Vicariously Yours

New pictures!

andrew_and_alexandra — Thu, 3 Sep 2009 03:43:00 GMT

World Nomads failed to mention the limit on uploading photos, which was reached well over a month ago. Most recent photos (i.e. rest of Vietnam, Camdbodia, and soon China) can be found at shutterfly. I will update the links to find the photos and put the most recent pictures at the top of the list. Enjoy!

Cambodia

Siem Reap- Big Ciruit of Angkor temples and Roulous

http://share.shutterfly.com/share/received/welcome.sfly?fid=1bd3cfc35c7162e12a944dfefaeb216b&sid=0AYtmbRw2aOGTkQ

Siem Reap- Ta Prohm

http://share.shutterfly.com/share/received/welcome.sfly?fid=8ff7d34dece928d76d9889752d9a603c&sid=0AYtmbRw2aOGTog

Siem Reap- Banteay Srey

http://share.shutterfly.com/share/received/welcome.sfly?fid=4cf8e631a160f724bcfd7207a7b1fe91&sid=0AYtmbRw2aOGTqo

Siem Reap- Beng Mealea

http://share.shutterfly.com/share/received/welcome.sfly?fid=64a6a9c6129325dc0031ecd658bfd733&sid=0AYtmbRw2aOGTsw

Phnom Penh

http://share.shutterfly.com/share/received/welcome.sfly?fid=c8f30d828d7f194a3315f89dbf2f35f7&sid=0AYtmbRw2aOGTxA

Vietnam

Mekong Delta

http://share.shutterfly.com/share/received/welcome.sfly?fid=7dc27fb6464f6eb15b2f2841c4d4a52e&sid=0AYtmbRw2aOGTzI

Saigon

http://share.shutterfly.com/share/received/welcome.sfly?fid=9dc061b481f370902a944dfefaeb216b&sid=0AYtmbRw2aOGT1Q

Dalat

http://share.shutterfly.com/share/received/welcome.sfly?fid=4f703471fea1c4046d9889752d9a603c&sid=0AYtmbRw2aOGT5g

Hoi An and Champa Ruins

http://share.shutterfly.com/share/received/welcome.sfly?fid=45905661f08c69fdbcfd7207a7b1fe91&sid=0AYtmbRw2aOGT7o

Hue

http://share.shutterfly.com/share/received/welcome.sfly?fid=dd8738510b1aa85f6276141d224b0f78&sid=0AYtmbRw2aOGTu4

Dong Ha- The DMZ

http://share.shutterfly.com/share/received/welcome.sfly?fid=6959b6199a65d7de5b2f2841c4d4a52e&sid=0AYtmbRw2aOGTmY

Books Books Books! - updated

andrew_and_alexandra — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 01:30:00 GMT

Our goal is to read 1 book a week and, every so often, write a short review of each book and post it to our blog. So, here is our current list of have-reads. We’ll update every so often. Oh, and instead of writing reviews, we’ll just rate them from 1-10, 10 being must read and 1 meaning, turn on the tube.

In no particular order

Alex:
The Beach - alex garland – 8.0
The Game - neil strauss - 4.0
Vanishing Act - jodi picault – 2.0
New moon - stephanie meyer – 1.0
twilight - stephanie meyer – 1.0
Eat, Pray Love – -2

The Good Rat – Jimmy Breslin – 9.2
Losing Gemma –Katy Gardener - 3
Memoirs of a Geisha – 7.0

Dancing girls: a collection of short stories – Margaret Atwood – 6.8 (depressing but good writing)

Girl With a Pearl Earring – Tracy Chevalier 5.1 (kinda boring)

Mr. Nice – howard marks - 7.3

Still life with woodpecker – tom robbins – 8.5

First they killed my father – 8

reading; anna karenina

Andrew:

Life of Pi - Yann Martel – 8.4
Blink - Malcolm Gladwell - 7.6
When Elephants Weep – 8.5
The Beach - Alex Garland – 5.1 – but fun
Midnight's Children - Salman Rushdie – 4.2 (but very well written and literary)
The Testament – Grisham - 2
A Time To kill – Grisham - 3
The Game - Neil Strauss – 4 unless u want to learn to pick up women (then read the first half only)
The Jungle Books - Rudyard Kipling 8.2
The Secret Garden – Frances Hodgson Burnett - 6.5 (children’s book but nice read)

