Thursday, November 30, 2006
Mumbai-bye! I'm Goa-ing to the Beach!
We were warned about Mumbai.
"It's expensive"
"It's hot"
"accommodation is crappy at best"
"It's expensive"
"It's expensive"
"Bragelina and Johnny Depp are in town!"
But how can you pass up going to Mumbai, Bombay if you will...? So we put on our just-get-through-it Indian attitudes that have worked so well in the past months, and walked out of Victoria Terminus and demanded a cabbie take us to a hotel. But of course not only is Mumbai expensive, but all the normal rules in India apply. Randoms on the street will attach themselves to you and demand commission from the shops/hotels you want, and all the hotels will arbitrarily increase their prices by 50% from any published prices. Why? Because they can. Not in the mood to deal with this crap - Justice and I yelled, screamed, kicked and hit anyone who attempted to come near us, and found a hotel on a leafy street near Colaba. We were paying more than double anything we had ever paid for a hotel room in India/Nepal before, but it came with quite a few delights:
a) A pigeon who lived in our bathroom and came in and out at his pleasure
b) Green and white mold on the walls that fell all over you and your stuff when the fan was on
c) A toilet that would not flush
d) A hot-water shower that did NOT send hot water through the pipes, but did send electrical currents through the metal to you while you were standing on the perpetually wet floor.
e) Random crashing into our barely locked door at odd hours of the night
Oddly enough, this was considered a good deal in Mumbai - so we stuck it out for 3 nights.
Mumbai greatly improved though after our first day. Living up to its world-class reputation, its a stunning city created by colonialism and enhanced by the tropical climate. The streets are orderly with cars and no cows, people are well dressed on their cell phones going places, and there are sidewalks with tree lined boulevards! We were staying in Southern Mumbai, a block away from the Gateway to India, built by the British, now controlled by the giant baloon sellers and hawkers who give the promenade some life. We spent our days wandering the cheap-stuff stall lined streets buying silk scarves, 3 pairs of sunglasses (not taking any chances anymore!), bangles, books, Bollywood DVDs and soundtracks... and enjoying drinks at the old time bar Leopolds where any expat/traveler whose worth their worldly attitude, drinks their Kingfishers. We took a ferry out to Elephanta Island, a disappointing World Heritage sight of some old Hindu caves. It was poorly set up and poorly displayed, typical of most Indian Cultural Crap - so we spent our time watching in amazement as Euro tourists bought crappy necklaces for 15X the price we paid for them, and chatting to an Aussie who told us all about how great our next stop in Goa is going to be...YES!
We wandered all around Mumbai, watching the new 007 at the old Regal theatre, and going back to watch a SWEET new bollywood movie DHOOM:II, hitting up Fashion street, the old colonial fort area, watching cricket games in the park, and cruising Chowpatty beach. Chowpatty beach is pretty interesting as its like a Camps Bay or Kitsilano, but dirty and pervy. You can't swim in there without getting the plague, or sit on the beach without getting gawked at. Regardless there are awesome street food stalls and we enjoyed a couple incredible Masala papads and dosas while being talked to by an old Indian guy (you don't have conversations here, you get talked at). Some iced coffee, gelato later (Mumbai is AWESOME) we wandered around the beach and got offered to star...ok be an extra in...a Bollywood movie. Although its a dream of mine to just participate in one dance number, we had to decline as our bus to Goa was leaving that night. Sad but true - my Bollywood aspirations will have to wait for the next trip...Although on the bright side I am staring in at least 349 cell-phone camera movies filmed by pervy men.
So that's how Jusfa did Mumbai. It's a city that brings you from feeling assy - classy in just one day. Unfort. Bragelina actually took off to Vietnam for the weekend, leaving it up to us to take the brunt of the paparazzi, and we didn't see Johnny at any of the Masala Dosa stands! But now it's off to Goa now to do nothing for 2 weeks. NOTHING.
Medieval Europe = Modern India
It all started with wanting Mentos at the bus station in Udiapur...
But then suddenly our bus was leaving. This was no normal bus. The Indians have created this thing called a sleeper bus, that still has all the seats of a normal 2x2 greyhoud bus, but on top of them beds in little cubicles. Justina and I decided that for our 10 hour overnight ride we would opt for a cubicle of our own. Bad move. The bus was about 3m high, and had a very low centre of gravity, so all through the night we were moving and shaking and getting major air time thanks to the "paved" roads in India. 12h later, when I didn't think my cheeks would every stop jiggling, we arrived in Surat (pronounced SURREY-RAT). Surat is a big industrial and commerical city with no reason to vist. Oh ya and it had an outbreak of the plague in 1994.
THE PLAGUE?
THE BUBONIC PLAGUE?
1994?
Yes, you read that right. Medievil Europe AND 20th century India. Consult your grade 9 social studies notes for more about the Bubonic plague. As if that wasn't bad enough for Surat, they are also rated India's dirtiest city. And dirty in India has a whole new meaning. Maybe you should go down to Main & Hastings, roll around a bit, go to the bathroom sans toilet paper on the curb, rub some street oil in your hair, sit on a cow, then go eat dinner with your hands - for 4 days straight without having a shower. That is how dirty India is. But I digress, back to lovley Surat.
We got dropped off on the side of the road in the pitch black in a town where NO ONE SPOKE ENGLISH - not even "railway station". So off we go wandering in one direction to find...da da! The railway station. Our luck didn't exactly improve as we had to get train tickets - working our way Indian style through the "line ups" secured us two unreserved tickets on a local train. We ended up waiting and getting started at for 3 hours sitting on the betal-spit stained floor of Surat Junction for 3 hours until we caught the not-so-local train, but still local enough to take 7 hours to go 200km. The only thing that saved me from puking from exhaustion was the whallas who come up and down the isles selling 'CHAIIIIIII, and SAMOOOOOOOOSAS". We had some of the greatest Samosas ever, and at 10rs for 3, you can't go wrong. Another highlight was the performance of the local lady-boy, square jawed and decked out in a beautiful sari. He must have come straight from Thailand too.
Much later than we expected we arrived in Jalgon, another Indian city with no reason to visit. But it was the closest to the Ajanta caves, which we wanted to visit in the morning. We found a descent hotel, and were off to the train station to try to score tickets to Mumbai. It was that kind of day for us where there were 15 trains a day to Mumbai, but all sold out. So we were introduced to the Indian Railways waiting list. Knowing how these people can't even line up in a straight line, we were doubtful about any organized list system. Just when more things couldn't go wrong for us, we went to a restaurant who served us Mirinda (the other orange drink) instead of Fantas, and the power went off for 3 hours between 5pm-8pm - prime power using time. We killed time eating coconut candies and masala dosas (best food ever, i'll be devoting a whole blog to it soon) and then crashed - tired you could say.
Up at 6am to catch a local bus 60km south to Ajanta - site of the UNESCO World Heritage Ajanta Buddhits caves. The local bus was surprisingly fast, fair and not crowded - good start for the day. The caves are one of those see-to-believe places. About 30 caves that are built in into the rockface in a bend in a river. They're from 200BC, and tottally and completley awe-inspiring. Each one has carved buddha images and pillars with such detail you can't believe its stone you're looking at. There are lots of frescos still on the walls dipicting Buddha's life and whatnot. Really cool. And really worth every single of the 100million stares we got from Indian tourist there.
