so day 90 something in my travels. at some point this stopped being a trip and began being my life. i feel so out of touch with things back in america. i still am missing my loved ones, but as all humans i have adapted and am enjoying my life as it is. right now too there is little but amazment in my every day.
dance is coming. slowly slowly. i find that i am quick to catch on to things but slow to perfecting, although nothing in life ever reaches perfection, its just not the nature of life.
i am finding my routine to be pleasently simple yet physically demanding almost to a point of breaking for me. i still want to cry in the cold mornings, to early to get out of bed, to cold to get out of bed. which of the three outfits should i wear? what doesn't stink? can i shower today? when will i have time to do laundry?
walk to the studio drink my morning fresh juice at the juice stand, go for my morning chai at the chai stand, go to the studio, more chai. enough chai to fill the oceans inhabits my body. my blood is a thick masala choursing through my veins, pumping into my feet and behind my eyes to make my dance full of spice. then warm-ups and stepping. my feet won't slap. it seems like such a childish noise, i can do it stading still as if i'm waiting for a bus, but as soon as i'm in dance choka the sound is taken away from me. i still pound the pavement and try to ignore the pain that has yet to leave my feet. dancing dancing dancing. then a break for breakfast, rice and bananas.
i used to hate bananas, the small made me want to puke, but suddenly now i can't get enough. i eat bananas like i drink chai. after bananas more class. i am learning the first dance, today i reached the end of it. i picked it up quickly but now my brain tries to reassemble it in a different order. we argue about this, my brain and i, but i am beginning to win. yesterday i was thrown in with our lovely singing man and the drum at full swing, i have to say i wasn't quite up to the challange, but i was so distracted by our singers voice i suddenly felt shy to be dancing in front of a small audience and my feet forgot their patterns.
after that then a break. one girl right now is very sick so we have been taking turns visiting her, she has some sort of parasite...nasty, but on her way to recovery.
after a break then another class, dancing alittle more, music theory, mudras, eye patterns, head patterns, neck patterns, hindu stories, and now voice lessons. yes yes i'm learning to sing in hindi. maybe after two months i will be able to carry a tune. after that it is late. maybe some dinner, maybe not. lately i have been having to duck past this rich brahmin boy that wants to "touch my soul" for me. unfortunatly he owns a shop between my school and my guesthouse so it's a little hard not to at least stop and chat for a few minutes. damn my upbringing. i never learned to be rude to strangers, something that i think is becoming a necessity in india. the art of blowing someone off, i always feel so bad, but for such a sexually repressed society the indian boys won't say the word "sex" but they are very pushy in a charming manner with forgien girls, i have to say i don't quite know how to deal with it.
mostly i smile and ignore them and make excuses not to talk to them.
but life is good, despite the cold. tomorrow is sunday and i can sleep in, wear my western clothes, and wash my dance clothes, these have become the simple pleasures in my life.
i can't believe it is almost january. i feel like i have been gone for a moment but also an eternity. i am consumed with dance and imagine the rest of my stay here will fly by to too quickly.
i am reaching frustration levels easily. i blame so day 90 something in my travels. at some point this stopped being a trip and began being my life. i feel so out of touch with things back in america. i still am missing my loved ones, but as all humans i have adapted and am enjoying my life as it is. right now too there is little but amazment in my every day.
dance is coming. slowly slowly. i find that i am quick to catch on to things but slow to perfecting, although nothing in life ever reaches perfection, its just not the nature of life.
i am finding my routine to be pleasently simple yet physically demanding almost to a point of breaking for me. i still want to cry in the cold mornings, to early to get out of bed, to cold to get out of bed. which of the three outfits should i wear? what doesn't stink? can i shower today? when will i have time to do laundry?
walk to the studio drink my morning fresh juice at the juice stand, go for my morning chai at the chai stand, go to the studio, more chai. enough chai to fill the oceans inhabits my body. my blood is a thick masala choursing through my veins, pumping into my feet and behind my eyes to make my dance full of spice. then warm-ups and stepping. my feet won't slap. it seems like such a childish noise, i can do it stading still as if i'm waiting for a bus, but as soon as i'm in dance choka the sound is taken away from me. i still pound the pavement and try to ignore the pain that has yet to leave my feet. dancing dancing dancing. then a break for breakfast, rice and bananas.
i used to hate bananas, the small made me want to puke, but suddenly now i can't get enough. i eat bananas like i drink chai. after bananas more class. i am learning the first dance, today i reached the end of it. i picked it up quickly but now my brain tries to reassemble it in a different order. we argue about this, my brain and i, but i am beginning to win. yesterday i was thrown in with our lovely singing man and the drum at full swing, i have to say i wasn't quite up to the challange, but i was so distracted by our singers voice i suddenly felt shy to be dancing in front of a small audience and my feet forgot their patterns.
after that then a break. one girl right now is very sick so we have been taking turns visiting her, she has some sort of parasite...nasty, but on her way to recovery.
after a break then another class, dancing alittle more, music theory, mudras, eye patterns, head patterns, neck patterns, hindu stories, and now voice lessons. yes yes i'm learning to sing in hindi. maybe after two months i will be able to carry a tune. after that it is late. maybe some dinner, maybe not. lately i have been having to duck past this rich brahmin boy that wants to "touch my soul" for me. unfortunatly he owns a shop between my school and my guesthouse so it's a little hard not to at least stop and chat for a few minutes. damn my upbringing. i never learned to be rude to strangers, something that i think is becoming a necessity in india. the art of blowing someone off, i always feel so bad, but for such a sexually repressed society the indian boys won't say the word "sex" but they are very pushy in a charming manner with forgien girls, i have to say i don't quite know how to deal with it.
mostly i smile and ignore them and make excuses not to talk to them.
but life is good, despite the cold. tomorrow is sunday and i can sleep in, wear my western clothes, and wash my dance clothes, these have become the simple pleasures in my life.
i can't believe it is almost january. i feel like i have been gone for a moment but also an eternity. i am consumed with dance and imagine the rest of my stay here will fly by to too quickly.
i am reaching frustration levels easily. i blame
Saturday, December 30, 2006
Friday, December 29, 2006
huh? photos?
so 've been getting emails about photos i sent out and people can't veiw them because of a virus. so yeah i DIDN"T send out anything in a mass email, or with an attachment.
