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Of course getting around in India isn’t always easy.  I remember buying my plane ticket to Hyderabad in Delhi at the Indian Airlines ticket counter as the lady held my passport in hand copying down all the info she needed to issue me a ticket.  She copied away and then looked up at me, passport in hand, and with no sarcastic intent asked “what country are you from?”.  I believe she also moonlighted with several IT call centers, but that’s neither here nor there.  It was one of those moments I remember so distinctly.  One of those are you serious? moments.  And that’s the other thing about India.  Just when you think you’re getting somewhere, you’re really not.  You’re right where you are at that moment.  With great patience I ultimately walked out with a ticket in hand and flew off shortly to one of India’s sophisticated cities.

Now this was a very special part of my trip.  My friend from Germany, Ravi, arranged for me to stay with his parents in Hyderabad because I wanted to see Hyderabad and I had heard so much about his family there.  They were absolutely lovely.  His parents took me all around the city visiting the Hyderabad markets, various monuments, a mosque and an ancient fort.  They spoiled me completely rotten and I had by far the best food of my trip there.  Ravi’s mom was an amazing cook with fantastic chutneys, biryani and vegetarian dishes.  I can’t give them enough thanks for their amazing hospitality.

One of the things they arranged was for me to have my hands painted which was done by a muslim woman (some judgment intended in the religious association – muslims and hindus aren’t yet kum bay ya’ing together).  Woman being 17 and married.  She was absolutely gorgeous with her lively green eyes and delicate features.  Amazing to think she was married at 17, and I don’t actually know how young she married.

All good things must come to an end and I had to get my ticket to fly from Hyderabad to Mumbai to catch my flight to Durban, SA (where upon my arrival my polite friends informed me a prompt shower would be best).  Yes, you know what that means.  But this time instead of going into an office, Ravi’s parents helped me purchase the ticket through their travel agent friend.  I honestly couldn’t tell you how many phone calls it took – a lot! – to accomplish this task.  I was surprised when the day before the flight I actually got the ticket.  Things happen in a whole different way there, even local to local.

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I say yes. Yes to Varanasi.  Yes to many things.  I’m sure you’ve heard the saying “it’s not the things I did that I regret, it’s what I didn’t do” (or something to that effect).  I’ve always thought that saying was hooey.  I think it’s more like “say yes and things will become interesting”.

Before I continue, I must apologize. I left you hanging in Delhi a month ago.  Terrible me.  I realized I was going to hell when I let a 100 pound barefoot Malagasy man parade me through a city in his pousse-pousse as he painfully clutched to his masculinity and male pride trying not to look like he was going to keel over from the weight of me and my 40 pound backpack in his tow.  They do that on foot there – not as part of a bicycle or motorized contraption. It was at that instant I knew with no uncertainty that at the end of my days the flames of hell awaited my arrival.  Nonetheless, I can also be sorry for making you wait so long for the remainder of India.  Such a marvelous country, this India.

From Delhi to Agra by train.  They try many up-sells to Agra (they = tour books and of course travel agencies in Delhi) but there is really no need.  It’s a short train ride – something like 2 hours.  I chose to save the 50 cents and travel in 2nd class.  The train station personnel are always concerned about foreigners choosing something other than 1st class, but I decided to throw AC to the wind and let the open air breezes sweep through my ravishing hair.  Many people have asked me how to get train tickets in Delhi. There are several train stations and the lines can be confusing.  If you’re going someplace near-ish by, just go to the train station when you’re ready and look/ask.  If it’s somewhere farther away where trains might not go as often go ahead and try the train station or let the travel agent (and I use that term loosely) at/near your hotel book the ticket.  Maybe they make a few cents on the ticket, but it saves heat and hassle.  Tourists make a much bigger deal of this than is necessary.  Everything eventually happens in India and at no point in time will you have any control over the process.  Just accept that.

