Riding into the sunset.

Thank you for sharing our 'round the world adventure by visiting our blog.

If it's your first time here, take a look back through posts from January through April 2007 (click the links on the right). That's where the action is...or was. Our big trip is over, and while I've quit posting here, it's a good bet that I'm probably still sorting and weeding and retouching pictures.

From India to Innsbruck, from Cambodian river villages to the canals of Venice, Donna and I saw wonders we never imagined we'd see. We saw heartbursting beauty and heartbreaking poverty, often juxtaposed in close proximity. We dove into cultures and oceans headfirst and went without reservations, in every sense of the word. We're a little bit poorer and immeasurably richer for the experience.

Every day, as I reflect back on our trip, I relearn an important lesson it's easy to forget.

Adventure is good for the soul.

Paul

P.S. Oh, there's one more lesson I relearned every day of our trip. If you go adventuring, bring Donna. It'll be a lot more fun.

SHARK!!!

Okay, so it's only a black-tipped reef shark, but it is a live wild fast-moving shark, not the lazy lay-around bottom-feeding nurse shark type, and it is probably about 5 feet long. It was very cool to snorkel in Shark Bay on the Island of Koh Tao. While here in the U.S. one would assume that Shark Bay would be some sort of theme park or tourist attraction or zoo exhibit in a tank with souvenir tshirts and a stunning audiovisual display. In Thailand, on the other hand, Shark Bay is a bay...where there are lots of sharks.

Paul

Feeding the fish at Koh Tao, Thailand

While snorkeling on Koh Tao Island in Thailand, I took a small banana peel and shredded it into a bunch of thin appendages like a squid or swimming octopus. I would swim it through the water and it proved really effective in gathering curious fish. Of course, once they discovered that my octobananasquidopus was a big fraud, they would sometimes decide to nibble on the next closest living thing, like...me. We got a few fun photos from this supercheapo underwater one-time use camera. Again, it took a little photoshop wizardry to bump up the contrast.

Paul

Spring Fling and Pink Rajastani Holi Frivolity

Wow. You're still reading our blog! Thanks for checking in, and sorry it's been so long since we posted. I'm going to put up a few more photos then sign off.

It's been a whirlwind couple of weeks since we returned from our own version of "Around the World in Eighty Days." I've been sorting and playing with all our photos and putting together a slide show version of our adventure which I'll gleefully use to torture friends and relatives for many years to come.

It's spring, at least for a week, in Minnesota, and Donna and I are in the garden doing premature digging and bed-building. It's too early to do much gardening here on the Minnetundra, but both of us are experiencing a strange sort of seasonal confusion where we think Spring should be further along than it is, in spite of what the calendar and thermometer tell us. We visited so many really hot and sultry places, then went from Winter to Spring and back again over and over in Europe. As a result, our seasonal synapses aren't firing properly.

While sorting and tossing, a handful of pictures just seemed to be particularly evocative and to capture the feeling of a place or a people. This is one of them, and I'm putting it up today because it's got a Spring connection.

This photo was taken in the Pali District of Rajasthan in India, near the Jain Temple of Ranakpur. This Rajasthani shepherd man is wearing traditional turban and wrap pants. It's a style that's still very common in the villages and smaller towns but appears headed for obsolescence as virtually all the young people wear western-style clothing.

This fellow is also wearing some leftover color from Holi, the Hindu color festival and raucous celebration of Spring. It's quite literally a "spring fling." All over India, people throw off the gloom of Winter (or in Rajasthan's case the DRY of winter) by throwing colored powder or dyed water at each other. Poof. Yellow. Splat. Orange. Kerplunk. Blue. It's India's rowdiest day. While Holi had been about a week before we arrived, we saw many people -- and some camels, cows and elephants -- who still wore their bright spring Holi colors.

For blog devotees, you'll remember that Holi also played a role in our epic traffic jam.

Yes, you clever photo detectives. I DID do some Photoshop retouching and creative motion blurring on this shot. I even removed a bus and a hotel direction sign.

In spite of buses that get in the way of his sheep and the occasional tourist with camera (er, like me) there's much about this man's life that's the same as it would have been many hundreds of years ago. In the villages, ancient social norms and traditions endure, particularly for women. Marriages are inevitably arranged. "Love marriages" which run counter to the arrangements of the parents, or premarital pregnancy can still result in an unofficial and unprosecuted but very real death sentence. There's still a feeling of normalcy and even pride in some aspects of the caste system and one's place in it...at least according to the few people I spoke to about it. Within a caste, there can be many levels and one's position in a caste is important and sometimes a matter of great pride.

A few more photos to come.

Paul

Little Alps

On our way to and from Venice were the most sticky-up mountains of the Alps. Amazingly different than the Rockies, we could be comfy and warm within a short distance of 7,000 feets slopes. Near this tranquil lake we watched skiers slog up a closed skihill while a series of avalanches roared down nearby.

It's spring in Germany this week.... a regular daffodil festival in every yard and town round-about. Trees are budding and it's the season of stinky cow-poo being spread on fields, assuring the spring green grass will grow tall. Yards are being mown and the little gardens are being planted. Crazy and questionable customs are international as pastel colored plastic eggs are hung from trees all over Austria, Czech Republic, Germany and Italy.

Donna

Donna in San Marco Square - Venice

Venice is sinking and the sea is rising!

This main square in Venice floods almost 300 days a year on average. It's a big problem, as it's affecting the buildings and the underground structures. There are some days when the spot where Donna is standing is almost waist deep.

Paul

The biggest attractions in this square are the 10,000 pigeons so if the bird flu hits, Venice will be empty. I did not buy birdseed (corn) and sprinkle it on my navel or shoulder like everyone under the age of 19 did. Pigeons tickle their feeder and the kids giggle and freak out. They are cuter than the gondoliers who should enforce some upper age limit or body weight. Gondoliers often are pudgy and grumpy.... or singing out of tune! The tradition will die soon if this continues.

Donna

The missing Venice post

Well, we decided to make the best of the last few days of our adventure, so we zipped south through the alps into Italy and had a lovely day on the city of canals -- Venice.

You should be reading all about it. Unfortunately, Donna and I did about an hour of tag-team writing about our experiences there, and when we went to post it to the blog, it went up in a puff of cybersmoke, never to be seen or read again. Sometimes, I long for my old paper typewriter and bottle of Liquid Paper.

Suffice it to say that the long-gone post was far more interesting and well-thought-out than what follows.

Venice is like Italy: The Theme Park. After a day of walking and boating around, we finally realized what makes it so magical. There are NO cars. Not one. Everything comes into and out of this island city by boat and muscle. There are mailboats, garbageboats with long claw arms that reach out and snatch garbage cans, taxiboats, busboats, constructioncraneboats, piledrivingboats, deliveryboats and of course, the ubiquitous gondolas with their stripe-shirted gondoliers. For the prices the gondoliers charge -- about 80 Euros for an hour ride is their starting negotiating price (right now 1 Euro = $1.33) -- you should definitely get the wide-brimmed ribboned hat, the striped shirt, the short little matador jacket, the singing of O Solo Mio, the dancing and oar-hopping and every other cliche.

Sometimes, though, as soon as the gondolier got a group of riders on board, the traditional costume would be replaced by some mundane sweatshirt or windbreaker. We didn't gondola ride as it seemed a bit silly and embarassing, but we rode all up and down the Grand Canal on the vaporettos, or water buses. We even got an unexpected trip to the next island town over -- Murano -- when we hopped on the wrong water bus.

Because everything must come into the city by train/boat/back or truck/boat/back, prices in Venice are crazy high. Maybe that's why a gondola ride costs so much. For example, a 1.5 liter bottle of water ranged from 1 euro to 2.5 euros depending on whether you got it from a grocery or a tourist shop. That's a lot to drink water, but it costs just as much to get rid of it. A public restroom costs 1 Euro every time you visit. We stopped at a little outside cafe off the main tourist route. Donna had a tiny little dollhouse cup of espresso that was half full, and I had a teeny-weeny half full glass of the house wine. That was around $8 for about 6 ounces of fluid. The rest of the day we ate delicious bread and slices of pizza to save our pennies for the ridiculously expensive gas it took to get back to Germany.

So here we are back in Frankfurt, with one day left before we return to the U.S. We're eager to get home, but sad that this once-in-a-lifetime adventure is ending. We'll certainly continue to post here for a while, as we've got some great pictures to share (it's not always easy to transfer them from an internet cafe) and lots of processing of our experiences left to do.

