The idea of writing a blog that encompasses all that we’ve seen and done in the last three months in India is daunting and, for me, bordering on impossible.
The first challenge is to put even five minutes worth of experience here into words. All I can do is lean on an over-used cliché and say that it is a land of contradictions. In every step there is life and death, horror and beauty, smiling faces and scowls, great food and stomach problems…the list could go on.
These extremes extend beyond the everyday as well – climates, landscapes, governments and cultures all differ drastically from one region to the next.
Joined for a month by Alex’s mom, Liz, the three of us took in as much of ‘India’ as we could while we travelled around the states of Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan. Our experiences wandering through the streets, visiting palaces and forts and eating delicious food completely lived up to my image of India. Women were clothed in bright coloured saris and men in gorgeous turbans; camels, cows and monkeys were commonplace; and the landscape stretching out towards the Thar desert was dry and barren. I was also not surprised to find unbearable heat, extremes in socio-economic status and people trying to scam us at every turn.
The next leg of our journey took us to some of the more northern parts of India; Punjab and Himachal Pradesh. Our brief stop in Punjab was spent in the Sikh ‘holy city’ of Amritsar. It’s here that many Sikhs pilgrimage in order to visit and pray at the ‘Golden Temple’. We stayed and ate in the temple’s surrounding complex area along with many of such pilgrims…a very strange and wonderful experience. Amritsar is close to the Pakistan/India border (luckily a non-disputed region) and the nearby border town of Attari is home to the famous ‘border show’. Everyday, each set of border guards puff out their chests and strut their stuff in a testosterone competition during the lowering of the Pakistani and Indian flags.
A little further north and to the east, Himachal Pradesh was a nice ‘break’ from the India that we had been visiting. Many of the towns we were in rested in the foothills of the Himalayas – they were cool, made a slightly larger attempt to promote and maintain their natural resources and were filled with great hotels and restaurants catering to foreign tastes. One of these towns, McLeod Ganj, is home to the Dalai Lama and many other Tibetan refugees that have been in exhile since the 1950s.
The final stop in our travels around India was my overall favourite area within the country…the south. We visited Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Karnataka. The south was easy to travel around, people seemed much more friendly than elsewhere in India and there was plenty to do. Tamil Nadu was a land of grand and colourful Hindu temples, Kerala an oasis of jungle and palm trees and Karnataka was home to a strange bolder-covered historical area called Hampi. If I were to return to a place already visited in India it would definitely be the south.
When it comes down to explaining my overall feelings about India I’ll have to fall back on the famous paradox…I love it and I hate it.
In other news, pictures from most of our trip are now posted. They’ve been separated into Northern and Southern India. We had some picture CDs stolen so are missing some pictures from the very north and parts of the south…we’re hoping to get these recovered from memory cards once we return to Canada.
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
Friday, April 13, 2007
Sharks and Monkeys and Crocs, OH MY!
In order to insure that we would be able to stay in India until September, Alex and I had to return to Bangkok sometime after March...so we ended up booking a flight to Malaysia and took a month to travel around there before returning to Thailand.
Our first stop was the Malaysian province of Sabah, located in the northeastern part of the island Borneo. The three weeks we spent in Sabah were positively amazing. We went SCUBA diving just off the coast of Kota Kinabalu, the province capital. We also took a couple of days to climb the highest mountain on the island (4095m). The climb up wasn't too bad but the way down was supreme torture on our joints - the views after sunrise at the top, however, were worth every shaky step...unbelievably jaw-dropping.
Yet another highlight of the area was a 3 day/2 night stay in the jungle. Before arriving on the island, my image of Borneo was mostly of jungle...although it was tropical looking, acres and acres of palm oil plantations altered this image slightly. We had to go out of our way to find the natural jungle. This existed only in national parks, which included relatively tiny pockets along Borneo's longest river, the Kinabatangan. The palm oil plants pushed these preserved pockets into narrow sections along the river and separated them into six conserved spaces - terrible for life there, great for business and tourism (we were guaranteed to see some wildlife).
We joined a group (http://www.uncletan.com/) that took us on river 'cruises' and both day and night trekking in order to point out as much life as possible. We ended up seeing a rare stork, King Fisher birds, Proboscis monkeys (oi, what a strange creature!), huge crocodiles, poisonous frogs and Pygmy elephants (nowhere close to 'pygmy' if you ask me).
This adventure was taken a bit too far at times - there were no showers, Alex developed a cold with a fever and one of the people on our tour was eaten by a crocodile...just kidding. We felt as though we came close, though, when our boat hit a log, started sinking, and forced us to the shore at dusk. How exciting.
