tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26191319161763293012024-03-13T19:52:41.084-07:00Brian's Tales of Travel - Journeys to the UnknownBrian Rothbarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17879888864502674045noreply@blogger.comBlogger33125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2619131916176329301.post-32083151864512721902010-03-12T23:22:00.000-08:002010-03-12T23:22:25.311-08:00Myanmar/Burma - Off the Grid until April 4I am scheduled to fly out of Bangkok to Myanmar/Burma tomorrow and will have no internet for the next 22 days. I am scheduled to fly from Myanmar/Burma to Siem Reap on April 4 and I should have internet once I reach Cambodia. If not I should be home by April 11th.Brian Rothbarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17879888864502674045noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2619131916176329301.post-44037156493107836382010-03-12T23:20:00.001-08:002010-03-12T23:20:33.210-08:00Total Expenses for ThailandTotal I spent in Thailand was $378.58 an average of $60.10 per day. Thailand is no longer as cheap a destination as it once was partly due to the lower dollar and partly because prices have gone up. You can still get some good deals with food, if you eat from the food stalls. I spent a total of $154.83 on my hotel room or $25.80 per night (the room included private bath with a hot shower, wifi and tv). I spent a total of $87.86 on food or an average of $14.64 per day. Tours and transportation cost me $80.39 (most of this, $54.83 was for the taxi to and from Wat Bang Phra where I got my tattoo). I also spent a total of $26.43 on souvenirs ($18.38 of which was for the donation for the tattoo). And, finally I spent a total of $6.27 on wash and some other incidental items.Brian Rothbarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17879888864502674045noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2619131916176329301.post-27044264879134016362010-03-11T09:15:00.000-08:002010-03-11T09:15:43.231-08:00Bangkok Day 30<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br />
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Today I decided to walk down to Chinatown and visiting a couple of sites on the way. I stumbled upon a couple of interesting sites including a market where they were selling frogs, turtles, eels and other items. I then took the river boat back-up to where I am staying. It is a lot nicer staying by the water and using the river boats for transportation than a taxi or tuk-tuk (they will try and rob you blind), much better scenery and a lot faster also. <br />
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Spent sometime in the park reading and watching them film a movie than had some dinner on the water and watched the sun set. It was a very peaceful day. I hope the rest of the weekend there aren't any big problems. However, it doesn't look good. I just hope I don't have to spend Friday and Saturday in the hotel room and that I have no problems flying out on Sunday. It seems that more problems will happen late Sunday and Monday, if anything happens (which I hope it doesn't).<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Yesterday I spent most of the day getting my visa for Myanmar/Burma and getting enough American dollars for the trip. It wasn't too bad to get the visa. I arrived at around 8:00 am and was the fourth person in-line. The embassy opened at 9:00 and I was out of there before 9:30. I paid extra to get the visa the same day so I didn't have to go there again another day. So I walked around and visited Lumphini Park, something I didn't get to do when I was in Bangkok in 2006.</span><br />
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</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Last night I saw the biggest snail I have ever seen.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
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</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Today, I visited </span><a href="http://www.sak-yant.com/archive/watbangpra/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Wat Bang Phra</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> to get a Sak Yank Tattoo from a Buddhist monk, Hwong Pi Phaew. More about him and video of him giving tattoos can be found </span><a href="http://www.sak-yant.com/samnak-sak-yant/wat-bang-phra/hlwong-pi-phaew/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">here</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: orange;"><strong><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black; font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> I hired a driver who took me to the Wat, about 30 miles north of Bangkok. After arriving, you buy some incense, flowers and cigarettes (70 Baht) that is a donation to the Wat and then you put money into an envelope for the Monk. </span></span></strong></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
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</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There weren't too many people around. At the end of February there were over 30,000 people there for the annual Tattoo festival. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">He gave me two tattoos the first is the Yant Goa Yord. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 20px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A Yant is a Sacred geometry design incorporating Buddhist psalms and magical formulas that invoke various elements and powers of protection and various blessings.The Buddhist psalms written within and around these yant are know inThai language as a "kata" or "Mantra". It is for protection and good luck. The second is for a gift of the tongue.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 20px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
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</div>Brian Rothbarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17879888864502674045noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2619131916176329301.post-36167420444470852982010-03-08T06:26:00.000-08:002010-03-08T06:49:34.337-08:00I Arrive in Bangkok in time for Big Political Rally<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">It seems that the s</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">upporters of former Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra have postponed a major political rally from March 1, 2010 to March 14 (the day I am set to leave for Myanmar/Burma). This is the same group that shutdown the airport last year. </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></b></span><br />
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<h2 style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: black; list-style-type: none; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">The Thai cabinet has recommended invoking the Internal Security Act (ISA) to maintain law and order in Bangkok between March 11 and March 23 in response of the mass rally of the "Red Shirts" this Sunday.</span></span></span></h2><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">You can read more </span><a href="http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/local/170789/govt-plans-to-impose-security-law-for-rally"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">here</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #373737;"></span></span></span></div><br />
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</span></span>Brian Rothbarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17879888864502674045noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2619131916176329301.post-73495618718187338512010-03-07T08:29:00.000-08:002010-03-07T08:29:46.535-08:00New PlansI didn’t know how hard this trip would be and that I would miss my wife as much as I do. Things are just not as much fun when you don’t have someone to share it with. And, although I know she would have hated India, she would love Nepal (maybe not seeing all the temples - I am starting to get templed out). It is nice to have someone special to share things with. Of course, you meet people when you are alone, but it isn’t the same. <br />
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So here are my new plans:<br />
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I leave tomorrow (Monday, March 8) for Bangkok, where I will see a few things I missed on my last trip and hopefully get a tattoo by a Buddhist monk and secure my visa for Myanmar/Burma. I am scheduled to Fly to Myanmar/Burma on Sunday, March 14 and then fly to Siem Reap on Sunday, April 4 and then fly home on Saturday, April 10. <br />
