India Tour!

Last day in Delhi

2008-08-19T08:53:00.001-07:00

Today was my last day in Delhi, and tomorrow I'm flying out to Japan. It left me rather a very bad taste in my mouth... I mean, loosing $3 US was not really big of a deal... But what I really lost was time, since I was going to hit all the spot I wanted to see today. But I'm trying to think that things happen for a reason.

It's been eventful, hectic, and frustrating, and fun at the same time. Could it be better? Possibly. Will I do this again? Defiantly, well, except that 18 hours long bumpy as fuck ride back to Manali.

I tried, but have failed to make any good blog entries. That does not mean my trip was dull. As a matter of fact, it was far from it. I just haven't the chance because I've been way too busy enjoying my trip.

Tomorrow, I'll be in Japan. Where it's clean, orderly, no worries about getting ripped off ever. I've been doing very hard bargains here. There were so many things I wish I had it better here, but I'd much rather stay here forever than going to Japan. Why? I thought. Because there was freedom. I choose to go left, or right, or stay where I am. It was my choice and I loved every minute of it. I also realized a long time ago, my thoughts are always clear whenever I am in motion, moving and forwarding, going somewhere. I can't seem to think when I'm staying still.

It's all over now. It could be better, but that's alright.

Jaisalmer, sweet Polu and Gahji, and back to Delhi

2008-08-18T02:54:00.000-07:00

After spending some time in Jaipur, I am now heading to Jaisalmer. Shai's favorite place, where camels are, and I've got a place to sleep at a guest house, being ran by sweet Polu and Gahji. Thanks to Shai, I'm making my way ever so comfortably. Plenty of sleep while riding the train got me plenty of energy. Polu's got a place for only 50 rupis per night. He told me I arrived too late to do the camel safari, but managed to find me a jeep tour to the desert where I can ride a camel for a while and watch the sunset. Everyone seems to be at home at his place. We fall asleep on his rooftop with a cool desert breez at night. Next day, I had a chance to stroll around this beautiful city before my train ride. 19 hours later, here I am back in Delhi...

Mumbai, Shai, and Rajastan!!!

2008-08-15T08:49:00.000-07:00

After we came back from Himalaya mountain trip, I realized I've still got 9 more days left in India. Knowing that'd be too long to spend in Delhi alone, I decided to take everyone's suggestion and go visit Rajastan.

Since we decided to skip Shimla, I added one more destination on my trip--to see Shai in Mumbai, instead of having her come on over to see me in Delhi.

Shai was wonderful beyond compare. I had 1 1/2 day in Mumbai to see her. She was everything a girl can be. Pretty, smart, courageous, and loving. I was hesitant to spend $100+ for the flight since all train tickets were booked out, but it was more than worth the investment. She constantly fed me throughout the day, took me to cool places to show me around, and one of the most wonderful things that she did for me was to hook me up with my trip to Rajastan.

I did not know anything about foreign quorta. Despite all the train tickets were sold out, she managed to get me the night ticket with sleeping cart, including A/C to Jaipur, Jaisalmer, and to Delhi, all for $80.00!!!

Now I'm in Jaipur. Thanks to good night sleep and thanks to Shai, I am not tired and able to go on all day. After spending some time in Amber castle, I strolled arond market, and did some shopping.

Jaipur is simply beautiful. This must be the most exotic Indian place I have ever been since I got here. I cannot help feeling that I am in India. Now I'm about to get on the train to haed out to Jaisalmer to ride camels...

Change of plan

2008-08-08T01:29:00.000-07:00

We are about to head back tomorrow. Anne the Texan left this morning. She was such a great travel buddy who made our time so much more fun and I'll miss her greatly.

Now it is me, Avinash, and Elizabeth. Avinash is concerned about me with the altitude sickness, but from what I know, once you've been through it and recovered, you won't get it again so I assure him that I will be alright. In 2 days, we will be in Delhi again.

We have decieded to skip Shimla and heading directly back to Delhi, through Manali. Instead, I have decided to add one more destination on my trip and visit Shai in Mumbai. Since we didn't get to meet in Delhi, making one more place to visit and meeting her there instead of dragging her all the way out to Delhi seemed like a good idea. She even offered me a place to stay at her place so I'm all so greteful... After that, I'm planning to go to Rajastan and try out the camel safari around the desert area. It will be hot as hell there, but riding camel had been on my wish list for a very long time.

I really wanted to see cute yaks with fuzzy butts while I was here, but I haven't managed to see any but a couple that were brought over for a ride for the tourists. Oh well, I might be able to run into a couple more back in Manali and will sure take pictures of them.

Altitude Sickness

2008-08-06T07:40:00.000-07:00

So I thought I was going to be alright... It was nice to get away from heat and going into the Himalya mountains. I was fine in Manali, and I was fine in Keylong. The problem started when we entre Sarchu. I was running out of breath and started to feel dizzy.