i don't know what's going on but it wasn't really from me. so i apologize if this messed with anyone, and for the record i'm not sending any attachments while on the road, or mass emails. i'l do it all through blogger. i will however send individuale emails so don't be afraid of getting an email from me. just be afraid of mass emails and attachments, okay?
so once again sorry for this stuff, i know it's frustrating.
i don't know what's going on but it wasn't really from me. so i apologize if this messed with anyone, and for the record i'm not sending any attachments while on the road, or mass emails. i'l do it all through blogger. i will however send individuale emails so don't be afraid of getting an email from me. just be afraid of mass emails and attachments, okay?
so once again sorry for this stuff, i know it's frustrating.
so it happend like this...
so i was prepaired to spend a sad christmas in the desert. as i wrote previously i was having afecctionate thoughts of my used to be family and the christmas's past. i really wanted to be a world away for the holidays and forget that they even existed.
but really life, as she usually does, served me up the prettiest slice of cake with all the frosting and piles of flowers.
let me tell you more. i wrote a sad blog, and then went to hunt for desert for the dance crew. i pouted and got a little wet around the eye lashes, and then made it back to the studio. in our little slice of heaven was my odissi family crammed into a kitchen with a gas powered camping stove. we all crouched on the floor and peeled vegtables, made a batch of frosting by stringing everyones memory together, and just had fun.
sunday nights are reserved at the studio for religiouse hindu music and song, so at 6pm our amazing drum master and song master started their thing. travelers and locals alike piled into the little room and we served chai. the feeling of peace and love was all surrounding. the music, as always, was beautiful. the song teacher here has the most amazing voice and i am lucky enough to hear him sing 7days a week.
i sat between some people i recognize from the market, and one of the dancers and really was able just to absorbe the moment and the sound, to think of my time that i've spent wandering, to think of what i am doing now. it really was more than i could ask.
once the singing was done and the conversations closed we brought out a feast that was being put together in the kitchen. the whole school sat down and ate together. small presents were exchange and colleena gave me the most beautiful shawl to keep me warm, since i didn't have a warm one!
then we put on the tunes and listened to turkish 7's and 9's and were given lessons on turkisk romany dance. so amazing! i know where my next trip will be!
we stayed so late that we were locked into the temple and it took us 30mins to wake up the gate keeper. the streets were pretty empty buythe time we parted ways, unless of course you count the dogs and the cows fighting over the scraps from the day. it happened that while i was giving kimberly, another bay area bellydancer, a good night hug a big ol' cow came up and butted me in the back! good thing the mother didn't have horns because it hit me pretty good, kimberly screamed and ran away dragging me with her right into a big pile of cow shit. the poo oozed up over the sides of my floppers and stuck to my foot! oh it was so gross and warm. but really i didn't care, it made me laugh.
so then i set out for my guesthouse and the streets are really empty by now, pushkar goes to bed pretty early sometimes. i hear a motorbike behind me so i step to the side, walking quickly so as not to attract the wrong kind of attention. the bike puls to a stop right in front of me, and low and behold, my guesthouse friend. mr. filter-ji offers me a ride home, cow poo-pie shoe and all.
the next day was just as sweet. early morning to the studio, on my way a little barbershop full of men lean out the doorway and yell "happy new year! happy new year!" i laughed and told them that it was christmas and new years was next week. they shrugged and started yelling "merry christmas! merry christmas!" and one guy says to his client in the chair, "do you know what christmas is?"
we had a big family breakfast with all the food left over from the night before. this time the gypsys came in to help us eat, more music more dancing...i really wish i could say how perfect the day was.
christmas night we had a pizza party at colleenas house and watched a movie, did henna, called my mom and dad, talked more about dancing. walked home through the ghats looking at the sikent lake and the massive stars overhead, and curled up in my creaky indian bed with my fuzzy wuzzy blanket. yup a pretty perfect christmas for me.
but really life, as she usually does, served me up the prettiest slice of cake with all the frosting and piles of flowers.
let me tell you more. i wrote a sad blog, and then went to hunt for desert for the dance crew. i pouted and got a little wet around the eye lashes, and then made it back to the studio. in our little slice of heaven was my odissi family crammed into a kitchen with a gas powered camping stove. we all crouched on the floor and peeled vegtables, made a batch of frosting by stringing everyones memory together, and just had fun.
sunday nights are reserved at the studio for religiouse hindu music and song, so at 6pm our amazing drum master and song master started their thing. travelers and locals alike piled into the little room and we served chai. the feeling of peace and love was all surrounding. the music, as always, was beautiful. the song teacher here has the most amazing voice and i am lucky enough to hear him sing 7days a week.
i sat between some people i recognize from the market, and one of the dancers and really was able just to absorbe the moment and the sound, to think of my time that i've spent wandering, to think of what i am doing now. it really was more than i could ask.
once the singing was done and the conversations closed we brought out a feast that was being put together in the kitchen. the whole school sat down and ate together. small presents were exchange and colleena gave me the most beautiful shawl to keep me warm, since i didn't have a warm one!
then we put on the tunes and listened to turkish 7's and 9's and were given lessons on turkisk romany dance. so amazing! i know where my next trip will be!
we stayed so late that we were locked into the temple and it took us 30mins to wake up the gate keeper. the streets were pretty empty buythe time we parted ways, unless of course you count the dogs and the cows fighting over the scraps from the day. it happened that while i was giving kimberly, another bay area bellydancer, a good night hug a big ol' cow came up and butted me in the back! good thing the mother didn't have horns because it hit me pretty good, kimberly screamed and ran away dragging me with her right into a big pile of cow shit. the poo oozed up over the sides of my floppers and stuck to my foot! oh it was so gross and warm. but really i didn't care, it made me laugh.
so then i set out for my guesthouse and the streets are really empty by now, pushkar goes to bed pretty early sometimes. i hear a motorbike behind me so i step to the side, walking quickly so as not to attract the wrong kind of attention. the bike puls to a stop right in front of me, and low and behold, my guesthouse friend. mr. filter-ji offers me a ride home, cow poo-pie shoe and all.
the next day was just as sweet. early morning to the studio, on my way a little barbershop full of men lean out the doorway and yell "happy new year! happy new year!" i laughed and told them that it was christmas and new years was next week. they shrugged and started yelling "merry christmas! merry christmas!" and one guy says to his client in the chair, "do you know what christmas is?"
we had a big family breakfast with all the food left over from the night before. this time the gypsys came in to help us eat, more music more dancing...i really wish i could say how perfect the day was.
christmas night we had a pizza party at colleenas house and watched a movie, did henna, called my mom and dad, talked more about dancing. walked home through the ghats looking at the sikent lake and the massive stars overhead, and curled up in my creaky indian bed with my fuzzy wuzzy blanket. yup a pretty perfect christmas for me.
