A little something extra

If you now scroll to the bottom of my blog you will see the list of blog entries I thought were interesting. They are in chronological order and dated, but not linked to the actual posts. Sorry about that. I'll work on that when I have the time.

I've started thinking about what its going to be like to drive when I get home. I was watching an American movie on television in a returant a couple of days ago. The movie had a driving sequence showing cars going down a road. For a moment I thought, "what the hell are they doing driving down the wrong side of the road for?", then I realized they were driving correctly for the US. Not only is it going to take a little time to get used to driving in a different lane. I'm also sure that I'll have intense moments where I assume that everyone is going to simply disregard all rules of civility on the road and attempt destroy each other with the same type of no-holds-barred mad max style of driving that is common in India.

Also, I think I'm going to sell my motorcycle in Kochi. I feel that I've reached my limit with wanting to see crazy remote areas of India, which makes having a motorcycle pointless (except for jumping buses of course). If I do this I'll be in Kochi for at least two more days.

Same-old, same-old

I added a picture to my last post about Agonda beach. Its a photo of the coco-hut I stayed in while I was there. My hut was the closest round one on the right side of the photo.

The picture along with this post is my view as I was ferried across a river in the late afternoon. You can see my motorcycle wedged in between a couple groups of people. The boat couldn't come to shore, so a couple of people had to carry my motorcycle to the boat.

On the boat I met this drunk fisherman who said he would show me a good hotel. I didn't feel I had anything to lose taking a look, so I agreed. He then took me to the dankest, creepiest, most over priced hotel I have seen over the last 6 months... and thats saying somthing. Needless to say, I kept looking and found a decent place for the night.

Today I am in Kochi (Cochi) which is a lot more like Key West than Venice. I will be resting here for one day and then I set off for my last stretch on a motorcycle.

My name is Indigo Montoya, you killed my father...

Today I am in... well actually I have no idea where I am, but I decided to stay at a really nice hotel. "Nice hotel" means I'm staying in a place that has hot running water and sheets on the bed. Anyways, I started off from Goa yesterday. Agonda beach turned out to be a really nice stop, mainly because I met so many wonderful people. In my first afternoon there I talked to people more than I had in my last two weeks of traveling... if you don't count the travel agency I bought my plane ticket from. It was hard to leave an area that was so easy to be in. By easy I mean the usual finding clean/good food, safe places to sleep, etc.

Yesterday I was riding and had gotten to the point where I was ready to turn in for the night when I saw a sign to a hotel on what looked like a very pleasant beach. I rode down a small side road until I found it and went to the reception to check prices on rooms. As I was walking up I passed about 12 identical Enfield motorcycles all lined up. The hotel told me the cheapest room they had was 600 rupees but they were willing to bargian with me. This was a first in India, most hotels seemed unwilling to budge even when they obviously needed some business. The bargaing ended at 300 rupees and I took a room. I immediatly met the people traveling on the Enfields which turned out to be a British tour group with an organization which I beleive was called Blazing Trails. The owner was a woman who did exactly what I'm doing in India on a motorcycle except it was a while ago, and she had been 23 at the time. She was pretty bad-ass. I spent the whole evening with the group and the next morning. They were all extremely kind, treating me to dinner and breakfast. I also really was impressed by where the tour goes. It really works to get people off the beaten path.

This morning, after saying good bye, I left the resort and headed south. I just stopped in a small town 60km from Kunna in Kerala. This means that I have now entered the last state that I will be riding a motorcycle through on my trip. This also means that I have only about 4 more days of riding before I reach the southern tip of India. I'll take a little longer though. I'm curious to see Cochi (Kochi) which I hear is India's Venice.

Also, another odd highpoint on my trip. I pulled my motorcycle over to ask directions at a gas station and found a man sitting near the gas pump. I said the name of the town I was headed towards and he nodded and motioned with his right hand down the road I was going. At that moment I noticed that he had a sixth finger. It was what looked like a completely normal second thumb. Still, to this very moment, I am kicking myself for missing maybe the most perfect chance in my life to recite a Princess Bride qoute. He didn't understand any english so it would have been a perfect. Oh well, I guess I'll just have to live an only half complete life now.

So in two days I will be in Kochin, and then its down to the next major city where I will sell my motorcycle. From there I will bus the last 80km to the very southern tip of India. I hope everyone is doing well.

