Day 42: Mudumalai

Our day started with a 5 hour drive to the Mudumalai Wildlife Sanctuary where we are staying in this hotel right in the jungle.

On our way we stopped off at a tea plantation. We were supposed to have a tour of the tea plantation. Our tour consisted of pulling over on the side of the road and taking photos. I will say that the plantation was nice. Seeing the rolling hills covered with tea plants is a rare sight in the US. It is hard to imagine that these fields are still cultivated by hand; wouldn't want to be the guy that had to do that.

At the wildlife reserve, we had the option of sleeping in a treehouse. So yes I chose a treehouse room. Later we all hopped in jeeps for a safari jeep tour. I was thinking we wouldn't see anything, but it was actually an active drive. Our ride was full of stags, wild boars, elephants, and peacocks; we even got to see a deer that had been pulled up into a tree for feeding. Nature at its finest. Unfortunately, I didn't take any pictures with my phone, only one of the view at the end of our trip. Well worth it though. I got some great shots on the camera. You just need to wait for 3 weeks. Sorry.

Day 41: Kozhikode

Today we got to explore the area around Kozhikode. There is not much to see in the town we are staying in so we spent most of our time in the surrounding towns.

Our first stop put us at the Edakkal Cave. We climbed about halfway up the mountain to see this "cave." The view was absolutely amazing. The forests and sprawling mountains was truly an amazing sight. The walk up was more like a hike. The cave was not much of a cave. About half of it was actually covered and that was because of large boulders that had fallen into position. So I don't think it could be classified as a cave, more like shelter. One the walls of the cave were many engravings of life and the rulers of the tribe. These engravings date back 3000 years ago. The mountains were filled with little monkeys. It was so cool to see them out in the wild and be around 1-6 feet away from them, running, jumping, and swinging around. They were not really shy of us, so I was able to get fairly close and watch them eat and play.

After we left the mountain we went to a local historical museum. Nothing impressive to see. Just old bowls, bows, spears, etc. from the 12th - 14th century from the surrounding tribes. I was not allowed to take a camera in there, but It took me about 5 minutes to make it all the way through the place.

After lunch we went on a tribal village walk. This was nothin like the walks through the village I had done up north. These people used to be classified as untouchables in society. While this classification no longer exists, there is still strong discrimination towards them. They are extremely poor and are basically left to survive on their own. The government is trying to help out by building small homes for them, giving them subsidies food, and allowing for some of them to enter into the normal school system. They do not interact with normal Indians. The only time they would leave their village would e to get food from food shelters designed specifically for people from this and other surrounding villages. As I learned more about them, it reminded me of the segregation of blacks and whites in the US. To be honest, I did not feel comfortable there. We would walk up to the enclave of huts and all the people would hide or close their doors. I felt as though we were disrespecting the locals. I am not sure why our guide took us there. No one was happy by our presence. If you just teleported me there, I would have though I was in Africa. Very hot, dry, dusty soil, and extreme poverty. However, the people survive; the men have manual labor jobs outside of the village, so no men were in the village when we were there, plant and farm their local land, living off animals am what Mother Nature has provided for them. The only thing they get from the food shelters is free rice. I was able to get some really good photos of the locals and the village, so I will make sure to post another picture thread if and when I get the device that allows me to upload my pictures onto my tablet.

That night we stayed up for our usually round of drinks and we watch Indian MTV. It was interesting to see how different the music videos are here. They do not star the actual artist who sings the song, instead they have Indian celebrates lip singing the songs. As we watched more and more we saw the same 4 men singing the majority of the songs; everything from high pitched male songs to deep male voices. It was pretty weird. The music videos were all based around Bollywood, the style of Indian dancing (I was incorrect in saying that the style of dancing was Bolly in my previous post in Jaipur). Large choreographed dances. Quite different from what MTV in the US plays, aside from the fact that US MTV doesn't really play music videos anymore, now filling the slots with Underaged and Engaged and I'm 16 and Pregnant (MTV stands for Music Television right?).

