Namaste!!
So, as you may already know, we left Nepal last Monday and headed back to India. As soon as we set foot in Delhi, we wanted to leave. Of course, this was always the plan, but still... Delhi is awful. It's hectic, pushy, mean, and just downright horrible. We went straight to the train station, where we were redirected to the tourist office, where we were redirected to the Government Tourist Office... there, although we still felt like we were being scammed (we probably were), we paid a somewhat exorbitant amount of money for a personal chauffeur and car for the week we are spending in India. Although it was a lot of money, we think it has been worth it... Sanju, our driver, is friendly, speaks good English and is a surprisingly safe driver.
So, on Monday night at around 2 am, we arrived in Jaipur, the Pink City. We were supposed to go sightseeing on Tuesday, but Steph somehow managed to get a 103 fever and major puking issues, so that got put off. We did go out that night, however, and sat through a 3 hour Hindi movie which we absolutely did not understand. It was cool, though, because the theatre looks like a giant pink cream puff, the inside looks like a really fancy reception hall, and watching the people watch the movie was priceless. They laughed out loud, they clapped, they hooted, they talked on their cell phones. It was wonderful. The next day, we started out with a visit to the Amber Fort. It's supposedly made of "pink" sandstone, but it was considerably less pink than everything else around. It's up on top of a hill overlooking the city and a very cool place to visit, but we think the term Fort is probably pushing it... seemed more like a palace to us... not very strong at all.
Next, we went to see the water palace. While we could only view this from afar (it's in the middle of a lake and only the king goes there with his girlfriends), it was super cool. The palace sits on a platform in the middle of the lake but, when the water is high, it looks like it is sinking. There's really no good way to describe it, so we'll ask you to google it or wait to see the photos.
After that, we went to see the City Palace. It was pretty freaking lame. Pink, admittedly, which helps, but otherwise lame. So we will not elaborate. We did, however, see a palm reader there, which was fun. We now know exactly how long we will live, when we will get married, how many kids we will have, and how "rich" we will be. This is, of course, an exact science, so if all does not go as planned, we will be flying back to India to hunt this guy down.
The next day, we headed to Ranthambhore, for a safari through their national park. The main attraction here is, naturally, the elusive tiger. We did not, however, see or hear one, so we were sorely disappointed. If there had been anything else to see in the park, it might have made it slightly more exciting, but as it stands, we saw all the best wildlife in the street on the way there - camels, pigs, dogs, sheep. Real wild. As there is literally nothing else to do in Ranthambhore and we got back from the safari at 9 am, we spent the rest of the day alternately sleeping, eating and watching the one English channel on our TV. We watched countless episodes of Glee, Criminal Minds and Master Chef Australia. Riveting stuff.
Today, we hopped in our private car and drove the 6 hours to Agra, home of the Taj Mahal. We settled into the hotel, went for lunch, then headed to the Taj for sunset. It was awesome!!!!! The Taj Mahal always seemed like something that was so far removed from reality that you could never actually end up there, looking it straight on and getting close enough to tough. But we were, and it was really surreal. They say that, once it was completed, the king who had it built chopped off the hands of everyone who worked on it so that it could never be recreated. Having now seen it in person, we totally condone this move... it's really one of a kind. Of course, being the tourists we are, we also paid 100 rupees (2 dollars) to have our photos taken by a "professional" and have it look like we are holding the building up. Very clever.
Tomorrow morning, we are already leaving Agra and heading back to Delhi. There, we are living in the lap of luxury (thanks to the Ladner parentals) for 2 days (and absolutely not leaving the hotel - see paragraph 1) then coming home on Tuesday. On Monday night, we will post a final list of all the crazy stuff we've seen so far, so be sure to check that out!!
See you soon!
Steph and Kas
Saturday, August 7, 2010
Sunday, August 1, 2010
Namaste Nepal, Pheri Betaula
Namaste!
So, for the past 3 days, we have been getting up at 5 o'clock for various reasons and we are here to tell you that it basically sucks.
On Friday, we got up at five and hauled our asses to the airport, where we were supposed to board a flight and get outstanding views of the Himalayas and, more importantly, Mount Everest. Unfortunately, the weather was crappy (as should be expected in monsoon season, I suppose) so the flight was canceled. We rescheduled it and headed home for what we felt was a well-deserved nap. Later that afternoon, we headed out to Pashupatinath, Kathmandu's most important Hindu temple. Only Hindus are allowed into the main part, so we had to stick to the outskirts, but we did get to witness a Buddhist cremation ceremony (why would they do this at a Hindu temple, you ask? Well, we don't know... but there is one side for Hindus and one for Buddhists). The ceremony was quite depressing, as it was a funeral, but very interesting at the same time. Kas got it all on tape (despite Steph's insistence that it was slightly intrusive to film a grieving family) so if anyone wants to see it, you will be able to do so in ten days' time. As we were leaving the temple, we met a Sadhu who told us he could lift a 50 pound rocks with his penis. Although some people feel that this should never be done or seen (Steph), others are desperate to witness it (Kas) so we stuck around. The Sadhu proceeded to remove all his clothing and tie his underwear into something resembling a rope. He then tied his "rope" around the rock like a sling and hooked the other end halfway onto his shaft. He then grabbed the end of his penis with his hand and lifted. It was shocking, to say the least, and only photos can truly convey the nature of the experience.
