A quick note just to say I made it... It was great to see beirut materialize out of the clouds as we decended in the airplane. I smiled feeling like I was coming home. Anyway now that I'm here I will have time to catch up on my travel writing. Its good to be here and i'm looking forward to the weeks i have here.
~NK
Saturday, July 16, 2005
Monday, July 11, 2005
India so far...
just a quick note since i really don't have time to write, ill fill this in a bit more later...
As far as my travels, they have been quite amazing, unique, and varied thus far and I couldn't be happier. I spent the entire day at the airport, with 15 min. or so dedicated to storing my luggage. I got through the da vinci code, and started hitchhikers guide to the galaxy. I'm also finished with Into the Wild by Keroack. Sundeep Ganesh and Deep's uncle picked me up from the airport and took me to deep's grandparents place in Bangalore. The next morning we toured the city several times and hung out. they spoke english and were in great health. He is a doctor (the inventor of The RED medicine) and she is a bit of a writer (although not occupationally). Sundeep and I then boarded a bus for Cargal that night and it arrived at 5:30am the next day. Greeted by his uncle and aunt we stayed in Cargal that day enjoying an amazing Jog Falls waterfall that decends almost 1000 feet before reaching the tropical pool below. This place is so different from the crowded city of Bangalore. It is a small town of less than a thousand and mainly employed by tourism to the falls, or the hydro-electric plants that are set up along the river and damns. Here we met many many people, friends etc and went to the hospital where deeps uncle works. The following morning we went to Kumta, but along the way we stopped at a huge temple on the Arabian Sea for Shiva. Then we went to the Bhat family temple, i say that because the head priest is a relative and it has been that way for many generations. They had a Puja or prayer for sundeep and took him to pray with the Ganeesh god in the back (which im assuming is a great privaledge). We had many offerings blessed and were ourselves blessed by the priest. when we left we were surprised to turn around and see the priest following us beconing us to have tea (Cha) with him at his house. We obliged, but i can only guess at what the other worshipers did when he left and the temple was without a priest. Next stop was another uncle, this time in the actual town of Kumta, the nearest to the village. There we met sundeeps other uncle who was the Range Forrest Officer for the area and played a big part in forrest conservation there. Finally that night just before dark we reached Mouror... sundeeps family's village. It was beautifully nestled in a river valley between 7 peaks and covered with coconut palms and beetlenut trees. Mangos grew on the upland slopes and the houses were midway down, just off the road. There were only 2 or 3 stores and scarecely 100 people strong. Electricity came, but was shotty. Water was plentiful during this rainy season and it rained hard and long, creating rushing rivers from nowhere, then as if to tease you the sun came out and tickled the rainwater with its rays.
As far as my travels, they have been quite amazing, unique, and varied thus far and I couldn't be happier. I spent the entire day at the airport, with 15 min. or so dedicated to storing my luggage. I got through the da vinci code, and started hitchhikers guide to the galaxy. I'm also finished with Into the Wild by Keroack. Sundeep Ganesh and Deep's uncle picked me up from the airport and took me to deep's grandparents place in Bangalore. The next morning we toured the city several times and hung out. they spoke english and were in great health. He is a doctor (the inventor of The RED medicine) and she is a bit of a writer (although not occupationally). Sundeep and I then boarded a bus for Cargal that night and it arrived at 5:30am the next day. Greeted by his uncle and aunt we stayed in Cargal that day enjoying an amazing Jog Falls waterfall that decends almost 1000 feet before reaching the tropical pool below. This place is so different from the crowded city of Bangalore. It is a small town of less than a thousand and mainly employed by tourism to the falls, or the hydro-electric plants that are set up along the river and damns. Here we met many many people, friends etc and went to the hospital where deeps uncle works. The following morning we went to Kumta, but along the way we stopped at a huge temple on the Arabian Sea for Shiva. Then we went to the Bhat family temple, i say that because the head priest is a relative and it has been that way for many generations. They had a Puja or prayer for sundeep and took him to pray with the Ganeesh god in the back (which im assuming is a great privaledge). We had many offerings blessed and were ourselves blessed by the priest. when we left we were surprised to turn around and see the priest following us beconing us to have tea (Cha) with him at his house. We obliged, but i can only guess at what the other worshipers did when he left and the temple was without a priest. Next stop was another uncle, this time in the actual town of Kumta, the nearest to the village. There we met sundeeps other uncle who was the Range Forrest Officer for the area and played a big part in forrest conservation there. Finally that night just before dark we reached Mouror... sundeeps family's village. It was beautifully nestled in a river valley between 7 peaks and covered with coconut palms and beetlenut trees. Mangos grew on the upland slopes and the houses were midway down, just off the road. There were only 2 or 3 stores and scarecely 100 people strong. Electricity came, but was shotty. Water was plentiful during this rainy season and it rained hard and long, creating rushing rivers from nowhere, then as if to tease you the sun came out and tickled the rainwater with its rays.