Paul

Don't mess with the Czech Guard

Here's a guard at the Royal Palace in Prague, Czech Republic. Like the palace guards in London, there's no smiling allowed...no matter how many faces you make at them.

Paul

Castles galore

If you like castles, you'd love the Czech Republic. Every area has one...or two...or three. They vary widely in age, even within the same castle. Originally it was built in the 12th century, then added on and rebuilt and redesigned every couple hundred years or so. This picture is a good example: you can see the older foundation, the tower built on top of it, and the newer tower to the left. Cool place from which to drop a big vat of boiling oil on your enemies.

Paul

Bones and Beer

Just when this land of 30,000 castles and cathedrals was becoming routine and I was apathetic regarding the Baroque/Renaissance/Gothic designs; Surprise! The Bone Chapel perked us right up. The 40,000 victims of the plague contributed their skeletons and a local wood-craftsman used these surplus materials to decorate a chapel. (The cemetary was overflowing.) It's a bizarre sight but more artful than spooky or irreverent.

Next we toured the Budweiser beer factory in Ceske Budjovice and admired the Czech national beverage. Some say the American Anheiser-Busch Budweiser company stole the Czech beer name because it stood for quality though the superior and treasured recipe stayed in Bohemia. There are still 40 unresolved lawsuits regarding the trademark dispute. No end in sight. When they sell this Czech Budweiser in the US, it's labeled Czechvar so as not to confuse it with our watered-down brew. The Czech brewery is now a nationalized company and were thinking of privatlizing it but are concerned that Anheiser-Busch will buy up all the stock and take it over. This beer is served up with lots of foam and flavor.

The Czech per person consumption averages 160 liters per person per year but that's counting babies and kids so you can see some solid beer bellies around. Beer is cheaper than water or Coke and coffee costs double what a mug of beer does. Now that's a pity!

Donna

Donna on the castle wall - Cesky Krumlov

Here's a view of the town of Cesky Krumlov. What you can't see is that the river makes a couple of unlikely turns around town, creating a natural moat all the way around the old part of town. The castle up on the hill is outside the waterway, so instead of a water-filled moat, they have a moat filled with bears!

Paul

Our room in Cesky Krumlov

Here's our tower guest house in Cesky Krumlov. It's called Ve Vice, and it's a 16th Century bastion, once part of the town defenses. This little town has become quite popular in recent years since it was added to the Unesco list of World Heritage sites. The recent film "The Illusionist" was shot in part here and also in Prague. So far, I've resisted the impulse to stand outside and yell, "Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your hair!"

Paul

The Bone Chapel in the Czech Republic

Here's an oddly entertaining stop, which should be of particular interest to our beloved but slightly macabre friend Ginger. This is the bone chapel, which is a real chapel, decorated with the bones of some 40,000 victims of the plague in the 16th century. Here I'm standing below the bone chandelier, which supposedly contains at least one of every bone in the human body. A very strange and eerie place. The walls are adorned with bone artwork, and in four corners are huge piles of skulls and bones.

Today we're in Cesky Krumlov, the cutest little medieval town you ever saw. We're staying in a 16th century tower right beside the river (and the town brewery). The fact that one of the four tower rooms was available speaks to the fact that we've jumped the gun on the Czech tourist season. Nearly every castle doesn't open for visitors until April 1st. We're debating whether to backtrack to see some places that weren't yet open or to forge ahead into Austria or Slovakia or Slovenia or Hungary or ....????

The days are winding down on our big adventure, so we must make the most of them.

Paul

How to build a traffic jam...India style...plus misc. rambling

Okay, this is a step back in time. We've already driven 1000 kilometers all over Germany, including Donna's ancestral homeland in Ladbergen (near Munster), endured rain, sleet, and a snowstorm, and landed in the Czech Republic, but part of my head is still in Incredeeeeble Eeeeendia.

On our last day, on the way back from Agra and the Taj Mahal, we encountered a traffic jam of epic proportions. So, in the interest of cross-cultural education, I've decided to instruct you on the proper way to build an inextricable, ridiculous traffic jam that could actually last a day or two.

Our traffic jam started because one village was having a Holi festival, we think in part because of the opening of a new school. Holi is the Indian color festival, and it's the craziest and most celebrated of the many Hindu holidays. People splash each other with paint and colored water (sometimes from the river, so it's best to keep your mouth tightly closed). We thought we had missed Holi by a few days, but Sunder our driver told us in some places they celebrate it for a week and sometimes as much as a month.

But I digress. Back to the task at hand: building the perfect traffic jam.

Because of the Holi festival, traffic was stopped in both directions on our four-land road. As traffic piled up, our northbound two lanes became four tightly packed pseudo lanes. People were running between the cars covered with yellow paint and waving palm branches. They were telling people that there was free food in the village ahead. When we inched up to an intersection, more people with palm branches were saying (in Hindi, paraphrased for this primarily non-Hindi speaking audience), "Look, there's nobody in these southbound lanes, go on over there! It'll be fine!"

Which, of course, everyone did, forming four more northbound lanes in what were supposed to be southbound lanes, which were empty because of the mirror-image southbound Holi festival traffic jam.

Of course, somewhere about 3 kilometers ahead of us, the same thing was happening with the southbound traffic. The result was about 8 northbound lanes headbutting 8 southbound lanes on what is supposed to be a 4 lane road. Now THAT is a traffic jam.

Because the curb of the median was quite high (about bumper height), there was no easy way for people to get back on the correct (left) side of the road. The result was a laughable mishmash of northbound and southbound cars on both side of the freeway. People were building mini-ramps of rocks or trying to lift cars onto the median so they could cross back. Others were taking to the fields with mixed results. You could make a bit of progress in the field (we did), but then you'd come to a wall or steps or...?

So, what do you do if you're stuck in such a mess? Remember, there's free food just a little way ahead. Why not abandon your car/wagon/bus/tractor/camel/truck and go have a bite to eat while the whole thing straightens itself out? And so they did.

It would have been more amusing if:
- we didn't have to keep the windows closed to keep from being doused with yellow paint
- our air conditioner worked more than a little
- we didn't have a virtuall empty gas tank
- it wasn't 95 degrees fahrenheit
- the trucks and tractors hemming us in had better emission controls.

We would inch forward ten feet, then stop and shut off the engine. Somehow, we actually got through it, due in part to some great cooperative civilian traffic copping, a large amount of shouting and exhorting, and our driver's (Sunder is my hero) driving skill and impressive desire to get us all out of there alive. Sunder said that it could easily last a day or more, since there are few alternative routes and traffic (and frustrations) continue to pile up from behind.

Paul

P.S. A note from Germany, where we rented a car. The next time you fill up your gas tank and wince at the price of gas, be glad you're not in Deutschland. 39.5 liters (almost exactly 10 gallons) cost us about 66 dollars! Yep...that's about $6.50 a gallon. Yikes! No wonder you don't see many gas-guzzling SUVs over here.

P.P.S. The autobahn is fun. No speed limit, except that which is imposed by the snow and slush. Before the whether turned ugly, I hit 175 kilometers per hour (about 105 mph) in the left (fast) lane and had a BMW come up from behind me and flash his brights because I was going too slow! Zooom. Donna chickened out at about 160 kph. What a slowpoke! Because of the price of gas, most traffic moves at about 130-140 kph, which is a more fuel-efficient speed.

P.P.P.S. Who made up the names of German towns anyway? I look at the road map, and two seconds later I can't remember the name of the next town. That's bad, because road signs refer more to towns than route numbers. These are towns with names like Schmickenzieshmeckendorfensteinburg or Badfahrtschmellinzieschtinken.

Enough for now.
Love you.

Paul

Going Back In Time To The Old Country

We've missed being in touch with you since India and ironically, it's because we've found an Internet-Free Zone in Germany. Since leaving Frankfurt on Tuesday to drive the Rhine River valley of grapevine hillsides and castles, we've seen a mere one internet cafe and I'm taking the blame for passing it by. (Don't get the idea it was my fault, though!)

Germany feels a bit like home. People look like us which is pleasant but means they can't tell we aren't Germans and have NO understanding of the language. What did I learn in German class in high school??? They keep rambling and talking in words made up of 14+ syllables and we keep looking stunned and stupid. We're limited to the basics of civility: danke, guten tag, bitta. It's surprising how few people speak English. Not that they're obligated to or should. That's our job when visiting their country. It's just unexpected.