Listing to the left

I apologize that this isn't in Chronological order, but it is, in my opinion, the best of what's happend to me... or the worst, depending on how you look at it. Did I leave anything out?

-It's the little things.
-I heart Pinyin
-Ninja stealth skills don't fail me now.
-I am a really crappy bargainer
-A maniac, maniac on the floor...
-Yubong so long... I make rhyme!
-Initial D
-Hot damn I can read my blog!
-No K2, only clouds.
-The shake down
-Monkeys, motorcycles, and ancient palaces.
-It all goes to my hips
-No you may not have more! Well, ok you can have more.
-Back in black (ski pants)
-Neglected stories
-More NEGLECTED STORIES (echoing voice)
-Errors and omissions

The following is...

Yesterday, I set off from the Beach in Goa I had stayed at for the last couple of days. Goa hadn't really turned out to be a break, and I got into a huge argument with the hotel I stayed at before I left because they said I had stayed longer than I had. Dave, who I rode through Pakistan with, called it "The Game", because he felt that avoiding scams was a type of competative sport. For me it was frustrating but not surprising.

Anyways, I headed through Goa and decided to stop on the south end of the state for one night at Agonda Beach. When I pulled into Agonda I got directions from a very nice man named Francisco (40% of Goa's population are Catholic) and eventually found a hotel. Agonda is an amazingly quite, simple beach. I walked up to the first hotel that caught my eye and met a gardener who led me back to the main building. When we got to the patio he went over to an Indian man who was laying down and said somthing in Hindi. The man slowly sat up and seemed to be having a little bit of trouble focusing on me. It was at the point that I realized he was stoned out of his mind. He welcomed me to the hotel and sent someone to show me a room. As I was walking away I asked him how much per-night at which time he looked rather pensive then replied "whatever you can pay, man" and then laid back down. This pretty much sums up my experiences with the owner of the hotel who is the kindest Indian I have met since I arrived from Pakistan. The hotel is also nicer and quiter than anyplace I have been in for months and I think I may stay for a couple of days just fishing. Agonda makes me realize I havent really taken a succesful break on my trip. Even when I tried I never really relaxed, so it will be a nice break before I continue down towards Chennai (Madras).

Not too much else to say. My adventures are rather mundane at the moment. My blog is getting pretty large so I'll try to put together a list of my favorites in a few days, or if there is anyone who has been keeping up with my travels I'd love to hear which ones you liked the best.

Openning the spam gates

I turned on spam protection three weeks ago in an attempt to stem the tide of spam related comments on my blog. This is making it impossible for some people to post comments so I'm turning it off. Also, I love getting comments so feel free to write whatever you want... within reason. If you ask a question and I have you e-mail address I'll try to answer it. Thanks.

It all goes to my hips

I realized that I havent introduced all of you to my luggage. While it has gone through a number of different stages, the core baggage has been minimal. The peripheral things I've carried include bicycle equipment and a sleeping bag in Pakistan, and now a motorcycle helmet and jacket. Beyond these things, everything I've carried for the last 6 months is in the picture above. The following is a list of what is (or is not) shown above:

1- My bag carries almost all of my non-clothes belongings. This includes, but is not limited to, my camera, a sketchpad, a pen, a world map, a notebook, my ipod, a balloon pump, balloons, a cd case with photo-cds, a pocket knife, sunscreen, chapstick, a calculator, dental floss, various world coins, my passport and my money belt.

2- This is a sidepocket for an extra water bottle. I use it for half of my bathroom stuff plus a little extra. It includes, my razor, extra blades, toenail clippers, shampoo, twine, fishing line, hooks, etc.

3- Clean water is such a problem traveling that I always keep a bottle with me. Not all water is unsafe, its just that drinking what the locals drink is a game of russian roulette that can keep you in bed/on the toilet for a long time.

4- This is my clothes bag. Inside is a pair of long shorts, 4 pairs of underwear, 4 pairs of socks, a tee-shirt, a dirty clothes bag, and a masquito net for my head. Also in this bag is my first aid kit, which is comprised of band-aids, IB proffin, tiple anti-biotic oitment, claritin, motrin IB, alcohol pads, and some gauze. Lastly, in the top pocket is my sewing kit.

5- This is my bike/motorcycle lock which I still havent used more than a couple of times. I'm thinking of getting rid of it. Usually people just let you put your transportation inside their building or courtyard if they have one.

