Simultaneously in First and Last Place

So it's been four months now and I'm still on the road. Still amazed by what I see and growing more thankful for my place in this life every day. And the title of this blog is still as relevant today as it was when I first created it. I'm sure some people may have thought it just a cheap reference to a bicycle race of one but what I was really trying to get across was my fear of losing the familiar, safe inertia of my life then and the excitement of throwing it all away coupled with the possibility of something more.

It's all about cultural relativism and possibilities.

By quitting the security of my job and the promise of an education I had just given up my standing in "the race". I was in last place,losing money and choosing to be homeless. But to escape the baggage that comes with that life and to experience something wholly different which could possibly affect the way I went about the rest of my life, I had just jumped into first place. I got out and got on. To be a bit cliche, I was living life and what could be more important and than that. I can't lose in this aspect of my life. I can only come out ahead. And I now admire all of those that due the same, breaking out to interact with the rest of the world. This is what it's all about.

So I'm still sick with this lung infection but i just couldn't stay in my room any longer. I had to escape. So I caught a cab to the Zoo. It housed primarily Himalayan and Asian species of animal. They had a few different monkeys, a bunch of leopards, a snow leopard, Siberian tiger, bears, things that looked a lot like dogs, and things that looked like pig/rat/homeless-sewer-dwellers. The thing that I'm petting is a type of mountain goat called a Ghorat and this particular one was super friendly. As you can see it actually came to the cage and let me pet it. But then again I was also able to touch a Leopard and a Wolf. One of the coolest animals was this Owl. It was huge, made a strange, deep sound and reminded me of the dog thing from Labyrinth. It was actually mesmerizing with it's huge eyes. And the Talons were bigger than my fingers.

Other than that I'm still relegated to my my room, hiding under the covers watching one of the two English stations offered. There is no bathroom in the room, just a communal one down the hall with no shower, just a spicket that spits out cold water in a cold environment. I'm sorta hating life right now, unable to really appreciate the beauty of Nainital because I'm far too connected to my body. I just sit around filling a once empty water bottle with my sick because I'm too exhausted to walk outside and spit over the railing. It's actually filled to a quite impressive level with something that nobody wants to see. Three weeks ago I was becoming dehydrated due to diarrhea now it's due to snot and phlegm. It got so bad that I had to do away with my prized mustache because it was becoming more of a snot-stache. It was hard to finally come to but the idea of all that yellow and green clinging to the bristles under my nose was making everything all so much worse.

OK so this Internet place can eat a dick. I've tried to upload about five pics and the only one coming up is the Bathroom one (yeah, that's the bathroom and also shower room)and that's after about fifteen minutes. So I'm done. Going back to the room to eat Vit. C and hate myself. But it's fucking pouring rain out and I didn't bring an umbrella.

Come on Karma, kick in already. I'm one of the good guys.

Delhi is Dirty

So I barely made it to the tiny town of Nainital. I was still having an interesting time in Delhi, which makes me question my soul. I like to believe that I was meant to be a Jedi but the darkside is always so much more alluring. The chaos and filth of Delhi is such another world. And you start to get used to the crap and poverty that is in every direction. The noise pollution never stops, it invades that sanctity of my rented cage and I have to believe this is having some side effects on my psyche. Maybe I'll just come home with an inability to lower my voice, always shouting like I'm angry for simple things like "OVER EASY WITH TOAST". That's how it goes around here, smiles are a bit of a rarity and the verbal interactions sound like two mentally retarded NY cab drivers arguing over a parking space, but somehow one of their mothers got brought into it and now everyone hold on 'cause know it's gonna be a blood bath. And then they stop. Maybe walk away, maybe just stand there but all of a sudden the imminent threat of war is over.

So I'm also sick. This I knew was going to happen for staying in Delhi too long and I'm paying for it now. I have a pretty bad lung infection and I'm on my second set of antibiotics since being in India. The good news is, no diarrhea. YIPPEE. But htis also means that I'm kinda kept in my cell for most of the day. Yet ther is so much to do here. There are hike, caves to explore, trails, and neighboring towns to check out. But it's taking all of my energy just to type this stupid blog. So now I'm going back to my cage. bye, bye.

