Peters Odyssey

Australasia days 23-25: lasts days in Auckland

2008-04-24T17:48:00.001-07:00

I arrived around 6:30pm from Cairns back to the City of Sails .

Nimrod Explorer: Diving in the Great Barrier Reef

2008-04-22T19:33:00.000-07:00

Australasia day 11,12: Cairns, Australia

2008-04-11T19:53:00.001-07:00

Tropical North Queensland in Australia is a holiday maker's paradise, bursting at the seams with attractions and tours that showcase this remarkable part of the world.

Cairns attractions rank as some of the most original and exciting in Australia. Golden sunny beaches flanked by pristine rainforest and the Great Barrier Reef make Cairns a region that literally has it all!

The city of Cairns has recently been renovated to enhance its image and provide a relaxing place for tourists and Cairns locals to congregate and have fun. Cairns Esplanade, once a huge grassy park, now features a world-class facility incorporating an outdoor amphitheatre, a large sandy swimming lagoon, grassy picnic areas, walking tracks, free public barbeques, children's playground, shops and restaurants, an environmental interpretation centre and a Great Barrier Reef Cruise departure terminal. But Cairns is only really the hub to the attractions of Far North Queensland.

I arrive in Cairns around 11am on Friday and took a $10.00 AUS trip into town to stay at Gilligans

Australasia day 9-10: Queenstown to Dunedin, the flight of the Albatross

2008-04-10T09:08:00.000-07:00

After returning from Diving in the Milford Sound, I decided to make a lazy day out of being in Queenstown. This did of course include another visit to Fergberger. This time I had squid rings and a deer burger: "Lil Bambi was delicious" . I checked myself in to my hostel and met two of my roomates, Emma and Kelly, both British girls living in London. (Emma is on the right, Kelly on the left). I spent much of the day lounging around, doing laundry and convincing myself whether or not to go river boarding. In the end, I decided I was too cheap and tired and would go to Yoga instead.

I met back up with the ladies around 8:00pm and we went out to get Thai Food before heading over to the Buffalo Bar for drinks. Emma had what looked like was going to be a rewarding night and so Kelly and I headed back to the hostel around 3am. I woke up the next morning just with enough time to catch my bus to Dunedin.Dunedin used to be the largest city in New Zealand in the 19th Century and was founded by Scottish immigrants. Its the first city I saw brick. The picture above is the train station which sits right on the harbor. After arriving at the train station, I quickly booked myself a trip with monarch cruises. I choose the 2P: (Albatross & Penguins) includes a guided tour of Yellow Eyed Penguin Reserve for $120.00 NZD. Click on picture below for a video.

My goal was to see Northern Royal Albatross, blue penguins, terns, petrels, fur seals. In addition to this teeming wildlife I might also see other types of albatross, sea-lions, dolphins and whales while close offshore, flocks of Sooty Shearwaters feed among other shearwaters, mollymawks and many other pelagic species.

Routeburn Track day 2, 3 AND Diving in Milford Sound

2008-04-08T17:38:00.000-07:00

Routeburn Falls Hut to Mackenzie Hut Distance: 11.3 km

This sub-alpine section of track is very exposed and can be extremely hazardous in adverse weather conditions. The track climbed steadily, following the Route Burn to its outlet from Lake Harris. A steep sidle through moraine and the bluffs above Lake Harris leads to the Harris Saddle/Tarahaka Whakatipu (1255 metres) and the shelter. Sub-alpine herbs and cushion plants are a feature of the vegetation. A short, steep climb in an ice storm from the Harris Saddle shelter up Conical Hill which was supposed to give a superb view of the Hollyford Valley through to Lake McKerrow, Martins Bay and the Tasman Sea. I however, also could see the ice forming on my gloves and wind ripping at my face (still worth the climb, unencumbered by pack which I had left dry in the shelter below. From the saddle, the track droped steeply down a gully and traversed along the exposed Hollyford face, before a bush descent onto a series of zig-zags to Lake Mackenzie Hut.

Mackenzie Hut to Howden Hut Distance: 8.6 km

The track crossed a small flat before it climbed steeply to the bushline. It then gradually descended past the ‘Orchard’, an open grassy area dotted with ribbonwood trees, to the Earland Falls (174 metres). The track continued its gradual descent to Howden Hut, situated at the junction of Routeburn and Greenstone/Caples Tracks.

Australasia day 6: Routeburn Track

2008-04-06T15:54:00.000-07:00

Ohh, my pounding head, Vodka-Lemonade... I am in a haze from last night. Its 10:00am, and I need to go pick up my hut passes for my tramping of the Routeburn track. Last night, Fergberger...so delicious, uh Fries from last night, how did they end up under my pillow...oh well, yummm, yumm (chewing stale day old fries).

The Routeburn Track traverses 32 kilometres of Mount Aspiring and Fiordland National Parks, part of Te Wāhipounamu – South West New Zealand World Heritage Area and is administered by the Department of Conservation on behalf of the New Zealand public.

Located in the southwest of the South Island the track extends between the head of Lake Wakatipu and S.H. 94, the Te Anau – Milford Road. I took at $36.00 NZD shuttle from Queenstown to Glenorchy to start the trail.

A trail from Martins Bay, up the Hollyford Valley and over into the Routeburn Valley to the pounamu (greenstone) source at the head of Lake Whakatipu-wai-Mäori, was commonly used by Tai Poutini (West Coast) iwi, who regularly travelled south via this route to obtain kokotakiwai. Pounamu was much valued as a material for tools, weapons and ornaments. The tradition of “Ngä Puna Wai Karikari o Rakaihautu” tells how the principal lakes of Te Wai Pounamu (South Island), were dug by the rangatira (chief) Rakaihautu. Rakaihautu was the captain of the canoe, Uruao, which brought the tribe, Waitaha, to New Zealand. Rakaihautu beached his canoe at Whakatü (Nelson) and travelled south. The first Europeans to view the Hollyford Valley were Southland runholders David McKellar and George Gunn, who on 9 June 1861 climbed to the top of Key Summit via the Routeburn. Early European surveyors, prospectors and explorers followed the track route when travelling from Lake Wakatipu to the Hollyford River/ Whakatipu Ka Tuka and western valleys. In 1870 a bridle track was started to link Kinloch and Routeburn with the new Martins Bay settlement. However, failure of the isolated settlement and incorrect routing of the road meant construction ceased after four years. Tourism began in the 1880s, with visitors being taken into Routeburn Flats by horse and thenguided on foot to the Harris Saddle/Tarahaka Whakatipu. The Routeburn Track is one of New Zealand’s most popular tracks, with over 13000 walkers completing the track each year.

Routeburn Shelter to Routeburn Flats Hut: Distance: 6.5 km

From the car park at the Routeburn shelter (458 metres), I crossed one of many swing bridges as I made my ascent. Crossing small streams and waterfalls, I took a little extra care when I crossed the Serpentine Slip, an area prone to mudslides where there was a break in the treeline. I then continued past Sugarloaf Stream, a remnant of the old bridle path built in the 1870s, and climbed directly to Bridal Veil Stream. There were a lot of streams if you get the picture. I continued my ascent sidling along the Routeburn Gorge.

A second swing bridge took me back across the Route Burn to the open grassed flats around Routeburn Flats Hut where the track forks take the right track to Routeburn Flats Hut (20 bunks) and a camping area five minutes from the hut, or take the left track to continue to Routeburn Falls Hut.

Routeburn Flats Hut to Routeburn Falls Hut Distance: 2.3 km

I left the sweeping valley river to climb through beech forest crossing two more swing bridges. A recent slip yielded excellent views of the valley below. I crossed the Emily Creek bridge, another swing bridge to reachthe halfway mark. Most of my hike was filled with the sounds of waterfalls and streams with an occassional birdsong thrown in for fun. When I got to the top, I threw my bags in my bunk and I tried to climb to the summit for sundown. Unfortunately, I lost my pager crossing one of the streams. Oh well, no more alarm clock or watch.

Australasia day 5: Auckland to Queenstown via Christchurch

2008-04-05T17:15:00.000-07:00

I awoke this morning at 3:30am as my drunk dorm mates wandered into my dorm room at Auckland Central Backpackers. I showered, and waited for Airport Express to pick me up at 4:30am to go to the Auckland Airport and catch a 6:45am flight to Christchurch, the city of gardens. I took a $20.00 NZD shuttle to the middle of town to catch my Naked Bus to Queenstown.

Christchurch is a flat city with hills surrounding its valley. It is very British and reminds me of a London Suburb. The Weather which was overcast and muggy also reminded me of England. I tried to go to the Deparment of Conservation office to pick up my Routeburn Track passes but it was closed for the weekend.

The bus stopped along the way to look at Lake Wanake to see Mt. Cook, the tallest mountain in New Zealand, unfortunately, I couldn't get a good photo , the clouds were in the way.
Around 7:00pm, (our bus brokedown along the way0, we arrived in mini-tahoe AKA Queenstown.

Australasia day 4: Waitamo and the Glow Worm Caves

2008-04-04T11:09:00.000-07:00

I hopped on the Waitomo Wanderer shuttle about 7:45am and headed off. I booked with a company the Legendary Black Water Rafting Co. I booked the Black Abyss Package for $167.00 NZ.

Black Abyss is the ultimate adrenaline rush and caving tour of choice for natural born adventurers everywhere. My adventure began by gearing up at base camp: wetsuit, butties, shorts, helmet, underwater light, check!

I was joined by a Japanese couple and a German-Australian couple, Ume and Jocelyn, along with our guides Ben and Tom. We started off by descending/abseiling 37 meters spider-like into the black depths of Ruakuri Cave thru the tomo. From there we walked another 100 meters before climbing on a zip line, called Flying Fox, and flying 200 meters to a cavern floor far below. We then picking up our inner tubes and cliff jumping 4 meters into the water below. The caves above were illuminated with the bioflorescence of Glow Worms, as we pulled ourselves along a rope with our lights to guide us. The glow worms when viewed up close are actually fly larvae, yes Maggots that secrete strings to catch their prey which they then pull up and eat alive. Yummy! Next, we stopped, had some hot cocoa and biscuits, then formed a link and were excorted by our guides thru caverns fulls of glowworms. Gorgeous. We dropped off our inner tubes and crawling thru caverns, perching along cavern falls and climbing up several wall, we ascended to the surface after being underground for 3 hours.

Australasia day 3: Rotorua

2008-04-03T22:03:00.000-07:00

I slept in this morning unable to move from the past days hike. I woke up around 10:00am, walked to the local i-site to book a bus from Rotorua to Waitamo. I came back to the hostel and preceded to get a ride with my Scottish Dormmates Kevin and Patrick to the Skyline Skyrides, about a ten minute drive from Rotorua to do some Lugeing. It was great, although the longest track was 2km which only took about 5 minutes to go down, but the advanced track, I got some air and almost wrecked the the Luge, ha ha. After I was done with riding the Luge, I returned to town and walked over to enjoy a dip in the spa at the Polynesian Spa.

Australasia day 2: The Tongariro Crossing and climbing Mt. Doom

2008-04-02T20:00:00.000-07:00

I awoke this morning at 5:30am to pack up, and hydrate before starting, "one of the greatest one day walks in the world, " the Tongariro Crossing. Situated in the Tongariro National Park, an area rich in cultural identity, it has dramatic scenery and unique land forms that combine to make the Tongariro Alpine Crossing a world-renowned trek. The 18.5 kilometre journey includes steep climbs and unpredictable weather.
I started off at the Mangatepopo carpark and the first section was fairly flat, contining up the valley following the Mangatepopo stream and around the edge of old lava flows. I passed the first landmark, the Ketetahi Hut, before taking a detour to have a drink at Soda Springs. [insert image here].
The next part involved climbing from 1400 up to 1600 metres above sea level, "known as the devils staircase." I walked over layers of ancient and modern lava flows and other volcanic debits before reaching South Crater. At that momento I decided to climb a mountain, Mt Ngauruhoe, "aka Mt.Doom," from Lord of the Rings. The climb is steep and their are not marked trails. I just found my own path. It was very difficult and for every 2 steps I took, I slipped backwards one. After I reached about half way up the summit, I changed my path to scamper over the rocks. Later I learned: Head for the old lava flow as it is very difficult if you try to climb up the scree. Damn Scree. The summit was beautiful and being above the clouds is always great. Their was even a huge crater at the top of mountain and I had a snack break at the top as I caught my breath, and looked peered over the edge and tried not to think about having to go back down. I decided to go Scree surfing as my descend plan. Rather than slowly climbing back down the mountain, I decided to ride down a small pebble and volcanic earth trail. I fell several times, but I looked over and so people from the lava flow rock snapping photos. I was exhausted as I shoot thru the cloud layer and into the valley below.
The next part of the track involved going from South Crater to Red Crater. Along the way, which included yet more climbing, I had to stop because my legs cramped up, I was treated to spectacular views over the Oturere Valley, Rangipo Desert, Kaimanawa Ranges and down to the emerald lakes. I had lunch on the ridgeline of the Red Crater as I let the warm geyser steam compete with the wind.

