Massive India update

This, my first post from India, has been a long time coming.  I started it the day after I arrived, but a combination of being too busy to find time to write, to lazy or sick to write when I did find time, and difficulty obtaining reliable internet access all prevented me from getting an update out until now.  Since I've been in India for 3 weeks already and a lot has happened in that time, I'm going to take the bits that I've written and salvage what I can by putting them under headings for each city I've visited so far.  I'm not going to give you a full rundown of the sites and activities from each stop (if you're interested, you can check out my photos on Flickr), but instead try to give you a general overview of my impressions of each area and one or two memorable aspects.  That said, this is going to be a massive post, so make yourself comfy or go use the bathroom before you dive in.

Mumbai (Bombay) - Dec 5-13

It didn't take long for it to become clear to me how different India was going to be from Southeast Asia.

SE Asia vs. India, Difference #1: On my flight into Bangkok, I devoured the in-flight meal of roast pork slices over rice.  On my flight into Bombay, I could only eat half the butter chicken before it became too spicy for my taste buds to handle.  If I can't even handle the airline food, eating authentic local Indian food is going to be a bit more of a challenge than I had anticipated.  (Update after one week: I've been handling the spice a lot better than I expected and have been able to eat pretty much everything, as long as I haven't been explicitly warned about its spiciness.  Phew.)

For some reason, all the international flights into Bombay seem to arrive after midnight, making it necessary for me to book accommodations in advance for the first time on this trip.  Since I arrived a day before Erica and the rest of my time in Bombay I planned to stay with her in a very nice hotel at the Cricket Club of India (courtesy of Anisha's family), I booked a cheap room through hostelworld.com at a place that offered complementary airport shuttle service.  It turned out that despite receiving an email correspondence from the hotel confirming that I would technically be arriving on the 5th but wanted the room for the night of the 4th, the person sending the email must not have cleared it through the appropriate channels, because after navigating my own way to the hotel, I was informed that they were not expecting me until the following night.

Now, at 2am in a decidedly not-tourist-friendly neighborhood, this could have easily turned into a bad situation.  Fortunately, the owner apologized for the miscommunication, called another nearby hotel, drove me there himself, made sure I would pay the same price as my original booking, and gave me his card to call him if I had any problems.  Besides not having the in-room internet access my original hotel had promised, my new accommodations were fine and I was grateful that my arrival in India hadn't turned into more of an ordeal.

When I checked out of the hotel the next morning, I decided that since I was not in any particular rush, I would try to save a few dollars and have an adventure by taking a tuk-tuk to the commuter train rather than taking a taxi all the way to the Cricket Club.

SE Asia vs. India, Difference #2: In SE Asia, tuk-tuk drivers always quote you a price at least double what you should actually pay.  In India, tuk-tuks have a built-in meter.  Also, Indian tuk-tuks feel much safer, more like small cars with open sides, rather than motor bikes with shaky frames for seating seemingly thrown around them as an afterthought.  (Update after one week: it turns out meters are frequently "broken", so you still have to play the same old bargaining game.)

Upon arriving at the train station, where I was clearly the only tourist, I was immediately approached by a young girl of about 7 or 8 years old begging for change.  She not only followed me for a few minutes, but pulled at my shirt and began pinching the skin on my forearms quite hard, before eventually leaving when she realized she wasn't going to get through to me.

SE Asia vs. India, Difference #3: Beggars in India appear to be much more persistent, and more frequently either children or possessing a major physical disability.  I don't know whether it's because I haven't yet spent much time in major tourist areas in India, but it also seems like they are much less likely to be trying to support themselves by selling some little knick-knack.  (Update after two weeks: I take that back.  I have never had so many people of all ages try to sell me as much crap as at tourist sights and neighborhoods in India.  The lie "I not trying to sell you anything!  I don't want money!" has become the most commonly heard phrase of the day.)

The half dozen ticketing windows at the train station each had between 20-30 people standing in slow-moving, single-file lines.  To one side was what looked like two electronic ticketing terminals, around which was a disorganized but much smaller and faster-moving group of people. I approached one man who looked to be around my age and asked him how to get a ticket to Churchgate.

SE Asia vs. India, Difference #4: Unsurprisingly, it is MUCH easier to find people who speak functional or fluent English in India than SE Asia, at least in major cities.  (Update after two weeks: Unfortunately, speaking near-fluent English makes it easier for touts and scammers to lie.  It's shocking how many "students who just want to practice English" happen to hang out at tourist sites...)

It turned out the terminals were for people with smart cards, but everybody else stands in the line to pay 9 Rupees ($0.20) or less for their paper tickets--not a very efficient system, to say the least.

Boarding the train, I thought "now THIS is India!"  Advertisements, both official and random spam pasted by enterprising individuals, covered nearly every surface in the dark, musty car.  Fortunately, it was midday, so the train wasn't nearly as crowded as it would have been a few hours earlier and I didn't feel awkward using the seat next to me to rest my large pack, given that there wasn't enough floor space at my feet to put it there.  Although I was clearly the only foreigner on the train, I didn't feel as though I attracted a lot of attention, other than a couple men seated across from me who made a few attempts at conversation before realizing either their English was not as good as they thought or my ability to decipher their accents was even worse than I thought.

As we rode down the tracks, other trains passed us by, some of which had cars reserved exclusively for women, a recent development I remember reading about in a New York Times article (yeah, mkappus, that one was for you).  The women-only cars seem like a great policy in my opinion, as 80-90% of the people I've encountered in most public places are men, and I've seen multiple articles in the paper covering incidents involving fallout from extreme incidents of "Eve-teasing" (sexual harassment).

When the train pulled into the final stop, I figured it would be pretty easy to find the Cricket Club of India (CCI) since I had looked at the map and it seemed to be a very large structure only a couple blocks from the station.  What I hadn't counted on was the CCI was not only the lodgings and restaurants I had expected, but also a cricket stadium currently hosting a match/test/whatever between the India and Sri Lanka national clubs.  Amidst the madness, I eventually figured out where I needed to go, and thus began a week in Bombay that was wonderful but decidedly not what I had been expecting from my India experience.