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India was tough because of the amount of people and all the hawkers and because I really missed Denise. Nepal has been a lot better and now that I know when I will be home I can really enjoy the next month. I saw all that I really wanted to see in Northern India, and although I haven’t seen everything that Nepal has to offer I think I hope to come back here again with Denise. I am really looking forward to Myanmar/Burma because I have heard lots of great things about it and although I will be spending 22 days there could probably spend more (although you can only get a 28 day visa), but because of being afraid of running out of money (you need to take all your money (American dollars) with you because there are no ATMs and the bills can’t have any marks, tears etc. (because they won’t be accepted) and has to be small bills (which makes it tough) I got advice that 22 days was what I needed to see what I wanted to see. <br />
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So initially I thought that I would only be starting in Nepal when I will actually be ending my trip, but in a little over two months I got to see India, Nepal, Thailand (Again), Myanmar/Burma, and Cambodia. I have saw lots of great things and will hopefully see lots more before I return home. I have experienced lots of new thing, tasted some lots of great new food, met lots of great people and changed in lots of ways and hopefully will change in many more. So I will return home with new experiences and hopefully a little wiser in time to find new adventures and for the beginning of the baseball season. Go Nats!<br />
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</div>Brian Rothbarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17879888864502674045noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2619131916176329301.post-61320533244349481702010-03-07T08:28:00.002-08:002010-03-07T08:32:32.716-08:00Total Expenses for NepalTotal spent in Nepal was $1063.23. I spent a total of $242.00 on hotels, $80.37 on Food (average of $8.03 per day), $443.88 on Tours and Trekking, $303.48 for two flights and taxis, and $6.21 on souvenirs and misc. I also sold some books for $12.67. Kathmandu was a little bit more expensive than I thought, especially food. However, the total amount I spent would could have been decreased if I did the trekking as planned and not been in Kathmandu for the amount of time I spent. Also, since one day was Holi a lot of restaurants were closed and I had to go to a more expensive place ($17.10 for dinner) than I would normally have gone to otherwise.Brian Rothbarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17879888864502674045noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2619131916176329301.post-57482030945443291412010-03-07T08:28:00.000-08:002010-03-11T07:50:23.960-08:00Nepal What a Wonderful Place<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sorry I have had any updates in awhile, but because of the power and the slow internet it is really tough to get access. Also, I have been quite busy visiting various places and have been exhausted.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Let me first say that Nepal is nothing like India. The people are all very friendly and not trying to rip you off. There are some annoying hawkers, but if you tell them "No" 2 or 3 times they leave you alone. Also, it is not as crowded and although you have to watch the motorbikes it is a lot more pleasant place to walk around. The only real problem is that the power is off a lot, which is not usually a problem unless it is scheduled to be off during the evening hours and you want to take a shower. However, most of the hotels have generators. Also, the internet is extremely slow and depending on where the server is located may not be working, which isn’t a problem unless you need to send an email, book a plane ticket or are writing a blog.</span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Nepal is a very diverse country, and I have only seen a little bit of what Nepal has to offer. There is of course the mountains, but they also have rivers and nature preserves where you can see tigers, rhinos and other animals, not to mention all the historical and religious buildings (there are a lot). I urge you, if you have the chance, to visit this amazing place and the amazing people who live here.</span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">I arrived in Lumbini on the evening of Feb. 25 after crossing the India/Nepal border at Sunali. It was a pretty easy process since I already had my Nepali visa and just involved some stamps checking me out of India and into Nepal. I exchanged the few Indian Rupees I had for some Nepali Rupees and got a taxi to Lumbini about 25 kms away.</span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The next day I visited the site where Buddha was born and the many temples that are scattered around Lumbini. These temples are massive and most are currently under construction. They are planning a massive center.</span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Day 18 - Saturday, Feb. 27</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">From Lumbini I flew to Kathmandu. Initially I was going to visit some other cities around the area and then I was just going to go from Lumbini to Pokhara (but there is no bus to Pokara), so instead of taking the 10 hour bus from Lumbini to Kathmandu I decided to take the 30 minute flight, not only is it shorter, but you get a good view of the Himalayans.</span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">I arrived in Kathmandu and was picked up by Rajendra Sapkota (Raj) a business partner of the hotel owner of where I stayed in Lumbini. Raj, who owns his own Trekking and Expedition business got me a good deal on a hotel in Kathmandu and helped book my ticket to Bangkok. </span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Day 19 - Sunday, Feb. 28</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The next day was Holi, also known as the festival of colors, is held on the full-moon day in the month of Falgun. During Holi people spray water and colored powder or a combined colored water around as a reminder of the cooling monsoon days that are about to come. It seems that foreigners get special attention. So I ventured out to see what was going on and to see how long it took before someone sprayed me with water. It took awhile before I was doused with water and then a guy came up to me and put all kinds of colors on me. Since I don’t have any really old clothes I made a hasty retreat back to the hotel (after my initiation) because once you get colored you are bigger target for more people. Some people were just covered. After cleaning up I watched the craziness from the rooftop. It was a lot of good fun though and most people asked before they put color on you (not the water though). </span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">He are some more <a href="http://74.125.153.132/search?q=cache:Njz_sfSpIukJ:www.demotix.com/news/262978/holi-festival-colours-kathmandu+holi+festival+kathmandu+2010&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=th">pictures</a>.</span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">While watching from the roof of the hotel I met a girl from Holland who with some street kids in Pokhara in a program that tries to get them ready for school. Unfortunately the kids can only be in the program for 6 months and she said that many of the kids can’t even write their name (we are talking 11 and 12 aged kids) and that it is very rewarding to teach a kid to write their own name. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Day 20 - Monday, March 1</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The following day I met with the Shishir Dhakal, the guy I was supposed to do the 13 day trek to Gosikunda lake, to discuss what we could do instead. </span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">After our discussion he and I went to pick up the package that my wife sent me and I got to see the bureaucracy of Nepal in action. First you need to go the Cargo center at the airport (even though she sent it FedEx). After you show you paper work and sign some stuff you are allowed in the compound (which they charge you for parking). Once inside you show the paperwork to a guy who writes it in a book and you sign your name, then you bring it to another guy who reviews it and you pay the tax (in this case .17 a lot cheaper than the $50 he thought) and sign your name again and then you bring that to another place where they write it in a book and you sign your name a gain, then you wait for them to bring out the package which they open and inspect to see if there is anything that shouldn’t be in there or not what you said was in there, than you go to another guy so he can write it in a book and you sign your name once again, then you bring it to another place and finally another place to get the slip to show on your way out of the compound, and once you are outside of the compound you need to show the paperwork again, pay some more and then finally leave. In total, it took about 2 hours to retrieve the package. </span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">I can not say enough about Shishir, he is a great guy and very honest and runs a top notch company. As I said I was supposed to go on this 13 day trek, but since my knees were bothering me and I didn’t want to get halfway into the trek and need to be airlifted out I decide to do some other things included a Mountain Flight to see Everest and some small trekking, along with 5 days of seeing everything there is to see in the Kathmandu Valley. He also took me out to a “Welcome Dinner” to taste some real Nepalese food. It was very good. During dinner I found that his company is only a year old, although he has worked in the business for over 15 years. It must be very hard to establish a business because there are tons of companies advertising trekking and tourist services. However, if you are looking for an honest, good company that takes pride in what it does and fantastic service you can do any better than Ambition Himalaya. Shishir, not only took me to get my package, took me to dinner, met me every morning before I was supposed to be picked-up to go on a tour, accompany on the trekking portion of the tour, but offer to take me to the airport to catch my flight to Bangkok for free. I cannot recommend him and his company enough. He offers lots of tours and you can contact him at shishirdhakal@hotmail.com or info@ambitionhimalaya.com or visit the website at </span></span><a href="http://ambitionhimalaya.com/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">http://ambitionhimalaya.com/</span></span></a><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Day 21 - Tuesday, March 2,</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">My first day of touring of Kathmandu. First we went to Durbar Square. Durbar Square, a world heritage site, is a complex of beautiful temples and shrines, both Hindu and Buddhist. Most of them were built around the 12th and 18th centuries. It is here that the kings of Nepal are crowned. It is also where the Kumari or living goddess living goddess live. She is considered to be an incarnation of the goddess Taleju. The Kumari is usually chosen when she is 3-7 years old and holds her place as the Kumari until her first menstruation. The new Kumari was just chosen last year.</span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">When we arrived at the Square a young kid came up to me to try and sell me something. I told him I wasn’t interested, but we got to talking and he asked me the normal things: “Where I’m from?, What’s my name? etc. but then he asked me how many languages I spoke and I said just English. He said you are kidding and I said no. So I asked him how many languages he spoke and he said 12. He was around 12 and he spoke 12 languages. </span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Most of the temples had beautiful woodcarvings and many of which included some pretty erotic scenes. There are a couple of different speculations of why these erotic images are thee, but no one knows for sure.</span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Next we went to Swayambhu Mahachaitya or Monkey Temple, also a world heritage site and sits high on top of a mountain (some 300 plus steps). It is believed that the stupa is over 2000 year’s old and consists of four main parts that represent air, heat, earth, and water.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Next we went to Budhaikantha temple which has an amazing 5 meter long image of Vishnu as Narayan which was created in the 7th or 8th century. What is amazing is that carving is from one piece of stone. It is perhaps the most impressive, if not most important, Vishnu shrine in Nepal. The image shows a sleeping Vishnu image (because Vishnu is supposed to sleep through the four monsoon months and big festival is held in November when Vishnu is supposed to awaken from his annual sleep), which lies in a small sunken pond enclosure that foreigners are not allowed to enter. </span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Finally, we went to Pashupati temple, which is one of the holiest temples in the world and worshipped by both Hindus and Buddhists. It is also on the riverbanks of the Bagmati, which is a holy river and like in Varanasi it is a place where people are cremated and their ashes are put in to the river. When we were there we basically saw all the stages of life: we saw the living, we saw someone near death being brought to the hospital that is on site, we saw a dead body wrapped with its feet in the water for cleansing, and we saw a body being cremated. The impermanence of life.</span></span><br />
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Day 22 - Wednesday, March 3</div></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><div style="text-align: left;">I had to wake up at 5:00 am today to get to the airport for the Mountain Flight that was supposed to go off at 6:30. I don’t think the flight left until around 8:00. However, I am lucky because the past two days there were no flights because of the visibility. Once we took off we had some good views and although at first Mt. Everest had a little bit of clouds around her peak they moved off to the side and we got to see her in all her glory.</div></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><div style="text-align: left;">After the flight and some breakfast, we visited some more temples including Bajrayogini temple in Shankhu, which is high up on a hill.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDndB6g6sd4zYZifdPNIhw5ADHTKMmGJIQ3rwKZMmYqvJb7ZH_zdyNjrSf5LA5v0lMJomQvhPTJaW_N7yaClTDaCL38gD8iq4bkmnKKhju5dZd2jy1WmZfOTJ8Lr8OiubzzzBYjEJJnRE/s1600-h/P1030201.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDndB6g6sd4zYZifdPNIhw5ADHTKMmGJIQ3rwKZMmYqvJb7ZH_zdyNjrSf5LA5v0lMJomQvhPTJaW_N7yaClTDaCL38gD8iq4bkmnKKhju5dZd2jy1WmZfOTJ8Lr8OiubzzzBYjEJJnRE/s400/P1030201.JPG" width="400" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVXnWglRrDXTQx_gl1xqs_WoCH7S32R36DzNfm3ATxL8WtqbjPjiCfZAKGjjVQtopA_-07vBNlB0d4DTZv7XV4_gblJF75e0n9znTGUJn0db-Rm5atJb5vrwGEIEUalBxkkUeLju85iTk/s1600-h/P1030216.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVXnWglRrDXTQx_gl1xqs_WoCH7S32R36DzNfm3ATxL8WtqbjPjiCfZAKGjjVQtopA_-07vBNlB0d4DTZv7XV4_gblJF75e0n9znTGUJn0db-Rm5atJb5vrwGEIEUalBxkkUeLju85iTk/s400/P1030216.JPG" width="300" /></a></div><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><div style="text-align: left;">We also visited Boudhanath, another world heritage site, home to one of the world’s largest stupas and home to many Tibetan refugees. <br />
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Finally, we visited Kopan Monastery, a Tibetan monastery where they offer courses. They were getting ready from a highly regarded lama from India. It seemed to be a very peaceful place.</div></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><div style="text-align: left;">Today we visited Patna, Bhaktapur, and then went on to Nagarkot where I stayed overnight to see the sunset and the sunrise over the Himalayans (if the are no clouds). Nagarkot is a very peaceful place and is probably like being in the Swiss Mountains of a ski lodge in California. </div></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
