Bangkok in Three Days

Tuesday we spent some morning time in the international Sukhumvit neighborhood and then taxied back to the old city to see what has to be the highlight of anybody's Bangkok tour: the Grand Palace. It is a walled city of sorts—not as sprawling nor as old as the Forbidden City in Beijing—but like the Forbidden City, was originally the royal residence and seat of government. It is as stunning visually as anything we have ever seen. It goes on, acre after acre of golden buildings, temples, residences, stupas, spires, and so on, porcelain and gold and gold-leaf and mirror-mosaic everywhere. The focal point is perhaps the “emerald Buddha,” and, certainly, its golden temple. The Buddha is not emerald (actually, it's jade), and is less than life-size, but it has much to do with national pride and history. In an important seasonal (winter, rainy, summer) ritual, the King himself changes the Buddha's attire, which is solid gold, of course. Sort of like the Mannequin Pis in Brussels, Vicki observed. The whole area is surrounded by arcades with hundreds of murals, drenched as it were in gold-leaf, depicting the Ramayana (the Thai version). Just when you think it can't get any more awesome, it does. We have seen some pretty great things, on this trip and earlier trips, but I can't recall anything that kept me wowing as long or as consistently. Photos can't do it justice.

We had lunch at a great little Thai hole-in-the-wall restaurant in the neighborhood and then walked back to Wat Pho, which we had seen at length on Monday (also Monday the Marble Buddha Temple, which I neglected to mention). Everyone says if you're going to have one Thai massage in Thailand, have it at the national massage school at Wat Pho. Vicki, who has had several Thai massages, had one more at Wat Pho. (I refuse to pay people to hurt me; read H. L. Mencken's essay on chiropractors for deeper insight).

Wednesday we joined a small day tour to nearby Ayuthaya, the capital of Siam from 1350 to 1767, when the Burmese captured and razed it. Neither the scale nor the level of construction (mostly brick, not stone) compare with the sites in Cambodia, but Ayuthaya must have been fairly impressive in its day. The Burmese evidently used the chedi and other monuments for artillery target practice. In visiting the variety of ruins, temples and monuments, one has to use considerable imagination.

On the way to Ayuthaya, we stopped for an hour or so at the royal summer palace. It is a sort of Thai Epcot, a variety of mostly European buildings, intended in part to educate 19th and early 20th century Thais in the ways of the outside world. Thailand was one of very few places in this part of the world that was never colonized. Thais are justifiably proud of this. Their king in these times, Rama V (of Rodgers and Hammerstein fame), was an especially skillful leader, I surmise, and is particularly revered. The highlight of the summer palace for us was the Royal Raft (a houseboat), tied up inconspicuously on the canal...thatched roof, but marble bath, five rooms of beautiful Victorian furniture, a hoot!

In Ayuthaya, we also visited yet another temple famed for its giant golden Buddha. About this time Vicki began singing (softly) “Here a wat, there a wat, everywhere a wat....” Oh, yes, a wat is a temple, and Thailand is said to have about 30,000 of them, an estimate clearly on the low side, we believe. Our return from Ayuthaya was a late lunch cruise (another!) down the Mae Nam Chao Phraya back into downtown Bangkok, viewing all the river-born commerce and tourism, as well as some pretty nice boats and houses...and a number of temples.

Somehow, we felt the day needed more excitement, and fewer temples, so we spent a few hours in the evening strolling and eating in Patpong, the once-infamous-now-mostly-touristy red-light district. At the night-market I bought myself a really cool Mt. Blanc pen that actually writes.

Thursday we spent the morning packing and checking out of the hotel, and then we toured the Dusit area, stopping by the Throne Hall, touring the Vimanmek Teak Mansion, a former royal residence, the world's largest teak structure, and, my personal favorite, the Royal Elephant Museum. (No rides, unfortunately). Toss in the Jim Thomspon House later in the afternoon, and you will appreciate that we saw a lot of teak this day. I did enjoy the gardens at the Thompson House, and the artwork.

We spent the early evening exploring and dining at MBK, one of Bangkok's colossal shopping malls. The food court on the fifth floor surpassed any such thing we have ever seen. (OK, we're from Montana, and the food court at Southgate Mall in Missoula would not impress many people). Great, reasonably-priced food from just about every cuisine there is, prepared to order as you watch. We both had our final Thai dishes there.

We taxied to Suvarnabhumi about 9 PM and cruised the duty-free shops, buying nothing, till our Thai Air flight to Sydney left, at midnight. It was only about 1/3 full. This normally would be the high season in Thailand, but tourism is already down by about 50%, the papers say, a result of the world economy, in part, but mostly a result of the airport occupations/closures two weeks ago. We both had room, a whole row each, to stretch out and sleep some on the 9 hour flight. Disappointingly, there was no ceremony about crossing the equator. It was a red-eye flight, of course, and I am sure the pilot was the only person awake (I hope) when we crossed over. We arrived in Sydney in the afternoon, got to our hotel, the Y at Hyde Park (as in YWCA), and promptly crashed. It has poured rain, in torrents, all day and night here. I will look for the Southern Cross tomorrow night if it clears.

At the Grand Palace

Another Root-Bound Buddha

Aboard the Royal Raft

Patpong

Tuesday we spent some morning time in the international Sukhumvit neighborhood and then taxied back to the old city to see what has to be the highlight of anybody's Bangkok tour: the Grand Palace. It is a walled city of sorts—not as sprawling nor as old as the Forbidden City in Beijing—but like the Forbidden City, was originally the royal residence and seat of government. It is as stunning visually as anything we have ever seen. It goes on, acre after acre of golden buildings, temples, residences, stupas, spires, and so on, porcelain and gold and gold-leaf and mirror-mosaic everywhere. The focal point is perhaps the “emerald Buddha,” and, certainly, its golden temple. The Buddha is not emerald (actually, it's jade), and is less than life-size, but it has much to do with national pride and history. In an important seasonal (winter, rainy, summer) ritual, the King himself changes the Buddha's attire, which is solid gold, of course. Sort of like the Mannequin Pis in Brussels, Vicki observed. The whole area is surrounded by arcades with hundreds of murals, drenched as it were in gold-leaf, depicting the Ramayana (the Thai version). Just when you think it can't get any more awesome, it does. We have seen some pretty great things, on this trip and earlier trips, but I can't recall anything that kept me wowing as long or as consistently. Photos can't do it justice.

We had lunch at a great little Thai hole-in-the-wall restaurant in the neighborhood and then walked back to Wat Pho, which we had seen at length on Monday (also Monday the Marble Buddha Temple, which I neglected to mention). Everyone says if you're going to have one Thai massage in Thailand, have it at the national massage school at Wat Pho. Vicki, who has had several Thai massages, had one more at Wat Pho. (I refuse to pay people to hurt me; read H. L. Mencken's essay on chiropractors for deeper insight).

Wednesday we joined a small day tour to nearby Ayuthaya, the capital of Siam from 1350 to 1767, when the Burmese captured and razed it. Neither the scale nor the level of construction (mostly brick, not stone) compare with the sites in Cambodia, but Ayuthaya must have been fairly impressive in its day. The Burmese evidently used the chedi and other monuments for artillery target practice. In visiting the variety of ruins, temples and monuments, one has to use considerable imagination.

