Home Again!

Yes, I did actually come home. And the first thing on order? Another plane trip! After arriving in Chicago on the coldest day of the year (after leaving 80 degree Sydney) I headed off to Arizona for a few days of sun and visiting the family. Then once I was back in Chicago for good, the real work began - unpacking, unpacking, organizing, unpacking, laundry and more unpacking. Whew. I'm ALMOST done after 4 straight days of nothing else.

It's quite the luxury to be able to write this from my couch instead of an internet cafe where I was always aware of the time and money ticking away.

I'll be looking back over my pictures in the next few days and may write another blog entry with other thoughts on the trip, but after that I'll be wrapping up the increasingly ill-named 2007 blog. Thanks for reading!

Wine Tasting?...

...Try wine guzzling! In the last few days of my trip I finally got around to the day trip to Hunter Valley and had an amazing time. We started off the trip with a brief visit to a wildlife park for more closeups with koalas and kangaroos. Unfortunately, it was also pouring down rain, so I spent most of the time in the snake and spider exhibits, purely for the fact that they were indoors. I didn't feel too slighted, however, since I had already experienced the koala cuddling and kangaroo feeding this October.

After the wildlife park, it was another hour-long drive to Hunter Valley during which time I got to know my fellow passengers - a fun mix of people. There were two older English couples, a Swedish mother/daughter pair, a French Canadian girl, a Canadian guy who has been living in Hong Kong for 10 years and was accompanied by his Chinese girlfriend, and 3 girls from San Francisco. Those three girls and I got along like a house on fire! They all worked in advertising and were just a few years younger than me.

The first winery pulled out a list of 10 wines and our host told us we would be tasting all of them. Then he poured the first tasting - approximately 1/4 of a wine glass! Needless to say, by the end of that winery our group was fast friends!

Then off to the next winery, which was very unusual as it was capped off with a chili-infused schnapps shot. There was no sparing in chili, as you can see in the photo up top! Then a quick lunch (thank goodness - we needed to sop up the wine and schnapps) and off to winery #3. It was odd to be there, as this winery (Drayton's) was just in the news a few weeks ago. A shipment of ethanol or amonium (I'm not sure which as I've heard conflicting stories) had been delivered and apparently had a leak which was sparked by a welder working in the building. The entire building exploded, killing the welder and the winemaker, who was also the owners' son. A third man is still in the hospital. The twisted remains of wine vats, etc. were stacked outside which sobered us all up for a bit. It was hard to enjoy our trip there too much, but we knew it was important to continue to feed their income.

One last winery and another 6 tastings before we stopped at the Smelly Cheese Shop for tastings of a different sort and a 2 hour trip back to Sydney!

I spent the following weekend with the San Francisco girls (Team America, as we were dubbed on the Hunter Valley trip) and had a fanstastic time. Saturday was spent at Maurubra Beach, then at a harborside restaurant in Watson's Bay for a birthday party before ending the night with a water taxi to Circular Quay and a few hours at the Opera Bar, one level below the Opera House and overlooking the water. So I got my fill of water views that day. I was glad the girls were heading off to travel the East Coast a few days later as it would have been much harder for me to leave Sydney otherwise! San Francisco is one place I should have been but never have, so I'll have to save that until after they return!

At this moment I am in the Sydney airport, awaiting my flight to Tokyo and then on to Chicago. It will be another 36 hours before I arrive however... two 12 hour flights and a 12 hour layover. I'm glad to have the break in between and that it's long enough to get into the city, especially now that I'm somewhat familiar with the subway system.

I can't believe this trip has finally drawn to a close. It finally hit me today and I'm still in shock. So I'll have to wait until I get home to let you know how I feel about it all!

The Blue Mountains, finally!

Yes, I FINALLY made it to the Blue Mountains and lucked out with an amazingly gorgeous day. Speaking of that, did you know that "lucked out" means the opposite in Australia? It means you ran out of luck. Which I suppose makes more sense.

Anyway, the town of Katoomba is easily accesible from Sydney and is one of the largest in the area. The train takes just under two hours from the city and the small station is right on the main street. Katoomba itself is about 15,000-20,000 residents and is a real "cafe culture". Lots of shops, pubs, etc. and a real, proper main street. It does lean a bit to the new agey stuff, but not nearly to the extent that Byron Bay does.

I arrived in the evening and got up early for a day of abseiling and canyoning. Abseiling is basically rappelling; rock climbing without the climbing part! This photo is from our last abseil, about 30 meters. The view of the mountains was fantastic. The area is called the Blue Mountains as the oils in the eucalyptus trees create a mist that in the sun appears blue. After abseiling we stopped for a quick lunch before canyoning, which is a radically different experience from anything I've done before. We hiked down into the canyon (called the Grand Canyon here, but really no match for ours) and changed into the wetsuits in our backpack. Then we put our tennies, waist harnesses and helmets back on. A great look! We climbed over the rocks in the river at the bottom of the canyon, leaping into the cold water when it was too deep to walk. At one point we had to do the "dead Russian" - jump backwards off a rock into the water below, just like the bad guys in James Bond movies do when shot on the edge of a boat. Our backpacks were waterproof and held an air pocket, so we landed on that but were amazed how much we still went underwater. After that there was just one more jump, where we had to leap over shallow rocks in a narrow gorge into a pool a few feet beyond. But the highlight was at the end - we hooked our harnesses into the line and abseiled down the 30 meter waterfall! The water was beating down on our heads the entire time and of course, being unskilled, we were all slipping all over, trying to keep our footing on a wet wall of rock. Landing in the pool of water below was an exhilirating feeling, looking back at what we had just done. Then a 30 minute hike back up to the van and into town. Minutes after we arrived at the hostel it started to rain. Perfect timing!

That night the hostel had a $7 barbecue so I sat and chatted with a Sydneysider (as they're called) discussing the US political race. For the second time I was asked if I thought voting should be mandatory. The first time I was asked, I said "of course not, it's a right not a requirement," mostly as a gut reaction, since that's the way it's always been for me, but I've now reconsidered. In Australia it is mandatory to vote, although if you wish you can just write on the ballot "you're all idiots," and not actually make any selections. The more arguments I hear about it, the more I think that makes sense, especially since you still have the option to not choose one or the other. The main argument is that politicians here have to cater to the entire population, not just the voters - which I had never thought of. Makes a lot of sense. Our politicians have no motivation to do anything for the people who don't vote. Now I know the argument would be that it's the non-voters own fault, but as someone who votes, I'd be interested to see if our politicians would change if they knew EVERYONE was voting. Of course, this is one of the best parts of traveling - learning new ways to do things and debating them.

The next morning I explored some of the Jenolan Caves on a tour, a few hours from Katoomba. There are hundreds of caves in this area, but only 5 or so are open to the public. I went through 2 of them and they're pretty incredible. I'd seen a lot of caves before, so I expected to be underwhelmed - and was completely wrong. The Indian Canopy formation in one of them is amazing - it looks like a frozen waterfall that is multiple stories high. If any of my pictures turn out, I'll post one here.

I took the evening train back to Sydney for the weekend (I miss trains! I've only been on a few on this trip), as a friend I met while traveling was going to be in town. We met on the Melbourne-Alice Springs flight and although he lives in Sydney, he's been spending the past few months leading tours in New Zealand so we hadn't been able to connect here. I was looking forward to seeing the city from a local's aspect (and with someone my age!!!!)

Still in Sydney!

Yes, I know... my blog posts have faded off into nothingness... I've taken some time off to just enjoy this city. It also has something to do with the fact that there were 10 days straight of gorgeous sunshine and I couldn't bear to be inside for any of it. My days are generally spent taking in one or two tourist sites, errands such as the grocery store and nights out with people I've met. Sometimes I'm lazy and just sit in Hyde Park with a book and people watch.

So far I've checked out the Police and Justice Museum, the zoo and the Maritime Museum, spent a weekend wandering Sydney checking out all the activities for Australia Day, stayed up all night talking with friends and watching the sunrise over Bondi Beach and seen the opera La Boheme performed (for free!) in the Domain (part of the Botanical Gardens). The opera was fantastic and they'd obviously bribed the weather gods. It rained Friday night and Saturday morning but was gorgeous and sunny by early afternoon. The opera was at 8pm, by which time the ground had dried and the weather was back in the upper 70s. The next morning it was pouring again.

