Thailand North to South

The first thing I have noticed about Thailand is how incredibly convenient and easy it has been to travel here than in the previous two countries I was in. When we arrived in Bangkok I was expecting to be overwhelmed since I have heard such horrible things about traffic and how crazy the city is. Everyone says to get out of Bangkok as soon as you can, but this not the reaction I had. It is definitely a bustling city with traffic comparable to Washington D.C. but cars here drive in their own lanes (most of the time) and there are actual highways, not potholed bits of pavement that are supposed to pass as roads. OK, so India and Nepal weren't that bad but compared to Thailand it seems like that at times. Bangkok also offers a lot of the typical urban comforts I am used to (including Starbucks which Kara was very very excited about after suffering from hot chocolate withdrawal for so long). It also has some incredible shopping and food at the outdoor markets and food stalls that seem to clutter every large Thanen (Road) and Soi (small alley or side street) of the city. We visited one of the largest outdoor markets, Chatuchowk Market which has everything from impressive paintings in actual galleries to housewares and knock-off pumas.

Mostly my time in Bangkok was spent taking in the main tourist attractions and wandering through the different neighborhoods. I also met up with the head of Democrats Abroad Thailand in the business district and filled out my election ballot. Go Obama!! So far I have managed to see two of the three presidential debates and I am hoping to hunt down a hotel with a TV that will cover the vote counts.
After three days we caught a train North to Chang Mai. The plan was to find a trek to do up north before returning to Bangkok. When we arrived in Chiang Mai we found a plethora of options for tours to visit various hill tribes and trek through the national parks in the area. We were interested in being able to stay with and learn more about the hill tribes in Thailand, which are minority groups of several different tribes living in the mountainous border areas of Thailand. Many of them lack Thai citizenship and suffer from being excluded from the government health care and education services most Thais get. Their culture is also traditionally vastly different from other groups in Thailand. However, the interest in them has generated some very exploitative tourist practices. Many of you may have seen the pictures of the women whose necks have been stretched by gold coils? This is one of the smaller hill tribes in Thailand. Most women had stopped being forced to do this, until interested tourists began flocking to see them, encouraging them to reintroduce the practice. Furthermore, many "long neck hill tribe villages" as their called by tours are actually created artificially for tourists. Despite this there ARE some culturally sensitive tours. Kara and I thought we had found one, after shopping around and asking a lot of questions. However, we were horribly mistaken. To make a long story short a visit to a snake farm, one cripsy dog, and a drunk horrible guide later we had returned to Chiang Mai a day early. We visited the Hill Tribe Museum and learned a lot more than we had on our trek.
We also took a cooking class in Chiang Mai and learned to make a lot of the delicious food we have been eating. The cooking school was located outside Chiang Mai on an organic farm and we made enough food for lunch and dinner. I made basil tofu, a red curry, mangoes and sticky rice, and a noodle dish. Kara did a green curry, spring rolls, and papaya salad. Between the two of us we can now attempt to make our favorite dishes at home.
After a week we were back in Bangkok in time for Halloween. I originally thought I would have to miss out on this holiday, but thanks to the large population of ex-pats there is Halloween in Bangkok too. We chose Silom Soi 4 as our destination, where the drag queens and gay men of Bangkok come for their Halloween bash. It was a little hard for us to get together our costumes but in the end Kara was a fairy, and I was a Starbucks cup. We scoured several markets and the malls to find our costumes. Bangkok is littered with street markets so there was no end to options of where to go. The streets of the city can literally transform over a couple of hours if there is a market that takes place their. Markets generally run really early in the morning, all day, or evening until late at night. You can find packs of street vendors to provide you with delicious street food, fresh fruits and veggies, flowers, crafts, clothes, or whatever else you can imagine. Wandering through these chaotic streets has been some of my favorite experiences in Thailand.
If the street stalls can't provide you with what you need than the Bangkok shopping complexes definitely can. We took the sky train to Sukhumvit to see a movie and look for Halloween supplies and were overwhelmed by the enormous and ridiculously upscale shopping complexes that line the road. With the busy traffic and two levels of sidewalk that run to all the malls (one along the sky train just above the street and one sidewalk along the road itself) I felt like I had stumbled into an episode of the Jetsons. The only difference being the sidewalks didn't shoot you through tubes. The inside of the malls are ridiculously crazy. I enjoyed the experience, but it was a bit overstimulating.
Halloween was the drag-tastic experience one would expect, although it wasn't quite as well attended as the high heel race in DC. Kara and I looked pretty ridiculous on the metro in our costumes in Bangkok but once we arrived to the bars at Silom Soi 4 we were definitely upstaged by the outfits there.
We have left Bangkok, and are now in Au Nang, a beach along the Andaman Sea. It is absolutely beautiful and after the craziness of Bangkok it is refreshing to be able to relax and enjoy being outdoors. We plan to island hop for the next two weeks before we have to be in Bangkok for a flight to Cambodia.

