Driving through knee deep grotty water in a tuk tuk racing to make the 5 o'clock train

Running to trains and planes is becoming a common theme for Dan and me. It started in Kochi, enroute to the airport to catch our flight to Delhi. We opted to catch the bus to the airport which apparently would take 90 minutes. We were cutting it pretty close leaving at 9.45am for a 12.20pm flight. 

I  was a wreck the whole ride, checking my watch every 2 minutes. We kept stopping to let more and more people on (the bus stopping at signed stops only is suggested, not enforced). Dodging bikes, cows, cars through the narrow streets with 100s of sweaty people while running late for a plane, is nerve racking stuff.

When we got to the airport at 11.35am the bus driver couldn't pull up at the departures area due to construction, so out we popped, running true "Amazing Race" style.

When we checked in with 2 minutes to spare they told us our flight was delayed by an hour. I hate when that happens! 

But that wasn't even the best part. Our flight ended up getting cancelled so we were put on an even later flight! Least we got some cardio in!

The next dash was actually in Delhi. We were only there 1 night and catching the train to Agra at noon the next day so Dan had booked us in at a homestay he found online that could pick us up from the airport. Little did we know until we arrived and saw the house that we were in the Upper East Side of Delhi. We were staying at 'the Colonel's ' mansion, equipped with maids, cooks and a driver. 

The guy totally gave us the willies. 

We had dinner with him and a couple of 'other people' in the dining room (we have no idea who the people were  (was one his wife? The other a former colleague?) the conversation was awkward and lost in translation). We also had breakfast the next morning with him and this time 'the doctor'.  The doctor I actually liked - we chatted about the healthcare system in India (I had read a timely article on the plane) and of course about cricket :)

 Dan had asked the Colonel at dinner if it was possible to get a car to take us to the train in the morning for our noon departure, and shown him which train station it left from in Delhi. No problem we are told.  Dan mentions it again at breakfast (the Colonel doesn't like to speak to me, the woman, much), and he says no problem. 

By 11am and we're still  waiting in the hall. Dan roams the house and finds 'the wife' (a different woman from the night before, but her air of sad resignation made Dan think this was really her). Dan's told the Colonel is "taking his bath", and he'll organize the car when he gets out in 5 minutes. By this time we're pretty pissed, but the best is when he gets out of the bath 20 minutes later, looks again at the train ticket, and says 'oh you are leaving from that train station, you better hurry, you probably won't make your train'.

Fucking seriously? 

Luckily the driver was a rockstar. We arrived at the station right on noon, ran to platform, and jumped on the train. 

The train stayed in the station for an extra 30 minutes before departing! We were just happy we made it! 

So, after two close calls we decided to give ourselves more time in case of traffic or creepy Colonel's. That brings me to today's tale. 

We had a 5 o-clock train booked out of Varanasi to take us up to Gorakhpur. 

Rather than hang around Varanarsi all day, we got a tuk tuk driver to take us up to Sarnath, one of the four Buddhist pilgrimage sights. Sarnath is where the Budda is said to have given his first sermon after having reached enlightenment. It really was quite peaceful and I wish we'd had more than a few hours there.

We strolled the gardens where the stupas sit and the remains of the monasteries. We  went to the museums housing various relics depicting the Budda and his teachings, and went to the different temples built by various nations - the Japanese and Tibetan ones were my favorites. We even saw some monks at the Tibetan temple. 

By this time rain had started to fall lightly. First rain we have seen in our whole trip. We remarked about this to our driver. We just smiled and nodded naively when he replied something to the effect of lots of rain in Varanasi had just fallen (a mere 15 km away).  

We left at 2pm to go back to Varanasi to collect our bags. Plenty of time to get to the train. 

Tuk tuks are designed for maximum air flow. They have a plastic roof to protect from the sun and no doors, just open.

As soon as we leave Sarnath the thunder cracks and the heavens open up. Oh rain. You mean monsoon? 

Well, at least maybe the rainfall would wash all the shit out of the streets and clean things up a right, right? Wrong. In order for that to happen, Varanasi would need something we now realize we take woefully for granted - a drainage system. What happens here instead is that all those countless turds we had so carefully stepped over when walking the streets now get mixed and mashed, whipped and blended, into a singularly putrid concoction that fills any portion of road not at a steep enough angle.

