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After 2 1/2 months in the friendly confines of Nepal, Varanasi was my first stop in India. Big mistake. Even for a seasoned traveller like myself, Varanasi was almost too much to handle. This sunset boat ride on the filthy but holy Ganges River is the only way to get away from it all and enjoy some peace and quiet.  Varanasi, India (1/00).

Never again will I complain of traffic back home. In India, there is no sidewalk so you share the streets with bikes, cars, trucks, dogs, bulls, cows etc.  Madurai, India (3/00).

Very often, your best pictures are the unexpected ones. The best subject matter to shoot in India is the people and everyday life, so you have to be quick with the camera.  Man peeling vegetables on the shores of Lake Picola, Udaipur, Rajasthan (1/00).

I am no architecture buff but even I was impressed with India. In another country, this would be a historic monument but in India, its just another home.  Jaisalmer, Rajasthan.

Of the 10 forts I visited in Rajasthan, Meherangarh was my favourite. Jodhpur is called the blue city due to the houses white-washed in blue. I did not enjoy Rajasthan as much as other places in India. It had many great forts and palaces but was also the dirtiest, most unfriendly and most hassles of all India.  Jodhpur, Rajasthan (1/00).

Check out the nose and ear-ring! Selling pineapples on the beach.  Goa (1/00).

Bicycle rickshaw men work 24 hours a day in India. Just tap him on the shoulder for service.  Cochin, Kerala (2/00).

Going to school. Cochin, Kerala (2/00).

Everyone knows that India is a dirty and poor place but very few realize that it is also very colorful. Hindu woman on her way to a wedding.  Udaipur, Rajasthan (1/00).

Freshly caught fish by the docks. Cochin in the tropical south is one of my favourite's in India. It has a relaxed feel and people are friendly and civilised.  Cochin, Kerala (1/00).

One of my best days in India was a boat cruise through the Backwaters, a series of inter-connected rivers, canals and lakes in Kerala. Those weird looking things are Chinese fishing nets.  Kerala, South India (1/00).

The best way to see the traditional rural village life is by a canoe trip through the Backwaters, Kerala (1/00).

Colorful and intricate carvings on the 500 year old Minakshi Temple in Madurai, Tamil Nadu (2/00).

The most outstanding cultural monument I saw in India was not the Taj Mahal but the temples and caves in Ellora & Ajanta. (3/00)

Hindu holy man, Madurai, Tamil Nadu (2/00).

Tibetan woman, Dharamshala, India (3/00).

Freaking Coca-Cola/Pepsi has more or less taken over the world. To my knowledge, Iran is the only remaining hold-out.

Dance performer getting ready for Karthakali, a famous dance performance in Kerala, India (2/00).

New Delhi, India's capital, is one of the few places with broad boulevards and some semblance of city planning. India (3/00).

Child labour at its worse and you'd better believe that he is NOT getting $40/hour like construction crews back home. Bombay (3/00)

No, he is not dead....he's just taking a nap in the middle of a busy sidewalk. Its the everyday things which make India the most fascinating and intense place I've seen. You make not like what you see, hear or smell but it sure isn't boring.  Bombay, India (3/00).

The Taj Mahal really is as impressive as its hyped-up to be. If you sat in a plane for 15 hours just to see it for a day and flew back home right after, it would still be worth the trip. Agra (3/00).

One of the joys of India is the splendid food. I've discovered that I have a really tough gut. I ate everything is sight during my 5 month stay in the Indian sub-continent yet never got sick. Agra (3/00).

Ever wondered what is inside the Taj Mahal. The answer is, nothing much at all. The bull in front is pulling an enviromentally friendly mechanical lawn-mower.  Agra, India (3/00).

India has a billion people. It is such a crowded place but most Indians don't know any better and get by just fine.

India is a country of struggles. I am not sure how many people truly realize how cushy life is here in Canada.

India can be very frustrating and you have to put up with a lot of crap. Some days I absolutely hated this country but the next day I would feel so glad to be here and ask for more. India took a while to get used to and I missed it the moment I left. There is a famous traveler saying, "you haven't seen anything until you've seen India". . . . that is so true.  Chinese fishing nets, Cochin, India (1/00).

Date: Mon, 3 Jan 2000

Sure, Varanasi kinda sucks but in all fairness, its not the reason why I came to India. I'm here since its on-route and the ghats are famous although they kind of suck. Its not meant to be a pretty tourist attraction but rather a very important "spiritual" place (that's one over-used word here in these parts). 

