ninja monkey, the adventures of

thank you, india....

predatorybunny — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 22:12:00 GMT

Things India has made me especially thankful for:

- the EPA - the pollution here is horrendous. Breathing in the smoke in Bombay burned my lungs and throat. You can smell the city as you're landing at the airport, and I was actually thankful I had a cold to block some of the smell. Apparently, Delhi is even worse...

- Waste management - There is trash everywhere in India. Along the tracks, in the streets, on the beach. Part of the issue is that people throw their trash anywhere, but a bigger issue is the lack of waste management. People dump their trash in areas, and waste management will eventually pick it up, but the system seems to be failing miserably. There is also no recycling.

- drinkable tap water. I am so glad that the water in Colorado is not only potable but also tastes good. While it's not hard to get bottled water here, having terrible water creates many challenges that aren't limited to everything smelling disgusting because of the water, not being able to eat fresh fruit or veggies because they were probably washed in non-potable water, and taking showers in water that you can't trust.

- Properly installed shower curtains. Whoever installed the shower curtain in our room did not seem to understand the concept. Instead of being alongside the shower and tub, the curtain shielded the toilet from the rest of the bathroom. This meant the entire bathroom got soaked whenever anyone took a shower.

- Toilet paper. The standard latrines in India are squatters. To clean oneself afterwards, there is a bucket of water to rinse off with -- no toilet paper. Fortunately, we planned ahead and brought a full stock of TP with us.

- people following traffic laws. In India, lanes are painted on the ground but no one respects them. We have seen highways packed 6 vehicles wide on a 2 lane road. There is no following distance -- if you're not on the back wheel of the person in front of you, you screwed up. All of the drivers are insanely aggressive, though the speeds don't seem to ever get high enough to cause serious accidents. We definitely saw lots of bumps and dings as we raced through the streets and alleys.

- personal space. It's probably due to how densely populated the country is, but everyone here seems much more comfortable being very close to strangers. People are constantly bumping into you, reaching past you, standing inches away, or just generally smelling bad in my personal bubble.

- mattresses. My bed at home is pretty stiff by American standards. But compared to the padded bricks we've been sleeping on here, my bed at home is like sleeping on a cloud.

Things we should take from India:

- Tuk tuks minus the pollution. This is my absolute favorite form of transportation. Also called auto rickshaws, I find it insanely fun to zip through the streets in these things, and I like to pretend I'm in a real-life, terrifying version of Mario Kart. They are uber-agile in the congested roads, probably second only to motorcycles. Indians often cram 8 or 9 people in these guys though they only comfortably fit 2 or 3 small people.

- the food - There has only been one incident of us not liking our food thus far. The food is much more flavorful than the foods we have at home, and we can't seem to stop stuffing our faces and re-inforcing the stereotype of American overeating.

- saris and other indian clothing. The attire at the wedding and reception were very vivid, sparkly, and colorful.

- Vibrant colors. Not only with clothes but also with homes, decor, and everyday objects, India seems to be much less drab than the US.

- Chai. Basically black tea with some spices and milk, we have gotten addicted to the tea here. We spent quite a bit of money on various teas and spices so that we can further our addiction once we get home.

- Houseboats. Floating through the Kerala backwaters was one of my most favoritest parts of this trip.

- Hindi music / bollywood. Kellie will be hosting a bollywood party when we get back so that we can wear our Indian clothes again and dance to Hindi music. You're all invited.

Taj Mahal by night

predatorybunny — Thu, 9 Feb 2012 21:54:00 GMT

Yesterday, we made a quick stop in Agra to see the Taj Mahal both during the day and again that evening under the full moon. Yes, it lives up to the hype. During the day, we had a great tour guide who helped explain the history behind the monument and also pointed out the attention paid to detail and design. My favorite part was the night viewing, though, because we were in a group of 50 that could admire the Taj reflecting the moonlight. The picture above was taken around 8:45p with the shutter open for just over a second. Totally worth the cost (appx $13USD), but you can only buy tickets 24 hours in advance so plan ahead.

We've now arrived in Delhi. Props to BVK for recommending the Sham Nath Villa. It is a bed and breakfast in the heart of chaotic Delhi, but you would never guess that given how secluded the place feels. It has a quiet garden in the part of the city the British created in the early 1800s. And it is close to a park next to Delhi University -- for the first time this entire trip, we've seen people working out outside!

