Land of Unscented Soaps and Curry

Pictures are Sorted, Titled, and Ready to be Seen

2006-07-29T22:27:00.000-05:00

Despite almost losing over 400 of our pictures (mishap with the camera-computer transfer, but Jeremy fixed it with some software so we recovered all except a few photos), the best of our pictures are finally ready.

We sorted through over 1,300 photos we took over the course of 7 weeks to pick out the ones we most enjoyed so that you can get a sense of our trip and the things we experienced. We also made sure to apply captions to all of the pictures so you know what you're looking at. Instead of doing a public posting on our blog, we are emailing the picture website link to everyone. Our apologies if we forgot anyone - just send either of us an email and we'll be sure to send them to you.

We hope you enjoyed our blog, as we certainly enjoyed sharing our trip with you.

Back in the U.S. of A.

2006-07-09T19:43:00.000-05:00

We returned to D.C. on July 4th; how fitting. It is good to be home. Since we're back, we'll be winding down the blog. A few closing items will include some thoughts on our itinerary, the rest of the photos, reviews of the hotels we stayed in, and perhaps a few other items.

Wrapping Up the Trip

2006-07-03T00:23:00.000-05:00

Using our 3 day Angkor pass (they create an official ID card for you), we headed out to some of the farther away temples. Because we were traveling farther distances, we used a car/driver instead of our tuk tuk. We first went to Banteay Srei, a temple that is built largely with sandstone, so the current colors of the temple make it a beautiful site to see.

We then stopped at Banteay Samre, before heading to East Mebon, Ta Som, Neak Pean, and Preah Khan. Unfortunately, after the number of temples we have seen, many of them start blurring together and many are not as magnificent as Angkor Wat, Angkor Thom, and Ta Prohm. Preah Khan was somewhat different than many of the other temples; instead of simply a surrounding wall and the temple in the center, Preah Khan had 4 enclosed passages (although only the walls are currently remaining) coming from the east, west, north, and south to the temple in the center. Neak Pean was also unique in that it is a small temple built with a very wide moat completely surrounding on it, creating an island effect. Although today the moat is dry, during heavy rains it will actually flood.

Throughout our two days looking at temples, we were often approached by children (usually little girls) trying to sell us all sorts of trinkets and guide books. Their sales approach was often entertaining. It would start with "What's your name?" "Where you from?"- once you answer this question, they tell you the population of the capital. At one point I said I was from Djibouti, which produced just a smile. Unlike India, here, the kids would know to leave you alone after one or two "No thank you's." Our other favorite phrases were, "Ïf you buy, you buy from me, okay?" or "When you see temples, you buy when you come back?"

Surprisingly, we were able to get everything done before lunch. We headed to the Old Market area, which is considered the center of Siem Reap. We are bummed that we are not staying in this area, as it has the most options in terms of restaurants and activities. If the roads were better (most are dirt/mud roads that have large holes filled with rain water) we could probably walk to this area.

After a mid-afternoon nap, we headed back to the Old Market area for a good Khmer dinner - our last night on the trip. It has been an amazing 7 weeks, but as Jeremy said, we're looking forward to heading back to the States.

Woman: Hear Me Roar

2006-07-01T08:44:00.000-05:00

For the past seven weeks we have been traveling to countries where women are not given a very strong position in society (with the exception of Singapore). It has sometimes been difficult for me, as I have had to change some of my behaviors.

In India I was very good - I covered up with my shawl every day for 16 days straight. In Vietnam, Thailand, and Cambodia, I have not covered up for day-to-day walking around, but would almost always carry a shawl or long sleeve shirt with me in case we were going somewhere religious/sacred. I am happy to respect the local culture. The thing that gets me, is when I, as a woman, am required to cover myself up because my sex is seen as too sexual, but shirtless men walk the grounds of a sacred place.

In all the guide books we have, each one has a section for women travellers, telling me what to do and what not to do. Again, I'll abide by what is said, but that doesn't mean I have to be happy about it!

It has been interesting to see what positions women work in throughout the different countries. In India, rarely did you encounter a woman at work - in restaurants, men waited on us, in hotels, men cleaned our rooms - men filled most service positions. The only place we regularly saw women were as flight attendants (but sometimes still outnumbered by male flight attendants). In India, their place seemed to be more as private maid or cook, or staying home to raise and take care of the family. This surprises me, as the country has at least one very powerful female politician. We often saw signs on the back of tuk tuks saying "Women Empowerment." I doubt the drivers fully understood this concept.

In Vietnam and Thailand we saw women playing a larger role in society. They filled stereotypically female roles, and were also included in other roles such as construction. I was also really surprised (and delighted) to have a female tuk tuk driver in Sukhothai, Thailand - the first and only woman we've seen driving a form of transportation. Cambodia has also been similar, with women cooking meals in street side restaurants, while men filled more "important" roles like tour guide or front desk help.

I've chaired Women in Leadership Conferences and am part of councils for MBA women, so it's hard for me to swallow my pride and know my place is these countries. It also reminds me that I do have it pretty good in the States. We certainly have our own problems (don't get me started), but they still don't compare to where Southeast Asia is in terms of women advancement.

The Mother of All Temples

2006-07-01T05:49:00.000-05:00

From the Mosques in India to the Pagodas in Vietnam to the Wats in Thailand, we've seen a lot of temples on this trip, so I guess it's fitting that our last stop is Angkor Wat, the so-called "mother of all temples." We've heard the temples of Angkor are supposed to be quite spectacular at sunrise and sunset, so we got got up at 4:30am to head out to Angkor Wat. (This was not an original idea of ours at all - it's mentioned in our guide book, a few of our friends did it, and tour buses shuttle their groups out as well.) Unfortunately, since it's been raining the past few days, the sky was not at all clear and the sunrise was less then spectacular. That said, there was a big advantage to getting that early of a start: the first two sites we saw (Angkor Wat and Bayon) where not at all crowded.

The lack of crowds could also be due to the fact that getting to the inner parts of the temples requires a lot of climbing on narrow, steep staircases, which probably does not appeal to many people on group tours.

Angkor Wat itself was quite impressive. The scale of the structure is amazing (though not quite as amazing as the Taj Mahal, as Danielle pointed out), and there are incredibly detailed carvings and bas reliefs all over the walls, corridors and columns of the temple. Our next stop was Bayon (part of the Angkor Thom complex), which is famous for having 200+ stone carvings of an unknown smiling face on 50+ stone towers. Climbing the temple allows you to get quite close to these faces, which was striking. Next we looked around Angkor Thom a little more, though there was not too much to see. Our last stop was Ta Prohm, which is impressive because the temple has been overrun by the jungle - there are literally trees growing on top of the temple structures, with their roots climbing down the walls of the temples. Today, the jungle has been cut back so you can visit the site, but you can still see the effects of the jungle over growth.

Yesterday, we stopped by the Land Mine "Musuem," which was recommended by some friends of ours. I used the quotation marks because it is more a hut than a museum. Nonetheless, it was an interesting experience - the museum talks about how its founder has made it his mission to de-mine Cambodia with nothing more than a stick (one of the exhibits explains that because the mines don't contain a lot of metal, it's hard to use a metal detector), and the museum displays the different types of mines he's found (there are hundreds of them).

Tomorrow we will tackle some of the temples that are a little further a field. Just a week ago, Danielle and I were amazed that we have been traveling for six weeks, and we felt we could go another six (okay, maybe not six, but a least a little longer), but now we are both looking foward to getting back to the States.

Taking Off the Rose-Colored Glasses

2006-07-01T05:31:00.000-05:00

We arrived in Siem Reap, and the 6 hour drive through the country as well as Siem Reap itself has given us a better feel for the poverty level in Cambodia. When you think of a developing or 3rd world country, Cambodia definitely comes to mind. It is how you might expect a poor country to be. Unfortunately, Cambodia also has the reality that their "history" is still very recent, with Pol Pot dying less than a decade ago and the Khmer Rouge's affects still evident on the country (careful not to stray off the well-trodden path as you may step on a landmine) - all of this provides for a poor and tragic country (you can sometimes see landmine victims around town, in addition to the very poor children and adults).

Jeremy and I had an interesting conversation last night on the tuk tuk about Cambodia versus India. While the poverty levels of both countries seem to be on par, India comes across as much worse in part because the country is so filthy (people don't make an effort to pick up trash or urinate in bathrooms) and because there are so many people which the economy cannot currently support. It is also more surprising because we think India should be a lot further along than it is (because many international companies operate there and it has a larger presence on the international political and business scene), but yet Cambodia seems to be ahead of India (they even have small things like garbage pick-up which we never once saw in India).

We don't want to give the impression that Cambodia is doing really well, because it is clearly not. But they seem to have their act together a lot more than India, and will hopefully continue to thrive in the post-Khmer Rouge era.

US Dollar: National Currency of Cambodia

2006-06-29T06:58:00.000-05:00

As Jeremy talked about in an earlier post, friends of ours had said how awful Cambodia was in terms of poverty. From their descriptions, we anticipated something close to what we experienced in India. Having arrived in Phnom Penh this morning, we have been pleasantly surprised (if you can call it that). While the country surely is poor, and poverty can easily be seen, it is not on the same scale as in India.

We walked around a bit today - went to see the Royal Palace, Silver Pagoda, National Museum - and were aggressively approached by children, some begging for money and others selling items such as books or water. As a rule, we have not given to anyone begging in any of the countries we have gone to. While the begging can sometimes be hard to handle, we believe that money given to children doesn't always stay with the children and by giving money, foreigners help to keep children on the street because that is how they learn to make a living. It has also been clear to us that some amount of begging is dramatized (women pretending to breast feed babies when we come closer). While the government is unable to currently provide social service support, NGOs exist to help out (even in terms of restaurants that employ street children).

Compared to India, Cambodia on the outside appears to be in a better state - trash is not laying everywhere, people are not urinating wherever they please, emaciated people do not seem to be as common of a sight. Given the sheer number of people in India, the current economy does not seem to be able to support the number of people trying to eeck out a living.

The other interesting thing is that the most expensive parts of our travels will actually be in the poorest countries. Whether it is because of increased competition in richer countries or because the lack of a local middle class in India/Cambodia wanting similar goods as foreigners, we are charged higher prices for things like drinks, hotels, and even souvenirs than in countries like Thailand and Vietnam. In Cambodia, the US dollar functions pretty much as the main currency (with the Cambodian Riel provided as change for small amounts); it is very difficult to determine the value of items you are buying. It sort of makes it hard to swallow paying US prices for things with US dollars, but not receiving US quality in return.

