Welcome to Bangladesh, Cowboy Country for Backpackers Bangladesh is the real deal. If you want to know what you are made of, you come here. I have found myself describing India to the other interns here at the Grameen Bank as 'too touristy'. Once you get into it, I think that most would agree, but from your desk chair in the Western World, I can see how that might raise an eyebrow or two. One great thing is that there is always 'that guy who speaks English' in every village. So eventually, you will figure out where you are and how [View Full Entry]

---

---

Yes, you got it right. This is the third wind. Not the second. The third. Just when I feel like I am going to run out of gas I book a bunch of train tickets, go at whirlwind pace, and then look back and wonder where the time went. Since the 22nd, I have been to: Amritsar Home to the Golden Temple, holiest of the Sikh temples in India. I had to wear a scarf over my head and I ate free lunch with the other worshippers on the floor. It was amazing and very confusing. Visited the site of the [View Full Entry]

---

---

And so my time here has come to an end. I had been planning to leave yesterday, but then I found out from the Monk who adopted us (Geshe, for short) that his Holiness the Dalai Lama himself would be teaching Tuesday through Thursday here in MacLeod Ganj. Thus yesterday I awoke at the crack of 6:30 to go online and attempt to talk to my parents. Three attempted Skype calls and a string of profanity later, I resigned to postponement. Marcela woke up late and instead met me at the Main Market Square at 7:30. Allow me to walk [View Full Entry]

---

---

I had a rather bizarre day yesterday. Was it bizarre, or what is just India? You be the judge. 6:23 Wake up 6:31 Face off with a pair of monkeys. They were raiding a garbage bin and blocking the way between me and the bathroom. I stared them down, or rather, I glanced fleetingly, terrified as I learned the hard way many years ago that when you stare at primates they get mad and barrel up to the glass partition at the zoo and slap it, scaring the five-year-old bejesus out of you. Also, I have seen the Planet of [View Full Entry]

---

---

I escaped. From the cities, that is. I basically did a hairpin turn, dumped my plans, and headed north. Away from the cities and pollution and chaos - to the home of the exiled Tibetan government, Dharamsala and McLeod Ganj. My arrival in Delhi was overwhelming, to say the least. I was talking to Mr. Singh, my lovely hostel host in Jaipur about it. The backpacker district is pretty much the sketchiest place in Delhi, and compound that reality with July heat and aggressive touts, and it is enough to make a girl want to whip out her credit card and [View Full Entry]

---

---

WELCOME TO INDIA, POPULATION 1.3 BILLION... PLUS YOU! 8am, Thursday July 9th, Sarai Rohilla Train Platform I am sweating. Not just regular sweating. I am sweating so much that at the end of the day when you take off your clothes to shower there are crooked lines of salt decorating your apparel. I hardly slept. My hostel was... lacklustre. In the heart of the Paharganj district, described by Lonely Planet as the 'backpackers district but rather dodgy - at least it is near the train station! {Not the one I need coincidentally}', my room looked like a jail cell. It was [View Full Entry]

---

---

I. just. spent. 24. hours. on. trains. On Saturday morning I left Amelie and her family in Toulouse, and set out for Paris again. I met my friend Walid there, who offered me his couch. After arriving around noon and a nice lunch, we did what any group of young, liberal, Parisians do... JOINED THE PARIS GAY PRIDE PARADE!! I haven't laughed and danced that much since... Valencia. We followed the AIDS/SIDA awareness float and dances with the gogo dancing men onboard. It was epic. After, we went to an epic ice cream place. I had one scoop of chocolate. Oh. [View Full Entry]

---

---

9 Key Take-Aways After 23 Days of Travel 1. People LIVE here I am struck by this everytime I see a jogger running under the Eiffel Tower, through the gardens of Versailles, down the river Sienne. It was also true in Spain where the popular jogging spots included the river-bed-built-into-a-park in Valencia, insane joggers taking on the stairs at Placa de Espanya before the fountain show in Barcelona, joggers sweating through the 10km of picturesque beach in Cadiz, or the most insane joggers tackling the cobblestone of Grenada. 2. The Mona Lisa is... kind of a rock s [View Full Entry]

---

---

RED HOT PARIS ROMANCE Jessica and Amelie take Paris By Storm On Tuesday June 16th, Amelie and Jess, known as 'Amjess' by the press, rolled into Paris for a week-long whirlwind romance. It seems that the couple have reconciled following their reported fall-out when Amelie reportedly announced to Jess that she had the swine flu when they were in Valencia on Monday. "Jess went online to Perez Hilton on Sunday night and read about how swine flu had been declared a pandemic. SHe noticed that Amelie had exhibited all the symptoms over the past two weeks. The next morning, she [View Full Entry]

---

---

Today Amelie and I rolled into Valencia. We hopped on the 8.50am train from Grenada and spent the next 9 hours toiling in a closed compartment, sans air con, with 40 or so of our new Spanish friends. Big plans have been outlined by Teresita, who insists that we see the arts and science complexes and try some new form of melted chocolate that can be dipped in something equally delightful (fried churros being the dippee of choice in Barcelona). Tomorrow we also have plans to join in a paella and sangria party on the terrasse of the sister hostel to [View Full Entry]

---

---