Wowsers!! I really left the blog hanging! Basically we left Thailand (after having some custom clothes tailored and having thai massages- I would highly recommend both!) and flew into Hong Kong. HK was massive and full of skyscraper sized apartment buildings. Plenty of shopping around too. We treated ourselves to a higher end hotel...Steve was still unable to eat much. We were mentally and physically exhausted and began arranging our flights home. We decided to not venture up to Northern China as we had had enough- enough haggling, enough language barriers, enough temples, enough illness- we knew we were ready to get home! I was an emotional wreck- happy to be getting home but crying that the trip was over. Looking back, I think my tears were tears of relief. Steve couldn't physically go on. He lost so much muscle in his arms and shoulders that he was in constant pain. I would venture around HK on my own to check out malls and the streets while he rested in the room. We went to Shenzhen in China for a day. The vendors grabbed me and yelled and it was complete chaos. Steve bargained for a cute wallet for me and I finally got a knock off Jimmy Choo purse. steve got himself an electric razor. The day here confirmed our decision of not having the drive to get to the North.
Let me tell you that every airline we dealt with on this trip was fantastic- except for the one and only Air Canada. They are horrible!!! Nothing but a run around with them and then paying dearly to change our flight from San Fran to Vancouver.
We were more than happy to be home- and still are! We are blessed to live in Canada- but seeing what we saw was completely amazing! A day hasn't passed that I haven't thought about or reflected on our most amazing adventure!
While sick in bed in Thailand, I found our 'dream house' on the MLS. As soon as we got to Vernon we went and checked it out (thankfully it was still for sale!) and we have purchased it! Perhaps living out of the back pack for so long made us a little nutty and we were anxious to plant some roots!
We are back at work now and Steves muscle pain has disappeared and his bum has reappeared! He still has muscle to gain but he is feeling and looking much better.
Thank you all for following us through the blog. Thank you for the emails. And thanks for putting up with poor phone connections when we called.
I'm still trying to find the words to summarize our trip. I get the tears in my eyes. For now, what I know for sure is if you get the chance to live the dream- do it!
Over and Out,
Love BJ
Thursday, December 10, 2009
Monday, September 14, 2009
Wildlife minus the Wild
Weak and tired, we make our way back to the Banger. We pay twice as much to take a “VIP” bus overnight- this way we get bigger seats and a bathroom on board. It is worth it! We had planned to head to Angkor Wat (Cambodia) from here...we gathered information from several travel agencies and began planning. We have concluded that we have nothing left. No more drive. No energy. We are tired after walking short distances, our bowels remain completely unpredictable. We write off Angkor, the hassle of the visa, the 12 hour ride on a mud road, the landmines...we just aren’t up for the challenge and use our better judgement not to go. We will get there someday!!
I can let go of Angkor, but I hold tight to Chiang Mai! We take a 14 hour overnight train ride (equipped with bathrooms) and arrive to Thailands second largest city. Chiang Mai doesn’t feel like a city of 2 million, there are no skyscrapers and few modern buildings. We quickly find a hotel and across the street is a little cafe with a wide selection of international food. I find french toast with the option of ‘maple syrup’ or honey. I was soooo excited!! Although the syrup wasn’t the real deal, it was a taste of home :)
I really wanted to see some wildlife here in Thailand- I mean the cockroaches are really cute and all but I wanted elephants! So, we hired a car and driver for a day and headed out to see wildlife, but not in the wild. Chiang Mai has a bunch of “camps” or “schools” for animals. I don’t know where the “reserves” or “sanctuaries” are- I’m sure they must exist somewhere, but with limited time we are driven to the camps. First stop: Elephants. I think elephants are one of the neatest creatures! The size is unreal and the dexterity with the trunk is fascinating! You can’t even hear them coming- they are able to walk silently! The only thing I don’t like are the eyes, they have these beady yellow jungle eyes. There are over 70 elephants at the camp. They used to be used as working animals in Thailand but that industry has diminished. Now, its all about tourism. At home we would never feed animals (only squirrels and whiskey jacks) but this is Thailand and there are signs encouraging visitors to “please feed the elephants” and little stands selling bunches of banana’s and sugar cane. I guess it helps with the upkeep? So of course I’m going to feed them and Steve buys us some snacks for them. Steve is a logical thinker and prepares the food away from the corral of hungry elephants. This is smart, during the visit we watch as elephants steal entire bunches of banana’s out of the hands of unsuspecting feeders! They just shove a whole bunch right in their mouths! Its crazy! The bananas are smaller here, but the bunches are made up of at least a dozen bananas! We watch the trainers wash the elephants in a river and then there is an elephant parade/performance. This is where the elephant visit gets weird. Eating and bathing are natural kinds of things, but seeing elephants do trained things is strange. They play soccer and throw darts, they paint abstract art, they bow and wave...its neat to see how intelligent and trainable they are, but at the same time so completely unnatural. We get photos with the elephants- they smell like wet rags- and we say good bye.
Next stop: Monkey School. Although we’ve seen many monkeys during our trip we choose this stop because the other option was the snake center. Steve absolutely hates snakes so we went to see the “tree rats”. I saw some tiny monkeys in Ko Samui that looked like little stuffed animals and I hoped to see some of them here. But the only ones of this breed I saw were adults in a cage, I hadn’t realized the ones in the south were babies and that made me sad to wonder what happened with the mothers...I thought the elephants were trained to be unnatural but the monkeys were far more out there! They put on a show where the monkeys do human things like lift weights, ride bikes, play basket ball...all the while on a leash. These monkeys looked like little tiny people dressed in monkey suits. They ask for a volunteer from the audience, so I go. They tie ropes on my wrists and the monkey comes to untie me. They say “don’t make eye contact, he doesn’t like that” so then I was nervous. The monkey had soft wet fingers and was quick to untie me. Later he sat on my lap for a photo- they say “don’t touch him, he might pee on you” so then I was nervous. There were at least a dozen other monkeys at the school, sadly they were chained to posts in the ground and just ran in circles. There were signs explaining “monkeys can be dangerous and therefore must be chained, we untie them at 5pm” but I think it was a poor set up. I bought banana’s and tossed one to each monkey. Although the monkeys appeared ready to catch bananas three of them were so out of sorts or lacking hand and eye coordination that the tossed banana smacked them right on their heads. We saw some three week old babies in a small cage- no mothers in site...we didn’t like this place. Although monkeys can be brats and jump into your rooftop cafe and steal stuff off the table and run away, I would prefer to see them anywhere but in this school.
Final stop: Tiger Kingdom. The tiger kingdom seems like a nice place. We have lunch on a patio that overlooks a tiger den housing 5 large tigers. The tigers are playing in a pond, sleeping in the grass, and posing with tourists. Thats right, you can hang out in a tiger den here. Apparently the health and safety regulations regarding predatory animals are different here- or maybe non-existent. Either way, I am ready to take advantage of this rare opportunity while Steve watches from the safety of the balcony. I’m not ready to visit the rather super sized kitties, and Steve doesn’t want me going anywhere near them, so I head for the little ones. The ‘kittens’ are 5 months old and are already around the 200lbs mark. Its mid afternoon and the baby tigers are sleepy from the heat -phew! I was feeling confident before going in the den, but when I was actually in a fenced area with a pack of 5 brother tigers I began to feel a little vulnerable. There were tiger keepers in there with me of course, but we all know kitties like to play- and play can be quick and unpredictable! Anyway, there was an Aussie working there, I asked how he got a job here (ie: qualifications?) and he said “oh I just showed up and they hired me- do you want some work?” Yikes. The tigers were amazing! They are beautiful! The fur was coarse and their paws were bigger than my hands. The sleepiest tiger in the bunch was named Oliver! The Aussie grabbed Oliver by the front paws and slid him into my lap. Apparently a tiger’s body temperature is 2 degrees higher than humans- so little Oliver was one heck of a heating pad! This experience was awesome and absolutely unforgettable!