Germany is where all my ancestors lived until approximately the 1850's and we stopped by one of the homeplaces. My mom's dad's family lived in Ladbergen (near Muenster or Dortmouth). Thanks to help from Uncle Don and Aunt Gail we found the location of their farm. It's at a junction of where a creek meets the Dortmouth-Ems Canal which still carries river traffic... barges and work boats. Maybe great-great-great grandpa left via the canal heading north to a ship taking him into the North Sea. Brrrr. Like most family geneology, visiting the homeplace was both anticlimactic and simultaneously heart warming and deeply satisfying. I like knowing the homeplace is still in a farming community with nearby woods and well-tended gardens, gravesites and homes.

The weather here is 60 degrees colder than India with 3" more snow than Dehli has ever seen. But no matter the weather, the towns are still either 1) cute or 2) industrial and/or 3) rebuilt since the war. We're equally comfortable/uncomfortable on the Autobahn watching BMW's pass us doing 180+ Kilometer/hour and in the narrow windy town streets. Today there was sunshine and country roads that weren't on the Czech Republic map. And Internet!!! Thanks for comments and emails. We miss you and know you'll make Minnesota warmer than Central Europe.

Donna

(past tense because we're in the Czech Republic today)

Sunder...our best friend in India

Here's Sunder (prounced soon'-duh). He was our driver and best buddy for 10 days of whirlwind touring through Rajasthan in Western India. Always smiling, joking, and absolutely tireless, he knew all the best places for sightseeing, the restaurants that served all-you-can-eat Thalli (10 meals on one plate) for about $1.25, and which combination of curvy, unmarked roads actually would take us where we were supposed to go.

Whenever the traffic was ridiculous or another driver did something unbelievably counter to reason, Sunder would say, "Incredddddd-eeeee-ble Innnndia". That's the slogan of India's tourism campaign.

We'll miss his company, but I'm sure we'll stay in touch. In fact, I bet Sunder is reading this too! Hey, Sunder, sorry India lost the big match to Bangladesh in the Cricket World Cup last night. I knew 190 runs would not be enough. We'll keep watching and hoping that India wins their last two matches in the preliminary round so they can advance to the round of eight.

This photo is from the monkey temple near Agra, an ancient temple built into a craggy canyon. The place is (like many places here) swarming with greedy monkeys. It's good luck to feed them, so we shared a bunch of bananas with them. We didn't make it to the Rat Temple, where it's good luck if a rat runs over your foot, or if you see a white rat, or if a rat nibbles on your food and then you eat the rest. Sorry we missed it.

INCREDIBLE INDIA!

Paul

Last Day in India

Saving the best for last, the Taj Mahal was almost the last of the monument/ temple/ mosque/fort wonders we've visited. It is closed on Fridays for Muslim prayers at the mosque (off to the left side of the Taj) and repairs by the stone workers, we visited it at the end of our trip. I've wanted to see this love monument since I was a little girl. The love story the guides tell about the Majaraja Shah Jahn's endless grief at his wife's death include his daily tears for years after. The story's a little over the top but the building's magical. Weirdly, inlaid Carnelian stone is in all the designs. (Weird as that's in our neighborhood, too.) Monday we're trading India for Germany and the Czech Republic. The last errand in India is to find some warm clothes for Germany. Think they'll carry fleece here?

Donna

Rajasthan, India - The undisputed world capital for facial hair

Rajasthan is the Westernmost state of India, and where most our travels have been. Here moustaches and beards are a matter of pride and sometimes take on ridiculous proportions. These are two guards at the Meharanj palace in Jodhpur, and if this computer had the right software on it, I'd crop in closer so you could truly appreciate these giant handlebar moustaches. We also see beards, parted in the middle. I have fun teasing the guys with moustaches, telling them that in a year, mine will be bigger than theirs.

Paul

Street performers - Shilpgram, India

This is an artist's colony outside Udaipur, India. It's sponsored by the government as a way to give artists and artisans from remote areas a chance to directly sell their wares to tourists and locals. An artist is awarded a 15-day opportunity to occupy a booth, and if fortunate, can have up to four gigs a year.

How lucrative it is depends entirely on the season. This is a big place, with examples of lower, middle and upper class homes from various parts of India, a performance stage and perhaps 50-100 artisan booths. When we visited there were a grand total of three cars there with visitors. We wished it were more crowded, so that some of the selling pressure and attention would have been deflected elsewhere. Every performer and artisan was desperate for our attention, which was a bit uncomfortable.

Paul

Jodhpur, the blue city

This is a view from the fort in Jodhpur, which sits on a high rock outcropping, down into the old city. The blue houses are not only a sign of the Brahman caste, but also apparently are effective in repelling flies and mosquitoes! (I'm not making that up.)

Paul

It wasn't Wednesday but it was hump day...

In India you don't see much leather, but there is camel-hair upholstery. Here Donna and I are taking a ride outside of Pushkar. For most of our ride we were in the sand or rock roads. Here's our five minutes on pavement.

Paul

Women in Pushkar

Women here carry incredible loads on their heads, including huge baskets of stone and bricks at construction sites. Since I'm taking pictures without the benefit of a viewfinder, this is also an example of really poor framing and composition. My camera is still under warranty (Canon has a full year warranty), but it's only good in the U.S. and Canada, so I'm out of luck until I get home. The result is a lot of bad photos for one good one, and almost no opportunity to take advantage of my long zoom lens, since the more you zoom in, the harder it is to aim while guessing what you'll see. Very frustrating.
Paul

Donna here. On an unrelated note, the almost-exclusively vegetarian food is getting tastier as we learn to specify 'spicy, please' with the order. And yesterday our driver took us to a Tali style lunch, a Punjab tradition of greasing your fingers by eating with them. The servers dumped numerous dollops of vegies, rice, yogurt, dal, and my favorite bread - nan on our industrial metal plates and cups. These servers must be reincarnated stern and grumpy school lunch ladies. Didn't say a word, didn't offer a smirk or smile but just kept the food coming. 40 rupees each (less than $1 US) for all you can eat. Yum.

Hamburger's Tomb - New Delhi

Okay, so it's not really "Hamburger." We can never remember the correct name, so that's Donna and my inside joke, based on a scene with Steve Martin in the bad remake of "The Pink Panther." The actual name is Humayun, or something similar. This tomb is actually older than the Taj Mahal, and while spectacular

from a distance, is sadly defaced and graffitied on the inside. The pink sandstone is quite soft, making it easy for people to scratch deeply felt and deeply scarring love notes. Achmed loves Indira, in case you're interested.

Paul

Floating Market at Saduok, Thailand

A step back in time to Thailand, but worth an upload. This is the floating market we visited on our last day in Thailand. Many of the merchants have long sticks with a hook on the end. As you float by, they reach out and grab your boat and pull you in

for a closer, unsolicited look at their wares. Now that's salesmanship!

Paul

Wanted Poster from India

Here's the dirty lowdown scoundrel of a monkey who stole our candy and flowers in Pushkar. You can see him munching away. If you see this monkey, notify the authorities, but don't approach him. He's long-armed and dangerous.

Paul

What we have in common with Liz Hurley

Sunday we were in Jodphur, India. For Hollywood celebrity junkies, this is where Liz Hurley, British actress, celebrated her marriage to an Indian businessman last week. Built on top of a 150 meter outcropping in 1490's by one of the Maharajas, the Mehrangarh Fort had never been occupied by foreign powers. Until the invasion of the wedding closed the fort to tourists and locals. The locals were very angry because this hurt their commerce and judging by the trash and cow dung littering the town streets, the celebs wouldn't have dropped any money at the local market. And if they did drop some, they wouldn't have picked it up.

Standing at the top, a sandstorm blackened the sky and sandblasted our faces. Think I lost my Thailand tan in that minute. Leaving Jodphur Monday, there was still some sand left in the desert.The houses below the fort are painted a cornflower blue (Is this still a Crayola color?), the color of the Brahma (highest) caste, but with some loosening of the caste system, most everybody can paint their house blue. (Our great driver said in villages the caste system is intact and if two young people of different castes fall in love, families sometimes have ended the relationship with killings. Marriages are generally arranged by families except for some 'love marriages' which tend to be more acceptable in the cities.)

