At the Beach and with the Birds

Yesterday Mei and I went to the bird park, which is quite amazing actually. There were birds from all over the world, penguins, toucans, flamingos, pelicans, parrots etc. All of them were amazingly beautiful. The park has a lot of bird shows that go on where they invite members of the audience up to talk to the birds and hold them etc. Mostly it is for younger children which was fun to watch. We went to the birds of prey show which was great! They had trained the birds to fly over the crowd - very, very close to the crowd. So about five times I had my head between my knees so an Asian Vulture didn't mistake my pony tail for a tasty lunch treat!!

Me at the southern most point of the Asia continent. Still haven't made it south of the equator though... next trip I guess.
Holding two macaws (I think) at the insect museum.
As promised, the mating butterflies. I think they were the most photographed of any of the butterflies there - after we found them, there was a small line of people taking pictures. So much for privacy during intimacy
Mei and I being goofy while trying to cool down - it is quite humid and hot around here.
The hermaphroditic butterfly - enough said
Ahhh - beautiful Santosa!! Fun times here :)

Singapore!

Hey all!!
I made it to Singapore and Mei was at the airport to greet me. It is great to catch up with her and to see her again. We cruised around a bit after I got in and ate at a place they call a "hawkers market" which is basically a giant food court. Everything is pretty inexpensive and you order plates from different booths and they deliver it to a table for you and you all share everything family style. So for dinner I ate a lot of squid, oysters, chicken, and... STINGRAY!! It is quite nice, stingray is... very light flavor and texture similar to chicken breast.

Today Mei and I went to Santosa Island where I got to see the southern most point of continental Asia - pics coming soon. It was fun to lay on the beach and relax. We also went to an insect/butterfly museum which was fun. we found two butterflies making little butterflies - again pic coming soon.

I'm planning my trip into Malaysia and Thailand which is fun, there is so much to do there!! I'm really quite excited about it.

Keep the emails and comments coming - I miss hearing what ppl are up to!!

Finally some pictures!!

Finally here are some pics. I leave for Singapore tomorrow morning and I'm so excited to see Mei!! Yeah for the next part of the adventure :)

Aarthi in Rishikish - very cool thing to see

Rafting the Ganges!! Super fun!!

Me holding my bike helmet on the road to the Thiksay monastery

Three story Buddha statue in Thiksay Monastery

Prayer wheels in the Hemis Monastery south of Leh (always turn them clockwise)

At the top of Shanti Stupa in Leh, the view was beautiful and we stayed until sunset just watching the mountains change color - stunning

18,380 ft - it was awesome!

Loads of prayer flags on the highest motorable pass in the world. It's really a beautiful thing, the idea of sending prayers on the wind to the Gods.

This is the jeep crew - Sidd (India), Me (USA), Tom (UK), Eliza (Italy), Kate (Aussie), Steve (UK) We had so much fun just chatting, drinking beer and trying not to kill our jeep driver who seemed to be trying to kill us!! We just crossed back over the Khardung La pass back to Leh

Sidd in a great little pizza joint in Leh, the mushroom soup was amazing!

The Lotus Temple - beautiful and quite a nice religion too - very accepting, very equal opportunities, very peaceful.

Three pairs of underwear

So as I've been out on my adventures I've managed to cut down the amount of baggage I carry. I sort of have to because of how much I'm moving and changing location and taking public transportation etc. The flights are the easiest - check the bag and go. But buses and rickshaws are much harder when you have to carry everything, store it on your lap or under your feet. Many people have asked how I am able to carry everything in one 70L backpack, here is the breakdown of the essentials...
3 pairs pants (one pair jeans, green and kakhi capris)
1 skirt - for the beach and such
2 long sleeve shirts
3 short sleeve shirts (bought two more making 5)
3 pairs of underwear
3 bras
toothbrush
toothpaste
shampoo
conditioner
contacts (w/solution)
glasses
small hairbrush
towel
sandals
sneakers
2 pairs of socks

I think that covers the essentials!!