Later that night I enjoy some lemon meringue pie and Steve has a peanut butter cookie at the cafe, then we wander around the night market. I buy a couple necklaces and a teak elephant- which doesn’t have beady yellow eyes :) Our time here was short, tiring, and wonderful! Only three days in Chaing Mai and we are back on the train for Bangkok.
Saturday, September 5, 2009
A Lesson in Giardia (aka Beaver Fever)
The mere mention of the word “Giardia” can send a shiver down any hikers spine. We’ve always been diligent about treating water while out in the woods (ok, MOST of the time!!) and after experiencing Giardia first hand we will take this lil parasite more seriously. We’ve learnt a lot about this illness and its effects while in Ko Samui (aka Ko Sam pooie)- this may not be a pleasant update (I can assure you we are fine) but it is what we have been dealing with on this part of our Journey.
Ok, we left Railay and came to the Island of Ko Samui which is on the other side of Thailand. The day of travel was long as we made our way via long boat, bus, ferry, and then pick-up truck taxi. We found a room (well, the room found us) and conked out. We are on the busiest beach on the Island- Chaweng. There are many people and shops and restaurants and the beach itself has nice white sand and blue water.
We woke up and Steve was not feeling well and he began having the extremely watery stools that we both experienced in Bangkok. Oh man, that again? So, feeling fine, I set out on a mission to get Steve some goodies and was even planning to sign up for a tour of the island while Steve rested. I discussed the matter with a pharmacist and she insisted he needs electrolytes and good bacteria in his belly. I agreed however I was initially after some antibiotics. She thought that would be worse for him, so I agreed we’d try this other regime. All we could do was wait and see what would happen, but all morning he was going, and by the afternoon I too was experiencing our Bangkok bowel problem. So, we knew it wasn’t just travelers diarrhea and considering the places we’ve recently been we looked into giardia which we’d joked about it in Bangkok.
With any infection, signs and symptoms vary from person to person and each of us were exhibiting most of them. We both suffered from the loose stools, severe stomach cramping, gas, bloating and a lack of appetite. We became extremely fatigued. Steve developed a rash that looked something like acne all over his back, and I had the addition of yucky nausea. There are smells in the hospital that make me gag, but I have never gagged at my own smell- until now. The smell is unbelievably horrendous which sent up another red flag.
I read about the drugs for treating giardia and headed to three different pharmacies in search of the most effective one. Not available. But I found a pharmacist who knew what giardia was and seemed really knowledgeable on the subject and treatment. She gave me what we know as Flagyl (the antibiotic) at home which is effective in 85-90% of cases. She suggested no milk, fruit juice, or alcohol. We spent most of the next 3 days in bed/bathroom. It was awful- our bodies were aching from being so immobile. We were getting cabin fever and on one day Steve was bugging me so badly I told him to write a journal. Not one for typing, he made a few video journal entries where he accidently referred to his giardia as “gonnorhea”- it was pretty funny. I don’t know if it was the infection or the high flagyl dosing which made my stomach cramps even worse. I also had the lovely side effect of a metallic taste in my mouth, like chewing on tin foil. So, forcing oneself to eat while nauseated to lessen the cramping turns out to be quite the task! Mind over matter...
We started going less to the bathroom which gave us courage to venture out of the room for more than a few minutes. Steve decided to order a milkshake, and he thoroughly enjoyed it. But it caused him to spend the rest of the day curled up in a ball due to indigestion and stomach cramping. We didn’t realize that the pharmacists “no milk” warning wasn’t to do with an adverse reaction to the antibiotic (we actually give it with milk in the hospital to ease stomach pain), but because in many people the damage caused by giardia in the small intestine can lead to lactose intolerance for up to a month following infection.
Some of you have commented on Steve’s apparent weight loss in recent photos, good observation, due to Giardia he has lost 20lbs! I am down 15lbs, but it hasn’t been rapid like Steve’s weight loss, so hopefully its not giardia related and I can keep er off! lol.
Giardia can be contracted from water (where it can live actively for 3 months!), food, and even surfaces! It takes only 10 spores to lead to infection. Steve believes we picked up the parasite in India- his opinion is biased though because he hated it there- but it is a strong possibility. More animal poops can get into water and onto surfaces during monsoon, and the sanitation in India was poor. The incubation period can be up to a month, so I wonder if we got it in Nepal...we treated our water on the trek, but who knows how long water was boiled for for our daily hot lemons! Maybe from brushing our teeth with tap water...We will never know where we got it and I guess it really doesn’t matter anyway.
Its been a week now since all this started. Sadly, we saw very little of this island but on the bright side the weather hasn’t really been that great. We did have a nice walk on the beach together on one afternoon and Steve’s rash is getting better... We are feeling a little more energetic and have been eating one meal at lunch (usually a sandwhich) and then having a snack for dinner. We leave tomorrow for Bangkok. I’ve been praying every night for this to clear up so we can enjoy this part of the world a little more. But we are very thankful it hit us here and not in a place where our time was limited or we were out trekking! We should know in a couple weeks if the drugs worked...cross your fingers for us!
And remember to treat your water!!
Ok, we left Railay and came to the Island of Ko Samui which is on the other side of Thailand. The day of travel was long as we made our way via long boat, bus, ferry, and then pick-up truck taxi. We found a room (well, the room found us) and conked out. We are on the busiest beach on the Island- Chaweng. There are many people and shops and restaurants and the beach itself has nice white sand and blue water.
We woke up and Steve was not feeling well and he began having the extremely watery stools that we both experienced in Bangkok. Oh man, that again? So, feeling fine, I set out on a mission to get Steve some goodies and was even planning to sign up for a tour of the island while Steve rested. I discussed the matter with a pharmacist and she insisted he needs electrolytes and good bacteria in his belly. I agreed however I was initially after some antibiotics. She thought that would be worse for him, so I agreed we’d try this other regime. All we could do was wait and see what would happen, but all morning he was going, and by the afternoon I too was experiencing our Bangkok bowel problem. So, we knew it wasn’t just travelers diarrhea and considering the places we’ve recently been we looked into giardia which we’d joked about it in Bangkok.
With any infection, signs and symptoms vary from person to person and each of us were exhibiting most of them. We both suffered from the loose stools, severe stomach cramping, gas, bloating and a lack of appetite. We became extremely fatigued. Steve developed a rash that looked something like acne all over his back, and I had the addition of yucky nausea. There are smells in the hospital that make me gag, but I have never gagged at my own smell- until now. The smell is unbelievably horrendous which sent up another red flag.
I read about the drugs for treating giardia and headed to three different pharmacies in search of the most effective one. Not available. But I found a pharmacist who knew what giardia was and seemed really knowledgeable on the subject and treatment. She gave me what we know as Flagyl (the antibiotic) at home which is effective in 85-90% of cases. She suggested no milk, fruit juice, or alcohol. We spent most of the next 3 days in bed/bathroom. It was awful- our bodies were aching from being so immobile. We were getting cabin fever and on one day Steve was bugging me so badly I told him to write a journal. Not one for typing, he made a few video journal entries where he accidently referred to his giardia as “gonnorhea”- it was pretty funny. I don’t know if it was the infection or the high flagyl dosing which made my stomach cramps even worse. I also had the lovely side effect of a metallic taste in my mouth, like chewing on tin foil. So, forcing oneself to eat while nauseated to lessen the cramping turns out to be quite the task! Mind over matter...