You see, when I heard that Anisha and her family would be putting up her friends from overseas in a hotel, I figured it would be nicer than the guest houses where I had been staying.  What I did not count on was a luxury room with air conditioning, daily housekeeping, room service, mini-fridge, etc.  On top of that, we each received a gigantic gift basket full of snacks, saris for the girls, and a car and driver to take us sightseeing and shuttle us to and from the wedding events.  Let's just say Bombay turned out to be a nice break after two months of backpacking.

It was fantastic to reunite with Erica, one of my closest friends from college, and getting to spend some quality time with her for the first time in years was something I was really looking forward to.  During our time in Bombay, we were also joined by a couple of Anisha's other friends who had flown in for the wedding: Nancy (who would be joining us for the rest of the trip), Tiffany, and Tiffany's friend, Diana (who, like me, already planning to be in India and was invited along by a close friend of Anisha).  We were also expecting to be joined for much of our trip by Carolina, another friend of Anisha, and her husband, but they got stuck in Dubai for a few days because it hadn't occurred to them that they might need visas to enter India (huh?) and then suddenly decided to return home early without telling us immediately after the wedding, which frankly was quite fine with us given the inconsiderate attitudes they had shown in virtually all of our interactions.  The rest of us got along tremendously, especially Erica and Diana, who seemed to discover an endless stream of shared interests and habits.

SE Asia vs. India, Difference #5: As the more astute among you may have noticed, in the span of a couple days, the make up of my travel companions went from four guys and no girls to four girls and no guys.  Ahhh, back in my element!  Not really a difference between the regions/countries themselves, but I'm sure it had a significant impact on my experience of them, especially considering the wide gap in respect accorded to men and women throughout much of Indian culture.

Although the groom's family is very traditional, Anisha's family is decidedly not, so the compromise between a full-on traditional Indian wedding with days and days of events and a simple western-style wedding plus reception turned out to be spreading many of the events out over the month leading up to the wedding itself.  I was a bit disappointed to miss out on the prepared dances and some of the other traditions I had heard about (and seen in a last-minute viewing of Monsoon Wedding), but still enjoyed a luncheon at the groom's house where most of the guests wore traditional Indian garb and the mendi at Anisha's family's house where the girls covered their hands in intricate henna designs and we all stuffed ourselves on the plates and plates of delicious but indescribable Indian snacks (seriously, even the Indians who had lived in the US had no idea how to explain in English what we were eating most of the time) which were constantly placed in front of us.

On the non-event days, we visited the surprisingly limited sights around Bombay.  The highlight was certainly the cave temples on Elephata Island, filled with fantastic scenes of Shiva in his various forms carved into the stone walls.  Unfortunately, all but one of the scenes had been badly damaged by Portuguese conquerers, who thought the images sacrilegious and used them for target practice.  The one intact scene features a three-faced image representing three Hindu gods: Brahman the Creator, Vishnu the Sustainer, and Shiva the Destroyer.  The Portuguese interpreted the scene as paying homage to the Holy Trinity, and thus spared it.

The wedding itself was held on the waterfront in the majestic Taj Hotel, now infamous as the site of the 26/11 terrorist attack.  Streams of marigolds hung everywhere and the girls could not stop talking about all the beautiful saris and jewelry on display on the guests.  The ceremony was not the somber affair you find at most Western weddings.  The bride and groom sat on a brightly lit and decorated stage, going through a variety of rituals and posing for pictures with family and close friends as everybody else sat/stood around and talked.  The highlights of the wedding for me were certainly the two rounds of massive savory and sweet buffets and the open bar featuring what was certainly the nicest selection selection of liquors I've ever seen available in such a setting, including an 18-year aged Johnny Walk Gold Label... heaven!

Delhi - Dec 13-18

Delhi was, to put it bluntly, disgusting.  Our first two nights in town, we stayed at a guest house in Majnu-ka-Tilla, a small Tibetan enclave a few km north of Old Delhi.  Although pleasantly quiet, the smells wafting into the room at night were so awful that we had difficulty sleeping.  Moving into the center of the city the next day brought slightly improved smells, but much more noise.  From that point on, it became much more difficult to judge the air quality, as Nancy and I both developed hacking coughs and a head/chest cold that have yet to fully disappear.  According to Delhi residents, all the auto-rickshaws and buses were converted to clean natural gas a few years ago and the air quality has dramatically improved as a result, but it was still hands down the most polluted city I've ever seen.

Sickness and air quality aside, I did have a wonderful time in Delhi.  Besides having many more interesting historical sites to visit than Mumbai (see my photos of the Red Fort, India Gate, Hamayun's Tomb, and Lotus Temple, among others), Delhi also gave me the opportunity to reconnect with some friends.  The first, Daniel Tomlinson, has been living in Delhi for about a year, doing rural market assessment for a number of socially-minded businesses.  We had been introduced by a mutual friend as a result of our similar interests in social enterprise and had spoken on the phone a couple times, but it was great to finally meet face to face.  Daniel gave Erica, Nancy and me some great suggestions for sights, restaurants and shops to visit, all of which turned out to be fantastic.  He also mentioned that there was a going to be a meeting of young professionals working in development the next evening, and being that I hadn't been to a DC-style networking happy hour in over two months, there was no way I was going to miss it.  I was a little concerned that Erica and Nancy wouldn't enjoy themselves there and repeatedly assured them that I would not be offended if they decided to go off and do their own thing, but they ended up enjoying themselves and getting lots of good recommendations for our upcoming destinations.  It turned out that the happy hour was organized by Anay Shah, who I had met in DC about 8 months ago at a joint StartingBloc/Net Impact happy hour and been in contact with a couple times after.  When we first met, Anay had been working for USAID in DC for 3-4 years and was looking for an opportunity in the social enterprise space in India, so it was wonderful to reconnect with him in Delhi and get an update 6 months into his prestigious (and highly competitive) fellowship with D.light, an Indian solar lighting company focused on the rural market that seems to be on the verge of really taking off.