Once I arrived in Agra I saw what appeared to be a tour bus loading up and decided what the hey and asked what their dealio was.  Something like $10 and they would take me to the sites.  Would I normally do this?  No.  Quite simply because I like to decide my own time for visiting places, departing and arriving.  In this case I already heard all the tuk-tuks and taxi’s had fixed prices and they were higher for 1 person than just taking the tour bus – plus the idea of haggling fixed prices was not what I wanted to spend my day in Agra doing.  I hopped aboard the air-conditioned dream cruiser and set sail first for the magnificent Agra Fort.  Very big, impressive, daunting, imposing, regal.  I was impressed enough, but wait, there’s more.  Then we went on to (insert: trumpets trumpeting) the Taj Mahal aka “the Taj”.  The Taj is just one of those places, in my opinion, like the Grand Canyon or the Great Wall. No matter how often you’ve heard about it, what you’ve read or the movies you’ve seen, nothing can compare with seeing it in person.  It blows you away.  No matter how high your expectations are, you’re sure to be impressed.

You can read all about the Taj Mahal (eg http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taj_Mahal), but there’s nothing like seeing it in person.  The intricate details, the size, the beauty.  It’s definitely on my Things Everyone Should See Before They Die list.  It’s just one of those perspective-changing places.

Next, on to Varanasi the holy land.  But what fun would a trip to a holy land be without Mimi?  A question I frequently used to ask myself.  The answer is no fun at all (duh).  You may have read about Mimi in the Cast of Characters.  She’s the international traveleuress a go-go.  We bump into each other in the darndest places usually involving rivers and beer.  Vienna, London, Paris, Prague, Kirkland (eek), and in this case Varanasi.  Mimi was hanging out in India with her friendly cohort Seetal.  We of course did the sunrise boat cruise down the Varanasi.  I don’t have video ready for this site, yet, but one day it shall come.  I have the absolute coolest footage – we’re paddling along the river watching everyone bath in the holy water and come across a group of friendly men swimming madly towards us shouting “I love you!  I love you!”.  Clearly these very smart men knew a good thing when they saw it, but how funny it was to have this passionate group approaching through holy water.  Oh, and I could go on about what I’ve seen all over the world taking place in the name of holy/religion.  But that’s for another post.

Varanasi is more than just the Ganges.  It has a great Buddhist temple and some crazy nightlife, too.  One evening we were walking through a market area and for whatever reason we asked a ‘police’ officer something or he was pointing something out.  Anywho, we were following him as he was leading us through the market and we noticed that as he moved through the pathway of people and bicycles he would what seemed randomly (because who could tell what belonged to whom among the many) puncture tires with a small knife he held between fingers in one of his hands.  That seemed the strangest thing.  He was dressed as an officer, and I have no reason to believe he wasn’t an official something or other.  There he went exercising his power and puncturing tires whenever he seemed to feel the urge.  Could this be a method of exercising authority?  Punishment for not paying a sufficient bribe?  Simply random deviant behavior?  This sticks in my head because of its oddness, but I knew it was just a hint of what was to come in the international world of corruption.  More on that later.

What I should say about Varanasi to those who are planning a trip – wear a mask.  The fires really are a strain on the ole lungs.  And of course sucking on exhaust pipes is all one can do when getting around.

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That started from this tropic port, aboard this tiny ship. Well, ok it wasn’t tropic and not exactly aboard a ship. In fact it was out of Munich aboard a 777 in Business Class on the way to Delhi. Word up. If you’re going to do it, do it in style. My entire trip was spent aboard luxury jetliners in comfort classes (not that Schweineklasse in the back), tin can propeller planes, rickety rickshaws, “pousse-pousses”, patched boats, bicycles, motorcycles, horses, camels or on foot. It’s all about variety, right? My auto-snooze turns on every time I hear about someone who traveled Asia on horseback. I also hear the sound of one hand clapping, but that may be due to some other malfunction. Travel is a sensory experience and I think should be done in as many ways as possible. Sure, do as the locals do as much as possible so you actually get to hang with locals instead of all the other ultra-independent backpackers herding together and clutching their Lousy Planets for dear life.