Our final Sabah activity could possible be classified as our favourite so far on this trip - SCUBA diving in the Celebes sea off of Semporna. Here, three islands sit in the middle of fabulous coral. One island, Sipadan, holds some of the world's best diving (or so we were told). It did not let down.
For two nights we stayed on a converted oil rig just off the shores of the island Mabul (http://www.seaventuresdive.com/). We dove around the area 8 times in 3 days, including a 'nightdive' off the oil rig. Words cannot possibly express what it was like to swim there...the closest I can think of would be to say that it was like the movie Finding Nemo. We didn't know where to look- there was so much life. Dozens and dozens of Green turtles, white-tipped reef sharks and reef fish surrounded us. A slightly eccentric woman we met there tried to explain her experiences diving at Sipadan. She said, "I fell in love with the Earth down there." I guess that's the best way to describe it.
The rest of our time in Malaysia was spent on the peninsular part, just south of Thailand. We spent 5 days on Pulau Perhentian Kecil, the smaller of the two Perhentian islands. We had been told that these islands were the epitome of paradise. Although the water was gorgeous, sand was soft and trees were tropical, it didn't quite hold this distinction in our eyes. In our experience, there has been something consistently 'off' about SE Asian 'resort' tourism...it's not quite the same as what one might find in Mexico or Hawaii. If you were to orient yourself one way, it looks great, but if you take a panorama you might find oddly placed boats, building debris, garbage and haphazardly designed guesthouses. We really shouldn't complain - it was great to lounge on the beach, go body boarding and snorkel the days away.
We also spent a few days in the country capital, Kuala Lumpur. Both Alex and I really enjoyed this city. It was modern and easy to get around. We wandered, mostly on foot, and saw the expected; Petronas towers, Chinatown and old quarter filled with colonial and Islamic style buildings. The huge mix of people here was also really neat to witness. As with the rest of the country, there were many Chinese, Indian and Malay people. Among them, differences in religion and devoutness were visible. We met some Muslim women who didn't wear a headscarf (tudong), others who wore one with jeans and a T-shirt, others yet with a full burka and every variation in between.
Our final stop on peninsular Malaysia was a great place to check out some of the past colonial influences and more of this mix of people. Melaka was once a trading centre for the area. Starting in 1511, it was consecutively ruled by the Portugese, Dutch and then British and was home to many Chinese, Indian and Islamic traders at that time. This gave it an incredible mix of culture and architecture that can be seen today.
Our overall impression of Malaysia was a good one. The food was great, the sites worth visiting and the women we met were extremely kind. Unfortunately, we didn't have many positive experiences with the men there. The word I would use to describe our interactions with many of them would be "sleazy". Despite this, I thought Malaysia held a great mix of fun outdoor activities and interesting culture and I wouldn't be upset if I were 'forced' to visit again someday.
Our first stop was the Malaysian province of Sabah, located in the northeastern part of the island Borneo. The three weeks we spent in Sabah were positively amazing. We went SCUBA diving just off the coast of Kota Kinabalu, the province capital. We also took a couple of days to climb the highest mountain on the island (4095m). The climb up wasn't too bad but the way down was supreme torture on our joints - the views after sunrise at the top, however, were worth every shaky step...unbelievably jaw-dropping.
Yet another highlight of the area was a 3 day/2 night stay in the jungle. Before arriving on the island, my image of Borneo was mostly of jungle...although it was tropical looking, acres and acres of palm oil plantations altered this image slightly. We had to go out of our way to find the natural jungle. This existed only in national parks, which included relatively tiny pockets along Borneo's longest river, the Kinabatangan. The palm oil plants pushed these preserved pockets into narrow sections along the river and separated them into six conserved spaces - terrible for life there, great for business and tourism (we were guaranteed to see some wildlife).
We joined a group (http://www.uncletan.com/) that took us on river 'cruises' and both day and night trekking in order to point out as much life as possible. We ended up seeing a rare stork, King Fisher birds, Proboscis monkeys (oi, what a strange creature!), huge crocodiles, poisonous frogs and Pygmy elephants (nowhere close to 'pygmy' if you ask me).
This adventure was taken a bit too far at times - there were no showers, Alex developed a cold with a fever and one of the people on our tour was eaten by a crocodile...just kidding. We felt as though we came close, though, when our boat hit a log, started sinking, and forced us to the shore at dusk. How exciting.
Our final Sabah activity could possible be classified as our favourite so far on this trip - SCUBA diving in the Celebes sea off of Semporna. Here, three islands sit in the middle of fabulous coral. One island, Sipadan, holds some of the world's best diving (or so we were told). It did not let down.