6- This is my lonley planet travel guide for India. In China I kept the guide in my bag by cutting-out the sections on places I'd been or was sure I wasn't going. In Pakistan I bought a trekking guide, but didn't have a lonley planet guide for Pakistan. Having travelled with and without a guide I feel that they are kind of a mixed blessing. They are wonderful for reference, they make finding hotels much easier (usually), and if you want to hang-out with foriegners you can find the places they congregate. The problem is that they are very easy to become reliant on and then you really end up missing out on the places that are off the tourist track. Of course some people want the tourist track, so this is pureley my opinion. Also, a heavy well bound book can be a big help. There is always somthing to read, its a good bludgening weapon, works as a paperweight, and the thank you section can double as toilet paper in an emergency.

7- I sewed on some extra straps and pockets throughout my trip. This is the only one that has stayed. I keep my headlamp here for 2 reasons. One, there are rolling black-outs-applenty through-out Pakistan and India so it always good to have quick access to a light. Two, there is a magnet in the light and I would prefer to keep it away from my ipod.

8- My hat.

9- The thing that looks like a black stick attached to the bottom of my bag is my collapsable fishing pole.

10- (not shown)When I took the picture I neglected to attach my thermal top to my bag. It usually goes where the lock is and doubles as my towel when none is available.

Well, thats that. Some people have called me crazy for traveling this way, but really its been pleasant. I have'nt felt inconvienced by the lack of things I have, and traveling has been a cinch when it comes to dealing my bags. Till next time...

Stranger than Paradise

In Ratnigiri I was packing my motorcycle and getting ready to leave the hotel when I met a cyclist. He was honestly the first foriegner I've met in Inia that struck up a conversation with me. He informed me that even though there was no road listed in any map, it was possible to follow the coast all the way from Ratnigiri to Goa. So, I decided to throw caution into the wind and set of on roads and places I had no Idea how to navigate. This was a really good descision. I passed through some of the most beautiful coastal areas I've ever seen, and I was the only foriegner within a good distance. This made getting directions, safe food/water, difficult, but was exactly what I needed. After about two hours of driving I came to my first river crossing which I really hadn't exected. A fishing boat ferried me and my motorcycle across for 20 rupees, and I was off again. Around 1pm I hit a large bay and was told that a ferry only left at 2pm, so I spent some time in a small fishing village, fishing.

At two o'clock I got onto another fishing boat and set of for a small town I new absolutey nothing about. The town turned out to be built around an old Portugese Fortress, which is where the boat docked and unloaded me 30 minutes later. The town was pleasant, and because I was intent on exploring the fortress, I went looking for a hotel. After a brief look I found one on a hill overlooking a Palm tree lined beach. The room was simple, but good enough for my needs. The hotel was run by a very sweet family and was completely empty. It was the only hotel in town and hadn't seen a foriegner in over 3 months, which gave me an idea of how off the tourist track I was. I spent the rest of the day searching the fort, exploring hindu temple ruins, and fishing with some children I met. I couldn't help but feel like I had found paradise and it was the most cliche thing I'd ever seen. Ever pamphlet, tv commercial, etc. advertising exotic tropical get-aways was exactly where I was. Minus the four star hotel, it was the beautiful deserted paradise that I always think of as a haven for stressed-out business men and honey mooners. This made the whole experience a little surreal.

That night I went to sleep early only to be woken around midnight covered in welts, that were itching furiously. As best as I can figure I was being completely ravaged by bed bugs. My attempts at escaping to a safe place in the room were fruitless and I ended up sleeping very little the rest of the night. Around 4am, I fell asleep, and after what felt like seconds was woken by a loud knocking at my door and a voice saying "sir". Having completely given myself up to these encounters at this point I went to the door and openned it to find the owner of the hotel. I asked him what he needed, and he just looked at me blankly. He then informed it was 7:30am and walked off. I hadn't arranged a wake up call, and he hadn't asked me to breakfast, so as far as I know, he was just informing me of the time. I would have been disgruntled had I not been coming to except such random experiences in my travels.

The rest of the day was spent manuvering through gorgeous coastal villages and empty beaches. I reached Goa about 2 hours ago, got a room and am resting, which is good because I think I have a sinus infection. Goa is a vacation spot. I understand more what some people have said about it, as being a very easy place to stay. Its really hassle free here which is impressive for aplace in a country like India.

