Travel Blog Posts
"Look, its an Ellyphaunt...the folks back home will never believe us." - Sam Gangee, Lord of the Rings
Published: November 18th 2008Asia » Nepal » Chitwan
November 6th 2008
We leave Pokhara after several weeks, en route to Chitwan National Park. Again, by bus. About five minutes out of Pokhara the bus gives a loud and violent jolt, and before we know it we have limped back to town, and are waiting at a roadside repair shop as the driver tells us jovially “Only a one hour wait!” Apparently hoping, that if he smiles broadly enough he will succeed in convincing all of us that this is really a good thing. Finally we get to our “brunch” stop, around noon. Where Mom, being on the ball as usual, finds out that our “reserved seats” are no longer valid as we transfer into a large van. So while everyone else heads down to the restaurant, we transfer our bags and stake out seats on the new ... read more
Rafting Misshaps, Slimy Serpants, And Bad Bargaining
Published: October 9th 2008Asia » Nepal » Pokhara
October 4th 2008
Saturday, October 04, 2008. 3 Sisters Guest House, Pokhara, Nepal. In the last few days with the Bankars, we visited some incredible caves carved over a thousand years ago, and drove to Mumbai for a day, both of which I posted pictures of in the previous blog. My camera stopped working at the caves, but luckily I had gotten another one very cheap before we left so I had a backup. I could write several pages on both those trips, but for your sake, I decided not to overwhelm you and I thought pictures would be enough. Also I thought it would be good to try and catch up to the current part of the trip. Leaving Pune was hard, knowing that we were going back into the hectic world of being tourists on our own, ... read more
September 12- September 20, Bankar Family, Pune. Part 2- Ganesh Festival
Published: September 30th 2008Asia » India » Maharashtra » Pune
September 30th 2008
September 12- September 20, Bankar Family, Pune. Part 2- Ganesh Festival Imagine crowds packing the city streets so thickly that you can barely raise an arm, drums and cymbals and horns blaring loud enough to make hearing your own voice difficult. A parade going for two days straight, with impressive performances and music, and red powder being thrown everywhere and smeared all over your face, with raucous music from gigantic loudspeakers and crazy dancing. This is just a glimpse of Ganpati is about. After changing into some borrowed old clothes at the Bankars place, we hit the street: Doug, Trish, Autumn, Canyon (me), Vedashree, Rujuta, Nutan, and two of their girlfriends. Staying together in the packed streets was a challenge sometimes, but they did a good job making sure none of us dropped off along the ... read more
September 28th 2008
September 12- September 20, Bankar Family, Pune We landed in Pune on a drizzly Friday evening, with very little idea of what to expect. Rujuta was a Rotary International Exchange Student in Franklin a couple years ago. We got to know her a little bit and she invited us to come visit if we were ever in India. So we contacted them from Leh and they very graciously agreed to host us; and urged us to come earlier than we planned so that we could be there during the Ganesh Festival (The Elephant God Festival). As we wheeled our carts piled with backpacks towards the exit of the airport, we warily eyed the mob of taxi and hotel drivers packed wildly just outside the doors. To our enormous relief, Rujuta appeared right in the middle of ... read more
September 21st 2008
Sep 21 - Kathmandu Nepal If I was overwhelmed two weeks ago when I started writing my last blog, then I can’t even describe my current state of mind. I feel like there’s no way I’ll be able to do any kind of justice to the feelings and events I’ve been a part of in the last week or so, and I’m hard put even convincing myself to try. I’ll break it up into smaller pieces so it’s not overwhelming. But first I think I should share some history and some of the less charming things about the country so that you can get maybe a fuller picture of what it’s like. In Ladakh especially, there are stray dogs everywhere, cows roam all over the place and their dung is either left where it falls or ... read more
Out of the bus, into the jaws of the monkey
Published: September 9th 2008Asia » India » Himachal Pradesh » Mcleod Ganj
September 8th 2008
Monday, September 08, 2008. Mcleod Ganj, India Wow! It feels like so much has happened in two weeks since the last entry. I’ve enjoyed the last delicious homecooked meals that I’ll have for awhile. I’ve endured drinking water that tasted like vegetables in cooking oil. I’ve seen hundreds of men, women and children parading in crazy headdresses, masks, dresses and other cloths. I’ve dodged polo balls and avoided getting stampeded by the horses. I’ve gotten ripped off by souvenir vendors insisting that I’m their first customer even as they close up shop, I’ve also gotten some awesome deals. A bus ride through the Himalayas and over some of the highest passes in the world has given me some incredible sights, as well as some near death experiences, on the one lane, rarely paved, un-guardrailed road along ... read more
August 29th 2008
Thursday August 28, 2008 Chirpon Homestay. Phyang Jullay friends and family! I’m writing this first blog entry 10,000 feet up in the Himalayas! I began the day with a cold shower in the new “American bathroom” our host family just installed. Unfortunately, “American” is not a word I would use in the same sentence when talking about that bathroom. The toilet is a raised up platform with what looks like a floor urinal that you squat over to do your business; the exciting thing about it is that it flushes, unlike traditional ones. Next to the toilet is a showerhead in the wall with a drain in the far corner. Honestly, this is one of the nicer bathrooms I’ve seen here. A hot water heater would sure be nice though. (But I admit, for someone like ... read more
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