Cameron Highlands, Malaysia

ANNNNDDD now we're in Malaysia, but first, a quick recap from the last week or so...

Phi Phi Islands: After arriving in Krabi and spending two nights in this fantastic hotel, we took a ferry to the nearby Phi Phi Islands. For all you cinephiles out there, this is where the movie The Beach starring Leonardo DiCaprio (Leo!) and Guillaume Canet (a.k.a. the hottest man that has ever lived) was filmed. Actually if you really are a cinephile you have probably not seen this movie. Anyway, it was like gorgeous in a very screen savery kind of way. The photo above is really what it looked like (the one with the cliffs). Anyway, it was cool and all, but like totally geared towards European (there were like no Americans to be found anywhere) tourists, and yet it still managed to look like one giant college party. There were bars with "bucket" specials and all you can eat buffets, and the tourists all really looked American- they were all wearing way-too-short shorts, knotty wet buns on the tops of their heads (the girls), and those ridiculous HAvainana Flip Flops (see image above) which cost like $50 a pair- but they were European! They were all like Finnish or whatever.

ANyway, we spent two days on the islands and went on this schweet snorkeling adventure where I got dangerously sunburned and saw a shark! After we left, we spent another two days in Krabi and then took a van into Malaysia to Penang...

Georgetown, Penang, Malaysia: This was a lovely place to spend a few days. I think??? it was the colonial capital of the country, but in any case, it has a lot of British colonial architecture, and is pretty laid back and easy to navigate. To our delight, we found Malaysia to be just as keen on the hawker stall street food scene as Thailand was, and so we ate lots of delicious seafood, curries, shave ice, noodles, and burgers (tasty ones!) for very very cheap. We saw a cool temple in Penang which they accidentally locked us in at the end of the day, so we had to kind of worm our way through closed gates and things and back down a random hill to get to where we wanted to go. Other highlights from Penang included seeing the new Pirates of the Caribbean movie, and if I may, Penelope Cruz was a vast improvement over Kiera Knightly.

Cameron Highlands, Malaysia: This is where we are now. It's like this sort of hilly resort town in central Malaysia which is famous for it tea, strawberries and butterfly farms. It's nice because it's cooler than everywhere else. We went for a nice long hike today, and then had Indian food for lunch. Malaysia food is really great because they have co-opted all of the best dishes from neighboring countries in addition to having a lot of unique Malaysian dishes (most of which involve seafood). There is also seemingly more cake in Malaysia than anywhere else we have been which is a welcome change.

Oh. Ha! Funny other thing about Malaysia. Malaysia is very developed and modern. They have all the American chains (Pizza Hut, McDonald's, Starbucks, etc.) which is not surprising, but what is sort of funny is that it seems to be a badge of honor here to be what is known as a "McDonald's VIP." Correction. It is called a "McDonald's Drive-Through VIP" (I understand that these people enjoy none of the same privileges should they actually enter the store). I don't know what rights these VIPs have, but apparently they are not too selective about who gets this honor since seriously like every other car here, has a "McDonald's Drive-Through VIP" sticker displayed prominently on its front windshield. Anyway, if anyone has more information about this program, I'd be interested to know the details.

OK, I guess that's it. Tomorrow we're going to the Perhentian Islands (see above photo of pier and hut looking thing). Woot. Later!

Krabi, Thailand

So we're in Krabi Thailand now, which is this really laid-back beach town on the southwestern coast of Thailand. It's been a while since we updated, so a quick recap of what has happened in the last two weeks:

5-day trek into Nepal: We went on this amazing 5-day trek that wove in and out of India and Nepal. It was really exhausting since a lot of it was uphill, but it was definitely my favorite thing we have done so far. The scenery was beautiful when we could see it, but a lot of the time we were literally in the clouds, so it was extremely foggy and we couldn't see anything. That area of India/Nepal is right by Mount Kanchenjunga, which is the third highest summit in the world and is truly stunning. I only saw it three times since it is almost always covered by clouds, but I got some fantastic pictures which one day I will upload. We had this fantastic group of six on the trek with us: two Brits, one French girl, one other American and me and Sam, and we all got along incredibly well.

Calcutta: Calcutta was our last stop in India, which was sort of fitting since it served to sum of all of the best and worst that we encountered in India. The best: fantastic food, beautiful colonial architecture, and one of the coolest Hindu temples we saw on the entire trip. The worst: some of the most wretched poverty I saw in all of India (outside of the area near the Mumbai train station). People are literally dying in the streets in Calcutta, or suffering through horrible illness, deformity, starvation and depravity. As you probably know, Calcutta was the city that inspired Mother Teresa's work. She, after years of working as a nun in a catholic school teacher in Calcutta, got so sick of seeing the poverty in the city that she set up an order- the Missionaries of Charity- to help the situation.

