http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/Hulkshaw/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Hulkshaw en-us Sat, 02 Jan 2010 08:05:01 +0000 Sat, 02 Jan 2010 08:05:01 +0000 It feels sort of fitting that my final blog from India and more than likely my final blog period comes from Agra India's tourist mecca featuring the one and only drum roll please TAJ MAHAL WoooowwweeeeewwwwaaaaaOriginally worried about what to expect in a place such as this I feared being touted to death or purchasing more 1000Rs bowls in haste. Unfortunately this was not so. I w http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Uttar-Pradesh/Agra/blog-229096.html The TemplesKhajuraho the city which took me many a week to learn to pronounce even though its pronounced how it is spelt is truly a marvel in temple architecture dating back to the....ppppppffffffff hahahahhahahahah.....the temple sculptures have boobies Hahahahahah BOOBIESThe erotic temples of Kharjuraho in all due honesty contain some of the more intricate and detailed carvings I hav http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Madhya-Pradesh/Khajuraho/blog-228730.html Beards and Champs Champs and Beards. They go hand in hand really...After marveling at my beard in the mirror for a whole evening I decided it was probably time to put him to action. Send him out on Fort Gwalior commonly known as Gwalior Fort to see what havoc can be wrought. But first to the Jai Vilas Home of some of the strangest and oddest displays of excess known to bearded man...Jai http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Madhya-Pradesh/Gwalior/blog-227826.html I find myself conflicted on how to try to describe Delhi both old and new. It is a city that seems to thrive on its very own contradictions. Poverty tucked away on every corner unnoticeable from the balcony of the prestigious Delhi Golf and Country Club. White ambassadors side by side with broken down rickshaws circling what surely must be the worlds largest roundabout Connaught Place. Lu http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/National-Capital-Territory/New-Delhi/blog-227523.html Training for Battle BundistyleTravelling alone throughout the wilds of India is not easy nor recommended for those without the proper and adequate training. Judging by my short time in this country I realized that those who survive are to use the cliche the fittest. The wile and guile of the monkeys the fearenducing image of the bats and the pride and prowess of the Tiger were all to be http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Rajasthan/Bundi/blog-226124.html JODHPURWe arrived in Jodhpur after my first believe it or not encounter with India's train system after an entire month of Indiaing. All things considered it was a hell of a lot smoother than the buses and a tad more comfy. My second encounter would change that slightly...At around 5am in the morning there isn't much to do in Jodhpur other than find a base of operations and take numerous http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Rajasthan/Udaipur/blog-226122.html Camel College Best Knowledge Tiger camel safari guideI am Arjun. Destroyer of towns reaper of harvests deserter of wives and king of the desert. Atop my mighty Maharaja I have laid waste to all those who oppose and all those who challenge. But this will not always be the way...this will not always be me. This is my tale...Act I The QuestAfter many encounters with the Holy Men of Push http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Rajasthan/Jaisalmer/blog-223756.html We last left off with yours truly leaving the Captain Jones Smitheringerton in Goa. Whether or not he felt I was ready for the seas ahead and whether or not I actually was were both not the point. The point was I was flying the good times Kingfisher Airlines then taking a 4 hour bus from Jaipur to Pushkar to meet a french canadian a german a swede and a hell of a lot of camels.Upon arriv http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Rajasthan/Pushkar/blog-223749.html I would hope my cousins Jake and Joe would get the title reference as it really is quite clever. If not then I guess I may be the only one other than Penner but that's just fine with me.After a sweet ass time in Badami it was time to head out where we'd finally be free of caves and instead subjected to the UNESCO protected ruins and boulders of Hampi.While the town itself has ruins inside al http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Karnataka/Hampi/blog-220587.html And so began our intimate relationship with India's bus system. In the span of 24 hours we took 4 buses from Aurganbad to Shopal to Bijapur to Bangklok to Badami. Total bus time I think a conservative estimate would be 17 hours as we spent about 5 hours in Bijapur in between buses. You'd think I would be complaining but there is no room for complaining in India. Indians...we're relaxed