Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Monday, October 19, 2009
McLeodganj 2K9
Another trip? Why yes....Four 3 day weekends during the months of September and October made for some pretty good times. Becky, Thinh and I traveled to McLeodganj (Tibetan enclave in the lower Himalayas - home of the Dalai Lama) in September (Jon went to Bangkok...oh, and for the Goa trip, Jon was fishing. We don't travel together anymore, apparently. So, Jon, you need to write you're own blog entries from now on.) This was actually my second trip to McLeodganj. Goa and this hill station are 2 of the places that I would definitely return to in India. I totally dig them both. They both provide for a "vacation" and not just a touristy, sightseeing trip.
We took the overnight train from Delhi. I was geared up with my 2 hiking poles sticking out of my backpack, which helped me practically take out every individual in the Old Delhi train station. We were sweating something awful, but we were fully equipped with snacks galore. Ritz crackers and peanut butter, pigs in a blanket (yes, we can get those here), snack mixes, kit kats and maybe an apple. The train ride was fun. I had booked later than Becky and Thinh, so I had a seat in another car. Becky was kind enough to allow me to share her bunk, so we slept rather comfortably head to foot :) Those first class bunks are big!
The ride from the train station to McLeodganj is about 3 hours. On our drive, a lady standing on the right side of the road held a rope attached to a cow on the left side of the road. The rope rested on the road, out of harms way....UNTIL, the crazy lady decided to snatch up the rope just as we were about 15 feet away traveling at 45 miles per hour. Our driver slammed on his brakes and loony-toons smirked. what the heck? Everyone was fine. Just totally shocked.
In McLeodganj, I told Becky and Thinh that I wanted to do 3 things: 1. drink lots of ginger, honey, lemon tea; 2. hike up the mountain to Triund 3. take a momo cooking class. And because they are great friends, we did all 3, and it was fantastic fun! We walked through town the first day stopping frequently at various restaurants for tea, momos (tibetan dumplings) and french fries (hey, it's Becky's and Thinh's staple travel snack, and it was always pretty delish). We chatted a ton, laughed a lot, and told new and old stories.
On day 2, we hiked to Triund. The walk began with us deciding that maybe we would just walk part of the way. We were, after all, beginning 2 hours after our declared departure time. But, you know, once you start, you just can't stop. And so, 8 hours later, we had hiked to the top, and descended back down. It was tough, but totally worth it. Right, B and T?
On Day 3, we took a momo cooking class! It was the BEST! Such fun, and such good momos - holy cow, they were the best momos we had all weekend! Side note: I've already tried to make momos with my new skillz. Not as good, but still pretty yummy. The only bummer was that while the cooking course was only 2 hours, it took me pretty much all day to complete the process on my own. I think I need more practice.
Some of you may be aware that Richard Gere comes to McLeodganj quite frequently to hang with the Dalai Lama and practice Tibetan Buddhism. Well, what you probably didn't know is that he stays in the hotel that we stayed in...in a room that was right across from our room. So, Becky and I asked the receptionist if anyone was staying in "his" room, and if no one was, could we see it? Well, someone was staying in his room, but she let us see it anyway because the guest was out. Love that room security. Anyway, it wasn't anything too fancy. But it does have a sweet view of the town and the mountains.
That evening, we headed to the airport for our flight back. We were flying back instead of taking the overnight train because we had to be at work the next morning (or so we thought). As soon as we arrived at the airport, they informed us that the flight was canceled. Uh oh. What do we do? They gave us our options....well, option: hire a taxi to drive you back to Delhi. Should take 12 hours. Yuck, that sounds horrid. In the dark, on these roads, with crazy ladies lurking about? We'll never sleep. This will be awful, and bumpy, and scary. Well, I did not accept this as the only option and I asked them to call the train station and ask for tickets....we'll take any seat! Just get us on the train. Kingfisher airlines was actually super helpful and ended up getting us first class seats on the 10pm train! Woohooo! We have plenty of time to make it to the train station, we're getting first class, AND we arrive in Delhi at 6am...plenty of time to head home for showers and still get to work on time. So, we made the most of it, and continued to have a blast even while sitting on the floor of the Chakki Bank train station. We drank a bottle of wine (leftover from the weekend) and played Yatzee. Shall I mention that I got 3 Yatzees in one game?! Superstar, thank you. And, well, I should also mention that Becky got 2 yatzees in one game. Must have been the good energy of the weekend. Oh, and I think I made the cut. This was my first time traveling with Becky and Thinh, who travel together a lot. I think that they'll let me join them again :)
We took the overnight train from Delhi. I was geared up with my 2 hiking poles sticking out of my backpack, which helped me practically take out every individual in the Old Delhi train station. We were sweating something awful, but we were fully equipped with snacks galore. Ritz crackers and peanut butter, pigs in a blanket (yes, we can get those here), snack mixes, kit kats and maybe an apple. The train ride was fun. I had booked later than Becky and Thinh, so I had a seat in another car. Becky was kind enough to allow me to share her bunk, so we slept rather comfortably head to foot :) Those first class bunks are big!