Airport Aggravation

2006-06-29T06:56:00.000-05:00

It should be obvious to us (especially by now) that things do not always run as smoothly on this side of the world. Still, it's hard not to get angry / annoyed at some of little things, that while not so bad on an individual basis, can be quite aggravating in sum. For example, here is run-down of events that happened at the Bangkok Airport this morning that got our ire:

4am wake up call. Of course, in every city you have to get up at an ungodly hour everyone in a while to catch an early flight. We can only blame ourselves for booking a 7am flight. Nonetheless, after less than five hours of sleep, we're not likely going to have a lot of patience.
Excess baggage charge. We know Air Asia had a weight limit on checked baggage; and we knew were were going to go over this limit. We pretty much have been over weight limits for most of the trip, but no one has cared (or even mentioned it for that matter), until this morning. Of course Air Asia is perfectly within their rights to enforce their stated weight limits. It was a little annoying, however, that the flight was a little over half full, so the baggage area could not have been anywhere near capacity. What was more annoying is that at the Check-In counter you can only pay the ''excess weight'' fee with cash. To pay with a credit card, you have to get out the check in line, wait in another line, and then go back to the check-in line to get your boarding pass. Thankfully, by the time we got back to the check-in desk, no one else was in line.
The ubiquitous ''airport departure tax.'' We've had these at pretty much every airport in S.E. Asia, and, aside from feeling nickled and dimed (why can't they just build the tax into the ticket price, as they do in the U.S.?) it is not too annoying. What was really annoying, however, is that you can only pay the tax in Thai Baht. We, like most international travelers, I believe, made an effort to spend most of our Baht before leaving Thailand. We were surprised that they only accepted Baht at airport - no credit cards, no other currency (in Vietnam, you can pay the airport tax with U.S. dollars). So, we had to go cash a traveler's check to get enough money pay the airport tax. But cashing the travelers check left us with a lot more Baht than we needed.
The currency exchange we went to first couldn't accept traveler's checks because their machine was broken, so we had to hunt around for another currency exchange booth.
The ubiquitous airport bus. Of the 15+ flights we have taken with Asia, I think we've used a jetway only once or twice. Instead when they board the plane, you get on a bus which takes you to the aircraft. This extra step adds more annoyances because everyone rushes to line up at the gate, then they rush on the bus, then they rush off the bus to get on the plane. We're both looking forward to being able to board a plane directly from the gate.

Individually, each of these is not a big deal, but when they all happen within an hour and a half, it can be a little irksome.

Living Within Our Tax Bracket

2006-06-29T06:28:00.000-05:00

Travelling for 7 weeks has made us keep a close eye on how much we spend for things. In general we have stayed at moderately priced hotels, and have eaten meals that generally top out at $5 for the two of us. Even though we eat cheaply, we don't skimp on the taste. We eat at recommended restaurants, but for the price we are not getting things like ambience or air conditioning.

Early on, we made a point to try to have one nice meal in each country we have been in. But while we were splurging in Ko Samui, we thought it would be appropriate to have a couple nice meals (both in taste and ambience), especially since many nice meals are closer to $10-$15/person in Thailand compared to $30-$50/person in the States.

Our first nice meal was at the Italian restaurant at the hotel. While we didn't go all out (only had one course and didn't order wine), we had a lovely meal (with the chef taking our order). Unfortunately our second meal didn't treat us as well. Supposedly the best restaurant on the island, Betelnut was a fusion of Asian and Western food. The chef/owner came out to answer any questions we had (there were only three tables occupied - about 1/4 full). I orderd deep friend soft shell crabs - didn't quite realize that I was supposed to eat the entire thing (shell/claws/eyes and all - no thanks). I did eat most of it, but it just tasted deep fried - no real flavor. Jeremy ordered beef, and was underwhelmed by the tastes and quality of the cut. However, we both did enjoy our appetizers (chicken wontons and prawn spring roll), and a nice glass of wine. While we are happy we did a fancy night out, we didn't feel that the meal was worth quite what we paid.

Despite the one bad experience, we are still going to try having nicer meals interspersed with our cheap ones. Spending a fair amount of effort choosing inexpensive places, we have sometimes forgotten the income bracket we actually exist in. In the remaining days of our trip, we're going to try to remember that it is worth paying extra (while not sacrificing things like taste), especially since the little extra here goes a very long way.

Are We Still in Thailand?

2006-06-28T02:42:00.000-05:00

Yes, we are still in Thailand, though you might not know it given our surroundings. Here on Chaweng Beach in Ko Samui, it feels like there are more foreigners than there are Thais, and just as many restaurants have spaghetti as pad thai. All this makes for a strange experience - even though we are on the other side of the world, this place seems more European than Asian at times. That said, we don't regret staying on Chaweng, which although more developed than some of the beaches on the Island, provides easy access to restaurants, travel agencies, internet cafes and convenience stores.

And tailors. Much like Hoi An, every other store here is a tailor. It seems as though the basic laws of economics have been suspended to allow such a glut of tailor shops. Or maybe they haven't been: almost of these stores offer what seem to be impossible good deals: one suit, one sport coat, two shirts and one pair of slacks custom cut, all for $80 (or something like). This sounds cheap because it is cheap. Although we haven't ventured into any of these shops, with a price that low, the quality (of both the material and the tailoring) is suspect. (It's also really funny that almost every shop incorporates the 'Armani' name into its store name - Armani Collection, Armani Tailors. The best example was a Bangkok tailor shop called 'A.R.Mani.')

Nonetheless, Ko Samui has been very enjoyable and relaxing. Although other beaches on the island are probably more idealic, both of us appreciate being able to walk pretty much wherever we need to go.

Two days ago, we took a day trip to Ko Tao, a neighboring island, to go snorkling. Both of us were impressed with the number and variety of fish and coral we saw. Although getting out there entailed a bumpy hour and a half speed boat ride, it was definately worth it.

Yesterday, we decided to try kayaking Gulf of Thailand. We both though it would be a fun way to explore other parts of the island, but unfortunately, it was a lot less fun than we anticipated. Because the water is often quite shallow, we frequently found ourselves getting stuck on sand bars and rock formations. We were also a little disappointed that there given the rocks and the currents, there was not really anywhere interesting to go. We rented the kayaks for two hours but returned them after an hour and twenty minutes.

This afternoon we hop on a plane to Bangkok, where we'll spend one night before heading to Phnom Penh early (very early!) tomorrow morning. Interestingly, this trip seems to be bookended by the poorest nations on our itinerary. Friends of ours who have already been to Cambodia have warned that the poverty is shocking. Perhaps somewhat sadly, we think our travels through India have better prepared us.

Much Needed Break

2006-06-25T07:42:00.000-05:00

On the morning of the 24th we left the great north for the islands in the south. We headed to Koh Samui, one of the islands on the eastern side of Thailand in the Gulf of Siam. We have been looking forward to this part of the vacation since we left for India on the 15th of May.

To insure we really enjoyed this part of the trip, we decided to splurge on our hotel. We are staying at the Amari Palm Reef, second highest rated (by Trip Advisor) hotel on the island (although we didn't know that when we reserved the hotel). The Amari has some nice touches that we have not seen in awhile: multiple towels, large bars of soaps, quiet & working a/c, really nice breakfast spread, and very attentive hotel staff (there are even two men stationed at the street at all times to help you cross to the other side).

After arriving at our hotel we headed straight to the beach. The beach itself is quite nice - fine white sand that is soft under the feet. The water is also amazing - the clearest body of water either Jeremy or I have seen. And the water is easy to walk in - a good temperature, quite shallow for a long distance, and no waves/currents to worry about. While we like the beach, it has its moments of grossness - where the water hits the beach it can feel very muddy underneath your feet since the sand is so fine; this is particularly unpleasant during low tide. The beach also caters to an older crowd so it can be very quiet at times making it very peaceful. The hotel also has two pool areas which are nice, but we were spoiled by JW Marriott in Mumbai, India which was an infinity pool with built-in chairs/loungers inside the pool.

For dinner, we ate at a small place on the beach where we were literally two feet away from the water. Today we spent more time in the water, where small colorful fish swam all around us. Tomorrow we are going snorkling to a nearby island, Ko Tao, which has world reknowned snorkling and diving.

This morning, both of us woke up and decided that we were officially tired of Thai food (yes, Jeremy even admitted to being tired of Phad Thai). So we had nachos for lunch and are headed to a nearby Italian restaurant for some gourmet pizza. Yum.

Unfortunately the time here already seems to be flying by. We both wish we had additional time to do more (like go to the Marine Park, where the movie The Beach takes place) in addition to relaxing on the beach.

The Art of Massage and Bargaining

2006-06-23T01:43:00.000-05:00

Since we had tackled most of Chiang Mai's sights the day we arrived and since the Elephant Camp only took up the first half the of the day, we decided to indulge in our second massage. Since Thailand is famous in part for massages, and since we'd only had one thus far, we thought we were due for another. Still wary of having the vice-like grips of the Thai massuese applied to our backs, we opted for another foot maassage and chose a massage parlor recommended by Lonely Planet. The massage parlor was a lot nicer than the Wat Pho massage school and bit cheaper as well. We expected to have similar experience to foot reflexology massage we got at Wat Pho. Not quite.

First, it was not a reflexology massage (which involves pushing on pressure points on the feet with a small wooden tool). Second, the massage was not confined to the feet and calves - it went up the thigh and included the shoulders, back and neck as well. While the shoulder and neck massages were nice, both Danielle and I were a little uneasy about the back part, which involves: 1) putting you in a full nelson and twisting your torsoe until your back cracks; and 2) having you sit up on a mat while the masseusse, who is sitting behind you, pull you backward over her so that she is lying underneath your arched back. After this, I realized that I would not be getting any traditional Thai massages while I'm here, since they involve even more pulling and poking. Overall, we both have a love/hate relationship with the foot massages - parts of it feel great, but other parts either tickle or just hurt (I personally am not a fan of having my toes pulled to crack my toe knuckles).

That night we headed back to the night bazaar to make good Danielle's new shopping list, where she displayed her finely honed bargaining techniques through the "walk away" move: after asking how much something is, and stating your own new price, if the merchant does not agree to your price, you turn your back to them and move on. Often, the merchant will agree to your price, sometimes saying, "first customer discout." Perhaps the best example of this Danielle picking up a necklace that was quoted at 550 Baht for 300 Baht. Again, we think the key is demonstrating that you are not too attached to the merchandise, knowing the maximum price you are willing to pay, and being able to walk away if the merchant does not meet that price.

Elephant Camps

2006-06-22T03:20:00.000-05:00

Our second day in Chiang Mai we went to see some elephants - our main purpose for coming to the city. We decided to arrange a private car to take us, as it was made economic sense and also cut things out that we didn't need to do on a tour (snake farm or orchid farm). The big decision was which camp.

I had originally wanted to go to the Elephant Conservation Center in Lampang, but in speaking with several travel offices, it seemed more difficult and expensive to do. Instead, the one that every office had tours to is called Maesa Elephant Camp. My concern was that the Maesa camp was geared only towards tourists and didn't care as much for the elephants - something I didn't want my money supporting. Lampang is the national conservation center and is the main hospital for all elephants to go to. But the ease of getting to Maesa (20km vs 70 km) couldn't be ignored.

