giffy land

So I finally get around to posting the updates that have been sitting on my laptop the day before I fly home, Go figure

I got my ass kicked out of China. The whole thing starts back in old Katmandu where we had planned to get visas for China. However once there we had to go get a group visa for Tibet. The guy getting that for us told us not to worry about the visas for China as that could be handled in Lhasa, Tibet. WE went on our merry way in to Tibet and had a great time. Once in Lhasa our guide went to get us a special stamp to let us go to the rest of China. He came back and told us that we could only get one for the next two days, but fear not as it could be extended in Chengdu. We get to Chengdu were we a re damn near almost scammed by a smooth talking guy named John who claimed to be an English teach and offered to take us to see the Pandas. Fortunately we were warned by a guy that new him, that he will ask for money and the not talk to you if you give him any. We ere never in any real danger, just setting our selves up for an uncomfortable situation. SO back to the Visa thing, we go the PSB to get an extension and they promptly inform us that we cannot get an extension and have to leave China. A few angry phone calls to our guide later and we are on a flight to Beijing and form there Tokyo. SO Here I am now in Tokyo having spent a day sightseeing and a day now getting a new hotel room and enjoying my last evening before I fly home tomorrow. So far the highlight of Tokyo has been the museum of cartoons and video games, the two car car show and the world’s greatest grocery store.

I talked with our guide tonight about the situation in Tibet. IT was one of those conversations were you start out slow, feeling the water, then move in to the sensitive stuff, neither of us being quite sure that we could trust the other. It turns out that his grandfather was killed during the Cultural Revolution and that his cousin was imprisoned for 13 years. He himself temporally lost his guide license a little while a go because a member of a group he was leading left a picture of the dalhi lama as a n offering at a temple. HE also told us of secret get together to watch movies like “seven years in Tibet” and how they hid pictures of the Dali Lama, only bringing them out at Tibetan New Year. HE also mentioned how during the more repressive times, they would burn butter oil candles in the toilets so that they would not be discovered. It is an amazing and heart breaking experience to talk to someone who cannot live as they wish and has to hide many aspects of the culture. It is a story that has been played out for a long time whether it be Indigenous peoples during colonialism, Pagans in Medieval Europe, or even homosexuals in contemporary America. There is one group who is so damn convinced of there righteousness where it be because of some book they have, or the strength they posses, or their certainty in their own intelligence and ability, that they oppress another group who is perceived to be a threat the fragile little make belief reality they have constructed. Nothing in this world is as dangerous as a belief the one has found absolute truth, not a damn thing. As a former Prof of mind Jim once said “fear the true believer.” The one who believes fully and without question cannot tolerate the existence and success of a competing framework, because the very existence of such a thing threatens there belief that they have found the one true path.

It has been a while sent I updated this damn thing, so there is quite a bit to say. On our two full days in Port Blair we revisited the cellular jail, this time during the day. We also went out to Ross Island, the former British colonial administration thingy. Basically this island was built up in the 1800’s then abandon about say 50-100 years ago. The buildings have been overrun with foliage and such. Kind of like visiting ancient ruins. There are also deer and peacocks roaming around, which I enjoyed chasing though the forest.

The next day we tried to go to Mahatma Gandhi National Park, but it was closed. I did some Snorkeling. After that we returned to Port Blair and ran some errands.

We left for Kolkatta that next day and once there we didn’t really do much. The highlight was looking of books along this street, which had a used book store about every 20 feet. One amusing thing, while in the airport at Port Blair I read the sign about prohibited items on the plane. Among the usual items such as guns and knives, they list banana peels, chili pepper, and pickles. I guess they fear some sort of cartoon mischief on the plane.

We left Kolkatta the day after we got there for Katmandu. Nothing to eventful about the flight or customs, except for the fact that among the items that you can have only one of to go though the green line at customs, they list tricycles. Now how many tricycles could you conceivably bring with you and why would bring more then one.

Our first night in Katmandu we went out for dinner at this restaurant. They mentioned that they had fondue. Of course we ordered one. When the bill arrived we discovered that the pot of fondue cost no less then 2000 NPR (29US). Kind of silly if you ask me, but what can you do. We also went to casino in the hotel were the restaurant was in and I turned 500 INR (10US) in to 2600NPR (38US) So I guess I made back the money for the fondue.

