Since Pushkar...

Tahna and I went to Agra, Gwalior, Orcha, Khajuraho, Varanasi and then finally to Kolcata.

Agra was awesome! We saw the amazing Taj Mahal! Its so massive and intricate! I wish we had more time there. We didnt realize how early it closed. I also didnt think i would really want to stay for that long but we were there for probably 3 hours and we wanted more. Its amazing all the hard work and craftmenship goes into it, you really cant under stand unless yousee it up close. Outside of Agra we went to Fatehpur Sigrh which was also really nice but i have never been so hasseled in my life. The "guides" are so annoying and they try to drag you around for "free" but Tahna and i like to take things slowly and just wander. I dont really care abou the history of things i just like to see them. Guides are hard to shake off but we managed okay.

Gwalior... oh Gwalior. I swear to god Natahna and I were the only non-Indians there and it was a town of almost a million. The temples and ruins there were incredible! and mostly free! There was only one part you had to pay to get into but the rest was fair game. It was really fun, we spent a lot of time just wandering from building to building. There were no restaurants there... Really no tourist infrastructure whatsoever. Tahna and I found ourselves in a mall (which was a really weird east meets west experience) starving for food drinking espressos because we were lost... It was funny. Our hotel room was a dismal, watery shit hole though and i could not wait to leave that place in my wake. We also saw this amazing palace that had the two largest chandeliers in the world there. They both weighed 3.5 tonnes and to test the building to see if it was strong enough they put elephants on the roof! crazzzzzy.

Orcha was so beautiful! We only stayed for one day (which we regretted afterwards) but i could have probably spent 4 or 5. The entire city was riddled with small temples and ruins and gardens and it had a beautiful river. We sat and sang the Free Willy theme song by Michael Jackson by the river for a good couple hours. We also had a nice room which

Khajuraho was not my favourite. The touts were so annoying I actually almost punched one that was named "Ricky Martin". He kept following us around, when we were already shell shocked from the most intense bus ride we had ever had, and kept demanding that we be his friends because he wants to "travel the world and needs places to stay". I was not about to explain to him that people dont befriend eachother so they can take advantage of them but I think that i would have hit a language barrier so i told him that we wanted to be alone. Khajuraho had some nice temples with nice carvings but instead of exploring them Natahna and I spent most of our time watching HBO and eating room service and drinking Christmas drinks and it was AWESOME. I certainly beefed up my knowledge of 1990s B-Rated movies and found a new respect for Steve Martin. Most memorable movie quote was Charlize Theron in Sweet November saying: "It's life, it's just happening around us all the time". Well said Charlize... (thats sarcasm everyone FYI).

Thank GOD for Varanasi because i was starting to get a little jaded from temples and carvings. Varanasi was an amazing experience. It was a maze of tiny narrow alleys that were splattered with shops, chai wallahs, dabas, goats, dogs, cows EVERYTHING! It was so fun just to wander the roads and watch the people. We spent a lot of time just watching the various goings ons at the Ghats. GOOD TIMES!

Kalcota was a polluted noisy shithole but i was only there for 12 hours so you cant really say i'm an expert on the subject. Our hotel was amazing though, retro-chic and they werent even trying so that makes it even cooler! It had one of those ancient elevators that needed an operator it was so cool.

Now we are back in Bangkok and i have mixed feelings (see my other post) and it is SOOOOOO FREAKING HOT HERE OMG! Gonna kick it here for a few days then hit the beach hard.

lots of love to everyone out there and the following are my new albums on FB

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=232616&id=511320343&l=79512874f8

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=232619&id=511320343&l=1305725e23

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=232611&id=511320343&l=d305a3d7ef

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=232611&id=511320343&l=d305a3d7ef

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=228084&id=511320343&l=37a0cab462

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=224066&id=511320343&l=37ea5f882b

ENJOY!
And now i'm back in Bangkok. I LOVE BANGKOK

Dear India:

I feel the way one feels after stepping out of a crowded room into the cool quiet night. The silence is ear splitting, and lack of stimuli is not alleviating but aggrovating. The things that i abhored i know hold dear, like the tides of flies crashing and retreating against your skin, the myriad of smells, both good and bad, the dodging and weaving between people, cars, motorbikes and cows... Without all that everything seems so... bland.

