Just a few quick pictures...

I won't lie.  I'm not very interested in writing this post.  I have other things on my mind (i.e. books, food and shopping).  But I wanted to post some pictures of Rishikesh.  It's a small hilltop that is so loud from the hours of 7 AM - 9 PM.  And then, silent.  Dead silence. 

Lots of travelers and lots of chai.  I hope everyone misses me as much as I miss mexican food...

P

 

The view outside my hotel at 7.00 AM.  It's quite dead.  But in a few hours, every stall will be full and everyone will be singing 'Shiva shambo'!

 

The very auspicious ganga.  Just steps away from my hotel.  I believe Rishikesh is the starting point of the ganga (thus its cleanliness).  It's pretty dirty in Varanasi.

 

The view above the ganga as the sun rises.  It's quite spectacular :).

 

Laxmanjhula!!  There are so many monkeys on this bridge!  And actually, monkeys just roam the streets.  It's quite unclear whether humans or animals are in charge in India.  They just roam freely.  No joke, yesterday a cow came into the store where I was shopping.  A cow.  India is great.

 Great statue of Shiva while the sun sets.  There is an aarti held here every night.  The statue is magnificent. You can't see it from here, but his entire body is outlined in great detail.

 Hanuman!  Rescuer of Sita from Raven.  All along the walls, there's a mural depicting the story of Ramayana.  I'm not sure why his heart is missing...

Plane, plane, bus, metro, bus, bus, bus, rickshaw...Rishikesh

Yes, that's the number of switches I made to get here.  I must really want to be here...

But in all seriousness, it's quite amazing.  Honestly, I'm so lost in this moment, that I don't think I can pull myself out of it to capture it properly.  But a few quick scene setting details:
- I walk out of my hostel with a view of the Ganga.  For those who don't know, Rishikesh is a jump off point to the Himalayas.  The Ganga doesn't originate here, but it's quite clean up here.  Perhaps I'll wash some layers of karma off, if I have the guts for it.
- 7 Rupee chai...so good.
- A hanging bridge (Laxmanjhula), running across the Ganga
- It feels like Redmond, Thai Tom, Seattle, the space needle are another universe away

Apologies for the lack of pictures.  But at least you get my thoughts!!

P

a few departing thoughts...

boarding the flight now, so this will be brief...
things in excited for:
- dirt cheap chai
- best veggie food ever
- smell of smog
- heat
- watching the men hold pinkies...
and of course...airline food!! I loved it since I was a kid...

also, if any of my beloved fans really ever want to travel to India, a few tips:
- get an indian SIM card
- create an account on makemytrip or cleartrip
- get rupees before ($100-150)
-ODOMOS!! Advice courtesy of my mother :)
- have a way to call India. India loves the internet, but its main way of doing things still is via phone. A Skype account is generally enough

hopefully my next post will be from abroad, with a cup of piping hot chai!

P

Resetting expectations

no Myanmar...most people are trying to get out of Myanmar; I'm the only idiot trying to get in.

so, the problem w Myanmar is: things change at the drop of the hat. The lonely planet is littered with warnings like 'at the time this was written...' 'check with government officials...' and 'its up to the discretion of the Myanmar government...'. I'll just use the word subjective, to put it simply.

last I read, the country offered on arrival visas for tourists. Apparently that was a 1 month offer (can countries do that??). Soooo, I was about to board my flight and BAM! they denied me access to the gate. No visa, no entry.

I called my uncle who lives in san Fran, bummed w the fam for 2 days, sulked them in my sorrows, pulled my act together and reset my course of action.

the interesting thing is that this is my professional job: planning and damage control. I feel like the older you get, the more your life becomes about risk management. I'm not too sure how I feel about that. Actually, I know exactly how I feel and I hate it. I just want to be invincible for the rest of my life.

so I'm off to India in 2 days (for sure). I think I may go to rishikesh. Its a little ashram town in the both w a yogi yoga instructor.

is it weird that there is a part of me that is dreading India? Don't get me wrong, I love India. But. My experience in London has made me fearful if traveling. Hence the whole risk management topic. Aside: I dislocated my elbow bouldering in London. It was miserable.

I won't let my fears control me. There's a lot left for me to learn from India. I just wish I was going some where new too :(. Ah well, just a few more years. I'm not ready to be a 40 year old, conservative adult, who sleeps next to a financial calculator just yet ( but, maybe I'll never be that person!). I'm gonna be 25 and as snoop and wiz would say: young wild and free.

India...here i come!!

 

NEVER use travelocity. Travelocity sucks.

Travelocity sucks.  Although they are in a service industry, they have no problem screwing over a customer. 

As you can probably assume, I am NOT in Myanmar (the entire story revealed in another blogpost).  Long story short, travelocity would not reschedule my flight and I was forced to miss it.  And of course, $900 down the drain. Travelocity, Cheapoair, kayak...make very little money off any flight (~$5.00), so they have absolutely no monetary incentive to fight for a customer.  They are just a middle man.  In the end, the customer is the one who eats it.

Until a more perky post...

Priya

Myanmar countdown - 5 days

Yesssss...this is it. I'm barely packed, bought my lonely planet 2 days ago, got some travelers checks, and am saying my goodbyes...apologies for the profanity, but FUCK ya! Its time to travel!!

so, to review the itinerary: Myanmar for 10 daya, India for 10, then home.

for those who don't know, I travel...light. And spontaneously :). Part of the appeal being detaching yourself from everything. Buddhism and Hinduism 101: detach yourself from the material world. Just getting back to my roots. Interesting fact: Steve jobs was Buddhist.

apparently Obama just came back from Myanmar (trade sanctions are officially open!) so clearly he asked me to tie up the loose ends after he did the prelims ;). No, but really, the country is changing. I bet 10 years from now ita going to look more and more like Thailand.

fun fact: credit cards are just pieces of plastic, they hold no value. Myanmar isn't recognized by OFAC (some financial institution). This is new, even for me!!

but I've come so far!! Who would have ever thought a little brown girl from Detroit would make her way to the depths of SE Asia? I definitely didn't. I didn't even realize traveling was a part of me until I didn't have it.

the first 3 days will suck. I'm going to miss running water and clean bathrooms and toilet paper (such an American concept). Buuuut, i gotta push through the pain; because then it gets so good.

until our next encounter my beloved fans