Also, while I travel I have started to do a few things that will document certain things aside from the normal photos that I take. Unfortunately, I started it a month in but better late than never I guess. I have been taking a picture of my face everyday. By the end of this journey I will be able to assemble all the pictures and have them play in a sped up slideshow. So it will quickly show my facial changes over the next 8 months or so. Should be interesting. Also, I am taking a picture of every beer that I drink from the country I am in. Of course I am not going to shoot duplicates, I may be embarrassed to actually know how much beer I drink at the end of this, and I am not going to take pictures of different types of the same beer, e.g., Bud Lite, Budweiser, Bud Lite Lime. So far, I have the beer in Turkey and India. Don't think there is any beer home to United Arab Emirates, and I should be able to edit a photo to get a shot of beer from Morocco, so I am just missing Jordan and Egypt. I hope to think of some other cool things that I could document on the side. Any suggestions?

I wonder how my face will change during my adventure around the world? I already got a haircut, hopefully no scars. What types of local beers will I encounter during my travels, will I find a permanent replacement for the American beer I drink home?

Only time will tell and anything is possible.

Day 40: Kozhikode

Yeah I'm not sure how to say the name either. We had another early start to the day and made our way to the train station. Like most things in the south, the train station was much different. No one asked me for money, no animals, no one trying to sell me anything, and fresh fruit for sail. So relaxing. However, our train ride was not as enjoyable. They had three people slammed into three small seats that would otherwise seat two people. Luckily, the laws in India are either nonexistent or very loose, so I went to the end of the car, opened the door, and soaked in the breezing coming into the car (there was no A/C on our 4 hour ride). Being able to hang out the train car and watch the beautiful countryside, farms, rivers and ocean, and forests of palm and banana trees pass was amazing. Seeing all the greenery makes me feel that we are not even in India and then you see all the trash following the train... Yeah still in India, but I will say that I am used to it now. Got to take the good with the bad.

Once we got off the train, we got into a bus and ascended into the mountains of Kozhikode. I never expected there to be mountains in southern India, but we are here. Lush green mountains, it looks like something out of a movie.

Aside from our travels, we didn't do anything today. By the time we made it to our guesthouse, the sun had set. We ended the night with dinner and a round of beers, or three.

Day 39: Kochi

We spent our last day in Kochi and our first real day on the tour visiting various sites around the town. I will be honest, I was not impressed. We visited St. Francis Church, a Jewish Synagogue in Jew Town (that's actually what it is called), and then the Dutch Palace, which was smaller than my college apartment room.

Nothing that we saw was impressive, I would have much preferred to see the town via a boat ride through the channels. Once we were done with the tour, it was much more enjoyable. We walked around the town and hung out on the beach; the Arabian Sea is warm, so it made for an enjoyable walk up and down the beach. While there is less trash here than up north, it is still here. The beaches are covered in trash. The beaches could be a huge tourist attraction, but most of the beach is covered in trash. The pathetic thing is, it would only take a day to clean up all the trash, get a tractor out there and pull a filter behind it. They did this once in a while on the beaches of Barcelona to help disperse the sand evenly throughout the beach and to clean up all the trash. No one seams to care here. By some candy, throw the trash on the beach. There are garbage bins everywhere that read "Use Me," and there is just trash all around them. Where we were eating dinner right on the channel there were people were just throwing trash into the ocean off the docks. It's sad. I don't know how all this is not a violation of some international pollution law or something.

Afterwards, we went to a Kathakali performance. It was pretty entertaining; all of the makeup, facial expressions, and dress really made the show.

Unfortunately, I have lost the device that allows me to upload my pictures from my camera onto my iPad, so until I get my hands on a laptop, I will be unable to upload any pictures except the ones from my iPhone. I will make sure to post a couple threads of all the missed pictures when I am able to upload from my camera.