Went to train stn and booked a train to Agra for tomorrow. I had the biggest grin on my face for hours after knowing that I'd be out of here soon. Ha Ha. Really looking forward to seeing the Taj Mahal and to see if its as awesome as hyped-up to be. After that its to the supposedly incredible province of Rajasthan. The best of India is coming soon...thank goodness.

Date: Sat, 22 Jan 2000

Well, here's what travelling in India is really like : 

A supposed 4 hr bus ride, a couple of days ago . 10 mins into it, we are on some crappy country road, its barely paved and I already have a headache from the jolting. I keep asking the driver, "this couldn't be the road to Udaipur???", but he pretends not to understand me (but they all speak perfect english when they want to sell you something). Anyhow, we arrive after 8 gruelling hours. Later that night I discuss the night-mare bus ride with friendly hotel manager and he tells me that it was an illegal unregistered bus which takes back-roads to avoid police checks. Funny thing was, I was suspicious right from the start since when I first boarded there were very few Indians and mostly tourists. Also, no Indians stayed the whole journey, they all got off at certain points along route. It makes sense since the criminal travel agents would never book a local on this bus since they'd know the scam right away if the bus takes another route. That's what really sickens me, the fact that many parties (travel agents, bus company etc.) collaborated to screw tourists because we are easy prey and don't know any better. 

Bus ride the day before. We approach the destination and people start to file out at various stops. The bus doesn't get anywhere near the city centre or bus stn but just motors to the outskirts, pulls over at some deserted piece of road and driver yells, "final stop !". By now its just the foreigners left and we are all pretty dazed and confused by it all. Only when I see the armada of taxis waiting for us at this deserted spot do I realize the screw. I'm yelling at the bus crew, "this is NOT the @!*#ing bus stop !!!" but they are already motoring off, grinning at us. What made this one remarkable was the fact that all the locals knew to get off before-hand. Its almost as if the conductor had announced (in Hindi of course), "hey everyone, get off soon because we are going to screw these dumb foreigners". 

So, you might think to yourself, 2 isolated incidents...not likely. Here in India, someone tries to screw you 10 times per day. You get smart and fall for very few but the attempt is ALWAYS made. A major aspect of individual non-package budget travel is that you have to constantly interact with the locals. An incredibly rewarding part of travel in most countires but a BIG NEGATIVE in India. It would be a gross over-generalization to say that all here are bad but its an undeniable fact that India has a MUCH MUCH MUCH higher proportion of scum-bags, undesirables and sheer bastards than any other place imaginable. So, what am I still doing here ?(I ask myself that many times each day). I'm still here because I feel that the best is yet to come as I head south. Also, its tenacity, persistence and a lot of masochism !! I will not let this @#$%ing country beat me so easily. 

Oh ya, the sights of northern India. Some really good worthwhile places (nothing spectacular though), a lot of mediocore stuff and a lot of crappy why-the-hell-does-anyone-incl-me-come-here sights. 

See you all, travelling is not always fun and games so don't feel too bad that its dreary mid-winter were you are, you could be in India !! 

Lee Chai

Date: Sun, 23 Jan 2000

Sounds incomprehensible but this (city of 12 million) is the first time I have been quite relaxed, comfortable and been largely left alone and not pestered. I guess everyone here is too busy with their own thing so the feeling of "normal" travel has breifly returned. 

Surprisingly Bombay is pretty clean, well-spaced out, actually has side-walks, has trees lining nice boulevards, very few beggars (gasp!!!), almost no touts, no shit on pavement, no armadas of cows sitting in the middle of a major junction, nobody pissing openly in the streets etc etc etc. It actually looks like a European or American city with a "scruffy-look".

 Its cosmopolitan and the first "civilised" place I have seen in India. As I said, quite a nice place. Its also a place to catch-up on stuff like : watched 2 movies already, spent a few hrs in bookstore reading, 3 visits to the first McDonalds I have seen in 5 months (I really must be going insane!!) and of course, cheap fast internet. 

I heard that being in Bombay for one day is like smoking 20 cigarettes but not today since its a Sunday so not many cars on the downtown streets. Street food here is fantastic too and doens't look too toxic since turnover is so high. 

Off to catch my Goa train and to the long awaited beach. 

See Ya

Date: Thu, 3 Feb 2000

Now in Kovalam Beach, only here cos there is surf. Unlike most people who just hang out in the immediate beach region I decided to be adventurous and visit the nearby local fishing village. 