On the way to Ayuthaya, we stopped for an hour or so at the royal summer palace. It is a sort of Thai Epcot, a variety of mostly European buildings, intended in part to educate 19th and early 20th century Thais in the ways of the outside world. Thailand was one of very few places in this part of the world that was never colonized. Thais are justifiably proud of this. Their king in these times, Rama V (of Rodgers and Hammerstein fame), was an especially skillful leader, I surmise, and is particularly revered. The highlight of the summer palace for us was the Royal Raft (a houseboat), tied up inconspicuously on the canal...thatched roof, but marble bath, five rooms of beautiful Victorian furniture, a hoot!

In Ayuthaya, we also visited yet another temple famed for its giant golden Buddha. About this time Vicki began singing (softly) “Here a wat, there a wat, everywhere a wat....” Oh, yes, a wat is a temple, and Thailand is said to have about 30,000 of them, an estimate clearly on the low side, we believe. Our return from Ayuthaya was a late lunch cruise (another!) down the Mae Nam Chao Phraya back into downtown Bangkok, viewing all the river-born commerce and tourism, as well as some pretty nice boats and houses...and a number of temples.

Somehow, we felt the day needed more excitement, and fewer temples, so we spent a few hours in the evening strolling and eating in Patpong, the once-infamous-now-mostly-touristy red-light district. At the night-market I bought myself a really cool Mt. Blanc pen that actually writes.

Thursday we spent the morning packing and checking out of the hotel, and then we toured the Dusit area, stopping by the Throne Hall, touring the Vimanmek Teak Mansion, a former royal residence, the world's largest teak structure, and, my personal favorite, the Royal Elephant Museum. (No rides, unfortunately). Toss in the Jim Thomspon House later in the afternoon, and you will appreciate that we saw a lot of teak this day. I did enjoy the gardens at the Thompson House, and the artwork.

We spent the early evening exploring and dining at MBK, one of Bangkok's colossal shopping malls. The food court on the fifth floor surpassed any such thing we have ever seen. (OK, we're from Montana, and the food court at Southgate Mall in Missoula would not impress many people). Great, reasonably-priced food from just about every cuisine there is, prepared to order as you watch. We both had our final Thai dishes there.

We taxied to Suvarnabhumi about 9 PM and cruised the duty-free shops, buying nothing, till our Thai Air flight to Sydney left, at midnight. It was only about 1/3 full. This normally would be the high season in Thailand, but tourism is already down by about 50%, the papers say, a result of the world economy, in part, but mostly a result of the airport occupations/closures two weeks ago. We both had room, a whole row each, to stretch out and sleep some on the 9 hour flight. Disappointingly, there was no ceremony about crossing the equator. It was a red-eye flight, of course, and I am sure the pilot was the only person awake (I hope) when we crossed over. We arrived in Sydney in the afternoon, got to our hotel, the Y at Hyde Park (as in YWCA), and promptly crashed. It has poured rain, in torrents, all day and night here. I will look for the Southern Cross tomorrow night if it clears.

Back to Bangkok

Sunday we flew back to Bangkok from Siem Reap. (That's a picture of the West Baray (see December 6) from the air). We even landed at the once Forbidden Airport of Suvarnabhumi. We had considered trying to fly from Phnom Penh to Sydney, our next major stop, but Bangkok is of far greater interest and the hassle of making flight changes seemed hardly worth it. So we are in Bangkok. Strolling and shopping in the area around our hotel (the PJ Watergate, in Pratun), you would not guess this place is in the midst of political turmoil and crisis. The PM has been deposed by the courts, the King failed to address the nation on his (81st) birthday (first time ever; sore throat), and also failed to reconvene the parliament to form a new government; and so on. We are hoping they can keep the lid on till midnight Thursday, when we jet away beneath the southern cross. In the meantime, the Thai are eminently likable people, and Bangkok one of the world's eminently interesting places.

Monday we did a morning tour of temples (part of the hotel deal), most notably the enormous reclining Buddha (46 meters of gold leaf) and a variety of other interesting sites at Wat Pho; and also a drive around the old town and the government district. Wat Pho was a treat with its great variety of monuments, artifacts, and institutions (e.g., the original official Thai massage school). In the afternoon we shopped and window-shopped the huge shopping district our hotel is in, most notably the giant electronics center at Pantip Plaza...five floors of all things digital, including some pretty interesting deals. The Asus 900 I am typing on was $560 in the US last July. It, or rather its successor model, was $285 at Pantip.

Vicki adds:

December 7—Bangkok, Thailand

We made it here with no problems and were able to book a reasonably priced hotel in central Bangkok from the tour desk at the airport. It certainly isn't a 5 star, but so far clean and quiet with tv, fridge, and even a nice bathtub for only $46 with breakfast and taxes. It is a few blocks to the skytram but only 1 block to McDonalds and Kentucky Fried Chicken. Yes, we will eat lots of the wonderful Thai food, but tonight we had KFC, which tasted exactly right. When everything is so different and everyday an adventure, you have no idea how important a taste of home can be! My arm is considerably better—still achy, but I am not taking double pain meds every four hours to get through the day. That means I can answer email again and would really like to hear from any of my friends and relatives willing to write. Take pity on a woman who has had no one to talk to for 14 weeks but her husband!

By the way, I promised to comment on the practical from time to time. One of the most important things away from home is the toilet or lack there of. As you know, Nepal was awful. It has been interesting that in India, Thailand, and Cambodia all the facilities for tourists have been Western toilets—no squatters, but they have all had hose and spray attachments next to them attached to the wall—exactly the type that we use to rinse dishes with at the kitchen sink. Of course Japan has the best in the world—wash and dry with warm water and air, freshener, and even sound effects to cover up any bodily noises you don't want to inflict on the neighboring stall occupant. And all that was just at the airport! When Mark and I win the lottery, a Japanese loo will be a definite purchase.

I also did a recent tally of our expenditures and so far we are staying within our budget—except spending more on gifts than I thought. We divided our budget into one part for Asia where costs are relatively low and one part for Australia, New Zealand, and Hawaii, where costs are much higher. Once we get to New Zealand I will run the final figures on the Asia part. Mark and I were just talking today about how if we wanted to come back, we could travel so much more cheaply the second time around. This time we have been willing to spend more in order to avoid uncertainty since we have never traveled in Asia before and really never done the hotel type thing either. (We still think camping is by far the best way—just not available in Asia at all.) Also we wouldn't be going back to India and that ended up costing the most per day as traveling independently there is for the young or the crazy.

Another Day, Another Cruise

Saturday was a great tour day, just a half day with Mao and our driver, but superb nonetheless. Despite lukewarm recommendations from the guidebooks, we drove to Boeung Tonle Sap, a lake about 10 miles from Siem Reap. It is a remarkable lake, one of Asia's largest. In the dry season, it covers about 3,000 square kilometers. But it in the wet season, it swells to 5 times that size. How it does this is the remarkable part. The lake is on the Tonle Sap river, one of the Mekong River's many, many tributaries. With the spring run-off in the Himalayas, a thousand miles or more away, and then the monsoon, the Mekong rises so much that water is forced back up the Tonle Sap, swelling the lake to 15,000 square kilometers. So the Tonle Sap river runs “downstream” half the year and “upstream” the other half. The lake itself is said to provide half the fish consumed by Cambodians.