Special Topics in Calamnity Physics – I think I’ll review this. Well written and clever but way too pompous – ill give it a 6, out of spite, to start
Sailing Around the Room - Billy Collins 9.0 - poetry

Around the World in 80 Days – Jules Verne 6.5 (fun, read it in 5 hours)

Portrait of an Artist as a Young man - Joyce 8.3 (interesting insight into catholic schooling)

Mr Nice – howard marks – 5 for writing 8.5 for story (true story about weed trafficker)

Brother Number 1: Political Biography of Pol Pot – David Chambers – 6.2 (but informative)

A wild sheep chase – murakami – 8.2

still life with woodpecker – tom robbins – 8.5

Burmese days – Orwell – 8.6 (great book. his first novel)

the phantom tollbooth – norton juster - 3.5 (A kids book i read once. for the age was great)

A wrinkle in time – Madeleine L’Engle – 7.6

Next: no logo or crime and punishment

Gallery: Cat Ba Island, Ha Long Bay

andrew_and_alexandra — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 23:04:00 GMT

Gallery: Sa Pa

andrew_and_alexandra — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 22:39:00 GMT

Gallery: Hanoi

andrew_and_alexandra — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 01:28:00 GMT

Gallery: Ko Pha-Ngan

andrew_and_alexandra — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 02:13:00 GMT

A Po-em - because, I'll Procratinate Discussion of my Dengue Fever Just a Bit More

andrew_and_alexandra — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 22:57:00 GMT

Beach Bumming

Without a Good Book

Beneath 3 breeds of palm trees
Sand, towel, ants and breeze
I prostrate myself for want of excitement.
Thoughts abound
Like British vacationers on Khao San Road:
Raw, collared, tattooed, pedigreed,
inebriated, window-shopping, mangy, mute.
What if I envision the consequences of Alex and my sudden nudity:
Parts flapping haphazardly, flippant
We skip and flop
Some staring
Mothers rushing to shield their children’s eyes,
Who struggle against their wicked censorship.
Shark Attack? I ponder, anxious for an elevated heart rate
Calamity
Anything that would alarm
these subdued tourists, couples, families…
Quiet, boring me with their relaxing and comfortable do-nothingness malaise.
Even the slack jawed dogs look annoyed;
They relate.
We share a glance.
I open Billy Collins – witty, poignant-every-day-ness, uneventful
It captures the mood precisely
As if this was his poem, “Listless in Koh Phangan”.
Then, serendipity acts,
A storm rumbles, “hello” just on the horizon
(How polite to alert us to her arrival)
Vegetation attempts flight, kids mimic leaves
Restaurants batten down the hatches.
As I bound for cover I catch the Dog’s eye,
Gleaming with mischief
Just before he leaps
Greeting the wind with a chomp and a twist
And somewhere a shark hunts bathers in a warm lagoon.

Playing catch up...Ko Pha Ngan

andrew_and_alexandra — Sat, 4 Jul 2009 16:12:00 GMT

While on Ko Pha Ngan we stayed in a bungalow on Ko Mah beach which is the place travelers come to for snorkeling and quiet relaxation. The sunsets were gorgeous- hot pink streaks across shades of blue and purple, melon orange pouring out dusty blue grey. The water was as warm as the days making it somewhat difficult to cool off. The reefs cover the majority of the ocean floor near the water's edge so in order to enter cooler waters one must very cautiously navigate through the reef out into the deep. The ocean was also incredibly calm, more like a bay. From the shore we could view a neighboring, much smaller, island which was connected to Ko Pha Ngan by a narrow land strip. On two occasions we hiked to see waterfalls and to our disappointment they were completely dried up. We arrived to find just a trickle into some stagnant water- hello malaria.

We needed some excitement, Ko Mah beach was super super quiet. So, we took out motorbikes. It was both our first time out on a motorbike and I have to say the bikes provided some great laughs. They were not as easy to drive as anticipated but eventually we both got the hang of it with some close calls in the process. Bikes are a great way to explore the island. Unfortunately, we made the mistake of using this opportunity to drive into Haad Rin- hairpin curves and incredibly steep hills all with traffic. One hill was so steep that even when completely flooring it we had to help our bikes along with our legs- no exaggeration. Add to that I could not make right hand turns so this presented problems, a couple of times I was driving on the opposite side of the road. Then we ended up getting lost on the drive back and none of the streets were lit so I was driving in the pitch black choking down bugs. The time spent on the island was really relaxing. Every evening around 6:00 pm a thunderstorm would roll in and last maybe an hour. It made the sky look dramatic and the breeze would pick up cooling down the shore. I mostly read, wrote in my journal, and ate fresh fruit salads (french fries shared with Ans when the rain came in). The fruit has been unbelievably sweet and ripe ever since I have been in Asia, such a treat.

