I'm coming at you LIVE from Ludhiana in Punjab. We just arrived here around 11:30am today, after arriving via the Shatabdi Express train from Delhi. It's a fairly fast train; the travel time was only 4 hours. We received a bottle of water, tea, and an egg omelet/toast meal on the train, which satisfied me for breakfast.
There were some real hardcore slums beside the tracks as the train traveled through north Delhi...it's pretty jarring to see that kind of grinding poverty.
I could tell as soon as we crossed over into Punjab as I received a text message on my Airtel mobile phone saying "Welcome to Punjab!". A while later, I received a message advertising cheap long distance rates to Bihar, which goes to show how many Biharis have migrated to Punjab.
DIGESTIVE UPDATE: The jig is up. The pizza from Pizza Hut that we had in Agra destroyed our digestive systems. Actually, both Dad and I were destroyed, but my cousin Geetu was fine since she's used to the local food. I was awakened at around 3:30am that night by the feeling of my stomach tightening. Five minutes later, I bolted for the bathroom. Dad was similarly awakened at 4am, so fortunately our stomachs decided to coordinate with each other to avoid a bathroom conflict. One dose of Immodium fixed me up though, and I'm fine now.
Wednesday, November 7, 2007
Monday, November 5, 2007
The Golden Triangle
Ok, it's been a whirlwind of the past three days! I'm currently sitting in an Internet Cafe in Agra, with some guys blatantly looking over my shoulder to see what I'm browsing and typing. When they read what I'm typing right now, they will get the point that they should not be looking.
Two days ago, we left Delhi early in the morning to head to Jaipur. We had a driver, and our ride was a classic "Ambassador" car (which means that it doesn't go that fast, and that we get passed by Hondas and Toyotas on the road). We drove through the outskirts of Delhi. There was a new, huge Metro station being built in one area...apparently there are many more Metro stations going up. Once past Delhi, we drove through Gurgaon. Gurgaon was pretty impressive in that there were lots of cool, sleekly designed buildings that have been constructed (all-glass buildings with unique shapes). A lot of these were call centres, thus giving a boost to the burgeoning industry there. After getting out of the populated area, we drove through rural Haryana before crossing into Rajasthan. The highway is divided all the way, so navigating the traffic wasn't too bad. The air became less polluted and more dry as we approached Jaipur.
We passed by the Amber Fort (which we visited the next day) and arrived in Jaipur. The traffic there was RIDICULOUS and UNBELIEVABLE. It was a complete traffic jam from before the first pink entry gate till after the last pink exit gate (those that have been there will know what I mean by the gates). Scooters, rickshaws, bicycles, motorcycles, pedestrians, camels, elephants, cows, cars, vans, and trucks were all in the road, and all intermingled everywhere. Our driver said that Jaipur has the worst traffic out of anywhere....even he was really stressing driving through there. If you give an inch, you have given too much. Entering a roundabout there is not for the weak. The next day, our driver found out that a close friend of his was killed in a car accident that day at an intersection close to where we were staying. The traffic was horrendous because it was the last Saturday evening before Diwali, so EVERYBODY was downtown doing some shopping.
Speaking of Diwali, lights were up in a lot of places in Jaipur. Fireworks have been going off every evening since I got here....the celebrations start a couple of weeks before the actual day of Diwali. It's pretty cool being here at this time and we partook in the atmosphere by doing some shopping in the Jaipur markets. A lot of older men were openly smoking joints on the sidewalks. There was one street we were walking on that had alternating smells of weed and urine. :-S
We witnesed some German couple who got separated from their tour group and were lost in the city. Unfortunately for them, they did not speak English, which meant they were screwed. Finally, some guy put on a rickshaw and sent them in some random direction, so hopefully they rejoined their peers.
The next day, we went and visited the Amber Fort, some other fort, and the City Palace. I'll post some pics of up at some point if time permits.
This morning, we came to Agra from Jaipur. They are working on twinning the highway between the two cities, but unfortunately, it's a single road for most of the distance. Of course, this meant some more harrowing traffic experiences.
As soon as we arrived, we went to the Taj Mahal. It was pretty impressive! Too bad the city that surrounds it is dirty and polluted (I think the guy behind me just got insulted). I got some good pics that I think I will be setting as my new desktop background at work. For supper this evening, we ate at a Pizza Hut and ordered an Indian pizza, a Chicken Tikha Makhani pizza. The mirch (peppers) were too much for me, and I had to pick them off by the time I got to my second slice. India 1, Aman 0.
