when I am out of China and in Vietnam. In my belief the censors are only harming the citizens of and visitors to China. They are even installing software on every computer sold within the country to quell the ability to get around the censors (like I am with a proxy) permanently.

Shanghai is Next

I managed to find a way to Shanghai, even though every single ticket for every single train is sold out. I bought a plane ticket, a little more expensive, but better than being stuck in Beijing for the next week. I cannot believe how hard it is, my advice buy ahead for any logistical stuff in China. After Shanghai, I will be heading to Xi'an and Guilin, and off to Vietnam. I pick up my passport on Thursday for my Visa and fly out on Friday.

I will get to see the eclipse after all!!

Beijing Beijing

So I have spent the last 5 days here, crashing at a friend's place. I have really enjoyed meeting so many people and attempting to navigate this enormous city. I have been to the Summer's Palace, Great Wall, Temple of Heaven, Lama Temple, Ritan Park, and other random places around the city. I like the city a lot,. but the pollution and transportation is a bit hard to handle. Transportation is only hard, because everything is so far from each other, it is like if someone took a suburb and stretched it so it could hold over 10 million people. The streets are wide and busy, and people are packed into every crevice. I imagine that Shanghai will be worse, but I like being snug rather than spending 20 minutes walking 'one' block.

China feels a lot more safe than I expected and some people are nice. People are very happy if you speak a bit of Chinese. But once it passes the basic level of daily transactional-stuff, it is beyond me. They speak very fast and with a 'r' that Taiwanese do not have. I have forgotten a lot of Italian and replaced it with Chinese.

I managed to negiotiate a taxi for me and 4 Poles I met to go to the Great Wall and all in Chinese. I love it, but often people are not patient. The rest of China will definitely be a trip, and each place is full of diversity, so different from the last place. I met a couple other really nice people and have no trouble meeting fellow travelers to hang out with for the day.

I hope everyone is well at home, and I hope I will be able to post again soon. I'm not sure how thorough the 100,000 people censoring the internet are with their programming. Let's see if I can get this to work.

Much love,

Erica

The Joys of Censorship

I am in China and as we all know that they have censors and make it incredibly difficult to post on a blog. I am fine and well. My local phone number is +8613436614082. If you want to get ahold of me please call or send me an email. I have limited ability to check my Skype and no access to Facebook after today.

I am using a friend's computer with a VPN to by-pass the censorship using a North American proxy. Sounds high-tech huh? Well, it's actually easier than you would think.

Keep in touch! I will try to post through email from now on.

Off to China!

By now I have taken tons and tons of pictures in Hong Kong, but will not have the chance right now to up load them. I am sitting in my friends apartment getting everything ready to head to China. I am a little nervous for the 24 hour train ride by myself. I still need to  buy food for it, but I have heard that I will be just fine. Still it's probably a good thing to be a little nervous, so that I will be paying attention all the more. I have spent 8 days here, and probably less than that is needed. I managed to visit Macau for the better part of a day and see all the highlights here. I will be visiting a couple friends in Beijing, so no worries. 

I'll be posting again soon!

Living Out My Dreams in Macau

Macau is self-proclaimed 'the City of Dreams'. I'm not sure if people dream about spending their time in sleazy casinos, or just dream about striking it big. Everyone wishes they would luck out, and never have to worry about money again. Macau was not exactly the city of dreams for me, but then again, I am not much of a gambler.

I managed to catch one of the 24 hour ferries to Macau and spend the better part of the day there. The TurboJet boat only takes an hour to traverse the Pearl River Delta (Hong Kong is on the exact opposite side of the wide mouth). As the boat slowed and began to pull up to the dock, I noticed that the water was opaque and murky, probably from deposits and erosion further up stream. The skyline is much less developed than Hong Kong, but considering that the population is only 1/20 of Hong Kong it is understandably highly developed. 

