People keep asking me about my pictures from my trip. I did do a slideshow on Snapfish, but for some reason that's just too complicated for certain individuals... So here's a slideshow for my blog, and also all the emails I wrote home while I was away, for those who didn't get them but (oddly enough) wanted to.
First Email Home...
Hi everyone,
This actually the second time I've tried sending an email to you all, the power went out just as I was finishing my last sentence this a.m... But hey, now I have even more fascinating details to relate about my trip... Just kidding, nothing too exciting yet. By some miracle of god (by the by, I have been informed that the Hindu religion has more than 36000 deities and gods -can this be true???) I have yet to be killed in traffic. It is quite possible that it is the plethora of gods that prevents more people from being killed here in traffic. Note to all those who might be considering a trip to India: before going in an auto-rickshaw at dusk, make the driver turn on the headlights so you know for sure they work... Lesson learned... Scariest 56 minutes of my life to date... So far I've seen a Jain temple, Sikh temple, and more mosques and tombs than I can count. Rode a Delhi bus, and only one guy tried to grope me. Don't know if I should be insulted or grateful... Met a nice guy today who has "travelled many times to Vancouver kind mam". He even told the name and address of some dude he knows on Schoolhouse rd in Vancouver. An odd moment to say the least... Also got totally ripped off by a rickshaw driver, started to get angry, and then realized that it amounted to about 20 cents difference in the price... Nothing much else to report at this time. Leaving for Agra tomorrow at a hideously early hour.
I shall attempt to write something fascinating and infinitely more intriguing than this next time.
Cheers,
Solomon
Second Email
Greetings one and all,
Well I am still alive and kicking. I'm having a good time so far. Everything here is dirt-cheap (and oddly enough usually quite dirty). I am currently in Kajuraho, famous for it's "erotic" temples (if you call a man having sex with a horse erotic - I would call it horse abuse but hey...probably just being all hung-up and western). I had my birthday in Orchha yesterday, and my guide Vinit (about three feet tall and far too energetic than can easily be explained) somehow conjured up a cake for me. The weather is hotter than is normal for this time of year. Most days it's up over 30 and the humidity is high. Not much else to report. I am right sick of eating curry, so tonight we're going out for Italian "spegetti" cooked by a real live Italian "chef" supervised by some dutch guy (if the restaurant sign is to be believed). I just hope it doesn't turn out to be noodles cooked in some weird cumin sauce... I had chicken chowmein in Agra that was made with curry-chicken... Only in India.
I better go, this is costing my a whole 40 rupees per hour...So until next time everyone. Feel free to write me if you are bored, or want to waste time at work. All contact fro home is appreciated.
Cheers,
Solomon
Third Email
Hello one and all,
Not too much to report from this side of the globe... I am at the end of my first tour, tomorrow I head back to Delhi, and the next day I fly on to Kathmandu. I have absolutely fallen in love with India, and all the chaos and madness of the cities here. Went on a cycle rickshaw down to the ghats last night, almost tipped over twice and (as is par for the course here) got rear ended countless times... Just stepping out onto the streets here is an act of faith... Varanasi is by far the most polluted place I've been so far on the trip. We went on a sunset cruise, and then a sunrise boat trip this morning. Everyone knows how polluted the Ganges is, but until you see it you cannot possibly fathom how disgusting the water is. We passed by all the ghats, watched people at their morning prayers, all the wash-wallahs, and people preoccupied with mundane daily tasks like brushing their teeth... While on the other side of the boat a dead water buffalo floated past, a crow picking out it's eye... Nette that nice little visual was for you (you did mention something about capturing a moment for you)... Nowhere else in the world but India.
Sorry this email is short on humour, but I am a bit sad to be moving on to Nepal. I'm glad I'll be coming back to India again before I go home. I can't for the life of me remember why it is I didn't feel like leaving home to come here (as I did feel as I got on the plane in Vancouver).
I shall try to write more when I get to Kathmandu.
In case I miss the opportunity to write again before the 21st, a very special mention to my brother Gabriel and his wife Leah who are celebrating their wedding on October 21st. Congratulations to both of you, please know that you are in my thoughts. I love you both.
So cheers until the next time, the next email will be funnier (I hope), and filled with my (slightly censored as this is going to my mom too) adventures,
Solomon
Fourth Email
Hello one and all,
I hope that this email finds you well. I am having a superlative time over here in Nepal. I have by some strange co-incidence arrived right smack in the middle of Dipawali, which I gather is some sort of religious ceremony that requires devotees to crowd into public places, ride their motorcycles in circles, bang drums and cymbals loudly at random hours, and set off fire crackers at 3:47 in the morning... Oh, and I've seen some painted dogs, which would have seemed normal in India but I thought I'd left that kind of craziness behind...