Tomorrow, we'll explore the madness that is Delhi before departing at 3a for Frankfurt. We are due to arrive back in the US at 2:15p. Hope you've enjoyed the blog, and I'll be posting pictures ASAP!

WTF, India?

predatorybunny — Tue, 7 Feb 2012 23:05:00 GMT

There are a couple things that have just made us say, 'WTF, India?!'

- Carbar. During the reception in our last night in Bombay, 9 of us left the hotel, kicked out the driver of a small van and crammed ourselves into it. I ended up sitting on one of Vinay's cousin's laps as we drank bourbon, rum, some random cocktail, and wine while the driver judgingly paced outside the car. Apparently, drinking at bars in India is sometimes too expensive, and if people don't have a home available to drink at, they just cram themselves into a car to drink. WTF, India?

- Riding an elephant for 10 minutes up a neighborhood alley. At the Amber Fort in Jaipur, visitors can ride elephants up the ramps to the fort. However, our tuk tuk driver convinced us that we could ride elephants at an "elephant village" for a third of the cost at Amber Fort. We agreed to do it, but the "village" turned out to be a random barn in the middle of the city with three elephants. All three of us hopped on one of the elephants, and the driver took us 10 minutes up some random dirt alley where neighborhood children chased us screaming, "helloooo! what is your name! Where are you come from!" We ducked power lines and waved to families sitting on their roofs. It was a hilarious experience that only got better when we got back to the barn -- they offered to let us ride on the elephants heads. Of course, Kellie and I jumped at the chance. Totally worth the cost and not standing in line for 2 hours at Amber Fort, but still, WTF, India?

- All cities have multiple names. Bombay is the same as Mumbai. Calicut is the same as Kozhikode. This makes it difficult and anxiety inducing when we're on the train and don't know the correct name of the stop we need to get off at. Slightly related: Street signs are non-existent. I have no idea how people get around here because the cities were founded long before the grid system was and most of the streets are winding and full of people, tuk tuks, bicycles, and random livestock. WTF, India?

- Kellie had a baby foisted upon her. We were at a garden in Jaipur today when a random Indian man came up to Kellie with a baby and basically pushed her into Kellie's arms. He then forced Kellie to stand there with child so that he could take a picture of them together. He was ecstatic. WTF, India??

I went all the way around the world to India and all I got was this head bob

predatorybunny — Tue, 7 Feb 2012 21:45:00 GMT

While we were with the wedding party and in the south where the headbob is much more prevalent, I noticed that Kellie, Michael and I all started imitiating the locals in our mannerisms. Like with pretty much everything I do, my headbob is too frenetic and rapid, but it at least provides entertainment value.

We have now arrived in Jaipur and are on the last segment of our trip. We left the wedding party yesterday to go off sightseeing on our own. We flew out of Bombay to the desert state of Rajasthan. It's much cooler and dryer here, which is welcome relief from the heat, humidity and pollution in Bombay. It is also significantly less congested though it is a city of 6 million.

Jaipur is part of the Golden Triangle area of India -- the other cities being Agra (Taj Mahal) and Delhi. This area is noticeably more touristy. Many more locals speak English and are very aggressive about getting tourists' money. It seems like everyone we meet wants us to give them money -- it's hard to trust anyone because we are so used to people pretending to be nice and then asking for money. We encounter many more tourists here which is welcome because it makes me feel like the staring is diluted. Oddly, though, they also seem to be staring at us. Not sure what that's about.

We've done a lot of sightseeing in the last day -- lots of forts, palaces, and temples to see. The same goes tomorrow when we drive out to Agra to see the Taj Mahal. Tonight is the full moon, and visitors are allowed to see the Taj at night for the 5 nights around the full moon, so we are hoping to visit both during the day and later under the moonlight. After Agra, we take our final train up to Delhi where we will do some shopping in the bazaars and sightseeing. And then we'll head home to jetlag and back to life as usual which will be a welcome change after this adventure.

Divya and Vinay are married!

predatorybunny — Tue, 7 Feb 2012 21:19:00 GMT

Sorry to disappoint, ladies and gentlemen, but both Divya and Vinay are officially off the table! In Guruvayur (pronounced goo-roo-vai-yoo. Or "G-Town") on Friday, we went to the temple at 8am to watch the Hindu wedding ceremony which was quick and to the point -- it took all of 30 minutes. There was an exchanging of rings, and Divya and Vinay each placed wreaths around each other's necks. I wish I could describe the ceremony in more detail, but I'm not sure what all the symbolism and traditions meant. The temple itself was crowded with many other people -- group after group seemed to be shuffling through the wedding paces along with hundreds of others who were at the temple for their own prayers. As non-Hindus, it was questionable that we would even be allowed to enter the temple or attend this particular event, but no one seemed to care other than the usual staring that has accompanied us on this trip.

