http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/sapere18/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from sapere18 en-us Sat, 30 Aug 2008 05:11:04 BST Sat, 30 Aug 2008 05:11:04 BST 15 August Peshawar Northwest Frontier Province Pakistan Simon still shows no sign of improvement. His complaints of the pain fatigue and discomfort are peppered with explosions of profanity as he rolls out of bed and practically hits the floor. During the night he made several visits to the toilet. His pants barely cling to his waist and he is pale in spite of the sun his skin has absorb http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Pakistan/North-West-Frontier-Province/Chitral/blog-315619.html 23 August Jodhpur RajasthanAt first it is a contest of which side can be louder prouder and more patriotic. When it is all said and done citizens of both nations crowd at the locked gates that separate them. They cheerfully and curiously speak to each other while clasping the painted bars knowing full well it is the closest they will ever come to setting foot on what was once a singu http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Pakistan/Punjab/Lahore/blog-313769.html 19 August Amritsar Punjab IndiaExcept for arriving from and departing back to the United States I usually do not take too many flights when traveling. Yes I know they cut distances and save time. But I need to be lodged against a window and see what I would be missing impossible at 35000 feet. If a train goes Irsquoll be on it. Otherwise Irsquoll settle for a bus minivan out http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Pakistan/North-West-Frontier-Province/Peshawar/blog-313768.html 12 August Chitral Northwest Frontier Province Pakistan This place cannot be for real. It is not another world rather another galaxy. My initial fifteen minutes in Balanguru are of stunned paralysis and disbelief. Balanguru is what is must be like to be knocked unconscious by an alien tractor beam and then relocated to their home solar system. Distance introversion and geographical inac http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Pakistan/North-West-Frontier-Province/Chitral/blog-313767.html 4 August Duikar Northern Areas PakistanA wildness about Pakistan is evident in the name of the regions over which the government has teetering control. Provinces such as Punjab Sindh and Balochistan may be one thing. But when added to the likes of the more lawless sounding Northwest Frontier Province yoursquod expect scenes out of the Wild West. In many cases thatrsquos exactly w http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Pakistan/Islamabad/blog-308495.html 2 August Giglit Northern Areas PakistanFrom the border until mid afternoon in downtown Lahore I had not grabbed much to eat. By two orsquoclock I sought out anywhere in the downtown area with a functioning generator and with a polar dining area to offset the temperatures over one hundred degrees. Within the first three minutes of scanning for an eatery on Regal Chowk did I confirm b http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Pakistan/Punjab/Lahore/blog-308494.html 31 July Lahore Punjab PakistanThe halfway point of my time on the Subcontinent exposes my journeyrsquos mortality for the first time. No longer is it acceptable to extend stays a night or two in a given village or hill town without earnestly pondering how my limited remaining time will be impacted. The days now dwindle downward to a finishing point. As I sit on the apex of my trave http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Pakistan/Punjab/Lahore/blog-308493.html 31 July Lahore Punjab PakistanHere are some more random thoughts on traveling through India again in no particular order1. A hotel room advertising air conditioning is only as good as the electrical grid that supports it.2. Upon being subjected to a handful of Bollywood action films I long for the thespian acumen of Brian Bosworth.3. Whoever the CEO is of Layrsquos potato chips for http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Punjab/Amritsar/blog-308492.html 30 July Lahore Punjab PakistanFor a woman who has never set foot in the Estes Park of India Kiran made a huge pitch for me to spend time in Manali. We had sat down to discuss what would be my next move. The great thing about running my ideas past her is that she does not ever try to change the spirit or context of my plans. Rather she picks areas of interest along the way that could http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Punjab/Amritsar/blog-308491.html Nagger Himachal PradeshThe taxi deposited me in front of the art gallery. My dayrsquos travels terminated in a thunderous and rumbling ldquoSirrdquo from Prashant when we made eye contact followed by a ribcrushing bear hug. Upon realizing how genuinely excited the gregarious Rajasthani Commando was to see me in Naggar I knew I had