Thursday, June 23, 2005
Armani Bangkok Style
We began the day late, and started it off with the Menam Hotel's famous pastries from the lobby bakery. Clad in dread locks and braids we headed off to Wat Phra Kao and the Grand Palace only to be greeted by a closed doors. After a quick lunch at a Singha beer sponsored diner, we hopped in a Tuk Tuk and went to Voglee Fashion to be measured for "Armani" suits. After perusing the catalogs I chose a black tuxedo and a blue pin-stripped suit. Kate followed suit with a black skirt suit and a white pin-stripped suit. We were very excited. After we left the shop we again boarded a Tuk Tuk to go shopping at Koh San Road. The second we got there we realized the meaning of "rainy season." It started to pour as if we were being doused with buckets. Apparently this was a daily occurence because all of the shops simultaneously closed and everyone pulled out umbrellas that we did not have. Shopping was cancelled and we jumped into "Jimmy's Diner" for a bite to eat. Here we discovered the famous Thai fruit shakes. Afterwards, still drenched, we found some unique jewelry shops and Kate bought a couple of gifts. I got to practice my Arabic with the shopkeeper. Kate struck a good bargain as she always does. Afterwards, we hailed a taxi back to the Menam. Determined not to end the night on account of the bad weather we went for a night swim.
Wednesday, June 22, 2005
Braids in Bangkok
We checked in to the Menam Riverside Hotel, exhausted from our early flight. Well the "PRICE DROP" agressively advertised on the internet, followed by "HOT DEAL" and "GREAT BARGAIN" we found were due to the fist and second floor lobbys undergoing wholesale renovation. We didn't mind though, and from our river view room on the 10th floor.
We relaxed for a while, showered and napped. Once rested we set out for a fun night on the town. First stop was the Democracy monument, not really to see it--a mediocre monument, really--but for the food. We ate at a great authentic thai place and were treated to a wonderful, albeit spicy, meal. Thai coconut chicken soup, pud thai, and fried rice came to our table in big platters. Which was great since our appetite was equally large. But quickly I found myself tearing up, gasping for air, and draining my Singha beer. The soup was not for the western tongue, well really not for the tongue at all... ouch! Kate laughed at me (she is a lot better at handling spicy foods than I) and took a big spoonful of the soup. It wasn't hot to her at all. Liking it, she kept eating, and by the third bite she was on her hands an knees. We learned a good lesson that day: Thai people hide miniature chilli peppers in their meals, and the real hot ones are actually green. After this revelation we fished out the lil' green suckers and ate the rest of our meal tear-free. For dessert Kate had the mango sticky rice with some of the ripest magoes I've had, and I, feeling like nothing could be as bad as the hidden peppers ordered the Bird's Nest Soup. (Its actually made from boiled bird's nests collected from around phi phi island and other andaman sea islands off the shore of Krabbi. The taste is generated from the saliva coated grasses that make up the nests, and when boiled they turn into fine hair-like delecacies. As an added bonus, the meal is supposed to be an aphrodisiac.) The truth was that is didn't taste bad, but not amazing either.... more amusing was that it was served in a hollowed out coconut. Althought his was a humorous dinner and all, the funniest moment was when I was going to pay for the meal. Kate had gone to the bathroom, the check came and I was reaching for my wallet, when unexpectedly and quite humorously, my zipper securing the wallet in my pocket stuck tight. I jerked and pulled, twisted and yanked, and tried everything I possibly could to get that damn zipper out, but I just couldnt. I stood up and continued my ridiculous unzippering dance, and the whole time the waitress was standing there unabashedly laughing at me. soon others in the restaraunt were finding humor in the situation. Quite frankly so was I, albeit I was quite embarassed. I even tried using their fork to pry it open. The zipper resisted, steadfast and defiant, eventually breaking two prongs off the fork! I finally excused myself to the restroom to find kate and dejectedly asked her to foot the bill. Later on it took a scissor to cut the fabric around the zipper and slide the whole thing off in order to liberate my wallet.