Since I've got five hours til my bus leaves...

I'll tell you about another hellish bus ride that Mel and I took. It was supposed to be a 12 hour overnighter and it actually got there on time. WOW, we were actually in Chandagarh twelve hours later! So we step off, catch a rickshaw driver and tell him where we want to go. We hit the hotel and they're all full so we pick another one which turns out to be full when we get there. Hmmm.... And why are there two rickshaws drivers I'm wondering. So after a few more we take there advice of a "nice, cheap" hotel. But you're never supposed to let them take you to their place because they get a commission, which comes in the form of higher a room cost to you, from the people they drop off. Just one of the many hustles these people have but who could blame 'em? So we get to the last one and the rent is like 800 rupees. We're used to spending 3-4 hundred and Mel is on a tight budget so we say Fuck That. Turns out there was a Doctors convention in town and the whole place is booked except for the top of the line places where 800 rupees will get you nothing. So the whole thing was a wash and we had no choice but to leave town so we told the driver to just take us to the bus station and we'd find a new town. And this guy screwed us on the fare. Charged us 250 rupees for the ride even though a few times I told him to just take us to the bus station and he would say one more, I sure. So I reluctantly gave him the 250 and then I get hit up by the 2nd "driver". He tells me that the fare was 250 but that he was the guide that got us around and therefor deserved some money also. I'm sure anyone who knows me can already hear the words that were coming out of my mouth. Fuck That. And you know he didn't get shit from me.

So here is how it continues. After twelve hours on the bus and an hour in a rickshaw we wander around the bus/ train station for a bit and find a bus heading to Delhi. It's another six hour bus ride to Delhi! Ugh! Let me tell you that Mel was super cranky again. Go ahead Mel, tell 'em how cranky you were and how you kept complaining about my talons. I myself was in a state of peace and acceptance. I hardly noticed that I was even on a bus.

So however many days and nights it took this bus to go six hours we finally got there. But we had no idea where we were. It turns out we were still an hour from Paharganj by rickshaw.

So: 12 hr. bus ride, 1 hr. rickshaw, 6 hr. bus ride, 1 hr. rickshaw

But then it was all good when we finally got our AC less plot in hell with no western toilet. Somebody upstairs loves me.

I'm done with this town.

It's time to head out again. I've got a bus ticket for Nainatal that leaves around ten P.M. tonight. I haven't heard anyone talk about this place but according to the Lonely Planet it's a pretty green environment with the town surrounding a good size lake. There are a bunch of nature hikes winding up and through the mountains and also some narrow caves to explore.

It's mostly East and a bit North of Delhi with supposedly great views of the Himalayas. I'm crossing my fingers that the air is a hell of a lot cleaner than here 'cause this place is really starting to affect my health. I even look darker. I spent everyday for a month and half on a bicycle in the sun but I don't think that I ever got this dark. It's like the exhaust is seeping into my skin making me not exactly brown but kinda muddy-yellow. And I've lost three teeth. And a toe. But luckily it wasn't the big toe or else these flip-flops wouldn't work anymore. Maybe it's just from all of the walking though.

So what's new around here?

It's been a week since Mel left and I'm still currently in Delhi. At first I was just taking it easy, trying not to be hasty in any decisions about travel and accepting my time in Delhi. It was actually pretty enjoyable. Though when I first arrived here five weeks ago I was shocked and appalled by the filth and congestion. Now I'm seeing the place a little differently. Since being alone and frequenting the same places I've begun to make friends and engage in new and exciting conversations with many different types of people.

There is the Baba that I have coffee with on the street who tries to impart some knowledge to me but a lot of the times it comes out a bit vague, cryptic, and muddled in poor English. So some things I get and others I nod my head at. But I still look forward to that part of my day.

On my walks around the city I'm almost always stopped by locals, as are most westerners, but sometimes it's due to genuine curiosity and the exchange is good. The people here I believe are overwhelmingly good-natured.

Then there was the Sikh whom I shared a beer with and allowed me to ask questions about his culture and the differences between the many religions and deities. I received way too much info to go into it here. But again the exchange was fascinating.