It's not too bad either - weighs about 15kgs - you can do the conversion yourselves to figure out the amount of lbs.

A few days in Leh

Sidd and I are now in Leh - really far north in India, close to both Pakistan and China. The first few days we were here we just lazied around getting used to the elevation (aroun 11,000 ft) which took longer than we thought. We rented a motorcycle and drove around to see some monostaries and gompas etc. The spirituality here is very strong, and very Buddhist.

We joined a group of four other people on a trip to Nubra Valley which was so much fun! To get to the valley we had to cross the highest motorizable road in the WORLD! The pass is at 18,380 ft!! It was snowing and cold and I climbed about 20 stairs and thought I would die - not really but I could feel the thinness of the air.

The valley is beautiful and I can't wait to post pictures when I get back to Delhi. We got to walk through sand dunes and wade in a river and bathe in hot springs. The other people on the trip were great fun too. They were from Italy, Australia, and two from UK. As the only US citizen there - I got a lot of Bush questions and a lot of Obama or McCain? Why Iraq? Do you think your country is done for? etc questions. It was strange to be the person answering those questions as I find myself asking the same of other Americans at home... Joys of travel!!

Sidd and I are deciding what to do for our last few days before heading to Delhi - we'll have fun I'm sure!!

Miss everyone!!

Now In Leh!!

First off, thanks for all the comments and emails! I love knowing that people are reading and following my trip!!

Sidd and I are now in Leh, which is very beautiful. It's up in the north part of India by China and Nepal. It's a desert which is a welcome change from the rains in Delhi and Rishikesh. We are going to see many stumpas and monestaries and other very spiritual things. I want to see a polo match and go rafting down the Indus - we'll see if we have time. I'm also thinking about a few day trek (about two nights) which would be great fun, but expensive... we'll see...

I cannot upload pictures still - bandwidth is not enough to handle this. So hopefully when I'm back in Delhi after about 10 days I can post loads!

Rafting the Gangas (Ganges for us British decendents)

Sidd and I left Delhi (we were there for only a few hours) and caught a train to Rishikesh. Our train experience was so cool!! We were in sleeper class (which is one step above general, which is standing room only) which is okay, usually I travel by AC class. However, this region is a high pilgrimage route and the general class was too full so people started squatting in the sleeper class cars. This created quite the disruption as Sidd shared his bed with four ladies. He made sure I had my bunk to myself and I tried to sleep, however, at one point there was a fight and lots of yelling. It was quite fun - despite the lack of sleep!

So we are now in Rishikesh and we decided to go RAFTING! I got to raft 26km down the Ganges (Ganga is the Hindi name). This is one of the two main holy rivers in India. This is the same river which flows into Varanasi - the holiest sight in India. Upstream at the point we rafted, the water is much cleaner - although sightings of dead cows were claimed by our fellow rafters. We had such a good time - I jumped out of the boat and swam along side it once, Sidd did that three times!

We are off to Leh further north and might raft the Indus (the other holy river) we shall see!!

Pictures aren't allowed to be uploaded due to low bandwidth, so I'll put some rafting pics up later along with Aarthi (offerings/pooja) pics also.

Having a blast!!!

A few days in Bombay

So I made it to Bombay!! I mentioned to a few people that India feels like a bit of a 'safe haven.' I mean this in the sense that traveling around semi-alone is scary and not knowing what you will be doing next or where to go for different this can be hard, and in India - I don't have this problem. I know how to "do" India. So I'm quitely enjoying my few days here in my comfort zone before heading out again into the storm of the unknown of Southeast Asia.

Monsoons are here in Mumbai. Everything is wet and sticky including myself most of the time. It's mostly fun because the weather is cool and the rain is a good time. However, when you are drenched and clothes are sticking to you and your hair is all screwy because of the humidity, it gets a bit old. I'm ready for the desert of Ladakh! Here are some pics of my few days back in a bit of my old home - I love India!! The Sea-Link bridge being built to connect Bandra to Worli. It looked awesome in the fog/rain!