I followed the lava flow from Red Crater spreading out across the floor of central crater. I descended slowly along the ridgeline to the Emerald Lakes. The colour is caused by minerals leached from the surrounding rock. The steam vents above the lake are responsible for the sulphurous smell. I followed the track around the edge of Central Crater before climbing up to Blue Lake (A cold acidic tapu[sacred] lake).

After walking past Blue Lake, the sensory changed dramatically again, spectacular views out over Mt Pihanga and Lake Rotoaira to Lake Taupo. The track then zigzaged down to the Ketetehai Hut then crossed the stream that flows down from Keteahi Springs, with beautiful rocks stained by minerals in the water. I descended past artic tundra into lush green beech forest, filled with small creeks and waterfall before emerging in a flat valley for my pick up back to Riverstone Backpackers.

I caught my bus at 5:40pm and arrived in Rotorua around 7:20pm and walked like a duck, from the erosion between my legs from the days walks to Base Hot Rock Hostel. At the hostel, they had a thermal hot tub and I soaleds away the days aches from my body.

Australasia: Day 1 Auckland to Taupo/Turangi

2008-04-01T07:00:00.000-07:00

The Garytales are back.

I just arrived from SFO to Auckland, to a damp raining humidy masking the southern stars I yearn to see again. Thanks to it being fall in New Zealand, they had yet to start daylight savings time and so I arrived at 4:50am. I chilled in the airport until my 8:00am flight to Lake Taupo. As the plane descended, I was treated to awesome blue lake about 1/4 the size of Tahoe with towns set on the northeast and southeast corners. The aiport is located about 8km south of Taupo town and I had to take a shuttle ($15.00NZ) to the Intercity bus station.

While there, I called up one of the local white water rafting companies, tongariro river rafting and they had a trip that would be pick me up from the local i-site information both at 1pm, bypassing the need for me to go to Turangi first. The i-sites are awesome centers that help you book everything from buses to hostels to adventure trips. New Zealand is definately set up for backpackers.
I had some time to waste in Taupo Township and decided to go see Craters of the Moon.

Close to Taupo and accessible off SH1, Craters of the Moon is an active geothermal field. The terrain is filled with exposed steam vents and is constantly shifting, collapsing and reforming, giving an uninhabited appearance. Thermal mud pools bubble away and plants not normally native to our area, thrive in this hot and partly noxious environment. As a result of utilising the underground thermal energy in the Wairakei Valley, the Craters of the Moon started to appear from 1950. This area used to contain light geothermal activity until the construction of Wairakei Geothermal Power Station, approximately 2000 metres north of the field. The power station lowered underground water levels and the fumaroles and mud pools became more active. There was less water to cool the magma and the ground cavity which was previously full of water is now full of high pressure sulphurous steam. It is a forbidding volcanic example of the inner earths fiery inferno bursting forth. a geothermal vallery of underground geysers and boiling mud pools.

Southern India - From Kerala to Chennai

2007-05-12T17:43:00.000-07:00

by Theresa Gerritz

We bid adieu to our new friends at the Ayurvedic treatment center. I left two flower hair ornaments with the women who massaged me over four days. Everyone in India loves my barrettes, even the women security guards at the airport who pat you down commented on them. Of course, in India a man could never touch a woman or a woman touch a man. And since women don’t travel much I would always get through security five to ten minutes ahead of Peter.

Now back to Southern India. We drove up into the mountains. The air kept getting cooler and cooler. The vistas were spectacular. We went by banana trees, mangos, and pineapples and little waterfalls began appearing. The roads were narrow but cars and buses managed to pass each other calmly. Animals did not dominate the roadway and set the speed. Pedestrians stayed to the edges of the road. One could travel at over 15 kilometers an hour for the most part.

Our first stop was this incredible Syrian Christian church in Kottayam. The Syrian Christinas of Kerala believe that St. Thomas, one of the apostles of Christ came to Kerala in 52 AD and established 7 churches on its coast. This church is one of the few old churches that still exists in near its original state. The church was built and consecrated in 1579. Kottayam was then ruled by a local raja who invited the brave and hard working Christians to settle down near his fort. To get the right historical perspective it should be remembered that the Cupola of St. Peter’s was consecrated 11 years later in 1590, The Taj Mahal was completed 69 years later in 1648 and Christopher Wren completed St Paul’s in London 131 years later in 1710. (You can see I’m getting influenced by Dr. Pete!) The façade of the church is beautifully done in bas relief. As the church was built during the Portuguese domination of this coast, its style is European with galleries, pillars, cornices and pediments. The capital of the pillars is Corinthian. The pediments have floral decoration. In the center is a niche with a free standing statue of the virgin and child flanked by a group of angels. The façade was incredible. It incorporated symbols from other religions. The serpents you see are from the Hindu tradition. They also appear in the Buddhist tradition. Syrian crosses are much more 3 dimensional and intricate than the traditional Catholic cross. There were beautiful teak carvings and they incorporated peacocks and other animals. There was a special lock for the church doors to keep out the tigers and elephants in ancient times. The Madbaha, which is the holy of holies, or altar, is a piece of art. It has a painted barrel vault built up of carved laterite stones. The eastern wall is painted with various scenes with the virgin mother at its centerpiece. The side walls have paintings depicting various scenes of the passion of the Christ, starting with the last supper, Gadzamane and the arrest and judgment on the northeastern wall, ending with the crucifixion on the south eastern wall. I was impressed even though I was on religious-site overload.

We continued on to Thekkady and were put into this lovely lodge that was on the edge of the forest with beautiful flowers. We washed and then went to see a performance of the Kerala Kalari Centre and saw Kalaipayattu, which, according to the Dance School, is “the oldest form of martial arts- a gift to the modern world and known as the mother of all martial arts. Legend traces the 3000-year-old art form to Sage Parasurama- the master of all martial art forms and credited to be the re-claimer of Kerala from the Arabian Sea. Kalaripayattu originated in ancient South India.”

The dancers (martial artists) were in a pit and we looked down from above. Before every maneuver they bowed to the gods on the altar with the swords, sticks, daggers, spears. We saw how one fights with a shield against a sword, a cloth versus a saber and all other forms of dancing combat. They used tin so at times sparks flew to make it more dramatic in the darkened room. The martial artists were in fantastic shape and it was beautiful to watch their bodies in motion. They also did somersaults through hoops of fire. At one point one of the performers got singed but the show must go on.

After that I went to see the Kathakali show. Like with the martial artists and other dramatic dancers in India, their families have been doing it for generations and the skills are passed down. The makeup for the Kathakali dancing is amazing and takes over an
hour to apply. I watched part of the demonstration of how it was done. Men pose as women and their outfits used hoop-like skirts. In addition there were about a dozen different hand signs that were used to help tell the story. As if this weren’t enough, to the beat of the drums and the music the dancer moves a different part of their face every second in order to show
different emotions.

They enacted part of a moral fable. It was probably from one of the stories of the Hindu
mythology or the Bahagavad Ghita. I could not even stay focused for as long as they could move. It supposedly takes 8 years to master all of the facial
gestures.

In the morning we got up as early as our guide was willing to go in search of tigers.
Walking through the jungle meant wearing canvas leg coverings from the shoe to the knee to keep out leeches. We walked and walked but we never saw tigers. Peter thought, “This guy doesn’t know anything!” I finally asked, “Since we’re not likely to see tigers, can you show us how to see what there is out here?” At this point the quiet guide perked up smiled and let us
know he was an expert ornithologist and started pointing out all the different bird habitats, wherethe monkeys were that Peter affectionately calls “Oh, Ling Ling”! which I think might be the Thai name for monkey, but you’ll have to ask him!

We also came across the most incredible, lacelike fungus or mushroom that I have ever seen in my life. It looked like a giant lantern and the sun shone through it.

As it was time to leave the jungle, our guide was searching for a way out. Peter the fearless explorer probably hurt the guide’s ego when he found the quickest route down to the trail. As we were walking back the guide noticed a leech on my hand. Obviously the leeches are
smart and they know which part of our bodies are fair game. If you have never been leeched you might not know that they first put out an anesthetic so that you don’t feel them. Then they inject something into your body so that the blood does not coagulate. We quickly removed that leech.

A little while later when I was out of the jungle and walking in town, I looked down at my stomach and it was bright red. Somehow a leech had also decided that I was tasty there. I never saw the leech but somehow I must have washed it off in showering. We also went on
a boat ride where we saw lots of elephants, bison, and goat, but by now elephants seemed as common as squirrels or deer—I was much more interested in these beautiful birds - Egyptian geese, larks, wren, warblers, etc..

From Thekkady we went to visit Professor Jacobson’s spice plantation. It was a gorgeous assortment of flowers and spices. The work that goes in to making spices ready for sale is incredible. In many cases each part of the plant has to be individually tied off or harvested. The difference in a day can affect its quality. We got to taste fresh vanilla beans, coco beans, saffron, and so much more. There was something that looked like ginger but wasn’t. We also got to try
this fruit that was a cross between a passionfruit and something else.

We went back and walked around town we were lucky enough to find some internet that
worked and where Peter could use SKYPE. We also found a wonderful little store with a delightful young man from Kashmir who could speak English. He had beautiful earrings. I bought silver Ganesh earrings. Ganesh is a Hindu elephant god that opens the doors to
prosperity, health, wealth, and other good things. I bought these earrings for Marlene, my cleaning lady of over 20 years because she loves elephants and had just had surgery for breast cancer. I hoped they would do the trick and bring her good luck. Peter bought Jill these
beautiful prayer wheel earrings where the prayer wheels turned. They were inscribed with the Buddhist saying

We also bought a beautiful pashmina scarf for Flavia, who was taking care of the house and welcoming each of the people who paid for the privilege of staying in my attic retreat. I had so much fun staying around while they put the hooks in the earrings. We spent an hour talking about the shopkeeper’s life there and his home in Kashmir. As with most young men he was to be part of an arranged marriage within the next year. It was just so nice to have someone to talk to.

We left Thekkady and had to backtrack a bit to go to an area that in very similar to our own, minus the bay and except the hills are covered with tea plants. At one time the tea plants were owned by the British and they even printed their own scrip with which to pay the workers so that the workers wouldn’t leave. Today they are collectives. Remember Kerala is the only communist elected government in India. They have a 99 percent literacy, rate many more rights and opportunities for women, better roads, cleaner air and water, and much less poverty. They do however have a high unemployment rate and many of the young people go abroad for work.

With the high tech development in neighboring states and cities like Bangalore and Hyderabad more jobs are becoming available in India. In fact, when we traveled up the backwaters in old wooden boats that were propelled by pushing a pole against the bed of the
river we saw many people reading. We also saw home industries, like grass-mat weaving.
We were also told about the magnificent boats they have where a hundred and fifty people row in unison and in the center sits a drummer flanked by two oarsmen who are also singers who keep the time for the movement of the oars. On the smaller boats of twenty five and fifty people, women even compete in their own category. As a cultural aside even though
“football” is widely popular, girls do not play. In fact in India where only about 20 percent of the people drive at all, only about 1 percent of the women
have driving licenses.

In southern India, I saw women driving the motorcycle but in northern India it was 99
percent likely that they were a passenger and very rarely did you see a woman riding a bicycle. In southern India women and girls could ride bicycles but our driver did not let his daughter ride a bike because of safety. That doesn’t stop him from putting his whole family on a motorcycle without helmets!

Besides tea plantations, Munnar is also a honeymoon capital, although Richard Gere had a warrant out for his arrest for kissing one of the Bollywood stars. I did see a couple when I was on an isolated trail near a beautiful lookout hold hands and kiss because they thought they were alone. Although you don’t see men and women touching, you do see men holding
hands and women holding hands. The man at the jewelry store asked us if it were true that two men holding hands in America means they are gay. Munnar had a beautiful park with a fantastic children’s playground. They had a “flying squirrel” and both boys and girls were taking turns. Roller skating was also available but on a surface that I couldn’t do without breaking my neck.
People in southern India and Nepal seem to love their children. Meanwhile I watched the people in the north, especially the poor province of Bahar, being very strict and severe with their children.

Most marriages in India are still arranged so these couples are just getting to know each other. As some of our drivers and guides explained to us, “First I married my wife, and then I grew to love her”.

In Munnar, while Peter was recuperating from his Ayurvedic experience, I went to a beautiful open market with the most delicious produce. In some places in India you can see thirty varieties of bananas. I bought fresh mangoes and grapes for us to feast on when we headed down the mountain the next day.
When we returned to Kochi I went shopping with the driver’s daughter for a new outfit. At first she was shy but then she started speaking English with me. We also picked out an outfit for her brother. In the store there are always three or four clerks to wait on you. Then you go and pay for the outfit and then there is a separate place where you go and pick it up. This way more and more people are employed. You cannot judge it and the extra time it takes by American efficiency standards. We could learn a lot by putting people to work to keep the parks clean, the bathrooms safe, and all the ways that they find to make employment.

