10 Reasons Why Nepal is Better Than India

 A guest blog by Mr. Lovely.

I know that millions of people a year visit India and have an incredible time. I have read and heard about many great travels thru the sub-continent that describe the wonder of this exotic locale. India is a place of incredible culture and history and quite unique in the world. However, after suffering through more than the standard amount of travel woes in India I began to question if the sites are worth the hassle. These hassles were further illustrated once we entered Nepal. A place with similar culture, history, landscape and people, only fewer hassles. Of course, I am well aware that India does have more to offer than Nepal (seaside beaches for one), but there are a few reasons why I think Nepal is a better choice for your travel:

1.  No cows in the street.
 At first these traffic clogging bovines do have some charm. You don’t get to see cows roaming freely as you walk around New York City, and it makes for a good photo op. But after a few days of dodging cows (some which attack you), being stuck in cow traffic jams and stepping around piles of cow @&#!, cow free Nepal is a joy.

2. Working sewerage systems
There are of course many infrastructure issues in developing countries. After visiting poor countries in South America, Africa and Asia I find the sanitation in India to be the worst. Open sewers and raw sewerage running down the street is sub-standard for virtually any country, for a place like India with such a fast growing economy and no shortage of labor force, this is inexcusable. Nepal, India’s poorer little brother to the east is not perfect, but it is obvious that the people expect better.

3. Smells
As you can imagine, open sewers and people who performing all manners of bodily functions on street corners in the open gives India a certain essence which is inescapable.  Literally from the time you get off the plane until the time you leave, thru out the wide swath of India we visited, coastal, desert, urban and rural. The stench was there.

4. No Pushy Touts
In India everyone seems like they are only after your money. In Nepal they are as well but you don’t feel like you are being cheated.

5. Food Quality
In India many places are dirty, empty and you fear food poisoning. In Nepal, you can get pizzas, Chinese, Mexican or whatever you want, and the restaurants are clean. You can even eat salad (which is called “hygienic salad”).

6. Cost
You can get cheap food in India, but you may get diarrhea. For good food, or a semi nice room, Nepal is just cheaper.

7. Hotel Quality
As stated above, you can get a nice room in Nepal for a pretty good price. In India, you can get a pretty good price, but you may also compete with rats, roaches, mold, dysfunctional toilets and dirt.

8. Beggars
In India you get harassed at every corner. The beggars are plentiful and persistent. In Nepal, there are a few people asking for money,  but it is not half as bad.

9. Toilets
In Nepal the toilets are cleaner, they flush most of the time and they don’t smell like boiled diarrhea. And they are mostly western style, which is a lot easier when you need to go to the toilet in the middle of the night.

10. Friendly Natives
The Nepalese are laid back. The shop owners are not pushy. You get the feeling people are willing to help you because they like people, not only because they are expecting something in return.

A Method to My Madness

You’ve probably seen the movie Planes, Trains and Automobiles. It’s been a long time since I have seen it, but I remember John Candy trying to get somewhere (for Christmas?) and he has to take all these different methods of transportation. I can relate to that! I thought I would go over a few different weird ways to get around that I have come across in my travels....

...Want to hear more? Head over to Women Rockin' The Road, where I talk about huge mountains, strange animals, hitchhiking, fearing for your life and more! You can also read stories from other women travelers and you can contribute your own!

 Also, if you haven't seen it before, check out my post about 10 Interesting Things that I've seen on the road!

____________________________________________________________________________

 In honor of different methods of transportation, here are a few examples! 

Egypt - the true MINI van

India - Waiting for the train. 

India - Rickshaw Taxi

India - Fancy Bike

India - "Sleeper" train

Africa - Things you can buy from the bus

Nepal - The porters carry EVERYTHING on thier back!

Nepal - Yak power

Italy - Gondolier

 What is the weirdest method of transportation you have ever experienced? Have you ever ridden on a bus with a chicken? What IS the weirdest animal or thing you have shared a bus ride with?

"Agra" Vated

I am not a patient person. I drive too fast. I don’t like to wait for people. I hate it when people are late. I am a neat freak. If you move my toothpaste, my sense of yin and yang are confused. So, I am at a little bit of a impasse here in India. It is dirty and smelly. People take craps in the middle of the street. Literally. It smells of sewage. There are so many beggars. Nothing is on time and nobody does what they say they are going to do. You get ripped off half the time and feel like you are getting ripped off all of the time. Everybody wants a tip, even if you don’t want the service they think they are providing (like little boys singing songs in English then holding out their hand). Everybody has the “best tour” or the “best hotel” or the “best food”. 

So, why am I here, you ask. It sounds like a horrible place, doesn’t it? Well it’s not that bad. Sometimes I get a tad overwhelmed and aggravated with all the beggars and the dirt and the scams. But you have to look past that and see what else is there. And it is really quite interesting. 