Dan and I both hold pieces of (hardly waterproof) material over the open air doors to try block the rain and splashes from other vehicles. I have my legs up. This isn't regular water. It's vari-nasti water. Rain water mixed in with the shit that lays the streets. This isn't looking good. Surprisingly though, the traffic isn't too bad. Then we see why. People are wading  knee deep up ahead in vari-nasti water.

Phew, the driver makes a swerve and we duck down a narrow street to avoid it. 

It continues like this for a while. 

Dan and i look at each other, the driver looks at us in the mirrors. We all bobble our heads. We all know it can't go on much longer. We have to go through.

In she goes, all four wheels, the floor and the exhaust submerged. I'm really trying not to think about what happens if we get stuck. I will have to swim in shit. I will have to swim in shit.

I will not have to swim in shit. Our hero driver makes it through! Oh wait, we are still kilometers from where are bags are. Who's up for more boating in a tuk-tuk? 

We make it back to our bags and back on the tuk tuk at 4pm. It's only 3.5km to the station. Easy right?

The rain has stopped, every motor owner, bicycle rider, wheel barrow owner, walker, cow, pig, dog and donkey has to be somewhere now the rain has stopped.

Our hero driver will not let the traffic gridlock make us miss our train. No, we will drive through the deepest, muddiest, shittest, most back route paths to get there. And get there we do. 

Now, onboard the train I type this, with only a few hours left of our six hour journey, dreaming of a shower and promising we will leave earlier next time in case of traffic, creepy Colonels or shitty water floods. 

Vari-nasti

Nothing can prepare you for Varanasi - we thought we had our 'hard hats' on, but they blew off as soon as we got into the tuk tuk taking us to our hotel from the train station..

The Ganges, the 'holy' mother river, apparently one of the only things all Hindus can agree on. Indians pilgrims come here to bathe in the holy water to cleanse away sins and purify for a lifetime - and also come away with a water borne illness

It was really quite sad actually, the city of Varanarsi has a lot of charm with its narrow cobbled little paths. Silk sellers, beautiful fresh vegetable vendors and wondrous Indian baked goods line these weaving little streets, all nestled behind the river Ganges. Then on course there are the famous ghats that line the mother river, some specifically for bathing, others for praying, and of course a few for cremating the dead. Note if you die a holy man, pregnant woman, or if you die with an infectious disease, you don't get cremated, your body just goes in. Yes, we actually saw floating bodies, we even saw a dog having a marvelous time gnawing away at the remaining flesh of a human head it fished out of the river.

Walking the streets was more like a graceful dance navigating the puddles of shit in these narrow streets. Dog, cow, goat, chicken, human, it was all there, more often than not all in the same cobblestone. The locals tended to go barefoot, I wished for army boots over my flimsy Birkenstocks. 

It really was one of the most interesting places I have ever been, I am kind of in awe of it. We watched an evening ceremony honoring the river where inscense are burnt, words are chanted by 1000s of people lining the steps of the ghat and in boats. A ceremony honoring the river where raw sewerage runs into,  bodies are thrown into and animals and humans freely dedicate in. It's mind-boggling for me. I hope so much for that the next generations become more environmentally aware, particularly for the people of India that rely on the river for farming and fresh water. While I personally don't believe the water is holy, I respect people's beliefs, and hope that environmental and hygine education can be taught as part of these beliefs. 

Getting my sea legs. Nusa Lembongan, Gili T, Lombok.

Getting my sea legs. Nusa Lembongan, Gili T, Lombok.

Second day after the wedding it was time for a change from Legian! We said our goodbyes to our guests still at the Mandira and jumped in a car with Mum and Dad to Sanur to get the boat to Nusa Lembongan, a tiny island off Bali. Gosh it felt good not to be traveling with that wedding dress!

We got to Sanur a few hours early hoping for some beach time, but the Sanur beaches were crowded with locals and also pretty rocky, so we had some lunch and just went for a walk where I was eyed and chased by an evil goose. 