Monday was a Hindi holiday of some sort. Last night crowds of women (always beautiful and exotically dressed) poured into the temple with offerings of trays of flowers and food. It was a Hindi Girls' Night Out. They earned it, I'm sure, and hope the celebration went late. I assume they can sleep through the Muslim call to prayer at sunrise and the dog choruses. Oh, that's right, they have to get up early to work road construction with pick-axes and baskets of rocks on their head. Some traditions are easier to accept than others, aren't they?

And I'm about to complain about this keyboard making life impossible. Later! :) Donna

Pushkar to Jodhpur to Udaipur India

Well, we've been robbed!

Fortunately, it was only a bag of sweets we purchased to leave as an offering at the mountain temple outside Pushkar. The culprit was a black-faced monkey and it snatched the goodies out of Donna's hand before we even realized there were any monkeys in the area. The thief wasn't alone. The middle part of the steep long rocky trail to the top was swarming with expectant monkeys. We debated taking back our flowers and sweets for about 2 seconds, before the monkey bared his teeth and we decided our fingers were worth more than the 25 cent bag of goodies and flower blossoms. In restrospect, I still think it was the right decision.

It was a good forty minute hike with about 750 feet of elevation change (if I remember the sign correctly), and instead of seeing the tourist attractions, for once we became the tourist attaction. This temple, dedicated to the widow of Krishna, is a Hindu pilgrimage site, so there were lots of people from all over India. People were eager to take their picture with us. Apparently, our attempts to blend in are not entirely successful. When we arrived at the temple, wheezing and panting in the heat, we encountered what I can only describe as a Hindu pep rally. In spite of the sign that called for silence, people were singing and dancing and having a grand time. We were able to buy for 40 rupees (less than a dollar), a big bag of sweets and a "pilgrimage goodie bag" which included a couple bracelets, some bindis (stick-on forehead jewels for married women), makeup and fingernail polish and a comb, and some henna dye. You give the bag of sweets to the priest, who deposits a small amount under the neon lit idol, then gives you back the rest. Yummy!

Before leaving Pushkar, we took a quick camel trip out into the desert, past the stone carvers, and colorful sari-clad female construction workers carrying baskets of bricks on their head. For a few magical moments, my camera actually worked properly (every couple of days, it decides to tease me with 5 minutes or an hour of perfect functionality), so we got a good picture of us on camelback, I hope. We'll see how dependable Omar's camera skills are (yes, Omar was really our camel wrangler's name). I'd love to post some pictures, but we left all our CDs in the hotel when we came into the Old Town here in Udaipur. Soon I'll try to do a picture dump. There's so much to show you, but with slow internet connections picture uploading can be a hit-or-miss proposition.

After Pushkar, we headed to Jodhpur, the city those silly puffy riding pants are named for. I think Donna's doing the Jodhpur post right now, so I'll skip over it with this highly abbreviated version: blue city, big old red sandstone fort, giant wind out of desert, flying chair, sand in teeth, crazy market, yummy fried samosa street food for pennies, pigeon poop on shoulder which I am informed is very good luck. How's that for the whirlwind tour (appropriate given the rain and sandstorm!)?

Today, we drove from Jodhpur to Udaipur, stopping at a Jain temple (branch of Hinduism) that rivaled Angkor Wot for stone carving skill, though at just a tiny fraction of the size. The temple has more than 1000 ornately carved marble pillars, no two the same. It was built in the 15th Century, which makes you think how young our country is. You're allowed to take photos of the ornamentation, but not the idols. Sure enough, a group of Germans was caught taking pictures in the forbidden area and evicted from the temple. It seems so easy to respect the few rules and traditions, that it makes me angry when people choose not to.

On the way to Udaipur, we stopped to photograph a group of people pounding a big drum and singing. They were eager to be photographed, but wanted a few rupees in exchange. I try to carry a bunch of 10 rupee notes (about a quarter) to give to the many unfortunates we see. There's no welfare system here, so if you're aged, or handicapped, you're on your own. I started handing out 10 rupee notes to children who were saying "School, school" and before I knew it I was mobbed. I'm not sure where all the people came from. Beggars (and others) aren't afraid to touch and grab you. They were trying to snatch the money from my hand, and one little kid was unabashedly and unskillfully trying to pick my pocket. Fortunately, I was three steps from the car, and Donna was still inside. We got out of there with our rupees and dignity intact.

We've had interesting times with charity. We had a "priest" come up and give us an unsolicited blessing. I gave him ten or twenty rupees, but he wanted me to come over to the nearby street stand and buy him a great big satellite radio. Another elderly woman dragged me to the door of a shop and wanted me to buy her a 10-kilo bag of rice. You wish you could help everyone, but excessive generosity can get you in a lot of trouble, so a harsh "nai" is sometimes necessary.

Enough for now. Before it's get's dark, I want to walk to the lake and see if we can see any crocodiles. Wading is not on the agenda.

Cheers, Paul

Pushkar, India - expanded post

Pushkar -- it reminds me of my first auto, a breakdown-prone AMC Matador that was more often a push-car than a drive-car. I digress before I even get started.

Commenting on Donna's description of the flight from Bangkok, it included what was without doubt the scariest moment of the trip for me. Forget my battling vipers, petting tigers, being stepped on by an elephant -- the one thing that REALLY scares me is when I'm sitting in the exit row of an Air India 747 at 35,000 feet and the head steward says, "Sir, I need to speak with you," and furtively sneaks me into the galley and closes the curtain. I was sure he was going to ask for my help in subduing a problem passenger (or 8) or that he was going to tell me there was a mechanical problem and he'd like my help evacuating the smoldering wreckage. If you need help, get the 6'4", 250 pound guy in 18F. It was with no small amount of relief that I accepted the bag of 6 miniature boozes that he gave Donna and I as a gesture of the crew's appreciation for Donna's complimenting the meal.

"It was," he said, "very gratifying to receive the compliment. Perhaps you would put these in your carry-on bag and add them to your bar at home."

"It was," I thought, "very terrifying to receive the gesture of appreciation."

India...where to start? Delhi is crowded and schizophrenic, filthy and ancient. To be honest I didn't care much for it, though there are some really cool things to see. Our driver took us EVERYWHERE in Old and New Delhi, on an all day whirlwind tour. The overwhelming impression is squalor and filth, with even the nicest restaurant right next store to dirty little shops and intimidating alleys. With the exception of the parks at India Gate and Gandhi's Tomb, it's wall to wall people and poverty.

Today, we drove to Pushkar in Rajasthan, a northwestern State bordering Pakistan. It's a desert area, and the scenery evokes images of Afghanistan and the Tora Bora area where Bin Laden hid out after 9/11. The people look amazing. Many men wear colorful turbans and Kurta Pyjamas (loose gauzy long tunic with matching pants) but the women are decked out splendidly in bright gold-accented colors and headwear -- even when they're carrying bricks or giant bundles of sticks on their head or working in a road ditch or a field. The women do the field and road work. The men drive and run shops and who knows what else.

This city is a Hindu holy place, and a pilgrimage site. It's one of the only places to have a Shiva temple (Shiva is the Hindu God of Destruction). There's a small lake here in this desert which, legend has it, was formed when Krishna dropped a lotus flower on the desert. It's an interesting place. The city is vegetarian by law. No meat, not even eggs are eaten. There is no alcohol, and in some areas of town and in temples, you're required to remove your shoes. Not a big problem, except for the fact that there are many camels and cows, so careful stepping is important.

In a rather perverse twist on a beautiful holy tradition, it is customary to bless your family by dropping a flower into the lake. Nice...but...there are gangs of fake priests who try to hand you a flower. If you take it, they will aggressively extort money from you -- 1000 rupees or more (44 rupees = $1 US). Our driver (and the invaluable Lonely Planet guidebook) warned us about the flower scam. If you don't take the flower, it turns from smiling to ugly quickly. "Why are you afraid to take the flower? I'm not selling the flower? This is for your family!" So, allow me to apologize to you, my family, for not taking the flower. I hope you'll forgive me!

There are also many beggars, who can be uncomfortably persistent. They will touch you or gently grab your arm and follow you for blocks. We probably give more than we should, but only to the elderly or amputees or blind. If you're young and healthy and you can chase me down the street, I figure you can do something besides begging!

In spite of this, the market area is colorful and fascinating. I thought it was more fun than Donna, I think, but she'll have to speak for herself.