As I lead a blessed life, my dear friend, we’ll call her Michelle since that’s what her parents named her, extended certain shall we say benefits to me enabling me to travel the world in comfort classes at very low expense. So low you would literally have to sit on the ground and still look down. This played a tremendous role in my being able to experience the world in such vastness and for that I am very grateful.

With about a hundred printed tickets in hand I departed Munich for greater pastures (certainly not greener – if you’ve been to Munich you know they’re pretty green and of course choosing Delhi as the destination would make the idea of greener pastures quite ridiculous). There I sat in my business class seat – oh who are we kidding, that was only for meal time, otherwise I was fully reclined – and when I arrived in this great Delhi I was quickly invited into the chaos of life.

Once I arrived I met up with a couple other random travelers who were headed to the same part of town as me so we shared a taxi. After all, who could afford the $10 fortune on one’s own? A German, French and American sharing a taxi (who says world peas isn’t possible?).

It was glorious. We passed cows, elephants, tuk-tuks and pedestrians all while we were on the highway. In town was even grander. That’s the thing about India, it always gets better. So many people, such variety, the scent of spices, colorful saris and endless opportunities to get into trouble – and yet there it isn’t trouble.

The German got out at the clean hotel (Germans are raised to be very smart individuals) while the Frenchman and I continued on a short ways to that other part of town where hotel rooms were $3 and cock roaches were free. We were across from a theater. Oh, a theater you read. Well, if you read it that way, you don’t know a Bollywood theater. The lines, the amount of people that can be fit into one of those buildings. Of course the night we stayed there it caught fire – didn’t burn entirely down though so it was a successful show.

Delhi was just a couple nights and then more beckoned. It became time for Agra, Varanasi and soon Hyderabad.

welcome! recepción! willkommen! bienvenue!

Welcome to lorem ipsum
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It all really started after I quit my job in Germany due to some German affliction called Wander Lust. I don’t remember the onset exactly, but my understanding this typically happens to curious people who have been chained to an office chair for too long under inhibiting conditions. Once I got underway I realized this Wander Lust also happens to a lot of people who reach 30 and muster the cajones/ovaries to take off. They call it a World Trip. It takes many forms. Sometimes a pod across Africa (or part thereof), going to Thailand and no further because it’s just so cheap, traveling in South America.
I was able to break free. So I did. Off I went to celebrate a friend’s birthday in Spain and from there on to India with a totally open mind about what could happen.
In about a year and a half I managed to cover 6 continents and 26 countries – whew! Along the way I managed to take a few pictures which I have uploaded here.
This was the “schedule”…
2005
April 11-13 London, England
April 14-17 Mallorca, Spain
April 18-20 Munich, Germany
April 21-May 4 India (Delhi, Agra, Varanassi, Hyderabad)
May 6-June 08 S. Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe
June 09- Aug 04 Madagascar
Aug 05- Sept 20 Australia and New Zealand
Sept 20-30 Singapore and Malaysia
Oct 01-10 Thailand
Oct 10-20 Philippines
Oct 20-30 Vietnam
Nov 1-Jan 1 US

2006
Beginning of January – San Francisco, New Orleans, Mobile and Miami.
January 16th – March 7th Brazil
March 8th – April 24th Argentina
April 25th – May 5th Bolivia
May 6th – May 17th Argentina – back in Buenos Aires
May 18th – May 28th Princeton, New Jersey, NYC, Washington DC and Baltimore
May 29th – Seattle
July 15th – 22nd Japan
July 23rd – 28th Taiwan
July 29th – 30th Seoul, Korea
July 31st – August 24th Mongolia
August 25th – September 15th China
Sept 16 – 17 Macau
Sept 18 – 20th Hong Kong
Sept 21 – Oct 8th Thailand
Oct 9th – 17th Borneo, Malaysia
Oct 18th – Nov 7th Philippines
Nov 8th – 10th Bangkok
November 11th – 14th Angkor Wat, Cambodia
Nov 15th – Seoul, Korea for the day and then back to the US!

I’ve been traveling recreationally since then and am including those photos and stories on the site as well.