We were on a separate boat to Mum and Dad, but my friend Hanna was on our boat. Hanna the wild child who just had got a huge but awesome tattoo on her back the day before! You need to wade out in the water to jump onto the speed boat which is much more fun than the tradition jetty style. The trip to Lembogan was not too rough (that comes later), we definitely got some air on those waves though!

We were dropped off at our bungalows via an open aired ute, and Dan and I were straight into beach for a swim. The tide was out so it was pretty shallow, and you also needed to be careful as there were a lot of posts in the water tying down seaweed. Apparently 70% of the islands income comes from seaweed (how it is used I am not sure). We watched the locals at breakfast bring in boatloads of brown seaweed, and then take back out green seaweed which looked like it was tagged. 

We loved Lembongan. The vibe is friendly, mellow and still very Bali. Lots of cheap accommodation options run by families (no big resorts here), and plenty of places to eat. The number 1 activity to do is diving and snorkeling, and since Dan and I are not certified we did the latter, but honestly the snorkeling was so good you didn't need to dive (and the max depth was only 3 meters diving) . My sister and Liam organized a local to take us out on a boat to 3 snorkeling sites, the first at the mangroves being the best. The trip to the other sites around the other side of the island was a bit choppy - poor Rach was feeling a bit crook. On the way back to mainland, Liam cast a line and reeled in a huge blue fin tuna! Despite Dan and I now being vegetarian, we were still excited for him!

The rest of the 3 days we spent relaxing and spending time with the family before we parted ways. Dan, Dad and I took out kayaks for an afternoon which I loved - poor Dad got stung by a sea urchin so it cut his kayaking short. We got in some yoga at the Yoga Barn, and went for some great walks around the coast from Tamarind Beach up to Shipwrecks.

Soon it was time to say our goodbyes and head off to Gili T, one of the 3 Gili islands clustered together off Lombok.  This is where the rocky seas began.

The ride was supposed to take about an hour and a half, where in actual fact in ended up taking almost double the amount of time. At first the ride was quite pleasant - they actually gave us bottles of water and pastries - quite delicious banana bread and a canoli type baked good. Oh how I regretted eating those. Gone from the window were the calm seas, the land ahead bobbing in the water. The speed boat was taking full nose dives and getting saturated in water. It was a sickly hour.

Gili T made up for it though - it really does live up to its name being a party island. It was a change from Lembongan - a lot more people around and a lot of  the young crowd. The main beach where the boats come in is set on a coral reef, so there was good snorkeling right off the beach. Also made stepping in and out of the boats a little tricky as there was coral underfoot.

So many resturants, places to stay, and the really cool thing about the islands is that there are no motorbikes or cars, getting around is via a horse and card, bicycle or good old fashioned walking. 

We really just spent our time on Gili T relaxing. Hanging out at the beach,taking walks along the shoreline, and I even got a pedicure. We had the most phemoninal meal at the local night market - after eating Gado Gado,  Cap Cay and vegetable curry, it was a nice change to be able to have some indonesian vegetarian food that was different. I can't tell you exactly what it was, but we had five different dishes on our plate and it was scrumptious.

From Gili T we took the public boat to Lombok. You know you should be worried when you see the locals putting on life jackets. It was extremely choppy between the three Gili islands and the ride was rough, but luckily only about forty minutes. 

Lombok was so different in comparison. We came from a bustling island to a very quite, almost remote mainland. We took a private car to Seneggi and were surprised that there were not that many accommodation options. The place we ended up at was a bit of a hole but the people that ran the homestay were friendly.

On the first day we didnt do much - Dan was keen to go snorkeling again, but considering there was nobody else swimming at the big open beaches and it was pretty rough, we took a long walk instead to a Balinese temple, which is rare in Lombok which is predominatly musilm.

The next day we organized a trip to see some of the waterfalls in Lombok. We were taken to a local market where we brought some peanuts (for the monkeys) and pineapple (which our guide skillfully cut for us). We then drove through Lombok monkey forest. I love monkeys, but getting to close to them gives me the willies and the monkeys in Bali get a bad rap for being aggressive. However, the monkeys in Lombok were actually timid and very gentle taking peanuts from our hands. The males totally dominated though and if you tried feeding a smaller one, the male would not allow that!