The best(?) time to come to Pushkar is in November, when there's a combo get-together: a Hindu holy day and a giant camel-trading fair at the same time. This city of 15,000 swells to more than 200,000 and there are more than 50,000 camels, painted and decorated and showing off. So, if you're up for some camel racing, this is your spot.

Donna and I are trying to learn a bit about Hinduism, but it's very complicated. Basically, Brahman is the one God, uncreated and eternal. Brahman is unseeable and unknowable, but has three main incarnation Gods: Brahma (creator), Shiva (destroyer) and Vishnu (life force). So far, so easy, but it gets tougher. Vishnu, for example has 22 different forms and names, and Brahma has something over 1000 names.


We love reading comments and "hi guys" from friends back home, so I've adjusted the blog settings so you don't have to sign in to post acomment. Just hit comment and you can write us a quick note, or you can always email us at psanto@tcq.net.

Cheers,
Paul

India Arrival

We knew we'd left Bangkok while boarding the Air India plane, seeing their flight attendants in elaborate saris among the scent of curry. Northwest Airlines is put to shame by the dinner feast and snacks. To top that off, we complimented the flight attendant on the dinner and he pulled Paul aside and gave us 5 teensy bottles of booze. Then we were really happy customers!

Whether we were smart or 'taken', we hired a driver and car for a week's trip in northern India starting with a city tour today. I'd say we're a little shell-shocked but here are a few immediate responses to this city of 13 million people:

We visited the Red Fort, Gandhi's (Mahatma) grave and an ancient tomb of some Humayaun guy, all in large park areas. There were hawks, parrots, and flowers blooming; much more green space than expected.

We didn't get into a car accident or see any crunches. It's a miracle. The lanes in the road mean nothing and horns honk constantly. Beeps aren't angry messages but a notification of "I'm here, move over for me." At any moment the road has a BMW or Ambassador car, a taxi, a tuk-tuk, a motor scooter, a bicycle rickshaw, a bicycle and a horse carrying cargo. And a truck. Except the driver said that all deliveries have to be made at night, otherwise 'problems'. Just being a passenger was stressful anticipating the sound of crunching fenders or bones.

The women's saris and long tunics with pants and a scarf blowing in the wind are more beautiful than the old forts and monuments.

In 24 hours, we haven't talked to any Indian women or seen any one working. This is going to be hard if this keeps up. Because it's International Women's Day, the newspaper has some stats: Indian women earn 1/4 of what men do (and Indian men's salaries can't be envied) and women's literacy rate is about 1/2 of men's.

Internet access isn't as common here so forgive a reduction in communication. Tomorrow we're going to Pushkar, a camel trading desert town. Need any more camels???

Proof that Paul's not the only crazy one in the family

Didn't want to leave Donna out of the discussions of sanity back home...so here's proof that she's as foolish as me...or at least was for one shining moment.

It was so fun to interact with these cats, and while they're still wild animals, they're also kind of like big kitties.

They only do tiger petting between 1 and 4 p.m. when the cats are at their laziest and least "playful."

In spite of the sign that says "tourists eaten this week -- 7" there haven't been any tourist injuries, though a number of the handlers have been hurt. There are a bunch of tigers in the canyon, and if one is active, they don't let you near it. They also keep a handler between you and the tigers and literally lead you around holding your hand as you visit one tiger after another.

Let me tell you, those are some great big paws, and it's possible for a tiger to break your neck just cuffing you in the head. Of course, as you can see, there are also teeth to be considered. You might be able to tell from the picture, as Donna is petting this male, he couldn't reach her with his head.

Almost as much fun as tiger-petting was wild animal feeding time. Water buffalos and cows and horses and hundreds of little wild pigs (peccaries?) came to eat the pelleted food and turnips(?) that were thrown out on the road. If you want to see pictures, you'll have to come to the slide show at our house when we return home.

Cheers,
Paul of the jungle and Donna the tiger-hearted

Tiger petting in Thailand

What would you do if it was your last full day in Thailand? How about a little tiger-petting. We had a full day of touring, from a palm-sugar manufacturing tourist trap to a WWII memorial cemetery for POWs who died building the infamous Thai-Burma railway, to the Bridge over the River Kwai (the real one, not the movie), to a famous floating market, to the Tiger Temple.

Tomorrow, we're on to India.

I had a rough last day on Koh Tao island before heading back to Bangkok yesterday. I threw my back out and had a full day of virtual immobility. Fortunately, I talked Donna into going ahead with her snorkeling trip, so she wasn't around to hear my whimpering. I've rallied well, thanks to some 3M muscle relaxant that's prescription in the States, but ask-and-you-will-receive easily available here. A two day supply was like three dollars. It would probably cost $300 at home, not counting the doctor bill.

Here's some of what I'll miss about Thailand:

-- Guys driving the wrong way down the median or shoulder of a six-lane divided highway.
-- The cicadas that all start their electronic door buzzer sound the instant the sun drops below the horizon, then quit in unison about ten minutes later.
-- The chirps, buzzes, squeaks, whistles, chortles, creaky door hinge noises and raucous bird laughter that come from the jungle at night.
-- Spicy food that makes beads of sweat appear on your forehead.
-- Underwater amazement.
-- Elephants, tigers, snakes and other beasties you just don't see and touch in Minnesota.

Next post from India.

Cheers,
Paul

Beach Bums

Dear All,

The above-water world in the Gulf of Thailand is beautiful, too, like the underwater world Paul wrote about. This tropical beach is sweetly lit up at sundown with lanterns, imagination and amusing dogs.

Twinkly lights dangle from trees and poles and palm fronds are planted into the sand for the night. Pop-bottles (Yes, Coke still comes in a bottle!) filled with kerosene and a cloth wick become endless torches of light seeded into the center of holes in the sand. Some holes are molded into flower shapes or a windbreak. If the tide is out, restaurants that are literally on the water add rows of tables and chairs. If the tide is in, diners have their food with a complimentary ocean foot wash. Exotic.

At sunset soccer teams take advantage of the expanded playing field on the beach (the tide was out) while roaming dogs become more than team mascots. Last night's most-valuable-player award would have gone to the mid-sized mut that agressively chased the ball. We're not sure which team he was playing for but no one gave him any mind or any kicks.... Is that Thai-nice? Other canine beach bums bark at the fish they are stalking in knee-deep water. The dogs don't want to eat the fish but are defending their territory.

If you can stay up late, the fire-dancers do a show. But you know that's not my strong suit. :)
Love you.
Donna

Hey Anna - new favorite Thai phrase

Anna, you asked about our favorite phrase. I found out yesterday that fried rice with crab meat has an interesting name. Since Thai has its own alphabet, anglicized spellings vary wildly, but this popular dish is usually spelled something like this: "kiaw phat phu." That's pronounced "cow pat poo." Of course, to be polite, a male speaker would end any sentence with "khrap" which makes it "cow pat poo crap".

Hmmmm. Wonder why that dish doesn't sell well at Thai restaurants?

Today, Donna and I went snorkeling around Koh Tao. One place we stopped was "Shark Bay" where we saw loads of black tip sharks, with the biggest around six feet or so. Donna, with her improvised prescription snorkel mask (an old eyeglass lens siliconed onto the mask) saw fewer. I think it was a bit frustrating for her. I'd hold up 3 fingers and point at the three sharks and she'd not see them. She has to have her mask pointed directly at them to see well, and the water here isn't as clear as at Ko Lanta on the Andaman Sea side of Thailand. One of the sharks followed her up to the surface and trailed about 8 feet behind her, but generally they were quite shy. We spent more time chasing them than they did chasing us.

We bought a cheapo underwater camera. When we've finished it off and gotten pictures developed we'll post a shark pic.

My camera continues to misbehave, though it inexplicably fixed itself for about 10 minutes before going bad again. Perhaps I can get it repaired in Bangkok before we head to India.

Our Thailand time is winding down quickly. I'll be sad to leave, but we're looking forward to the adventures ahead.

Cheers.
Paul

Greetings from Koh Tao

We just arrived in Koh Tao, an island in the Gulf of Thailand (East side of the peninsula). We took an overnight boat that was...let's say interesting. It consisted of a big open room with about fifty eighteen inch wide futons packed side by side and a pillow the size of a marshmallow. We thought we might wake up in leg irons on a cotton plantation somewhere. Thankfully, those days are over and we're still free. The deck below ours on our "tramp steamer" was packed with cargo: live plants, a giant pile of rice bags (with someone sleeping on top), bags of concrete, a stack of eggs about four feet high and two feet square. It was quite a night.