Jeremy indulged me, and we stopped into an internet cafe to do some impromptu research on the Maesa camp. From a few different websites I was satisfied that the camp treated the animals well and that they were concerned with their welfare.

So, back to the story at hand.

Our driver took us to the elephant camp, where we arrived before many of the tour groups. Since the first "show" started at 9:40am, and it was 9am, we decided to go for a 30 minute elephant ride. There is a two-seater bench strapped to the top of the elephant. At first I was a little hesitant as we got going - the ride takes you through the surrounding jungle, so the path is very muddy, making the ride rocky. But I quickly became used to it. Our elephant, a 33 year old female named Mae Khammee, was rather graceful. Our mahout hopped off at one point to snap some pictures of us - they turned out great which made me really happy. We also went into the stream for her to take a drink (and tried to avoid the really large spiders hanging from the trees).

After our delightful ride, we went to see the elephants bathing in the water. Following this, we went to go see the "show" the camp puts on. All in all it was quite ridiculous. They have the elephants do things like play the harmonica, dance, play soccer, and paint pictures. We did not feel comfortable sitting there and watching these performances. When you go to a circus or zoo you know what you're getting and you expect some form of show. Here, I was expecting to be educated on the elephants and how they have been used in terms of making work easier (at the end of the "show" they did do a logging part, showing how the elephants are used as part of work - we found this very interesting, although most of the audience seemed to have preferred the harmonica playing). A part of me wishs we had gone to Lampang where their "show" doesn't consist of these silly tricks.

After the "show," we went to the nursery where I got up close and personal with some of the baby elephants (one wrapped its trunk around me). I also purchased a couple items made of elephant dung. Nothing says "I love you mom" like elephant poop.

The camp also brags about their entry into the Guinness Book of World Records where they have the world's most expensive painting done by a group of 8 elephants. The painting sold for US$39,000 and can be seen at the camp. Other paintings are sold there, but as expected, they are grossly overpriced.

While I wasn't thoroughly pleased with the elephant camp, I also understand the reality that not as many options currently exist. The Maesa camp does care for its elephants, even though they are expected to perform degrading tricks. The tourist portion of the camp ends mid-afternoon to allow the elephants time to freely wander through the surrounding jungle. The camp is also a good source of funding for the care of elephants (apart from medical attention, they require a lot of food every day) - without quality camps, elephants may continue to dwindle in number.

While I'd prefer a camp that catered less to tourists and more to the elephants, I also realize that alternatives don't always exist, at least for now.

Are We Backpackers?

2006-06-22T02:57:00.001-05:00

When Danielle and I were preparing for our trip we were debating whether we should bring traditional luggage with us or big backpacks. We opted for the latter, thinking backbacks would be easier to tote around. Since we are carrying around backpacks, using Lonely Planet to pick many of our restaurants and some of our hotels and booking tours through budget travel agencies, on occussion we've asked ourselves if, despite our fancy MBAs and soon-to-be corporate lacky jobs, we too are backpackers? Well, after a short debate, the answer is a firm "no." Here's why:

We've used Marriot and Starwood points to stay at a couple of fairly nice hotels. (And have felt a little out of place sitting with our backpacks in the lobby.)
We have yet to take a train anywhere. Thus far, our primary mode of inter-city transportation has been airplanes, and, on one occusion, a bus.
We often opt to spend an additional $10 - $15 dollars per night upgrade from "guesthouse" accommodations to 2/3-star hotels.
On occasion we've chartered private cars, so we could do sight-seeing on our own schedule
When arriving in a new city, we always either take a taxi to our hotel or arrange for the hotel to meet us at the airport (often priced similar to a cab). We've never taken a bus or train to or from the airport.
The only form of public transportation we've used was the subway in Singapore.
A couple of times we've had the bellmen from the hotel come fetch our bags when we were checking out.
We have not eaten from any street food stalls.
In Chiang Mai, a city perhaps most famous for its treks to view pre-literate hilltribes, we opted not to do any trekking.

Are we spoiled? Perphaps. Is it worth it? Most definitely.

Danielle's Shopping List Continues to Expand

2006-06-22T02:57:00.000-05:00

After an early morning flight out of Sukhothai, we headed to Chiang Mai in northern Thailand. Happy to leave Sukhothai, we arrived in Chiang Mai expecting to have someone from the hotel pick us up at the airport. After waiting for about 20 minutes, we phoned the hotel, only to have them say they were not aware of our reservation. We had booked the hotel through a website called Sawadee.com. After going back and forth, the hotel sent a car to pick us up. While they said they had not received the reservation, they went ahead with checking us in and offered their apologies (best customer service we've had in a long time). The hotel is a pretty good value and is in a great location - right between the Old City (complete with actual city walls) and the Night Market.

Surprisingly, Chiang Mai is Thailand's second largest city. But compared to Bangkok it is much smaller. We really like it so far. It is definitely a city (there are 4 Starbucks and a Subway & McDonald's chain), but is not as overwhelming as a big city can be. The weather is also much better - mid-80's.

Despite an early morning flight, we decided not to nap and instead headed out to eat and see some of the city. We saw some of the more famous temples in Chiang Mai: Wat Chedi Luang, Wat Pra Singh, and Wat Prasat. For dinner, we took our cues (once again) from the LP and went to a restaurant that served northern Thailand dishes. We tried the khao sawy (egg noodles with chicken in a curried broth) which was really quite yummy. As we were wrapping up dinner, I looked across the street (it was an open air restaurant, as most are) and saw four guys waiting to cross the street. I realized they were our classmates who we had previously seen in Bangkok - small world.

After dinner, Jeremy and I headed to the Night Market to check out what sorts of goodies we could stuff into our already bulging bags (mine might be bulging a littler more than his). The actual market (there are many stalls lined up on the sidewalks that are not technically part of the market) is a three level building that is actually on the upscale side compared to the other markets we've been to in Bangkok or Vietnam. The rows were pretty big to walk through and the stall owners were not nearly as pushy. When we can, we try looking one night and buying the next - it helps with knowing what price things sell for (and I'm not very good with spot decision making). Unfortunately Jeremy has given up his quest for white sunglasses and upgrading from a less ghetto wallet (he had purchased a very cheap wallet in Vietnam because he had been carrying his money loose before). But I think he'll keep looking.

Sukhothai: The Rich Man's Ayutthaya

2006-06-20T04:32:00.000-05:00

We decided to visit Sukhothai, which is somewhat off the proverbial beaten path, because it houses 45 square kilometers of ruins from the first capital of Thailand, dating from the 13th century. Today, there are really two Sukhothais: the Old City which houses all the ruins, and the New City, which is modern Sukhothai and the location of nearly all the hotels and restaurants. We were hoping to be a little more wowed by the Old City than we were by Ayutthaya, and for the most part, the old city delivered.

The ruins consist almost entirely of temples, but many of the large Buddha statues throughout the city are still preserved. Since the Old City is so vast, we rented bicycles with the ambition to explore the entire historic park. Unfortunately, between the heat, humitidy, then the rain, and the fact that most of the temples look the same to our untrained eyes, we gave up after about 4 hours.

While the Old City of Sukhothai impressed us, the New City left us underwhelmed. The New City seems to have very little to offer, and last night we had a tough time find a restaurant that was open at 9pm. And the only restaurant that was open was called "Poo Bar" (operated by a man walking around in high heels, and a transgender waitress who was very sweet). We did, however, get a new experience riding back to our hotel. We had taken a few tuk-tuks in Bangkok, but in Sukhothai, they have a variation on the tuk-tuk them. While the tuk-tuks in Bangkok, like the auto-ricksaws in India, have a motorbike front with the passengers sitting in an enclosure behind the driver, here they have a wooden platform with two wooden benches attached in front of the driver, so that the driver is sitting on a motorbike behind the passengers. It was probably one of the least safe vehicles either of us have ever seen.

Overall, both of were glad we chose to stop here, as it made for a little out-of-the-way adventure.

Tomorrow we head to Chiang Mai, on another painfully early flight.

Long Live the King

2006-06-19T07:20:00.000-05:00

To pick up where Jeremy left off...

Day 3
To add to Jeremy's post, we also did a foot massage. Among other things, Thailand is the land of massages, so we had to get one done. Unfortunately, I'm hesitant about letting just anyone touch my back, as it can be an easy thing to mess up if pressed in the wrong way or spot. So we stuck to feet. There is actually a massage school at Wat Pho, so we both did a 45 minute reflexology massage, which was very nice. The rest of our bodies felt neglected.

Day 4
Because we got a late start to the third day, we were unable to see everything from a sightseeing perspective. We started our day heading across the river to Wat Arun (Temple of the Dawn). It's amazing to us how large the Wat complexes are and how beautiful all the constructions are - even the smaller Thai Wats so far are much more impressive than the major Temples we've seen in other Southeast Asian countries.

Unfortunately the Mass Rapid Transit system in Bangkok (maybe another complaint of ours) doesn't extend to the west part of the city, where all of the major sites are (Palace, etc), so we tried taking the ferry system they have, but again, we could not decipher where the express boat stops because signs are not at all clear (even the ones that were in English didn't make sense), so we were left to taking a cab or tuk-tuk places.

We headed to the Jim Thompson House. Thompson was an American who had been an architect and part of the CIA during his lifetime. Falling in love with Thailand, Thompson made a home there and introduced the fashion industry (ie Vogue) to the use of silks from Thailand. He disappeared mysteriously in 1967. His house is now a museum, showing off works of Thai and Asian art he collected during his lifetime. It was a nice change from all of the Wats we had been seeing, and we're both big fans of seeing artwork in its "natural" surroundings like a house instead of a sterile museum. However, I wonder how well preserved some of the artwork is, as many/most of the rooms are not climate controlled.

Then it was to lunch, where I restrained myself from getting McDonald's (craving a little bit of western food - had pizza instead) and Jeremy battled with the pad thai (he ordered it, but it came with seafood even though he specifically asked for no seafood - had to send it back twice, and there was much confusion on the food court's side, but everything worked out, except he ended up getting pasta, which was sad).

We then braved the rain (we have been very very lucky with weather, so a day or two of rain is no big deal), and headed to the massive weekend market via the MRT system. Unfortunately, we could not find a map of the market (there are over 3,000 stalls), but amazingly enough we made our way around without too much of a problem - even though there was odd placement of stalls, such as pets next to souvenirs. We were also amazed that both of us did not get more frustrated with the aimless wandering as we tried looking for stuff. Both of us had our shopping lists, but I did much better than Jeremy. With a lot of handmade and original clothing/accessories/etc, I bought a couple purses (for the first 4 months of dating Jeremy, he noted I always used the same purse - not sure where the current purse purchasing has come from - he thinks it combines by desire for practicality and buying local goods), a shirt and skirt, and a couple souvenir-y items. If we lived in Bangkok we would probably do most of ou shopping at the market instead of at malls, simply for the unique items you can obtain. The bargaining has also become more enjoyable for us, since it's easy to deal with than in India.

