Monday, November 8, 2010
Udaipur - Rajasthan
After a long days traveling (3 hour bus, 9 train and another 9 hour train) we made it to Udaipur. Beautiful City feathered in the Bond movie Otopussy;1983. We stayed in the Lalghat Guest House - Highly recommended at 400 rupees a night for a double with a lake view. Eating at the small local places is rapidly becoming a favorite pass time.
After a couple of days viewing the local sights, we walked out of town a little to where the locals go. What a change of pace. We had enough space to interact with the locals on a basically good level - love them!
Next stop Jaipur: more smog, but many sights to see. I believe I'll try some yoga with Michele - shocking! We leave at 10:20 tonight on a sleeper train. I don't sleep well, but I do get rested and it's much better that day time travel.
Meeting other travelers is a very enriching experience. We have had a couple of late nights chatting; you also gain a lot of information (places to stay, things to watch out for and places to see).
All the best for now, and love from Mark and Michele
Photo Link:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2083168&id=1075549684&l=8c8adf95a6
After a couple of days viewing the local sights, we walked out of town a little to where the locals go. What a change of pace. We had enough space to interact with the locals on a basically good level - love them!
Next stop Jaipur: more smog, but many sights to see. I believe I'll try some yoga with Michele - shocking! We leave at 10:20 tonight on a sleeper train. I don't sleep well, but I do get rested and it's much better that day time travel.
Meeting other travelers is a very enriching experience. We have had a couple of late nights chatting; you also gain a lot of information (places to stay, things to watch out for and places to see).
All the best for now, and love from Mark and Michele
Photo Link:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2083168&id=1075549684&l=8c8adf95a6
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
India: Travelers Paradise?
So far Michele and I have figured that India is not a travelers paradise. Traveling here is very stressful, everything form catching trains to leaving the train station and finding a hotel. Too many people want to take advantage of you (or earn money from you is a better way of putting it), but we are becoming street wise very fast. You want to go to a specific hotel and they'll take you to any one but the one you are looking for, but we now know that we can report them if they are misbehaving.....
The trick is to take breaks. Landing in Diu has been a paradise. Very relaxed, no pressure form anyone. It has allowed us to rest up, clean our clothes and prepare for the next leg of our journey: Rajasthan - I'm quite excited now that I'm rested up and have booked a couple of hotels......
Check the facebook photo link for photos of Diu.....
More next time, love to you all.......
The trick is to take breaks. Landing in Diu has been a paradise. Very relaxed, no pressure form anyone. It has allowed us to rest up, clean our clothes and prepare for the next leg of our journey: Rajasthan - I'm quite excited now that I'm rested up and have booked a couple of hotels......
Check the facebook photo link for photos of Diu.....
More next time, love to you all.......
Sunday, October 24, 2010
Fort Collins, Colorado to Mumbai, India
We rented a car in Fort Collins, Oct. 7th and drove to Charlevoix, Michigan arriving on the 8th (1,300 miles). I met Michele's Dad for the first time. What a lovely, absolutely salt of the earth man. I really enjoyed meeting him and spending time with the rest of Michele's family. Michele's niece (Emily) was married on the 10th - beautiful wedding on Lake Michigan.
Oct. 13th we drove to Dayton, Ohio (500 miles) to spend a week with my daughter, Ciara. Great week, jammed with activity. Ciara's grandmother invited all of us over for dinner. Michele and I really enjoyed this and it had to be great for Ciara to see all of us get together (my ex Nichole, her boyfriend, Hersh, my ex father and mother in-law, Mike and Sue, Judy a close friend of the family, Ciara, Michele and I). Thank you to all for an amazing night.