I suppose, I was pushing myself a bit far when I was building the stone tower like everyone. Exhusted, I came to the tent we were staying at and collapsed. There I threw up and threw up. I felt so dehydrated but my stomach simply refused to keep anything down. Until next morning, until now, I'm not completly over my sickness yet. I feel a bit better, but not completly.

People who know me, know that I've got a bunch of my own theories. This is the theory I came up with altitude sickness. Due to lack of oxygen, the brain gets in panic mode and try to hoag as much oxygen as possible, leaving very little for the rest of the body. Digesting food would be the last thing the body would be concerned about. So stomach gets rid of everything inside, and doesn't allow anything to come in either. Unfortunatly, stomach does not distinguish ordinary food and water, the absolute necessity. I am able to keep the water down now, but I'm not about to chug it and take chance to throw up again.

So we are here, at the final destination of the Himalaya mountains, and I'll be heading to Rajastan upon return...

Delhi, Taj Mahal, and Himalaya mountains

2008-08-02T22:41:00.000-07:00

It's been 5 days since I arrived in India. So much happened I don't even know where to start. Starting from getting ripped off even before I reached my guest house, with taxi ride, with internet cafe, with a bottle of water.

There I met Anne the Texan, and Shilp the next day, strolled around Delhi somewhat, ate, and enjoyed their company. Anne will be traveling with me for a while along with Avinash and Elisabeth when they make it back to Delhi, but Shilp needs to go to a meeting so he was staying with us for only a couple days.

The next day we've decided to see Taj Mahal. I was so excited that I was having a hard time sleeping the night before. Sure as hell, it wasn't a disappointment. It'd been magnificent if the weather was a bit cooler, but hey, I'm in India.

It is so hot here. And humidity doesn't make it any better. It's quite dirty, smells, but I still love it here. I've never been to such an exotic place. Everywhere I turn, my senses are stimulated. The chaos doesn't really bother me. And besides, I love the food.

Having seen Taj Mahal, now Shilp, the big teddy bear is leaving us. Now I'm waiting for Avinash with Anne. I am waiting for him anxiously, for the fact his arrival means end of the heat in Delhi, and the beggining of our journey to my much waited Himalaya mountains...

When he finally showed up with his girlfriend Elisabeth, words can't describe I was delighted by how much. I spent my last night in Delhi, in Tibetan refugee colony, with Anne, and we headed out to join Avi and Elisabeth (almost got ripped off again with bicycle rickshaw but I managed not to).

It took 14 hours of bus ride. The scenary changed. Spending overnight inside the bus, my back was hurting like hell but I was still happy. The rest stop scenary is like one in Korea. The food, the parked buses, the people from everywhere.

And we've arrived to our first destination, Manali. The place where one can get ahold of the finest marijuana in this world. But I don't know about that. And I'm not about to find it out...

So here we are. And tomorrow we are off again to go further up on the mountains. We will see how it goes.

Finally!!! In India!

2008-07-29T19:03:00.000-07:00

I just made it as of last night. I had to stay in a hotel by the airport since the flight was early in the morning. I was hoping for the good night's sleep but due to the noise from hotel's nightclub, motion sensor light that turned on and off on its own, and mosquitos, I was pretty much staying up all night.

First stop was Narita airport in Tokyo, Japan. I guess there was no direct flight from Korea to India. As I am trying to take the connection tram to go to the other side of the airport to catch my connection flight, there was a mid-aged man with mustach, with a very serious look on his face. As crazy as it sounds, I thought...
"Oh, how cute!"
I always felt good vibe in Japanese environment. I don't know why.
I was exhusted from lack of sleep, but fortunately, the flight was empty, so I had my own row of sit to stretch out and get some sleep.

Now I'm in India. We'll see how it goes...

The day before the departure!

2008-07-27T18:52:00.000-07:00

I'll be done with my final out, tie the last end to depart to Incheon airport to spend overnight... And off to India... Since my flight departs at 8 o'clock in the morning, I opted to stay overnight in Incheon area in a hotel. There was going to be no way I'd make it on time if I departed from here. So I'll be packed up, mailing a bunch of stuff out, and take off with a shuttle bus. I wish I wasn't carrying around so much of work stuff (actually, it's not much but it's always additional weight on my back, inside my back pack), but what can I do? I wish I will have a good night sleep in the hotel, but not sure if it'd be possible because I'm exicted to no end.

Packing

2008-07-21T06:13:00.000-07:00

Has it been already over a month since my last entry?!

I've got exactly 1 week left to finally leave Korea. It is finally sinking in... I am getting out of here. My home country, I have spent over 19 years here total. Will I ever come back? Will I ever be able to feel at home then? How could I possibly do my tour here better? A lot of questions come in my mind.