The hydrologic facet is one reason to see the lake. The other is the floating villages that inhabit it year-round, moving with the water levels and fishing prospects. We rode a long-tail boat well out into the lake proper, beyond Chong Khneas, and got to see such village life up-close, at least briefly. In addition to the hundreds of fishing/residential boats moored among the vegetation, somewhat reminiscent of Florida mangroves, there are also floating general stores, repair shops, restaurants, saloons, schools, churches, police stations, a gym, clinic, and on and on. An entire village, and not a small one. Mao said 14,000 people live on the lake year-round, 4,000 of them Vietnamese. Over-fishing has become a serious problem.

A short drive on the Phnom Penh highway took us to the so-called Roulos group, a cluster of three temple sites that were the first instances of Khmer capital-building, all 9th century. The largest of these is Bakong, where the mountain-temple style of the next 400 years was first attempted on a large scale. Preah Koh is a short distance away, more brick than stone, but nevertheless impressive. The third Roulos site is Lolei, mostly brick, and far more ruined, but still with good carvings on the lintels. Lolei is significant in that it was set in the first baray, and thus was the first island temple here. The Roulos group is a bit off the tour-bus-beaten track, and so we had all three sites virtually to ourselves.

We spent the afternoon by the Angkor Le Meridien's pool and spa complex, sipping cocoanut milkshakes and tanning ever so slightly—this is what you are required to do at 5 star hotels—and then took a tuk-tuk to the old market downtown. There we strolled and shopped, gawking at the meat and fish and vegetables (“Cambodians eat everything” Mao had informed us), stimulating the local economy modestly, and then had dinner at the Angkor Palm, a seven-dish Cambodian sampler for me, and spare ribs for Vicki.

Further culinary note: tamarinds. At Moore Park, in 1950s Miami, near where my family lived, there was a tamarind tree. My father and I used to walk in the park, and he introduced me to this sweet and very sour shelled, bean-like fruit. I would see them in supermarkets occasionally when we lived in Columbus in the 1970s, but not in the last 20 years or more (and certainly not in Montana!). Tamarinds are native to SE Asia, and an ingredient in Thai cooking especially, and I saw several tamarind trees among the Khmer ruins the past few days. Tamarinds were all over the old market in Siem Reap, and so I bought a dollar's worth. Well, it was probably a nickel's worth, but who's going to bargain when re-connecting with his inner Floridian child of the past? Alas, the tamarinds I bought were not nearly so sour as I'd had in the past. You can't go back.

Further note: vegetation. Many, if not most, of the more interesting and exotic plants ones sees in Florida—and with which I grew up—come from SE Asia, where they are far larger and more prevalent. Every plant I look at here, from cacti and calamandons and hibiscus and orchids to gigantic gum trees and more, evokes memories. Hedges of ming aralias I have seen also evoke memories of the dozens of these fragile plants I have killed, regrettably, over the years, trying to make them thrive in places like Columbus and Dallas and Missoula. And then there are my favorite rhapis palms, everywhere, all the way from northern China to here...rhapis palm trees! My last two potted rhapis palms I left in the care of The University of Montana student center, which has an incredibly large and diverse tropical atrium. I hope to visit them again some day.

Khmer Sites, II

We visited half a dozen or so more temples and other sites today...Baksei Chamkrong, Banteay Kdie, Banteay Srey, East Mebon, Neak Pean, Pre Rup, Preah Khan, Ta Keo, Ta Prohm, and Ta Som. The manner and varieties of construction are becoming familiar, as are the representational styles, subjects, and methods. Our guide, Mao (I swear I am not making this up), a 32-year-old former school teacher, is giving us the history of every scene and depiction. He is Buddhist but is quite knowledgeable about Hinduism as well (but seemed unimpressed that we had visited the Brahma Temple in Pushkar; oh well). The Khmer wavered between Hinduism and Buddhism for several centuries (each eradicating all traces of the competition and fighting off the Muslims when not otherwise engaged...isn't religion great?!) until Buddhism finally won out. The country is currently about 85% Buddhist, Mao says. Tourists in the monks' saffron and orange robes are all about, and it's not unusual to see a saffron robe on a motor scooter.

Among the sites, our favorite by far was Ta Prohm, originally a gigantic 13th century Buddhist monastery. The government has deliberately and wisely left it in a semi-over-grown-jungle state. We visited in the later afternoon, when the light was perfect, and the effect was magical. (The closure of the Bangkok airports has kept the number of tourists well down; there were fewer than a hundred of us at Angkor Wat yesterday). At Ta Prohm, the enormous trees are nearly as old as the ruins, and their roots have spread throughout and within the ancient sites. (See illustration). I suppose part of the magic is imagining you are seeing what the European “discoverers” might have see 150 years ago. But it is still magical.

Today's sites ranged from the 9th to the 13th centuries. It is interesting to recall what was going on in Europe in the 9th century and what was being built. Not much and damn little that has survived. I recall a 10th century abbey in France, Tournis, I think, where the stone construction was primitive, transparent, and unadorned...near the confluence of the three great rivers of Burgundy, the Rhone, the Saone, and the Beaujolais. ;-). (I guess I missed the first 2008 Beaujolais, a pity).

One of the tourist treats here is a helium balloon and gondola on a cable that ascends a few hundred feet to give a view of the countryside as well as the major sites like Angkor Wat. Vicki has always wanted to do a balloon ride, but has never been willing to risk the uncertainty (where will we land? when?) nor the hundred(s) of bucks required. Nor have I. But today, between the AM and the PM temples, we did the balloon ride, 15US$ each, up and down, getting a great view of Angkor Wat, Phnom Bakheng, and, especially, the West Baray. The Khmer were builders not only of great cities and temples but also of reservoirs. The major sites all have (or had) enormous moats, miles around, partly defensive in purpose. The West Baray is a perfectly rectangular 10 square km 12th century artificial lake, west of Angkor Thom, that provided for irrigation supporting three rice harvests a year in those times. It continues to irrigate the land around Siem Reap.

Cambodians.... Our guide, Mao, is 32 and our driver is perhaps 40, an old man. One sees very, very few people of greater age here. They have all been killed in the wars that have ravaged this land, all during our lifetimes. Fear of land-mines is everywhere. The last in this region were removed in 2004. Cambodia still imports much of its produce from Thailand: land is not tilled for fear of the mines. At every historic site there is an ensemble of legless men, playing traditional music, asking for donations for land-mine victims. The Cambodians we have met in three days appear to be kind and gentle people, honest and generous. What they have been through, for generations, is unimaginable in our world.