From there we went to Koh San Road and began walking up and down the road thick with street venders and merchants. We shopped always with a beer in our hand, enjoying the haggling and array of products. We ended up coming home with quite a bit of clothes. Then at the end of the night, we sat down at a hair styling booth. Kate got her whole head braided, with a pink stripe added to one braid in front, and I had my hair put into dreadlocks. Although the idea of having dreadlocks and extensions in my hair sounded like a great one, in actuality it was less than intelligent. First of all, the process of dreading the hair requires a sharp pin that they repeatedly dip in and out of the hair clumps 90% of the time hitting your scalp and causing a great deal of pain. Secondly the dreads are tightly woven pulling on your scalp well after they are finished, and finally it is nearly impossible to sleap with thick medusa-like hair extensions coming out of your head. (I finally had to take them out the following night.) At least Kate liked her braids, and they really look good on her.
We relaxed for a while, showered and napped. Once rested we set out for a fun night on the town. First stop was the Democracy monument, not really to see it--a mediocre monument, really--but for the food. We ate at a great authentic thai place and were treated to a wonderful, albeit spicy, meal. Thai coconut chicken soup, pud thai, and fried rice came to our table in big platters. Which was great since our appetite was equally large. But quickly I found myself tearing up, gasping for air, and draining my Singha beer. The soup was not for the western tongue, well really not for the tongue at all... ouch! Kate laughed at me (she is a lot better at handling spicy foods than I) and took a big spoonful of the soup. It wasn't hot to her at all. Liking it, she kept eating, and by the third bite she was on her hands an knees. We learned a good lesson that day: Thai people hide miniature chilli peppers in their meals, and the real hot ones are actually green. After this revelation we fished out the lil' green suckers and ate the rest of our meal tear-free. For dessert Kate had the mango sticky rice with some of the ripest magoes I've had, and I, feeling like nothing could be as bad as the hidden peppers ordered the Bird's Nest Soup. (Its actually made from boiled bird's nests collected from around phi phi island and other andaman sea islands off the shore of Krabbi. The taste is generated from the saliva coated grasses that make up the nests, and when boiled they turn into fine hair-like delecacies. As an added bonus, the meal is supposed to be an aphrodisiac.) The truth was that is didn't taste bad, but not amazing either.... more amusing was that it was served in a hollowed out coconut. Althought his was a humorous dinner and all, the funniest moment was when I was going to pay for the meal. Kate had gone to the bathroom, the check came and I was reaching for my wallet, when unexpectedly and quite humorously, my zipper securing the wallet in my pocket stuck tight. I jerked and pulled, twisted and yanked, and tried everything I possibly could to get that damn zipper out, but I just couldnt. I stood up and continued my ridiculous unzippering dance, and the whole time the waitress was standing there unabashedly laughing at me. soon others in the restaraunt were finding humor in the situation. Quite frankly so was I, albeit I was quite embarassed. I even tried using their fork to pry it open. The zipper resisted, steadfast and defiant, eventually breaking two prongs off the fork! I finally excused myself to the restroom to find kate and dejectedly asked her to foot the bill. Later on it took a scissor to cut the fabric around the zipper and slide the whole thing off in order to liberate my wallet.
From there we went to Koh San Road and began walking up and down the road thick with street venders and merchants. We shopped always with a beer in our hand, enjoying the haggling and array of products. We ended up coming home with quite a bit of clothes. Then at the end of the night, we sat down at a hair styling booth. Kate got her whole head braided, with a pink stripe added to one braid in front, and I had my hair put into dreadlocks. Although the idea of having dreadlocks and extensions in my hair sounded like a great one, in actuality it was less than intelligent. First of all, the process of dreading the hair requires a sharp pin that they repeatedly dip in and out of the hair clumps 90% of the time hitting your scalp and causing a great deal of pain. Secondly the dreads are tightly woven pulling on your scalp well after they are finished, and finally it is nearly impossible to sleap with thick medusa-like hair extensions coming out of your head. (I finally had to take them out the following night.) At least Kate liked her braids, and they really look good on her.
Tuesday, June 21, 2005
Summer Palace, UPS, and Sheldon Liu
This morning we were greeted by another private tour, this time in the literal sense of the word. Sheldon Liu, a family fried of the Checchi's, was in Beijing and sent us his car and driver to take us to the Summer Palace. It was incredibly generous of him, and what a relief not to take a taxi or public transportation, especially when our language barrier is so high.
The summer palace was lovely, the only problem was that neither of us were in the mood to be tourists and walk around the whle day in the heat. So we planned for 1.5 hours there and stuck to it. The two main attractions were the marble boat and great hall, of which neither were that exciting. The marble boat was pretty in its own right, but kind of pointless and odd sitting forever motionless on the water. The great hall was less than great. It was basically a 5 foot wide outdoor corridor open on all sides with wood railings and roof and painted. I guess it was long, but to be honest, I've seen better paintings and woodwork from street artists. The most impressive part of the palace was the landscaping, gardens, and lakes.