On Saturday, it was another 5 o'clock morning, but this one was well worth it. At 5:45, we met a group of people at the Last Resort office in Thamel. We hopped on a bus and, 4 hours and a flat tire later, arrived at the Tibetan border where we would be bungee jumping. We got off the bus and crossed a rickety suspension bridge to the resort for our safety instructions, all the while looking down and realizing that, holy shit, this is where we have to jump from. At 160 metres high, this is the highest bungee jump in Asia and the longest canyon swing free-fall. When we were ready to get started, we headed out onto the bridge again, where they strapped us in one by one to send us on our way - down, that is. While we awaited our turn, we were left standing on this very high bridge, swinging in the wind and rendered that much worse by all the son-to-be jumpers craning over one side to get a glimpse of others jumping before them and a glimmer of hope from their non-death. As we swayed back and forth in the wind, the canyon filled with echoing screams from fellow bungee-ers. The anticipation very nearly killed us.
Our first jump was the canyon swing. They strapped us in to a full-body harness (one at a time, of course) with a rope, not an elastic, firmly attached to our midsection. Then, we were asked to walk to the edge of a very narrow platform and, on the count of "3, 2, 1, Swing!", jump off with our feet leading the way. We then proceeded to free-fall into a rocky gorge and raging river for a full 8 seconds before the rope finally kicked in and swung us nice and smoothly, back and forth over the gorge a few times until a rope was finally sent out our way and we were able to reel ourselves back in. Of course, 8 seconds sounds like nothing. In our minds, it goes by in the snap of our fingers. But in a moment when you are plummeting down over rocky crags and raging waters, those 8 seconds stretch into an eternity and you can't help but think "Shouldn't this rope be working by now?"
Our second jump was the bungee jump. At this point, we couldn't decide whether this would be more or less scary than the swing (we still can't!). This time, we were harnessed in with nothing but a glorified elastic tied between our ankles. This time we had to waddle to the very edge of the platform with a surprisingly familiar feeling of walking the plank and being thrown to the sharks. On "3, 2, 1, Bungee!" we now had to jump face first, more like a dive, directly into this crazy canyon. The free-fall is about 3 seconds long before the elastic finally springs into life and saves you from what was sure to be a horrific death. A few bounces later, a giant bamboo stick materialized before our eyes and lowered us onto solid ground.
Of course, when we signed up for this, we knew we were doing something crazy, perhaps even stupid. What we didn't know was that the walk back up to the bridge is just as treacherous as the jumps themselves. At the bottom of the gorge, we stood before an incredibly steep, leech-infested, water-slicked path leading all the way back up those 160 metres we'd just cleared in less than a minute.
This morning, our third 5 am start in as many days, we headed back to the airport for our second attempt at the mountain flight. Success! We got on the plane at 7:45 and, within 15 minutes, had a full view of the Himalayas. Everest came and went and, an hour later we touched back down in Kathmandu. We would go on and on about the flight and how cool the sights were, but we think we will let the pictures do the talking when we get home.
Tomorrow, we are off to India for Pink Cities, Taj Mahal, and a few moments of luxury before heading home on the 10th.
See you soon!!
Steph and Kas
So, for the past 3 days, we have been getting up at 5 o'clock for various reasons and we are here to tell you that it basically sucks.
On Friday, we got up at five and hauled our asses to the airport, where we were supposed to board a flight and get outstanding views of the Himalayas and, more importantly, Mount Everest. Unfortunately, the weather was crappy (as should be expected in monsoon season, I suppose) so the flight was canceled. We rescheduled it and headed home for what we felt was a well-deserved nap. Later that afternoon, we headed out to Pashupatinath, Kathmandu's most important Hindu temple. Only Hindus are allowed into the main part, so we had to stick to the outskirts, but we did get to witness a Buddhist cremation ceremony (why would they do this at a Hindu temple, you ask? Well, we don't know... but there is one side for Hindus and one for Buddhists). The ceremony was quite depressing, as it was a funeral, but very interesting at the same time. Kas got it all on tape (despite Steph's insistence that it was slightly intrusive to film a grieving family) so if anyone wants to see it, you will be able to do so in ten days' time. As we were leaving the temple, we met a Sadhu who told us he could lift a 50 pound rocks with his penis. Although some people feel that this should never be done or seen (Steph), others are desperate to witness it (Kas) so we stuck around. The Sadhu proceeded to remove all his clothing and tie his underwear into something resembling a rope. He then tied his "rope" around the rock like a sling and hooked the other end halfway onto his shaft. He then grabbed the end of his penis with his hand and lifted. It was shocking, to say the least, and only photos can truly convey the nature of the experience.
On Saturday, it was another 5 o'clock morning, but this one was well worth it. At 5:45, we met a group of people at the Last Resort office in Thamel. We hopped on a bus and, 4 hours and a flat tire later, arrived at the Tibetan border where we would be bungee jumping. We got off the bus and crossed a rickety suspension bridge to the resort for our safety instructions, all the while looking down and realizing that, holy shit, this is where we have to jump from. At 160 metres high, this is the highest bungee jump in Asia and the longest canyon swing free-fall. When we were ready to get started, we headed out onto the bridge again, where they strapped us in one by one to send us on our way - down, that is. While we awaited our turn, we were left standing on this very high bridge, swinging in the wind and rendered that much worse by all the son-to-be jumpers craning over one side to get a glimpse of others jumping before them and a glimmer of hope from their non-death. As we swayed back and forth in the wind, the canyon filled with echoing screams from fellow bungee-ers. The anticipation very nearly killed us.
