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Up and Over

Posted August 11, 2013

PART 15 (DAYS 33-35): “How’s everything here?” I asked Chris, the manager at Southern Laughter Lodge, when I arrived back in Queenstown for a day in order to catch a homeward bound flight early the following morning.

“Oh, it’s quiet. It’s finally slowing down,” he answered.

“Oh, is the ski season over?”

“No, the season can go all the way until October,” he told me. “But all the Aussie kids have gone back to university.”

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Facing Fears On The Non-Tourist Trek

From the trip blog: "The Global Trip 2004: Sixteen Months Around The World"
Posted December 02, 2004

DAY 406: The standard tour that everyone seems to do out of Chiang Mai is a three-day excursion of trekking, elephant riding and rafting, offered by every tour agency, hotel and guesthouse in town. The funny thing about this three-day tour is that most places advertise it as the “non-tourist trek” to attract the independent traveler set from doing the cardinal sing of doing something “touristy.” Of course a tour agency offering a “non-tourist trek” is a bit of an oxymoron.

I say, doing something “touristy” isn’t necessarily a bad thing, and so began Day One of the three-day trek through the jungles of northern Thailand.

Recipes

From the trip blog: "The Global Trip 2004: Sixteen Months Around The World"
Posted November 30, 2004

DAY 405: I grew up with a love of cooking. I remember using a Sesame Street cookbook and making banana bread one day that pleased the family and since then I’ve like to cook since, up through my young adulthood when I got my own apartment. When I got a Showtime Rotisserie as a housewarming gift, I swear I made a whole chicken every other day; it’s so easy when you can “set it and forget it.”

Sunshine On A Rainy Day

From the trip blog: "The Global Trip 2004: Sixteen Months Around The World"
Posted November 30, 2004

DAY 404: The overnight express from Bangkok to Chiang Mai continued on its way through the northern Thai countryside when I woke up that morning. It was a casual morning of reading, writing and eating the breakfast served to me by the train attendants, one of which was a cross-dressing “ladyboy,” a common personality-type in the Kingdom of Thailand. The morning was just like any other morning I’d had in recent history but with one difference: for the first time in about two months, it was raining.

Rain, as I usually say to people who see it as a hindrance to their day’s plans, is “just water” and I knew that even with precipitation falling from the sky, I could find a little figurative sunshine.

Giving Thanks

From the trip blog: "The Global Trip 2004: Sixteen Months Around The World"
Posted November 27, 2004

DAY 403: Thanksgiving Day. The American holiday that celebrates the first harvest produced by the first European settlers (who wore big funny hats so big they needed belt buckles of their own) with the help of the indigenous people (wearing big funny hats with lots of feathers). Today the holiday often skips over the part in American history when the European settlers murdered off the indigenous people almost to the point of extinction, and goes right up to the point in history when big inflated balloons parade down New York’s Broadway. This is followed by the traditional Thanksgiving dinner, a gathering of family and friends over a meal, usually with a turkey, whose meat is often so sleep-inducing, most people pass out before the Sears Family Movie gets underway on TV that night.

Kicking Ass

From the trip blog: "The Global Trip 2004: Sixteen Months Around The World"
Posted November 27, 2004

DAY 402: Muay Thai, also known as Thai Boxing, is a free-for-all martial art invented in the 15th century by the Siamese military as a way to keep the troops fit in hand-to-hand combat. Nowadays the style of fighting is seen in stadiums, movies and even in fighter video games. With punches, kicks, grabs, holds — anything but headbutting — it is boxing meets karate meets wrestling. When the bell rings in Muay Thai, you can literally kick your opponent’s ass.

So An Englishman, A Scotsman and An American Don’t Walk Into A Bar…

From the trip blog: "The Global Trip 2004: Sixteen Months Around The World"
Posted November 26, 2004

DAY 401: “Sometimes I have to stop and think of what you’re saying,” Paul told me as we walked Ratchadamnoen Road, a main thoroughfare in Bangkok with elephant-shaped shrubs, archways that honored the king, and the United Nations building. I had used the word “block” (as in “down the…” and “New Kids On The…”) and Paul had to think about what I was saying; he told me the British used “street” or “road” instead, and gave directions in a town or city not in “blocks” but in meters.

Moderation

From the trip blog: "The Global Trip 2004: Sixteen Months Around The World"
Posted November 24, 2004

DAY 400: Paul and I met in the Sawasdee House’s trendy-looking ground floor restaurant that morning, the same way we did every morning in Bangkok thus far. It had become our Central Perk (from Friends), our Monk’s Cafe (from Seinfeld). He nursed his bottle of water while I sipped on a Thai iced coffee. Cold coffee, for Paul, wasn’t a concept he could grasp — but to each his own taste.

Mallkings

From the trip blog: "The Global Trip 2004: Sixteen Months Around The World"
Posted November 23, 2004

DAY 399: “I hate it when [travelers] say you can’t get a real [Thai] experience in a big city,” I said to Paul as we rode in a souped-up air-conditioned taxi across town. “What, like fake Thai people live here?”