The monkey stole our channa and other animal adventures

Kara and I did not trek the Anapurna Circuit or climb to Everest Base Camp but we did still manage to do some of the adventure tourism Nepal is known for. In Pokhara there are several para gliding companies that advertise their services around town. I began asking around about prices, which initially concerned Kara, but after being convinced by multiple people that it was safe and we would not die she agreed to sign up with me. It was a tandem flight from one of the lookout points above the Phewa Tal Lake. The paragliders can be seen from Pokhara as they circle above the lake and we were able to watch them that morning as we had breakfast before our scheduled time (and after our yoga class of course!). We were driven up in a jeep with some of the pilots who would be taking our group. The pilots were exactly what you would expect of paragliders. They were all chugging energy drinks and hanging off the back of the jeep as we drove up. It was honestly like being sandwiched in that vehicle with overgrown ADHD children. I wasn't sure how I felt about them jumping of a steep hill with only a chute to save us.
Once we got to the top I was assigned my pilot, quickly strapped in, and told by him not to worry he would explain everything as we went along. All I had to do was run toward the edge of the hill toward the lake that lay just a couple hundred meters down! This did not comfort me. But I followed the instructions , chute inflated, and we were immediately whisked up into the air. The paraglider circled on thermals higher and higher above the lake. The day was incredibly clear and I could see the Himalayan range in the distance. It was absolutely beautiful, and although flying generally scares me to death this was incredibly relaxing. At the end we even attempted to do some stunts, spiraling down in what made me feel like I was on a roller coaster. Unfortunately we couldn't do much because I am not heavy enough. My pilot told me I should eat more pies.
A day later we hopped a bus to Chitwan National Park in the Terrai Plain. Unlike the cool comfortable weather in Kathmandu and Pokhara, this southern agriculture center of Nepal is hot as can be during October. Although uncomfortable it has created some amazing jungles that is perfect for watching wildlife. We booked a jungle safari on back of an elephant through a very environmentally conscious tour guide who went on for quite some time about the problems facing Nepal's environment. Quite informative.
Our trip atop the elephants allowed us to see alot of animals that would not be visible above the high grass. The elephants are also not considered a threat and we were able to get quite clost to several rhinos! It was amazing. They came thundering out of the jungle into the clearing we were in. It sounded like gunshots as branches cracked underfoot and then they burst out into the clearing and ran past our small herd. Later we also got right up beside one cooling itself off in a pool of water. We were also able to see crocodiles, birds, and deer. Earlier during the day we had been able to sit atop elephants also as they were washed in the river near the park entrance. The handlers let tourists climb on top as the elephants are lead into the water. We were soaked as the elephant we were on began filling it's trunk and shooting water onto it's back. Then it rolled over into the water and knocked us off. Quickly ending our ride.
After this quick tour we headed back to Kathamndu for a few more days of poking around the Kathmandu valley. We visited Swamambunath one afternoon, a temple that is perched above the valley on a nearby mountain top. As we were climbing the many stairs to the top of the buddhist temple, Kara's bag or popcorn and channa was grabbed from her hand suddenly. In front of us a large monkey jumped a few feet from us and sat down to greedily munch on our snacks. I was pretty annoyed, having spent the whole trip to the temple on the lookout for channa and other roasted crunchy snacks. I did not want to share with this monkey. I threw about half of my water at it before it gave up and made off with a smaller bag of our channa. I ran and grabbed the bag before another monkey could take it, but sadly the animal had slobbered all over our snacks and ripped open all the bags so none of it was any good. So sad. There were no other negative encounters with the other monkeys that swarm the temple steps. But I still can't forgive that monkey for taking all my delicious channa.
We flew out of Kathmandu and headed to Bangkok. On the flight We were able to see the entire Himalayan Mountain range. It was beautiful from that height. The snow capped mountains blended perfectly into the line of clouds in front of them. Absolutely incredible.

