Sunday, June 30, 2019
Sunday, February 3, 2019
Kerala, Munnar, & Goa
Kerala Backwaters & Kochi:
One of the boats we toured, us on a handmade looking canoe, the first Indian elephant, and watching the locals make rope out of dried coconut strands. We also took a lot of selfies with random people, and took family pictures with a random Indian family.
Munnar, India:
A mountain town known for its' tea plantations. We took a Tuk Tuk tour up a mountain, and saw many things including a wild elephant. The next day we did a all day trek through the tea plantations and a spice garden, were we saw many things including latex trees, cacao, coffee bean, cardimum, lemongrass, and chili peppers. Mixed in we re-united with friends we had met throughout this trip.
On our way to Goa, we took a train. & ate train food which resulted in Joshua getting sick. I administered to him fluids. Here's a pic of him in our hotel room in Goa, receiving the fluids.
The rest of Goa:
Once healed, we have fallen in love with Goa, India. It is a true vacation spot with beautiful beaches, amazing food, and many western comforts, with a Indian flare.
Above is our friends from Germany Alex, and Pascal, which we met serendipitously in 3 different cities on our trip.
Above was my spice garden tour lady, pouring a "relaxing" cold lavender water scoop down my back.
Above is old Cathedral. Below is a inside pic, of a >400 Basilica of Bom Jesus.
Below is outside pic of >400 year old Basilica of Bom Jesus
Above is my masseuse for my first Indian Ayurvedic massage.
Above, my first moped ride by myself. Below is a picture of the elephant which was laying in the water when I climbed on top of it, and is sprayed me multiple times with water.
Monday, January 28, 2019
Leaving Delhi, and getting to Munnar
India is pretty much impossible to describe to an American.If someone would have tried to describe it to me, I know I would not have truly understood. India has 1.3 Billion people, and is the second most populated country in the world. It has 29 states all of which have their own cultures, and own language. It has mountains, rivers, cities, and deserts. English is the most widespread spoke language in the country. South India in fact chooses to learn their state language first, and English second as opposed to learning Hindi (another official language). So, its very convenient as a native English speaker to travel in India. Several random thoughts on India as follows:
1. I see why Asian drivers in the states all drive so horrible. Drivers in India, are very talented, and its a miracle, that there is not more accidents. There's basically no rules. Oh wait, there's one. Make sure to honk when you're driving around a switchback and on the wrong side of the road. 2. Hospitality is, I don't want to say nonexistent, but I'll just have to call it Indian hospitality. When I just ordered a latte which was 1.30$, would have been 5$ in the states, she said come back in like 20 minutes and I'll take your order. I shook my head once to the side, (must google Indian head nod to understand), and she said, "Ok first I must do these oranges", of which she had like 10 oranges on her table, and what she was going to "do" with them I have no idea. Then in 10 minutes time, she knocks on my door with said coffee, and a bright smile.
3. As mentioned before they still love selfies. So weird to me. We are like celebrities. Yesterday at the beach there was a stray dog who made friends with us. The Indians found this very amusing, and took a selfie with us and the dog. Like what do they do with these pictures. We were recently in Kochi, India, where we were asked to take pictures with a family, and oddly enough, ran into them again in Munnar, 1/2 a days travel away, and took some more selfies and family portraits. So funny to run into a Indian family, whom we have no idea their names or who they are, and have a language barrier, but still are amble to take sooo many pictures together.
4. Everything is negotiable, more so than any other developing countries we have been to. Nothing has price tags on it, except for most food menus. These ladies here whom work at local stalls selling clothes etc, are legit. They have this negotiating thing down, and are hard core.
We are adapting to the Indian ways, and what was once shocking, has become expected. It's just the way it is, and is their culture.
Here's a itinerary of our travels since leaving Delhi.