We hopped on a taxi and went home. I went to go ship our newly acquired Chinese tea and other goods home and took a taxi by myself to the UPS. The tourguide at the hostel gave me the address and when I got there I found myself at UPS headquarters, not the store. Time was of the essence, since we were to meet Sheldon for dinner at 5:30. Surrounded by workers in cubicles somebody finally directed me to a different office. I took another taxi there, only to find out that they don't do the packaging there, so the took my packages and sent them on a UPS truck to their packaging center. I followed in another UPS truck and found them packaging my stuff, but refusing to ship the Tea, citing that the Chinese government would not allow it. Looking at my watch I was already late, but since everything was packaged I asked them the price. They weighed it and told me it would be $170 USD!!! First of all I didn't have that much with me at the time, and secondly I was running too late to finish the shipment, so i grabbed the items and left without accomplishing a thing. Meanwhile kate had done laundry for the both of us and I threw on a new shirt and Sheldons Driver drove us to meet him. (Surprisingly the restaraunt was in the World Tower Hotel and Shopping complex, the same place the UPS headquarters were located!)
We sat down at a swanky restaraunt in our own private booth and were treated to some amazing Chinese food. We were accompanied by a man named Paul who was a friend of Sheldon and Sheldon's mother (who's only english was "hello". It was a wonderful dinner and great conversation. Everyone was so nice. The restaraunt's specialty was spicy fish soup, and it was delicious. In fact everything was great, and correspondingly everything was spicy. They made a bean curd tofu right in front of your eyes much in the same manner jello is made. And by the end of dinner I was not only full, but also on the verge of tears for the amount of hot peppers we ate.
The summer palace was lovely, the only problem was that neither of us were in the mood to be tourists and walk around the whle day in the heat. So we planned for 1.5 hours there and stuck to it. The two main attractions were the marble boat and great hall, of which neither were that exciting. The marble boat was pretty in its own right, but kind of pointless and odd sitting forever motionless on the water. The great hall was less than great. It was basically a 5 foot wide outdoor corridor open on all sides with wood railings and roof and painted. I guess it was long, but to be honest, I've seen better paintings and woodwork from street artists. The most impressive part of the palace was the landscaping, gardens, and lakes.
We hopped on a taxi and went home. I went to go ship our newly acquired Chinese tea and other goods home and took a taxi by myself to the UPS. The tourguide at the hostel gave me the address and when I got there I found myself at UPS headquarters, not the store. Time was of the essence, since we were to meet Sheldon for dinner at 5:30. Surrounded by workers in cubicles somebody finally directed me to a different office. I took another taxi there, only to find out that they don't do the packaging there, so the took my packages and sent them on a UPS truck to their packaging center. I followed in another UPS truck and found them packaging my stuff, but refusing to ship the Tea, citing that the Chinese government would not allow it. Looking at my watch I was already late, but since everything was packaged I asked them the price. They weighed it and told me it would be $170 USD!!! First of all I didn't have that much with me at the time, and secondly I was running too late to finish the shipment, so i grabbed the items and left without accomplishing a thing. Meanwhile kate had done laundry for the both of us and I threw on a new shirt and Sheldons Driver drove us to meet him. (Surprisingly the restaraunt was in the World Tower Hotel and Shopping complex, the same place the UPS headquarters were located!)
We sat down at a swanky restaraunt in our own private booth and were treated to some amazing Chinese food. We were accompanied by a man named Paul who was a friend of Sheldon and Sheldon's mother (who's only english was "hello". It was a wonderful dinner and great conversation. Everyone was so nice. The restaraunt's specialty was spicy fish soup, and it was delicious. In fact everything was great, and correspondingly everything was spicy. They made a bean curd tofu right in front of your eyes much in the same manner jello is made. And by the end of dinner I was not only full, but also on the verge of tears for the amount of hot peppers we ate.
Monday, June 20, 2005
Great Wall and Great Opera
Today we got the royal tour of the Great Wall. We organized to have a private driver (well at least private after sharing it with an elder french couple but at least it wasn't in a big tour bus!). We went to the Mutianyu section of the great wall that is well preserved and absolutely amazing. Driving out of Beijing it was a relief to get away from the smog and up into the countryside. It was also fortunate because the day before it rained and this morning was clear with light sparce clouds spaced across the sky. The flat beijing made way to the sharp hills and high peaks on which the Great Wall perched.