Siem Reap, Angkor Thom, and Angkor Wat

                                            

We hired a guide and driver and car to show us around here and will take at least a couple days to see the main sites. Today we did much of Angkor Thom, the 12th century Khmer capital, including the Terrace of the Leper King, Phimeanakas, Baphulon, and Bayon. Later in the day we toured Angkor Wat itself. All these sites are monumental and range from the 11th through 13th centuries, built upon laterite and then faced with sandstone, every inch of which is intricately carved in bas relief and other kinds of representation. Both Hinduism and Buddhism are represented, as well as much of Khmer history to that point. Yes, these are the extensive and enormous jungle ruins that were not known to westerners until the mid-19th century. Later in the afternoon we ascended the hill to the late 9th century Phnom Bakheng for its views of Angkor Wat. This evening we went into town for a Cambodian buffet and cultural program, dancing and music. Internet is very expensive at this Sheraton property, so posts from here will be brief!

Vicki adds:

December 6, 2008—Siem Reap, Cambodia

Obviously we made it out of Thailand—in fact, on the day the demonstrators finally left the airport. We flew through the alternative set up outside of Bangkok and it was a zoo. However, Cambodia has been a delight. We are using our Starpoints from our credit card to stay at a 5 star hotel. I really like the lap of luxury! In Asia we can stay for 25-35% of the points that would be needed for a hotel in the US. This will be the end over here since both Sydney and Auckland want way too many points for a hotel stay. We had a car and driver with guide for 2 ½ days to see the many temples and also a trip to the floating village. Though it has been 90 every day, the ruins have been terrific. Mark is describing them in detail in his blog.

Tomorrow we fly back to Bangkok and hope we can leave late Thursday night for Sydney without more demonstrations getting in the way. We considered just trying to go out through Cambodia but the things we really wanted to see were in Bangkok and not here. We have had two very good Khmer meals—however, they tend to be heavy on bananas—at the buffet the other night there were at least 9 different preparations.

So off to Bangkok.

Anger, What?

We got out of Thailand this morning (December 3) and are now in Siem Reap, Cambodia, at the Angkor Le Meridien. (Interestingly, “Siem Reap” means “Thai defeat”). Our departure from Koh Samui was relatively trouble-free until the Bangkok Airlines staff there figured out they could not ticket us and our bags through to Cambodia. So we had to re-ticket and re-check baggage in U-Tapao, the former Viet Nam era airbase that the Thai government has hastily converted into Bangkok's commercial airport during the “People's Alliance for Democracy” occupation of Suvarnabhumi and Don Mueang airports. Hey, at U-Tapao they even have one (1) metal detector and one (1) X-ray machine. It was near pandemonium there, and would have been except that everyone waiting was so happy to be getting out of Thailand. The illustration shows only the final departure lounge. Before that were similar scenes to get in the terminal, to get through baggage security check, to get ticketed and bags checked, to get in and through customs and immigration, then through security, and then into the final waiting area. There was no signage, and if either airlines, airport, government or military people knew what the passenger procedure was supposed to be, they weren't telling. So we are in Siem Reap, already liking Cambodia, and studying up on the vast and ancient temple complexes here, reputedly the world's largest religious site. We'll begin a 2 or 3 day tour program tomorrow morning. Our plans beyond that are a bit cloudy, depending on what's going on in Thailand. Rumors were flying (as well as a few airplanes) at U-Tapao that the PAD was threatening to re-occupy the airports December 12 if their new demands are not met. Whatever. Our tickets to Sydney, from Bangkok, are for December 11.

We'll Always Have Paris...

"Look, Rick, do you know what this is? Something that even you have not seen. Letters of transit signed by General de Gaulle. Cannot be rescinded, not even questioned...."

Anyone seen those letters of transit?

Thai'd Down

Tonight! Tonight!
9 PM! 9 PM!
The best Muay Thai! The best Muay Thai!
Super fight! Super fight!
Champion of champions! Champion of champions!
Chaweng stadium! Chaweng stadium!
Get your seats earlier! Get your seats earlier!

We're still (Sunday) in Koh Samui. Our afternoon flight to Bangkok was indeed cancelled--the Bangkok airport is now officially closed through December 1--and so now our plans must change. The prospect of more widespread civil unrest is looming and is being openly discussed on BBC and other places. So we're looking into options for leaving. These of course are limited on this small island and with thousands of others similarly trying to leave. But we'll get out in due course. It's a sad prospect for us: we really like what we have seen of Thailand and the Thai people. And we'll also miss Angor Wat.

On Koh Samui you'd never know what's happening on the mainland. For us, yesterday was more sun, walks on the beach and along Main Street, and a really nice dinner and traditional Thai dance program at Poppies' (http://www.poppiessamui.com/uk/uk-samui-home.html) next door...shrimp cakes with plum sauce, spicy prawn soup with mushroom and lime leaf, stir-fried morning glory, fried chicken with ginger, roast duck curry, ice cream and banana fritters. Oh yes, and not to forget the pina colada and "Get Your Seats Earlier."

Coup de Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving to friends and family. Vicki and I remain on the island of Koh Samui in the Gulf of Thailand. Somehow we managed to schedule a cooking class for Thanksgiving, so our Thanksgiving dinner, which I cooked (Vicki joined as a guest), consisted of Panang Curry with Chicken, Steam Fish (red snapper) with Ginger/Soy Sauce, and Stirred Flat Noodles with Pork. All very, very zesty and good (if I say so myself). And lots and lots of steamed rice and stir-fried vegetables, some in fact new to us. The class was at the Samui Institute for Thai Culinary Arts, www.sitca.net.

The weather has gotten decent, and yesterday we did a tour of the island, hiring a taxi for the afternoon It's only 50-some kilometers in circumference, but is wonderfully scenic and interesting, especially if you like palm trees, mountains, alternating shorelines of rocks, cliffs, and white sand beaches. Also lots of shrines and temples (at least they're Buddhist). Only the northeast shore is heavily developed. The west and north are still pretty much Thai, despite a variety of dubious tourist attractions. We did not do the crocodile farm, the elephant ride, the jeep safari, the monkey jungle, the snake farm.... Today, in addition to the afternoon cooking class, we took another long beach walk. Avoiding sun-burn has again become a concern.

Most of our attention has been focused the last two days on the escalating political situation in Thailand, particularly in Bangkok. Protesters have closed Bangkok's two commercial airports, essentially isolating the country and strangling its economy. Scores of thousands of travelers are stranded. The prime minister has declared a state of emergency, but it's unclear either the police or military will respond. An update with some background information is at http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/28/world/asia/28thai.html?_r=1&ref=asia. (Thanks, Mel).

This morning we explored some options for getting out of the country, to Siem Reap in Cambodia, which would have been our next stop after Bangkok, or to other places. Not much is going from nor coming to Koh Samui (most planes are on the ground in Bangkok), everything's booked anyway, and getting worse as everyone tries to get out. So we are simply holding up here, waiting for the situation in Bangkok to clarify. We have reservations for Bangkok Sunday afternoon. We'll see what happens. We don't feel at all threatened. The Thai are wonderful people. We don't have to be anywhere really until December 11. We can keep our room indefinitely, internet's free, the weather's improving, the food's great, and Koh Samui's actually a pretty nice place to spend a coup. The only US TV news we're getting is Fox, and that has been a bit of a culture shock. Fortunately, there's BBC too.