Rugved is also in Bombay now so I spent the afty with him exlporing his part of the city. I was invited to stay for dinner and meet his amazing parents!!

Uncle and Auntie Pathare - so amazingly wonderful people!

Fabric shopping - always a good time! So many options!!

I'm off to catch up with some old IIT friends tonight for dinner then tomorrow Sidd and I will be exploring more of the city, maybe catch another movie (we saw Sex and the City the other day - okay movie) Then we depart for Ladakh!! Yay!!!

Now in Bombay!

I made it to Bombay with no problems. Sidd was waiting for me at the airport and all is set for our tour to begin! Better post coming about my last days in Abu Dhabi and my plans for India - all is well!!

The Desert and the hot springs

I got to travel around Abu Dhabi a bit the other day to Al-Ain, a town about an hour and a half from Abu Dhabi. This town doesn't have much to do or see other than a hot springs area and a mountain which provides really great views of the desert (during the day - I was there at night). It was fun to get out of Abu Dhabi for a bit, here are some pics.The desert on our way out of Abu Dhabi, the sand is a really nice red color

Me at the hot springs. It was piped out of this man made rock down a stream so people can sit along and enjoy the water, but it's like 100F outside and the water is hot, so why would you want to soak in it, I really don't know - I just touched it, haha

The springs were surrounded by these rocky hills which were really fun to climb. I would have loved to just explore around them and hike a bit, moving my body felt really good after being inside for so long. (can you see me?)

View from the to of the hill that I climbed, I kept thinking mom would find this place really fun because of all the layers in the rocks and such - hehe

View from the top of the mountain/hill over the city of Al Ain. It really was beautiful at night, but I can only imagine what it looks like during the day or at sunset with the desert - very pretty I'm sure!

Sara had her last day of school today so in celebration she and a few friends rented a Hummer limo to take them around the city. Madonna and I got to tag along so I spent my afternoon cruisin' Abu Dhabi in a limo - pretty sweet huh?

We might head to Dubai tonight then a water park tomorrow, but we'll see.

A bit of my time here in the UAE

So what I've learned about the UAE since traveling around it a bit is that if you don't like to shop then you better like the heat. The malls are super impressive, just huge stories of all types of shops but just like the ones at home - one in particular reminds me of Cheery Creek Mall back in CO. If you don't like to shop, then you are going to spend a lot of time outside either at the beach or just looking at the awesome buildings. Both Dubai and Abu Dhabi are just huge cities with very unique buildings and they are adding to them at an alarming rate. Here are some of the fun things I've seen.Me in a goofy chair in one of the shops at Marina Mall, a huge mall in Abu Dhabi

Me in front of the Emirates palace - note the cranes and construction going on behind

Abu Dhabi skyline - everything looks very hazy, and I'm not sure if it is humidity or pollution, but I can never find a horizon because of this haze.

Mosque in Dubai - the mosques here in general are very beautiful

The Emirates palace - this is the big hotel in Abu Dhabi, and it is HUGE

The Famous Burj Al-Arab. This is the 7 star hotel in Dubai, you aren't allowed inside without a booking, rooms start at about $2000 - I think...

UAE - Abu Dhabi

I made it to Abu Dhabi with no problems at all. Ajlan mom, Madonna, was waiting for me at the airport and we went back to her flat. Her daughter, Ajlan's sister, Sara was there as well and she is really fun. So far I've just taken a day to get myself together and relax which has been great.

It is beyond hot here though, around 105F (Gavin you would be in heaven *wink*). Madonna was saying that the ocean is even hot so you jump in and it doesn't cool you down, I'll have to see about that though. There is discussion about going jet skiing this afternoon which would be fun. No solid plans yet though.

I'll post pics when I have some! Thanks for the comments and emails - keep them coming!