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Posts tagged ‘adventures’

Dec 2

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Varkala – aka a time warp

Varkala….  kind of like hotel california — you can check out any time you want, but you can never leave….  here i am – headed out of town finally — several days after I planned on!  Somehow, 3 days turned into 5 or 6….  seems that is how Varkala rolls.  For one thing, it is actually hard to get out of here — not a ton of buses and trains leave from this area – you have to go to a bigger city to get connections and the tourist area is located on the coast – whereas the real town is further away and most tourists have no reason to go down there.

Finally, the other day, I realized I needed to take some action or I would be stuck here for awhile – so I visited one of the many travel agents in town.  What I thought would be a simple plan turned into several hours of frustrating news.  Basically, all trains are booked.  Turns out December is a tough time to get a train around here (I just happen to be on the pathway of most-visited-Indian spots in the winter — Kerala, Karnataka, Goa) — even with the tourist quota, there are not a lot of spots available.  And then, after that whole planning time with the travel agent, I left with nothing becuase I need to go down to the station to try to get tourist quota tickets.

So, train station lady and I spent a while talking and I walked away with a whole slew of tickets — Varkala to Bengalore, Bengalore to Hampi, Hampi to Mumbai, Mumbai to Ajmer.  I am set for the next few weeks (though I still need to get one more ticket to Delhi!) – though, I have to say, none of these trips are super convenient.  For one thing, I am in sleeper class for all of them (remember that dirty, dusty, crowded train ride I took a while back?  Remember when I said I would only take 3AC or 2AC after that first experience?  Yeah — now I am signed up for a whole bunch of those) and for another thing — I have long waits in between.  For instance — tomorrow, I leave for bengalore at 1:30 in the afternoon — i arrive at 7 in the morning (desperate for a shower) and then take a train that evening at 8 that gets in at 7:45 (really really desperate for a shower).  Yes, that is two days after I leave here….  In mumbai, I have a similar situation (though, lucky for me, even a few hours longer of a wait between two trains!)

Not sure how I will manage that time — find a place to stow my luggage?  Get a rickshaw for the day?  A hotel room?  hang out in the train station and stare at people?  Not sure — I guess it is all part of building the epic…. or something.

But — big picture — I have 17 more days in country — I will visit Hampi, which everyone raves about, for a few days and then head up to Rajasthan for a few days (not sure where I will visit — but definitely Pushkar and Jaipur).  It is going to be quick and lots of transportation time — but hopefully worth it.

But — back to Varkala….

As I have said, it is a strip of souvenir stores, restaurants, and travel agents — all up on a cliff side.  I have walked the strip more times than I would like to think (mostly because it is the only place to walk — especially when it gets dark).  Once you get past the strip — there is great beach to the north.  I spent some good time over there watching the most amazing sunset — probably one of my top 5 ever (see pictures below).

This is the first place I have really met a bunch of tourists — though two stand out:  Rob and Norman.  Rob and I met because we were both walking the strip back and forth one night and laughed about it – and from there decided to pick a spot and drink a beer, which turned into a few and then dinner.  Rob is probably in his late 50s/mid-60s and from Australia.  He is retired and spends most of his time driving his camper van up and down the Australian coast, camping and surfing.  (Oh, that sounds terrible).  We had a great time talking about life and travel and love and making lists and spirituality.  We both are traveling alone (he is here for just 5 weeks this time, but once he was here in India traveling for 16 months!) – so we had fun talking about that as well.  It was a great evening and he totally inspired me to add ‘buy van and pimp it out to live out of’ to my life list.

And then there is Norman.  He and I met when we both were stopped to admire a sunset.  I am not sure how old Norman is — but his oldest son is 40 – and he seems like he could be in his 70s.  But — i am not good at guessing ages!  Norman is also traveling alone and has been coming to India for about 13 years.  He always comes to the south and spends a month or so here.  He invited me along for a day on the backwaters (which, Lonely Planet says that floating in a houseboat on the Keralan backwaters is one of the iconic life list things to do).  He told me to think about it and told me where his hotel was if I wanted to go – to just leave a message for him there.  I thought about it and realized that, even though, I did want to leave Varkala —   this was too good an opportunity to pass up (he offered to treat me for the day – but not in a sketchy way – instead he said — ‘i am already paying for all of this, why not have someone come along with me’).  So – Norman and I went to the backwaters.