The next day, yesterday, we went sightseeing around. The highlight by far was the temple where they cremate the dead. WE were fortunate enough to see almost the entire process as they loaded a body and lit it ablaze. Quite surreal. WE also went to a large dome shaped temple and met some kids who are fascinated by digital cameras and a temple high up on hill that provided amazing views. The architecture of these temples easily matches if not exceeds that of the cathedrals in Europe and some were built centuries, if not millennia before, part of one that we went to dated back to 250 BCE and most dated to the early part of the second millennium CE.

That evening we went shopping for clothes for Tibet. Nepal is by far the best place for outdoor goods. I got a down coat, down pants, fleece pants, and a fleece jacket, sunglasses, and gloves, all for less then 100US. These were all name brand and of good quality.

Today we are going to do some more sightseeing and buy some carpets. Since I am adding to this I can foresee that we will go to a temple complex were will meet this kid who will take us to his art school. There we will learn about various sorts of religious paintings and purchase a couple of wheel of life paintings. Finally we will go to a carpet factory were we will purchase three carpets

For the last four days I have been diving in Havelock Island. Basically I woke up had some breakfast then went out on a boat for two dives, got back read a little, had some dinner and went to bed. The diving there was damn right amazing. Saw some huge fish, lots of coral and even a couple of lion and rock fish. Unfortunately I didn’t see any rays or turtles, but oh well. We got back to Port Blair yesterday and laid around for a bit. The way we got back was by helicopter. Having never been on a helicopter before it was a lot of fun. Got to see some great views of the islands and it only took 15 minutes to get to port Blair as opposed to 3-5 by boat.

Last night we went to cellular jail, which was were the British kept political prisoners during there reign. Every night they have a commemorative laser light show. I have never seen something commemorated in quite that way. On one hand it is rather informative about the history of the prison, but on the other hand it is very very odd. Sort of like the bottles of water that they sell at robbin island in South Africa.

Today is my last full day in Auroville. Staying here has been quite the experience. I am no longer staying at the Centre Guest House. I only had a reservation there until the 7th, today. I went looking for a place near were my friends are staying. The first two guest house I talked to were full so I went looking for the third, Celebration guest house. I took a wrong turn and this man noticed I was lost. He asked me what I was looking for and I told him “Celebration Guest House” He said that he had a guest house and asked if I wanted to see it. It was a very nice place with a bedroom, bathroom, office and kitchen, all for half of what I had been paying. So that’s were I am staying now.

Not much new to report on Auroville. I went in to Pondicherry this morning. It’s just another over crowded Indian city, but it does have a little French influence. I had broken my film camera a couple days ago. Nothing to serious but the latch that holds the film door closed is broken. Unfortunately no one there could fix it by tomorrow. I was able to take care of a couple other things I needed to so it wasn’t a total loss.

Tomorrow I leave for Chennai and then it is off to the Andaman’s. I am really looking forward to doing some diving out there and perhaps getting my advanced certification.

So what to say about Auroville. First it is an incredibly beautiful place. There are lots of animals and trees and the buildings blend well into the surroundings. The people are also quite friendly. However the first thing that comes to mind is colonial. Basically auroville is filled with Europeans and some Americans. In the 1960’s under the guiding of The Mother a bunch of euros bought up a bunch of land in India and set about building a community how they wanted it, they have since expanded into the surrounding area and are continuing to do so. Before they came the land was barren and deserty but they terraformed it into a lush forest. Most of the work was done and still is done by the local Indian population, which makes you wonder how possible would this ideal world have been if not for the ability to exploit the locals. Now the thought of people motivated by semi religious inspiration (for the Aurovillians The Mother provides the Christ like figure) using local labor to build a “city on the hill” on the back of indigenous workers in a land that is not their own strikes me as awfully familiar somehow. I guess Auroville is best described as the Disney Land of India sort of like Swaziland is the Disney Land of Africa.

