Chris and Paula’s World

This morning we left Chandigarh, the capital of Punjab and road 8 hours in a mountainized schoolbus with enough legroom for a person who is 5 feet tall. I have to hand it to these drivers, they can maneuver the crazyiest roads I have ever seen with relative ease. Donkeys, children, 500m drops, cows, water buffalo, oncoming trucks and buses all presented little apparent challenge for our driver, who I have affectionately named the ‘Indian Hammer’. Anyhow, we arrived at 4pm, I climbed onto the top of the bus to retrieve our bags and next thing the driver is pulling away. Some quick dancing and I avoided some power lines and threw the bags down as the driver pulled off. A lot of excitement after 8 hours of sitting on a bus. A short cab ride (500m climb in 6km) and we at our hotel.

It is considerably colder here. Roadside stalls sell just about everything including touqs and socks and mittens. It is not the India we left. Many of the people here are of Tibetan descent and look nothing like your typical Indian. Prayer wheels line the streets and prayer flags are strung overhead. Lots and lots of shops of just about everything Tibetan you can imagine. Everything is a hill here - McLeod Ganj is literally on the side of a mountain. I am pretty excited to be here - the air is clean and cold and the feeling is chilled and relaxed. Looking forward to some good walks and hikes and some quiet time for reading, planning world domination and whatnot.

Lots of beautiful sights here, we will make a concerted effort over the next couple of days to get some photos uploaded.

Bye for now!

Chris
XOXO

We have just returned from a trip to the hospital. We had to find a dentist for Chris as he cracked his molar. My theory is that it was cracked a while back in Tanzania when a soccer ball crashed into the side of his face. Anyhow, a piece of tooth came away from a filling in the tooth, and the filling/tooth was cutting into Chris’ tongue. The dentist said he needs to get a root canal and crown but that it will most likely hold together til we get back home. He grinded it down where it was bothering Chris’s teeth, and that seems to have helped a lot. The medical centre that we found was a part of Delhi’s Apollo Hospital, a beautiful hospital that would not be out of place in North America. What was amazing, was that we had no appointment, and 5 minutes after arriving, Chris was visiting the dentist (a young guy who could not have been 30). Good thing it happened now (in Delhi) and not as we head further north. We are learning that facilities are always better than we expect they will be. It is a major benefit to get out and travel, challenging all of the misinformed stereotypes that we have.

Today we are heading to Chandigarh. Apparently it is the greenest city in India. The whole city is a modernist design, designed by Le Corbusier. The city is on a block/grid system that divides into “Sectors” - our hotel for example is in “Sector 18″. We’ve been told it is very clean and modern. Will be yet another interesting contrast here in India. We’ll be there for 3 nights, then boarding a bus to Dharamsala!! Looking forward to seeing the Himalayas and feeling the change in temperature that a rise in altitude will bring.

Hope everyone is having a good Fall. We just saw that the temp in TO is 10 today and 13 in Vancouver. Sounds so good to me right now!!!!

Bye for now

Paula

After some deep meditation and thought, I decided to get my haircut today. Cut, shave and head massage (unlike any I have ever had) for 300 Rupees. That’s the news for today…

We are in an internet cafe in Jodhpur, escaping the mid afternoon heat outside. Jodhpur is near the desert in Western Rajhastan and we are feeling the heat. Happily there is no humidity so we are coping ok. I’ll start with our time in Jodhpur then move to Udaipur as I’ll have more to say about that. Jodhpur is a city with an old section and a sprawling new section. There are narrow streets with shops everywhere, and like most big cities, packed with people, rickshaw wallahs, motorbikes, cows, and stray dogs. People are quite friendly here and we haven’t had any problems finding our way around. This morning we visited the massive fort that overlooks the city. It is where the maharaja family lived until the 70’s and has since been restored into a cultural centre and museum. The architecture is amazing here, with beautiful sandstone and marble carved into gorgeous patterns, and lots of wood and stone lattice work in the windows. The rooms are full of bling — the walls are often covered in mirrors, coloured glass, luxurious fabrics, paintings, and even semi precious stones.