The political situation and its economic consequences are really going to hurt people in this little nation. The news from India is ever more dire and distressing. Thanksgiving's a good time to count one's blessings, and Vicki and I, and ours, and readers of this blog are very fortunate indeed.

Corn Sundae, Anyone?

Seen at the Chaweng Mall this afternoon (to which we retreated as the monsoon worsened...). I thought I had a fair grasp of the principles of Thai cooking, but this one was new to me.

Revenge of the Carnivores

Seven weeks of Nepali/Indian food, even the occasional non-veg and Pizza Hut, had gotten to us, so last night we splurged at a "Brazilian grill" up the street, Zico's. The food was great, it was a somewhat different dining experience for us, the decor was convincing, the music and entertainment appropriately upbeat. Preceded by an extravagant salad bar, the main attraction was the all-you-can-eat mixed grill. Every night they grill 15 different meat, fish/shellfish, and fowl varieties and slice them onto your plate from skewers (see illustration), accompanied by a variety of sauces. Great lamb, chicken, barracuda, prawn, pork, veal, chorizo, salmon, duck, beef, etc. I cannot say we totally pigged out--we are both very pleased with the weight we lost as result of Dr. Sherouse's Miracle Khumbu Diet (burn 6,000 calories a day; ingest 1,500; get sick; lose your appetite). But we do think we scored one for the carnivores last night. Confession: I tried the grilled shark , but I did not eat the fin. I think it had been removed in China. See Zico's at http://www.zicossamui.com/index.asp for yourself.

Later. Our inactivity continues, aided by the occasional thunderstorms and clouds. Major achievements include: getting my beard trimmed, Vicki's getting a pedicure, getting our clothes "professionally" washed (35 bhat/kilo, folded), editing pix down to a manageable 13 gigs and backing them up, making Bangkok and Siem Reap arrangements, Vicki's reading of Ken Follett's PILLARS OF THE EARTH, not getting sun-burned. Today we did a two-hour walk, covering much of Chaweng Beach. The highlight for me was a great Tom Yum soup with prawns for dinner.

"Still Another Removal!"

$30/night including American breakfast!

After using up our discount we have moved from the luxurious Buri Rasa down the road a few blocks to the less luxurious but still nice Seascape Beach Resort (http://www.seascapebeachresort.com/). A small bungalow, a little less room, a little more spartan, but $50 less per night and still on the beach with pretty much the same features and amenities. After four sunny days, the monsoon has returned, and this also influenced our plans.

We are still lazing about, Vicki reading a novel a day, most recently Terry Pratchett's THUD! (all the hotels/motels/resorts have small libraries of left-behind books, mostly in Deutsch), but today I hope to get some much over-due work done on the 8,000-10,000 photos we have taken so far. By my count, this is our 39th room in the 82 days we have been on the trip.

When we were in Nepal, below tree-line, I marveled at the lush forests--pine, fir, spruce, a particularly beautiful oak (with Spanish moss) and rhododendron tree forest near Tengboche, and more--and also at the fact that (unlike the Rocky Mountains) there was absolutely no evidence of (nor concern about) wildfires. The monsoon keeps everything pretty moist year-round. I also wondered what the monsoon was like. My curiosity is now satisfied.

McThai

So there, right on North Chaweng Beach Road in Chaweng Beach, Koh Samui, is a smiling, culturally-sensitive Ronald McDonald, welcoming you to the McCafe: "Sawadee!" (Click to enlarge). I could not resist the shrimp burger (real shrimp in a patty on a bun) and the creamed corn pie. Both are available only in Thailand (so we were told), as is the pork burger. The Chaweng area contains a remarkably eclectic mix of restaurants for a small place (the whole island is only 50,000), mostly Thai, but pretty much anything else with a cuisine. We'll be doing the mostly Thai, which we both like, hoping to take a cooking course next week. But we could not resist the beckoning Ronald tonight.

Other than walks on the beach and some local exploration we have not done a great deal in the past three days. As planned. "Que bonita es no hacer nada, y despues de no hacer nada, descansar." It is good to do nothing, and after you have done nothing, to rest.

Phuket

"Sure! Fuck it! That's your answer! Tattoo it on your forehead! Your answer to everything! Your "revolution" is over, Mr. Lebowski! Condolences! The bums lost! ...My advice is, do what your parents did! Get a job, sir! The bums will always lose--do you hear me, THE BUMS WILL ALWAYS--"

Well, as you may surmise, we are not on Phuket, but rather on Koh Samui, Thailand, in the Gulf of Siam (I think). We arrived in Bangkok at 4:30AM, Sunday morning, managed, bleary-eyed, to navigate immigration and customs without international incident, and found our way to the departure level. For a variety of reasons, we arrived in Bangkok, very uncharacteristically, without arrangements or even a plan of what to do. Vaguely, we felt like some beach time would be good, particularly following the 76 pretty intense days we have had, not even including those last few weeks in dear Missoula. Vicki had heard of a Bangkok Airlines "air pass" and previous attempts by Rebecca to get one for us (allegedly obtainable only outside Thailand) had not been successful. But at the sales counter, at 6 AM Sunday morning, contrary to what we were told in early October, Vicki bought two such passes. The only question was where to go, and the only Thai beach place we could remember (much less pronounce) was Phuket. The sales person told us flights to Phuket on Sunday were completely sold out, but that Koh Samui, on the east side of the peninsula, was nice, and there were seats available for an 8:30 AM flight.

Arriving in Koh Samui by 9:30, we faced pretty much the same lack of arrangements, but again lucked out, getting ourselves into the Buri Rasa resort (http://www.burirasa.com/home.html), on the beach, east side of the island, a really nice room (for a change!), at a decent discount. The resort is about as lushly landscaped in tropicals as anything I have ever seen, and the pond has lunker Koi's. One must be 26-28 inches long. The food is great, there are shops and things to do, and we may stay here for a while. It's hot, but the room has AC and a variety of amenities, and the beach is a short stroll away. It's pre-season, so not very crowded. It's touristy, yes, a bit, but even that is a nice change for us. We crashed on arrival.

Did I mention it has a topless beach?

PS. Clarification: a few of the women and most all of the men go topless on the beach. The Buri Rasa guest guide informs us that Thai people find women going topless "deeply offensive."

Vicki adds:

November 23-- Koa Samui

I have been taking it easy hoping my shoulder would mend itself. It has gotten much better but I did make an appointment at an English speaking hospital in Bangkok for next week. Of course we are now watching the Thailand network to see if we can even go to Bangkok due to the demonstrations there attempting to overthrow the government. We may be spending a very long time on the beach.

We got here really by accident. We arrived in Thailand with no plans other than to try to buy the cheaper airpass that Bangkok Airline sells outside the country. We could find no way to purchase it in US, China or India. I have a feeling it is not a product they sell a lot of. We had asked in Bangkok before with no luck--this time they said yes, but there were no seats that day for Phuket, which is an island on the west coast where the tsunami hit. I asked where else she could suggest--she said Koa Samui and we were here two hours later. It is an island off the the southern east coast. It was "undiscovered" until about 10 years ago. We spent 4 nights at a boutique resort which was small but very, very nice but also $80 a day after the various discounts. So we scouted around walking up and down the beach and found Seascape. It is exactly a cheaper imitation of the upscale small resorts except it is older. It is also $30 a night with breakfast buffet. It is low season on the east coast as this is the rainy season and they mean it. It pours about 8 hours in 24. However it stays over 80 degrees and usually turns partly cloudy in afternoon and evening. So we sleep late, eat breakfast at 10, walk on the beach in the afternoon, have a drink, wash the salt spray off in the pool, laze around and go out for dinner around 7 or so. Life is good.