I've been asking a lot of questions to myself as well... Until to this day, despite I've got many theories, I couldn't pin point the exact reason why I always have to travel. Of course, reasons can be many, from my father's DNA of wanderlust to my belief that there's always better world out there.

I constantly think about it. But there's nothing really out there that fires me up as packing up my stuff and leaving. No matter how tired, no matter how depressed, the moment I pack my bag and leave, my blood boils up once more. And this India trip is no exception. This is the most exotic destination of my choice so far.

Flight ticket was bought. My bag is almost packed. Tomorrow, packers are coming over and will ship my belongings to Japan.

Nothing really is left anymore...

I don't feel like dragging around my notebook computer either. It will only add more weight on my backpack and there really isn't any space either. So even my notebook will be packed up and shipped away, hence I'm not sure when will be my next entry...

Visa has arrived!!!

2008-06-09T02:45:00.000-07:00

Finally, I got my visa delivered. One step closer to my departure, everything's coming together slowly but surely... The sticker visa sure looks beautiful after paying $120. I do not understand why they needed 3 pages of space, when the sticker visa only took up the page of one!

Missed my passport!

2008-06-08T00:53:00.001-07:00

I missed out the phone call on Thursday. My passport was delivered here but since I didn't get to answer the phone call, I couldn't pickup my passport from the delivery guy. By the time I called him back, I was told he can come back on Monday, so I guess I'll have to wait. I do not know if visa will be on my passport. I'm sure it is... I can't hardly wait to see what $125 visa looks like.

I am changing... Something like this happened before and I'd loose my mind. But as of right now, I am in no hurry. Travel charge card had to be applied as well, and with the process of transferring from Bank of America to Citibank, god only knows how long it will take before I can actually purchase my ticket. And I'm not pulling my hair over it... It's just my luck. Had it been anyone else and it would've been so easy. I'm simply doing what I can, and wait...

It might be a purification process. All the stabbing, burning, harassing, insults, all that time I have simply survived... It is becoming more clear by days, what are my likes, and what are my dislikes. Who I exactly am, I'm not quite sure just yet.

One thing is for sure... I feel like not only fish out of water, but thrown onto the hot sand, in the middle of desert, under scorching sun, and forced to like it, and not knowing how to find my way to the coolness of the water.

One day, it came to me. Despite what I believed all my life, with my talent for drawing, with my love for art, I came to the conclusion I am not an artist material. Perhaps I was born to enjoy it, but not to create it. It might be the biggest tragedy, but certainly did not seem so, after I realized I am not at my best, when I draw, when I paint, when I sculpt, and when I design.

It became more clearer, rather than art, I prefer psychology and philosophy, yet still possess insatiable appetite for beauty that I cannot abandon. But does it matter...

And travel... A newfound passion of my life. For the past 8 and half years, I traveled like crazy all over Europe. I have seen quite a bit, and made quite a bit of friends as well. Sure it provided plenty of conversation topics with lots of situations, but I will have to wait and see if I can see the full effect of it.

"I'm working for right now, until I can run away again."

One wrote on his self-description. When I encountered the world of travel at the beginning, I could never understand what it meant, since I was always glad to be home, but now I can't agree with it more.

I was going through some major depression, upon my arrival to this place, upon everyone's departure, who were near and dear. And I cannot forget what Sab told me during that hard time.

"Remember, you will be in India soon. To see Avinash, to see Rhianeth. You will be with your friends again. Always remember, there are people who are happy to be with you. I miss you."

And she made a sign. She then took a picture, and sent it to me, which I thought couldn't be sweeter.

That's what I was missing out once more. To feel needed. I feel the love from my friends, and feeling loved feels good, because you feel like you are needed. That means, basically, they need you in their life in order to be happy. So that's why I feel like I need to feel needed.

I miss my friends, I miss my travel. I can't wait to hit the road again, and whenever I do, I always hope I will never have to return.

17 more pages in my passport...

2008-05-31T02:25:00.000-07:00

Since I had entire day to kill, I strolled around Seoul somewhat. What a day, what a beautiful day! I never realize the power of sunlight until I started living in Germany. It was November when I arrived there. After the long dark winter, Spring finally arrived. Often I had no choice but to get up early in the morning because my heart was pounding as if it was going to burst out of my chest.
"Get up! Get up! How could you sleep when the sun is out!"
So I get kicked out of the bed, take a shower, and got outside, not knowing where I will go or what I shall do.

The weather is fabulous, and I am in the middle of the city. How can anyone possibly not to like the pulse of the big city? After having fun strolling around, I decided to get a massage to kill some time.
"Oh, I wasn't sure if you were a Korean. I thought you were, but I really couldn't tell... I couldn't make up my mind, perhaps because you speak differently, but there's something very different about you." The massage lady tells me this. Being different... One of many specialties that I got...