We ended up catching our overnight train to Mumbai - well a suburb of Mumbai. We caught the only time a train has ever been early in the history of India, which dropped us off in Dadar at 4am. What is there to do at a suburban train station at 4am you ask? Well we decided to check out the action in the local train terminal and set up camp on platform 2, right beside the gypsy women and her kids. A few glasses of 3 rupee chai later, we decided that we needed to get to Mumbai central station, wandering aimlessly in a train station when you're white and have huge backpacks on attracts a lot of attention and I don't really know what compells an Indian man to come up to us and offer to help us, but at the time I wasn't willing to bet on genuine kindness, so we declined the offers and preferred to get on an unmarked train heading in what we thought was the right direction. Luckly they enforce the "ladies only carriages" here, so we had a pleasant journey. Arriving at Victoria Terminus, THE railway station in the commonwealth, at 6am was no fun either. But a couple hours later, after we were unsuccessful at getting reserved train tickets to Goa, we finally got to see what Mumbai had to offer....
Its funny because these 3 days were a great example of what travelling is like. When things go bad, everything goes bad. Local busses, dirty cities, no food, no power.... but then just like that it all turns around. The lows are sure low here in India though - at least traveling to and from Surat was!
But then suddenly our bus was leaving. This was no normal bus. The Indians have created this thing called a sleeper bus, that still has all the seats of a normal 2x2 greyhoud bus, but on top of them beds in little cubicles. Justina and I decided that for our 10 hour overnight ride we would opt for a cubicle of our own. Bad move. The bus was about 3m high, and had a very low centre of gravity, so all through the night we were moving and shaking and getting major air time thanks to the "paved" roads in India. 12h later, when I didn't think my cheeks would every stop jiggling, we arrived in Surat (pronounced SURREY-RAT). Surat is a big industrial and commerical city with no reason to vist. Oh ya and it had an outbreak of the plague in 1994.
THE PLAGUE?
THE BUBONIC PLAGUE?
1994?
Yes, you read that right. Medievil Europe AND 20th century India. Consult your grade 9 social studies notes for more about the Bubonic plague. As if that wasn't bad enough for Surat, they are also rated India's dirtiest city. And dirty in India has a whole new meaning. Maybe you should go down to Main & Hastings, roll around a bit, go to the bathroom sans toilet paper on the curb, rub some street oil in your hair, sit on a cow, then go eat dinner with your hands - for 4 days straight without having a shower. That is how dirty India is. But I digress, back to lovley Surat.
We got dropped off on the side of the road in the pitch black in a town where NO ONE SPOKE ENGLISH - not even "railway station". So off we go wandering in one direction to find...da da! The railway station. Our luck didn't exactly improve as we had to get train tickets - working our way Indian style through the "line ups" secured us two unreserved tickets on a local train. We ended up waiting and getting started at for 3 hours sitting on the betal-spit stained floor of Surat Junction for 3 hours until we caught the not-so-local train, but still local enough to take 7 hours to go 200km. The only thing that saved me from puking from exhaustion was the whallas who come up and down the isles selling 'CHAIIIIIII, and SAMOOOOOOOOSAS". We had some of the greatest Samosas ever, and at 10rs for 3, you can't go wrong. Another highlight was the performance of the local lady-boy, square jawed and decked out in a beautiful sari. He must have come straight from Thailand too.
Much later than we expected we arrived in Jalgon, another Indian city with no reason to visit. But it was the closest to the Ajanta caves, which we wanted to visit in the morning. We found a descent hotel, and were off to the train station to try to score tickets to Mumbai. It was that kind of day for us where there were 15 trains a day to Mumbai, but all sold out. So we were introduced to the Indian Railways waiting list. Knowing how these people can't even line up in a straight line, we were doubtful about any organized list system. Just when more things couldn't go wrong for us, we went to a restaurant who served us Mirinda (the other orange drink) instead of Fantas, and the power went off for 3 hours between 5pm-8pm - prime power using time. We killed time eating coconut candies and masala dosas (best food ever, i'll be devoting a whole blog to it soon) and then crashed - tired you could say.
Up at 6am to catch a local bus 60km south to Ajanta - site of the UNESCO World Heritage Ajanta Buddhits caves. The local bus was surprisingly fast, fair and not crowded - good start for the day. The caves are one of those see-to-believe places. About 30 caves that are built in into the rockface in a bend in a river. They're from 200BC, and tottally and completley awe-inspiring. Each one has carved buddha images and pillars with such detail you can't believe its stone you're looking at. There are lots of frescos still on the walls dipicting Buddha's life and whatnot. Really cool. And really worth every single of the 100million stares we got from Indian tourist there.
We ended up catching our overnight train to Mumbai - well a suburb of Mumbai. We caught the only time a train has ever been early in the history of India, which dropped us off in Dadar at 4am. What is there to do at a suburban train station at 4am you ask? Well we decided to check out the action in the local train terminal and set up camp on platform 2, right beside the gypsy women and her kids. A few glasses of 3 rupee chai later, we decided that we needed to get to Mumbai central station, wandering aimlessly in a train station when you're white and have huge backpacks on attracts a lot of attention and I don't really know what compells an Indian man to come up to us and offer to help us, but at the time I wasn't willing to bet on genuine kindness, so we declined the offers and preferred to get on an unmarked train heading in what we thought was the right direction. Luckly they enforce the "ladies only carriages" here, so we had a pleasant journey. Arriving at Victoria Terminus, THE railway station in the commonwealth, at 6am was no fun either. But a couple hours later, after we were unsuccessful at getting reserved train tickets to Goa, we finally got to see what Mumbai had to offer....
Its funny because these 3 days were a great example of what travelling is like. When things go bad, everything goes bad. Local busses, dirty cities, no food, no power.... but then just like that it all turns around. The lows are sure low here in India though - at least traveling to and from Surat was!
Tuesday, November 28, 2006
Rajasthan-izzle
Well last I checked in I think my world centered around a camel...Now not so much. From Jaisalmir we went back down to southern Rajasthan, and stopped in Jodhpur. Known as the Blue City because all the house of Brahmins are painted bright bright blue.
Jodhpur (as in the pants) is a pretty busy Indian town, with a population of "Eleven hundred thousand" (a Indlish quote from our hotel owner) So there isn't much to do but wander the narrow streets of the old town, or hit up the market to buy overpriced bangles. Jodhpur also was our entrance to the 'Underground Travel Network' in India. Bascially it involves gettin to the approximate area of a recommended hotel in the lonely Planet, and then balking at the inflated prices the hotel now quotes, and going to the next two or three hotels on the same street for much cheaper and better prices. AND once you get to one hotel, buddy has a friend/cousin/brother/Muslim associate in the next city you're going to, and will hook you up with a free rickshaw and pickup from the bus station. And you're never forced to stay anywhere - its common for me to make small talk about my home country of Jamaica and 4 kids (don't ask long story) with the owners while Justina goes next door to check out the other places. (good rooftop restaurant? Mattress thicker than 10cm? Ample hooks on the walls?). We utilized this network to the fullest in Jodhpur, and lucked out at buddy's brothers hotel that had the best view of the old city with the HUGE fort in the background. All for 50rs each a night. A DOLLAR!!!!!!!!!!!