A Passage from India

We awaited our Thai Airlines flight to Bangkok for three hours at the Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi. India is renowned for its lack of infrastructure, and the airport is no exception. The international terminal has 8 whole gates (a city of 13 million, capital of the world's 2nd largest nation), a trinket shop, a small duty-free store, an Indian fast-food joint (worked by one individual), and a Subway (two sandwich artists). All this after a recent renovation. At least it was air-conditioned. Fortunately, our plane was on-time, and we were aloft by 12:30AM, November 16, aboard the red-eye to Bangkok. Dinner was served about 1:30 AM, but, alas, no breakfast: I was really looking forward to Courvosier on my granola.

India. We're glad we visited what we did of India, the so-called Golden Triangle. There were many interesting and remarkable sites, mostly Muslim in origin, and not a little history to learn, much of it unfamiliar to us. And culture and religion.

In our preparations, months ago, we figured we could not handle India without help, and so we engaged Caper Travel (found on the web) to move us around, book hotels, and provide more or less daily guides. This was relatively inexpensive and worked for us. Our only dissatisfaction was with some of the hotels, noted earlier.

Despite current comparisons, India and China are worlds apart. India, what we saw, is decidedly third-world. China is in great flux, but you have to look for real poverty, at least in the 6 or 8 cities we visited. In India, it meets you as you debark and raps on your car's windows at every intersection. Squalor and filth are everywhere.

Will we come back? To put it in plain Anglais, J'ai été là, j'ai fait cela. Travel is an intensely personal and individual thing, however, and nations are far too complex to dismiss, even from experience. We saw or met many tourists spending rather more time in India, clearly loving it, almost going native in some ways. We knew pretty much what we were in for, and we were not surprised. But we have had enough. On to Thailand!

PS. My one regret about India was not getting to Mumbai and the Bombay Sapphire outlet presumably there. But I suspect this would have ended like our unsuccessful search, years ago, for the London Fog outlet in London.

Duo Does Delhi

Our tour of Delhi did not begin well. The Shatabdi Express from Ajmer got us to Delhi as scheduled, at 10:40PM, and the Caper Travel representative met us at the station promptly. There was some confusion about the hotel we were to stay in, and this entailed a trip from the New Delhi train station to South Delhi, very near the airport, and then back again to New Delhi, trying first one, then another “Good Times” hotel. We finally got settled in sometime after midnight, and decided to begin the Delhi tour proper at 10 the next morning.

FWIW, the “Good Times” hotel was fairly awful, next only to the filthy Hotel Chanakya in Agra. But then everything in Agra seemed ankle deep in excrement, human and other. Among the six hotels we stayed in in India, I would rate only the Greenwood in Khajraho as good, the Chandargupta in Jaipur as acceptable, the Royal Safari Camp as a case apart (thought better than the Chanakya and the Pallavi International in Varanasi, where the excrement seemed knee-deep. Or perhaps it was just the “culture” shock.)

Our tour of Delhi, once it got underway, was superb. Such a city deserves a week or weeks, but we saw a very great deal in one long day. We began in Old Delhi and the Jama Masjid mosque, built by our old friend Shah Jahan (Taj Mahal) in 1656. One wonders whether there would be a tourism industry in India without Jahan. We followed this with a pedi-cab tour of Chandi Chowk, the marketplace of the old city, its myriad narrow alleys of commerce and residence (“Do not get off the pedi-cab,” our guide, Herb, warned). It was pretty fascinating, divided, like so many Asian places of commerce we have seen, into “districts,” perhaps a block or so, of booksellers, paper goods, saris, blankets, car parts, radiators, ball bearings, jewelry, vegetables, fish, and so on. The monumental Red Fort was closed, but we got some pix. The Red Fort does not compare with the Agra Fort or the Amber Fort, Herb said, and we have now seen our share of forts anyway.

Next we visited the Raj Ghat, the memorial to Gandhi, where his body was cremated (his ashes were placed in Pushkar Lake, I should add (Nehru's too); something about caste, I think). Hundreds of people were at the memorial, even now, 60 years later. Truly the father of his country and a most unusual leader. I indicated further interest in Gandhi and Herb took us to the 1948 assassination site, now a Gandhi museum, where we spent perhaps an hour lingering among the exhibits. So much occurred in India (and Pakistan, etc.) in 1947-48, so much that still has major implications for our world. Gandhi opposed the Partition, and in this, as well as other things, he was not heard.

Next we briefly visited New Delhi's government houses, parliament, the President's House, the India Gate, and associated monuments and edifices. Clearly, the Brits had big plans for India when they moved their capital to Delhi in the aftermath of 1857. It is a beautiful capital complex, parks, fountains, ponds, wide, tree-lined boulevards, a place any European imperialist might envy.

After another mediocre Indian lunch, we drove on to the complex of tombs associated with Humayun. Humayun's Tomb is regarded by some as a proto-type for the Taj. It is a World Heritage site, built in 1562. It is in a large Mughal tomb complex, some of which are older, pre-Mughal, still Muslim, but somehow more "indian"-looking to me.

Vicki wanted to see the Lotus Temple, renowned for (allegedly) attracting more visitors than the Taj. Upon closer examination, this turned out to be a 1986 concrete structure, a temple of the Bahai faith, not worth a glance, IMHO, much less a detour. But the crowds and tour buses certainly were there.

Last, and perhaps best, we visited the Qutub Minar complex, another World Heritage site. Its centerpiece is the 72m high (that's 20 stories or more) minaret, built in 1206 to celebrate the Muslim conquest of most of India. Its fluted brick columns are truly impressive. Just as impressive are the adjoining ruins of Delhi's first mosque, built from the stones of the 20-odd Hindu temples that stood on this site in the 12th century. The various Hindu images were defaced, just a bit (Muslims don't do icons and images), but not so much that one can't see exactly how it was all put together. Enlarge the picture above (click on it) and you will see a part of this structure in the foreground. Delhi is a very old city―six or more distinct cities, historically―and this medieval complex is 12-15km south of Old Delhi. I guess it's always been a large place, but never a particularly important place, until 1857.

We had some time to kill (our plane left a few minutes past midnight), so Herb took us on a walking tour in the university district, to “see how the real people live.” We had already seen enough of this, so we checked email at a cyber cafe. Actually, we checked email at two cyber cafes. We left the first rather abruptly after an electrical fire started at our work station. But that's another story.

It was, nonetheless, one of our better tour days.