That evening I was invited to the driver’s house for dinner. They live in a lovely house of five rooms with glass windows and a paved driveway within a gated compound with relatives as neighbors. They had electricity all the time, but the bathroom was outside (which they prefer). They set out a beautiful meal of at least ten different bowls. But when it came time to eat only one place was set. I was to be the honored guest and eleven people were there to watch me. I took tiny portions and the children eager to serve me kept adding more at my request, a teaspoon at a time. It took me one hour to eat the meal between questions.
The food was terrific and much of it I had never seen at an Indian restaurant. I realized it was really a hard time for his wife to be cooking because two days later a nephew was going to be married and that meant a new woman would be entering the compound. I asked about the cost of dowries for them as middle class people. It would cost the brides family about 8
thousand dollars. They make in a good month about 750 dollars. It would cost the man’s family about 800 dollars to pay for the feast for the 300 guests. In
this area a dowry would probably include a motorcycle whereas with my first driver it would be a bicycle.
I went back to the hotel and described to Peter the dinner. He was so thankful that he had not been able to go. I however enjoyed seeing the women and the home and talking to the young relatives of Peter’s age. If it had been daytime, I could have played badminton in their yard.
The children had computers to use at school but not at home. Internet was quite reasonable. Because of Joshy’s job he had a cell phone. Most phones are cell phones and they have towers in the steepest ravines where we would lose reception. Hotels don’t necessarily have computers, nor do banks. Much of accounting is done by hand with carbon copies.
The next morning Peter and I separated. He went to New Delhi and Thailand, and I went to Chennai (old Madras). I was lucky enough to find a Gulf Airlines office hidden in the terminal with the most delightful man who not only hounded AA so I could get on a plane the next day (being in a heat wave of 114) but made sure I had a realistic itinerary for sightseeing, a good place to stay, and that I would not be overcharged by taxi or auto-rickshaw drivers. They also had a great setup in the center of the parking lot where I could leave baggage overnight. So with a large purse I set off alone for the first time in four weeks to explore the
city.

I luckily got a wonderful older rickshaw driver who, without me asking him to, showed me all of the sights that I had listed as wanting to see. First on my list were the beautiful grounds of the Theosophical Society, which was founded in 1875 in New York. Its primary object is universal brotherhood based on the realization that life in all its diverse forms, human and nonhuman is indivisibly one. Theosophy is the wisdom underlying all religions when
they are stripped of accretions and superstitions. It offers a philosophy that renders life intelligible and demonstrates that justice and love guide the cosmos. Its teachings aid the unfoldment of the latent spiritual nature of the human being without dependence or fear.

The Theosophical Society’s grounds are this incredible park like setting with a wonderful old Banyan tree. The grounds are also called “The Lungs of Chennai” because they are one of the few open spaces. It had in the gardens beautiful Buddhist gardens and a major
temple with symbols from all the religions of the world. It had a great library and this wonderful, peaceful, spiritual feeling. And you see how important trees are, because even thought it was 110, it was pleasant, and felt to be only about 90.

I also saw the old Catholic church in Mylapore, Chennai, where St. Thomas’s remains were in a crypt in the basement that you could view and where I lit a candle for Marlene and other friends of mine who were sick in hopes that Our Lady of Mylapore would make a miracle.

In Chennai also all of the women wear jasmine in their hair. They dye it to match their saris and the scent is wonderful.

Another highlight the incredible Kappaleeswarar Hindu temple with its intricate paintings and
sculptures that make the painted Victorian ladies of San Francisco look simple by comparison.

The driver also found me a new hotel by the marina where I could walk even at night and see the families frolicking on the seashore and their version of amusement rides for small children. They also sold popcorn, cotton candy, grilled corn, fresh pineapple, coconut milk, and coconut
shells, cucumbers that are prepared like in Mexico with chili and lime and other wonderful concoctions. At this point I decided I now had the necessary resistance and indulged in grilled corn, cucumbers, pineapple, and popcorn.

Some young men talked to me to practice their English and I had a marvelous time. I
even got brave enough to dip my toe in the waters of the Bay of Bengal. I had not been brave enough to have any of my body parts touch the Ganges or the Arabian Sea or any of the lakes and rivers we had traveled on.
I decided it might be fun to go to the rooftop restaurant, but when I arrived there it was hot and smoky and I was the only woman. So I decided a snack in my room reading Peter’s favorite philosopher, Ken Wilbur, was a better alternative.
The next morning at 4:45 the auto-rickshaw driver returned to take me to the airport. It was already at least 90 degrees. I happily boarded the plane for Muscat in Oman. I had a five hour layover in Oman. Then I flew over hours of desert before reaching the skies above Athens
and eventually France to England. I could have kissed the soil to arrive in England and become invisible. That is to say, no one stared at me for being white.

I was greeted at the airport after 24 hours of travel by my former housemate Jordan and his wife Megan. My being a drama queen, the day was not going to end as peacefully as Megan had hoped. She ran me a bath by candlelight, but being that I don’t use candles and I was half asleep, I forgot to blow them out. I slept through all the smoke alarms in the morning. But did
notice some melting on the fiberglass on the bathtub that I did not remember from the night before! I wanted to be a good houseguest and Megan had thought that she should maybe say something to me but she didn’t want to bother me. The moral of the story is trust your
intuition. Especially when you are dealing with me as a houseguest! I’m still waiting for the bill for that. The hidden cost of vacations!

Kochi - The Ayuverdic Hospital - A detox that killed my bowels

2007-05-11T06:25:00.000-07:00

... continued from last post

by Peter

After some rest, my mom and I went out to see the Synagogue, the Vasco de Gama Church and the old V.O.C. (Dutch East India Company) building, then we spent the rest of the night at the hotel before leaving for my friend Sheelas' recommended Ayuverdic Hospital. I wanted the real experiance, not some Ayuverdic Spa that westerners normally go to. We drove about 15km south after some morning yoga and the best breakfast of the trip to a large three story complex call MATT India Medical Centre. The people were very nice and the doctor said she could get my moms bowels to move, plus we were prescribed daily yoga and twice daily massages. My mother was even going to get a bonus of clay therapy. I was excited.

Ayuverdic Massage

Ayurvedic medicine is an ancient system of health care that is native to the Indian subcontinent. The word "Ayurveda" is a tatpurusha compound of the word āyus meaning "life" or "life principle", and the word veda, which refers to a system of "knowledge". Thus "Ayurveda" roughly translates as the "knowledge of life". According to Charaka, "life" itself is defined as the "combination of the body, sense organs, mind and soul, the factor responsible for preventing decay and death, which sustains the body over time, and guides the processes of rebirth". According to this perspective, Ayurveda is concerned with measures to protect "ayus", which includes healthy living along with therapeutic measures that relate to physical, mental, social and spiritual harmony.

Pizhichil
In this treatment, lukewarm herbal oils are applied all over the body by two to four trained masseurs in a special rhythmic way for about 45 to 60 minutes per day.

Sirovashi
Certain lukewarm herbal oils are poured onto the forehead for 15 to 60 minutes per day

So now to actually explain what getting these treatments our like. (on a side note, my mother got different treatment.) The Sirovashi was very relaxing but the head and face massage that followed was incredibly painful and when I said it hurt they just kept going and said it was good pain. By the third day, I had headaches. In regards to the Pizhichil, you are laid BUTT-ASS naked on a hard wooden board without any padding which for a westerner is not good for my joints. After the first massage, my elbows, wrists, and knee joints were red and raw from being pushed back and forth on the massage table for an hour. However, the muscle knots in my neck and shoulders did improve even if my joints ached. On the third day, my mother was finally given a bottle of "castor oil" which did the trick and she had a bowel movement. I was jealous and boy did I get what I deserved.

The next day, after Yoga I was given the pre-castor oil tonic my mother was given and two bottles of warm pink water. After downing the tonic and 1/2 of one of the pink water bottles, my bowels exploded. My entire insides were released. I could finally understand what it must be like to get Lactulose or a prep for a Colonoscopy; however, this was only the start. After, everything solid came out of hole #2, all my stomach contents came out the other side and I was making oral gastric offerings to the porcelain gods. For the next 32 hours, I continued to expunge any and all substance from both orifices of my body. The doctor gave me more tonics, coconut juice, tea, and nothing worked. I couldn't hold anything down and I was starting to get really dehyrated and starting having mild hallucinations. I told my mom at one point after spending 5 or 6 hours on the floor next to the toilet, I would need an IV. Fortunately, my mother said, " Don't you have some acupuncture treatment you can give yourself. " Thankfully, I did CV-12(Middle heater, stomach Mu point), ST -25 (anti-nausea), CV-7 (lower heater, i.e small and large intestine) and Cv-5( adrengic mu point) later I was able to take sleep for 5-6 hours without needing to go to the bathroom. The next morning we were picked up by Joshy and I was really happy to go. It took me 3 days after that before I stopped the nausea and the constipation; although, I didn't try any more acupuncture which probably would have helped me heal earlier.

Kerela - "Gods Own Country" - not my God

2007-05-11T06:19:00.000-07:00

I am back in Fort Cochin on my second to last day in India (Hurrah!). I can only say this trip has not been a vacation. It has been a learning experiance in assumptions, in learning how to ask direct questions, enunciating the english langauge well does not = ability to speak english, and many other lessons. In the coming paragraphs, I will try and recap the ups and downs of our trip through the Indian State of Kerala.

May 2nd, 2007 - A night in Bangalore

My mother and I barely escaped the nightmare that was Bangalore. Our delayed flight arrived a little past one in the morning and a nice Sikh IT worker for Oracle named Jaspreet tried to help my mother and I find a safe, clean, hotel near the airport. All the recommended hotels in our Lonely Planet were full and we were left to use of the hotel finding services, which for a nominal fee (500 rupess = $12.00) could alledgedly book a hotel. Now in most countries, when you book a hotel for someone, you make sure the hotel has a room... BUT not in Bangalore. We arrived via Tuk-tuk around 2am and my mother was in bad shape. The fatigue and 10 days of constipation were showing their toll and she was dehydrated. When we got to the hotel, we waited around for 15 minutes patiently while I ascertained that 1) there were no rooms and 2)there was no clean water. Being in an angry state as seems to be the norm for me, I asked, really, demanded someplace to sleep. With our bags in hand, we marched down the street to a sister hotel which had no air conditioning, something else we were promised and had paid for. I decided some sleep was better than none, while my poor mother tried to have a bowel movement and take a shower. On her way out, she slipped owing to the fact the power and water went out, oh and there was not bathmat on a slippy tile floor with multiple levels, hit her tailbone leaving a nice bruise, my acupuncture needles couldn't touch. The next morning we left ASAP after I told the hotel manager that I would pay him half of the expected sum. But, he demanded all of it, we settled on 70%.

May 3rd, 2007 - Arrival in Kochi (aka cochin)

Kochi ( is a city in the Indian state of Kerala. The city is one of the principal seaports of the country and is located in the district of Ernakulam, about 220 kilometres (137 mi) north of the state capital, Thiruvananthapuram. It has an estimated population of 600,000, with an extended metropolitan population of about 1.5 million, making it the largest urban agglomeration and the second largest city in Kerala after the capital. Since 1102 CE, Kochi was the seat of the Kingdom of Cochin, a princely state which traces its lineage to the Kulasekhara empire. Heralded as the Queen of the Arabian Sea, Kochi was an important spice trading centre on the Arabian Sea coast from the 14th century onwards. Ancient travellers and tradesmen referred to Kochi in their writings, variously alluding to it as Cocym, Cochym, Cochin, and Cochi. Occupied by the Portuguese in 1503, Kochi was the site of the first European colonial settlement in India. It remained the capital of Portuguese India until 1530, when Goa became the capital. The city was later occupied by the Dutch, the Mysore and the British. Kochi was the first princely state to willingly join the Indian Union, when India gained independence in 1947.

Looking down over the tropical lush forests and deltas of Kerala, I saw hope. We landed on time to a nice private airport and were immediatly met by our guide/driver Joshy, a person recommended by my mothers friend, Joan, and necklaces of Jasmine Flowers. The air was clean, their was a breeze and I was looking forward to an Ayuverdic treatment and seeing Malabar, the ol capital of the Spice Trade. We made our way the 40km in a nice new big air conditioned Toyota to the Kochi peninsula neighborhood of Fort Cochin. Fort Cochin is where the Portugese, then Dutch, and finally British traders settled and made their headquarters in the Spice Trades. Vasco de Gama was even originally buried here and the town is definately colonial sitting right on the coastline of the Arabian Sea. Joshy had arranged for us to stay at the luxurious Bruton Boatyard Hotel which is a converted Dutch ship building office with ocenside rooms only. The room was stunning, with a huge bathtube and balcony with dolphins swimming as fishing boats sailed by. I though, where is this India in the North? I left my mom to sleep off Bangalore and went exploring.

