The Adventures of Brian & Julia

Before we left for this trip, I searched high and low to find the perfect “travel size” bottles of shampoo and conditioner, thinking I would appreciate the familiar scent in a far away shower, but they ran out well before homesickness even crossed my mind. I looked for the right pair of “nice but not too expensive” sunglasses to bring, and the glue holding them together melted by the time we hit Bangkok. I left for this trip thinking I was well prepared, and believing implicitly that such a thing was even possible. One month in, though, and I realize that you cannot prepare for the experience of being on the other side of the planet by obsessing about what’s in your bag.

The real challenges on this trip have been things I could not possibly have anticipated or prepared for– the looks I got in India, the smells of an overnight backpacker bus, and the general fact that travel (as opposed to vacation) is not about escaping one place, but immersing yourself in a new one (and then another new one and another after that). As my travel size items are gradually replaced with “real life” ones, it occurs to me that being a happy nomad starts with settling into yourself instead of your surroundings. Travel is rewarding for the same reason it’s difficult: it amplifies the fact that everything changes, that you can’t possibly do or see everything that’s worthwhile in a single lifetime, and that there are at least two sides to every story.

Travel is overwhelming because it’s an intensified version of life, in which you have to make 10 times as many decisions as usual and are often aided only by guidebook one liners and your own instincts. Once you acquire a taste for it though, getting overwhelmed can be delightful, and I can’t think of a better place to learn this than Chiang Mai. Because it’s Thailand’s second largest city, I can’t help but compare it to Bangkok, and although I could find lots of ways to be happy in either place, I love Chiang Mai even more. Since we arrived here by overnight bus, and because neither of us got much sleep during the ride, it took us a few days to notice just how much good stuff there was here, and another day after that to start letting it in. After a week, though, I can officially call this my favorite city so far.

It goes without saying, then, that the food is amazing, but I’ll say it anyway. In the area around our guesthouse, there is a particularly astonishing variety of international food to keep travelers happy, no matter where they’re from. Burritos, British pub standards and French baguettes are all on offer during a 3 minute stroll, as is the delicious raspberry granola I had for two mornings in a row. Best, though, is the local specialty of kao soi, or Chiang Mai noodles.

Rather than the usual rice noodles, these are flat, Chinese style egg noodles,swimming in a fiery red coconut curry cream and topped with a handful of crispy wonton strands and a generous squeeze of sweet lime juice. I had heard that Chiang Mai is THE place for cooking classes in Thailand, and I made sure to pick one where I could learn this dish. If it’s still snowing when we get home (and I bet it will be), stop by and have some. It’s delicious.

As tasty this city can be, though,the real action is in the shopping. The most famous place to do it is the market that springs up nightly in the downtown district. Multi-story banks and office buildings become the backdrop for a maze of stalls and stands selling a thousand different versions of popular Thai souvenirs: teak wood carvings, intricate silver jewelry in the “hill tribe” style, patchwork wrap skirts, funny t-shirts, and anything made of Thai silk. There are tons of other things too, but because so much of it is similar, everyone ends up circling around and around, looking for the precise items they want.

Faced with this kind of commercial abundance, you get really picky about tiny details, and become determined to hold out for just the right thing. When you do though, you can’t let on. The night market is all about haggling, so even though you spent 3 hours digging for that shirt in green, you have to act like you could live without it (which, by that point, you absolutely can’t). Asking the price is like ringing a bell at a boxing match: it signals that you’re ready for the action to begin in earnest. The vendor punches a ridiculously high number into a calculator and shows it to you, you scoff, and counter with your own offer, usually less than half of theirs. Then they scoff, and come down a tiny bit. Generally, you have to almost walk away at least twice before the final price is agreed upon, and god help you if you see anything else you like at the same place, because then you’ll have to start all over. The whole thing takes ages, and it’s an absolute blast.

If you’re reading this, there’s a good chance your christmas present was acquired in an exchange of this sort.


