Life on the Sunny Side..

When we were in Varanasi, we had a guy jump into our taxi on the way from the airport, who then led us to our guesthouse. We bumped into him a few times after that during the week – he would hang out near a stall that did the best mango shakes in the city (or so they say. Despite our limited experience, we were happy to agree).

Anyway, this small, dapper little man was named Sunny. He showed us around a couple of times, winding through the cobblestoned alleys of the Old City, pointing out 'cheap and best' restaurant places, sighing heavily if he thought we had been ripped off by someone.. The first time or two we were obviously a bit skeptical of him.. Georgie, with a mix of anxiety and annoyance, burst out asking what he expected of us.. He seemed a little surprised, and simply said that he didn't have any expectation, and that he thought that friendship was more important than money.. Which is of course a little unusual for a self-proclaimed tour guide, but which, in the safety of a group of people, I was happy to accept.

On our second-last day we bumped into him again and he helped us find a good pharmacy and then another good restaurant.. anyway one thing led to another and he ended up inviting us to come and eat at his home the next day and meet his mother! Ok, we said. What could go wrong?

Anyway, after a whole series of adventures the next morning trying to find the River Ashram – which is a story in itself (we trekked along the whole length of the ghats, circled temples, went all the way to a cricket stadium, stopped at a 'bread of life' cafe for food, almost gave up but then a random guy in the cafe ended up knowing it and leading us there.. and it was a beautiful oasis of flowers and rugged old arched walls and interesting, people-loving folks..). So yes, then we met up with Sunny and a Chilean friend he'd made the day before, he hailed a few cycle-rickshaws, and we headed to the other side of town.

While we were waiting for lunch (which was delicious puffy fried puris, vegies and sambal) he told us all about his recent trip to France. He had met this french couple a few years ago, and they became best buddies – he called the woman his french mama. Then last year they organised everything for him to be able to come and visit them in France. He showed us photo after photo of his time there, and it was so beautiful. You could just see the joy shining in his eyes.. We'd ask him what he thought of this or that over there, and it was always “too much, I liked it too much!”

My favourite episode was when they were travelling out to the border with Switzerland, and the train stopped at a station where he saw his first snow. He and the guy jumped off the train to take a couple of photos of him in it, and the next thing they knew the train, and the french mama, were chugging off into the distance without him!! Oh dear. “I'll never forget that day, and that town, where I miss my train..” he says.

He told us that some of his rich relatives were jealous of him, because he has just his little house with his mother - and they have so much - but they have never been outside India, and it would be near impossible for them to get the visa to go to Europe, like he did. And so Sunny, just through his friendships, had been given all this..

“You know,” he says, “some people are hungry for money, but I am hungry for love.” And as funny as that sounds, you can see where his valuing of relationships took him!

Eat Duck Don't Die

We flew into Ho Chi Minh City (which most people still seem to call Saigon - more romantic, no?) just yesterday arvo - how awesomely squiggly is the Mekong just below?!  

 I don't think this is going to be a particularly coherent or informative post, but better than nothing, eh? Especially since I haven't posted anything in almost a year... whoa fourth year + Honours was a nasty brain-sucking beast!!! Yay! Brain has returned! More or less...

ANYWAY, Saigon.
-bikes. everywhere.
-oh and more bikes.
-on the roads.
-on the sides of the roads.
-whizzing up the alleyways behind/beside/around you!

First challenge (actually it's still a challenge, just less scary cos we've done it a few times and haven't died so that means there's more chance that we still won't die? Impeccable logic I think) : crossing the road.

After lots of time hanging out on the side of the road observing and waiting for gaps in the streams of traffic which never seem to arrive, we finally decided that you wait for the cars - but for the bikes? You just start walking. A moderate pace, not too fast, but not too cautious (otherwise you bring the bikes to a complete, perhaps mildly annoyed halt). You stroll bravely across the road, and the bikes (of which there are 15 or 20 to every car that you see) just weave their way around you. Like I say, haven't died yet.

Last night we wandered the city a little bit, watched the light fade over the Saigon canal, and finally hunted down a place where we felt confident enough to order food (it's a while since I've been in a place where I am completely at a loss about what to eat and how to communicate that..). Anyway, we found a place with pictures, and we were convinced by the friendly waiter to order the 'roast chicken'.. We settled ourselves into the little plastic street-side chairs, and looked behind us to see that the roast chicken was actually one of two elongated ducks, hanging in the window...

Interesting. We did think quietly to ourselves about how ironic it would be if we got ill on our very first night away, but we tucked in all the same! Fatty but delicious. Except maybe the brain, we weren't so convinced about that bit.. But we haven't died yet! Yay!

 I have more fun photos from today but I can't get them off my camera at present.. We spent the day wandering the city and entertaining locals/fine-tuning our road-crossing style/eating lots of noodles/discovering all things iced (it's hot!!)/being smoked out by incense in a pagoda/getting just slightly ripped off/finding hilarious exercise equipment in a park (must find a picture of that for you!!) and so forth..

