STD ISD PCO
If you've been to India or are going anytime soon, you know (or will soon learn) that "S.T.D. I.S.D. P.C.O." is a sign for a calling/communication station... and I definately think it's time to check in!
It's been a while, but a big hello to everyone! I am sorry it has taken me so long to get back to the blog. It's ironic that at the times when I have the most to write, I am least able to.
I have been back in Japan for two days now after a mind-blowing three week trip around Asia, specifically Taiwan, India and Nepal. The trip was FANTASTIC. With luck, and to my great surprise, I never got "Delhi belly" or came across a pickpocket that was willing to take me on, but I will admit in hindsight that the trip was maybe a little heavy on the crazy, whirlwind adventure at times. I can't complain much about getting to travel to the places I've just been, but I am still a little envious of my dark-skinned and very relaxed-looking buddies coming back from Thailand... I'm beat!
Anyways, I'm going to work on getting back-posts (from my journal/notes) and pictures up, but to give a recap of the trip, I was traveling with my Trinidadian friend Kelly, whom I went to Thailand with last winter. We basically ended up spending three days in Taipei on an extended layover and headed straight to Varanasi once we hit India (one of the oldest cities on earth and home of the "holy mother" herself, the Ganges River). After Christmas, we hired a car and drove north over the border of Nepal to Royal Chitwan National Park for a jungle safari before spending a few days in Kathmandu. We never made it on any treks in Nepal, but we did do a spectacular Mountain Flight around Everest and the Himilayan Chain. And even if I had the will and strength to do it, I don't know if I'll ever be able to afford the $40k in taxes it takes to climb to the top of Everest... so I didn't take the opportunity to get a bird's eye view of the region (and glimses of beautiful Tibet) lightly. Just wait 'til you see all the shots of the flight. It was glorious.
Nepal was wonderful and we wanted to stay in Kathmandu for New Years (it's surpringly tourist-friendly and the "place to be for the holidays" if you can't make it to Goa), but we couldn't get a later ticket and returned to India.
After a spot of sightseeing in dizzying Delhi and a crazy New Years Eve in Conaught Place (CP is the heart of New Delhi...and incidentally not a place for lone ladies after dark...ahem), we hit up the classic "Golden Triangle" route (Delhi - Jaipur - Agra) with a side daytrip to Pushkar (on the border of the Thar Desert) for a short camel safari. After that, a few last days in Delhi and a short stop in Taipei on the way back... and here I am, back in Akashi, Japan.
Whew... and that was just the basics!
So anyways, more to come, but I seriously have 16 discs worth of pictures and a million more stories to tell from this trip. Coming back to Japan has been nice in some ways (it's not quite home, but it's familiar and comfortable), but also a wake-up call in many other ways. I didn't go to India to discover myself or chase spirituality, but I definately have a different perspective of Japan after being exposed to so much poverty for days on end. The heartbreaking scenes of so many children begging for food (or shampoo and pens) on the street in India just makes you want to do more. It didn't help that I counted at least 8 designer purses from where I was sitting on the train on the way back from the airport in Osaka, either... do you realize how far that money could go to help in India? Wow, talk about opportunity cost. Anyways, we did get the names of some reputable charities along the way, so I can hopefully use my position on the HAJET Charity Committee to plan some fundraising events to help... only if a bit... and in the meantime, I'm grateful for the experience.
I need to get some rest, but for now... here's some of the highlights from the trip:
- Standing at the top of the highest building in the world (at least until next year), Taipei 101
- Riding the world's fastest elevators (also at Taipei 101)
- Wheeling and dealing way past bedtime at the night-markets in Taiwan
- Eating out of mini toilet bowls at a bathroom-themed restaurant in Taipei, Modern Toilet
- Attending Christmas mass in a hindu-inscriped cathedral
- Being blessed by an Indian priest with a dot on the forehead on Christmas Eve in Varanasi
- Indian antibiotics (don't know the doc gave me, but man did it work well for influenza...)