Delhi was a very interesting place, full of lots of culture, and differences from the U.S. There was a lot more things we would have like to see, but the air index quality was at 450, which is considered extremely hazardous for healthy people(BG is <50), and after 3 days, we developed a sort of chest congestion, and sore throat, so when we return we will definitely be wearing masks, and limit our time in Delhi.We flew from Delhi, which is in the North, to the Southernmost point we planned to travel (the state of Kerala), so that we could backpack our way North, since our return flight is out of Delhi. But, India is so large, there's really no direct route to see the places we want to see, so some zigzagging is inevitable. Once arriving in Kochi, Kerala we spent about 5 days here, the first few to get over our jet lag, and recover from the air quality in Delhi. Here, we enjoyed seeing a bit more peaceful side to India, and walking around early in the morning. We were still going to bed quite early, and trying not to wake up before 6am. So one morning we woke up and saw the ancient, greater than 400 year old Chinese fishing nets known to this area. Very cool, and still used, but may not be for much longer.This is where I really discovered Indian hospitality in restaurants. Basically there is none, or very little, definitely not like the states. So, I think you just have to know that going in. On a side note, its not normal to tip for your food, unless you spend over a certain amount, and we've heard similar reports to Europe. I was recently told by some Europeans that their restaurants wait staff is not like the states, because in the states we tip much higher on food. Moving on, we had a cool hostel and stayed at Happy Campers. The big thing we wanted to do was the Kerala backwaters. It was about an hours drive south, and we were taken on a boat, hand maneuvered by a local. These waters were once used quite heavily for trading, and merchant routes, and has limited with time, The benefit of the backwaters was that merchants could get through with there small boats, by using a long branch or stick to push, now it seems to be mostly desolated with occasional tourist boats similar to ours, as well as the occasional local. India is a developing county, and you can definitely see it in areas like this. We saw a woman hand pulling at grass, and taking it back to her village to save away for the animals for monsoon season. We also saw the process of making coconut rope. They take the hairs of a coconut let them dry for 6 months, and then strand them together to make ropes. So, we had a fun day, with a lot of conversation with nice people. We saw a captured Asian elephant with actual tusks too. We were surprise how large it was compared to the elephants we spent time with in Thailand. There are limited bathrooms. once during a tour, a German girl and I needed to go the bathroom. (the tour takes the whole day), and it was like the guides never encountered this before, totally the Indian way. So they were surprised and didn't know what to do. Finally, after several minutes of discussion between themselves, the guide said, "ok, maybe we can ask the neighbors". So legit, we go to these peoples house, knock on this actually really nice house (even by US standards), and the girl says sure, and points us to the bathroom. Even this really nice house had a outhouse, with squatty pottys. But, the backwaters were enjoyable, and Joshua and I surmised that it would have been significantly more interesting for people who only knew city life. At home, we go out on canoes (granted not hand carved) on the rivers quite regularly. From Kochi we took a 6 hour bus ride to Munnar (this is where we discovered buses do not have bathrooms, nor do they make bathroom stops (unless apparently asked to stop). I sat in the very first seat on this bus, while Joshua sat behind me, in a seat that held 1.5 small people, which of course ended up meaning he had to share. At one point I looked back at him, and all of a sudden there were like 7 Indian women crowding him. He said he leaned down to get something out of his backpack and when he leaned back up some woman had taken his head space with her arm, it was just that crowded. Munnar, India, is so beautiful.The drive up the Western Ghats, was exciting and indescribably beautiful. This is where I saw first hand, the talent of a Indian bus driver. Seriously. Munnar, is quite high in elevation (I got sunburned despite multiple applications of sunscreen), as we hiked above the clouds one day. Munnar is known for their tea plantations, some of which are greater than 100 years old. Although there are only like 38,000 people in the proper city of Munnar, another 30ish thousand people live in the tea plantation houses in their villages. Here there housing, and healthcare etc are free, and I think it was said they got paid 300 rupees/day(which is not even 5 USD), and work 6+ days per week. But, for them it is somewhat decent pay I suppose--considering everything but food is paid for. It was really interesting to see these villages, and learn a little about the way they functioned, and also to see some of the workers trimming the tea bushes, by hand. We saw a lot of Munnar via a personal tuk tuk ride, the day after we arrived. Also, in Munnar we reunited with several friends we had met previously in India. Jamie and Jackie from Delhi, and Tim from Kochi. Our 3 days in Munnar, were spent