Chaing Mai is itself a lot like the market: burgeoning with good things to eat, do, and buy to such an extent that it can make you dizzy. I wanted to take a cooking class, and there were literally 50 to choose from. Brian was hoping to see a Muay Thai match, and it turns out they’re held every night of the week. The only trick to having a good time here is not to try too hard. We leave tomorrow, but will pass back through next week on our way to Laos. While this might not be the most efficient route, it suits us just fine. After all, you know you’re on to something good when you have to walk away twice

A cramped minibus trip landed us in Ayutthaya, the ancient former capital of Siam. Ayutthaya features some of the best of both worlds- impressive ancient ruins and stunning modern temples. There’s also a very impressive and modern historical museum, featuring incredibly elaborate models of the city’s temples and diorama depictions of traditional village life. Unfortunately, the museum has a strict no photography policy, so you’ll just have to take our word for it…

We took a riverboat tour of about 5 of the city’s most famous temples, which did not disappoint:

We stopped and toured several of the temples, though time was very limited, and it made it a little difficult to really see everything at any given site. Still, a very nice tour and a definite highlight of the trip so far.


The next day, we did a self-guided (read: lost) tour of the city’s more famous wats, including Wat Mahathat’s oft-photographed Buddha head entangled in tree roots.

We made a bit of a whirlwind tour of Ayuttaya, but we’re trying to avoid the dreaded “Temple Fatigue” so many travelers in SE Asia experience. We enjoyed our time there, but were ready to move on when we did.

Our early exit from India left us with plenty of extra time to explore central Thailand, so we decided to make a run to Kanchanaburi. It’s a pretty typical mid-sized Thai town in most respects, with the usual dingy local chaos, fringed by the tourist drag of bars, restaurants and guesthouses. Kanchanaburi is most famous as the home of the Bridge on the River Kwai, part of the infamous “Death Railway” built by allied POW’s held by the Japanese during WWII. The town’s tourist attractions feature on the somber side accordingly, but that said, they were very interesting and worthwhile. We visited a cemetery for (predominantly) British and Dutch servicemen, the land for which was donated by the Thai people in tribute to their service. We also visited the adjacent Chinese cemetery, which was a unique and equally moving experience. Kanchanaburi also features a death railway museum, which we unfortunately couldn’t seem to catch during business hours. We stayed at a guesthouse right on the river, with a decent view of the infamous bridge. We were a little rattled by the creepy-crawlies also vacationing in our rooms. The first night we could hear rats in the ceiling, and after a room change the second night, Julia was delighted…wait, no…appalled at the very large roaches that occasionally appeared in our bathroom. Not that I’m unflappable when it comes to giant bugs, but I save most of my hysterics for snakes. Buggy or not, we enjoyed the small town atmosphere and daily deluges while in Kanchanaburi.

We dedicated most of one of our days in Kanchanaburi to a visit to Erewan Falls, an amazing national park featuring a seven-tiered waterfall.

I didn’t take the image above! We wanted to swim in the waterfall pools without worrying about the camera being stolen. Before you think we’re paranoid or mistrustful of the wonderful Thai people, I should clarify- the park is inhabited by naughty monkeys. So now who’s the jerk? Anyway, we had a great time, and even slipped into one of the pools long enough to be completely freaked out by the fish taste-testing our toes. It was a fun day, and I’d recommend a trip to the falls next time you’re in Kanchanaburi. Next stop: Ayutthaya

9 am and 90 degrees. If you shut your eyes and held your fingers to your ears, you’d swear you were in a steamy bathroom after a long, hot shower. But then you’d smell the basil.

Bangkok was a shocking place to land after India, but it would be anyway. As we rode smoothly across a freshly paved overpass, shivering from the (incredibly strong) A/C, it felt like we had bought tickets to the future. Huge, ultramodern buildings cluster in every direction, and the roads are well populated with modern luxury-brand cars driven by appropriately wealthy looking professionals. After India, and an overnight flight, we were dazed to say the least.

We took the bus to Khao San Road, the (in)famous backpacker ghetto of Bangkok, and found our was through the melee to a hotel in the middle of things, which stood out because it was the same price as everywhere else but had a pool, so we dropped our bags and headed up to check it out. Up, because the pool (already exciting) was on the rooftop (excitement reaching dangerous levels!), and we had it all to ourselves (YESSS! We have ARRIVED!).

After a couple days, we found a neighborhood nearby that we liked better, so we left the pool behind, but the theme of living it up carried on for our entire week in Bangkok. You literally cannot walk 10 feet in this city without being offered a massage, a new wardrobe, and, most memorably, about a hundred thousand things to eat. I was beyond overwhelmed at the food in Bangkok. It seems like about half the population is either cooking or eating at any given time.