One day I just spent working out at a gym that I got a short-term pass to and having my hair cut, which I hadn't done since I left! A girl had told me about a hairdressing school, which is great for people with a lot of time and not a lot of money (that's me!) so I had my hair cut there. I actually got a fantastic cut that only cost me AUD$20 but it did take 3 hours! And the shampooing process was a little painful, as the guy who cut and washed my hair kept leaning on the bowl which then pressed the front of the bowl downwards onto my shoulders. By the time he finished I was almost prone, trying to squirm out from under the pressure. You get what you pay for! Also at least 45 minutes of the time I spent at the school was drying my hair straight and it started raining a few minutes after I left (without my umbrella). Which naturally meant I had to duck into the mall next door and stay for a few hours...

That night I went to see the movie, Juno, which I found hysterical. I had heard a lot about it but hadn't realized it was supposed to be set in Minneapolis. Hearing references to Mankato and Stillwater and St. Cloud - and especially Ridgedale Mall - while sitting in a movie theater in Sydney was a bizarre feeling. I kept wanting to turn to the person next to me and say "that's where I grew up!" but I have a feeling they wouldn't have cared...

I just moved into a new hostel, only because I forgot to extend my stay at the other one and they were sold out. So a few days ago I dragged my stuff a few doors down to the new place, which is more expensive but has a lot more amenities and is significantly nicer. Unfortunately, one of those amenities is a pool and I moved here just as the rain started! Oh well. At least I don't have to deal with my weird German roommates anymore. There were two girls staying in my room for about the same amount of time as I was but they spent almost all of their time sleeping. I met other two girls in my room (one English, one Irish) and had a great time hanging out with them before they headed north, and we all wondered what the German girls did all day. Their routine seemed to be go to bed before 10pm, get up at 8 or 9am to have the free breakfast that stopped at 9:30 and go back to bed. I don't know what time they actually got up because they were both always still asleep after I had showered, gotten dressed and left the room. Once I heard them say they went to the beach, but other than that I think they just hung around the hostel all day. They weren't hostile, but also weren't especially friendly when they were awake. I never had a real conversation with them and they had no idea I spoke German. Which was especially funny when one of them complained bitterly to the other about how loud the other girls and I had been when we came home the previous day. (The morning that we came in after the sunrise, about 8am.) We had been SOOO quiet and in fact had to be quiet all the time, since they were always sleeping, and were getting pretty sick of it. Part of it wasn't even our fault since the beds were so squeaky. At least in my new place we don't have those crazy squeaky beds.

I keep planning to take a day trip to Hunter Valley and get out to the Blue Mountains, but things keep cropping up to keep me here! Weather, friends, concerts, holidays.... Not that I'm complaining. Also I've been told time and again that there's no point in seeing the Blue Mountains on a rainy day, as you won't be able to see anything or do any of the activities. And the days when I've planned to go have always rained. Oh well - I'm not too devastated about it!

Off to dinner with some new friends!

(The photo is of a skydiver landing in the bay in front of the Opera House on Australia Day. He had a huge Australian flag trailing behind him.)

Travel and Technology

A few days ago I was chatting with a friend online and we were both marveling at being able to communicate so quickly from such a distance. Technology has really changed traveling, so I thought I'd focus this blog on how I've used it over the past few months.

Obviously, there are a lot of different ways to stay in contact while on the road. The original method - mail - has been relegated to postcards that I send. The "post restante" stations are pretty obsolete by now. (So much so that many of you probably have no idea what I'm talking about.)

The obvious substitution is email. But accessing that email has varied drastically over the course of this trip. The majority of the time I just stop into the local Internet cafe - sometimes they're even in the lobby of the hostels. They've ranged from $1 to $5 an hour, the latter can really add up fast. Sometimes you get ancient, slow computers with keys that don't work and sometimes they're the latest thing with flat screen monitors and every accessory you could need. In Japan the computers were obviously state of the art, but I wasn't able to use them as much as I would have thought. Japanese keyboards have a space bar half the size of ours, designed to be used only by the left thumb. I realized quickly that I use my right thumb 90% of the time to hit the space bar. So in Japan I hit a different button, the one that changes the keyboard from our alphabet to Japanese characters, which needless to say caused much confusion and difficulty in writing emails or my blog. I also realized I could not change my habit in just a few days - no matter how hard I tried I could not exclusively use my left thumb. To get around this in Japan and in a few other places I typed my blogs and emails on my Palm, using a small folding keyboard that I brought with me. It's not ideal, as it is smaller than a regular keyboard, but it works pretty well and certainly beats Japanese characters. It also allows me to blog from anywhere, such as a comfy chair in the Tokyo hostel or my big fluffy bed at the Bangkok Sheraton. It can also save me a lot of money in countries where Internet is expensive as I can write everything offline and just spend a minute or two posting it. A lot of places also have free wireless, such as in the Sydney hostel where I'm currently writing this, or I can "highjack" various wireless signals in cities. This also allows me to quickly download my emails onto my Palm, although it's not very user friendly for sending emails. Downloading the emails is handy for reading them later offline, such as on a bus, instead of being tied to the Internet cafe but it also means I can keep details of flight bookings, hostel reservations, directions, etc. at hand without having to print everything out.

Of course the other old standby in communication is the telephone. On this trip, I brought an unlocked cell phone with me that uses a SIM card. (Most cell phones in the US now use SIM cards; most other countries have been using them since cell phones were introduced.) Each time I arrive in a country where I will be staying for more than a few days I buy a new SIM card which gives me a local phone number. This is usually really cheap - the only place they were more than $5 was in New Zealand, where it was $20, but came with $15 of call credit. Friends and family can then reach me anytime on that phone number, rather than having to make appointments to talk at certain times/places. This is especially handy since hostel rooms don't have individual phones the way hotel rooms do. It also means I have a local phone number for keeping in touch with people I meet along the way and calling hostels, getting directions to museums, getting trains schedules, making reservations, finding out opening times, etc. I've found this to be especially handy when traveling on my own. If I were traveling with someone else, one of us could watch the bags while the other stops into a few hostels down the street to see if rooms are available. I find it easier to stop with my bags and make a few phone calls, and the convenience is certainly worth the few cents it costs me. When I need to make overseas phone calls, I use a calling card from a pay phone - that's one thing that hasn't changed much since I started traveling 20 years ago.

Getting pictures posted online is a trickier thing, as is obvious by the fits and starts you see in my photo posting schedule. In the really nice Internet cafes, such as the Global Gossip chains in Australia and New Zealand, all computers have memory card readers and I just have to put my SD card in the appropriate slot for full, super fast access to all my photos. When my SD cards are full, I have the Internet cafe burn the photos to a CD and then erase the SD cards to start over again. This is also handy for those Internet cafes that don't have memory card readers but do have CD drives, which is the majority of them. There are a handful of Internet cafes that just give you access to the monitor and the keyboard, with the actual computer behind a locked door, and in those cases I can't post photos at all. Those are incredibly annoying! In Japan I had full access to memory card readers but found the majority of my pictures were taken portrait, which means the photos on the computer were sideways. Normally it's no problem to rotate them, but the text on the computers was all in Japanese, so I couldn't figure out how to turn them. After a few guesses (which made my pictures bigger and in black and white but still sideways) I had to give up an wait until my arrival in Australia to post them.

Hopefully all of this explains the typos in this blog as well as why I sometimes post frequently for days and then not again for ages. The Internet cafe where I'm posting this blog doesn't have access to memory card readers, so the pictures will have to wait. There haven't been many lately, anyway, since I'm in a city where I previously took pictures, but I'll hopefully have more after Saturday's Australia Day celebration! Must go soak up the sun now!!!

The wrap-up of the trip that hasn't wrapped up...

Ok, so what revelations have I had over the past four months or so? Surely there's more to this trip than just "I did this and then this, oh and then this funny thing happened." So here in a nutshell are some of my observations:

1. Sometimes I'm not as outgoing as I think I am. Many a time I've entered a packed common room in the hostel and taken the easy way out and just read a book or watched TV. To be fair, this is only due to the overwhelming scariness of just starting up a conversation with a random stranger half the time. The other half it's because on occasion it just doesn't seem worth is to stick your neck out there and spend time getting to know someone when the next day they'll be off in a new city and you'll likely never see them again. That doesn't mean I haven't met a ton of people on this trip - I have - but I would have guessed beforehand that I'd jump on any opportunity to chat with someone. I definitely go through all different moods when it comes to this. Then there are times like when I walked into the hostel in Dunedin, New Zealand at 5:30pm and was out with a group of people by 8pm, one of which I still email with today.
   
