Shanghai Bound

This just in via email from Walker, posted by Secret Agent Number One. A bit of redundancy from yesterday, but faithful readers will no doubt get over it. He writes:

I am in Umurqi, China now. And since I'm in China I don't have access to my blog because the Chinese government has seen it fit to ban Blogger.com so I'm posting through my dad. (Dang, my cover is blown! Valerie Plame, I feel your pain.) I'm going to say this up front I know my posts have been pretty long but if you look at the title of my blog, One Man's Rambles, I'm not just talking about my voyages. And since I haven't posted in a while I have a lot to say. (Editor's note--you always have.)

The drive from Karimabad to Sost was pretty uneventful and once again I was surprised, no one got sick on that ride either, eh it was a short one and I lost another 15 Rupees to the British professor. No big deal the last night I earned it back in a little session of Texas Hold'em. Gambling with worthless currency is fun cause you feel like you're rolling in the money when really it's less than $2 bucks. From Sost I managed to jump on a Gilgit - Kashgar direct, or so they claim, bus. Leaving Pakistan was probably the most stressful border crossing I've encountered to date. No scams on this one like in Africa but just anti-narcotics officers who take their jobs a little too seriously. First off, the gentleman in front of me had his bags unceremoniously dumped and the guard started pushing him around physically.

Ian Steinmo mentioned that in China race is everything and I guess that applies to Pakistan as well because even though my legs were a bit wobbly when I stepped up, the guy was very professional to me. Made me take everything out of my bag and it was a little awkward trying to explain why I did not need a perscription for Immodium AD and its opposite. Well I guess the awkward part was trying to explain what each of them did, yes theatre did play a role and if it shows up on YouTube I'll have to come back and hurt someone.

All along the KKH there are signs from the 141st Road Maintenance Batallion proclaiming that they are the "Defenders of the Karakorum." When I first saw this I started laughing but having passed through the northern areas I see they're absolutely right. The mountains here seem to be whispering "if you stop for just one day we will destroy this road." Even the actual "border crossing" on the Pakistan side is 70km away from the actual border and about 120km on the Chinese side. The numerous avalanches and landslides kept cutting the soldiers off for long periods of time so they just pulled back.

For those of you who have spent any amount of time around glaciers you know how you can hear them, cracking and grinding and little bits of ice dropping off all the time. Well that's how the mountains here are, little trickles of pebbles show instablity of the landscape. According to the guidebook the builders used way too much dynamite and the mountains themselves are still settling. I mentioned earlier that a landslide had knocked out the road. That's partially true; the landslide was on the opposite side of the river but it diverted the river and washed out about 1.5 km of road. The bus took us as far as possible then we got out and hiked 2 km up and over the affected area to a bus on the far side.

The scenery is amazing, and the pass itself was beautiful. glacier-cut valleys many with glaciers still reaching out give way to snow-capped peaks on either side. The pass is over 15,000 feet-- that's taller than every mountain in Colorado--and it is the lowest point there. Needless to say I was a little out of breath on the walk over the landslide but that was down around 10,000 feet. After crossing into the China we spent the night in Tashkurgan due to heavy rain ahead. I didn't see a single drop but it was nice to sleep in a bed not the bus for a change.

My dorm mates were a 20 year-old Chinese student who, of course, didn't speak English and a drunk 60 year old Chinese guy who knew three in English and would repeat them over and over between gigles. After Tashkurgan is where the views became even more amazing. Driving north we passed yurts and yurt-like permanent dwellings with mixed herds of cattle and camels milling around. The lakes were like mirriors reflecting the mountains towering overhead. The rolling grasslands gave way to a descent below river-cut plateaus bordered by erosion-resisting cathedral spires.

Though this imagery is pastoral don't let it become bucolic because this area also is harsh and I wouldn't for one instant want to live there. Remains of animals, some large some small, and remains of vehicles dot both sides of the highway. We arrived in Kashgar sometime arround noon I think on the 26th.

Though my original plans were to meet Ian here I think that it was probably for the best that he did not make the journey there really isn't that much to do here, and it would have been a shame for him to spend 72 hours in transit to just see this place and then turn around and head back. 24 hours from Kashgar to Umurqi by bus passed pretty uneventfully; at least this bus was all sleepers not seats so I could doze off for a while and then read or find something else to amuse myself. No longer in the mountains we are skirting one of China's many deserts and I can't remember the name of the town but it is the single furthest place in the world from an ocean--something like 2,600 km or thereabouts.