I caught the bus number 3 into the city of the historic district. The infamous Saint Paul church was destroyed in a typhoon, but one wall was left standing. This wall has become a symbol for Macau other than the Cotoi Strip (the eastern equivalent of the Vegas Strip). It was strange standing in Macau knowing that mainland China was less than a couple miles from me, yet I felt as if I was in Europe. Macau was a Portuguese colony and governed by them until the official hand over in the '90s. The official languages are Chinese (Cantonese) and Portuguese, albeit no one speaks Portuguese except a just a few. All signs were posted in both and sometimes in English. There is a tremendous selection of Portuguese and Chinese fusion restaurants. 

I managed to find one on a sleepy little street right off of Rua Campo named 'Rico's'. Part of the reason I wanted to go to Macau was for the food. I had baked vegetables in a Portuguese sauce with coconut sprinkled on top. It was delicious! I finished and walked around a bit more, even briefly hitting up the Casino Lisbon. After losing $3 USD to a slot machine, I had my gambling fix taken care of. I really wanted to play the table version of mahjong, but I could not figure out, for the life of me, what the rules were. After taking a free shuttle back to the ferry station, I hopped a ferry home.  

Bye Bye Hong Kong!

Even though I am primarily traveling by myself and meeting up with friends and others along the way, I have had no shortage of friends. I met up with a lady from CS for coffee, a Dutchwoman walking up to the Tian Tan Buddha and two Canadians that just arrived in Hong Kong. It's somewhat strange meeting people who are not adjusted to Hong Kong or Taiwan's cultural norms. I remember being so shocked and annoyed at first, it's not that I get all of it, but it just doesn't 'shock' me as much anymore. My broken Mandarin has even helped me a little here in Hong Kong, most people speak English as well, but if it's a pretty brief request, it is  almost more likely to communicate with success using a bit of Chinese. 

Hong Kong is a very nice place to live and visit, albeit a bit more expensive than Taipei. Hong Kong definitely is a mixture of old colonial influence from the British and Chinese traditions. To me the culture is a cross being Taipei and Singapore, perhaps including the best aspects of each. I do, however, miss my night market food from Taiwan. 

I have eaten so much food here though. Things I maybe would not have order in Taipei. I was a little weirded out at first when I had to rip the heads off the prawns and peel them (shrimp don't look quite that scary). I am not used to putting alive shrimp in boiling hot pot water, and seeing them squirm on their wooden stakes helped calm my hunger. (I got over it though and ate one of the really fresh bright pink shrimps). But the one that tops the cake is durian ice cream. I saw this at the store and was incredibly curious. But alas, I did not want to try this by myself, so I coaxed the two Canadians I met into trying it with me. Durian is a bit like rotten garlic and onions, sweet, feet, and smells like something I should keep away from my mouth. Some people claim that it smells worse than garbage, and I would substantiate that claim. I had a moment where I thought I bought durian gum afterwards. For the first second that the gum was in my mouth, I started to taste durian. I hope I never ever eat durian again, it's worse than stinky tofu for sure. 

There is plenty of food in Hong Kong that is just plain delicious as well. Such as dim sum, dumplings, wonton soup, clay pot rice on Temple Street, seafood, and there is such a variety of restaurants that you could eat cuisine from anywhere in the world. There is a large Indian population (a by-product of British rule) and some have been here for nearly 5 or 6 generations. Most are of Tamil origin from the southern half of Indian. There are plenty of yummy Indian restaurants here (I love Indian food, but I have learned to ease into the spice).

Hong Kong in Pictures

   

The harbor right before the light show, looking at HK Island.

No mooring!!

Prawns. I am not sure I have ever eaten this before. I had to watch Larissa to understand how to tear the shell off. 

Old HK money. HK has its own currency, but no central bank. Each bank issues its own currency as a guarantee of value, and this has been done for a very long time.