We started going less to the bathroom which gave us courage to venture out of the room for more than a few minutes. Steve decided to order a milkshake, and he thoroughly enjoyed it. But it caused him to spend the rest of the day curled up in a ball due to indigestion and stomach cramping. We didn’t realize that the pharmacists “no milk” warning wasn’t to do with an adverse reaction to the antibiotic (we actually give it with milk in the hospital to ease stomach pain), but because in many people the damage caused by giardia in the small intestine can lead to lactose intolerance for up to a month following infection.
Some of you have commented on Steve’s apparent weight loss in recent photos, good observation, due to Giardia he has lost 20lbs! I am down 15lbs, but it hasn’t been rapid like Steve’s weight loss, so hopefully its not giardia related and I can keep er off! lol.
Giardia can be contracted from water (where it can live actively for 3 months!), food, and even surfaces! It takes only 10 spores to lead to infection. Steve believes we picked up the parasite in India- his opinion is biased though because he hated it there- but it is a strong possibility. More animal poops can get into water and onto surfaces during monsoon, and the sanitation in India was poor. The incubation period can be up to a month, so I wonder if we got it in Nepal...we treated our water on the trek, but who knows how long water was boiled for for our daily hot lemons! Maybe from brushing our teeth with tap water...We will never know where we got it and I guess it really doesn’t matter anyway.
Its been a week now since all this started. Sadly, we saw very little of this island but on the bright side the weather hasn’t really been that great. We did have a nice walk on the beach together on one afternoon and Steve’s rash is getting better... We are feeling a little more energetic and have been eating one meal at lunch (usually a sandwhich) and then having a snack for dinner. We leave tomorrow for Bangkok. I’ve been praying every night for this to clear up so we can enjoy this part of the world a little more. But we are very thankful it hit us here and not in a place where our time was limited or we were out trekking! We should know in a couple weeks if the drugs worked...cross your fingers for us!
And remember to treat your water!!
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
Back to Nature in Railay
Railay is a laid back and we take it easy. Steve doesn’t get his appetite back and is still irregular...I am feeling ok. We spend time hiking, walking the beach, and in the pool. We hire a climbing guide for a half day of climbing. There are over 700 bolted routes in the limestone cliffs around Railay. The climbing is fun- there are cool hand holds (in cracks and rock knobs) but I struggle with the foot holds. We are climbing on well used extremely popular routes and I wonder if that causes the rock to be smooth and shiney in spots- or maybe its the humidity making me slip...or the shoes...I don’t know! I’m far from pro and Steve scolds me when I classify myself as beginner. Despite his weakness Steve has a few rad climbs (yeah I said Rad- I think thats pro talk) he even starts one climb on an overhang. I am proud of my 90ft climb which started as a 5.8 and ended as a 5.10! I had a glorious moment on this climb when I lost my hold, fell, and landed on another climbers head. We didn't make heavy contact and I managed to get off his route- but it was rather embarrassing- the rocks were full of other climbers. Its a good time and we don’t meet any snakes in the rock cracks- but Steve thought he felt one in a hold and almost fell off the rock.
We want to see more of the area. There are boat excursions to surrounding islands (including Ko Phi Phi) and to patches of coral for snorkeling. I don’t know what possesses us to sign up for such trips- I don’t do so well on boats and Steve doesn’t like salt water- but I like marine life and islands. The speed boat holds 30 passengers and the guide was awful. He had a strong accent and would yell at people and get flustered when people didn’t follow his instructions (but we couldn’t understand him and many passengers were ESL). The excursion sites were fantastic though! The water was clear turquoise and full of beautiful fish. The water was warm and I felt like I was soaking in an epsom salt bath which was great considering my upper body was aching from the climbing! The guide brought rotten bread along and threw it in the sea causing hundreds of fish to surround the boat- so we didn’t have to venture far to see them, but then I got worried a fish frenzy would attract some larger fish with large teeth that could potentially mistaken my thigh for bread (my tan is weak). We visited some islands and then had a wavey ride to Ko Phi Phi for lunch. I was of course wearing my handy anti-nausea bracelets, but I got a little woozy. Despite being hungry, I only ate a small amount for lunch as a precaution. I laughed to myself when I realized my lunch of spag and pineapple were both delicacies in past vomiting experiences. We walked around Ko Phi Phi, it was pretty and had lots of shops and people. We boated to another beach and opted out of the off shore snorkeling. Ah, the dreaded boat ride back. It was an hour ride and the waves were definitely noticeable. I had befriended a British shipmate who luckily had a plastic bag with her. I chundered, but was really proud of my stealth barfing technique. I don’t think anyone would have noticed had it not dripped red barf drops all over my white towel. Steve offered me a headlamp and I just laughed.
As Steve forces food down with no appetite, I enjoy the great things available. Every morning I have muesli with fresh fruits and yogurt. The restaurants have BBQ’s every night, you choose fish of the day or chicken skewers. It comes with veggies, a potato, and a corn on the cob- all prepared on the BBQ. So delicious!! I feel bad for Steve who usually has no problem eating, he is losing weight and getting a little boney. Next destination- Ko Samui!
We want to see more of the area. There are boat excursions to surrounding islands (including Ko Phi Phi) and to patches of coral for snorkeling. I don’t know what possesses us to sign up for such trips- I don’t do so well on boats and Steve doesn’t like salt water- but I like marine life and islands. The speed boat holds 30 passengers and the guide was awful. He had a strong accent and would yell at people and get flustered when people didn’t follow his instructions (but we couldn’t understand him and many passengers were ESL). The excursion sites were fantastic though! The water was clear turquoise and full of beautiful fish. The water was warm and I felt like I was soaking in an epsom salt bath which was great considering my upper body was aching from the climbing! The guide brought rotten bread along and threw it in the sea causing hundreds of fish to surround the boat- so we didn’t have to venture far to see them, but then I got worried a fish frenzy would attract some larger fish with large teeth that could potentially mistaken my thigh for bread (my tan is weak). We visited some islands and then had a wavey ride to Ko Phi Phi for lunch. I was of course wearing my handy anti-nausea bracelets, but I got a little woozy. Despite being hungry, I only ate a small amount for lunch as a precaution. I laughed to myself when I realized my lunch of spag and pineapple were both delicacies in past vomiting experiences. We walked around Ko Phi Phi, it was pretty and had lots of shops and people. We boated to another beach and opted out of the off shore snorkeling. Ah, the dreaded boat ride back. It was an hour ride and the waves were definitely noticeable. I had befriended a British shipmate who luckily had a plastic bag with her. I chundered, but was really proud of my stealth barfing technique. I don’t think anyone would have noticed had it not dripped red barf drops all over my white towel. Steve offered me a headlamp and I just laughed.
As Steve forces food down with no appetite, I enjoy the great things available. Every morning I have muesli with fresh fruits and yogurt. The restaurants have BBQ’s every night, you choose fish of the day or chicken skewers. It comes with veggies, a potato, and a corn on the cob- all prepared on the BBQ. So delicious!! I feel bad for Steve who usually has no problem eating, he is losing weight and getting a little boney. Next destination- Ko Samui!
Bangkok
How glorious it is to be in Bangkok! A modern clean city where we blend in and where honking is not part of driving! I see cats- lots of cats, which makes me happy because where there are cats there aren’t so many freaky packs of dogs...and malls are everywhere! Every corner has something to buy!