Thursday, December 21, 2006
wax on, wax off
day #4 of my intensive dance course. i woke up this morning and really just wanted to stay in bed. all this time loafing in thailand has really done nothing for my stamina, unless of course it is the ability to sit in one place and drink for beer for hours. that one i've become great at. pushkar is however, and thankfully, a dry town, so no drinking. i mean you can find it in underground markets along with eegs and weed. funny combination huh.
well i did manage to rouse myself from my fuzzy wuzzy blanket and throw on my dancing clothes. i stopped and had my morning juice, then stopped and had my morning chai, mmmm fresh oj and fresh chai.
i made it through morning stepping class and am feeling more and more like the karate kid. i am learning strange stretches and hand motions, completely out of context. i'm not sure of their order or purpose but i am hoping that one day soon Guruji (my teacher) will suddenly challange me to a battle and i'll be able to bust out the "fast speedy" moves and be kicking some Odissi ass. or maybe i won't.
also i have to report that i am having the worst luck with digital cameras here. i've been trying to load photos, and been unlucky, and then yesterday a computer wrapped its jaws around my little memory card and wouldn't let go. it had to be illegaly disconnected and now the card, and ALL my india photos are gone.
i had to hunt around town, Pushkar is small, for a new card for my camera. i'm hanging onto the old card in hopes that the computer geeks that love me can rescue the lost Taj Mahal shots. poo to me and digital cameras.
so new card, and then i'll see if i want to load new photos, you all may have to wait for the 7hour slide show i'm going to tour around to each house on my return. veggie cocktail weiners for all, and little american flags for some.
as some of you may be wondering, christmas here is simply all night techno music parties at certain guesthouses. the day itself falls on a school day for me, so while you are unwrapping your gifts think of my little feet trying to slap the pavement over and over again.
well i did manage to rouse myself from my fuzzy wuzzy blanket and throw on my dancing clothes. i stopped and had my morning juice, then stopped and had my morning chai, mmmm fresh oj and fresh chai.
i made it through morning stepping class and am feeling more and more like the karate kid. i am learning strange stretches and hand motions, completely out of context. i'm not sure of their order or purpose but i am hoping that one day soon Guruji (my teacher) will suddenly challange me to a battle and i'll be able to bust out the "fast speedy" moves and be kicking some Odissi ass. or maybe i won't.
also i have to report that i am having the worst luck with digital cameras here. i've been trying to load photos, and been unlucky, and then yesterday a computer wrapped its jaws around my little memory card and wouldn't let go. it had to be illegaly disconnected and now the card, and ALL my india photos are gone.
i had to hunt around town, Pushkar is small, for a new card for my camera. i'm hanging onto the old card in hopes that the computer geeks that love me can rescue the lost Taj Mahal shots. poo to me and digital cameras.
so new card, and then i'll see if i want to load new photos, you all may have to wait for the 7hour slide show i'm going to tour around to each house on my return. veggie cocktail weiners for all, and little american flags for some.
as some of you may be wondering, christmas here is simply all night techno music parties at certain guesthouses. the day itself falls on a school day for me, so while you are unwrapping your gifts think of my little feet trying to slap the pavement over and over again.
Wednesday, December 20, 2006
still here...
still here in pushkar.
i'm learning to NOT move my hips when i dance. to slap slap the ground with all my might but none of my body. kinda hard.
i was ambushed by a fake priest teaching me how to make a "puja" a prayer or blessing, they charge you $$$ later.
he asked about my family and i blew his mind when i told him i was an orphan that grew up in foster homes, and had none.
he later tried to get lot's of $$$ from me and then asked me on a date! shamleSSS!!!!
i'm learning to NOT move my hips when i dance. to slap slap the ground with all my might but none of my body. kinda hard.
i was ambushed by a fake priest teaching me how to make a "puja" a prayer or blessing, they charge you $$$ later.
he asked about my family and i blew his mind when i told him i was an orphan that grew up in foster homes, and had none.
he later tried to get lot's of $$$ from me and then asked me on a date! shamleSSS!!!!
Monday, December 18, 2006
just to say
for those of you following at home just a note to say i am busy.
dance is taking over every waking moment. my feet are learning their place on this earth and my legs are learning to become iron as my torso is becoming flowers. most of the time i feel like the wall clock of the cat, head, eyes and chest swinging back and forth like a pendulum going opposite ways, my feet trying to slap out patterns, M.O.R.SE. code of the soul again.
i actually acheived a little slap out of my tootsies today, much harder than you might think!
dance is taking over every waking moment. my feet are learning their place on this earth and my legs are learning to become iron as my torso is becoming flowers. most of the time i feel like the wall clock of the cat, head, eyes and chest swinging back and forth like a pendulum going opposite ways, my feet trying to slap out patterns, M.O.R.SE. code of the soul again.
i actually acheived a little slap out of my tootsies today, much harder than you might think!
Thursday, December 14, 2006
step step step
so here i am in pushkar.
i've heard so many many different things about pushkar. some people love it, some hate it. it is a small indian town surrounding one of the holy lakes in india. indians come here to bath in the waters and wash away the bad in their life. it is an all vegetarian town, no eegs even to be had, no booze either but plenty of hard drugs if you like.
at the moment the weather is quite cold and me with no jacket and only one pair of socks. as i've been on the go for the past week and really not paying attention to myself my body has decieded to hold a strike. it isn't happy with my go go go state of living, and now has become sick in hopes of getting me to sit still.
i feel slightly awful but attended my first odissi stepping class today in a fairy tale like temple in the heart of the city.
this place is absolutly wonderful. it is like nothing i've ever seen. and there is such a hush, a calm, a peacefulness that i really don't think can be found anywhere else in the world.
i have a room for $2 a night, and am moving towards negotiations as my time here will be of some duration. it is small and shiva blue with green shutters and door. there is a rooftop fillled with pillows and places to lay and just quite nice. around the cornere from me is i believe the only Bramin temple in all of india.
i explored to town a bit but have been trying to lay low and drink lots of juice.
i was pounced on by crazy hill women that gave me awful menghi and tried to charge me $12. one of them will be my future dance teacher...