I don't know whats happening next. Bye for know.

Does this make my voice sound funny?

One of the more amusing aspects of driving a motorcycle across india is the random english road signs that are written to raise safety awarness... or something along those lines. Anyways, here are a couple of my favorites.

"fast is last"

"sense of life, essence of living"

"Today is my 'no accident' day (which, of course, implies that most days are your 'accident days')"

"Good driver, close to nation"

I'm in Ratnigiri, on the coast. Its funny that I left Hong Kong about 5 months ago, and have'nt seen the ocean since. Beyond not seeing the ocean, I've travelled through the farthest point from any ocean on any contenant in the world. Prior to this trip, the longest I had ever been away from the sea was about a month. Catching just a small wiff of salty air, as I pulled into town, made me feel a little bit at home. While I havent ever really spent that much time at the beach I think I'm coming to realize how important it is for me to be near the ocean.

A big change happend within the last couple of days. I think a lot of it stems from the fact that I bought a ticket home. I don't fly back until the first week in Janurary, but having a ticket radically changes the nature of my trip. This is no longer a no holds barred trip across the world, it has now become a trip home. Having a destination for the first time in almost 6 months makes the next month and a half a completely different journey for me. Most of the change I think will be in how I approach my travels, and while I sense the change, I'm not yet fully aware of what its implications will be. I'll keep you posted.

One exciting fact is that I'm in my local paper thanks to Peggy Townsend. This is fantastic because it brings me ever closer to seizing absolute power over the human race. I would explain the connection, but then I'd have to hunt you for sport. The article is online if you would like to take a look.

http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/archive/2005/November/15/style/stories/01style.htm

I will be in Goa tommarow, which should be interesting. I may spend a week, and I might leave in a day, who knows. Tata (is the brand of truck that is most popular in India).

Just a picture

Here's a photo of some of the ruins I've been exploring. At the moment I am in Pune getting my motorcycle worked on, buying plane tickets, etc. I will be heading out again day after tommarow.

Looks like I wont make it to Sri Lanka. I couldn't get ahold of the ferry service to confirm that they were still running so I had to plan to fly out of Chennai in the South of India. Hope your all well.

At night use dipper

I've recently learned a valuable lesson in driving a motorcycle across India. That lesson is: beware of trucking routes. The last two days I have found my way on to some roads that are heavily used by trucks which has been scarier than I would like to admit. Reckless might be the best way to describe truck drivers although it doesn't completely sum up how scary they drive. Most of the roads I've travelled so far I see a truck every 20km, but recently I have myself wedged in between group of up 20 trucks all stuck on single lane roads. The reall danger comes with how the truck (and bus drivers) handle attempt to drive. One way to describe what I'm talking about is to say that in the last 2 days I have seen 17 trucks on the sides of the road either having rolled over or been totaled in collisions with other trucks. The real danger becomes avoiding trucks that are driving very poorly, when the vehicles themselves are giant walls that can easily trap you in a situation you don't want to be in. I've made a commitment to stay away from these trucking areas at all costs, which just means moving slower on smaller roads. In the end, I'm glad to be on a motorcycle though, I really think its much safer than driving a car here.

I've started to notice a pattern. I have now, on 5 seperate occasions, in the last month had late night visitors to my hotel room. This has always happend at the seedier hotels I've stayed at and been annoying to say the least. Last night was one of the oddest of these situation, and thats saying something, because you may remember in earlier blog entries I talked about people barging into my room at all hours in some weird ways. Anways, I was at a small roadside hotel and had just nodded off. It was about midnight, and the doorbell rang for my hotel room. I waited a little bit to see if whoever it was would go away, but when it kept ringing I got up to see what was going on. When I openned the door I saw about 5 men standing at the door, one who I knew for sure was employed by the hotel. I was a little grumpy and so I asked what they needed and told them I really wanted to be sleeping. The man in the lead and closest to me was carrying a torch. It wasn't flamming, but it was definetly a torch and he was holding it as though it was illuminating the room. I felt a little bit like the villages had comes to kill the monster and burn down Dr. Frankenstiens castle. The torch bearing man informed me that he was a policeman, and that they needed to search my room. He then started to walk around me. Maybe it was that I was really tired, or that I'd just had enough of people waking me up at night but I stuck out my arm so he couldn't get by and I said if your a policeman where's your identification in a pretty gruff manner. He looked at me rather puzzled, and so I added verging on a snarl "if you don't prove to me your a policeman I'm not letting you into my room". At that point I think he understood me because we had a little bit of a staring contest which I think I was only able to succeed at because I was half asleep and actually staring at a really ugly hotel painting over his left shoulder. I expected him to either show me ID, or continue to push for me to let him in, but instead he gave up, gathered his mob, and left. I was too tired to be really shocked, so I locked the door and went back to sleep. In retrospect the situation turned out ok, but was more intense than I would have liked it to be. Hopefully I won't face anything like that in the future.

