Saturday 30 April 2016

India

Carolyn.
It is 43 degrees today in Varanasi, India.  To say that we are hot is an understatement.  We arrived yesterday and are staying for a week - there is every reason to believe that it will only get hotter.  But we are sticking with our budget accommodation on the ghats of the holy River Ganges where the thirty-year old air conditioner is struggling to keep our room at around 32 degrees.  One unexpected thing is that the 'cold' water tap delivers scorching hot water...makes sense that all the old plumbing is getting heated too, which sadly means no cooling showers for us as an escape from the heat.

We briefly considered moving to a better hotel in the main city, to secure climate-controlled comfort, but dismissed the idea because it would be far away from the main attraction in this ancient city:  everything that happens in and around the sacred waters of the river.

Varanasi is the spiritual capital of India, they say.  There is a magical feeling here.  Vern and I spent a couple weeks here fourteen years ago, and we loved it – so we also wanted Cooper to feel what it’s like to be wrapped in the arms of Mother Ganga (what the Hindu people call the river).


Spending time in this area is an amazing experience.  The noise and chaos of cars, tuk tuks and rickshaws are all far away, too big for the narrow old alleys.  Instead, there are cows and monkeys, funeral processions and wedding drums, brahmins and beggars, garbage and more garbage, oil lamps and bells ringing, fireworks and chanting, kids and dying pilgrims, all littering the walkways (literally and figuratively)…and it’s impossible to avoid being touched by it all (literally and figuratively).

Today, I was standing still for a moment, half under an awning, when I suddenly felt warm liquid on my shoulder and arm.  I looked up to see what this might be and where it was coming from – and I realized that it must be monkey pee!!  Up on the electrical wires, I could see its red bum dripping.  Ick. This was a first for me.  While walking through these narrow alleys, I’m always aware of hazards from front & behind (motorcycles and bikes), and underfoot (cow poop), but now I know that I should also be aware of what is above!


As I type this, there is beautiful singing come into our hotel room from a temple across from us - if I open this window, I can almost reach across and open theirs.  Same singing yesterday, we guess it will happen every evening - lovely (and also nice that it ends long before bedtime!).

There is much more to write about Varanasi, but we must go find some dinner soon!  More later.


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Over the past few weeks, we also spent time in southern India, houseboating on the backwaters of Kerala, hiking through tea plantations high in the hills near Munnar, and tapping rubber trees in the foothills of Thodupuzha.

Then a flight north to Delhi for a couple days, followed by a train to Agra and the requisite visit to the magnificent Taj Mahal.  Another train a couple days later took us to Khajuraho where we visited temples with the most amazing and detailed carvings we have ever seen anywhere in the world - simply incredible.



Click here to see the rest of the pictures from our world trip so far: Trip Photo Album

Wednesday 13 April 2016

Only in Dubai - Uber Option

Vern.

Dubai has changed considerably in the fourteen years since Carolyn and I were here (living and working Oct 2001 - April 2002), with the addition of hundreds of new hotels as well as top-notch tourist attractions.   More on this in a later post, but I just had to share the image below from Uber taxi.  For those unfamiliar with Uber, it is a taxi conglomerate available in many cities worldwide.  Taxis are summoned through a smartphone app to the GPS location of the requester.  It is fast, easy, and normally cheaper than hailing a passing cab.  Passengers can also select their preferred class of car for their ride, from basic to luxury.  Available options vary by city.  In Dubai, it turns out that the basic car, “UberSELECT”, is a Lexus.  As for luxury, where else but in Dubai would you find, on the Uber menu, "UberCHOPPER":




Click here to see the rest of the pictures from our world trip so far: Trip Photo Album



Sunday 10 April 2016

The Seychelles


Vern.

We factored the Seychelles into our trip as a ‘vacation from travel’.   Thinking “Seychelles” conjured up a vision of tropical paradise, and we were not disappointed.  

The Seychelles group of islands is located in the middle of the Indian Ocean, about 1500 km from mainland Africa, due east of Kenya.  Each of the three main islands, Mahe, Praslin and La Digue, has its own character and charm.   The Paradise Sun Resort on Praslin was our destination of choice, a fantastic hotel with a long white sand beach, awesome food, great pool, a dive centre and various watercraft.  We took advantage of the kayaks and stand-up paddleboards, though our main activities revolved around reading, eating, swimming and sleeping.   Carolyn and I did a “refresher” dive session, while Cooper did a Discover Scuba Diving PADI course which allowed us all to dive together at one of the smaller islands off Praslin.  Cooper’s first ocean dive!




We also spent a day on the small, picture-perfect island of La Digue, a thirty minute boat ride from our hotel.  We rented bikes and cruised along the one and only main road, stopping to take a dip at various beaches along the way.  One quaint beach, Anse Source d'Argent, is reputed to be one of the most photographed in the world.





We had the chance to speak to a number of locals and ask about life in the Seychelles.  There are interesting perks.  Health care is free.  If the patient’s condition is serious, the government will pay for the trip to and treatment at a modern off-island medical facility (e.g. India).  Post-secondary education is also free.  There is a university on Mahe; however, if a student wishes to study abroad (Australia is popular) the government will pick up both the school and travel costs, with the condition that upon graduation the student will return to the Seychelles for a minimum of two years.  Small businesses do not pay taxes.  All of this helps to explain why an order of four miniature spring rolls cost $16, and Cooper's medium pizza was $40.  Price was a consideration in limiting our stay, but six days in island paradise was worth it!




Click here to see the rest of the pictures from our world trip so far: Trip Photo Album

Sunday 3 April 2016

Madagascar

Carolyn.  We've seen King Julien, and Mort.  Didn't see Maurice.  Saw lots of other lemurs too!

Madagascar is definitely the poorest of the five African countries we've traveled in (Zimbabwe, Botswana, Namibia, South Africa) - and the people here are lovely.  Very basic mud huts with thatch roofs in most of the country side.  Lots of crowds, markets, ladies carrying water cans on their heads and babies on their backs, dirty but happy kids playing in bare feet, goats, zebu (cows), garbage, etc.

Tons of rice paddies everywhere - we didn't expect that.  Apparently the Malagasy people consume more rice per capita than the Chinese!









Click here to see the rest of the pictures from our world trip so far: Trip Photo Album