Loving These Streets.

All in all Burma turned out to be a great experience, and looking back it's mainly the friendly and curious people of the country that really left a lasting impression on me. It's not everyday that you get to travel a country with so much on offer, but at the same time has yet to be corrupted by the masses of tourists like its neighbouring countries.

It is large in part a check list sort of place to travel, for me it was anyways. Trekking adds another aspect to what the country has on offer for tourists, but it was something I just wasn't up for after 3 weeks on the trail in Nepal. My time spent here pretty much consisted of arriving at a destination, exploring the surrounding sights, and then moving on to the next place to do the same. Sounds like your standard way of travelling I know, but it's not something I like doing for weeks on end. I need a bit of chaos in a destination to keep me entertained when I can't take anymore temples and pagodas. The places I've enjoyed most in my travels didn't really have these 'must see' sights all the time, India being a great example. The crazy and chaotic streets are an attraction in themselves, simply emerging from your guesthouse and trying to wrap your brain around the shear scale of humanity surrounding you leaves an impression on your psyche that no temple or museum can match.

This is the type of travel I crave and I can't really put my finger on why. The noise irritates me, the smells disgust me, and the rickshaw drivers drive me nowhere but mad. But once I arrive back at my hotel and I rest my aching brain on a pillow after a day of getting lost in the churning madness of these cities, I simply shake my head and smile. THIS is how the majority of the world lives, and if they can do it on a daily basis in these conditions then I have not a single complaint about my life back home in Canada.

I shouldn't anyways, yet I still catch myself doing it at times. Like anything in life though it's a work in progress, and the progress made since I first set foot out into the abyss to see how the other 90% live has been quite a feat.

If there's any country on this planet that can put an end to my trivial complaints about life back home I think it'll be Bangladesh. So far in the span of 11 days I've seen more smiles, been said hello to more times, and have witnessed more public displays of laughter and joy than I have in 11 months of walking around Vancouver's streets. I watched a tea vendor pack up his belongings after a 16 hour shift with a smile ear to ear, still shouting out the odd greeting to one of the countless passing local customers he calls friends. He's not packing up to go home is thing, he's transforming his tea stall back into the shelter where he sleeps, and he's doing it with a smile.

How can the majority of mankind who are poor seem happier than the minority who are not? I feel condescending even calling them poor, who am I to label an individual poor only by looking at what they own possession wise.

If there's one thing I know it's that possessions mean absolutely nothing in life. Accumulating life experiences over tangible goods is the key to my happiness, and clearly it's the same key that the people all over the world that we label 'poor' are using as well.

They chose the correct option by default, they never were able to buy expensive cars and fancy gadgets. They're making the best out of a bad situation by all coming together and supporting one another through business, charity, and religion; they're creating positive life experiences with the cards they were dealt, and that positive energy radiates throughout the streets as you wander the crowded sidewalks and buzzing markets. Morning, day, and night -the streets of Asia are bursting with life and I absolutely love wandering through them.

I guess I answered my own question....this is why I love these sorts of places.

My trip to Bangladesh is being cut short by a few days; the prospect of crossing the near by Indian border coupled with my still valid Indian visa has been dangling in front of my face like a carrot on a stick. I'm finally giving into that temptation and tonight I'm boarding a 12 hour bus to Kolkata.

Speaking of which, I do have a small confession to make. The tea vendor I was writing about was actually from Kolkata, I frequented his stall in the final days of my previous Indian trip 2 years back. He just seemed to come into my mind while writing so I threw him in there. I'll be paying him a visit tomorrow morning if he's still around. One street West of Tottie Lane just off of Sudder Street if I'm not mistaken.

I love Chai !

No Bangladesh pictures here, these are all from my 2 weeks spent in Burma.

Where Was I?

I think I was talking about going to some place called Orissa.

I never did catch that train, I tried twice actually but India wouldn't let me. I instead flew to the beaches of South India to finally enjoy some ocean side R&R. My intended destination all along was Sri Lanka, but those pesky little beach towns that dot the South Indian Coast just so happened to be in my way, so I made a point of stopping at a select few.