Our first jump was the canyon swing. They strapped us in to a full-body harness (one at a time, of course) with a rope, not an elastic, firmly attached to our midsection. Then, we were asked to walk to the edge of a very narrow platform and, on the count of "3, 2, 1, Swing!", jump off with our feet leading the way. We then proceeded to free-fall into a rocky gorge and raging river for a full 8 seconds before the rope finally kicked in and swung us nice and smoothly, back and forth over the gorge a few times until a rope was finally sent out our way and we were able to reel ourselves back in. Of course, 8 seconds sounds like nothing. In our minds, it goes by in the snap of our fingers. But in a moment when you are plummeting down over rocky crags and raging waters, those 8 seconds stretch into an eternity and you can't help but think "Shouldn't this rope be working by now?"
Our second jump was the bungee jump. At this point, we couldn't decide whether this would be more or less scary than the swing (we still can't!). This time, we were harnessed in with nothing but a glorified elastic tied between our ankles. This time we had to waddle to the very edge of the platform with a surprisingly familiar feeling of walking the plank and being thrown to the sharks. On "3, 2, 1, Bungee!" we now had to jump face first, more like a dive, directly into this crazy canyon. The free-fall is about 3 seconds long before the elastic finally springs into life and saves you from what was sure to be a horrific death. A few bounces later, a giant bamboo stick materialized before our eyes and lowered us onto solid ground.
Of course, when we signed up for this, we knew we were doing something crazy, perhaps even stupid. What we didn't know was that the walk back up to the bridge is just as treacherous as the jumps themselves. At the bottom of the gorge, we stood before an incredibly steep, leech-infested, water-slicked path leading all the way back up those 160 metres we'd just cleared in less than a minute.
This morning, our third 5 am start in as many days, we headed back to the airport for our second attempt at the mountain flight. Success! We got on the plane at 7:45 and, within 15 minutes, had a full view of the Himalayas. Everest came and went and, an hour later we touched back down in Kathmandu. We would go on and on about the flight and how cool the sights were, but we think we will let the pictures do the talking when we get home.
Tomorrow, we are off to India for Pink Cities, Taj Mahal, and a few moments of luxury before heading home on the 10th.
See you soon!!
Steph and Kas
Sunday, July 25, 2010
Air, Sea, and Land
Namaste!
Before we begin, let us make it clear that the E on this keyboard is really quite finicky, so we cannot be held responsible for typos of that nature. We will, however, take the blame for the rest of them.
This past week, we have undertaken a bunch of activities which have taken us up high and down low. The first of these was Paragliding. We had booked this adventure waaaaayyy in advance, but it kept getting canceled because of the weather (obviously, no one will ask you to jump off a cliff if the wind is bad). Then, out of the blue one day, our volunteer coordinator was at our door at the orphanage telling us that we had to leave right now to go Paragliding. We hurried into appropriate flying gear (i.e. real shoes, with socks and everything) and rushed out the door. Then, we waited 45 minutes at the paragliding office, of course. A somewhat sickening 20 minute drive later and we were at the top of a hill in Sarangkot, ready to leap off, entrusting our lives to a very pretty parachute. The flight took us over the town of Sarangkot and gave us great views over Phewa Tal, the lake that defines Pokhara. We flew and flew for about 30 minutes (just enough for Steph to start feling nauseous) then landed right on the edge of the lake. Very cool, indeed!
A few days later, we packed up our stuff and headed to Chitwan National Park for the weekend. On the way there, we got dropped off on the bank of the Trisuli River. There, we were supposed to go white water rafting. Unfortunately, Kas was unable to join us because he had some kind of weird finger infection/ingrown nail/puss-filled fingertip and he felt sick from it. He told Steph to go on without him, so she did and, though she tried to not fully admit this to Kas (to make him feel better, you know), it was freakin' awesome. Because we are in the middle of the monsoon, the rapids were at their highest and fastest. One minute, we were sitting in the middle of a nice quiet pool, floating along nice and slowly, then suddenly the water seemed to want to swallow you whole and huge waves were being thrown your way. Although we nevr actually feared for our lives, there was a fair amount of screaming involved.
Chitwan was a furthr hour down the road - an hour which Kas chose to spend on the roof of the bus, at the expense of his hair and (relative) cleanliness. When we arrived in Chitwan we were spoiled with a very tasty dinner of God-knows what vegetarian dish, then we just went to bed for the night. Finger infections and rafting can really knock you out.
The next day, our day was completely action packed. We started out at 6 am with a canoe ride. This would have been uneventful if one of the othr volunteers hadn't been freaking out (in a funny, not annoying, way) about the integrity of our boat (fair enough) and the fact that there were crocodiles in the water. Sh kept saying "Oh no... alligators!", to which our guide replied patiently "No, no, they're just crocodiles". When we exited our canoe, we headed out on a jungle walk, but not before hearing a short security briefing - "If we come face to face with a rhino, run". Fortunately, or unfortunately, no such thing happend, but we did get to see a rhino from a distance (big enough that we didn't have to run!).
The jungle walk took us to the Elephant Breeding Centre, which was cool because we got to meet a set of 1 and a half year-old baby elephant twins. They are th first elephant twins born in Nepal, th second in Asia, and the third in the world. Pretty sweet.