We then had a beautiful lunch (Cap Cay I think again!) overlooking one of the waterfalls we would walk down too. The walk through the jungle was lovely - it probably took about 45 minutes to reach the first one which we were able to swim in. The water was so cool and refreshing and standing so close to the water flow was exhilirating. We stayed there for quite a while, just taking in the natural beauty and sounds of the jungle. The second one we couldnt swim in but was pretty to look at. We then hiked back up for the trip back to Seneggi.

On the way back we got to see a wedding procession. So apparently traditional weddings include doing a 5 km walk to the brides parents house through the streets which concludes with a party there. The procession had a lot of music and colors and the bride and groom (moreso the bride) looked petrified and both about 12 years old! 

We ended the day with a young coconut watching the sunset from a lookout point overlooking the 3 Gili islands. Ahhh the life. 

Next day it was back on the boat to Bali to see the other tourist mecca- Ubud. I am happy to report the seas were relatively calm and the journey was just over an hour! Phew!

Our Wedding

Our wedding

I slept well, woke up pretty early, just after 6am. I felt surprisingly relaxed. Even though we had been in Bali for a week and had been doing a lot of sitting by the pool and 'relaxing', I definitely had some anxiety and stress. But morning of I was feeling good.

Started the day with a run along Legian and Kuta beach which I had been doing every morning. The beach is awesome for running on in the morning. Tide is out, creating a wide stretch of wet, non-sinky sand to prance on. I love the energy of working out in the morning - less people around, those around are normally peaceful, not discussing the stresses of the day passed, but enjoying the rise of the sun for a new day. 

After the run, I met Dan, Mum and Dad, and some of the other guests staying at our hotel for breakie. Yougurt, fruit, banana pancake and coffee. Mmmm. The Mandira does a good breakie spread. Still feeling cool as a cucumber.

After a quick dip in our villa pool and shower, it was off to the spa with Mum no get our nails painted and feet massaged. It was utter bliss. Where did the morning go? By the time we were finished in was noon and already time to start hair and make-up.

The girls (Mum, Rachael, Courtney and little Sarah) and I all hung out doing the girly getting ready thing for the next 4 hours. The hair and make-up ladies were quick and finished the bridesmaids by 2pm so I had to decide whether to start my hair and make-up then or wait for the photographers to arrive at 3pm. I ended up waiting until 2.30pm for them to start, and it was lucky I did not wait any longer, since I ended up being 15 minuted late (I have a lot of hair).

I think my make-up rocked, but I wasn't that happy with my hair in all honesty, although in the pictures I have seen (we won't see the professional ones until we get back to Australia as they were not ready for the time we were leaving), it  looks okay. In wasn't very modern and looked nothing like the pictures I showed them, but it was not horrendous. I guess considering my personality, it was a good thing we were running late, otherwise I would have second guessed it and asked them to pull it out so my hair would be out and I would have melted.

Go time came around quickly, in fact we were rushing. This was the most stressful part of the whole day. I don't even think I got to look at myself fully dressed since we were so rushed. Again, I think this was good considering how indecisive I am - if I had more time I would be umming and ahhing over everything. Poor Rachael and Courtney had only a few minutes to learn how to do the bustle of my dress!

The walk down the aisle is fast. I remember my wedding planner saying 'enjoy it, it goes fast', so I really savored the moment. Sarah, our gorgeous flower girl was very cute going down, rather than throw the flowers she stopped to pick more up (Daddy to the rescue), she then threw all the flowers in one pile! Nice! When I started my procession and got down the stairs to grab Dad's arm, I only saw Dan.

The ceremony was hot and felt kind of long to me (although others said it was short). Saying the vows was the most special moment for me and it was truly a moment just between Dan and I. Yes! All that money and planning was worth it! It really does feel awesome to be married!

After the kiss the fun began - cocktails, finger food and group photos before the we and the bridal party went off for photos around the Mandira and on the beach. Apparently we had an awesome sunset (I was too focused on Dan :) ), so I can't wait to see those pictures. 