colleena is out of town but will return tomorrow, her guru is the cutest old man i've ever seen and runs all of the classes.
i have already made a group of friends, this town is filled with forgien women coming here to study and dance, it is almost like i'm at home!
i've been trying to post more pictures but having problems!!!
i've heard so many many different things about pushkar. some people love it, some hate it. it is a small indian town surrounding one of the holy lakes in india. indians come here to bath in the waters and wash away the bad in their life. it is an all vegetarian town, no eegs even to be had, no booze either but plenty of hard drugs if you like.
at the moment the weather is quite cold and me with no jacket and only one pair of socks. as i've been on the go for the past week and really not paying attention to myself my body has decieded to hold a strike. it isn't happy with my go go go state of living, and now has become sick in hopes of getting me to sit still.
i feel slightly awful but attended my first odissi stepping class today in a fairy tale like temple in the heart of the city.
this place is absolutly wonderful. it is like nothing i've ever seen. and there is such a hush, a calm, a peacefulness that i really don't think can be found anywhere else in the world.
i have a room for $2 a night, and am moving towards negotiations as my time here will be of some duration. it is small and shiva blue with green shutters and door. there is a rooftop fillled with pillows and places to lay and just quite nice. around the cornere from me is i believe the only Bramin temple in all of india.
i explored to town a bit but have been trying to lay low and drink lots of juice.
i was pounced on by crazy hill women that gave me awful menghi and tried to charge me $12. one of them will be my future dance teacher...
colleena is out of town but will return tomorrow, her guru is the cutest old man i've ever seen and runs all of the classes.
i have already made a group of friends, this town is filled with forgien women coming here to study and dance, it is almost like i'm at home!
i've been trying to post more pictures but having problems!!!
Tuesday, December 12, 2006
jaipur...
i am once again on my own, hanging out in jaipur. my frinds emily and kristina just left for the train station. we spent 2 days running around jaipur in touts so thick we never saw any famous sights. tommorw morning i jump into a bus, god help me, and i head to Pushkar.
i will be calling pushkar home for some time. it will be nice to be there, i love running around but i'm hungry to dance. i danced with some gypsys last night but to actually get to know them, get to live somehwere for more than a night or a month...it will be fun.
india is a trip. i fell like i've been placed in a bladeless blender. the center of a storm with the world chaotic around me. this place is great, i want to stay.
i will be walking around and all the sudden i am ambushed by thoughts so strong i stop in my tracks.
thoughts like, wow i'm in fucking india, this has been a dream of mine.
or wow i'm going to go study with colleena, another dream of mine.
life gives so much,,,it gives me so much.
but not all thoughts are sunshine. reminents of my old life float into my emotions, thoughts and things that are no longer me or part of me or connected to me. parts of me that are now so strange i think they are speaking to me in hindi about myself.
they are familiar, but strange, and i don't understand why they are coming to me for direction.
i\ve realized that i live life the way i travel, i wander and i wonder as i move along. i used to think this was bad. i was lead to feel that because i didn't have a dead set goal that i was defecent in somr way, that i need that to survive, to acheive.
i've achieved so much by being who i am and how i am. i thought that i would change in my travels, and i still have time, but i'm not changing, and i like who i am...
i still have time and despite my love for india it s not an easy country.
i already bought a sari so wath out when i get home, half baked white girl walking around in the states like an indian woman.
and one thing about traveling alone as a woman, i get to connect with the other women here. there is nothing like it. to find a beautiful woman that is fascinating to stare at, that is equally fascinated by me, and to catch her eye and smile only to have her smile back...such an amazing connection.
bad news though, i'm out of color film!!!!!
i will be calling pushkar home for some time. it will be nice to be there, i love running around but i'm hungry to dance. i danced with some gypsys last night but to actually get to know them, get to live somehwere for more than a night or a month...it will be fun.
india is a trip. i fell like i've been placed in a bladeless blender. the center of a storm with the world chaotic around me. this place is great, i want to stay.
i will be walking around and all the sudden i am ambushed by thoughts so strong i stop in my tracks.
thoughts like, wow i'm in fucking india, this has been a dream of mine.
or wow i'm going to go study with colleena, another dream of mine.
life gives so much,,,it gives me so much.
but not all thoughts are sunshine. reminents of my old life float into my emotions, thoughts and things that are no longer me or part of me or connected to me. parts of me that are now so strange i think they are speaking to me in hindi about myself.
they are familiar, but strange, and i don't understand why they are coming to me for direction.
i\ve realized that i live life the way i travel, i wander and i wonder as i move along. i used to think this was bad. i was lead to feel that because i didn't have a dead set goal that i was defecent in somr way, that i need that to survive, to acheive.
i've achieved so much by being who i am and how i am. i thought that i would change in my travels, and i still have time, but i'm not changing, and i like who i am...
i still have time and despite my love for india it s not an easy country.
i already bought a sari so wath out when i get home, half baked white girl walking around in the states like an indian woman.
and one thing about traveling alone as a woman, i get to connect with the other women here. there is nothing like it. to find a beautiful woman that is fascinating to stare at, that is equally fascinated by me, and to catch her eye and smile only to have her smile back...such an amazing connection.
bad news though, i'm out of color film!!!!!
Saturday, December 09, 2006
india fast forward
i am in india. i am safe. i am traveling with two friends of mine and feeling comforted by this.
i spent the first 24 hours in delhi on my own. it is do-able but so hard to be on my own. if i was a man it would be different. but as a woman i am swallowed whole by the touts and taxi drivers. i am grasping for space and gasping for air. i am so busy trying to push myself away from those surrounding me i haven't the capacity to enjoy the things around me. with three it is better.
unfortunatly my friends only have a few days with me before they head south for a wedding, so we are on india fast forward. already the time here has felt longer, we have lived more than we typically do in one day.
we grabbed a taxi this morning, 6.15am, our set up taxi didn't arrive so we found another. the first thing we do is haggle a price, the second is stop for petrol where there is a loud argument in hindi between our driver and the driver of another taxi trying to pull into the same pump. we cheer along with our driver and it seems we have won. then are driver backs away and asks us to get out of the car.
they were worried the car would explode, so it is a safety measure for us not to be in it while he refuels. the passsanger of the other car is out as well and he is indian but speaks english. he informs us that our driver broke down at the airport a few weeks ago, and his driver helped him with his car, therefore the default of the gas pump.
no driver here knows where they are going, nomne of them are from delhi. they all drive in circles and drop you at random places and then want atip. it's really frustrating, but what can you do?