For two nights we stayed on a converted oil rig just off the shores of the island Mabul (http://www.seaventuresdive.com/). We dove around the area 8 times in 3 days, including a 'nightdive' off the oil rig. Words cannot possibly express what it was like to swim there...the closest I can think of would be to say that it was like the movie Finding Nemo. We didn't know where to look- there was so much life. Dozens and dozens of Green turtles, white-tipped reef sharks and reef fish surrounded us. A slightly eccentric woman we met there tried to explain her experiences diving at Sipadan. She said, "I fell in love with the Earth down there." I guess that's the best way to describe it.
The rest of our time in Malaysia was spent on the peninsular part, just south of Thailand. We spent 5 days on Pulau Perhentian Kecil, the smaller of the two Perhentian islands. We had been told that these islands were the epitome of paradise. Although the water was gorgeous, sand was soft and trees were tropical, it didn't quite hold this distinction in our eyes. In our experience, there has been something consistently 'off' about SE Asian 'resort' tourism...it's not quite the same as what one might find in Mexico or Hawaii. If you were to orient yourself one way, it looks great, but if you take a panorama you might find oddly placed boats, building debris, garbage and haphazardly designed guesthouses. We really shouldn't complain - it was great to lounge on the beach, go body boarding and snorkel the days away.
We also spent a few days in the country capital, Kuala Lumpur. Both Alex and I really enjoyed this city. It was modern and easy to get around. We wandered, mostly on foot, and saw the expected; Petronas towers, Chinatown and old quarter filled with colonial and Islamic style buildings. The huge mix of people here was also really neat to witness. As with the rest of the country, there were many Chinese, Indian and Malay people. Among them, differences in religion and devoutness were visible. We met some Muslim women who didn't wear a headscarf (tudong), others who wore one with jeans and a T-shirt, others yet with a full burka and every variation in between.
Our final stop on peninsular Malaysia was a great place to check out some of the past colonial influences and more of this mix of people. Melaka was once a trading centre for the area. Starting in 1511, it was consecutively ruled by the Portugese, Dutch and then British and was home to many Chinese, Indian and Islamic traders at that time. This gave it an incredible mix of culture and architecture that can be seen today.
Our overall impression of Malaysia was a good one. The food was great, the sites worth visiting and the women we met were extremely kind. Unfortunately, we didn't have many positive experiences with the men there. The word I would use to describe our interactions with many of them would be "sleazy". Despite this, I thought Malaysia held a great mix of fun outdoor activities and interesting culture and I wouldn't be upset if I were 'forced' to visit again someday.
Amy, Alex and The King
I now have the daunting task of updating the last 2 1/2 months...and you have the daunting task of reading it. Good luck to us both. I've decided to do this by country, though it is not completely in chronological order (due to unforseen idiotic embassy rules, a date deadline and a poorly timed chest cold...).
To begin, I should apologize to the multitude of individuals that adore Thailand and return year after year - our time there wasn't close to our favourite so far. We entered the north from Laos to find modern cities with all of the perks of home. The excitement of bank machines and well-stocked convenience stores left quickly as we were immersed into the land of tourism. As it has been pointed out to me, 'touristy' places are sometimes that way for a reason - there is something interesting to see. I agree, and am generally not annoyed by the presence of other travellers (though there are some exceptions...).
I guess the best way for me to explain how I feel about tourism in Thailand is that it's overdone. Everywhere you turn there are signs advertising ATV rentals, kayaking, safaris, etc., etc. My favourites are the travel offices that boast "untouched hilltribe experiences" and also state that they were established in 1985...right.
Despite the bitter tone, I did not hate my time there. The food was very flavourful, the people were some of the sweetest we've ever met and it was interesting to compare life there with that found in neighbouring countries. Alex and I selectively worked our way south, stopping at Chiang Mai, Sukhothai, Bangkok, Krabi and Koh Lanta. In doing so, we got a descent view of each region.
Chiang Mai is know as "the tourist hub of the North", where everyone and then some go before setting off to Pai (a meeting spot for the world's hippy wannabees). The city was a pleasant place filled with Wats and tiny shops. Temples in Thailand were really interesting - a lot of detail. I would say that they are Buddhism's answer to Catholic churches...gold, gold, gold. One day we had the opportunity to sit down with a monk and pick his brain about the religion. As we have come to expect of Buddhism, many things he said were much more 'open-minded' than Judeo-Christian philosophies. Others, however, smacked of 'man-made' absurdity...women are technically allowed to become monks but don't because they have many more rules that they must follow. This, therefore, creates inequality in education (particularly in poorer countries like Laos) where the boys have access to schools through the temples, but girls do not. Hhmmm...