Long story short, our day was a bit messed up – though it all worked out.  We went to a very beautiful beach in the morning and then floated in a canoe some of the backwaters in the afternoon.  And, true to the hype, it is pretty spectacular.  Our guide was a 23 year old who definitely had a schtick – but was knowledgable, friendly and fun.  We saw a few birds, a water snake, floated past villages, learned about how they make coconut oil and coconut rope (which I have a sample that we made to bring home).  Without seeing a larger map to understand how it all lays out, i have a hard time picturing where we were — but these villages seem to do their travel and life using these small canals.  And, I even got a chance to pole our canoe along.  And norman and I had fun talking about life and his family and travel in India (and elsewhere as he does one or two trips a year and seems to have been all over the place!)

All in all, it was a good adventure in Varkala.  I definitely would not recommend it to someone looking for a quiet, off the beaten track kind of place.  One night, a restaurant down the way, partied late into the night, keeping me up (which, bad on me, I should have moved guest houses — but repacking and moving my backpack is SO unappearling).  Also – the men seem to be over the top forward and aggressive here.  I have walked out of my room to be confronted with staring men who check me out head to toe.  And you cannot walk the strip or near the beach late at night without some new male friends (who do not make me feel very friendly) who do not get the hint that i am not going to go off with them.  But – that is counter-balanced with meeting fun travelers, pick up soccer games at 7 in the morning on the beach with the locals, running on the beach with the locals in the early morning (and even though that is all men too — their staring just seems a lot less aggressive!) and amazing sunsets.

Nov 25

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Rainy days

Every once in awhile, I have a crisis of faith, of wondering what am I doing, being on permanent vacation (is that really what I am doing — being on vacation for 9 months?!)?  What am I doing – but going from coffee shop to restaurant to reading my books to eating food?  To not having a purpose?  To just sight-seeing day after day?

Today is one of those days…

It is raining today.  which makes it harder to figure out what to do.  Do I sit in my room and read?  Do I try and go to a festival that is at a temple somewhere near-ish?  Do I just keep eating and spending money as I wander from place to place?

I like having purpose (for evidence, see the past five years of my life) — and sometimes I just am not sure what my purpose is right now…  as you might imagine, I am not one of those people who are really good at just sitting on the beach!  So, maybe that is my purpose – to learn to just sit.  To be here, without a purpose and wait for that purpose to come to me.  Or for me to find it.  Or to figure out that purpose can mean lots of different things — that it is not all about goals and checkpoints.

But, please, don’t get me wrong — in the grand scheme of things – i feel tremendously blessed and lucky to be here — to witness the world and expand my horizons.  But, sometimes when I get caught up in the details of every day life and miss the comfort of home and friends – it is those moments that i wonder what i am doing out here.

Or maybe it was just all the pictures and stories of turkey and thanksgiving food all over facebook that did me in….

I am trying to figure out if I should head out of Kochi, or if I should stay another day and go to the festival, or if I should go elsewhere in Kerala, or if I should go to Hampi, or if I should….  you see the problem?  There are so many options… how do I pick the best one?  or to not be paralyzed by the multitude of options and just do nothing?

I guess I will go drink a cup of chai and try and figure it all out.  or maybe just read my book.

be well friends.  thanks for being part of my pupose — to be able to share my thoughts and observations with you all.

hope you can avoid black friday!  🙂  i am doing my part and just shopping locally.

Nov 7

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Oh, India

Hello India

Arrival in India hits you – hard.  Last time I was here we arrived in the middle of the night and had our senses assaulted with the sound of horns, the smell of spices and jasmine and the sight of cows and ricksaws and people- so many people….

This time is no different – except it is a dusty border and it is day time.  When you arrive by bus, you are dropped of two kilometers or so away and you hire a bike rickshaw to take you to the border.  It was a feeding frenzy when the bus arrives.  I was quoted a price but when we arrived at the border, dude told me that price was in Indian rupees.  Whatever.  And that was after he tried to get me to change my money at his buddies place (I might have been swindled on the rickshaw ride but not on the money).

taking my very expensive rickshaw ride to the border

Getting over the border was quick.  On the Nepal side I went to the office and filled out my departure paperwork and they stamped my passport.  Then I walked under a big arch along with tons of other people and trucks honking their horns and lots of dust.  Then amid street side stores and noise and chaos and people telling me to change my money, there was a table with two men reading the paper. You know, border patrol.