Bangkok: Going from Calcutta to Bangkok is like going from the moment in Tetris just before you lose when everything is frantic, and moving quickly and difficult to navigate to the start of a new game, when everything is easy to navigate, moves slowly, and sort of fits together exactly as you would want it to. Thailand in general is really a tourist paradise, in the sense that if you are a tourist, they make it extremely easy for you to have a relaxing and pleasant experience. There is tons of really good infrastructure, and a huge tourism industry that is relatively straightforward. Also, Bangkok in a food-lovers paradise. You could spend a week in Bangkok-and we practically did- without going into a single restaurant, and eat some of the best food of your life. The street food is just so good...

Darjeeling, India, or where Sally attempts to talk about race and not sound ignorant

So yes, I have a few comments to make about race in India. Hopefully if I ever try to get a job at the State Department, they won't dig this up and rip up my application.

So, I did not know this, but apparently Indian people can have blue and green eyes. Is it really ignorant to not know that non-white people could have light blue/green eyes? When I asked Sam, he just sort of passively nodded his head yes, so I'm not sure if it really is super ignorant, or if he just doesn't care. But yeah, I have seen several Indians with very pale eyes, which is very striking and unlike anything I've ever seen.

Second race comment: we are now in Darjeeling, which is not "ethnically Indian" which is to say, people here look more Tibetan/Chinese than Indian. This apparently is a major point of contention within the state of West Bengal, which, in the south is straight-up Indian (I believe that is the politically correct term for the ethnicity), and in the north, is more ethnically Tibetan/Chinese. The people in Darjeeling, who don't feel remotely accepted by the straight-up Indians from the south, are seeking an independent state called Gorkhaland. Someone told us that in Calcutta, the biggest city in West Bengal (which is in the south), there is a lot of discrimination against people from the north. Anyway, yesterday, there was a city-wide strike in Darjeeling calling for an independent Gorkhaland. Literally everything shut down. Well, at least, shop owners want to give the appearance that they have shut down, but a few are willing to operate clandestinely if you ask them discreetly. We found one such establishment, and while we were enjoying our dumplings (called momos here), we watched the strike go by. The movement enjoys lots of support though, since probably 95% of shops closed their doors for the rest of the day.

Anyway, other than that, our experience so far in Darjeeling has been fantastic. It's so incredibly beautiful. We are literally in the clouds, and all around us are lush mountains, monasteries, and valleys lines with multi-colored houses. The weather here is SO MUCH NICER THAN ANYWHERE ELSE WE HAVE BEEN. Right now it's about 60 degrees, which feels like heaven.

OK, we're going to go to a tea shop where you get to taste everything before you buy it. More soon!

The Golden Triangle (Agra-Jaipur-Delhi)

So we bit the bullet and went on the five day tourist trap tour that is Delhi-Agra-Jaipur. This is a must if you want to see the Taj Mahal and the pink city (Jaipur), and if you want to get ripped off incessantly. We HAAAAAAAATED Agra. It's filthy and ugly and everyone tries to rip you off at every possible juncture. We found this one restaurant that we liked and went to twice. Jaipur was way better although still very touristy. Jaipur's main redeeming quality was that there were elephants and monkeys everywhere, and the monkeys were this special long-tail variety that moved very quickly up hills. We're now back in Delhi, which is a very nice spot.

Hmm, I'm trying to think of highlights with the cyber cafe clock ticking, so here goes:

1) It's mango season in India, which means that there are vendors everywhere selling these large yellow mangoes that are similar to the ones we have at home. You can also find the green and orange ones that we have at home, as well as a small green variety, and tons of other tropical fruit. When I was in Hyderabad, my friend Krish taught me "the sucking method" of eating a mango, which involves kneading the fruit while the skin is still on until it is very soft, and then removing the little round button at the top and sucking the juice (and remaining fruit) out from there. It is quite delicious and not easily done on a train, as I learned on the way to Agra.

It's interesting because fruit here just looks different than it does at home. It's not as bright in color, it's not and plump and lush, it's just more, how do I say....natural? Pomegranates don't have a deep deep red GMO color, and fruits just generally look deflated and less appealing...until you realize that that's how they naturally look. They mostly taste better, though we've gotten some duds as well.

2)The Delhi metro is very modern and quite impressive. It is clearly modeled after the London Tube since all of the signs use that same logo, and a British female voice comes on to say "mind the gap" before each stop. The train are extremely crowded, and when the doors open at a stop, everyone getting on the train like literally RUSHES onto the train, trampling those poor souls who dare get off. There are cars for only women, where the aforementioned behavior, of course, does not happen. Still, the metro is pretty sweet all in all, and definitely a welcome break from the gas fumes and haggling that is involved in taking a rickshaw.