There is so much to eat here that the options are literally on top of one another. The streets are lined with restaurants of every sort, including several major American chains. On the sidewalks, in front of them, are informal “street stall” restaurants, which prepare a standard menu of popular thai dishes, and charge about 30 baht ($1) for most entrees. In front of the sidewalk, on the street itself, are the carts, selling anything and everything that isn’t available at the restaurants or stalls (roasted corn, pad thai, and anything deep fried or on a stick seems to be popular). Beyond that, people cook on the back of motorcycles (in traffic) and on steamer baskets balanced on their shoulders as they walk along in the road itself.

Despite the insane abundance of choices, we made a sincere attempt to eat everything Bangkok had to offer, and failed deliciously. We ate every color of curry, with and without rice, coconut soup, noodle soup, and stir fry galore. We had New Zealand Steak cooked on a Japanese hibachi grill, Chinese dumplings with ginger sauce, Belgian waffles filled with custard, and plain old Pizza Hut. We ate at least three different kinds of banana pancakes, (some with a generous slathering of nutella!), bacon and egg sandwiches, and regularly ordered shakes at breakfast (fruit shakes, made with fresh fruit and ice, are available everywhere here). Between meals, we sampled the street food: satay skewers, garlic sausage, and sweet corn roasted over coals. Did I mention there’s a 7-11 on every block that sells Thai Iced tea, fountain drink style, for about 40 cents? They stay open all night so you don’t have to do without.

I fell in love with the noodle soup from a particular stall, and ate it for breakfast about every other day, spiked with hot sauce and topped with roasted peanuts. Rich, gentle and fragrant, with celery leaves and flower cut carrots bobbing over top of tangled rice noodles, it tasted like the broth to cure anything that’s ever gone wrong in your life.

On a day trip to several of the mega-malls across town, we decided to take the sky train, a sleek new monorail line connecting the city. At one stop, Brian pointed out a cart squished between the ticket booth and a stall selling lingerie that offered freshly made waffles and suggested we check it out. It smelled like heaven. How could I say no? We ordered one with custard inside, and found ourselves passing it back and forth, talking around greedy mouthfuls about how this was, quite possibly, the best thing we had ever eaten.

Obviously, I could go on for days about everything we ate and how good it was, but I suspect you get the gist. If you are a person who enjoys food, even a little bit, you owe it to yourself to get to Bangkok sometime. When we arrived, bloated and happy at the bus station for our ride out of town, we were already glancing back at the city, not sure how the rest of the trip might measure up after this. And then we spotted a waffle cart
-Julia

We haven’t made much of a secret of the fact that India has been rough, so it should come as no surprise that we cut our time there (and our expensive, non-refundable tour) short. We did manage to exit in grand fashion, however, taking in the Holy City of Pushkar, as well as the quintessential India sight, the Taj Mahal.

Pushkar was much like the rest of India that we’ve seen so far- Temples, cows and chaotic street markets. We did have some fairly spectacular views from our hotel’s rooftop restaurant, including the holy lake (currently only a semi-sacred mud puddle) the town is built around. Overall, Pushkar was interesting, but we were frankly ready to get out of India. Note our cynical expressions…


We feel a little guilty for not liking India, but damn if we didn’t try…

Agra was really a perfect place to end our travels in India. Not because it’s some paradise built around one of the world’s most famous monuments, but because it seemed like the pinnacle of everything we liked and disliked. Hassle, traffic, pollution and the ubiquitous staring men form a gauntlet around the Taj. Even getting into the Taj is an exercise in patience. After standing in line to be metal-detected, patted down and bag-searched, I was turned away for the contraband in my bag- an Ipod. I had to walk 2 blocks to the locker room, pay 20 rupees for a locker, then walk back to the gate to stand in line and be checked again. Apparently any electronics beyond cameras and cell phones are prohibited. I’m at a loss as to how me listening to music on headphones (which I had no intention of doing, I just happened to have the Ipod on me) is somehow more disruptive/disrespectful than the dozens of people shouting into cell phones.