Umurqi is a big city but with surprisingly little to do. That combined with the language barrier makes it very hard to do, well, anything really. I placed a phone call to Ian for a status update and when I tried to pay for it, trying to speak Chinese of course, I was handed a pack of cigarettes and a tomato-juice drink. Trying to find an Internet cafe is like poking yourself in the eye and then trying to do some delicate surgery. No joke it was like something out of a movie "Oh you go this way, okay now back the other way, okay now around the corner oh that place closed yesterday." All in sign language of course.

I guess I'm just starting to exhibit signs of being a pack animal but here I am surrounded by people and very lonely. I haven't had a conversation since I left Sost. And all the little voices in my head are starting to develop very distinct personalities. That or I try to replay various strategies and tactics in my head. Alright, I'll let you go. I'll be a much happier camper when I get to Shanghai in two days.

China at Last!

This just in from Our Man in Pakistan, er, China. He sent the following in an email to his secret contact in Boulder, who is reposting it:

I made it to China crossed the landslide, actually it was on the opposite side of the river from the road but it redirected the river and knocked out about 500 meters of the road so I had to hike around it and get the bus on the other side. I spent the night in Tashkurgan, then in Kashgar, there wasn't much to do but I did have my first beer of a long time. From Kashgar it was a 24 hour bus ride to Urumqi where I am right now. I have my ticket to Shanghai I leave tomorrow (29th) and I'll be out of communications for about 48 hours. I cannot post to my blog from China. Blogger.com has been banned by the chinese government.


And this email came to Secret Contact Number Two:

I got out of Pakistan just fine. Had a bit of a scare at the exit of Pakistan cause the guy getting searched in front of me got his stuff dumped on the ground and the guard was pushing him around. They treated me just fine though, made me open a can of sardines and an MRE but nothing else. Well they did stick a knife into the pad of my backpack to see if there were drugs in there. It's a really small hole though so it's no biggie.

The landslide was no problem about 2km hike and I was in shape enough to make it over in the first wave. Most of the Chinese and Pakistanis smoke so they were way behind. A couple Afghans and I were the first ones over and I carried both my packs the whole way. Hooray for me.

Anyway China is way more stressful then Pakistan. Literally no one speaks English and although the guidebook claims that everything is written in pinyun, Chinese spelled with western characters, in addition to normal characters. It's not because I'm in Xinjian province the two languages are Ughair and Mandarin. Neither of which are close to what I can understand.

Probably the hardest bit is the fact that I can't converse with anyone. I haven't for days now and won't for another three Until I get to Shanghai. It's no biggie I picked up some books in Pakistan--Harry Potter some Ann rRice novel and I have my history books that I can reread again. The lack of communication is difficult for me I guess that's me trying to be a pack animal but whatever. I have my iPod and i'll just go all introverted again. I'm saving a clean t-shirt for when I meet up with Ian. I've been moving so fast now that I haven't had time to wash anything. at least with my grubby t-shirt and four days of stubble no one gives me a hard time.

Karimabad

As you all should know by now, because I keep harping on it, I was sick in India. I view that as a little Karma pre-pay so that I am free to do basically anything I want to without fear of negative effects. I went ahead and cashed a little in on my trip from Gilgit to Karimabad. Much of Pakistan is quite poor and therefore does not travel very often. Since I am used to cars I don't get motion sickness but that doesn't really apply to most of the people here. At first you just get grossed out when you realise that out of 20 people on a mini-bus 6-10 get car sick. It doesn't help that at every stop they run into restaurants and pound greasey food. Anyway let me explain the rules of mini-bus Roulette.

First off you must have another westerner with whom to play. Pakistanis seem to not find it quite as amusing as I that their countrymen (remember women don't matter here) have weak stomachs. Like roulette you can play by row, by column, light or dark (based on clothing, I'm not a racist) or you can pick individuals. The odds and the amounts of bets are left up to the individual. Unfortunately for me, I lost. My first ride in which no one got sick. Usually women are the easiest to bet on because they travel even less than the men. One got pretty close but our driver took enough breaks to lose me my investment. Only about 20 cents, but still! Anyway I owed an english Law-professor a few cups of tea to settle the score.

