Well if you are you must be a really loyal reader or perhaps a really bored one with too much time to kill inside of an office cubicle, but either way thanks for tuning in. Its been over a month since my last post and my eyes have seen much. After Vang Vien I traveled to India to spend the holidays with the lady in Bhuj. (Capitol of Kutch, Gujarat State) Things slowed down and I lingered for perhaps a bit longer than I should have but it's hard for a road weary traveler to tear himself away from the woman he loves. Since my time in Bhuj bad internet, no internet, two bouts of food poisoning and good old fashioned laziness have conspired to prevent me from making another post. Tonight I write from a back-packer bar in Georgetown, Penang Island Malaysia under harried conditions. I will post as much as I can but this may be my last post before returning stateside. I'm in a race to the finish now with less than a month to go and in one day's time I am set to depart Penang for Sumatra to begin the last leg of my journey. I'm not expecting to find much in the way of internet connectivity there so yes, this may be it until the end of February, but then again maybe not.
After Bhuj I traveled by plane to Bombay then by train to Gokarna where I made my way to the lovely hipped-out Paradise Beach. After Gokarna and paradise beach I traveled by multiple buses and trains to Hampi (awesome place) and after Hampi I hightailed it to Chennai/Madras where I jumped on a flight to Kuala Lumpur Malaysia. A few nights in Kuala Lumpur(a few more than I intended, food poisoning again) and then a bus to my present location, Georgetown/Penang. The perfect jumping off point for Sumatra.
I've seen and done way too much since my last post to even begin sharing amusing little travel anecdotes or my thoughts and musings from each place so I'm going to skip all of that tonight and get straight to some photos with hopefully enlightening captions.
Stray Bhuj streetcow does his best pet dog imitation, which is apt because the cows in India are treated like pampered pet dogs. (Sadly, the dogs are treated more or less like vermin)
Typical Indian street scene. Cows, donkeys, goats, etc (you fill in the four legged farm animal) congregate on the busiest street or intersection in town to eat, sleep, spar, copulate etc. These guys were partial to the tiny median on Bus Station road in Bhuj.
The brand new and spectacular Swami Nueryan (Please forgive the spelling) Temple on opening night, Bhuj.
VJ or Mondvi Palace, still owned and occasionally occupied by the Raj of Kutch!
One of the ??? (I don't know what the name of this architectural structure is) on top of VJ palace.
Camels all dressed up to ride beach goers around at Mondvi beach.
Now here's something you don't see much anymore. Hand made wooden merchant ships under construction in Mondvi Harbor. These two were two of the smaller ones. I read an article in the India Times while in Bombay a few days after I took this photo which described how the wooden ship building buisness in Mondvi was booming after years of decline. They are turning out close to 500 ships a year now for a mostly Arab merchant clientel. They are most cost efficient than trucks or rail for large heavy cargo and these old fashioned wooden beauties are far cheaper than their steel counterparts.
Low tide with some larger wooden ships under construction in the background.
Sunset over Bhuj as seen from hilltop temple on the outskirts of town.
Akila practices her Hindi while haggling with a camel cart driver over the price of our ride back to Bhuj.
Sunrise over the unique shoreline of "Om" beach
The backpacker/hippie enclave of paradise beach as seen from the sea. Super heavy duty "shanti shanti".
70 ruppees just doesn't buy as much as it used to.
The main and extant temple complex at Hampi as seen from across the river. Hampi had a landscape that was as unique and gorgeous as i have ever seen. It was like the set from the Flintstones mixed with History 101 illustrations from the dawn of recorded time depicting the five ancient river valley civilizations. Lots of big piles of dry, dessert-like monochrome rocks with interesting positioning, juxtaposed with extremely lush tropical greenery and water.
Holymen as real as the Gunslingers at Ghost Town.
Real Cobra
Remember how I was saying cows where the dogs of India and dogs were the rats? Well look at this guy helping Mom clean up the cookie batter.
Hangout spot by the back-packer swimming hole of Sanjaypur reservoir complete with dare-devil jump-off rock. It may not look that high but it is. Its a long way down to the water from where everyone is sitting and it is a much longer way down from the top of the stack of rocks.
Monkey X-ing !
Tricked out and garlanded-up tractor jamming some sweet Hindi tunes and doing a little bit of mud-bogging! Eat your heart out Louisiana!
Don't know what it is about my sunglasses but they are like kiddy cat-nip. These three treated me to a full-on Bollywood song and dance routine they thought went well with my glasses. Lao kids watch your back, the Indians want another shot at the title.
A small herd of donkeys showing they can block traffic with the best of beasts. Compared to cows these guys were a prison riot. In 15 minutes I witnessed two fights and two acts of public copulation as well as other miscellaneous acts of donkey mischief.
Monkey sentinels keep watch from their stoney perches high atop the Hauman temple Hampi.
Hauman's emissaries on earth were not shy about receiving his offerings.
A crowd gathers on the rocks at the Hauman temple to watch the sunset.
Camping in Hampi ! My friend Ivan puts on a light show for the entertainment of the campers.
Laura and Ivan breaking down the campsite and leaving no-trace the morning after.
Kulua Lumpur. The iconic Petronas Towers. Formerly the "Highest Skyscraper in the World".
Black Burka clad women crossing the street in the busy, ultra-modern, very western, very consumer Bukit Bintang shopping district. A strange but very common sight.
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