My motorcycle is taking a beating. I'm riding farther and through things I don't think it was made for. The speedometer no longer works, along with the odeometer, and the headlight. There are rattling noises coming from several places along with the obvios loose parts which are starting to wiggle like crazy, and an oil leak which started today. I will be taking it in to get serviced tommarow, hopefully that will go as smoothly as it has in the past.

Next stop is Pune to buy a plane ticket to Thialand and get some money from a US bank. "At night use dipper" is written on the back of 90% of the trucks in India along with a couple of other random things.

Fine and dandy like cotton candy

I'm in Mandu! You know? Mandu! Oh... you don't know about Mandu? Well, its very pleasant. Mandu is one of many hill stations in India. Hill stations are mainly what remains of old walled cities and their ajoining fortresses, palaces, etc. Mandu, while not as amazing as the ruins above Bundi are pretty fantastic. I'm always amazed how walking 5 minutes off a main road will land you in a place deviod of tourists and sporting amazing structures, views, and local people. Its a testement to the fact that when people travel, they don't often explore as much as they could. Of course, this isn't a blanket statement. I've met plenty of people willing to throw caution into the wind and trudge through wild areas, although not lately. This is a little sad because it would be nice to have a company when exploring the depths of a tomb of ancient palace. I will admit without hesitation that when I am alone, its difficult to go really deep within a pitch dark inner maze of rooms in a building that has been slowly collapsing for the last 300 years. Oh well.

I'm famous... well not really, but from the attention that I get in India you would think everyone knew me by name. Yesterday I was riding and a group of men surrounded me, which is not altogether uncommon. What made the experience really funny is one of the men pulled out a piece of paper and pen and asked for my autograph. One of his friend turned to him and said "you mean address?". The man with pen and paper in response said "no, no, no, I want his autograph". So, I gave my very first autograph. The whole situation was beyond funny, having reached some trancendant level of humor I can only begin to fathom. Today as I explored a crumbling tomb, a young man kept screaming across the valley at me "I love you". There really isn't any response for that one, at least that I could come up with of the top of my head.

I'm taking a lot of really boring pictures. I can't stop myself.

The fact that I'm travelling has finally started to seem mundane. Crazy things happen and I'm usually prepared for them. You could say that I've come to terms with expecting the unexpected, which is a new one for me.

The motorcycle is grand. Its like riding a bicycle in fast foward. I will post a more indepth entry when I find cheaper internet. Bye for now.

Monkeys, motorcycles, and ancient palaces.

Yesterday I was riding my motorcycle to the repair shop when something splattered across me. At first I thought that maybe a bird been flying overhead and defecated on me but there was so much of whatever it was that there was no way it could have been avian in nature. Then I saw it on the second story of a building I had just ridden by. It was a large monkey with a handful of its own fieces. As I drove off on my motorcycle I got to yell "You've won this round monkey, but next time..." while I shook my fist in the air. This garnered a number of stares from the locals but was well worth it. Maybe it’s a testament to my eclectic tastes, but for me this moment was one of the high points of my trip because the scene was just so bizarre.

Repairing the motorcycle went very well. Its amazing when you subtract the cost of parts from the repair job, despite all the work they did on the bike, labor cost 25 rupees. That’s about 50 cents in the US.

I went and explored the fort that sits above Bundi yesterday. It’s absolutely massive. The best part is that you can go into areas that are really run down. I got explore places I could tell people very rarely went and that’s was literally crawling in bats. Today I think I'll go back and sneak onto the wall that surrounds the fort. It looks like an amazing area.

Moving right along...