Once the market closed up around 6pm, we took a taxi back to the Banglamphoo area to do some more shopping, where Jeremy picked up a couple t-shirts, but no luck with his other shopping list items (he really wanted a pair of white plastic sunglasses, but the only ones available were cheap-looking knock-offs). We then had a very satisfying dinner before heading back to our hotel.

Day 5
Unfortunately we didn't quite realize how early our flight out of Bangkok was - had to wake up at 4am. Ouch.

Also of note, it has been the King's 60th anniversary of accession to the throne, so there are numerous shrines around town (sometimes in the most odd places) that have a large picture of the King (still wearing 1970's glasses) and flowers surrounding it. People are also decked out in bright yellow polo shirts with the imperial emblem on the front And finally, my favorite, people are wearing Lance Armstrong-like yellow wrist bands that say "Long Live the King."

While Bangkok is definitely a big city, it is surprisingly laid back. People walk at a slower pace than in New York, and you're not as bothered by things like tuk-tuks as in Vietnam. Not to mention, you can actually walk on the sidewalks which is nice. With just 5 days in Bangkok, we can easily understand why people love Thailand.

Now we're sitting in an internet cafe in Sukhothai, the first capital of Thailand, where we'll spend the next couple nights. Unfortunately it's absolutely pouring outside....

Goodbye Pho Ba, Hello Pad Thai

2006-06-19T05:58:00.000-05:00

We've just finished up a five-night stay in Bangkok. Both Danielle and I really liked the city - I think it is on par with New York, London, Paris, Rome, Tokyo, etc. as one of those "great cities of the world." There is a lot to see, eat and buy. There are gorgeous temples scattered throughout the city. The food is great and does not cost too much more than it did in Vietnam. I think we only have few negative things to say about the city:

Bangkok is famous (or rather infamous) for its traffic and pollution. The traffic is pretty bad, probably not as bad as L.A. during rush hour, but still fairly unpleasant.
The signage is poor, making the city difficult to navigate. This was a surprise given our experience in Vietnam: although Vietnam is less economically developed than Thailand, it does a better job catering to tourists. On the one hand, I don't think it's our right to have English signs wherever we go, but on the other hand, if your language has an alphabet that is only used in your country, you should have signs around the tourist areas in some sort of Roman alphabet based langage. Some street signs are written in English, but, for example, the entrance to the Grand Palace, the city's main tourist destination, is not at all clearly marked (we walked around the entire thing in order to finally find the entrance).
Touts and liars are abound. Thais are famous for their friendliness (Thailand is the "land of smiles," right?), and people often approach you on the street to welcome you to Bangkok, ask you where you're from, etc. Then, however, proceed to tell you that you should go visit some minor temples, and that a tuk-tuk (a form of taxi) will take you all around for 20 Baht (about $0.50). However, not only will they take you the sights, they will also take you to stores where they get commissions from bringing in customers. The other commom lie we often heard is that the Grand Palace was "only open to Thais" that day, which was never true. At one point, we asked someone on the street where the entrance to the palace was, and he told us we would not be able to get in because I was not wearing long pants, when I was, in fact wearing long pants. When I pointed to my pants, he then pointed to his watch and said the Palace was closed for the day, when we know that it was actually open for another hour.

In spite of this, we still really enjoyed our time in Bangkok. I really like Pad Thai, and we've managed to have it for dinner four out of the five nights we were in Bangkok. I was a little worried because I've heard that "real" Chinese food is nothing like "American" Chinese (and I think our experience in Singapore validated this), so I was concerned that I would not like "real" Thai food. I am happy to report, however, that Pad Thai in Thailand is similar to Pad Thai in the U.S., at least at the restaurants at which we ate. But I have not yet found any place that serves "Crazy" or "Drunken" noodles, which is my second favorite Thai dish.

Here's what we did:

Day 1:
On the flight to Bangkok, we decided to pass on a day trip to see the Bridge Over the River Kwai, because, while historically significant, we read that most people found it disappointing. Since we had some more time to spend in the city than we originally planned, we decided to take it slow the first day: we walked around the main back-backer area, Banglamphu, and over to the Golden Mount, a temple on hill, which was actually not that amazing.

Day 2:
We took a day trip to Ayutthaya, which was the second capital of Thailand (Bangkok is the third capital). I think neither Danielle nor I were as impressed as we thought we would be: most of what we saw were 13th century ruins; overall the old city was not very well preserved, in the most part because it was sacked by the Burmese army in the 18th century. I think given the age of the town, we expected it be in better shape. That night we met up with a bunch of our classmates to celebrate a friends 30th birthday. We spent most of the night at Bed Supper Club, an upscale lounge / dance club. I know there are Bed clubs in the U.S., but I'm not sure if they are all part of a chain (this one does seem to be part of a chain). It was quite fun to be able to imbibe while reclining. We had heard that there were a number of "working girls" at this fine establishment, and we had a good time trying to pick them out of crowd.

Day 3:
This was our main day to tackle Bangkok's big sights: the Grand Palace, Temple of the Emerald Buddha (really part of the Grand Palace), and Wat Pho, which houses a giant gold reclining Buddha. We were both blown awayby the grandeur of the Palace and the temples; both rival the great palaces and cathedrals of Europe. We probable took over 70 photos trying to capture everying. The only downside is that the since the Palace complex closes at 3:30pm, you need to get a reasonably early start to the day so you can allow two hours to see everything, which we unfortunately did not do. Instead, we had to rush through the Palace and Temple of the Emerald Buddha in about an hour. For those who plan on visiting the palace in the future here are few pieces of potentially useful information:

Contrary to what people on the street tell you, the Palace does not usually close for special occassions, so check for yourself before turning away. (Most guidebooks give this advice).
The entrance is on the North Side of the Palace Complex.
Although there is a dress code (no shorts or sleeveless tops, skirts must fall below the knee), you can borrow clothes at the palace. However, it's much easier if you come dressed appropriately, since you have to wait in line to borrow clothes. They are pretty strict about the dress code: previously Danielle had been wearing tank-tops and had been covering her shoulders with a shawl, but this was not acceptable at the Palace.
We were adviced to get there early to avoid the crowds, but we did not find it that crowded when we got there (around 2:30pm).
Although the Palace officially closes at 3:30pm, we hung around until 4pm, and did not see anyone being ushered out.

I'll let Danielle pick up with Day 4.

Good-Bye Viet Nam

2006-06-14T09:41:00.000-05:00

Our tour of Vietnam ended with a stop in Hanoi in the north. Not quite as large as HCMC, it was nice to have most everything within walking distance of our hotel. We stayed at the Camellia hotel, of which there are about 4 . We ended up having a roommate - a friendly and speedy little gecko, that lived with us for the three nights we were there (unfortunately his tail was cut off a little because we called someone up to the room to get it out, which he failed at, but in the process took off some of the gecko's tail.)

Staying in the Old City, we were able to walk around the various streets, each specializing in their own goods. You would easily know if you were on the shoe, clothes, sporting goods, and wallet streets, as whatever the good, there would be tens of shops selling the exact same thing. We were told by more than one person that Hanoi is a great place to shop - and it definitely is. So I made my shopping list, and was able to check everything off.

When we arrived in Hanoi, we met a friend and colleague of Jeremy's parents, Lou, for lunch. He works at the Embassy in Vietnam, and was gracious enough to speak to us about his take on Vietnam and specifically what sites we shouldn't miss. It was a lovely lunch, with a lot of great information shared.

Putting our game plan together, we decided to concentrate on booking our day trip to Halong Bay and window shop.

The following day we went to the Temple of Literature, Ho Chi Minh's Mausoleum (outside only), One Pillar Pagoda (not too exciting), and saw a Water Puppet show at the Municipal Theater (a Vietnamese art; nowadays aimed at tourists, but still entertaining). We then started our shopping.

I think one highlight of Hanoi was the shopping (as silly as it sounds) because it allowed us to just wander the streets and take in the culture and country. There is also a lot of really great artwork in Hanoi, many lacquer paintings which we perused. With three big shopping bags hanging from us, we grabbed dinner and headed to bed.

We had the following day to head to Halong Bay, a beautiful body of water with clusters of limestone rock formations. The legend goes that the mother dragon lived in these waters and made the various rock formations with her tail. Taken around on a dragon boat, we had lunch in the bay, and then were taken into a couple caves inside the formations discovered over the past 11 years. Similar to the Carlsbad Caves in the US, there were exquisite stalactites and stalagmites within the caves. I actually think the Carlsbad Caves are better because you're able to see so much more of the caves than the ones we were taken to.

While we enjoy the day trips as it allows us to stay in one hotel a few nights (base location) while still seeing a lot, we often get frustrated with the tour companies. Your time is not of high value - you're kept waiting - waiting to be picked up (once told 7:45am, didn't get pick up until about 8:35am), waiting to get the tour part started, waiting to return(two people on two different tours have missed flights). Sometimes it would be nice to do all of this on our own, but after all the frustration passes, we're always happy we went.

This morning we left Vietnam for Thailand and are in Bangkok for the next five nights. It's hard to believe our trip is a little more than half over - although both of us were ready for a change in location. I'm a little tired of dodging motorbikes on the sidewalks and streets (not that Thailand will be better). And unfortunately, I am beginning to master the box-out (we've found that when you're standing in a line, you need to be really really close to the person in front of you, otherwise someone will just walk right in front of you as if you don't exist).

Jeremy has had his first Pad Thai in Thailand, and he will be using all of his restraint not to have the dish every single day - maybe just every other day. I'm most looking forward to riding an elephant, resting on the beach, and snorkeling.

Ralph Lauren Would be Proud

2006-06-14T09:23:00.000-05:00

In Singapore, Danielle decided she should buy a smaller roller suitcase (before she had only had a backpack and a large purse-type bag) to reduce the weight of her pack to better fit the weight restrictions for checked baggage. When we were shopping for luggage in Singapore, we noticed that almost every bag in the lower-end of the price spectrum had some sort of "Polo" brand. Interestingly, they were not trying to pass the luggage off as knock-off: none of the bags said "Ralph Lauren," "Chaps," or "Polo Sport." Instead, they all had names like "Swiss Polo," "U.S. Polo, or "Polo King." And each of the bags from these brands looked almost exactly the same. Danielle ended up choosing the prestigious "Beverly Hill Polo Club" line (or BHPC in more common parlance). When we went to the airport in Singapore (and pretty much every subsequent airport), about every third perso has some sort of "Polo" suitcase.

