Now that we're in Delhi I seem to have found a better internet connection, however seeing as we leave for a camel safari today I can't guarantee that I'll be blogging much more frequently. I know, I'm a horrible person. But on a positive note... yes, you did indeed hear me correctly CAMEL SAFARI. As in, riding a camel through, and sleeping in, the desert. Which is basically camping. I know some of you are oh so very proud right now...
I'm hoping my legs will hold up for this safari. I'm not sure how much you actually use your legs while riding a camel, but if it's anything remotely akin to riding a horse, I'm in trouble. See, here's my problem...
Our final weekend we went to Cherating which, despite all the hype, turned out to be nowhere near as nice as Langkawi. But they did have a riding facility. On the beach. With endurance horses. Needless to say, after having been nowhere near an equine in the past seven months, it didn't take much convincing to get me on the back of a feisty little grey Arab mare...
Now when you haven't ridden in seven months, the last thing you should probably do is go for an hour and a half long canter down the beach. In shorts. In a Wintec saddle. I am currently half crippled for all my muscle stiffness and have wonderful rub-burns on both my calves, but dammit it was worth it! It was just me and my "guide" (who barely spoke English but who was, apparently, incredibly excited to have someone to ride with) cantering for a full hour and a half (with a few walk breaks but I was still in awe of the mare's stamina! Beret would have had a heart attack I'm sure)down the beach (good footing!) on a beautiful day. The fact that we've been walking at half-speed and that the five hour flight to India just about killed me are but a small inconvenience. ^^
So that brings me to India... good food, good weather, amazing textiles (I'm trying oh so very hard)it's pretty great. Although my first day in Delhi found me wishing I could curl up in a ball and assume the fetal position. It is probably THE number one craziest, most hectic place on the face of the planet. I almost got run over by an ox cart, an autorickshaw, a bicycle and a motorcycle in a single attempt at a road crossing. No jokes.
While it's been an experience, we're desperate to get out of the city. We've hired a driver/ car to take us around the state of Rajathstan for the next two weeks (definitely the way to go: convenient and affordable). Between him and the train system we'll see quite a bit, although the short period we have here meant that we had to cut out some of the places we wanted to see, most notably (for me, anyway) Mumbai and Darjeeling. I've just taken that to mean that we have a solid excuse to come back sometime. So, if anyone's interested, I'm planning a return trip...
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Yippee!
It's official! I'm allowed to visit India! I picked up my passport, complete with a shiny new visa, today! :D
It's about damn time too! In the process of getting these visas we've experienced rats and cockroaches, gotten lost (more than once) trying to find a bank in Chinatown, been spit on by homeless men (well, Caitlin was, but I felt her pain...), had an excellent discussion with a Brit and a Scottsman in a pub about String Theory, had a super sketchy conversation in the same bar with a Malay, a Singaporean and an Indian (complete with a marriage proposal. Ya, I'm that good.) and just been frustrated in general. Not to mention having to come to another country to have the process completed!
Not that I'm complaining, because I've pretty much decided that I love this country.
I'm just sayin'...
Our flight leaves on Monday evening and I am uber excited. Words can't even express...
ps: Here's sending lots of love and a big birthday shout-out to all of my friends/ family with birthdays this week! I hope everyone had amazing birthdays! xxoo
It's about damn time too! In the process of getting these visas we've experienced rats and cockroaches, gotten lost (more than once) trying to find a bank in Chinatown, been spit on by homeless men (well, Caitlin was, but I felt her pain...), had an excellent discussion with a Brit and a Scottsman in a pub about String Theory, had a super sketchy conversation in the same bar with a Malay, a Singaporean and an Indian (complete with a marriage proposal. Ya, I'm that good.) and just been frustrated in general. Not to mention having to come to another country to have the process completed!
Not that I'm complaining, because I've pretty much decided that I love this country.
I'm just sayin'...