We went to a spice market the other day. The spices are yellow and orange and red. I have no idea what they are called. I think  they may be saffron, turmeric and chili. I do know that what we consider “curry” powder is really a mixture (they call it a “masala”) of these spices. They stack them up in little pyramids (they are ground up, like chili powder or paprika) and they line up all the pyramids, so the market is row after row of colorful spices.  

The women all wear saree’s, which is a skirt or pants with a matching top and a “shawl”. The shawl is actually a piece of fabric about 20 feet long by 3 feet wide and they wrap it around their waist a couple of times then up and over the front and around the back and sometimes over the head. The sarees are bright colors with crazy patterns. It is so fun to see a group of all the colored ladies together. 

India was quite rich at one time. Before the Portuguese started doing the spice trading by sea, goods were taken over land, through India and Pakistan to Turkey or Europe, usually by camel. Silk, spices, tea and opium were some of the big exports. This made for some really rich cities with the king (Raj) sometimes having several palaces. In Udaipur, the king had a Lake Palace in the middle of the lake, a City Palace and a Monsoon Palace, which was high up on a hill and he would retreat to when the rains came. These palaces are all very opulent. 

The Hindu temples are huge, with little carvings all over the entire thing. When you go into a temple, you must take off your shoes. Also, as cows are sacred (and treated as Gods) you must not enter the temple with any leather items on.

We went to one city called Jodhpur, which was not named after the riding pants, but actually it is the other way around. When the British first came here, they bought the pants in India and loved the pants so much that they started to sell them back in England as Jodhpurs. 

The Taj Mahal, which we went to today, was built by a king who’s wife died. He built it as a monument to her. It took something like 22 years to build. Her body was buried in the middle of it. Everything is symmetrical. In fact, once he died, they didn’t know what to do, since her body was already smack dab in the middle, so it would mess up the symmetry by putting him next to her. They did it anyway, but built a little box around it, so the box around it still fits in with the symmetry. 

So today we are in Agra. It is the home of the Taj Mahal. Surprisingly, I have only been stopped on the street and asked to buy post cards, a little tiny snow globe with the Taj Mahal inside, 47 tours of the Taj Mahal, “authentic” Indian paintings and antiques, breakfast, lunch and a “good rooftop view, the best in Agra”. But I put up with these things because I know that it’s all worth it.

Two Pees in a Pod: Part II

Disclaimer: If you do not like potty talk, you should avert your eyes.

On my travels I have used the toilet in a lot of strange places. Each place has it’s own toilet system, flush system and wiping system. I am here to let you know, because I am sure you have been wondering: How do these systems work?

Let’s start with a basic one, the western toilet with a flush. If you are lucky, you may get one of these. However, in most countries, I would say pretty much all, you are not supposed to flush the toilet paper in the toilet. So, that is the most simple toilet system that is different from ours. However, you may not be able to find the flush, as sometimes it is a push down, sometimes it is a pull up, sometimes on top of the tank, sometimes on the side, sometimes a chain you have to pull down, and sometimes a pedal you push with your foot. These can be found throughout the world in nicer establishments.

Let the fun continue.

Thailand/Laos/Cambodia:

bucket and sprayer set up

- Mostly these are western but sometimes they are squat toilets. Generally there is no toilet paper given and if you wonder why, it’s because they don’t always use it. Next to the toilet you will usually find a sprayer, like the kind you have on your kitchen sink to wash it down with. You use that to spray whatever parts you may need to spray. To be honest, after a “number 1”, this is not a bad way to go if you don’t mind being a tad damp afterwards. I am not sure I am ready to use this system for anything more serious than a number 1 though.

- Many toilets in these countries do not have a typical flush system. Instead they have a bucket. One is big and full of water. The other is small and sometimes has a little handle. You use the little bucket to scoop water out of the big bucket and then you throw the pail-full of water into the toilet. This works fine for numero uno, but sometimes with it‘s big bad cousin you have to keep pouring bucket after bucket after bucket…

India:

Generally in India, they have squat toilets. Sometimes they have flushes, but usually they have a bucket system like Thailand. What I learned in India was how to wipe using this system. Basically after doing your business, you use the small bucket. You fill it up and splash your nether regions with water, using your hand (the left one -- always!) to wipe yourself. Yup. Your hand. Then you use the bucket to “wash” your hand. And this folks is why Indians (and Arabs) only eat (and shake hands) with their right hand.

By the way, I always carry toilet paper. And I probably freaked out many Indians by eating with both hands!!