We plan to stay long enough to sort out our visa’s for China. Finding a foreign embassy in a foreign city isn’t the easiest mission but after two attempts we succeed. Our plan for a short stay in BKK is sabotaged by our bowels...ah yes, every travelers worry. Along the way we have had only a few incidents of minor bowel disturbance, but nothing like this. I won’t release the nasty details (for your sake) but it was three more days before we dared leave our room for any extended period. We alternated turns walking to 7-11 to buy essentials like water, yogurt, M&M’s, and oreo’s. We both became exhausted from not eating much and being a little dehydrated. Finally, things were looking ok and we booked out of our room. We went to the mall where toilets are cheap and clean and readily available- just incase! We were ok. We decide to take an overnight bus to the Southern province of Krabi. The bus terminal is another mall! Its awesome. The bus is a double decker and we are on the upper level in the front. Similar to Turkey, there is a stewardess who brings us drinks and snacks. A few hours into the 12 hour ride, we stop at a roadside diner. Steve isn’t hungry but I’m a little rumbly. I follow what everyone else is doing and find out that a thai dinner is included in our ticket. I sit at a table with 5 thai strangers and follow their lead. A server fills my bowl with a watery type of rice. In the middle of the table is a choice of four dishes to add to the water rice. There are boiled eggs cut in half, a plate of what appears to be some kind of sausage, a plate of a boiled leafy green, and little tiny fishes with their heads on still- clearly too small to cut off. I actually thought the fish were grasshoppers at first. I’m just happy with the rice and I avoid eye contact and stare at my bowl. I can feel them glancing at me. I look up- and one of the Thai men with a big smile and a friendly nod offers me the fish plate. Oh no. Oh man. I panic and take one medium sized fishy off the plate and put it in my rice and smile back at him. Its tiny but I can still distinctly make out its eyeballs. He is still watching me and so is that fish. I feel like everyone is watching (maybe I’m still paranoid from India). I put it in my mouth and get a shock of salt flavor! Whooo! Its also very hard and barely chewable. Maybe I was supposed to let it soak in the rice water. I get ‘er down without damaging my esophagus and smile at the man. The old lady beside me tries to fill my bowl with more rice. I make brief eye contact with a young guy and he must have been waiting for it because before I get the chance to look away he is passing me the eggs and urging me to try. Ok, its just an egg so I take it. Its still in half the shell and the technique seems to be to scoop it out and add it to the rice or just eat it with the spoon. I take a small scoop and eat it and almost have to spit it out! Its a salt ball too! But its horrible tasting. Thankfully the table is emptying and the bus is being reloaded and I leave the egg. We sleep a little and arrive to Krabi at 0700hrs.
We are conveniently dropped off at a tourist office and immediately being assisted with tickets and a place to stay and all the usual stuff. The guy has a ride for us to the pier for 500baht- this is for five of us as we have joined forces with a czech and two irish. We are loading the packs and I think back to Bangkok where we took a few cabs and they were VERY cheap. Hmmm...this doesn’t seem right. “Steve we are paying too much, the pier is only 4km away” and he thinks about that and agrees. So does the Irish girl and we talk to the guy and he gets defensive and says its a fair price and I get in a minor dispute which involves Steve dragging me away. I’m glad we did. Its so easy to become glazed over after overnight travel and go along with whatever is presented to you. We go to a little bus that is parked nearby and he charges us 30baht each to the pier. Little buses here are actually pick up trucks with two benches in the bed. The truck brings us to the pier and then we negotiate for a “long boat” to Railay. The water is calm and we are at the Railay beach in 30mins. We have to wade through the water to hit the shore and this is a little tricky with my pack. One guy takes a major dive on the paved sidewalk going from water to shore so I walk in the mud instead. Steve, the master negotiator, gets us a bungalow with a pool for 200baht less than asking! He’s got skills! We are comfy in our latest home with a bathroom, fridge, tv, and airconditioning.
We plan to stay long enough to sort out our visa’s for China. Finding a foreign embassy in a foreign city isn’t the easiest mission but after two attempts we succeed. Our plan for a short stay in BKK is sabotaged by our bowels...ah yes, every travelers worry. Along the way we have had only a few incidents of minor bowel disturbance, but nothing like this. I won’t release the nasty details (for your sake) but it was three more days before we dared leave our room for any extended period. We alternated turns walking to 7-11 to buy essentials like water, yogurt, M&M’s, and oreo’s. We both became exhausted from not eating much and being a little dehydrated. Finally, things were looking ok and we booked out of our room. We went to the mall where toilets are cheap and clean and readily available- just incase! We were ok. We decide to take an overnight bus to the Southern province of Krabi. The bus terminal is another mall! Its awesome. The bus is a double decker and we are on the upper level in the front. Similar to Turkey, there is a stewardess who brings us drinks and snacks. A few hours into the 12 hour ride, we stop at a roadside diner. Steve isn’t hungry but I’m a little rumbly. I follow what everyone else is doing and find out that a thai dinner is included in our ticket. I sit at a table with 5 thai strangers and follow their lead. A server fills my bowl with a watery type of rice. In the middle of the table is a choice of four dishes to add to the water rice. There are boiled eggs cut in half, a plate of what appears to be some kind of sausage, a plate of a boiled leafy green, and little tiny fishes with their heads on still- clearly too small to cut off. I actually thought the fish were grasshoppers at first. I’m just happy with the rice and I avoid eye contact and stare at my bowl. I can feel them glancing at me. I look up- and one of the Thai men with a big smile and a friendly nod offers me the fish plate. Oh no. Oh man. I panic and take one medium sized fishy off the plate and put it in my rice and smile back at him. Its tiny but I can still distinctly make out its eyeballs. He is still watching me and so is that fish. I feel like everyone is watching (maybe I’m still paranoid from India). I put it in my mouth and get a shock of salt flavor! Whooo! Its also very hard and barely chewable. Maybe I was supposed to let it soak in the rice water. I get ‘er down without damaging my esophagus and smile at the man. The old lady beside me tries to fill my bowl with more rice. I make brief eye contact with a young guy and he must have been waiting for it because before I get the chance to look away he is passing me the eggs and urging me to try. Ok, its just an egg so I take it. Its still in half the shell and the technique seems to be to scoop it out and add it to the rice or just eat it with the spoon. I take a small scoop and eat it and almost have to spit it out! Its a salt ball too! But its horrible tasting. Thankfully the table is emptying and the bus is being reloaded and I leave the egg. We sleep a little and arrive to Krabi at 0700hrs.
We are conveniently dropped off at a tourist office and immediately being assisted with tickets and a place to stay and all the usual stuff. The guy has a ride for us to the pier for 500baht- this is for five of us as we have joined forces with a czech and two irish. We are loading the packs and I think back to Bangkok where we took a few cabs and they were VERY cheap. Hmmm...this doesn’t seem right. “Steve we are paying too much, the pier is only 4km away” and he thinks about that and agrees. So does the Irish girl and we talk to the guy and he gets defensive and says its a fair price and I get in a minor dispute which involves Steve dragging me away. I’m glad we did. Its so easy to become glazed over after overnight travel and go along with whatever is presented to you. We go to a little bus that is parked nearby and he charges us 30baht each to the pier. Little buses here are actually pick up trucks with two benches in the bed. The truck brings us to the pier and then we negotiate for a “long boat” to Railay. The water is calm and we are at the Railay beach in 30mins. We have to wade through the water to hit the shore and this is a little tricky with my pack. One guy takes a major dive on the paved sidewalk going from water to shore so I walk in the mud instead. Steve, the master negotiator, gets us a bungalow with a pool for 200baht less than asking! He’s got skills! We are comfy in our latest home with a bathroom, fridge, tv, and airconditioning.
