The Final Countdown...

Welllll hellooooo theeerrrrrrrrrre!

After two buses, a jeep, and two trains (3 days) we have made it to Goa, and back to our old stomping grounds (of two months ago) Anjuna. God does it ever feel good to be back.

We were a little worried that we wouldn't make it, at least not unscathed, after a few minor setbacks and troubles. First there was that jeep ride from hell I mentioned in the last entry, then the train with mice and cockroaches, and finally, me waking up to some guy trying to get at our bags in the train. But as they say, all's well that ends well, and nothing bad has happened since then.

Something quite interesting happened (though there will be more to report on this later, it is a story in progress) on our last train from Delhi to Goa. This man named Vicky (a nickname, and a male name in India) started talking to me, nothing so strange in that you say...Well, Vicky begins telling me his life story, which is nothing short of unbelievable, but also so tightly woven that it would be hard to disbelieve as well. I told a fib and told him Ryan and I are an item, because I am a magnet for freaks. For now he can believe that.

Vicky is a very generous and nice man (to us at least, some of his stories would indicate he isn't always so kind), and has an extremely sordid past. He name drops like no other, but again, the names he drops run from very well known to mildly obscure, and make it hard to tell whether he is full of it or not. Vicky tells me he has finally received his inheritance, which had been cause for grief for him for many years, and he is now a multimillionnaire. I had no idea what to say to this, or what to make of him telling me.

Anyway, after all my skepticism, we got a taxi with him (which he paid for, and in which he showed us many many wads of cash which lend credibility to the millionnaire bit) and went to see how his friends in Goa received him after his 12-year absence. Thankfully, the reception was good and we moved on to our hotel in Anjuna. We are meeting him for dinner tomorrow night since he has taken quite a liking to us so Im sure there is much more to come in this story. Man, what a character, you wouldn't believe your ears.

We thought that with "high season" in full swing that Anjuna would have lost its charm, but we are happy to report that our last week here is looking to be as good, if not better than our first. We have already splurged and bought ourselves massages at the Taj complex for our last day here. Yay!

Well, I am off to get settled in and go tanning before heading back to the coooold winter of London and Paris.

Leanne

Return to India

We are now in Gorakhpur. Thank God!

Today we saw more flipped, crashed, broken down trucks than we have seen throughout Nepal.

The driving in Nepal is notoriously bad for many reasons such as bad roads, big cars, crazy drivers, and landslides. The bus rides there were the biggest drawback of Nepal, and make the trains in India look like heaven. So I was a little nervous about the bus ride from Chitwan to the border, and relieved to get into a JEEP for the ride from Sunauli to Gorakhpur (place in India where we can catch a train to Delhi). The JEEP turned out to be much less pleasant than I had hoped.

Imagine driving in a truck with 13 people rammed into it (and this is less than they normally try to fit, but I threw a bit of a tantrum at the driver for shoving me in where there was visibly no room-note: first time I have really lost my head on this trip). Now picture that the roads are like a life-sized sandcastle wall (slightly, but not much, more sturdy than a sandcastle) with big drops on the sides and way too many huge trucks trying to get past each other and getting stuck in potholes of sand. Anyway, we did this bouncy and crammed ride for about 3 hours, but we were stuck to nice people, so that made it better.

We are in ugly Gorakhpur now and I don't like it. I'm looking forward to our train ride to Delhi tonight. After a few hours in Delhi we're back on a two-day train to Goaaaaaa!!!!

Until next time,
Leanne the exhausted one.

Nepal: the wrap up

Okay people, we are at a faster net cafe so I'll update you on what jumping to my death was like and everything that happened from then until now.

Well, bungee jumping went a little like this. We walk out to a suspension bridge that dangles 160m above the wild Bhote Kosi river. They harness you up and video tape your last words while you look at the platform you have to jump off (a 2X4 metal extension with "Why Like This?" written on it...Not encouraging to say the least). They basically walk you out until your toes are reluctantly dangling over the edge and you wish you hadn't made this decision.