The Jews of Kerala

The Malabari Jews formed a prosperous trading community of Kerala, and they controlled a major portion of world wide spice trade. In 1568, the Jews of Kerala constructed the Paradesi Synagogue adjacent to Mattancherry Palace, Cochin, now part of the Indian city of Ernakulam, on land given to them by Paraja, the Raja of Kochi. The original synagogue was built in the 4th century in Kodungallur (Cranganore) when the Jews had a mercantile role in the South Indian region along the Malabar coast now called Kerala. It was later moved to Kochi from Kodungallur. The first synagogue of the Malabari Jews in Cochin was destroyed in the Portuguese persecution of the Malabari Jews and Nasrani people of Kerala in the 1500s. The second synagogue, built under the protection of the Raja of Cochin along with Dutch patronage, is the present synagogue. It is called Paradesi synagogue because it was built with Dutch patronage at a time when Kochi was under Dutch occupation, thus the name paradesi synagogue or "foreign synagogue".

The Return to India - One Last Day in Kathmandu, the Buddhas 2551 Birthday

2007-05-02T05:31:00.000-07:00

"India is an amazing country, full of contradictions. It is a place of beauty with warm and generous people on one hand; on the other, millions and millions of its inhabitants live in the worst poverty imaginable."

I awoke this morning dreading the day. I knew today I had to return to India. Coming back here is both intriguing and scary. It is like the first day of starting school in a new grade. India is a great teacher and I do not always want to learn. I am looking forward to Kerala and the South, as well as the opportunity to spend 6 days in one place at one of Kerala's famous Ayuverdic Spas. However, at that moment, I only wanted to stay in bed.

After alot of coaching, my mother finally convinced me to pack up and visit the local Tibetan Temple that was about a 5 minute walk from our hotel. Two days earlier, she had met a Thangka (Scroll) Painter Teacher who had shown her the best Sange Mela (Medicine Buddha) she had seen.

The temple was gorgeous. It had just been painted and refurbished for the coming Full Moon Celebration marking the Buddha's Birthday with new prayer flags, incense, and candles everywhere. There was a throng of people as I made my way to the main alter to do my last proscretions to the Dhamma, Sangha, and Buddha before leaving Nepal. Next to the Stupa square was the Thangka School.

We were immediatly greeted by the teachers brother who showed us the Medicine Buddha. It was stunning and unlike any other we had visited in the last four days of Thangka shopping (about 100 stores in all, 300-400 Medicine Buddha and Medicine Mandala Scrolls). My mother showed her negotiating ability and walked out the door with a delivery to our hotel in an hour with 60% of the asking price. Strong work, mom.

The rest of the morning was spent shopping for a lighweight sleeping bag and raincoat. We only visited about 16 stores for this purchase before finding a Tibetan proprietor who had 500 gram (about 1.1 pound) sleeping bags for $60.00 USD and a Northface Chinese Knock off for $70.00 that would be $300.00 in the US. We then headed to the airport to catch our flight to New Dehli and then on to Kochi, Kerala Province via Bangalore.

Kushinager - The Last Days in India

2007-04-24T06:10:00.000-07:00

by Peter

“Yetra nari pujante, gamante sarwa devataha. “ – Where women are worshipped, the gods and goddesses abide.

“Now, another morning has come to timeless India, another day of plowing fields, hauling water, raising children, burning the dead. Beggars sit with bloodshot eyes, matted hair, and gaunt bellies, hands and feet withered and deformed, breathing the oily soot of the streets. They appear crazed, anguished, and despairing, or impartial, proud, and serene, offering the teaching of their existence, asking for generosity.”

“My sense of self is dissolving, as I see my illness reflected in the gaunt faces and sunken eyes around me. I am suffering, yet how much more others must feel the same misery, the same persistent burning in the throat, the same headache, the same twisting of the bowels. In this feverish delirium it is easy to understand the warnings of wise renunciates: from its glamorous heights to its terrifying depths, samsara is a sea of fire and a battlefield of razor-sharp weapons, in which we shall ultimately find nothing but sorrow.”

We came to where Buddha died, and so did a part of me. I hope it is part of the judge. The beauty of this place was telling, from the orange blanket covering the dying reclining buddha to the renovated Ashok Pillar. As for Merit, the number of projects helping to build this poor 1000 person community are numerous. Their is a name for the foundation but I forget exactly what is is. I do remember our guide mentioned establishing a Buddhist University and Medical School with Hospital. The major funders are the Thai and Japanese Governments.

Going For a Ride in the Car

2007-04-23T08:04:00.000-07:00

by Teri Gerritz

Most of our trip in India is by private car. Peter and I are the only passengers and at times a guide joins the driver. We sit in the back. We have our place. A driver is your protector, He navigates roads and road conditions that make any obstacle course you’ve played on any simulation or video game look like child’s play that you’d have to play blindfolded with one hand behind your back to have it resemble any fair type of competition, As previously stated everyone and everything “shares” the road from animals with and without attached contraptions to people walking or attached to any use of wheels that were invented in every period of history.

On top of this, anyone who has ever traveled with Peter knows that he likes to use the time for anything but interacting with you or the scenery. On this trip he was watching 16 2hr acupuncture lectures. Ergo I was not to interact with his holiness the doctor. Luckily the driver on our Buddha loop was friendly , contrasting with the army like demeanor or invisibility perhaps due to language of our other drivers. He invited me to sit in the front seat. Of course, I leaped at the opportunity.

He pointed out great sites like the mango tree climbers who make 35-40 trips /day up and down the trees that can be 30ft high. Unfortunately some spaced out macho motorcyclist didn’t observe and banged into us. This was after the previously peaceful wonderful day in Bodhgaya where we were full of monks and spirituality. It was in a village and we were the outsiders, sort of like wearing blue in a red zone, but without guns. Peter agreed to back up the driver if need be. He humbly stated he could take out 17 of them. We agreed with the driver it wasn’t his fault. He had some words with the motorcyclist that we couldn’t understand and got back in the car. No one was hurt and we continued but the motorcyclist pursued us and we got stuck on a bridge together. The motorcyclist came up to the car and started harassing the driver. The driver asked Peter to step out with him and Peter did and stood in true Enforcer form. He thought our driver was at fault , probably out of embarrassment , anger , guilt, fear at having to tell the family he had hurt their motorcycle and if he couldn’t fix it not having the money to do so. Mind you most families feel lucky to own a bike. I’m sure to his way of thinking man in car rich… just like they see us as money cows. Anyway, he pushed the driver slightly and in true fashion Peter gave him that look and said stop. He tried to get into Peter’s space and touched him but Peter let him know in Body Language that he was fearless. Of course the young men from his village were supporting and egging him on. All I could think to do was lock my door, meditate on taking in anger and sending out peacefulness and take a picture. An elder got the young man to get on his bike and we drove away. When it was safe our driver stopped to assess the damage. He had to drive and stop at several village markets before finding glue, screws and a screw driver so he could fix the damaged fender and brake lights while we visited an old brick jail where some king was shackled by chains underground by his power hungry son who probably didn’t want him spending money on temples for the Buddha… Someone has to non-compete with Peter’s knowledge of history and who better than a BS history major from the 60’s like me. We complimented our driver on his great repair job and Peter wrote a dramatic account of the incident and our drivers bravery from the perspective of Dr. Gerritz and American Law.

Meanwhile I fed my voyeurism and natural interest in how people get their needs met by asking questions of the driver, listening, looking and adding facts I learned from guides and the one or two Indian businessmen who would talk to you. I haven’t seen an American since I left Delhi and only saw the one I knew there.(Another story) the other whites have been French and 1 italian and a Canadian. Je comprend mais je parle “franish” a language of my own made up of any word in any form I can remember of either language. The following is a picture of information I got from several days on the “road”

If I were reincarnated as the hindu believe and married to a tour car driver this is what my life might be like. Trust me in India, except maybe in the biggest cities, if you are a woman you want to get married. In most places I was afraid to go out on my own and in Patna, Peter was so glad to have us escorted to the internet place that was at most two blocks away. Now this is in boring reporting form according to the sage but I’m too lazy to change it. To story form. I leave it up to you. It wasn’t part of my dowry.

Our driver and his wife were born in different villages near Varanasi on the Ganges River about 30 years ago to a a family of 4 brothers and 1 sister. . His parents died when he was young and he was raised by an uncle. 1 brother made the move to New Delhi. The rest live in villages near by. He was married, arranged of course, when he was 15 and his wife was of similar age or a year younger and he got his mother’s house. They had their first child about 3 years later. If a women does not produce a child in that time span a man may divorce her.

He learned some English at school for a year or two and then has learned from the tourists he drives around. His whole family reads and writes. He has worked as a car driver for the tour company for five years which he likes and makes it possible for him to only have one job. Note only about 20% of the men and 1% of the women drive. Before that he worked as a truck driver which is a very hard and much poorer paying job. When he works as a driver during tourist season of October thru March he doesn’t have much time with his family. But between June to August he spends much time with them. On the road he can become lonely and sleeps in his car. Last night he had a treat, the driver of the Chinese tourists’ bus who was also from Varanasi but unknown to him. invited him to sleep on the bus. So he not only got companionship but a better place to sleep. They are of course dependent on our tips as well as salary. Yesterday, after the accident , we gave him a 200 rupee bonus for surviving a day that all I saw was accidents for the first time along the road. This because we were mainly in a poor, small, rural areas where they can’t afford road police.

He feels comfortable in his house made of grass which is in many ways more breathable than brick and I think prettier looking. He repairs it about every two years. In a really bad monsoon it will leak a little. His wife can cook inside and they have an inside well that goes down 85 feet. He has two rooms; one for sleeping and one for the rest of the family activities. The bathroom is outside of the house. I do not know if it is just for his family or shared. They use kerosene for their lighting. There seems to be a shared electricity pole from which he takes 1 wire and pays about 300 rupees a month(Divide by 42 to get dollars; hint form retired math loving teacher). They can use it for a few hours a day. They have a black and white TV. His children who he buys treats for when on the road aged 12, 10, and 8 , are two boys and a girl, and he will not have more children because it is too expensive, watch cartoons. He can afford to send them to convent school for 300 rupee a month. These schools are better and have smaller classes. As a family they go to the movies every 2-3 months. Family movies are several hours long and are shown 4 times each day in 3 hour blocks. They usually will see the same show twice and then talk about it for quite a while afterwards. He owns a bicycle. If the family wants to go into the city or visit family at another village they take the bus. I am not sure if it is a bus where they can sit together or one where the men climb on top and the women and children ride inside.
His wife owns 3 sari’s; two for daily wear and a finer one for festivals, celebrations. Daily saris need to be replaced yearly and a fine one will last 5-6 years. They are Hindu and he only likes Indian food. He does not drink and said that is done mainly by foolish young men and people in the cities. He doesn’t play cards like I have sen the men doing in shops along the road but he does buy a lottery ticket. As a child he was too busy to play stick ball and other games. He is small in stature very soft spoken and outgoing and judging by his teeth perhaps chews in private. He is very protective of us. He helped us walk to the internet café in Patna. To drive here you have to be very clever and alert. He knows how to fix things when they are broken. They have a small pet dog and a parrot. They have a small garden with a few flowers, herbs, and vegetables but his wife goes to market daily and has the people she buys from. She is a homemaker.

He has a good life and has done well for himself. He is in this band that does better than the farmers but is not quite the new middle class. Because he works for the travel company he has a cell phone of his own to use. The car he returns to them when he is not driving for them.

I find it all beautiful but am ready to return with this knowledge to my current reincarnation and be thankful for the time, place and culture that I live in. I will however revisit my possessions and downsize and share with others.

Rajgir, Nalanda - Remnants of a Buddhist Empire in India

2007-04-23T03:35:00.000-07:00

by Peter

We left wonderful, magnificent Bodhgaya this morning to visit the holy sites of Rajgir and Nalanda. Our first stop for the day was the hilltop of Rajgir to a Japanese Peace Pagoda and caves that duirng the lifetime of the Buddha.

Rajgir is encircled by five holy hills. It lies at a distance of approximately 34 km from the city of Bodhgaya. The name of the town is derived from the words 'Raj Griha', meaning 'the abode of the king'. During the lifetime of Buddha, Rajgir served as the capital city of the Magadh Empire. The city hosted Buddha during the reign of rule of Bimbisara who was overwhelmed, along with many citizens, by the charm and grace of Lord Buddha. Here the two rock-cut caves were the favourite retreats of the Buddha and it was on this hill that he preached two of his most famous sermons.

Built on a hallowed site where the Buddha had often stayed, Nalanda is one of the world's oldest living cities. The Buddhist University of Nalanda, once the most prestigious center of learning in Asia, was built here. The evocative ruins of its monasteries and temples still convey a vivid impression of the serene and ordered life of contemplation and learning that prevailed here. Nalanda is located 14 kms. from Rajgir.It is well known as the ancient centre of learning which has the remains of the great Nalanda University and several monasteries and temples. Both Lord Buddha and Mahavira visited this place and it remained a renowned learning centre till 12th century when Muslims raiders destroyed it. Kings of Gupta, Kushan and Palva dynasties were the chief patrons of the centre, who built several monasteries and temples. The famous Chinese traveller Hieun Tsang studied here and his documents provide details about the university. Ayuverdic and Tibetan Medicine can also trace part of their roots here. In fact, most of the Ayuverdic practiced today was developed at Nalanda.