- Witnessing "Arti" (hindu ceremony) in Varanasi, Kathmandu and Amber
- Crossing the India/Nepal border on a rickshaw in the middle of the night
- Driving through the small towns of northern India where few a tourist seem to go (we got lost in the car so it wasn't
originally the plan... but was pretty cool, nonetheless)
- Going on a jungle safari in Royal Chitwan National Park in southern Nepal (on an elephant!)
- Cheering on the annual Elephant Races (and baby elephant soccer games!) in Sauhara, Nepal
- Getting a bird's eye view of Everest and the Tibetan border from a Buddha Air Mt. Flight
- Received my "passport to Pushkar" (red Punjab bracelet) from a Brahmen priest
- Touched a 5,000-year-old stone that (I think...) baby Krishna was born on
- Did mehendi (henna flowers and designs painted on my right hand and feet)
- Learning to deal with getting mobbed and groped... and then getting two marriage proposals
- Hearing interesting travel tales from other world travelers (never know who you'll meet!)
- Witnessing the entire process of a hindu cremation ceremony and learning about the significance behind it,
including the 5 elements (the sight and smell will stay with me forever)
- Was gnarled at by a dog-sized monkey
- Swapped jokes and got my butt kicked at Tic-Tac-Toe by a 10-year-old Mumbai native, part of a family that we
made friends with on a train and that tried to adopt us for a few days
- And speaking of which... Spent days on trains, buses & planes (note: I would recommend you take the bus from
Jaipur to Agra & Train from Agra - Delhi... learn from our mistakes!)
- Had my photo taken by a "world famous movie producer"
- Visited the Taj Mahal in a sari, the Jahal Masjid and Red Fort in a shalwa
- Taking the reigns and getting to steer a camel into the Thar Desert on my own
- Watching the sun: rising over the Ganges and Taj Mahal and setting over the Rajput mountains from a camel, from
the banks of the Bagmati River and from inside the main chamber of Humayan's Tomb (with persian, patterned
shadows dancing around the marble)
- Meeting some of the happiest people in the world... who own less in life than I was carrying on my back at any
given time during the trip
- The wild green and blue parrots in India (literally mingling with the pidgeons... so pretty!)
- FOOD, food, FOOD!
And the list goes on... More soon :)
It's been a while, but a big hello to everyone! I am sorry it has taken me so long to get back to the blog. It's ironic that at the times when I have the most to write, I am least able to.
I have been back in Japan for two days now after a mind-blowing three week trip around Asia, specifically Taiwan, India and Nepal. The trip was FANTASTIC. With luck, and to my great surprise, I never got "Delhi belly" or came across a pickpocket that was willing to take me on, but I will admit in hindsight that the trip was maybe a little heavy on the crazy, whirlwind adventure at times. I can't complain much about getting to travel to the places I've just been, but I am still a little envious of my dark-skinned and very relaxed-looking buddies coming back from Thailand... I'm beat!
Anyways, I'm going to work on getting back-posts (from my journal/notes) and pictures up, but to give a recap of the trip, I was traveling with my Trinidadian friend Kelly, whom I went to Thailand with last winter. We basically ended up spending three days in Taipei on an extended layover and headed straight to Varanasi once we hit India (one of the oldest cities on earth and home of the "holy mother" herself, the Ganges River). After Christmas, we hired a car and drove north over the border of Nepal to Royal Chitwan National Park for a jungle safari before spending a few days in Kathmandu. We never made it on any treks in Nepal, but we did do a spectacular Mountain Flight around Everest and the Himilayan Chain. And even if I had the will and strength to do it, I don't know if I'll ever be able to afford the $40k in taxes it takes to climb to the top of Everest... so I didn't take the opportunity to get a bird's eye view of the region (and glimses of beautiful Tibet) lightly. Just wait 'til you see all the shots of the flight. It was glorious.
Nepal was wonderful and we wanted to stay in Kathmandu for New Years (it's surpringly tourist-friendly and the "place to be for the holidays" if you can't make it to Goa), but we couldn't get a later ticket and returned to India.