After the fort we took a rickshaw to the train station where we bought tickets for a 5:55 a.m. ride to Jaipur for tomorrow. What a fuss buying tickets. There is a line for “Ladies, Foreign Tourists, and Senior Citizens” that we stood in. This is our second time purchasing tickets so we knew the drill. We didn’t anticipate the crazy budding! Man oh man, what a production! We finally got our tickets (for one of the trains, the other tickets we needed were not available so we will have to do the whole thing again when we get to Jaipur!).

Back to Udaipur. We loved Udaipur. We were there for three nights and really enjoyed this quiet, peaceful city. Octopussy was filmed here and is showed nightly at pretty well every hotel in the city. The streets were narrow and winding as well as hilly — most building were painted white and it was very clean. Udaipur as a city is trying to be more environmentally friendly (lots of solar panels around), easy on tourists (not so much haggling), and also generally cleaner. From our hotel we could see the beautiful Lake Palace - formerly home to Maharajahs, now a gorgeous hotel. In momsoon season, the lake surrounding it fills and there are boat rides that you can take at sunset - which we did. It is lovely. On one side of the city, the Monsoon Palace perches high up on a mountain. We went up there for sunset on our first night in Udaipur. Amazing view, funny monkeys and a beautiful if somewhat dilapidated building. This is where the Maharaja would spend monsoon season. The City Palace is home to the Maharajah now. The Maharajah doesn’t hold official power anymore, but the family is very involved financially in the well being of the city. They live in part of the palace and the rest is used as a museum.

We took a rickshaw tour with Salim, a guide we met at the train station. He was a good guide and took us out for two half day trips. On our first day we visited some city gardens, ghats, a memorial and the Monsoon Palace. On our second day we visited the spice market, a burial ground for the royal family (amazing - hundreds of “cenotaphs” - huge stone or marble memorials), some local villages and a Jain temple. One of the Jains’ most fundamental beliefs is that all animal life is precious and should be protected. Some of the very devout Jains will actually cover their noses and mouths to prevent accidental inhalation of insects, and may also carry a broom that they use to sweep in front of themselves while walking to avoid stepping on insects.

One of our highlights of Udaipur was a cooking class that we took. Shusna is a local lady that cooks a mean Indian dish. We first learned to prepare garam masala as well as masala chai. We also learned how to make paneer, paneer masala, curried dhal, and vegetable raita. At the end we of course got to eat it all too! It was a lot of fun and we are hoping that we remember how to do it when we get home. We both took lots of notes on our recipes, so hopefully it will come back to us.

That is all I have to report for now. I seem to swing between loving it here, and not being so sure. Today walking through the crowded market, walking by the odd open and smelly sewer, and constantly hearing honking horns, I felt unsure again. I think that may be just the way it is with India. Guess you have to take the good with the bad. The good seems very good, I must admit. I feel I am constantly seeing things that make me think I will love it here more than anything else. On our way to the fort today we were invited into a home where we chatted with a man and his wife for about 30 minutes. She henna’d my left hand, introduced us to her grandson, and gave us some good suggestions for local restaurants to try. Like several others they showed us their collection of foreign currency and told us how much they like Canadians “great friend to India, and many Indians loving living in Canada”. These are the exchanges with people that you really come to appreciate and that will no doubt make up many of the good memories that we carry back home with us.

Going to leave it there. Hoping that all is well at home. Namaste.