2. A lot of casual friends is very different from just one good friend. There are times when I love having all these different, unusual people from all over the world around me. And there are times when I'd chuck them all in for one friend who actually knows me! But it can also be liberating to share your innermost feelings with someone who doesn't know the background, who can listen intently without judging, who hasn't heard the story a million times and isn't going to be around to bring it up again. During this trip I have had thousands of short conversations with different people which doesn't nearly add up to the worth of one good friend. However, meeting these people, becoming their acquaintances and sometimes friends, having these conversations does change you in a way that's hard to explain. I've learned so much about other ways to be happy and fulfilled.
3. On that note, I feel like I've tried for a long time to be "normal" towards the goal of a good office job, settling down, getting married, having kids. (Going on this trip has certainly been in opposition to all that, however!) After meeting people with so many different ways of viewing and living life, I know that whether or not I do any or all of these things, I can still be "normal" and happy. It's very liberating.
4. I'm smarter than I thought, and not as smart. I'm braver and not nearly as brave as I believed. Your perceptions of yourself really change on this kind of trip. Sometimes I feel so incredibly smart (usually when surrounded by half-drunk 19 year olds) and sometimes I feel stupidly boring and uninteresting (usually in the same scenario). I know the decision to do this trip, especially on my own, is somewhat brave, but at the same time it's nothing to the kinds of things the people around me are doing. There are 19 year olds traveling through South America and Asia for a year or more. I went overseas at that age, but on a very planned, well-supported study abroad program in a country where I spoke the language. I could never have done what these kids are doing at 19 - it would be hard to do it now. I've met entire families who have left jobs and homes to travel the world together. I've talked to couples who met while traveling, where one or both has moved across the world to be together. In one case, it was 20+ years ago and they're still together. There are people who can talk to and befriend anyone. It's all very humbling.
   
5. In the same vein, there are so many fascinating people in this world. Which I already knew, but here it's so in your face. Half the time it's wonderful to be surrounded by this. The other half it's tough because it makes you wonder, am I as fascinating to them as they are to me? You tend to do a lot of comparing to others and since you only know a small portion of them - usually just the really interesting part - it's easy to find yourself lacking.
   
6. One thing people tell you about this kind of trip is that you will realize people are the same at heart, once you strip away language, culture, age and experience. What they don't tell you is that just as you start to see this (and I have on many occasions), something else happens to make you realize people are NOT all the same. There are some people who think and act so differently in this world. That's perfectly fine and probably as it should be (and maybe completely obvious), but a revelation none the less.
7. Material things have become much less important to me. I can't think of any thing that I miss at home, besides the general notion of the comfiness and coziness of my condo. I don't wish I had a particular shirt or skirt that I left behind (although I do often wish I had different clothes with me, just for variety's sake). I don't miss that poster I just had to have or the desk I agonized over selecting. This is something I've learned over and over, such as when I went overseas with just a few suitcases, but this time it's really powerful. I'm already looking forward to de-cluttering my life when I get home. What I do miss are dinners and games with my friends and family. It's the experiences I treasure. Just like on this trip - I've bought a few souvenirs, but not many, as it's the nights out, the skydiving, the scuba diving, the funny things that have happened that I'll treasure. I just need to make sure I continue to remember that when I'm home. Not worrying so much about material things will definitely be a stress relief - and will probably allow me to save more money for those experiences!
8. New has lost its fascination for me. This is probably the strangest one. Like anyone, I've loved buying a new CD, a new electronic gadget, new clothes. When I bought my condo, the vintage ones, albeit beautiful, held no interest for me. At some point halfway through Cambodia, while looking out at the ugly array of patched together electronics, houses and cars on the street I realized there it something to be said for not tossing something away just because it's not the newest thing anymore. In India, I was told "anything can be fixed" and nothing gets thrown away. Instead of buying the newest phone, I can just have my perfectly good phone repaired for a few dollars. Yes, having a blue door on a red car may not look great, but it still runs great so why would anyone buy a new one? That would be a waste of money and resources. Certainly a different way of thinking. It's along the same lines as the material things observation, but slightly different. Things no longer need to be useful AND beautiful for me. It's ok if they're just one or the other.
   

Wow, all this is really heavy after my silly posts over the past few months. You do tend to get wrapped up in the "how to I get to that museum" and "how much money can I spend on dinner tonight" and don't realize the things that are going on inside your own head. I do sometimes wonder how life will be at home. Will I just go back to my old life, with good memories? Will I radically change my life because of them? Or will I find a way to make small changes, incorporating what I've learned into what I had previously achieved? If so, what will that look like? I guess I'll have to wait another month to find out...

Touring Tokyo

My second day in Tokyo wasn't nearly as warm, so I bundled up for a day of wandering the city. I checked out the shrine near Harajuku and then the Takashita (hard to look at that without laughing) street in the area that's known for all the funky clothes Japanese fashionistas wear. Great people watching! At the shrine I got a poem but can't read a word of it!

After that I met up with an old friend, Mike, who I hadn't seen for at least 7 years. We were on the same exchange program in high school and our paths tend to cross occasionally every few years. It was great timing to see him, as he was about to start a new job and wasn't working. He also had a vacation planned and if I'd been there a week later he would have been in Hawaii! He's been in Japan for about 5 years and is fluent in the language, so he's a good guy to know! We went to dinner at the equivalent of a Japanese tapas place, where Mike did all the ordering and I got to try dozens of different dishes. We spent a few hours catching up and then Russell joined us after work. It was great to introduce them to each other as well and they're planning to meet up again soon.

I spent the following day researching digital cameras in different parts of Tokyo and finally picked one out for myself. Then I met up for a quick drink with Mike and a lovely dinner with Russell. Again, so great to know people in town! My last day was spent in the Asakusa neighborhood, where my hostel is. I checked out the nearby temple and picked up a few souvenirs. Unfortunately, it took me a long time to find postcards - first time that's ever happened! I had already bought stamps, so after I found postcards I spent my last hour or so at the hostel writing them out. Unfortunately, I then couldn't find a mailbox. I figured I could mail them at the airport, but no luck - even the Qantas business lounge couldn't help me. So I apologize for all those I was going to send cards to. I'll try to find a mailbox when I pass through again next month...

That evening I was supposed to get on my 7pm flight to Chicago, but chose instead to get on the 9pm flight to Sydney! I had decided a week or so prior to go back to Australia. I loved Sydney and hadn't seen as much of it as I would have liked. And since I flew on to Melbourne, I didn't see any of the surroundings, such as the Blue Mountains or Hunter Valley. Plus, why was I going back to Chicago in the middle of January? The weather is crummy and everyone is down after the highs of the holidays. Much better to stay in the Southern Hemisphere. I figure another 4 weeks of not working isn't going to make much difference in the end. Hope that's right!

As I write this, I am now in Sydney and FINALLY pretty much up to date on this blog. Whew. Since I have all this down now and haven't done anything of earth shattering importance in Sydney, I'll make my next post or two my trip wrap up comments that I had planned to do at this time. Then I'll add a P.S. when it finally really IS over. So look for that in the next few days! Off to the supermarket to make some dinner!

Jetsetting Japan

If there is the antithesis of India, then it's most likely Japan. It was a great time to visit, because I really noticed and appreciated all the modernity of Tokyo. And although I had always heard how crowded it is in Tokyo, it was a relief to me - no place seems crowded after Calcutta. I couldn't believe the wide streets and organized traffic. And my hostel could not have been any nicer - only a year old, beautiful blond wood floors, a common area that looks like a really nice living room, computers, free wi-fi and toilets with heated seats! In a hostel!!! What a switch...

When I arrived at the airport I immediately got cash from the Citibank ATM (yippee - no fees!) and headed down to find the subway. I had very clear directions from the hostel, but the ticket machine confounded me, sine it was all in Japanese. And since it was only 7am on a Sunday, the ticket counters were not open. After watching a few people buy there tickets, I finally attempted my purchase. I had been worried about the subway being too packed at that time of the morning, until I realized what day it was. I can't keep track! I thought for sure it was a Monday... After only one false start (I was actually doing all my transfers correctly but second guessed myself and got off at one station to check, then had to re-board the next train) I arrived at the hostel. A real sense of accomplishment!!