While we're excited to be here, it's a sad day. My camera has gone south on me. It still takes pictures but the digital display and viewfinders show gibberish. So, while I can take a picture, I don't know what I'm taking or how much I've zoomed. A shot in the dark, as it were. RATS!!!

Since this is the diving-est place in Thailand, maybe this would be a good time to get a disposable underwater camera.

Stepping back in time....

...this is an image of Princess Cave at Phra Nang beach near Rai Leh bay. This was far and away the busiest beach we've visited. The beaches on Ko Lanta were nearly deserted.

I don't know if you get the whole perspective here, but the limestone stalagmites hanging down are probably close to 100 feet long. Look at the very left edge of the picture to see how tiny the people are that are actually back as far as the stalagmites. Cool, very famous place. The only resort on that little peninsula charges 40,000-55,000 Baht for a bungalow (at 35 Baht to a dollar that's like $1500 U.S.). We, on the other hand, stayed in town in a third floor walk-up with a shared bathroom and a fan, and no outside window. Temperature at midnight -- 92 sweltering degrees. Temperature the next morning -- 89 degrees. WHEW!!

More pics soon. Donna is getting antsy.

Cheers,

Paul

6 Degrees North of the Equator Burns

My burns are actually about 30 degrees south of my equator....the backs of my thighs spent a good day on top of the water soaking in the sun. Like other idiotic tourists, I'm hurting and can't sit down. Short-term pain, long-term gain of viewing gorgeous ocean life.

We found Nemo! While we snorkelled, the Finding Nemo characters lined up as if we were in Australia where it was based; angel fish, tang fish (I think), endless silver streaks of minnow-like things, seastars of brilliant cobalt blue with 17+ tentacles/arms, pipe fish and large clams. No sharks but nasty Monitor Lizards visiting us at lunchtime. Luckily we weren't their lunch. Some Swedish kids screamed to spot Nemo brushing the tentacles of an anenome. (Disney gave us a few words that are universally understood.) The water clarity is 25 meters, best ever. The fish look great and the coral (blue, too!) appears healthy in spite of some coral being covered with sand after the Tsunami.

Though this area was largely protected from the wave, there is evidence of the Tsunami in evacuation route postings, huge earthquake alarm sirens throughout the island, information about coral reef recovery and fishing boat repair efforts.

The nightime sounds of the jungle descend the moment the sun takes itself out of our picture and heads your way. Frighteningly loud buzzing, something like a take-over by swarms of cicadas, start instantaneously. At first we thought they were some warning siren or car alarm. So loud. No insects are visible or identifiable; intriguing and slightly worrisome in the dark. Morning light brings sweet bird sounds. Exotic and cheery.

Think I'll go see what Paul's got to say... BYW: Did he happen to mention our bungalow neighbors are young Swedish models????

Koh Lanta

Greetings from Koh Lanta, the laid-back island that's 49% Thai, 49% Swedish and 2% other.

We're staying in a tiny bamboo hut about 50 meters back from the beach. You can see through the bamboo flooring and walls, which makes for easy entry for the mosquitoes, but we have a lovely pink mosquito net that drapes over our bed. It reminds me of making "blanket tents" in bed when I was a kid.

We got here from Ao Nang by passenger ferry -- a nice air-conditioned trip. Our first afternoon was spent finding a place to sleep and doing some beach lounging. Day before yesterday we rented a scooter (200 baht - about $6) for the day. We drove all over the island, which is bigger than we expected, or perhaps my slow driving just made it seem bigger. We saw the Old Lanta town which has big old weathered Chinese-style stilt buildings with hurricane shutters. It's a bit reminiscent of the old Key West when I was a kid in Florida. We also drove down to the Sea Gypsy village on the far southern tip of the island. Not much to see there, and other than a lot more fish traps and nets, and slightly more traditional clothing, there wasn't anything that seemed particularly gypsy-ish. I guess these people have their own language and culture, and aren't very well integrated into Thai society. Not so many years ago, they were sea pirates with a reputation for thievery. Just a second...yep, my wallet's still there. On the way back we saw a really big snake crossing the road. Big like maybe six feet or more, but smaller around than your wrist. It was moving very fast with its head high. I don't think he liked the hot pavement any more than we do.

Yesterday, we took a fast boat to Koh Rok, a truly world-class snorkeling spot. It's about 30 kilometers over to the island, and we snorkeled in 3 different areas, each with somewhat different scenery. Today, our backs and the backs of our legs look like ripe tomatoes. Youch. Donna, especially, is hurting, or maybe I'm just more stoic. The underwater scenery was spectacular: giant coral heads, many with their tops just a couple feet underwater; blooming multi-colored coral polyps all over the giant structures that would wave in the current then suddenly retract into the coral; fish beyond counting; sea worms; clams that would snap shut in an instant; anemones teeming with clown fish (we found Nemo!); other types of plant an animal life, many with their own symbiotic partners. I saw a sea snake, but only for a moment. It rose up out of the coral in front of me an swam to the surface. I promptly swam the other direction, as many varieties are very venomous. Most are not aggressive, and some have such small mouths that they have a hard time biting unless they can grab a small fleshy part, like between your fingers.

We took bread into the water and were swarmed with yellow and black Sargeant Major fish and parrot fish and other rainbow-colored kinds I can't name. They were in a cloud around us, so many that you could reach out and touch them and they can't get away fast enough. It's a real frenzy. When the crumbs are gone, they will settle for a nip of skin, we discovered.

We had lunch on the beach -- chicken curry, stir-fried vegetables and roasted chicken legs. We shared some chicken bones with the great big water monitor lizards who inhabit the island. Big ones are perhaps four and a half or five feet long, and constantly flick their forked blue tongue. Pictures later.

Today, the word of the day is SHADE and relaxation by the beach. Many places along the beach have really nice bamboo and palm palapas (that's what we'd call them in Mexico - not sure what the Thai word is). Most have a bamboo floor up off the sand and lounging mats with a big triangular wedge pillow on one end so you can sit up and watch the world go by. These Thai pillows are really common and quite nice. I'm surprised I've never seen something like it a Pier 1 or Target or Ikea.

Tomorrow we're taking a combo bus-boat-bus-boat trip across the Thai archipelago to the Gulf of Thailand and a small island called Koh Tao. It's one of the most popular dive sites in the world, so we're hoping to do a scuba refresher day course and get in a dive or two. It's been a number of years since Donna and I dived, so a bit of a refresher would be welcome. There's also a beach on the Southern tip of the island that's supposed to have lots and lots of black-tipped reef sharks that you can see just snorkeling. They're safe (relatively speaking) so that sounds like a fun pulse-quickening adventure. Koh Tao is also one of the best places in the world to see a whale shark, massive beasts over 40 feet long and weighing in excess of 20 tons. Their mouths are five feet across and are used to filter feed on plankton and krill and other unfortunate wee beasties. It would be a great stroke of luck to see one, but hope springs eternal. If you want to see and read about whale sharks, go here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whale_shark. A sea turtle seems more likely.

We've discovered that here on Ko Lanta, the beach restaurants sometimes calm down the cuisine for the Swedish palate, but if you wander off the beach to the main road or if you say "Thai style" you can still get the hair-curling, tongue-swelling, fire-breathing incendiary versions of the local curries and soups. Last night's red curry (which ironically is yellow) was even a notch or two above my chili-friendly palate's preference. It's silly, but I find myself blowing on every bite even after its no longer hot, as if somehow I could blow a little spicy off of it! Apparently not.

That's it for me for today. I think I'll go get wet. I can see the turquoise water about 40 feet away. Next time I'll try to put up a photo or two.

Cheers,
Paul

Karen longneck woman

Here's an image of one of the longneck women of the Karen tribe. Originally, they're from Burma (now Myanmar) but many have been displaced by the political situation and genocides there. This village is fairly close to Chiang Mai, which means tourist dollars for these poor people.

The rings (which are really one or two long spirals) on their necks, legs and wrists were originally used to protect the tribal women from Tiger attacks. Apparently tigers will go for the neck first, or if they aren't in position for a neck bite, will grab an arm or leg.