The trip to Nepal was stressful to say the least, I'm glad I was able to travel with someone from my first tour, otherwise I'm sure I'd be huddled in a corner of Delhi Airport having a nervous breakdown... What an absolutely insane place. We must have passed through at least 5 security checks before we got on the plane... And lest you think this makes air travel in India super-safe, they let an old biddy onto the plane with no less than three exceedingly sharp-looking pairs of scissors...
Tomorrow I am heading off at an ungodly hour to go to Chitwan National Park, where I shall have the opportunity to ride an olly-phant and look at rhinos... I know, I know... You're all burning with jealousy... I'll bring back photos.
Ooh... I'm sitting in a cyber cafe (Namaste Cyber) that overlooks the main square in town here, and apparently Dipawali also includes people doing Kung-Fu/Karate type demos to loud music and a rapping/chanting child... Wish I'd thought to bring my camera... but it looks like he's done now anyways... back to the cymbals... no wait it looks like he's going to break some bricks with his pinky or something... I feel compelled to head out there and have a closer look... I shall write more later, although I can't say exactly when that might be... I'm not sure the olly-phants will have email access.
cheers,
Solomon
Fifth Email
Hello one and all,
I am now in Pokhara which, if you believe the guidebooks, is the second most visited place in Nepal. I guess it's a nice enough place... There's a lake here, this afternoon I plan to rent a kayak and paddle off into the blue yonder. I got up at an absolutely ungodly hour this a.m. go watch the sunrise on the mountains (it was very pretty) and then, no doubt as a result of oxygen deficiency, decided that it would be great fun to hike back down the mountain to my hotel... Five hundred million slippery stone steps later...
In any case my time in Nepal is coming to an end, soon I shall be back off to India. I have to confess that overall, I haven't enjoyed Nepal as much as I did India, although I can't exactly say why. I did get to ride an olly-phant, and I did indeed get to see a rhino, which oddly enough didn't seem to mind people sitting on an elephant right next to it... Freaky, if you ask me. I will attempt to add a picture, but make no guarantees. Not much else to add. The entire country seems much quieter now that Dipawali is over. But I suppose even the Nepalese must at some point in time quit painting their dogs and get back to the daily grind...
I guess that's it for now. Sorry this email is neither edifying, nor entertaining. Please feel free to write back if you wish to waste time while at work... Or if you just have nothing better to do in your spare time between two and three in the morning...
Cheers,
Solomon
Sixth Email
Hello one and all,
I can't remember when it was that I last sent out a group email. I am now in Mandi, a small town in Himaschal Pradesh, which has little to recommend it, except that the people are friendly (if not for a kindly Sikh grandfather, I would never have found an internet cafe...)
Northern India is greatly different from down south, particularly in the proliferation of monkeys (they're everywhere). The roads are wind-ee and steep, and frequently blocked by landslides (today I watched three men trying to clear massive rocks by hand....) But I suppose there is no shortage of manual labour here. Wish I had something humourous to write, but can't think of a single even vaguely funny incident to relate. My tour guide this time round is an Aussie named Bill... Most of my tour companions are older... In any case I must go as this is costing me rupees...
Cheers,
Solomon
Seventh Email
Hello one and all, I am now in McLeodganj, home of the Dalai Lama (who isn't here at the moment). I am doing tolerably o.k., although I seem to have picked up a case of flu or food poisoning (whichever it is, I have become far too intimately acquainted with the toilet in my hotel room). I haven't had anything to eat for 24 hours now, and the nausea seems to have passed, maybe I'll try to eat dinner tonight... Just my luck, I get sick in the one town where the food's supposed to be good... Went to some temple that is supposedly attached to the Dalai Lama's residence yesterday. There were some kids playing, I asked one of the boys if he could turn another cartwheel and he punched me in the stomach (just before I got food poisoning... coincidence? I think not...). Apparently "can you turn another cartwheel" means "your mother is a chinese goat" in Tibetan... Live and learn... If the kid hadn't been less than three feet tall I would have smacked him back... So much for peace loving Buddhists... I was going to go and get a blessing form some other high-ranking Lama today, but apparently he went to Sikkim... Must be my winning personality. I come to town and there's an exodus of Tibetan Lamas... In any case I should probably go.. I'm here for another day, then it's off to Dalhousie, trekking for 2 days, Amritsar, and back home... I'm sure I'll write more email before I'm done... Until next time, Cheers,
Solomon
Eighth Email
Greetings one and all,
Well, this is the final update from India.. I am leaving early in the morning to catch my flight, so please think happy flying thoughts for me... I wish I could think of something amusing to write, but after spending all night on a train I just have no energy for that kind of craziness... Thanks to everyone who took the time to write me... There were times when emails from home kept me from giving up on this trip... In any case I'm off to go shop my final day away...
See you all when I'm home.
Cheers,
Solomon
So that's it. Hope you enjoy the slideshow...
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