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Published: December 1st 2014
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WELL HELLO PASSPORT!!!!
I'm back on the road again, and this time I've got a great travel sidekick...so here we go!
OK, I have lots of thoughts from our one month in India. So to avoid a babbling blog, I’ve come up with “The Travel 5s” --- Stoyan and I have been summing up thoughts/memories and organizing them neatly into groups of 5 (Yay! Organizing). This will hopefully give you a quick glimpse of all the glorious (and not so glorious) moments travel has to offer.
Some Of Our Favorite Moments 1. Feeling “lost in time”. Not knowing the day of the week or the time of day (Stoy)
2. Reading books start to finish (Stoy)
3. No electronics allowed in
Akshardham Temple …no cameras, no phones. Nothing. (Squirrel)
4. Sade playing on a tranquil rooftop café, overlooking the Himalayan mountains (Stoy & Squirrel)
5. The smell of jasmine on night walks around
Norling, our Tibetan Guest House (Stoy & Squirrel)
Some Least Favorite Moments 1. Old Bandaid and random hair found in the stained sheets of “luxury” hotel bed (Both a least favorite for Stoy AND Squirrel)
2. Constantly Honking horns and barking dogs (Mostly Squirrel, Stoy
Travel Buddy
Introducing Stoyan to my travelblog! Also will be posting some of his photos, to view ALL our travel photos please check out Stoyan's webpage: https://www.facebook.com/aliveandclickn has a higher tolerance for loud volumes)
3. About a bascillion plastic bottles, with no trash pickup (Squirrel!)
4. Numerous “Hassle freak outs” Stoy’s internal breakdown from the endless hassling and begging one gets when you are a tall white man with an expensive camera (Stoy)
5. Mosquito attacks (poor Stoy)
Top 5 Foods 1. Chocolate cake with fresh cream and a pot of masala Chai tea.
2. The Popcorn Wagon, not really a food, but any Berger will understand my joy
3. Beet & Curry soup with homemade garlic butter and toasted french baguette (goes well with ginger tea and carrot salad)
4. Tibetan Mothuk soup- hot vegetable and chili dumpling soup that's good for our colds, good for the soul
5. Thali chicken – done right, this is heaven for dip lovers
Squirrel's Final Thoughts:
The Dalai Lama’s a cool guy with nice things to say.
There was quite a bit of craziness at the teachings of the Dalai Lama. It was loud, crowded and there was a great deal of pushing and shoving. Hot butter tea was spilled on our laps, and Stoyan got hit in the head from a monk throwing Tibetan bread
across the “sacred” temple. But through the chaos, that Dalai Lama really does have some lovely things to say. My top 5 notes are as follows:
• To overcome suffering you must detach
• Detachments is the end of ignorance
• Attachment, anger and ignorance are the root of all negativity
• Strive to end conceptual grasping
• Cultivate virtuous wholesome actions – and always avoid negative actions
The smells are both amazing and appalling. Our 5 most memorable smells (and usually you can smell them all at the same time)
• Jasmine
• Incense
• Curry
• Cow manure
• Burning Trash/Sewage
Travel Insurance is a good idea. Our near death experiences include*:
• A mean bull knocking me off the trail with his horns (and almost over a cliff)
• A goat stampede
• An aggressive monkey attack
• Numerous Taxi & Tuk Tuk near collisions/overturns
• The mysterious virus Stoyan was lucky enough to catch (!)
*Not for mom eyes! The Taj Mahal is unimpressive. WHAT? GASP! That’s right. I was COMPLETELY unimpressed with the Taj Mahal and would always choose a quiet and sacred space like
Akshardram Temple over Taj Mahal any day! My 5 most annoying
Goat Stampede
Photo by Stoyan Stoyanov: https://www.facebook.com/aliveandclickn things about the Taj Mahal
• Hasslers
• Crowds
• Segregation of India and Westerners
• Endless selfies
• The ride through Agra
The tuth is all relative Originally titled Indians are lying to me, but that felt and is, highly inappropriate. Because it wasn’t that they were “lying”, really. They just have a different version of the truth. And of course not ALL of them, but really most of them. So instead of getting frustrated, it was easier just to have these internal translations in my head for when traveling in India:
• The weather will be beautiful today = It may be pleasant, or there may be a hail storm
• “I know him he is my best friend” = This means, the person might have met or seen them around once, but probably not
• Clean room = Let’s just say there is no such things as pure white
• Luxury room – There is a lock on the door (also goes for “Romantic atmosphere” = There is a lock on the door)
• Fine dining – There are utensils (although eating Hindi style is fun, if you can do it right!)
So goodbye for now India!
Love This Shot
Stoy's got some super amazing photos from our trek up to Triund: https://www.facebook.com/aliveandclickn Our next stop Thailand!
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sandy
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I am so happy you have a travel buddy! Hard to believe the month in India has come and gone. I love hearing about your adventures broken down into organized posts :) miss you..xoxoxo ps. stoy, the photos are outstanding.