It's since become a tradition and sign of beauty. Even very little girls (five or six) have rings on, though they get bigger and bigger spiral as they age. The rings don't really elongate the neck, but rather deform the shoulders and rib cage. Our tour guide showed us a medical explanation with some xrays. The ribs, rather than being horizontal, bend down over time to almost a 45 degree angle.

Since these people aren't Thai citizens, they can't attend school, and our tour guide (nickname Ping Pong because his Thai name is hard for us farangs -- foreigners -- to pronounce) suggested that if they could go to school the kids would be treated poorly since they're perceived by some as backwards and uneducated.

The women were all weaving and working their little shops. They were shy but friendly, and were happy to have their picture taken (though it's polite to ask first). The men, it seemed were all gambling at cards. Hmmm. Donna didn't take too well to that division of labor.

One other interesting, and slightly shocking detail: we saw a tiny baby playing with a monstrously large handgun. You could see that the barrel had been removed, but it seemed an odd choice of toys, though a very shiny and chrome-plated one.

Paul

Donna, Paul and an elephant

Just to anticipate son Luke's commentary, I'll answer his question in advance. Yes, the elephant IS the one on the bottom.

This shot is from Chiang Mai. Elephant riding sounded lame and touristy, but in fact it was touristy and really really fun. We walked through the river and up and down some incredibly steep spots that test your pachyderm trust quotient. I suppose with feet that big it's easier to be sure-footed.

On to non-picture related things. We're now in Ao Nang in the South of Thailand. Today we took a boat to Railay beach and walked from Railay to Phra Nang. There are amazing limestone formations here that jut directly up out of the water and huge caverns in these thousand foot limestone monoliths.

Railay is one of the best-known rock-climbing spots in the world, and we watched quite a few climbers, both experienced and novice.

Last night was a particularly exciting one: at the south end of Ao Nang beach there's a rickety boardwalk (a narrow board to step on every foot or two) that goes up and around a limestone karst (tower) to get to the next beach. There were loads of monkeys all along the path, often a foot or so away hoping for a handout. I think they're macaques, but my monkey expertise is suspect at best, in spite of a lifetime of monkeying around.

On the way back from our walk, just after sunset, I stayed behind a bit to take a few photos while Donna went on ahead. There were four kids, either German or Swiss I'd guess, just behind me. One let out a shriek, and started yelling in heavily accented english about a snake. "Mistuh, Mistuh, help me. I'm very frightened. Help me Mistuh please."

On the boardwalk, right behind where I'd just stepped, was a smallish snake, perhaps 18 or 20 inches. Having visited the snake farm in Bangkok, I believe it was some sort of pit viper. Anyway it had the wide triangular head that usually indicates a venomous snake. The kids were on one side of the snake and I was on the other. I told them that I thought it might be a dangerous snake and that we should wait. So wait we did...

...(passage of time)....

...and still the snake would not budge. Instead it lay curled in anticipation of some tasty German food. The kids were getting increasingly upset, so, intrepid and foolish adventurer that I am, I found a long stick in the jungle (emphasis on long), and coaxed the beast off the path and held it back while the kids passed. I got a great flash picture of it which I may post when I get the next round of CDs made (it could be a while).

When we got back to town, I showed the picture to a woman in the shop where we got some beverages. She seemed really interested but didn't know what it was, so she brought me down the street to an older Thai guy who knows of such things. He got a bit excited, named it in Thai (three syllables I promptly forgot) then said "Die. Die. You die." which is apparently what happens if it bites you and there's no antivenom handy. He wanted to know where we'd seen it so we told him. I doubt they sent out a posse, but it was a clear reminder that we're not in Minnesota any more.

Paul

Message from the Massaged

The Thai massage may make me into a Chinese contortion artist! It's half pleasure, half torture with elbows rubbed into feet, knees poked into the back and a dogbite to the thigh couldn't be much sharper than whatever she bodypart she used. I feel terrific. $5 for an hour of posture-enhancing attention.

We hope you all are doing well. For as much as I think about you all, it should be more than 2 weeks that we've been out of the states.

Meeting the pachederms today was awesome. Not a circus-like experience as I feared it might be. The baby elephant has no teeth and requires his bananas peeled. While Paul was making baby food, momma stole the bundle of bananas for herself. She really likes her baby but wasn't a good sharer today. (They eat 10% of their bodyweight daily. That's challenge I'd like to take on.) Everyone was taken by the elephants, similarly to people's affection for dolphins and whales. We'll be dreaming of riding through the jungle with them tonight.

Better run. Off to the beach tomorrow!
Donna

Elephant painting

I didn't believe it until I saw it, so I guess I shouldn't expect you to either. Here's the elephant finishing up his artwork. It's a floral still-life, in the tradition of Van Gogh, or perhaps reminiscent of the impressionist work of Degas, I think.

Okay, maybe more like the doodlings of Santo.

Having a bit a weird time with Blogger tonight, so if the picture appears twice, I apologize. If it appears not at all, I apologize even more.

Paul

Donna's new friend

This little fellow was making friends with anybody who had a banana or two at the Mae Ping elephant farm and preserve. Asian elephants are smarter and tamer than the African variety. This little guy was a big hit, but the nicest was the 23 year old male that took Donna and me for a ride. His tusks were so long they crossed in front, yet he was gentle and friendly. When we crossed the river, he wanted to give himself and us a shower, but his mahout (trainer) gave him a stern scolding. Since we were his last ride of the day, we had a long time to make friends and pet and rub his tusks after our ride. Wow. What amazing animals. The show at the preserve was a bit hokey, but pointed out what amazing animals these are. One painted a picture with his trunk (you'd be surprised how good -- maybe I should upload a picture), they did some usual circus balancing tricks, played football, did a bit of harmonica and drum playing, and more. When they asked for volunteers from the audience, I was foolish enough to become the butt of a pachyderm's joke. I received a "massage," which meant that he stepped on my stomach a few times (gently!), and nosed around my crotch with his trunk. Don't expect me to post any pictures of that!

Paul

Jennifer Davis, this one's for you!

Here's Donna and Spencer in Chiang Mai. It was great to meet him and he was very generous with his time and Thai expertise. In spite of the exuberant grins, we didn't drink THAT much Chang beer...really!

Thought you'd be happy to see how healthy and great your son looks, Jennifer. He was happy to get his cell phone and the business cards.

Paul

Bantay Sray, Cambodia

This beautiful young Cambodian girl was perhaps 11 or 12, and was selling scarves at Bantay Sray, the pink stone temple north of Siem Reap. Many of these children speak impeccable English and place a very high value on education (in particular English) as a was out of poverty.

Again, sorry about the rotation issue. Maybe I'll have to choose only wide photos.

Paul

Apsara Dancing in Cambodia

We're stepping back a few days, since I just got two gigabytes worth of photos burned onto CDs. This is traditional khmer dancing in Siem Reap. In spite of appearances, they weren't dancing on the wall. I'm not exactly sure why I can't get this picture turned right side up, so lay on your side to enjoy it, or flip your monitor 90 degrees counterclockwise.

Paul

Last Day in Chiang Mai

While Donna gets a Thai massage, I've been converting pictures to CD's and getting ready to do a bit 'o' blogging.

We've had a whirlwind three days in Chiang Mai in the North of Thailand. Tomorrow we fly to Krabi on the Southern archipelago of Thailand. From Krabi, we'll make our way to Ko Lanta and probably visit Ko Phi Phi as well.

On our first day here, we enjoyed the big Sunday market and got together with Spencer Davis, the son of one of Donna's work colleagues (Hiya Jennifer!) who teaches Spanish here in an international school. We had a great time with Spencer and he was able to help us digest and interpret some of our Thailand experiences.

Day two was an all day cooking class and visit to the fruit and vegetable market with our teacher Sui, where we were finally able to put a name to some of the odd and wonderful things we've been eating. The thing with the specks in it is Dragon Fruit, the thing with the gooey sweet center is a Lychee nut, et cetera, et cetera. That night we visited the huge and hugely entertaining night bazaar (more on that later).

Up early this morning for an all day tour that included: an elephant show, an oxcart ride, bamboo rafting, an elephant ride through the jungle, a visit to the "longneck" village (also called the giraffewomen) of the Karen tribe, and a stop at an orchid farm. Whew...

Now, on to a couple of pictures.