Our flight leaves on Monday evening and I am uber excited. Words can't even express...
ps: Here's sending lots of love and a big birthday shout-out to all of my friends/ family with birthdays this week! I hope everyone had amazing birthdays! xxoo
Monday, March 23, 2009
Planes, Trains and Mannies by Trannys...
So we've just arrived back in Kuala Lumpur after an amazing weekend on the island of Langkawi. This spot is a popular tourist destination and is, apparently, a hub for Malaysian and European tourists alike, however it was pretty dead this weekend, despite a footy tournament that was going on right outside our beach-front chalet. I know, life is tough...
The journey to Langkawi was pretty epic. First we had to take a seven hour train ride from Kuala Lumpur to the town of Butterworth. Given my intense scrutiny and dislike of public restrooms (and by "dislike" I mean "I find them utterly appalling and refuse to use them")this trip was a feat in and of itself. I'm not about to use a bathroom on a train at home, let alone a squat toilet in a public restroom that happens to be moving... (side note: I'm also a terrible squatter..)So I made it a point to drink absolutely nothing on Thursday and managed to get through the journey without visiting the little girls' room (which, given Caitlin's description of these facilities, was pretty much a God-send).
It was about 10 pm when we hopped off the train, so we opted to take a cab across the longest bridge in South East Asia (I feel like an old lady incorporating facts like that into my blog, but this thing was massively long...)seeing as the ferry was only running hourly by this point and we didn't feel like waiting. As soon as we made it to the island of Penang we found a hotel which was unfortunate because our hotel-grading abilities must have been blocked by either the lack of food or water in our systems. This place was NASTY (facilities and patrons alike...). By far the worst place I've ever attempted to sleep; "attempted" being the key here... No worries, because the ferry to Langkawi left blissfully early the next morning, so we didn't have to stay in that room for long.
The three hour ferry ride was incredibly beautiful and calming--Langkawi is the biggest of a group of islands off the south west coast of Malaysia (any further south and we would have been in Thailand, literally) so there were lots of tiny islands to gaze upon as well as fishing boats to observe and, when all else failed, the wide open Adaman Sea! Although sunblock may have been a good idea seeing as I did wind up with the sexiest farmer's burn Malaysia's ever seen...
We found a clean, cheap chalet on the beach to pass the weekend. It was right in front of the football so we got to listen to music, watch the tourney, sunbathe and swim all at the same time. When we were sufficiently roasted (it didn't take long for our Casper-esque bodies to turn a nice shade of lobster, despite the Coppertone) we hung up our suits and treated ourselves to manicures and pedicures. As I'm sure you have deduced by this point, the exceptional aesthitician who did my manicure was definitely a tranny, beard and all. I mention this not because I'm opposed to having my nails done by a transvestite, but rather because in a country where anything outside of heterosexuality is seriously frowned upon, I was surprised to see someone so openly transgendered, especially on the island of Langkawi with its predominantly Muslim population.
It ended up being a horrible manicure. Not because of the aesthitician's sexual orientation (obviously) but rather because in my quest to find a neutral colour of nail polish from an astonishingly small selection I wound up with beige nails. That's right, BEIGE. Think of the women in your great grandmother's bingo group. Think Spanx and mothballs. It didn't even look like I had fingernails. It was freakishly horrifying and I immediately (well, after taking a few pics to document the adventure...) bought some remover and rid myself of all evidence of my terrible decision making (for those of you who have ever become frustrated with my indecision, THIS is evidence as to why I should never, ever choose anything. Could you imagine if that had been a meal?!?!)
Speaking of meals, I had some of the best of my life on the island. I'm not even joking. God I love food...
After our self-indulgence we returned to our chalet to discover that our nice, conservative, black one-piece bathing suits had been stolen from the drying rack outside our room. Back to the main strip we went, returning with rather revealing bikinis (you'd think that in a predominantly Muslim community you'd be able to buy a one piece...). After that we hung everything to dry in our bathroom. (Aside: seriously, who steals bathing suits?!?!)