From there, we took a jeep to the lake, where we got to participate in elephant bathing. SO FREAKING COOL!!!! The elephants come down to the lake evry morning to wash and, when there are tourists (probably always), they take them on their backs and into the bath. As we sat there on their backs, they would gather a trunkful of water, then splash it onto thir backs and us. It was incredibly rfrshing and probably the best way to shower evr of all time. The only problem is that, when the elephant has had enough, it just plops itself down in the river, letting you tumble down as well... it requires some pretty quick thinking to get yourself out from under th elephant before it's too late!!
That afternoon, we got back on the elephants for a safari. At first, it was very calm... a slow stroll through the jungle, spotting a few rhinos, taking a few photos... whatever. Then, in the middle of the jungle, the elephants stopped. We heard a huge roar, then saw a bunch of deer run frantically our of a clump of trees. Th elephants started freaking out, trumpeting, stomping the ground and turning in circles. Our guides also kind of started to freak out and so, needless to say, did we. Much as we would have loved to see a tiger, a nice, sleeping one would have been fine for us! Unfortunately, or fortunately, we didn't actually see this one, but it's pretty certain we won't be forgetting its voice!!!
The next day, we headed back to Pokhara on the roof of a different bus to finish off our volunteer stint. On Friday, our last day at the orphanage (already!) we took all th kids out to a restaurant. This seems lik nothing, but for most of them, it was their first tim ever. They were so cute... they got all dolled up in their Sunday best (genitalia-free clothes) washed their faces and started asking us if it was time to go as of 2 o'clock in the afternoon!! At the restaurant, we ate buffalo momos (dumplings), pizza and onion rings. Most of the kids had never had any of this, so it was pretty funny to watch some of them... try to imagine Manoj, putting his entire slice of pizza on his fork and trying to eat it sideways... priceless! At the end of the evening, we got a big THANK YOU from the kids, which is really something sinc, in Nepali culture, peopl don't say thank you unless you've really done something exceptional for them. When we got back to the orphanage after dinner, we put the kids to bed and said our final goodbyes. Much to our surprise, these had to be hurried a little at the end, because we wer getting all choked up and teary-eyed. We're really gonna miss those kids!!!!!
We're hanging out in Pokhara for a few more days (in a hotel with actual SOFT beds), then we'r back to Kathmandu for some serious shopping, then off to India before coming home.
We'll lt you know how it goes!!!
Steph and Kas
Before we begin, let us make it clear that the E on this keyboard is really quite finicky, so we cannot be held responsible for typos of that nature. We will, however, take the blame for the rest of them.
This past week, we have undertaken a bunch of activities which have taken us up high and down low. The first of these was Paragliding. We had booked this adventure waaaaayyy in advance, but it kept getting canceled because of the weather (obviously, no one will ask you to jump off a cliff if the wind is bad). Then, out of the blue one day, our volunteer coordinator was at our door at the orphanage telling us that we had to leave right now to go Paragliding. We hurried into appropriate flying gear (i.e. real shoes, with socks and everything) and rushed out the door. Then, we waited 45 minutes at the paragliding office, of course. A somewhat sickening 20 minute drive later and we were at the top of a hill in Sarangkot, ready to leap off, entrusting our lives to a very pretty parachute. The flight took us over the town of Sarangkot and gave us great views over Phewa Tal, the lake that defines Pokhara. We flew and flew for about 30 minutes (just enough for Steph to start feling nauseous) then landed right on the edge of the lake. Very cool, indeed!
A few days later, we packed up our stuff and headed to Chitwan National Park for the weekend. On the way there, we got dropped off on the bank of the Trisuli River. There, we were supposed to go white water rafting. Unfortunately, Kas was unable to join us because he had some kind of weird finger infection/ingrown nail/puss-filled fingertip and he felt sick from it. He told Steph to go on without him, so she did and, though she tried to not fully admit this to Kas (to make him feel better, you know), it was freakin' awesome. Because we are in the middle of the monsoon, the rapids were at their highest and fastest. One minute, we were sitting in the middle of a nice quiet pool, floating along nice and slowly, then suddenly the water seemed to want to swallow you whole and huge waves were being thrown your way. Although we nevr actually feared for our lives, there was a fair amount of screaming involved.
Chitwan was a furthr hour down the road - an hour which Kas chose to spend on the roof of the bus, at the expense of his hair and (relative) cleanliness. When we arrived in Chitwan we were spoiled with a very tasty dinner of God-knows what vegetarian dish, then we just went to bed for the night. Finger infections and rafting can really knock you out.
The next day, our day was completely action packed. We started out at 6 am with a canoe ride. This would have been uneventful if one of the othr volunteers hadn't been freaking out (in a funny, not annoying, way) about the integrity of our boat (fair enough) and the fact that there were crocodiles in the water. Sh kept saying "Oh no... alligators!", to which our guide replied patiently "No, no, they're just crocodiles". When we exited our canoe, we headed out on a jungle walk, but not before hearing a short security briefing - "If we come face to face with a rhino, run". Fortunately, or unfortunately, no such thing happend, but we did get to see a rhino from a distance (big enough that we didn't have to run!).
The jungle walk took us to the Elephant Breeding Centre, which was cool because we got to meet a set of 1 and a half year-old baby elephant twins. They are th first elephant twins born in Nepal, th second in Asia, and the third in the world. Pretty sweet.