exploring, and also having our first pizza in India which was quite good. From Munnar we took the bus back to Kochi, and hopped on a overnight train to Goa. We left Munnar at 10am, took a 6 hour bus, after the bus, we walked to the train station where we booked a train, and were so excited that things were lining up well, because up until this point we weren't sure how or when we would make it to Goa, and now travelling plans were just working out. In all of our excitement, we found a nice Air conditioned restaurant to wait at for the 3 hours until our train departed. We had butter chicken, and juice, and it was pretty good, as we had not eaten much at all that day. In fact this was Joshua's first meal of the day. I slightly wondered why there weren't more people at this restaurant as it had AC, and was much more comfortable than waiting outside.Once on the train I wasn't feeling well, and about 9pm started throwing up. I continued to throw up several times until about 2:30am, when I was finally able to fall asleep. Of course at 7am, people start coming through the train yelling "chai, coffee" and getting breakfast orders. We awoke and Joshua told me also started having diarrhea, and went to the bathroom (which was a squatty potty, and definitely not hygenic), and then started throwing up as well-which to me sounded way worse, at least i was able to throw up in the comfort of my bed.We were not feeling well either of us now, and had run into our first sickness--100% from the butter chicken at the train AC restaurant. At about 1pm we made it off the train, where we took a taxi to a hostel, it dropped us off, and they told us they had no rooms. Joshua looked up another place, and we decided to check it out, so walked 10 minutes and found the Hilltop hotel. Upon arrival, we could not find a front desk, and the person who had the room key told us there were no available rooms (via calling a friend who spoke English). We eventually booked online while at the hotel (yay for internet), and showed them our reservation number, and they let us into a room that felt like paradise. Clean, modern, tv with some English movie channels, hot water, and a clean large bed. I was so excited. After we took a nap, we did find some food, of which we could not eat much. We went to bed, and I woke up early in the morning feeling better only with diarrhea, no vomitting to find Joshua sweating, restless, and with a high fever. In 10 years of being together he has never had a fever. This day, I became his nurse. After a dose of Tylenol, probiotics, antibiotics and 2500ml of NS IV (which I was able to hunt down for 7.50$ USD at a nearby pharmacy), he started to feel better by evening, and was significantly better the next day. This was a educational experience for Joshua and I both as we have never been sick like this before, nor at the same time. Fortunately, I was not as sick, which I attribute to throwing up the bad food,several hours sooner than he did. After several days in Goa, we both were nearly back to 100%, and can get back to travelling again. So, here we are now in Goa. Goa is a Indian paradise, with beautiful beaches, wonderful food, and a awesome hostel. Goa has been what most Americans would consider a proper vacation. Basically, it just a chill beach life. We are just a couple of minutes walk from beautiful beaches. Our mornings are filled with coffee, and our evenings filled with many walks for dinner, and watching to see the sunset over the ocean.
I
1. I see why Asian drivers in the states all drive so horrible. Drivers in India, are very talented, and its a miracle, that there is not more accidents. There's basically no rules. Oh wait, there's one. Make sure to honk when you're driving around a switchback and on the wrong side of the road. 2. Hospitality is, I don't want to say nonexistent, but I'll just have to call it Indian hospitality. When I just ordered a latte which was 1.30$, would have been 5$ in the states, she said come back in like 20 minutes and I'll take your order. I shook my head once to the side, (must google Indian head nod to understand), and she said, "Ok first I must do these oranges", of which she had like 10 oranges on her table, and what she was going to "do" with them I have no idea. Then in 10 minutes time, she knocks on my door with said coffee, and a bright smile.
3. As mentioned before they still love selfies. So weird to me. We are like celebrities. Yesterday at the beach there was a stray dog who made friends with us. The Indians found this very amusing, and took a selfie with us and the dog. Like what do they do with these pictures. We were recently in Kochi, India, where we were asked to take pictures with a family, and oddly enough, ran into them again in Munnar, 1/2 a days travel away, and took some more selfies and family portraits. So funny to run into a Indian family, whom we have no idea their names or who they are, and have a language barrier, but still are amble to take sooo many pictures together.
4. Everything is negotiable, more so than any other developing countries we have been to. Nothing has price tags on it, except for most food menus. These ladies here whom work at local stalls selling clothes etc, are legit. They have this negotiating thing down, and are hard core.
We are adapting to the Indian ways, and what was once shocking, has become expected. It's just the way it is, and is their culture.
Here's a itinerary of our travels since leaving Delhi.