Than I got to American embassy, turned in my passport at the cashier's cage. The cashier looks at me and speaks in English right away.
"It will be ready by 3:30."
"I'm sorry... But I really have to go to another embassy today. Is there any way it can be expedited?"
She immediately displays annoyed look on her face.
"I'm sorry, but the set time is 3:30!"
Inconsiderate unkind bitch. She knows I speak Korean. She is used to the citizenship holders who doesn't speak very good English. For those people, speaking in English intimidates them enough.

But it's one of the many occasions where I feel like people are trying to play tic tac toe with me while I'm playing chess. All the Koreans I see who keeps on trying to rub it off and show it off how much they have been Americanized, and how much they love it in the states, and how they can't wait to get back to the states. Here I am desperately holding onto my roots, my identity. I have realized that no matter how much I try, I am still a Korean. A 100%, purebred, full blooded, pedegree Korean who's got occasional cravings from hell for spicy food, who loves to sing and dance, emotional, poetic, and artistic. Now that I passed the point of multiple culture shocks, I have realized my identity is slowly being lost. I have traveled all over Europe. I have lived in 6 different countries so far. I have exchanged ideas and opinions from conversations I had with my friends all over the world who I met through my traveling. I am past the point of trying to be somebody else. I'm trying to be me again. I eat traditional Korean food as much as I possibly can because I wouldn't know when I will eat it next time once I'm out of here. I try to do as many Korean stuff as possible because I know my stay in my home country will come to an end much sooner than later. After all, it will be less than 2 months until I'm out of here! And I was accused for not being able to adopt to America, can never get away from being Korean and will never have it in any other way but Korean way. Hmmmmm...

OK, I know none of you will ever be able to understand. I have a feeling none of my Korean friends will be reading this.

Anyhoo, after strolling around in Secret Garden to kill some time, I stopped by the embassy and my passport was ready. So I immediatly took a taxi and headed to Indian embassy. I arrived around 3:33, and the door was shut.

Closed.
I can't come back anymore. Today is the last day I have it off. Application and passport in my hand, I stood there with tears in my eyes. And the clerk came out and asks me if I needed anything.
"Sorry... I'm so sorry... But I really need the visa. I won't be able to come back tomorrow. Is there anything that can be done today? I got turned away because there wasn't enough space on my passport. I just came from American embassy. Sorry... But what can I do to get visa today?"
"Aww... Come on in! Come on in! Everything will be alright. Don't worry. We'll see what we can do for you."
He takes my application and checks to see if everything's good to go. He puts it with other applications and tells me not to worry, visa will be taken care of and will be delivered 1 week later.
"Thank you. Thank you so much!"
Same Koreans. Yet so different. The difference was one works in American embassy as a cashier and the other works in Indian embassy as an application clerk. It seems as if anyone who is associated with American embassy automatically turns into bitchs from hell. It was the same way when I went to American embassy in Frankfurt. This goddamned bitch had a very thick German accent and whenever people didn't understand what she was saying, she was yelling and screaming at everyone and basically gave out the attitude "if you fuck with me I will get you kicked out of here! And there's absolutely nothing you can do about it!" I still wish she got fired and receives the same treatment she gave out while she was in embassy. Some people really are alive only because it's illigal to kill them (but if she was on meno pause or permanently PMSing I will cut her some slack).

...And people wonder why I try to stay away from anything that is "too American," mm...

So, all is done. I am getting one step closer to going India. To hit the road once more. To visit the world I belong once more. The world with open road, excitement of the unknown. The world where nobody is above nor below me. Far away from everything that was hassling me. Where past never matters. Where all my worries consist of the most primal basic issues like where I'll sleep or where my next meal will come from. And my friends! All with massive exotic fetish, can speak more than two languages (well, most of us anyway, just look at Bennay, he speaks 8!) and can hardly be interested in where they belong. We resent familiarity. Avinash, Shai, just wait a little more. Rhian, oh how long had it been since we have seen each other! India, here I come!!!

The preparation...

2008-05-25T21:50:00.000-07:00

I've never been to any country where American passport doesn't cover... yet. Well, there's first time for everything I suppose.

After filling in pain in the royal ass paperwork, I headed to Indian embassy in Seoul. And I got turned away because...

I DIDN'T HAVE ENOUGH SPACE ON MY PASSPORT FOR THEM TO PUT VISA!

Who in the world would've thought they needed as many as 3 mother fucking pages on my passport just to put goddamned stickers, dammit!

Anyhoo, so I am enjoying a sunny day out in Seoul, since I've got an entire day to kill, and taking it easy. Found a motel room that costed me only 25,000 won in the middle of Seoul so that wasn't a bad deal at all. Maybe this trip really will be worth it..