The rest of the reception was great - it was so good to be able to spend time with all the guests - I honestly don't know how people do that at bigger weddings. My Dad, Mum and sister gave lovely speeches. We had SO MUCH food, I actually felt guilty, there was so much left over. My only gripe was the band were just so-so. I was expecting more rock and roll and they were a little bit mellow. Oh and our cake, the top layer was meant to be cake and the bottom styrofoam, but the cake place reversed it so the cutting of the cake we cut thru styrofoam!

I was pretty tired by the end of the night - a lot of emotions let out and a lot of dancing. It is also sad that its all over, but we have so much to look forward to with all the travel and unknowns. Would I do it all again? Absolutely! 

Bali good times and pre-wedding festivites

It's been about 4 days without Internet connection and I must say it has been nice to be disconnected for a little bit, although I have been aching to see more pictures from the wedding! Dan and I had a slow wifi signal in the restaurant we were in last night so we looked at a couple of them uploaded by my fabulous cousin Grant, but we couldn't take the 2 minute loading time so we gave up! They look great, cannot wait to see the rest.

It has been a dreamlike experience the last week and a half. Since we have arrived in Bali we have been catching up with friends and family, and it has been so so great. I loved having all of my family together - its been over 5 years since my Mum, Dad and my sister Rachael and I have all been together, and even longer since my extended family has been together. It made me realize how much I miss everyone, but also how time flies - you have conversations with people you have not seen in years and it seems like no time has passed.

Bali has changed a lot from what I had remembered it. It has become more resorty and swanky, although not it a bad way. The street hassling and poverty levels are not so confronting - you can actually walk along the beach without being offered to buy a hat. We stayed in Semingyak for the first 5 nights at the Pelangi - it was a nice hotel right on the beach with a great pool. The area along the beach there is particularly cool - lots of beach bars where you can sit on a beanbag and have a cocktail while watching sunset. Semingyak is the center of swank - so many upscale villas, shops and restaurants. I did not have the opportunity to do any shopping unfortunately, although I may have a peak on our way back through when we fly out.

We had a great day out on the beach in Nusa Dua jet-skiing and para-gliding with my cousins and friends, although we did not get to stay up in the air all that long. We were hoping there would be more opportunity to do jet-skiing in Lembongan, but alas it was all snorkeling and diving. Para-gliding was fun, although I must say I was pretty scared shitless. We had about 2 minutes of training which entailed wearing two different colored gloves that had holes in them - blue pull right, red pull left, and run on the sand to take off. Oh and no safety waivers of course :)

Massages have been the high point for me! $6-$25 (depending on the swank level) for an hour! I mean c'mon, doesnt get better than that. Gosh they are so good! The hotel Mum and Dad were staying in had a great little hut where you could get a massage for $8 where I went 3 times! Reflexology is also really big here , Dan has had quite a few foot massages, I have only had one, so need to catch up! :)

On Wednesday the official wedding festivities started with the welcome Breakfast at Legian Beach Hotel. It was AMAZING!  The hotel had just been renovated so they had a brand new restaurant and a huge variety of food. Egg station, fruit, cereals, cold meats, dumplings, and a pancake and waffle station. We were then treated to a lovely sing-along by my cousins little girl Sarah (aka the flower girl) and a great photo opp as girls and boys had to stand on either side for the concert!

Wednesday night was hen's/stag's night and Rachael/Kate/Jess, Liam/Thomas did a stella job of organizing! The boys went for an afternoon of go-carting and then out to a beach bar and a bar with a pool. Us girls were treated to an afternoon of pampering - we got our hair, nails and make-up done at a swanky salon (will post photos it was super modern and over-looking a rice paddy), then we were off to Naughty Nuris where everytime you order a drink something naughty happens! Delicious BBQ food (although I stuck to my veg and rice) and potent cocktails 'Naughty on the Beach'. We then made our way to a Cuban club - unfortunately they were supposed to have salsa, but being Bali (where things get cancelled at a whim) it wasnt on, but we enjoyed our free ladies night cocktail, before hitting the gay bars. We headed to Mixwell for performances from Britney, Katy and go-go dancers and yours truely - those photos are bound to surface on facebook one of these days. We then headed to Sky Garden to meet up with the boys. Believe it or not the olds (Dad, Mum and my uncles) were still at it at 3am! Dan and I didnt make it back to the hotel until 4.30am and luckily slept until 11am before getting up to move to the wedding location hotel!