MALARIA UPDATE: No malaria yet. The only bad day was the second night in Delhi, where there only about 5 mosquitoes in the room that night, but managed to bite me 1,295 times.
DIGESTIVE UDPATE: No more blockage, and frequency seems like its back to normal. However, volume is small despite my eating a lot, which is strange and scary at the same time.
Back to Delhi tomorrow, and off to Ludhiana the next day!
Two days ago, we left Delhi early in the morning to head to Jaipur. We had a driver, and our ride was a classic "Ambassador" car (which means that it doesn't go that fast, and that we get passed by Hondas and Toyotas on the road). We drove through the outskirts of Delhi. There was a new, huge Metro station being built in one area...apparently there are many more Metro stations going up. Once past Delhi, we drove through Gurgaon. Gurgaon was pretty impressive in that there were lots of cool, sleekly designed buildings that have been constructed (all-glass buildings with unique shapes). A lot of these were call centres, thus giving a boost to the burgeoning industry there. After getting out of the populated area, we drove through rural Haryana before crossing into Rajasthan. The highway is divided all the way, so navigating the traffic wasn't too bad. The air became less polluted and more dry as we approached Jaipur.
We passed by the Amber Fort (which we visited the next day) and arrived in Jaipur. The traffic there was RIDICULOUS and UNBELIEVABLE. It was a complete traffic jam from before the first pink entry gate till after the last pink exit gate (those that have been there will know what I mean by the gates). Scooters, rickshaws, bicycles, motorcycles, pedestrians, camels, elephants, cows, cars, vans, and trucks were all in the road, and all intermingled everywhere. Our driver said that Jaipur has the worst traffic out of anywhere....even he was really stressing driving through there. If you give an inch, you have given too much. Entering a roundabout there is not for the weak. The next day, our driver found out that a close friend of his was killed in a car accident that day at an intersection close to where we were staying. The traffic was horrendous because it was the last Saturday evening before Diwali, so EVERYBODY was downtown doing some shopping.
Speaking of Diwali, lights were up in a lot of places in Jaipur. Fireworks have been going off every evening since I got here....the celebrations start a couple of weeks before the actual day of Diwali. It's pretty cool being here at this time and we partook in the atmosphere by doing some shopping in the Jaipur markets. A lot of older men were openly smoking joints on the sidewalks. There was one street we were walking on that had alternating smells of weed and urine. :-S
We witnesed some German couple who got separated from their tour group and were lost in the city. Unfortunately for them, they did not speak English, which meant they were screwed. Finally, some guy put on a rickshaw and sent them in some random direction, so hopefully they rejoined their peers.
The next day, we went and visited the Amber Fort, some other fort, and the City Palace. I'll post some pics of up at some point if time permits.
This morning, we came to Agra from Jaipur. They are working on twinning the highway between the two cities, but unfortunately, it's a single road for most of the distance. Of course, this meant some more harrowing traffic experiences.
As soon as we arrived, we went to the Taj Mahal. It was pretty impressive! Too bad the city that surrounds it is dirty and polluted (I think the guy behind me just got insulted). I got some good pics that I think I will be setting as my new desktop background at work. For supper this evening, we ate at a Pizza Hut and ordered an Indian pizza, a Chicken Tikha Makhani pizza. The mirch (peppers) were too much for me, and I had to pick them off by the time I got to my second slice. India 1, Aman 0.
MALARIA UPDATE: No malaria yet. The only bad day was the second night in Delhi, where there only about 5 mosquitoes in the room that night, but managed to bite me 1,295 times.
DIGESTIVE UDPATE: No more blockage, and frequency seems like its back to normal. However, volume is small despite my eating a lot, which is strange and scary at the same time.
Back to Delhi tomorrow, and off to Ludhiana the next day!
Friday, November 2, 2007
In da Motherland
I'm in the Motherland!! The trip to Delhi was pretty uneventful, including:
1) The bus ride from Ottawa to Montreal
2) The flight from Montreal to Amsterdam
3) The flight from Amsterdam to Delhi
I forgot how brutal the red-eye flights are going to Europe. I was dead-tired by the time we arrived in Amsterdam, and we still had half the travelling time to go. Fortunately, I managed to get a lot of sleep on both flights, which helped.
The Delhi airport wasn't actually as bad as everyone was hyping it up to be. That's likely due to the fact that the KLM flight arrived there after midnight. There were still a million people in the arrivals hall waiting to pick up passengers...you almost feel like a celebrity for 5 seconds with everybody watching you.