Besides the newness, cleanness and modern facilities of Tokyo, I also enjoyed the city because I was able to meet up with a few old friends. I spent my first day (after a quick nap) touring the city with Russell, a friend from graduate school. Like most residents, he hadn't done many of the tourist sights so we walked through Ginza and then went up to the observatory to see a view of the city. Luckily the weather was very clear and sunny, so we got a great view. It must be spectacular at night. We wandered through the Shibuya area, which is seen in a lot of movies such as Lost in Translation. The train station and corresponding intersection are huge, with masses of people milling in and out, but generally very orderly. This is where a lot of the bars and restaurants are. That night Russell and I selected our restaurant purely on the basis of it having an English menu and being very full (usually a good sign). We were the only westerners there. But the English menu didn't solve all our problems. You order and cook everything yourself on a hot plate in the middle of the table. The menu gave us directions, but unfortunately we still failed, since as soon as we started cooking a waiter flew over to our table, scooped everything up off the plate, put it back in the bowl and disappeared. Moments later he reappeared with a fresh bowl of ingredients and made it for us. It looked very similar to what we'd been doing, but clearly it wasn't. This caused much amusement at the tables around us. Eventually we were left to just flip the almost completed meat and vegetable pancake (that's the only way I can describe it) - apparently the waiter felt we would be able to handle that. I laughed though the entire meal. It was just such a fun and bizarre experience, and very much what I had expected for Japan. Luckily the second dish we ordered was one that is made in the kitchen and it was just as yummy.

I impressed myself again by figuring how to get home from Shibuya on the subway system, despite the fact that it required one transfer. Yippee!

Last Days in India

Unfortunately, I woke up on my second to last day with the Delhi Belly again. We've been alternating between the two types - the kind we all dread from bacteria and the kind from eating way too much good food. I had had a good week of the second kind, so this was maybe a good weight loss tactic. Luckily they'll sell you Cipro over the counter for $1, so I was almost back to normal within a day. I spent that day online and shopping for shoes for my Japan trip, which I finally found after trying on every pair of shoes in Delhi. Although it's chilly there now, it's never quite cold enough to warrant warm shoes. In the winter they just put on socks with their sandals.

I spent a leisurely evening with the Nandis, since everyone else had headed back to their home cities, and got up early for some shopping with Mrs. Nandi. I got so much done in 2 hours! More than I could have gotten done in a week on my own. I had two bags repaired (for a grand total of 50 cents), my cell phone fixed ($3), 4 shirts bought and altered ($20), and obtained 1 1/2 meters of fabric ($10) and 4 pair of socks ($1). Then back home for a quick lunch and off to the airport!

At the airport they whisk you through immigration and on through security. Unfortunately, the airport lounges (which I could access) are in between the two, but the only way you would find them is if you turned around while standing in the security line. So I go through security and see that all there is there are chairs for waiting for flights. And it's 2 1/2 hours before my flight. So I ask if I can go back out and am told absolutely not. This is the first airport I've ever been in that is like that! Dozens more people ask when they realize they can't get food or shop. India is determined to not let people spend money at the airport! I finally get to the manager and play the "I'm really sick" card and he lets me go back out. The lounge is nothing spectacular, but it has a couch and pop, so I watch Mr. Magoo (never saw the ending, does it all turn out ok?), eat bland cookies (this is a good thing this time) and sip on a Fanta until my flight and am feeling much better before I board. It didn't hurt to have an uneventful business class flight! The only downside is that I didn't sleep at all. I thought the timing of the flight was good - leave at 8pm, arrive Tokyo at 6am, but didn't think about the fact that we were landing at 2am Delhi time. So by the time I started to feel sleepy it was time to get ready for our descent. Oh well. At least I got the most out of the inflight entertainment center!

Talk about a shock to the system - going from Delhi to Tokyo! More on that in the next post...

Off to Agra???

Still half asleep, we were ready at 6am for our driver who was taking us to Agra. (All the trains were sold out.) Then it was 6:30. Then 6:45. So Rahul's mom called the travel agent at home and woke her up, since we didn't have any other way to contact the driver so early. The agent then called the driver - apparently he thought he was supposed to pick us up at 7:15. I believe it was a miscommunication within the agency. We were a bit bummed to be cutting so much off of our trip, but Susan was leaving the next day so we didn't know if we would be able to see the Taj Mahal then. At 7:30 the driver still hadn't come and through a flurry of phone calls we found out he had been arrested for not having the right tax information! (The area that Rahul's parents live in is in a different state than the rest of Delhi and commercial vehicles need to pay tax for every state they drive through.) At that point we had no choice but to reschedule. Luckily Susan's flight wasn't until 2am Thursday night/Friday morning. So instead we went back to bed for a few hours, stopped at a few recommended shops that carry Indian clothing appropriate for Western countries and then met up with Aileen for lunch. It turned out to be a blessing in disguise that we had to reschedule as we wouldn't have seen Aileen much otherwise as she was heading back to Calcutta the next day. (Yes, I know it sounds like we've done a TON of shopping, and we have definitely done our share, but we haven't necessarily bought a lot and most of our shopping time is in very short increments.)

Then I got caught up online and confirmed all the details for my new extension! I'm not sure why I planned to go back to Chicago in mid-January after spending most of the fall/winter in the Southern Hemisphere. I loved Sydney when I was there in October and didn't get to see much in the area, so I decided to head back there for another month before finally heading home.
It was a happy surprise to find out that my Australian visa is valid for multiple entries so I didn't have to go through that process or pay any more again. Another $20 saved!

The remainder of the day was spent working our way back through the lanes of Old Delhi to find the jewelry store where Susan had spied some lovely necklaces. We hadn't bought them earlier as they only take cash, not something we usually have on us in great amounts. It was also our first foray onto the subway. It was super easy (and of course dirt cheap) and the stations are absolutely sparkling, especially compared to the brown haze above. It turns out Rahul's dad's company built the stations we were in, so it's a good thing we had nothing but nice things to say. It's definitely the way to get around Delhi - much faster than driving. In a few years it will connect to the airport which will be a huge boon.

We spent the last night with Aileen catching up and playing with Xochi. I was really sad that Aileen and I would be going our separate ways now after almost 4 weeks of togetherness, including Cambodia. It was almost like we lived in the same city again! I love visiting Aileen, Rahul and now Xochi in exotic places, but I'm looking forward to them being stateside again in a year and a half so I can visit more often.

The next morning was a little Groundhog Day-like - getting up at 5:30 again, the driver being late, etc. At least this time he was only a few minutes late and we set off. We had been warned that the road to Agra is hairraising, as it's basically an interstate with cows, pedestrians, bikes and autorickshaws sharing the road with cars of all sizes. Luckily we were so tired that we slept almost the entire 4 hours to Agra and never even noticed. Once in Agra, we picked up our guide and went directly to the Taj Mahal, which is as gorgeous as you'd expect. We parked a mile away or so and took electric carts to the gate. The government has done this to reduce the amount of car exhaust near the Taj as it was starting to yellow the marble. We were very surprised that the government of India had taken this initiative. They're doing it at most of the temples and even all the city buses in Delhi now run on natural gas. Such a quirky thing in a country that epitomizes pollution.

We walked the grounds of the Taj Mahal for ages and were lucky to be there on a day with fairly low attendance. We were able to buy our tickets and get in immediately. Apparently the previous week it had taken hours. The inside of the mausoleum is so intricate and something I'd never seen, unlike the outside. It was a bit hazy that day, which to me made it look even more ethereal.

We skipped the Agra Fort, having seen enough forts for one trip. Even our guide said, "Once you've seen one Indian fort, you've seen them all!" So instead we headed off to Fatehpur Sikri, a ghost town that was abandoned centuries ago when there wasn't enough water for the population. The emperor who built the complex had three wives: one Muslim (from Turkey), one Christian (a Portuguese from Goa) and one Hindu (from Jaipur). Susan and I were both amazed at the three palaces built for them. The one for the Muslim wife was very small -only one tiny room - but the carvings were intricate. Then we visited the Christian wife's palace, which consisted of a few rooms and veranda. THEN we got to the Hindu wife's palace. Hers was at least 100 times bigger than the Christian wife's "palace" and was actually three different buildings for different seasons. The guide said he wasn't sure if the women were jealous. We told him, "We're women and we can tell you. They definitely were!"

The ride back to Delhi was an extra hour than it had been in the morning due to evening rush hour, so we were very happy when it was time to get out of the car. We had a quick dinner, finished off Susan's packing and she was off. (Thank you, thank you, thank you Susan for schlepping so much of my Thailand and India purchases home!) I had another day and a half in Delhi before I headed off to Tokyo. So what do you do when everyone else has left? Shop of course!

Ah, the luxury, calm and ease of a train ride...