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Day 24 - Friday, March 5</div></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 23px;"></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 23px;"><div style="text-align: left;">I got to see the sunrise today and a beautiful view of the Himalayans. It was very nice, but I wish my wife was here with me to have someone to share it with. I can’t remember the last time I watched the sunrise. <br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><div style="text-align: left;">After breakfast we went on our trek/hike down to Changu Narayan. It took us around 3.5 hours. It wasn’t too bad until one part that we had to climb a huge hill about half-way through. I saw lots of neat stuff along the way, including some people making a type of liquor and a wedding procession. A dog also became our faithful leader after I gave it some love by petting its head. When we were done with the hike we visited another temple in Changu Narayan.</div></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
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Day 25 - Saturday, March 6</div></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><div style="text-align: left;">I can’t say enough about how great and knowledgeable the tour guide was. I learned a lot from him. He is a Buddhist and teaches the drum and cymbols and has visited Europe a couple of times on a musical tour. It was also great because, being a Buddhist, he knew a lot of the customs and symbols. Buddhism in Nepal s very different from the forms I have read about and is very close to Hinduism. They believe in a lot of the same gods and there are more of an emphasis on rituals than on meditation. They also have animal sacrifices, although some people only sacrifice coconuts instead of animals. </div></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><div style="text-align: left;">Day 26 - Sunday, March 7</div></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><div style="text-align: left;">Today I took it easy. I woke up late had a late breakfast than I went and sold some books I had read, bought my only souvenir for my niece and booked my ticket home. Also was invited to dinner by one of the owners of the hotel.</div></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span>Brian Rothbarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17879888864502674045noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2619131916176329301.post-84510235569177364722010-02-27T05:37:00.000-08:002010-02-27T05:56:03.364-08:00Total Expenses for IndiaSo the total I spent in India was $920.60, which was more than I was budgeting but mostly went to traveling expenses ($539.26 for taxis, rickshaws, hired drivers and trains) and the biggest expenses being the Hotel in Mumbai. It is funny I spent more for the hotel room in Mumbai than the rest of the hotels combined. I averaged $8.08 per night for hotel rooms. Also, I only spent $57.35 on food for an average of $3.82 a day. The things that were expensive were the sites ($15 for the Taj Mahal) totaling $146.32 and a couple of things that I probably should not have spent money on or spent too much on. This does not include the one-way ticket to Mumbai $535.00.Brian Rothbarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17879888864502674045noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2619131916176329301.post-87051890960780261902010-02-27T05:35:00.000-08:002010-03-09T04:47:20.404-08:00Day 15 Vaishali to Kushinagar to Nepal Border to Lumbini<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br />
I’m in Nepal a lot sooner than I thought and I am glad to be out of India. My first observations are that the people seem a lot nicer (honest), there doesn’t seem to be as many people or craziness on the streets and their car horns are a lot more pleasant. The only bad thing so far is the power goes out a couple times every hour, but the place I am staying has a generator and back-up lights.<br />
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So today was a long day. Woke up at 6:00 because we were supposed to leave at 6:30, but didn’t leave until 7:00. Then we visited some of the sites in Vaishali. Vaishali is the place that women were accepted as nuns.<br />
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After visiting a couple of sites we drove the 200 plus kms to Kushinagar. On the way we stopped for some breakfast and had some fish, chicken and rice. It was very good, but I was afraid to eat too much because I wasn’t sure about the cleanliness of the place. So far, so good. I would hate to get sick on my last day in India. Anyway, it took us about 6 hours to reach Kushinagar, the place where Buddha died and was cremated and one of the four sacred Buddha cities. <br />
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After visiting the sites we took off for the Nepal border. It took about 3.5 hours to reach the border. There was some amazing scenery that we drove through today passing small villages, forests, lakes and I saw lots of elephants, monkeys and birds not to mention all the pigs, cows, goats, ducks, horses and chickens.<br />
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Crossing the border was a breeze. I just had to fill-out some paperwork and get my stamps exchange some money and into Nepal I went. Once walking into Nepal I got a taxi to take me to an ATM and then onto Lumbini, the place where Buddha was born and the final of the four sacred Buddha cities. It is supposed to be dangerous to drive at night in Nepal and I can see why with all the bicycles, that you can’t see because it is so dark, big trucks and small roads.<br />
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The place I am staying at is nice and the manager seems to be a real nice guy. There are no buses to Pokhara so I decided to take a flight from Lumbini to Kathamandu. The manager said that it is a great way to see some great scenery and it isn’t that expensive and only take 30 minutes compared to the 10 hour bus ride, which can be a lot longer if there is a strike which happens quite often here. So I will be in Kathmandu by the 27th. <br />
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Tomorrow I will explore Lumbini, I haven’t decided if I will rent a bike or not. I haven’t ridden a bike in forever.<br />
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</div>Brian Rothbarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17879888864502674045noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2619131916176329301.post-83621670581239871632010-02-27T05:27:00.001-08:002010-03-09T04:29:20.782-08:00Day 14 - Rajgir, Nalanda to Vaishali<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>I was picked up today a little before 8:00 am. It took about 2 hours to go the 70kms from Bodhgaya to Rajgir. I was not expecting to walk up to the temple on the top of this huge hill, but the chair lift wasn’t working. I’m not sure how far up it is, but it is a long way and very steep. It was worth the climb though. Next to the stupa is a temple and a monk was banging a drum. It was a great place to meditate.<br />
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After the climb up to the stupa we visited the Pippala caves, where the first Buddhist council was held. <br />
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We also visited the Lakshminarayan Temple complex that has some hot springs. Lots of people were taking a bath and a guy had me say a prayer as he poured water from the springs onto my hand.<br />
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We then drove about half an hour to Nalanda, which is where there was a large Buddhist monastic university that had some very large libraries and was the most revered universities in ancient India. It must have been something in its time. <br />
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After Nalanda we drove the 146kms that took around 3 hours to Vaishali, where I’m staying at a not such a bad place, although there are huge spiders on the ceiling.<br />