The next night, Erica, Nancy and I met up with Gitsy, a friend I knew from DC who had moved back to her native city (Delhi) over the summer.  Despite just getting over a nasty cold, Gitsy was just as warm and energetic as ever and took us to a cute little creperie for dinner, then a stylish bookstore to see a series of Pecha Kucha presentations (20 slides, 20 seconds each) relating to various aspects of books, reading and publishing, and finally a chain coffee shop for a slice of chocolate cake and a sundae to cap the night.  It was a delightful evening, one that felt like it could have taken place in any city in the world.

One final thing I'd like to mention about Delhi is how much easier meeting up with all these people was made by the prepaid SIM card I was able to purchase and use with my iPhone (which I had unlocked in Bangkok).  Although you have to jump through some hoops and provide quite a bit of initial documentation to get a SIM card or phone in India, once you have them, I've found mobile phone service to be incredibly reliable and inexpensive.  Local calls are $0.02/min or less, national calls are $0.03/min or less, calls to the US are under $0.15/min, and texts are $0.02 to send.  Oh, and all incoming calls and texts are free.  Kinda sheds some light on just how badly we get ripped off by Verizon, AT&T, etc. in the US, huh?

Agra - Dec 18-19

By the time we boarded the train for Agra, we were all very much ready to put Delhi behind us and get to a place where the air would be a little more breathable.  Our $8 first-class tickets for the three-hour ride apparently entitled us to a newspaper, bottle of mineral water, tea and biscuits, and a full breakfast--not bad!  On the platform before we boarded, we met Sharon, a friendly girl of Indian descent who had grown up in Tanzania, studied in Goa for four years, and currently lives in the Democratic Republic of Congo coordinating logistics for the UN peace-keeping mission.  When we arrived in Agra, we ran into Sharon again at the prepaid auto-rickshaw booth and invited her to tag along with us to the Lonely Planet-recommended hotel where we had made reservations.  Both the hotel (Hotel Sakura) and Sharon turned out to be great finds, the latter making a pleasant and interesting travel companion for our time in Agra, and the former being not only a good place to stay, but also the source of top-notch recommendations for accommodations in Jaipur and Bundi.  The hotel's proprietor, Ramu, was exceedingly friendly and helpful source of information, providing suggestions for activities, transport and hotels in other cities without ever making us feel pressured to take his recommendations if we expressed preference for an alternative.  Also, after I told him that Erica was the person to talk to about our plans, he proceeded to address her as "Erica-boss" for the remainder of our stay, much to her amusement.

Being that we arrived in Agra in the morning of the one day per week that the Taj Mahal is closed (Friday), we decided to hire a driver through Ramu to take us out to Fatehpur Sikri, a fortified ancient city with a magnificent palace and mosque about an hour's drive from Agra.  The next morning, we left the hotel at 6:30 to go see the most highly anticipated sight of our trip, only for me to discover upon entering the gates that both the batteries and backup batteries I had bought that morning for my camera were defective.  While initially very disappointed not to be able to take pictures of the Taj in the beautiful morning mists, I soon relaxed, consoling myself with the knowledge that my three companions were taking more than enough photos for us all and trying to enjoy the freedom from feeling like I had to be constantly searching for the perfect shot.  I eventually remembered that my iPhone has a built in camera, so I was able to snap a few quick photos of my own before we left.

When we returned from dinner that night, I sat around swapping travel stories and advice with a couple friendly American guys and British girls who were staying at our hotel.  The Americans had just come from the hotel Ramu recommended for us in Jaipur (the owner there had also recommended Hotel Sakura in Agra to them) and got us excited with reports of free wifi in the rooms so we could Skype home without running up the bill at an internet cafe.  When talk eventually turned to our professional vocations and I learned that one of the American guys was a political consultant/strategist from New York, I figured we might know someone in common through the DC scene.  We were both pleasantly surprised when we discovered one acquaintance in common, though it was not at all who I would have initially expected: when he mentioned that he had been working on a congressional campaign in Ohio in 2006, I remembered that one of my friends from summer camp, Rick Barry, had also been working a campaign in Ohio around that time.  Rick and I haven't seen each other since we were about 15, but we kept in touch and he had just emailed me about 2 weeks ago to inquire on my whereabouts and see whether we might be able to get together sometime.  It turned out that not only did this guy know Rick, he had worked with him on an earlier campaign and was the person who had recruited him to come to Ohio in the first place.  I love this small world stuff!

Jaipur - Dec 20-22

We were picked at the train station in Jaipur by Ramu's friend, the proprietor of the 6-months-new Hotel Moon Light Palace.  The hotel turned out to be everything we had hoped (clean, hot water, friendly staff, free wifi) with the exception of the slow and disappointing food at the serene rooftop restaurant.  By the time we finished our lunch it was already after 3pm, and since most of the sights in the town closed at 4:30, we decided to just walk a couple kilometers to the center of town and explore on foot.

After about 5 minutes of walking, we realized it really wasn't a very nice road to walk along, so we agreed to accept a ride from Jhitu, the auto-rickshaw driver who had followed us from the hotel clearly anticipating our change of heart.  Although we initially resisted his attempts to impress himself on us as our guide, the price he offered was barely $1 more than it would have cost us to ride into town and back anyway, so after getting him to promise he wouldn't try to make us stop and look at any shops where he would get a commission, we decided to hire him on to show us the Old Town and Monkey Palace.

When Jhitu dropped us in front of a restaurant we'd chosen as a central point in town based on a map in Nancy's Lonely Planet, it finally clicked for Erica and me that the approach we'd both favored to getting to know new towns on our trips to Southeast Asia--known as the "get dropped in the area with the most Lonely Planet-recommended businesses and walk around" strategy--just isn't well-suited to most of the places we've visited in India.  To start with, sidewalks are frequently obstructed, in disrepair, or non-existent.  Next, trash, animal feces, and open sewers frequently dot the road, and even if you do manage to avoid those, there's still the dust and vehicle fumes for your lungs to contend with.  And even if you do brave all those hazards, the shops and restaurants just aren't very nice.

