Laura's Year in Asia = Fun Stories

CUTE RAJASTHANI KID WITH HOT DANCE MOVES

Well, what can I say?

I made all my flights home - even met up with Jon Major on my flight from Taipei to Vancouver! Small world that Asia....

How about it's great to be home! After the typical stormy adventure that international air travel is, where I always seem to be in the eye of the storm, I arrived in Vancouver to, "Grey skies and six degrees." Ummm ew?

Like I said though it's still great to be home. The showers are enclosed and strong, the peanut butter jars are huge, the breakfasts are not at restaurants, the people are in houses and not standing on the streets staring at me, the signs are in coherent english, and my bed is perfect.

I can't believe it was almost 8 months and I think I'm going to have to re-read this blog to figure out what the heck I did.

Anyways, that's about it for this blog. I'm updating the travel photos section as we speak - but other than that I'm not in Asia anymore, and 2006 is almost done. So bon voyage to everyone else, and if you're in Vancouver gimme a call!

One new airport, a coup d'etat and 3 new street Pad Thai vendors on Khao San - and I'm back in Bangkok.

Bangkok is like seeing that ex-boyfriend again after a while, and forgetting why you broke up with them. I'm in love. This place is so clean. I'd eat off the streets if they'd let me. It's amazing what India does to a girl. The new airport is soooo nice. Just like VIA, but less Haida more Thai. The Pad Thai vendors came in handy when my flight arrived at 5am, but my hotel rezzo wasn't until 10am, so I had to wander the streets for a few hours, and indulge. I've only got 3 days here, so i'm cramming in all the street food I can get.

Yesterday I met up with a friend from exchange in South Africa, Asya, who is teaching just outside Bangkok now. We reminisced about the good ol' UCT days while drinking real coffe. Yes real dark, bitter coffee. I love life! Today I did So. Much. Shopping. I'm rationalizing it by thinking about the 8 months I bought nothing, and the fact I'm purchasing in Baht, not dollars - but holy cow. The only thing that made me stop and leave MBK and Siam Paragon is that I physically couldn't hold any more bags. A couple designer handbags, three pairs of jeans, countless cheap Asian shirts, shoes, underwear, knockoff perfume, skully shirts and DVDs...its all to much! (probably all too much to fit in my bags too) I also spent the afternoon taking advantage of cheap beauty treatments. A massage, pedicure, manicure and facial (my new favourite) were on my menu all for under $25. I'm pretty sure they scraped off every last bit of Indian dirt on me.

Now, some final thoughts on India.

I may be here in Thailand now, but I honestly can't stop thinking about that country. It's really weird because my travel experiences in India seem more real now that I've left....Hard to explain but while I was there I think it was just go-go-go all the time that you really didn't have much time to sit and reflect.

First, I left India with that typical Love/Hate feeling that everyone has. I loved hating it, and I hated loving it. India ripped my heart out, stomped on it, and then put it back better than before.

Second, I realized I'm not Indian. I know that sounds weird, but too many people come here expecting to get into the local culture and see the "real" India. UGH! Nothing could bother me more. I had an amazing three months observing the weird and wonderful ways of India, but it was little more than an introduction. I saw things I wont be able to ever comprehend with my Westernized upbringing. Its a country that is just too deep for any travelers to fully engage. Travelers are tourists for a reason, and when they go to a country to travel it, they aren't going to be treated as a local. Yes, some places people are nicer than others, but you're still not a local. This is especially true in India where their culture is just so fundamentally different from ours that you can't expect to understand it and become it in one day/three months/one year.... (If you want a great book to read, and an excellent example of this read Shantram its sooooooo good) It's not my country, it's not my culture.

Third, I want to go back, but I need a long break.

Well before I get to Dehli, I should probably let you all know what i've been doing for the past 2 weeks. A typical day would go like this

0930 - awake to the sounds of the ocean crashing outside our cocohut door, decide which bikini to put on and carefully get out of our mosquito nets and stumble down the stairs to go to the bathroom
1000 - take 37 steps to our favourite restaurant and enjoy a breakfast of PB portugese rolls and Banana Lassis. Chat with Amin and the other waiters who have come to know us and our strange breakfast habits.
1100 - gather the sunscreen, sarong and pink floatie and walk 43 steps to the beach and set up camp for the day.
1230 - head into the water for some floating as it just gets too hot to lie on the beach in 37* heat.
1400 - resume beach tanning, maybe with a book
1415 - give in and go buy an overpriced Coke Light from the beach kiosk
1500 - flag down a "pineapple, papaya, watermelon, drinking coconut, eating coconut" guy and buy a couple chopped pineapples for a dollar
1630 - one more swim in the water with a possible treading water workout if i'm feeling unusually active.
1730 - shower the salt and sand off and resume reading in hammock in the shade
1900 - watch incredible sunset and wonder what you did all day
1930 - pick one of the incredible restaurants to go have fresh tandoori seafood, cheese garlic nan and cold beers for dinner.
2200 - back to bed. and dream about tommorow

As you can see it was a tough tough life that Justina and I got used too. We became locals in our little cocohut complex and made tons of friends with the other British and Irish beachbums who couldn't leave either.