From there, we took a jeep to the lake, where we got to participate in elephant bathing. SO FREAKING COOL!!!! The elephants come down to the lake evry morning to wash and, when there are tourists (probably always), they take them on their backs and into the bath. As we sat there on their backs, they would gather a trunkful of water, then splash it onto thir backs and us. It was incredibly rfrshing and probably the best way to shower evr of all time. The only problem is that, when the elephant has had enough, it just plops itself down in the river, letting you tumble down as well... it requires some pretty quick thinking to get yourself out from under th elephant before it's too late!!
That afternoon, we got back on the elephants for a safari. At first, it was very calm... a slow stroll through the jungle, spotting a few rhinos, taking a few photos... whatever. Then, in the middle of the jungle, the elephants stopped. We heard a huge roar, then saw a bunch of deer run frantically our of a clump of trees. Th elephants started freaking out, trumpeting, stomping the ground and turning in circles. Our guides also kind of started to freak out and so, needless to say, did we. Much as we would have loved to see a tiger, a nice, sleeping one would have been fine for us! Unfortunately, or fortunately, we didn't actually see this one, but it's pretty certain we won't be forgetting its voice!!!
The next day, we headed back to Pokhara on the roof of a different bus to finish off our volunteer stint. On Friday, our last day at the orphanage (already!) we took all th kids out to a restaurant. This seems lik nothing, but for most of them, it was their first tim ever. They were so cute... they got all dolled up in their Sunday best (genitalia-free clothes) washed their faces and started asking us if it was time to go as of 2 o'clock in the afternoon!! At the restaurant, we ate buffalo momos (dumplings), pizza and onion rings. Most of the kids had never had any of this, so it was pretty funny to watch some of them... try to imagine Manoj, putting his entire slice of pizza on his fork and trying to eat it sideways... priceless! At the end of the evening, we got a big THANK YOU from the kids, which is really something sinc, in Nepali culture, peopl don't say thank you unless you've really done something exceptional for them. When we got back to the orphanage after dinner, we put the kids to bed and said our final goodbyes. Much to our surprise, these had to be hurried a little at the end, because we wer getting all choked up and teary-eyed. We're really gonna miss those kids!!!!!
We're hanging out in Pokhara for a few more days (in a hotel with actual SOFT beds), then we'r back to Kathmandu for some serious shopping, then off to India before coming home.
We'll lt you know how it goes!!!
Steph and Kas
Saturday, July 10, 2010
Meet Our Orphans (or at least read about them)!!
Namaste (that's the one word we know, so you better get used to it)!
So we arrived in Pokhara on Sunday and went straight to the orphanage where we will be volunteering for the next little while. There are only 7 kids living there, but it took us little to no time to figure them out. Here's a very high school yearbook-style rundown of who's most likely to do what:
Most Likely to Work in the Sex Trade (of her own free will) - Susmita
What to say about Susmita? She loves to straddle things... it's a little shocking. More often than not, she is not wearing underwear (most of them don't) and rubbing her crotch up on the corner of the table, on our legs, or any other place she can find. She also likes to breatsfeed the other children for no apparent reason.
Most Likely to Walk a Marathon - Shristi
Slow and steady wins the race with Shristi. She does everything the other kids do, but waaaayyy slower. This works out in her favour, though, as she generally has more energy than the rest of them at the end of the day. Our favourite thing to do is watch her eat. While the others are shovelling food into their mouths as fast as the posibly can, she is slowly eating her rice. Only thing is, she probably eats twice as much as anyone else! Trixy little minx!!
Most Likely to Win and Ironman Contest (or grow up with brain damage) - Samrat
The reason we give Samrat both of these "most likelys" is because of how he gets manhandled by the other kids. Samrat is 1 - just had his birthday on Monday - and the other kids love to pick him up... they are not, however, very gentle at all, so he often gets pulled up by the armpits, dragged along the floor, or dropped on the head. Most of the time, he doesn't even make a sound... and when he does cry, it's for a total of about 3 minutes. This is why we reckon he'll either win the ironman competition, or be dropped on his head one to many times to make it that far.
Most Likely to Wind Up in Jail (or a Mafia Boss) - Biraj
Biraj is definitely the ring-leader/shit-disturber at the orphanage. He's always doing mean things to the other kids and somehow managing to get them into trouble for it. It is also worth noting that Biraj absolutely does not an indoor voice. He yells. Always.
Most Likely to Win a Beauty Pageant - Mamata
Not only does Mamata have gorgeous eyes, but she walks and talks like a beauty queen would. She's slow and graceful and always seems to be considering you, whether you are eating your daal bhat, playing with the other kids, or talking to her straight on.
Most Likely to End up in Anger Management - Manoj
Manoj is a real cuddlebug. He's loves to sidle up to us and cuddle... which is awkward because he's always really wet and he has a very warm crotch. Other than this, though, Manoj has quite a tendancy to freak out at the other kids and hit them out of the blue. We try to stop him every time, but seeing as how he doesn't understand a word we say, this is a bit difficult.
Most Likely to Break Steph's Heart with the Things He's Seen in his 10 year Life - Narayan
Narayan is the oldest kid at the orphanage. He is ten, and helps the house mother run the place. He makes us sad because he is always being asked to do work, while the other kids play around. Also, up until recently, Narayan was living on the street, so you have to know that can't have been easy and that he's seen way too many bad things for his age. Narayan is awesome, though, and if we were going to sneak a child home in our suitcase, we think it would probably be him.