Delhi was a very interesting place, full of lots of culture, and differences from the U.S. There was a lot more things we would have like to see, but the air index quality was at 450, which is considered extremely hazardous for healthy people(BG is <50), and after 3 days, we developed a sort of chest congestion, and sore throat, so when we return we will definitely be wearing masks, and limit our time in Delhi.We flew from Delhi, which is in the North, to the Southernmost point we planned to travel (the state of Kerala), so that we could backpack our way North, since our return flight is out of Delhi. But, India is so large, there's really no direct route to see the places we want to see, so some zigzagging is inevitable. Once arriving in Kochi, Kerala we spent about 5 days here, the first few to get over our jet lag, and recover from the air quality in Delhi. Here, we enjoyed seeing a bit more peaceful side to India, and walking around early in the morning. We were still going to bed quite early, and trying not to wake up before 6am. So one morning we woke up and saw the ancient, greater than 400 year old Chinese fishing nets known to this area. Very cool, and still used, but may not be for much longer.This is where I really discovered Indian hospitality in restaurants. Basically there is none, or very little, definitely not like the states. So, I think you just have to know that going in. On a side note, its not normal to tip for your food, unless you spend over a certain amount, and we've heard similar reports to Europe. I was recently told by some Europeans that their restaurants wait staff is not like the states, because in the states we tip much higher on food. Moving on, we had a cool hostel and stayed at Happy Campers. The big thing we wanted to do was the Kerala backwaters. It was about an hours drive south, and we were taken on a boat, hand maneuvered by a local. These waters were once used quite heavily for trading, and merchant routes, and has limited with time, The benefit of the backwaters was that merchants could get through with there small boats, by using a long branch or stick to push, now it seems to be mostly desolated with occasional tourist boats similar to ours, as well as the occasional local. India is a developing county, and you can definitely see it in areas like this. We saw a woman hand pulling at grass, and taking it back to her village to save away for the animals for monsoon season. We also saw the process of making coconut rope. They take the hairs of a coconut let them dry for 6 months, and then strand them together to make ropes. So, we had a fun day, with a lot of conversation with nice people. We saw a captured Asian elephant with actual tusks too. We were surprise how large it was compared to the elephants we spent time with in Thailand. There are limited bathrooms. once during a tour, a German girl and I needed to go the bathroom. (the tour takes the whole day), and it was like the guides never encountered this before, totally the Indian way. So they were surprised and didn't know what to do. Finally, after several minutes of discussion between themselves, the guide said, "ok, maybe we can ask the neighbors". So legit, we go to these peoples house, knock on this actually really nice house (even by US standards), and the girl says sure, and points us to the bathroom. Even this really nice house had a outhouse, with squatty pottys. But, the backwaters were enjoyable, and Joshua and I surmised that it would have been significantly more interesting for people who only knew city life. At home, we go out on canoes (granted not hand carved) on the rivers quite regularly. From Kochi we took a 6 hour bus ride to Munnar (this is where we discovered buses do not have bathrooms, nor do they make bathroom stops (unless apparently asked to stop). I sat in the very first seat on this bus, while Joshua sat behind me, in a seat that held 1.5 small people, which of course ended up meaning he had to share. At one point I looked back at him, and all of a sudden there were like 7 Indian women crowding him. He said he leaned down to get something out of his backpack and when he leaned back up some woman had taken his head space with her arm, it was just that crowded. Munnar, India, is so beautiful.The drive up the Western Ghats, was exciting and indescribably beautiful. This is where I saw first hand, the talent of a Indian bus driver. Seriously. Munnar, is quite high in elevation (I got sunburned despite multiple applications of sunscreen), as we hiked above the clouds one day. Munnar is known for their tea plantations, some of which are greater than 100 years old. Although there are only like 38,000 people in the proper city of Munnar, another 30ish thousand people live in the tea plantation houses in their villages. Here there housing, and healthcare etc are free, and I think it was said they got paid 300 rupees/day(which is not even 5 USD), and work 6+ days per week. But, for them it is somewhat decent pay I suppose--considering everything but food is paid for. It was really interesting to see these villages, and learn a little about the way they functioned, and also to see some of the workers trimming the tea bushes, by hand. We saw a lot of Munnar via a personal tuk tuk ride, the day after we arrived. Also, in Munnar we reunited with several friends we had met previously in India. Jamie and Jackie from Delhi, and Tim from Kochi. Our 