Here are some of my favourite moments:

• Khajuraho train station when i was ordering Chai for Tahna and I. I ordered it with difficulty because of the language then i was motioned to take a seat. I sat alone and then a man sat on one side of me, then the other, then a man burst out laughing at me, pointed finger and all, then two were standing infront of me and then two more... Before i knew it i was surrounded by about 10 or more locals just staring at me
• Wandana (her name means make a wish)... A little girl from Varanasi who was selling these little flower boats with candles that you put into the ganges. She was one of the most special people i have met in my life. She spoke perfect english and convinced Tahna and I that we should part with a few of our belongings and WAY too many rupees and she also got a few juices out of us. We didnt mind though because she was so beautiful and kind. I will never forget when she made a wish with us at the ganges.
• Watching the various goings ons at the Ghats in Varanasi. We saw many Pujas (religious songs), Religious gatherings and demonstrations, cow cleanings and just awesome people watching.
• The Keralan backwaters. Coasting through the leafy foliage in the sleep backwaters while drinking WAY too much and listening to good music. Awesome tiems!!!
• Wandering through ruins and temples and monuments. My favourites were the ruins and temples in Orchha and the Taj Mahal (obviously).
• The parades in Pushkar... So full of life and colour and EVERYONE in the town gets involved! I didnt reallly like the selling of the religion thing but atleast they celebrated and worshipped more than they sold.
• Traditional Rajastani dance in Pushkar. It was so amazing! All the slight head and eye movements and how everything was so precise and practiced. Also the part of it where the men seemed to be posessed by some crazy spirit that made them go crazy. SO AWESOME!

So many amazing moments and life lessons. I am so thankful for all of my amazing friends and family members and my wonderful life that I have. I am also very thankful for Canada and that my country treats everyone equally and with compassion.

So I'm in Bangkok and I am definitely happy to be here. Things are definitely more expensive here but the quality is much better and everything is heaps easier so its kind of refreshing although everything does seem a little lacklustre.

an india snapshot

your computer will always either have a shitty keyboard that feels like 10 drinks have been spilled on it, the slowest internet connection possible or a monitor that flikers and hurts your eyes

everyone AND I MEAN EVERYONE wants to talk to me here... its not endearing it is straight up annoying. I had to tell this guy today named (your going to love this ) "ricky martin" that i didnt want to talk to him and i didnt want to be his friend. he followed me for about half an hour...

All indian men think about is sex... and they do not understand that me and Natahna are just friends... they often make lude gestures and references to me which needless to say i find in bad taste.

blackouts/brownouts are frequent and make it difficult and frustrating to write emails/ride ferris wheels (yes there are ferris wheels where i am and yes they are questionable)

100 kilometers takes 4 hours on the bus and 3 hours on the train 2 hours on express train. dont ask how long 400 kilometers takes, its a sore subject

everyone blatently stares at you, right at you, all the time... it bothers natahna but i just stare right back, sometimes i take pictures of them staring at me, i'm starting a collection.

Since I last wrote i have been to the Taj Mahal and seen sooooo many temples. Me and Natahna have been having a blast!!! Tomorrow is Holi which is a festival where everyone throws coloured paint at eachother. Wont be wearing my Sunday best.

Would like to say HAPPY BirThdAY dad!!! Thanks for being born!

Have booked my return flight to bangkok for the 19th should be home within a month after that.

not a lot of time right now, will write more soon! bye!!!

eating, sleeping and haggling...

FIRST OF ALL!!!

I finally figured out how to send a link to my photo albums so here they are (for India only, my Thailand ones are not appropriate for all viewers :0)

http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=222469&id=511320343&l=103b9

http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=217429&id=511320343&l=84388

So I am in Pushkar which is in Rajastan not far from Udaipur where I wrote my last entry and its pretty okay... Its nice here but the locals are VERY VERY pushy and trying to scheme and scam you and every oppurtunity. It has really tried my patience and damaged my trust. I have met up with one of my best friends in the whole wide world Natahna and we are having a grand ol time.

So far we havent done much except eat and a TINY bit of shopping and then a HUGE amount of eating. The food here is fantastic and the restaurants all have a very special and unique ambience.