After so much relaxation I was excited for the Full Moon Party. After being packed into a pick up truck with a bunch of other Europeans we were dropped off in the center of Haad Rin- craziness on night of the full moon. The entire beach is one massive party with huge speakers blaring out all sorts of different music and people dancing everywhere on every surface. The sand was the softest I've encountered while in Thailand, cool and slippery under my feet. Buckets are the main beverage. You select your hard alcohol of choice, mixer of choice, and a can of red bull mixed in for good measure. We both got painted up in neon and danced danced danced. The next day was spent just laying on the beach dozing in and out of sleep. The weather started to increasingly get worse, perfect timing as we needed to head back up to Bangkok to meet Peter (Andrew's friend from NYC) in Hanoi.

Koh Phi Phi and the Dengue Fever

andrew_and_alexandra — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 14:08:00 GMT

We arrived at Krabi from Bangkok by way of bus. this bus wreaked to high hell, so much so that Alex couldn't sleep, consequently nor I ( i was recruited for entertainment purposes). it's amazing what kind of bodily outrages people can commit in the most unseeming of places.

Krabi, a climbing mecca of sorts, is located a few kilometers frmo the pier. There's always a catch. We found the cheapest means of transprotation and made our way by back of a truck to the pier, just in time for the last boat to the island. the boat ride lasted a few hours, some of which was fairly standard harbor viewing, but the last leg of which was beautiful blue coastal waters punctuated by the occasional green-hooded mountain-top, peaking out of its quilt of waves. as we pulled into the harbor, we snapped a few shots and had bandit-like smiles on our faces as if we had just robbed a bank and were crossing state lines.

we were accosted by numerous sellers of things immediately upon setting foot on the pier. we dodged and denied and made our way down the planks to the town which, conveniently, began immediately - no extra jeeps, taxis or tuk tuk's necessary. we spoke with a few travel places, procured a map and headed to the beach front. we explored a cheap place first, but Alex wanted to be by the beach so we ventured further on. finding everything to be quite expensive, we gave in and rented a beach bungalow for a week for about 12 dollars a night.

the main beach of the island, in fact the entire development, is located on an isthmus that connects 2 mountain peaks. the peaks curve in to create a bowl shaped, nearly enclosed bay. it seems that the infrastructure and beach makes up the relic of a volcano caldera. we climbed up one peak for some spectacular views and photos. we also boated around to another island, the island that was used in movie "the beach" with DiCaprio - we read and watched said book and movie while here.

the sand is not as soft as one would like and the bay water way too warm. it was a bit dirty as well with no real waves. sun bathing was the primary use during the day and beach parties by night, every night. the town was really a British getaway, somewhat like paradise island although not nearly as built up, but definitely as drunk. tons of vacationers and college students out to get drunk and hook up. great if you like that sort of thing. we settled into a routine of eating at a local place - we quickly realized that, not only did it have the best food, but it was also the cheapest. so far, best fried rice of the trip.

things to do: there was some snorkeling around, which we did a little of, but nothing too great. on our boat trip to the "beach" island we visited a few others as well, the last of which we were nearly left behind. we kayaked to shore and took a walk down the beach, perhaps a little longer than wold be wise but certainly not longer than the time allotted. when we returned to find our kayak gone we grew worried. looking out to sea, about 200 yards off shore, our boat was turning to leave as it unmoored. i tried to swim out a bit and wave my arms and shout. al waved and shouted and recruited some locals to help us from the safety of the sand. we were spotted, luckily. someone stole my sunglasses that my dad gave me the loss of which annoyed. the boatmen denied. they obviously lied. i cried and died a little inside. someone also may have accidentally swapped sandals with me because, i realized back on shore, my feet were too big for them. oh well.