Afterwards, the wedding party went back to the hotel and had a wardrobe change in preparation for the public wedding. After a quick detour to an elephant sanctuary, Kellie and I got into our saris -- correction: Divya's mom and one of Vinay's aunts helped put us into our saris while Michael threw on his kurta. Kellie and I were in this wedding, which was a complete surprise to us -- we had just found out the evening before that we would have a small role.

Divya picked out our saris while she was in Delhi weeks before we arrived, and she did an amazing job. After we got into our saris,, Kellie and I vainly admired ourselves in the elevator mirrors before realizing we hadn't moved in several minutes because we had never selected a floor since we were too distracted by our dresses and bangles. Shiny!

Much like in American weddings, there is a procession that starts the wedding where the groom is led into the hall by a drummer and guy playing something that looks like a flute. As they proceed through the room, they are followed by women on the bride's side carrying various items: gold plates with rice, flower petals, and a candle on it; an oil lamp with matching candlestick holders. The procession circled the stage, dropped off Vinay there and went back for Divya. Again, led by the drummer and flutist, we followed the same path and led Divya to her seat next to Vinay. At this point, we left our plates on the stage and then stood off to the side and watched offerings made to the bride and groom and their families, blessings from various people, and then Vinay and Divya circled the items on the stage (more candles, fruit, and other items) several times. Again, the ceremony was fairly short (the drummer and other guy played the entire time), and a massive line queued as people went on stage to congratulate the new couple and have their pictures taken with them.

While pictures were being taken, food was also being served in an adjacent room. As I entered the hall, I somehow got separated from my giant white friends and noticed for the first time a lot of intense staring directed only at me. I don't know if it was just the way the tables were arranged (we had to walk down a long corridor of people to reach our seats) or if people were just mystified by a Chinese girl in a sari. I'm fairly oblivious to being stared at -- growing up as a minority in the US will sometimes result in a lot of unwanted attention and you learn to ignore it -- but the unabashed gawking here surprised me. I was relieved when Michael and Kellie reappeared so that we could be stared at collectively.

From what I understand, the food was the traditional meal served at Malayese (sp?) (a region in the south) weddings. Unfortunately, I can't describe it other than being delicious, vegetarian, served on a banana leaf, and eaten with our hands. Divya joked that this is often the only reason people attend weddings, but I'm not sure that's very far from the truth. If food was this good at American weddings, I would seriously consider becoming a professional wedding crasher.

After the wedding, we packed up all of our stuff and hopped back in our bus to go back to Calicut and Vinay's uncle's home where another ceremony was held. Very similar to the American tradition of the man carrying his wife over the threshold, Divya (in yet another outfit) had to step into the house with her right foot first. There, more things I didn't understand took place, and a couple of Vinay's female relatives fed the couple as they were seated in front of some candles and other symbolic items.

Once all of that was done and more delicious food was eaten, we again hopped into the bus for a terrifying ride to Kadavu -- a nearby resort that is known for weddings. There we lounged, drank, ate (of course) and toasted the new couple. Congrats, Divya and Vinay!

Photos: India 2012

predatorybunny — Tue, 7 Feb 2012 04:27:00 GMT

Safe and sound

predatorybunny — Wed, 1 Feb 2012 23:47:00 GMT

Apologies for the lack of posting thus far. This is a general summary of what has happened to us as of 11p Wednesday evening. I added several backdated stories to the log since I couldn't get to teh interwebs until just now.

1/30:

Driving and trains in India (see trains, planes and tuk tuks post) -- Within three hours of being in India, we are nearly ready to call it quits and go home
Kerala backwaters tour -- Pig out on delicious Indian food while floating through picturesque waters. By the end of the day, calmed down and ready to give India another chance.

1/31:

Get off backwaters tour refreshed and ready to roll. Cabbie informs us we are mere blocks from a beach, so we head there and play in the Arabian Sea for a little while. We also have our first photographs taken purely because we are American.
Back onto a train, this time involving first class experiences for both Kellie and I on a moving eastern latrine. I will probably never write about this story, but I will tell it at dinner parties to disgust people. NEVER USE A TOILET ON AN INDIAN TRAIN.
Meet up with Divya and Vinay and the rest of the wedding party!
Pig out on more Indian food.