We did get out in Jodhpur, pulling ourselves away from the seemingly endless supply of milk coffees and saffron lassis we were able to consume on said rooftop, and hike up to the massive Meherangarh fort. You guys know how forted-out I am, but this was apparently the fort Not to Miss in Rajasthan. Included in the tourist price was a free audio tour. Best thing ever. Not only did the guy in my earphones have the best Colonial Indian meets Barry White voice, but it combined the knowledge you gain from having a guide and the sanity you gain from bein able to turn it off whenever you want. (Indian guides in person don't shut up) We wandered the fort for a couple hours, snapped some shots, and generally enjoyed this fort experience! On the way home we grabbed some Frooti mango drinks, and tried to dodge angry cows that take up the whole old city lanes, and avoid the children taking their morning squat in the gutters.
From Jodphur we bussed it to Udiapur, on a recommendation from another traveler. Udiapur = Indian wedding capital of the world. Cause or Effect (?) is that the city looks like one big white frosted lacy wedding cake. It surrounds a lake, that is only a lake after monsoon season, and has more top-end hotels per square foot than anywhere I've been. James Bond 'Octapussy' was also filmed there, and no one lets you forget it. So we spent one night watching the movie on a rooftop wondering how James was able to get rickshaws so easily? The lake palace (runs around $3000US/night...more than my budget for the whole 3 months here) dominates the lake, and although we couldn't even afford the boat over for lunch, I think I saw a rich person turn on their light. Liz Hurley and the pick of British celebs were apparently on their way over for her wedding, but we didn't see Elton at the internet cafe or Bhang shops. Damn. Justina and I also took a cool autorickshaw trip up to the Monsoon palace that overlooks the whole Udiapur valley, for a romantic sunset on our 11-week anniversary of traveling together.
From Udiapur we decided, "Hey why not take a quick cut into central India to check out some Buddhist caves. It will only involve an overnight bus ride, a stop in a town that has never seen a white person, a long local train ride, and 3 sanity-saving samosas!" Stay tuned for that wonderful blog... Pics will come I promise, but I'm at the point where if the keyboard of a computer works I'm ecstatic, let alone USB ports....some PICS can be found here on Justina's blog.
Monday, November 27, 2006
Promised Pictures
Found an internet cafe here in Mumbai - basically the only thing that has gone right so far in this city - that uploads pics. So here's what I got up.
wandering around Jailasmir - buying 20 yr old postcards from kids.
Camel SAFARI
Kissy-face Moyira
Friday, November 24, 2006
Here's to Looking at You Babe
Ok time for my bi-annual travel blog rant.
In India men dominate women. It's obvisously a simplification of a much more complex relationship, but for Westerners to understand the relationship they have to think in terms of property. Property that is owned, used, and controlled. Justina and I haven't figured out if its because we're two white girls traveling alone, without male companionship that we get started at constantly by Indian men, or what. But its honestly a fact that every man, high or low caste, young or old, Rajasthani or Bengali, rich or poor, will stop everything and stare at us. Wherever we are, whatever we're doing and whatever we're wearing. They don't want to talk to us (beyond "wha country yo fom?"), they don't want to touch us. Just stare. And this isn't the passive glances travellers usually get in foreign countries. Looks of curiousity, intrigue and confusion. These looks are acts of aggression. Justina is reading Life of Pi right now and pointed out the quote, "In every animal species as in humans, staring is an act of aggression." And that is exactly what it feels like everytime a man stares at me. Aggression. Exactly the same as if he slapped me in the face or placed his hand on my chest. It's pure aggression to assert his dominance over me. And when this happens minute after minute, day after day, every single second you are out in public, it wears you down to a point where we either submit or rise to their aggression level.
An ordinary bus ride from one city to another (that we've done dozens of times in the past 3 months) provides a perfect example. We sit in our seats on a basically empty bus, and within a minute all the seats and the isle around us is full of Indian men. The rest of the bus still empty. The prospect of spending 6 hours being visually undressed and threatened is too much for Justina, so she decides she'd rather put her scarf over her face for the whole ride. See no evil. I turn on my iPod to distract myself from it all - but none of it works The man in the sleeper bunk accross and above us sits proped up on his elbows leaving the sliding door open just to stare at us. I catch him and try to return the stare and he looks away. But I keep glaring at him, knowing by his constant blinking and shifty eyes that knows i'm still starting. I just want him to feel the uncomfortable feelings of constant staring. After staring at him for 2 minutes i go back to my book, and and within 5 seconds he staring at me again. I catch him again, he looks away, he looks back, I catch him... see the pattern developing for the next 6 hours??? Then there is the guy who decides to stand in the isle 30cm away from me and bend over so his head is 10cm from my face. I tell him to move his head, he doesn't, so i hit his arm and physically meet his staring aggression and move him out of my way. He still doesn't move so I kick him in the ankle and point away and say "OUT". He moves towards the back of the bus - probably only 50cm behind me and still staring - but you pick your battles.
It's not only on busses and trains. It's walking down the street, it's at the internet cafes, it's the Army Cadets swarming you at a museam, its the millions of men who do nothing but sit on the side of the roads waiting to die and stare at you to pass the time. It wears Justina and I down to a point where there are days we don't want to even go outside to walk to dinner. When one more "tsst tsst" from a guy on a motorbike provokes an outburst from me beyond any reasonable reaction. I never knew this point existed in me, but then again I never knew India either.
It's not like this happens everyday, it's just that its such a big part of traveling in India as a female, I thought I needed to share it.
So there you go. Now i'm a hippie AND a feminist. Thanks India.
Monday, November 20, 2006
"I Hate Camels" - My Ass
* And I hate computers in India, and can't even get one pic to upload or even send them by email. So you'll have to visualize me in the desert with a Camel (ok me in the desert kissing my camel). Once I find a place I promise to upload all the pics. Prob. in 5 days when we get to Mumbai and I meet up with Brangelina and get use their personal laptop....
*************************************************************************************
After another horrific overnight bus ride from Pushkar, where I broke yet ANOTHER pair of cheap Asian sunglasses, we arrived at the giant sandcastle known as Jailasmir. On the edge of the Great Thar desert, and only 100km from the border to Pakistan its a really unique town with its own defenite vibe.
We spent the first day - sleeping - as there was no sleep to be had on the bus that pumped hindi pop and had a horn that made General Lee's sound like the trackers (meep meep). We ventured out to explore the dusty golden old town that is a maze in the middle of the thousands of sandstone buildings. We also booked our Camel Safari. Yes, that is right, we decided (totally sober) to ride through the desert for 2 days on a camel and sleep on the sand dunes. We chose one of the more "non-touristic" safaris that had advertised "no boundation". Obvisously not knowing what we were in for.