Anyway, there were a couple nice buildings in Old Town, but being a Sunday afternoon, fewer than half the vendors had their shops open.  We did take a few nice photos of the city at sunset from Monkey Temple (a temple overlooking the city, around which there are many, many monkeys and quite a few pigs).  The highlight of the day (besides the lovely hotel) was dinner at  the original Moti Mahal Deluxe, the restaurant opened by the chef who invented butter chicken.  The butter chicken was indeed the best I have ever tasted and the other dishes were similarly excellent, though the item that generated the most excitement was Nancy's delicious coffee ice cream float, topped with whipped cream and chocolate chips.

The next day, we decided to sleep in and try to catch up on some the sleep we lost by having woken up before 6am each of the last three days (two early trains, plus the Taj Mahal at dawn).   By noon, we were finally ready to go out and do some sightseeing, so we called Jhitu and had him pick us up and drive us 15km to see the Amber Fort, the most impressive of three forts overlooking Jaipur.  On the way back, we stopped for quick photos at a handful of palaces, including one on an island in the middle of a lake, known commonly as the Water Palace.  We also agreed to let Jhitu take us to a few shops, where I got a few tailor shirts and handkerchiefs, Erica some pillowcases, and Nancy some jewelery.

While we were in the jewelery store, we received a text from Rama, the former host-mother of one of Erica's friends, inviting us to dinner at her home.  We eagerly accepted, and a couple hours later found ourselves sharing a simple but tasty meal with Rama, who it was clear was perfectly suited to her role as coordinator of the university home-stay program, and her friend Mary, a visiting dance professor from Southern California who has been studying Bollywood dance and will hopefully soon have an interview Helen Richardson, a famous English-Burmese cabaret dancer who has appeared in over 1,000 Bollywood films.  It was a wonderful cap to our time in Jaipur, providing us with a welcome dose of the warmth and hospitality that we hadn't really felt since the pampering from Anisha's family in Bombay.

Bundi - Dec 22-23

If peace, quiet, and gracious hospitality were what we were hoping for (hint: they were), Bundi more than surpassed any expectations we could have had for it.  There were few vehicles in the streets, and the few verbal enticements to check out their wares from the shopkeepers in the market were far less frequent and insistent than we had become accustomed to at our prior destinations.  The 5-room, family-run guest house where we stayed was another stellar recommendation from Ramu in Agra.  Our primary host, Chintu, bent over backwards to make sure we were happy and comfortable, always showing up whenever we needed anything, sitting and chatting with us when he wasn't otherwise occupied, but never imposing himself when we wanted to be left alone or making us feel pressured to take advice for activities or onward travel plans.  We watched the sun set and enjoyed an excellent and peaceful home-cooked meal from a rooftop table that afforded us a view of local children flying kites from their own roofs, and, in the distance, an ancient palace and fortified wall illuminated by gentle electric lighting and extending along the hillside.  Our food was energetically served to us by Ajay, a thin and friendly boy of about 10, who responded to our thanks for each new plate or glass with an enthusiastic "Welll-come!"

In the morning, we enjoyed a meal of porridge with bananas and honey (quickly becoming our go-to breakfast selection), and walked over to the palace to explore what was essentially the only sight to see within the city itself.  Our extremely thorough tour guide made sure that what was originally pitched as a one-hour tour for 100 Rs stretched to a full two hours so that he could request an additional hour's payment, which we wryly smiled at but did not begrudge given his extensive knowledge of the palace's history and the multitude of murals decorating the walls and ceilings throughout.  After the palace tour, Erica and Nancy went on a short hike along the edge of the fort to see the view from the peak, while I decided to avoid the allergens from the surrounding brush and returned early to our guest house.  The hikers returned to report the view wasn't much improved from what we had seen from the palace, and we spent the remainder of the afternoon and evening relaxing and snacking until we departed to catch our train on the later side of midnight.

Udaipur - Dec 24-25

We knew we would be in good hands in Udaipur ("the most romantic city in the world") when we were greeted at the train station by a barefoot gentle giant of an auto-rickshaw driver.  Okay, we were actually a little intimidated at first, but after he got us to our hotel and gave Erica some pleasant and non-pushy information about cooking classes and the local handicrafts festival, we were glad he'd been the one to push his way up to us when we disembarked.

Our room at the gorgeous-but-reasonably-priced Ganguar Palace Hotel was massive, and enticing scents from the French bakery below encouraged us drop our bags and rush down for some breakfast before retiring for some much needed pre-sightseeing napping/blogging.  The City Place, supposedly the second largest palace in India, was for the most part surprisingly forgettable, apart from some magical views overlooking the city and other nearby palaces.

The next day, we slept in and then went to a private Indian cooking lesson in the home of former champion swimmer who had been recommended by our auto-rickshaw driver and Lonely Planet.  The lesson was observational rather than hands-on, but we still felt like we learned a lot about Indian cooking, including the box of seven spices that can be found in every Indian kitchen: red chili powder, coriander powder, anise seeds, cumin seeds, turmeric, salt, and garam masala (which is usually made up of 17 different spices, but in this case was a home blend of 60 spices from our instructor's organic family farm).  Three hours of sitting, eating and learning?  Sounds like a good afternoon to me!  After the cooking lesson, we spent an hour walking around the handicrafts festival, then picked up our bags from the hotel and rode over to the train station to head back to Delhi and catch a flight to Varanasi.

What's Next

Ok, that gets us up to the present!  I'll be in Varanasi from Dec 26-28, then fly back to Delhi and take a bus to Goa on Dec 29 (waaaay cheaper than a flight by the time I got around to booking it) where we'll meet up with some of Nancy's friends and celebrate New Years at a posh beach resort.  On Jan 1, Erica and Nancy will head back to the US, and I've decided that rather than hang out by myself on the beach in Goa for another week, I've booked some buses and trains to spend a day or two each in Mangalore, Mysore and Bangalore before heading back to Mumbai to catch my flight to Tanzania on the 7th.

I feel like I'm in a good rhythm for traveling right now (and finally feeling mostly healthy again), but I'm very much looking forward to getting to Tanzania and staying in one place for more than a week.  I got an email a few days ago from Alfred, my host in Tanzania, listing some of the projects he has in mind for me at KickStart, including a supply chain assessment and selection and training for a CRM platform for the sales team.  Both are right up my alley and I feel very fortunate to be heading into a work/volunteer situation where I will be able to both contribute existing knowledge and have the opportunity to develop new skills and expertise, all while being exposed to a wildly different life experience.