2/1:

All of the girls in the wedding party have henna done. I never knew how long of a process this way -- it was essentially an all-day event, and we have only now gotten the use of our hands back. They reek of camphor oil and various other scents (like everything else in India) but are oh-so-pretty!
Again, scared witless by a taxi ride.
Continue pigging out.

This barely captures what has happened in the last few days. It feels like an eternity since we were in America. There are so many more stories to tell, but I haven't got the energy to write them all down. A few remaining notes:

Tomorrow, we head to Guruvayur for the first part of the wedding.
The mosquitos love Kellie -- Michael and I have barely noticed the bugs, but Kellie has been bitten ad nauseum.
We are 12:30 ahead of Mountain Standard Time.
Still no Delhi belly for anyone.... yet.
Forms of transport taken so far: Planes (fine), trains (frustrating), taxis (terrifying), bus (slightly less terrifying)
Transport left to take: Elephant, tuk tuk

Hope all is well at home!

Trains, planes and tuk tuks

predatorybunny — Wed, 1 Feb 2012 23:30:00 GMT

36 hours after departing from Denver, we arrived safely in Allepey, Kerala. The vast majority of our travels were uneventful, even boring which is what one would hope for on such a long journey. However, it was when we boarded in Dubai for Kochi when things finally got interesting. The boarding "line" was a cluster of people just pushing and cutting everywhere with the gate agent trying to maintain some semblance of control. On the plane, I had an aisle seat, and the gentleman next to me seemed to think he had paid for half of my seat as well. I spent the better part of the flight trying to avoid his elbows and shoulders as he snuffled and snored in our seats. All in all, this is barely an issue -- everyone has had that experience. But as soon as we landed and began taxiing, the plane became a giant shoving match as people attempted to get their bags and race off the flight. I became squished between several large, smelly men and crammed up against the side of a chair with several more people pushing to get by. First lesson in personal space.

When we met up in Dubai, all of us had already reached the exhaustion-induced delirious point where everything is funny, and so when we arrived in Kerala 4 hours later at 8 in the morning, we were already at the mental breaking point. Of course, the universe sensed this and thought it'd be funny to keep poking us. While Kellie and I went about getting a cab, Michael crossed the street to get to an ATM. It was at this point, a car backed into him -- ok, not really him, but his bag which he had been dragging. Just a taste of what was to follow.

While we were planning this entire trip, Vinay made us promise to not rent and drive a car in India. The Lonely Planet guide warns travelers to avoid driving if at all possible, and Vinay has even shown us youtube videos of traffic in Mumbai that would terrify even LA drivers. I apparently repressed all these warnings (possibly from the exhaustion), and as we hopped in the first cab to take us to the train station, I was completely unaware of how close to death we were.

They drive on the left side of the road here. And the right. And on the shoulder. And off the road. Traffic is defined as cars, tuk tuks, ambling pedestrians, bikes with 2+ people on it (sometimes while carrying other bikes), motorcycles and insanity. Roads are defined as any path a car can squeeze through -- the more pedestrians present, the better. I have never seen a better application of rules being more like guidelines that no one really knows or cares about. There were no seatbelts in that car, and I have never wished more for one.

Passing is really a game of chicken with on-coming traffic and seeing how fast we can go towards those vehicles and how many people can be cut off at once. I honestly think we were more often in the right (opposing) lane, accelerating towards on-coming traffic than we were in the left lane. And this wasn't just our cabbie -- every single vehicle seemed to be participating in this form of vehicular life-or-death dodgeball, and it's not uncommon to see 2 or 3 vehicles passing another vehicle at the same time with other cars speeding towards them. Horns are used constantly -- not out of anger, but to warn others that they need to get out of the way or the car behind them is going to push them aside. Pedestrians do not have right of way, but it seems that they cross whenever and wherever they want and simply trust that vehicles will swerve at the last possible second to avoid them. We are so terrified to cross the street here -- we walked along the shoulder (there are no sidewalks) for 50 yards and nearly got hit by a bus full of gawkers, several cars, and motorcycles galore before turning back and cowering in the safety of our hotel.