This is supposed to be a holy city but so far we havent seen much holyness. One of the biggest scams here is when you are walking into the main road someone will give you a flower and then their friend will grab you as soon as you walk into the city saying that the flower is "holy and must go to the holy lake" they will show you to the lake and show you the proper procedure for putting it in the water and then try and charge you money. Talk about exploiting your religion for money. VERY disturbing. Obviously that has jaded our view on the whole thing.

Tomorrow we shall ride camels into the dusty sand dunes of Rajhastan and we are VERY excited about that. Its going to be like lawrence of arabia only with less swords... Stay tuned for more updates!

cow eats book, young beachdweller indignant...

So its been two weeks in India and so far here is a quick round up of some important things i have learned.

• No one wants to just talk to you. They want your money or your commission (99% of the time)
• Compassion and patience go much farther than anger and rudeness
• Problems ran away from will always find you
• I have some of the most wonderful people in the world to call my friends and family
• Just because you buy a train ticket does not necessarily mean you have a seat on a train in India
• Apple pie in India will give you Diarrhoea
• If you feed a cow in India it will not leave you alone and may try to eat your book...

I was minding my own business today when a lovely indian gentleman asked if I would like a cinnamon bun or a croissant. Heck yes i did! I paid the man and gave him a generous 10 rupee tip for his keen sense of what foods i may wish to snack on. Returning to the last 30 pages of the epic 1000 page Indian odyssey that is Shantaram a shadow loomed over me. Assuming it was the man trying to sell me another tasty snack i told him that one was enough. The shadow persisted so i rose my head to see a bulbous bovine head staring back at me. I smiled at it and thought to myself 'only in India' and gave the cow a piece of my bun. It failed to see it (cows are worshipped here but i think not for their intelligence) so i forced it into its mouth. I was immediately covered in cow goo. I went to wash my hands in the ocean finishing the last piece of the delicious pastry when i heard a crowd laughing. Turning to see what was so funny i was a bit disappointed to see the laughs were at my expense... The ingrate was chewing on my book which was undoubtedly scented delightfully with cinnamon...

I rushed over, pulled the book from his mouth and beseeched him to move on. This encouraged further laughing. Eventually i encouraged the cow to leave me be but not before a thick globule of sandy drool landed squarely on my iPod.

BAHHHH, oh well i saw a similar situation later on with a young lady but the cow was eating her sarong...

Going to Mumbai tonight, ready to take that city on for a second time. After that i think i shall move on to udaipur. Hope all is well!

So now that i have been here for a week and a bit I have a more informed oppinion of this country. I love Indias carefree and easy going pace but find it to be extremely frustrating when it comes to getting around. Arie and I the other day tried to get from Kollem to Goa (because he had to fly out on the 14th) and there was absolutely NO WAY we could do it. There are no direct busses, flights were full, train was full, the only way we could do it would be to rent a private car and a driver for around $300 CAD. It was just stupid. We got really frustrated with that.

We ended up taking a combination of trains, taxis, rikshaws and busses. It was totally mental. At multiple times on the trip we cursed Indias name and some of its people. It took us 3 days to do something that should have taken 12 hours. One of our busses was going 200 kiolemeters and it took 8 and a half hours, and it was completely packed the entire time.

Needless to say i'm happy to be back in Goa for a bit. I'm trying to meet up with my friend Natahna up north but its difficult because you kind of have to book ahead with the trains and i certainly am not very good at making plans like that. I'm much more the day of kind of guy.

The backwaters in Kerala were amazing!!!! We were on the boat for almost two days and we took it really easy. There wasnt much to do on their except listen to music, drink and eat and watch the beautiful scenery roll by, its a great way to see all the rice fields and farmlands and the beautiful backwaters. It was amazing, almost as good as my yacht cruise in Thailand.

So I'm back in Goa and I'm just going to chill here for a while. Internet in India is so far shit so i wont be posting any pictures for a while.

BYE!!!

I was only in Mumbai for a about 5 hours and it was shocking, awe inspiring, beautiful and horrible all at the same time. The beauty of India is so unmistakable but its not in its squeaky clean sandy beaches or in its festering metropolises, its in the eyes and the hearts of its people.