arrived in the right place. The miles of pounding http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Himachal-Pradesh/Naggar/blog-304586.html 21 July Kalpa Himachal PradeshThere are certain moments a traveler never forgets. Many of them concern when first laying eyes on something so wondrous that onetime moment image is forever etched in a special place in the mind. The Grand Canyon is such a spot. So are geographic superlatives such as cycling along the Loire and seeing the waves of the Pacific Ocean crash into the Central http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Himachal-Pradesh/Kinnaur/blog-304280.html 20 July Kalpa Himachal PradeshShimla was waking up as were the folks on the benches in the waiting area of Shimlarsquos shabby Rivoli bus stand. The man at the ticket booth was ready at his post by six fifteen but not willing to issue me a ticket until a quarter hour later. I have learned not to ask why anymore he was printing out tickets for others. I am doing my utmost not to res http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Himachal-Pradesh/Kinnaur/blog-304274.html 18 July Shimla Himachal PradeshFor the next thirty hours my only goal was to get there. But even as the bus pulled away from Jaisalmer I hadnrsquot confirmed where there was. Ticketed through to my transit point of Chandigarh I knew I would not stay long. I had some ideas a general direction. To Amritsar in Punjab Back through Haryana to Haridwar in Uttarakhand But only in t http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Himachal-Pradesh/Shimla/blog-304264.html 15 July Jaisalmer RajasthanThe same rains later marched on Jaisalmer and laid siege to the city. Over the cityrsquos long and turbulent history the battering is nothing new. The downpour is vengeful as if to get back at prior misdeeds Jaisalmer committed over the years. Or perhaps it is naturersquos way of delivering a vital resource all at once and letting its inhabitants sort o http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Rajasthan/Jaisalmer/blog-299579.html 14 July Jaisalmer RajasthanThat there would no airconditioned coaches on the desert rail line between Bikaner and Jaisalmer made little difference to me. So what Why should it matter It is a morning journey. Irsquoll be in a hotel room by midafternoon anyway. But for the padding on the seats there is little difference between traveling this train in second class or the inferio http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Rajasthan/Jaisalmer/blog-299574.html 13 July Jaisalmer RajasthanThe Thar Desert is selective on who lives or dies and what flourishes or withers. Make no mistake it has the final word. It is a flat featureless plain of low bristly scrub. The Chhalanis and I roll through the Thar in the Chevy hatchback. Conversation among them flows between business and family. I stare fifteen miles into the distance and no changes in http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Rajasthan/Bikaner/blog-299023.html 12 July Jaisalmer RajasthanMr. Chhalani and his son were there to meet me on the platform as promised. The father speaks in spurts. If you havenrsquot gotten to know him well enough yoursquod think he has a crabby disposition. His deceptive irritability shields an unconditional yet forceful kindness. Hanging out with the entire Chhalani clan is an exercise in tagteam hospitalit http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Rajasthan/Bikaner/blog-299022.html 9 July Jaipur RajasthanThe phone rang to his landline at home. His cell phone rings far more often. His primary servant Dinesh a rather sheepish man handed me the cordless receiver in order to speak with his boss.ldquoRichardrdquo Madhukar called out on the other end ldquohow is everything Are you comfortablerdquoWell yes. I have a two servants looking after me a priva http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Rajasthan/Jodhpur/blog-298751.html Whole families had already jumped to the platform before the train came to a complete stop. Long gone was the thoughtful man with whom I shared my open compartment. The overnight train from Calcutta to Jodhpur arrived to collect the masses in Agra two hours late at ten orsquoclock in the evening. In a lapse of judgment I expected ushers to bring meals or snacks and would but from him. But http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Uttar-Pradesh/Agra/blog-297004.html Therersquos something to be said for a game named after an insect that takes the better part of a PhD to understand.Having showed the mildest of interest after watching to the side for ten minutes the eldest man looked at me and pointed the handle end of the bat at my chest. I was seated on some steps to the side of a water pump my feet reached over the open sewer ditch to the ripped asphalt. http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Rajasthan/Jodhpur/blog-296949.html