Karimabad is amazing and beautiful. There was a little disconcerting sound yesterday evening, muffled crumps up the canyon which sounded like outgoing artillery in conjunction with someone yelling on a bullhorn. Of course I did what any sensible person would do, order a pot of tea grab my sunglasses and run up to the roof to see what was going on. No worries though just some blasting for mines further up. And the PPP the people's party of Pakistan. No it's not communist. My trip got a little exiting yesterday when I looked up a nice hike here to see a meadow above karimabad. The hike is listed at 3.1km. Which for me is usually no big deal. What it doesn't say is it's straight up after navigating a veritable warren of a village. Seriously though the village is all stone walls and water channels. Karimabad gets less than 150mm of rain a year so all agriculture is by irrigation from Glacial runoff. Lonely planet states it best when it says the water looks like velvet running along. The silt is mostly mica so it catches the light as it swirls around. Unfourtunately I bathe in it as well. Anyway the hike took us along a water channel carved into the cliff face with the path being the wall of the channel and a 500+ft drop off. In some places the path was only 1 meter wide. Pretty hairy. The meadow was amazing and I managed to get sunburned for the first time on the trip. I found out shortly thereafter that we were up above 10,000ft. Little wonder. Oh yeah and 3.1 km took 3-4 hours to get up there and we were too bushed to attempt the 1km vertical gain to the pass. Anyway I found out this morning that the road to Kashgar is still blocked so I'm going to have to get inventive in my travels. As of now the plan is to get as close as possible and then walk. For those of you familiar with my Africa trip this is no new thing.

Ian, whom I'm meeting in shanghai, has said that I have to shave and look presentable when I arrive in Shanghai so that I can hopefully stay in his dorm. On that note I went to the local barber shop and had a shave. My first ever with a straight razor and it was quite the expierience, it felt great and I didn't get cut or anything. And now I look like I'm 12. Give it a few days and I'll just as scruffy and mean as usual. Sometimes very strange things happen while travelling. two days ago I was walking through the main bazaar and I passed a man who seemed quite familiar. I smiled and said hello and kept walking. Then I heard my name called and I looked back to see the man I just passed and I realised who he was. Jon Brock. A man who came up through the same Boy Scout troop as me. It was after a slideshow of his travels returning from Antarctica that I found a passion for travel. Very strange to see him on a side road in a pretty remote area of pakistan. Second strange thing: A polish chap I've been traveling with lost his wallet with 30,000Rupees in it. About 500USD. Last night at dinner the driver of the bus on which the wallet was lost returned the wallet with nary a note missing. That would have never happened in India. Needless to say drinks were ordered for the house. By drink I mean green tea, this is Pakistan remember, and green tea is cheaper than black up here. This will mean nothing if you don't have access to a map, but tomorrow I leave Karimabad(Baltit) and go to Sost from there to the landslide and from there to transportation on the other side to Tashkurgan, then to Kashgar. Anyway sorry to re-write the Illiad here. I hope all is well.

W.

No trek, back in Gilgit and bummed

When I said I was going trekking for a week I bet you all thought that meant me packing my bag getting a sleeping bag and going out to some lovely meadow or something for a week. Sorry for the confusion, because what I really meant was spend a day riding in really packed vans, 20 people inside plus at least 2 on the back bumper, into the depths of Baltistan. First to the quaint town of Skardu and then to Khapalu, where we were informed that we could not take public transportation on to Hushe but for a mere 3000 Rupees ($50) we could hire a jeep to take us. The following morning we found out that there was a bus, but only one a day, and that we needed to hire a guide. None of us had the requisite funds but while we were debating whether to press on and try to talk our way through the MP checkpost, because we weren't doing high altitude trekking just little hikes, the transport left. Well we weren't going to sit around for another day to find out whether we needed a guide or not so we headed back to Skardu, spent the night, and then pressed on back to the Karakorum Highway. On the way to the highway we planned to go to different trek, but that one too had a 3000 Rupee jeep drive, this one because it's a private road was compulsery so the other gentlemen went there I I returned to Gilgit.