Paula
xoxo

We are currently en route to Udaipur, India. After a sleepless night (the Red Sheild didn’t turn out to be the bargain we thought - so humid in the room that sleep was virtually impossible) we were up at 5:00 a.m. to get a taxi to the train station for a 6:25 a.m. departure from Mumbai Central to Ahmedabad. We had to wake up a taxi driver who was sleeping in the back seat of his car. He got up grudgingly, took a white shirt from his otherwise empty trunk, and we were off. The train was not what I expected. As this was a day train, we had booked Air Conditioned Chair Class, which basically means a reclining seat in a cool car. I had anticipated fighting our way onto the train, but our car was more than half full. Locals seem to travel in the non A/C 2nd class cars - a little cheaper. The train included meals and water which was a surprise to me (Chris of course knew this as he is super-planner). We boarded and were each given a litre of bottled water and breakfast. Not sure what it was, but closest I can say would be polenta with peanuts, raisins, and beans. Quite nice, actually. It was a 7 hr journey so we were also fed lunch - a tray with several veg dishes - dhal, mixed spicy veggies, a tofu and tomato dish, a roti, soup, and ice cream for dessert. From Ahmedabad we have an overnight train this evening at 11:20 p.m. arriving in Udaipur at 7:15 a.m. India is huge.

Not feeling as positive today - could be the lack of sleep and waiting hours and hours for a train in the crazy humidity with the constant eyes on us. I’m sure it will take some getting used to. Hoping to get some sleep tonight and arrive in a more tourist friendly destination tomorrow. The people are very friendly, don’t get me wrong… they are just fascinated by us which is more than a little odd on the receiving end.

Anyhow, just thought I’d add some notes. A good and bad day I suppose!

P

Hi! Just arrived in Mumbai, India on Sunday morning at 12:20 a.m. We had a good flight from Joburg complete with free drinks and free socks. Those that know me, know how much I like free things! The Mumbai airport was not as chaotic as I would have expected. All ran very smoothly and we got out of there pretty quickly - considering there were three international arrivals at about the same time, I was impressed! No doubt this airport sees a huge amount of traffic.

Leaving the airport building was like walking into a steam bath. The air was so thick with humidity that it felt like you could ring it out. Our hotel was waiting to pick us up along with another guy who was on the same flight as us. Driving to the hotel is an experience that I won’t soon forget! We have seen some crazy traffic and driving through this trip - Cairo comes to mind very quickly. Not unlike Egypt, Indians LOVE their horns and use them constantly. The taxis are yellow and black 35 year old Premiers and they are everywhere, sharing the road with autorickshaws or tuktuks, other traffic, the odd cow, and lots of stray dogs. There seem to be few rules of the road and vehicles zip in, out, between, over lanes, and into spots that it doesn’t seem they will fit. There are lots of motor bikes of different varieties and they carry one to several people including babies and kids! Happy to arrive at our hotel we were thrilled to find a pretty clean room as well as an airconditioner that more than cooled the room. We got to sleep around 3 a.m. and slept until 11:00, our latest yet I think (in our defense, there is a 3.5 hour time difference between Mumbai and Joburg).

After taking a walk and getting a new SIM card for our phone, we headed for lunch at a nearby vegetarian restaurant where there were lots of families having lunch. No tourists to be seen except us. It was the best Indian food that I’ve tasted. Perfect naan, paneer masala, and a mixed veggie dish with cashew gravy that I can’t recall the name of. Obviously they set the international Indian restaurant standards for service, because it was like a well oiled machine. A great first meal here and no tummy worries, thankfully. We liked it so much that we went back for dinner as well. Both meals together cost less than $20. What a deal.