Paul

Chiang Mai Thailand - plus your questions answered

We arrived in Chiang Mai late this morning after an overnight train trip in a sleeper train. The supposed thirteen-hour trip took sixteen, but being able to lay down and stretch out (almost) and walk around made it bearable. The train was noisy and bumpy and swayed a lot, so we refer to it as the night of 400 catnaps.

It's a very different place than Bangkok, hilly and jungly with a more Thai and somewhat less Western cosmopolitan vibe. We're in the old city which is surrounded by a wide moat.

Daughter Anna hit us with a few questions which I'll try to answer briefly:

How tall are Cambodian People?
Maybe an average of 5'6" to generalize. Some, particularly older folks are really tiny. In the Chinese market in Bangkok, a tiny little woman was looking the other way and ran into me at about belly-button height. When she looked up and saw how tall I was, she made a funny little "ooooooo-aaaah"sound then scurried off giggling with her friend. We've been imitating her every day since. Let's just say Donna doesn't have any trouble finding me above the crowd here.

What kind of hotels do we stay in?
Mixed bag. Mostly very cheap and very budget -- $10-12 or less -- though one night in Bangkok we got in late and took a fancy room with air and TV for around $25. Tonight in Chiang Mai we're in a beautiful, peaceful fan room with a common garden and sitting/lounging area for 300 baht (around 8 dollars). We're saving money because Europe will not be as cheap.

What's the coolest thing we've learned about history?
Yikes. Tough one. I think the whole Pol Pot/Khmer Rouge saga from the 70's was most interesting, but definitely un-cool. It's cool that the tons and tons of stone for all the temples like Angkor Wot came from more than 50 kilometers away by boat and elephant.

What do we do at night?
Sleep. We haven't done much of the party scene, though we did walk through the night market on Khao Sahn Road (backpacker mecca) in Bangkok a couple of times to see the street performers and stalls of backpacker-oriented goods. The weather has been so hot and humid that it really takes a toll on you after a day of walking/touring. Nearly every westerner you see (there are lots) has sweated completely through his/her shirt, so it's important to really hydrate. We're probably going through at least 5 or 6 liters of water a day each.

What's the most interesting word we've learned?
In Thailand, it's polite to end every sentence with "khrap"if you're a man, or "khra" if you're a woman. I find it interesting that the gender depends on the speaker, not the person being addressed. The funniest words, though, are English, with some really hilarious misusages and misspellings. One of our hotels wished us "a worm welcome." There was a sign that asked us to "please turn out the light before living." You also see crazy t-shirts and other clothing with nonsensical English like a cuddly little panda with the caption "prison bear."

If you want to ask a question, email me at psanto@tcq.net or post a comment on the blog. I'm less likely to miss an email, but if you comment here, other readers can check it out too.

Cheers,
Paul

Door-To-Door Service

Think of this boat as Cambodia's Simon Delivers or a Schwan's truck selling door to door. Most likely this woman is going house to house in the floating village. If she was traveling downriver to a big market she'd have at least another woman and probably a man in the boat, also. Women do not play an equal role in business or politics in Cambodia.. They aren't tuk-tuk drivers and don't work the front desk at a guest house. Hard labor is shared. Paul and I passed many women and men in the road construction business, carrying rocks in baskets and hand placing them into the roadbed.

From the inadvisable hobby department - Cobra Teasing

Here's a guy teasing a couple of king cobras. It was really interesting to watch the stimulus/response reflexes of the two snakes. They moved absolutely identically. When one turned, both turned. When one would strike, both would strike.

This was at the Bangkok Red Cross Snake Farm we mentioned earlier. Fortunately, there were no mishaps, though there we quite a few gasps of horror from the crowd.

Paul

The Bayoun at Angkor Thom

This is Donna's favorite temple, the Bayoun (or Bayon) at Angkor Thom. This is taken on the second level, where there are 54 towers, each with four engimatically smiling heads. In the lower right, you can see a person to give you an idea of the size. Angkor Thom is a huge walled city that includes this temple and dozens of other towers. There's also a huge reviewing stand where presumably royalty would watch parades of elephants and jugglers (no mention of people juggling elephants or elephants that could juggle).

Paul

Ta Prohm Temple - Cambodia

We're back in Bangkok after a beastly 12-hour bus journey from Cambodia yesterday, but I wanted to post a couple more photos of the temples around Siem Reap and our time in Cambodia.

This is a giant strangle fig tree draped over a door at Ta Prohm temple. It's certainly one of the most photographed places in Cambodia and even makes the cover of the Lonely Planet guidebook.

Ta Prohm is my favorite, I think, of the many temples we saw. For the most part it's been left as found, with jumbles of huge fallen slabs everywhere. It makes getting around something of a maze game. The funny part of the game is that you come to a spot that has a danger sign and is roped off, so you go a different way and after winding about you find yourself standing directly behind the roped-off danger sign! Hmmm.

I'm going to try to put up a couple more pics. I'll try not to be too long-winded with the explanations.

It's nice to have a ten second delay and a mini-tripod for the camera, so I can set up a shot like this, then scurry over to be in the picture!

Paul

Tonight to Chiang Mai by sleeper train

As you can probably tell by all the blog posts, we're killing time. We're at an internet cafe in a ridiculously huge downtown mall in Bangkok. It's 7 floors and it goes on and on and on.

Our train for Chiang Mai in the north of Thailand leaves at 6:00 p.m. and arrives at 7:00 the next morning. We have sleeper berths (we think four to a compartment), so that will be a new experience. Hope neither of us snores too much. Same with our traveling companions.

We met a couple of young kids from Ireland yesterday who recommended the train. It's considerably less expensive than flying, even though Thailand has some ridiculously low airfares for in-country travel -- as low as $15 or so, which, with taxes and fuel surcharges ends up being about $35-50.

After a few days in Chiang Mai, I think we'll be ready for some beach time, so it's off to Krabi province in the South. We'll head for an island called Koh Lanta, and probably take a day trip to visit the more famous and crowded Koh Phi Phi islands where the film "The Beach" with Leonardo de Caprio was filmed. The area in the South Archipelago is supposed to have some stunning limestone cliffs and caves. Prime rock-climbing territory when one is sick of the beach or the snorkeling and diving.

We'll keep posting.

Paul

Temple Tantrums -- last day in Cambodia

Yikes! Just read daughter Anna's comment on our blog entry. Two feet of snow in Ohio while we swelter in 95 degree heat climbing over ruins. The midday heat here is nearly unbearable, yet we can't bear to waste our hours napping when there's so much to see.

Today we went 25 km out of Siem Reap to Bantay Sray, the Pink Stone Temple. It's small but incredibly well preserved, with our guidebook calling it the best stone carving on earth. It's amazing to think that it's almost 1100 years old and still with details in such good condition. To me, the giant strangler fig trees (banyans) are among the most interesting features of some of the jungle temples. I'll post a picture or two in the next couple days.

After Bantay Sray, we visited the Landmine "Museum". A sad and enlightening place. The United States is one of the countries that has refused to sign the U.N. anti-mine treaty, and one of the few countries that still manufactures mines. Here in Siem Reap province, more than 27,000 people have been injured by mines since the Khmer Rouge time, and that's just this small province. We see amputees everywhere. There are still many many thousands of unexploded mines in this area, though the immediate area of the popular temples have been cleared. Even so, it's not a great idea to stray from the well-trodden paths. The design of some of the mines is insidious. Either they're filled with ball bearings or designed to fragment. Infamous U.S. designed bouncing betties hop up five or six feet and explode at chest level and U.S. designed Claymores contain a strong directional charge. Our small donation will help a little, I hope.

As a change of pace after the mines, we went to see butterflies, though the current dry season population at the butterfly restaurant was a bit underwhelming.

Now it's a quick respite from the heat, a chance to blog and read email, then back out to Angkor Thom and the Bayoun for late afternoon before an early morning bus ride back to Thailand (10 hours of chiropractic adjustment).

Last night we went to see traditional Khmer Apsara dancing at a nice inexpensive restaurant. It's like slow-motion contortionism (too hot here for fast dancing, I guess) in elaborate costumes. It was so fun we're going back tonight...with the camera this time. A meal is under $3.00 and the dancing includes a troup of about 18 dancers, five musicians and a vocalist who makes sounds that to our Western ears resemble fingernails on a chalkboard. EEEEE--YYYAAAAAA-EEEE-WWAAAAA.

Paul