Indian people are so kind and so helpful its almost unnerving, even when they are trying to rip you off they are treating you like an equal, like a long lost friend. I am glad that i got out of Mumbai because I didn't want to ruin the city for myself and it would have been WAAAAYYYY too much to handle as my first experience in India.

I am currently on beautiful Palolem beach in Goa, India and it is absolutely paradise. Yesterday with two full meals, many beers and a bottle of whisky i only spent around $15 CAD. CRAZY!!!!

Life here is truly my idea of paradise. The food is amazing, the beer is cold and cheap, my room is clean and bug free and has a fan, the water is warm and clear, sand is like silk between your toes... Truly amazing

Soooo i dont have much of a plan but what i've got for right now is my friend Arie and I are going to hang out in Goa for a few days then go see the Keralan backwaters, do some houseboating maybe some wildlife watching then i have to say goodbye to him cuz hes going back to London then i think i will fly to the Andaman islands and spent some time there then fly to Delhi or somewhere else up north and start seeing that part of India, pretty vague plan but my plans always are.

Anyways... i really havent done anything that interesting in the last few weeks so i dont have much to say either than i'm having a great time, i'm in great company and i'm happy to call India my home for the next few months.

LOVE!!!!! danny

Koh Phan YAY YA

I left Koh Pha Ngan (from now on KPN) with the following (bulleted for your enjoyment):

• A wicked tan
• A pair of mismatched flip flops
• A minor burn
• Lower backpain
• WAY less brain cells then i went there with
• and MOST IMPORTANTLY over a dozen new awesome friends

It all started when I left Koh Samui. I liked it there, it was beautiful but I found it a little lackluster and expensive. It also was WAAAAAAAY too hard to meet people. I spent basically the three days there by myself which was nice, i got to chill and work on the old tan but i'm too social to do that for too long. So on my third day I packed up my stuff, said an un-heartfelt good bye to the shockingly obese german man that ran the place and got on the bus to KPN.

I met Ryan and Hannah as soon as i pulled out of the resort, who were staying there and we never ran into eachother and we started to chat it up. We pulled up to KPN and the hotel they were staying in was full so they got shipped off to their sisters (at the time we were kind of like WTF ) which is really fortunate because then we met Tim, Sam, Amy, Joe and Arie and Colin (some time in there Jeff popped in too but i don't really remember meeting him...

On one of the first nights there it was the "black moon party" and everyone was pretty stoked to go but when we rolled up they wanted 300 baht each. We were like F that noise and went and had our own black moon party which was way more fun anyway.

We also did a grandiose tour of the island in the back of a pickup (12 people i think were crammed in the box) which would never fly in N. America but its no big deal in Thailand (don't worry we drove really carefully ) and we finished by watching the sunset at the Amsterdam bar which overlooks the sea.

The next night was our last one and the festivities went all day and into the early early morning. There was a lot of booty shorts, pool parties, fire hoops/limbos and WAAAAAY too many buckets.

All in all it was fantastic and I can't wait to see all those guys again soon.

Now i'm in Bangkok again and today I got my visa to India and I will be heading over there as soon as my passport gets back.

A WORD TO MY FAMILY AND FRIENDS:

It is natural to worry about someone when they are away but please shower me with worry-wort comments. They do no one anygood (and as some of my hippy friends would say, manifest bad things happening). I can handle myself perfectly well and I feel very comfortable out in the world. I am fully prepared (i have every ointment, pill and cream under the sun) and have done tons of research so i don't want to hear any negativity from anyone, just well wishing. I know what i'm doing...

That being said I love you all and hope this blog finds its readers well.

Take care!!!!

Koh Samui

Koh Samui is not bad, doesent quite meet my paradise standards but its not bad. My big beef with it is that all the tourists are old and obnoxious. The European men in there speedos with their Thai ladies by the hand and the old European women with their boobs out all over the place makes me want to vomit. Soooo i will leave this island tomorrow for Koh Pha Ngan.

This island is MASSIVE, I met two lovely English girls on the ferry and we made plans to meet up for dinner at their guest house and I COULD NOT FIND IT for the life of me, i tried for two hours before hunger made me resign. I was smart enough to take their names so i could add them on facebook but not smart enough to consider that there are millions of Rebecca Harveys and Lydia Jacksons. Oh well lesson learned for next time.