The biggest problem facing Auroville today is that they have deified The Mother and what she says is infallible. No this poses the same problem that fundamental Christianity and Buddhism face. The Mother, like Christ and Buddha sometimes said thing that were contradictory or may not be relevant in the modern world or are just plain crazy. Of course they also said things that were incredibly wise and insightful, and oddly most of them agreed with each other. In the case of Auroville, many conflicts apparently devolve into a battle of scriptures or turn into decisions on the nature of the faith.

Seems I can’t leave the country without some sort of auto related mishap. First I was in a roll over accident in the deserts of Namibia. Then we hit a kid while driving though western Cuba, She was ok, but still. And now I was in an auto rickshaw accident on the way to the train station. IT was actually quite comical if not for the fact that people were involved. We came up to some cars stopped at a stop light. The driver did not brake in time so we bumped into a scooter in front of us. A few seconds later a car plows into us from behind, which in turn pushes us into the guy on a scooter knocking him to the ground where he is then hit by a guy on a bicycle. No one was hurt but the rickshaw and the scooter were both bumped up and the car hit with enough force to bust open the radiator, so the car is leaking water all over. WE pull up to a corner and the drivers begin to sort it out, under the watchful eye of anyone who happened to be in the area. About 10 minutes later we get going again. The poor driver was really shook up. It too bad to because he was the nicest auto rickshaw driver I had had in India. I imagined that his would probably cost him a bit so I gave him 500 rupees (11US) for the fare.

Well I am now safe and sound in Auroville, I just need to find Maria…

Not much has happened as of late. I decided to go down to Mysore as it seemed like an interesting place. Had a rather uneventful train ride save for a derailed train on the side of the tracks. Unfortunately I could not get my camera ready fast enough. Today we are going to go to the zoo as well as to the palace and perhaps an incense emporium. Tomorrow though we are going to a couple of wildlife sanctuaries and then are driving back to Bangalore.

Some of you are familiar with my “commercials that will never air.” Most designed to combat the anti-choice zealots on the right. Well I have another one; this one is actually for the cigarette companies. Now while I support the pro-choice movement, I am not really a supporter of the tobacco companies, but hey humor is humor. This one was developed with Rachel and Tara during dinner in Bangalore. Here is the scene. It’s a polluted city, smog is everywhere. A person lights up a cigarette and begins smoking. The narrator then says something to the effect of “the air around you is full of pollutants, our cigarettes have filters to help protect your health, SO light up and save your lungs”

Two Posts today

So I am back in Bangalore. We took a taxi from Mysore to here, it was a rather enjoyable way to travel. The scenery is rather reminiscent of Cuba including ox carts and other slow moving wooden vehicles. The day we got back we didn’t do much expect go out to dinner at Ebony, this cool rooftop restaurant near our hotel. The next day we went to a rather lame palace and attempted to see Bangalore palace. The only problem was that it is private property and is not viewable form the road. It is supposed to be a complete replica of Windsor palace in England.

Before we left Mysore we went to the zoo. The whole zoo was about the size of an exhibit at Woodland Park. Most of the animals were in poor condition including some chained elephants and a malnourished lion. The other animals appeared healthy, but were in cages that were way too small. Me and sis were both attacked by a praying mantis that landed on both of our legs, in my case awfully close to you know where. :( The highlight of the whole zoo was getting to feed some monkeys peanuts.

I don’t really have much planned before I leave Bangalore on the 4th. I have to resolve this annoying lost ticket issue and am having dinner with my friends tonight. But that’s about it.

Not much has happened as of late. I decided to go down to Mysore as it seemed like an interesting place. Had a rather uneventful train ride save for a derailed train on the side of the tracks. Unfortunately I could not get my camera ready fast enough. Today we are going to go to the zoo as well as to the palace and perhaps an incense emporium. Tomorrow though we are going to a couple of wildlife sanctuaries and then are driving back to Bangalore.