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</div>Brian Rothbarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17879888864502674045noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2619131916176329301.post-50303829028146125372010-02-27T05:26:00.000-08:002010-03-09T03:53:17.058-08:00Day 13 Bodhgaya<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmUzmZnAL02vzekKX6WUgp4QPeZegvIuekg5ZWJ72PhnFcgqdeMlL1xBO_VbMgL5rjymj-YGrDI0KGJOnqGccxpeyq3WneS0l0K_mxSIZp_ANA9Ofo1AlEe07em2cHxEpDrCSvZHxWQKI/s1600-h/P1020542.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmUzmZnAL02vzekKX6WUgp4QPeZegvIuekg5ZWJ72PhnFcgqdeMlL1xBO_VbMgL5rjymj-YGrDI0KGJOnqGccxpeyq3WneS0l0K_mxSIZp_ANA9Ofo1AlEe07em2cHxEpDrCSvZHxWQKI/s320/P1020542.JPG" /></a></div><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">I woke up early and got to the temple grounds around 6:00 am. Bodhgaya is also one the four most sacred Buddhist cities because it is here where Siddhartha Gautama found enlightenment, reaching Nirvana and became the Buddha. As I was walking around I met some young Indian Buddhists. They showed me around the temple. I hope they were legit and not scamming me, but the one kid knew his stuff and seemed like a good soul. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">After the temple, I met another kid on the way to pick up my bag from one hotel to bring to the other (tonight’s room has a shared bathroom, the first time for that experience). Anyway, this kid said he was studying and this and that and said he had a friend who could take us on a Rickshaw to the caves and couple other places. I said okay. It was worth the trip just to see the villages (grass and mud houses), but the cave was very interesting also and was up a long stairway that had a good view of the city. However, there were so many beggars and they had people selling small coins (100 rupees for 50 rupees worth of coins - make sense right? Lol) and some crackers. I didn’t want to buy anything, but I bought some crackers to give to the children and old people. Then a guy who wanted me to buy his coins put it in my hand and wouldn’t take it back - this is a trick they use - well I gave it to the other guy selling coins and then he wanted money for the coins. There was no way I was giving him anything and we just took off. That is the thing with these hawkers, they are rude and you can’t just say “No” even if you say it a hundred times and very forcefully and they still won’t stop. It is just annoying and exhausting that you just ignore them. This is my biggest pet peeve about India. The people are always trying to sell you something and they won’t go away when you say “No”. It just becomes exhausting arguing with them. I think that they just assume that we are foreign that we have lots of money and will just pay them to go away. This is something that I will never get used to and one reason why I can’t wait to leave India. Also, the pollution and dust has taken its toll on my lungs.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Just an example, the kid that showed me around and had the friend to take me to the cave and other place that had a school and the school wanted money. I couldn’t and didn’t give a donation and then after the kid took me around to some of the temples and offered to bring me home to meet his family for dinner wanted me to pay for 2 years of his schooling. I told him I didn’t have any money and that I was still paying for my schooling. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Then as I was walking to the main temple to go meditate, I met this little kid who wanted to sell me some map. I declined, then he followed me all over and asked me to buy him a kit kat. I thought he wanted the candy bar and said okay, well he wanted a cricket stick. Then he said he wanted some holi (sp) that would be good for his mind, soul, and well being, only 146 rupees he told me - again I declined. So after about an hour of him hanging around, he said he was hungry and could he have 30 rupees (.60 cents) so I gave him 30 rupees. I would have rather not because it just breeds begging, but he did look hungry and was a good kid. After giving him the 30 rupees I showed him I only had 20 rupees left and that he was richer than me. He just laughed. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Bodhgaya was a very peaceful place inside the temple grounds, especially at night with the chanting and all the monks meditating. It was a good place to try and clear my head. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">I have hired a driver, through a travel agency, to bring me to Rajgir, Nalanda, Kusinagar</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"> (another of the four sacred Buddha cities - where he died) and to the Indian/Nepal border where I will get a taxi to Lumbini (another of the four sacred Buddha cities - where he was born). They are picking me up at 8:00 am tomorrow and I should be in Nepal in about 3. I’m not sure if I will follow my plans or just go to Kathmandu (10 hour bus ride/30 minute plane ride) or go to Pokhara and then Kathmandu. I will see once I reach Nepal.</span><br />
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</div>Brian Rothbarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17879888864502674045noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2619131916176329301.post-55782998928239365802010-02-27T05:25:00.003-08:002010-02-27T05:30:43.462-08:00Day 12 - Varanasi to GayaI met a guy today who owns and shop in Varanasi and his brother owns a shop in Gaithersburg. He was a nice guy, but he wanted me to see what he had for sale. I declined. Also met another guy who was very nice, but wanted me to see (just see - not buy) his silk. I also declined. I am sick of looking at this silk stuff. Although, I did buy a blanket/shawl today for $3. I figured it would help keep me warm during the cold nights.<br />
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Also met this kid, John, who loves the American dollar “even though it has declined in value”. He wanted me to buy some postcards. He started at $10 and then was going to throw in something else for a 100 rupees or $2, again I declined. <br />
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This afternoon I took the train from Varanasi to Gaya. I got to the station around 3:45 and there were no announcements or anything about what platform the train would be on. The train was supposed to leave at 4:27, but there were still no announcements at 4:25. A kid from China somehow knew I was waiting for the train and asked me about it and I said it was probably just delayed and that is why there was no announcement. <br />
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So the train that was supposed to take 5 hours took 7 hours and I didn’t get into Gaya until 11:00. I had the upper bunk for the train ride, which was very claustrophobic and quite uncomfortable when you aren’t sleeping and a pain to get up and down in, especially when you don’t know what stop you are at and need to get off. A guy who I was talking to about my kindle let me know when I needed to get off so I didn’t have to keep jumping up and down. The only way to know when to get off is the time of arrival (which doesn’t help since most of the trains are not on time - it is this time of year because of fog. I was told they run on time during the hot season.<br />
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I wanted to stay in Gaya until morning and then take a rickshaw the 10km (5 miles) in the morning. However, this rickshaw driver said he knew a great hotel. I should have followed my first instincts because he took me to a hotel that looked fine, but the guy wouldn’t show me the room before he wanted me to pay and at $12 I wasn’t going to do that so I asked the rickshaw driver to take me to some other places and it being almost midnight everyplace was booked so we had to come back to the first hotel and I paid for the room (without seeing it) and it was a decent room. I don’t know why he just wouldn’t show me the room. Very strange. <br />
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</div>Brian Rothbarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17879888864502674045noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2619131916176329301.post-26168006321079054652010-02-27T05:24:00.000-08:002010-03-09T02:57:59.002-08:00Day 11 - SarnathMe and a girl I met from Belgium visited Sarnath, one the four most sacred Buddhist cities. In Sarnath, the Buddha gave his first sermon. The most impressive site in Sarnath is the Dhamekh Stupa, built around 500 AD. Other building in Sarnath were broken down over time in the 18th century to be used for bridges and markets in Varanasi.<br />
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The Mulgandhakuti Vihar marks the site where the Buddha mediated during his monsoon retreats at Sarnath.<br />
