Darky McDarkerson

oh yeah, waaaaay too much time out in the sun the last 2 days. Claire was off diving and I got up and took a longboat out to Railay beach for the day. On the boat were 2 families travelling together from Sweden, they were great to hang out with- love the Leafs because of Mats Sundin! We were on the main beach for a bit and I pulled a Nelu by getting beached on some very sharp rocks and cutting the bottom of my foot and hand (Claire told me later it looks like a minor flesh wound, but I beg to differ!). I clawed my way back to the beach where the roaming masseuse lady told me that I should get a foot massage to fix my bloody foot...my Swedish friends were a bit more practical by handing me a clean napkin and a bandaid! No worries, I'm all fine now...between the bites from the jungle trek, the cuts and bruises from the rock climbing, and my newest debauchary, I'm a walking war wound....and I wear it all with pride!

Me, Peter and Mans (with 2 little dots above the a so it sounds like "Mooons", as he explained) explored the rest of the beach, got lost for a bit, then found the hold grail...I think it's called Phranag beach and Mans told me it was voted the 2nd best beach in the world (#1 in my books though!). It was absolutely stunning (the kind with the big huge rock mountains jutting out of the sea) and I spent the rest of the afternoon there, there were some really cool caves to swim in and bbq chicken on a stick...and I got that foot massage afterall!

When I made it back to the hotel, Claire and I enjoyed a round of making fun of each other for our sun exploits, I'm looking more like burnt toast and she's as red as a lobster...I guess we can just ask to enjoy it while we can :)

Me: Now with 1000% More Sodium!

Salt water is my friend. We spent the day taking a tour around a bunch of the Phi Phi islands with stops to snorkel, lounge on beaches (including "The Beach" Beach- quite lovely, but loads of people make it not so much the Utopia it was in the movie), and we fed monkeys on "Monkey Island". Snorkeling was fun, although unbenownst to me, Claire threw a piece of bread to the school of fish behind me and told me to turn around with a look of fear on her face. Of course I didn't, because I was petrified that a shark was behind me. The fish were cute, but it's creepy swimming through a bunch of them. The ride out on the speed boat was on choppy water this morning, I can compare it to riding in a car with square wheels...not nice after a late night out!

It's pouring rain now, but we've made use of the many Tuk Tuk's that are happy to serve us. They have these fun ones that are motorcycles with side benches...hard to explain, but it's quite cool. Tomorrow Claire is off for a scuba dive and I'm going to busy myself by finding trouble in town. We are thinking of going to Surat Thani, a city on the Gulf of Thailand Coast, then ferrying to Ko Phanang or Ko Samui...there's better diving there for Claire and I'm up for seeing as much as I can.

Nelu: 4, Gorgeous Mountain Rock-face: 0

Boo Yah!!! We went Rock climbing today and it was so much fun...half the time I thought I was going to die, but much like my philosophy has been lately, i just let go and let god. I've never been outdoor climbing before and we did a few of our climbs right off of Railay beach in Krabi...quite a stunning view when I finally got to the top (4 climbs in total). Tomorrow we're touring Phi Phi islands and checking out the beach that Leo DiCaprio made famous...very excited!

We're in some back alley in Ao Nang right now that's packed with bars and clubs...I've had quite a few gay hookers men proposition me...I think once I hear "Brickhouse" I'm in for a dance...

loving everything right now...

So we walk into a bar...

I could seriously get used to this life. I'm at my Ashu Uncle's resort home in Hua Hin, it's been 3 days of rest, relaxation, and lots of red wine. We got here from Bangkok on Friday night and had a delicious dinner with the family (and a couple of Danish customers of my Uncle- a very nice lady with a name I can't pronounce and a man who is the very essence of sarcasm and quite entertaining with one-liners).