China:

China varies…a lot. In one case, the toilets were just 4 holes in the ground next to each other. I also experienced a trough system, where all the stalls have a connecting trough where you leave your contributions. This would not be too bad except that it doesn’t have a slant, so whatever you contribute just stays where it is.

The funniest is the western toilets that have been stood upon. Used to squat toilets, some people actually climb up on the western toilet and squat on the lid in order to use the bathroom. You can tell by the footprints on the toilet lid.

The best toilet EVER was a massaging, heated toilet that squirts air, water or deodorant right in your rear. Its like a toy. It has all these buttons; you just can’t help but push them. I mean…HEATED SEAT?!!!

I am sure there will be many more strange toilets in my future. I have to talk about it because it is just such a main part of everyday life. Every day a new toilet to investigate. A new way to flush. A new way to wipe.

Have you ever seen a toilet with an oscillating rear jet stream of water? What is the strangest toilet system you have encountered?

China "fun" toilet

China trough toilet

Plans, Schmans (a Small List)

So we made it to India. Hurrah. It is a huge place, with varied climate and scenery. There are the Himalayas, the Thar Desert, jungles, beaches and temples galore. We only have three weeks in India, so the question is: what to do. Here are some of the options we are considering.

Goa: the beaches are supposed to be beautiful and it is a former Portuguese colony, so big K is excited about the prospects of “real meat” (elsewhere in India they are mostly vegetarian due to their beliefs in reincarnation).

Jaisalmer: here there is an old fort, as well as it being close to the desert, where you can do camel treks for a day or overnight. I am excited about that as a camel trek is one of the things on my “to do” list. The stars are supposed to be quite bright there.

Agra: home of the Taj Majal. I have heard countless times this is a must see, although it is crawling with tourists and they just upped the price. I think the tourist price is about 30 dollars; the local price is about 2 dollars, something like that.

Himalayas: we don’t know where yet, but we are considering going to try to see the Dali Lama. It is near impossible, but who knows, we may get lucky. Also there are some really nice small mountain towns which seem worth a look-see, as well as a possible trek or two.

Does anyone have any other suggestions? We are trying to narrow it down, but it seems there is so much to do!!!

Staring is Caring (and Other Randoms)

Vegetarian Thali, Gokarna

St Sebastian Church, Panjim

- From what we have heard, India is 40 percent Muslim, 50 percent Hindu and 10 percent other. Our first stop was Goa, which was a formal Portuguese colony, so there are many churches. They are all is such bad disrepair. It is like being at a Roman ruins, except everything is moldy. Here is a photo of one, to show you. They could be so beautiful, but they just aren’t kept up very well.

- In the south, I didn’t notice this, but as we started to travel north, I am all of a sudden the victim of an intense staring phenomenon. In Egypt, the men stared a lot, and made comments, hisses and whistles. In India, they just STARE. And STARE and STARE. And it is not just the men! The children do it, although this is more understandable. You’re first time seeing a non-Indian, especially when they are WHITE and BLOND, must be a little weird. The women do it, but they are a bit less obvious about it. But the men actually just stand there and gawk. We were on the train and there are open windows with bars, and they would crowd around the windows on the outside of the train and stare at me sitting in the inside. Like 4 or 5 or 9 of them all huddled around the window staring! Talk about feeling uncomfortable. And what do you do? Do you stare back? Do you scowl or growl at them? Do you ignore them? I take option 3, but it doesn’t really work very well. It doesn’t help that Mr. Lovely has a HUGE beard. So we are both freak shows now.

- We had a really great day yesterday exploring the spice markets, cemeteries and lakes in Udaipur. The good thing about India is when the rickshaw picks you up at the train station and asks you what you plan on doing the next day and you say I don’t know, he says, “I can take you around the city.” You think -- whoa, private ride and guide, must be a fortune. But no. For about 8 dollars, this guy took us both around to a bunch of different places and waited as we looked at them or had lunch or whatever. When we said we wanted to have dinner, he said, “what time will you be done?” Then he picked us up at 11 pm and took us back to our hotel. I could get used to this. Usually we just take the bus. What a luxury!

- We usually don’t get any TV in our rooms, but sometimes we do and we need to relax a bit we end up watching the crappiest shows that I would never voluntarily watch normally. But when you just want to relax and watch dumb TV, that is really literally what you do sometimes. There really only is DUMB TV. Usually there are only a couple of channels in English. A news channel. A sports channel. If you are VERY lucky, the Discovery Channel, but that almost never happens. But when it does, its like the best thing EVER.

- The food here is delicious. I always loved Indian food. What I have realized is as much as everyone said this would NOT be the case, the food I have gotten in San Francisco is very much like the food I have been eating here. So to me, the Indian food at home IS the same as “real” Indian food. I have learned that Chutney, which is usually sweet in the places I have gone to at home (mango for example), can be any mixture/jelly/paste of items, sweet or savory. And Masala, which I usually eat in the form of Paneer Tikki Masala and thought meant “red sauce” is really just a mix of any spices. They call the chai spices “tea masala”, which is nutmeg, cinnamon etc. rather than curry spices like I thought of it.