There's still a lot of the colourful Tet (lunar new year) decorations around the place - tinselly trees, yellow flowers, bunting, banners.. There are trees to thin the concrete jungle, gorgeous pot-plant forests in crumbly old apartment balconies, and food! SO much food everywhere. I have no idea what most of it is, but it's great.

Off up the coast tomorrow! Tam biet for now!

J.

Snowfun.

Last week (ok, so this is a little out of date now) I went on a trip to the snow with most of my family. It was a flippin' brilliant time.
We drove to Mt Beauty, where we were staying, on the Monday, craning our necks for glimpses of snowy mountains as we got closer. Was it really true? Could Australian-[small]sized mountains really grow enough snow to go skiing on? To warrant ski-lifts? The anticipation grew.
Arrival, and still barely a suggestion of snow anywhere about. We suspended doubt, and went and sent a local hire place into a flurry of activity, fitting out all 8 of us with gear.
Morning arrives, and we claw our way out of cosy beds, dilly-dally through breakfast and preparing lunch, tumble into the car with gloves, beanies, glasses, goggles, jackets, more jackets crammed in everywhere, and wound our way up the hills. Snowy caps began to emerge. Anticipation budded and shot. We chuckled at parked cars, coated in thick layers of snowy fondant.
We were here!! We purchased our lift passes, donned our skis, and headed up. The slightly more experienced of the crew headed off to tackle the slopes, while the beginners agonised their way through a lesson. Let us free! The freshly powdered snow beckoned.
Finally, we were off.
I snow-ploughed my way down the first few runs, and then gingerly began to get a handle on turning. I got really good at falling over. I wasn't very good at slowing down. But going fast feels so terrifyingly good!

Anyway, a couple of pictures:

Snow Angel!

The Crew

Gorgeous sunshiney day

Sun-setting on snowy slopes

Cheese!

Pete looking pro even while on his behind

Spot of cross-country

Yay!!

It was probably the funnest family holiday ever.

(Despite the fact that I slaughtered my ACL -anterior cruciate ligament - the one in your knee that you need to do the fun stuff.. but that's another story.)
And I can't wait to go again. (If I go before getting surgery, then I don't have to worry about snapping my acl again. Good plan?)

5 Little Ducks, or why you may want to reconsider river-floating

Well facebook may do the job pictorially, but verbally it just doesn't cut it.. So I'm just going to give you a bit of a run-down on our recent river-float adventure.

Things worth noting:
-It was not the warmest of days
-In fact, it was forecast to rain in the afternoon
-We had not pre-tested our floating devices ("oh yeah, they're fine" from a father does not suffice).
-We had not paid much attention to the timing of our route.
-Nor of the location of the road in relation to the river.

But let me begin.

We were dropped off in a nice little reserve-y place where we blew up our humble crafts (5 li-los), leapt aboard, and floated/bounded/splashed and writhed away. At first the li-los behaved somewhat like errant seahorses, bobbing up and down with us on their backs; but we soon had them tamed, and were able to lie back and cruise on downstream, paddling here and there to avoid the snags.

Tamed, I say, until they began to leak. And it got colder. A breeze blew. It rained a little. We'd been going probably a bit over an hour when the novelty was really starting to wear off (as was the circulation in Laura's arm, holding her leak shut). We floated past a house. At that stage I was still pretty determined to continue, but I did catch a couple of the others casting longing glances in that direction.

A little later, beginning to freeze (did I mention the day was somewhat lacking in sunshine?), we climbed out and peered about the countryside, looking for clues as to our location. A rocky, prickled field dissuaded us from attempting any short-cuts, and so we re-entered the murky depths and paddled on (backwards worked well).

Finally, about 2 hours in, and the end nowhere in sight, we bailed, crawling out and up the bank, our half-deflated li-los trailing behind us. No road to be seen, but we spied some powerlines and a hopeful-looking cluster of buildings, and made a beeline for them.

But THEN - you wanna hear the hitch? The field was covered in prickles. And the next field.
We painstakingly hopped and stumbled and tiptoed and squeaked our way over them. Han ended up tearing her t-shirt into strips and fashioning makeshift shoes for her and Laura.

Finally, we arrived at civilisation. We knocked at its door. It answered. An oldish lady came to our rescue, let us use the phone to call our lift (the dear father), and sympathically offered us shirts and water and towels and a lift to the main road. We declined the first two but accepted the lift and towels.

The sympathy began to wear a little thin, however, into some dressing-down:
"On li-los? Barefoot? What were you thinking?!"
"I'm sure you all deserve a flogging"..

And there were some awkward moments:
"So what schools do you all go to?" (Georgie, the youngest, leapt in - gamely saying she'd just finished at the Christian school last year. The rest of us exchanged looks which were a curious mix of hilarity and horror - we could not tell her that the majority of us were actually in our twenties!!)

But all's well that end's well - Dad arrived to rescue us, we waved goodbye to the angelic weathered face of civilisation, and limped home to hot showers and lunch. Happy days.