After dinner, Ashu took us out to the bar a the Hilton- that was hilarious...partly because I've never partied with an Uncle before (albeit he's very young at heart and refuses to get old, much to the amusement of his wife) and partly because it was filled with many peculiar people. It's quite uncomfortable to see the old European men trying to keep up with their escorts dance moves (I have never seen hips move like that). Well, when in Rome...I just sipped my drink and kept dancing to the funky wu-tang like live band...they sang that popular hip hop Punjabi song, it was a riot. We got home very late and had a solid night's sleep (the first in many, many, many days). When we got up (at 2!), my Aunt suggested we go into town for massages, so I got a 2 hour massage, that was fantastic...and my masseusse was a blind woman! We came home, and had a bbq that lasted for 5 hours over many glasses of red wine...quite a lovely night.

Today we swam in the pool (one of those cool infinity ones) and we're heading to the village market shortly. I can't believe how quickly time is passing...we're going to go to Krabi tomorrow and island hopping, then probably up to Pattaya where Ashu has another home, then Bangkok...only 12 days left...I might just have to extend my ticket...

Sabai Sabai in Chiang Mai

Sabai Sabai (phrase, thai): meaning 1) to take to the Thai way of life and chill out and take things easy 2) pure happiness for indo-canadian female tourist.

The past few days have been a blast, including such activities as: driving a scooter up the mountain, shopping in the Night Bazaar, and becoming a lead singer for a live band. Explanations as follows:

Yesterday, Claire, Mark (a fellow trekker and the first Saskatchewan-ite I've met) and I were wandering the city looking for trouble, when we built up the courage to brave the roads to get up to the mountain and check out the temples and sights of the city...Claire was very reluctant, and I was iffy, but didn't want to show any weakness to Claire for fear of her "You've got to be kidding me, there's no way we're doing this" look (I've gotten it a few times). SO after I convinced her and myself that we'd be perfectly fine since I'd driven a scooter before (um, like 14 years ago), we headed up the mountain, which was soooo much fun....I definitely see a Vespa in my near future!

Night Bazaar = shopping = happy Nelu.

The lead singer thing...haha, we met up with our trekking crew on Wednesday night at a place called Utopia, and that it was! Our friend Rene had purchased one of those wooden frogs that make the sound when you run the stick over its spine...anyhoo, a song the band was playing needed some cow bell, so I took my little frog friend up and joined in....which quickly turned into playing the tamborine, then doing a duet with the singer for "By the Way", and rounded out with me singing Oya Como Vah for the crowd. Red Bull does funny things to a girl...Thai Idol, here I come.

We're off to Huahin today to visit with my family friends...it's full moon party all weekend, but the islands are being hit by a severe storm so we're going to play things by ear...Huahin is a great beach resort town from what I hear, so some sabai sabi is definitely in our future!

Elephants, jungles, and market mayhem

SO if you ever find yourself in Northern Thailand, you must must must go on a trek into the jungles...we just did a 3 day tour and it was absolutely incredible! Lots of hiking in the hot weather, but it's balanced with visits to waterfalls and swimming areas, elephant rides, and crazy bamboo rafting down the river...Claire and I challenged the two dutchman on our raft (9 bamboo poles tied together!) to a water joust if you will, and only fell in the water 5 times...each. We had a great group to travel with and a really fun guide (named Kiki), conversations were entertaining as everyone is translating from English to French to Dutch...very educational! OH, and we had a Thai Massage at one of the camps...it was so very luscious after a day of hiking...divine...you just have to get used to a little lady tugging on your arms and using her foot to massage you! AND we played soccer in a village with some locals and got our butts handed to us on a platter...and they weren't even wearing shoes...very fancy foot work indeed. We're in Chiang Mai for 2 more days, this city is well known for the shopping, and I've been giving my debit card some very good exercise....when in Thailand...

Before we left Bangkok, we did a day trip to the Bridge over the River Kwai (the movie is now on my to do list), the amazing floating market (the traffic was like India, but in boats), and the tiger temple (Tigers that are raised by Buddhist Monks from birth so they are extremely docile and apporachable by humans), which was bittersweet because I played with some baby tigers, but they had the grown adults on chains in the "tiger Canyon" and they didn't look too happy.

Food is fantastic, meeting lots of fun people, Claire and I haven't killed each other yet...it's all good in this hood.