Friday, August 21, 2009
The Golden Triangle
Our driver’s name is Parveen. His english is passable and he seems nice enough. We leave Delhi at 0900hrs and even though Jaipur is only 250km away, it will take the better part of the day to get there. The roads are decent (much better than the one to Varanasi) but they are packed with traffic and of course cows. There are also 4 or 5 toll booths along this stretch of highway. I’m looking forward to Jaipur, the Lonely Planet makes it sound like a little gem of a city. As we get closer to the city we see more and more camels, elephants, wild pigs, and peacocks. Parveen suggests a hotel for us (we know about the commission but at this point don’t really care anymore) and say ok. We get to this place and the guy is excited to see us and takes us to a room. He opens the door and its a massive fancy suite- for only 3500rps. Ugh. We are looking for something under 1000...he takes us to another room, smaller but still nice. Its 1600. We say no but thanks and try to leave. The negotiations begin. I don’t negotiate- that is Steves area. He gets him down to 1200 which we still think is too high so we leave. Its outside of town anyway. We give Parveen another chance. This time we go to a smaller less fancy place and get a room for 500. Its near the old city which is also known as the Pink City. A prince way back in the day painted the city pink (considered a welcoming color in Hinduism) and the tradition has been carried on. According to the Lonely Planet the city is beautiful and the pink glows at sunset, colorful sari’s blow in the breeze...etc. I am so excited! We freshen up and head out for the pink city. We’ve been sitting in the car all day so we decide to walk. Tuk tuk’s and rickshaws pester us and follow us. The streets are typical of what we’ve come to know in India, full of garbage, stink, animal excrement, and street food. Its a long walk to the gates of the Pink City. I’m not sure if they actually are the gates because they don’t look entirely pink to me. More of a rusty light red. Ok, I think, thats ok, lets go in, its evening and the city will be warm and glowing. We enter the gates, instantly the streets are smaller and more packed, we dodge traffic and people. Its so crowded we can’t walk together. There is mud and garbage everywhere and among that people are selling fruit and junk. So between all the people and chaos, we focus on not getting ran over- the side walks behind the vendors are used as the garbage dump and packs of dogs are lurking there. The buildings are in shambles and the rusty red color isn’t what I had envisioned. Its a horrible smelly hole and for the first time in our travels I am disappointed in Lonely Planet. I am entirely disappointed in this so called “pink city”. We push through the crowds and traffic for a few minutes, I turn to Steve and say “I’m ready to go.” He has been so patient with this and he gladly gets us a tuk tuk and we make our way back to the hotel. There is a performance with dancers, musicians, and a magician at our hotel that night. Its interesting and we enjoy it. The magician is really entertaining and Steve likes his homemade top hat complete with skull and crossbones.
Parveen picks us up to take us to more sites in Jaipur. We tell him we walked into the pink city and he says “oh how was it? nice isn’t it?” Steve says “yup it was nice” and I am just thinking to myself how not nice it was but Steve says we shouldn’t complain about India to Indian people. He has a point and I hold back about how it needs a paint job and a good cleaning. The monsoon rain is pouring and the streets flood. People walk around barefoot and carry on about their business. We go to the Amber Fort which is up on a hill just outside of Jaipur. It is a massive place!! Huge courtyards and all sorts of passages and walkways. The views from the fort are impressive and we have a nice time exploring- and of course dodging the cameras of men. We enter one room and there is a distinct strong sour smell. I look down a well and it is full of bats!! I try to take some photos but the noise or flash or my presence bothers them and a few fly around- we run away. We’ve been warned about the rabies in India! There are elephants carrying tourists up the hill to the fort. They enter the courtyard to off load the passengers. We stand next to them as they pass- they are really amazing creatures! Their size is unreal! Their feet are so neat! Then the driver beats them over the head with a stick. Elephants are intelligent animals and I am worried they are beat like this.
I am looking forward to visiting the Hawa Mahal. There is a photo of it in Lonely Planet and it looks fantastic! When we get to it, I am surprised. It is on a very busy street surrounded by dilapidated buildings. Parveen advises us not to go inside as “its full of garbage”. I had imagined it to be standing alone in grandeur! It is still an interesting structure- I jump out to take some photos and have yet to take one before a man is directing me to some building to get a better view. I kindly decline but like most people here he chooses not to listen and joins me on the side of the street trying to convince me to go. While this is happening a woman is holding her baby at Steve’s window and asking for money. We visit the city Palace and by then end of the day we are exhausted.
We leave for Agra in the morning. I am super stoked to finally see the Taj Mahal! Its down pouring for most of the drive but we still stop at a famous fort/mosque. We get soaked and our umbrella from France is falling apart. The fort was widespread like the last one with many passages. We enter one building and smell that distinct bat smell and leave. We wander around and I begin to feel unwell. A young girl latches on to us as we walk back to the car. She says to Steve “your umbrella broken sir, its a gift for me?” then she points out piles of cow poo for us along the path. We are soaked and back on the road. Being on the road means passing more toll booths. We laugh at one when we see one man collecting the toll, one counting the change, and one marking down the number of cars! Three men working in one booth! We have noticed this in other places too. We go in a purse shop, one man to open the door, one to follow you around, one at the cash register, and one cleaning the bags- twice as many people working there as necessary! At least they are “working”...another example: We see 5-6 police men around one radar gun with only one car. Hmmmm...
We get to Agra, its crowded and polluted like every other city we’ve seen. The last bit of highway was rugged and rough. I am really feeling unwell and my anti-nausea bracelets don’t seem to be helping. We get to the hotel and I lay down. I am contemplating which end to go over the toilet! Soon enough I am chundering while sitting on the can. I’m crying and moaning and basically in agony. I am all cramped up and absolutely miserable. Steve, my fabulous nurse, is rustling around in the room. He comes into the bathroom with a headlamp. A headlamp???!! What the heck? A cool cloth or a gravol might be nice, but a headlamp? I groaned “what is that for?” He answered “I thought you want to see what your doing” at the moment I just shooed him away and cried some more...but now, I see how well he listened! My last vomiting session was in Nepal behind a tea house in the pitch black and I asked for some water and a headlamp. However, the light was on in the bathroom and I could see just fine! Hahahha! He is so funny. Once again Steve tucks me into bed and cleans out the bucket I used. We had arranged an Agra tour with a friend of Brandi’s, but after a couple more hours of misery we decided we should cancel. That sucked, I was looking forward to meeting an Indian woman (I’ve had enough of the men) and was planning a little shopping with her. I have only bought 2 pillow cases and some chai tea the whole time! In the end it was a good choice as I am up most of the night with stomach pain and frequent bathroom trips.
We do see the Taj. We take a nice little tuk tuk through the garbage strewn streets and are at the gates. Foreigners pay 750rps each whereas locals pay something like 50. We walk along a nice path towards a giant gate. Through the gate is the Taj- and its absolutely amazing! It looks like a painting and is stunning! I have time to enjoy this for a moment and take one photo before I hear a “click”- I look to my left and a man has his cellphone camera at my head. This time I am soooo mad! I am tired and cranky and now I am mad too. Ugh. Steve says “let me see that, let me see” and points at the phone. The guy is all smiles and proudly shows Steve the picture. Steve is mad too and says “you like my wife? you take her picture? thats 50rps” Apparently the guy didn’t speak english...or decided to appear that way. I scowl at him and his group of friends and say “why do you do that? Your a bunch of pigs!” Maybe they understood that or they could tell I was mad because they all looked uncomfortable. We walked around the Taj for an hour or so. The detail in the building is wonderful and from every side it looks the same. I’m happy we went and saw this!
After a shower and some toast I am feeling a little better. We visit Agra’s Red Fort and are then on the highway back to Delhi. Its a long drive (not for distance but for time) with 4 more toll booths. We have Parveen drop up off right at the airport even though our flight is seven hours away. We are done with India and have no desire to see anything more. Parveen has been ok, but I’m tired of listening to him complain about how poor he is. Its not a place we have really enjoyed, but at the same time nothing really horrible happened. I don’t like how I feel in India. Not trusting anyone and being stared at and being ripped off...makes me dislike them and put them all in one bucket of badness. I know there are good people there, but I didn’t meet them. When I build up this wall of distrust I feel like a bad person. I don’t want people near me, don’t talk to me, just get away. I feel like now, the sites in Egypt were worth the hassle, but I can’t say that about India. I think I need more time to reflect on all this...I’ll do that on the beach! Thailand here we come!