- Cows wander around wherever they want. You know, Hindus consider them a god. So they wander the streets, eating trash and even walking into people’s shops or sitting in the middle of the road, but nobody is allowed to shoo them out or run them over. Mr. Lovely is going crazy, as his favorite food is beef and they don’t eat beef, since it is a god. I think it is hilarious, as it doesn’t bother me to go without beef for a month.

Anyway, sorry about the random thoughts but I couldn’t really form a complete thought today. My brain is having trouble stringing together ideas, so instead of trying, I just put all the blips down as just that.

Live it Up Like a Local

I used to travel a lot. If you are a new reader, you probably didn't know that. You were probably wondering why this blog is called Travel Spot. You may have thought it was because I do a lot of foot travel. Well, that is true; I do, but I used to actually go to other countries, backpack on back and hiking boots (or flip flops) at the ready.

It's been been almost two years since I have been out of the country. That is a sad state of affairs.

I have friends that travel sometimes. They stay in 5 star hotels and do package tours and all-inclusive vacations. I am not saying that this is a bad thing; it's just not my style. Okay, sure, I like to put on a fluffy robe and lounge on a king sized white pillow top bed just as much as the rest of them. However, I also like to go to countries and experience them the local way. I like to ride the bus with the chickens and stay in the rattan hut with the mosquito nets. I like to find my own way. For me that is part of the fun.

Albania

When I went to the Himalayas to hike to Everest Base Camp, the fun part was slogging up the mountains (no, really!) with my pack on my back, making my own way up the mountain, without help. When I got to the next place to lay my head, I felt pride and a sense of adventure because I had done it myself. There were times when Mr. Lovely and I were all alone, without another soul around, and we could admire the majestic mountains and the endless peaks without a bunch of fellow tour members. That's how I like it. It may be more work to get there on my own, but in the end, it is totally worth it.

Nepal

I have stayed in a wide variety of accommodations. Sure, sometimes the low end route is pretty crappy. In India, I stayed in a mold infested room with mosquitoes keeping me awake all night, and it was not something I would like to repeat. I see no reason to subject myself to that! But I do like to experience some of the local flavor. Why go to Mexico if you are going to stay in an American hotel and eat American food? You may as well go to Newport Beach or Fort Lauderdale for that. 

India

I realize that everyone travels their own way. But what do you do when you are of one camp and your travel buddy is of another? A friend and I are trying to plan a vacation and she is one of the 5-star-hotel package-tour all-inclusive people. I want to get down and dirty, eat what the locals are eating, how they are eating it and I want to do what the locals do. This is difficult, as I don't want to spend $200+ for a hotel in a country where people make ten dollars a day.  She wants to stay in a place with fluffy robes and pillow top mattresses. She wants to be guided; I want to find my own way.

We are at an impasse. I ask you for help. What do you think we should do?

What camp are you in? Live it up? or Live like a local?

Free at Last. Hallelujah!

So, we have been camping for the last...um...2 or 3 weeks. Don't get me wrong, I don't mind camping. In fact, I don't mind it at all. However, after camping for 3 weeks, sleeping on the ground, freezing, waking up at 445 am because the neighbors are going fishing, cooking top ramen every day for dinner and getting into stupid arguments with big K because there is no space for us to be away from each other, let me just say, I am GLAD we decided to stay in the Westin in Cape Town for a couple of days.

We have our OWN bathroom. Score. WITH a HOT shower. Bonus.

We also have....a bed. Oh man is it nice. I totally took it for granted before but beleive me, it is the best thing in the world these days.

We have food. Okay, well we have free breakfast and free happy hour snacks and drinks...but its free. And it's food. And its NOT top ramen.

Anyway, I got pretty spoiled when I was working in New Olreans, staying in a nice hotel or apartment, getting a stipend for food every day. Now I pinch pennies because every extra dollar I save means I can stay one more day on the road. But sometimes it is hard. Big K and I get into the STUPIDEST arguments because I want to save two dollars and he wants to just have hot food for a change, or I want to camp and he wants to splurge on a hotel, or I want to take the bus and he wants to rent a car..... Yup, I am the cheap one and he is the extravagant one.

But, we are having fun. Right now we are in Cape Town, and let me tell you, it is absolutely freaking BEAUTIFUL! I mean...BEAUTIFUL. On a bay with mountains...what more can you ask for? It's great. AND for the first time in a little while, we have the chance to go to the post office, buy replacement camping items, camera items etc and just relax in our awesome hotel.