After a spot of sightseeing in dizzying Delhi and a crazy New Years Eve in Conaught Place (CP is the heart of New Delhi...and incidentally not a place for lone ladies after dark...ahem), we hit up the classic "Golden Triangle" route (Delhi - Jaipur - Agra) with a side daytrip to Pushkar (on the border of the Thar Desert) for a short camel safari. After that, a few last days in Delhi and a short stop in Taipei on the way back... and here I am, back in Akashi, Japan.
Whew... and that was just the basics!
So anyways, more to come, but I seriously have 16 discs worth of pictures and a million more stories to tell from this trip. Coming back to Japan has been nice in some ways (it's not quite home, but it's familiar and comfortable), but also a wake-up call in many other ways. I didn't go to India to discover myself or chase spirituality, but I definately have a different perspective of Japan after being exposed to so much poverty for days on end. The heartbreaking scenes of so many children begging for food (or shampoo and pens) on the street in India just makes you want to do more. It didn't help that I counted at least 8 designer purses from where I was sitting on the train on the way back from the airport in Osaka, either... do you realize how far that money could go to help in India? Wow, talk about opportunity cost. Anyways, we did get the names of some reputable charities along the way, so I can hopefully use my position on the HAJET Charity Committee to plan some fundraising events to help... only if a bit... and in the meantime, I'm grateful for the experience.
I need to get some rest, but for now... here's some of the highlights from the trip:
- Standing at the top of the highest building in the world (at least until next year), Taipei 101
- Riding the world's fastest elevators (also at Taipei 101)
- Wheeling and dealing way past bedtime at the night-markets in Taiwan
- Eating out of mini toilet bowls at a bathroom-themed restaurant in Taipei, Modern Toilet
- Attending Christmas mass in a hindu-inscriped cathedral
- Being blessed by an Indian priest with a dot on the forehead on Christmas Eve in Varanasi
- Indian antibiotics (don't know the doc gave me, but man did it work well for influenza...)
- Witnessing "Arti" (hindu ceremony) in Varanasi, Kathmandu and Amber
- Crossing the India/Nepal border on a rickshaw in the middle of the night
- Driving through the small towns of northern India where few a tourist seem to go (we got lost in the car so it wasn't
originally the plan... but was pretty cool, nonetheless)
- Going on a jungle safari in Royal Chitwan National Park in southern Nepal (on an elephant!)
- Cheering on the annual Elephant Races (and baby elephant soccer games!) in Sauhara, Nepal
- Getting a bird's eye view of Everest and the Tibetan border from a Buddha Air Mt. Flight
- Received my "passport to Pushkar" (red Punjab bracelet) from a Brahmen priest
- Touched a 5,000-year-old stone that (I think...) baby Krishna was born on
- Did mehendi (henna flowers and designs painted on my right hand and feet)
- Learning to deal with getting mobbed and groped... and then getting two marriage proposals
- Hearing interesting travel tales from other world travelers (never know who you'll meet!)
- Witnessing the entire process of a hindu cremation ceremony and learning about the significance behind it,
including the 5 elements (the sight and smell will stay with me forever)
- Was gnarled at by a dog-sized monkey
- Swapped jokes and got my butt kicked at Tic-Tac-Toe by a 10-year-old Mumbai native, part of a family that we
made friends with on a train and that tried to adopt us for a few days
- And speaking of which... Spent days on trains, buses & planes (note: I would recommend you take the bus from
Jaipur to Agra & Train from Agra - Delhi... learn from our mistakes!)
- Had my photo taken by a "world famous movie producer"
- Visited the Taj Mahal in a sari, the Jahal Masjid and Red Fort in a shalwa
- Taking the reigns and getting to steer a camel into the Thar Desert on my own
- Watching the sun: rising over the Ganges and Taj Mahal and setting over the Rajput mountains from a camel, from
the banks of the Bagmati River and from inside the main chamber of Humayan's Tomb (with persian, patterned
shadows dancing around the marble)
- Meeting some of the happiest people in the world... who own less in life than I was carrying on my back at any
given time during the trip
- The wild green and blue parrots in India (literally mingling with the pidgeons... so pretty!)
- FOOD, food, FOOD!
And the list goes on... More soon :)
posted by Brenda Ann Elizabeth McKinney @ 8:34 PM
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