Anyway, all complaining aside, the Taj Mahal really is an impressive sight, and we were glad to have seen it. You can’t take a bad picture of it, and the surrounding grounds are nice as well. The whole experience seemed pretty typical of India- Amazing sights requiring amazing patience and resolve. What saved it for me was really the photos I got. Sure, there are millions upon billions of pictures of the Taj Mahal, but these are my pictures of the Taj Mahal, and I love them.

All in all, we’ve agreed we’re not sorry we came to India, but I don’t think either of us will be back. It seems petty to complain about a trip that so many people would love to take, yet so few ever can. I hope that with time the bad will fade and the good will be what we remember. I also know that sometimes the bad stuff makes better stories. Either way, we feel proud that we came here, and I suppose that is travel’s best reward.

Next Stop: Bangkok, Thailand!

We were sorry to leave Ranakpur, but had heard great stuff about the blue city of Udaipur and its lake palace, so off we went again.  I had heard this was a great place to take a cooking class, so we mentioned it to our driver and he took us to a hotel that offered them (and no doubt provided him with a hefty kickback for bringing us). It smelled delicious, and was the cleanest place we’d seen, but it seemed too commercial, so we decided to wander around the bazaar in town for the afternoon.

This was our first “unsupervised” time in India, and sure enough, there were 3 guys waiting by the door of the car to start hassling us for business, which would have been more reasonable if they were selling something besides transportation.  still, I guess you can’t blame them for being enterprising.  Within a few minutes of walking around, I saw a sign for a cooking class I had read about in our guidebook painted on the side of a wall.  We followed the arrow, and found ourselves in a tiny alley with another arrow.  This one pointed upstairs into a residential building painted in the city’s trademark chalky periwinkle color.  On the second floor, we found Swati, the proprietor of the cooking class, and also a professional nutritionist.  Instead of a traditional hourly lesson, she allowed us to look over a menu and select which items we wanted to learn.

The vegetarian menu was vast, and even better, divided into sections by cooking style.  Choosing was difficult, but in the end, I end up with the following menu:
Paratha (layered whole wheat bread) stuffed with chiles & garlic
Aloo Gobi (Potatoes and cauliflower dry cooked with loads of spices)
Malai Kofta (Fried dumplings in a thick creamy sauce.. I’ve eaten this before and loved it, but never quite knew what was in it)
Samosas (Pastry dough pockets filled with spicy vegetables and deep fried.  Awesome but hard to make!)
Coconut Ladoo (little balls of coconut and cream, sort of like the inside of a mounds bar, and spiced with cardamom)

Swati asked us to give her an hour or so to buy the necessary ingredients, so we went back into town for a bit.  A courtyard with a giant hole in the ground caught our eye, and turned out to be the site of a daily monkey feeding.  I have to say, handing a piece of greasy chapati (simple bread sort of like a tortilla) to a monkey was one of the more exhilarating things I’ve done lately (see the video).

Afterwards, we went back to Swati’s for the class, and had a fantastic time.  Brian got a little bored of the kitchen and made friends with the children who were running around giggling. They sang and danced with him, played drums, and posed for pictures.  Later on, as we were finishing up in the kitchen, the married women in the household began pooja (prayers) for a Hindu festival that honors their husbands.  They fast all day, then apply henna and pray under the full moon.  Afterwords they eat and dance and celebrate family happiness, so it was a great night to be in a private home and get a front seat to all the action (see pictures).

Created with Admarket’s flickrSLiDR.
This was one of our favorite nights in India, and the food was awesome (credit to Swati more than me).  I took some killer notes though, so when we get back, I’ll make everything again

Driving back from the camel safari, I was covered in more mosquito bites than I’ve ever had and Brian was anxiously trying to get the last of the sand out of his lenses. While we enjoyed the desert, both of us were struck by what an intensely harsh landscape it is. Some kids we spoke to there told us they hadn’t seen rain in 3 years, although they had been old enough at the time to remember what it looked like.
We had a long drive (about 7 hours) to Udaipur, and as we wound our way south, the sagebrush and dry ground began to turn softer, greener. Flowers began to appear again, and then we started to climb. By lunchtime we were high in the hills, and the scenery was downright lush. Our driver pointed out that the area, called Ranakpur, is basically a collection of small hotels surrounding an important Jain temple, all nestled inside of a nature preserve, which is, as far as I can tell, the only reason it’s not more populated.

