Arabian Nights (Jaisalmer)

Our arrival in Jaisalmer was definitely the low point of the trip so far. We had to take an overnight General train from Jodhpur to Jaisalmer, which is basically a stool in the mail car packed full of the poorest Indian men. We had not blankets and it got to freezing in the desert overnight and with no sleep and frostbitten toes, we made our way to the Jaisalmer fort in search of accommodation. It was 5am and everywhere we had planned on staying was full and we had to settle for an overpriced terrible room, with grumpy service and pushy staff, but it was a bed and it had blankets so we were in.

It always seems in India, when you have hit rock bottom the next day always somehow completely redeems any hardship that have come before. Jaisalmer is amazing, it is a desert town all golden sandstone building and centered by an amazing fort which people still live in, and where our hotel is. Compared to anywhere we have been so far it is quiet, the people friendly, and the shopping amazing. We bumped into an Aussie couple we met in Varanasi, and had drinks with them at their hotel which we ended up staying at.

The following day we hired a jeep and some camels for a trek into the desert. We loaded up our camels with water, food, and blankets and wandered off into the desert. Through a few small mud hut villages and some lentil farms we arrived at the dunes where we set up camp and would be spending the night. We had dinner cooked on the campfire and some pretty terrible Indian wine which we shared with a very cool older German couple. The best part was getting to sleep under the stars. Our bed was literally a blanket on the sand, and we awoke to a flock of Peacocks checking us out! On the way back Jess learned how to make her Camel run fast, and we had a pretty sweet desert race home.....Jess won!

Our last night in Jaisalmer we spent with a Welsh author (Lloyd Jones) and his daughter enjoying some beers at our hotel and sharing stories from our journey.

All in all Jaisalmer has been amazing but we both are excited to start heading south and getting out of the cold.

Next up Jodhpur...

A Rajasthani Christmas

We left Agra and the Taj behind for the great food, crafts, and desert of Rajasthan; first stop Jaipur (the Pink City). We arrived in the evening to a very nice suburb and our little swiss cottage on the side of a nice hotel which was a really fun room. We got some sleep as we had both come down with colds and awoke the next day to a very unexpected city. It was very organized, which is something you don't really find here. There were street lights, sidewalks, and the roads were straight and wide. It was also a lot busier and louder and dustier than we expected.

We spent a day seeing the sights which were incredible, and got a nice room for the next 2 nights and spent Christmas eve with a dutch couple, an Aussie lady, and a Kiwi couple having dinner and drinks. Christmas day we both missed home and Turkey dinner so we had to settle for the next best thing...McDonalds of course! The McMaharaja Mac, was delicious and it was surprisingly nice to have a familiar taste of home. Jaipur also has the best shopping in India so far and we (Jess) definitely took advantage

We also had a few tough days in Jaipur, getting ripped off and having our onward train being canceled, there was an afternoon spent at the train stations I don't think either of us wants to remember but I suppose that is part of traveling.

Having figured out our next leg, we packed up and rushed out of Jaipur to one of the places we were both excited for, Jaisalmer.

Christmas feast!

Amber Fort

Ian at the floating Palace

Christmas Dinner with new Friends

Agra - Taj Mahal

Went to Agra to see the Taj Mahal.......

This is the Taj Mahal, you've seen a million pictures before but here are ours, enjoy...

After the 2 hour line up to get in...here it is

Off to Rajasthan, first stop Jaipur!

Delhi - Varanasi

Our first Indian train adventure (a 15hour trip from Delhi to Varanasi) was a great success. We travelled in SL class which is the lowest class available where you are able to sleep but it is not bad if you can get an upper berth. We smuggled a bottle of Vodka, and after a few cocktails and some rounds of cards we both fell asleep with relative ease and awoke at 7am in Varanasi, right on time.

Varanai was divided into 3 parts, the "new" city which was very noisy hectic and dusty; the old city, which had narrow cobbled streets, nice bazaars and lots of cows; and the Ghats, which were along the Ganges river, where hustlers, and pilgrims were plenty and the view's were amazing. Our hotel was in the old town with a nice riverside balcony and was $8 a night. We spent the days wandering the old city and the evenings flying kites on the ghats. Every night there is a big ceremony at the main Ghat where many worshippers came to pray, there was lots of fire and bells and it was pretty intense.