We got picked up early the first morning and drove a bit in a rusty old jeep with two girls from Denmark and a French guy. Stopped at some ancient mosque, right beside a cell phone tower, and then drove to a "desert village" that had internet cafes. Not the coolest start, but it all turned around when we met our camels. Everyone got their own camel, and mine was just so great. The Tyra Banks of camels if I may say so myself. She was darker, skinnier, had a prettier dress and loved kissing more than anybody elses camels. Moyra and I hit it off immediatley. Riding a camel is a weird feeling. First, the craziest part is right away when the camels stand up. They sit in a weird crossed legged position and stand up in burst, back legs, front legs, then stablize then up. And then you're up in the air wondering if this stupid animal knows what's going on. We set off in the direction of what we thought was the uninhabited desert, but over the course of 6 hours we crossed 2 roads, a few power lines, and saw a lot of wind-turbines. Needless to say when we arrived at the "dunes" at 5pm we were exhausted from the sun, sand, and INCREDIBLE PAIN IN OUR ASS/CROTCH/THIGHS!!!!!!!!!!!!! Camels have got to be the most uncomfortable animal to ride - they walk all funny and are so wide you basically do the splits the whole time. To say we were walking like a cowboy after is putting it gently. We settled into the small but decent dunes (No Namibia that's for sure) for a campfire and our camel drivers made us some incredible Rajasthani Thali (rice, dahl, curry, chappatti) and of course a guy came by to sell us beer, at our non-touristic camping spot.
The night was spent lying on a small blanket on the dunes under the crazy blanket of stars, and had our first night of silence since arriving on the subcontinent. The jingle of goats bells and the odd camel fart was much nicer than the spitting and honking of every other Indian night. We woke up in the morning to our breakfast of mini-toast pieces and chai - and worked up the courage to get on the camels again. Our stiff legs objected, but after an hour or so we were back in the rythym. A few chai stops, a long lunch break on the dunes, and we were back at the jeep pick up and after a quick ride back in to Jailasmir, back to wash the camel off.
The next morning we were in no shape to go anywhere, so spent the day wandering Jailismir and doing all the "cultural shit" but in this town you could do it while shopping! The old fort that rises above the town, is still lived in, and all the old Havelis and palaces are now shops! So a few pics, a few pairs of pants, and a camel leather pair of shoes later we were knowledgeable in all that is 12th century desert trade route forts. Had lunch on a rooftop watching the impromptu circus that was set up on the streets below and drank lemon sodas (India's non-alco G&T). Went back to our hotel to deal with the owner who scammed us on the safari prices, but in true Jusfa styles, we not only got our money back - but a deal on the next guesthouse in Jodhpur. Round 2 - Jusfa:78 India:0
*************************************************************************************
After another horrific overnight bus ride from Pushkar, where I broke yet ANOTHER pair of cheap Asian sunglasses, we arrived at the giant sandcastle known as Jailasmir. On the edge of the Great Thar desert, and only 100km from the border to Pakistan its a really unique town with its own defenite vibe.
We spent the first day - sleeping - as there was no sleep to be had on the bus that pumped hindi pop and had a horn that made General Lee's sound like the trackers (meep meep). We ventured out to explore the dusty golden old town that is a maze in the middle of the thousands of sandstone buildings. We also booked our Camel Safari. Yes, that is right, we decided (totally sober) to ride through the desert for 2 days on a camel and sleep on the sand dunes. We chose one of the more "non-touristic" safaris that had advertised "no boundation". Obvisously not knowing what we were in for.
We got picked up early the first morning and drove a bit in a rusty old jeep with two girls from Denmark and a French guy. Stopped at some ancient mosque, right beside a cell phone tower, and then drove to a "desert village" that had internet cafes. Not the coolest start, but it all turned around when we met our camels. Everyone got their own camel, and mine was just so great. The Tyra Banks of camels if I may say so myself. She was darker, skinnier, had a prettier dress and loved kissing more than anybody elses camels. Moyra and I hit it off immediatley. Riding a camel is a weird feeling. First, the craziest part is right away when the camels stand up. They sit in a weird crossed legged position and stand up in burst, back legs, front legs, then stablize then up. And then you're up in the air wondering if this stupid animal knows what's going on. We set off in the direction of what we thought was the uninhabited desert, but over the course of 6 hours we crossed 2 roads, a few power lines, and saw a lot of wind-turbines. Needless to say when we arrived at the "dunes" at 5pm we were exhausted from the sun, sand, and INCREDIBLE PAIN IN OUR ASS/CROTCH/THIGHS!!!!!!!!!!!!! Camels have got to be the most uncomfortable animal to ride - they walk all funny and are so wide you basically do the splits the whole time. To say we were walking like a cowboy after is putting it gently. We settled into the small but decent dunes (No Namibia that's for sure) for a campfire and our camel drivers made us some incredible Rajasthani Thali (rice, dahl, curry, chappatti) and of course a guy came by to sell us beer, at our non-touristic camping spot.
The night was spent lying on a small blanket on the dunes under the crazy blanket of stars, and had our first night of silence since arriving on the subcontinent. The jingle of goats bells and the odd camel fart was much nicer than the spitting and honking of every other Indian night. We woke up in the morning to our breakfast of mini-toast pieces and chai - and worked up the courage to get on the camels again. Our stiff legs objected, but after an hour or so we were back in the rythym. A few chai stops, a long lunch break on the dunes, and we were back at the jeep pick up and after a quick ride back in to Jailasmir, back to wash the camel off.
The next morning we were in no shape to go anywhere, so spent the day wandering Jailismir and doing all the "cultural shit" but in this town you could do it while shopping! The old fort that rises above the town, is still lived in, and all the old Havelis and palaces are now shops! So a few pics, a few pairs of pants, and a camel leather pair of shoes later we were knowledgeable in all that is 12th century desert trade route forts. Had lunch on a rooftop watching the impromptu circus that was set up on the streets below and drank lemon sodas (India's non-alco G&T). Went back to our hotel to deal with the owner who scammed us on the safari prices, but in true Jusfa styles, we not only got our money back - but a deal on the next guesthouse in Jodhpur. Round 2 - Jusfa:78 India:0
Pushkar
Ok, I got a bit lazy and didn't do up a Pushkar blog, but click HERE to check out Justina's complete with pics!
Monday, November 13, 2006
Bollywood-ed
I would write about Jaipur, the first city in Rajastan that we traveled to, but it was pretty boring. Did some cultural-stuff, saw some Raj palaces, wandered the old town, got lost in a 12th century fort...etc. But the highlight of Jaipur was going to our first Bollywood movie.
Jaipur has built this new theatre that is described as the place in India to go see a Hindi movie. Its big, its pink, looks like a giant pink twinkie, and sells popcorn for 20rs. The Raj Mandir was the perfect setting for our Bollywood introduction. We picked the 6:30 movie that turned out to be the 'action adventure' DON not really knowing what we were getting ourselves into, we could only wait as the theatre filled up with 500+ of India's middle and upper class.
I don't want to ruin the movie for you - because if you have the chance to go to Surrey and watch it DO! - but here's a brief rundown of what was the most entertaining 3 hours of my life. First the dialogue was mostly in Hindi and some catch phrases like "life ain't pretty" in english. The plot was kinda James Bond + The Matrix + Law and Order + Young and the Restless. I didn't fully understand the plot, and I doubt I would have even if it was all in English, there were so many twists and turns and secret twin brothers, ninja trained girls, stealth helicopters, and DANCE NUMBERS! The acting was atrocious but I fell in love with my first Indian man, who was a random character who never really fit in. We decided that all the georgus Indian men are in Bollywood movies, leaving all the creppy pervy ones to sit on the sides of the street to stare at us. The best part of any Bollywood movie is the singing/dancing numbers - and DON did not dissapoint. There were the,
"I'm in a club wearing a sequin dress"-number
"At a Hindu Ganesh festival in Mumbai"-number.