Some of you are familiar with my “commercials that will never air.” Most designed to combat the anti-choice zealots on the right. Well I have another one; this one is actually for the cigarette companies. Now while I support the pro-choice movement, I am not really a supporter of the tobacco companies, but hey humor is humor. This one was developed with Rachel and Tara during dinner n Bangalore. Here is the scene. It’s a polluted city, smog is everywhere. A person lights up a cigarette and begins smoking. The narrator then says something to the effect of “the air around you is full of pollutants, our cigarettes have filters to help protect your health, SO light up and save your lungs”

I put up four posts today with lots of new nonsense

So I am staying in a hotel that is a bit more then I wanted to spend. It is not expensive, by US standards, but it is a little high for India. I looked around though and couldn’t find anything that was both cheaper and not full of bugs. It is a cool place though. The power goes out rather randomly, they have a generator, but it fails every now and then for 10-15 minutes. I find it kind of fun; I bust out my headlamp and pretend I am camping. They also call me whenever I have a phone call. It’s really cool. In a semi-British accent they say “A call for you sir” and I am very tempted to respond in an overblown British accent, “Well jolly good , send it though then” I don’t of course, but I ma very tempted.

So not much has happened as of late. In Bombay we pretty much just rested. I managed to get some pages for my passport, which is pretty cool. We also took a trip out to Elephanta Island to see some 1500 year old Hindu statues centering around the god Shiva. Shiva is a main god who is both the creator and destroyer. Once again our good friends the Portuguese did some damage to the island, but there are a few statues that were in good shape. Interesting when I got to the airport on of the security people there had been on the boat ride to the airport.

I left Bombay yesterday. I was going to take a train ride to Bangalore, but woke up feeling very nauseas and sick. I get a little train sick already so getting on a 24 hour train was probably not a great idea. Therefore I went to the airport and got a plane ticket to Bangalore.

Once I got to Bangalore I checked into the hotel I had made reservations at. It was quite the dump, dirty stained sheets, bugs, weird rustling sounds form the walls, that sort of thing. I left there and found another hotel down the street that was nicer. It is a little to expensive though so today I ma going to look for a good place that is cheaper.

Also on the economic front, we have decided not to do the Trans-Siberian railway trip. Instead we are going to fly home from Beijing on the 9th or 10th of March. Generally a round trip ticket is not substantially more then a one way, so I may get a roundtrip ticket and come back this summer.

So let’s see… Done quite a bit in the past couple of days. On Sunday we went on a dolphin boat ride and went to ….

The dolphin boat ride was more of a porpoise boat ride, but it was still a lot of fun. Saw an Indian prison form the boat, even had some of the prisoners wave at us. It was a very odd feeling. Much different form visiting detention facilities in South Africa. This felt a lot more intrusive, but for some reason less depressing.


On Monday we went on a bird watching boat trip. It was over on this island by the capital of Goa. We took a dug out canoe though these mangrove sided rivers. Saw a few birds and some water buffalo. We also went to some Hindu temples on that same day.

Goa was colonized by the portchagees oh about 400 years ago, right during the heart of the inquisition. Of course they bought with them the lovely missionary types, who in their arrogant self righteous imperialist way destroyed all the Hindu temples in Goa save one. Fortunately they were not able to completely destroy the religion and when they left in the 1800’s many of the temples were rebuilt. We were able to visit the one that they didn’t destroy, the temple for the Goddess Vishnu. We also visited another temple, this one for sheep. I made an offering at the alter, partly as a way of paying respect for allowing me to visit, and hey yah never can have to much good fortune regarding sheep.

I got to say that Hinduism is one of them one fascinating religions of the world and I guess when you are the oldest faith in the world (at least 3500-4000 years old), you probably will be one of the most complicated and interesting. While it is no more True then any of the other religions of the world, True in this case being rational physical truth. It nevertheless does offer some interesting Truths in the mythos, spiritual sense, much like most other religions. It is interesting how just about all the religions of the world stumble on some of the same fundamental principals. The may have different gods, Jesus, Vishnu, Gaea, whatever. And they may have different mythological frameworks, but these devices all tend to proclaim the same thing. It is to bad that some religions had to get this missionary imperative thing going, which has no tolerance for other beliefs and sees there way as the only way to salvation or whatever. I like to see religion as much more of a personal mechanism for understanding both self and the outside world. While I may disagree with the Christians of the Hindus or just about any other religion, I respect there attempt at achieving understanding as being as worthy as my use of science, reasoning, or whatever. Religion only really becomes destructive when it gets power, like Christianity in premodern Europe, or Islam in the Middle East today.