Day 38: Kochi

Today, we had an early start for our flight to Kochi. One thing that I must say is that US airliners are awful compared with the rest of the world. I have yet to sit in an economy seat and not have my own free tv with good new movies, tv shows, documentaries, etc. to choose from. In the US I have never seen a personal tv in economy class. The service is very nice, good food on every flight, even the 1 hour flights, full FREE bar (yes, free alcohol), and plenty of leg room for me, and I'm 6'4" (around 195 centimeters). On top of all that, the flights are relatively cheap, mostly cheaper than my flights in the US. No wonder Delta and US Airways are struggling and companies like Turkish Airlines and Emirates are booming. I am no Nostradamus, but I bet you that non-US airliners will begin to intrude the US market if domestic airliners do not change. Turkish Air is about to start hosting flights through George Bush International Airport in Houston. Emirates is hands down the best airliner I have flown yet. TV, new movies, video games, great food, beautiful staff, and the best service yet, the business class even had their own tablets to go along with their, what looked like a, 22 inch TV and full reclining seats; to add, that flight was only 4.5 hours long. I am excited to see what the Asian airliners will be like.

Well Kochi is not fully what I was expecting. The area that we are in does have tourists. We are right next to a beach on the coast, so as you could imagine, the culture is very laid back. Hinduism only makes up 50% of the population, the rest is split between Christianity and Judaism. I will say that I am glad I am doing the southern part of India as well, if I had left India and only seen the north, I would have left with as sour taste in my mouth. As of now, I am in love with the south. The heat really reminds me of home, very humid. When we sat down for dinner, I glanced over the menu and what did I see...? BEEF! I am so excited, the south has beef. However, the restaurant was out of beef, of course, so I stuck with a squid curry. Delicious.

I started off my day by just walking around the local area, checking out the beaches and the markets. The coast is lines with many old Chinese fishing nets that date back to the early 1300's, some of them still have the original wood. We participated in trying to haul in some fish, to my surprise, we caught mostly trash but did manage to get 3 fish. I can't imagine that these things are very profitable.

Our new group is a solid mix of new people, some from the UK, Canada, and Russia. I will say that one way that I am changing is that I say more European things, like "look at all that rubbish," or "where's the lue." When I catch myself saying, I am kind of shocked, but I have been around Australians, Canadians, and people from the UK ever since I left. Aside from the last tour where there was a family of Americans and one girl from Alaska that I traveled with in Istanbul, the Americans have been hard to find.

So not much really happened today, tomorrow we are actually starting the tour, so I will have much more to write about. Cheers

Northern India Wrap Up

So, I have just spent the past two weeks in the northern part of India, including Delhi, Jaipur, Agra, and Varanasi to name the big cities. India, thus far has been an amazing experience; while it is the most filthy thing I have ever experienced, the culture, religion, food, and people make up for it. As long as they are not trying to sell you something, the people are very nice. While we were at dinner in Varanasi, an Indian lady came up to our table and gave one of the Norweigen girls a hug and was so happy to see us, shaking my hand, saying "nice to meet you." Even though the South (in the U.S.) is known for its hospitality, I would never expect to see that type of friendliness.

India by itself has been a huge change from anything I have seen. Using a tuk tuk or rickshaw as my main mode of transportation has been quite a thrill. Having random cows completely stop traffic or casually meander the Indian train stations is always an amusing sight. Seeing all the monkeys around, jumping from billboard to rooftop to telephone line can't replicate anything you see when they are trapped in their cages at your local zoo. They have truly turned a bustling city into their home. Dogs are everywhere, it is sad to see what bad condition they are in as they sift through the trash looking for possibly their last meal. The traffic is on another level from any place I have been to thus far. I honestly don't know how the people are not deaf here, the horns are constantly blowing, even the big trucks have signs on the that read "Horn Please." The horns are not all the same; some are really high pitched and some play musical tunes, pretty amusing. There are no lanes, street signs, stop lights, it is just pure chaos; however, the locals manage it just fine. The motorcycles and moped are all over the place driving into oncoming traffic and weaving through stopped traffic with their mirrors pulled in, the best combination of talent and guts I have seen on the road. I would love to see some of these people in LA or NY traffic back in the states; they would laugh as they wiz past everybody. They would single handedly destroy the time frame known as a New York minute. I can really see why the game Frogger was never done in India. It would just be one level, that would be hard enough...