The ride from the train station to McLeodganj is about 3 hours. On our drive, a lady standing on the right side of the road held a rope attached to a cow on the left side of the road. The rope rested on the road, out of harms way....UNTIL, the crazy lady decided to snatch up the rope just as we were about 15 feet away traveling at 45 miles per hour. Our driver slammed on his brakes and loony-toons smirked. what the heck? Everyone was fine. Just totally shocked.
In McLeodganj, I told Becky and Thinh that I wanted to do 3 things: 1. drink lots of ginger, honey, lemon tea; 2. hike up the mountain to Triund 3. take a momo cooking class. And because they are great friends, we did all 3, and it was fantastic fun! We walked through town the first day stopping frequently at various restaurants for tea, momos (tibetan dumplings) and french fries (hey, it's Becky's and Thinh's staple travel snack, and it was always pretty delish). We chatted a ton, laughed a lot, and told new and old stories.
On day 2, we hiked to Triund. The walk began with us deciding that maybe we would just walk part of the way. We were, after all, beginning 2 hours after our declared departure time. But, you know, once you start, you just can't stop. And so, 8 hours later, we had hiked to the top, and descended back down. It was tough, but totally worth it. Right, B and T?
On Day 3, we took a momo cooking class! It was the BEST! Such fun, and such good momos - holy cow, they were the best momos we had all weekend! Side note: I've already tried to make momos with my new skillz. Not as good, but still pretty yummy. The only bummer was that while the cooking course was only 2 hours, it took me pretty much all day to complete the process on my own. I think I need more practice.
Some of you may be aware that Richard Gere comes to McLeodganj quite frequently to hang with the Dalai Lama and practice Tibetan Buddhism. Well, what you probably didn't know is that he stays in the hotel that we stayed in...in a room that was right across from our room. So, Becky and I asked the receptionist if anyone was staying in "his" room, and if no one was, could we see it? Well, someone was staying in his room, but she let us see it anyway because the guest was out. Love that room security. Anyway, it wasn't anything too fancy. But it does have a sweet view of the town and the mountains.
That evening, we headed to the airport for our flight back. We were flying back instead of taking the overnight train because we had to be at work the next morning (or so we thought). As soon as we arrived at the airport, they informed us that the flight was canceled. Uh oh. What do we do? They gave us our options....well, option: hire a taxi to drive you back to Delhi. Should take 12 hours. Yuck, that sounds horrid. In the dark, on these roads, with crazy ladies lurking about? We'll never sleep. This will be awful, and bumpy, and scary. Well, I did not accept this as the only option and I asked them to call the train station and ask for tickets....we'll take any seat! Just get us on the train. Kingfisher airlines was actually super helpful and ended up getting us first class seats on the 10pm train! Woohooo! We have plenty of time to make it to the train station, we're getting first class, AND we arrive in Delhi at 6am...plenty of time to head home for showers and still get to work on time. So, we made the most of it, and continued to have a blast even while sitting on the floor of the Chakki Bank train station. We drank a bottle of wine (leftover from the weekend) and played Yatzee. Shall I mention that I got 3 Yatzees in one game?! Superstar, thank you. And, well, I should also mention that Becky got 2 yatzees in one game. Must have been the good energy of the weekend. Oh, and I think I made the cut. This was my first time traveling with Becky and Thinh, who travel together a lot. I think that they'll let me join them again :)
Sunday, October 4, 2009
Goa 2K9
When the weather report said "100% chance of precipitation" for the next 5 days, I should have grabbed a poncho, an umbrella, a long sleeve shirt and possibly changed my ticket for another weekend instead of assuming that the weatherman was full of it, that I didn't really need any rain gear (hey, I'd be in my bathing suit the whole time!), that the temperature would still be 100 degrees, and that the "100%" merely meant that we would get some light mist every now and then. So, there we were in Goa at Bhakti Kutir (please see www.bhaktikutir.com so that you can see all of the stuff that we couldn't see.). And, why couldn't we see? Because the place is in the "jungle". And when the sky is dumping buckets and entirely gray and overcast, the many trees with their super large leaves shade us from any amount of white light that the sky emits. Plus, rain in India means that the power goes out. So, while we were in this super cute and lovely place, the option of sitting on our porches reading and listening to the rain and thunder was not even available. Oh, and did I mention that between the five of us, only one of us had a headlamp?