3 days in Munnar, were spent exploring, and also having our first pizza in India which was quite good. From Munnar we took the bus back to Kochi, and hopped on a overnight train to Goa. We left Munnar at 10am, took a 6 hour bus, after the bus, we walked to the train station where we booked a train, and were so excited that things were lining up well, because up until this point we weren't sure how or when we would make it to Goa, and now travelling plans were just working out. In all of our excitement, we found a nice Air conditioned restaurant to wait at for the 3 hours until our train departed. We had butter chicken, and juice, and it was pretty good, as we had not eaten much at all that day. In fact this was Joshua's first meal of the day. I slightly wondered why there weren't more people at this restaurant as it had AC, and was much more comfortable than waiting outside.Once on the train I wasn't feeling well, and about 9pm started throwing up. I continued to throw up several times until about 2:30am, when I was finally able to fall asleep. Of course at 7am, people start coming through the train yelling "chai, coffee" and getting breakfast orders. We awoke and Joshua told me also started having diarrhea, and went to the bathroom (which was a squatty potty, and definitely not hygenic), and then started throwing up as well-which to me sounded way worse, at least i was able to throw up in the comfort of my bed.We were not feeling well either of us now, and had run into our first sickness--100% from the butter chicken at the train AC restaurant. At about 1pm we made it off the train, where we took a taxi to a hostel, it dropped us off, and they told us they had no rooms. Joshua looked up another place, and we decided to check it out, so walked 10 minutes and found the Hilltop hotel. Upon arrival, we could not find a front desk, and the person who had the room key told us there were no available rooms (via calling a friend who spoke English). We eventually booked online while at the hotel (yay for internet), and showed them our reservation number, and they let us into a room that felt like paradise. Clean, modern, tv with some English movie channels, hot water, and a clean large bed. I was so excited. After we took a nap, we did find some food, of which we could not eat much. We went to bed, and I woke up early in the morning feeling better only with diarrhea, no vomitting to find Joshua sweating, restless, and with a high fever. In 10 years of being together he has never had a fever. This day, I became his nurse. After a dose of Tylenol, probiotics, antibiotics and 2500ml of NS IV (which I was able to hunt down for 7.50$ USD at a nearby pharmacy), he started to feel better by evening, and was significantly better the next day. This was a educational experience for Joshua and I both as we have never been sick like this before, nor at the same time. Fortunately, I was not as sick, which I attribute to throwing up the bad food,several hours sooner than he did. After several days in Goa, we both were nearly back to 100%, and can get back to travelling again. So, here we are now in Goa. Goa is a Indian paradise, with beautiful beaches, wonderful food, and a awesome hostel. Goa has been what most Americans would consider a proper vacation. Basically, it just a chill beach life. We are just a couple of minutes walk from beautiful beaches. Our mornings are filled with coffee, and our evenings filled with many walks for dinner, and watching to see the sunset over the ocean.
I
Saturday, January 5, 2019
First impressions of India
Its 6:27 am in the morning as I am writing, and as in Thailand I can hear a mixture of traffic and morning prayers as I sit in our dimmed dorm room typing. Here are my initial thought of India, specifically some of the differences I have noticed from my own country.
1.There are no hand towels or dryers in the bathroom, so you just dry your hands by shaking them.
2. They do have hot water showers
3. They have filtered water which seems to be safe in the hostels so far.
4. In Delhi the air quality is hazardous. There is literally what looks like a thick fog over the city
5. The locals enjoy hot milk, and tea, and EVERYTHING is spicy. Like every single thing. Breakfast food, bread etc..well the drinks aren't spicy. But they are kind of weird. The juices are herby, and we had our first lassie ( a milk yogurt sweet drink) which was very good actually, but I couldn't 100% get passed the crumbles that were in it. Below is a picture of Joshua eating the lassie on our way to the red fort yesterday, in a authentic clay mud as India is trying to get away from plastic due to so much 
pollution.
A picture of our first meal in India with our German friends Alex. And paschal with above mentioned herb juice.
On day four of India, we went to old Delhi and saw the red fort built in the 1600's it was home to the prime minister, and his high ranking officials. It was a 120 something area with gardens and warred reservoirs, and beautiful marble and clay and jeweled structures. Currently is migratory season for the birds so it felt very ancient to me. The wait for the locals was very long maybe hours but for foreigners, we only had to wait a few minutes in "line 4" , although we did pay thrice the price, I was still thankful to avoid the wait! We listened to the audio tour which was awesome as it explained some of the history while we were walking through it.