And then there are the numerous other travelers that I've casually had coffee or a meal with, talking about where we're from, where we're going, what we've seen. Some I've even exchanged emails with for possible future travels. One of which is a snowboarding instructor who insists that I have to come to his home and ski the Alps. Pete are you reading this, 'cause you're coming with me.

Yesterday Andrew came in from McLeod Ganj after spending three weeks there and we spent the day doing relatively nothing. A little internetting, eating, drinking, T.V. watching. It was great to see him again yet he left this morning for his return flight. He wasn't looking too hot at midnight last night so I'm wondering how his flight went when he was only able to get four hours of sleep.

A few days ago I took a walk around a different part of town and came across an Indian boxing tournament. So I sat down and took in a couple bouts but it must have been amateur hour 'cause these kids couldn't fight. It was still nice to see a little violence though. It made me feel like I was back in the states.

Oh yeah, and this is against Mel's' better judgement, which is still sub-par to my own, but I got my ears cleaned by some guy on the street. I almost did it while Mel was here but she thought that it was just too gross. It was. Not the actual cleaning part but that he would pull out big gobs of ear wax and then wipe it on the back of his hand to show me what a "dirty man" I was. The first ear guy that I turned down said they same thing, "you very dirty man" with a scowl of disgust on his face. I suppose this was his sales pitch but I kept thinking that he was the dirty mother fucker for wiping my dirty ear wax all over his hand. At least in my ear it's hidden. I said thanks but refused to shake his hand afterwords. Actually I may never shake another Indian hand ever again.

...In the great demoralisation of the land he kept up his appearance. That's backbone.

Joseph Conrad,

Heart of Darkness

pg.36

Such a Romantic Nightmare

So Delhi is still where I'm at. Presently I'm staying put due to some issues (nothing legal) but I'm accepting this and making the best of it. I'm realizing how sprawling Delhi really is and the filth and stench of this place no longer chokes me. In fact I hardly notice it. I've become so familiar with my one small section of town that I feel as if it's a home.

Since Mel left I spend my days drinking coffee and wandering the alleys of Delhi. I just walk and get lost in the paths of this city. I lose track of which way that I've gone and never back-track. I've found myself in dimly lit Labyrinths winding sideways and around but never back. The narrow streets are enclosed by stories high buildings and the people are more tightly packed, choked in the heat. Getting lost is the point and it happens so easily. There have been times when I had a suspicion that I might be getting myself into an area that I'm not meant for. Like maybe the Indian Mafias stomping grounds. But I never feel threatened. I'm only finding myself in unfamiliar territory and my mind reacts to this by what It's seen on television and read in pulp novels. I try to think that I'm in a post-apocalyptic Fraggle Rock. Which is not such a stretch of the imagination since, as Andrew pointed out, Indians look like Muppets. And then as I feel that I will never escape the maze I catch a glimpse of direct, horizontal sunlight and I'm out.

Late last night I was roaming the streets in the Main Bazaar and came across a place that serves alcohol. This is a rarity in this part of town so I went in for a Scotch and beer. This was the underbelly nightlife of Paharganj. It looked like the bar scene in Star Wars where Luke and OB Wan first recruited Han Solo but if the budget was limited to ten dollars. It was boisterous and rowdy. Mostly Indian with a few western faces slumped in the corners. It completely satisfied my dark side and threw me into an alternate Delhi. It was even a little more than i cared to indulge in so I left soon after and was greeted by an almost refreshing, in comparison to the inside, city street with the homeless sleeping on both sides amongst the trash and feces. It was a sort of romantic nightmare.

So this is it. My home is Delhi for a while and since I'm resigned to this place for the time being I'm going to accept it and take as much as I can from it. But i do feel that the incredible pollution is having some negative effects on me. I look forward to a thorough detox when I get home.