The other day we went to Simon's town and saw the African Penguins (ps I love penguins!!) We also went to Cape Point (see photo above) which is the end of the Cape Town peninsula. It was gorgeous.

Tomorrow we plan to hike Table Mountain, which is one of the peaks in the middle of the city. It is about 3000 feet tall. After that, it is off on a hell bent for leather trip up the east coast, as we have to be back in Mozambique for our flight to India on the 8th of September, which is getting nearer and nearer!!!

So, where to next, you ask. Well, let me enlighten you. Our plans today include India, Nepal, China, most of South East Asia, including Vietnam and Indonesia and then a tiny trip to Australia before heading home for good. How long will this last, you ask. I do not know. Our flight right now is scheduled to be home on Dec 22, but we are seriously considering an extension. So plans may change. I will update you all as I know what is going on. And I usually don't know.

Ripped Off

Have you ever felt like you were being cheated? Like you go to a remote island and the bottled waters are 8 dollars, or a baseball game and the hot dogs are the same price? At least there is a sign that says, HOT DOG $8, so you KNOW if you buy that hot dog, you are going to be paying too much. But you have the choice in the beginning to choose if you want to pay too much or not.

In India, you often don’t get that choice. Nobody has prices posted. Everything is a haggle and oftentimes you don’t know where the starting price is. We had an incident that I am going to share with you not only to vent but in case anyone else is going to this place, hopefully if they google it, they will see this review and be forewarned.

To everyone who is traveling in India -- If you go to Jaisalmer and are hoping to do a camel tour, DO NOT go to the Jaisal View Hotel (which may pass itself off as the Rajdhani Hotel). The guy there is a crook. His name is Mr. Kahn (MK).

We had read in the guide book that it was a pain in the butt to try to figure out which camel tour operator to use, as they all claim to be “the best in town” and to “have the best service”. However, the book says that you do not always get what you pay for. I can agree to that.

We were already on our toes, as from what we had heard when you get off the bus in Jaisalmer you are swamped with rickshaw (taxi) drivers trying to give you a ride to the “best hotel”. What happens is that they tell you the hotel you want is closed and they will take you to another good one. This “good one” gives them a commission. So, we were “recommended” a place by a guy in the last town we were in (Jodhpur) who said it was owned by his brother. I have a feeling this guy was not a brother, but just another person who gets commission for the “recommendation”. However, we didn’t figure this out until later.

When we got to the bus station, a guy got on the bus and said, “aren’t you coming from Jodhpur? My brother said to look for you” and we were. He said, “I will take you to  your hotel, the one that my brother told you to go to“. I wonder how many “brothers” these guys have. Then we got off the bus and another guy said “oh you must be coming from Jodhpur. My brother told me you were coming”. So they all just say the same thing. Finally we found the “brother”, the owner of the hotel that we had been recommended, and he took us to the hotel, which turned out also to not be the hotel on the brochure that the “brother” had shown us.

We should have known. Once we arrived, Mr. Kahn wouldn’t leave our side. We wanted a cold drink; he sat next to us the whole time we drank it. Then he asked if we wanted to do a camel trek. Of course we did and we thought we would just see what he had to say, what the heck. Well, his game was to tell us the tours and the prices, which were quite high and then when I asked about doing only 2 days instead of three, he knocked a couple thousand rupees off the price. So we thought it didn’t seem too expensive (and we had just gotten a good deal, right), so we said okay. Now that I look back, I see little things that I should have seen before. For example when I said we needed some time to think about it and discuss it over, he said he had to inform the camel boss by 5 o’clock and it was already 445, so we had to tell him in the next ten minutes. He just didn’t want us to go out and look at other prices. For that same reason he was hanging about, not giving us any private time. He also told us not to tell anyone that we got our tour cheaper than the regular price because they may be jealous or start trouble. So when a girl asked us how much we paid, we told her. They had been told the same thing -- you are getting a really good deal, so don’t tell anyone.

I wish we would have gone and looked at other prices beforehand. The tour was mediocre. The service was not good. The items he promised were not delivered. After we got back we decided to torture ourselves and compare prices. The other tours were cheaper with the same “special” services. Plus one we looked at even let you pay half now and half after and if you weren’t satisfied you didn’t have to pay the second half. Now that sounds more reasonable to me.

I just feel so stupid when I know I have been ripped off. And we realized it right in the beginning but had already paid. So, in order to feel a little bit better, I have vented here, plus I will give the details so if anyone else finds this, hopefully they will go somewhere else. Then my revenge will be complete. Mooowhhhahahahaha (that was a Dr Evil laugh).