I had purchased my ticket from Sonauli (the border town) on to Varanasi up in Kathmandu — and was told I just needed to find the ticket agents office and they would help me out.  I eventually found it – amidst the staring and the dust and the many offers to ‘help’ me out.  Upon arrival, Mr. Bablu looked at my ticket very nonchalantly and told me to come back at 5.  I asked why and he told me the bus was at 5:30.  No, no – I am taking the bus at 6:30 tomorrow morning (decided a night time bus ride my first day in India wasn’t quite what I wanted…).  He said fine, and showed me where the ‘hotel’ was — the one place the Lonely Planet half way recommends….  to say it was a shit-hole would be kind….  There is no need to go into details on that place or the food or how depressing it was – but needless to say, I arrived back at the travel agency at 6, on the dot, as Mr. Bablu had requested the day before.

And that is when things got interesting…..

No one was there at 6.  So, I just stayed there.  A non-Indian female by herself with bags gets lots of attention – so I figured that soon enough people would find me.  Sure enough, a guy came down the stairs asking what I needed – I told him that I needed my bus pass.  He called to another man and they came downstairs to unlock the office, inside of which a 3rd man was sleeping.  None of these men were Mr. Bablu.

Upon looking at my ticket , the ‘head’ dude tells me that this bus is late this morning, but I can take the express bus for an extra cost.  What?!  So, I try and reason with him.  I tell him that there is no such thing.  I tell him I will not pay the price.  Meanwhile, time is passing — it is getting closer to 6:30.  I really want to get on that bus.  I really do not want to stay in Sonauli a second longer.  Then, another foreigner comes in with his confirmation note for the bus.  He is told the same thing.  He also tries to argue and is told that he has to pay more for the 6:30 bus.  These guys aren’t budging and they just talk in Hindi to each other, laughing.  They tell this guy that it will be 495 IRs to travel on this bus.  At that point, it is close to 6:30, so I pull out the money in my pocket – 300 IRs.  The guy takes it and asks if I have any dollars.  What?!  Oh, hell no.  So, I tell him I have no other money – and he takes me to the bus.  So, now – both myself and the other foriegner have paid extra for this bus (the guys in the office told  him that if he did not pay he could go back to Kathmandu!).  The men continued their intimidation on the bus, thankfully not with me, though.  Two other foreigners were forced to pay more – and  all three guys (they were all men, these other foreigners) were asked for more money for their bags – and one was even asked to open his bag.  They all said no – and eventually these men from the travel agency went away.  But, it was simply infuriating.  There was nothing we could do (though, in hindsight, I wish I had called the travel agency in Kathmandu).

Oh, and the express bus?  yeah — it took 13 hours.

It was suppose to take 11, but our 4-speed bus (in which I could see the road through the gear shaft) did not go all that fast.  And our driver, well, it is tough to be a driver in India.  Here is what he needs to avoid hitting:

  • Dogs
  • Kids
  • Rickshaws
  • Motos
  • Bikes
  • People walking
  • other buses
  • cars
  • horse and ox drawn carriages/wagons
  • trucks
  • donkeys
  • pigs
  • and of course, monkeys

And did I mention how comfortable the seats were?!  ha!

Anyway — 7:30 at night, I arrived.  Found a phone and called my guest house.  A guy came and picked me up and brought me back – on his scooter.  It was a crazy ride – me trying not to fall off b/c of my big pack.  And of course — lots of people staring.  The hotel is nice enough, though my room is really really cheap.  I have to figure out what costs will be in this country to see if I can upgrade….  but there is wifi!  🙂
So here I am
In India.
Amid the noise and the dust and the cows and the honking and people wanting to ‘help’ me out, here I am.  amazing how, admidst a billion people, you can be all alone.

Oct 16

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A day in the life….

here are some snippets from my life the past few days…..

  • Going out to the best japanese restaurant in Kathmandu with my friend and some of her friends (one who works for the UN).  While eating sushi, the UN man points out the acting ambassador to Nepal who is sitting down the bar from us.  We drink Japanese liquor as we close the place and then try and go dancing – trying out several of the clubs and fancy bars in kathmandu (we could have been in NYC).  Then, unable to find a good place to go dancing, we head back to the UN official’s house for an impromptu dance party.  His house is beautiful – filled with rugs from Afghanistan, art from ecuador, wine from chile, books on war zones and diplomacy.  I could have spent hours exploring and asking questions!
  • Riding on the back of Yogatara’s moped out to  a beautiful monastery outside of Kathmandu – passing rice paddies, houses with thatched roofs, goats and cows in the road (remember, this is just outside of kathmandu) and beautiful monasteries.  We were hoping to meet with a lama who, from what I understood (trying to follow the conversation in french between Yogatara and her friend Fred) is the lama of compassion.  When we arrived at the monastery, we were greeted by little monklets who opened the gate — one was wearing a spiderman mask and pretended, with the correct hand movements, to send webs up to the walls.

sweet ride…..