Left to my own Debauchery

The Great Indian adventures of
Soggy Bottom
and Leper Butt
have come to end

And Then There Was One

So I took Mel to the airport on Monday night. The rickshaw guy originally agreed to two-hundred rupees and when we got to the airport he tried to say three-hundred. We argued for a quick minute about the set amount agreed upon and then he says "please 50". I gave him the two that we agreed upon and walked away but with a little concern that he was gonna find me later when I hit the street for a return ride. So I walked her to the door and that was that. I was definitely sad to see her go and at the same time excited for a solo adventure. So I went downstairs and got a pre-paid taxi back to Paharganj where I'm staying. As I was getting dropped off the guy who wasn't even driving said "50 rupees". I was like "WHAT? this is a pre-paid taxi" for which he replied "No, fifty rupees", to which I replied "Fuck That" and started walking. I have to say that the haggling for a fair price is an acceptable, even fun part of surviving here but this blatant even aggressive way of scamming money is starting to get under my skin. On a few of our bus rides the driver actually tried to make me pay to store my luggage under the bus. I almost fell for it but when I really started questioning why I paid for a ticket that didn't include luggage he started to back down saying "I don't know", that's when I started to understand all the little scams that go on around here and how many, less assertive people get took on the daily.

So that was just a little venting from an exhausted bandito

Yep...

So here are a few of the pictures from the flight. They certainly don't capture the experience but I take some video with the camera while I was up there. It already seems like a distant memory compared to the sensation of actually being there.

I bet Mel will post some more pics from the ground. Probably some embarrassing ones with me in my wedgie-harness so those should be worth checking if only to use against me later. But don't hate, you wish you were me.

Last Day in Vashist

One more wonderful town. Our hotel was again built onto the side of a mountain with a very daunting staircase leading up. The view was at times overwhelming and even at the height of our room we could still hear the running white water below. The first day we trekked down to the river to spend a few hours with our feet in the water, taking it in. We found a very chill roof-top restaurant with a good menu, awesome view, and a big screen T.V. that we watched Spider Man 3 on while chillin' with some drink and asking myself how I got this life.

The next night we hit a new roof-top spot and I ate my fist piece of fish in a while. Trout from the local river (I'm Hoping). We met a local guy who approached us about Paragliding the next day and we woke early to make it happen.

Mel turned it down due to her budget so it was just me up there. We caught a rickshaw about a half hour out of town through some very remote villages and up into the mountains. Once we got to the spot it was another 7oo meter hike almost directly up the face of the mountain. Brutally unworn terrain was the trail and the travel made just a little bit worse by my wearing flip-flops. At least I wasn't carrying all of the chutes up to the top like the grunts.

So forty-five minutes later we reached the top, threw on the harness, strapped in, and ran off the side of an amazing Himalayan mountain. I can't describe how incredible it was to be up there soaring above the tree line, going higher, seeing more and thinking Holy Shit! I'm Paragliding in the Fucking Himalayas!

So then about fifteen minutes later it was over and we landed. Caught the rickshaw back, took a shower, and now we have about four hours 'til our bus leaves for a 12 hour ride to Chandigarh. Woo Hoo!

A Strong Contender for Worst Bus Ride of My Life

We are currently in the very small town of Vashist. Yesterday we came by bus to Manali from McLeod Ganj where Melissa and I parted ways with Andrew. We had spent a week there and I certainly could have stayed longer but Mel only has a week left in India so it was time to see more. Andrew on the other hand was going into an 11 day Vipassana retreat three days later so he stayed behind. I hope that he'll be O.K. by himself. When I first found him in Delhi he was filthy, had shrunk to only six foot, and was barely able to feed himself. He was disoriented and had trouble forming sentences in English. He spoke in some sort of pre-consciousness, hippy speak. Over the weeks though he grew to his normal 7'5" and we began to dialogue about the "outside world". Hopefully he'll be alright.

We all loved the atmosphere of McLeod and the minuscule villages neighboring it. On my last day there I was leaning on the ledge, looking out into valley and knew that I would miss that place for the rest of my life.

But it was time to go and we had decided to go South East. We purchased some tickets for an overnight bus whose route skirts narrow mountain passes for most of the 10 hour ride, caught a taxi down part of the mountain to the bus station where the driver tried to charge me a luggage fee of ten rupees to stick the bags in the cargo bay. I almost fell for it but realized pretty quick that this was just another India scam. No way was that guy gonna get my twenty-five cents after I just paid eleven dollars for a ten hour luxury bus ride.