Conversion to Hinduism on the Shores of Lake Pushkar

When the camel fair is not in session, the other 50 weeks of the year, Pushkar is a major holy place and destination pilgrimage site. (I do not distinguish between religion and tourism; not since seeing Chartres many years ago). And the November full moon is the choice time to be in Pushkar, celebrating the Lord Brahma's convocation of the 900,000 celestial beings here. Some time ago.

As everyone knows, Brahma, the Creator, is one of the three chief Hindu gods. Vishnu, the Preserver, and Shiva, the Destroyer, are the others. For reasons that can only be described as obscure--no, wait, there's nothing obscure here, just patently absurd ("to non-believers," Vicki insists I add; look it up in the Wikipedia)--there is only one temple for Brahma and only one place in the entire world where Brahma is venerated and worshiped: Pushkar. Let's just say it has to do with the wrath of a scorned river goddess/wife, some astrology, and being late for a ceremony. Evidently Hindus are real sticklers for punctuality. Anyhow, apart from an abiding interest in camels, Lord Brahma, the Creator, is why we are in Pushkar.

So today (November 14) we toured Pushkar's two major religious attractions: the Brahma Temple and Lake Pushkar. We also made some offerings to Brahma at the Temple and consummated these further at the Lake, where a priest officiated (for only 50 rupees each; the religious equivalent of steerage), and we confessed our sins and asked for good karma for everybody, and world peace, all in Hindi. "Repeat after me," the priest said. Actually, we have no idea what we said or did, except for dropping plates of flowers, rice, sugar, the red- and yellow-dot sticky stuff, etc., into the lake, and having small amounts of lake water sprinkled on us. Fortunately, neophytes and gullible tourists don't have to do full immersion like Baptists. All this with shoes removed, too, twice. Hank, our guide, seemed pleased. I am sure he gets a commission from the priest. Obama will take care of the world peace.

It would all have been over in an hour, but we had to fax something to the customs authorities in New Zealand, and this occasioned a major Hank-led walking tour of beautiful downtown Pushkar in search of a working fax machine. Thus we got to see major parts of the town and interesting sights we had missed in our two previous forays. Yesterday we walked (or were pushed and shoved) along some of these same streets, but saw little except the sea of humanity of which we were a part. It was a bit scary at times, and it occurred to me briefly that a particularly ignominious way for me to go would be the victim of trampling by a panicked throng of the faithful. (Do atheists have martyrs?) Frenzied religious trampling happens often in India, most recently in Jodhpur, where something like a hundred pilgrims were so killed last month. (Vicki, of course, has a trampling/contingency plan: climb or hug a tree. This is the desert, I observe.)

Untrampled, we returned to Royal Safari Camp by noon, in time to see the last tour bus depart and to witness the disassembly of tents, beds, furniture, temporary water and sewage lines, and so forth. I have closed a few bars in my time, but never a safari camp, much less a royal one. The owner said he had two more festival gigs to do in November, one in December, and New Year's. "Indians really like to celebrate the New Year in the desert," he said. Less chance of trampling....

Anyhow, the camel fair is over. The dogs may bark, but the caravan moves on. We have moved on too, first to Ajmer, a city to the west of Pushkar, and now, via the Shabatdi Express, en route to Delhi, our last stop in India.

“Oh God, please don't let him put any of that water on us."

Midnight at the Oasis...I Mean, Tent City

We arrived in Pushkar about noon, not a bad drive actually, but the police had closed the main road for crowd control and we had to re-route, eventually arriving at Camp Royal Safari about 1:30. It may not be the desert, technically, but it is hot, dry, sandy, barren, and there are camels everywhere, mostly pulling carts to take residents of this and adjoining tent-cities into town.

Camp Royal Safari consists of perhaps 75 tents, plus a reception tent and a dining hall tent (and several smaller tents for souvenir merchants). Our tent, #33, is actually larger than some hotel rooms we have inhabited recently, perhaps 16x24 feet, carpeted, two beds, chairs, table, nightstand, and an easy chair out under the porch awning; the full bathroom is within the main tent, but separated off by another tent wall. It is all actually better than feared, although the HVAC is lacking, as are TV and wifi. There are two electric lamps, however.

After settling in, we took the 4:25 PM camel cart into town, about 2 miles south. Vicki had had an unpleasant camel-riding experience many years ago in Egypt, so we did not go for the ride-your-own option. Pushkar is basically an Indian state fair, featuring all kinds of livestock, but mostly camels. (The highest auction sale this year, we read in today's India Times, fetched 51,000 rupies, not a whole lot of money, actually, but then camels are not good for very much as far as I know). Mostly it is block after block of souvenir stalls, small exhibits, cheap goods, food, drink, a lot of carnival stuff, three ferris wheels, but no roller coaster, no tilt-a-whirl, and no yak-lady. Also no blue ribbon apple pie, 600 lb. pumpkin, corny dogs, cotton candy, nor lemon shakes. (Nothing could compare with the Ohio State Fair). Anyhow, we took all this in for a while till it started getting dark and we realized we hadn't a clue where to catch the return camel cart. Eventually we followed some other tourists and wound up at the central camel loading port, where a driver identified himself as Camp Royal Safari. We rode back under the full autumn moon. (I get very up-tight in these situations, so it was not quite as pleasant as it may sound; Vicki later teased me by claiming she saw a scorpion in the bathroom). We finished the evening with a dull Indian veg dinner (buffet in the dining hall tent, with other guests, mostly snooty French, who, ha!, got no wine with their nan) and then, by campfire, watched the “cultural” program, dancing and drumming (our third such program in two weeks, fourth if you count Varanasi). A tent and a camp-fire program...just like back home.

Vicki adds:

Pushkar, November 13

It is 8:30 in the morning and I am lying in bed in the tent at the Royal Safari Camp. The Pushkar camel fair, or melee, brings over 150,000 visitors to a small town in Rajasthan. This of course is way too many to house and so there are at least 15 tent cities, each with 75-100 tents. Our tent is quite large, divided into two parts with full bathroom and flush toilet. No camp-cots here, full wooden beds, table, chairs and kerosene lanterns with electric lights inside. The only thing missing is AC, which is only needed in the afternoon. Last night we took our first sojourn to the fair, which is about 2 miles away across desert dunes, by camel cart. The fair is 95% Indian and the rest foreigners. Most of the camel and cattle-trading is over as these are the last days. There is a midway, 3 ferris wheels, and some very strange kiddie rides. But mostly of it is stalls set up flea-market fashion selling camel saddles, pots and pans, dishes, etc. Unfortunately the fair is not that interesting, and the second you show any interest, the shopkeeper, cousins, friends, assorted hangers-on, are all over you, touting the wonders of their wares in broken English. We intend one more foray to the fair this morning.

The camp include all meals, all vegetarian, as Pushkar is the the holy city of Lord Brahma and allows no alcohol, tobacco, or meat within its environs. Lord Brahma is the least popular of the three main Hindu gods and basically only worshiped here. The reason for this is long, complicated, and as in all religions, completely ridiculous to non-believers. Look it up on the Web.

Tomorrow we have a guide to see the religious parts of the place.

PS. Two days ago we succombed and purchased a hand-knotted Indian carpet—what every homeless person needs. We are having it shipped to daughter Rebecca's house. It is a small one and is quite beautiful and inexpensive.

