CamraMaan

And this time for no good reason. It took me a couple days of traveling to get back down to Palolem, Goa, and internet wasn't really an option until I got down here. Then it sunk in again: relaxation. Plus I was kind of scared about sitting down and trying to recap so much time that hadn't been covered yet. So much happens every day that I can't do justice to it all, but I really want to. So I'll just continue the "brief" recap of whats already happened in the lapsed time (if you believe that "brief" part, then you have a lot to learn about me!). So it looks like I left off right before our trek, and thats where I'll pick things up. We had arrived in Nepal in Kathmandu, and left for ... read more

First, my deepest apologies for not posting another entry since I got back from our trek! But know it wasn't out of disregard for your concerns, it was out of a lack of internet availability. I am now safe and sound in Varanasi (again), but I have always been safe, so don't worry. Our trek lasted eight days, and there was no internet available anywhere along the trails, and once we got back to Pokhara we were stuck with power blackouts for about eight hours a day that I think started at 10am and lasted until 6pm, and when the power was on, and internet was theoretically available, it was too slow to get anything done, as almost every webpage would time out before loading. I had similar issues in Kathmandu, but also less time to ... read more

A lot to say, but no time to say it. Nothing bad, all good. But we're now in Pokhara and about to leave on our trek (the taxi is waiting). Just wanted to get an message out real quick in case we can't get online in the next week (we expect to be gone for about 7 days). We may indeed have internet up there, but just in case... you now know where we are. I guess that wouldn't hurt: we're going to Annapurna Base Camp, so that's where we will be... come find us?? ;) Anyway, we have a guide, so all should be well. I'll report back at the next opportunity.... read more

Although this one is much different, to say the least. Hampi, which I mispelled Humpi before (I read it written that way once, and assumed that was correct), is an 8 hour train ride east of Goa, and is an ancient temple complex up a little into the hills. There is a small town that has sprung up around the temple complex, and across the river is a bunch of hotels and restaurants. First impression: its cheap! A lot cheaper than any place we've been before. Second impression, its a very chilled out and relaxed environment, but with a lot more hippies than mixed travelers and tourists, like in Goa. Granted we're staying at a very hippie place, the Goan Corner Guest House, but like one out of every three or four people you see here ... read more

Quick update... and I wrote out a nice post yesterday before my computer promptly crashed and lost everything, so here goes again. I know you're asking why "paradise lost...?", and its not because we haven't been in paradise, because in so many ways Palolem, Goa, is close. I've been able to relax here like I've never been able to relax before, and thats no joke. I've had a string of days here where the most significant things I did were... well, really only getting a big henna tattoo. Everything else I did was normal stuff: eat, sleep, swim, read, lay in the sun, go out for a bit at night, and... really nothing of any great significance, and certainly nothing stressful, or anything I had to work to do. And to be able to do nothing ... read more

And it wasn't Kovalam! While I was sad to leave there, it was more due to the people I had met, both travelers and locals, rather than the beach and town itself. The place is seriously too touristy, and I was very glad to be done with that! Yesterday we hopped on a boat in Kollam and went on a very nice eight hour Kerala backwater tour, which ended in Allepey where we caught a taxi to Cochin for the night, and then flew here, to paradise, earlier this morning (and yes, we got up at 4:30am to watch the Super Bowl, which was... an odd game). For this leg of our journey we've also adopted a Scottish traveler by the name of Henry, who we met in Kovalam, and at least for the time being ... read more

Nope, this has nothing to do with gambling. If you leave someone to do your work for you in India, you can almost expect something to go wrong, or different than you had planned (usually from a communication error), and yesterday we had our first "big" one. We booked our taxi, Kerala backwater tour, and flight up to Goa yesterday, and the travel agent guy said it would likely take him a half hour on the phone before everything was secured, so to come back later that evening or today. It was plain as day that we wanted to leave on the 4th from Kovalam, which would put our tour on the same day and our flight the next morning. John was a little upset that the timing of everything would have us leaving Kovalam in ... read more

So to quickly update on the last post, we ended up getting the semi-sleeper bus, so the seats didn't recline quite as much, but it was good enough for us. Now we're in Kovalam (or Kovallam), and the relaxation has truly set in! The beach is wonderful, and the water is very warm, the sun is also unfortunately too hot! For those who know me, they are probably already saying: "Ha! You got burned!! And you're as red as a lobster!" And you would be correcto! I did well the first day, no sunburn, and got only a small burn yesterday, which really wasn't much to worry about. Then this morning, coated with waterproof SPF 50, the really good stuff, I went out and hit the waves with a body board for a couple hours, and ... read more

So yeah, not too much to add. I found out last night that our future planned train ride to Kovalam had very limited seating in the near future... the only hope would be to catch the train tonight, and arrive in the morning, or wait about a week until the next available seats were open, or go wait-listed, which with three people, well it keeps you a little too anxious, not knowing exactly which train we'll be able to catch next. So a train tonight it is... or was. Considering the price, we opted to go on a sleeper coach bus with A/C... basically a first class bus ride. The catch is that its about three times as much as the train, and maybe five times as much a normal bus ride (if you know what ... read more

John took some Cipro for his stomach last night, and all better this morning. Kevin had taken his antibiotic yesterday morning, before the train ride, and took some more this morning, and he's doing good as well. As for myself, that weird stomach feeling was nothing... didn't take anything more than a vile of the Chinese medicine my dentist recommend I pick up, and I've had no problems to speak of (I've taken that on a few occasions just as a precautionary step, so either its helping, or I was in the clear anyway; but so far I see no reason to stop using it as a precautionary medicine). Really not much else to add beyond that. We had a great vegetarian breakfast at Punjab Da Dhaba, which was both very tasty food, and at very ... read more