In need of learning how to say "No, I don't want to feed the pigeons!" in Thai...

The Kingdom of Thailand is quite enjoyable thus far. When we reached Bangkok, the first order of business was to take my big honking suitcase into long term storage at the airport...no problems (thank god for the blissfull ignorance that credit cards give a person). We took a bus to the popular backpackers area in toan, Khao San Road. Had to wait a while for some room a the inn, but the people watching is entertaining. Had some red curry. mmmmmmmmm.

We headed out to the City Palace, which is one of the King's residences...there is also the well known Emerald Buddha statue (actually made of Jade), and the whole place was great eye candy. Very colourful and ornate decorations expected of a Royal compound. On our way there, I was accosted by a woman with bags of corn kernals who wanted me to feed the pigeons. I read in the travel book that it's a way for Buddhists to earn merit, something along the lines of bettering their karma. In my books though, feeding pigeons is not high on my to do list. We politely declined, but they were insistent and rather annoying, and it became a bit of a hot potato game, she just kept giving me the bag, resting it on my arms when I wouldn't take it in my hand....I finally said yes and she asked for 120 bhat (which is equivalent to 4 meals here...) I gave her the coins in my pocket and ran...it was entertaining to watch Claire shreiking with her pigeon lady...haha, I think she's gun-shy from all the mayhem in India- hyper aggressive people on the streets!.

We've arranged a day trip tomorrow to a place called "K-something-beri" which is where the "bridge over the River Kwai" is and on the way we'll be going to a floating market (time to get my shop on...boop! boop!) AND the Tiger Temple, where you can pet the tigers since they've grown up around humans. Excited!

Incredible India!

Well, we've got a few more hours left in India until we hop on a plane to start our Thai adventure. This trip has been incredible so far, and both Claire and I are heartbroken to leave (who knew!). Rajasthan turned out to be so much more than I expected and it had a lot to do with the people we met (and the food of course!).

Khuri was great, it's a small community near the Pakistan border, where you can see every star in the sky when night falls (and i think I did). Our camel ride was quite an adventure, and we got to watch the sunset again- I made friends with a little boy who came around dancing for foreigners with his family playing back up instruments. Our hut turned out to be a mock-hut in a hotel...complete with ensuite bathroom, and no dirt floor in sight. After we got back from he camel rides we attended a music and dance show in the village, but it was all foreigners in attendance. Desert living, while chraming in some respects (one with nature and all that junk) is not something I think i could get used to...I have never been surrounded by so many grasshoppers in my life..they were everywhere and flew all over us. We had enough of it, so we returned to the "hutel" (hehe) and had dinner. I'm pretty sure a dish called "desert bean" was the same food that my camel had feasted on a few hours before. At least I can say I roughed it for a while!

The next day we were off to Jodhpur (the Blue city). It had a beautiful fort. I'm dizzy with all the forts we've seen. fort-tastic. But they're so very cool once you wrap your head around who conquered who and how many wives the king had (some had 200+ - busy guy!)...and they're mind bogglingly gigantic of course.

Then our last spot was Pushkar, a very holy Hindu town that was founded by Brahma, one of the big 3 gods in our religion (although he's been forgotten by most because his wife put a curse on him for marrying another woman...i love how it's all a soap opera). There's a holy lake that is surrounded by 52 ghats (steps leading to the lake for bathing, rituals, etc). I was excited to find out that Gandhi's ashes were scattered at the Gau Ghat, so we checked that out (although I'm not sure if all his ashes were scattered there, or just a few). We also had an individual puja conducted by some holy men, it was a beautiful ceremony,....until they started asking for $$$...we had read about it in our travel book, but I didn't see it coming until the end of it...anyhow, it was worth it...On Wednesday morning we got up early at 5 to climb a mountain where the Savitri temple is located (she's Brahma's wife who banished him...girl power!). I was doing well for the first 10 minutes, then it was all huffing and puffing to claw my way up the stairs/cobbled surface up the mountain (took about 40 of the longest minutes of my life). It was a breeze for Claire (damn her marathon running!)...and our dear driver Yogesh came with us as well. It was a stunning view once we got up there, simply incredible. I should mention that our hotel in Pushkar was absolutely amazing- Jagat Palace...Quite luxurious for a couple of dirty backpackers!