Looking down at the river and the rocks you choose to either build suspense and take your time, or jump right off to get it over with. I chose option two, to my own surprise, and I even kept my eyes open the whole way down. The feeling was like being in a wind tunnel with a really pretty bottom you're hoping not to smash up against, then suddenly you're flying back up again and down again and up again...It was a real rush, and I'll never forget the sound of the wind all around me while I thought to myself " wow, you really jumped!"

The rafting was incredible and I would looooove to do that over and over again. All I have to say is wow.

The next day Ryan and I were off to Chitwan National Park. We started the day with a Village visit to see real village life of the Tharu people, which was quite interesting, followed by a near birdless bird-watch. That evening we went to a cultural performance that was really great. There was dancing and singing and martial arts, and the best was the peacock dance, where the peacock mated me (meaning he gave me a flower at the end) and then I went up to dance with the men, and was joined by a bunch of other crazies like me from the audience. But I was the first one up!!! Ryan warned me about sitting in the front row, but I figure it's more fun making an ass of one's self, than watching other people do it.

The following day we took an elephant ride through the jungle and we got to see the infamous one-horned Rhino mommy and baby!!! We saw deer, monkeys, birds, and bugs as well, but the Rhinos were the coolest. Later, Ryan got to drive the elephant, and then we got to swim with her! Yep, we walked up her trunk, onto her back, where she rolled us off into this nasty river ha ha! So fun!

We spent the rest of the day walking through the grasslands and forests of the park, which was great but we didn't see any animals this way. The park is open 5 days a year for the villagers to come cut grass that they build their houses with, so we got there on day 5. Needless to say the animals were scared of all the people.

Ill save the details of today for my next entry, to come in....5 minutes! (just making it more digestible for all you people with short attention spans)

Guess what two naughty little travelers were up to

I know what you're thinking, and no, Ryan is not pregnant, but stay on the edge of your seat because what I'm about to tell you is even crazier, and so much to say in so little time.

I didn't tell anyone about this so that no one would have a heart attack worrying about us. This weekend, Ryan and I went to a place called The Last Resort, which is literally the last resort on the Bhoti Kosi River in the Himalayas, 4km from the Tibet border. This place specializes in extreme activities...

Ryan and I not only did white water rafting for two days (3+ to 5 level for those who know what that means) but we also BUNGEE JUMPED off one of the world's highest, if not THE highest, bungees at a solid 160m high. OH MY GOD, CAN YOU STAND HOW EXCITING THAT IS, BECAUSE I CAN'T!!!!Yes it is true, and I have the t-shirt and even a dvd to prove it.

We just spent the weekend with people from all over the world, in the most beautiful scenery I have ever seen. Clear blue water, mountains, true beauty. There was only one hitch. On the way in we were stopped by Maoists (Isa you might know what this is about) who force people to pay Rs. 500 at the borders arbitrarily because they can. Even though politically things are fairly stable at the moment, these maoists carry guns and make people pay these fees for no reason known to us. However, they do provide a receipt so you don't have to pay twice ha ha, now that's service!

Anyway, if you wanna find out more about the bungee jump I will have a dvd to show you when I get home, but sadly no pictures of rafting since my camera isn't waterproof. I will probably write another entry in a couple days describing what it was like but right now I don't have the time. I'm off to dinner with my weekend companions, and then early bed time since we're off to a two-day elephant safari at Chitwan National Park in the morning. After that we are taking a bus to the India/Nepal border, taking a train from there to Delhi, and then a train from Delhi to Goa that takes a couple days. It goes without saying then that I will have a hard time finding time to write for a while, but who knows, I will probably find a way if there is one.

Anyway, I love you all and hope you don't hate me for not telling you what Ryan and I were up to until we knew we'd lived through it.

And yes, it was the scariest/craziest thing I have ever done, and probably won't ever do it again, but it was amazinggggg!!!



bisous.