All in all, it was a great weekend. Langkawi is a gorgeous place and the beach was lovely; this was the first time that I've actually experienced bath water warm water! Because we enjoyed it so much we, obviously, decided to stay in Malaysia, despite our close proximity to Thailand. Guess I'll have to save that for another adventure...
And now we wait for our Indian visas. Hopefully we'll have some time to hit up the east coast (apparently the beaches there are even nicer than Langkawi) before we fly to Delhi next week. In closing I leave you with a few interesting things I've leart this week:
--Muslim women often swim fully clothed (hence the lack of one piece bathsuits).
--Those hoses in public restrooms are not for cleaning the area around the squat toilet when one happens to "miss". They are actually intented to be used as bidets. (I'm not a machine, I was bound to have to use one sooner or later. The restroom that is, not the hose. Ewy.)
--When you have 7 hours on a train, you become an epic Tetris player.
The journey to Langkawi was pretty epic. First we had to take a seven hour train ride from Kuala Lumpur to the town of Butterworth. Given my intense scrutiny and dislike of public restrooms (and by "dislike" I mean "I find them utterly appalling and refuse to use them")this trip was a feat in and of itself. I'm not about to use a bathroom on a train at home, let alone a squat toilet in a public restroom that happens to be moving... (side note: I'm also a terrible squatter..)So I made it a point to drink absolutely nothing on Thursday and managed to get through the journey without visiting the little girls' room (which, given Caitlin's description of these facilities, was pretty much a God-send).
It was about 10 pm when we hopped off the train, so we opted to take a cab across the longest bridge in South East Asia (I feel like an old lady incorporating facts like that into my blog, but this thing was massively long...)seeing as the ferry was only running hourly by this point and we didn't feel like waiting. As soon as we made it to the island of Penang we found a hotel which was unfortunate because our hotel-grading abilities must have been blocked by either the lack of food or water in our systems. This place was NASTY (facilities and patrons alike...). By far the worst place I've ever attempted to sleep; "attempted" being the key here... No worries, because the ferry to Langkawi left blissfully early the next morning, so we didn't have to stay in that room for long.
The three hour ferry ride was incredibly beautiful and calming--Langkawi is the biggest of a group of islands off the south west coast of Malaysia (any further south and we would have been in Thailand, literally) so there were lots of tiny islands to gaze upon as well as fishing boats to observe and, when all else failed, the wide open Adaman Sea! Although sunblock may have been a good idea seeing as I did wind up with the sexiest farmer's burn Malaysia's ever seen...
We found a clean, cheap chalet on the beach to pass the weekend. It was right in front of the football so we got to listen to music, watch the tourney, sunbathe and swim all at the same time. When we were sufficiently roasted (it didn't take long for our Casper-esque bodies to turn a nice shade of lobster, despite the Coppertone) we hung up our suits and treated ourselves to manicures and pedicures. As I'm sure you have deduced by this point, the exceptional aesthitician who did my manicure was definitely a tranny, beard and all. I mention this not because I'm opposed to having my nails done by a transvestite, but rather because in a country where anything outside of heterosexuality is seriously frowned upon, I was surprised to see someone so openly transgendered, especially on the island of Langkawi with its predominantly Muslim population.
It ended up being a horrible manicure. Not because of the aesthitician's sexual orientation (obviously) but rather because in my quest to find a neutral colour of nail polish from an astonishingly small selection I wound up with beige nails. That's right, BEIGE. Think of the women in your great grandmother's bingo group. Think Spanx and mothballs. It didn't even look like I had fingernails. It was freakishly horrifying and I immediately (well, after taking a few pics to document the adventure...) bought some remover and rid myself of all evidence of my terrible decision making (for those of you who have ever become frustrated with my indecision, THIS is evidence as to why I should never, ever choose anything. Could you imagine if that had been a meal?!?!)
Speaking of meals, I had some of the best of my life on the island. I'm not even joking. God I love food...