Tomorrow if all goes well I will press on to Karimabad then to Sost and then to Kashgar. There was an Avalanche near the Pass where I cross into china so the highway is closed for about 3 more days. Keep your fingers crossed that i'll be able to make it across. Anyway I'm glad that I was able to go into Baltistan beacuse the mountains were very pretty. The terrain was deep glacial valleys and the mountains were the vertical walls. That being said more importantly I was able to be cold, you have no idea how long I have searched for a place where I could be cold, and I ended up having to wear my long underwear scarf hat etc. And when I woke up, staring me in the face was a range of mountains that put even the rockies to shame. Very cool. From here Karimabad is supposed to be an amazing stop, it receives high marks from all who have been there and from the lonely planet as well. I've tried to post a couple more pictures on this one so hopefully things work out and you can see the places where I have been recently. Yay the pictures worked and they only took 45min to load. The first pic is me in Skardu waiting for the bus. The second is the view of the mountains accross the valley from Skardu and the last one is me just below the Fort of Skardu with the background being the Valley streching east towards where I was in Khapalu. I can already tell I'm losing weight. I was 163+/- in Delhi, India and I'm already telling a difference. Must be the revised diet. Don't worry though I'm not going anorexic on y'all. Alright, catch you all another time and another place. Au revior.

Walker

Still in Gilgit

Yup I'm still here. I just purchased a hat. it's very similar to a beret and if you have seen pictures of afghan men you've probably seen something similar. I'm going trekking tomorrow so I'll be out of touch for one week if all goes well. We're going to hike close to Nanga Parbat the 9th highest in the world. Since the subcontinent is still moving pretty quickly, as far as geology is concerned, the mountains here are still growing and it is growing the fastest. I think I mentioned before it grows about 7mm a year. I rented a sleeping bag and a pad. Yes I gave the sleeping bag the sniff test and they claim to have washed it. The tent was way to expensive to rent so I borrowed a tarp off another traveler with whom I'm trekking. I'm trekking with a swiss guy, Markus, and an Aussie, David. We're going to have a blast today we were all out buying food and whatnot and I think we're going to be pretty good. Anyway I wanted to get one last post in before I left cause some of you might worry if I don't post for a long time and I wouldn't want that now would I. I don't really like getting those emails with no body just a subject titled are you still alive. Anyway I'm not sure if I've said the prices of anything, each night in the hostel costs me 100 rupees or about $1.5. Pretty rough I know but the room really isn't that bad. I thought I saw an American helicopter the other day but I'm not sure what all the Pakistani army has or can afford.

Very strange I'm sitting here at the computer and through the window I can here two imams calling the faithful to prayer. Even though they're from different mosques they are in harmony. It sounds very very cool. That combined with my new hat, oh yeah. I've come to the conclusion that sprite is not only Mormon beer but Muslim beer as well. Anyway it's coming up on 8 and I want to go eat some dinner. I'll take some more pictures and when I come back from trekking I'll invest the time to hunt for a computer with a USB jack and try to post some more pictures. I've met a much more diverse(sic?) backpacking crowd that I've encountered before. 2 Russians 6 French, 4 German, 1 swiss, 2 Australians. Quite the cocktail eh. Anyway I'm off much love to all. Goodnight and may god continue to bless mostly solid internet connections (and power).

Walker the no-longer paranoid traveler.

A Salam Aleikum from Gilgit June 15th

Whew so it's been a while since I could post, having some technological difficulties. From amritsar I took a motor rickshaw up to the border where I met a german guy waiting for the border to open. The pak side opens at 930 but the indian side doesn't open till 10 or make that 1030 or whenever people show up. Probably the smoothest border crossing ever and then a wait for a mini-bus to Lahore. The German, Paul, was to head to straight up to Islamabad. Seeing as there wasn't anything holding me back in Lahore and it was working its way to another blazing day I went with him. We arrived in Rawalpindi in the early evening and then took a cab to Islamabad. The twin cities are polar opposites. Islamabad is set up in grad pattern and fairly modern. 'Pindi, umm, well yeah. I was only in islamabad for one night. There isn't a whole lot to see there so I made plans to head up to the Karakorum Highway asap. On the way to the bus terminal I passed by the neighborhood where all the afghan refugees live. I've never seen refugees before and they're in a bad way. Bad water makes cholera and other waterborne diseases a major issue etc. Once at the Terminal I had a glorious 6 hour wait for my bus. Once again apocalypse now was the first thing to pop into my head, "The tide doesn't come in for six hours...you want to wait around here for six hours?" Col. Kilgore.
When the power was on the fans were on and the wait wasn't bad. When the power was off the fans were off, wait not good. So after a quick scramble to find additional passangers to sit on the floor in the aisle we took off at around 1030pm.