One town in particular had been on my radar ever since leaving it 2 years ago. It goes by the name of Gokarna, and the city proper is an important Hindu pilgrimage town because of the Mahabaleshwar Temple which is situated in the middle of the city. It gives that authenticity of being in India that other beach towns in the country just can't match. Just south over the hill however lies a string of idyllic palm studded beaches, and it was here that some of the most memorable days of my previous Indian trip took place over a 2 week period. On one of the beaches lies a small bungalow operation owned and operated by a friendly fellow named Shireese, and as soon as I kicked the sand off my feet and strutted into his beach side restaurant I got the trademark smile I've been waiting almost 2 years to see again.

"I forget your name but I remember your face" he said. "Welcome back my friend!"

I love these kind of travel moments.

Masala Chai by day, Kingfisher beer by night, and a whole lot of eating and lying on the beach in between. It's pretty much all there is to do in Gokarna, but I wasn't complaining. When you do start to feel a bit lethargic the 45 minute walk into town is a great way to stretch your legs and get away from the beach blanket. A week spent there and another week at the cliffs of Varkala off the coast of Kerala and it was time to depart for Sri Lanka.

The country of Sri Lanka wasn't quite like I expected. It was much more developed,  a bit more expensive, and a lot cleaner than countries I'm used to travelling in, especially in this region of the world. The Christmas high season made it even harder to secure budget digs, but all in all I had an absolutely incredible time there, large in part to the amazing group of people I met. Everything got off to a rough start with a mild bout of homesickness, mainly caused by me spending Christmas abroad for the first time in 32 years, but after New Years came and went I got into a good groove of meeting new people and making new friends. I rode that groove right through my 9 days spent in Bangkok as well to where I currently am now -Myanmar.

The same can be said for the whole trip thus far. Since leaving Vancouver almost 4 months ago I've probably met more people than I did in the 8 months spent abroad on my previous trip. I left home excited to be seeing some countries that I've always wanted to see, but if I could be transported back to Oct.9 2013 when I was sitting in YVR's departure lounge anxiously waiting for my flight to Japan, I'd be more excited about what random people I'd meet and befriend over what Tokyo as a city had on offer tourism wise.

This trip has changed the very reason of why I love going on these trips. I'm not just here to tick countries off my bucket list anymore, I'm here to meet people and make connections with the locals of the country as well as the like minded people from all parts of the globe who share this adventurous spirit of travel. Everyone you meet while travelling is on the same path with no set destination; instantaneously you have swaths of things in common and before you know it you've been chatting to a person you may have just met as if you were life long friends. We're all just trying to get lost in a world that's increasingly becoming hard to get lost in, and the random collisions we have along the way with other people make up the memories that we take home and cherish for a lifetime. The best part of getting lost is finding your way back in the end, and it's through that journey that you learn so much about yourself, about others, and about this magnificent planet we live on.

I'm not done yet trying to get lost, but to be honest my gas tank is running a little low. My destination after Myanmar is still up in the air, but it's nothing a cup of decision making tea can't handle!

Second Time's a Charm

And I don't even think it'll be my last.

Varanasi has to be one of the most intense, mind blowing and excruciatingly frustrating cities out there. But I feel that every little thing that makes this city tick, everything that makes it such a potent assault on the senses, they all seem to work together in unison to create that one of a kind Varanasi experience that can't be neither imitated nor duplicated. To change one thing would alter the rest, so it's best to just sit back and enjoy the ride, even if it might drive you to the breaking point sometimes.

As hot, smelly, and loud as it is here I am still finding it a bit hard to escape the grip of this riverside city. That's because for every tout and rickshaw driver that manages to almost get a kick out of seeing you lose your cool, there's countless other friendly chai salesmen and food vendors that bring you right back down to Earth. Life's just too damn short to get upset over trivial things like a swindled buck or 2, I'm constantly telling myself this whenever I get hassled or overcharged.

The time has come to move on to the next city though, it has been 4 days after all. Tonight I'm boarding a 22 hour train down South to the state of Orissa -brand new turf for these virgin eyes. I bypassed it out of pure ignorance on my last trip, I just never saw it tucked away down there on the map! My compass will be stuck on south for the next month or so as the holidays approach, because If I want my Christmas tree to have palm leaves & coconuts I have a lot of ground to cover. Only thing I need to do now is make the oh-so tough decision on where to lay my beach towel... hard life choices I know.