And I take it back. There is no reason to EVER reconsider river-floating. Even if your toes curl up and drop off due to frostbite and your feet are speared with thorns the size of your fist and you need to amputate..

Do it. It will still be worth it.

itsy-bitsy life..

"There is always an enormous temptation in all of life to diddle around making itsy-bitsy friends and meals and journeys for itsy-bitsy years on end. It is so self-conscious, so apparently moral, simply to step aside from the gaps where the creeks and winds pour down, saying, I never merited this grace, quite rightly, and then to sulk along the rest of your days on the edge of rage.

I won't have it. The world is wilder than that in all directions, more dangerous and bitter, more extravagant and bright. We are making hay when we should be making whoopee; we are raising tomatoes when we should be raising Cain, or Lazarus."

- Annie Dillard.

Man, the stuff this lady writes makes me go crazy inside. I reckon I'd go running through the streets throwing my hat into the air if I wore one!

Amor a Primera Vista (love at first sight)

I love San Cristobal de Las Casas. It is the loveliest little colonial town ever, set up in the mountains of Chiapas state. It´s so colourful and full of life.

I want to tell you about this guy I met this morning...

I went into the church in the main plaza, and sat down at the back to enjoy the peace and quiet. Next second, this mild-looking, middle-aged guy with a folder and newspaper comes up and asks if I believe in God. I say yes. He said that someone (I didn´t understand who) told him that he had 7 evil spirits in him. Then he started telling me how he see things and feels things that other people don´t, that he can tell when people are going to die, and sometimes sees accidents before they happen. He got quite emotional, nearly bursting into tears.
He asked if I wanted to know what age I was going to live to. I said no. He told me anyway. He kept asking if I believed him..I was like ´maybe, I don´t know.´I tried to say that it seemed real for him, that he believed in himself, but I couldn´t quite work out how to say it.

Then he hands me this love song that he said he wrote, and showed me a folder full of certificates and stuff to do with music. He made me read his resume - I didn´t catch much of it.

Then he asks if I believe in love at first sight.

And I say to myself ´oh crap, here we go again...´
On he went.. I ended up saying that I had a boyfriend, I couldn´t tell him who I was or where I lived, and that I had to go. Times like these I wish I´d just looked blank and said ´no hablo español´or ´no entiendo´at the start!

Anyway, I turned my back on his ever more miserable and desperate face and off I went, still holding his resume which he wouldn´t take back. ´If your boyfriend ever leaves you...´

Funny. Didn´t expect that in a church.

Epic Bike Ride

I had such a fun week in Costa Rica. Met cool people, went rafting and hiking and all sorts of fun things.. but I am just going to tell one story:

The Epic Bike Ride.

So we were in a little town called La Fortuna, just near Volcano Arenal - which is alive (CR is a scary place, it´s stuffed full of fire-breathing mountains!).
I and the 4 friends I was travelling with at the time were a bit tired of all the overpriced tours and so decided to explore Arenal our own way.
The problem with Arenal is that there isn´t really any transport around the place (apart from the aforementioned tours). After many extended debates of what to do, where to go and how to do it, we hired bikes, packed sandwiches, loaded up with several gallons of water, and took off for the rest of the day.
We´d asked the bike guys´advice, and he´d suggested going to a waterfall nearby. You had to pay to get in, though, and it wasn´t near the volcano. We asked how long it would take to ride around the outskirts of the mountain, to the lake.
"It´s a long way," he says, looking us up and down. "But you´re young and strong-looking" (I think he was mostly looking at the two 6-foot-something Swedes when he said this) "so I reckon you could manage it."
We set off.
Going up the first hill, I started to wonder if maybe this wasn´t going to be the pleasant day on the bike I´d visualised. Then there was another hill, and another, then a little down, then more up. And up. And up we went... we discovered all the quirks of our various bikes´gear systems (there were many). As the afternoon wore on, the hills seemed ever steeper. The pauses to admire the view grew longer. The waterbottles grew ever lighter. The sweat dripped ever quicker (yeah, still haven´t gotten the stains out of my shirt :P)..
Finally, all of a sudden, we had made it to the hot springs. These were not just any hot springs. These were not the builtup commercialised prettified super-expensified hot springs. No, for these, we had inside information. We ducked off the road right opposite the Tabacon Resort-thingy, under the bridge, and there it was. The loveliest little stream you ever saw, surrounded by forest, with little waterfalls, totally natural, and steaming hot!
We relaxed our aching muscles there for quite a while..
Then off again, circling round the volcano (which had its head in a cloud most of the time), to the lake. A couple of hours of solid biking, an hour or so of relaxing, and we had made it!!

We sipped coconuts from a stall there, took it all in, and discussed whether to venture the long road back. Would we make it by nightfall? We had no lights on our bikes, and there wasn´t any streetlights in the country..
We decided to give it our best shot.
We didn´t ride back, I think most of the time we flew. So much more downhill than we´d expected: Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

And we sailed into La Fortuna, triumphant, just as the light faded from the sky.

I think the roundtrip was about 30km. Such. A good day.