There are three classes of bus that the Northern Areas Transportation Company (NATCO) offers. VIP, Deluxe, and A/C having missed the VIP and Deluxe i settled for A/C. At least it has A/C you know? Very true the bus we were on was equipped with A/C but that doesn't mean the driver has to turn it on. Ha suckers, oh wait 18 hours on a bus with no A/C? goo. It was interesting. I had a window seat, thank god, and the man accross the aisle looked like the third runner up in the look a like contest for the only leader of the Third Reich, sans moustache. Same hairstyle and everything. The fact that he was wearing a tan shirt/dress, slcks combo didn't help. Anyway right off the bat my seatmate started encroaching on my territory and like the sudetenland a gave a little bit, the last shred of personal space crying out. As soon as I shifted he occupied the newly oppened territory. Fine then, a little push back and he was on his side of the seat. The first stop was at 2am where we pulled in to some bump in the road town with one cafe open, and by cafe I mean one building with a guy making flatbread over a stove. When I went inside to ask where the toilet was the response came back. "Around back" okay now here is where theere is a little interaction from you alls part. Grab a piece of paper. Draw a square on said paper. Now box out one corner. The corner is the store. The rest of the square is "Around back." you get the idea. I won't bore you with the rest of the bus ride but it was hot and quite uncomfortable.

After reaching gilgit I went to the hostel standing on the bumber of a suzuki pick-up-converted bus. I feel I was quite the sight riding along ever so regal with my red bag shining bright in the sun. Oh did I mention I hadn't bathed in 3 days? eh that's less important, I have, however, bathed since then. The hostel is pretty nice and for 100Rupees a night, about $1.5, a get a bed in a dorm. Perfect for me. There are many french tourists here so I get a chance to practice a bit. It's great cause they speak english so we'll be going along in one language then switch at a words notice and continue in the other one. Pretty nifty. Sorry for the lack of photos but this comp lacks a usb port. And I've been fighting for 1 hour to get onto blogger. At least I got a good pinball session in. Anyway from here I have to slow down a bit so I don't arrive in shanghai too soon. I might wear out my welcome if that's the case. I don't mind cause the weather is much cooler up here. not to say cool, but bearable. I would describe gilgit as high desert. I'm really trying to put off going to Kashgar in the Xinjian region of china cause there it is actual desert with actual desert temperatures. There should be plenty to do around here but it all honesty I'm fine just chilling and drinking tea. Travel in South asia is much different than I previously anticipated, and for all my jokes about travelling by tour it really is the best way to see india. Pakistan has less big landmarks so backpacking is still the best way here. It is very stressful though. Anyway I've got to post this before the internet or the power cuts off again.

Allah Hafiz

Walker

Stayed at the Tourist Guesthouse which, to put it in American terms, is a quaint little compound that provides ustic if a bit monastic lodging. The room has it all a private bathroom w/ shower, Personal A/C unit, desk and of course a full bed. The artwork chosen really emphasises the relief nature of the wall, and tastefully brings a fine ambiance to the room.

In other words, the shower doesn't work so I crouch inder the 4' spigot and bathe. The bed is well not 100% clean and the mattress is a little thin. The a/c unit is a relic that sounds like a 70 year-old smoker with emphaseema singing Opera. Yes ladies and gentlemen this is no longer the Shangri-La. The cieling fan and the heat here remind of the intro to apocalypse now, which I listened to in honor of this moment, where martine sheen lays on his bed staring at the fan. That's my evening entertainment. But I found some chill backpackers and we hangout and drink water and talk. It's hard to stay hydrated here. Yesterday it got up to 48.2degress centigrade. so to put it mildly, it's F-ing hot. Yesterday I went to the Jailianwalla Bagh where General Dyer ordered his men to fire on a crowd of peacefully demonstrating people killing hundreds. very powerful place, and while there struck up a conversation with some of youths nearby. Before long we had our picture taken with my camera. While showing them the picture I looked up and found that people had formed a wall around us 8 deep all trying to see the picture. It was quite disconcerting, and they mean nothing by it but anthing that people are drawn to look at, quickly draws a crowd. This morning I went to the Golden Temple. It was really quite splendid.

I'm feeling that weird feeling that I get when starting out traveling alone. I just want to hole up somewhere and go hiking or be in a nature area or something, but I can't really do that until northern pakistan. I guess things will even out, but for now I feel a little stressed and well to be honest paranoid. That being said I feel much better. I think I mentioned that I pulled all the little muscles between my ribs and around my ribcage (if you want to know how you're have to email me privately). But that hurts much less these days and For once I don't feel sick. YAY. Anyway I want to get back to the hostel and under the fan before it gets to be the heat of the day. Namaste.