After our self-indulgence we returned to our chalet to discover that our nice, conservative, black one-piece bathing suits had been stolen from the drying rack outside our room. Back to the main strip we went, returning with rather revealing bikinis (you'd think that in a predominantly Muslim community you'd be able to buy a one piece...). After that we hung everything to dry in our bathroom. (Aside: seriously, who steals bathing suits?!?!)
All in all, it was a great weekend. Langkawi is a gorgeous place and the beach was lovely; this was the first time that I've actually experienced bath water warm water! Because we enjoyed it so much we, obviously, decided to stay in Malaysia, despite our close proximity to Thailand. Guess I'll have to save that for another adventure...
And now we wait for our Indian visas. Hopefully we'll have some time to hit up the east coast (apparently the beaches there are even nicer than Langkawi) before we fly to Delhi next week. In closing I leave you with a few interesting things I've leart this week:
--Muslim women often swim fully clothed (hence the lack of one piece bathsuits).
--Those hoses in public restrooms are not for cleaning the area around the squat toilet when one happens to "miss". They are actually intented to be used as bidets. (I'm not a machine, I was bound to have to use one sooner or later. The restroom that is, not the hose. Ewy.)
--When you have 7 hours on a train, you become an epic Tetris player.
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Selamat Petang!
Apologies in advance for any spelling/ grammatical errors. I'm writing in cafes for the duration of this trip so I won't have time to proof read and edit!
So we decided to spend some time in Malaysia before heading on to India because we were unable to gt Indian visas in Seoul. After a long series of unfortunate events, Caitlin ended up having to overstay her Korean visa and was therefore hiding out illegally in the country, which essentially made it impossible to contact any government offices of any kind, seeing as she was risking immediate deportation...
Naturally, we were concerned about getting out of the country, and had worked up fantastic scenarios in our heads of Caitlin being whisked off to a secret immigration office where unimaginable events would have occurred. As it turned out, it wasn't a big deal and they let her out of the country without so much as a sideways glance. Go figure.
We arrived in Kuala Lumpur yesterday. It was a reasonable flight and I would highly recommend flying Malaysian Air to anyone traveling throughout Asia. We had several issues (having to cancel and reschedule, extend our layover, etc) and they were very helpful and the price was quite good. In all honesty, they've definitely taken top spot in my list of "favourite discount airline"!
Malaysia, or at least Kuala Lumpur, has so far proven to be a low-key yet highly enjoyable place. It's a little dirty, it was incredibly difficult to get my money exchanged (ie: all but impossible) and I had to kill cockroaches in our hotel room last night, but nevertheless it possesses an undeniable charm that I'm all but positive you need to experience to fully understand.
It's an incredibly diverse city. After experiencing the homogeneity of Seoul for so long, Caitlin and I were absolutely astounded by the variety of EVERYTHING. We just sat in a street side restaurant and people watched for an unbelievably long time, just taking it in. Maybe it's reverse culture shock, but I just feel incomprehensively lucky to be a part of such a multicultural city at the moment!
Added bonuses: it's VERY warm and humid (although a little overcast... Still, I'm not complaining seeing as we knew full well when we decided to come here that it was the beginning of the monsoon!), there's food that's not galbi and bibimbap (we went to an AMAZING vegetarian restaurant today and ate VEGETABLES! It was pretty incredible...), everyone speaks English (we were fully prepared for the kind of communication difficulties we experienced so frequently in Seoul, but we haven't encountered a single issue so far!)and EVERYONE we've met has been unbelievably kind and helpful. I'm not sure, perhaps it's just because I'm happy to be on vacation but so far I'm pretty into Malaysia!
We applied for our Indian visas today, and we have about a week before they'll be ready, so we're contemplating heading south to a beach somewhere and possibly on to Thailand, but we haven't decided on anything yet. I'll be sure to keep "everyone" posted!
Selamet Jalan, until next time!
So we decided to spend some time in Malaysia before heading on to India because we were unable to gt Indian visas in Seoul. After a long series of unfortunate events, Caitlin ended up having to overstay her Korean visa and was therefore hiding out illegally in the country, which essentially made it impossible to contact any government offices of any kind, seeing as she was risking immediate deportation...