100 metres into the village I have 10 ...maybe 15 kids following me demanding pens, money, sweets or whatever the $%#@ they can get from you. Next up, stroll to the beach where a bunch of fishermen are fixing up their nets. I wave "Hi" and ask if I can take a picture. The fellow in front shuffles his fingers the "give-me-some-money-first" universal sign. I give him a wild look, wave him off in disgust and trot off. Continue down the beach where dozens of small wooden fishing boats are parked on the beach. There's a stink in the air, I look closely and there's turds all over the sandy beach. I'm not talking one here and one there, I mean hundreds of lumps of shit all over. There's at least 5 guys in plain sight squating taking a dump in the wide open, right then and there. This is on the open beach in front of all their parked boats amongst others who are loading and unloading boats, fixing nets, sitting and hanging-out, doing their daily work etc. Tell me, what stupid retarded dumb-ass who dump all over the very spot they live and work ??? I realize that they are poor, uneducated, different culture etc but that is plain repulsive barbarism. As I sit here and type its been 4 hrs since my immensely "pleasant" stroll through that village and I still feel queasy and ill from the sight and the stink. 

So there you go, to answer my email subject line at top, neanderthal man do indeed exist today, they are in India. 

Major fun is just around the corner, I've just booked time in the Maldives and Sri Lanka. 8 days in a plush all-inclusive Maldives Resort will cost around $1600 (more than the past 2 months of travel put-together)!!! Hell, its only money...plus, you can't be a backpacker all your life. Actually, its not a bad price to pay for what many people have called the most beautiful spot on earth. 

Sri Lanka should be good too if I don't get blown-up somewhere. 

See Ya

Date: Thu, 9 Mar 2000

18 days in Sri Lanka were great. Small compact island 350 km x 180 km with great beaches, lush jungles, beautiful highlands, temples/ruins etc. Marco Polo said it the most beautiful small island he's seen. 

People there are the friendliest warmest bunch I've met so far on my travels. Make eye contact with a Sri Lankan and you'll always get a warm smile or grin. I had people give-up prime seats on a jammed pack bus and then stood the whole way because they considered me a guest to the country. I feel that this country has the brightest future of all South Asia (I visited them all except Bhutan and Bangladesh) if only they could resolve the ongoing 15 year civil war. 

Sri Lanka offers relaxed hassle-free traveling but lacks the energy, chaos and excitement of India. I would recommend it to someones who's new to South Asia, wants a taste of the region but does not want to get blown to pieces by India.

 Believe it or not I am pleased to be back in India for round number 2. I'm well-rested, eager and ready for it now. India is getting better and better as I learn more about it and begin to understand this nutty place.

Date: Mon, 13 Mar 2000

For me to commit to 15 hours on a train to the stifling hot heartland of India just to see a bunch of old caves is a real real stretch, almost a moment of lunacy ! Steve B, I owe you for this one since I went almost solely on your word. I prefered Ellora's which although had no paintings, had more mystery and feel. 

Off to Delhi tonight and to the Taj Mahal ASAP before the Clinton entourage arrives and has the whole damn place closed off. By a stroke of bad luck the first President to ever visit India is in the capital the same time I'm there....hello HUGE traffic jams. On the other hand, they are doing a massive clean-up job and booting all the street urchins (half of Delhi's population!!!) off to somewhere.

Date: Wed, 15 Mar 2000

Secondly, while in a crowded market some asshole sliced the pockets of my shorts not once but twice. I felt a sharp pain and thought I'd caught a nail or something Only back at the hotel discovered the 2 razor blade cuts which went through all 4 layers of clothes. Funny thing was, during my 20 min stroll in that jammed packed mkt I kept saying to myself, "this is an ideal place to get you pocket picked". I did not lose anything, the 2nd time someone has made a go at my snot tissue pocket. 

Clinton's coming to town and they are totally cleaning up the place. Streets are being painted, street people are being carted off etc. They were painting in pedestrian cross-walks everywhere. Nobody here in this continent even knows what it is let alone how to use it !!! Although I am not seeing the real Delhi I do enjoy seeing this sanitize version since I reckon I've seen enough dirt and crap already to last a lifetime.

Date: Mon, 20 Mar 2000

It was by far my best day in India and a truly unforgetable day. Its called the festival of colours because everyone chucks coloured paint and powder all over each other and the whole city goes mad for the day. India is a land of extremes and takes its festivals VERY seriously unlike the west whereby they're just seen as an extra day off. 