We moved to Colaba today as our first hotel was selected mainly for its proximity to the airport and cheap hotel transfer. Colaba is much more touristy and there are lots of whities walking around. I was surprised at the lack of interest in us when staying closer to the airport. People went about their lives and a few said hello, but that was about it. Our first day was surprisingly quiet and I thought that maybe we had arrived in the wrong city. This morning (Monday) was a different story. The street outside our hotel was literally FILLED with men, cars, a couple cows, kids, bikes, you name it. I guess it is back to work and these people get up early! It was 6 a.m. when we first started to hear lots of people. By 7:00 the street was packed and the crowd started to dissipate by about 8:30. Looking out of the window was my first real shock so far. It took 1.5 hours to get to Colaba by taxi, all city driving. The city is massive and a jumble of rich, poor, poorer, old, new etc. All contrasts all the time. We both have decided already that we are going to like it here. The city is full of good and bad smells, and certainly not what I was expecting in terms of odour. Not yet at least! Nothing I can’t handle… thankfully. People seem to be very friendly overall, men have staring problems but so far no serious hassles, and teenage girls (not unlike in Tanzania or Egypt) seem fascinated by us and giggle when we say hello or look in their general direction. The city is polluted and dirty but not like I expected.

We are staying at the Salvation Army Red Sheild tonight. Thought my mom would get a kick out of that. It is a backpacker deal, everyone knows of it and we have been happy so far - clean room with our own washroom and shower. The hotel is about $15 for the night and includes meals. We have not had a meal there, but it is apparently good. Tonight on our way out the dining room was full of women in beautifully coloured saris, waiting for dinner.

We bought train tickets for an early departure tomorrow. We are heading to Udaipur and are looking forward to seeing a smaller place. Mumbai would likely be a great city to learn more about, but we are both looking forward to getting to Rajasthan.

Hope that all is very well at home. Sibby, if you are still reading the blogs - please send me your home email address!! Hope you are loving motherhood!!

xoxox
Paula

Well, not really bothered I spose. We arrived in Bombay on Saturday night late and stayed at a hotel in the Northern Suburbs. We were the only whiteys for miles. The trip from the Airport had me almost peeing my pants with excitement (and as Paula would say, that meant i perhaps let off a slight smile, that’s all). Autorickshaws, small fiat like taxis, motorbikes (Honda Heros) everywhere. Indians everywhere, and lots of them. 3AM we finally settle down to bed after watching some Bollywood. The streets outside are still full of life, horns beeping, families walking around. Nuts!

Today we took the 1.5 hour taxi ride from North Bombay to the South, more tourist popular Colaba neighborhood. We stood underneath the Gateway to India, a big monument built by the British just before their departure from India. Tonight we are staying at the Salvation Army Hostel ($15 / night for a double room with our own toilet!). Tomorrow at 6am we are on a train heading North into Udaipur, Rajasthan. We are just going to keep heading North until it cools down a bit. I can hardly wait to get to the Himilayas and the Indian Hill Stations that skirt them. Woo!

I must say that I am thrilled to be here. The food is excellent, the people are friendly. I think we got a little soft in South Africa, it is so Western there, but that came to an abrupt halt

We are both healthy (if all this Indian food behaves itself and happy. Home lingers in our thoughts from time to time, but so much to do before then….

We miss you all - take care!

Chris
XOXO

We are at Dot and David’s place now in Joburg! Dot and David are Morag’s uncle and aunt, and they have offered us a place to stay in their home until we leave for Mumbai on Saturday. What a nice treat to have a beautiful home cooked meal tonight, and also very good to see Morag’s Grandmother for dinner. It is neat to be back in this house, as this is the house that Morag’s parents lived in when they had moved back to South Africa (also where we spent a memorable Christmas in 1999!). Dot has gone out of her way to make sure we feel welcome and we really appreciate it!