Random weirdness: Everytime there is an announcement over the PA system in the airport, it is prepended with a sound. This sound is exactly the sound your computer makes when you receive a new e-mail in Windows Mail or Outlook Express. Did some guy actually record that sound into a WAV file on his computer and copy it into the airport PA system??
More random weirdness: I was waiting with all our luggage outside the airport while Dad looked for the prepaid taxi, and a couple of dudes came up to me and asked if I was "Mike".
The temperature in Delhi was 21 degrees when we arrived, which was pleasant. I now know that "burning pollution" smell that everyone refers to...I could feel my lung lifespan shortening by the minute. I think I'm used to it now, but I don't know if that's a good thing!
It's a beautiful day outside today however...around 22-23 degrees. We're in Khel Gaon (Asian Games village), and it's very quiet here....no cars honking or anything. I'm hanging out with aunt and cousins here, and their cream-coloured Labrador Retriever. They have filtered water here...we've been drinking it and haven't gotten sick yet, so the filter does work!
Digestive update: I'm experiencing "blockage". I will probably have the opposite problem in a few days.
Tomorrow, we leave for Jaipur!
1) The bus ride from Ottawa to Montreal
2) The flight from Montreal to Amsterdam
3) The flight from Amsterdam to Delhi
I forgot how brutal the red-eye flights are going to Europe. I was dead-tired by the time we arrived in Amsterdam, and we still had half the travelling time to go. Fortunately, I managed to get a lot of sleep on both flights, which helped.
The Delhi airport wasn't actually as bad as everyone was hyping it up to be. That's likely due to the fact that the KLM flight arrived there after midnight. There were still a million people in the arrivals hall waiting to pick up passengers...you almost feel like a celebrity for 5 seconds with everybody watching you.
Random weirdness: Everytime there is an announcement over the PA system in the airport, it is prepended with a sound. This sound is exactly the sound your computer makes when you receive a new e-mail in Windows Mail or Outlook Express. Did some guy actually record that sound into a WAV file on his computer and copy it into the airport PA system??
More random weirdness: I was waiting with all our luggage outside the airport while Dad looked for the prepaid taxi, and a couple of dudes came up to me and asked if I was "Mike".
The temperature in Delhi was 21 degrees when we arrived, which was pleasant. I now know that "burning pollution" smell that everyone refers to...I could feel my lung lifespan shortening by the minute. I think I'm used to it now, but I don't know if that's a good thing!
It's a beautiful day outside today however...around 22-23 degrees. We're in Khel Gaon (Asian Games village), and it's very quiet here....no cars honking or anything. I'm hanging out with aunt and cousins here, and their cream-coloured Labrador Retriever. They have filtered water here...we've been drinking it and haven't gotten sick yet, so the filter does work!
Digestive update: I'm experiencing "blockage". I will probably have the opposite problem in a few days.
Tomorrow, we leave for Jaipur!
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
I'm off!
Well, I'm about to leave for the train station within the next hour or so. The bags are ready, after a packing frenzy last night. It's a good thing that I'm paranoid and that I did a sanity check on the contents of my knapsack, because this is what I found:
If I didn't do that check, I'd be blogging from Guantanamo Bay. My next post will be from India, and I'm sure it will be entitled "Delhi Airport" as I will have been exposed to its madness and rawness.
If I didn't do that check, I'd be blogging from Guantanamo Bay. My next post will be from India, and I'm sure it will be entitled "Delhi Airport" as I will have been exposed to its madness and rawness.
Saturday, October 27, 2007
Friday, October 26, 2007
Introduction
Hey everybody, as you can see, I've started up a blog to record details of my trip to India as they happen. I plan on posting during any downtime I have (and dependent upon whenever I have access to an Internet connection).
I've set this up such that you get an email whenever I post to the blog. I've also enabled commenting on this site.
In any case, I leave for India in 5 days and I have yet to pack! However, I've got all the basics assembled that I need to survive there:
1) Malaria pills
2) Passport + visa
3) Wallet
4) Dad
Am I missing anything??
I've set this up such that you get an email whenever I post to the blog. I've also enabled commenting on this site.
In any case, I leave for India in 5 days and I have yet to pack! However, I've got all the basics assembled that I need to survive there:
1) Malaria pills
2) Passport + visa
3) Wallet
4) Dad
Am I missing anything??
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