Walker the paranoid wanderer

ps I slept with the headlamp in my left hand the spyderco in the right. Even though I haven't had a single problem. Or expect one, BUT you never know.

Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Missing Grandfather

So as you all may or may not know, ATM cards only operate on certain networks. In the states this isn't that big of an issue but when you're out and about you need to find the right ones. Last night I dropped grandpa off at the hotel and gave him the key to the room so I could go withdraw some money for him from the appropriate ATM. After returning from the ATM I went up to the room. No grandpa, no problem thinks I, perhaps he got confused and went to a different floor. So I check every single floor. No grandpa. Perhaps I missed him in the lobby, so I go back down there and check the restaurant as well. No grandpa, by now I start freaking out. Mom will never forgive me if I lost her father in Agra, India. So I start running around getting more and more frantic, until a hotel employee asked me if I was looking for an old man. Evidently he hadn't realized that this was our hotel and when he went through the front door he told the doorman he was there for the party and they showed him to the ballroom, where, I found him contentedly drinking a glass of red wine. Big sigh of relief.

On a different note, my time with the tour is winding down. Everyone else heads back to the states on Sunday and I proceed up north towards amritser and eventually Pakistan. I've been on skype and facebook contact with my best friend Ian in china and we've been working on logistics for my arrival there. It'll be interesting given the lack of language skills but somehow I will survive. Anyway I have to go prepare for dinner au revoir mes cheries.

W.

Agra

Okay well I"m not sick anymore (I hope). But it's quite apparent i've been hanging around old people. Talking about bowel movements is a perfectly acceptable conversation starter. The Taj Mahal is amazing, words can't really describe it. It has never been restored because the marbel is very hard and everytime it rains it gets cleaned. I can't imagine the cost. Someone asked about the two worlds of poverty/luxury here.

Official caste means nothing and monarchy is dead. Whoever believes that they are dead needs to be adjusted with a pipe-wrench. Reading the personals ads is very telling. Brahmen seeks Brahmen... Sometimes it is less important but depends on the level of sophistication. Also with the Maharaja's etc, the titles are still passed like in england. I saw the maharana of Udaipur in his speedboat when we went cruising around the lake. Really young guy, actually he's not the maharana because he is the younger brother. That being said the father left 95% of his wealth to his younger son so he thinks it is acceptable to take the title as well. The local maharaja's control most of the wealth in communities outside of major cities where business men control it. The problems with caste are pretty aparrent in the uprising by the Gujjars which resulted in the conplete reorganization of my tour and the counter-uprising of the Minars who thought the Gujjars were going to dilute the benifets recieved. The view from these 5-star hotels is a similar view into the classism of India. One busboy this morning freaked out that I held the elevator door for him. I'm not used to that. Reminds me of Africa but here it isn't a factor of race it's class.

The monuments here are amazing. The king who built the Taj Mahal was planning another one to be built from black marble across the river from the existing one, but his son had him placed under house arrest. That Moghul emporer's son sign the deathnell for the Moghul Empire. I finally figured out how to post pcitures. I've been a complete idiot the whole time. The Elephant and mountainskape are from Udaipur and I'm pretty sure you all can recognize the other one.

Not sure if any of you are familiar with Jeff Foxworthy's routine about old people and drugs. To summarize in a most unfunny way, he claims that old people have access to harder drugs than teenagers, and that he was more concered about his mother than his children. That is so true. One woman on the tour said she was a little sore from the morning's walk. I offered her my advil and she declined saying she had vicodin back in her room. Likewise when I said I was ill I had many offers from my fellow tourists for a veritable cocktail of drugs ranging from medicinal herbs to narcotic painkillers. "You might be ill but you won't care." Needless to say I did not take the painkillers but some of the others that I thought useful I took and everything is ship-shape that I can tell. The power situation here is a little different than I'm used to. Yesterday the power went out at least 10 times. Made me think twice about taking the elevator, and tring to watch the French Open was madening. The capacitors or whatever you call them, in the states they are those cylinders up on the power poles, here they're about 3 ft off the ground and everything exposed. Back home you get the occasional squirel flicker. I jokingly made referance to a cow flicker here but my guide, a hindu, didn't find it as funny as I did. Back in Mumbai our local guide said that indian drivers never have accidents, but according to the BBC world there is a serious injury/ fatality accident every 6 seconds. Like I said previously, driving signals and sides of the road are more like guidlines than anything. They make Bostonian drivers look like how I would imagine Mother Theresa would like driving. Speaking of which we drove by her house. Anyway I must be off this evening we're going to the Taj Mahal again but this time to catch the sunset. It's going to be fantastic. I'll post pictures when I can.