Danielle has found that the BHPC has served quite well this far.

United States - Never Heard of It

2006-06-11T09:09:00.000-05:00

Our bus from Hoi An to Hue was a nice large bus with good air conditioning, and not too crowded. We made a stop at the Marble Mountain in the Hoi An area and another random stop because we were ahead of schedule (there's no sense in actually getting somewhere early).

Although we coincidentally timed our visit to Hue during their big Hue Festival, we did not partake in any of the festival events (it wasn't clear to us what events were actually happening). Known for its conical hats, I had wanted to buy one - the conical hat is still in every day use for locals. We headed to one of the local markets via cyclos (a driver on a bike with a seat in front)- it's a maze of sellers of all sorts of stuff, from produce to general merchandise to souvenirs. An English speaking woman approached us and asked us what we were looking for - as we didn't have the patience to wander aimlessly, we expressed our need and she led us to a cousin's store. Engaging in conversation she complimented me - saying I have a "very nice shape," which Jeremy found amusing. I purchased two conical shadow hats - they show every day shadow images on the inside of the hat when held to the light.

Taking it easy for the remainder of the day, we signed up for a city tour for the following day. We saw:

Citadel - seat of the former imperial government
Tu Duc Tomb
Minh Mang Tomb - overrated - very similar to Tu Duc, but Lonely Planet said it was the most magnificent
Khai Dinh Tomb - really magnificent, but unfortunately no pictures are allowed inside
Thien Mu Pagoda - supposed to be beautiful, but it is undergoing construction, and from the looks of it, it's more rebuilding instead of renovation which is unfortunate
Tu Hieu Pagoda - very beautiful and serene. When we visited, the monks were praying.
Conical hat and incense making stalls

We also had lunch at a Pagoda. While set up for tourists, Jeremy and I really enjoyed the lunch. It was probably the first really tasty meal we've had in Vietnam. They also had the squatting toilets with water used to manually flush - we've taken to carrying around our own roll of TP. We also had a dragon boat ride on the Perfume River - not worthwhile, especially since we were ready to crash and just wanted to get back to the hotel to rest.

Apart from us, there was one other American (rare, as we run into more Europeans than anyone else), two Chinese, and three Vietnamese. One of the Vietnamese women asked Jeremy where we were from. Saying U.S., the woman stared back at him with a blank look. Trying different words, like United States or America, the woman still did not seem to register the country. Jeremy even tried explaining Canada (which she seemed to understand) and that our country was below Canada - but nothing. We found this amusing, especially since the US$ is a secondary currency here, oh, and a little war that we were involved in a few decades back.

That night we headed to Little Italy, an Italian restaurant recommended by the LP. It used to be just down our street, but had moved because a hotel is being built there. I found this entertaining, but there is a sign saying Little Italy has temporarily moved, and they have a guy sitting out there, ready to show you where the new location is - I absolutely loved this. He sits out there every night, just waiting for people to walk by. So he took us to the new location, which was only one block away. We had pizza - while not the best, I was in heaven simply because it wasn't a noodle or rice dish.

Hue was not quite as touristy as Hoi An, and we seemed to better understand why it is a World Heritage Site. We left Hue this morning, and are now in Ha Noi, our last stop on our Vietnam travels.

Hello! What's your name? Where you from? You buy something.

2006-06-08T06:46:00.000-05:00

Departing Ho Chi Minh City with Pacific Airlines, we arrived at a smaller and quieter airport in DaNang, in central Vietnam. (As a side note, I am fascinated by the different behaviors of people in airports and airplanes. In India, people form lines before being asked to. There was a lot of pushing and shoving, even if there was no where to go. Row numbers aren't called, so it's a free-for-all. And on the planes, when we land, as soon as the plane stops, people jump out of their seats and start shoving again. Singapore there some chaos, but not as much, as people were relatively more patient. In Vietnam, however, the same phenomenon occurs. Fascinating. I digress.)

We had someone from our hotel, Thien Thanh, pick us up at the airport. We drove to a city just south of DaNang called Hoi An, where the "Old City" is deemed a UNESCO World Heritage Site. We were heartily welcomed at the hotel. For a whopping $18/night, we have two double beds (one for our backpacks which have exploded on the bed, and the other for us) and breakfast is included, and all the basic amenities - so much nicer than our hotel in Goa!

We followed the Lonely Planet's walking tour in the afternoon. For one ticket, you get to see about 5 sites or so. We chose mainly based on what we read in the LP for each of the sites. It's interesting - the LP talks about how Hoi An is a little more conservative than other parts of Vietnam, so dress accordingly. So I wore my longer skirt and my shawl around my shoulders, and Jeremy wore his long pants. However, we saw so many Westerners wearing tank tops and shorts. The local people definitely dress more conservatively than the locals in HCMC. I think it's unfortunate when people don't take the time to learn about where they are and what's culturally appropriate and what's not. Even the sites we entered in Hoi An ask you to wear "proper attire."

On our way back to the hotel I saw a manicure/pedicure place - I couldn't resist :) I had a french manicure done - all for $4 - and the quality was on par if not better than what I've had on the States - this may become a regular treat for me on this trip as I rarely will splurge for it back home. We crashed early under our mosquito netting (not necessary, but figured it couldn't hurt), and headed to My Son (pronounced Me Son), another UNESCO World Heritage Site (wonder how strict the criteria is?).

My Son has Hindu temples built by the Champa Kingdom between the 4th and 13th centuries, that were discovered in the jungle. Unfortunately, some of the larger sandstone temples were destroyed during the Vietnam war, but the brick ones have remained more intact. While incredibly hot to walk around (I'm dripping with sweat just sitting here typing), it was a great way to spend 1/2 the day.

We then headed back into the Old City and did a little shopping (correction - I did some shopping). I bought a couple flip flops and a couple silk lanterns - a specialty in this area (the laterns, not the flip flops). Actually, there are SO many tailors, it's ridiculous. I actually wish I had researched any outfits I wanted handmade, as I could get a summer dress for about $8 hand done. The annoying thing, though, is that someone will come up to you and try to start a conversation and then try to get you into their shop - Hello, where you from? instead of just jumping into the sales pitch. This happens every time we pass a tailor's shop, and there are multiple tailor shops on each block.

We're now using the free internet facilities in our hotel before heading to dinner. Ironically, we had Indian food for dinner last night - we actually had a meat dish though, which we stayed clear of in India. We've also been drinking a lot of pop (soda for all you east coasters). When we want a change from water, we don't have too many options - pop or beer, and many times we're not ready to be filled by the beer.

Tomorrow we hop on a bus for a 3 hour trip to Hue - you guessed it - housing another UNESCO site.

Hustling Through Ho Chi Minh City

2006-06-07T06:24:00.000-05:00

Once we arrived in Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC), we realized that we did not budget enough time to see everything. This is because two of the biggest attractions of the city, the Cu Chi Tunnels and the Mekong Delta, require trips outside the city. Also, we lost a half day due to our flight from Singapore being delayed. So, our first full day consisted of a whirlwind tour of HCMC, during which we saw:

Reunification Hall - I felt like there was not really much to see here, so we just looked at it from the outside
War Remnants museum - a museum which documents the atrocities of the Vietnam War, told from a Vietnamese (and thus primarily anti-American) perspective.
Jade Emperor Pagoda

While traffic in HCMC is not a crazy as in India - there are now cows or camels on the street - crossing the street is a new challenge. It's like playing "anti-Frogger": instead of you trying to dodge the traffic, you cross the street at a slow, steady pace and let the traffic (primarily moto-scooters) dodge you. Needless to say, most intersections do not have traffic lights.

That afternoon, we hired a car to take us out to the Cu Chi tunnels, a network of tunnels that Viet Cong gorillas used to hide from U.S. troops during the Vietnam War. Crawling through the tunnels, which are about 4 Ft. high and 3 ft. (enlarged to accomodate tourists) wide was a challenging experience, at least for me. Visitors are able to crawl through up to 90 meters of tunnels, but we opted to exit after 30 - I found it to be fairly claustrophobic experience. As part of the tour, you had tea with our guide, and since we were not part of large tour group, Danielle and I spent time chatting with the tour guide, who told us that many Vietnam Veterans come to visit the tunnels. He also told us that many Vietnamese understand that many of the U.S. soldiers did not come to Vietnam by choice, and that the Vietnamese did not hold this against the U.S. soldiers. I found this to be a stark contrast with the video we saw at the beginning of the tour which talked about various men and women of Cu Chi being honored as "Great American Killers."

The dichotomy between what we read about the war in museums and tourists sites and what we hear from taxi drivers, waiters, and other Vietnamese we've met is interesting. The museums and such depict the atrocities of the U.S., but when we tell people we are from America, they smile and sometimes say "great country." Also, the U.S. dollar servers as a secondary currency here.

The next day we set out for a day trip to the Mekong Delta. Although Vietnam offers some very cheap tours, you often find yourself crowded into a poorly airconditioned van to get to your destination. It was definitely worth the trip, though I think Danielle expected something different with the floating market we saw - it wasn't exactly floating - it mainly consisted of boats driving to each other to exchange goods. Riding the boat up the tributary of the Mekong River felt very "Apocalypse Now." Also, we happened to run randomly into two classmates of ours from b-school on the tour.

So, after a quick two days in HCMC, we head north to the "old town" of Hoi An.

The Trains Do Run on Time

2006-06-03T23:26:00.000-05:00

Originally, we had not planned on going to Singapore: since there is not a lot to see here, we did not want to spend the time and money to go. Then we ended up adding Singapore to our itinernary because it was the fastest and cheapest way to get between Chennai and Ho Chi Minh City. Still, we were originally not too excited about going. When I think of Singapore, I think of not being able to chew gum and that kid who got caned for graffiti. After being in India a couple of weeks, however, we were looking foward to the imposed order of Singapore.

Indeed the city does work - the subway says when the next car is coming, the airports are nice, very few people jay walk, and a suprisingly large number of public restrooms are quite clean. You can even drink the tap water. It was a nice break after India and were really happy that we added it to our itinerary. The city is really very liveable: we did not feel out place as westerners. I would imagine that it would be a pretty good place to work as an ex-pat.

We spent the first day seeing the city's relatively few sights: Chinatown, Raffles City and the Raffles Hotel, Little India (having just been in "big India" we didn't spend much time here), and the Night Safari at the Singapore Zoo, which was probably the highlight of the day.

Since our visit happened to coincide with the "Great Singapore Sale" - a month plus-long period when all the stores in the city have sales - we decided to check it out. Well, the Great Singapore Sale is not really that great; since most western stuff is expensive in Singapore, a 20% markdown does not really help too much (but Danielle did manage to get something for 70% off). There is, however, a really cool mall called Far East Plaza that is crammed with hundreds of tiny stores selling hip Asian clothing and accessories. Also, I managed to walk away with a couple of custom suits and shirts, which resulted in me outspending Danielle's shopping budget for the entire trip.