So those are our orphans. We love them to death. Aside from how lovely they are, there are two other things worth noting.
1) Kasra has a sinus infection which has caused his nose to swell up to twice (maybe three times) its normal size. He looks like a caroon character who has been punched in the nose. If he wasn't in so much pain, it would be really quite funny. He's on at least 7 different kinds of medications, so he should be ok in no time.
2) We see waaaayyyy too much genitalia at the orphanage. The girls never wear underwear under their dresses, so Kas is always freaking out. The boys like to whip our their junk and pee at every opportunity. The baby has at least three pairs of pants with holes running from one knee to the next, which, of course, means that his penis is hanging out all the time. On top of that, they are always sitting him around the place like this... on the table (where we eat, by the way), on the floor, on the balcony. We're pretty sure his package has touched every imaginable surface of the place.
The genitals thing has become so blase that, the other day, Steph was sitting at the kitchen table, while two kids sat on top of it. The girl decided to sit cross-legged, exposing her hoo-ha. Before she had a chance to cover it up (which she did - good for her!), the boy stuck his fingers in it!!!!!!!!!!!! We couldn't even make something like this up, it was so shocking!!! Steph didn't know what to do (certainly, in Canada, it would have been a huge deal!), so she quickly moved his hand from there and then washed her hands. So weird.
Well, there's your genitals story for the day. Have a good one!!
Steph and Kas
So we arrived in Pokhara on Sunday and went straight to the orphanage where we will be volunteering for the next little while. There are only 7 kids living there, but it took us little to no time to figure them out. Here's a very high school yearbook-style rundown of who's most likely to do what:
Most Likely to Work in the Sex Trade (of her own free will) - Susmita
What to say about Susmita? She loves to straddle things... it's a little shocking. More often than not, she is not wearing underwear (most of them don't) and rubbing her crotch up on the corner of the table, on our legs, or any other place she can find. She also likes to breatsfeed the other children for no apparent reason.
Most Likely to Walk a Marathon - Shristi
Slow and steady wins the race with Shristi. She does everything the other kids do, but waaaayyy slower. This works out in her favour, though, as she generally has more energy than the rest of them at the end of the day. Our favourite thing to do is watch her eat. While the others are shovelling food into their mouths as fast as the posibly can, she is slowly eating her rice. Only thing is, she probably eats twice as much as anyone else! Trixy little minx!!
Most Likely to Win and Ironman Contest (or grow up with brain damage) - Samrat
The reason we give Samrat both of these "most likelys" is because of how he gets manhandled by the other kids. Samrat is 1 - just had his birthday on Monday - and the other kids love to pick him up... they are not, however, very gentle at all, so he often gets pulled up by the armpits, dragged along the floor, or dropped on the head. Most of the time, he doesn't even make a sound... and when he does cry, it's for a total of about 3 minutes. This is why we reckon he'll either win the ironman competition, or be dropped on his head one to many times to make it that far.
Most Likely to Wind Up in Jail (or a Mafia Boss) - Biraj
Biraj is definitely the ring-leader/shit-disturber at the orphanage. He's always doing mean things to the other kids and somehow managing to get them into trouble for it. It is also worth noting that Biraj absolutely does not an indoor voice. He yells. Always.
Most Likely to Win a Beauty Pageant - Mamata
Not only does Mamata have gorgeous eyes, but she walks and talks like a beauty queen would. She's slow and graceful and always seems to be considering you, whether you are eating your daal bhat, playing with the other kids, or talking to her straight on.
Most Likely to End up in Anger Management - Manoj
Manoj is a real cuddlebug. He's loves to sidle up to us and cuddle... which is awkward because he's always really wet and he has a very warm crotch. Other than this, though, Manoj has quite a tendancy to freak out at the other kids and hit them out of the blue. We try to stop him every time, but seeing as how he doesn't understand a word we say, this is a bit difficult.
Most Likely to Break Steph's Heart with the Things He's Seen in his 10 year Life - Narayan
Narayan is the oldest kid at the orphanage. He is ten, and helps the house mother run the place. He makes us sad because he is always being asked to do work, while the other kids play around. Also, up until recently, Narayan was living on the street, so you have to know that can't have been easy and that he's seen way too many bad things for his age. Narayan is awesome, though, and if we were going to sneak a child home in our suitcase, we think it would probably be him.
So those are our orphans. We love them to death. Aside from how lovely they are, there are two other things worth noting.
1) Kasra has a sinus infection which has caused his nose to swell up to twice (maybe three times) its normal size. He looks like a caroon character who has been punched in the nose. If he wasn't in so much pain, it would be really quite funny. He's on at least 7 different kinds of medications, so he should be ok in no time.
2) We see waaaayyyy too much genitalia at the orphanage. The girls never wear underwear under their dresses, so Kas is always freaking out. The boys like to whip our their junk and pee at every opportunity. The baby has at least three pairs of pants with holes running from one knee to the next, which, of course, means that his penis is hanging out all the time. On top of that, they are always sitting him around the place like this... on the table (where we eat, by the way), on the floor, on the balcony. We're pretty sure his package has touched every imaginable surface of the place.