Love to all,

Walker

Agra

I know it sounds like a terrible trip cause I'm bitching a lot. In all honesty I'm seeing amazing things here. I get a glimpse through a window of a world many people can't imagine. I get kinda energized when I see the two sides of this world. In South Africa the poor people surrounded the cities and when you were inside it wasn't too visible. Here it's the opposite the only place not poor are the palaces. And from my view there are more palaces in India than Cows.

I have, however, found a new ab workout. By sitting in the front of the bus I clench up everytime when look like we're going to hit another car, cow, fill in the blank object. And in the cities that's about every 2.5 seconds. I got my first glimpse of the taj mahal today from the agra (red) fort. Fort as in it had a garrison, then continuing through the british reign and now the Indian Army has an outpost in part of it, but a palace in every other aspect of the word. The cooling system is ingenious, dump water on the sandstone, it gets absorbed and cools the walls. Pretty cool stuff. Anyway I feel much better if you can't tell by my writing, and I'll try to post some pictures now, the connection is pretty slow but hopefully it will work. Au revoir I'm off to the Taj Mahal in the morning.

Delhi first time 04Jun07

I'm sick, whatever grandpa had I caught it. I think it's the famed delhi belly. After a few days I put him on anti-biotics. Now I'm sick, and as usual since I only packed for myself and there are more than one person being supported by my kit I'm SOL. Sorry if I'm a bit grump. We departed Jaipur at 6 this morning after a 430 wake up call. The uprising is threatening to bust out into a caste civil conflict and it is in the outskirts of delhi so our trip manager tried to confine us to the hotel. I went out to the the Air India office to get my return ticket changed and got that taken care of in 1 hour and of course the nominal change fee.

I'm starting to get really pissed off with the people trying to sell you stuff. "No" usually means ask louder and shove whatever crap they're trying to pass off in my face. And of course as soon as they get the hint that I"m not interested they repeat the pitch to Grandpa who is on one of my arms. At the fort/palace of Jaipur this got a bit much so I whipped my sunglasses off and got in someones face. No nasty words were said but I made it quite clear that was not okay. I understand people have to make a living, but still there is only so much I can take. At least I didn't hit anyone or cuss them out. I have recieved many emails as to the make up of my tour group.

Most are over 70, but there are a couple who are in there 50's of course and there is one girl who is 26 who is traveling with her grandma. most have extensive travel experiance of the same nature as this trip. Air-conditioned buses everywhere to nice hotels. I get some sick pleasure whenever we stop at some bump in the road to use the facilities and I think of them standing over the squat-holes, trying to figure out why there is no toilet paper.

Back on the civil disturbances, I think I mentioned this earlier but a group of people is trying to get put in the "untouchables" caste so they can recieve benefits. Another group already in there is arfaid they will lose their quota and oppose this measure and they're having some conflict. The rail-roads got cut for a while but the army secured them and they were openned shortly. Some highways have been dug up as well. WTF, seriously burning cars and police stations that's normal rioting behavior, but who comes up with these "I know everyone, lets go dig up the highway." Frickin morons, highways are a bitch to dig up with machines and they went and did it by hand, so of course they're going to have to build it back by hand. I'm pretty POed right now and kinda wish the Army would just light em up and we can get back to normal. We ahd to completely reorganize the trip and we are forced to skip a really fun adventure in the jungle with Tigers cause of some asshats burning crap. Enough on that. I'm out to score as many boxes of Imoddium AD as my stock is gone. Hope all is well. I bought spices in a bazaar but I won't be able to cook with them for a while given my current situation.

Well we've come to a cross-roads in our trip. Not sure if any of you have been watching news in this area, but there has been a bit of an uprising in Rajistan, where I just so happen to be right now. A tribe known as the Gujjar are P.O.ed about some failure to recieve a bigger welfare check and are rioting/burning things / cutting railway lines/ digging trenches in highways. Yeah so transportation is going to be a little tricky of an issue. Hopefully we will still see the Taj Mahal. Cross your fingers for that. now that you've done that, do it again. we're now in Jaipur, and I've been to a couple places by now so I'll fill you in.