last night we wandered around the trsin station during the dark searching for an atm. it was filled with the poor rolling out their sleeping rags and giving us crazy looks.
we road a 2nd class train today and had a little drummer girl and performing boy with a drawn on moustach roll around the isle for money.
we reached the taj mahal today and will visit the grounds tomorrow before we have to catch a train to our next stop.
i am well. it is so beautiful and sad here. it is life amplified. a crazy disneyland that is both very dirty and very dangerous.
i spent the first 24 hours in delhi on my own. it is do-able but so hard to be on my own. if i was a man it would be different. but as a woman i am swallowed whole by the touts and taxi drivers. i am grasping for space and gasping for air. i am so busy trying to push myself away from those surrounding me i haven't the capacity to enjoy the things around me. with three it is better.
unfortunatly my friends only have a few days with me before they head south for a wedding, so we are on india fast forward. already the time here has felt longer, we have lived more than we typically do in one day.
we grabbed a taxi this morning, 6.15am, our set up taxi didn't arrive so we found another. the first thing we do is haggle a price, the second is stop for petrol where there is a loud argument in hindi between our driver and the driver of another taxi trying to pull into the same pump. we cheer along with our driver and it seems we have won. then are driver backs away and asks us to get out of the car.
they were worried the car would explode, so it is a safety measure for us not to be in it while he refuels. the passsanger of the other car is out as well and he is indian but speaks english. he informs us that our driver broke down at the airport a few weeks ago, and his driver helped him with his car, therefore the default of the gas pump.
no driver here knows where they are going, nomne of them are from delhi. they all drive in circles and drop you at random places and then want atip. it's really frustrating, but what can you do?
last night we wandered around the trsin station during the dark searching for an atm. it was filled with the poor rolling out their sleeping rags and giving us crazy looks.
we road a 2nd class train today and had a little drummer girl and performing boy with a drawn on moustach roll around the isle for money.
we reached the taj mahal today and will visit the grounds tomorrow before we have to catch a train to our next stop.
i am well. it is so beautiful and sad here. it is life amplified. a crazy disneyland that is both very dirty and very dangerous.
Tuesday, December 05, 2006
all my bags are packed...
all my bags are packed
i'm ready to go
peter, paul, and mary are running through my mind and the theme music for today is leaving on a jet plane. since the loss of the ipod i unfortunatly have to sing it to myself and all those unfortunate to be near me.
i am getting a little sad to be leaving Thailand.
i rolled into bangkok for a little R&R and it turned into party like a rockstar.
so maybe leaving is for the best.
i've meet so many amazing people, and so many crazy ones too!
i lose the creeps and keep the cool, i even meet someone that lives a few blocks away from my house in SF!!!
so yup time to go. it's been a good go here in thailand. i have overall loved it! and really can't wait to come back!!
so think of me tonight everyone as i'm on a jet plane, still i really don't know when i'll be back again...but sometime.
i'm ready to go
peter, paul, and mary are running through my mind and the theme music for today is leaving on a jet plane. since the loss of the ipod i unfortunatly have to sing it to myself and all those unfortunate to be near me.
i am getting a little sad to be leaving Thailand.
i rolled into bangkok for a little R&R and it turned into party like a rockstar.
so maybe leaving is for the best.
i've meet so many amazing people, and so many crazy ones too!
i lose the creeps and keep the cool, i even meet someone that lives a few blocks away from my house in SF!!!
so yup time to go. it's been a good go here in thailand. i have overall loved it! and really can't wait to come back!!
so think of me tonight everyone as i'm on a jet plane, still i really don't know when i'll be back again...but sometime.
Thursday, November 30, 2006
DAMN!!!!
well damn it's happend again.
i like to think of myself as a fairly carful traveler. you know, i keep the important stuff with me, where i can see it or hold it (most the time). i never ever put important things in my big bag, that's for books, dirty clothes, and gifts.
so you may imagine my, uh suprise when i find myself 6am streets of bangkok. i'm tired, sweaty, i can't find a room for under 600baht (i should be paying 170 baht). i'm wandering past the hookers, street sweapers, tuk-tuk drivers, and even two men yelling at me from a second story window trying to schedual me a tattoo appointment for later that day. this is really not looking good
i finally give in and take the next hotel i come to, a whole 400baht a night. imagine me as i open my wallet and, no money.
nope. none.
well where the fuck did it go? i had it.
i suppose the thing about a good theif/pickpocket is that they don't get caught, that you don't even realize it has happened. as i have now expereinced on several ocassions here in asia.
so last night i caught a night bus from chiang mai to bangkok. it leaves 6pm and arrives 6am. it is geared for travelers and is swanky and cheap with fully reclining seats and AC.
we get on 6pm, lights out. weird. usually i find it almost impossible to sleep, especially in something like a bus, but oddly enough i remeber very little of this ride. i did however have one of those weird waking/can't wake dreams. where you try to move your body, you try to speak, and you really really want to wake up because you should but you can't. i had one of those.
i really didn't think much of this dream as i was fuming about the lost dough. i thought more about how in the world did someone get into my little bag that was securly attached to my camera bag, riding between my feet on the bus?
then i got into my not so nice over priced hotel room and opened my big bag. oh yeah foul play. the big bag had been searched there was no doubt about it.
so i have my theories, and i have my suspects, but that's all i have.
luckily all they took was my cash, nothing else.
nice way to welcome me back to bangkok.
i like to think of myself as a fairly carful traveler. you know, i keep the important stuff with me, where i can see it or hold it (most the time). i never ever put important things in my big bag, that's for books, dirty clothes, and gifts.
so you may imagine my, uh suprise when i find myself 6am streets of bangkok. i'm tired, sweaty, i can't find a room for under 600baht (i should be paying 170 baht). i'm wandering past the hookers, street sweapers, tuk-tuk drivers, and even two men yelling at me from a second story window trying to schedual me a tattoo appointment for later that day. this is really not looking good
i finally give in and take the next hotel i come to, a whole 400baht a night. imagine me as i open my wallet and, no money.
nope. none.
well where the fuck did it go? i had it.
i suppose the thing about a good theif/pickpocket is that they don't get caught, that you don't even realize it has happened. as i have now expereinced on several ocassions here in asia.
so last night i caught a night bus from chiang mai to bangkok. it leaves 6pm and arrives 6am. it is geared for travelers and is swanky and cheap with fully reclining seats and AC.
we get on 6pm, lights out. weird. usually i find it almost impossible to sleep, especially in something like a bus, but oddly enough i remeber very little of this ride. i did however have one of those weird waking/can't wake dreams. where you try to move your body, you try to speak, and you really really want to wake up because you should but you can't. i had one of those.
i really didn't think much of this dream as i was fuming about the lost dough. i thought more about how in the world did someone get into my little bag that was securly attached to my camera bag, riding between my feet on the bus?
then i got into my not so nice over priced hotel room and opened my big bag. oh yeah foul play. the big bag had been searched there was no doubt about it.
so i have my theories, and i have my suspects, but that's all i have.
luckily all they took was my cash, nothing else.
nice way to welcome me back to bangkok.