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Many countries have built temples around the site so monks on pilgrimages have a place to stay.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEnGWZp15bK2Utjl3zMFUPbXPhA54A5U92iVX8r4CPx0yPNrGWFaQ5t5l8gbSg7Hxe0F9JkavEs2dRRFzpV8tecIwoVPJRM1clcgQjt_9My-4qSJo6SKxGRI4rV3_hrtWCSFnACxVZU3Q/s1600-h/P1020455.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEnGWZp15bK2Utjl3zMFUPbXPhA54A5U92iVX8r4CPx0yPNrGWFaQ5t5l8gbSg7Hxe0F9JkavEs2dRRFzpV8tecIwoVPJRM1clcgQjt_9My-4qSJo6SKxGRI4rV3_hrtWCSFnACxVZU3Q/s400/P1020455.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>Brian Rothbarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17879888864502674045noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2619131916176329301.post-16258403128032398612010-02-20T19:33:00.001-08:002010-02-20T19:33:31.064-08:00India is Like an Acid TripI have determined that India is like an acid trip. It can either be a good trip or a bad trip, but it is a trip. It is totally chaotic. There is really no structure, people are urinating and defecating in the streets, animals are running wild, there appear to be no traffic laws, you have the super rich living right next to the super poor, but it all seems to work somehow. <br />
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Internet is slow and don't have good connection so I will post pictures when I can.Brian Rothbarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17879888864502674045noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2619131916176329301.post-12610700422547362042010-02-20T19:32:00.000-08:002010-03-08T07:16:25.670-08:00Day 10 - Varanasi<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br />
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Varanasi is a very interesting, spiritual place. You can really feel the power of the Ganges river and the cycle of life and death here. I was worried that it was going to be filled with fake spiritual people trying to rip you off, and I am sure there are, but I haven’t seen any. There also seems to be more animals in the street (cows, goats, dogs, cats, chickens, mice, rats, and monkeys). However, the pollution here is terrible. I’m not sure if I got a cold or if it is all the pollution, but I can’t breathe and my throat is scratchy.<br />
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Last night we went on an evening boat ride to see some of the spiritual ceremonies that take place on the river. Within two seconds I was almost hit in the head with a cricket ball (missed my head by about 2 inches) because I wasn’t paying attention to the game because I was moving out of the way of a charging bull that was coming right at me. The boat ride was nice, although the mosquitoes were horrendous. However, I did not seem to get any bites. Anyway, after the boat ride I came back and passed out.<br />
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Today, I had to wake up around 5:30 because we took a morning boat ride to see the sunrise, bathing ceremonies and burning of the bodies on the river. They cremate around 1500 bodies a day at each of the burning sites. It really makes you think because on one side of the river you have the sun coming up, there is the beach and trees a kind of symbol for birth or life and on the other side you have the cleaning of the dead and their cremated ashes of those who have past on into the next life (death) being tossed into the river. It is a pretty powerful statement for the circle of life and death on banks of the Ganges. <br />
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After the boat ride and some breakfast we (guide, two girls from Belgium went to some Hindu temples and saw some of the ceremonies. The one temple was like it’s a small world with all types of animated puppet shows. After the tour the girls wanted to go to an astrologer so I went with them. <br />
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So anyway, the guy from the hotel brought us to this guy that has counseled Goldie Hawn and Michael Jackson among many others. He was very expensive and had three different prices depending upon what you wanted done. I picked the cheapest option, but he told me I should have the full reading. I politely declined. <br />
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I was supposed to go to Sarnath today, but because of the reading it was way too late so we came back to the hotel to eat, rest and do some laundry. Early night tonight - there is a goat that likes to get up very early in the morning and start crying.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEib-u_dziQLZ0XR1-t-WTkQM3AgMpgCZgA6GzEXG0ofIDhyphenhyphenGrZX5VoV9yhGJZljZoNkcwgs-fe6LQg4uEeaMlhCII7i2hw6m9vQ2yZJdn7EcOZW785urTrs37HJuqjs4qR5E8sgLgVWJ9Y/s1600-h/P1020242.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEib-u_dziQLZ0XR1-t-WTkQM3AgMpgCZgA6GzEXG0ofIDhyphenhyphenGrZX5VoV9yhGJZljZoNkcwgs-fe6LQg4uEeaMlhCII7i2hw6m9vQ2yZJdn7EcOZW785urTrs37HJuqjs4qR5E8sgLgVWJ9Y/s400/P1020242.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5QhqNGsC9AoRlvOOR3HQSIgUi1vtBYp0tiBo2QREZgzsNO6qEsgcd6ADS-rJ0cs_6_NcgP5iv36YtvBxemU-xpjulqIehUK0dLLpsmfKx4dHkmaEPerMgBMLuPICFcixEbnpvHFlsyXM/s1600-h/P1020247.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5QhqNGsC9AoRlvOOR3HQSIgUi1vtBYp0tiBo2QREZgzsNO6qEsgcd6ADS-rJ0cs_6_NcgP5iv36YtvBxemU-xpjulqIehUK0dLLpsmfKx4dHkmaEPerMgBMLuPICFcixEbnpvHFlsyXM/s400/P1020247.JPG" width="400" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgY0nX0_sAoaVMehqpKROb61nfaZozBfaXuAZ_ycjinuUbrB2l2DY1URPz5COFJ9jfRgjh4aJfQcu26KuFzsTHM6sxMJeGie-B5UTR3paf5BGF0-etGNgSJd5YkHbmcDQiAU8Iy888BsO0/s1600-h/P1020268.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgY0nX0_sAoaVMehqpKROb61nfaZozBfaXuAZ_ycjinuUbrB2l2DY1URPz5COFJ9jfRgjh4aJfQcu26KuFzsTHM6sxMJeGie-B5UTR3paf5BGF0-etGNgSJd5YkHbmcDQiAU8Iy888BsO0/s400/P1020268.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlS2sZCJIRSOXCuCXJa8nk01ksQ5RLdtMT5M1FZaxiemgdN_WVxnXabV-au_YvzTJ93ZkaR94haRJ_Sz7CQyWfYEfTi7eMUYQB7YFyIqcoK_vBrZRPOG8tz1pBuHrPcdfpwW39gh3lPr0/s1600-h/P1020259.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlS2sZCJIRSOXCuCXJa8nk01ksQ5RLdtMT5M1FZaxiemgdN_WVxnXabV-au_YvzTJ93ZkaR94haRJ_Sz7CQyWfYEfTi7eMUYQB7YFyIqcoK_vBrZRPOG8tz1pBuHrPcdfpwW39gh3lPr0/s320/P1020259.JPG" /></a></div><br />
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</div><div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I am taking the 11:30 train to Varanasi tonight.</div>Brian Rothbarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17879888864502674045noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2619131916176329301.post-5966960766989169322010-02-17T19:56:00.000-08:002010-03-08T06:16:32.399-08:00Day 7 Agra - Taj Mahal, Agra Fort, and Akbar’s Mausoleum aka Baby Taj<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>I woke to the call to prayer coming from the Taj Mahal. I wanted to get up early to get my ticket and enter the Taj Mahal when it opened at 7:00 am so this wasn‘t so a bad thing. I stood in-line with about 200 other people. I haven’t seen many tourist along this trip so far, but you can’t help but see them in Agra. Lots of them are with tour groups making the short day trip from Delhi. Although, a few others are traveling around like me. There was this older couple that are heading to Nepal after India to trek to Everest Base Camp. <br />
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The Taj Mahal is everything you have heard or seen. It is a beautiful building and it just doesn’t look real. It looks like it is a painting. <br />
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After visiting the Taj Mahal, VK, the rickshaw driver who took me to the hotel yesterday took me on a tour. He is another nice guy. He took me to the Red Fort, Akbar’s Mausoleum and some places to take pictures of the Taj Mahal, lunch at a great quiet place (you would never know you were in India) and to some hand craft demonstrations (shopping).<br />
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Agra Fort was initially build as a military structure, but was transformed into a palace for Shah Jahan, the person who build the Taj Mahal, and where he would be imprisoned by his son for eight years after his son Aurangzeb seized power in 1658.<br />
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After visiting the fort we went to Akbar’s Mausoleum, the grandfather of Shah Jahan (builder of the Taj Mahal).<br />
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Then VK took me to some places to see the Taj Mahal.Brian Rothbarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17879888864502674045noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2619131916176329301.post-10455844113118405182010-02-17T19:53:00.000-08:002010-03-08T05:50:42.811-08:00Day 6 Bhopal to AgraMy train to Agra left at 9:45 am this morning. I sat with some college kids who were traveling from Mumbai to attend a wedding. They were very nice and watching some Bollywood movies on their laptop. <br />