scary incident: we went for a walk into the locals part of town, found a soccer court and kicked the ball around. we took some photos. we saw some snails and lizards. then we spied a troop of monkeys. they were with their young feeding in between some local houses. we saw the babies first with their mothers, but soon became dangerously aware of a patrolling male. he looked mean. he showed me his teeth and moved toward me aggressively, i quickened my pace and looked ahead, not wanting to make eye contact and provoke him. he turned back and we were seemingly in the clear until he suddenly about-faced and made the same motions at alex. alex stared him down, an act that which must have really aggravated the guy because he took off at us, bearing the long sharp teeth that evolution saw fit to extract from us. "Run! Al Run!" i yelled, as i motioned forward and high stepped it out of there. "ans!" a pitiful scared voice called after me, "ans!". I looked back: the monkey had chosen to lunge for al, scaring the shit out of her so much so that she turned randomly to run and collided, after 2 steps, into a tree. i ran back aggressively and the monkey backed off. it seemed to have been satisfied with scaring the wits out of al and once she fell, it lost interest. Al had a good cry then, after we were safe and things were put into perspective, she and I had a hardy laugh. scary business, but, in retrospect, it was one of the funniest things that happened.

Mosquitoes: The night after the island-hopping boat ride I fell ill. The next morning, i could hardly move; i was achy and feverish, somewhat delirious as I lay contemplating the fever-induced hysteria evidenced in my dreams the night before. I managed to get some food, but i was miserable, so I left al and went back to the squalid smelling bungalow where a weak fan barely pushed stale hot air through the mosquito netting. I had a high fever. higher than i've had in a long time, perhaps only once ever. It felt around 104F. After taking the medicine that Al thankfully procured, i felt much better, my fever reduced to an only simmering 102. Later, it increased again and showed no signs of weakening, even after more pills. I decided to visit the island hospital. Al walked with me the 1.2 km and, soon after arriving, I was examined and given a preliminary diagnosis: Dengue.

the doctor examined me and gave me the preliminary run through of the disease and what I could expect. He sent me to lie down in the patient section so the nurses could care for me in the immediate before we discussed our options. he left to eat pizza. it smelled better than it probably tasted, but the smell reminded me of my lack of appetite and in me awoke an intense nausea. I barely held down the medicines provided and standing was a risk. With an IV in my arm the doctor returned to discuss my options, at which point the nausea had temporarily abated. I could stay here over night or go back to the bungalow. I elected to stay to be on the safe side. Dengue sounded bad. It is a virus contracted through mosquito bites with an incubation period of 3-14 days. It is passed by the Aedes mosquito that bites during the day - the bastards. Once the fever begins, it is important to be monitored closely from day 2 to day 7, after which the fever breaks and the white blood cell count begins to return to normal. In addition to a drop in white blood cells (the most dangerous aspect of the fever, distinguishing it from malaria) the symptoms include: fever, severe headaches, joint and muscle aches, rash, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, lack of appetite and more. Info here. The diagnosis depends on blood tests, so it's not always easy to confirm.

Secondly, we spoke of moving me to hospitals on the mainland where they were supposed to be better equipped to handle dengue cases. looking back, i think the doctor was just lazy or didn't want to waste his resources on me. in addition, i think he was connected to the private hospital in Phuket, since he lauded that one and denigrated the public option. Needless to say, when the doctor says go to the private hospital you go. when he suggests you jump through hoops with marmalade on your head wearing a tutu, you do it.

The next morning, i was well enough to travel. A nurse accompanied me and Alex on a boat to Phuket where an ambulance picked me up. I had never ridden in an ambulance so it was somewhat exciting despite the circumstances. i think it was a bit overkill, but it was allegedly free so i consented to it. At the hospital, i was placed in quarantine for over an hour where a doctor dressed in outbreak gear examined me to check for swine flu. Finally i was brought to my room that resembled that of a really nice hotel. IN fact, the hospital was basically a glorified hotel for the recently sliced and diced, for plastic surgery patients. The hospital served mainly westerns at a fraction of the price of their own countries. It was well known for sex alterations. Because of this I feared the wrong diagnosis by a lazy nurse. No worry, Alex was their to fight for my interest and yell at everyone, keep them on their toes and keep chance in my favor. She also brought me somewhat edible food as the hospital food was atrocious when they listened, and full of fish when they didn't. It didn't matter too much since i couldn't eat, but i ought to have edible food if I'm paying a lot for it. Despite being a fraction of the cost of western hospitals, it was 6 times more expensive than the public option. 2 days of private hospital was enough for me when i saw the bill. I paid and requested a transfer to the public one. They transferred me for free.