In the past 4 days here in India I'm pretty confident that all the weight that I left back in Nepal has returned, minus the muscle mass of course. That 20 day lentil-rice-potato cleanse that I subjected myself to on the trek wreaked havoc on my physique, but it's nothing the country of India can't handle. After all it's the magic that these street vendors perform with food that really brought me back here, and there's nothing quite like satisfying an almost 2 year old culinary craving.

Safe to say that it was the tastiest Masala Dosa I've ever had.

On The Move.

But nothing really new there.

Four days seems to be the going rate for how long I can stay put in one place. As much as I tried to give Pokhara more time, my Dslr was getting dusty from lack of use. There's just not enough to keep me entertained photo wise in these touristy areas.

I find that decisions are made and changed over a cup of chai while travelling solo, my eyes open in the morning and my bags are either packed in a flurry or left to sit for one more day. I'm in a constant state of flux while on the road, and this sense of freedom at my finger tips feels so exhilarating it's pretty much the sole reason I head off on these adventures.

My next destination involves me meeting up with a rickshaw driver. The thing is he doesn't know me and I don't know him, heck he doesn't even know I'm coming. When our eyes do meet a mutual agreement will be made to see who breaks first, but little does he know it's not my first rodeo in his homeland.

I'm leaving Nepal and crossing overland into India, more specifically to the holy city of Varanasi. I was just there 18 months prior wandering the ghats trying to enjoy a place which had occupied my travel dreams for the better part of a decade, but I wasn't in the right mind set at the time to properly absorb just what Varanasi had on offer, it was one of my biggest regrets of my last trip to India.

For anyone who reads these posts or has a good memory, about a week prior to visiting Varanasi I made one of the dumbest decisions of my life on a train ride. Complacency got the best of me and I had everything of value stolen in one misstep of judgement. It broke me mentally and even a bit financially; I let the bad guys win and it ruined my trip to one of the most fascinating cities on Earth.

But that was then and a lot has changed with me since. I'm so excited to be returning to Varanasi that those pre trip butterflies have resurfaced, the same ones that were fluttering away almost 2 months prior when I first departed on this current trip. But to leave one place a farewell must be said to another.

They say you come for the mountains but return for the people regarding Nepal. The countless smiles, beautiful faces, and friendly hospitality I experienced definitely lived up to this mantra, but when I return it'll be for both. My 3 week trek through the Himalayas was the shining highlight of my time spent here; the mountain scenery and village hospitality went hand in hand to create one of the most awe inspiring and friendly experiences of my travels. Yet again I find myself bidding a momentary farewell to a country that I know I'll return to in the future. After all I did say the same thing when I left India last June and look at me now.

Feels good to deliver on hard promises.

Until next time Nepal!

Bhaktapur and Boudhanath

Some relax time was in order after my time spent in the mountains. A chance to rest these sore knees and gain some weight back...perhaps enjoy a nice espresso or 3.

Bhaktapur and Boudhanath were my targets- a place to escape the trekking touts and hash dealers of Thamel. They might have been swapped for persistent pashmina salesmen and tenacious tour guides, but it's a good trade off in my books.

Asia's biggest stupa Boudhanath offered a great place to soak in some Buddhist energy. The hundreds of monks chanting while making their paces around the stupa emulated some of the most intense religious energy I've experienced since my time in India. I stayed 2 nights in the Shechen Monastery which runs a guesthouse operation. My freshly shaved head and dark complexion had a few faces wondering where my orange robe was, but being stared at is nothing new to me at this point.

On the other end of the religious spectrum there's Bhaktapur-a living, breathing, medieval city with ancient Hindu temples scattered amongst the fortress like grounds. The guide book had me at 'a place to wander around aimlessly'. I find this goes fantastic with my two favourite past times of eating street food and taking photographs.

I'm just over a month into this adventure, and ever since I finished the trek time seems to be racing away. I've been reading up on news back home and noticed the first snow fall is on the horizon, and in a few weeks it's Christmas time? Feels odd even saying that word. I did a haphazard search around Vancouver before leaving to see if I could track down a Santa hat to wear around India for the holidays, but it was to no avail. I could have one tailor made from Yak wool I suppose. Come to think of it I just might do that.

It's been a fascinating last week in Nepal. Election fever is in the air as the country goes to the polls for only the 2nd time in its history. One of the frequent transportation bandhas (strikes) was called for in the week leading up to election day, which made transportation a bit of a hassle, but I was in no mood to stray too far from my 90 cent espressos in Bhaktapur anyways!