What Just Happened?!

myself 'what just happened?' and i still dont have an answer. but this is what i can think of at an internet cafe in bangkok:

im incapable of comprehending my fortune. i have just had a chance to do something most people cant imagine. the trip has been more fun than i can handle. if learned so much about myself and the world around me, i will never be the same person again.

Roarke and i will return dirtier than ever. countless stains and a permanent odor fallows us everywehre. neither of us can wait to shock the States with our re-entry.


(... thanks for fallowing)

Life at Tonsai

Life is fun and easy. the day starts as soon as direct sun hits the bamboo fort roarke and i sleep in. we usually wander down to the beach and buy a cheap (yet delicious) breakfast of fruit musli and yogurt. the rest of our day unfolds itself. i climb, run, and hang out with the awesome people that live here. we are trying to learn all the fun thai tricks that make beach life easier.

i hope everyone has a glorious thankgiving. im excited to celebrate my thanks, because im just begining to understand how fortunate i am.

India/Nepal = great success... now Thailand

wow, i have not been good at keeping up on the blog, so i'll try to give some sort of summary. the national park was phenominal. There were almost no tourists. this was great, becasue the annoying Euro-pop crowd got reall old on the trek. we went on a raft safari, camped in the jungle, and played daily soccer games with the local kids and soldiers. it was an absolute blast. it was capped off with an 18 hour bus ride throught the night. spending 18 consecutive hours on top of a nepali bus is an experience everyone should have. im not sure if its the craziest or just the worst time of the trip, but it is certainly memorable.

we made it back to kathmandu after the first week of november. it was nice to be in a big city that isnt in India. it was hectic and crowded, but was say less dirty than anything in india. we flew from kathmandu straight to bangkok on a comfy 2 hour plane ride. it was really weird to cover such a huge distance so quickly. we spent one night in bangkok, just long enough to get a bus out of the city.

we ended up going to tonsai beach in the south. it is excellent. it truely feels like a tropical paradise. we are surrounded by huge rock formations protruding from the ocean. there is rock climbing and climbers everywhere. it feels like a good place to stay; i think we will. i am running out of money now, but i think i'll be ok. 2-3 months of travelling has taught me how to live cheaply abroad. ive got one month to strech the rest of the money, because a month from today, i'll be on a plane home. crazy, eh?

onward to bardia (narnia?)

the winds have blown again and we are headed to bardia national park. it is waay of the beaten path, and apparently pretty empty. tomorrow we head for an epic bus ride. it leaves at 1pm and gets to the park at 6am the next day. im excited about the night spent on the roof of the bus and elephant rides.

the trek

trek was out of this world. it covered so much ground, watching the ethnic and bio-diversity change was incredible. collin (the canadian friend we picked up in india) roarke and i started in besisahar after another cramped bus ride. as usual, none of us had done our homework. we really didnt know where to go or who to fallow. but after a while we made it out of the town and on to a path winding its way through rice patties. we quickly realized we were not the only people doing the trek, but there were more than enough guest houses and restaurants along the way. we cracked the guidebook and map after the first day of walking hoping to have some sort of idea for day two. we quickly learned that we would be walking through "healthy marijuana fields". the map and the book were not lying. it was some of the most surreal walking i might ever do. we walked for days through rainforest jungle into pine forests and eventually to high mountain terrain with healthy marijuana fields fallowing us through it all. it was also really interesting to walk from villiage to village, watching hindu temples turn into tibetan buddhist prayer walls as we gained elevation and got closer to tibet. but some of the villiage life was bitter-sweet because its hard not to imagine everybody's life without the mass influx of rich white trekkers. i definately learned that the ethics of eco-tourism are more complicated than i realize. that being said, the enire villiage seen was a blast to be a part of.

we budgeted terribly for this part of the trip. everything is so much more expensive when you get off roads. so, we ended up skipping meals to save money. a lot of the walk was hungry, but i think it builds character or something.

the mountians were certainly the best part of my trek. the scale of the mountains boggles my mind. it was so much fun to spend days walking in valleys looking up at 8000 meter peaks. the altitude was something i had not encountered before either. the day before we hiked through the highest mountain pass in the world, we slept at 14,700 feet (higher than i had ever been before). getting up to 17 and 18 thousand feet and looking at the worlds highest peaks was a magical experience. i tried to run at the pass itself and failed miserably. ive never had lactic acid build up and my breath disappear so quickly. but we were all lucky, the altitude didnt do much besides make us breathe more. 2 people died on the trek while we were walking due to altitude sickness. that reality check enforced the awe that all the mountains here already have.