To those of you who actually read this far: congratulations, I'm surprised and impressed! (Doubly so if you're not a blood relative.)  To everybody: I hope you are having a warm and happy holiday season, surrounded by friends and family every bit as wonderful as mine!

Goodbye, SE Asia

I guess a 10-hour layover in Bangkok along the way from Saigon/Ho Chi Minh to Bombay/Mumbai is as good a time as any to catch up on my blogging and reflect on my time in Southeast Asia.

When I wrote my last post, I wasn't feeling too high on Vietnam, but my impression of the country began to improve in Nha Trang, a quickly growing city along the South-Central coast.

With the sky remaining overcast and most of Nha Trang's tourist activities focused on the beach and water, at first it didn't seem like there would be much to do.  Between a day cruise to explore nearby islands, a couple treks on foot into the city itself, and a surprisingly decent nightlife, I managed to find ways to fill the hours between meals.  Yes, the food has remained one of the highlights of my trip, as those of you who have seen some of the recent photos on my Flickr page can probably tell by the pound or two I have added over the past couple months.  But really, can any of you (non-vegetarians) blame me when you can get a breakfast like this for a bit under $1?

Surprisingly, my next destination, Dalat, ended up being my favorite stop in Vietnam, despite consistently having the worst food of any place I've been.  [Side note: my list of unusual animals eaten on this trip currently includes snake, rabbit, goat, crocodile, and ostrich.  All of them were better than any of dishes I tried in Dalat.]  Dalat is a small city in the hills, 6-8 hours north of Saigon.  It is apparently a very popular wedding/honeymoon destination due to its cool weather and the beautiful scenery in the surrounding areas.  Our first full day in Dalat, the Brits and I all rented motorbikes and decided to disregard Lonely Planet's advice by procuring a map and attempting to make do without hiring a guide.  As expected, we got lost numerous times and only made it to about half of the sites we set out for, but with the wind on our faces and stunning vistas around every turn, none of us minded at all.  The waterfall, lakes, valleys, and alpine slide were all nice, but really, the thrill of speeding along (I mean, "driving at a reasonable speed with appropriate caution") and taking in the sights along the road at our own pace was what made the experience.  Unfortunately, I managed to contract another cold with the same congestion and sore throat I had back in Thailand, so the next day was again spent in the hotel room nursing myself back to recovery.

By the time we got to Saigon, my health was back to about 70% and rapidly improving, quite a relief as I only had 2 days until boarding the plane to Bombay, and past experience flying during peak hay fever season taught me the perils of pressure change to a person with clogged sinuses.  Now, I'm generally an early riser, but my travel companions are decidedly not, so my first morning in Saigon was spent sending emails and making Skype calls in the lobby to family and friends.  By sometime around noon, everybody was up and we went and grabbed some breakfast at a nearby restaurant before setting out to explore the city.  Our first stop was Independence/Reunification Palace, a gigantic, open structure with ornately decorated but only mildly interesting rooms, only one of which actually inspired me to bother taking out my camera.

Alex was especially excited about our next destination, the Museum of War Remnants.  In the courtyard outside the museum were examples of the various tanks, planes, and guns used by the US during the war.  Although Alex disagreed, I thought that the exhibits inside, while clearly anti-American, were on the whole reasonably fair and did not reek of the blatant attempts at propaganda and revisionist history found in the Hanoi Hilton exhibitions.  The photography of many of the Agent Orange victims was both artistically excellent and morally horrifying.  Walking through the museum, two thoughts kept returning to my mind.  First, though I understand arguments for refusing to allow American officers and officials stand trial in international criminal courts for war crimes, we as a country did commit horrific acts during that war and our refusal (as far as I'm aware) to allow those responsible to stand trial in the same manner that we demand of human rights violators in other countries reeks of hypocrisy and undermines the legitimacy of our voice in standing up to others who commit similarly heinous crimes.  Second, it's impossible to ignore the parallels to our current conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, and I wonder how the citizens of those countries will look back on what we have done 30 or 40 years from now.

Sitting here in Bangkok now, in same airport where two months ago I first set foot in Asia, gives me a nice opportunity to reflect on what I've learned and how I've changed since beginning my trip.  When I first arrived in Bangkok, I was full of nervous excitement.  Although I think I was about as mentally prepared for a trip like this as anyone could have been, I still had never been to this part of the world or traveled alone, so there was really no way to know what it would be like to actually experience.  Now I feel more confident and comfortable both with myself and with my ability to arrive in a new city or a new country and take the steps necessary to get settled and make the most of my time there.

Some of the other things I've learned while traveling in Southeast Asia:

• Any traveling I do in the future will almost certainly be with friends or family.  Being able to share an experience with somebody else makes it magnitudes more enjoyable.  I'm really glad I met Alastair, Martin, Nathan and Alex, as traveling with them for the last month completely changed my trip (for the better) and left me with memories that will last far longer than those I would have created alone.
• If you're trying to decide whether or not to do something, it's almost always better to do it (assuming the risk of long-term physical or emotional damage is relatively low).
• I'm now much better/more comfortable with haggling.  If there aren't posted prices, never accept the first or second quote you are given.
• Be very skeptical of anything a local tells you that is in any way related to you spending money, especially in a tourist area.  Even if they seem to be just trying to be helpful, 9 times out of 10 they will attempt to steer you somewhere that pays them a commission.  In my experience, Thais in particular are especially likely to flat out lie to you to this end, which is a shame because many of them are genuinely very friendly.
• It's OK to decide not to buy something, even if you've been talking to the person for a while.  If you suspect you might be getting ripped off, you probably are, so just politely but firmly get up and walk away.  The person trying to sell you something may be upset, but that's their problem, not yours.
• Everybody gets ripped off at some point.  When you do, try to learn your lesson but don't dwell on it.
• Tipping isn't expected at most restaurants, etc. in Southeast Asia, so if you do leave a tip, no matter how small, the recipient is usually very appreciative and will give you exceptional service if you return.
• Lonely Planet can be very helpful for general orientation and activities, but individual restaurant, lodging, and tour company recommendations frequently do not live up to their billing or cannot be found at the location shown on the map.  Fellow travelers are your best source of unbiased information.
• Get a good map and try to always have some idea of where you are on it so that you can navigate yourself to your destination.
• If you have to ask directions from someone, the more detail they give you, the more likely they are to actually have some idea of what you are saying and where you want to go.  Do not, under any circumstances, point in a direction and ask if it is the way to a certain sight or destination, as the answer will inevitably be an enthusiastic head nod.  If you then point in the opposite direction, you will receive an equally enthusiastic head nod.
• There are very few Americans on the backpacker circuit and more than half of the ones I've encountered have been from California (mostly the Bay Area).  There are TONS of British backpackers.
• "Fish and chips" means "fish and French fries," not "fish and potato chips."  "Tea" is "dinner," not "a light afternoon snack."  When talking about women, "fit" means "hot," not "in shape."
• If someone can't explain to me within 5 minutes the objective of a game and under what conditions it ends, I don't want to learn about it anyway.  Yes, cricket, I'm looking at you. Oh, did I mention I'll be staying at the Cricket Club of India while I'm in Bombay?  Sigh.
• I have fantastic friends and family.  OK, I guess I already knew that, but after my last blog post, I received emails from at least 5 people making introductions or suggestions for volunteer opportunities.  It's great to know that not only are so many of you actually reading this blog, but you care enough to take the time and effort to respond to what I've written.
• Well-maintained roads, the ability to access any website of your choosing, the Better Business Bureau, and the enforcement of traffic, vehicle emissions, trademark, and public health and safety laws are all relatively small aspects of life in the US that I had not previously appreciated to the proper extent.  As a frequently disillusioned liberal, I'm often aware of the many things we as a country get wrong.  Now, I'm starting to see and appreciate how many things we get right, or at least more right than most other countries in the world.
• Being a native English speaker makes backpacking SOOOO much easier.
• If I could do it all over again, I would spend much less time in Thailand.  As cheap as Thailand is by Western standards, it's probably 50% more expensive than either Vietnam and Laos, with no real advantages from my perspective.

Speaking of costs, yesterday I added up all my ATM withdrawals and credit card charges from the past two months.  Excluding suits and airfare (which I have not used within Southeast Asia), but including lodging, food, drinks, buses, boats, activities, and other incidental expenses, I have spent a bit under $30 per day since my arrival.  If I hadn't been traveling alone for the first month and hadn't massively overpaid through the official tourist office for my 10 days in Northern Thailand, it would have easily been closer to $20 per day.  If you travel with a friend, eat at food stalls and local restaurants at least half the time, consume minimal amounts of alcohol, and always go for the cheapest option available for lodging, tours and transport, you can do a similar trip in this region for under $20 per day.  I've had a fantastic time, and I strongly encourage those of you who've expressed envy or admiration of my experiences to seriously consider taking some time between jobs or before or after grad school and just get out there and visit a new part of the world.  And if you're on the fence or have any questions, you know I'd be more than happy to give you a call or respond to an email.

OK, that's a wrap!

India, here I come!

Northern/Central Vietnam and the Road Ahead

It's currently 10:04pm and I am writing this post on a sleeper bus winding its way down the coast of Vietnam from Hoi An to Nah Trang.  Vietnam thus far has been a bit of a disappointment, with the terrible weather interfering with my visits to Halong Bay and Hue, both of which I had heard wonderful things about in advance.  An overnight cruise in Halong Bay, with its thousand karsts rising languidly from the water, left me aching for both the landscape I could see and that which might have been visible had the cold, overcast skies cleared to permit some sunlight sooner than 20 minutes before our return to port.  Hue, a city in central Vietnam, was even worse, with 3 days of constant rain constraining me and my companions to our hotel and the restaurants and bars within a 2-block radius for the entirety of our stay.

I guess it hasn't all been bad though.  Starting off in Hanoi was a double-shot of adrenaline, especially having arrived via a brutal 24-hour bus trip from Vientienne.  The two cities could not be more different.  Vientienne, is the slowest capital city you can imagine, where tuk-tuk drivers regularly nap in their vehicles and shop owners and street merchants are only half-heartedly persistent in their bids for your attention.  Hanoi, on the other hand, reminds me of New York in general and Chinatown in particular, except for massive amounts of motorbikes and a complete disregard for traffic laws of any kind.  Crossing the streets there was nerve-wracking to say the least, even for this native New Yorker.

My most recent stop, Hoi An, "the suit city", was a step in the right direction after the disappointment of Hue and Halong Bay.  Though the sun made only occasional brief appearances, it remained warm and dry enough to enjoy leisurely bike rides around the old city and along the river two out of the three days in town.  And how about that third day, you ask?  Let's just say that it was spent absorbing the lesson of what happens to this American when he is deluded enough to think he can keep pace with a group of Brits over the course of two football games and a post-midnight trip to the disco club/beach bar (though to be fair, none of them ended up in such great shape either).

My day-'o-recovery wasn't a complete waste though.  When I finally dragged myself out of bed, I went across the street and visited one of the city's hundred or so tailor shops, where I had my measurements taken for the suit, dress shoes, belt, 2 pairs of jeans, 3 shirts, 3 ties, and 3 pairs of socks that I would come back to have adjusted and wrapped up the next day for a grand total of $225.  Yep, pretty ridiculous.  I mostly just needed the suit and other dress clothes for the wedding I'll be attending in India next month, but at $20 per pair for jeans that actually fit, I just couldn't resist.

Wait, back up... wedding in India?  Ok, time for an update on my travel plans.  I'm currently traveling with the Brits on an open bus ticket from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City which allows me to stop at about five cities along the way and pick up the next segment whenever I feel like it (though, as I learned yesterday, it helps to confirm your spot a couple days in advance so the once-daily bus doesn't fill up).  I have a flight booked from Ho Chi Minh City to Mumbai on December 4th, where I will be meeting up with one of my best friends from college, Erica, and accompanying her to the wedding of one of her best friends, Anisha.  After Anisha's wedding, I will be traveling with Erica and a couple of her friends to Delhi, Agra, Jaipur and Varanasi until December 29th, at which point I have a flight booked to Singapore where I had tentative plans to spend New Years with various friends from college and DC.  It's now sounding like many of them can't make it, so I'm considering trying to cancel that flight and just stay in India, since my flight to Tanzania on January 6th leaves from Mumbai.