Also, we were able to indulge some of our craving for western food here, including sandwhiches and spaghetti. We were actually a little disappointed with the dining options here. We had read great things about the food courts and hawker centers - that they provided a great opportunity to sample many types of food. We, however, found that most food courts offered the same things, and we were not adventurous enough to try some of the options, such as "fish ball soup." Danielle is disappointed that she did not have a chance to sample some deep fried carrot cake.

While we enjoyed the few days we spent here, we are nonetheless looking forward to Vietnam.

Pictures

2006-06-03T23:11:00.000-05:00

Unfortunately we were not able to upload all of our pictures, because each one is about 2mb, resulting in slow upload time. We were able to upload a little over 30 pictures, if you're interested in viewing them. Please follow this link. If that doesn't work, you should be able to search for our pics on Kodak Gallery and it's under the email address jeremy_danielle_travel@yahoo.com . Enjoy!

A Very Auspicious Survey

2006-05-30T08:57:00.000-05:00

Leaving Goa, we tried negotiating with the hotel manager to receive a reduced hotel rate. Laying out our complaints (bathing in dirty water, no electricity, no TV (cable was out), and overall filth), we were ushered into the manager's office for a more private conversation. Understanding our points, we received a reduced rate of 1500 rs. per night, down from 1748 rs. However, adding in the 750 we paid for the ride from the airport, everything evened out. If the hotel wasn't that expensive (US$20) I wouldn't have minded the lack of clean water and electricity. But for about US$40 per night, I didn't think it was too much to ask.

As a sign of good intentions, the manager offered us a free ride back to the airport on their bus that would leave at noon (it was now 11:30am) and our flight left at 2pm. Deciding to take his offer, we waited around. Going to the bus at 11:50am, we were greeted by a foul smelling bus, with no air conditioning and inoperable windows. It was also clear that we would not be leaving on time, as we were waiting for more people to arrive at the bus. I went to the manager twice saying we needed to leave in order not to miss our flight. Finally when Jeremy went to complain, the manager gave us an SUV to use, and put a family of four in there with us. At least this meant we made it safely and quickly to the airport and boarded our flight.

With no available direct flight to Chennai, we boarded a Jet Airways plane to Bangalore - while the plane wasn't anything special, the service was good and we received a hot snack that was large enough to be a meal for us. In Bangalore, we boarded a Spice Jet plane (spicy everyday fares), which was rather disorganized, but left on time.

Kate greeted us at the airport, and she and her boyfriend Jason (who also works at the US Consulate) took us out for a lovely dinner on top of very nice hotel with an amazing view of Chennai.

Ironically, Chennai is known as the Detroit of South Asia, because of the large automobile manufacturing base located here. Approximately 40% of all India's autos are manufactured in Chennai. A lot of US jobs have also been outsourced to this location.

The following day Kate and Jason took us to Mahabalipuram, a beautiful town just south of Chennai. We were taken to the following sites, all of which were really beautiful:

The Shore Temple: A temple off the Bay of Bengal. In 2004, an earthquake led to the removal of sand deposits on additional structures that had once been hidden.
Pancha Rathas (Five Chariots): Five structures, each carved out of a whole piece of rock.

We also went to a mock-village where we were supposed to see representations of different cultures across India, and examples of their crafts. Unfortunately, most of the exhibits seemed to be closed. I did manage to buy some handmade Indian bangles, and have mehndi applied to my left hand. We tried stopping at a crocodile farm on the way back to Chennai, but they were closed on Mondays.

We stayed in that evening, and ate a nice home cooked meal (made by their maid), and played Taboo, which was highly entertaining.

The following day, Kate took us to a couple sites in Chennai:

Kapaleeshwarar Temple: A beautiful South Indian temple
San Thome Basilica (St. Thomas Basilica): Where the apostle Thomas is buried, and one of three sites in the world where a Catholic church is erected over a tomb.

We also went to few stores. I managed to buy a pair of Indian shoes, and searched in vain for a shirt to wear. We also picked up a Goa-Trance record and some Indian dance club music. After Jason got off work, we met up with some of their consulate friends at a Middle Eastern restaurant for some good food.

Kate and Jason have been great hosts. For starters, Kate's apartment is amazing. A two level place, with marble floors, about 5 bedrooms and 3 or 4 bathrooms, a gorgeous kitchen, washer/dryer in-unit, and all the amenities you could ask for - she's living like a queen. Her place makes for a good escape from the outside world. We have also heard many stories of their daily jobs. Both of them interview Indians in order to issue visas. Needless to say, while the job itself is boring, they have funny stories of the responses to questions they get. Both of them think that we should not worry about India taking over the world anytime soon. They'd first need to get their act together, and Kate and Jason think that is not going to happen in our lifetime.

Jeremy has also been perfecting his head-bob. For those unfamiliar with Indian non-verbal communication, Indians will bob their head side-to-side when talking - most of the time it is a sign of understanding and often affirmation, although the bob has subtleties to it.

While most of India and its culture are very different from the States, there are a couple items that really stick out and can be rather entertaining, one of which is the ubiquitous comment card. Everywhere we go (restaurants, bars, hotels, etc) we always receive surveys - and usually not just once, but many times. Kate and Jason believe it is India's attempt to become more Westernized, but they also say that nothing is ever done with the actual comments.

They tell this one story of a friend of theirs who had what was supposed to be a relaxing eye treatment, and it turned out to be very painful. He proceeded to provide negative feedback on the survey, and was told that he could not write that on the survey - that he had to change his comments. He then tore the survey up in front of them and everyone gasped as if he were killing a baby.

But we indulge everyone at the places we go and fill out their multiple surveys with candid feedback.

We've really enjoyed Chennai. Despite what the guide books say (not much to see, not too developed), we think Chennai is the cleanest and most orderly city, respective to the places we've been in India.

Today we will be doing laundry and miscellaneous errands, before heading off to Singapore tomorrow. Every year Singapore has a big sale (shopping is a national pastime) - fortunately we will be there during it.

We will try to upload our pictures to-date, and will let you know of the corresponding link.

Why are we here?

2006-05-27T03:15:00.000-05:00

Leaving our gorgeous hotel in Mumbai, we hopped on our 3rd flight to Goa. Possibly the worst flight we've ever taken, we were surrounded by unpleasant body odor, screaming children, and no air conditioning for most of the flight. At one point a neighboring passenger began arguing with a flight attendant. True to Indian customer service, the flight attendant began arguing back with the passenger. Go Air, the airline we traveled on, will be receiving my feedback.

We had previously arranged with the hotel, Phoenix Park Inn, to be picked up at the airport for 750 rupees. We easily found a gentleman holding our name card. He quickly got the tiny car for us, but told us there was another passenger we were traveling with. This other passenger turned out to be a family of three. A signal of things to come on this trip? Squeezing into the backseat, we set out for the hour drive to our hotel.

As we drove up to the hotel, Jeremy's mood took a turn for the worse. 3 star hotel? I think not. Down some dirt road, we were led to our hotel room. It was night and day compared to where we just came from. Not expecting luxury, were were expecting simplicity and cleanliness. More like sparse and dirty.

Calming Jeremy down, we headed to an internet cafe to explore other options. Unfortunately the fancy hotels we had looked at previously, were now all booked. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad, we thought. Already quite late, we walked up and down the main road to find a place to eat. We went to a place recommended by our guide book - the man inside said they were closed for the off season. In fact, we would come to find that many of the establishments were closed for the off season. Sigh. Finding a place open near the hotel, we ate there. Enjoying quite a good meal, including Pepsis and King Fisher beer, our meal price came to 260 rupees - not bad. Unfortunately my fear of spiders kicked in, as I saw many hanging above our heads.

Back in the hotel we were ready to shower and head to bed. While Jeremy was in the shower, the electricity went out - I wondered if it was because I had the air conditioning AND the TV on at the same time (too much to ask, I know). Fortunately the episode only lasted a few seconds. Making my way to my backpack, I found the flashlight I brought with me (I'd make a good boy scout). Unfortunately, the next episode happened while I was in the shower, and it lasted much longer. That night, the electricity went out about 6 or 7 times.

The following day we headed to Candolim beach, about a 10 minute walk from our hotel. Hoping the day would be better than the previous day, we were confronted with closed beach shacks (which would normally house food/drinks during the peak season) and a fair amount of trash on the beach. Just off the coast of Candolim, in the Arabian sea, is the MV River Princess. A few years ago, the currents were so strong, the Princess (a freight liner) became embedded in the sand. An argument began between the city and state governments, along with the ship owners, as to who should be responsible for its removal. Just a few months ago, the government finally allocated money to have the Princess removed.

We continued walking down the beach, coming to Sinquerim beach where the Taj Fort Aguada and Taj Holiday Village hotels are located. Based on what we saw from the Beach, the Taj hotels did not look that great, and, even though our hotel is a dump, we were glad we did not spend more money on either of the Taj properties in Candolim. With more life there, we found a few shacks open for business. Stopping to grab lunch and drinks on the beach, we enjoyed the sand and water (although too stinky to go in). While Candolim and Sinquerim are okay beaches, they are not worth a stop in Goa.

Back at our hotel, we contended with no water or dirty water for a good portion of the night. They are also doing construction in our building (incessant banging), so the stairs (no elevator) are filthy and everything in our hotel room is coated with a nice layer of dust. Grabbing take-out from a nearby restaurant (the one we visited the previous night), we ate and drank in our air conditioned hotel room.

Today is our last day in Goa (thankfully!). The question as to why we are here comes up frequently, as the hotel and beach are not that great. We plan on posting our reviews of the hotel on as many travel sites as possible, and also contacting Orbitz where we booked our travel and letting them know this is not 3 star quality - 2 star at best. That said, we've managed to enjoy ourselves, have eaten good and inexpensive food, and have seen a little more of the local "island" life by being here in the off season.

Tomorrow we head to Chennai (Madras) where my friend Kate lives. I met Kate in b-school. Instead of going corporate, she decided to join the Foreign Service, and is stationed in Chennai interviewing Indians interested in going to the US for work. Looking forward to a clean house, doing some laundry, and more dosas, we'll be happy to leave Goa.

Finding Serenity in Mumbai

2006-05-27T03:07:00.000-05:00

We landed in Mumbai on Monday expecting it incredibly chaotic, crowded and filthy - based what we had heard from friends of ours who had been there. We were pleasantly surpised to find that it was not more crowded and chaotic than Delhi or even Jaipur. We did, however, get a little frustrated when we over-paid for a taxi to our hotel. I think one of the things both us miss about the U.S. is not having to worry about getting ripped off where ever we go.