Yogesh had been updating his family about us the entire time via cell phone, we found out that we'd become quite the discussion peice for them and Yogesh invited us to his home to visit. We decided that we couldn't say no (Claire figured there might be a marriage proposal fo one of us involved haha), so we headed back to Jaipur (we were supposed to take the train from Ajmer, but there was a bomb blast a few days before at a Mosque, so i was like, um, how about no.). We met his family, it was hilarious, I couldn't tell who they were more amazed by, the white girl, or the brown girl that doesn't speak much hindi! They were extraordinarily nice and we spent a few hours looking through their photo albums and they prepared an excellent lunch for us (it was probably the hottest food I've had on this trip...nothing clears up the sinuses better)! Then we were on the bus back to Delhi after a semi-tearful goodbye from Yogesh (it was quite touching really).

It's hard to believe that we'll be leaving India in a few hours, it's really been so memorable and surprisingly welcoming at every turn. I'm glad that I got to discover a new place in the country for the first time and I really can see myself coming back to see more of it soon (Kerala is a must I keep hearing!).

Anyhoo, onwards and upwards. I have a feeling Thailand will be a very different experience than India (full moon party anyone?:)

Sand Castles, Camels, and punctured tires

So after Jaipur on Thursday, we went to Bikaner and saw some forts, stayed in a great hotel and had our waiter scratch himself inaapropriately right in front of us. Oh, how the Indian population ignores any sense of hygiene and manners in public. It's quite charming really. And by charming I mean nauseating. I thought Clarie was going to have a heart attack!!!

So right now we're in Jaisalmer, at the foot of the major fort. The fort is incredible, it looks like a giant sand castle...they call Jaisalmer the Golden City because it's made out of sand stone. Claire and I were ambitious this morning and got up to watch the sunrise form the rooftop of our hotel. It was quite stunning to watch! We're staying at a hotel called Narayan Niwas Palace, which apparently by the photos hung around the hotel, Princess Anne stayed at once during the 70's...oooooh! Yesterday we were in the fort, looking at the Havellis- which are homes designed with many many windows to let the wind pass through for cooling (Hawa means wind...wow I'm learning stuff!). They're beautiful and have gorgeously carved details all around. We stopped in this antiques store and met the owner who was very entertaining...the store itself was great, the steps were knee high, and we had to climb 5 flights...it was a workout! He taught us never to put milk into a copper pot and then drink it. Apparently the copper turns the milk into poison. I will trust him on that. My learning continues...

Last night we went out ot the Sam Sand Dunes and watched the sunset, and I had my first experience riding a camel (maybe I'd done it once at African Lion Safari when I was a kid, but it's a whole different ball game when you're an adult). Getting on and getting off a camel is quite an adventure, they're not the most graceful creatures, and I imagine I didn't look that graceful myself trying to get off the thing. The thing about all the tourist spots is that you constantly get approached by people wanting money, they may be selling things or they may want to do a dance for you, or they may just be pleading for your generosity while holding a malnourished and sunburned baby at their side. It's quite difficult to see, and even harder not to give money to all of them. So it was tricky to watch the sunset last night because our view was getting blocked by the continuous flow of locals wanting our attention. But what else can I expect...it's better than resorting to other ways to make money.

This afternoon we are leaving for Khuri, which is a desert town 50 km from Jaisalmer. We are going on a nighttime camel safari and camping in a hut tonight. The days are very hot (probably 30+), but the night time is perfect in the low to mid 20's. We're spending the rest of this afternoon in search of real brewed coffee for Claire (India's kind of a tea country).