Luckily, our huts were not leaking, BUT the amount of water in the atmosphere provided for damp sheets, damp clothes, wet porch chairs and a temperature in the 70's or 80's - not warm enough to dry anything.
I was there with Becky, Julie, Kendra and Kate (some of my girls of India). We arrived at the airport at 8 pm. Bhakti was an hour and a half drive from the airport. On the way to Bhakti, we had the taxi driver stop at a liquor shop so that we could grab some wine and beer for the next day (Gandhi's Birthday - a dry day in India). Well, we arrived at Bhakti at 9:30pm, checked in to 3 huts, grabbed some more beer from the hotel and proceeded to gab and drink our way through most of the bottles that we bought and even some that we brought from Delhi until 3 am. It was a hoot, a blast, a super fun time. We then crashed with high hopes of many more evenings and days of fun times and fun in the sun in Goa.
We awoke to more buckets of water. And more. And more. So, we slept. And dosed some more. Finally, at 11am, Becky and I made our way to Kendra's and Julie's and Kate's huts to find that Julie and Kate were still asleep and that their bathroom had no roof and was therefore filled with 2 feet of water. It's dark, everything is wet, we practically have to row a boat from hut to hut and now from bed to toilet, and food is another boat ride away from our huts....oh my, can this get any funnier? Over breakfast, we looked at each other and thought about our options. Really? Is the Intercontinental the only option? Pretty much. It was either stay here and just sit and be soaked or leave for the only non-beach hut accommodation option in the area - the 5 star hotel. Nah. We talked ourselves out of it. Becky tried to pump us up. Julie and Kate asked for a new hut with a roof over the bathroom. To which the receptionist replied "roof?". Yes, please, we have 2 feet of water in our bathroom. You do?! YES! Well, we'll just build you a roof, she said. Seriously? Ok, fair enough. Julie and Kate are getting a roof. Becky found toilet paper for all. And I made a plan to take a taxi into town to find a poncho and a flashlight. This is going to be good. Here we go. We're psyched. Making the most of it.
Well, it didn't take long for the hotel peeps to figure out that they were not going to be able to build a roof during this torrential downpour. And we all quickly realized that even walking to a taxi would result in absolutely soaked clothing, which will never dry and which we were quickly running out of. Intercontinental? Done.
So, we packed up all of our stuff. The hotel called for a taxi. It's here! It's tiny, but who cares, get us the heck out of here! The driver stares at us dripping wet and says "You don't have an umbrella?". "Of course we don't! We're on our BEACH vacation....now, open up and let us in!" Bags piled on top of us, girls sitting on top of each other. Turn off the music! Turn off the A/C! We're drenched. Please just GO. Driver advances about 15 feet before he informs us that the car is too overloaded to make it all the way to the Intercontinental. Are you serious? yes, flooding. car won't make it. Um...Ok, Julie and Kate how about you get out and stand here? The driver will give you his umbrella. How about we don't give you any money or a phone and how about you just stand on the side of the road and wait for him to return? Um, seriously? Yes. That is how it went down.
But, alas, all turned out OK. All 5 of us did make it to the Intercontinental, where we enjoyed warm beds, warm showers, hot tea and cuddling :)
That afternoon, a whole other crew of AES peeps also packed up from their beach cottages (15 minutes from Bhakti) and moved to the 5 star. So, we celebrated our friend Scott's birthday. Good times. And, then, per typical Laura move, I slipped and fell on a puddle of water that remained when maintenance stopped by to clean up someone's spilled beer. I had a mojito in my hand which also came down with me, spilling and shattering the glass into many pieces. There went another outfit. At this point, I was down to maybe 1 dry piece of clothing. sweet.