Our final day in Jaipur was action packed. We had arranged for a guide to take us around to more sights, but on the way to the first he got a call that his father had been in a bike accident and was in the hospital. So he dropped us off at our first sight, the Palace of the Winds. This structure is directly on a major road and is really a facade as it's only a few feet deep, but very high. Basically it is 5 (or so) stories of windows for the female royalty to watch the goings on of the city without being seen. That must have been so claustrophobic! It was unfortunate our driver had to leave us there, but clearly not his fault, as it was difficult to find another guide/driver who was willing to honor his price. So instead of taking one driver around for the day, we negotiated for just a taxi ride to our next stop, the Amber Fort. Once there we collected a guide, but it was a bit tricky to understand him as his accent was so pronounced. It was a great view of the area and a beautiful palace for an emperor and his wives, but these things start to look alike at some point...

A guide came in handiest when it was time to leave. Since we didn't have an autorickshaw waiting for us like most tourists, he told us he could get us one "or we could just take the bus for 7 rupees." A bus? We had no idea! We looked in the guidebook and sure enough at the end of the Amber Fort description there was one sentence on the following page recommending it. The guide was so sweet - he picked out seats up front for us, worked out which stop we should get off at and said goodbye a dozen times. We got back to the city with no great issue - it's just a bit tricky getting off as the buses never really stop, per se. They just slow down for a few seconds. I think the driver took it easy on us, though, as it was the slowest I've seen a bus go for those disembarking. We set off to find Ganesh Restaurant, recommended by Lonely Planet. It took a few missteps but we eventually got there, and thank goodness we did! It was probably the best meal we had in all of India, despite (or perhaps because of) its simplicity. An order each of garlic naan and butter naan (which we watched being made) and cashew curry. I can't possibly describe the last dish, but there wasn't a speck of it left in the bowl once we were finished. We even asked if we could order more to go (for the train ride) and after a bit of confusion, were told we needed to bring our own container. Not ones to be put off by this, we headed to a shop a few doors down, bought the equivalent of a Tupperware container and returned. Much to their surprise, I think!

While we waited for round two, I was talking with Susan about my heels and how they've gotten all calloused and dirty again. (I know, I know - gross, but I have to mention this in order to tell the rest of the story.) The waiter saw when I pointed to my feet and motioned that I should scrape my feet against the concrete. "We do this in India" he told me "but need water." So basically I needed to get my feet wet and use the sidewalks as a pumice stone. Then he told me to go to Store 8 downstairs from the restaurant, but I had no idea if that was a pedicure place or what. He must have realized I wouldn't know what to do when I got there, so he told us to come with him. He took me to the store and started sorting through some sort of foot files. He examined many and found them lacking, before alighting on the perfect specimen and negotiating with the vendor. He told me "30 rupees" so I happily paid it (75 cents), laughing at the whole scenario. Who has ever gotten pedicure advice from a waiter? (Note: I used it in the shower the next few days and the callouses and dirt are gone!)

We picked up our finished takeaway meals and headed to the next stop on the gastronomic part of the day - a lassi, a yogurt type drink. They serve these in large, clay pots that are disposable. (You drop them on the street afterwards, they smash and eventually just become dust after enough people walk on them.) It was a huge drink so we decided to split it, but it was so fantastic we wished we had bought two. Little boys and girls followed us for ages begging for a sip - or perhaps all of it, who knows. After picking up our luggage we made one more food stop for a sweet recommended in the guidebook as a specialty of the area. I bought another lassi while there as well, but it was very disappointing. Once we got to the train station we looked for more beggar children to given them that one, but of course this time there were none around. As soon as Susan threw it away, once showed up. The sweet (ghevar) was unbelieveable. Kind of a huge cookie with honey and almonds on it. But even better. And as my mom and dad said, it's a good thing I'm walking so much or the delicious desserts on this long trip would mean the end of my waistline!

Susan with her lassi and accompanying beggar children

Our train ride back to Delhi wasn't nearly as calm as the one the previous day. We were surrounded by and extended family of numerous children, who ran up and down the aisles screaming, bumping our chairs, pulling our hair as they grasped the seat in front of them and stopping to ask us our names every few minutes. (Apparently they thought our names might change as we passed through new states.) Susan peeked into one of the other cars at one point and surmised that the others were all practically silent. On top of that we never actually ate the meal we had brought with us. We weren't really hungry (the meal stuck with us longer than we had thought) and the train servers kept bringing us more food. We had a snack similar to a pot pie, then a bowl of soup and breadsticks, then a tray of 6 different dishes and finally ice cream. We could only eat a quarter of it! It's definitely the most food we've ever been given on any mode of transportation.

The restfulness of Rahul's parents house was appreciated but not long to be enjoyed as we didn't get back until 11pm and were being picked up at 6am for our drive to Agra to see the Taj Mahal. Sometimes this traveling thing is a lot of work!

Jolly Jaipur!

Once again the train ride was a pleasant surprise as we were served breakfast, offered a magazine and given a large bottle of water. Then again, we were paying for the top class of service, which was $25 round trip. We arrived late morning and were greeted by numerous offers of taxi service. Our driver seemed on the up and up, so we took him up on the offer to take us out on a tour to see the sights. We were also impressed by his bright turquoise, disco-esque vehicle.

(Photo: Susan and our 2nd autorickshaw, the Love Machine)

We started with the City Palace, which was interesting but the highlight was the Observatory, with a number of different instruments such as sundials and planetary markers. The tour was fascinating and all the instruments were still functional down to the minute, despite being hundreds of years old. After this we headed back to our guide, who was clearly stalling for time by showing us odd things. Finally he told us "problems at home" and that his brother (actually his cousin, Indians use this word interchangably) would now be showing us around in his rickshaw. So we were passed off to the Love Machine. (see photo)

We stopped quickly to see the Water Palace, a palace literally surrounded by water. I'm not sure if the area around it was flooded or if it was designed that way for protection, but there was no way inside without a boat. It's currently under renovations so we could only look at it from the distance. Our driver then took us off to a shop, of course. It turned out well, however, as our "sales guy" was a member of the family who now lives in Frankfurt, Germany. He was visiting his family in Jaipur for 4 weeks and said he was going stir crazy at home every day with his mom, so offered to help out in the shop. Therefore, he was the least pushy salesman ever. Susan did find an amazing shawl and I found a cheap one that I'd been looking for, so we left surprisingly happy. I conversed with him mostly in German which was not what I had expected when I visited Jaipur!

Our tour ended with an offer to visit our guide's guru. We were VERY skeptical, but decided it could be funny and would be fuel for this blog, at least. We had to wait forever and were finally ushered into a back room of a jewelry shop. The "guru" read our auras and told us Susan had a "big blue aura" which means she had a lot of energy, but 20% of it was violet, which is not so good. Three of her chakras are apparently blocked. This means she is "sometimes hungry, sometimes not," that she "sometimes has energy, sometimes doesn't" and is "sometimes tired, sometimes not." Sounds like the human race to me. He also told her she has difficulty concentrating and making decisions and that arthritis runs in her family. So he clearly has no clue. I was told that I have a "medium sized" yellow aura, but we realized he never told me what that means, so it must be bad. My aura is 10% black, however, which is a bad color but is ok because "there's not much of it." I was warned that it would increase with age, though. The guru offered after that to help heal us with mineral therapy using precious gemstones, which we politely declined. Funny that his family business is in fine jewelry...

We finished off the night with the world's tamest New Year's Eve. Having gotten up so early, we had energy only for a stop at a kebab restaurant and watching top stories of the year and Bollywood music countdowns. Susan fell asleep just before midnight and I lasted just a few more minutes, after watching the fireworks being shot off rooftops. We were heading back to Delhi the next night so needed to get up somewhat early yet again!

Delhi Belly

Luckily the next morning I was feeling much better (thanks to the dose of Cipro I brought with me) and well enough to tour the city with Susan. Rahul's mother had helped us plan the itinerary and supplied the car and driver, so we were able to see a lot - starting with the Bahai Temple (beautiful in the shape of a lotus flower and reminded me a bit of the Sydney Opera House) and an ancient Muslim tower (which was being visited by a group of scouts, some of whom requested a photo shoot with us and then took ages setting up the shot). The first few minutes at the tower were also funny, as the driver didn't speak enough English to tell us where we were and we didn't realize it was on our itinerary. The ticket counter only listed the prices, not where we were. So we didn't know what we were seeing until after we had bought the tickets and entered the gate, where there was finally a sign and could look it up in our guidebook.