Parveen picks us up to take us to more sites in Jaipur. We tell him we walked into the pink city and he says “oh how was it? nice isn’t it?” Steve says “yup it was nice” and I am just thinking to myself how not nice it was but Steve says we shouldn’t complain about India to Indian people. He has a point and I hold back about how it needs a paint job and a good cleaning. The monsoon rain is pouring and the streets flood. People walk around barefoot and carry on about their business. We go to the Amber Fort which is up on a hill just outside of Jaipur. It is a massive place!! Huge courtyards and all sorts of passages and walkways. The views from the fort are impressive and we have a nice time exploring- and of course dodging the cameras of men. We enter one room and there is a distinct strong sour smell. I look down a well and it is full of bats!! I try to take some photos but the noise or flash or my presence bothers them and a few fly around- we run away. We’ve been warned about the rabies in India! There are elephants carrying tourists up the hill to the fort. They enter the courtyard to off load the passengers. We stand next to them as they pass- they are really amazing creatures! Their size is unreal! Their feet are so neat! Then the driver beats them over the head with a stick. Elephants are intelligent animals and I am worried they are beat like this.
I am looking forward to visiting the Hawa Mahal. There is a photo of it in Lonely Planet and it looks fantastic! When we get to it, I am surprised. It is on a very busy street surrounded by dilapidated buildings. Parveen advises us not to go inside as “its full of garbage”. I had imagined it to be standing alone in grandeur! It is still an interesting structure- I jump out to take some photos and have yet to take one before a man is directing me to some building to get a better view. I kindly decline but like most people here he chooses not to listen and joins me on the side of the street trying to convince me to go. While this is happening a woman is holding her baby at Steve’s window and asking for money. We visit the city Palace and by then end of the day we are exhausted.
We leave for Agra in the morning. I am super stoked to finally see the Taj Mahal! Its down pouring for most of the drive but we still stop at a famous fort/mosque. We get soaked and our umbrella from France is falling apart. The fort was widespread like the last one with many passages. We enter one building and smell that distinct bat smell and leave. We wander around and I begin to feel unwell. A young girl latches on to us as we walk back to the car. She says to Steve “your umbrella broken sir, its a gift for me?” then she points out piles of cow poo for us along the path. We are soaked and back on the road. Being on the road means passing more toll booths. We laugh at one when we see one man collecting the toll, one counting the change, and one marking down the number of cars! Three men working in one booth! We have noticed this in other places too. We go in a purse shop, one man to open the door, one to follow you around, one at the cash register, and one cleaning the bags- twice as many people working there as necessary! At least they are “working”...another example: We see 5-6 police men around one radar gun with only one car. Hmmmm...
We get to Agra, its crowded and polluted like every other city we’ve seen. The last bit of highway was rugged and rough. I am really feeling unwell and my anti-nausea bracelets don’t seem to be helping. We get to the hotel and I lay down. I am contemplating which end to go over the toilet! Soon enough I am chundering while sitting on the can. I’m crying and moaning and basically in agony. I am all cramped up and absolutely miserable. Steve, my fabulous nurse, is rustling around in the room. He comes into the bathroom with a headlamp. A headlamp???!! What the heck? A cool cloth or a gravol might be nice, but a headlamp? I groaned “what is that for?” He answered “I thought you want to see what your doing” at the moment I just shooed him away and cried some more...but now, I see how well he listened! My last vomiting session was in Nepal behind a tea house in the pitch black and I asked for some water and a headlamp. However, the light was on in the bathroom and I could see just fine! Hahahha! He is so funny. Once again Steve tucks me into bed and cleans out the bucket I used. We had arranged an Agra tour with a friend of Brandi’s, but after a couple more hours of misery we decided we should cancel. That sucked, I was looking forward to meeting an Indian woman (I’ve had enough of the men) and was planning a little shopping with her. I have only bought 2 pillow cases and some chai tea the whole time! In the end it was a good choice as I am up most of the night with stomach pain and frequent bathroom trips.
We do see the Taj. We take a nice little tuk tuk through the garbage strewn streets and are at the gates. Foreigners pay 750rps each whereas locals pay something like 50. We walk along a nice path towards a giant gate. Through the gate is the Taj- and its absolutely amazing! It looks like a painting and is stunning! I have time to enjoy this for a moment and take one photo before I hear a “click”- I look to my left and a man has his cellphone camera at my head. This time I am soooo mad! I am tired and cranky and now I am mad too. Ugh. Steve says “let me see that, let me see” and points at the phone. The guy is all smiles and proudly shows Steve the picture. Steve is mad too and says “you like my wife? you take her picture? thats 50rps” Apparently the guy didn’t speak english...or decided to appear that way. I scowl at him and his group of friends and say “why do you do that? Your a bunch of pigs!” Maybe they understood that or they could tell I was mad because they all looked uncomfortable. We walked around the Taj for an hour or so. The detail in the building is wonderful and from every side it looks the same. I’m happy we went and saw this!
After a shower and some toast I am feeling a little better. We visit Agra’s Red Fort and are then on the highway back to Delhi. Its a long drive (not for distance but for time) with 4 more toll booths. We have Parveen drop up off right at the airport even though our flight is seven hours away. We are done with India and have no desire to see anything more. Parveen has been ok, but I’m tired of listening to him complain about how poor he is. Its not a place we have really enjoyed, but at the same time nothing really horrible happened. I don’t like how I feel in India. Not trusting anyone and being stared at and being ripped off...makes me dislike them and put them all in one bucket of badness. I know there are good people there, but I didn’t meet them. When I build up this wall of distrust I feel like a bad person. I don’t want people near me, don’t talk to me, just get away. I feel like now, the sites in Egypt were worth the hassle, but I can’t say that about India. I think I need more time to reflect on all this...I’ll do that on the beach! Thailand here we come!
Delhi
We’ve worked on the just ‘go with the flow’ plan...but man I get frustrated here!
We arrived to Delhi around 0800. I hardly slept on the overnight train despite having a sleeper. We couldn’t get a sleeper with AC but we did have three big fans blowing on us and open windows all night. I would like to know where all the women are in India!!? We see so few! I saw only two in our cabin on the train and the rest were men- dozens and dozens of them! The sleeper we were in was one big train compartment and is similar to an army barracks! Basically, you walk down an aisle and on one side are cubby holes containing 6 beds (two rows stacked three high). On the other side are two bunks running parallel to the aisle. So, anyone walking by can see you...there are no doors and no privacy. There is a half wall and a mini sort of chain link fence between us and the other upper bunks. The compartment is huge! Until later in the night, everyone sits on the bottom bunk- to eat or visit. People come down the aisles selling various foods like chai, omelets, veg burgers (which is raw veggies on a hamburger bun). The train also serves dinner if you want it. Steve ordered a veggie dinner and as we were waiting for that two oversized police men came towards us. They shooed away sitting passengers and took their seats. The one who appeared to be in charge said “What country are you from?” Steve answered ‘Canada’ and he even did it without the squirmy hesitation that strikes him at every U.S. border crossing. The one in charge handed me a paper in a plastic cover. It was a dozen or so warnings to tourists traveling on Indian rail. For example we are not to talk to anyone, not to give anyone money, not to accept food or drinks from anyone as they may contain poison, we are to keep all money and valuables next to skin, lock our bags, and not to leave our bags unattended, and to find one of them if we have any trouble, etc. Then we sign a paper saying we read the warnings. I asked “where do we find you” and he just nodded and gave me a look that said ‘don’t worry- we find you’...I have heard they are always near us. So off they go and then comes Steve’s dinner. He finished that up and we read for a while. When the train stopped, poor people, disabled people, and performing people, entered the train for baksheesh. A little boy sang and played the rocks- just like some people play the spoons! He should go on “India has Talent” because he was pretty good! A little boy came on holding an old blind mans hand- the blind man sang and the little boy collected coins. One guy came on and his legs were deformed so he used his arms as legs. Half naked dirty kids came on...
