How Do You Get To Kathmandu?

So, I was supposed to go to Lucknow today, but I bought a train ticket for the wrong date, 12/30, instead of 11/30 and there's a strike today, not a union strike but a political party strike.  Apparently the transportation industry is aligned with the party that's striking.  So no buses, no trains, no cabs...at least in theory.  I found a ride to the border at three times the normal cost, still that's under $5 for an hour ride.  Though the driver had to take the long way to avoid road blocks of strikers, we almost ran into a group of them as they spanned the road ahead, but were warned off and took some back streets. 

I could have walked right across the border, no one checked anything, but getting back into India would not have been fun.  So, I stamped out of India in a little grass hut and went into customs to get my Nepal vista, which costs $25 plus 100 Rupes "tip."

Normally there are 15 buses a day leaving here for Kathmandu, I'm in the border town of Karkarvitta.  Today there are 3 because of the strike.  I was hanging out at the travel agency where I bought my ticket and the owner confessed to me that no one here would take the bus.  It's about $10 to take the bus and $100 to fly, the flights about an hour the bus can take 17 hours.  I figure the bus will make for a better story. 

I'll report in on the trip after I recover, if and when I make it.

Thanksgiving?

I had no idea.  I just walked into an internet cafe to make some travel plans and someone mentioned it.  So happy Turkey Day!  I generally ignore the holiday season as much as is possible, I suppose it was a subconscious reason for the timing of my trip.  No turkey for me, i had a Northern Indian Thali, like a sampler platter, for lunch, but it was vegetarian.  Besides I haven't seen a turkey anywhere in Asia. 

Had a some interesting interactions with the locals today.  While I was in the Lloyd Botanical Gardens some middle school kids adopted me for an couple of hours. On the way out I happened to walk by some teenagers as they were singing happy birthday to one of their friends for his 18th, I joined in and the insisted I have some cake.  It was a very good day.  Though the internet kept going in and out as well as the power, so here I am still trying to get things done. 

I hope ya'll have fun with those turkeys, hams, lambs or whatever it is ya'll are eating today, oh and with your peoples as well.

Next Stop...Darjeeling

So, I made peace with Kolkata before I left, actually I wanted to stick around for a few more days but the die had been cast.

I took an overnight train, 11.5 hours, then hopped on the Darjeeling "Toy Train," a narrow gauge railway that winds it's way up the mountains using switchbacks and whatnot until 8 hours later, I arrived in Darjeeling.  The train will feel more at home in a childrens park, but it sure is fun to ride.  The Toy Train is hands down my favorite train trip of all time.  I didn't pick up a book once, it was so much fun.  So lets give a Holy Fucking Shit to the Darjeeling Toy Train!!!!

As you might have figured out, India and I are now on speaking terms.  I plan to be here for 4 or 5 nights and then head into Nepal, then  to Rajistan, it has a big desert so I kind of half to go.  Then to Mumbai and home.  Only 20 days left.

Normally I don't make plans in advance like this but the train system here sort or requires it as the tickets sell out early.

So, I'm digging India and life is good!

It really is indescribable...

So, all the guide books, websites and whatnot say that India can't be described...and they are correct.  I hate to admit it, but I was a bit shaken last night when I arrived.  I needed to find a cash machine.  It took me more than an hour, I had no map and no idea where to go.  The hotel gave me directions to one that didn't like my card, so off I went.  I had to walk through New Market at prime time.  Think of it as a very dirty swap meet with really pushy sellers, mix in some beggars, no street signs, cook fires...see here comes the indescribable part.  Lets just say it was less than pleasant. 

Anyway, it's been almost 30 hours and I'm adjusting.  I can't say Kolkata is my favorite city, but I'm not so intimidated.  I actually smiled at a couple of people.  The thing is almost everyone is trying to rip you off here, so letting your guard down isn't really an option.  It should get better out in the country.  We shall see.

Your intrepid traveler.

Namaste?!

Holey Frakin India!

I'm in Kolkata and it's not quite what I expected.  The place has the feel of decay, mixed with lots of hope.  I was expecting to see some more modern buildings mixed in, but not so much.  I sort of miss South East Asia.  Laos, at least it's city's, was more upscale.

Short of my super crappy room there's no place to escape to read a book or whatnot. 

I'm headed north tomorrow and will be in Darjeeling within a couple of days.  We'll see how that goes.  Might head up to Nepal.

Two Days on the Slowboat

Ok, so I've about had my fill of SE Asia. I was thinking about heading
to the islands in ThIland to get some snorkeling in but it's costy
down there and costy to get there. I'm in a very tourist place in
Laos, Luang Prabang. It took two days on the slowboat to get here and
it's costy. Planning an excurtion to a waterfall tomorrow and the next
day it's a 10 hour bus ride to Vientiane.

After that I'm making my way to India via Bangkok.

Did I mention that the girl flew home? She had to go back to work. So
I'm solo again.

Laos

We spent the night in Huay Xai, a border town. I'm on a slowboat going
down the Mekong. Tomorrow afternoon I'll be in Luang Pranang. There
was a small mutiny on the boar this morning as several pasengers
though there were too many people on the boat. So after much drama and
theatrics, they loaded up another boat. I could really care less if
the boat sinks. I can swim.

Uncle Ho's Revenge

So, I've had Mao's revenge, Khan's revenge Uncle Ho's revenge as well
as similar chalenges in Cambodia and Thailand. Normally, I have no
problems like this when visiting strange lands. Finally, after having
to deal with a week or so of the trots I took the antibiotics I
brought along for just this purpose and all was well.

I've eaten so much weird stuff in so many places, there's no way I
could narrow it down. Last night would we a good example. We had this
tasty hot pot / korean BBQ. It came with raw pork and chicken. If
you've seen the way meat is handled here, that alone would give you
pause. Now the dicey bit. You use the same pair of chopsticks to pick
up the raw meat as you do to eat the rest of your food. Then there's
all the fresh veggies. A text book example of what your not supposed
to eat if you don't want to get sick. Well it was one of the best
meals I've had in Asia and I felt just fine and still do.

So it's worth some discomfort to have a cultural experience.

Chiang Mai and the North

When we got back to Bangkok, it was lousy with tourists. High season
had begun. We lucked out and got a bed in a decent place. But there
our luck ended. The sleeper train to Chaing Mai was sold out. So we
took what we though was a sleeper bus. Turns out they booked us on an
old piece of crap and charged us more than double the normal cost.
Such is life.

Once in Chaing Mai, I went on a trekk in the jungle for three days and
the girl when to cooking school. Cooking school was great, I'm told.
Trekking was not so much. I had a crap guide and the trails are way
over touristed. Though I did get to have a nice walk in the jungle.

Then we were off to Chiang Dao, to a place called the Nest. It was a
somewhat ritzy kind of place with great food, a place for a mini
retreat at the foot of a mountain, near some famous caves.

Then on to Chiang Khong for a night before crossing the Laos border.

Koh Maak

Yikes!
It's been a while since I posted a blog entry! We traveled to south
east Thialand after leaving Cambodia and spent 4 days on a small
island. The first 2 days were perfect. The second 2 were very windy.
We didn't get any snorkling in and the snorkling trip we signed up for
was cancelled.

The sand and the water were fantastic. The seas were still rough when
we left and it made for a very bumpy speedboat ride.

From there we planed to go to south western Thailand and go to a
couple of remote islands for snorkling. But the weather down there was
shit and since the girlfriends time was running out, we went to the
north where the sun was shining.