The genitals thing has become so blase that, the other day, Steph was sitting at the kitchen table, while two kids sat on top of it. The girl decided to sit cross-legged, exposing her hoo-ha. Before she had a chance to cover it up (which she did - good for her!), the boy stuck his fingers in it!!!!!!!!!!!! We couldn't even make something like this up, it was so shocking!!! Steph didn't know what to do (certainly, in Canada, it would have been a huge deal!), so she quickly moved his hand from there and then washed her hands. So weird.
Well, there's your genitals story for the day. Have a good one!!
Steph and Kas
Saturday, July 3, 2010
Nepal > India
Namaste!
So, it would appear that Nepal is India cleaner, greener, cooler, and altogether more bearable nieghbour. Good for us!
We got here on the 28th, and immediately went out for drinks to celebrate Steph's birthday. We got there ten minutes before happy hour ended (because we got distracted by the excellent shopping on the way down!), but with a smile, an "It's my birthday!" and a Coke bought for the waiter, we got in six drinks (times 2) at happy hour prices. Whoop whoop! On the way back to the hotel, we kinda got scammed by a little Nepali boy on the street, but we're not going to go into that here because it's a little embarrassing...
The next day we went to the Monkey Temple (it has another name, but we can't spell/pronounce it). It was slightly scary for those of us who have a fear of primates, but the monkeys were generally pretty calm. We walked all the way up to the temple (365 steps, to be exact), then had a little spin on the prayer wheels to stock up on good karma for the rest of the trip. We were contemplating leaving (Steph thanking Bouddha that she had not been attacked by anything!) when a monkey strolled up to Kas and grabbed hold of the Fanta he had in his hand. At first, Kas put up a fight, but then common sense kicked in and he figured he'd rather spend the 70 rupees on a new Fanta than have his eyes clawed out for this one. We proceeded to watch as the monkey took the Fanta up onto a roof, ripped off the label, tried to open the cap with its teeth then gave it up as a bad job and left it on the roof. Jerk!
The next day we started orientation for the volunteering. Turns out we had 3 days of orientation! Eessh... We've met some good people, though, so it's been pretty cool. On our first day of orientation they gave us a Nepali culture class (1 hour, not very useful) then took us to... the Monkey Temple! Damn... now we had to climb those super-steep steps again!!! The next day, we visited Durbar Square, which makes for a good photo op but is really not that interesting to talk about.
Last night, we went out to an outdoor sports bar to watch the Brazil vs. Netherlands World Cup game. One of our newfound friends is Brazilian, so it was really very entertaining to watch. He was quite upset about the loss, but afterwards he got to drinking and he seems like he'll be alright! By the end of the night, it started pouring rain (one small section of the bar was uncovered) and our big group of volunteers (who have been sweating like mad for a week) decided to take our dancing into the rain. It was really fun, but the locals were giving us some rather unflattering looks... that is, they think we're nuts.
Today, we went to Bodnath Stupa, another Buddhist temple. It's basically a giant Buddha head sticking out of the nd, with eyes on every side looking out over the square. It's really hard to describe, so you should all probably just Google it! We spent most of the day there, then back to the hotel to pack our stuff for opur 6:30 departure tomorrow morning. We will be going to Pokhara, where we will start our orphanage placement on Monday.
On a final note, here are some words of wisdom heard just outside Bodnath in an incredibly beautiful moment. They were delivered by a little boy, maybe eight years old. He stood before Steph, his head precisely at chest level. He stared... and stared... and stared... then, he looked her in the eyes and said: "BOOBS!"
Miss you all,
Steph and Kas
So, it would appear that Nepal is India cleaner, greener, cooler, and altogether more bearable nieghbour. Good for us!
We got here on the 28th, and immediately went out for drinks to celebrate Steph's birthday. We got there ten minutes before happy hour ended (because we got distracted by the excellent shopping on the way down!), but with a smile, an "It's my birthday!" and a Coke bought for the waiter, we got in six drinks (times 2) at happy hour prices. Whoop whoop! On the way back to the hotel, we kinda got scammed by a little Nepali boy on the street, but we're not going to go into that here because it's a little embarrassing...
The next day we went to the Monkey Temple (it has another name, but we can't spell/pronounce it). It was slightly scary for those of us who have a fear of primates, but the monkeys were generally pretty calm. We walked all the way up to the temple (365 steps, to be exact), then had a little spin on the prayer wheels to stock up on good karma for the rest of the trip. We were contemplating leaving (Steph thanking Bouddha that she had not been attacked by anything!) when a monkey strolled up to Kas and grabbed hold of the Fanta he had in his hand. At first, Kas put up a fight, but then common sense kicked in and he figured he'd rather spend the 70 rupees on a new Fanta than have his eyes clawed out for this one. We proceeded to watch as the monkey took the Fanta up onto a roof, ripped off the label, tried to open the cap with its teeth then gave it up as a bad job and left it on the roof. Jerk!
The next day we started orientation for the volunteering. Turns out we had 3 days of orientation! Eessh... We've met some good people, though, so it's been pretty cool. On our first day of orientation they gave us a Nepali culture class (1 hour, not very useful) then took us to... the Monkey Temple! Damn... now we had to climb those super-steep steps again!!! The next day, we visited Durbar Square, which makes for a good photo op but is really not that interesting to talk about.
Last night, we went out to an outdoor sports bar to watch the Brazil vs. Netherlands World Cup game. One of our newfound friends is Brazilian, so it was really very entertaining to watch. He was quite upset about the loss, but afterwards he got to drinking and he seems like he'll be alright! By the end of the night, it started pouring rain (one small section of the bar was uncovered) and our big group of volunteers (who have been sweating like mad for a week) decided to take our dancing into the rain. It was really fun, but the locals were giving us some rather unflattering looks... that is, they think we're nuts.