Naturally, we were concerned about getting out of the country, and had worked up fantastic scenarios in our heads of Caitlin being whisked off to a secret immigration office where unimaginable events would have occurred. As it turned out, it wasn't a big deal and they let her out of the country without so much as a sideways glance. Go figure.
We arrived in Kuala Lumpur yesterday. It was a reasonable flight and I would highly recommend flying Malaysian Air to anyone traveling throughout Asia. We had several issues (having to cancel and reschedule, extend our layover, etc) and they were very helpful and the price was quite good. In all honesty, they've definitely taken top spot in my list of "favourite discount airline"!
Malaysia, or at least Kuala Lumpur, has so far proven to be a low-key yet highly enjoyable place. It's a little dirty, it was incredibly difficult to get my money exchanged (ie: all but impossible) and I had to kill cockroaches in our hotel room last night, but nevertheless it possesses an undeniable charm that I'm all but positive you need to experience to fully understand.
It's an incredibly diverse city. After experiencing the homogeneity of Seoul for so long, Caitlin and I were absolutely astounded by the variety of EVERYTHING. We just sat in a street side restaurant and people watched for an unbelievably long time, just taking it in. Maybe it's reverse culture shock, but I just feel incomprehensively lucky to be a part of such a multicultural city at the moment!
Added bonuses: it's VERY warm and humid (although a little overcast... Still, I'm not complaining seeing as we knew full well when we decided to come here that it was the beginning of the monsoon!), there's food that's not galbi and bibimbap (we went to an AMAZING vegetarian restaurant today and ate VEGETABLES! It was pretty incredible...), everyone speaks English (we were fully prepared for the kind of communication difficulties we experienced so frequently in Seoul, but we haven't encountered a single issue so far!)and EVERYONE we've met has been unbelievably kind and helpful. I'm not sure, perhaps it's just because I'm happy to be on vacation but so far I'm pretty into Malaysia!
We applied for our Indian visas today, and we have about a week before they'll be ready, so we're contemplating heading south to a beach somewhere and possibly on to Thailand, but we haven't decided on anything yet. I'll be sure to keep "everyone" posted!
Selamet Jalan, until next time!
Thursday, March 12, 2009
A Few of My Favourite Things...
One of my favourite things to do is to sit by a window on a rainy day and just experience the weather. The dampness in the air, the smell, the sound... without a doubt I am happiest on rainy days.
Unfortunately, it doesn't actually rain much here, outside of the monsoon that is. I can actually count the number of days it has rained since my arrival. Three. No less and no more. And not one of those days included a storm. If I'm happy on rainy days, I become damn near ecstatic with the coming of a storm.
So imagine my surprise, the sheer joy I felt, when I awoke this morning and saw that it was raining!
Immediately I poured myself a cup of coffee, grabbed my book and sat on the window ledge in Rachel's apartment, completely content.
Other than finding time to enjoy the weather, this first week of vacation has been full of rediscovery. JeeYoung, Kyle's girlfriend, told me of a bookstore where I could find not only English books, but French as well. Thanks to her I have begun reading again and it is because of the hours spent at said bookstore that I had a book to read this morning. I had almost forgotten how much I love reading, but between The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time, Le Petit Prince and introducing Caitlin to The Wheel of Time I have managed to fully re-immerse myself in literature.
I've also re-discovered South Korea. After six months of working here, Seoul had become just another place to live. I found myself confined to Bundang and not taking the time to explore the city and experience the culture. Having some time off has allowed me to relax and absorb the environment and, as a result, the city has become almost new again. I guess this just re-enforces the fact that I am not meant to live and work as I travel, but purely as vacation and for enjoyment.