After that we visited Connaught Place for yummy South Indian food (I nibbled and watched Susan ooh and aah over the meal with jealousy) and bought some shirts and shawls at the local market before meeting Aileen for the trip back home for dinner. Unfortunately she was also sick with the Delhi Belly so it was a quiet night.

Saturday Aileen was still out for the count, so Susan and I went exploring again, this time in Old Delhi. We visited the Red Fort, an amazing complex of buildings used by former emperors. Then more shopping, of course. The shopping areas here are all tiny, winding, back lanes. We especially enjoyed the spice market. Susan would ask the vendors if she could take their pictures and they would pose proudly, ususally asking to see the photo afterwards. In one instance a nut vendor then asked for a photo of him and Susan together! We dashed back in time to pick up a much improved Aileen as well as Rahul and Xochi to visit Akshardham temple. This is a very new, massive temple that has a whole sound and light show and boat ride through the history of India. The builders have definitely visited at least one of the Disney parks. The only difference is the ride didn't end in a gift shop. We all tried to keep a straight face through the ride as much as possible, but it was difficult. As the narrator worked his way through history we learned that India discovered gravity and the number zero, is the founder of democracy, built the first hospitals, performed the first plastic surgery and developed geometry thousands of years before Pythagoras. They even built the first airplanes and spaceships, over two thousand years ago. Who knew!

The sound and light show was a pleasant surprise. It was very well done with lit up fountains and was just the right amount of time. The temple itself was unbelievably gorgeous and very impressive. We were lucky to see so much of it so quickly. When we had arrived, Aileen asked at the information counter how we could do the boat ride and see the sound and light show without visiting the IMAX show and museum (yes, there was much more propaganda!). One of the gentlemen at the desk happily whisked us off, buying the tickets for us, taking us to the boat ride, meeting us afterwards and escorting us to the best seat for the show. Without him we could only have seen one or the other. We felt like super VIPs! We're not sure why we got such great treatment (they hadn't seen Xochi, so that wasn't the reason this time) but I think he was probably just bored and happy to find something to do. Speaking of Xochi, as soon as we arrived at the temple dozens of hands thrust out and tried to touch her. Even Aileen had never seen anything like it. Xochi, getting used to such things, was a real trooper and acted as if nothing had happened. Later on our way inside the temple, a woman kept following us asking Aileen if she could hold Xochi and if not, if she could kiss her. Sheesh!

We rounded off the evening with a dinner at the local Chinese restaurant. The family was off to their farm early the next morning for a big party, so Susan and I were on our own again the next day. We decided to spend it mostly shopping, not having gotten our fill yet.

Sunday started off a bit crazy as we had a new driver who had no idea how to take us to the park where we were supposed to start the day. After he asked a number of taxi drivers, we finally called Rahul and his driver explained it to him. Apparently it would be like a driver in Paris not knowing how to find the Champs Elysees. Eventually we did get there, but couldn't spend much time there before heading off to Dilli Haat, an outdoor bazaar that is very well run by the government. We bought a LOT of stuff there and enjoyed sampling the food as well, as there are food stalls from all the different regions of India. We attempted to stop at an internet cafe afterwards, but they were all closed on Sunday, hence me being so far behind on this blog. Our final stop of the day was to Humanyun's tomb, but unfortunately our driver didn't know how to find that either, so Susan sat in the front seat and guided him from our map. Once we got onto the street where it was, we figured we were ok, but then he dropped us in front of a building that looked to small to be this massive tomb. We walked around it for a while, greeted by enthusiastic staff who seemed incredibly happy to see us, and then found out it was a mosque and that we were about a mile from the tomb. We were given materials about the Sikh religion and then we headed off to see the amazing tomb that is along the lines of the Taj Mahal, although not QUITE as impressive. Then home again early as we had to be up by 4:45am Monday morning for our train ride to Jaipur!

(By the way, more pictures are on their way... there have been some technical difficulties lately with that!)

Very Veranasi

There seem to be only two standard responses to Varanasi. Either the "ohmigod get me out of this disgusting place asap" response or "wow this is such a spiritual place" oohing and ahhing. Susan and I were some of the few to be somewhere in between, albeit closer to the get-me-outta-here side. We arrived via overnight train which was surprisingly comfortable. We had a sleeper cabin and both of us got a straight 8 hours of sleep so arrived in the city no worse than if we had stayed at a hotel. The only odd part of the trip was the couple who had the other two bunks in our carriage. The woman seemed to be constantly complaining to her henpecked husband. In the morning she was whining again and Susan woke up to the husband massaging her apparently sore rear end. Then as we got ready, Susan brushed her hair and put it up in a ponytail. This process was apparently riveting, as both husband and wife watched with rapt attention. Very odd. Hm, I seem to be using that word a lot over the past few posts.

We arrived at the train station and were met by an autorickshaw and the largest Indian man I've ever seen. Between the two of us, our driver and all our luggage we looked ridiculous, but I'm getting used to that on this trip. What was really funny was that the driver, this huge man, offered to help us with our luggage and took my small rolling suitcase, leaving us to carry the big, non-wheeled bags. After weaving our way through the old city, thanks to our porters and their very strong heads, we checked into, well, let's admit it, a bit of a dump with an incredibly grumpy owner. But the price was right - $12. For the room. So $6 per person. And we had an amazing view of the River Ganges from our balcony. Varanasi is where Indians go to die, if at all possible, because in doing so they stop the cycle of reincarnation and go directly to nirvana. Kind of the opposite of do not pass go, do not collect $200. In order for this all to happen, though, the bodies must be washed in the Ganges, then cremated and then the ashes must be spread in the water. You can imagine there is quite the demand for this ceremony and the "burning ghat," or the bank of the river where the cremations take place, is in business 24/7. This also means the Ganges is NOT the place where I would want to swim. Despite this the locals still use it for bathing and washing their clothes. We spent the first day wandering the back lanes and then took a boat cruise further up the river to see the other ghats (the Indian term for steps leading down to the water, these appear in all river cities and most don't have anything to do with cremations) and buildings from the water. It could be quite a pretty city, but as with most of India, it could do with a good power washing. Susan and I joked that we'll stop by Home Depot before returning. That evening we were adopted by the local children as we watched a riverside ceremony. When they realized we weren't going to buy anything from them they fought over which of them was our "first friend." We were invited to float a candle down the Ganges and repeat a lengthy chant from a local man. It was meant to wish good luck to our parents, but we have no idea what we really said so we apologize in advance if we accidentally cursed you!

Our dinner was... Indian food! Surprise, surprise. It was a lovely restaurant, though, with an especially high view of the city and a very powerful generator. This was key as the entire city lost power 3/4 of the way through our meal, which is a frequent occurrence in Varanasi. After getting back to the hotel I stopped to check email in the lobby and couldn't help but eavesdrop on the content of the Australian man's computer screen next to me. He first checked the cricket scores and then wrote a lengthy email detailing his experience traveling with a guru. He had been moved to tears the previous day when in a room with so many "realized" men (holy men). The guru felt that this was some kind of karmic issue he was having and could therefore no longer travel with him. Such a different experience from our "well this is interesting but I'll be more than ready to leave tomorrow" response.

Our 2nd and last day in Varanasi we woke up at the crack of dawn to take a morning cruise on the Ganges and watch the sunrise. We had arranged to meet the boatman from the previous night. Sunrise is very different here, as it just gets gradually lighter but you can't actually see where the sun in coming from through the smoke, pollution and fog. To get a good idea of it, the weather was described as "72 degrees and smoke" when we checked the day before we arrived. Unfortunately, our boat ride ended on a bit of a sour note as the boatman tried to up the price after we had agreed and then kept saying, "Why do you do this to me?" It's frustrating enough to have to negotiate everything before you begin, but ridiculous to have to do it again after it's already been agreed!

For me things went a bit downhill after that as I started to feel sick. Within a few hours I had the full on dreaded Delhi Belly and was feeling really badly. I was able to enjoy a bit of souvenir shopping and the autorickshaw ride to the airport (how often do you get to do that?) but was pretty miserable at the airport. Especially when our flight was delayed an hour. By that point I felt like someone was stabbing me in the gut every few minutes. We were flying on Kingfisher airlines to Delhi and the gate next to us was also delayed, leaving 10 minutes before ours. That airline was SpiceJet and as they flight was in its final boarding call, one of the gate agents made her way through the waiting area saying, "Any more spicy passengers? Any more spicy passengers?" We wanted to be spicy passengers! We did eventually leave and the flight looked like a nice one with individual TV screens (that actually worked) but I slept through most of it. Thank goodness we were going to be staying at Rahul's parents house in Delhi. First we had to circle the airport for an hour. During this time of year most flights are delayed due to the fog. I turned on the flight path screen which looked like a kindergartner had scribbled all over it. We did eventually land and all went smoothly from there on, as we were met by Aileen and the driver. And then met at the house with soup. That and a warm bed and I was a much happier camper!