Today, we went to Bodnath Stupa, another Buddhist temple. It's basically a giant Buddha head sticking out of the nd, with eyes on every side looking out over the square. It's really hard to describe, so you should all probably just Google it! We spent most of the day there, then back to the hotel to pack our stuff for opur 6:30 departure tomorrow morning. We will be going to Pokhara, where we will start our orphanage placement on Monday.
On a final note, here are some words of wisdom heard just outside Bodnath in an incredibly beautiful moment. They were delivered by a little boy, maybe eight years old. He stood before Steph, his head precisely at chest level. He stared... and stared... and stared... then, he looked her in the eyes and said: "BOOBS!"
Miss you all,
Steph and Kas
Sunday, June 27, 2010
Feel my wetness...
... this is what Kasra and Steph say to each other when they are transferring sweat from one of their arms onto the other's. It doesn't work, though, because we are both equally sweaty... It's hot.
Anyways, needless to say, we're here. The plane rides were uneventful, unless you count Kasra watching numeurous Hindi music videos and movies and Steph being slept on/canooled by a strange Indian man. After his prolonged exposure to Bollywood, Kas felt that the world should break into song and dance on his command and his world was shattered when this didn't happen. Steph tried to calm him down by shimmying in his generel direction and this seems to have worked for now. When we arrived in Delhi, we were almost immediately accosted by a lady who needed help choosing a good bottle of wine. We don't know when we became wine experts, but we helped anyway (there was only 1 kind of wine, so that's the one we reccommended!). She then proceeded to tell us that she was watching us on the plane and that we were "happy go lucky" types of people. She also pointed at Steph's vanilla skin and said "this is very nice skin". Thank goodness for greasiness.
We finally arrived at the hotel around 3 am and sttempted to clean out the exploded soap from Steph's backpack... we slept (yay!) and this morning, our new best friend/waiter/guy who works at the hotel reception and keeps trying to sell us warm beer told us that the reason it is this hot in Delhi (40+) is because people here have bad Karma. This is promising...
We got up at 1 today and have spent the day alternately shopping, then sitting in the air-conditioning in our room to recuperate strength. Tonight we will once again brave the heat to visit the Lotus Temple which, as its name suggests, is shaped like a giant Lotus. It's a "no shoes allowed" kind of place, so hopefully the IFDs will steer clear.
Smell ya later (or more acurately, you would be smelling us),
Steph and Kasra
Anyways, needless to say, we're here. The plane rides were uneventful, unless you count Kasra watching numeurous Hindi music videos and movies and Steph being slept on/canooled by a strange Indian man. After his prolonged exposure to Bollywood, Kas felt that the world should break into song and dance on his command and his world was shattered when this didn't happen. Steph tried to calm him down by shimmying in his generel direction and this seems to have worked for now. When we arrived in Delhi, we were almost immediately accosted by a lady who needed help choosing a good bottle of wine. We don't know when we became wine experts, but we helped anyway (there was only 1 kind of wine, so that's the one we reccommended!). She then proceeded to tell us that she was watching us on the plane and that we were "happy go lucky" types of people. She also pointed at Steph's vanilla skin and said "this is very nice skin". Thank goodness for greasiness.
We finally arrived at the hotel around 3 am and sttempted to clean out the exploded soap from Steph's backpack... we slept (yay!) and this morning, our new best friend/waiter/guy who works at the hotel reception and keeps trying to sell us warm beer told us that the reason it is this hot in Delhi (40+) is because people here have bad Karma. This is promising...
We got up at 1 today and have spent the day alternately shopping, then sitting in the air-conditioning in our room to recuperate strength. Tonight we will once again brave the heat to visit the Lotus Temple which, as its name suggests, is shaped like a giant Lotus. It's a "no shoes allowed" kind of place, so hopefully the IFDs will steer clear.
Smell ya later (or more acurately, you would be smelling us),
Steph and Kasra
Monday, June 21, 2010
Off We Go!
Bonjour everyone!
Looks like time has evaporated again and, somehow, we are four days away from leaving for India and Nepal. Although we will be spending most of our time in Nepal, we have been warned that India is the only place in the world where you can still get the Plague. Great. Of course, we are not entirely convinced this is true (especially considering the source - Graham) but it has given us a new goal for the trip. To leave plague-free (which we are, in case you were wondering) and to return in that very same condition. This may mean avoiding skinny dipping in the Ganges, which we were so looking forward to, but alas, it's the least we can do.
So wish us luck and follow along as we do our best to avoid infectious diseases!
Enjoy!
Steph and Kasra
Looks like time has evaporated again and, somehow, we are four days away from leaving for India and Nepal. Although we will be spending most of our time in Nepal, we have been warned that India is the only place in the world where you can still get the Plague. Great. Of course, we are not entirely convinced this is true (especially considering the source - Graham) but it has given us a new goal for the trip. To leave plague-free (which we are, in case you were wondering) and to return in that very same condition. This may mean avoiding skinny dipping in the Ganges, which we were so looking forward to, but alas, it's the least we can do.
So wish us luck and follow along as we do our best to avoid infectious diseases!
Enjoy!
Steph and Kasra
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