I sent 34 baby turtles into the sea today. One of the most amazing experiences I have ever had. Turtles find there way to the sea by following the brightest thing. Generally that is the night sky over the sea. However people have built lots of lights by the beach so the turtles get confused. Therefore they need some help. I have a rather bright LED headlamp and was able to use that to guide some turtles into the sea. They just scoot along until they hit water then they swim like crazy. What is really amazing is that 20 years from now after swimming all the way to Europe they will return to this exact beach and lay there own eggs. Some of the turtles we sent into the sea may still be alive long after all of us who were there are long dead.

It really makes you marvel at the fact that the same process that brought us here bought the turtles. And whether you believe these process to be evolutionary as I do, or religious as some other do, it doesn’t really matter. What matters is the humility and marvel that such an understanding brings. The interconnectedness of reality is truly amazing. Well enough philosobabble. Have good night.

I posted three new posts today

So we got to see sea turtles, baby ones at that. They are so adorable, almost all black and about 2 inches long. I even got to hold one. Some fishermen who live near by are taking care of them until they are ready to go out to sea. They have a little fence around the nest, where there is still some waiting to hatch. I am going to go down tomorrow morning and see if I can see some come up from the sand.

Yesterday we went to see some old portchagees (sp) churches and a spice plantation. The porteguess were particular ruthless missionaries and had a habit of destroying Hindu churches and then building huge cathedrals. After they departed however it seems that both Christianity and Hinduism have been able to coexist and even blend.

This blending of faiths is quite interesting. Many people practice both Hinduism and Catholicism. Hinduism stresses that God come to earth in many forms and in many different ways. To them there is no contradiction in celebrating both Hindu holidays and Christian ones. In fact many people have adopted Jesus into Hinduism as a god along side Vishnu, Ganesh, and other. Linda, who works for lazydays, told us that one time she was going to midnight mass on Christmas Eve with some Hindu friends of hers. She asked them shy they were going and they said to celebrate the birth of God. It is nice to see tolerance built into a religious system like that.

Another interesting note is a shrine in the place we are staying. It is currently an alter to the Christian god of Jesus. However it appears as though it was at one point an alter to a Hindu god, which they affixed a cross to the top of and placed a crucifix inside.

The spice plantation was interesting, quite touristy, but not all that bad. Learned some cool stuff about the various spices and there uses and got some yummy ones to boot. Plus we got to see a water snake hunt for fish as well as some sort of river crab.

Many of you are familiar with my relatively decent luck. Well it has struck again, as you know our train was late and it wound up making us miss our flight. We enquired with a travel agency who told us we could not get out today and would have to wait until tomorrow. We decided to go to the airport and see both if we could find a flight and if we could get a refund for our missed flight. The taxi took us to the wrong terminal and as we were driving away I noticed the word Goa on a departures board. Low and behold an earlier flight had been delayed. We went and bought tickets and headed into the airport. I then phones lazydays and told them of our updated info.

We arrived in Goa transferred from the airport to the villa. Got a flat on the way and so it took as just a little under 2 hours to get here. When we finally arrived we were most happy. Everything here is amazing, great views, spectacular service, great décor, everything.

Woke up in the morning and had a nice breakfast outside under the trees. We decided to go do some shopping as we all need some food and clothes. Went to a couple of Indian clothing stores and got taken, till we got the hang of it. Basically they will try and charge you 4 times what something is worth. I almost bought a some clothes for ma guy for 1500 rupees (35US), but ended up getting more for 1200 (28US) somewhere else. Still too much though. We also went a nice size market in another town were I bough a couple of large Indian blankets for 2000 rupees(45US) after bargaining down from 4000 rupees (90US). They also tried to sell mom some blankets but we walked away. They fo0llowed us for the next 20 minutes continually trying to get us to buy more. Finally offering two similar blankets to mine for 800 rupees (18US). I felt a little silly after that, but you live and learn.