I cant laud the service and care i received at the public hospital enough. Maybe they were excited to show off for a westerner - the public relations manager visited me daily after all. Nevertheless, at a fraction of the cost of the private institution, i was cared for with much more concern by nicer staff who spoke better English. The room was not nearly as nice, but it was clean enough, private and air-conditioned. The tv only had one movie channel and a few less English-speaking channels. It's ok. i occupied myself with playing scrabble against myself and watching every movie that there was to see. I spent 6 days in the public hospital and 2.5 in the private. The bill for those 6 days did not exceed the cost of one day at the private. At the hospital, my state remained the same, mild fever, low platelets, little to no appetite, IV in arm, fatigued when standing, but otherwise lucid and not in too much pain.

After the 7-10 days of fever, dengue sufferers recover slowly but steadily for a month. We rested in a resort at Patong Beach, Phuket, passing the time watching more movies and reading on the beach. By the end of the week I was well enough to travel and we left for Koh Phangan.

Thanks to Al for taking good care of me and to my parents for calling every day, sometimes twice.

Gallery: Phuket

andrew_and_alexandra — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 14:50:00 GMT

Gallery: Bangkok

andrew_and_alexandra — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 14:49:00 GMT

Gallery: Ko Phi Phi

andrew_and_alexandra — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 03:19:00 GMT

Gallery: Calcutta

andrew_and_alexandra — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 03:04:00 GMT

Bangkok! Also known as..

andrew_and_alexandra — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 02:13:00 GMT

Krung Thep Mahanakhon Amon Rattanakosin Mahinthara Ayuthaya Mahadilok Phop Noppharat Ratchathani Burirom Udomratchaniwet Mahasathan Amon Piman Awatan Sathit Sakkathattiya Witsanukam Prasit

Well we went from being often times the only Westerners in a room to being surrounded by tourists on Khao San Road. If you have read The Beach by Alex Garland he aptly describes Khao San as the main stop over hub for travellers to the southern islands of Thailand who stay in Bangkok before heading South. It is spring break 24/7- I felt like I was in Mexico circa my freshman year of college. We ended up staying in Bangkok just over a week and really loved the city. During that time we became savvy with the public bus and discovered all the different facets of Bangkok- there is much more beyond Khao San.

First night we head out to Chinatown which is land of the food vendors. I thought at first Khao San had a ton and I was mistaken. Foods you never even thought existed (dried shredded pork on top of shrimp crisps) could be found on the main Chinatown strip. I learned within 24 hours in Thailand how much the Thais love their meat. All types of meat products in different forms are constantly being grilled and skewered. The variety of fruit also blew my mind- each kind more beautiful to the eye than the next. Hot pinks, greens, and lychees the size of plums!

On Saturday we went to the Chatachuk market (only open on Saturdays) and for anyone who loves to shop this is a MUST. The shopping options were crazy, you name it they had it. I thought to myself this would be perfect to have in the states when shopping for gifts. It would be impossible not to find an item here that someone would want. All sorts of odds and ends as well as one little boutique clothing vendor after another. This is where I caught my first glimpse of how great the Thai girls pull themselves together. Everything from small accessories adorning their hair to high heels perfectly coordinating with the hair accessories. The guys and girls have edgy haircuts that look stellar with their intricately assembled clothing and shoe ensembles.

Everyone knows that Thailand is notorious for the sex tourists and we had read you must go to the two main locations, Nana Plaza and Silom, for no other reason than to gawk at the awkward old white guys. We walked into a couple bars and the scene was a bunch of pathetic looking guys sipping on beers as the young Thai women and ladyboys ( Thai boys who dress like women or undergo sex operation) flirted with them. Needless to say, we beelined out of their pretty quickly.

Jim Thompson's home right in the center of the city was gorgeous. Thompson dealt silk fabrics during the 1900s until he mysteriously disappeared in Malaysia. Most believe he vanished due to foul play. His house was built the way Thai houses used to be constructed in Teak fashion and it sat right on the canal. The wood of the exterior of the house was painted a deep red and was enveloped with lush palm trees and tropical plants. He also had a small but gorgeous art collection, some beautiful Buddha sculptures which had been collected from other parts of Southeast Asia. All of the doorways had high lips you needed to step over in order to enter each room. Our guide told me the Thais believe this keeps out the evil spirits and it is considered bad luck to step directly on the lip. The house was really breezy because of huge windows which were cut out of the wood. In classic teak constructions doors and windows are always wider at the bottom and narrower at the top.