So, please. If you are going on a camel trek, DO NOT GO to the Jaisal View Hotel in Jaisalmer. The guy said his name was Mr. Kahn (who knows if it is his real name). He will lie to you. I would also watch out for the Hotel Rajdhani as well, because I don’t know what the scam is but they may be in on it as well.

THE DETAILS: (avoid these places!!)

Hotel Rajdhani - Jaisalmer Old City, Near Patwan Ki Haveli

Jaisal View Hotel - near the Artists Lodge on the north side of town

THE PRICES:

We got ripped off. We paid 9300 Rupees for 2 nights, 3 days, 2 people. At first he wanted 12,000 for the two of us.

POSSIBLE BETTER OPTIONS:

-Hotel Peacock, Chainpura Street, Gandhi Chowk -- 950 per day per person, as many days as you want. This is the place that said you could pay half later if you enjoyed the trip.

-Renuka Hotel (next to Hotel Peacock)-- 1 night, 2 days = 1900 a person, plus 950 per day for extra day

-Trio Restaurant, Gandhi Chowk -- the guy that owns the Trio also arranges trips for 2000/day per person. These are with a tent and a toilet and the same cooks as he has at the restaurant and all the amenities. (PS they have really good food and a view of the fort!)

Belly: The Update

Well, in two days, we should be out of India and....NO DELHI BELLY!!! Yay! I am probably jinxing myself.

I actually wrote the above three days ago. Right after I wrote this, we went to lunch. About 6 hours later, I was having a very close relationship with the toilet.

I miss my mom. When I used to get sick as a child, she would settle me on the couch with an orange juice, a bowl of chicken noodle soup, a blanket, a cold washcloth and the Star Wars trilogy. Three days ago I got sick around 7 o'clock and had to catch a train at 9 o'clock. It was hot and dusty and we had to take a rickshaw to the train station. I had to carry my 40 lb backpack and I was sweating and hoping I would not be sick, but at the same time, I was glad the rickshaw did not have any doors, just in case.

We had a 16 hour train ride, a 2 hour layover, another 6 hour train ride, 5 hours of sleep and then 13 more hours on a bus. I think that whole time I ate 12 crackers, 5 cookies and half a sprite. We finally arrived in Kathmandu yesterday and this morning I had my FIRST REAL MEAL. It was delicious. I even had coffee. Its the little things you really appreciate.

However, now, as I type this, Mr. Lovely is in bed with the same thing. Luckily he is in a place where he can stay in bed and not have to go ANYWHERE. We are planning on going trekking, but it can be pushed back a couple or a few days. I went today to get all the permits and pay the park fees, do laundry and get any last minute items we may need for our trek. Kathmandu is much cleaner than any of the India cities. I am glad. Very glad. I only hope the food is cleaner too.

Then and Now: September

I can't believe that September is over already. This month went by 17 times faster than the month of August. I have been very busy with work, friends and running. I was thinking the other day about how quickly time passes and how quickly we forget about some of the things we have done in the past (days/months/years). I also frequently think, "last year at this time I was ____". So, in order to remember the good times and the crazy ones, this is the first episode of Then and Now: The Who, the Where and the What of September 2010 vs 2011.  

The WHO: 

Last September, I was hanging out a lot with this guy:

To Be or Not to Be... (yes, I made him dress up like that. And I hated that beard.)

This September, I hung out a lot with these guys: 

98 Miles in September (vs. 0 last year!)

THE WHERE: 

Last September I was here:  

Udaipur, India

This September I was here:

Random, MO

Last September, I was sleeping here: 

Drying out the blanket due to the humidity!

This September, I slept here:

Not IN the chair, but in this room!

THE WHAT:

Last September, I wrote about:

Strange South African Customs

Strange Indian Customs

You Might Be in India if...

This September, I wrote about: 

 Where My Heart Is

Summertime

Living Out of a Hotel

I can't believe that (insert cliched statement here) last year at this time I was halfway across the globe. It seems kind of surreal to think that now I am back in "real" life, working every day and living the every day life instead of gallivanting about.  Weird. 

What were you doing in September 2010? How was your month this year? Are you glad (can you believe) it's October already?

Getting From A to B

The worst thing about traveling is getting from point A to point B. If we could just have Scotty “beam me up” to our grandma’s house or Mt. Everest (not to say I wouldn’t hike the mountain, but how about just getting me from Africa to Nepal in 2.54 seconds) it would be a lot easier. In fact, I know many people who don’t go places because of the anxiety of getting there.

My aunt hates to fly; she had a bad experience when her kids were both young and there was a snowstorm, making her miss her connection and she had to spend the night in some god-awful Midwest airport with two small children. She lives on the East Coast. We barely get to see her unless we go there. My mother is the same. She can’t smoke on the plane, she gets airsick and she has a bad back. If only there really was a Scotty, she would be a lot happier. She loves to visit friends and family, but doesn’t love the pain of getting there. And I understand her pain.