Chiang Mai was also the first place that we witnessed the Thai people's serious love of their King in action. The posters and yellow shirts can't be missed, but I was still surprised when hundreds of people in a bustling market stood still at precisely 6:00pm when the anthem was blared through public speakers (which also happens at 8:00am...I will refrain from stating any personal views about this as I am still in Thailand and do not wish to spend 10 years in jail).
Our next stop, Sukhothai, was a sparse little town that probably wouldn't have seen a tourist if it weren't for the history of that area. Just outside of town, old ruins still stand (sort of...) from when it was the capital of the area in the 1400s. Having already been to Angkor in Cambodia, the Mecca of SE Asian ruins, we were not expecting much. Perhaps because of our low expectations, we were pleasantly surprised and had a lovely day wandering around the area.
Our soothing stroll here was the calm before the storm - our next stop, Bangkok, was sensory overload. Noise, stench, crowds, garbage, in-your-face sex trade, BAH!
We wondered around the city and, like everywhere else, some parts were nicer than others. Chinatown was a neat break from the scenery, but not the crowds. We enjoyed visiting the Royal Palace and several Wats but were very much relieved to leave.
Our experiences in the south were wonderful in comparison to the north. There was an abundance of things to do and, because it was nearing the low season, not so many tourists. Krabi was conveniently close to beautiful limestone karst formations which made it a perfect place to go rock climbing - both Alex and I LOVED it! (...our bruised knees and sore arms weren't so lucky...).
After Krabi, we spent almost a week on Koh Lanta. We stayed in a rustic bungalow that faced the beach - absolutely fabulous! Although we enjoyed a couple of days lazing, snorkelling and tooting around the island on a motorbike, the highlights of our time there were definitely a day we spent SCUBA diving and another kayaking with friends we met in Hanoi.
Our day diving included three dives near Koh Phi Phi. As always, it was really great to see life underwater. We were lucky enough to see Hawksbill turtles, sea snakes, a huge jellyfish, an octopus, lots of reef fish and colourful soft and hard corals. The following day we went for a days adventure with a Canadian couple that we met back in Vietnam and have been 'bumping into' (or stalking...!) ever since. We had the chance to kayak around limestone karst (yes...it's everywhere!), into caves and through some narrow waterways. A great day.
Koh Lanta was a wonderful place to say goodbye to Thailand. With a high muslim population, every day we were caressed by the soothing sound of the call to prayer that echoed from public speakers. It was great to spend time with our new friends, and the food on the island was particularly good. We also winessed some strange things during our time there - one in particular was the prevalent laziness that seemed to be at the core of every smiling local. Not to be rude (who am I kidding...) but I couldn't believe the 'customer service' (or lack thereof) that existed there. Every where we turned it seemed that we had to beg people to conduct business - staff would be sleeping or watching TV and seemed annoyed if you disturbed them...very bizarre.
The flight to our next and final stop, India, was out of Bangkok so we were forced to return to the big city. As it turned out, this was a treat because we returned in time for Songkran (Thai New Year). To celebrate, people enjoyed a few days off and partied in the streets with water and mud. Kids of all ages lined the streets with water guns and huge smiles on their faces as they soaked passersby. As expected, this is also an excuse for slightly older youth to have some fun too...streets filled with thousands of Thais dancing, drinking, throwing water and spreading clay over everyone's face. I know that to many (including myself) this sounds horrifying, but it was surprisingly a great deal of fun. I even had the opportunity to try cricket...it tasted a lot like shrimp! (unfortunately, the wet and dirty mess was not ideal for picture taking....sorry!)
To begin, I should apologize to the multitude of individuals that adore Thailand and return year after year - our time there wasn't close to our favourite so far. We entered the north from Laos to find modern cities with all of the perks of home. The excitement of bank machines and well-stocked convenience stores left quickly as we were immersed into the land of tourism. As it has been pointed out to me, 'touristy' places are sometimes that way for a reason - there is something interesting to see. I agree, and am generally not annoyed by the presence of other travellers (though there are some exceptions...).
I guess the best way for me to explain how I feel about tourism in Thailand is that it's overdone. Everywhere you turn there are signs advertising ATV rentals, kayaking, safaris, etc., etc. My favourites are the travel offices that boast "untouched hilltribe experiences" and also state that they were established in 1985...right.