Near the end of the week we visited the Royal Palace which is now only used for meetings and ceremonies. Occasionally when diplomats and foreign dignitaries are in town they stay there but the King and Queen live north of Bangkok . The perimeter of the palace is delineated with a surrounding wall which encapsulates several different buildings. The palace is lavishly decorated inside and out which vibrant colors. The decor includes rich colors of gold, royal blue, deep reds, and silver- a variety of jewel tones making the palace look like one massive piece of jewelry. In the main temple, which houses the Emerald Buddha, visitors are permitted to sit down but you must not point your feet towards the Buddha. This is considered incredibly disrespectful. Outside of the temple there is holy water and large peonies are used to drip the water on the top of your head as a blessing. Afterward we took a boat ride along the canal and this was how I had envisioned Thailand. Houses were teetering over the murky canal water and nestled in long grasses and palms. We were excited to have spotted a monitor lizard and a massive snake. It was really nice getting a feel for the "old" Thailand after spending so much time in the fast paced and globalized center of Bangkok. I was happy that while in Bangkok I simultaneously had a taste of the booming modernity which was pushed right in your face with the massive shopping centers (Siam and Paragon shopping malls are 10+ floors) but I also got a feel for the classic ideals and culture (like the Big Buddha covered in gold and Teak houses on the canal).

Gallery: Varanasi

andrew_and_alexandra — Tue, 2 Jun 2009 00:09:00 GMT

The city that predates history

Gallery: Andrew and Alex in Agra

andrew_and_alexandra — Sun, 31 May 2009 02:00:00 GMT

Kolkata was once Calcutta

andrew_and_alexandra — Mon, 25 May 2009 13:25:00 GMT

Dear Readers,

we hope to get the writing portion of our blog up to date some day. I think we will be back in the states for a month before we finally finish it. Nevertheless, I beg you please keep reading as it gives us much pleasure to write and we feel a great sense of purpose in doing so. Much like my school days, I give to you my Kolkata entry, albeit a bit late though none the worse for having been delayed.

Al and Andrew

Calcutta! The name strikes fear into the hearts and souls of decent western folk. The name, Calcutta; it carries with it, nay, projects into the future before it, numerous prejudices. It embarrassingly precedes itself. Calcutta...

But, what of Kolkata, a teaming city of 20 million plus people, an old colonial capital, home of mother teresa, a relatively large christian population, and a more European city layout and liftstyle. This place, where I was anticipating stark, stark poverty, palpable overcrowding, hellish circumstances, really, has been the most comfortable, navigable city thus far. Entering Delhi, I expected something nicer and more 'city-like'. entering calcutta, I expected the worst. My subsequent dislike of the first and esteem of the latter might be explained by the contrast in expectations. I grant that possibility, but evict it forecfully from likelihood so that it now dwells in the realm of rather unlikely. Despite being a person of prejudices, expectations, disappointments and anticipation - things contributing to my like and dislike of these places - I can also be level-headed and fair, a person willing to be proven wrong and willing to change his mind to accept another reality, willing to ignore first-impression-prejudging-syndrome despite reveling in the disease on many occasions. Therefore, I believe my like and dislike to be justly experienced, based on the 'facts on the ground' so to speak and not simply because of unmet/exceeded expectations. In Summation, Delhi bites and Calcutta is great.

Delhi seems to me to be very much a driving (or some sort of mobile transport) city. It is spread out and set back. Because of this divisions of wealth and status are more obvious, to the point of taste, not just observation; and what an acrid taste it leaves. In kolkata, you can walk. There are almost always sidewalks and, when there are, other people often walk them. Not only are there other people, but they are the type that which walk with, near, and in opposed directions to you on any crowded day in NYC; you feel amongst peers, amongst other people living urban lives, accustomed to and happy to be walking. In Delhi, if you are walking, you are at the bottom or you are a peddler of sorts stalking tourist cash. A walking city makes for a more democratic city. in addition, public transportation is well established, navigable and cheap. The subways, if you happen to be going in either of the 2 directions, work great and are clean, friendly and safe. I am a man who can appreciate a good subway, and I like Kolkata's.