Wednesday, November 29, 2006
the karen take 2
i got up early to spend a day on a motorbike. there was a hole list of things to do/see around town and for $20 you really couldn't pass it up.
i got on the back of the bike at 9am, and for the very first time i was offered a helmet, i almost didn't know what to do with this lime green hard thing. oh for my head! so i had to unpile the dreads and plop it on. it was a sweet little half helmet with a dopey chin strap. my driver wore one too. we waved goodbye, i clutched onto the oh shit bar behind me and we veered through oncoming traffic.
about 5 mins later my driver, when we are safely out of town, while driving takes of his helmet and puts it in the basket in front. he doesn't speak much english but TURNS and says "no helmet no problem, okay?"
i'm like "yeah okay but maybe not while we're moving" he just shrugs and goes back to driving. really on this tour the only thing i wanted to see was the Karen people. i could care less about another cave, another waterfall, etc...but what else was i going to do, you know?
once at the refugee camp i had to pay more $$ to get in and leave all my passport info. these camps are odd. they are way out in the sticks, and protected by police, but they don't really exist. they're supposed to not supposed to exist. i don't really understand and no one seemed to be able to explain it to me.
i had also been strggeling with myself, should i go and do this? do i want to walk into a human zoo and throw money at the animals so they will pose for a picture. i really felt like a jerk my first half of the visit. i stuck to photographing the kids because it is easier. i would always ask, and they would gt this strange frozen look about them, no smiles. you can see in the one i took with the two little girls the one is smiling and pulling at my hair, that was really it. they have this photo look when you get close and that is what you get.
i had a jacket on because they day was cold, but i figured these people get stared at all the time, and usually so do i and i thought my tattoos would be an ice breaker. it was. the people have seen tattoos but not color tattoos and not on such white skin, oh yeah that was my in.
come to find out most of these women speak like 5 different languages. they don't go to school but they learn from all the tourists that roll through. the older woman i'm in the picture with asked me to come and sit with her and talk to her. so i asked her all about her life and the camp here and her life in burma. this woman is actually quit famouse and in all the postcards/photos of the long neck Karens. she had a daughter that passed away last month that was even more famouse and really breathtaking.
after talking to this woman i felt more copmfortable about being in the camp, and seeing the people. i really just wanted to go crazy photographing, but it was hard working with three camers and not being invasive. so really i didn't get as much as i wanted. my driver came looking for me i took so much time there.
i thought about going back the next day, going to another village. but when something is so magical i hate to try and replicate it. i don't want to taint the first experince by have a second that pales in comparison.
the rest of the day was enjoyable, but mostly for the ride itself. we zipped along a road as curly as a hair plucked off a poodles back. my helmet was off and the day had turned hot. we chugged up step hills in first gear, going so slow i thought we would have to get off and push.
we made it up to a dense jungle. the road was full of patches of sun and shadow. we were going so fast the world became a blur of high contrast, a constant stream of black and white zipping from one patch to the next. and the tempeture difference. it was like being plunged into an icy pool and then tossed into a furnace. over and over again. the jungle seemed alive with a bi-polar disposition that it was taking out on us. my sense's became so overwhelmed i couldn't tell direction or time or place. i wonder how my driver kept us on this continouse path that seemed to fold in on itself, rising and falling and rising again.
we took this road to some strange chinese settlements. i could have spit an hit myanmar from where i got off the bike. we took a rest, we looked at a still, reflective lake, we drank green tea and ate pad pak,we got back on and drove back to town.
i got on the back of the bike at 9am, and for the very first time i was offered a helmet, i almost didn't know what to do with this lime green hard thing. oh for my head! so i had to unpile the dreads and plop it on. it was a sweet little half helmet with a dopey chin strap. my driver wore one too. we waved goodbye, i clutched onto the oh shit bar behind me and we veered through oncoming traffic.
about 5 mins later my driver, when we are safely out of town, while driving takes of his helmet and puts it in the basket in front. he doesn't speak much english but TURNS and says "no helmet no problem, okay?"
i'm like "yeah okay but maybe not while we're moving" he just shrugs and goes back to driving. really on this tour the only thing i wanted to see was the Karen people. i could care less about another cave, another waterfall, etc...but what else was i going to do, you know?
once at the refugee camp i had to pay more $$ to get in and leave all my passport info. these camps are odd. they are way out in the sticks, and protected by police, but they don't really exist. they're supposed to not supposed to exist. i don't really understand and no one seemed to be able to explain it to me.
i had also been strggeling with myself, should i go and do this? do i want to walk into a human zoo and throw money at the animals so they will pose for a picture. i really felt like a jerk my first half of the visit. i stuck to photographing the kids because it is easier. i would always ask, and they would gt this strange frozen look about them, no smiles. you can see in the one i took with the two little girls the one is smiling and pulling at my hair, that was really it. they have this photo look when you get close and that is what you get.
i had a jacket on because they day was cold, but i figured these people get stared at all the time, and usually so do i and i thought my tattoos would be an ice breaker. it was. the people have seen tattoos but not color tattoos and not on such white skin, oh yeah that was my in.
come to find out most of these women speak like 5 different languages. they don't go to school but they learn from all the tourists that roll through. the older woman i'm in the picture with asked me to come and sit with her and talk to her. so i asked her all about her life and the camp here and her life in burma. this woman is actually quit famouse and in all the postcards/photos of the long neck Karens. she had a daughter that passed away last month that was even more famouse and really breathtaking.
after talking to this woman i felt more copmfortable about being in the camp, and seeing the people. i really just wanted to go crazy photographing, but it was hard working with three camers and not being invasive. so really i didn't get as much as i wanted. my driver came looking for me i took so much time there.