"Dancing in the shallow water at the beach so my sari gets wet"-number.
"I'm drunk off homemade booze and want some masala tobacco but my girlfriend wont let me"-number.
And my personal favourite, "We came home from the club together and I want in your pants so I'm going to dance around your apartment and do aerobics on your bed poles"-number.
The movie was basically a bunch of good vs. bad fighting scenes, including a fight on an airplane between Don (or his secret twin?) and a random white guy with a ponytail, but this fight spilled out of the plane and continued as they fought while holding onto a parachute backpack with two fingers freefalling. So realistic I couldn't handle the suspense.
Now we're in Pushkar, enjoying the hippie-traveller-meets-hindu-holy place vibe this place has going on. I've started wearing my kermit-green hippie pants and getting my hair oiled. But don't worry, I'm drawing the line at rainbow cotton shirts. We missed the famous Camel Fair (and exorbant prices that go with it) by a week, so we'll have to get our Camel fill in Jalismir. We went to a ladies house to get our feet heena'd, and went through a good-karma Hindu cerimony at the lake to recieve our "Pushkar passport" of a red ribbon around our wrists. The priests who were lucky enough to get us down to the lake were something else, they led us through hindu chants, cleansed our bodies with the lake water, and proceeded to bring good karma to all our friends and family. (ya'll are lucky i'm here!) But at least Justina's priest looked the part, mine was wearing ray-ban sunglasses and a neon yellow shirt. And he seemed more worried about my 'husbands' name than any other of my family members ;) We also ate some great falafels on the roadside (always loving the food!!!)Now we're off to get a head massage by a guy whose father once gave Queen Elizabeth a head massage when she was in India...ya I'm excited.
(check out Justina's blog for Jaipur pics....)
Tuesday, November 07, 2006
I think I'm Turning Nepalese, I Think I'm Turning Nepalese, I Really Think So
So after the trek, we arrived in Pokhara a little ahead of schedule, so we had some time too kill. We booked a rafting trip and decided to see the sights....that is see the sights Jusfa styles.
First we wandered around town gathering provisions. Fresh baguette sandwiches, Frooti mango nectar, Fantas, cookies, bombay mix and some water. Then we went down to the lake and rented a party boat. (think Osoyoos in the summer styles) The best part of this boat was we didn't have to paddle around like the other suckeers, ours was a foot-paddle boat. We nicknamed it B.Lassie (Banana Lassie) and spend the next 4 hours chilling and eating in Phewa Tal watching the Annapurna mountain ranges still taunting us. We also hiked up (as if we didn't have enough already) to the World Peace Pagoda that overlooks Pokhara and enjoyed the views. (check Justina's blog...if she ever updates...for pics)
Then we went on a 2 day rafting trip that ended up more aptly called a "eating trip" because we spent more time prepping food and eating it than rafting. There were some rapids, but nothing like the rafting in Nepal we'd heard about. The night we spent camping on the river banks was fun, we had some incredible Dal Bhat and beer for dinner, and then retired to what could be called a tent, but more sutabily titled a piece of wet fabric proped up with a rafting paddle on a soaking wet ground sheet with no working door or closures on the sides. It was a wet and uncomfortable night we spent, but of course spent it all laughnig at how blog-worthy it all was.
Back to Pokhara to chill and do nothing but read books and drink lassis. Caught a bus to Kathmandu where we resumed right were we left off and spent our last few days shopping our faces off. And I finally got the courage to order a 'sizzler' for dinner and braved the huge embarassment of it being delivered full of steam and loud sizzes....love being the focus of the restaurant.
We awoke on the morning of the 8th to hear that the Maoists and Nepalese gov't had reached a settlement after 72h of deliberation. Didn't get too much of the details, but basically means the Maoists are now a political party with full electoral powers. Plus the king of Nepal might be outta a job after all is said and done, no hard feelings though. On our way to the airport there were people everywhere reading newspapers, too bad we had to leave the country (peace = no fun for us) I'd have liked to see the next few days reaction. Speaking of leaving the country....Kathmandu airport is crazy. Boring crazy. I basically stood in as a Nepalese Immigration officer while we waited for the airport to open...played stampy-stamp! Then we had some extra rupees to spend, and went wild buying the Economist, Newsweek, and the most decadent treats we could imagine. Toblerones and pringles. Wasting money in overpriced airport stores is fun. Our flight on Druk Air (Royal Bhutan Airlines) was better than expected, coming from a country like Bhutan (check out their flag...someone was drunk!). We arrived in Dehli and boy-o-boy did we dominate. It's like night and day compared to the last time we were here. Train tickets, left baggage, hippie pants and new shoes are just some of the things we accomplished in less than 4 hours.
Off to Japiur now, the pink city!!
First we wandered around town gathering provisions. Fresh baguette sandwiches, Frooti mango nectar, Fantas, cookies, bombay mix and some water. Then we went down to the lake and rented a party boat. (think Osoyoos in the summer styles) The best part of this boat was we didn't have to paddle around like the other suckeers, ours was a foot-paddle boat. We nicknamed it B.Lassie (Banana Lassie) and spend the next 4 hours chilling and eating in Phewa Tal watching the Annapurna mountain ranges still taunting us. We also hiked up (as if we didn't have enough already) to the World Peace Pagoda that overlooks Pokhara and enjoyed the views. (check Justina's blog...if she ever updates...for pics)
Then we went on a 2 day rafting trip that ended up more aptly called a "eating trip" because we spent more time prepping food and eating it than rafting. There were some rapids, but nothing like the rafting in Nepal we'd heard about. The night we spent camping on the river banks was fun, we had some incredible Dal Bhat and beer for dinner, and then retired to what could be called a tent, but more sutabily titled a piece of wet fabric proped up with a rafting paddle on a soaking wet ground sheet with no working door or closures on the sides. It was a wet and uncomfortable night we spent, but of course spent it all laughnig at how blog-worthy it all was.
Back to Pokhara to chill and do nothing but read books and drink lassis. Caught a bus to Kathmandu where we resumed right were we left off and spent our last few days shopping our faces off. And I finally got the courage to order a 'sizzler' for dinner and braved the huge embarassment of it being delivered full of steam and loud sizzes....love being the focus of the restaurant.
We awoke on the morning of the 8th to hear that the Maoists and Nepalese gov't had reached a settlement after 72h of deliberation. Didn't get too much of the details, but basically means the Maoists are now a political party with full electoral powers. Plus the king of Nepal might be outta a job after all is said and done, no hard feelings though. On our way to the airport there were people everywhere reading newspapers, too bad we had to leave the country (peace = no fun for us) I'd have liked to see the next few days reaction. Speaking of leaving the country....Kathmandu airport is crazy. Boring crazy. I basically stood in as a Nepalese Immigration officer while we waited for the airport to open...played stampy-stamp! Then we had some extra rupees to spend, and went wild buying the Economist, Newsweek, and the most decadent treats we could imagine. Toblerones and pringles. Wasting money in overpriced airport stores is fun. Our flight on Druk Air (Royal Bhutan Airlines) was better than expected, coming from a country like Bhutan (check out their flag...someone was drunk!). We arrived in Dehli and boy-o-boy did we dominate. It's like night and day compared to the last time we were here. Train tickets, left baggage, hippie pants and new shoes are just some of the things we accomplished in less than 4 hours.