Kolkata is a city with multiple storied buildings, commercial and residential and friendly people. In enough areas for it to become characteristic to some extent, the buildings are maintained. There are easily entered store fronts just off the street, unlike Delhi. People here have been very friendly as well, approaching us to speak, find out information, tell us their stories and to take photographs. They are very intrigued, but much more polite. Concerning intrigue and manners, despite our obvious rarity in their eyes, Kolkatans do not stare so brazenly as in other parts of the country. Of course, some people are culprits, but often I find the staring to be quite minimal comparatively, unless I am simply coming to ignore it. When I say minimal, however, it is entirely relative and at no point would even Kolkatan staring be considered normal by western standards. I am certainly relieved to be dealing with less stares, particularly from men, stares that anywhere else I've been would be considered aggressive, interpreted as sinister or an upfront challenge. Stares like these in NYC might elicit the response, "Eyy! What the fuck you lookin' at?" or "hey buddy, what's yo prblem?" or the more efficient, "you gotta problem?" add to that as thick of a ny accent as you feel comfortable with. I would go to the extreme end of the spectrum to discover what voice comes to my mind. But really, if people look at you this much, so unabashedly, you get pissed off. It's an aggressive provocative thing to do with most members of the animal kingdom ( a bit of foreshadowing here, this later becomes a problem with the native monkies of Koh Phi Phi). Returning to the niceties, we were welcomed to kolkata no fewer than 5 times our first day. Mind you, when I recorded this note, I had half a day under my belt. The Bengali hospitality has upstaged that of their western countrymen. But, do to the walking, heterogeneity of the people, there was much more occasion to meet nice folks in kolkata. I'm sure there are plenty of english speaking, worldy people in Delhi - i happen to know at least one great one - but, who has the occasion to meet them, zipping around safe and cool behind internal-combustion-propelled heaps of glass and metal.

Kolkata seems to have 1 or both of 2 things: regular garbage collection and or a culture of non-littering. The streets and walkways are much cleaner and in the busy parts of town than anywhere else I've been in India, even in the tourist/backpacker neighborhood where things are cheaper/dirtier/dingier/neglected. It's hard for me to believe there are more people in this city. There's even more well organized traffic obeying more laws of the road. There's less honking as a result, it seems.

As a tourist, there has been much less pressure on us to buy, do, go, give, take, trade, stay, sit, taste, show, accept, listen and otherwise dance. The scheming exists in Kolkata, do not be fooled, but it is of the more manageable type. At the train station, the trickery began immediately. Cabbies, rickshaw drivers and kids, whose allegiances were indeterminable - nonetheless they went after us as if they had things to sell, perhaps working on commission, but I wouldn't be surprise if they didn't simply enjoy the sport of it - all went after us, promising this and that, cooing, enticing, and ultimately cursing when we pushed past them and joined the prepaid line with the locals. But, all the harassment was mild compared to Varanassi and Delhi. These guys just didnt have the same taste for trickery, for the hunt. These guys had some sense of shame, however minor. We paid 60 Rupees to get to Sudder St.. We were offered "great deals" and "cheapest price" the lowest being 100, the highest 500. We met a few con artists on the streets, from one of which I purchased some silly souvenir booklet about places to eat and drink, but that was the extent of our troubles.

KOlkatans seemed to be interested in worldly news, tastes and trends. They have their own strong culture, art, culinary, music, etc, but there was a cosmopolitan sense to the city that I didnt feel elsewhere, certainly not varanasi. In microcosm, perhaps mentioning the many, many movie theatres, few prominent malls, well visited museums, bookstores, and parks supports my claim.

Perhaps the name change cured it of its nasty, gangrenous reputation. Perhaps with the name change came a concerted effort to fight poverty or, at least, push it to the outskirts, away from the gazing worldly eye, just as Juliani had all of the homeless evicted from manhattan or otherwise fed to the sewer gators. Kolkata is a huge sprawling city, so we did not make it everywhere and ventured not to far from the beaten path. I think, though, that things have changed enough so that, where it was once Calcutta, soon it will come be known as Kolkata.

Gallery: Dharamsala- Mcleod Ganj

andrew_and_alexandra — Sat, 23 May 2009 16:31:00 GMT

Gallery: Kashmir- Srinagar

andrew_and_alexandra — Sat, 23 May 2009 15:13:00 GMT

Gallery: Flight to Delhi

andrew_and_alexandra — Fri, 22 May 2009 22:19:00 GMT