Soon enough we climbed up to our top bunks, cable locked our bags to our beds and tried to get comfortable. The bunks are hard and narrow. I looked down and see men sharing bunks! I don’t know how they did it- they slept at opposite ends of the bunk. Also, through the night the train picked up more and more people- and these people had no seat, they were in the aisles and on the floor. There was a rather heated argument in hindi that broke out in the cubby hole next to me at 0200 and lasted for a long time.
Finally that train gets to Delhi, it has barely stopped and a women is thrusting her child through one of the unbarred windows and the kid starts gathering bottles. We get off the train and are pounced on by rickshaw and cab drivers. We have found a hotel on tripadvisor, we know its near Jassa Ram Hospital and that it should only be 3km from the station. Everyone here is trying to make a buck, and the drivers are notorious for taking tourists to hotels where they receive a commission (the commission is of course paid by us and can be rather high) or to a travel agency where they also receive commission. So we are looking for the pre-paid taxi/rickshaw booth but when I say we are being pounced on I am not exaggerating. We can barely push through this crowd- all of whom are vying for our business. With no pre-paid booth in site, we give in to frustration and get a motorized rickshaw. We agree on 200rps for both (WAY over priced- we find out later it should be 50rps!!!) and we ask to be taken to Jassa Ram. We thought the man setting the price was the driver but no, he is the tout. So we all pile in the rickshaw and the whole way he is fishing for information- do you have a hotel, a tour booked, I know this place, I know that...we just keep saying we need to go to Jassa Ram. We are so happy to get there, but we know we have to get rid of these guys. Steve goes to pay him and the tout says “220” and Steve says “No way, 200 is enough” and we walk to the hospital entrance. We can see in the reflection of the doors that they aren’t leaving, they are watching us. So we enter the hospital and go to the front desk, Steve asks to use the bathroom, and he takes his sweet time doing so. Finally the rickshaw disappears. Now on foot, we take a couple wrong turns, but find our hotel in less than 30 mins. Yay! It isn’t a bad place, we have AC, wifi, and breakfast included. Its also near a shopping district of the non-tourist area- so prices are marked and locals are shopping. There is even a McDonalds a few blocks away- complete with metal detectors and guards! We settle in nicely and rest for the day.
The next morning Steve is not feeling well. He is sneezing like mad, has a sore throat, a cough, and fatigue. By the afternoon he has a fever, chills, and diarrhea. Swine flu crosses my mind so I download some info on when to seek medical help but keep in mind that the hubs is perfectly healthy. No sense in getting panicked, so we wait. I ventured out solo to a corner store to get him some juice and water. The fever subsides by the evening but he is so weak. He has no appetite and I am starving, I haven't eaten since my toast for breakfast. So, Steve being the best husband, musters up the energy to walk with me to get some take away dinner. It nearly knocks him out! He spikes again through the night but the next day no more fever. He feels weak but well enough to take a little tour around Delhi. We hire a driver and guide...Instantly I don’t like the guide, I don’t like how he talks to me and I don’t like how he talks to the driver- like we are of lower quality. We visit popular sites around the city- a massive hindu temple, the government buildings, India gate, Indira Ghandi’s Memorial/museum, and my favorite- the Lotus Temple. While trying to enjoy Indira’s memorial, a group of five guys keep trying to take my photo- I keep turning away, but it really starts to annoy me- I’m trying to enjoy and learn at this place and at the same time avoid them. We wait for them to get ahead of us. But as soon as we walk outside they are there waiting- this time with video. I am so irritated, I said something along the lines of don’t do that and leave me alone and Steve acts as my shield. In the courtyard they ask Steve for a photo. I am walking away because we know they want my photo but Steve plays dumb and jumps in for a pic with them and asks for 5 rupees. They say “we want a picture with her” and Steve said “that will cost 50 rupees” hahaha! They look at him like he is crazy. A similar sequence of events happens at the lotus temple. Its incredibly frustrating.
The contrast between rich and poor in Delhi is unreal. We see massive shiny skyscrapers with shacks built from garbage at their bases. Some streets look like they could be anywhere in North America and the next street is a dump- literally. The poverty here is depressing and widespread. Beggars are everywhere and tap on our car windows at almost every stoplight. The tour guide is annoying to me. We have about 20 mins before the Lotus Temple opens for visitors. He says “we go to government emporium” which is like a shopping place. We are cool with that because its always better to be in air conditioning than in the heat. The vendors at the place are aggressive and pushy. We go into the jewelry section and I spot matching ankle bracelets I like. I ask how much, he says “3600rps” then says “its real silver” so I inspect it. No stamp. I am proud of my recently acquired assertiveness and ask “where is the stamp?” he fumbles around with it and then says “you try on here” and points to a mirror. I have enough junk jewelry to know what feels fake and it certainly doesn’t feel real...hmmm. I reply “you said its silver and there is no stamp and it feels fake” He says “its real” I say “no its not and you are a liar” and walk away. I know the stamp can be counterfeit too- but they didn’t even bother faking that. Steve is beside me now and says “whats wrong?” I tell him what happened. The other jewler says “I will show you real stuff!” but I am so mad I get out of that scammer joint. Our guide is following us and asking what is wrong- why we aren’t shopping. I tell him they are scammers and try to sell me fake silver. “Ok, I know another place” and we walk around the corner. This time its the pillow cases that catch my eye. I bought two similar ones in Turkey and two from India would be nice. “How much?” and the guy says “900 rps.” I said “thats way too high.” Twenty dollars for one??? I paid maybe $2-3 in Turkey! Nothing was marked in the ‘emporium’ and I read that gov. emporiums have fixed prices. Knowledge is power and we bolted. No commission for our scuzzy guide either. By the end of the tour, Steve is completely exhausted. He hasn’t been eating and has no energy left.
We planned to see Jaipur and Agra by storing our packs at the hotel and just jumping on trains with small day bags. But thus far our encounters with people here have not been good- I trust absolutely no one and feel like we are constantly being preyed upon for money. We change our plans. Instead we hire a car and driver to take us to these places. This way we don’t have to worry about booking the train tickets which allows us more flexibility and best of all- less interaction with the people. We scope out the Air India office (with much hassle- “its not here anymore”, “it moved to the airport- I can take you there for 40rps” etc etc) at Connaught Place and joyfully change the departure dates on our tickets. We wander around Connaught Place and I see a lady selling cushion covers! Hmmmm....”how much?” and she says “100rps” I almost jump with glee! I don’t even bother haggling and I buy two. I feel like I have won something. Finally we head to the Red fort (its closed due to the upcoming Independance Day) and then go back to our hotel.