Another Day, Another Elephant Ride (it was part of the package)

We did our Jaipur tour today, November 11: the Wind Palace, the impressive Amber Fort, the astrological observatory, the City Palace, etc. The entrance fee to the Amber Fort included another elephant ride, so what the hey, we're getting good at this. (The government has limited the Jaipur elephants to five round trips per day after several collapsed, killing tourists; so our guide said). We also visited a rug and textile showroom, where Vicki further stimulated the local economy. Tonight we are resting, re-charging batteries, fortifying ourselves for the long drive tomorrow and Pushkar. Probably a camel ride too.

Vicki adds:

November 10, deepest, darkest India

Day 72 of the trip Memsahib Sherouse is feeling quite a bit exotic. Having been made gun-shy of traveling independently in India by other blogs, we are finding the personal guided trip quite interesting. We were met at the airport in Varanasi by our guide and the driver who took us first to the hotel and then again later for a boat ride on the Ganges to watch the evening ritual and see the cremations. We saw this all again before dawn the next morning. Apparently this is the only thing there is to do in Varanasi. I would advise those contemplating a trip to India to omit Varanasi, with its floating donkey corpses, crematoria, laughing yoga practitioners, bathing, washing clothes and dishes, P/A system chants, and tourist boats propelled by 10 year old boys. We were driven back to the airport where we flew to Khajahuro on Kingfisher airlines, to a quite nice hotel, the Greenwood. That evening we went to a regional dance performance, quite well done. Next morning our local guide, George, took us to a tour of the 22 extant temples in Khajahuro, of which only 2 percent, contrary to popular belief, present miniature three-dimensional depictions of the Kama Sutra or some such. But very well done.

In the afternoon the driver took us to Agra, a 4 hour drive, then a train ride of 2 hours, where we were left at possibly the filthiest, most disgusting hotel we have ever seen. Armed with our own sheets and towels, we managed for 2 nights by not bodily touching anything in the room. Agra is known for its scamming of tourists, lousy hotels, frequent power outages (20 times in 2 days), and general filth and pollution... and the Taj Mahal.

The Taj Mahal was wonderful. Photos don/'t do it justice. Unfortunately there was considerable haze, and some of our photos won't do it justice either. The haze partially cleared, and it was a magnificent sight.

We also visit the Agra Fort. Another highlight of the day was a visit to Pizza Hut, and a pepperoni pizza, which was wonderful, our first American food in 6 weeks. (I have lost at least 10 lbs).

Today we had a 7 hour drive across north central drive across north central India, and in route saw Fatiphur Sikri, a 16th century ghost-fort in very good condition, and on into Rajasthan and its capital city of Jaipur, where we are staying in a very nice, clean hotel in the city. Only one power outage so far.

Mark is typing this for me as. I am staying flat on my back to rest my shoulder, which is getting better, but very slowly.

Taj Mahal

Monday November 10 finds us in Jaipur, Rajasthan. Yesterday we did the highlight of our India trip (or anyone's), presumably, the Taj Mahal, in Agra. The morning was quite hazy, and our initial distant views of it were disappointing. (I initially ascribed the haze to pollution, but a day later, far from Agra, I can see it is more haze than smog). As we neared and the haze burned off a bit, the views improved considerably. And the Taj is even more impressive up close, in detail. The minute work, the marble, the inset precious stones, the changing colors, the symbolism, all are incredible. One pretty much forgets the crowds of other visitors. Our guide, Bob (I swear...but he did not share his religious views with us nor attempt to proselytize), gave us the usual farcical romantic story of it all. Romance or not, it is singularly impressive.

Another highlight of the day was our first genuine, real, Western food in some six weeks. Vicki spotted a Pizza Hut en route to the Taj and instructed Bob to take us there for lunch. While most of the toppings were Indian, sort of (would you believe pizza tika masala?), we succeeded in getting a real pepperoni pizza. (See illustration). Even I enjoyed it immensely (although I am really enjoying the Indian dishes we are having, especially the the paneer butter masala, the murgh masala, and the garlic nan, etc.

In the afternoon, we visited Agra Fort. Forts here are fortified cities or palaces, generally dating from the 16th or 17th centuries. Akbar the Great seized this one, I think, and Mughalized and enlarged it. His grandson Jahan was builder of the Taj. One of the sites within Agra Fort is the “cell” (itself a small palace) where the imprisoned Jahan pined for his beloved Mumtaz (not the fiords) and gazed at her memorial, the Taj Mahal. (Actually, others say, he overdosed on opium and aphrodisiacs, enjoying the sexual extravagances of a Mughal (ex-)emperor till age 72). Whatever. Both edifices are impressive in their own ways.

Today was a 240km car trip from Agra to Jaipur. Seeing the countryside close-up is always interesting. Mostly it is flat, agricultural land, occasional hills and hillocks, trees here and there but increasingly dry, temples and monuments and ruins dotting the expanse. And villages and towns. Indian driving makes Chinese driving look organized, coherent, serene. The horn is used here more amply, as a courtesy to let the other person know you are over-taking. Everyone is trying to overtake someone else, so far as I can tell. Tuk-tuks are everywhere in the cities and elsewhere. Fortunately, our drivers these past two days were very, very good (by my lights), arriving on time, patiently dodging all the obstacles, trying to answer my occasional questions. I sat in the passenger seat both days—allowing Vicki to stretch out in the back—and I am sure both cars have dents in the floor-boards where I was desperately trying to brake. The road today was fully paved all the way (once we got out of Agra and unlike the road from Khajahuro to Jahnsi), even 4-lane divided highway in places. Unfortunately, the Indian notion of an interstate or super-highway does not include limited access, and even on the divided/4-lane one is constantly dodging feral animals, vehicles going the wrong way, etc, albeit at a much higher rate of speed. As one gets into Rajasthan, camel-drawn carts become quite plentiful. In Jaipur, a city of 3 million, you can add elephants to the road mix.

En route we spent a couple hours at Fathepur Sikri, the famous “ghost town.” Akbar the Great (ecumenical Akbar, who tried to synthesize the prevalent religions of the time) built a fortified city there and made it capital of the Mughal (not to be confused with Muggle) empire—celebrating a resident sufi master's foretelling of the birth of his heir—and then abandoned it permanently 15 years later, in 1585. It is very largely intact, architecturally, acre upon acre, scores of great buildings, all walled and fortified, palaces, mosque, women's residences, etc. He allegedly had some 5,000 wives, concubines, dancers, slaves, and other lady friends. The official line is that he abandoned Fathepur Sikri because it had water problems; others say he moved his capital to Lahore to put down/ a Punjabi rebellion, then returned the capital again to Agra. Anyhow, it was impressive to see what a Mughal emperor could build in 15 years out of largely red sandstone, adorned with the usual precious stones, paintings, etc.

We are in Jaipur for two nights, in a nicer “heritage” hotel, then off again via auto to Pushkar--“Pushkar Kings of Kings,” where Brahma convened all 900,000 Hindu celestial beings--the full November moon, and the annual camel fair, which attracts some 150,000 people, etc. We'll be staying in a tent on the edge of the desert, eating veg. This is all Vicki's idea.