So shortly after we were off and nail-biting. We had all of these visions of rough, unpaved roads wide enough for a small Geo Metro and a medium sized goat but that would inevitably be forced to accommodate two large bus's and possibly a herd of goats. It was all true and worse. The rain started after an hour or so as we barreled along through the thickness of deep clouds. The Xanax helped me to come to terms with my mortality in a fairly La-de-da fashion.

So the events that follow are as I remember them. I was dozed off when we came to a stop around 3 a.m. in the pouring rain for what I thought would be one of the pee-brakes. it turned into the driver drinking Chaya and mentioning almost in passing, that we would be there for an hour. I had already refused him ten rupees for tossing my bag into a wet bay and just didn't have the nerve to question his work ethic. An hour later the driver stepped up into the cockpit, turned the key, The engine whined, and we all got out again to stare blankly into the black rain.

Now it's three hours later, people are sleeping where they can, it's 6 a.m. and the engine turns over. Fuck Yeah!. We enthusiastically jump back onto the bus, smiles around and another bus employee states that this will be a great place to stay unitl the roads are cleared. What? So the story goes that the roads were washed out, landslides were up and down the mountain pass and we were to wait until the rain subsided and the roads could be cleared. It was turning into a hell. The rain stopped, the sun broke, and the flies gathered. The place we were stuck at had drinks but no food and there was no word on the roads.

O.k., hell. At I don't know what time but certainly hours after we were scheduled to be in Manali, the bus was moving with the pasengers and their flies. It was true about the roads and the wash-out. The going was slow and a bit nerve-wracking since I had slept off the Xanax. It seemed to be taking forever to get there. Mel was CRANKY, and I was hot and sticky. O.K. I was cranky too, but not as a bad as her. Don't let her tell you different. So anyway, it was four in the afternoon when we finally reached the bus staion, ten hours after schedule and twenty after we left McLeod. We went and had a beer.

Just one small view from our room. The clouds do roll in and cover every piece of this hill side until nothing is seen but a white out.

The other pic is just a shot down the road. I haven't been taking many photos so these are about it.

McCleod Ganj

Five days ago we escaped the miserably hot state of Rajasthan and began our way North to McCleod Ganj, (Hippies raise your hands), in the state of Himachel Pradesh. In order to get here we first took an overnight, 10 hour train back to Delhi. We arrived around 6 a.m., caught a rickshaw to the main bazaar and bought tickets for another overnight 12 hour train that left the station at 9 o'clock that night. When we hit whatever town we hit, we then caught a 4 hour bus up steep narrow mountain roads to Dharamsala. Where we then caught another 30 minute bus to McCleod Ganj. I had sea legs (or train legs?) for the next day. I constantly felt that the ground I was walking on was incredibly unstable, swaying in the breeze, and doomed to collapse at any moment. It didn't.

It is so pleasant here. It's home to the Dalai Lama and serves as a refugee city for fleeing Tibetans. There is a peace here that we hadn't encountered elsewhere. It's mostly filled with Buddhist Monks and western tourists. The food is Delicious and the air clean. The city is built on the side of a mountain and the clouds drift in throughout the day, sweeping up and covering our view of the Himalayan foothills. Our room is centrally located, looks over the valley below and to the granite peaks above.

There is a small moviehouse that seats maybe twelve people to watch films on a big screen T.V. which is propped up on a two foot high table. So far we've seen 7 years in Tibet and a shitty bootleg copy of Pirates of the Carribean 3.

Desert Madness Takes Hold

This is what politically incorrect looks like. Toilet paper turbans.

No Time for Love Dr. Jones

So we made it to the rat temple of Kali Mata. Not as many rats as I had hoped for. I guess I was picturing monster rats covering the floors and scurrying over my feet. Probably when the monsoons hit it would resemble that a little more.

We had a little tag-a-long, which was more Melissa's admirer that was vomiting unsolicited information the entire time. The kid would not leave us alone. Mel kept encouraging him though. At one point, he looked at Andrew up and down and with a slight disdain for him asked "how did you get this body"? As if to say "You are tall and weak". Maybe he thought that Andy was Mel's man. I don't know but Andy should have wrestled the dude.

The little kid in the picture is not Andy's nemesis, just a cute kid that liked to have his picture taken.