We got back home around 5 to meet a woman who works for lazydays so that she could fill us in on our stay. Apparently I had made the reservation for our villa in Goa for Feb 14th to the 21st not for Jan. Despite it being written on many forms I never noticed the error. When I called with our new info they were quite perplexed until they discovered us in Feb. If we had made our flight on the 14th no one would have met us at the airport and we would have had no idea why. Also quite lucky was the fact that the villa just happened to be empty and will remain so until the 21st. They were very understanding and so now we are enjoying our stay. I forget who the Greek god of travel is, Apollo maybe, but who ever it is they are smiling on our journey.

Today are going to a spice farm and to old Goa. Should be fun. Hope all is well back in the states.

Had a bit of an adventure trying to get on our train. We got to the station and attempted to find out both where to boar our train and then were to sit once we got on. There are a bunch of people who offer to help, but most of them either make up stuff or direct you to random tourist offices. They also informed us that the tourist information office was closed, it wasn’t of course. We finally got seat assignments and checked the giant board for our departure platform. Looked up and saw a train to Bombay leaving at 04:00 at station 4. Went to station 4, 4:00 rolls around and no train. Asked some people if we were in the right place. We weren’t, we needed to go to platform 6. Weren’t there, not our train. I then went back to the big board to double check. Saw our train, not the one we had saw before, but the one whose number matched ours. It indeed was leaving form platform 6, but was delayed till 17:40 (5:40). Went back told Sis and Justin and we waited. They went to try and call mom to tell her we would be late, but could not succeed, due to confusing phone system. Still was a little confused about the missing 4:00 train until I realized that the board was on 24 hour time so 04:00 was of course 4 in the morning. We got on our train when it arrived at 5:40 and went to our cabin.

Turns out we are riding with the chief engineer of a sizable chuck of the Indian rail system. In addition to lots of interesting stuff, he informed us that we are riding in the nicest car in India and most likely one of the nicest in the world. We have ample space and will be served a freshly cook multiple course meal. Not to shabby for under a hundred dollars each. He also has offered us a tour of the maintenance facility were the trains are repaired, an offer we will try and take up when we are in Bombay. Well we are off and traveling in comfort and hopefully the delay will not mean that we miss sour flight.

Update. Saw a bunch of kites flying around. We trained through an Indian village at sunrise and there were all these kites flying around, it was most beautiful. Our companion informed us that the Indian state we are in was having a kite festival. Just our luck I guess.

So India kicks ass. It is sort of like they built a country in the middle of a construction site. There are people selling things everywhere and everything appears half finished.

I met a very nice India that helped me to get my train tickets. I am sure it was partly to get money, but it was still a nice change from Russia.

Our hotel is very nice, especially for under 10US a night. Very friendly people and very decent accommodations. Even get CNN and HBO in the room.

Today we leave for Mumbai(Bombay) at about 4:00pm It should be a nice train ride. Our ticket does not list any seats on it however so I am not sure exactaly what to do when we get to the station. Ahhh Well, I'll figure it out.

Getting ready to leave St. Petersburg and then Russia for India. Not so much looking forward to the 6 hour flight aboard a Soviet Turboprop plane, but it should be an experience.

Yesterday we went to the Winter Palace and the Monument to The Heroic Defenders of Leningrad. The Winter Palace complex is basically a giant museum now. It was were the Bolsheviks defeated the interim government way back when, but there really isn’t any mention of that now. Saw some cool paintings and some artifacts.

Also went to the Monument for the Heroic Defenders of Leningrad or MHDL (Metal) which is a fitting acromin for the giant monument. Basically during World War 2 Leningrad now St. Petersburg was sieged for about 3 years. About 1 million people died half soldiers half civilians. This was a monument to them. They were basically all that stood in the way of the Nazi sweeping though Russia. The monument was started shortly after the war but Ol’ Uncle Joe Stalin hated Leningrad quite a bit so he destroyed the monument and lost most of the artifacts. It was finally completed in the 70’s. Interestingly the area around it was designed be Stalin to be the new center of St. Petersburg. It never really became that. He designed it to be symmetrical and it is that, which make it quite eerie. It kind of is a little Moscow in St. Petersburg.

We also visited the museum of political history. One of the more interesting we visited. It was housed in the building were Lenin worked in 1917. The have preserved his study with all of his office supplies and stuff. It was quite hard to resist the temptation to play with his phone :).

Well that’s about it, off to India.