the hike down the other side was much different. the trail becomes a road. consequently, there are a lot of buses, the food is cheaper, and souvenir vending is a much bigger part of life. with some of the magic of the hike lost on this side, we took a bus back to pokhara yesterday. i thought that indian trains were crazy, they seem boring when compared to nepali bus rides. we rode the roof for 5 hours of bus 4-wheeling yesterday and its crazier words can describe.

all the plan now is to eat lots of food and do laundry. who knows where we are headed? maybe more trekking, maybe elephant and rhino bathing at chitwan national park, the highest bungee jump in asia? i think we'll try for some combo before november 9 when we head to thailand.

finally made it to NEPAL

the final day in rishikesh was great, we visited The Beatles' ashram. it was the ashram that they escaped to in india to research indian philosophy and music, creating the white album. the abandoned ashram was almost spooky at points, but seeing where they stayed was awesome. exploring the meditation hut number 9 also gave some good visuals to a cooky song.

after leaving rishikesh, the fun was over. the 15 hour train towards the nepali boarder was overbooked. this ended up with everyone sleeping on floors, backpacks, and other people. we met up with our funny ashram friend, colin, in Gorakpur. we then needed to catch a 2-3 hour car/taxi ride to the boarder. after circling the downtown area for more than an hour in one taxi, we realized that we needed to change cars. this resulted in an intense jump on the top of a moving taxi, to grab our bags from the roof of the car. none of this was fun, and did not make the taxi driver happy at all. our second car broke down in the middle of the drive after the price of the ride was raised after we had found our seats. getting to the boarder was chaotic (overall, an accurate description of Indian life in general).

getting from the boarder, sunali, to pokhara was an entirely different battle. we got on the public night bus that takes anywhere from 6-15 hours. i cannot remember or imagine a ride as uncomfortable as this bus ride. crowded doesnt begin to explain the bus. people laid on eachother in the asile as i sat pinned against a leading window and a metal pipe. there wasnt enough room for my legs, torsoe, or head. it is a good thing that i have a sense of humor, because it was truly terrible. as always, it is already fun to look back and laugh at the situation.

we (myself, colin, and roarke) arrived in pokhara this morning without anything that resembled sleep. but once arriving in hour hotel, life got better. now i have had a meal, taken a shower and a nap, all is well. we are gearing up/planning for the annapurna circuit trek. it should be phenominal. seeing the annapurna range this morning from the bus took my breath away, so i cannot imagine what it will be like to spend 20 days walking around it.

all is well that ends well. im comfy and happy now, and VERY excited for the trek ahead of us.

Ashram life

For waking up every morning and running a half liter of salt water through your nostrels for 'cleansing', the ashram was was pretty amazing. it was an entirely different pace of life. india seems to be a crazed country full of total chaos, but the ashram was the complete opposite. our daily schedule consisted of:
530 wake up
600 meditation class
645 sing mantras
700 nasal cleansing
715 breathing excersises
830 yoga class
900 breakfast
1030 contemplative walk
1230 lunch
200 tea time
300 lecture and discussion
400 yoga class
630 temple ceremony ( a drum circle basically)
730 dinner
830 meditation
1000 bed

after living in for a month with absolutely no rules, expectations, or obligations, the ashram life was a pleasent break. i was astonished how different the world is when my mind has a chance to calm down a little bit. we were entirely silent from wake up through lunch. total silence is weird. i dont think ive ever deprived myself of speech like that. after a while without communication, i thought in ways i had not before. i am hugely grateful for the new perspective on life that silence/ashram life gave me. i enjoyed the silence so much, i extended my personal silence time through the afternoon and dinner. overall, the ashram was an awesome experience and i met some really cool people there.

but now it is time to say good bye to india. roarke and i are headed to nepal tomorrow to do some trekking in the anapurna region with our new ashram friend colin. so we are headed right into the hectic and filthy train life tomorrow as we ride to nepal-india boarder. like always, our hopes are high.