Some breaks to the routine happened when we went on a boat trip to watch the dolphins play in the bay next to ours. Another when we rented Scootys and drove the 80km up to Anjuna to check out the hippies flea market.

On my last night in Goa (and last night traveling with Justina) we decided to create and attempt the First Annual Paloelm Pub Crawl 2006. On the beach there are about 55 restaurant/bars, and we figured if we started at the southern end, maybe we could have a drink at each and make it to the northern end. Remember, we go big! It started well enough at 5pm, enjoying 2-1 tropical cocktails on beach chairs and Kings stubby beers. Then we stumpled a bit when we ran into two British guys who were interested in joining our Pub Crawl, can't talk and drink at the same time, so we slowed down to a point where we came out of the seventh bar and everything else was closed. So we may not have made it, but only because Paloelm couldn't keep up with US! We did make it further to the 24hour liquor licence bar of Cafe Del Sol, which is basically a meeting point for Brits Abroad who drink all night and get up at 3pm only to resume drinking again. I even saw girls wearing JEANS there! gah! We had fun though - and it was defenitly a memorable way to end the saga of Jusfa in India.

It was a bit weird in Goa though, because even though its 'the highest of high season' the place was basically 50% empty. Most people are speculating its becasue of the Mumbai bombings earlier this year, and the next attack is suspected to be against tourist targets in Goa. Sounds too much like Bali or Egypt for some people, and unfortunatley its keeping them away. Although these days, I've learned you can't travel like that, It's as risky to go to the grocery store on Dunbar or Bombay's Victoria Terminus.

Regardless, I caught my Spicejet flight (which clearly states that Chilli powder is prohibited in your carry-on luggage) to Dehli, leaving Justina to meet up with her Mom who is coming to take my place and lead Justina through Southern India. Now in Dehli i'm trying to get used to the whole wearing shoes, pollution, too many people and dirty streets stuff that I forgot about in Goa. Although looking in a mirror for the first time in 2 weeks has been a surprise, I guess I got a little sun ;) Otherwise I did tons of shopping, so much I had to buy a new tourister to tote it all back to Canada. Then got some heena done, and the heena guy noticed that my centre is all outta wack, and thinking i'm some hippie-acupuncture girl tried to convince me to get some treatment for this. Saying I'm mentally and physically exhausted (maybe that was traveling through YOUR COUNTRY for three months with a backpack buddy!). But as the heena was drying I figured why not, so for 1/2 hour i got poked and pulled and apparently now the lines on my hands line up and my stomach is softer than before. All good signs! I had a typical Dehli experience trying to get a cab that was 1/2 hour late - then a bus accident on the highway - then huge lineups at security - then the fun of checkin with Indians, where they try to bring all their belongings in bags bigger than a refridgerator. I made my flight with literally 30 seconds to spare. But I got out of India (no small feat) safely and really enjoyed that first "Sawadeekah" from the flight attendants.

ps. Happy Birthday Christine!!!!

• Because ?'ve squatted for 7 months
• Because I get attacked by cows when I go on the street
• Because I walked for 18 days in the Himalays
• Because I'm tired of being from "Jamaica" "Married" with "4 children" (long story)
• Because I hold my breath while having showers
• Because I lived with a pigeon
• BecauseI rode an overnight bus amongst vomit.
• Because I've starred in over 500,000 cell-phone pics/movies belonging to Indian men.
  
  That is why I'm here in paradise for 14 days. Yes, 14 days. And that isn't even enough. Belinda Carlisle said it best in the 80's. Heaven is a place on earth
  
  I'm in Goa, the said heaven on earth, on Paloelm Beach. Its the most southern of the beaches in Goa, and did I mention the most perfect???? It's not too hippie, not too 5-star resorty, not too Israeli, not too backpackery, but just enough of each to make it a perfect HOME (miss having one of those) for 2 weeks.
  
  Our Coco-hut (made of nothing but twine, coconut trees and grass matts) is right on the beach and after yesterday when they took down the only hut blocking our view, we now have a 180* view from OUR BEDS of the perfect blue Indian ocean. The food here is great, the weather great (haven't seen a cloud yet and its about 35* everyday), and there is nothing to bother us. With all the practice i've had in the past week, if tanning were a sport - I'd be an Olympian! The food here is incredible too: Fresh fish and cheap Belo beers EVERYNIGHT!!! So much to say, but so little patience to sit at a computer when its right outside waiting for me to get back!!!
  
  When Justina and I aren't tanning our butts off, we bought neon floatie mats (mine hot-pink) to ride the waves, a hammock to chillax in. We rented scootys one day and headed north to the famous Hippie flea market in Anjuna. Some boat trips out to see the dolphins and deserted butterfly beach are in store, as are renting ocean kyaks and exploring the edges of our beach.
  
  I have to go now, and probably wont get to internet while i'm here for the next week and a half, but i'll be seeing ya'll soon enough! Enjoy the snow and exams (sorry just couldn't help it)