On an interesting side note, Nalanda was a flourishing University by 1st Century BCE. It is wispered that men from the west came and studied here. I can think a pretty well known Hebrew who lived in that time and was said to have traveled east. Comment on who I am thinking of.

Bodhgaya, Vaishali, Kesariya - April 22nd

2007-04-22T00:39:00.000-07:00

Bodhgaya

“Crimson Lotuses float in translucent ponds, and pilgrams from the four corners of the world pray in the shade of the venerable Bodhi tree. They have come with restless minds, peaceful minds, exhausted bodies, euphoric bodies, karma-ripening bodies, to the listen to the Dharma [teaching] and be uplifted by its compassion. Tibetans call Bodhgaya DORJE DEN [the diamond seat in the navel of the world]. They say it is where every Buddha of the past has become enlightened, and every Buddha of the future will, for it is the only place on earth that can withstand the power of such an awakening. The garden around the sacred Bodhi tree is filled with images of Sakyamuni, the Budha of this eon, standing, meditating, teaching, reclining, carved in stone, cast in metal, and painted on cloth. Inside the Mahabodhi Temple, faithful from around the world showere his golden feet with flowers, find happiness gazing upon his beatific smile, and add their prayers to the echoes of the ages.”

Bodhgaya is the most important Buddhist pilgrimage site in the world. The original Bodhi tree’s descendant, whose roots happily clutch the same soil as its celebrated ancestor, is the site where Buddha attained enlightenment. Thankfully, before Emperor Ashoka;s wife murdered the original Bodhi Tree, a sapling from it was carried to Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka, by Sanghamitta (Ashoka’s daughter). That tree continues to flourish and from which, in turn, a cutting was carried back to Bodhgaya and planted where the original had stood. The red sandstone slab under it was placed by Ashoka, and marks the spot of Buddha’s enlightenment –it’s referred to as the Vajrasan (Diamond Throne).On the surface, nothing remains here from 26 centuries ago, when Prince Siddharta Gautama transformed himself into the enlightened one under the Bodhi tree; however, the sweetly palpable atmosphere remains. The true working Buddhist centre is a small leaf-laden town. Most large countries with a Buddhist population have a temple leading to an intriguing display of architecture. Thus, the Thai Wat is brightly coloured, just as in Thailand. The Tibetan Karmal Temple and Namgyal Monastery each contain sizeable prayer wheels and the Indosan Nipponji Temple is donned with a Japanese pagoda roof. Next to the Japanese temple, lies the 25m-high Great Buddha Statue, unveiled by H.H. the Dalai Lama in 1989. Adjacent to the spot where Buddha formulated his philosophy of life, rises the magnificent Mahabodhi Temple, a world heritage site. The Mahabodhi Temple was constructed in the 6th Century CE atop the site of the temple erected by Emperor Ashoka almost 800 years earlier. After being razed by 11th-century Muslim invasions, the temple underwent major restorations, the last occurring in 1882. Topped by a 50m pyramidal spire, the ornate structure houses a large gilded image of Buddha. Amazingly, four of the original sculpted stone railings surrounding the temple, dating from the Sunga period (184-172 BCE), have survived among the replicas.

Kesariya

Rising 10 stories out of earth, where the dying Buddha donated his begging bowl, is an enthralling juxtaposition of history and nature. Each year archaeologists continue to remove nature’s lush, forested veil, revealing what’s likely the world’s 2nd-tallest Buddhist Stupa, which dates to the Pala period (6th Century CE). From above, the nine uniquely shaped terraces (seven currently exposed) form a gargantuan Buddhist Tantric Mandala diagram with a circumference of 425m.

Vaishali

In the 6th century BCE, Vaishali was home to one of the world’s first democratic republics. It’s also where Lord Mahavira, the 24th and final Jain tirthankar, was born and raised. Buddha preached his last sermon here, where today the ruins of the Kolhua Complex lay. Most remarkable is the noble lion atop the 2300-year-old Ashoka pillar. There is also a gleaming Japanese Peace Pagoda next to a Lotus pond.

Varanasi

2007-04-21T06:02:00.000-07:00

Varanasi

The city of Shiva, is one of the holiest Hindu cities in India. Hindu pilgrams come wash away all their sins in the Ganges. Varanasi was previously called Benares and Kashi (City of Life) and has always been an auspicious place to die, since expiring here offers moksha – liberation from the cycle of birth and death. The city is in the beating heart of the Hindu universe, a crossing place between the physical and spiritual worlds, and the Ganges is viewed as a river of salvation, an everlasting, ever flowing symbol of hope to past, present, and future generations. The magical and sometimes overwhelming city is where the most intimate rituals of life and death take place in public on the city’s famous ghats. Varanasi has been a centre of learning and civilization for over 3000 years, and claims to be one of the oldest cities in the world. Mark Twain wrote that ‘Benares is older than history, older than tradition, older even than legend, and looks twice as old as all of them put together.’ Its history dates back to 1400 BCE, but it was around 8th Century CE that Varanasi rose in prominence when Shankaracharya,a reformer of Hinduism, established Shiva worship as the principal sect. The Muslim Afghans destroyed Varanasi around 1300 CE, after laying waste to nearby Sarnath, but the fanatical Mughal emperor Aurangzeb was the most destructive, looting and destroying almost all of the temples. The old city of Varanasi may look antique, but few buildings are more than a couple hundred years old.

Ghats

Varanasi’s principal attraction is the long string of ghats that line the western bank of the Ganges. Most are used for bathing, but there are several ‘burning ghats’ where bodies are cremated in public. Around 80 ghats border the river. The ghats extend from Assi Ghat, s near the university, northwards to Raj Ghat, near the road and rail bridge. It’s a unique, world class ‘people-watching’ walk as you mingle with the fascinating mixture of people who come to the Ganges not only for a ritual bath but also to wash clothes, do Yoga, offer blessings, sell flowers, get a shave, improve their karma by giving to beggers, or simply loiter.

"With Mr. Singh, our local guide, we gathered together our flower offering and cremations remains to make our own offering to the river Ganges. With the sun rising, I think Grandmother Isle would have been happy to know both the mother Ganges and Surya, the sun god, recieved her."

Benares Hindu University

Varanasi has long been a centre of learning and that continues today at the large and well-regarded Benares Hindu University, which was established in 1917. Founded by nationalist Pandi Malaviya as a centre for education, Indian art, music, culture, philosophy, and Sankrit, it now offers courses in just about every single subject and has 14,000 students including 2,000 foreigners. The New Vishwanath Temple, unlike most temples in Varanasi, is open to all, irrespective of caste or religion.

Sarnath - The Buddhas First Sermon

2007-04-19T21:29:00.000-07:00

Sarnath – April 19th, 2007
By Peter

Buddha came to Sarnath, 10km northeast of Varanasi, to preach his message of the middle way to nirvana after he achieved enlightenment at Bodhgaya. He gave his famous first sermon here to a handful of followers in a deer park which has recently been recreated. The Buddha is said to have been the king of deers in that Sarnath Park in one of his past lives. In the 3rd Century BCE, the India King Ashoka had magnificent stupas and monasteries erected as well as an engraved pillar. When Xuan Zang, a Chinese traveler, visited by in 640 CE, Sarnath had a 100m-high stupa and 1500 monks living in over 100 monasteries. However, soon after, Buddhism in India, went into decline, and when the Muslim invaders invaded in the 12th Century CE, they destroyed and desecrated the city’s buildings. The city was lost for almost a millennium until in 1835 CE, British Archaeologists started excavations and Sarnath was rediscovered. A revival has been set in motion starting in the 1950s among intellectuals disillusioned with the caste system. The number of followers has been further increased with the influx of Tibetan Refugees and His Holiness the Dalai Lama.
Now set in a peaceful park, surrounded by Buddhist temples from Tibet, China, Thailand, Japan, Burma, and Sri Lanka, are the monastery remains an the impressive 34m Dhanekh Stupa, which marks the spot where the Buddha preached his first sermon. The floral and geometric carving dates back to the 5th Century CE, but some of the brickwork is thought to be even older at around 200 BCE. Emperor Ashoka is said to have meditated in the main shrine, but only its foundation has survived. The famous four-lion standard that used to be on top of the nearby Ashoka pillar is seen at the nearby Archaeological Museum.

An Enlightened Emperor

Apart from the Mughals and then the British many centuries later, no other power controlled more Indian territory than the Mauryan Empire. It is therefore fitting that is provided India with one of its most significant historical figures.
Emperor Ashoka’s rule was characterized by a period of flourishing art and sculpture, while his reputation as a philosopher-king was enhanced by the rock-hewn edicts he used to both instruct his people and delineate the enormous span of his territory.
Ashoka’s reign also represented an undoubted historical high point for Buddhism. He embraced the religion in 262 BCE, declaring it the state religion and cutting a radical swathe through the spiritual and social body of Hinduism. The extant highlights of Ashokan Buddhism are visible in Sarnath (on the spot where Buddha delivered his first sermon expounding the Noble Eightfold Path, or Middle Way to Enlightenment). Ashoka also sent missions abroad, and he is revered in Sri Lanka (Ceylon) because he sent his son and daughter to carry Buddhism to the island.
The long shadow this emperor of the 3rd century BCE still casts over India is evident from the fact that Ashoka’s standard, which topped many pillars, is now the seal of the modern-day India and its national emblem, chosen to reaffirm the ancient commitment to peace and goodwill.
Our guide for this adventure Singh, was a retired assistant professor of philosophy who started out solely interested in Western philosophy but after meeting an enlightened Yogi, started to look back at his own Eastern Philosophy. Up until this point, I was very impressed with most of our guides, but Singh blew then out of the water. Whether discussing Descartes to Ashokas rule, Singh had an excellent grasp of it all. His current books to read are Ken Wilbers, a Brief History of Everything, and Stephen Hawking, the History of the Universe. From the Park, we made ourselves to the Sri Lankan Monastery to see the descendent of the Bodhi tree which was sent with Ashokas daughter in the 3rd Century brought back to sit close to where Buddha was enlightened. While meditating on Metta (loving kindness) for loved ones who have died in my lifetime, I was beset with uncontrollable tears. My whole body shook in a way that I had not experienced since my time at Wat Pa Nana Chat in Thailand.
Sarnath Park and its museum may not have been as large as the Mughal Forts and Palaces, but to gaze upon the 2300 year old pillar standard, still intact, after its religious centers had moved East and South almost 1000 years ago speaks of its power. It makes me think of how the Dalai Lama says he does not hate the Chinese even though he was exiled out of Tibet. In the end, I believe it is the intention of every Bodhisattva to help others reach closer to enlightenment. The Dalai Lama might not have known that his exile would help to reignite the flame of Buddhism in India and China while also helping Buddhism spread west to Europe and the New World, but he continued his ethical path and look what flowered.
I think the final laugh really will be on the Chinese Government for trying to subjugate a people with different beliefs because there has been a resurrection of Buddhism in China, and with a growing middle class, the Maoist Centralized Communist Government will see its fall just as the Mughals saw their empire crumble for subjugating the non-muslims. I just hope that the Mara (trickster deity) inspired materialism that causes so much suffering in the United States with its premise that material possessions bring happiness, casts little influence on the emerging new Republic of China. In the end truth prevails as the pillar states. For our future, may we all cultivate a better Sangka (community) by accepting that we are all Buddhas, but just have different Dhammas (paths).

The Buddhist Circuit

2007-04-18T09:16:00.000-07:00

Buddhism in India

Buddhism arose in the 6th Century BCE as a reaction against the strictures of Brahminical Hinduism. The Buddha (Awakened One) is believed to have lived from about 563 to 483 BCE. Formerly a prince (Siddhartha Gautama), the Buddha, at the age of 29, embarked on a quest for emancipation from the world of suffering. He achieved nirvana (the state of full awareness) at Bodhgaya at the age of 35. Critical of the caste system and the unthinking worship of gods, the Buddha urged his disciples to seek truth within their own experiences. Buddha taught that existence is based on:

Four Noble Truths –
1) Life is rooted in suffering;
2) Suffering is caused by craving worldly things;
3) One can find release from suffering by eliminating craving;
4) Way to eliminate craving is by following the Noble Eightfold Path.

Noble Eightfold Path –
1) Right understanding
2) Right intention
3) Right speech
4) Right action
5) Right livelihood
6) Right Effort
7) Right Awarness
8) Right Concentration

By successfully complying with these one can attain Nirvana.

The Buddhist Circuit

The Buddhist (or Lotus) Circuit is a pilgrams trail that follows in the footsteps of Lord Buddha, wending its way primarily through the province of Bihar, where Buddha spent most of his time.
In Bodhgaya, the most sacred of all Buddist sites, lies Mahabodhi Temple, next to the very spot Prince Siddhartha Gautama attained enlightenment and became the Buddha more than 2500 years ago which also houses a Bodhi tree descended from the original tree Buddha sat under. Next, Sarnath, near Varanasi, is where Buddha first preached his message after achieving enlightenment. Rajgir, Venevamas, and Sapti Pari Cave were where Buddha spent much of his life. Along the way, stop at the ancient philosophical center of learning Nalanda. Then, head northwest to Patna to glimpse sculptures from Buddhist sites at Patna Musuem. North to Kushinagar,the location of Buddha’s death, before crossing the border into Nepal. Finally, to Lumpini, the place of the Buddha’s’ death.