Presidential debates, animal sacrifices, and political protests

You can tell as soon as you get to the customs line at the Kathmandu airport that the tourists in Nepal are a different breed than those in India. There were no flower children to be found in the group of NorthFace, hiking boot clad men and women we stood behind as we waited for our visas. This trend continued when our taxi dropped us off at the Kathmandu Guest House, where there were a group of people sitting around a table discussing rock climbing gear as we checked in. Most people have come to do the multi-day treks or extreme sports that Nepal has to offer. I feel a little out of place since we have a one day trek planned, but other than that we are spending most of our time exploring Kathmandu, Pokhara, and Chitwan National Park. This itinerary even seems a little ambitious for our ten day trip after two main obstacles have arisen - Dasain, and the unpredictability of road travel in Nepal. Dasain is one of the largest Hindu festivals in Nepal, and since the country is overwhelmingly Hindu, almost everything is shut down as people take off work and travel to their native villages. This has gotten in the way of booking buses but makes walking around Kathmandu a very interesting experience.

The first day we woke up early and watched the presidential debates in our swanky hotel that actually had a television. (Go Obama!). Then we headed out to try and visit the Kathmandu Durbar Square and the Patan Durbar square. These were the centers of two of the three Nawari Kingdoms so each one had a palace and several ornate temples for various gods set up by the rulers over the years. Because it was Dasain this is also where people were congregating to pay their respects to the various Hindu idols in each temple. In fact all through the city there are small temples and shrines where people were making the rounds with their family members to present their god of choice with rice, grass, papad, and color. Color is a brightly died chalk like substance that is splattered on the idol's statue and around. This color was also added to the papad (crispy flatbread) and bright pink food could be seen strewn in the streets and piled in front of the statues.
In Durbar Square there were more offerings taking place. People were waiting outside of the main temple in a line that stretched across the square to pay their respects and witness the sacrificing of two hundred water buffalo, or that's what we were told. I'm not sure this number is accurate but the headless water buffalo calf that rolled by us in a cycle rickshaw. Further down a blood strewn statue to a hindu god also proved that there were animals who had given there lives to make ganesh, parvati, pashpuhtanath, or whatever manifestation of god happy. After this appatizing site we decided to remove ourselves to a rooftop restaraunt for lunch. From there we were able to take in the other major event going on for Dasain, kite flying. Most of the roves in Kathmandu are flat and everyone takes advantage of this on their day off for kite fighting. Small children could be seen running down the street clutching kites everywhere. At the second Durbar Square that afternoon it was pretty much the same story but less traffic and more erotic woodcarvings. Kara and I hung around in the Palace courtyard to watch one of these water buffalo have its head lobbed off, although I chose to just sit to the side when everyone crowded around the doomed animal. It was interesting to people watch since everyone and there family was out for the day flying kites, visiting shrines, or watching animals have their heads removed. Honestly what better way to bond with the family?
The following day we visited Pushphathanath and Bodhnath, the largest Hindu and Buddhist temples respectively. Pushphatanath is the site of the cremation ghats and the funeral pires are clearly visible for everyone to see as they walk around the temples. It was really eerie knowing that the smoke I could smell was coming from burning bodies. Because of the religious significance of the temple the place is littered with Sadhus, Hindu holy men who have given up all worldly possessions in their quest for enlightenment. They are housed in temples and practice yoga and meditation, but their dreads and layers of prayer beads make them quite photogenic. However, these men charge a lot more than one would expect of someone who has given up worldly good, and the willingness of some to pose with their beards held in the air in comical positions for 50 Rupees leads me to think that some may have further to go to reach enlightenment than others.
After two days in Kathmandu we hopped a bus to Pokhara in the west. Our bus rides in India have generally been less than comfortable so we did not have high hopes for this ride. However, we were quite surprised to find our bus was actually clean and thanks to the cooler temperature and lack of choking exhaust fumes (well at least less than India) the journey was quite pleasant. We even stopped for a bathroom and snack break at a nice restaurant. In India the bathrooms on bus rides were dirty enough that i think I could have caught a flying mutant parasite just from squatting over the toilet. Anyways, Nepal buses are great, but we hit a slight rough patch at about 10:45. Our bus ground to a halt in a line of vehicles, and when we peered out the window we noticed that the line continued along the highway as far as we could see. Taking a cue from the passengers on other buses we hopped out and began to walk down toward the cause of the delay. all along the road people had gotten out of their buses and were playing cards or enjoying an early lunch. A few chat and ice cream wallahs had even set up shop along the road, indicating that we might be here for a while.We went for a good mile before we finally found the source of the delay. There was a large Lori parked across the road and large rocks positioned behind that. Further along the road ran through a town's central market, but all the shops were closed and any vehicles we saw were sitting idol in the center of the road. After asking a few people we found out that the town was protesting the death of a local boy who had been hit by a bus. The family wanted the police to return his body and wanted repatriation payments for his death. Until the demands were met the town was shutting down the main intersection that was the only route to Pokhara. In the center of town we found the bus that started the problem. It had its windows smashed in and riot police were sitting nearby idly waiting for instruction should things escalate. Deciding it might not be best to stick around we headed back to our bus after finding a stall down an alley way that would sell us bananas when no one was looking (technically all the businesses were closed but the owners would still supply you with food and water if you weren't too obvious). It was two more hours after we got back to the bus, four hours total, before the blocks were removed and we continued on our way.