Paul agreed with me and said that there’s nothing out there that says a little village can’t evolve into something bigger.

Thai By Night

From the trip blog: "The Global Trip 2004: Sixteen Months Around The World"
Posted November 22, 2004

DAY 398: From what I’ve gathered, it seems that what the Thai hotel and restaurant managers do to keep out Thai touts and Thai whores away from their legitimate Westerner-catering establishments is to assume that all Thai people off the street are unfavorable. A big sign at the front desk of the Sawasdee House where I was staying read:

NO Thai people permitted in the hotels rooms.

“That’s a bit harsh,” Paul commented.

Every time I went up to my room I anticipated getting stopped and questioned of my nationality, but fortunately it never happened.

All Roads Lead To Bangkok

From the trip blog: "The Global Trip 2004: Sixteen Months Around The World"
Posted November 22, 2004

DAY 397 (42 days since last Thailand entry): In India, I had a somewhat unique experience unlike the average backpacking Brit on “gap year” between high school and “uni,” what with my “press credentials” opening doors for me, and my invitations to stay with modern Indian families instead of backpacker haunts. However, it was inevitable for me to put on my hiking boots and get back on the Backpacker Trail since I was headed back to southeast Asia. When you’re on the budget travel circuit in southeast Asia, all roads inevitably lead to Bangkok, a place that one t-shirt I saw proudly proclaimed is the “mecca of backpackers.”

Mothers

From the trip blog: "The Global Trip 2004: Sixteen Months Around The World"
Posted November 21, 2004

DAY 396: Pondicherry isn’t just known for its France meets India vibe; it was in Pondicherry that a worldwide New Age movement was born in the 1960s based on the “integral yoga” teachings of Sri Aurobindo Ghose, which combined yoga with modern science. To the uninformed person, the movement appears like some sort of a futuristic science fiction cult, especially since followers of it meditated around a big crystal ball that focused the energy of the sun and the fact that the movement’s primary organizer was a woman whom is only referred to as “The Mother.”

The French Connection

From the trip blog: "The Global Trip 2004: Sixteen Months Around The World"
Posted November 21, 2004

DAY 395: Pondicherry, the one-time capital of French-occupied India, remains a city with a French influence, a place where curry meets crêpes. Pondicherry, which is of course English for Pondichéry, was founded in 1673 when France took over the area as a base of their trading routes, so that they may have an advantage over the English and the Dutch — it wasn’t until 1954 that the French gave the land back to India. Readers of Yann Martel’s popular contemporary fable Life of Pi will recognize the city’s name as the first part of the story takes place there, the part when the hero, Pi Patel, sneaks behind people’s backs to be a Christian, a Hindu and Muslim all at the same time. (No, that doesn’t spoil the plot in case you were going to read it.)

Martyrs and Magicians

From the trip blog: "The Global Trip 2004: Sixteen Months Around The World"
Posted November 21, 2004

DAY 394: Chennai, India’s fourth largest city formerly known as Madras, isn’t exactly on a backpacker’s must-see list. Cuckoo in Mumbai warned me there wasn’t much to see there in terms of tourist sites. Geeta said it’s primarily a place where people travel to for business. Some Indian girls at the guesthouse said that in terms of nightlife, Chennai was “a sleepy town.”

Female Condomania

From the trip blog: "The Global Trip 2004: Sixteen Months Around The World"
Posted November 19, 2004

DAY 393: Monday. For most people, the day to go back to work, a day when business reopened after a one- or two-day weekend. My only goal of the day was to go to the open airline offices and figure out my itinerary after Chennai — but before breakfast was over, I had an additional mission: to track down a female condom.

Return Of The Touts

From the trip blog: "The Global Trip 2004: Sixteen Months Around The World"
Posted November 19, 2004

DAY 392: It was Sunday, the one day weekend for Chrissy at the NGO she worked for since they expected her to work with the reset of them on Saturdays. (This she would complain about because she was already working ten-hour days, and voluntarily for free, too.) Taking advantage of the one day off, we decided to venture outside the city limits with Koco to the main tourist sites. Translation: we decided to leave the security of Kenneth and Geeta’s Chennai guesthouse to be open prey for scammers and touts.

Family to Family

From the trip blog: "The Global Trip 2004: Sixteen Months Around The World"
Posted November 17, 2004

DAY 391: Because of the hole in my leg from the pus drainage operation of the abscess I developed in Nepal, I wasn’t exactly the most beach-worthy traveler in India. While salt water might have aided in the healing of the skin, the conditions of the beaches of southern India, as scenic as they were, probably weren’t the most sanitary, what with all the foreigners peeing in the ocean and all. (You know who you are.) The usual place to go to after Mumbai was the former Portuguese colonial beach city-turned-hippie haven of Goa about twelve hours directly south by bus, and as much as I wanted to see it, I knew I’d just feel like a dunce being at the beach town, not being at the beach. I wouldn’t be able to even just stroll on the beach in shorts for fear that sand would blow into the hole somehow, or even worse, the eggs of sandworms. Eww.