We didn't last much longer...the next morning was full of more rain, and so we changed our plans and headed back to Delhi early. Bummer rain, but still a fantastically funny, good time.
Luckily, our huts were not leaking, BUT the amount of water in the atmosphere provided for damp sheets, damp clothes, wet porch chairs and a temperature in the 70's or 80's - not warm enough to dry anything.
I was there with Becky, Julie, Kendra and Kate (some of my girls of India). We arrived at the airport at 8 pm. Bhakti was an hour and a half drive from the airport. On the way to Bhakti, we had the taxi driver stop at a liquor shop so that we could grab some wine and beer for the next day (Gandhi's Birthday - a dry day in India). Well, we arrived at Bhakti at 9:30pm, checked in to 3 huts, grabbed some more beer from the hotel and proceeded to gab and drink our way through most of the bottles that we bought and even some that we brought from Delhi until 3 am. It was a hoot, a blast, a super fun time. We then crashed with high hopes of many more evenings and days of fun times and fun in the sun in Goa.
We awoke to more buckets of water. And more. And more. So, we slept. And dosed some more. Finally, at 11am, Becky and I made our way to Kendra's and Julie's and Kate's huts to find that Julie and Kate were still asleep and that their bathroom had no roof and was therefore filled with 2 feet of water. It's dark, everything is wet, we practically have to row a boat from hut to hut and now from bed to toilet, and food is another boat ride away from our huts....oh my, can this get any funnier? Over breakfast, we looked at each other and thought about our options. Really? Is the Intercontinental the only option? Pretty much. It was either stay here and just sit and be soaked or leave for the only non-beach hut accommodation option in the area - the 5 star hotel. Nah. We talked ourselves out of it. Becky tried to pump us up. Julie and Kate asked for a new hut with a roof over the bathroom. To which the receptionist replied "roof?". Yes, please, we have 2 feet of water in our bathroom. You do?! YES! Well, we'll just build you a roof, she said. Seriously? Ok, fair enough. Julie and Kate are getting a roof. Becky found toilet paper for all. And I made a plan to take a taxi into town to find a poncho and a flashlight. This is going to be good. Here we go. We're psyched. Making the most of it.
Well, it didn't take long for the hotel peeps to figure out that they were not going to be able to build a roof during this torrential downpour. And we all quickly realized that even walking to a taxi would result in absolutely soaked clothing, which will never dry and which we were quickly running out of. Intercontinental? Done.
So, we packed up all of our stuff. The hotel called for a taxi. It's here! It's tiny, but who cares, get us the heck out of here! The driver stares at us dripping wet and says "You don't have an umbrella?". "Of course we don't! We're on our BEACH vacation....now, open up and let us in!" Bags piled on top of us, girls sitting on top of each other. Turn off the music! Turn off the A/C! We're drenched. Please just GO. Driver advances about 15 feet before he informs us that the car is too overloaded to make it all the way to the Intercontinental. Are you serious? yes, flooding. car won't make it. Um...Ok, Julie and Kate how about you get out and stand here? The driver will give you his umbrella. How about we don't give you any money or a phone and how about you just stand on the side of the road and wait for him to return? Um, seriously? Yes. That is how it went down.
But, alas, all turned out OK. All 5 of us did make it to the Intercontinental, where we enjoyed warm beds, warm showers, hot tea and cuddling :)
That afternoon, a whole other crew of AES peeps also packed up from their beach cottages (15 minutes from Bhakti) and moved to the 5 star. So, we celebrated our friend Scott's birthday. Good times. And, then, per typical Laura move, I slipped and fell on a puddle of water that remained when maintenance stopped by to clean up someone's spilled beer. I had a mojito in my hand which also came down with me, spilling and shattering the glass into many pieces. There went another outfit. At this point, I was down to maybe 1 dry piece of clothing. sweet.
We didn't last much longer...the next morning was full of more rain, and so we changed our plans and headed back to Delhi early. Bummer rain, but still a fantastically funny, good time.
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