I used my Marriott Rewards points to get us a room at the JW Marriott hotel. This place really nice; it was amoung the nicest hotels that either Danielle or I had stayed in. In addition to the nice facilities, which really made the place great was the level of customer service: the staff was always attentive and cheerful, and they even negotiate cab fares for you. The hotel's location, however, is a a double-edged sword: it is far north of downtown Mumbai, which makes the area quieter, but it also means that it takes an hour and twenty minutes to reach most of the city's sights.

On Tuesday we set out to see some of Mumbai's tourist attractions, of which there are really not that many. We visited the Gateway of India and the Prince of Whales Musuem. The Gateway of India is one of the those sights that you kind of just spend five minutes at and then move on. The Prince of Whales musuem had the dubious honor of being the only museum I have ever visited that did not have air conditioning. Danielle also did a little shopping at a government store called Cottage Industries that seemed to have decent prices.

To get down town we found a cab drive who was willing to use his meter (which should result in a more reasonable rate). During the ride down, he told us that if we spent five minutes looking in a shop, he would get an Rs. 100 comission (a little over 2 USD). We decided to indulge him for one shop, since he was honest about it. He also said he would wait for us and take us back to our hotel in the afternoon; we took him up on the offer. Once we got back the hotel, I asked the cab driver how much it would be for the trip. He had told us at the beginnging of the day that the round trip would cost Rs. 600, so we expected him to say "600 rupees." Instead, he said, "I'm not going to tell you the price, you tell how much you want to pay." Now, we didn't have to have MBAs to know that this is bad way to negotiate a price. So, we said that since he told us it would cost 600 rupees at the beginning of the day, that is how much we would pay him, plus a 10% tip (which is how much you typically tip at restaurants). Well, the cab drive through a hissy fit, complaining that we should give him a Rs 100 tip if we like the service. We did not think a Rs. 100 tip was appropriate, since we had already let him take us to a shop where he got a comission.

That night, our friend Ash's family had invited us over dinner. We were told by the hotel that Ash's apartment was over an hour drive, so we had the hotel negotiate a fare with the cab drive. Well, it certainly was over an hour drive - we were in the taxi for 2.5 hours. The last hour or so involved the cab driver stopping every 100 meters or so ask for directions. The best part was when he stopped and asked some people sitting on the street wearing nothing more than rags for directions. We finally arrived at Ash's parents place, where we were treated to some excellent food and great hospitality. Ash's driver give us a ride home; it only took 45 minutes. Danielle decided to wear the saree she had bought in Jaipur. A couple of men from a store in the hotel helped Danielle put it on, but when we arrived at Ash's the women of the family immediately ushered Danielle off to adjust her dress.

Since we had spent much of Tuesday in taxi cabs, we were reluctant to venture too far from the hotel on Wednesday, so we spent much of the day lounging by the pool. The pool area at the JW Marriott was one of the nicest I have seen (you can check out some of pictures on the hotel's website). The best part were the longers that were built into the infinity pool. Wednesday night, a bunch of friends from school came by the hotel to go the night club (Enigma) at the Marriott, which is apparantly where all the Bollywood stars hang out. The club is quite nice, but (and this is going to sound really snobbish, but based on our experiences in the U.S.), it did not seem that "exclusive." The cover charge system is pretty interesting: they charge Rs. 800 per couple (about 17 USD), but you get it all back in the form of drink tickets. We didn't want to stay out too late since we had to catch our flight to Goa the next day.

Scarier than any roller coaster ride

2006-05-27T02:04:00.000-05:00

Our friend Chrissy warned us about driving in India in the dark, but we felt we really did not have many other options: since we didn't get to Agra until 2pm, and our flight to Mumbai left Jaipur, which was five hours away, at 11am, we did not have much choice but to leave that evening.

The trip started off well enough. Since our car was smaller than the tour bus we had been riding around in for the first part of the trip, it was able to drive faster, and we were optimistic that reach Jaipur more quickly than it had taken us to drive to Agra earlier that day. Once it got dark, however, things changed.

First the road between Agra and Jaipur, like many of the roads in India, is terrible: it has major pot holes, seemingly randomly placed speed bumps, parts of it are unpaved, and it passes right through villages. And it has only one lane in each direction, not that lanes really matter because everyone drives wherever they want. Also, highways in India are traversed by many forms of transportation - cars, motorcyles, motor-scooters, trucks, buses, tractors, people walking - all of which go at different speeds and were slower than our car. To overtake a slower vehicle, you drive around it by going in the lane going the opposite direction.

Surprisingly, this part of the trip was not too bad. This was compounded by the lack of street lamps and even brake lights on many of the trucks. Much worse was that our driver did not seem to realize that a slower vehicle was in front of us until we where several feet from its rear bumper, which resulted in many sudden stops. Perhaps even scarier, however, was that our driver kept yawning and complaining how tired he was.

Five hours later, we arrived in Jaipur quite frazzled but still in one piece

How Something Built in the Name of Love can Make Someone so Angry

2006-05-25T01:54:00.000-05:00

As explained in an earlier post, our schedule of events was screwed up, forcing us to make a quick day trip to the Taj Mahal. We left Jaipur early in the morning for Agra, making one stop at an exorcism temple, which put us behind schedule. We didn't arrive into Agra until close to 2pm, at which time we ate lunch - at this point we are eating dosas at least once a day.

Unfortunately, India is not known for its customer service, so complaining to the travel agent wouldn't have done us any good. We were left with the option of taking a public bus or hiring a car/driver, which we were told would cost 5000 rupees. It was also too expensive to change flights, and no convenient flight times were available.

Upon arriving at the hotel the rest of our group was staying at in Agra, we spoke with the onsite travel agent who was able to help us arrange a car/driver for than the previously quoted price - we were told by many Indians that the bus was not a safe option for us. We then left our group and headed to the Taj Mahal with our own car/driver. Entering at the Main Gate, the frustration began.

Jeremy was followed for 200 meters by someone "offering" their tour guide services. Starting at 500 rupees, he finally left us alone when J said no to 50 rupees. While I continue strolling (especially since I'm not bothered as much), Jeremy's frustration grew and he started to speed walk. Purchasing our exhorbantly priced tickets (a few years ago they were 20 rupees, but now priced at 750 for foreigners in a failing attempt to help curb pollution at the Taj), we proceeded into our male/female security lines. Finally reaching the front, dodging touts along the way, we were turned away because of our iPods and Clif Bars. After spouting a few vulgarities and placing them in a locker, we headed back into line. We finally made it through, but not before someone attempted to pick Jeremy's pockets while in line. At this point Jeremy's anger had peaked.

Fighting through the crowds to reach the Taj, our moods lifted as we came into view of the grand Taj. Really quite stunning and remarkable, we entered the building which serves as a masoleum for Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan and his favorite wife Mumtaz Mahal, for whom it was built. Since there isn't much to see on the inside, we took a break and sat on a bench enjoying the stunning view the Taj offers. We were able to see a little of how the sun affects the colors of the Taj, changing from white to a deeper yellow. In its presence, it is understandable why the Taj is considered a wonder of the world - taking a mere 20 years to build, and thousands of workers (whose fingers were then chopped off so they could not recreate the building elsewhere), it was well worth the trip.

Standing out in a homogenous population, two sets of groups requested to have their pictures taken with us - one group consisted of about 4 or 5 different men, who sat in the middle of us on the bench taking pictures - they looked as if they were cropping Jeremy out of the pictures.

Passing the rest of our group on our way out, we headed back along the path that had fostered the anger. Hopping back in to our car around 6:15pm, we made our way back to Jaipur. Unfortunately, our adventures were only half over...

Pink City

2006-05-25T01:34:00.000-05:00

We arrived in Jaipur mid-day, ate lunch, and checked in to our hotel - the Holiday Inn. Jaipur is known as the Pink City because all of the buildings are washed with a pink paint. Much less chaotic than Delhi, we set out in the afternoon to all of the street shopping to look for Indian goodies. Unlike the US, India is all about the bargaining, much to my dismay. Fortunately, our friend Ash, who is Indian, was our negotiator for everything we purchased. Unlike what we were taught in b-school, our aim was to not make the pie bigger.

After many tiring hours of shopping, I walked away with a couple handmade purses, two shawls, two decorative pillowcases, all for the low low price of 900 rupees. The biggest triumph was one shawl initially priced at 1250 rupees - I bought it for 350. (45 rupees per $1). At the last store we went to, the shop owner knew about 5 different languages - we knew we were in trouble. Athought we were still able to bargain, the prices were not quite as good.

The next we day, we went to the following attractions:

We also went to a government store where the prices are fixed - no bargaining - which was nice. Before heading here, our "tour guide" took us to some very expensive shops where he received a payment for simply taking us there, and would receive a commission if we purchased anything. The guide books say this is common practice for tour guides as well as taxi drivers.

We also did some shopping at the City Palace, where Jeremy and I purchased some nice original art of Indian miniature paintings, famous in this area.

We're about to head to our next destination in India, where there will be more cyber cafes - more to come.

Go Blue Delhi

2006-05-18T07:49:00.000-05:00

Needless to say we didn't get to see much of Delhi the night we arrived; we just hopped on our bus - a beat up Toyota van - and headed to our hotel. When we arrived, Ash, who thankfully organized the first part of the India trip for us, told us the hotel in which we were originally supposed to stay had been "sealed" by the police for engaging in some sort of illegal activities. So we headed to another hotel. We pulled into what seemed like an apartment complex in the middle of no where and learned that our hotel was some sort of three bedroom apartment. It was nice enough, but I was starting to wonder about this travel agent we were using. (The next day we changed hotels to a more standard establishment.)

On Wednesday morning our driver met for a day of site-seeing. We then drove to the first site where we met our tour guide for the day. Here's what we saw:

We also drove around Old Delhi and went to Connaught Place to check this massive underground bazaar (which was nothing really spectacular). Our did a good job at Qutb Minar, which was our first stop, but kind of petered out after that.

Today, we did some more sight-seeing:

The Nationale Museum, which was pretty interesting, though many of the exhibits were closed for renovation. A big plus was that we got in for practically free with our student IDs.
Jama Masjid - India's largest mosque. We had to take off our shoes to walks around, which was a bit painful since the redstone ground was really hot.
The Red Fort - yesterday our guide pointed this out to as we were driving to Old Delhi, but since we hardly saw any of it, our driver took as back today.
Raj Ghat - the site of Gandhi's ashes

Having driver to shuttle from site to site in air-conditioned comfort has been great. Obviously, we are probably forgoing a more "true" Indian experience by having a van and driver, but I'm okay with that. Otherwise, I don't think we would be able to see as many things in one day.

Before we embarked on this trip, all our Indian friends questioned why we would want to go to India in may, given the heat. When we stepped outside yesterday morning, we were all pleasantly surprised: it was only in the low 90s. "We can deal with this," we all thought. Well, today we were all smacked in the face with some real heat.