Hindu For A Day

From the trip blog: "The Global Trip 2004: Sixteen Months Around The World"
Posted November 17, 2004

DAY 390: Despite the mass commercialization of the Christian holiday of Christmas, with its holiday songs, plastic lawn ornaments (that look absolutely awful if there’s no snow on the ground), and disgruntled mall Santas with sore thighs from the constant kids on their laps asking for things they probably don’t deserve, a small minority still remembers that at its core, Christmas is a religious affair, celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ. Churches around the world get a surge in attendance on December 25th more than on any other day of the year.

Holiday For Pyros

From the trip blog: "The Global Trip 2004: Sixteen Months Around The World"
Posted November 16, 2004

DAY 389: The Let’s Go: India & Nepal guidebook just has one sentence to describe the Hindu holiday of Diwali in all of its 891 pages:

“The autumn holiday of Diwali is an especially auspicious time of year when Hindus look to Lakshmi [goddess of wealth, fertility, and general well-being] to bring prosperity during the new year.”

Sacred Stones and A New Home

From the trip blog: "The Global Trip 2004: Sixteen Months Around The World"
Posted November 16, 2004

DAY 388: Within the confines of Mumbai Harbor is an island known as Elephanta Island, named by the Portuguese when they “discovered” it and found a big elephant statue on it. Elephanta Island, regardless of its lack of actual live elephants, is a popular day trip from the Gateway of India, as it is just one-hour away via one of the ferries that leave every half an hour.

My New Beat

From the trip blog: "The Global Trip 2004: Sixteen Months Around The World"
Posted November 14, 2004

DAY 387: Mumbai is India’s showcase modern and cosmopolitan city, or as Let’s Go puts it, “India’s largest city, in attitude if not in population…[uniting] all the country’s languages, religions, ethnicities, castes, and classes in one heaving, seething sizzler of a metropolis.” It is the gateway of India’s international business, its fashion capital and India’s main source of entertainment, with the second largest film industry in the world after Hollywood (hence its nickname “Bollywood”), and it’s Indian pop music scene. In fact, in the Indian Idol reality show (the Indian version of American Idol), people who try out in the first round and impress the judges get overjoyed when they hear the phrase, “You’re going to Mumbai.”

Trinidad. Erik Trinidad.

From the trip blog: "The Global Trip 2004: Sixteen Months Around The World"
Posted November 14, 2004

DAY 386: The centerpiece of Udaipur is the famous Jag Niwas, more commonly known as the Lake Palace, the one-time summer residence of the royal family when simply being crammed in a boat on Lake Pichhola wasn’t good enough. “I think I want a palace built in the middle of the lake,” the maharaja probably said. And so it was made. “It’s good to be the maharaja.”

Remembering Bond

From the trip blog: "The Global Trip 2004: Sixteen Months Around The World"
Posted November 11, 2004

DAY 385: Udaipur, the former capital of the Mewar Kingdom, named after its founder Maharaja Udai Singh II, gets plenty of tourism, as it is arguably Rajasthan’s most romantic destination with its scenic palaces — palaces perched on mountaintops overlooking palaces that look like they are floating in the middle of a lake. Even for a “palaced out” guy like me, the “City of Sunrise” was a great feast for the eyes, a place Let’s Go says has “somehow managed to retain a number of fairy-tale qualities” — it’s no wonder it served as the perfect exotic locale for Roger Moore as James Bond in 1983’s Octopussy, a proud fact that the city of Udaipur proudly clings onto. I remember seeing the movie 21 years before, but upon my arrival, nothing looked familiar or was coming back to me. (Then again Octopussy wasn’t on my repertoire of 80s movies I’d seen over and over and over again, like Ghostbusters.)

Holy Rats and Camel Humps

From the trip blog: "The Global Trip 2004: Sixteen Months Around The World"
Posted November 10, 2004

DAY 384: While Bikaner is home to the beautiful Junagarh Fort, it wasn’t the architecture that brought me there. No, I had come for something much smaller in size than a big impenetrable fortress, and that little something was covered in dark fur and sported a long tail. Thirty kilometers south of Bikaner lies the Karni Mata Temple, known by many simply as the “Rat Temple” for its thousands of sacred rats that run rampantly through the building. According to Hindu lore, a rat was the reincarnation of the nephew of Karni Mata, Bikaner’s patron goddess, and all the male descendants thereafter were also born as rats.

Celebrities

From the trip blog: "The Global Trip 2004: Sixteen Months Around The World"
Posted November 08, 2004

DAY 383: I’m hoping that readers of The Blog don’t think they don’t have to travel on their own because they are simply traveling vicariously through me at their computers. Each journey is different for everyone — this is simply my story — events and emotions are based on many individual factors, including the time of the year you travel, your budget, the people you meet, and/or whether or not you perspire the smell of chicken soup. (You guys out there know who you are.) As we’ve learned on this Blog, appearance is a big factor — sometimes to one’s advantage, sometimes to one’s disadvantage. As I read one woman write, “Being an American female traveling alone in India is like being a walking aphrodesiac with a big sign over the top which says ‘FUCK HERE.’” [sic]

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