We've grown very fond of our driver Yogesh. He doesn't speak much English, but he puts in a good effort. He always brings us cold bottled water and we love him for it. And he always calls us "Yes ma'am". We had a moment of fear, when our tire got punctured and he had to pull over in the dark and 2 of his friends on a motorcycle showed up very soon after to help (I had seemingly missed the sudden deflation of the tire although I heard the phone conversation with his friends). I thought that this is it, this is the story all those travellers talk about , where everything was fine and great and then their trusted guide/driver/travel companions turned into a monster. So I'm in the front, freaking out, Claire's in the back oblivious, and Yogesh is at the trunk taking out our bags to get to the spare...or so he says. His friends then show up and I'm like, but they're in a motorcycle, how can they possibly steal our ginourmous backpacks? and why would they want to (althought I'm sure my dirty clothes could fetch something on the blackmarket). I grabbed the cell phone and somehow there was a set of heavy metal pliers in the little door next to me and I kept it under my leg just in case things turned ugly (by me swinging violently at the first sight of trouble of course). Claire got out and saw that the tire indeed was deflated and that they all were helping to fix the tire. I discreetly put the pliers back when Yogesh came into the car and asked who they other guys were and he said they work for the same travel agency (Jaisalmer branch) and were helping us find the hotel since this was Yogesh's first time in Jaisalmer. So not only was I prepared to serve a thrashing to our beloved Yogesh, but I was also terrified of our local tour guides who turned out to be very gracious and kind gentlemen. Ahh, paranoia, you are my best friend and worst enemy. I guess it's better to be aware than ignore the signs.

Part of me thinks I just wanted the story to tell :)

It's all a delightful blur...

Day ???, we're in Jaipur at a 3 star hotel, it's actually very nice, lots of other travellers so it's fun to watch them all try to navigate how to order food with the hotel waiters...

Where to start...we went to the Taj Mahal on Oct 5 (whatever the Saturday was). I can't even describe what it was like. Typically when I go to a famous landmark, the novelty wears off after a while, but this place was just beyond words. The inside of the tomb is actually quite modest, but the outside, the pictures I've seen a million times is something that I'm so grateful to have experienced. Claire and I could have spent the entireday there, but since it was mid afternoon and Hunny was getting dehydrated, we took the last of our 500 photographs and left. Oh, and it was great, because apparently I'm and "indian":...all the tourist attractions charge different prices for foreigners and Indians...indians being dirt cheap and foreigners being borderline goughing...so I ended up paying 50 cents to see the Taj, while Claire had to pay $20! Insanity. All i had to do was not speak (alhtough my Russell Peters accent is getting better by the day!).

We are in Jaipur right now, which is known as the Pink City...shopping is fun, as everything can be bargained down by at least 70% (UGH!). We were at Ranthambore National Park yesterday, on a wildlife safari, although we didn't see any tigers, the scenery and weather were absolutely perfect. Tomorrow is more tim in Jaipur until we head to Bikaner and then Jaisalmer (camel safari and sleeping in a hut (eeek!)). OH! and we went to this place called Chownki Dhani and I rode an Elephant. I named him Stampy. I loved him.

Oh and I had the best Dosa of my life in Delhi on Sunday. And we went to this very famous Gurudwara. Claire calls our travel agent Mr. Shawarma instaed of Mr. Sharma. I went to a templ today and had the red bindi smeared all over my face after I itched my forehead. I think I walked around like that for 5 minutes before I found out.

Many stories, all out of chronological order, but you get the jist. :)

Week 2: Golden Temples, Birthday fun, and having the car break down in Delhi traffic!

Oh if only I could get travellers miles for driving! Well the past week has been an adventure indeed! Last weekend I headed up to Amritsar where my mom's 2 sisters live. I spent 2 nights with my mom's younger sister and her family...my one cousin has 2 very cute kids, the younger one being a very rambunctous 2.5 year old who loved it when I'd take his picture. On Saturday night, we went to the Golden Temple which was very busy yet extrememly peaceful. I got some great photos of the temple and its reflection in the water around it. The water is used for bathing, drinking, and the home to many large fish (think gigantic goldfish)..it's said to have many healing properties- and I can vouch for that now! My contacts were driving me nuts all day long and I took some of the water and rubbed it over my eyelids...and I felt instantly better! The spirituality of the place was very powerful and people from all walks of life are there, Hindu, Sikh, poor, rich, and American tourists who I were only too glad to have a full conversation with after a week of constantly speaking broken Punjabi :).