Overall, I think we've also been pleasantly surprised by the amount of order. While Old Delhi is more chaotic and much more decrepit, New Delhi is orderly and fairly clean: there are much fewer beggers and touts than I expected. I think that will change when we head to Mumbai.

We are being very conservative with what we eat: no meat/poultry/fish, no uncooked dairy products, no uncooked fruits or vegetables. It's kind of a pain to be so picky, but less of pain than being sick. Our only major complaint about food is that we are paying to much for it because the first day we went to a nice (Mediterrean!) restaurant; and today we let the waiter order too much food or our table. In a county were the average main course costs $2.00, we seem to be dropping $10.00 on some meals.

Tommorrow we head to Jaipur. We were supposed to travel Agra to see the Taj Mahal, but learned that the Taj is closed on Fridays, so we have to re-route our itinerary, which will be a little bit of a hassle. How could the travel agent not know that the Taj Mahal is closed on the Fridays?

Jesus, Electrical Fire, and Neverland

2006-05-18T07:34:00.000-05:00

Meeting up with Jeremy, and our friends Dave and Chrissy, we left Detroit for Amsterdam (and then on to Delhi) on the 15th. Apart from screaming children, we had an interesting bunch of people on our first flight. With Jeremy sitting on the aisle, he saw a man in his seat with his hand on another man's heart who was kneeling beside him, and a woman standing over the kneeling man with her hands on his shoulders. Jeremy's first thought was - is someone having a heart-attack? I then heard exclamations of "Jesus!" again and again. It turns out there was a group of people headed on a missionary trip to Tanzania. Interesting.

Towards the end of our 2 hour layover in Amsterdam, we waited in line to go through security at our gate, waited in another line to get into the waiting area, and then waited to get in line to board the plane. Talk about practicality. A short time before boarding, we were very loudly shooshed by a lanky Dutch male flight attendant. Listening to the announcement, we were told there was an electrical fire on the plane that had happened moments ago. Annoyed with someone's incompetence, we were lucky enough to get a 777 within about 1.5 hours. Going through the check-in process again at a new gate, we were welcomed by a nice and relatively empty plane. I became teary-eyed watching "Finding Neverland" while Jeremy slept like a baby beside me.

Arriving in Delhi around 1:30am on the 17th, our friend Ash and a driver picked all of us up from the airport. And so begins the India adventures...

Let the Adventures Begin...

2006-05-15T11:26:00.000-05:00

Today's the day we've been waiting for, for a few months now. We've researched, made spreadsheets, shopped, been vaccinated, spent lots of money, researched some more, and shopped even more. If we're not ready now, we never will be. Although it's hard to imagine that we'll be in India in about 24 hours.

Jeremy has already headed out, flying from DC to Detroit. I'll be meeting up with him in a few hours. It's a good thing I'm already in Michigan, as I had to do some last minute shopping for him (somebody forgot to pack their swim suit :) I refrained from purchasing anything with too much of a pattern - it was hard, but I did it.

We've treated our clothes with mosquito repellent, started taking our malarone tablets, and spent hours on the phone finishing some last minute hotel bookings. I have taken a break to do my nails (just b/c we're backpacking doesn't mean I can't be put together :) and will look at some more hotel options, before heading to the airport myself

See you in India.

Travel Advisory: Buzzkill

2006-05-10T21:31:00.000-05:00

When we went to the health clinic for our vaccinations, we were provided with a 30+ page packet on the countries we are visiting. Bored in Minneapolis, I'm finally going through everything. Taken from the US government, this report goes into detail about all the health concerns, crime, transportation, terrorism, and general concerns that may affect a traveler.

For example....in Cambodia, it is inadvisable to travel by train, boat, motorcycle, moto-taxis, and cyclos. So I guess it will be walking and bicycling for us. It is advisable to travel by air, but at the same time they say there are concerns with the safety and maintenance standards of the aircrafts. In Singapore, homosexuality isn't just disliked, it's actually illegal and "offenders" may be convicted. In Vietnam, "Traffic...is chaotic...Horns are used constantly, often with no apparent reason."

Fortunately we are aware of the common dangers and have a fair amount of common sense, so I'm confident we'll be just fine. I'm just curious who will get sick first - me or Jeremy.

What would an advisory, printed in another country, say about the United States?

Guide books

2006-05-10T17:23:00.000-05:00

Warning: this post is not that interesting (but I felt obligated to provide some sort of update).

I'm a big fan of guide books. This is a little strange to me because my parents are even bigger fans of guide books, and when we would go somewhere when I was a kid, they would read endlessly about whatever we were visiting; and every time we went somewhere for dinner, the guide book would have to be consulted first. I remember often being hungry for dinner, but having to wait to eat because the restaurant recommended in the guide book was never near by.

Well, things have changed. Admittedly, I still do not really rely on guide books for history, but they are great for providing some of the basic logistical information you need when visiting a country (what are the customs, how much does it cost to get from the airport to town, etc.). But most importantly, I use guide books for restaurant (and to a lesser extent, hotel) recommendations. This is probably because over the years I've become a food snob. By "food snob", I don't mean that only eat at fancy French restaurants and trendy Asian fusion bistros, but merely that I would rather not waste my time and money going to a bad restaurant when it's almost as easy to go to a good one.

But getting back to the subject of this post.... So, it was pretty much given that we would buy some guide books for the trip. Danielle already purchased Lonely Planet guides for Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam, but we needed something for India. I ended up purchasing the Rough Guide to India, based on my buddy Patrick's recommendation (it was more suited to "my demographic"). When we were looking at guides to South East Asia, read a bunch of reviews on Amazon.com, and there seems to a mildly heated debate about whether the Rough Guides are better than the Lonely Planet books. The reviewers seemed pretty passionate about their guide books, which I found pretty amusing. For India, however, there were very few reviews of either book (hmm....). I think the Rough Guide gets a bad rap based on its name - people think it's guide to "roughing" it, but that does not seem to be the case. (Although that is the origin of the books' name.")

I think what I really need is a meta-guide book - I guide book to guide books. Perhaps after the trip we'll provide some sort of evaluation of the guide books we used.

Useful links

2006-05-05T23:33:00.000-05:00

If any one is interested in planning a similar trip, below is a list of links that we found useful:

Dohop is a search engine for flights. While it's good because it provides a number of options of each city pair, including low-cost carriers, it cannot always retrieve the price for you.
Wikipedia's Travial Site - some of the cities do not have complete information, but generally a pretty good resource. Also, their list of low cost airlines is really useful.
Yahoo's currency converter.
In addition to the WikiTravel site, Frommer's and Lonely Planet have useful sites. Lonely Planet's message board, Thorn Tree, is also pretty good.
Sidestep is good meta-search engine for major carriers, though sometimes it seemed to miss some cheaper fares.
We have not looked too much into booking hotels yet, but we may use some combination of Asia Hotels, Rates To Go and Expedia, in addition to just booking them when we arrive.
India Mike has a great India-related travel forum.

Pre-Trip Notes

2006-05-05T23:15:00.000-05:00

Here are a few things related to the trip, even though we haven't left yet. (Some of the material is a little dated):

Last week we went to the U of M travel clinic to get our vacinations. The nurse asked us if we wanted to get a flu shot, which was not required, but was recommended. We figured that since the shot is relatively cheap and painless, why not. Why not indeed, I thought later that night as I lay awake with a mild case of - the flu. Nice.
Over the past week, we've been to three different Targets four times. Not really intentially either, we just happen to pass by them every where we go.
We also have been to a lot of drug stores to purchase various types of medications and sundries including:

4 pairs of shoes, 6 t-shirts, and few pairs of shorts/pants
20 Cliff bars
192 tablets of Pepto Bismal and 40 tablest of Imodium AD
3 bottles of sunscreen
8 bottles of mosquito repellent.

An Indian friend of mine told me that I should consider anything I bring to India (clothes, shoes, etc.) as "disposable."

Why would you want Malaria?

2006-05-05T19:14:00.000-05:00

"Why would you want Malaria?" the US customs agent asked us as we drove back into the US from Canada. We explained that we in fact did NOT want malaria, which is why we drove across the border to buy cheap prescription malarone (an expensive malaria-prevention drug).

Our day began heading to Windsor, Ontario, Canada in search of cheap prescription drugs. If bus loads of senior citizens could do it, so could we. Unsure of the legality of it all, we figured we only had time to lose. Entry into Canada was easy enough (even if the border patrol asked if Jeremy always spoke for me :) Our first stop was Shopper's Drug Mart. No luck. They said the doctor must be licensed to operate in Ontario.

Our second stop was Southbridge Drug Store, a small pharmacy located in a medical strip mall. The friendly Chinese man at the counter eagerly took our prescriptions and quickly engaged us in conversation regarding the Natural History Museum located on the University of Michigan's campus, where his children enjoyed perusing the dinosaur bones. Within a matter of minutes he had us signing a document saying their doctor could co-sign for the prescription (thereby allowing us to legally obtain the prescription in Canada). In less time than it takes to get a prescription filled in the US, we had our bottles of malaria medication and were paying 1/5 of the US price. We were all set, and it only took 30 minutes of being in Canada....or so we thought...

Startled by the ridiculously low price, I compared the active ingredients of our prescription with what was given to us - and it did not match. Confronting our friendly pharmacist, he apologized for the mistake, and quickly began correcting it. Unfortunately, we needed a total of 80 malarone pills - and they only had 24 in stock. Able to order more, he would not have the additional amount until 4:30pm. It was 11:30am.

Forced to spend the entire day in Windsor, we were determined to be productive. If you have never been to Windsor, don't bother. I am from Michigan, and with Windsor just across the border, both those in Canada and Michigan don't believe Windsor is anything to brag about it - it's like a poor man's Detroit. There are a lot of motels/hotels, tire stores, drug stores, doctors' offices, and that's about it.

We stopped at a Columbia outlet store. Jeremy struggled with his crunchiness...next for him, a Jerry Garcia t-shirt and hacky-sack. Going to some very hot places, it made sense for him to purchase a pair of sandals, much to his dismay. From there we explored Windsor's "China-town" block for lunch. Only three more hours left to kill....

After lunch, the most awful thing happened...we entered a Wal-Mart. For those who don't know, I'm headed to Target to work at their headquarters, and combined with my general dislike of the retail chain, I felt blasphemous entering the retailer. But we were given few options (damn you Windsor!). After purchasing an outlet adapter kit, we sat in the car for 1/2 an hour. Only 2 more hours....

We wandered around Windsor, went to a Tim Horton's, and finally back to our pharmacy. The pills came, and we saved about $50 (was it worth the day in Windsor?). Finally, back to the good ol' US of A. Declaring our prescriptions at the border, we encountered little resistance, much to our relief.

Armed with our malaria meds, we are all set with pills - we just hope they do the job so we can enjoy the trip...