Off to Japiur now, the pink city!!
Monday, November 06, 2006
Annapurna Circuit Trek I
After deciding to do the whole Annapurna Circuit trek, Justina and I spent a frantic 48 hours trying to organize everything we needed. I'm not going to lie to you, we had no idea what we were getting ourselves into. Who goes into the Himalayas for 3 weeks? As you can see from the picture below, the main concern was making sure we had enough chocolate bars and white rabbit candies to last us.
Day 1: Kathmandu - Bulbhhue
We left Kathmandu on a minibus with our Sherpa Nirpa Thapa. Nothing out of the ordinary occurred on our 7 hour Nepali bus ride, and ate some dal bhat at a roadside restaurant. We got to Besishsar, the official starting point of the trek, checked in with the ACAP office and got our expensive trekking permits stamped, and off we were....on another bus. This was a local bus though, and we opted for the local 'upper class' option of riding on the roof with about 25 other people. It was exciting to say the least as the bus lurched through river beds and along narrow cliffs, fun if only slightly deadly. The bus dropped us off and we walked another 20 minutes or so to our first teahouse. We learned a lot that first night. 1) rooms are CHEAP at 100rs ($1.50) for a double, basic, but have INCREDIBLE views. 2) The food is amazing.
Days 2-3: Bulbhue - Bahundanda - Chamje
We quickly got into the rhythm of trekking. Up at 6am, pack up everything, eat breakfast (that was pre-ordered the night before. GENIUS!) that consists of Tibetian bread, Nepali tea and eggs at 7am, and be off on the trail by 7:30am. These first days we followed a river valley that was so green and lush that it was hard to keep your eyes on the trail. The Annapurna Circuit trail is actually just local village trading routes that connect each village to the next. Thus its a really easy trail to follow, but you quickly learn that Nepali's take the saying, "The shortest distance between two places is a straight line" VERY SERIOUSLY. Especially when crossing rivers.
Sometimes there was a bridge, and others it was test-and-go. Justina bailed once and after that left me to do the pioneering. You start to meet the same people on the path, with a few of the fast people catching up and leaving the slow behind, and we met tons of people from every corner of the earth, but as typical travelers we shunned them all and hung out with a father/daughter combo doing the trek also from Vancouver (main st. actually...haha) and talked about high school and mutual friends all afternoon (Joe Mergens!!). This part of the trek was one of the most scenic as you have waterfalls crashing down the valley every couple hundred metres and tons of stream crossings to negotiate. The highlight of these days though was arriving in Chamje to the Tibetian tea house and playing with the kids. We were a pretty big deal when we started handing out Canada balloons and letting them listen and dance to our iPods.
We were also met with another checkpoint on day 3, as we officially crossed into the Autonomous Republic of Tamuwan. Yep, we met the Maoists. Even though there is officially a cease-fire right now in Nepal, it has not stopped the Maoists from the lucrative business of forcing tourists on treks to "donate" to their cause. You're charged anywhere from 1000-3000 rupees for your trek, and nicely enough give a receipt from the rebels. You also get a pamphlet attempting to outline their stance, but with sentences like, "The contemporary political situation of Nepal is transitional and specific enough, About 250yrs old feudal monarchy which was limited to a narrow pertiteri because of the direct effect of the people's war." It's a tough situation because paying the donations only contributes to the ongoing instability of this wonderful country, and its obvious that the Maoists, even in rural areas, are not putting that money towards any sort of development. But refusing to pay not only puts yourself in danger, but more so your porter or guide. Nirpa insisted that we be quiet and let him handle it so not to endanger himself. It's just not a good situation at all.
Day 4-5-6: Chamje - Bagarchhap - Chame - Pisang
Welcome to the cold. Day 4 I realized why I've been huffing around my fleece/down vest/wool socks and gloves for 5 months. It got COLD! Not only that but the trekking got tough. Bar with me, I'm going to copy my journal so you can get the full effect....
I'm so cold i can't even dear diary straight. What a day. I think i used over 98% of my bodies reserved energy today. I was up at 7am, trying to massage my legs into just getting down the stairs from our room to the kitchen. Our first hour of trekking was super tough because my legs felt like 100lb weights, and the path was all uphill. I definitely took advantage of the stone lean-tos that line the path for porters and took the trekking equivalent of lots of cat-naps. Working through the pain seems to be what this trek is going to be about though, becasue after 2 hours I didn't feel any pain and was ready for our lunch break in Tal. The kids at the restaurant we stopped at were sooooo cute, but sooooo snotty. So we offered them some toilet paper and hand sani and then gave them some balloons to play with. Their mom loved us and made us some of the best Dal Bhat ever. So creamy and the potato curry was just to die for. After a long and lazy lunch in the sun, we stopped at a waterfall to have a cool down and i had what proved to be my only semi-shower in 6 days. The path in the afternoon was no less forgiving as it would go all the way up one side of the valley, then down to cross the river, then up the other side.....hour after hour. Only broken up by the really steep parts that were long stone staircases up and up and up. We saw some guys building the stair cases, well actually sitting beside a bunch of rocks smoking hashish...this is Nepal people. Justina and I both broke our super trekking sticks today, and now find their performance to be less than stellar on rocks.... I also had my first "accident" today, thanks to a renegade pony who bolted from his caravan and sideswiped me with his saddle bag. Nirpa and I fell against the rocks, and i scraped my calf. Justina only hurt her stomach from laughing so hard at me. (Little did we know that this wouldn't be our last run in with these animals...) Then because the Circuit Trail is constantly changing due to the construction of a road that will eventually replace the village trails (yes in 10 years you will be able to trek by bus....sad) we had a much longer trek to our endpoint and by the time we go there my hands were so swollen and knees weak that we literally fell into a teahouse to wait for Nirpa. Spending the night at 2150m proved to be COLD! I wore my lifa long underwear AND my down puff vest! Honestly though I can't believe how much I'm loving this even though I'm in so much pain. And i know that all we have to go is more up. After the 7.5 hours of trekking today I don't want to think about that though - all I want is a small pot of Lemon tea and some momos.
So all the days weren't quite like that one, it was just the first time my body was actually dead tired and dead cold. I defiantly got used to it though. Plus the mountain views from this point were legendary. We were IN the Himalayas, and everywhere you looked was another 6000, 7500, 8000 metre peak just right there. Even out our bedroom windows (we always got stellar rooms) Its hard to explain how I just got used to the whole trekking all day thing. Picture walking from UBC to the Grouse Grind, up and down the Grind, then back to UBC. (Or from Mowbray to Table Mountain, up and down, then back to Mobs....) Everyday. It's no wonder our apres trekking was less whistler styles (beer, nachos and a canucks game) and more eat dinner at 5:30, and be in bed by 6:30 or 7pm. Our bodies literally needed the 12 hours of sleep to repair and prepare themselves.