P.S. I believe the name of the guest house was Scindia, as requested in the comment!

A whole new meaning to "Disco, Baby!"

Monday was Christmas eve, and what an odd place to be spending it! Aileen, Susan and I visited the riverside flower markets, where a man offered Susan a rose. When she rejected it (he would probably have asked for payment then) his friends all laughed hysterically - something we hadn't anticipated. The bright marigolds and roses at the market were gorgeous, and stood out even more next to the haze that hung over the river. Then we visited the Jain temples that we had missed the previous week. Knowing nothing about the religion, we read a brief summary in the first temple. I was surprised to read that there were two sects of the Jain religion The differences, according to the text, were so minor that they were not major divisive factors - one sect believe nudity was a part of worship (don't ask me how), the other doesn't and one believes women can be saved, the other doesn't. Just minor differences.

After our instruction on fine religious points, we went home to relax and get ready for our Christmas Eve buffet dinner at the Hyatt. Debbie joined us again and regaled us with more stories. Our favorite this time was about an American woman calling the consulate in Marseilles late at night, in a panic because she was out of water. Debbie's friend took the call and tried to determine what the problem was, even calling the hotel to make sure there wasn't a water problem there. Reassured that there wasn't, she called the woman back who said, yes, there was running water in the hotel room but she still had three days left in France and had run out of the bottled water she had brought with her. From Kansas. Sigh. Why are stories like this always about Americans???

Debbie headed off to her church service and Susan, Aileen, Rahul and I headed for Christmas Mass at the church near their apartment. We were told the service would begin at 11pm, but at 11:10 there was no sign of it starting. We finally asked and were told it was starting at midnight. Rahul, the only one of us who had worked that day, couldn't keep his eyes open and headed home. Then the 11pm service that we were then told would start at midnight started at 11:30. Of course.

The choir stood to start off with a hymn, and the director turned on his electric keyboard as accompaniment. Which wouldn't have been THAT remarkable if it hadn't been for the "boom-de-boom-de" backbeat that was reminiscent of "1980s Abba cruise-ship," as Susan described it. The choir sang a number of hymns we had never heard of to this as well as a hip hop type beat and a tune I was certain went with an old country western song. "Away in a Manger" was quite the rockin' tune here. Susan had noticed as we entered the church that there was no manger or baby Jesus in the nativity scene and remarked that it looked like everyone was worshiping the beach. (The nativity scene had a sand floor.) Halfway through the mass a procession brought the baby Jesus and manger in and placed them in the appropriate spot. As they did so, Christmas lights wrapped all around the stable lit up and flashed wildly. "They lit up baby Jesus like a disco ball!" was Susan's description. The lights eventually faded, only to come up every five minutes or so for more rampant blinking. Susan, Aileen and I couldn't even look at each other for fear of laughing. I don't know that it put me in the Christmas mood or tugged at my heartstrings, but it did keep me awake!

Finally in bed at 1:30, Christmas morning came early to open presents with Xochi. It was fun to see a little one playing with her new toys, even if she wasn't quite old enough to fawn over Santa. Aileen gave Susan and I both stockings, which made the holiday more real for us. We all had another laugh at the Christmas tree we were sitting in front of. Aileen had contemplating buying an artificial tree before they left for Calcutta, fearing they wouldn't get such trees there. She was told that of course they were available and was even more pleasantly surprised when Rahul procured one for ten dollars. Until it arrived - the Charlie Brown Christmas tree. You know it's bad when you can easily count the branches and have to select only the lightest of ornaments (and use them very sparingly) so as to not break those few branches off. The tree was actually left over from last year - not a cut tree but planted and kept alive for the following year. So it was only $5 year!

Our last few hours in Calcutta were spent at Rahul and Aileen's "club." We had dinner coupons for a prawn cocktail starter, a dinner and a dessert each. The starter was actually a few very tiny shards of prawn in a Thousand Island type soup. We all passed on that. Lunch was fine, but the dessert was a slab of sickly sweet strawberry ice cream from a carton. The entertainment more than made up for it - a cheesy twosome playing "Country Roads," "My Way" and even a little Doris Day with "Que Sera Sera." You know, your typical Christmas fare. We had a great time laughing each time they began to butcher another oddly placed song, such as the entire back catalog of Huey Lewis and the News. The weather was also gorgeous, so we just enjoyed sitting at the outdoor tables and thinking about Christmases spent in freezing cold. Then a quick dash back to the apartment and Susan and I were off to the train station for our overnight train to Varanasi! An odd ending to an odd Christmas...

Sailing through the Sunderbans

Friday morning (which was a holiday in West Bengal - and by that I mean Friday was, not just Friday morning) we all piled in a van. Me, Susan, Aileen, Rahul, Xochi in her car seat, her nanny, the driver, the guide and 4 suitcases of luggage, a pack & play and a stroller. And that was just Xochi's stuff!

We drove about 90 minutes to a waterway that was to be the launching pad for our long weekend trip. Xochi was a star at the pier while we waited for the boat, with everyone vying for her attention and taking pictures of her. Many of them tried to kiss Xochi and even take her out of Aileen's hands. Can you imagine people doing that in the US? It happened every time we appeared in public with her not just here. You can imagine how tired of it Aileen is getting.

Anyway, we boarded a small boat and were thrilled to see we had it to ourselves while the group tours had about 20 people on boats of the same size. Even people on neighboring boats tried to get close enough to see Xochi! As they got ready to serve us breakfast, we asked how many people were working on the boat. The answer? Nine. For 4 adult passengers and one baby! We felt very indulgent! Even more so when they served us breakfast and lunch within a few hours of each other. After our meals, the guys working on the boat took turns holding and playing with Xochi. So many babysitters! They fought over the chance to play with her. It was a nice break for Aileen and Rahul, but at one point we were worried they wouldn't get any time with her at all. Besides drifting through the Bay of Bengal, we stopped on land occasionally to look for Bengal tigeers, for which the area is famous. Of course, there are only about 300 left so they're hardly ever spotted... this was no exception.

Aileen and Xochi

We were terrified as to what kind of rooms we would get once we landed on one of the islands and checked in to the "Mangrove Re-Treat". We had been told the rooms were "super deluxe" (what does that mean by Indian standards) but without hot water. In fact, we were told no running water, just buckets. You can imagine where our imaginations went with the rest of the place. As it turns out, the place was really lovely and we were the only people staying there. There was running water, even TVs and DVD players. However, there was not running water. Instead, they brought large buckets of boiling water every morning and you used a smaller bucket to create a shower for yourself. We weren't exactly working up a sweat during the day, so we were more than content. We decided the hotel must be brand new, as there were still stickers on everything, some items weren't painted, a few areas were missing lights (although the wiring was in place) and the TVs weren't yet hooked up to the satellite. Upon enquiring, we were proudly told it had been open 7 months! Definitely on a different time frame. They were also proud to tell us that we were the first foreigners to stay there. That was fairly apparent given the way they fawned over Xochi. Aileen had to work even harder here to spend time with her daughter than she had on land.

We were served "snacks" (a light dinner, really) on the balcony in front of our rooms followed by a large dinner. I had noticed that the boy assigned to serve us always gave everyone two forks. I asked Rahul to ask him why, as he didn't speak any English. His answer was, "I thought all Westerners eat with two forks!" He must have read that in some strange "guide to Westerners" book. I was glad we had asked, otherwise I'd still be thinking them odd for giving us the two forks and they'd think us odd for using them.

After our stressful days on the water of food, reading, playing Cranium, entertaining Xochi, looking for crocodiles and more food, we crashed early both nights. We asked our crew so many questions about the island and the village that they offered to take us on a tour of it Sunday morning. We spent two hours wandering around it was the highlight of the trip for me. We saw the villagers (about 4000 on the island) preparing the rice and storing it with various hand powered machines or completely by hand. We met village children who followed Xochi (or were they more fascinated by the stroller? clearly Westerners are too lazy to carry their own children), took pictures of them and showed them on the digital camera screen, to many smiles.