The other main point of interest are the "burning ghats" where bodies are purified in the Ganges and then burned on the river's edge and the ashes are sent into the river. It is a pretty surreal place and understandably there are no pictures allowed, however Jess wanted to sneak a few seeing it was a pretty amazing site. She proceeded to sneak a picture or 2, but wasn't sneaky enough and landed us in quite a predicament. Two men accosted us and threatened calling the police unless we paid $2500, people warned us that this was a type of scam, so when we refused to pay the fine the men and Jess proceeded to have a public, profanity laced, screaming match in the middle of a half dozen burning bodies. The end result is we made a hasty exit into the maze of the old city and returned the following day camera free, lesson learned.

Our last day we took a sunrise boat ride down the Ganges which was amazing because we got to watch the locals come to bathe in the river. We returned to yoga lesson on the rooftop of our hotel which left us feeling limber and mellow for our train to Agra to see the Taj Mahal.



Getting a good rest



Baba

View of the Ganges

Cobra Baba

Sunrise boat cruise

Bathing in the Ganges

Ian's new friend, such sage advice

Burning Ghat

India Arrival and Delhi

Our flight from Dar Es Salaam took us through Doha, on Qatar Airways which was easily the best flight/airline I have ever been on. The 12 hour flight went very quickly and before we knew it we where in Delhi, India at 3am with the name of a hotel and an address for our taxi man. To our surprise the streets we're empty and the city was calm on our way to Paharganj which is the busy market/backpacker district by the New Delhi Train station. We arrived at our destination only to find that our hotel was closed. Unable to check into anywhere until noon we fell asleep in the lobby of a decent hotel and woke at 7am to what we realized was the calm before the storm.

As the sun rose we saw the true chaos of India. All of the things that everyone told us were true no matter how impossible they may seem. The route on this trip had prepared us for pretty much everything and we're glad we came here last. There are people and cars/scooters/bikes/motorcycles/buses/rickshaws/dogs/cows and SHIT(both poo and garbage) everywhere, it is complete and total chaos, but not organized chaos like the morning commute into Toronto, it is completely unorganized and Dehli seems to be 20+ million people fending for themselves by any means necessary.

After getting used to the overpowering smell of urine and having to wade through cow manure we really begun to enjoy it. We saw a few sights and ate some amazing meals. We went out to a swish hotel for my birthday dinner and for a few hours we were transported out of India and enjoyed one of the best meals of my life. The food in Delhi is amazing and unbelievably cheap, usually $3 for a couple curries, rice, naan, and drinks so loosing weight here is definitely not likely.

We were able to spend a day with a friend we met in Istanbul and he shared some amazing stories of his travels in India and definitely got us excited to see the rest of this amazing place! Tomorrow we head to Varanasi to get our first glimpse of the Ganges and see where Hindu's come to be cremated and break the cycle of reincarnation.

Main Bazzar, Paharganj New Delhi

Jama Masjid, Old Delhi

Bday dinner at Fire, Conaught Place New Delhi

Best...Samosa...Ever...

Paharganj from Above

Red Fort, Old Delhi

Birthday Suprise!

Ordering it from Zanzibar

We have arrived in Stone Town, Zanzibar to what is the most unbearable heat I have ever experienced in my life anywhere on the planet it's 40+ degrees and humid like you cant believe. Also, the way the streets are narrow and maze-like which doesn't allow the sea breeze in. Regardless we set out exploring what, in my opinion, is one of the most interesting cities I have been to. We tasted some amazing food, especially the nightly fish grill in the town square by the water, where all the fisherman bring their daily catch to market and cook it up for you at a great price!  and returned to where I got violently ill last time, to once again try the best meal in my life.

We were in Stone Town for 2 nights, before we headed to the east side of the Island to a town called Jambiani. Its a small village located right on the ocean, it is not very touristy like some of the other areas in Zanzibar, we stayed in a hut right on the beach run by a bunch of awesome Rastas. It was an amazing beach, because the tide went out every morning and we were able to watch as all the local women farmed seaweed. When the tide came back in, in the afternoon it was perfect for swimming and windsurfing!

One of the Rastas we were staying with offered to take us on a day trip to swim with dolphins. We were both excited to go swimming with the dolphins and didn't know what to expect. We sure got the adventure of a life time. Swimming with dolphins in Africa means getting into a small tin boat and driving into the ocean until you find a school of Dolphins....once you find them you literally jump off the boat with your mask on right into the middle of the school of wild dolphins and swim with them until they swim away, then get back into the boat chase them down again and do it all over. It was an unreal and amazing experience.