Oct. 20th dropped Ciara off at school and said our last good-bye's for a while. Sad, but at the same time it has been a great year with Ciara (after Christmas in Colorado, Spring in Disney World with a bonus Space Shuttle launch, 7 weeks at Shambhala Mountain Center in the Summer and a week in Dayton, Ohio). We then drove to Chicago for our flight to India. The flight was great. We flew Edihad Airline out of Abu Dhabi, UAE voted the world's best airline in 2009. 3 full meals on the way over and I watched 5 full movies. They have on-demand movies, tv, even video games with your own 15" monitor. Food and service was excellent. Arrived in Mumbai, went outside to get a taxi and a man telling us that he worked for the airport and would help us get a taxi wanted 1,800 rupees (over $40), we knew not to pay more than $10. Michele suggested that we try the pre-paid taxis and the guy said oh yeah that will be a lot cheaper. You just can't believe what some of the people say.
Oct. 13th we drove to Dayton, Ohio (500 miles) to spend a week with my daughter, Ciara. Great week, jammed with activity. Ciara's grandmother invited all of us over for dinner. Michele and I really enjoyed this and it had to be great for Ciara to see all of us get together (my ex Nichole, her boyfriend, Hersh, my ex father and mother in-law, Mike and Sue, Judy a close friend of the family, Ciara, Michele and I). Thank you to all for an amazing night.
Oct. 20th dropped Ciara off at school and said our last good-bye's for a while. Sad, but at the same time it has been a great year with Ciara (after Christmas in Colorado, Spring in Disney World with a bonus Space Shuttle launch, 7 weeks at Shambhala Mountain Center in the Summer and a week in Dayton, Ohio). We then drove to Chicago for our flight to India. The flight was great. We flew Edihad Airline out of Abu Dhabi, UAE voted the world's best airline in 2009. 3 full meals on the way over and I watched 5 full movies. They have on-demand movies, tv, even video games with your own 15" monitor. Food and service was excellent. Arrived in Mumbai, went outside to get a taxi and a man telling us that he worked for the airport and would help us get a taxi wanted 1,800 rupees (over $40), we knew not to pay more than $10. Michele suggested that we try the pre-paid taxis and the guy said oh yeah that will be a lot cheaper. You just can't believe what some of the people say.
The taxi ride to the hotel was crazy, even at 3:30 in the morning. Cars driving in all directions. Red lights don't mean anything, traffic cops would rather take a nap than direct traffic. We were pulled over (not sure what for, because this is what was going on: running a red light, nearly hitting 10 cars, just missing a bicycle, pedestrian or a 100 other things) and they quickly ushered us on once they saw Michele and I in the back. Looking out the window at all the slums, was a little shocking to say the least (14 million people live in slums in Mumbai, right next to billionaires in some area). The visual, smell and audio senses where fully overwhelmed. We where quite happy to make it to the hotel. Nice place, small by American standards, but we have a shower, and a real toilet in our room; even a fan to help with the 104 degree heat index.
Oct. 22nd - first day in Mumbai. Can you say overwhelmed! People lying on the street with no signs of life. Street kids, that break your heart. Beggars everywhere. Drunks and drug addicts. We took a boat to Elephanta Island, a world heritage site. I've never seen wild cows scavenging for food along with the dogs. Monkeys, hens, vultures, piles of crap been washed up on the beach. The caves were so so, but it was a nice break from the short few hours we were in the city. The city at night is mad, never slows down. The amount of stimuli just blows your mind.
Oct 23rd - day two. Quite a change of pace - we walked down Marine Drive. Quite and slow paced if you can say that for Mumbai. Back to the hotel early (5pm) to relax. Eat at a Muslim Restaurant next door to the hotel - we were invited in, but Michele was the only woman and felt a little uncomfortable to begin with. Lovely people and food (two soft bottled drinks and two dinners: $3). What does tomorrow have in store?
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
Bye, Bye: Shambhala Mountain Center
We left Shambhala Mountain Center this morning. A little feeling of sadness, a lot of feeling that it is time to move on (I don't say this in a bad way). Put a 18 hour day in yesterday in a final push to get ready to leave. We still have more stuff than we need. All in stages..........
I'm left with an overwhelming sense of gratitude to Shambhala Mountain Center for the opportunity to serve, practice, and personally grow. I thank the people that help create the container called SMC, because the world needs it............
I'm left with an overwhelming sense of gratitude to Shambhala Mountain Center for the opportunity to serve, practice, and personally grow. I thank the people that help create the container called SMC, because the world needs it............
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