i thought about going back the next day, going to another village. but when something is so magical i hate to try and replicate it. i don't want to taint the first experince by have a second that pales in comparison.
the rest of the day was enjoyable, but mostly for the ride itself. we zipped along a road as curly as a hair plucked off a poodles back. my helmet was off and the day had turned hot. we chugged up step hills in first gear, going so slow i thought we would have to get off and push.
we made it up to a dense jungle. the road was full of patches of sun and shadow. we were going so fast the world became a blur of high contrast, a constant stream of black and white zipping from one patch to the next. and the tempeture difference. it was like being plunged into an icy pool and then tossed into a furnace. over and over again. the jungle seemed alive with a bi-polar disposition that it was taking out on us. my sense's became so overwhelmed i couldn't tell direction or time or place. i wonder how my driver kept us on this continouse path that seemed to fold in on itself, rising and falling and rising again.
we took this road to some strange chinese settlements. i could have spit an hit myanmar from where i got off the bike. we took a rest, we looked at a still, reflective lake, we drank green tea and ate pad pak,we got back on and drove back to town.
the karen people
after being a homesick anxiety ridden brat i thought i would treat you all to the amazing things that i have been seeing.
Tuesday, November 28, 2006
anxiety is my bed fellow
so here i am sharing the good as well as the bad with you.
homesickness and anxiety.
i left on my trip to figure out some things, you know things. thoughts bumping around in my head, a life to regain and straighten out.
but now that i'm here and not there it seems like the things i really love and hold dear are threatening to fall apart.
why do you have to lose the good with the bad?
why can't you lose just the bad?
nothing ever turns out the way it is planned or expected to so what's the point in forthought? or is the lack of thought and planning the thing that puts me in these spots?
this entire week i've been to places i heard are amazing and found them lacking, and then to places that are dull and found them full of quiet inspiration. no one knows the truth on the road, it is all lies and things you have to see for yourself.
i met a dutch girl that was 6'1 and blonde and said "fo-Oranger" all the time, i thought she was talking about the fruit.
i met a french girl that has heard of colleena and her school of dance where i will be going in pushkar.
i rode a bus up a mountain that was so steep there was a butterfly meandering along that passed us.
i sat and talked with women wearing coils around their necks that had to flee their country. they speak at least 5 languages each, weave day in and day out, and let strangers into their homes to photograph them.
i saw elephants working in fields just like an ox would.
i am in the mountains and there is a fine mist that rolls in and reminds me of my home. the weather is cool, the humidity is gone, and there are pine trees in the jungles here.
i haven't seen/heard of another american backpacker in weeks. we are like a rare animal that people hear about but don't really believe that they exist. i get into so many conversations and some where along the line the phrase "i don't really like americans" pops out, but i don't really know if they mean me right now or if i am an exception to the rule.
the world continues to fascinate and puzzle me. i forget sometimes why i am here. why i left. what am i doing?
but it is a ride with a reason and i'm not at the end of it yet, i suppose i simply must trust the process of it.
homesickness and anxiety.
i left on my trip to figure out some things, you know things. thoughts bumping around in my head, a life to regain and straighten out.
but now that i'm here and not there it seems like the things i really love and hold dear are threatening to fall apart.
why do you have to lose the good with the bad?
why can't you lose just the bad?
nothing ever turns out the way it is planned or expected to so what's the point in forthought? or is the lack of thought and planning the thing that puts me in these spots?
this entire week i've been to places i heard are amazing and found them lacking, and then to places that are dull and found them full of quiet inspiration. no one knows the truth on the road, it is all lies and things you have to see for yourself.
i met a dutch girl that was 6'1 and blonde and said "fo-Oranger" all the time, i thought she was talking about the fruit.
i met a french girl that has heard of colleena and her school of dance where i will be going in pushkar.
i rode a bus up a mountain that was so steep there was a butterfly meandering along that passed us.
i sat and talked with women wearing coils around their necks that had to flee their country. they speak at least 5 languages each, weave day in and day out, and let strangers into their homes to photograph them.
i saw elephants working in fields just like an ox would.
i am in the mountains and there is a fine mist that rolls in and reminds me of my home. the weather is cool, the humidity is gone, and there are pine trees in the jungles here.
i haven't seen/heard of another american backpacker in weeks. we are like a rare animal that people hear about but don't really believe that they exist. i get into so many conversations and some where along the line the phrase "i don't really like americans" pops out, but i don't really know if they mean me right now or if i am an exception to the rule.
the world continues to fascinate and puzzle me. i forget sometimes why i am here. why i left. what am i doing?
but it is a ride with a reason and i'm not at the end of it yet, i suppose i simply must trust the process of it.
Monday, November 27, 2006
a little homesick
so thailand is almost behind me. i have been on the road for a bit now, and really am at a loss for what to do. with no plan i jump on buses. for those of you following along at home in the past few days i have gone from Chiyapum to some weird town i don't know the name of to Phitsanulok to Tak to Mae Sot to Mae Sariange to Mae Hong Son. basically i am traveling up the north on the road that lies between myanmar and thailand. i checked out the border crossing for myanmar and deceided not to go, which is probably for the best considering their bad politics.
i did however get to meet and see burmes people and it was cool.
thinking of taking a night train all the way down south, but it is high season for tourists and prices are sky rocketing!
mae hong son is a quiet town and the sun is setting. there is a lake by where i am staying and a small night market, so i am off to explore and try and deceid what to do with my tomorrow!
i did however get to meet and see burmes people and it was cool.
thinking of taking a night train all the way down south, but it is high season for tourists and prices are sky rocketing!
mae hong son is a quiet town and the sun is setting. there is a lake by where i am staying and a small night market, so i am off to explore and try and deceid what to do with my tomorrow!