Despite the bitter tone, I did not hate my time there. The food was very flavourful, the people were some of the sweetest we've ever met and it was interesting to compare life there with that found in neighbouring countries. Alex and I selectively worked our way south, stopping at Chiang Mai, Sukhothai, Bangkok, Krabi and Koh Lanta. In doing so, we got a descent view of each region.
Chiang Mai is know as "the tourist hub of the North", where everyone and then some go before setting off to Pai (a meeting spot for the world's hippy wannabees). The city was a pleasant place filled with Wats and tiny shops. Temples in Thailand were really interesting - a lot of detail. I would say that they are Buddhism's answer to Catholic churches...gold, gold, gold. One day we had the opportunity to sit down with a monk and pick his brain about the religion. As we have come to expect of Buddhism, many things he said were much more 'open-minded' than Judeo-Christian philosophies. Others, however, smacked of 'man-made' absurdity...women are technically allowed to become monks but don't because they have many more rules that they must follow. This, therefore, creates inequality in education (particularly in poorer countries like Laos) where the boys have access to schools through the temples, but girls do not. Hhmmm...
Chiang Mai was also the first place that we witnessed the Thai people's serious love of their King in action. The posters and yellow shirts can't be missed, but I was still surprised when hundreds of people in a bustling market stood still at precisely 6:00pm when the anthem was blared through public speakers (which also happens at 8:00am...I will refrain from stating any personal views about this as I am still in Thailand and do not wish to spend 10 years in jail).
Our next stop, Sukhothai, was a sparse little town that probably wouldn't have seen a tourist if it weren't for the history of that area. Just outside of town, old ruins still stand (sort of...) from when it was the capital of the area in the 1400s. Having already been to Angkor in Cambodia, the Mecca of SE Asian ruins, we were not expecting much. Perhaps because of our low expectations, we were pleasantly surprised and had a lovely day wandering around the area.
Our soothing stroll here was the calm before the storm - our next stop, Bangkok, was sensory overload. Noise, stench, crowds, garbage, in-your-face sex trade, BAH!
We wondered around the city and, like everywhere else, some parts were nicer than others. Chinatown was a neat break from the scenery, but not the crowds. We enjoyed visiting the Royal Palace and several Wats but were very much relieved to leave.
Our experiences in the south were wonderful in comparison to the north. There was an abundance of things to do and, because it was nearing the low season, not so many tourists. Krabi was conveniently close to beautiful limestone karst formations which made it a perfect place to go rock climbing - both Alex and I LOVED it! (...our bruised knees and sore arms weren't so lucky...).
After Krabi, we spent almost a week on Koh Lanta. We stayed in a rustic bungalow that faced the beach - absolutely fabulous! Although we enjoyed a couple of days lazing, snorkelling and tooting around the island on a motorbike, the highlights of our time there were definitely a day we spent SCUBA diving and another kayaking with friends we met in Hanoi.
Our day diving included three dives near Koh Phi Phi. As always, it was really great to see life underwater. We were lucky enough to see Hawksbill turtles, sea snakes, a huge jellyfish, an octopus, lots of reef fish and colourful soft and hard corals. The following day we went for a days adventure with a Canadian couple that we met back in Vietnam and have been 'bumping into' (or stalking...!) ever since. We had the chance to kayak around limestone karst (yes...it's everywhere!), into caves and through some narrow waterways. A great day.
Koh Lanta was a wonderful place to say goodbye to Thailand. With a high muslim population, every day we were caressed by the soothing sound of the call to prayer that echoed from public speakers. It was great to spend time with our new friends, and the food on the island was particularly good. We also winessed some strange things during our time there - one in particular was the prevalent laziness that seemed to be at the core of every smiling local. Not to be rude (who am I kidding...) but I couldn't believe the 'customer service' (or lack thereof) that existed there. Every where we turned it seemed that we had to beg people to conduct business - staff would be sleeping or watching TV and seemed annoyed if you disturbed them...very bizarre.
The flight to our next and final stop, India, was out of Bangkok so we were forced to return to the big city. As it turned out, this was a treat because we returned in time for Songkran (Thai New Year). To celebrate, people enjoyed a few days off and partied in the streets with water and mud. Kids of all ages lined the streets with water guns and huge smiles on their faces as they soaked passersby. As expected, this is also an excuse for slightly older youth to have some fun too...streets filled with thousands of Thais dancing, drinking, throwing water and spreading clay over everyone's face. I know that to many (including myself) this sounds horrifying, but it was surprisingly a great deal of fun. I even had the opportunity to try cricket...it tasted a lot like shrimp! (unfortunately, the wet and dirty mess was not ideal for picture taking....sorry!)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