The Mughals - A Dead Empire

2007-04-17T09:10:00.000-07:00

The Mughals

The Mughal Empire was massive and covered, at its height, almost the entire subcontinent. Its significance, however, laid not only its size. Mughal emperors presided over a golden age of arts and literature in India and built some of the more famous Indian architecture still standing today. In particular, Shah Jahan’s Taj Mahal that ranks as one of the wonders of the world.
The founder of the Mughal line was Babur, whom allegedly was a descendent of both Genghis Khan (a great sacker) and Tamerline (a great sacker and desecrater of non-Muslim religions and their people). In 1525 CE, armed with this almost mythological lineage (umm sounds like the Virgils claim in the Aeneid that Romans are the descendents of Troy), he marched into Punjab from his capital of Kabul, Afghanistan. With technological superiority (firearms), and consummate skill in simultaneously employing artillery (cannons) and cavalry (horseback), Babur defeated the numerically superior armies of the Sultan of Delhi at the Battle of Paniput in 1526 CE.

Despite this initial success, Babur’s son, Humayun was defeated by a powerful ruler of eastern India, Sher Shah, in 1539 and forced to withdraw to Iran. Following Sher Shah’s death in 1545, Humayun returned to claim his kingdom, eventually conquering Delhi in 1555. He died the following year and was succeeded by his young son Akbar whom, during his 49-year reign, managed to extend and consolidate his empire until he ruled over a mammoth area.

True to his name, Akbar (Great One in Arabic), was probably the greatest of the Mughals, for he not only had the military ability required of a ruler at that time, but he was also a just and wise man of culture. He saw, as previous Muslim rulers had not, that the number of Hindus in India was too great to subjugate. Although Akbar was no saint – rumours of massacres of Hindus still tarnish his legacy – he remains known for integrating Hindus into his empire and using them as advisers, generals, and administrators. Akbar also had a deep interest in spiritual matters and spent many hours in discussion with religious experts of the worlds major religions of the day.

Jehinger ascended to the throne following Akbar’s death. Despite several challenges to the authority of Jehangir himself, the empire remained more or less intact. In periods of stability, Jehangir took the opportunity to spend time in his beloved Kashmir, eventually dying on route in 1627 CE. He was succeeded by his son, Shah Jahan, who secured his position as emperor by executing all male relatives who stood in his way. During his reign, some of the most vivid, permanent, and costly reminders of Mughal influence were contructed. In addition to the Taj Majal, he also oversaw the contruction of the Red Fort in Delhi and converted Agra Fort into a palace that would later become his prison for his decadence and depletion of the Mughal Empire Treasury (can a certain village idiot have the same thing done, please …).

The last of the great Mughals, Aurangzeb, the youngest son, imprisoned his father (Shah Jahan) and succeeded to the throne after a two-year struggle against his brothers who by right of Primogeniture were set to inherit the kingdom. Aurangzeb, with a much depleted treasury, devoted his remaining resources to extending the empires boundaries, and fell into the same trap another previous Muslim ruler had done earlier. He, too, tried moving his capital south and imposed heavy taxes to fund his military. A combination of decaying court life and religious intolerance weakened the Mughal grip (sounds like a certain Empire of today).The empires fortunes began a descent with Delhi being sacked by another Muslim, Persia’s Nadir Shah in 1739. Then continued with a joint British-Bengali invasion led with Bengals greater numbers and Britain superior firearms.

Jaipur

2007-04-16T08:16:00.000-07:00

by Teri Gerritz

Staying at a converted maharaji palace… beautiful room.. feel like the time of the colonists and am glad to be behind the walls.. so much cooler than on the street. Wonderful gardens and birds,, peacocks hoping rooftop to roof, water lilies, eagles according t Peter, bats and about 11 other varieties… pigs, cows, goats , camels…. The help dresses like out of a kipling fairytale… where is the cobra and the mongoose. Incredible dinner with garlic naan that melts in your mouth spinach paneeer like none I’ve had… cauliflower and potatoes good but more like home.. superb dancing and music… dancing with heads on fire in can, a flame eater and fie thrower… a woman who danced with seven pots on her head… after peter left took the invite to go on stage and try to dance with them,,, magical night climbed the stairs and had an over view of the city complete with lighted temples and castles loved the drive from 100 plus years ago to decorated trucks and trailers of today and every means of transportation sharing the road….gratitude for being one who has the comforts life like stories I have read.…So good to be out of self.. dinner on the green in the warm evening.. no humidity. So pleasant relaxing.

Indian idiocracy - the misadventures of my mother and I

2007-04-15T01:56:00.000-07:00

From the wonderful lush, clean scrublands of South Africa, I descended into the chaotic, filthy, abyss that is India.

[Warning: The following blog entries are authored by myself or my mother]

by Peter

My Indian idiocracy did not initially begin in India, but in the bush of South Africa. Five days before I was scheduled to leave my fathers house in Thailand to New Delhi, India, I recieved an ominous email. My mother had just been to the Indian Consulate in San Francisco where she had applied for a $60.00 tourist visa. While there, she learned that 1) American Citizens require a visa for entry into the Republic of India; and 2) Visas could not be purchased in the Republic of India.

For the next three days, between morning and evening game drives, I panicked. I used all the resources of the luxury Ulusaba Resort to establish contact with the Indian Consulate in Johannesburg, while simultaneously trying to call the Indian Embassy in Bangkok, Thailand and in Kathmandu, Nepal. I had just weeks earlier confirmed my eighteen day tour of northeastern India with Indian Holiday Pvt. LTD; I like to call them incredibly horrible pricey liars but thats enough hate for now. In all my travelling, I have taken for granted that an American Passport is all that is needed for entry into most countries. In worse case scenario, like Turkey in 2003, you can pay double the normal price at the airport. However, India does not work that way. I should have known. A country with a millenium age caste system is a recipe for the worst and biggest bueracracy ever. It puts to shame the Berkeley High attendence ladies. Unfortunately, the Indian Consulate refused to talk with the staff of Ulusaba and seemed to enjoy hanging up on my cries for help.

I left Ulusaba separately from the rest of my family to try my luck with the Consulate in person. Thankfully South Africa bueracracy came crashing down somewhat with Apartheids end and for $300.00 I had my visa in a day. I left the next morning for Thailand and then the next day for India. I arrived in New Delhi on April 14th and made my way after being ripped off 60 rupee (40 rupees = $1) met my mom at a hotel in New Dehli

Monkeys, Gastroenteritis, and why one should not eat foreign plants

2007-03-30T20:17:00.000-07:00

It all started two days ago. We were trying to decide if we wanted to go to the jungle to go tubing down the rapids in a rainforest or spend more time exploring the islands of Southern Thailand. I had made mention of Ling (monkeys) and everyone got excited. We ended up talking to one of the waiters at our resort and he had a friend whom would take us to the monkeys for around$60.00. We ended up taking a 15 minute drive and getting on a long tailed speed boat ( I will show you a picture later.) We went through the mangrove forests to another bank on the way out to see. Staring directly across from us was a terrestial monkey. Our boat drivers starting throwing chunks of pineapple ashore and monkeys started appearing from everywhere. Old monkeys. big balled monkeys, nursing monkeys, baby monkies. Many many monkeys. THe highlight was watching two monkeys boom-boom (I think you know what that means.) Ergi recorded the whole thing on his camera in a movie. We then went home to rest before taking a sea kayaking island tour the next morning. Ergi and Chris were exhausted. (Chris had a dirtbike accident before I met them and fucked himself up pretty bad... we call him gimpu). Bill and I went to dinner and stupidly ordered fruit lassies. We would end up regretting this later. In the middle of dinner a lightning storm began with a tropical shower that shut off the power leaving Bill and I running home using only lightning flashes as light along the beach front.The next day we all awoke, and lo and behold went to the same dock to get on the same Long Tailed Boat to see the same Monkeys. But first, we went sea kayaking and caving. The caving was ridiculous it was basicallty pitch black and one needed ropes to climb due to the steep elevation. By about midday, when lunch happened, Bill was really ill and started vomiting, gave the fishes a free lunch, and we ended up not spending much time on the Monkeys the second time around. While Bill lay, moaning in pain, Ergi decided to rip a large fern leaf with his teeth... About two minutes later he was screaming... it burns it burns, I can't feel my ams, I can't feel my arms. The plant he had tasted was an alkaloid like bathroom cleaner. We started washing his mouth out with salt water for the next ten minutes while everyone watched and laughed in amusement. By the time, we got back to our hotel, I was now bloated and nauseous. The next ten hours were my giving offerings to porcelain god while cursing the contaminated yogurt of the fruit lassie. This morning I feel better, but am still not one hundred percent. We leave to go the rock climbing settlement of Railey Beach.

The San Blas Islands, Panama (March 1st - March 4th, 2007)

2007-03-05T07:19:00.000-08:00

I awoke this morning to the early crowing of roosters after awakening late last night to the freezing wind that swept through the thatched roof hut that Scott and I called home and our owner called his kitchen on the island of Chichime.

Yesterday, we finally got in touch with the Colombian, Hernando, who after walking off his dingy with a bad right leg and a left leg circumduction gait, the muscular dystrophy called to me. We got on his dingy and to the boat where a group of Irishmen and Australians dressed up as pirates greeted us:, "Aye Matey, we be pirates, and you gonna have to walk the plank." I immediately felt much better as Scott and I cracked open a beer and got to see the drunk captain at work. With a single sale raised, we cruised out to the outer islands to stay with the "hermano" of Hernando, Umberto. We were greeted along the way by two groups of Dolphins and rolling waves, as the boat pitched pack and forth. We arrived at Chichime several hours later around 2:30pm in the afternoon and all jumped off the boat and into the crystal clear water to explore the island.
We were introduced shortly to Umberto, an older Kuna Male who inhabited/owned the northeastern part of the larger island. He charged us $10.00 for accommodation and food. We watched hungrily as he grilled up a fish, only to discover our dinner would be a bowl of rice, a sausage like thing, and instant coffee.
I then walked to another part of the island to sit on some drift wood in the middle of a Coral atoll and watch the sun set before returning to the Pirates and a game of Maya, Exhausted and drunk, I passed out around 9pm.
Breakfast the next morning, was more sausage, plantains, and coffee. YUCK does not begin to describe the sausage like patties. Now it is important we get back to Porvenir. We are being charged $5.00/person for the boat ride back which is a canoe and an outrigger motor. Going through the sea and three to four foot waves in a canoe is pretty scary. We are arrived safely, and had a fish/plantain dinner and coconut. Scott gave me an airborne which made the drinking water tolerable. In the afternoon, I took a nap, went to hermit crab beach and took more photos.

Bocas del Toro, Panama (February 26th - February 28th)

2007-02-28T07:17:00.000-08:00

Scott and I upon arrival immediately found our way to the Bay Area Native owned Hostel Mondu Taitu where we were initially pleased to discover our roommates would be five cute Argentinian girls. After dropping off ours and taking some much needed showers, we went to Starfleet Scuba to arrange for some diving the next morning.
The boat started off at Hospital Point and then Coral key. Between the two locations we came upon a pod of dolphins who swam around our boat while breaching every couple of minutes to show off. On our diving trip was a "move guy" from Southern California who was here to do some land development. Scott and I started talking to him about wanting to go out partying on Isla Basimientos to get some real local flavor. He said he knew the islands main drug dealer Coco and he would introduce us. At the time, he gave off a very weird vibe, but Scott and I just shrugged it off. There are not may forty something single men tromping around a backpacker island chain. We took a two dollar boat ride over and found one bar which was not packed and decided to explore the dimly lit streets of Basimietos. We wandered around finding nothing and ran into the guy, Ruben from earlier that day. He bought us a beer at his hotel and preceded to tell us that he went to Cocos party but had to leave. As the story started to unravel, it became clear that Ruben was homophobic and in denial of his own sexuality. Coco was his boy toy and when Ruben grazed Cocos arm at his party as would a lover, Coco flipped out and started threatening him with death. I guess its not good for a drug dealers image to be a homosexual with a older American boyfriend that could be your father. Scott and I decided to leave shortly after this tale, and get home safely.

The next day, we decided to go and find the Berkeley High Residents who were living in Boca town and building a house. I was expecting Tom Parsley, but was pleasantly surprised to see Mika and Owen Simms as well. The guys were all exhausted from working, so Mika and some of the other girls came over to Mondu Taitu for some pre drinking.

Cahuita -Bocas del Toro (February 24th - 25th, 2007)

2007-02-25T07:14:00.000-08:00

Cahuita - The small town of Cahuita located 1km off the main road is a sleepy laid back community where north of town is a black sand beach, and north is the Cahuita National Park, a narrow strip of beach protection with a Coral Reef. The trail takes about 3 hours
We arrive around mid afternoon and find shelter at Bobo Shanti; a colorfully painted hostel in red, green, and gold. A rasta-relax place with four two-bed rooms with fan, shower for $12.00/night. We went to eat at Miss Ediths' which was described by the lonely planet as almost legendary with nice people, good food, and plenty of Caribbean style. I ordered a coconut vegetable curry and the only thin legendary was how long we had to wait to eat. The curry was very bland.