When we finally arrived at our destination, our cabbie nearly ran down a group of 5 pedestrians and then pinned them between our car and cars to our immediate right. Rightfully indignant, they began banging on the windows and yelling at the driver. He stopped mid-squish and opened his door to yell at them - I don't know what he said, but I'm sure it was something along the lines of, "who do you think you are and what gives you the right to walk in front of me?!" We squirmed awkwardly as the shouting match got heated, the driver drove 10 meters forward to drop us off, and then we were encompassed by the angry mob again. As they argued, we slinked off quietly and fortunately, no one was interested in our escape.

At the train station in Aluva, it became readily apparent that men have no qualms about staring at girls. Kellie, Michael and I already stand out in a crowd here, but no one made any attempt to pretend that that wasn't the case. Patience already running low, this only agitated us further.

We confirmed our train was arriving at this station and stood amidst the crowd of locals to wait for it to arrive. As a train passed by, we noticed that the old and dessicated cars were crammed completely full of people -- it was eerily reminiscent of a cattle car. We must have looked shocked because a tout quickly approached us and attempted to get us to hire a cab to take us to our destination. We turned him down, but he returned less than 10 minutes later to tell us our train was delayed 45 minutes and to see if we wanted a taxi then. Kellie and Michael are much smarter than gullible me and figured this was just a scam to get us to take a cab instead. Unfortunately, the tout was correct and we waited in a highly agitated state for our train to arrive.

What no one ever warned us about was how hard it is to get on a train in India. The actual boarding isn't that hard, but identifying the correct trains and the correct cars can be very difficult. It is not unusual for a train to arrive 30 minutes early or 30 minutes late. There are different classes of cars based on fares, but it is unpredictable where in the train each car will be. As train after train passed us by, we tried to figure out how we would know which of the 30 different cars to get on. At one point, I chased a train all the way to the end of the station trying to figure out which end our class of car was before it pulled out of the station (no, I didn't figure it out). In the end, Michael made an astute observation about how to identify our cars, and we came up with the best plan possible given the information we had: We would wait in the middle of the platform prepared to run in either direction as quickly as possible with luggage in tow. Not exactly a foolproof plan. In my mind, I could already imagine each of us sprinting in different directions (one to either end, and one frantically flailing in the classic deer-in-headlights position).

When our train finally arrived, we chased down the appropriate car and raced onboard. I am carrying my backpacking bag and got on first, walking down the mostly-empty car looking for our seat numbers. It wasn't until several moments later that I didn't realize Michael and Kellie weren't behind me -- they are each towing large, wheeled, carry-on suitcases that are far too bulky to easily manuever through a traincar. They were bumping into everyone and getting stuck at each row while I agitatedly tried to communicate with someone who was in our seats -- despite the rest of the car being almost completely empty. Seeing how much of a mess our group clearly was, he didn't bother explaining that we could really sit anywhere and simply moved away a couple rows to watch the entertainment.

Each one of these events in and of itself is typically a non-event. However, it was the combination of them all happening one after the other and joining with our exhaustion and jetlag, dehydration, massive culture shock, and the residual terror left over from the cab ride to create a frustrating and draining couple of hours where we all felt in way over our heads. Just hours earlier, Kellie and I had been exploring one of the most extravagant cities in the world -- how was it possible that we were stuck in this dusty, crazy, confusing and infuriating place less than a day later? 3 hours in India, and we were just about ready to pack it in and head back to the states.

Fortunately, as we sat on the train and calmed down, we started to find humor in the whole situation -- it was ridiculous we had even made it as far as we had that morning given how unprepared we were for what we had faced. When we finally arrived at our destination, Allepey, we had a slightly improved outlook on our trip.

We hopped on the houseboat, and our entire perspective changed. It was just the three of us on the boat along with 3 crew members. We floated through the Kerala backwaters all afternoon and evening, complemented with amazing meals made by the on-board cook. We stopped along the waterways to buy fresh prawns from a local vendor, and lounged in the open-air watching the palm trees and rice paddies float by. The peacefulness and secludedness helped counter the effects of the stressful morning, and we ended up relaxing and holding each others eyelids open until the jetlag finally overtook us. So, all in all, a successful day even if there were some major obstacles to get over. Onward to more Indian adventures!

That's f***** teamwork!

predatorybunny — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 04:39:00 GMT

This is just a quick update with several more to follow: We have safely arrived in Calicut / Kozhikode (pronounced CO-rick-code) -- many places have multiple names that don't resemble each other. This is a fantastic creation I'm convinced was meant to confuse the hell out of travelers. Dick move, India.