In Pisang (3000m) we started our first real acclimatization precautions, as we soon learned, we were now in "the death zone". We followed the recommendations to trek high and sleep low, by doing afternoon walks up to higher villages and temples, drank tons of water, and had garlic soup for at least one meal a day (local Nepali altitude remedy). I had my first waking-up-gasping-for-breath experience in Pisang too as my lungs were obviously getting used to the constantly thinning air. In Pisang we spent the night watching one of the most unfortunate movies I have ever seen. The movie rendition of Into Thin Air by Jon Kraukauer. This movie though has some of the worst actors/cinematography/script/production you can ever imagine. Although Justina, Christiana and I loved it as it provided us with priceless sayings for our extreme trekking like, "HEY We're in the death zone now, its turn back time" and instead of oxygen being our lifeline, like our friends on Everest, we were concerned with "TURN up my Pringles intake!!! STAT!"Days 7-8-9: Pisang - Manang - Yak Kakarka
We started into new territory in this part of the trek. Not only were we at a much higher altitude, but now in the rain shadow of the Annapurna Himalayas, so the environment was much more barren. And we were in the Buddhist majority part of Nepal now, so there were many more prayer flags, chortens everywhere, and Mani walls of prayer wheels at the entrance to every town. I really loved this part of Nepal, much more than the Hindu areas, but more about that later. Plus we were now officially in Hashish Territory. Marijuana grows like dandelions here. There are plants (some big enough to be called trees) everywhere, most restaurants have them lining their balcony so you can just reach over and grab some. The more resourceful trekkers would tie branches onto their backpacks to dry in the sun as they walked, but I could barely handle caffeine at this altitude (I had a cocacola one night and my body made me pay) So there was no way I was indulging in anything else. Especially after we came across the mountain goats who based their diet on the said plants. Stoned goats are pretty funny though.....
We trekked with Christiana for a few days here, her Dad decided to do the intense upper route, while we stuck to the "Nepali flat 4 hour" option. Nepali flat though means only a few wrek-beach like staircases up and down. The three of us had a sweet time just making fun of the other trekkers (German tour groups just make too easy of a target!) and eating great cinnamon rolls fresh from the smaller bakeries in even smaller towns.
Once we finally reached Manang, one of the biggest commercial centres in the area, we settled in for a 2 day acclimatization rest spot. On our first day there we woke up to a blanket of snow an absolutely freezing temperatures, wouldn't be a problem if we could actually "rest" on this rest day, but we had some important thing to do. First, wash ourselves and our clothes for the first time in 7 dirty and sweaty days of trekking. The showers were cold as usual, so it only consisted of getting my hair wet and using minimal shampoo to semi-clean it. The layers of grime on my body would just have to wait. Then we had to wash our shirts and underwear by hand in an bucket with ice cold water and our trekking sticks as agitators. My hands were ice stumps after but the clothes smelled 100X better. Second, i walked along the path into town to find a guy with a sign that said "shoe fix" to sew up my Crap-mandu purchased hiking boots that were falling apart at the heel already. These two activities were enough to exhaust me at the 3500m altitude, and give me a splitting AMS headache, so off to bed in 3+ layers of clothes.
"The AMS is sure getting to me now, every once in a while there is a sudden splitting headache that feels like my brain is being squeezed in a vice from all directions, constantly tightening. Eating isn't any easier as your appetite comes and goes. Going from starving to puking in 5 minutes hasn't been uncommon. And its like I keep forgetting to breathe, and every few minutes end up gasping for breath. My poor body is just so confused!"That afternoon we went to the NGO clinic run by the HRA (Himalayan Rescue Ass'n) that is set up to educate locals, trekkers, guides and porters about the symptoms, cures and dangers of altitude related sicknesses. The volunteer doctor put on a free talk that was really informative and just basic, not trying to scare us, but teach us. What I learned came in handy later on the trek for sure. Anyone who is doing the Circuit trek in the future I'd for sure recommend going to see this guy!
After watching a huge Yak being killed by a group of Nepali men using successive blows to the head with a blunt axe right beside the trail, we were off to Yak Kakarka, a teeny town only 3 hours trekking away. The nice thing about trekking at this altitude is that you really can't go fast or far, so it made for nice easy, relaxing days. Although when we arrived in Yak Kakarka, it was so cold that we literally spent the afternoon in our beds wearing nothing less than: 2 pairs of wool socks, one pair of cotton socks, long underwear, lululemon pants, 2 lifa polypro shirts, ski club tshirt, windstopper 200 fleece, puffy down vest, wool mitts, yak wool tuk, sleeping bag, huge blanket and a spare tuk on my face to keep my breathing warm. And we were still cold. It was a boring afternoon/night for sure.
Annapurna Circuit Trek II
Day 10-11: Yak Kakarka - Throung Pedi - Throung La - Mukinath
From Yak Karka, we didn't take off one single piece of clothing when we started trekking to Throung Pedi (means foot of the hil, last stop before the big pass!) The trekking today was slow and in snow that had fallen the night before. A little daunting, we saw a lot of people backtracking to Yak Kakarka becasue they got so sick at Throung Pedi... but Nirpa was so confident in us, maybe because by this point he had taken to dictating all of our movements, when we trekked, how fast we went, where we stayed, when we slept, and even what and when we ate. (strict diets of garlic soup and carbs)
From Yak Karka, we didn't take off one single piece of clothing when we started trekking to Throung Pedi (means foot of the hil, last stop before the big pass!) The trekking today was slow and in snow that had fallen the night before. A little daunting, we saw a lot of people backtracking to Yak Kakarka becasue they got so sick at Throung Pedi... but Nirpa was so confident in us, maybe because by this point he had taken to dictating all of our movements, when we trekked, how fast we went, where we stayed, when we slept, and even what and when we ate. (strict diets of garlic soup and carbs)
After a lot of ups and downs and slow slow walking (3 deep breaths per step) we were the first to arrive in Throung Pedi for the day, and were rewarded with the best room that had windows on BOTH sides. Luxury. I started to get a horrible headache that some soup and a bunch of Tylenol got rid of, and enjoyed the rest of the day thinking how i was 5km straight above everyone back home. There was a weird mood in the dining room, as everyone there was wondering if they'd be the one who had to turn back from the pass tomorrow...such a big unknown hanging over everyone's heads. But Justina and I did all we could to prep and had a huge dinner of pasta and tea, drank lots of water and tang, and were in bed at 6:18pm. Yes, that early.Woken up at 4am on "summit day" and getting out of our warmish beds to go walk another 1066m straight up for 3 hours in -20*C, was not the best start of the day I've ever had, but the adrenaline started pumping and I knew this is the kind of thing I live for, and as uncomfortable as it was probably going to be, I was totally and utterly stoked. After choking down breakfast we set out in the pitch black with our headlamps lighting the way up. It was so surreal taking slow, deliberate steps and having to literally stop to do anything else. The first hour was a blurr of breathing attempts and the pain of putting one foot in front of the other. It was really trippy to look up and not know where the star filled sky stopped and the headlamp-spotted mountain began. The only way to tell was the slight wobble of the headlamp lights every 4-5 seconds when the person took a step.