Joshua and I hold hands, and usually find some locals and cross with them. We were cracking up laughing yesterday after we crossed due to the chaos of it all haha. The guys smiling with Joshua in the background bring us to 10.
6. Personal space is limited. We have quickly learned that if you have more than a inch of space, and sometimes occasionally even if you are not touching the person in front of you, the locals will literally get in front of you in line. And, on the metro you can't help but laugh sometimes, because you literally get crammed in. Yesterday, I picked up my foot to reposition, and for a short while stood on one foot like a flamingo because I had lost my foot space and there was no where else to put it! Haha
7. Staring. Ok so we may be odd looking people even in the states, but it's like no one has seen white people before. Yesterday on the metro I watched another man with pure curiosity examine Joshua's face from his forehead to his chin. Women and men stare. You can feel 30 pairs of eyes looking at you when you get on the metro. If I stare back they'll look away... For a couple moments. Joshua started saying a friendly hello and that seems to zap them out of their stare.
7. They are a genuinely friendly culture, they will smile back, help you. If a local feels like another local is harassing you they are likely to intervene. I would say in general even though we are only like on day 5 they are nicer than people in the states.
8. There is definitely more men out than women, and there is a separation in public places. On the metro women have the first car, and if men go into it "it is punishable", or so the announcement says. Women do seem to be very honored. Inside the regular metro buses women are included with elderly and handicapped for places to sit.
9. Traffic is crazy. We thought Hanoi, Vietnam was bad. Ha! Seriously. It is literally a adventure to cross the road! Here's a picture of Joshua yesterday in front of a portion of the street we needed to cross.
10. The locals want to take pictures with us, specifically selfies. Those 2 guys smiling in the background come up to us with their camera app open and their friends and say "picture". Then as they hold the camera up they say "selfie". One guy yesterday even had me holding the camera!
11. A lot of people speak English, and most of the signs,maps etc are in Hindi and then in English, which makes it very convenient and nice for us to get around.
12. Hostels seem to be the same as ever where else, minus being less prevalent.
In conclusion for this post India,more specifically Delhi is sooo different than anywhere else we have traveled. I have enjoyed this vastly different culture. It's a mixture of wealth and poverty, chaos and order. Limited personal space, especially when standing in line or inside the metro, wonderful food, warm and friendly people. We thought the traffic in Hanoi Vietnam was hectic but wow! It is 6:27am as I am writing this and today we are traveling to a less busy city in southern India called Kochi. Until next time!
P.s. Yesterday we went o a Sikh temple. Wow! What an experience. A local Sikh saw us staring at the temple an gave us directions on what to do and invited us in. We took off our shoes and socks (a scary leap of faith in old Delhi- Joshua was more nervous than me at first but then he just jumped on in, while I was still a bit Leary). There are volunteers at the temple who take your shoes and give you a token for the bin your shoes are in. There is a men's and women's side, but we didn't know that and We turned both of our shoes in the women's line. Then you wash your hands, then walk through a basin of shallow water, then someone puts a head garment over you (because we didn't have our own). Inside you sit with your feet crossed (they are not allowed to point to the stage/altar). People are mostly sitting, some are coming and going quickly as they touch their heads to the ground in front of the altar. There was 3 live musicians playing and singing up front. There were pillars of marble, the stage was colored indeed and gold and their was a man shaking a whisk around. We stayed about 5 minutes just taking it all in. Then we found the exit out. As we were leaving we noticed there was a man scooping brown goop with his hands and putting it in the hands of everyone who was leaving..and they were eating it from their hands. I was immediately struck with terror as I too knew I was getting ready to be hand served and eat a handful of brown goop. I looked over at Joshua, and said "ooohh noooo" as I do. Now that that's over it really wasn't bad and I'm glad I ate it, it was part of the cultural experience, and if I didn't eat it I would have missed out. Plus it was actually pretty good. It was sugar and rice and ghee mixture from what I could tell and after looking it up. The Sikh's believe in equality for all and everyone despite of culture and beliefs should be offered this blessing of food which was prayed over, and a they believe in a community eating together.
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