While in India, you gain a different perspective on poor people. In the US a poor person may be getting a check from the government, have government subsidized housing, can go to a local shelter for food and possibly a bed during the winter, may have a cellphone, and maybe has a low paying job. Here, poor means poor. Living in a tent, looking through garbage for your next meal, bathing in the water you drink from, use the restroom on the side of the road for everyone to see, maybe missing a limb or two, potentially infected with a disease, have no chance of getting a job, and probably don't get any help from the government. It really changes the definition of poor. Is what I think of poor back at home actually poor? That is one of the great things about the US, no matter your upbringings, if you have strong determination and drive you can do almost anything or be almost anybody. That is the American Dream.

The cities that I have been in are very old cities slammed with people. In Jaipur they are starting to build a metro, which I think will drastically help relieve the congestion, but it should have been done years ago. I do not think the trash in India will ever change. One of the main reasons why is because there is no way for a trash truck to get to the trash. I can only imagine the hours it would take for a huge trash truck to get through all that traffic just to get to a couple trash bins. Also, like what I spoke about in Jordan, it is just engrained in their way of life to throw trash on the ground. Yash was telling me that when they throw their trash on the ground that they are creating a job for someone else... While that is somewhat true, someone does pick up bits and pieces of the trash or sweep it off the roads, I would rather give the job to someone who is completely collecting it and taking it to a dump site or recycling plant. There are too many people and not enough places to properly throw away or recycle the trash. The only real way to fix the trash problem is if everything was biodegradable, or if there was some special metal in everything disposable so some magnet could sweep over and only pick up the trash, that would be cool (patent pending).

The north is a more touristy area, from what I have heard. More of the locals are not vegetarians and there are more well known sites in the north. However, the south is much more relaxing; less population, pollution, and hustle and bustle, so I can't wait to see what the south has to offer. The south will be more vegetarian, hot, and have more mosquitos. I need to get to a Chemist (Indian pharmacist) to get some more malaria pills.

Since I have been in India, my days are much slower. Before India, my days were slam packed, trying to cram too many adventures into too little time. I will say that my one big regret thus far was not to fully update my music before I left. I mainly use Pandora back home, so I have no need to download music onto my iPhone, I only use it while working out. I planned to update my music the night before I left; however, I spent the night with my good friends, drinking beer and watching sports. If I could go back, I would not change a thing about that night, spending time with friends that I have been with most of my life before I leave for almost a year was much better than sitting in front of my computer alone all night. Got to take the good with the bad. However, the 127 songs are starting to get repetitive and not all situations allow for a good read. Like right now, I am writing this post while listening to music on the bus ride to the airport. Unfortunately I can't think, write and read at the same time. Maybe if I had the multi-tasking powers of a women it could be done.

To think that in a little over a month, I have explored the markets of Old Medina in Morocco, been to the top of the Galata Tower in Turkey, floated in the Dead Sea, been to the top of the mountain in the ancient city of Petra, Jordan, Scuba dived in the Red Sea, driven a horse carriage with the locals in Luxor, visited the Pyramids and Sphinx in Egypt, been to the top of the tallest building in the world in the United Arab Emirates, and bathed in the Ganges, regarded as the holiest river in the world, in India. What will the next month hold?

Only time will tell and anything is possible.

"To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist, that is all." -- Oscar Wilde

Day 37: Delhi

Not much was planned for today. We got a late start in Varanasi and made our way to the airport to fly back to Delhi. I spent most of my morning connecting with friends back home. It is always great to speak with people back in the States, keeps my head on straight, and it's great to keep them up to date with my experiences outside of this blog. I was able to use FaceTime, through Apple, to video chat with a friend while he was at the bar. Got to see a lot of familiar faces, asked for a double bourbon and water. Still hasn't gotten here yet.