After Mumbai we went to Udaipur by plane. This place is known as the city of lakes. Aftificial lakes. You can't imagine the power weilded by the maharajas in India. BTW the word comes from Maha - Big Raja- king, great king, every city we go to has at least one palace and usually more. And these blow anything in europe out of the water with the exeption of Versaille. The Mahran of Udaipur, Maha -Big ran - warrior, decided he wanted a lake, a really big one. And so they built a dam and flooded a few villages and built a lake with magnificant palaces overlooking it. The Mahran of Udaipur was the only kingdom of india to withstance the might of the expanding Moghul Empire. That being said I think the hotel here is nicer than the palace. Black and green marble floors contrasting with white walls. Fully manicured lawns are immaculate, this is a semi-arid area and having walked past wheret he sprinklers reach the soil here is uber rocky and terrible top soil, all this is artifical. I'm sure at tremendous cost to the environment in terms of energy and water expediture. From about 1996 to 2003 the lake was dry and the shepards brought goats in to graze from the once covered bed. But after massive amounts of praying, the lake returned. The dryup was attributed to global warming not, in my opinion the bigger reason, ass-hatted water policy. These hotels sure are nice but my good there must be an amazing cost. In Udaipur we met up with our bus which will be with us for the rest of the trip. The drive to Jodhpur was absolutly amazing.

Fields divided by stone walls with inner earthen partitions to catch water from the coming monsoon. Palms and other trees interspace this pastoral landscape where irigation is done by ox-power or Bull power. Cattle, being sacred to hindus, are not put to the yolk and just kind of wander about. Mounds of bricks are built around wood for firing, as we roll by some are heated some are in the process of construction or de-construction. For some reason this who area fills me with a great calm. After the scenic drive we cross a mountain range, the road narrows to one lane and some of the curves get pretty hairy with the driver riding the brakes the whole way. Only after someone complains about the smell does he gear down. We arrive in Jodhpur and are immediately pulled over for the driver honking his horn (which everyone does with gusto). Then on to once again a palace of a hotel. This is our guide Raghu (pronounced Rag-oo) lives. After some touristict crap we went to the main bazaar where I bought some spices, and some tea. Unfortunately I"m not going to any of the tea producing areas but it's good nevertheless. After that we went for a bit of a safari going out to some villages where we watched pottery being done on a manual wheel, by manual I mean the man uses a stick to get it going really fast then goes to work. Absolutly mind-boggling to wach the ease with which he worked. After that we went to a village where there was a ritual opium ceremony. Not many of our crew partook. But they did have some really good tea. Anyway my time is winding down so I must take my leave. I hope all of you are happy in what you are doing.

W.

Driving in India

Okay so for this entry I will teach you how to drive in India. After this you will be able to master the driving of any city/highway in the country.

Lesson 1: General Driving

Start with two wheels off the road on the left side going 50mph. Now whiz up behind a truck doing 5mph carrying a boulder the size of a house. Swerve blindly into the oncoming lane putting two wheels off the road on the right side. Be sure to fully commit to this swerve. No half-assing will be permitted in my school. Whip back into your lane as a petrol tanker with a picture of the Elephant-headed God Ganesh dominating most of the windscreen misses you by at most 20cm+/- . Now that your reactions are honed we will move on to passing.

Lesson 2: Passing

Continuing from lesson 1 you are still 1 meter away from the truck carrying the boulder in front of you.
Step 1: lean on the horn for aprox. six seconds. Edge halfway into the oncoming lane, notice the WWII vitage jeep heading at you, but don't worry if you stay halfway in his lane he will move out of your way.
After he passes you in a cloud of dust kicked up by his tardy lurch onto the shoulder than you can begin your passing manuver. As you start passing play the intro to Beethoven's 9th on the horn, though there is only one tone everyone will understand and admire your amazing skills as a driver and an artist, pass the truck as fast as you can. BUT make sure there is a car fast-approaching to make sure the timing is correct. Swerve back into your lane just in front of the truck while avoiding the oncoming vehicle, the opposing driver will have seen your pass and will brake in anticipation. But he as another graduate from this driving school will wait until the last possible minute before braking. Now that you are back in your lane you must remain vigilante for similar manuvers from your front.

App. A

For Night Driving simply repeat the above steps, while watching for cows, goats, people, and other such nonsense on the road. Cars and auto-rickshaws with their lights off are not a concern because since you have yours on they will see you and get out of your way.

Congratulations you're on your way to become one of India's finest. For additional practice simple play and car racing game where you can behave like a jackass and not get pulled over until your honk your air-horn right next to a cop in a roundabout, like well, umm us two days ago.