Trekking in Northern India

Today I have been struggling up and down the hills of Darjeeling. My very sore leg muscles make me look like a swerving drunk as I attempt to step gingerly between the crowds of shoppers and tourists in Chow Rastaa. I got back from Sikkim last night where I completed a six day trek that pushed my legs to their breaking point. I am taking today to recover.
We flew into Kolkata and spent only two days in the city before taking an overnight train out. The city is contains many picturesque buildings from when this was the capitol of the British Indian empire that are now rapidly detriorating. Sometimes the streets seem like they should be reconstructed scenes of a fourties movie excpet for the out of place people in saris, haphhazardly built chai stalls, and beggars lining the streets. Kolkata is a very large cosmopolitan city, with tons of things to do, but like all cities I have encountered in India it is congested and horribly polluted, so we did not feel the need to hang around very long before making our way to Darjeeling. In order to get there we took an overnight train to Siliguri and then boarded the toy train to Darjeeling. The toy train is left over from when Darjeeling was still a British hill station. It winds it's way up the hill at a snail's pace, and takes seven hours to reach the city. The train allows you to take in the landscape as you climb higher into the hills and it becomes increasingly cold. As we got towards the end teenagers in their school uniforms would run up and hop on the train as it crawled by to get a ride to the next town. We found out after the by jeep the ride takes two hours. We are getting back to Siliguri by jeep.
North of Siliguri until you reach the Sikkim border the population changes noticably. People here are mostly of Nepali descent and refer to themselves as Gurkas. Darjeeling and Siliguri recently experienced some intense protests because there is a large movement that supports the creation of a seperate state or Gorkhaland. This would allow them to seperate themselves from West Bengal and control decisions about education policy, tourism, and improve their ability to compete for jobs. As I was sitting at the computer today a large protest walked by outside of people chanting for the creation of Gorkhaland. This is taking place in the midst of a large assembly of school children celebrating Ghandi's birthday and the loud music and lights that have been put up around the city for Durga Puja. It makes Darjeeling feel rather busy, but even this is far more relaxing than the majority of places in India.
Since we are in Darjeeling we made sure to visit a tea estate and went to high tea at a hotel that is way out of our price range. I have drunk more cups of tea than I normally consume in a month. The tea bushes are planted into the sides of the steep hills and are spread out over a few acres making them a very distinct part of the Darjeeling landscape. I learned all about how they make the tea and was told about the differences in quality, but in all honesty I don't think I have improved my abilities to recognize the difference between the expensive tea and the cheaper chai I get most places. I would still rather have a good cup of coffee.