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I did not arrive in Agra until 6:00 pm so it was off to the hotel to rest for tomorrow. On the way to Agra I decided to change my plans and not go to Udaipur. I did not feel like traveling the 15 hours on the train, then take a 6.5 hour bus to Jodhpur and then a 9 hour train to Delhi and then a 13 hour train to Varanasi. I have heard horror stories about Delhi and didn’t want to brave it. Also, after discussing Pushkar and Jaipur I didn’t really feel like going there either and although it might have been nice to take a camel trek in Jaisalmer it wasn’t worth the 19 hour train ride to Delhi for me. So I decided to scrap that entire portion of my trip and head right to Varanasi from Agra.<br />
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India has some great sites, it is just too bad they are in India. I am struggling with India. Someone said that you need to spend 30 days in India before you start to like it and that may be true, but I’m not sure I will last that long. Friends have told me how hard India is to travel in and they were right. However, it is a different kind of hard. There are just way too many people here. It is exhausting just walking around because you always need to be moving and dodging people or cars or animals or whatever. Also, I have found some quiet places, but on the whole there are no quiet places. In Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts, which was the first book I read on my kindle (thank you all for giving me this - it has been a godsend for all these long train rides and space and weight in my bag), said in the novel that the poor in India have no place to be alone and is correct. There are so many people that there really aren’t too many places for people to go to be alone and it is draining for someone not used to that. At least, I have my hotel rooms. <br />
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Also, although most of the people I have met have been nice and great people, a good number of them are being nice because they want to sell you something. I can’t count the number of times someone has said “My family made this” or “You are my first customer today”. They all have the same script. And, it is good enough to just say “No, thank you!” They keep on bugging you until you have to either totally ignore them or just keep saying “No” then they get all sad looking and saying I just want to “Make good luck.” <br />
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Also, people are always wanting more money. I went to use the bathroom at a place I paid 110 rupees to enter and after giving the bathroom guy 10 rupees he wanted a 100. I said I just paid 110 to see this artistic masterpiece and you want to charge me 100 rupees to see the bathroom? I don’t know if they are hoping to trick you in to give them a good deal of money or what. Because when a hotel room costs 300 rupees and a good mean costs anywhere between 70-200 rupees we aren’t talking bad money for doing so little. Also those guys that were washing clothes in Mumbai only make around $6 or 300 rupees a day. It is just frustrating.<br />
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I am glad that I didn’t plan too much of this trip ahead and decided to let things come as they may because I am very flexible in my traveling and can leave one county anytime and come home anytime. I have already cut a lot of India out and instead of spending almost 2 months here will probably only spend a month or less. <br />
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One thing that has been is the weather. It has been very pleasant especially here in Agra. It was very cold last night that I need long sleeves, pants and socks to sleep.<br />
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Here are pictures of my $7 a night hotel room and it’s rooftop restaurant with views of the Taj Mahal. <br />
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Agra had over 400 weddings happening today and most of them could be heard from my hotel room.Brian Rothbarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17879888864502674045noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2619131916176329301.post-39983613494139293032010-02-17T19:44:00.000-08:002010-03-08T05:45:01.284-08:00Day 5 Aurangabad to Jalgaon - Ajanta CavesRafi picked me up and drove the 2.5 hours to the Ajanta Caves. We passed tons of people just going to the bathroom right on the side of street, with no worries or cares. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>I don’t know how more people aren’t killed on the roads of India. There seems to be no laws and everyone is driving a 100 mph and there are goats, cows, bicycles, rickshaws, buses and large trucks, not to mention the people walking or traveling by some other kind of transportation. On the way to the caves we saw a bus hit a tiny rickshaw that went down an embankment and turn over. It appeared everyone aboard the rickshaw was unharmed.<br />
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The Ajanta caves are older than the Ellora Caves, dating back to 2nd century BC to the 6th century AD. The Ajanta caves are all Buddhist, have elaborate paintings and a reclining Buddha.<br />
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Ajanta is a lot bigger and more touristy than Ellora. You need to make your way through a maze of hawkers and then catch a bus to and from the caves, where they cram as many people in as they can. I hired a guide to take me around and it was a good thing I did because there were tons of school children and I got to get around them. <br />
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So after visiting the caves we drove to Jalgaon. Rafi knew the owner of a hotel there and he got me a decent deal on a room. I figured that I had about 12 hours before my train left and that it would be wise to take a room to take a shower and rest before the train left. And, it was a good thing that I spent that $6.25 because I left the hotel at around 1:45 to catch my 2:30 train and it was delayed until 5:00 am, so I went back to the hotel.<br />
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I want to put a plug in for Rafi. He was a fantastic guy and driver and I would highly recommend him. His full name is Mohamed Raiq and can be reached at md_rafik@rediffmail.com or on his mobile at 9823208932. He can be hired to take people all over India and has done just that. His prices are also very reasonable. He is not trying to rip anyone off. Also, he is a good, safe driver.<br />
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Also, if you are in Jalgaon you should stay at the Hotel Plaza. The owner was great and the place is super clean. There are a wide range of prices options on the rooms. You can reach the owner at hotel <a href="mailto:plaza_jal@yahoo.com">plaza_jal@yahoo.com</a><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUAa-vqScDnu-jtjrz0bLKFarYc8duqPY5KEwIzcwmnUTWCWeDuakOPFEpjuxIo-4La3q6dmC6WVzSUUP_zBEwY49XQdTNH-rCrQUqBWf8nlVwT5cyQ2-JKgunqj4uIRKiKOjCwLH2HT4/s1600-h/P1010951.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUAa-vqScDnu-jtjrz0bLKFarYc8duqPY5KEwIzcwmnUTWCWeDuakOPFEpjuxIo-4La3q6dmC6WVzSUUP_zBEwY49XQdTNH-rCrQUqBWf8nlVwT5cyQ2-JKgunqj4uIRKiKOjCwLH2HT4/s400/P1010951.JPG" width="300" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyBRIH2HlPe46VghNPdgoR2mQUlFkzeE3HGylugccsKHrDZpp8U6-DatWh27Sflok_N3FOEHSdkuzYvnH7n25zY5O2tfzaJa_-cvUrRwmu4aU5a2E079XhJ3CU-DuBlFJVwYkFjgwOelU/s1600-h/P1010950.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyBRIH2HlPe46VghNPdgoR2mQUlFkzeE3HGylugccsKHrDZpp8U6-DatWh27Sflok_N3FOEHSdkuzYvnH7n25zY5O2tfzaJa_-cvUrRwmu4aU5a2E079XhJ3CU-DuBlFJVwYkFjgwOelU/s400/P1010950.JPG" width="300" /></a></div>Brian Rothbarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17879888864502674045noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2619131916176329301.post-53852085329685220352010-02-17T19:43:00.000-08:002010-03-08T05:20:41.790-08:00Day 4 Mumbai to Aurangabad - Ellora Caves<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPSVtNIOp1tYdL-LcZWQzJyYQ7cl_VL8M-h8WoBWzlDyY1zgzMMNUZ5w4Vdy8bJikx6qxOeTujxQwYVoBAD_8KxVYkgiTAvT86lRqStY9g3vV8PvtZYUcwW307avNhuLG3WUxr3Kr2eHc/s1600-h/P1010667.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPSVtNIOp1tYdL-LcZWQzJyYQ7cl_VL8M-h8WoBWzlDyY1zgzMMNUZ5w4Vdy8bJikx6qxOeTujxQwYVoBAD_8KxVYkgiTAvT86lRqStY9g3vV8PvtZYUcwW307avNhuLG3WUxr3Kr2eHc/s320/P1010667.JPG" /></a></div>My first train trip was uneventful and on-time and there were no problems except that you have to keep a lookout for what stop you are at because there are no announcements. They stop at most stations for 5 minutes for people to get off and get food or for people to come aboard and sell items because most of these train trips are long. <br />