And we're off!

Greetings from Taipei, Taiwan! What a crazy 24 no 48 hours. Thinking we had done the majority of our packing and organization we thought we were in pretty good shape. The last few days have been a blur, particularly Thursday (yes, the day we were flying out).

Luckily I got to finish work early on Thursday (TIP! Take a few days off work BEFORE you a leaving for your wedding, 4 month trip and moving out of your apartment!), and as soon as I logged off it was non-stop. Dan had taken some more boxes to his Mum's and was stuck in traffic so I started the clean down of the apartment. I scrubbed two bathrooms, cleaned out and scrubbed the fridge and freezer, vacced, mopped floors, washed windows - my manicure from Wednesday was ruined! We had our inspection from our landlord at 4.30pm, and I just managed to finish in time. We passed with flying colors!

We had done a test pack the night before, and it didn't go great. I had brought a new toiletry bag for the trip, awesome bag for a normal trip, but for a backpacking trip not so much - this sucker was taking up half the room and the material was very thick. We decided to make a last run to REI at 6pm to swap it and return a couple of other things I had brought on Wednesday. I am SO GLAD we did. Swapped it for a new lightweight Sea to Summit bag, Dan picked up a new lightweight wallet and we got a few more smaller packing cubes. We then rushed over to Best Buy for Dan to get his 'travel keyboard' for the ipad.

By the time we got bak to Brooklyn, picked up a few Clif bars and got home for the last time to 320 Bedford, it was 8.30pm. We packed our stuff (and it all fitted and I didn't have to cut anymore clothes! yeah!), loaded up the car and said goodbye to our apartment. It was off to Dan's Mum's again to drop the stuff off and head to the airport.

Our flight was super late - 1.45am so we were exhausted - they served as food on the plane around 3am and remember eating a salad and that is really all. The flight was too bad for over 15 hours. Now we are waiting for our connection to Bali! Until then xo

The Onion is better than The Village Voice

It was half a great weekend! Actually it was all pretty good :) - we just did a big chunk of packing on Sunday with isn't the funnest way to spend a weekend but definitely has helped with the stress levels!

Saturday we spent the day at Pt. Lookout at the beach with some of my mates from my swim team. Weather was looking terrible on Saturday morning, but it managed to clear up and it was a great day, except for my latest foot injury - I cut my foot on a shell while playing volleyball. The cut isn't that deep but my foot is all bruised underneath so its tender, but I did manage to belt out a few miles this morning after taking a few days rest.

Dan and I both enjoyed playing volleyball, and we both commented in the car ride home how much we miss team sports! For me its netball, for Dan baseball. I think next year when we get back it will be a must for both of us.

Sunday it was pretty overcast, the weather gods deemed it a packing day. I finally managed to pack all the little bits of crap that we had piled in the office - pens, cords, papers, extra bulk costco things - all that junk that doesn't really 'fit' anywhere logically when you are packing categories of stuff. Dan took all that stuff to his Mum's and I started on all the plates, cups and glasses. I highly recommend only taking The Onion (its a free newspaper) to wrap your fragiles - its one of the only free papers that doesnt have staples in it. When you are wrapping up lots of the breakables (and I was double wrapping them), having to take out a staple every time makes it even more painful! AVOID THE VILLAGE VOICE!

After the second round of boxes where packed, we both headed out for the drive and stopped off for lunch at a Vegetarian Chinese Dim Sum (Yum Cha to the Aussies). Absolutely delicious and so cheap. Dan's Mum had put him onto the place and they go there quite frequently. We order the mock roast beef and seriously it tasted like the real thing. So good!

Now it really just the furniture we have left, plus food, the bathroom stuff and more of my clothes. We are planning to do this on Friday. I am hoping to also do a test pack today, there are a couple more clothing items I WANT to buy, but not sure they will fit. My toiletry bag takes up half the space! 

Back to work!