I was flabbergasted by the beautiful bright saris the women wore while doing all this manual labor. As Rahul and Aileen packed up Xochi and her accoutrements, Susan and I wandered a bit further into boys playing cricket. A ball came straight for Susan, accompanied with the shout of "Catch!", a test she quickly passed. For the next few minutes the boys shouted "Come play" to us, but how in the world does one PLAY cricket, anyway?

Xochi's entourage

A final few hours of food and flying water and we were headed back home to Calcutta. (The crew kept bringing bottles of water over to us, which would quickly fall off the table in the wind. We would prop them up between items, the crew would see there was no water on the table and bring more. We had 9 full one liter bottles scattered around the boat when we disembarked."

That evening we attended a party at the couple's apartment across the hall (can't beat the commute!) and were entertained by stories from other American expats, especially Debbie's story of buying a Christmas tree in Calcutta from an Indian dwarf in a Santa hat. How do you top that? Maybe by overhearing later that night as an English guy told the rest of the group that his daughter was "into flip flop dancing - I mean hip hop dancing!"

Back off the tourist trail

Our following day of sightseeing, also with Rupu, wasn't quite as successful as we headed first to the Marble Palace, which is closed Thursdays & Mondays. The driver suggested we go to the house of Tagore, a famous Indian poet, singer, philosopher and painter, which we all found interesting. By the time we left for stop three, the Jain Temples, the driver told us it was too late - they close at noon and re-open in the evening. So we headed off to lunch at an Italian restaurant Aileen had mentioned. We tried calling her to see if she could meet us, but couldn't reach her. So we were very surprised to see her eating inside when we got there! After our yummy pastas and pizzas, we headed home to get ready for the American Consulate Christmas party a few hours later. We tied for first place in a Christmas carol puzzle competition and were rewarded with MORE CHOCOLATE. Then home again to get ready for a night out at the fancy Park Hotel. Aileen hadn't been out late since arriving in Calcutta, since she'd been pregnant or with a tiny baby at home the whole time, but she was determined to use the two of us as an excuse to go out on the town. Rupu and Rahul went out for a drink first so we got a late start and couldn't eat at the first few restaurants we tried. Since we were due to meet up with another couple at the Park Hotel in the next hour, we decided to eat at a restaurant in the hotel. We sat down to look at Zen's menu, but Rahul didn't seem enthused and he's the foodie - we generally leave the ordering up to him. So we walked over to Saffron but found out halfway there that it's their Indian restaurant, which no one was excited about. Then Rahul said what he really wanted was Japanese. Which is of course what Zen is. So back there again for a quick meal before heading downstairs to the Roxy nightclub.

The few hours we spent at the Roxy were absolutely HYSTERICAL. We recognized the tune of the first song, but not the lyrics which were being mutilated. I kept looking for the person who was singing the karaoke when I realized it wasn't karaoke. Just a really horrible recording of someone ripping off a Robbie Williams song. Then we entertained Rupu by singing along to Billy Ocean's "Get Out of My Dreams, Get Into My Car" from the 80s, which she had never heard. She couldn't get over how funny the lyrics were. (Even if you don't know the lyrics, I think you can see how funny they are by the title.) I don't remember how it started, but Rupu, Susan and I also made up hand motions to "Sunshine, Moonlight" (is that the title of the song?) by the Jackson 5, further increasing the laugh factor in our group. The Gypsy King's "Baile Me" got everyone on the dance floor, including the most enthusiastic male dancers I have ever seen. A lot of flailing, jumping and aerobicizing. After more Jackson 5 and a spin through the entire 70s back catalog (including our own back catalog of bad dancing) we left the flailing men to the floor in search of a few hours' sleep before the next morning's early rise for our Sunderbans trip!

Finally Playing Tourists - in a city with no tourists...

Wednesday started with the craziest experience, but it sure woke us up! The driver drove us to Kali temple, one of the most sacred places in Calcutta. We had to walk blocks to the temple through dirty alleys in our bare feet because the driver was afraid someone would steal our shoes if we left them on the steps. There was a massive mob of people trying to weave their way through a small entryway in order to look at the Kali statue and present it with offerings of marigold garlands. Rupu and I managed to get close enough to donate a few rupees and get a close look at the Kali. But the guys guarding the kali took one look at Susan and pushed everyone in front of her out of the way, then pushing her over the threshold directly in front of the kali statue. Getting back wasn't quite as easy, but we eventually made it out, marked with the orange bindi on our foreheads. Back at the car we had the driver take a picture of the three of us, and a line of men formed behind him to watch him take the picture. We were almost as big an attraction as the Kali!

Next stop was MUCH calmer - a visit to the Mother House, where Mother Theresa lived, worked, died and is now entombed. The simple room where she lived and died was interesting, but the "mini museum" to her was fascinating. I didn't know much about her before so we all enjoyed learning more how she became "Mother Theresa". For me it was also unusual to see pictures of her as a young woman - I don't think I'd ever seen a picture of her when she wasn't very old!

After Mother House, we did another complete turnaround and went shopping and for food. Well, we didn't really do much shopping, just looked around for an item Aileen had requested. We then spent 30 minutes trying to find a restaurant called Kewpies that turned out to be directly outside the shopping center (as we'd been told) but we had gone out the wrong door. It didn't end up mattering, though, as we still got there 20 minutes before they opened. Luckily the waiter/owner/whoever let us sit inside and read the menu when they got underway. Rupu was our translator, as this was a Bengali restaurant and her parents are both from Calcutta, even though she grew up in England. There were a few items that stumped her as well and she was a bit frustrated that everyone laughed when she tried to speak the language. But we wouldn't have known a single item on the menu without her so it was a huge help. One item was translated as "Eggplant and Yogurt" which she thought sounded disgusting. The waiter insisted, however, that it was THE dish we had to have. And he was right - it was by far the best dish we ordered. Most of it was very good, though, and we enjoyed the adventure of it, including eating with our hands!

After lunch we quickly visited the enormous, white Queen Victoria Memorial (the grounds of which are apparently famous for their use by "amorous couples", something that was plainly obvious to us) and stopped for a brief snack, despite our recent lunch, that Rupu had been going on about. As soon as we saw the Paprichat being prepared Susan announced, "They're Indian nachos!" And she was right!

That night's dinner wasn't quite up to par with the rest of the day's food, as we tried out a new "fancy" Thai restaurant down the street from Aileen and Rahul's apartment. It was owned by the same guy who owns a stellar restaurant in Calcutta, so everyone was excited. 　Unfortunately, we found it not much better than the local pad thai in Chicago and we found out later that Shawn had since "washed his hands of that place." Can't blame him. But we enjoyed getting to all spend some time together again - more sightseeing tomorrow.

India is different

Tuesday morning Susan woke up with the dreaded Delhi Belly, which was especially tough for her as she was spending the day talking to different groups about speech therapy. As she said, she "puked her way through Calcutta." I had a much easier day. I decided to spend the day researching jobs, since the close of my trip was coming up and everyone else was off working for the day (and I had a free computer to use all day!). I took some time off to go into town to have lunch and hunt for some fabric. In the fabric store I asked for a beige or tan fabric with some red in it. They showed me beige and tans without any color. Luckily I was wearing a red shirt, so communication was easier. "With some red in it - this color red." So he showed me a maroon print. I clarified that I wanted a brighter red, almost as red as the bright shirt I was wearing. So I got an orange print. Again, I said it was too orange, I wanted red. So he showed me three other orange prints. When the manager realized what was happening, he interceded and I told him also that I was looking for a red like my shirt. So he dug and dug and dug and brought out 10 pieces of orange fabric. So I went to lunch.

Lunch was great - a little cafe that could have been in Vienna. The only snag came when I got the bill. It was 300 rupees and I paid with a 500 note bill. I received two 100 rupee notes in return. Since you're supposed to tip 10% here, I needed to leave 30 rupees or so, but didn't have anything smaller than the 100s he had given me. I wanted to buy a dessert for later from the snack counter, so I headed up there and asked them to give me my change in small notes. They couldn't (or wouldn't) do it, so I wasn't able to leave a tip. As I would later find out, this happened most of the time. Can you imagine a waiter in the US giving you change that made it difficult or impossible to tip him？

That night was another leisurely one around the apartment with some friends of Aileen and Rahul's and a taco spread (they really miss the Mexican food from when they lived in Mexico City a few years ago). Susan slept off the Delhi Belly as much as possible. Rahul's cousin Rupu was in town from London, so we arranged for a big sightseeing day the next day with her.