After 58 minutes we made it to high camp and here at 5000m we watched the sun rise over the Himalayan ranges and just took it all in. Although there were probably another 100 people on their way to the pass too, it seemed like we were all alone. As we started walking again this is where the altitude really started to take its toll on me. Everything was just so difficult, its hard to explain what actually happens to you without your normal amounts of oxygen, bu at times I couldn't even think. I tried to put my hand in my pocket to avoid the inevitable frostbite at one point and fell over on the trail. Lesson learned - one movement at a time. As the sun rose higher the snow crystals started to sparkle around my feet (which I couldn't take my eyes off of or risk another tumble) and played weird tricks with my vision. Nirpa made some comment about how the 3cm of skin on my face was bright red, and i was surprised that blood was actually still going to my face it was so numb. I remember a lot of twists and turns and steep hills, that weren't even hills, but just steep enough to make the uphill walking nearly impossible. I took a lot of 5-step breaks in the last 2 hours (2 minute break every five steps) and I really didn't think I'd make it at that point. Just so completely exhausted from every step, and no end in sight.
But you just keep going, and as I put my head down and kept walking eventually on one glance up, there it was - the 5416m Throung La Pass with tons and tons of colourful Tibetan prayer flags. I remember noticing the colours most after only seeing the white of the snow and my brown boots for so long.
Justina and I snapped some shots with a Canada balloon and then stumbled into the hut and drank some ridiculously overpriced tea just to try to warm up. It is not comfortable to be standing around at 5416m in -20*c temp. Trust me. Then bammo - the Acute Mountain Sickness hit me full force. Justina says she noticed me just snap out of it and knew we had to head down ASAP. Luckily the AMS couldn't have hit me at a better spot, as we were at the high point of the trek and had no where to go but down. I started to feel the HACE first (High Altitude Cerebral Edima) with a deadly headache and dizzyness that made me walk like a 4am Granville st. drunk. Next the HAPE (High Altitude Pulmonary Edima) hit and my lungs were so full with fluid that they felt like solid rocks and every breath felt like someone punching me hard in the chest. Then came the vomiting and HAT (High Altitude Tears.....sounds more hardcore than crying..haha) I can't go into details about the 1600m descent from the pass to Mukinath because I have no recollections of it other than throwing up on the snow a lot and total dizzyness 100% of of the time. Check out Justina's blog for what she remembers. It was a tough 6 hours for sure though. When we finally reached Mukinath, we got to a teahouse and I literally took off my soaking wet pants and socks, climbed into bed, and threw my fleece over my face because any sensory input led to severe waves of pain throughout my body. The afternoon/night was just painful - more vomiting, constant headaches and general all over body pain. Poor Nirpa was so worried about me, he kept coming in and offering tea and soup, but I couldn't do anything let alone open my eyes. But, like the HRA doctor said, just rest at a lower altitude and the symptoms will go away. And go away they did, so that the next morning I was able to sit up, eat breakfast and even trek.Days 12-13-14: Mukinath - Kagbeni - Marpha - Ghasa
SO there I am semi-conscious, but feeling much better than yesterday, so we decide to trek onto the next stop 3 hours away, as going lower can only make me feel better. That and spending the whole day in bed was not appealing to me, the seasoned trekkker I now am! This parrt of the trek was so nice since it was a) downhill and b) in the dusty, dry, aird region similar to the tibetian plateau called Mustang. (Upper Mustang is considered the famous Shangri-la, and still very difficult to gain entry too...the permit alone for 7 days costs over $700 USD.) Just a stunning area with tons and tons of 7000+ metre peaks at every turn. Kagbeni turned out to beautiful and probably my favouritie town on the trip. Not only because there was a restaurant called "Yak Donalds", but we stayed in a cool traditional tibetan teahouse that was so nice, had hot showers, and the nicest family runing it. And the views - just breathless.
On our way from Kagbeni - Marpha we trekked along a dry river plain that was just one big wind tunnel of dust, and in Jomsom we stopped to get me some meds for the lingering effects of my AMS. The iodine gargle wasn't too pleasent but combined with the sinus pill they gave me, the chaos in my respiratory system seemed to subside. We arrived in Marpha - The Apple Capital of Nepal! - and spent the night drinking strong apple cider, apple brandy, eating dried apples and apple crumble. Hey, when in rome! The next morning we took in the local culture by visiting the distillery. Yep, the distillery where they make apple, peach, apricot and carrot brandy. A few free shots later, and our porter buying a big bottle, we were ready for the day of trekking ahead. Or so we though, I don't know if it was the 9am Brandy shots, but it was an awfully long day trerkking along a horrible path that ruined our legs so that night we couldn't even stand in comfort. I turned into a 6-year old and had a little stomping tantrum about the stupid path with its stupid uneven rocks and the stupidness of the trek. But that soon passed. The night in Ghasa (not the strip) was boring and filled with bad trekking lodge food.
Days 15-16: Ghasa - Tatopani - Pokhara
After the painful trek to Ghasa, we made up or minds to finish the Circut trek without crossing into the Sanctuary area and extending the trek by another 5 days. Many people do it, and it is a great option, but we were trekked out and wanted to spend those extra 5 days rafting or doing something else fun in Pokhara. So with the end clearly in sight now we happily headed off to Tatopani (Nepali: tato= hot, pani = water) The trail was much nicer with dozens of waterfalls and bridges to cross that made it pleasant to trek along. When we arrived in Tatopani we wasted no time heading to the hotsprings. Along the river just 200 steps from our room was the most delightful hotsprings pool I have ever been in. That may be due to teh past 15 days of the absolute torture I inflicted on my body, but also due to just the sun setting over the valley, tall green mountains over a crystal blue river and me sitting in a stone pool with warm, soothing water. Yep. Heaven. No wait, Heaven came after this when we dried off and then headed up to the restaruant that had Happy Hour from 4-6 and we celebrated our successful last day of trekking with two of the coldest, most refresing Everest beers ever. And free popcorn.
Our last day started like every other one. Up at 6:00 to pack - trekking by 7:30. We trekked for about 3 hours, had our last Dal Bhat lunch and then caught a jeep to Beni where we caught a local bus back to Pokhara. Unfortunately this day was ruined by some obnoxious and selfish Israelis who.... actually I can't (shouldn't?) go into the details, or i'll start to rant. But lets just say it's a continuing theme here in Nepal. And our "welcome back" to the non-trekking world was having to have a big fight with the bus driver who insited that although we bought tickets for 3 seats, we only got 2 and had to have people sitting on our laps Only 3 hours out of our trek and the bitch was already back up to 8. Ugh. Pokhara was such a welcome sight as we went to a restaurant that didn't only have "tourism management approved trekking foods" and we took Nirpa out for a big meal and some good beers. It was so sad saying tood bye to Nirpa who had become one of us over the last 16 days. I mean he helped us out so much that I couldn't imagine doing the trip without him. Anyone doing a trek in Nepal should serisously consider hiring a porter or porter/guide. Not only are you supporting their business, but more selfishly, they help you out soo much. He knew the good guesthouses, the restaruants to avoid, the good towns, where the unique off-trail destinations were (hello distilleries!) and was able to book ahead rooms so we were never the ones stuck outside in -10* temps. The details of his company are on my links if anyone wants a trustworthy and good-value guiding service while in Nepal. 
THANK YOU NIRPA!
So just like that we were done the Annapurna Circuit Trek in a speedy 16 days. We realized after we doubted our abilities coming from a place like B.C. where the Chief, Grouse Grind or even hiking Harmony on a powder day are things that a lot of the world doesn't do on a normal basis. It was a pretty moderate trek, not easy at all, but doable, and we dominated it ;) Now we just had to face the insurmountable task of showering and attempting to clean our smelly, trekkey bodies. Ew.