After a few relaxing days in Jambiani we were looking for some action so we headed to the more popular side of the island called Kendwa. We stayed at a nice hotel right on the beach and enjoyed lots of sun, great food and lots of drinks. In Kendwa we took a day trip to a near by island called Nmeba were we went snorkeling on an incredible reef and had a nice lunch on a deserted beach. We had a great time in Zanzibar and really got to relax, as now  we are heading to INDIA!!

On the beach in Kendwa

Snorkeling in Nmeba island

amazing sunset



Night market, Ian is picking out his dinner





Jambiani Village

 


Our cottage right on the beach!



Seaweed farming when the tide is out





Kilimanjaro and Dar

So we have moved on from Arusha on our way to Zanzibar. On the long journey we decided to stop at the Kilimanjaro base camp on the way as there is no sense in comming to Tanzania and missing the Mountain. Trying to do it on the cheap we piled into a Toyota minivan with 29 other people and took the 1.5 hour drive from Moshi to Murango, cramped, sweaty and dangerous but oh so fun. We arrived to a barrage of hustlers trying to sell climbing safari's and once we got sorted to started the hike up the mountain.

We got to walk through some simple mountain side villages and farms, and got to check out some sweet waterfalls. The highlight was sampling some of the local banana wine and banana beer which was just terrible but extremely potent. After a few hour climb we realized that we were both too out of shape to make it to the top and we were happy we didn't try. We returned to Moshi via the dala dala filled with people, where a african women put a black magic spell on Jess after she refused to buy her wears, to try the much hyped ChrisBurger much to Jess's excitement, we ordered and waited. Just as the food was put down infront of us, the black magic kicked in and Jess threw up all over the restaurant and we had to leave with our heads hung in shame and no burgers in our bellies. This was definitly a low point.

We pushed on to Dar and after some water, fruit and ice cream our stomach's were good to go. Arriving in Dar at night was pretty chaotic and unceartin and our cab broke down half way to our hostel but our room had AC and there was a lively bar downstair filled with expat's and their respective African prostitues. It was very awkward but apperently genreally accepted so we had fun laughing at the awkwards goodbye's between client and buyer over breakfast.

Dar is a very nice city, quite developed and very modern with beautiful beaches and busy markets and a great live music scene. Being here only for 2 nights we just scratched the surface but I would definitly return.

And now off to Zanzibar...

Kilimanjaro from the road



Banana Wine & Beer....Gross



Our guide

Falls at basecamp

The market as we arrived in Dar es salaam

Arusha & Safari

After the longest bumpiest dustiest bus ride we have ever taken, we arrived in Arusha cover in red dust and dying for a shower, only to arrive at the Faji's house and find out that there is no water (part of living in Africa....water is scarce). After a warm welcome and a change of clothes they greeted us with open arms and a delicious meal. Their house is on one of the main streets of Arusha with a breath taking view of Mt.Meru.

The next day we were pleased to wake up and find out that they finally had water, so after a nice shower we were excited to explore the town. Our first stop was the market, then we headed to the other end of town where all of the streets sellers are located. After a long afternoon we were dying to a drink so we found a local bar, which has now been our go to spot.

We have now just returned from Safari, we had an amazing 3 days and 2 nights in the Serengeti and Ngorongoro crater. First day we travelled to the Serengeti (another long and bumpy and very dusty trip). We had a great first day, we saw a cheetah with it's kill in a tree, family of elephants with babies, lion family with babies, and about a million wildebeast and zebras. We stayed the night at an amazing hotel and were really excited for the next day. We left early in the morning and had an even better 2nd day. We were lucky enough to watch a heard of zebras cross a river only to be hunted by an awaiting lion. We saw the whole chase and kill, it was so cool, except for the fact that the lion caught a baby zebra, so that was sad....but I guess its the circle of life.

After a great day in Serengeti we heading to Ngorongoro Crater, were we spent another night at a great hotel and met lots of nice people. Our last day we heading into the Crater in search of the elusive Rhino. After a whole day searching it was time to go and we thought that we were out of luck, until the last corner we turn..there it was...the Rhino. So we ended on a great note and headed back to Arusha. It was a great Safari, definitely a highlight so far

Our bus from Mombasa to Arusha

Mt. Meru

The Crater from above

Mama and baby

The view from our balcony

The attack!

This Lion loved us and walked right up to our car, we could have touched it!

Buffalo.....No 1 Killer of humans in the park...