To get to Kathmandu, the most common route by land is through Sonauli. If you're coming from Delhi, take the train to Gorakhpur (for info on trains, see blog on trains in India), and the buses going to Sonauli are on the street across from the train station (perpendicular to the train stn). There are many buses and it takes 3 hours to get to the border (there's a lot of info on the internet and in guide books about this). When we got to the Indian customs office, an Indian official told us that the Nepali immigration accepts only US [View Full Entry]

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I took the morning express train from Thrissur to Kochi (Ernakulam) on March 30. My host in Kochi had to work so I wondered around the city by myself which was great. I had lunch at the indiancoffeehouse.com near the Main Jetty, it was the worst food I've had anywhere in India so do avoid it at all cost. I took the ferry to Fort Kochi and walked around a bit, went to the Jain temple and then the Dutch Palace. There was absolutely nothing to see at all in the Dutch Palace except for the mural paintings which were faded [View Full Entry]

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There was such a huge difference in vegetation as soon as I got into Kerala. the forests were so green, and of course, there were coconut trees everywhere (Kerala = land of the coconuts). I took the overnight train from Goa (Thivim) to Kannur on March 21. I got off at Kannapuram as my host was in Taliparamba. His family is Christian (he has a wife and 2 daughters) and they took me to church on Sunday morning. Except for the fact that everything was in Malayalam (the language of Kerala), the mass was pretty much like any other mass in [View Full Entry]

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left Mumbai on March 17. the train left on time but got there 2.5 hours late. met Kim from Williams Lake, BC, on the train who talked about setting up a "community" where nobody gets paid unless everyone in the community is well. in the same compartment was also Desmond from Goa who was in Mumbai for a job interview to work on a ship with a US company. I got off at Thivim at 7:40pm. There was also a Japanese traveller who got off with me. he told me how he got ripped off so many times in Mumbai. once, [View Full Entry]

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The idea of relieving poverty by simply giving has become quite evidently the wrong thing to do. It's the old adage: "give a man a fish and he eats for a day, teach him how to fish and he eats for life." The problem of giving (aid and relief) is most evident in African countries where foreign aid has existed the longest. People are realizing now that their approach has to change. check out Dambisa Moyo's www.deadaid.org. In brief, I read somewhere (can't remember where) that the most obvious problem is that certain villages in Africa are so used to aid [View Full Entry]

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I had a flight at 3:50am. I started out at midnight from Andheri Railway Station. I got in a rickshaw, the driver started the meter and took off but then turned around and told me that I will have to pay 200 Rs so I got out. I asked another rickshaw driver who said 150 Rs. I walked a bit more and the third driver said 60 Rs so I got in. he also started his meter. When we got there, the meter said 110 Rs but he took only 60 Rs. I forgot that charges at night are a bit [View Full Entry]

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The flight from Mumbai to Dubai was only 2 hours but I didn’t eat or drink anything because everything on board the Jazeera Airways costs money, even the water. This is because Jazeera Airways is really cheap and has minimal service, such as, they don’t do baggage transfers if you have a connecting flight. The flight from Mumbai to Dubai was only $100, everything included. The return flight cost the same. I stayed with a friend who is from India but works for a company in Dubai. He recently moved to a hotel apartment because it’s actually cheaper than living in [View Full Entry]

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went trekking in the Harishchandra range in Maharashtra. the summit is 1424m. we started on sat. feb 21. I was to meet my friends Mallik and Sanjay in Kalyan at 6pm. They were taking the train from Mumbai to Kalyan. As for me, I started at 3:30pm from Savarsai village, took a rickshaw to Pen, then from Pen, I took a bus to Panvel, then from Panvel, I took another bus to Kalyan. I didn't know there was an express from Panvel to Kalyan and took the slow bus which arrived there at 6:55pm so I was really late. When I [View Full Entry]

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I’m here in the village of Savarsai, about 75 km south of Mumbai (just outside of Pen city). Apparently, this Child Haven (CH) home has a better location than some of the other homes: we are surrounded by the countryside with a nice view of the hills and farms on one side. It is also the smallest home with only 32 kids at the moment. I absolutely love the kids, they are great to be around. They range from age 6 to 15 (grades Jr KG to 9). I teach mostly English but intend to do a lot of music and [View Full Entry]

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Rock climbing: One of the guys I climb with in Toronto is from Mumbai and he hooked me up with climbers in Mumbai. The climbers I met here belong to an outdoor club called “Adventurers and Explorers” and they do hiking, trekking, rock climbing and all kinds of outdoor stuff depending on whatever the members are into. Every January, they hold a rock climbing training course for beginners which is spread over 2 weekends (5 days ). I was only able to go to the first weekend (long weekend with India’s Independence Day). For the first day, we went to a [View Full Entry]

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