http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Karnataka/Badami/blog-220583.html We hooked up with a private bus in Mumbai heading east to Aurangabad our next stop as it lay between two UNESCO World Heritage Sites The Ellora Caves and the Ajanta caves. Also the Dalautabad fort was on the way to Ellora and sounded pretty cool.The bus ride itself was an interesting experience as several Indians chose to sleep in the aisle and the largest Muslim known to man sat across from http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Maharashtra/Aurangabad/blog-220571.html After arriving in Mumbai and waiting forever for our luggage an Indian specialty we hooked up with a autorickshaw tuktuk and set out towards Colaba for some much needed sleep. Fortunately we had a hotel to stay at and weren't forced to sleep on the street or on the trunk of our rickshaw as the rest of the population seemed to be doing. Fortunately we had quite the entertaining ride from http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Maharashtra/Mumbai/blog-218624.html CLOSING TIMEin three stanzasPrecludeAnd so we are left with one day in the 'SlavaBefore we take off to Lindz and then PrahaSo far it had been a city to missuntil the Ice Hockey and drinks with the SwissSo we ended our stay as we have so farWith not enough sleep and back in a carPart IClosing time one last call for alcohol so finish your whiskey or beerAnd so our final stop where we h http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Czech-Republic/Prague/blog-217720.html The theme of this blog is choked. Follow closely.Bratislava was to be our hero. And at first glance it was. Free parking in front of the Hostel. A good clean hostel. Free internet. Cheap beer a buck sixty for a half litre. Slovakian girls.Our first night we head into old town in search of these infamous Slovak clubs. We ran into some girls who said they were headin to Charlies Club. We http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Slovakia/Bratislava-Region/Bratislava/blog-215571.html So after a week in the Pest we decide its time to dip into the birthplace of neckties and....uuummmmm.... well its a cool country.The itinerary was basically to hit up Zagreb the capital to check the party scene then head to Split to check the largest still standing Roman fortress in Eastern Europe then head to the entire purpose of our excursion to Croatia the UNESCO World Heritage site http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Croatia/blog-215570.html And so your wordsmith returns with additional tales to tantalize your ears and broaden your minds... Well not really. We sort of got drunk and did stupid stuff...Ohhh hahahha my bad that's every other place we've been one week in Budapest read ONE WEEK is surely different than the rest noWe arrive the three of us Kendo the Cap and Yours Truly in Budapest with a simple goal g http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Hungary/Central-Hungary/Budapest/Pest/blog-212692.html Dost thou not know thy body grows weary after the splendor and fruits of Prague The village be it as beautiful as the maiden's eye on a cool winters morn may also have the bite of the Grey Wulf of the same eve. Nay shall we entertain the dancing thoughts of another eve spent in turbulent excess for as one's body grows weary one's mind grows weak. Nay. It be time for the Wizard the Medic http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Czech-Republic/South-Bohemian-Region/Cesky-Krumlov/blog-212653.html And so freshly depressed after the atrocity that is Auschwitz we were in dire need of drink...and hijinks...and Prague...But first we were apparently in need of a road that could actually take us into Prague. Fact in medieval times Prague was protected against invaders by an intricate complex series of highways and turnoffs that held the Captain the Professor kennah Gilligan Tait an http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Czech-Republic/Prague/blog-212642.html Work shall set you free. Which I suppose is the slogan of Hitler's Final Solution as it was also marked on the gate at Dachau see Four Super Boys. In trying to write this blog once again I am at a loss of words. Dachau hit pretty hard standing in the open courtyard where hundreds of thousands of prisoners lived the end of their days watching a documentary and seeing rooms with piles http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Poland/Lesser-Poland/Auschwitz/blog-210587.html Good God man I know what needs to be done but I dont have the balls to do it...7am. The Captain Professor Kennah and I had been up for approximately 19 hours without much food water or rest not to forget we had spent the prior 9 hours raving whatever the hell that means. So what brilliant idea do we have Lets head to Warsaw On any conventional map such as ours this would tak http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Poland/Lesser-Poland/Krakow/blog-210216.html