GypsyJourneys

As we arrived in Udaipur, the bus pulled over to the side of the road. Outside our window we could see the slums of Udaipur and the families going about their morning routines. It's always a humbling experience watching the lives of others that are so different from your own. Little children were collecting water for their families and mothers were tending to their husbands and infants. Trash heaps were everywhere and some children were digging through them to find some worthwhile treasures. It never gets easier to see such poverty on our travels and it's really hard to ignore. As soon as we stepped foot outside the bus we were bombarded by rickshaw drivers ready to take us to our next destination. We chose a particularly friendly one and were on our way. Bouncing around ... read more

Jaipur was such a cool destination. We stayed at an amazing hotel after learning our lesson in Agra about hostels in India. The room cost us only $13 each a night and it was worth every penny! Anuraag Villa is a cozy little hotel away from the crazy, noisy streets of Jaipur. They were very organized, clean, and helpful. The beautiful garden made this place a great escape from the crazy, sometimes overwhelming, Jaipur. If we thought traffic was bad in New Delhi we were proven that it could be worse. We have decided that ear plugs while riding around town is a must. The horns here seem to be 150% louder than any other horn I've ever experienced, and they love to lay down on the horns here. It's constant, this honking of the horn. ... read more

I've finally reached my last destination in Asia before I return to the western world, India! This day has been long awaited and it's almost surreal that I am here now. I spent a month fretting over my visa to get here and only one week before my flight was I able to obtain it. It was such a relief because otherwise I'd be left with unusable flights. We flew from Singapore to New Delhi via Indigo airlines for only $130! Such a great value and the flight was very nice. There were only 4 western passengers on the flight and this was our first sign that things are going to be very different from here on out. It's nice going somewhere that won't be filled with other tourists like places in Southeast Asia are. Arriving ... read more

Finding a place to workout in my city here in Thailand was a real challenge! Moving to Thailand, I envisioned myself joining a Muay Thai school, riding a bicycle to my school and having amazing workouts. Sadly, the day I moved to my city everyone I asked couldn’t even tell me where a gym was let alone a Muay Thai school. Dreams slashed I tried my hardest to find some sort of way to stay fit while living here. I could not believe that no one in my city could point me to any sort of gym. Riding a bicycle around this city is like a death wish with the amount of cars, trucks, and scooters zooming around. So, Lauren and I decided to do our best at working out together. I bought a jump rope ... read more

Before meeting Leslie in Bangkok on Saturday, Erika and I had a "date" with some of her students. One of her students, Mew, has become quite the facebook stalker on our teacher facebook account and finally asked us to go on a trip with her. She wanted to take us to Amphawa, a well known floating market about 40 minutes from Mahachai. We requested that she take us via train so that we could see the scenery outside of Mahachai, factory city. Just meeting up with her at the train station was a huge communication hassle and finally after an hour we found Mew and her two friends. So even though Mew is really into hanging out with Teacher Erika, she can not or will not speak a single word of English. It's pretty awkward. Erika ... read more