I have spent a lot of time on busses and trains, cars and airplanes. Most of the time it is fine (for me) but it is that one time that is not fine that sometimes makes you wonder if it is all worth it. Generally I decide it is, but sometimes….

Getting to India was one of those times. Luckily we are not on a time crunch. Knowing someone is waiting to pick you up and you are already inconveniencing them and now are going to have to do it even more because your flight is delayed sucks. Luckily, we are on our own. However, our flight to India went like this.

We started in South Africa. On a Wednesday. Around 10 am. After turning in our rental car, we learned that the airport did not have a bus into town, which is where we would need to catch another bus. We asked about a shuttle and were told that we could get one but it would be 50 dollars each. Unfortunately, we barely had any SA currency left as we were trying not to have any left at the end (which is another puzzle in itself). We finally found a nice set of businessmen who gave us a ride into town, but this was after quizzing everyone as to where they were going and practically begging for a ride (done by big K, he is much more brave than I). From where they dropped us off, we hiked with our backpacks (mine by the way must weigh about 50 lbs -- how did it get so heavy?) for about 15 minutes to the minibus station.

At the minibus station we found a bus going to Maputo, which is where our flight was (Maputo is in Mozambique). However, it cost more than we had left, so we tried to bargain, but the guy wouldn’t budge, so we worked out a deal. He would take us to the border, then we could use Metacais (Moz money, which I had some of) to get a ride from the border to Maputo. Fine. By this time it was about 1 pm and our flight was not until 11:30 pm, so we had plenty of time, but we were also happy to get our journey started.

All went well until we reached the border. Everyone else passed through like a breeze. Let me preface this by saying that we had been to/through Mozambique twice already: once when we had first arrived, by plane, where we had to pay 27 dollars for a 30 day visa and once when we transited through from Zimbabwe to Malawi, where we had to pay 10 dollars for a transit visa (good for 24 hrs). So, we thought (and why not) we could get another transit visa. Unfortunately, two days after we arrived in Mozambique and bought our original 30 day visa, things changed. So now there is no transit visa. There is only a 60 day, SEVENTY EIGHT dollar (USD) visa. We tried to explain, we are on our way to the airport as soon as we cross the border, but they would not budge. Where was this visa 7 weeks ago!!???? I was not happy. However, we had no other choice. We had a flight to catch.

To top it all off, the process (them typing it up or whatnot) took about 45 minutes and THEN the guy said he didn’t have change for my 80 dollars. Yeah, I know, its only two dollars but I was fuming. You know they could give it to me in Metacais, but by now the WHOLE bus is waiting on us and the driver keeps popping his head around the corner asking if we are almost finished and there is a long line behind us and this guy is speaking Portuguese to me like he doesn’t understand, he is so innocent, even though I heard him speak English a minute ago…..so now I am out 80 bucks and I am going to be in Mozambique for about 8 hours.

We get into town and then have to get a cab to the airport, where we sit and wait for the next 4 hours for our flight. You thought getting there was hard, but the flight is even worse. It is a one hour flight at 11:30 pm, with a  45 minute layover, then another 3 hour flight after that. We arrive in Kenya around 5:30 am with about an hour of sleep under our belts. Next, we have a 13 hour layover before getting back on a plane at 6:45 pm. I thought I would sleep a little in the airport, but it wasn’t possible. Back on the plane at 6:45, and then a 5 hour flight (and another 2 hours of sleep) to Mumbai, where it is 3:30 am.

The good thing is that there are tons of people at the airport and it is no problem getting a taxi. The bad thing is that even though we used points to get a nice hotel near the airport, the driver has no idea where it is, nor does he speak any English. So we spend the next hour or so driving around Mumbai asking anyone who is awake where the hotel is. People keep telling the driver where it is and then he must keep passing it, and then he asks someone else and they tell him where it is and then he passes it… I was so cracked out from being awake so much over the last couple of days that at the time it was actually funny. Really funny. The driver was pissed off at us because we totally were not understanding each other and I was laughing every time he stopped to ask for directions.

The best thing is that when we get to the hotel at 5 am, they let us check in early (normal check in is at 3 pm) and we sleep, finally.

A-List Monday II: Books

This year, I joined AudrieAnne at Who’s Your Editor for a Bookmark Break Challenge. She challenged everyone to get out those old books and read them, to free the bookmarks! The challenge was that if you read more books than she did this year, you would win a trip to Aruba. Just kidding. No Aruba, but bragging rights and a spot on her page. So, thanks to her, I read a lot of books this year. So far, as of today, I have read 63 books in 2011.