Outside the Hong Kong Museum of History. I found a lot of similarities between Taiwan and HK. The geography and aboriginal history are very similar. The museum is located on Kowloon and focused more on the cultural aspects of HK's history. 

I'll post the rest of the pictures later!! Happy 4th of July again!

China Visa

I went to go get my visa at the Chinese visa office in Wan Chai. I was incredibly surprised by how efficient the process was. They only issued numbers to those with a correctly and completely filled out form. Also, there is photo booth to get pictures. The visa is so expensive $1170HKD or $150USD (ouch). 

I was set and choose the express 3 day service. I was also able to purchase a train ticket to Beijing. I will start there and make my way south and west. I am so excited! 

Happy Birthday America or Freedom Day, whatever people want to call it. I am missing one of my favorite holidays and I hope everyone at home has a really good weekend :). We are going to have fun here and meet up with some American's at a British pub (ironic huh?). We meaning my Singaporean, Hong Konger and Chinese friends. :)

Livin' it Up Hong Konger Style

I made it to Hong Kong safely and after a bit of delay at the airport, I finally found my long lost friend Larissa from Italy. She was my roommate during my first exchange and has ended up here for work as a KPMG China tax consultant (very complicated and interesting). 

We had a nice first day getting reacquainted wandering about the city. I cannot believe that two years has passed since we last saw each other. We managed to catch up quickly, so strange that we meet again in Asia. When I left Italy I never pictured myself studying Chinese and ending up on a grand adventure through Asia. I was certain South America would be first (sorry Daniela). I feel like Hong Kong is a definite mix between Singapore and Taipei. There is a bit of modernness that Taipei does not have, but the same Chinese feel.

I have been getting lots of smiles from people here. I have the urge to speak Mandarin first, or the little that I do know. People don't expect it and I have been asking for phrases in Cantonese from Larissa. 

We saw the harbor light show at 8pm on Kowloon Island, the History Museum of Hong Kong, ate dumplings, Mong Kok street wandering and shopping, and basically just hearing tons of updates and reminiscing about old times. 

I am excited that the adventure has begun and I am just getting my bearings, but quickly. I'm not sure many are interested, but I finally ditched my dreadful travel bag (some remember me complaining about its awful design). I'll post pictures soon :). I hope everyone is well at home!

Planning for China

I have applied for my visa, should get it quickly. I cannot believe how expensive the visa is! For U.S. citizens it costs $131 plus a rush fee if needed. 

I have decided to take the 24 hour train from Hong Kong to Beijing and go from there. It looks like I will be in Beijing for about 5 days (I need to get my Vietnam visa there, I expect that to take 5 days) and then head to Xi'an. After 4 days there, I will head to Shanghai and Hangzhou. I think I will spend 5 days and then head to Guilin, Guanxi. I'll end up in Guangzhou and take the bus/train from there to Vietnam. I hope all goes to plan. I looked at flights and realized how expensive they are for getting around. I will probably bus a couple of the legs of the trip, but I look forward to nice train rides with amazing vistas.

Solar Eclipse July 22nd--Shanghai

I am sure that most people have seen a solar eclipse during their lifetimes, but how many of you can say you saw one in China? I will be in China this July and I am determined to see the solar eclipse over central China, Nepal and northern India. Totally cool, huh?

(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_eclipse_of_July_22,_2009). I am doing research on my adventure. It's all just starting and I cannot wait.

"This solar eclipse is the longest total solar eclipse that will occur in the twenty-first century, and will not be surpassed in duration until June 13, 2132. Totality will last for up to 6 minutes and 39 seconds, with the maximum eclipse occurring in the ocean at 02:35:21 UTCabout 100 km south of the Bonin Islands, southeast of Japan. The North Iwo Jima island is the landmass with totality time closest to maximum."

I am really excited to see one of my good friends and my old roommate from Italy in Hong Kong in just one week. I am getting a little sad over all the goodbyes here in Taiwan. Too many good friends all parting at the same time.