Late afternoon, things are starting to kick off so I stroll into town centre. Hundreds have already taken to the streets. Colored powder and paint is flying all over and at me too. No big deal, I saw it coming ....but the real surprise came when a ton of dark blue dye pours down on my head !!! I look up and there's 2 kids on the 2nd storey balcony with buckets of ammo using bicycle hand-pumps to blast paint at everything in sight. So, I join them. 

The next hour or so the 3 of us (two 10 year olds and one very big kid....ME) absolutely terrorize everything that blunders our way. We must have nailed over a hundred unsuspecting passerbys. People on foot, cars which left the window down, motorbikes and especially those on cycle-rickshaws were totally hammmered with blue, red, yellow, green paint. Coming from above street level, they just never saw it coming. They'd howl, shriek and scream.......I was absolutely pissing myself laughing !!!! Anywhere else on earth, we'd go to jail for what we did but this is Holi and we're in India, so it was all part of the festivities. 

But, what goes around, comes around. On my way back to the hotel I passed the main float parade. The decorated slow moving floats are packed with people on them, gleefully throwing and hosing paint at the spectators. Of course, the thousands of spectators on the streets, on rooftops, on balconies lining the parade route were responding with an unbelievable barrage themselves. So, you can guess what happens when they catch sight of the only foreigner around, wandering around at street level too. Its like bonus points to nail a foreigner and they (all of them) went totally ape-shit on me. I was absolutlely hammered. Every hose, squirt gun, bucket, paint balloon, catapult etc. was simultanouesly aimed at me. Its now 2 days later and I still have paint stains in my ear and other hard to clean places but thankfully it all comes off fairly easily. Had to throw the t-shirt away though. Now that's an experience of a life-time. 

Oh yes, saw the Taj Mahal a few days a ago. Stunning, no amount of hype, fame or pictures can prepare you for the real thing. I was totally blown-away. It is so good that I think everyone should see it at least once in their life. If you sat on a plane for 20 hours, saw it and flew home right away to make work on Monday, it'd be worth it. India truly has saved its best for last.

Date: Wed, 22 Mar 2000

Anyhow, my initial trip schedule has been messed-up due to over-staying in just about every country I visited so have to make adjustments. Scratch out Egypt, Israel, Jordan and Syria. 

Will focus on Iran and Turkey before heading to Europe for the summer. I am not short of time or $$$. I just won't make it to the Holy Land before the scorching summer heat. Also, I wasn't too pumped up for that region anymore. Apologies to the Pyramids, Petra and Jerusalem, its just a bunch of really beat-up old buildings there !!! I'll just stick to the mountains, beaches and country-side stuff. Will "kill" off some time with a jaunt to Shimla, old British hill station for some hiking and fresh country air. All Delhi has given me is a cold and the shits at the same time. 

OK, brace yourself people. I just started reading Sophie's World (the history of philosophy). All this is part of my attempt to become a "deeper" person, whatever the hell that means !! 

Not all was lost today, I got into the National Museum for 1 rupee with my expired fake student ID card (normal entry is 150 rupees). That totally made my day. Too bad the museum was boring as hell and I had to leave within 1/2 hour because my yawning was begining to bother others. 

Mother, no email for the next week so don't freak out OK.

Date: Thu, 6 Apr 2000

Its impossible to describe this place because it is so out of this world. Somehow, somewhere along the line India just went funny, or maybe, the rest of the world went funny and India stayed the same ! Everyday you'd see something crazy which you'd never see anywhere else on earth. I truly believe that you haven't "seen it all" until you've seen India. 

My India highlights were :
Taj Mahal - thats one nice chunk of marble.
Jaisalmer - it truly is the Golden City stuck in the 15th century.
Kerala back-waters - better than cruising the Nile?
Dharamshala - the only piece of real living breathing Tibet left.
Caves at Ajanta/Ellora - still can't believe I could like a religeous cave temple so much.
....and the best of all
was that one wacky day in Mathura for the Holi Festival which really summed-up India, total chaos. 

Tomorrow I leave South Asia after 7.5 months, I am very very curried-out. Next up is a country where you get the death sentence for "going-out" with a local female (but she only gets 100 lashes), males and females ski on separate slopes, can't bring in tapes with western music....you just know Iran is going to be good !!! 

Mother, might have no email for a month so don't freak out OK.

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