I admit, not all of them have been very good. I was on the road for about half of this year, and sometimes the selection in English was nil. Thank goodness for the Kindle Reader that I downloaded on my iPhone! Yes, I read many a book on that tiny screen. But many were good. Luckily later this year, I actually put on my big girl pants and got a library card of my very own. And then there was no stopping me! Below is a list of a few of them that I really liked.

The Help - Kathryn Stockett: I know it’s a book that everyone liked, so it’s not news to anyone, but there is a reason it was popular. It was easy to read and speaks of a time and place that were controversial and fascinating. I can’t imagine what it would have been like to be a black person in the south in the 60s. Or ever really. This book tells a very difficult but heartwarming story.

My Korean Deli - Ben Ryder Howe: A white man and his Korean wife, who are currently living with her family in New York, decide to all pool their money together to buy and run a deli in Brooklyn. It is a fun story about the trials and tribulations of dealing with his mother in law (and other in-laws), dealing with his wife, living with her family and attempting to run a convenience store in New York. (review HERE)

Shantaram - Gregory David Roberts: Although I actually thought the author was a bit of a blowhard, I liked this book. It tells of an Australian escaped convict who goes to India and lives in the slums of Bombay and becomes a drug dealer, mafia member and eventually a Mujaheddin guerrilla. Some of it seems a little far-fetched and you are always wondering what is real, but it’s full of adventure and an inside look into India that I sure as heck didn’t see when I was there! It gets points on interestingness.

The Guernsey Literary Potato Peel Pie Society - Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows: Try saying that one five times fast! Set in World War II, this book talks about life on Guernsey Island, which is one of the Channel Islands between England and France. It tells of a small village who survives Nazi occupation by starting a book club, named the Guernsey Literary Potato Peel Pie Society (interesting fact: they did not have flour so they had to make pie crusts from potato peels).

The Postmistress - Sarah Blake: Also set in WWII, this book is told from the view point of several people. One is a radio broadcaster who is living in England during the war and broadcasting from the front. She sees a lot of things that most people would not be able to handle and then tells the story over the radio (with Edward Murrow). One of the other players is a postmistress in Cape Cod who decides to withhold someone’s mail from them for their own safety and peace of mind. It is an interesting story and you really get a good feel of what it was like, especially from the radio broadcaster’s story.

The Book Thief - Marcus Zusak: I guess I am on a WWII kick, because this one is also set in WWII in Germany. It is told about a little girl who goes to live with a family during the war. She loves to read and she uses books to get through a very terrible time. At first I didn’t like the storyteller; it is told from the voice of Death, but I warmed up to it a little ways into the book. It’s a sad book; it may make you cry, but it’s a very good story.

Surviving the Extremes – Dr. Kenneth Kamler: This book was very informative. Dr. Kamler talks about what happens to your body when you go into extreme conditions, such as high altitude, underwater diving, and extreme cold and extreme heat. I found it very interesting. Not only does he tell a little story, but he puts things in layman’s terms so everyone can understand them. It made me really appreciate my body and everything working together to help keep me alive. I also have a better understanding of why I always have to pee so much when I get into high altitudes!

The Paris Wife - Paula McClain: I am not a fan of Hemingway, but this story, told from the viewpoint of his first wife, was interesting and illuminating. I am still not really a fan of him; he seems like a self-absorbed drunk to me, but I am probably going to read A Moveable Feast now, just so I can see what the same time period in his life was like.

Here are a “few” more that I think are worth recommending:

Blink - Malcolm Gladwell

Anne of Green Gables, Anne of Avonlea, Anne of the Islands - LM Montgomery (classic)

With No One as a Witness - Elizabeth George (mystery)

The Girl Who Played with Fire, The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest - Steig Larsson

Sea of Glory - Nathaniel Philbrick (historical, but not boring)

Forrest Gump - Winston Groom (Different than the movie! Still good though!)

A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens (a classic!)

The Hunger Games, Catching Fire, Mockingjay - Suzanne Collins (fun, quick read!)

Room - Emma Donoghue (about a boy stuck in a room with his mother all his life)

The Art of Racing in the Rain - Garth Stein (told from the POV of a dog)

So, what’s the plan for 2012!? I think that I will try to read at least a book a week, which would be a goal of 52 books. I also have a lot of books on my shelf that I need to read before buying any new ones. So, it’s a two-fold goal à a book a week and at least one a month has to be one from my dusty shelf (the others will most likely be from the library). So it’s a 52 and 12 in 2012, to go along with my 12 in 2012 Fitness Goal (get ready, there will be more 12 themed goals later!)

What was your favorite book that you read this year? Even though my shelf is full, I am always looking for recommendations! Do you have any goals for 2012? Are you going to join in on any 12 in 2012 goal lists?