We have just gotten back to Joburg from Road Trip II. After arriving from Cape Town we rented wheels and headed to a hostel for the night. We got lost as the road we were looking for was closed for construction. We ended up in a township called Tembisa and after a few stressful moments and a few helpful people were back on the right path. We had to be at the Indian Embassy first thing in the morning so that we could apply for visas. After the Embassy we headed for Nelspruit for the next four nights. Not a lot happens in Nelspruit, but it is a good base for other excursions that we were taking. From Nelspruit we spent our first day driving around Kruger Park (8 hot hours of driving and saw a tiny fraction of the huge park - and few animals, being so dry in the south part of the park). The next day was spent driving around the Blyde River Canyon. It is the third largest canyon in the world and has some amazing view points as well as areas to hike around where the water and wind have created huge holes in the sandstone (Bourkes Luck Potholes). We also visited small towns from the gold rush days including Sabie and Pilgrims Rest. Around Sabie is the worlds largest planted forest - tree farms as far as the eye can see. We saw several smokey areas that later in the day became large fires, very sad. Sunday was a day of rest - did some laundry, went to an internet cafe, took a break from driving. Nelspruit was very hot and we didn;t feel like doing much of anything. From Nelspruit we drove to Pretoria for a night, spent a day in Sun City at the water park and then back to Joburg. Sun City was disappointing as it was very expensive, and we unknowingly went on Spring Break. Hundreds of kids and us, on a day sponsored by Vodacom and Nestle (how they have anything to do with one another is beyond me). The Vodacom logo could not have been more prominent, and the “entertainment” included a singing contest where kids had to make up a song including the words “Smarties”, “Nestle”, and “Vodacom”, and then sing it over the loudspeakers. ANNOYING!!!

We got back to Joburg and had to be at the Indian Embassy this morning at 9 to pay for our visas, then go back to collect them at 2:00. What a process. Happily, we have our visas and can go on to India. We spent the time between Embassy visits at the Apartheid Museum and Constitution Hill. Constitution Hill was formerly a series of prison buildings and now houses the Constitutional Court as well as the remains of the prisons. We took a tour and learned a lot. Political prisoners, criminals, blacks, whites, “coloureds”, men women and even some of their babies were housed here. Many were sent to the prison for not having their passes on the street (during the apartheid era, blacks had to carry identity papers to prove that they belonged in certain areas, etc.) and the conditions were horrible. It is set up now as a memorial to the horrors of apartheid and the tour ends with a visit to the Constitutional Court which is a new building, much of it built with the bricks taken from the demolished prison buildings. The Apartheid Museum was one of the best museums that we have been to on our trip. We were given passes when we paid and told what doors we could enter through - White/European and Non-White. The museum was a walk through history from the earliest evidence of life in Africa, through to pre-black resistance, on to black resistance / struggles, to the events that brought about an end to Apartheid and finally to the reactions of South Africans to the first black government. It was eye opening to say the least, and really gave me a lot to think about.

South Africa feels very different from my last visit. It is likely a combination of real change happening from 1999 to now, and me being a little older and more aware of the history. I don’t feel as aware of my skin colour as I remember feeling, I see way more black people driving fancy cars (lots and lots of them actually), and interact with way more black and coloured people in stores, restaurants, shops, etc. I try to imagine how they could have gone from then to now and beyond without the turmoil, bloodshed and total discomfort but I guess it couldn’t have happened any other way. There are so many contrasts here… it is definitely a country that challenges your preconceptions and makes you think.

Anyohw, sorry for the long post. Its been a while and wanted to get in a post before we head to India.

We are going to be uploading some photos shortly.

Bye for now

Paula

Greetings from Knysna, SA. We have been on the road in our rental for about 6 days now doing our Western South Africa tour. Our route has been (roughly) Cape Town to the wine regions of Stellenbosch, Paarl and Franschoek, then on to the West Coast National Park and Cederberg area (Clanwilliam, Citrusdal), through the Ceres valley, then to Montagu, Mossel Bay and now Knysna (both on the Garden Route). Tomorrow we start heading back to Cape Town and will head to Joburg and area on Wednesday (by air).