Sunday was my birthday (thanks to everyone for the well wishes!) and I spent it at my older aunt's home. I got a surprise visit from my dad's brother and his wife from Batala...it was great to see them- funny how much my uncle and my dad are alike (made the same types of jokes, etc). Then my cousins wife made a feast for dinner- south indian food called Idly and Sambar (my fav!) and some macaroni and chinese noodles. We cut a birthday cake. It was yummy haha.

It's funny but somehow I don't feel like I'm on vacation...it just feels like I'm living my day to day life, albeit I'm far away from familiar surroundings...I guess that means I'm living in the moment. Yahoo for me!

ON Monday I went back to visit my cousin in Nikoder (it was going to be a 10 minute visit, but somehow turned into me staying there for 5 hours...I'm glad I did, I'll miss her a lot). Her husband dropped me off in Nurmahal and I spent the night showing my shopping conquests to my aunt and cousin...Apparently Jalandar is the best place to pick up indian clothes, etc, so I'm glad I went quasi-overboard :)

Tuesday I went back to Jalandhar to visit my sister's in-laws (in part to yet again switch my suitcase, and partly because they are super super nice people and I wanted to spend more time with them). When I got back to Nurmahal my Uncle swiftly took me via scooter ot the "bhag" they purchased 3 years ago. It was dark when we got there, but it's a gorgeous orchard full of all different types of fruits and night blooming jasmine which made it smell heavenly. At my uncle's insistance, he suggested I take a dip in the pool (which is more like a holding tank for water, but I was assured it was safe for swimming)...he said it would make for a great memory, and he was right...it was beautiful to be under the stars in the nice nighttime weather. I spent some time with my grandparents before going to bed, then was off to Ludhiana the next morning with my cousin Judge for my 7:10 train to New Delhi. The train was great and Hunny (my new Delhi saviour) was there to meet me.

I had a bit of time to freshen up before we went back out ot the airport to get Claire. She came out looking like an exhausted traveller and I started to rattle off the things to expect in India (traffic conditions, public urination, abject poverty...that type of thing). It feels great to have her here...the next part of the journey is begining!

We ate a feast for breakfast on Thursday morning (probably a bad idea) then headed out on a tour of the city with Hunny and his brother Kavish. It was quite hot and they brought us to see the National zoo (probably a bad idea)...we saw tigers and bears, and stood alarmingly close to a jaguar (got to love Indian leniency on rules and safety). Then it happened. Due to the previous bad ideas detailed above, my dear Claire was a victim of a terrible episode, which involved her doubled over vomitting in close proximity to a soda vendor...a group of people were staring and we thought "we probably weren't meant to travel today". WE then returned home and passed out for a 3 hours. Then we thought, HEY, LET"S TRY THIS AGAIN!!! so off we went to see the Hare Krishna temple and Lotus temple...Hunny said the Lotus temple would turn off it's lights at 8, so I thought we were in pretty good standing when we were 10 minutes away at 730. and then it happened. OUR CAR BROKE DOWN AT A BUSY INTERSECTION! It took about an hour to get going again...after kind strangers helped them pull the car over to a safe side of the road and the mechanic came to fix the problem. Claire and I were in good spirits, since we were happy that the weak battery decided to give out during the cool night and not when we were in the dead heat during the daytime. Unfortunately the Lotus temple was long closed and we had about 15 minutes to run into the Hare Krishna temple and check it out....haha, we both looked at each other and said "we sooooo were not mean tot travel today"!

All part of the adventure. We're headin gto Akshar Dam temple today, which should be exciting (we're taking an auto richshaw this time!). Will keep you posted on the next adventures...going to Taj Mahal on Sunday then heading to Rajasthan early in the week. Happy Trails!