In Darjeeling we organized a trek for six days in Sikkim. The area of west Sikkim we went to required two permits and a guide to get to, plus none of us are experienced campers wo it seemed best to go with a group. The trek took us to Dzongri, West Sikkim which is 4,100 m up and consists of a few trekkers hut and some buildings used by Yak herders during the summer. Our group consisted of seven of us, a couple from France, a couple from Germany, Meredith, Kara, and I. The couple from Germany were the only ones with trekking experience and we had been told that we would not need extra trekking equipment. As a result when we set out from Yuksom the first day for our 16 km route, I was in my running shoes and jeans. After lunch it began to rain and our steep ascent for the last few hours quickly became quite miserable as we made our way to the first stop in Tshoka. My jeans were soaked and I did not have any other long pants to replace them. Our trekkers hut was in a village of seven people, yes seven. The building had a few rooms and most of the windows were missing window panes so it didn't provide much protection from the cold. The first stop was over 2,000 meters up so it got quite cold that night.
The next morning after breakfast we set out and it quickly started to rain again. The increased altitude made us significantly slower, we only had 8km to go the second day, but we moved really slowly so it took us a while. By the time we reached Dzongri it was two in the afternoon. The running pants I was wearing did not provide very much warmth so by the time we arrived I was having a bit of trouble moving my lips and fingers. We all immediately changed and crawled into our sleeping bags for warmth. For the next 16 hours we pretty much ate and lay in our sleeping bags while we waited for the weather to clear up. It rained all night and the next morning the rained turned to snow. We were in Dzongri for the first snow of the year. It only lasted a few hours and then turned to freezing rain. This left me wondering if I would ever be able to leave my sleeping bag and our tiny room for the rest of our trek. Finally in the beginning of the afternoon we looked outside to see it had cleared up. We all ran outside and started wandering around the hills surrounding our camp. The views of the mountains were incredible. We could see Darjeeling but it was the last hill visible behind many other large peaks. That night the sky was perfectly clear and we could see the Milky Way and every other star, I felt like I was at the planetarium. I have never seen the sky that clearly at night.
Early the next morning we hiked up to a tall peak at 4 am to see the sun rise and view Mt. Kachenjunga. Then we packed up after breakfast and headed back down the mountain. It took us two more days to get back to Yuksom. We got back mid day and hopped in a shared jeep back to Darjeeling. There were several places we wanted to go afterwards but Durga Puja has resulted in all the buses and trains being booked as people travel to see family for the holiday. We managed to find a bus back to Kolkata and are spending our last few days here before heading to Nepal.
Kolkata is where the largest celebration of Durga Puja is. Every neighborhood erects huge statues of the god and decorates this shrine in bombastic looking palaces made out of cloth, lights, and bamboo polls. Some have amusement park rides for children in them among other ridiculous attractions. The pandals, as their called are up for about a week before the images of Durga are carried to the river and submerged in water. Right now everyone is spending their days doing last minute Durga Puja shopping. There are huge sales advertised above every shop giving puja disounts. Traffic jams are everywher, consisting of bright yellow ambassador taxis, rickshaws crammed with people and shopping bags hanging out the side, men pulling carts of goods or well dressed Indians, motor bikes, and tons of people bustling around the city. There are even lines for the ATM's! Sadly we will have left for Nepal before the last day, but we are making sure to visit the pandals and enjoy the massive durga puja buffets and thali meals all the restaraunts offer.