  • Visiting another monastery, we climbed up to the top of the hill and bought prayer flags from young boys and they hung them up on the hill for our prayers to be picked up by the wind.
me with the cheesy grin – up where our prayer flags are going
  • spending lots of time with an old friend, catching up on life, learning about how we have grown and changed over the last 15 years, reminiscing about old times and having fun adventures now.

I feel tremendously lucky that YT has taken me in and sharing her space with me.  It is wonderful to be with an old friend and to be learning about her world here (after getting emails over the past 15 years!)  It also is giving me the space to figure out what comes next and recharge for adventuring on my own for the next two+ months.

Hope everyone is well — i miss the fall and apples and leaves and all of the rest of new england falls.

Much love — aurora

Jun 4

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Bucket Lists


This post is dedicated to Lindsay and Sarah.

When I was in India a few summers back on a summer-teacher-sabbatical with two friends who also happened to be colleagues, I remember sitting in our room during a home-stay trek we were on.  We were in the top floor of the one-house ‘village’, listening to the monk chant in the other room, and playing with the ‘village’ child.  From our room, we had a view of Stok Kangri, the highest mountain in Ladakh and later watched the moon rise above the mountain.  It was a crystal blue day, one of those high alpine days that make me love the mountains.

Not sure how or why we started, but we each started to make a life list.  You know, the things you jot down that you hope some day you will do.  The big dreams.  Now, 3 years later – I realize that all 3 of us have been able to manifest many of our dreams.  This upcoming year I will be living so much of my life list (trek in the andes, climb a 20,000 ft. peak, travel for 6 or more months, trek in the himalayas, learn Spanish by immersion).  And the really fun think about bucket lists?  There’s always more to dream.

What’s on your life list?

May 29

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Introduction to Planet Aurora

I leave in 3 months.  There is so much to do in that time – bags to pack, shots and meds to be taken, bank accounts to be sorted out, sell my car, pack up my stuff.  Sometimes it is a little overwhelming pulling together all the details.  But then I think – oh yeah, in 6 months, I will be climbing Aconcagua.  Or maybe, in 3.5 months I will be trekking in Nepal.  And the stress and anxiety fades into the background just a little.

So, here are the details….

I leave on August 28th and fly to Nepal.  There I will meet up with my good friend Lisa from college who lives there and my good friend Katherine will be arriving the next day.  Katherine and I plan on trekking while in Nepal.  Right now, we are deciding between the Annapurna Circuit or the 3-passes trek.  Both sound amazing.  Maybe we can do them both….

Katherine is in Nepal for 6 weeks and I do not have a set itinerary other than flying out of Delhi, India on December 18th.  At some point, I will make my way to India.  After spending a month there a few years ago, I know I want to go back and explore more – though hard to choose where!  Varanasi, Calcutta, Rajasthan, Chandigarh…. the list goes on and on.

But, on Dec. 16th, I will fly to Thailand for a 5 day lay-over on my way to Vietnam.  I know it is super short – but I bet I can eat a lot of really good thai food in those 5 days.

Then I arrive in Vietnam for 2 weeks.  I plan on going to the Mekong Delta, Da Lat for the mountains, Nha Trang for the beaches, and Hoi An.  New Year’s on the beach?  sure, sounds good.

Jan. 6th I depart for Buenos Aires, Argentina.  I arrive on the 7th to meet up with friends in order to attempt a climb of Aconcagua (one of the 7 summits).   Between traveling to Mendoza for food, supplies and permits and then being on the mountain – our hope is to be back in Mendoza in late January/early February, drinking fabulous Argentinian wine, celebrating our successful and safe climb!

From there, I plan to head to Patagonia for some trekking and more climbing.  And here is where the plans start to get a little up in the air….  I know that I want to travel north up the Andes, eventually to Peru.  Somewhere in there I hope to volunteer and go to language school.  And lots more climbing and trekking.  And Salar de Uyuni.  Huayhuash Circuit.  Cordilla Real.  The list goes on and on….

I don’t have a return ticket yet, though I will be making that decision sometime in the next few months.  Most likely the end of May, beginning of June.  My budget is tight for next year and I will need to return for work (school?  Outward Bound?  World Challenge?)

So, there you have it friends….  that is the plan.

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