We’ve really enjoyed seeing more of South Africa. It is a great change to have our own wheels and go where we like, when we like. This is a gorgeous country with perfect roads. The scenery has been spectacular. It is wild flower season and they are everywhere along the sides of the roads. We have been big fans of the mountain passes and have driven out of our way several times to go over some amazing passes. We did the Swartberg Pass a couple of days ago, and couldn’t believe how high (1600 metres) and long (45km in total) the road was. What an awesome view of the farmlands, mountains, and rolling hills. We have been staying at some beautiful hostels - compared to other hostels we have been at, these are more like boutique hotels on a budget. We have also been better at eating our breakfasts at the hostel (ProNutro for me - sorry Morag, and Muesli and yogurt for Chris - and no, I didn’t say Soygurt!), and taking lunch with us. While not overly exciting, it is saving us some money and that is a good thing. We are also becoming pros at tasty, cheap and nutritious meals for the dinners that we eat in. Aside from the self catering, we have had some great meals and tasty South African fare. For dinner one night, I had boerewors and Chris had a mixed plate of skewers - springbok, wildebeast and kudu. Never thought that I would see the day when Chris ordered a “Meat Platter”! We’ve also been snacking on biltong (South African jerky), and had koeksisters for dessert last night.

We spent a couple of days in Stellenbosch and did an organized day tour of the wine region. On the tour we had four stops at wineries with 5 - 6 tastings at each, in addition to a glass of wine with lunch. Add a bottle of wine back at the hostel and it was a boozy day. The area is gorgeous and Franschoek is known as the gastronomic capital of South Africa, boasting several of the country’s best chefs and restaurants. We had lunch at a great place with some of the best pizza ever. We also visited Fairview Winery for a cheese and wine tasting. They are the people who produce “Goats Do Roam” wine, which we’ve had at home.

Today we went to Monkey Land and Knysna Elephant Park. Yes, Monkey Land does sound a bit touristy, but it was really cool! They have 200 species of primate, all that have been either rescued from private owners or zoos. They are trying to teach them to be wild again, though none will ever be truly wild. The monkeys come from all over the world and are used to people - while they don’t want you touching the animals, you can get super close to them. The Elephant Park was awesome. We were up close to about 6 or 7 elephants, all orphans (except for the babies that have been born in the park. We fed them apples and veggies - it was so cool to be so close to such a huge amazing animal!!

Anyhow, just trying to post some pictures as well, so hopefully there will be some new stuff there soon. Hoping that all is well at home.

xoxo
Paula

We’ve been here two nights and it feels like we just arrived. Cape Town feels more like home than anywhere we have been so far. A stunningly beautiful city and I suspect it will get even better once we get exploring outside of the city. Table Mountain is a spectacular backdrop to the city. It is pretty cold here, and it rains almost every day it seems but is mixed with Sunshine. We are staying in Cape Town until Sunday when we start exploring the Western Cape using a hired car. Friday we are off to Robben Island, where Nelson Mandela was imprisioned. Saturday night we are going to see the Soweto Gospel Choir. This afternoon after the rain stops we are heading to the District Six Museum. Tomorrow, expecting sun we are going to hike Table Mountain and perhaps have some sundowners on Signal Hill. Lots going on, but we are enjoying a relaxed place. We have a great little hostel room with a great kitchen. Really nice (and cheap!) to be making our own food again.

More in days to come for sure. Crazy plug type here so we need to find an adapter to charge the camera batteries so we can get snappin.

Yesterday we booked our flight to Mumbai, India for September 29th. I think we are both really excited and a little scared about that one!

Yesterday was also the 6 month point of our trip since we left Vancouver. 1/2 over? Some days it seems like we just left, some days it seems like we don’t even know where home is anymore. Lots of talk about where we will live when we return. Vancouver, Toronto, Halifax, Cape Town, Duncan, its all over the place! Haha.]

I think we are still trying to piece together feelings and thoughts about Tanzania. Last night we were at a restaurant eating (approx 35 dollars). It’s hard to justify that when you know how far that money would go to those in poverty. People we now call our friends. I think this will change our outlook on how we waste money sometimes. Hopefully.

Take care everyone. Still having a blast!