The next morning, Scott and I awoke the next morning and went to explore the Parque National Cahuita and were greeted to a loud tribe of howler monkeys in the canopy above. As we ventured further along the beach path, a Seattle native, and her two young sons joined us we viewed Basilisk lizards, the lizards that can run on water, and some friendly white-faced monkeys. No snakes so far, whew. Later in the day, we caught the bus to Sixapla on a twisty windy scary pot hole infested trail where the passengers behind us vomited at will. At the border, we walked across an old United Fruit railroad bridge and paid $5.00 for tourist visas to cross. From the border, Scott and I bartered with a private driver to take us to the dock to catch a boat to Bocas del Toro.

Bocas del Toro (Bulls' Mouth) - Northwest Coast of Panama
Panama's Caribbean banana-growing region has historical links with Columbus's fourth voyage and with the black slaves imported to work the plantations. Ports of varying age and activity lie on the Laguna de Chiriqui, provide the alternated land route to Costa Rica. The banana railway that was wiped out in the 1940/50's by disease is now the small commerical port city of Almirante, which today, serves as a transit point for tourists heading to the Bocas Archipelago. United Fruit with newer disease resistant bananas is still very active her. Across the bay from Almirante are the rain forests, reefs, and beaches of the Bocas islands. The most important of which is Isla Colon. The protected bay offers all forms of water sports and diving, beautiful sunrises and sunsets. All the islands, Isla Colon, Isla Basimientos, Isla San Cristobal, Isla Popa, and Isla Carenero harbour plentous wildlife but especially those east of Colon where tropical birds, butterflies, red, yellow, orange frogs, and a great variety of other wildlife abound. For some, this is being called the new Galapagos, but as in that fragile paradise, attraction and concern walk hand in hand. Formerly a major banana producer, the industry failed to revive alongside the mainland plantations and the major sources of income are now fishing and tourism. Bocas del Toro town, where most visitors stay is on the southeast tip of the island. Most activity takes place around the broad main street - Calle 3 - and the leafy square of Simon Bolivar. English is spoken by most of the black population and is home to the largest Panamanian population outside of the canal zone.

Costa Rica - El empieza de mi viajes (February 23rd, 2007)

2007-02-23T11:56:00.000-08:00

I just arrived to the Costa Rican capital city of San Jose to meet up with Scott on his Central American Exodus for the next two weeks. After finishing my last clinical rotation of radiology at UCSF thursday, I feel like I can finally relax. Hopefully with a good book, hammock and tropical sun as my constant companions. I spent the day walking around the small capital city of San Jose before having lunch at one of the local sodas´ which serve beans, rice, and some meat for around $1.50. I then returned to our hostel Tranquillo Backpackers for a nap before we met up with some of Scotts backpacking buddies to hit the town. Around 6pm, we started drinking with the Canucks and made our way over to the El Pueblo, an area filled with small dance clubs. We met a group of bankers who we danced with at the first club before leaving to explore a couple more of the clubs. We stayed there partying until about 3am then headed back to fall asleep before heading out to Cahuita the next day.

The Garytale of Turkey, part 1

2003-07-12T17:03:00.000-07:00

Welcome back everybody. First thank you to all you lovely people in Turkey:
Leah, Olivia, Cynthia, Sureyya, John, Katie, Jules, Jen, "juniour",
"Kapitan"and Casper. Maybe even "thug life", but thats another part of the
tale, actually not to thug life.

You'll are going to need to get out your atlases. Leif and I flew into
Istanbul, went to the Blue Mosque and an old place in Sultan Ahmet square.
This was all really cool and exotic. We got to see what a secular Muslim state
was like. Really no women at all and those that were out were covered in
shawls. From here, we took that bus to Izmir overnýght, then transferred Buses
for Dalaman and eventually Göcek. We got into Göcek exhauseted and walked from
the gas station bus stop down the rode to the sunny little resort town. The
views were amazing. Jutting mountains with a thick canopy of trees yielding to
a small harbor and village.

Thanks to my incredible fluency in Turkish, Leýf and I walked by the first
marina about a mile down the road to the last marina. Had we checked more
closely, we would have noticed, our lovely vessel, the Lady Crista was docked
right there. Hot, sweaty, and without a shower for two days, we smelled wonderful.
The boat was amazing. It was by far the largest sailing yacht I've been on in
my life. She was about 120 feet long, with two large masts. The entýre boat
was done in wood. I couldn't believe my eyes. I kept doing double takes.
However, next to her Lady Krista was Ecco Naigo, Casper(My friend Leahs Dads
Yacht). Custom built, it was a baller of the boating world.

Leif and I dropped off our stuff and went into town. We immediatly went an internet cafe, and
started browsing. If you'l see a ý instead of a i, its the weird turkish
keyboard. While Leif was surfýng, I discovered the thai massage of Turkey: A
haýr cut and shave. Nothing is better than a staight edge. Ý was very
ecstatýc. I had one more of these, da bomb. The first person to arrive was
Akmed and his mother, both frýends who were stayýng on ecco. Bye the way, Leýf
and Ý were enjoying 40ozs at this point. We chilled and waited till everyone
else arrived at 12:00 at night. Everyone arrived at 12:30, and we all went to
a club: thýs consisted of us and two bartenders. Thankfully, Jen was able to
use her gifts of persuasion and the drinks were on the house the entire night.
GOOD WORK!!! We rolled back to the boat, and passed out.

More to come....

Peter

Another Garytale, Sevilla and Granada

2003-07-02T16:57:00.000-07:00

Whats up again,

I´m back in Madrid waiting to get back to Barcelona on Leif and I´s way to
Turkey via England. Its another three days of nonstop traveling. Time to see
the world we say. Sevilla was very nice. It reminded me of a Berkeley of
Spain. It was much more reasonably priced. We booked a hostel thru the local
information authority.
In the past, this has always worked out to be an advantageous idea, but this time it didn´t really turn out so grand. We got booked on a hostel by the name of Espiau, it was a converted spanish manor into guesthouse. It was only 18€/person and we though, great. We took a taxi on some small ass streets like in the movie, Ronin, only our taxi driver wasn´t a stunt driver, but drove like it. The hostel seemed really nice and an Englishman named Gino, cool Gino at this point. He took us up, showed us the room, and told us where the nearest supermarket, internet cafe, and bar were to kick it. The lack of air conditioning did not seem a problem at this point. Ben and I took one room with two beds, while Leif and Brian took another.
Ben´s Jen best friend from back home, Ryea, was staying there for another
couple of weeks and would be our American tour guide in Sevilla. We walked
around town noticing that which is Europe on a Sunday: Everything is closed,
lords day I´m told. We did find this great pizzeria about a block from the
hostel, and we all had some comfort food;cheese pizza and garlic bread. We
then preceded to all take naps. Ben and Leif attempted to raise Brian and I at
around 12:00 to go out and meet Ryea at a bar, but to no avail. Madrid and
club Kapital had taken their toll. The next morning I arose at about 7:00am
after getting the most sleep I´ve had in about two weeks to go and take a look
around.
Still nothing was open. The Spanish really know how to do it. Party
all night and early opening is 8 not 5:30. Anyway at eight I went to a nice
Cafeteria and had breakfast. I tried talking to the waiter, but his accent was
so strong. I kept repeating Que over and over again. I then went to the
supermarket at 9am and got cold water, canned octopus, bread, and two types of
tuna salad. I then preceded to return to the room and try to go back to
sleep. But boy was it hot. We all got up around 10:30 am grogilly to meet
Ryea at the central cathedral. From the cathedral, we headed to a parque that
had a museum of archeology with alot of roman and Moorish artifacts, but it was
closed on Monday. We then went to a white pigeon park where we bought birdseed
and were covered in pigeons. It was quite a grand time. Had these been normal
pigeons I would not have been amused. From the park we headed back to the
cathedral.
The cathedral was originally a Mosque and you could see the dome where the call for prayer used to be sounded. The cathedral itself was really big, ad lots of art, cool stained glass windows, and such. But the best part was it also had the tomb of Christopher Columbus. That man must have been hella short because I would need to crouch to fit in the tomb. We then
ascended 34 levels, shorter than stories, sets of ramps really to get to the main tower with views of Sevilla. There were two nice modern bridges and some old museums and a park. I liked the Falcons that made the cathedral their home and flew in and out of view, pigeon hunting. We then continued along to find a Tapas bar for lunch. This was the best part of Sevilla. Patatas Bravas are so good, they are basically potato wedges with a spicy tomato and mayonaisse sauce. We also go paella, tortilla, croquetes, olives, and paella. None of
the dishes were more than 1.5€. I wish everywhere had been this cheap. We
then returned to the hostel to nap. We went to the pizzeria again for dinner
and told ourselves we would make it out tonight. we met Ryea at this cool
outdoors bar playoing trance music by the river. We stayed thre for a while ,
went across the river to a couple other bars and went home at around 4:00am.
Ryea came back and we hung out until about 5:00am. We had to get up at ten to
get the train station in Granada the next day and Ryea stayed in Leif and Brian
room. When we got up, Gino, came up and asked in the I already know the
answer, if we had a guest. Leif said we came at 4:00 am and we didn´t want Ryea
going home alone. He then responded by saying how disappointed he was with us
and that guest were not allowed. Leif tried reasoning with the oaf, but it was
to no avail. Right as we were leaving, he comes up and wants 20€. 3 more than
even we paid for the guest who didn´t even have her own bed and slept maybe
four hours in some janky ass beds with no fan and no air conditioning. What a
chump. Grumpy and with a bad taste in the mouth we continued on to Granada.

Granada is a lot smaller than Sevilla, but the Alhambra is the coolest
fortress/palace. It located above the mountain and has beautiful gardens,
fountains, pools, Islamic and Christian influences, incredible views. By the
time we got there we had to walk three miles, one of which was up a hill as
steep as Marin ave in Berkeley and hadn´t eaten anything for five hours. We
still all really enjoyed it and even though we were hungry stopped complaining
once we got there and parted with the hefty 8€ fee. Starving student discount
please!!! We then went back to the hostel which was at the bottom of the hill
with our rooms overlooking a nice plaza where the Granadaens (People of the
Pomegranate) drink 40ozs and chill. Ben and I went to another Tapas bar while
Leif and Brian settled for what I call a snack of Patatas Bravas Grande at my
favorite Spanish food chain pan and company. Remember Barcelona, same place
overlooking plaza. We all went to sleep because we all took an 8:00 train to
Madrid. We tried to rise, but only Ben and Leif were successful, but w/out
Brian and myself they went back to bed.

My next ridiculously long drawn out garytale with commence in about 15 days
when
Leif and I get back from Turkey and meet up with the rest of the boys in Roma.

Peter

The Original Garytales - Madrid, dia 2 (6.29.03)

2003-06-29T15:38:00.000-07:00

I return:

The club was kicking, but not when we arrived. I quickly made my way to one of the four bars in this four story club and ordered 4 red bulls and vodka, when the bartender gave me the bill, I was a bit pissed. I was trying to get involved with being a boracho, but 44 euros is a lot. We had our drinks, found some chairs and chilled. I tried hollering at some girls from Mexico, I could understand and speak in Spanish, unfortunately they were not interested. At around 2am the club was popping and I danced for hella long. We then went back where we all passed out with the sun rising.

About 6 hours later, we hobbled downstairs to enjoy a much finer breakfast, ice
water, ice orange juice, croissants, cereal, Cafe con leche. Ice truly is what
sets America apart. Ice is the greatest invention of all time when it’s hot and
10 in the morning with your head ringing like a 240 pound women hit you upside
your head with her heavy ass purse. Just recalling an incident in eighth grade
at King.

Today we went to the Museum del Prado, the statues were cool, the art was too
much Jesus and stuff. It would have been cooler had any of us taken an art
history class. Can someone please explain why Jesus has the cut on his right
side below his heart in every crucifixion painting? What does it mean? We
continued hungrily to the park of Madrid in search of food. Unable to
encounter any reasonably priced food inside the park, we ventured outside,
found the A.g. Ferreri of Madrid, bout some food, and went back the park to
have a picnic by the lake with a perfect blue sky with a cloud every now and
then. Madrid is fast becoming my favorite city in Europe and possibly the
world. Spanish ladies do improve the picture tremendously I might add. We
then went to another museum of which I can not remember the exact name, but it
used to be a private museum owned by some rich Spaniards, but now open to the
public. It was much cooler than the first. It was three stories with Monet,
Dali, and a lot of more recent artists whose names I forgot. There were about
five pieces I really liked. One contemporary, one Flemish, one Dutch, one
Italian, and one French. The French one was my favorite. It was from 1620,
called the Arabian and it was a man guiding his horse on a hillside, it was all
water paint.