Wait... Tanzania?  Wasn't I supposed to visit China, Australia, and New Zealand before heading to Africa?  (To be fair, I doubt many people beyond my parents and grandmother even knew/remembered that was my original plan.)  I've decided to put those destinations on hold for now and spend a couple months in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, where I will be volunteering with KickStart, a fantastic nonprofit organization that develops, launches and promotes simple money-making tools that poor entrepreneurs can use to create their own profitable businesses.  While in Dar, I will be staying with KickStart's Country Director (and former-President of Community Wealth Ventures, who I worked with my first year at the firm), Alfred, his wife, Hillary (Country Director for TechnoServe, another nonprofit I have long admired), their 4-year-old son, Bodie (who I remember as one of the happiest, most precocious 2-year-olds I have ever met), and two rather large dogs.  I'm very excited by the prospect of starting off in Africa in such an incredible situation, staying with such wonderful people and volunteering for a such great organization.  I think I may have mentioned in an earlier post that I was finding it harder than I expected to pull myself away from the tourist trail and get involved in volunteer opportunities, so I'm looking forward to the chance to really dig in and try to make a meaningful contribution to a community.  If all goes well, I'm thinking of potentially extending my stay in Africa with other potential volunteer or employment opportunities in Kenya or Uganda.  For now though, knowing that I have that solid chunk of time set aside for changemaking has lifted a bit of weight from my shoulders, and I know it will now be easier to really let myself relax and enjoy the next month and a half of traveling.

Snake Feast!

My last night in New York before leaving for Thailand, I wandered into a small discount book shop and discovered a box full of mini Rough Guides.  I picked up a few that were relevant for the regions I planned to visit and tossed them in my bag, figuring they might come in handy for inspiration.  I promptly forgot about them, until my immanent arrival in Hanoi triggered a recollection of item #20 from "25 Ultimate World Food Experiences": Snake Feast.

Now, a snake feast certainly seemed like one of those experiences better done in a group, so I raised the idea to the Nathan, Alastair, Martin and Alex, the British guys I've been traveling with since the slow boat to Luang Prabang.  Nathan was immediately into the idea, Martin and Alex weren't enthusiastic but thought it would be interesting, and Alastair was hesitant but eventually agreed to join us.  Book in hand, I went to the front desk of our hostel and told Moon, our gracious and helpful host, that we wanted to have a snake feast, preferably at the restaurant suggested in our guide.  Fifteen minutes of semi-intelligible English later, we were riding in a cab under the impression that we would be taken to some snake restaurant of Moon's suggestion, being that the one in the book was too far away.

As the taxi meter ticked closer to the fixed price Moon had negotiated with driver, we found ourselves on a dark but busy street, clearly away from the main commercial center.   A young man on a motor bike tapped on one of the windows and began a conversation with our driver.  Soon, our driver turned and followed him down a very dark, very sketchy alley.  A couple turns later, we pulled up next to him and he handed the driver a laminated business card with the image of a snake.  The driver communicated that he wanted to take us to some alternative location, but we waved him off and told him that we wanted to go to the place we had originally agreed upon.  He nodded and we continued on down the darkened alley for another minute, before coming to a stop in front of a building with a sign for Cuoq Trieu, the restaurant from our book!

At the entrance of the restaurant, we were greeted by jars of liquid, filled with coiled, preserved snakes.

Venturing inside, we came to zoo-like cages, the first of which contained a gigantic python (easily 20 feet or longer) and some short, strange looking birds with long, thin legs and puffy feathers, which one of our hosts informed us would not be harmed by the python.  A bit further down, we came to some porcupines, ducks, and, finally, cobras.  A well-dressed gentleman with speckled hair greeted us and used a hook to rouse the cobras in the cage.  He showed us his right hand, fingers gnarled and apparently useless from a cobra bite some 30 years earlier.  After we delivered the requisite gasps, we were directed upstairs and asked how we found the restaurant--not an unreasonable question, given its well-off-the-beaten-path location.  I produced the guidebook and handed it over, watching as it quickly made the rounds through the staff, who pointed excitedly to see their restaurant mentioned specifically as one of 25 ultimate food experiences.  I'm not sure if they understood the precise title of the book or got just how impressive their inclusion is, or if they just enjoyed seeing the name of their restaurant mentioned in glossy little book.

We were led to a table in a massive, beautiful outdoor courtyard, filled with plants and caged birds and given the option of paying 200,000 dong (roughly $11) each for a meal made from the snake of our choosing, or 1,300,000 for all five of us if we wanted a cobra.  $3 extra each to eat the king of snakes?  Easy choice.  The hard part was deciding who would eat the heart, but with only Nathan and I feeling adventurous enough to want to give it a try, a quick flip of a two-quid coin determined that I would get to do the honors.

A few minutes later, this was dropped 5 feet from our table:

The snake handler picked up the cobra and with the help of an assistant, slit its throat and squeezed its blood into five shot glasses and its bile into five more.

Suddenly feeling a bit squeamish, we quickly ordered a round of beer chasers.  As we waited for our beer, the shot glasses were brought to the table, along with the cobra's heart on a small dish.  As you can see in this video, the heart was still beating:

By the time our beers arrived, I'll admit, there was a bit of adrenaline rushing through my veins.  I poured myself a glass of beer to be ready as a chaser, and then... well, why don't you watch the video:

Yeah, that felt pretty bad-ass.  Honestly, you can mostly just taste the rice whiskey that the blood and bile are mixed with, but it's quite the head trip.