Today is the last day that our northern India tour group will be together. Some have already left us and it is sad to see them go. We all share an irreplaceable bond and an experience of India that will never be forgotten; however, time will continue with or without me, it's on to the next adventure. Southern India is going to be hotter than I thought. In Kochi it is supposed to be 100 F (38 C). It will be bringing back the memories of the blistering heat of a Columbia summer that I try to repress. It will be nice to finally stow all of my cold gear in the bottom of my pack. The weather up north fluctuates and is generally cool at night, so I am constantly having to unpack my bag to grab my shorts or a jacket. What I should have done was pack everything in big ziplock bags. Pack my short pants in one, short sleeve shirts in another, and so on that way everything would be organized and would actually save much more space.. I'll make sure to do that on my next trip around the world.

To end the day, not much happened. My time was mostly spent in transit. The last supper with our group was great. I ordered it spicy so I could get a feel for how the Indians like it. It was very hot, but was the best meal I have had yet. I am not sure what the south will hold for me or if I will even have wifi. If not, I will write my blogs daily and upload when possibly. Until next time. Namaste

Day 36: Allahabad

Today we had an early start for a sunrise boat ride up the Ganges. The sunrise boat ride, was much better than the sunset, simply because the sun was rising in front of the Varanasi banks, showing off some of its true beauty. As we made our way up the river, we passed by another cremation site. It is interesting that they burn all these bodies by the river, dump most of the ash in the river and then there are people washing themselves and clothes downstream. There were also many people washing a lot of clothes in the river, as if there is a company that will wash your clothes in the river for you. Very different from my dry cleaners back in the states.we then floated back down the river and had a drummer and sitar player play for us the whole way back. I really love the sound of a sitar and was kind of disappointed that I had yet to see one played while I have been in India, but Yash surprised us with some great musical entertainment. I got a good video of it, I will try to upload it to YouTube later.

Since the Maha Kumbh Mela is going on right now, there are three main ceremonies that go on within the three month long festival. The second one is on the 25th, three days away. We took a bus to the city to take part in the celebrations. Yash has only been in the Ganges once and has never been to Allahabad, so this is going to be a great experience for him as well. The spot where the celebration takes places is where three rivers meet: Ganges, Yamuna, and the Saraswati, which is an underground river. This meeting point is known as the Triveni Sangam, however, the name of the river is still called the Ganges.

One thing about this celebrations is that it brings in over 40 million people from around the world. Many of the people from India have never seen a foreigner in person before, so many people were excited to see us, many of the were asking to take pictures with us. It was similar to when I was in the Valley of the Kings in Luxor, Egypt.

Bathing at the Triveni Sangam during this time is seen as a very religious thing for the Hindus. I was honored to be able to join Yash and the other Hindus in the river. We didn't see but one other caucasian in the whole festival, so I think it's safe to say that I was the only one that went into the river. I don't consider myself a reborn Hindu or anything, but it was an irreplaceable experience that I will never forget. I was a little skeptical of going completely underwater at first, for fear of getting sick, but, like most of the doubtful moments I have had on this trip, I just asked myself, did you really come all this way, to a place where most people dream about, and hesitate?

Today was actually my last day with this tour group. While I am booked for a 28 day tour, it is split into two different tours. So some of the people in the group are just doing the northern part. It really has felt like I have been in India for longer than two weeks, but I guess that is because I have seen so much in so little time. In the past month or so I have seen more than some people see in a life time and this is not even the tip of the iceberg. It will be sad to say goodbye to those I have experienced India for the first time with, but I can't travel with everyone forever. On the other hand, when one door is closed another one is opened, in my case, often two. There will be another group awaiting us in Kochi; all new stories, homelands, and backgrounds for me to explore.

I have seen pictures and heard some stories of southern India, but experience is the only way to truly know, so I have no clue what to expect. Only time will tell and anything is possible.

RIP Mary Bailey (6/10/21 - 2/17/13) love you, miss you. You are are my strength and inspiration.