We then returned to our hostel, tired and in need of another siesta.

Hasta Luego,

Pedro

Barcelona dia 3

2003-06-28T16:53:00.000-07:00

Hola Amigos,

I woke up this morning to begin writing the first couple of logs in my
adventures which I hope you have all enjoyed and at least somewhat understood.
I woke up at 6:30 this morning unable to go back to sleep. It seems six hours
of sleep with lots of siestas is just too much rest for my body. Breakfast was
much better this morning, we actually have fruit. Aww Scurvy, a sailors worst
enemy. Anyway, my legs were so sore from walking the day before, I thought my
herculean workout plan needed to have a small rest. Oh yeah, why Leif also
hates his sandals, while I was gone, he and the guys tried to descend a small
fence. Unfortunately for Leif, his sandal broke and so did his shorts. Ben
couldn´t stop laughing until Leif gave a nice punch. Eventually, the sleeping
princesses, Ben and Brian awoke and we took the metro to the train station to
leave our bags. We also decided on a new name for the Sorenson, the cricket,
always chirping some complaint, but occasionally moving very quickly like up a
flight of stairs to get out of the muggy metro. The metro of Barcelona is
quite a maze, it can take five minutes just to transfer lines, and air
conditioning does not exist. Arrggh!!! We took a cab from Sants Estacion to
the La Ramba, where Ben, I come to Europe to go shoe shopping, decides we need
to look for Air Max 95´s. He decides against for the 145 Euros they want, but
still decides we need to stop at another foot locker and Niketown. We
eventually meander our way to the cathedral during the heat of the day. I
might as well be a fountain with the amount I am perspiring. I take a seat on
a stone bench with some famous Spaniard and its so hot, my but gets branded
with this guys name on it. We next under my gifted navigation, I am yet to
actually lead us in the right direction once may I add, to find a central park.
As expected instead of east we are going North. Ah what a compass would do.
We pass by a Salvador Dali museum, the loco painter of the 20th century and I
not seeking enlightenment nor the loss of eight euros deside a nice chair in
the air conditioned pan restaurant with a second story view of a plaza was more
suitable. Especially the view of the Spanish mujeres. Leif who also forsake
the museum tried to read, but either were passed out or busy watching the
street traffic. An hour later, Brain and Ben, the enlightened ones, strolled
back, told us we missed some shit, turned to look out the window, and realized
it was they who had missed the view(s). We followed the street further to
Zara, the gap of Europe, where Brain bought a euro shirt, too tight and small,
just like I like to wear myself. We actually found a metro stop, by chance of
course, and went to the Temple of the Sagrada Family. This awesome monument by
Gaudi was incredible. I have never seen anything as cool in my life. The mix
of architecture, the colors, the park, the slushee, yeah baby!! All right my
internet is about to expire, basically we went to KFC, took a train back to the
train station and went to sleep in some couchets. Brian and I were without
snorers while Leif and Ben got all the luck, a symphony of Spanish snorers
ruining a perfect nights sleep on the train.

Hasta manana,

Pedro

The Original Garyales - Madrid dia 1, el empieza de la garytale (6.28.03)

2003-06-28T15:25:00.000-07:00

Hola amigos,

When last we met, the boys and I had awoken mighty early from our train ride.
The best thing about checking into a new hostel is definitely that I get to
take a shower. Clean, so good!! Anyways, we all took a short nap and decided to go a tour, that was supposedly not supposed to include a lot ofwalking, unfortunately it did. I am now referred to as el Gato, because I am always sleeping, eating, or walking, or a combination of the three. I preferred the Lion due to my hairy chest and shoulders, but it was vetoed. The
cricket is still chirping away happily, meanwhile Ben and Brian don’t have any
names yet. Ok, back to what we did, no more rambling. I like a brook, the
rest of the guys say, I just don’t stop babbling.

We started off by going to get breakfast at a local cafeteria about a block off our hostel. The hostel is money with air conditioning and a concierge desk, hold on is this a hostel or a four star hotel, I am getting confused. We then continued to the palace. This is a really dope spot, it is grand, plenty of wealth, and it has arms and armor. The day in Madrid is also much improved, the smells have either acclimated themselves to our nostril or Madrid is just
a much cleaner, and nicer area, that has less humidity and more parks. Its a capital bella. The palace has a huge courtyard used for ceremonies and overlooks the biggest park in Madrid, we went on a tour and I saw more wealth than I will accumulate in a millennium. Unfortunately, the cashier shiests me of five euros, he says I gave him 5, I gave him 10, sheisty Spaniards, they must know the Capybara and Scott Holmes I had no idea the Spanish monarchy was
connected to the Austrian Hapsburgs, when I learned this new fact it all made sense. There are too many little details to talk about, but let’s suffice to say that the many rooms we could see of the 2700 that exist were all really cool. The armory actually had knights on horseback in full armor and a really cool dragon helmet, I was really tempted to try it on. From the palace we
walked to the metro to go and see the Real Madrid football stadium. When we got out of the metro, lurking above us were two flanking tipped over buildings that were really cool, a central beam supported each 80 story building for some kind of Spanish Media Company.
Luckily, Ben and Brain decided we should go past stop because we were told the street was like La Rambla in Barcelona, after a 1/2 mile walk in intense heat, we reached the stadium under construction and were unable to enter for less than 4 Euro. I didn’t feel the
need to part for a stadium.

Returning back to the hostel, we took a nice long 6 hour siesta. Oh no we thought, its 10'o'clock, we need to go eat, so we went to a restaurant in the central plaza and sat under a terrace on the street to view the wonderful street traffic. We then made a stopover at a local bodega and went upstairs to enjoy my little friend 40 oz cerveza and his best friend 40 oz cerveza #2. Its now 12'0'clock and we think we are missing the party so we quickly head over to a Club Joy, after a 12 Euro cover, we party the night away until 4 am. I want to stay and try to convince the others that the hostel is shut and we will have to lie in the street, but they don’t agree. Will continue soon.

Peter

Barcelona Day 2

2003-06-27T16:49:00.000-07:00

Hola Amigos,

I awoke this morning to the best news ever. I got into UC Irvine, and basically
came up on 120,000 dollars seeing that as the tuition difference between UCI
and USC. UCI also is one of three medical schools in the US offering
alternative medicine electives. I am very juiced. Back to the viaje.

I woke up refreshed, jump roped for fifteen minutes, and went on a jog with
Leif. I then continued to have the lowest class European breakfast ever, there
wasn´t even bread, just packaged pastries, warm juice, and whole fat milk.
Lovely. Not feeling into the meal, Leif and I cruzed the streets and found a
cutsy little spot with waters for 0,65 Euro and a pair of sandals for Leif. If
only Leif, knew the trouble these sandals would bring him... Got back to the
hostel, woke up Ben and Brain, took the metro to the train station where due to
my recent rehydration a bathroom was all I desired but the first two were
being cleaned. Found one out to my biological relief, literally, made
reservations for a couchet tomorrow evening to Madrid and began el gran
caminando (great Walk). From the train station of Sants estacion, we proceeded
six or seven blocks to the main plaza with the museum of art of Catalonia on
top of a hill. Tow huge 100 foot bell towers marked the entrance to this
gorgeous mall of old building, parks, castles, and Olympic stadiums. The main
plaza consisted of beautifully adorned statues with a multiple tiered fountain
that if working probably shot water from one tier to the next. As we ascended
the stairs to the museum , the stench of urine, bear and all that is Europe
urban aroma was replaced by flowers trees. stray cats scattered from
underneath bushes and hedges to meow hungrily. Lack of funds and a desire to
enlighten ourselves of 17th t 19th century art, we continued to dine at a small
cafe situated behind the art museum and between the Olympic stadium and
swimming pool. For a lovely 3 euro($3.75), I got a baguette with four pieces
of salami, a feast fit for a Spanish king. A little cheese, tomatoes, anything
else would have been nice. The Olympic stadium for all its grandeur is dwarfed
by the beauty and size of just memorial stadium in Berkeley. These euros, no
idea how to build a decent sized stadium. we then continued on a another
quarter mile up hill to take a gondola to the Castillo (Castle). The view of
the skyline and sea was gorgeous and if the smog of the city had lifted we
would have seen all the way to Mallorca and Ibiza. The castle was in good
shape and last renovated in the 18th century. One addition, thanks to our
fascist friend Franco were 20mm artillery anti aircraft guns and turrets
outline the castle. I think one B-52 would have taken Francos bastion and made
it go bye-bye. By this point, we had walked over thee and half miles, and
leifs feet were communicating things not even lacrosse practice could. The
rest of the guys took off and left me to the my vices and the arms and armor
museum inside the castle. A half an hour later, depresses after previously
visiting such museums like the one in Vienna, I left. I took the gondola back
down, and tried to figure out how to get off the mountain back to the hostel
where me and siesta could hang out. after another hour of climbing and making
my own path, I found my cama only to be awakened by the atrocious sound of a
fellow American telling her Dutch bunkmate, I thought my boyfriend and I would
fight after five weeks...., cerra su boca(Shut Up!!!!!). We woke up at
around 9:00pm, went to dinner, bought some Vodka, and called it a night.

Hasta manana,

Pedro

Barcelona, la ciudad al lado de la mar (6.27.03)

2003-06-27T16:45:00.000-07:00

Hola again friends,

Barcelona Day 1:

When I last left Leif and I were sleepless in London, flying to Barcelona. We
arrived in Girona airport, where the only thing Leif or I had were offerings
for the porcelain gods. six hours and 7 kinds of alcohol make my stomach feel
wonderful. we took another hour long bus ride, Ryan Air airports are in da
cuts, to Barcelona, and a cab to our hostel, down by da beach. I actually used
some Spanish for the first time in years and we found out halfway thru that we
are charged a euro for each bag we bring. Sheists.... Our hostel is right on
the beach where they just finished celebrating the Spanish Independence or
something. the beach is a worse wreck than Leif or I, hard considering our
current state of hangovers and an hour of sleep in a day and a half. We try to
find some nice camas(beds), but we can not find this comfort until 2:30 and its
10:30. we meet back up with Ben and Brain, who are fairing just slightly
better than Leif and I. They go off exploring while Leif and I try to
ascertain nirvana on the foul smelling beach. About a half-an-hour into the
best sleep ever, the rain gods send us a gift alond the los dios de los
vientos)wind gods) at one as well. Thankfully, we stroll down to find a nice
bench where another hour and refreshment is finally due. we find our beds,
pass out, and six hours later awaken to go find some dinner. after arguing
about a place to eat, in other words, lets get everybody what they want, the
non-vegetarians are treated to a five course seafood dinner and Leif gets a
half cooked pizza with a cheese that reminds him of the plane flight from
London to Barcelona. We go out trying to find the party, only to see a bunch
of empty clubs and bars at 1:30am. We reluctantly roll back home and pass out.

Cheers,

Peter

The Original Garytales - The Beggining of the Trip Around the World (6.26.03)

2003-06-26T15:41:00.000-07:00

Que tal?

It is 7:30 am and I am kicking it, writing from Barcelona, Spain. It is warm and grand. Three days ago, Brian, Ben, Leif, and I all started this crazy journey from Oakland, California. As Leif and I arrived to my cousins borough of Queens Park in London (Westside), I was happily reunited with family. I had not seen either of my cousins: Kiki or Jonathan in over 12 years since the first time I traveled over the rock that is North America to Europe. Kiki and Johnny entertained us magnificently, after washing off the dust from our first flight; Leif and I were treated to some fine English cuisine. Next Johnny brought out my most hated of all friends: Jose Cuervo, and subsequently told Leif and myself to "get involved." We all took our salt, tequila and lime, and preceded forth to me better friend Mr. Gin and Tonic. From this point, we took a cab with a Cabbie from the Southside (southwest-London) to the media borough of Soho where Jonathan works as a music video director. The clubs were the definitionof Posh, with retro chairs, outlandish designs on the walls, and uniqueness lost among my favorite equivalent establishments in the US. This started a wild night of 100 pound (170 dollar) festivities and cocktail after cocktail, and round after round was consumed. At the second bar, a drunken Aussie, and her hairdressing friend convinced that I needed a fade, so I agreed. Just as were about to commence with the festivities the bar manager coming roaring out talking about human hair and alcohol is not one of his featured cocktails in this establishment. We then proceeded the to "the Player", a tight ass bar with a very interesting decor, kind of like Ali G was able to mimic the American rap culture and morph it into a bar. We then continued to another club, where the not so delightful voice of an English rock band overwhelmed my
ears. Thus, we continued on to the next club where all we knew was the club owner’s name, and it was a BIO (By invitation only). We rolled up in there at 1:00 and were welcomed with the stiffest drink. This is quite a statement considering my current threshold of “wastedness”. Leif’s flight and mine left at 6:00 am and we had a cab to the airport an hour away to the north at Stansted with ghetto ass Ryan Air. At 2:00, we felt it was necessary to eat some Chinese food then get back to the house and the rising sun at 3:30, just perfect to catch the cab. Leif and I pass out for the first time in about twelve hours and made our way to Barcelona.

Peter