I am in Bundi at the moment in the southern area of Rajistan. I left Bikaner 3 days ago for Pushkar. I had been told that Pushkar was a touristy area, but I really had no idea. It was like a scaled down version of the Haight in San Francisco. Literally it looked like it was run by foriegners. There was even a "Pink Floyd cafe" that was called "The Wall". I arrived in the evening and didn't have a chance to explore until the next morning. As I left my hotel and began walking down the main street I was immediatly accosted by a man trying to give me a flower. I said "no thank you", but he insisted. A little confused by his behavior I took the flower and headed down the street. After having walked a couple minutes I was stopped by a man who had noticed the flower in my hand and said that I needed to come with him to a holy lake so I could toss it in for good luck. Traveling for 5 months has made me overly suspicious of situations such as these so I said no I had somewhere to go. The man again insisted and decided that while there had to be some money connection with this, it would be interesting to see what such an eloboratly planned meeting was all about. A young man with a bandaged hand took me down to the edge of a large lake. As we were walking I asked him about his swollen black and blue hand. He looked a little embarassed and told me he had heald a fire cracker too long during Diwali. I tried to look suprised. I was asked to remove my shoes and taken to the lakes edge where there was a man siting with a plate full of colored powder, rice, string, and a coconut. I was told that this was the ritual for throwing the flower in the lake and the man holding the odd assortment of objects would be walking me through it. He asked me to repeat some indian phrases, painted a rice encrusted dot on my forehead and tied a string around my wrist. After a couple of minutes he dumped the contents of the tray into my cupped hands, put the coconut in them and before I threw them into the lake to finish the ceremony he asked me for a donation of no less than 1000 rupees. 1000 rupees in India is enough for a me to live off of for a week. I had been expecting money to come in at some point seeing I was in such a touristy area, but I had expected it to be more like 50 or maybe 100 rupees max. He told me that many people had given this much and it was a good amount for the ceremony. I regained my composure as quickly as I could and tried to think how much I thought this experience was worth seeing that I had originally said I did not want to take part in it. So I gave him 10 rupees. His smile immediatly turned into a frown. He snatched the coconut from my hand and gruffly told me to throw the rice into the lake. I did as instructed and was then hurried away from the lake. I could'nt help but laugh. Someone had been placed near my hotel to give someone a flower which another person down the street was looking for. He would then take the person holding the flower to the lake where another man, who was/was playing the priest, would provide a ceremony and then ask for a huge donation seeing that he had just shared such a holy and sacred ceremony with a foriegner. Maybe the fact that I viewed the situation in such a way is a sign of how jaded I've become travelling.

I left the situation at the lake and continued my walk down the main street. Unlike the first stretch of my walk I was immediatly approached by people everywhere trying to sell me whatever was in their store, asking me for money, and trying to get me to take their picture for a price. This was so radically different from just 10 minutes ago, before I had reached the lake, I realized something must have happend, and then it hit me, I had been marked. The bright red smudge on my forehead was the mark of the tourist, and not just a tourist, but one willing to buy India, or more accurately buy what it had to sell. I made quickly for my hotel and washed off the red mark and sure enough the number of people pushing me into their shops, plummeted the next time I went wlaking around town. This was in part a situation that led to my decision not to stay more than a day in Pushkar. I had been deliberating whether or not I should stay for the Camel Fair that starts on the 7th, but ultimetly it didn't feel worth it for me. I did however meet some very nice westerners and the city itself was beautiful in some areas.

The next day I headed to Bundi. Along the way I saw Ox, Water Buffalo, Camels, Elephants, Monkeys, and some Deer that ran across the road. The odd thing about the deer, which included two fawns and a Doe, was their size. The Doe was literally the size of a horse, the two fawns where as big as a full sized male deer in the US. I really had no idea that they were so large in India.

Bundi is fantastic and I may stay here for the next couple of days. My motorcycle is having some problems, but nothing major. Nevertheless, I will need to have it worked on. Bundi has alot to offer so I don't think I'll get bored soon. Included is a picture of me with the mark and my new haircut. I hope your all doing well.