The last few days have made me extremely thankful for many things. At the top of that list is having Michael and Kellie as travel partners. No one else may believe what we went through, but these guys lived it with me, and as a group, we collectively survived our initial meltdown with our humors still intact. I'm the least traveled and thus the most culture-shocked, but Michael and Kellie weren't far behind. So far, we've experienced being pushed, jostled, assaulted with bags without any acknowledgment or apology, and blatantly stared at / photographed. We have gotten lost, confused, and generally exasperated with what I will call "India time." Also, no one seems to believe a) I'm American or B) speak English. Oh, and Michael got hit by a car -- he's perfectly fine -- more on that later. Also, I will never again complain about cabbies in America.

But never fear -- it all gets better. The night is darkest before the dawn, and all our struggles proved worthwhile in the end.

FYI -- this story is backdated to go in order of the trip.

Dubai

predatorybunny — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 04:44:00 GMT

Visiting Dubai is like visiting the future... if the future was made of endless money.

Dubai International Airport (DXB) is like the Vegas of airports -- at 2am, the airport was still crowded with sleep-deprived and deal-hungry tourists looking to score some duty-free booze and assorted goods (guilty on both counts). The airport also boasted massive vaulted halls complete with sparkly Greek columns, numerous indoor palm trees, mirrors on the ceiling, and a three- or four-story wall waterfall. And we only saw Terminal 3. The amount of energy spent on the lighting display inside and out could probably power Newt's lunar space colony.

The city itself is very impressive, even at 11:30p at night as seen from a taxi. During our 5-hour layover, after Kellie and I got through customs (only 10 minutes!), we jumped in a cab and told the driver that we wanted to see "the hotel that looks like a sail" and "that tall building" and be back to the airport in an hour. Instead of (outwardly) cursing our ignorance and vague demands, our awesome driver proceeded to take us to the 7-star Burj al-Arab, which is built on a man-made island, and the Burj Khalifa while also pointing out various interesting landmarks like Ski Dubai and the Jumeirah beach. He also attempted to help Kellie and I with a photo shoot, but we were unsuccessful.

There are so many massive and crazy-looking skyscrapers that Kellie and I were constantly gasping and saying, "OMG did you see that one with (insert light display / random architectural design / 179 floors)?!" Even the metro stations are ornate, elaborate, and of a design style I can only describe as Futuristic*.

I would love to visit Dubai in depth at some point in the future and spend more than an hour squealing at all the pretty lights.

*I know nothing of architecture or design and have a poor vocabulary. Hence.

** This story is backdated to go in order of the actual events in the trip.

Who doesn’t bring dress clothes TO A WEDDING?!?!

predatorybunny — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 11:20:00 GMT

Less than 24 hours to go -- all packed and ready to roll! Sort of…

I realized this morning, the day before we leave, that for a multi-day wedding, I should probably have more than one dress. And I had only intended to bring that dress to go out in in Mumbai. Planning fail. Kellie and I are each having two custom saris made for the festivities (Michael gets a kurta), so I am going to hope those two and the dress will be sufficient. Or there will be lots of pictures of me wearing the same thing all the time – or pictures of me hiding in the background because I’m wearing flip flops, shorts, a t-shirt and a trucker hat at a wedding.

This oversight might have been acceptable if I hadn’t known that I was going to a multi-day event. But I’ve known that from the beginning. Indian weddings are known for being elaborate and uber-fancy. BVK just got back from India and told me about the 3-day wedding he attended there. How it never occurred to me to pack more dress clothes is beyond me. Let’s hope I planned for the rest of the trip a little better.

Other planning mishaps:

- I bought IR3535 instead of DEET. WTF is IR3535??? If I die of malaria, someone please sue the makers of IR3535 for me.

- I called my bank to let them know I was going overseas. This is how the end of the call went:

Her: “Ok, Ms Doan, you’re all set! Have a great trip!”

Me: “Thanks! You… too…”

Me: “I mean, I dunno… are you going on a trip anytime soon?”

Her: “No.”

Me: “Ok, sorry.”

- We don’t really know what we’re going to do once we get on our own and go to the Golden Triangle. Our itinerary lists “Pink shit” and “Puppets". I have the lonely planet on my kindle and might read it on the plane.... Or I could re-read the Hunger games for the millionth time.

But hey – even the best-laid plans fall apart, right? So why have a plan at all? :)

India in 3 days!!!

predatorybunny — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 18:44:00 GMT

Kellie, Michael and I are venturing to India for Divya and Vinay's wedding!