Anyway, it was such a lovely place that we decided to check with the tour office and see if we could arrange to spend a night in Ranakpur before driving on. In order to reach him, we had to drive a short ways up the road to a tiny shack with a land line phone and five or six people standing around.

The beautiful little girl in this photo set was one of them, and as Brian was taking her picture, a couple of monkeys stopped by to see what all the fuss was about. The weather here is great- humid but not oppressive, and so cool we actually decided to go for a walk!

Secretly, I’m typing this from Bangkok, so I can say that Ranakpur was our favorite place in India. A good look at the pictures below should help you guys see why. Extravagant natural beauty and a gorgeous temple build around a holy tree, troops of monkeys and friendly stray dogs made this a major highlight of our time there.

This leg of the trip took us to the desert reaches of Jaisalmer, a town famous for its sandcastle-esque hilltop fort and even more famous for its camel safaris. We did some sightseeing the first day, taking in some fairly impressive temples, and interior of the fort, which still remains the most “holy-crap-India-is-crazy” experience of the trip so far. It was a labyrinth of narrow, nonsensical, crooked and crowded streets, lined either side with very aggressive shopkeepers eager to ply their wares. Add the heat, noise and crowds, and we were very overwhelmed very fast.

Our second day, we headed out for a fun (if more than a little bit touristy) camel ride. We basically just rode about 30 minutes to some sand dunes and watched the sun set. Don’t worry, beer and snacks were available. We had a what I think was a distinctly Indian moment while hanging out on the dunes- A duo of musicians came by, asked us our names, then sang us a song about…um…something with our names in it. It was really a nice moment, but mid-song a boy missing both arms past his elbows came along to ask for money. How could I refuse? I even had to tuck it into his pocket for him. It was heartbreaking. I thought this was very symbolic of our experience here so far- beauty and extravagance colluding with appalling tragedy. This place has painted the rust for a thousand years, and I don’t think I could ever understand it.

All that aside, it was beautiful to lay in the sand, listen to some Minus the Bear and watch the sun set. Afterwords we rode back to our little desert outpost for some entertainment and dinner. A group of traditional musicians and a dancer performed for our small group, and we ate a traditional Rajasthani desert dinner and were even treated to some of Kharak’s “desert wine”, which tasted….flammable. All in all, a pretty great night, but unfortunately the power cut out, so we were without a fan all night. To make matters worse, we were absolutely eaten alive by mosquitoes all night long. We pulled out of Jaisalmer the next morning cranky and tired, but little by little the landscape started to change, and by mid-afternoon, we were in the lush green hill country we had originally pictured as the backdrop of our trip.

Bikaner boasts a huge fort/museum and a very interesting Jain temple.  Because of its desert local, water has always been scarce.  So when the temple was built in the 1514, they mixed the cement with ghee (clarified butter) instead of water.  Apparently, the temple’s floor still gets oily in the hottest part of the year.  We were treated to a tour by the temple’s kindly priest (pictured with Brian), who explained the artwork and history.  Pretty interesting for a butter church.

We also sampled some jalebi, an Indian breakfast staple.  They tasted sort of like a donut, but with a hint of motor oil.  Yum.

It was a short day in Bikaner, but we managed to see some interesting things and get a taste of off-the-beaten-bath India.  Then we hit the road for the long drive to Jaisalmer.  The picture of the girls below was taken during a stop for gas, when they came to our car window to say hello and giggle at us.  My favorite thing about India so far has definitely been the kids, who are always curious and friendly.

Next stop: Jaisalmer for some desert adventure….
-Brian

Not much else to report on Delhi, as we made a hasty exit, but here are a few shots from our brief time there.  I went out with Kharak, our driver, for an afternoon of sightseeing around the city while Julia was back at the hotel recouping from a case of instant-onset Delhi belly.  We saw the India Gate (meh) and the very cool Humayun’s Tomb, the inspiration for the Taj Mahal.  It was so cool, in fact, that I made special arrangements to see it again the next morning with Julia.

Fun fact:  I love monkeys.

I spotted my first (and only, so far) monkey of the trip!  It was surreal being stuck in unbelievably chaotic Delhi rush hour traffic and seeing a large monkey scurry across a power line stories above the street.  Unfortunately, he was too far away to get a good picture.

So that’s about it for Delhi.  Next stop, Jaisalmer for a camel ride.

-Brian