My bungalow is really cute, its not right on the beach but its well built with a bathroom. Generally I prefer to not have a bathroom and to share one because when you have a bathroom then there are more ways for bugs and other things to get in. There is something massive living in the roof of my bathroom, I'm almost certain that its one of the big Geckos but usually they are easy to identify by their loud "GECKO" calls (it actually sounds like they are saying gecko, kind of cute) but i've seen it twice and heard it running away twice. Geckos don't scare me but they move really fast and it takes you by surprise. I also saw a very small cockroach in there that made me lose some sleep but thats how things go over here. Can't have everything I guess.

Anyways I'm going to go to get some late afternoon lunch and nurse my poor sun burnt nose. Its freakin hot here by the way (35 degrees, no clouds). Hows the weather in Canada? haahah

OKAY, finally some time to write...

Ahhh, to vacation is such a good feeling. I got up today at 7:30 because I wanted to (and also because I think I am still fairly jet lagged ;)) which never happens. I'm having a great time in Bangkok, this city is so crazy but such a good time, there is so much to see, so many different restaurants to eat at, so many shopping centers and markets to sift through. Bangkok is truly a world in itself.

BUT to back track a bit I had a really awesome 8 days in the lower mainland with all my friends. Its nice to not be drinking heavily EVERY night however. Those last two weeks before I left were so sloppy (and fun) but i don't think i care to ever repeat a bender of such proportions, except next time i go to the movies with Renee.

I would like to thank Hannah and the girls at the girl house as well as Renee for being so hospitable to me during my stay. I also would like to apologize for any unnecessary excessive shenanigans or drunken tomfoolery that they had to deal with.

ANYWAYS... Back to my trip. So far I've been pretty busy. Yesterday I got to the bottom of my room reservation that disappeared, another case of my confused use of first name (thanks again mom and dad), I got my blackberry hooked up with the help of two very kind and funny Thais at MBK (which is the craziest damn mall anyone has ever seen, they have an entire floor dedicated to cell phones, its lunacy) they unlocked my phone, installed my SIM card AND showed me how to reload/buy new SIM cards. I also got my travel insurance (which would have been much easier at home but whatever) and ate out like 5 times (don't worry katrina, your friendship is too important for me to get fat hahaha). I ended all that craziness with a relaxing massage (for $7).You need a country code and i'm not sure of it right now. I'm not sure how the phoning thing works either, i think that its free for me to receive phone calls but it costs a butt load for me to call. E-mails are dirt cheap however so that is a great way to communicate with me.

My flight was... actually not so bad. My back is still killing me though and the thought of getting on a bus anytime soon makes my ass cringe but for the most part it was alright. I slept basically the entire time (except for when a miserable little korean brat screamed for like 6 hours on the first flight, thank christ for my sound isolating Shure headphones) and arrived in Bangkok wide eyed and feeling pretty crazy.

I was very surprised at how quickly I adjusted to the climate/time zone. The heat was a non issue and the jet lag was bearable. I stayed up rather late the first night (till like 4 in the morning) chatting with another jet lagged canadian over a few too many $2 beers. I showed him around the immediate vicinity of Kao San and Soi Rambutri (its nice not being totally clueless) and told him some dos and do nots in Bangkok.

Today I'm going to Central World (bangkoks shoptropalis) to try and find another pair of shorts and just cruise it cuz i've never been there.

I hope everyone back home is doing well, I miss my family and my pseudo families very much (Cimo's crew, Katrina and Mel, Lisa and Shantel, Renee, the GURLS at the girl house, Durose, Anton, Annie, Lynn, Leah, DROG and my old roomies and anyone else i missed that cares to read this) I love you guys and hope to hear from you soon!

Danny

bangkok is...

not a pretty place really hahaha. I'm having fun though, i love this city, something about the grungy streets and smelly air (the smell is mostly of smoke and shit ahaha). I tried to cheap out on my cab last night and he ended up being a total douche so lesson learned there. Met a friend already from canada, hes from quebec and hes been travelling for a year and a half.

not lots of time right now but i will post more later.!