3)Kathi rolls. Is it just me or is this turning into a food blog? So we went to get Kathi rolls, which I guess is considered street food, but we got it in a more like fast food type restaurant. Basically, it's a deep fried bread, wrapping either chicken or mutton, egg, and grilled red onions, and then it is served with ketchup (no) and the tasty cilantro sauce. Sam like freaked out when we got them and tried to convince me to franchise the restaurant we were at since he thought-quite rightly- that it would make great late night food. Maybe that is how I will put my business degree to use. We shall see.

ok, that's all. I love comments! k bye.

Delhi, India

So we've arrived in New Delhi and it was clear just from the drive from the airport that a lot has changed since I was here four years ago. A shiny, new terminal that rivals most airports in the U.S. greets travellers. This made Sally very happy, because our arrival in India was much less spectacular, where we had to fight through disorganized masses of people in a dingy, suffocating, non-AC terminal just to exit the airport. The cab we took into Delhi was easily booked and it ran on natural gas, as do all commercial vehicles in Delhi. We can't even imagine what the smog would be like if this were not the case, because the sun still shines behing a thick brown haze. And, speaking of sun, it is hottt! The heat on the ride in from the airport was unlike anything else I have experienced, easily 100 + but fortunately it is a dry heat. But I digress.

Brand new four lane highways lead you into the city where one fines newly paved roads and sidewalks and motorists that actually follow traffic laws. Unlike the Hyderabad, the streets of New Delhi are tree-lined and the air, though anything but clean, is free of the smell of petrol that was ubiquitous in Hyderabad and Mumbai. Other infrastructure in Delhi also appears much improved since my last visit, including the metro, which was just recently completed. We haven't had reason to ride it yet, but we hear it is very nice.

As for our activities, our first aternoon in Delhi was spent catching up on sleep. We then traveled to Connaught place, the commercial center of New Delhi, where we milled around the various shops and the park in the center of the circle. After a while of jealously watching Delhi's youth show off their gymnastic and break-dancing talents, we walked to a South Indian restaurant where we had a lovely dinner comprised of the dosas, which are crepe-like pancakes stuffed with potatoes and onions or cocunut and served with various chutneys. Sally was especially fond of the vanilla ice cream with black currant sauce we had for dessert.

After a good nights rest, we went to Humayun's tomb. Humayun was the second of the great Mughal emperors. His tomb is a spectacular display of Mughal architecture, symmetrically constructed out of sandstone and white marble and adorened with beautiful carvings and trellises. The tomb is situated in a large garden, which is also really beautiful. We both enjoyed greatly.

After the tomb, we had a delicious lunch of khadi rolls. A khadi roll is egg, chicken or mutton, fried red onions, wrapped in a piece of fried naan and sprinkled with some extra greasy deliciousness. They were....fantastic. I am convinced that they would be a hige hit in the U.S. and am trying to convince Sally to open a franchise once she gets her business degree. Anyway, thats about it for now. We just booked our tickets to Agra to see the Taj and are currently bickering in true Sam and Sally fashion over our budget...more soon!

Aurangabad, India/Hyderabad, India

We're in Hyderabad now, though we spent three days in Aurangabad during which time I didn't blog at all. Basically, Aurangabad in a nutshell: heat, caves, exhaustion, and my discovery of Indian potato chips. I actually discovered these on a tour we took of all the sites in the region when I hadn't had any breakfast. When we got to the first stop, I ran across the street and bought one bag of "American style cream and onion" and one bag of Masala flavored chips. For five rupees each!!! That is like a penny. No joke. Actually it's like a dime, but still. Great deal. And they were so good! Definitely better than actual American Style [sour] cream and onion chips, and certainly cheaper. Other than that, on the food front, I have been branching out and eating more meat, lots of naan, and one night in Aurangabad, I even tried Chinese style noodles. It's weird because there are very few restaurants with American food, but there are lots with Indian and Chinese food. When I was taking a nap one day in Aurangabad, Sam went to a restaurant and got some friend rice, which he said was the best fried rice he had ever had. Anyway, on the whole Aurangabad was much more manageable than Mumbai, though it was still extremely dirty and the traffic was insane.

In Hyderabad, which we arrived at by way of a 10 hour overnight train, things have been a lot different. On the one hand, Hyderabad, is a lot cleaner than the other cities. There isn't garbage everywhere like in Mumbai and Aurangabad, everything seems to function effectively and more or less on schedule, and there is just like a lot more infrastructure. The roads are paved, there are traffic lights, there is what appears to be a functioning public transit system, and there are lots and lots of shops. We booked the cheapest "mid-range" hotel listed in the Lonely Planet, and it turned out to actually be a really nice, recently renovated hotel. We have a flat-screen Samsung TV in our room, which in my opinion, is any real-estate developper/hotel manager's way of telling you that you are in a pretty nice place.