The cast
I met Vinay during a booze cruise... er, a "work orientation and training" event at our first employer out of college in 2007. I met Kellie, Michael and Divya during a booze cru-- "career change" at my second employer in 2008. Today, none of us actually work together anymore, but we all still reside in Denver and remain close (or is it naive?) enough to agree to being inseparable for several days/weeks in a challenging foreign environment. It's kind of like the Amazing Race, except without the cute Aussie host... Or a race.

Kellie and Michael both have more international travel experience than I do. While I've only been to New Zealand, Kellie has been to Thailand, South Africa, Spain, Australia, Dominican Republic and several other places, and Michael most recently went to Peru in 2009. Collectively, we've spent countless hours making poor decisions domestically. Now, we're taking it international.

Michael is well over 6', and Kellie is 5'10 or 5'11, and both are extremely white, so they will stand out a bit. I'm hoping that as a tiny Asian girl, I will often be overlooked in favor of my ginormous peers. Hopefully I can blend in a little, though I'm sure I'll still stand out... but it's all relative, right?

The plan
On January 28th, Kellie and I will fly from Denver to Dulles to Dubai where we will rendevous with Michael. During our 8 hour overnight layover in Dubai, Kellie and I will attempt to escape the airport to see the Burj Khalifa before wandering around the largest duty-free store in the world. Once we gather Michael, we will fly into Kochi, Kerala in the south of India. I'm not sure how long the whole journey takes, but I have enough Benedryl to knock out an elephant, so I should be all set.

After we get over the shock of being in India and being severely jetlagged, we will rush to get on a houseboat to take an overnight tour of the Kerala backwaters. From there, we will take a train up to Cochin to join up with the rest of the wedding party -- Divya and Vinay will have been in India for over two weeks to prepare for the wedding. For the next few days, we will stay and travel with the wedding party for the reception on February 3rd, and the wedding in Bombay on February 5th. From there, Kellie, Michael and I will break off to go to Jaipur, Agra, and Delhi -- also known as the Golden Triangle. We'll visit the Taj Mahal on the 8th before going back to Delhi to shop in the bazaars for a day before flying back home on the 11th.

Items that I hope to cross off my bucket list with this trip
- Attend an Indian wedding
- Ride an elephant
- Visit the Taj Mahal
- ride in a tuk tuk
- ride a train in India
- perfect my Indian accent (I'm told that it currently makes me sound more like Arnold than anything remotely Indian)

Items I hope to not add to my life accomplishments list
- Contract malaria
- Contract typhoid or dengue fever (or both)
- hallucinate due to malaria medication
- have to enjoy a "first class experience with an eastern latrine"

Expectations
- It will not be a vacation -- it will be an adventure. I've been told many times in the last few months that India will be very frustrating at times. A friend of mine who has traveled the world extensively warned that India was the most challenging place he's ever been to. Duly warned.
- Poverty: While it's an up and coming world power, India is still a third world country in places. The largest slum in the world is in Bombay.
- It will be crowded -- Bombay is the fourth most populous city in the world with 20.5 million residents. Delhi is the 8th largest city with a paltry 16.7 million. And I'm told they have a different concept of "personal space".
- It will be dirty, smoggy and smelly.
- I will get sick. I've been told to just accept the fact that, at some point, I will get sick while in India due to the food. This is unfortunate since we really want to try the street food in Delhi.... If we're going to get sick, we might as well try it, right?

- I will be bitten by mosquitoes. Despite dousing my clothes in permetherin and bathing in DEET, the mosquitoes will seek out the foreign blood. Hence, malaria pills.

To blog or not to blog
Both Kellie and Michael are going off the grid while we're traveling because they want to be completely disconnected while on vacation. But I will annoy them and attempt to stay in contact because I am horribly addicted to the 24-hour share cycle that is social networking and fear being disconnected from all those facebook friends that I never actually talk to in person and secretly hate.

I blogged / emailed almost daily while I was in New Zealand, but that was because I was mostly traveling alone and wanted to let people know I was ok and to be able to share the adventure with people back home. India is different because I won't be alone, but I still want to share the experiences we have and to document it for when I'm old and crotchety to prove to my kids that once upon a time, I was adventurous and fun. However, connectivity may be sketchy or we will be so lost in our travel schedule that I have no time to connect and send out updates, so don't be surprised if I go silent.