Hot diggity

So, I just happend to get to Bikaner in Rajistan on Diwali. Diwali is a little bit of a cross between Christmas and the Fourth of July. I have never in all my life seen so many fireworks/firecrackers set off in such a short period of time. What makes things even more intense is that they sell these firecrackers that look like half sticks of dynamite, and when they explode there is so much force it raddles windows about a block away. Being close when they go off is amazing becasue you can feel the shockwave blow past you. I have watched a number of children, under adult super vision, holding these exsplosives. The children then light the fire cracker and wait as long as possible, then throw it into the air so it explodes before it hits the ground. I can't imagine how many lose hands during this holiday every year.

I realized that I havent had a hot shower in 1 month, and that I've only had 1 in the last month and a half. That shower lasted less that 5 minutes before it ran out of hot water. Its funny, but when you don't have access to a hot shower, they seem a lot less important. I have showered maybe 6 times in a month and a half. Thats a pretty poor average for me seeing that I enjoy taking at least one a day back home. The lack of showers was hard on my hair which has been getting pretty long... at least on top. This caused my hair to start dreading on 3 seperate occasions. Thats not really my thing, so I cut my hair today with a pair of swiss army knife scissors. I had so much fun, I may never use regular scissors again.

Lastly, I started to get frustrated with people here. Walking down the street attracts so many locals who want to talk it becomes an obstacle course just to go one block. Talking to be people would be fine, but they all have the exact same questions, and usually don't understand your answers. For this reason I've begun telling everybody that my name is Count Dracula and that I'm from Tunisha. Every once in a while I meet people who can speak English and the inevitable "are you married" question comes up. When the person who asks that question realizes I'm 25 and not married, they are often horrified. Questions sometimes range from, did you parents drop the ball when it came to arranging your marriage, to "your not that weird looking how on earth could you be single". Marrying for love (as they call it here) is sometimes a fun concept to explain to people. The best is when people offer to introduce me to an eligable girls parents.

Anyways, I leave for Pushkar tommarow. The motorcycle is great so far. Theres a motorcycle racing track across from my hotel and I got to ride slowly around it a couple of times. I'm feeling better. Everything is swell. Bye for now.

Too late to rebel, too early for mid-life crisis.

Well, in my ever present quest to become Vanilla Ice in his first movie Cool as Ice ( http://www.x-entertainment.com/messages/385.html ) I have gone and bought a motorcycle. Yes, I am now the proud owner of a Honda Hero CD100, plus a completely over the top leather jacket. In the ajoining picture I am demonstrating the proper way to mount, or dismount, a motorcycle of this caliber. The choice was either buy the more fuel efficent motorcycle or and Enfield 350, but for my purposes the Enfield was overkill even though it was a beautiful motorcycle. Anyways, I should fill you all in on the last couple of days.

I was in the Sihk temple for two nights while I bought a motorcycle and prepared to leave. The day before I left I ran into Dietmar, a man from Germany, who was traveling across India on an Enfield. He offered to ride with me for the first two days seeing that I am not the most advanced motorcyclist. On October 30th, early in the morning, we left Amritsar. My first day on a motorcycle was pretty intense seeing that we went 250km, but everything went fine and we pulled into Ganganagar by 5pm. We opted for the cheaper hotel which was 100 Rupees. This turned out to be a mistake, but for the price we weren't complaining. We each took single rooms and began to unpack. 45 minutes after arriving, there was a knock on my door, which I thought was Dietmar, so I opened the door. In the doorway were 4 military personel who walked into my room with all my hotel paperwork, questioned me, and searched all my bags. It turned out that we had entered a town near the Pakistan border that rarely saw tourists so we were immediatly under suspect. The rest of the evening was uneventful until I woke up at 4am with a mouse crawling up my neck and onto my head.

The next day was uneventful. We entered a desert where the road was flat and in good condition. We again did 250km and arrived at Bikaner in Rajistan by 2pm. After searching for a bit we found a nice, comfortable hotel, which was good because I had food poisening for about the 5th time since I had hit Islamasbad. Truly, I'm having a very difficult time finding safe food. Food preperation here makes street food in China look healthy. Bikaner is amazing right now. There is a festival starting and every night hundereds of thousands of fireworks are set-off between 7pm to 1am. Its like the 4th of July but with christmas lights.

Anyways, I'm resting for a little bit seeing that I'm in a nice quiet place, but I'll be heading out again in 2 days.

I added 2 pictures because I have a fast connection. One was taken at 15000ft and is on my K2 post about my trek. The other one is on my last post and is of the Sihk Golden temple where I stayed for 2 nights. Hope everybody is doing well.