Wednesday, November 22, 2006
in my pants...
i put on my pants today, and then about 7mins later i realized there was a cricket in ther with me!
not like an "oh hello mr. hopper you're really cute!" but like a "what the fuck! was that a roach?" it was pretty big, like daddy roach size. he hurt my foot when he hit it.
yeah how i missed it i don't really know. that i didn't scream was amazing. i did strip with a quickness and then fall on the floor laughing.
i suppose that's what i get for hanging out in the village cuts.
oh and on a sadder note i think i killed my ipod. the only one that's going to hurt is me. do you think i can make it a few more months with NO music? poo.
the count down to india is upon me and i'm wondering what i've missed here in thailand and what i will kick myself for missing when i leave. what to do with less than 2 weeks to go?
my mind has moved on to india although my physical body is here. a little on the scared shitless side for traveling in india, but i get that way when i haven't been someplace before. and for me india has been so built up in my mind, so many good and bad stories. it is really hard to go someplace with no fear or expectations.
but don't worry i'll keep you posted.
and for the record internet cafes full of thai boys blow. they are so annoying!
not like an "oh hello mr. hopper you're really cute!" but like a "what the fuck! was that a roach?" it was pretty big, like daddy roach size. he hurt my foot when he hit it.
yeah how i missed it i don't really know. that i didn't scream was amazing. i did strip with a quickness and then fall on the floor laughing.
i suppose that's what i get for hanging out in the village cuts.
oh and on a sadder note i think i killed my ipod. the only one that's going to hurt is me. do you think i can make it a few more months with NO music? poo.
the count down to india is upon me and i'm wondering what i've missed here in thailand and what i will kick myself for missing when i leave. what to do with less than 2 weeks to go?
my mind has moved on to india although my physical body is here. a little on the scared shitless side for traveling in india, but i get that way when i haven't been someplace before. and for me india has been so built up in my mind, so many good and bad stories. it is really hard to go someplace with no fear or expectations.
but don't worry i'll keep you posted.
and for the record internet cafes full of thai boys blow. they are so annoying!
Wednesday, November 15, 2006
day 52 or so
back in T-town, for those of you who aren't cool (though i know all my readers are) that is thailand.
i figured, i am counting, that i am on day 53 or so of my trip.
i have fallen into a hippy haven with small clean rooms, communal tables, roads of smooth rocks, yoga, reiki, astrology, vegetarian food, a garden with shade to sit in and hippies.
oh the highlights of this place is a pit puppy to snuggle and my neighbor plays the accordian. a quiet spoken man that's been playing as long as i've been alive.
i ment to pass through nong khai, simply see a sculpture garden and take off, but this place has lured me in. the traveling is begining to wear me a down a little bit, not quite enough to help me sleep nights, but enough to give me a little cold.
Sunday, November 12, 2006
spring break 2006 van veing style
still in Lao. i like it here. the capital of lao, veintiane is a little bit of a skanky town with not much to do but drink by the river and shoo away tuk tuk drivers. i have found some more jewlery to buy, but am such a penny pincher my anxiety kicks in when i go to hand the cash over for the goods, there are just too many decisions. i've already made some good and bad ones, but it is life and it is money and who really cares...right? i just hope i have some left for INDIA!!!
so lao has been a whirl wind trip, kristina left me this morning to go back to her sight, so i am once again on my own, trying to decied where to go. it is more stressful that you might think, ther are more than just the 4 directions open to me, i can go anywhere! but i am just a stones throw away from thailand, and i am having thoughts of the karen villages i could go visit, hmmmm.
but back to lao. a few days ago we were in a town called van veing, a beautiful vally surrounded by moutains, a small town with quiet people and lots of natuer. we explored caves that people lived in during the 70's (i think) when the USA was bombing the shit out of lao. these caves were huge, and about 257 people lived inside of them to protect temselves from bombs. considering the shit that americans have done to the lao people such a short time ago, they are really friendly and loving.
so we saw several caves and one was an underwater cave, or part underwater. we sat on inner tubes and wore miniture car batteries around our necks and lights strapped to our heads...we looked like the seven dwarfs but bigger and less in number, and riding on inner tubes. this cave was the best, it smelled like the pirates of the carravian ride at disneyland, instant nostalga for my sister. our guide was funny and barked and sang the whole way in to scare away all the ghosts for us. he's only been a tour guide for months and his english was horrid but he was so much fun!
during part of the water cave we had to get out and crawl on our hands an knees through a tunnel, on the other side we had to wade back around to our tubes. kristina was worried about the batteries and the water mixing, but our guide assured us "no die" so we felkt safe. good thing because lucky me sacraficed myself to the river gods and plunged in against my will battery and all. and no "no die" i was fine, although a little bruised and my brand new flip flop took off with the currant! well our faithful guide lept to the rescue and chased it down while kristina fished me out of the river. i figured someone had to slip so good thing it was me.
later we floated in tubes back to our guesthouse, about 3 hours on the river. it was over run with people selling beer, floating bars, and places to get out, drink, and jump off of really high platforms into the water. it looked like fun and appealed to my sense of adventure, but i was content to float. anyways they were all crowded with the cheerleaders and jocks of the backpacker world, it looked like spring break.
so lao has been a whirl wind trip, kristina left me this morning to go back to her sight, so i am once again on my own, trying to decied where to go. it is more stressful that you might think, ther are more than just the 4 directions open to me, i can go anywhere! but i am just a stones throw away from thailand, and i am having thoughts of the karen villages i could go visit, hmmmm.
but back to lao. a few days ago we were in a town called van veing, a beautiful vally surrounded by moutains, a small town with quiet people and lots of natuer. we explored caves that people lived in during the 70's (i think) when the USA was bombing the shit out of lao. these caves were huge, and about 257 people lived inside of them to protect temselves from bombs. considering the shit that americans have done to the lao people such a short time ago, they are really friendly and loving.
so we saw several caves and one was an underwater cave, or part underwater. we sat on inner tubes and wore miniture car batteries around our necks and lights strapped to our heads...we looked like the seven dwarfs but bigger and less in number, and riding on inner tubes. this cave was the best, it smelled like the pirates of the carravian ride at disneyland, instant nostalga for my sister. our guide was funny and barked and sang the whole way in to scare away all the ghosts for us. he's only been a tour guide for months and his english was horrid but he was so much fun!
during part of the water cave we had to get out and crawl on our hands an knees through a tunnel, on the other side we had to wade back around to our tubes. kristina was worried about the batteries and the water mixing, but our guide assured us "no die" so we felkt safe. good thing because lucky me sacraficed myself to the river gods and plunged in against my will battery and all. and no "no die" i was fine, although a little bruised and my brand new flip flop took off with the currant! well our faithful guide lept to the rescue and chased it down while kristina fished me out of the river. i figured someone had to slip so good thing it was me.
later we floated in tubes back to our guesthouse, about 3 hours on the river. it was over run with people selling beer, floating bars, and places to get out, drink, and jump off of really high platforms into the water. it looked like fun and appealed to my sense of adventure, but i was content to float. anyways they were all crowded with the cheerleaders and jocks of the backpacker world, it looked like spring break.
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