So for a week Caitlin and I have been doing a whole bunch of nothing, vacation-style. Wandering Seoul, eating our favourite foods, drinking our favourite coffee, hanging out with (and squatting in the residences of) Rachel and Kyle (affectionately deemed "Auberge Rachel" and "Chateau Harris", respectively)and preparing for the next leg of our journey.
We leave for Malaysia on Monday and will be spending a bit of time there before continuing on to India. Although this wasn't originally in the cards, I'm embracing the spontaneity and am trying not to freak out too much. Caitlin is being very supportive and understanding, indulging my planning urges by agreeing to be at the airport earlier than necessary to ensure that everything runs smoothly.
More on Malaysia and why we're hanging out there later. As for now, I need to grab another cup of coffee and get back to my book.
Unfortunately, it doesn't actually rain much here, outside of the monsoon that is. I can actually count the number of days it has rained since my arrival. Three. No less and no more. And not one of those days included a storm. If I'm happy on rainy days, I become damn near ecstatic with the coming of a storm.
So imagine my surprise, the sheer joy I felt, when I awoke this morning and saw that it was raining!
Immediately I poured myself a cup of coffee, grabbed my book and sat on the window ledge in Rachel's apartment, completely content.
Other than finding time to enjoy the weather, this first week of vacation has been full of rediscovery. JeeYoung, Kyle's girlfriend, told me of a bookstore where I could find not only English books, but French as well. Thanks to her I have begun reading again and it is because of the hours spent at said bookstore that I had a book to read this morning. I had almost forgotten how much I love reading, but between The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time, Le Petit Prince and introducing Caitlin to The Wheel of Time I have managed to fully re-immerse myself in literature.
I've also re-discovered South Korea. After six months of working here, Seoul had become just another place to live. I found myself confined to Bundang and not taking the time to explore the city and experience the culture. Having some time off has allowed me to relax and absorb the environment and, as a result, the city has become almost new again. I guess this just re-enforces the fact that I am not meant to live and work as I travel, but purely as vacation and for enjoyment.
So for a week Caitlin and I have been doing a whole bunch of nothing, vacation-style. Wandering Seoul, eating our favourite foods, drinking our favourite coffee, hanging out with (and squatting in the residences of) Rachel and Kyle (affectionately deemed "Auberge Rachel" and "Chateau Harris", respectively)and preparing for the next leg of our journey.
We leave for Malaysia on Monday and will be spending a bit of time there before continuing on to India. Although this wasn't originally in the cards, I'm embracing the spontaneity and am trying not to freak out too much. Caitlin is being very supportive and understanding, indulging my planning urges by agreeing to be at the airport earlier than necessary to ensure that everything runs smoothly.
More on Malaysia and why we're hanging out there later. As for now, I need to grab another cup of coffee and get back to my book.
Thursday, March 5, 2009
Cue the Fat Lady...
It's finally arrived. My last day.
After today I think that I'll have some pretty amazing things to talk about, seeing as I'll be exploring India in just over a week's time!
I know, I know. I was SUPPOSED to leave on March 8th, but there were some minor technical difficulties that stood in the way of Caitlin, myself and our early departure. Namely a delay in the visa application process and the fact that my backpack has yet to arrive from the Great White North. Like I said: minor. Mere details.
So the next week will consist of coffee, the DMZ and, hopefully, the arrival of my luggage. Then it will be nothing but curry and the Taj for a solid four weeks.
So there it is. She had better be warming up those vocals, because I expect something spectacular to play me off stage!
After today I think that I'll have some pretty amazing things to talk about, seeing as I'll be exploring India in just over a week's time!
I know, I know. I was SUPPOSED to leave on March 8th, but there were some minor technical difficulties that stood in the way of Caitlin, myself and our early departure. Namely a delay in the visa application process and the fact that my backpack has yet to arrive from the Great White North. Like I said: minor. Mere details.
So the next week will consist of coffee, the DMZ and, hopefully, the arrival of my luggage. Then it will be nothing but curry and the Taj for a solid four weeks.
So there it is. She had better be warming up those vocals, because I expect something spectacular to play me off stage!
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