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I thought Aurangabad was going to be a quiet small little town. I could not have been more wrong. I did not have a hotel reservation so the guy I met at the station, Rafi, took me to a hotel I wanted a room at, well they were booked. So we went to a place he suggested and they were also booked, but said that something might open up later. During this time Rafi and I agreed to go and visit the Ellora Caves this afternoon. My initial plans were to visit the caves tomorrow, but after seeing the town I decided it would be best to leave ASAP.<br />
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On the way to the Caves we picked up some Japanese gentlemen and their guide because their car had broken down. They had been in India for 26 days and last year they drove over 9000 miles around the US. <br />
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There are 34 caves at Ellora: 12 Buddhist (600-800 AD), 17 Hindu (600-900 AD), and 5 Jain (800-1000 AD). The most elaborate is Cave 16, the Kailasa Temple dedicated to Shiva, the world’s largest monolithic sculpture, carved by over 7000 people over 150 years.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjcSxCBKfowczqjKNkhwDwX5a9gWmRtkr9rMaNEhTmP7kfAvShcmhOMGSKvFpYURHnFP8XOgf7UW60g15zTkTzOFQdMkwzV-OKVNKWergbOjWr_gtdVox0F8KzCNANv5I9956d9z4NDIo/s1600-h/P1010507.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjcSxCBKfowczqjKNkhwDwX5a9gWmRtkr9rMaNEhTmP7kfAvShcmhOMGSKvFpYURHnFP8XOgf7UW60g15zTkTzOFQdMkwzV-OKVNKWergbOjWr_gtdVox0F8KzCNANv5I9956d9z4NDIo/s400/P1010507.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhYbxywKfQxFvDjd8MbOo03_RQhh1f6QizjLcG_JJDdTlN1i67i0ajnHAUdg5bnT6Uel3zK6ZpmBXQqPabBjunlCqGg4RESaGjOzUCmwNlSy-uGVpFkeMsYROToxfPlzdJ9a4Owww_D2c/s1600-h/P1010590.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhYbxywKfQxFvDjd8MbOo03_RQhh1f6QizjLcG_JJDdTlN1i67i0ajnHAUdg5bnT6Uel3zK6ZpmBXQqPabBjunlCqGg4RESaGjOzUCmwNlSy-uGVpFkeMsYROToxfPlzdJ9a4Owww_D2c/s400/P1010590.JPG" width="300" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkvIoHBDs4FaWPV1SCj_xxF_SYmQDxL5TM-g95VwkeGRU4k4DVNaFpniJJJOoL_qZ2C-Lp2IevII5HBc1qjk6sIJB_HIT8EMt3h8V9hr50fqN1HIS1k7WVzy-8yOr8i8M7uPwNPxz4nno/s1600-h/P1010583.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkvIoHBDs4FaWPV1SCj_xxF_SYmQDxL5TM-g95VwkeGRU4k4DVNaFpniJJJOoL_qZ2C-Lp2IevII5HBc1qjk6sIJB_HIT8EMt3h8V9hr50fqN1HIS1k7WVzy-8yOr8i8M7uPwNPxz4nno/s400/P1010583.JPG" width="400" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwVoSxaDpNZkv5_6r33TWc901cuqKiT-isgfYCcoIrKeL2dWIrE1LUNCp70auTvY3zvBZhpnCgqurWO6hvPi5wxjo21snq1UHLXbbXWONA8BvBQHx0CKMBZ8wuMFICMBZCZ8Kac8J7cu8/s1600-h/P1010634.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwVoSxaDpNZkv5_6r33TWc901cuqKiT-isgfYCcoIrKeL2dWIrE1LUNCp70auTvY3zvBZhpnCgqurWO6hvPi5wxjo21snq1UHLXbbXWONA8BvBQHx0CKMBZ8wuMFICMBZCZ8Kac8J7cu8/s400/P1010634.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPSVtNIOp1tYdL-LcZWQzJyYQ7cl_VL8M-h8WoBWzlDyY1zgzMMNUZ5w4Vdy8bJikx6qxOeTujxQwYVoBAD_8KxVYkgiTAvT86lRqStY9g3vV8PvtZYUcwW307avNhuLG3WUxr3Kr2eHc/s1600-h/P1010667.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPSVtNIOp1tYdL-LcZWQzJyYQ7cl_VL8M-h8WoBWzlDyY1zgzMMNUZ5w4Vdy8bJikx6qxOeTujxQwYVoBAD_8KxVYkgiTAvT86lRqStY9g3vV8PvtZYUcwW307avNhuLG3WUxr3Kr2eHc/s400/P1010667.JPG" width="400" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgjDbgh8CzqujRr3eRGqrjh0A2F2zIPBu8SE2JglmZUWbHK_jiiFT_qS4ZajTU5i0-mqCL040fa3RHVUmFNgK39XH_Fv15Pgs48Y64cWhvYYCcUy9ABn6xgh-fEKWA7F1aIUm_AqaeY9c/s1600-h/P1010771.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgjDbgh8CzqujRr3eRGqrjh0A2F2zIPBu8SE2JglmZUWbHK_jiiFT_qS4ZajTU5i0-mqCL040fa3RHVUmFNgK39XH_Fv15Pgs48Y64cWhvYYCcUy9ABn6xgh-fEKWA7F1aIUm_AqaeY9c/s400/P1010771.JPG" width="300" /></a></div><br />
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They mustn’t see many Americans or tourists because people kept asking me to take pictures with them and or saying “Hello” and extending their hand to shake. Also, the kids, I guess wanted to practice their English, so they would always say “hello“, ask me my name and where I was from. While leaving the caves I saw a wild peacock, the official bird of India, which was pretty cool.<br />
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On the way back, Rafi and I discussed him driving me to Ajanta and then on to Jalgaon to catch a train to Bhopal. I figured that even though this was more than what a bus tour of the site and then a bus to po would cost it would not cost that much more and would save me lots of time and money (less hotel rooms). So after we went back to the 2nd hotel and found out that there was no room we went to another place that was not the nicest, although it was cheap ($6) so I took it.<br />
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Rafi then took me to the train station to purchase a ticket from Jalgaon to Bhopal and boy was that a fiasco. It is basically a free for all. The 7:00 pm train was booked so I booked a ticket on the 2:30 am train that was due to arrive in Bhopal around 9:45.Brian Rothbarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17879888864502674045noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2619131916176329301.post-67199870830938737402010-02-15T19:06:00.000-08:002010-02-15T19:06:21.546-08:00Short UpdateI haven't had internet connection in a few days and have been traveling quite a bit so I am sorry that I haven't been able to keep you updated. I have been to quite a few interesting places and will let you know all about them when I have some time to update the blog.<br />
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India has been a real challenge and I really can't wait to leave. It is just too tiring. I also miss my wife terribly. It is a lot harder being away from her than I thought. I am now thinking that this trip will be closer to 6 months than 10. However, I will reevaluate after I leave Myanmar. <br />
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I need to catch my train to Agra. All the best!Brian Rothbarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17879888864502674045noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2619131916176329301.post-63965167459670412132010-02-12T07:58:00.000-08:002010-02-12T07:58:46.306-08:00Next Stop Aurangabad, IndiaTomorrow I set out on a 6:10 am train to Aurangabad, India to visit the Ajanta and Ellora Caves. This will be my first taste of India's train system. The trip is supposed to take around 7 hours to go the 226 miles. When booking my ticket I decided to book a 2nd class air conditioned chair car ticket. There are up to 8 different classes of travel on Indian trains, although not all are offered on every train, and it can be quite confusing as to which is the best value for the money. I figured it was best to have a guaranteed seat and not be squished in a hot train compartment for seven plus hours. Although the ticket cost was $7 instead of $3 for the 3rd class unreserved ticket. I think that $4 will be money well spent especially if there are any disruptions or delays.<br />
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I have enjoyed my time in Mumbai, although it can be very overwhelming at times, especially at night. However, it was not as bad as I was expecting. It was not nearly as dirty as I thought it would be and the people have been very friendly. Of course they all have something to sell, but they are not too pushy and very friendly in their dealings. However, I am excited to leave the noise of the city behind and see what the rest of India has to offer.<br />
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I sat and watch about a hundred different cricket games going on at the same time. I still don't quite understand the rules and I'm not sure how no one got hit in the head by the ball with all the different games going on a once.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div>Brian Rothbarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17879888864502674045noreply@blogger.com0