We arrived to Delhi around 0800. I hardly slept on the overnight train despite having a sleeper. We couldn’t get a sleeper with AC but we did have three big fans blowing on us and open windows all night. I would like to know where all the women are in India!!? We see so few! I saw only two in our cabin on the train and the rest were men- dozens and dozens of them! The sleeper we were in was one big train compartment and is similar to an army barracks! Basically, you walk down an aisle and on one side are cubby holes containing 6 beds (two rows stacked three high). On the other side are two bunks running parallel to the aisle. So, anyone walking by can see you...there are no doors and no privacy. There is a half wall and a mini sort of chain link fence between us and the other upper bunks. The compartment is huge! Until later in the night, everyone sits on the bottom bunk- to eat or visit. People come down the aisles selling various foods like chai, omelets, veg burgers (which is raw veggies on a hamburger bun). The train also serves dinner if you want it. Steve ordered a veggie dinner and as we were waiting for that two oversized police men came towards us. They shooed away sitting passengers and took their seats. The one who appeared to be in charge said “What country are you from?” Steve answered ‘Canada’ and he even did it without the squirmy hesitation that strikes him at every U.S. border crossing. The one in charge handed me a paper in a plastic cover. It was a dozen or so warnings to tourists traveling on Indian rail. For example we are not to talk to anyone, not to give anyone money, not to accept food or drinks from anyone as they may contain poison, we are to keep all money and valuables next to skin, lock our bags, and not to leave our bags unattended, and to find one of them if we have any trouble, etc. Then we sign a paper saying we read the warnings. I asked “where do we find you” and he just nodded and gave me a look that said ‘don’t worry- we find you’...I have heard they are always near us. So off they go and then comes Steve’s dinner. He finished that up and we read for a while. When the train stopped, poor people, disabled people, and performing people, entered the train for baksheesh. A little boy sang and played the rocks- just like some people play the spoons! He should go on “India has Talent” because he was pretty good! A little boy came on holding an old blind mans hand- the blind man sang and the little boy collected coins. One guy came on and his legs were deformed so he used his arms as legs. Half naked dirty kids came on...
Soon enough we climbed up to our top bunks, cable locked our bags to our beds and tried to get comfortable. The bunks are hard and narrow. I looked down and see men sharing bunks! I don’t know how they did it- they slept at opposite ends of the bunk. Also, through the night the train picked up more and more people- and these people had no seat, they were in the aisles and on the floor. There was a rather heated argument in hindi that broke out in the cubby hole next to me at 0200 and lasted for a long time.
Finally that train gets to Delhi, it has barely stopped and a women is thrusting her child through one of the unbarred windows and the kid starts gathering bottles. We get off the train and are pounced on by rickshaw and cab drivers. We have found a hotel on tripadvisor, we know its near Jassa Ram Hospital and that it should only be 3km from the station. Everyone here is trying to make a buck, and the drivers are notorious for taking tourists to hotels where they receive a commission (the commission is of course paid by us and can be rather high) or to a travel agency where they also receive commission. So we are looking for the pre-paid taxi/rickshaw booth but when I say we are being pounced on I am not exaggerating. We can barely push through this crowd- all of whom are vying for our business. With no pre-paid booth in site, we give in to frustration and get a motorized rickshaw. We agree on 200rps for both (WAY over priced- we find out later it should be 50rps!!!) and we ask to be taken to Jassa Ram. We thought the man setting the price was the driver but no, he is the tout. So we all pile in the rickshaw and the whole way he is fishing for information- do you have a hotel, a tour booked, I know this place, I know that...we just keep saying we need to go to Jassa Ram. We are so happy to get there, but we know we have to get rid of these guys. Steve goes to pay him and the tout says “220” and Steve says “No way, 200 is enough” and we walk to the hospital entrance. We can see in the reflection of the doors that they aren’t leaving, they are watching us. So we enter the hospital and go to the front desk, Steve asks to use the bathroom, and he takes his sweet time doing so. Finally the rickshaw disappears. Now on foot, we take a couple wrong turns, but find our hotel in less than 30 mins. Yay! It isn’t a bad place, we have AC, wifi, and breakfast included. Its also near a shopping district of the non-tourist area- so prices are marked and locals are shopping. There is even a McDonalds a few blocks away- complete with metal detectors and guards! We settle in nicely and rest for the day.
The next morning Steve is not feeling well. He is sneezing like mad, has a sore throat, a cough, and fatigue. By the afternoon he has a fever, chills, and diarrhea. Swine flu crosses my mind so I download some info on when to seek medical help but keep in mind that the hubs is perfectly healthy. No sense in getting panicked, so we wait. I ventured out solo to a corner store to get him some juice and water. The fever subsides by the evening but he is so weak. He has no appetite and I am starving, I haven't eaten since my toast for breakfast. So, Steve being the best husband, musters up the energy to walk with me to get some take away dinner. It nearly knocks him out! He spikes again through the night but the next day no more fever. He feels weak but well enough to take a little tour around Delhi. We hire a driver and guide...Instantly I don’t like the guide, I don’t like how he talks to me and I don’t like how he talks to the driver- like we are of lower quality. We visit popular sites around the city- a massive hindu temple, the government buildings, India gate, Indira Ghandi’s Memorial/museum, and my favorite- the Lotus Temple. While trying to enjoy Indira’s memorial, a group of five guys keep trying to take my photo- I keep turning away, but it really starts to annoy me- I’m trying to enjoy and learn at this place and at the same time avoid them. We wait for them to get ahead of us. But as soon as we walk outside they are there waiting- this time with video. I am so irritated, I said something along the lines of don’t do that and leave me alone and Steve acts as my shield. In the courtyard they ask Steve for a photo. I am walking away because we know they want my photo but Steve plays dumb and jumps in for a pic with them and asks for 5 rupees. They say “we want a picture with her” and Steve said “that will cost 50 rupees” hahaha! They look at him like he is crazy. A similar sequence of events happens at the lotus temple. Its incredibly frustrating.
The contrast between rich and poor in Delhi is unreal. We see massive shiny skyscrapers with shacks built from garbage at their bases. Some streets look like they could be anywhere in North America and the next street is a dump- literally. The poverty here is depressing and widespread. Beggars are everywhere and tap on our car windows at almost every stoplight. The tour guide is annoying to me. We have about 20 mins before the Lotus Temple opens for visitors. He says “we go to government emporium” which is like a shopping place. We are cool with that because its always better to be in air conditioning than in the heat. The vendors at the place are aggressive and pushy. We go into the jewelry section and I spot matching ankle bracelets I like. I ask how much, he says “3600rps” then says “its real silver” so I inspect it. No stamp. I am proud of my recently acquired assertiveness and ask “where is the stamp?” he fumbles around with it and then says “you try on here” and points to a mirror. I have enough junk jewelry to know what feels fake and it certainly doesn’t feel real...hmmm. I reply “you said its silver and there is no stamp and it feels fake” He says “its real” I say “no its not and you are a liar” and walk away. I know the stamp can be counterfeit too- but they didn’t even bother faking that. Steve is beside me now and says “whats wrong?” I tell him what happened. The other jewler says “I will show you real stuff!” but I am so mad I get out of that scammer joint. Our guide is following us and asking what is wrong- why we aren’t shopping. I tell him they are scammers and try to sell me fake silver. “Ok, I know another place” and we walk around the corner. This time its the pillow cases that catch my eye. I bought two similar ones in Turkey and two from India would be nice. “How much?” and the guy says “900 rps.” I said “thats way too high.” Twenty dollars for one??? I paid maybe $2-3 in Turkey! Nothing was marked in the ‘emporium’ and I read that gov. emporiums have fixed prices. Knowledge is power and we bolted. No commission for our scuzzy guide either. By the end of the tour, Steve is completely exhausted. He hasn’t been eating and has no energy left.
We planned to see Jaipur and Agra by storing our packs at the hotel and just jumping on trains with small day bags. But thus far our encounters with people here have not been good- I trust absolutely no one and feel like we are constantly being preyed upon for money. We change our plans. Instead we hire a car and driver to take us to these places. This way we don’t have to worry about booking the train tickets which allows us more flexibility and best of all- less interaction with the people. We scope out the Air India office (with much hassle- “its not here anymore”, “it moved to the airport- I can take you there for 40rps” etc etc) at Connaught Place and joyfully change the departure dates on our tickets. We wander around Connaught Place and I see a lady selling cushion covers! Hmmmm....”how much?” and she says “100rps” I almost jump with glee! I don’t even bother haggling and I buy two. I feel like I have won something. Finally we head to the Red fort (its closed due to the upcoming Independance Day) and then go back to our hotel.
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