The food in Hyderabad has been exceptionally good. Not sure why we weren't doing this before, but we have pretty much only been going to places recommended by the Lonely Planet, and they have all been fantastic. The first one we went to was a vegetarian place in the Andhra-style of cuisine (apparently one of the two prominent in Hyderabad, the other one is Biryani). It was incredible. Everything was served on a banana leaf, and basically, you just sit down, they put a banana leaf in front of you, then this guy just comes and starts dumping stuff on your banana leaf. So there were four main dishes, and two kinds of rice. Of the four, one was lentil-based, one was maybe chickpea and tomato-based, one was spicy chili fried vegetables, and then one I think was a creamy nut base, maybe cashew. They also gave you yogurt and this creamy sauce which looked gross so I didn't touch it, and then there were like five or six dishes of spices on each table which you added at will. Basically, I just tried different cominations, my favorite being the yellow rice with yogurt, the cashew dish, the chickpea dish, and then i sprinkled some of the crispy veggies on top. DELISH. After this restaurant, we went to the internet cafe, where we tried to book our next few spots (we're headed to Delhi next), and then we went to buy me a nail file (my nails are all broken from the dry heat, and filthy from eating with my hands) and Sam some listerine. That nail file was such a joke. It's like trying to file your nails with a piece of styrofoam.

Last night, Sam passed out for two hours (which we had tried not to do since at that point we had yet to sleep a full night and not at all during the day), and I read Tina Fey's new book Bossypants. The book is hilarious, and it was especially great since she has a chapter about the year she worked in Evanston, which actually mentioned people I know/have met! Small world. THEN, we went to meet Krish Batra, one of my friends from Grinnell, who lives in Hyderabad, for dinner! It was seriously like the most wonderful night. Krish actually lives in Secunderabad, which is Hyderabad's next-door sister city. He took us to this place called "Paradise," which is supposed to be like the focal point of the Biryani scene in Hyderabad. Krish said he thought they didn't have the best-though I thought it was great!- BIryani in the city, but he described it as "an institution" in Hyderabad, so of course we had to go. It was multiple floors, and very nice decor-wise, though in all honesty, my favorite things I ate weren't the Biryani, but rather the mutton kebab appetizer, and the dough balls soaking in sugar water which we had for dessert. It was also just so fun to see Krish and catch up and find a friendly face in India.

This morning, Sam and I went to some fort which was amazing, but our tour guide kind of ripped us off, which sort of soured us on the experience. The fort was enormous and incredible, full of hidden passageways, a full-scale water distribution network, mosques and underground tunnels. I took a million pictures, and our tourguide referred to me as "queen." The harem, which was once home to the 365 wives of one of the shahs, is now home to lots of bats, a nescafe machine, and Hyderabad's BIGGEST LASER LIGHT SHOW! No joke. We did not attend. After the fort, we went to the seven tombs of the Mughal shahs who once ruled the forts. They were large ornate domes surrounded by palm trees and these beautiful trees that flower pink and orange. We then came back into the city and had the best by far tandoori chicken I have ever had. It was in the weird restaurant with a very shady-looking entrance, though once inside, there was a guy making piles and piles of naan in the tandoori machine. The restaurant had two rooms, one when you first walked in, which was only for men, and one, which had a sign that said "family room" where men, women, and children were allowed. Not sure what that was about. Anyway, that's all for now. Leave comments!

Mumbai, India

Good lord. I don't even know how to begin to describe this place. Maybe I should start with my first impression upon arriving. It's dirty. There is garbage on the ground and just like dust and dirt all over the place. I guess what struck me most about this was that it is in no way confined to certain parts of town or limited to poor neighborhoods or anything like that. It's just a much dirtier, dustier landscape than I think I've experienced anywhere else in the world. Anyway, once I accepted this fact, I was able to see some more interesting things. Since I'm in an internet cafe, and the clock is ticking, I'll just list my main observations:

1. There aren't tons of non-Indian tourists. In fact, we went to Elephanta Island this morning, and I would say that roughly 95% of the visiting were Indian. The Indian government- and yes, Aditi, you warned me of this- has no qualms whatsoever about charging foreigners 250 Rupees for a visit to the Island, and only charging Indians 10. Whatever, I made up for it by taking copious amounts of monkey pictures.

2. The food is GREAT. LIKE GRRRRREAT. I am somewhat ashamed to admit that I came here thinking that I didn't really like Indian food. In fact, the thought of eating only Indian food for a month was pretty unappealing. Well, let this be my official recanting. It's is sooo delicioius and the variety is incredible. The only thing more incredible is the price, which has yet to exceed $4 for a meal. We actually came across a Le Pain Quotidien today, and I'm happy to admit, I didn't want to eat there! Let me rephrase: I didn't want to eat there instead of eating Indian food (only in addition to).

gah! must go. more [interesting] observations to come. is anyone reading this? Bollywood movie tonight! Can't wait!