The meal itself was actually quite tasty, featuring no less than seven dishes made from our cobra, including a cobra soup (sort of like a Japanese mushroom soup), grilled cobra pieces (not unlike teriyaki pork), fried cobra skin (similar to pork rinds), cobra wrapped in dried seaweed (a bit like unagi yaki), cobra stir fry (quite tasty, like port stir fry), and cobra spring rolls (just delicious):

In sum, the snake feast was an unforgettable culinary experience, made even better by the wonderful company:

Tomorrow, we're off on a 2-day/1-night trip to Halong Bay, where we'll be crossing our fingers for good weather and a clear view of the Leonid meteor shower, supposedly the brightest in Asia in 25 years.  Life is good!

Making new friends

So much has happened since I last wrote.  Over my first three days in Chiang Mai, I walked around a lot, explored the temples and night bazaar, went to a Muay Thai (kickboxing) fight, and took a cooking class.  I ended up staying in Chiang Mai an extra two nights after that (for five nights total) before leaving on my trek.  I hadn't intended to stay so long, but the night before my trek was scheduled to begin, I started having a sore throat, and the next morning, my breakfast threatened to reverse my digestive system's standard mouth-to-stomach route, so I thought it wise to hold off until I was at least sure I wasn't going to get any worse.

After two days spent mostly in bed, drinking water and watching Mad Men on my laptop, I went on a three-day trek into the hills around Chiang Mai.  It was a fantastic experience, including 3-5 hours of hiking each day, bathing in waterfalls, riding elephants, floating on a bamboo raft, sleeping in bamboo huts, singing Eric Clapton songs (poorly) by campfire while accompanied on guitar by one of the guides (whose singing was just as bad as mine), and eating meat from a cow that had been walking around earlier that day.  My ten companions were two guides from the Karen hill tribe, a recently-engaged Polish couple, middle-aged British and German couples, and a pair of German girls about my age.  They were a great group to trek with, and for the first time on this trip, I felt like I really connected with other travelers.  I guess three days of forced contact is good for building bonds and getting past the standard "where are you from/where are you going/where have you been/how long do you have" questions everybody asks each other when they meet.

We returned from the trek to Chiang Mai on the second night of a huge three-day festival.  Janina and Carola, the German girls from the trek, invited me to join them in venturing to the waterfront to explore the festivities.  While I can't tell you the name of the festival or its meaning, I can report that I have never experienced anything remotely like it: thousands of lanterns flying into the sky, fireworks everywhere, and candles floating down the river in small boats made from banana leafs.  I'm trying to upload some photos and video, but the connection at this cafe is extremely slow, so I'll probably just go back and add them to this post when I get somewhere with a speedier connection.

The next morning, I took a bus to the Laos border and spent the night in Huay Xai.  The next morning, I crossed the border and boarded a slowboat to Luang Prabang.  The two days on the boat and the night in Pak Beng not only gave me the opportunity to see some spectacular scenery along the Mekong, it also provided the opportunity to learn some new card games and meet up with plenty of like-minded backpackers from the US, the UK, Germany, Canada, Israel, and elsewhere.  Upon arriving in Luang Prabang last night, 14 of us (mostly from the UK) decided to all check into a guest house together.  Trying to make decisions and coordinate plans with a group that size is certainly quite different from the "Do I feel like doing this? Yes!" process I'd been following up until now, but so far I'm really enjoying their company and plan to stick with them for at least another day or two.  This trip has been great at teaching me how get along by myself without any significant social interaction for days/weeks at a time, but it has also reminded me that--for me--being able to share my experiences with others, whether old friends or new acquaintances, is often the ingredient that makes those experiences truly special and memorable.

From Bangkok to Ayuthaya to Chiang Mai

I thought I had kicked the bedbugs, but I woke up Friday morning in Bangkok to find a few spots of blood on my sheet just below the pillow, a strong indicator that they had returned.  I got a bottle of rubbing alcohol, found a new place to stay for the night, and did the whole de-bedbugging procedure again.  I REALLY hope I've finally kicked them (or perhaps this was a new case).

That night, I met up with Jenn Franson, a friend from DC who is teaching in Bangkok for a few months while her fiance, Nate, is finishing up his final year of grad school.  Jenn and I walked around Chinatown for a while, sampling all sorts of delicious foods from the vendors lining the streets as part of some kind of vegetarian festival.  For the most part, we followed the approach to food selection I've adopted since arriving in Thailand: find the vendor with the most locals waiting in line, get in line, and then when I get to the front of the line, I point at whatever item I saw the most people ahead of me order.  In addition to leading me to some great food, it also reduces the likelihood of food poisoning (because locals wouldn't eat there if they had frequent problems) and allows me to see what other people paid so I don't get overcharged (though this is not that big a problem with most street vendors, since the prices are so low anyway).

After eating our fill, we decided to catch a cab to Vertigo, a bar on the roof of the Banyan Tree, the tallest building in Bangkok (59 floors), which also happens to be next to Bangkok's version of Central Park.  All in all, you'd think it would be a fairly well-known destination and cab drivers would know where it is, right?  Well, you, my friend, have clearly never been to Thailand.  I have never been anywhere where so many people are so terrible at directions.  Even when shown a map with street names in Thai characters, the majority of people I have approached for assistance haven't even been able to point out our approximate current location.  Despite the help of a couple friendly Thai students who knew where we wanted to go and spoke to cab drivers on our behalf, it took us three tries to find a driver who understood APPROXIMATELY how to get there.  When we finally arrived, we each enjoyed a delicious cocktail that cost more than my accommodations for the night, but the view was totally worth it:

The next morning, I took a bus/van to Ayuthaya, the former capital of Thailand, and spent most of the next two days exploring the Wats (temples) and markets by bicycle.  The "city" is an island surrounded by rivers and probably only about 4km by 4km, so it was easy to cover pretty much everything worth seeing in that time.

I'm now in Chiang Mai and will spend 3 nights here before going on a 3-day, 2-night trek, where I will stay with some indigenous tribes, hike, and go rafting and/or elephant-riding.  After the trek, I will return to Chiang Mai for 1 more night, during some large festival, then take a 2-day slow boat ride to Luang Prabang in Laos.  Pretty much everyone I've talked to has said Luang Prabang was their favorite city in Southeast Asia, so I'm looking forward to seeing it for myself.