We took the gondola up to the top and walked around for hours. We would walk along the wall admiring the views and masonry of the grand stucture. And as it would get hotter in the day, we spent more and more time in the cool watchtowers that were 100 meters or so apart from eachother. It was an amazing sight and we tried to take as many pictures as possible to capture it. There was even one watchtower high in the hills that I hiked to that had an unrestored original section, one in which instead of a pathway on top with neatly layed bricks there were trees and bushes overgrowing the walkway. It even had remnants of an all but forgotten watchtower that was slowly crumbling to its death by erosion.
When we returned from the Great Wall we ate dinner at the Hostel restaraunt next door and then went to see the famous Beijing Opera at an authentic opera house within walking distance. I must say that watching a Chinese Opera may be somthign I am only prepared to do once. Although they were beautifully and ornately dressed with their faces painted with great detail, the plot was incredibly hard to follow (even with a screen giving the subtitles in english). Moreover the voices of the women were so shrill and high pitched it was painful at times.
We took the gondola up to the top and walked around for hours. We would walk along the wall admiring the views and masonry of the grand stucture. And as it would get hotter in the day, we spent more and more time in the cool watchtowers that were 100 meters or so apart from eachother. It was an amazing sight and we tried to take as many pictures as possible to capture it. There was even one watchtower high in the hills that I hiked to that had an unrestored original section, one in which instead of a pathway on top with neatly layed bricks there were trees and bushes overgrowing the walkway. It even had remnants of an all but forgotten watchtower that was slowly crumbling to its death by erosion.
When we returned from the Great Wall we ate dinner at the Hostel restaraunt next door and then went to see the famous Beijing Opera at an authentic opera house within walking distance. I must say that watching a Chinese Opera may be somthign I am only prepared to do once. Although they were beautifully and ornately dressed with their faces painted with great detail, the plot was incredibly hard to follow (even with a screen giving the subtitles in english). Moreover the voices of the women were so shrill and high pitched it was painful at times.
Sunday, June 19, 2005
Tiananmen and Family Li
Today we set out for Tiananmen square on foot and quickly realized that the smog-soaked city was not only poisoning the lungs of its dwellers and affording a landscaped blanket of non-photogenic haze, but it also doubled as an aggessive and effective oven. We were beading with sweat and had to take a seat in the middle of the square. It wasn't really that impressive... big i guess, but aside from the obolisk in the center, uninteresting. So we plowed on through to the forbidden city and imperial palace. There we were equally scortched by the heat and equally bored. Its probabally our fault for not loving it as much as others ovbously do by the way they talk about it, but we were just not into it. 80% of the buildings were covered in bamboo scaffolding because they were cleaning and renovating the place for the 2008 olympics, so it gave it a completely different feel. We walked through passing many gateways and actually really had a good time in the imperial garden.
Then we took a good sit and tried to plan our next move. We decided we we wouldn't do anything big so dinner sounded as good as anything. We headed for Family Li restaraunt via motorized ricshaw. I never thought kate would go for it, but she has been becoming more and more adventurous. We didn't exactly have an address, or really anything other than the name and a phone number, and the driver didn't speak a lick of english... so the result was us winding around the hutongs N.E. of the forbidden city for 30min lookign for the damn place.
When we finally made it we found ourselves in a family's courtyard... apperently the Li family. We were seated and had an amazing 35 course meal... well 33, but I like to count the different drinks as courses too. Afterwards we left, not knowing were we were and proceeded to get lost again, this time on our own accord. After wandering around a lake (i don't know how we got there) we stumbled upon an exercise arena which was a cross between a playground and physical therepy rehabilitation. Later we found ourselves in the middle of a group aerobics class with a floutist laying the beat down. Keep in mind this was 11:00 PM.
Then we took a good sit and tried to plan our next move. We decided we we wouldn't do anything big so dinner sounded as good as anything. We headed for Family Li restaraunt via motorized ricshaw. I never thought kate would go for it, but she has been becoming more and more adventurous. We didn't exactly have an address, or really anything other than the name and a phone number, and the driver didn't speak a lick of english... so the result was us winding around the hutongs N.E. of the forbidden city for 30min lookign for the damn place.
When we finally made it we found ourselves in a family's courtyard... apperently the Li family. We were seated and had an amazing 35 course meal... well 33, but I like to count the different drinks as courses too. Afterwards we left, not knowing were we were and proceeded to get lost again, this time on our own accord. After wandering around a lake (i don't know how we got there) we stumbled upon an exercise arena which was a cross between a playground and physical therepy rehabilitation. Later we found ourselves in the middle of a group aerobics class with a floutist laying the beat down. Keep in mind this was 11:00 PM.
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