India - Cows, cars and bad cucumber

India was quite an adventure. I've heard stories of people having difficulties in India and now I understand why. I got the full India experience.

First off, it's amazing how many cows there are in India. Below is a photo of Delhi from my hostel roof. It's hard to see but in the bottom right hand corner, there's a cow. Cows are all over India, most notably in the street. This makes for driving excitement because as Anuj told me they are moving speed bumps.



On my first night in India, I met up with Munish from business school. He showed me Delhi Gate and the Prime Minister's house (the White House equivalent). Munish drove me up to the place so I could get a photo. We stopped behing another parked car, assuming stopping was ok. Munish got out first to ask the armed soldier standing by. I got out of the car and heard them exchanging words vividly. Munish hurried back to the car, said, "Hurry take a quick photo" and then he jumped back in the driver's seat. When I was back inside he explained that the soldier was yelling at him for getting out of the car. The soldier told him to get back in the car and let "sarab" or master take the photo. Munish said the soldier still had the old mentality and automatically assumed Munish was my driver since I was white. We both got a good chuckle out of it and went to grab some beers.

After some drinks, Munish drove me back to my hostel. What a drive it was. We got lost and then Munish asked for direction. We were real close because all we needed to do was take a left and then another left. Munish took the first left and we went down a narrow street only to find ourselves in a night bazaar. People were jammed into the street. Munish manouvered the car through this sea of people. I immediately recognized where we were and told him we were in the heart of it. Munish was a bit nervous. He didn't want to hit anyone because they might pull us out of the car and beat us (see my Agra adventure later). We got to the main street but had to make our final left turn. People were everywhere and the street we turned off of was only 5 feet wide. Munish squeezed the car through leaving a bit of scrape on it, but we didn't hit anyone. I later took a photo of this tight spot as shown below. Notice all the people moving about. We pressed forward but a lady with a motor scooter was just standing in the way. Munish laid on the horn but the lady didn't budge. Finally the police came over and started yelling at her. They didn't really look at Munish and me. Afterwards, we arrived safely at my hostel.

The next day I hit Red Fort in the afternoon. It was cool to see but there really wasn't a whole lot there besides buildings. It was a quick tour for me.

Oh yes, I forgot. I was a tourist attraction in the Red Fort. These three guys wanted to take a photo with me. The one to the right of me was their ring leader and he was the most excited.

For the next couple of days, I hired a driver to take me to Agra for the Taj Mahal, then and finally Jaipur. I went based on advice from most of my Indian friends, particularly Srinivas, Munish and Anuj. Little did I know where they were sending me and what awaited me in Agra.

Agra was on red alert. A curfew was imposed because mobs were rioting in the street after 4 children. I found a news article and video from India Times to show the rest of you. Munish and Anuj called me with their concerns and I consulted with the driver who supposedly knew people in Agra. He said it was safe and that the Taj Mahal was still open. He was right the Taj was open. I managed to see it for an hour before they kicked everyone out and closed it because of the emergency. (They opened it only an hour later). The Taj Mahal was pretty impressive but I think the drama outside overshadowed the exprerience.

No one was outside in Agra because of the curfew. All the shops were closed. Some people did venture out but they all went running when the police jeep drove by. I took a photo of the empty street from my hotel balcony.

Everything was fine for me in Agra because I wasn't staying in the Muslim section. That's where all the voilence was. Everything outside of it seemed to be rather safe.

My next stop was Fatehpur Sikhri. At this place, I was trailed by a guy who wanted to guide me but proved to be a nuisance. Below is a photo from the site.

We pulled into Jaipur later that afternoon. My driver took me to an expensive restaurant for lunch. Afterwards, I told him I wanted to eat at cheaper places. I knew the game. I had been traveling for over 4 months so I knew he took me to places that gave him a kickback. The driver took me to dinner that night to another place. I turned around and walked right out of there, telling him that it's too expensive. Meals are normally 300 ruppees there ($7.50) I had him to take me to McDonald's because I wanted to see if it was cheaper. It cost 109 ruppees. After I ordered my driver said he doesn't eat there because it's too expensive. I almost slapped him. But I think my request for cheap eats backfired on me.

The next day I went to Amer Fort. The driver kept on telling me to take an elephant ride up but I told him that was too expensive. He warned me that the walk up there was pretty long otherwise. I walked and it only took me 10 minutes. Man, I was mad again at my driver. Below is Amer Fort.

Next stop was the City Palace as shown below. It was quite colorful.

Afterwards, the driver took me to the hotel to get some cheap food. He finally understood what I meant or just gave up on trying to get his kickbacks. I ordered some chapati and a Indian cheese dish whose name I forget. It came with salad and I put some of the cucumbers in my chapati.

The driver told me that I had seen all the sights in Jaipur but it was only 1 pm. I told him that maybe we should head back to Delhi since all my friends were there. He didn't want to. I then called Anuj and asked him about sights to see and Jaipur. He came through with a list and off we went.

That night the driver asked if I would be upset if we drove some one back to Delhi with us. He told me this guy was the owner of a textile shop. I said sure as long as the guy pays something. I had paid 7200 rupees and wanted to try to recover some of it. Of course, the driver pretended not to understand what I was saying so I called Anuj. I explained the siutation to Anuj and he let hte driver have it. Teh driver told Anuj that the person couldn't afford anything since he was another fellow driver. This directly contradicted what the driver told me. I had had enough of this driver. Anuj offered his place to stay and I accepted because I didn't want to give any more money to the hostel that booked this driver. He sucked.

I made it to Anuj's apartment in Gurgaon. Below is a photo of my driver that I decided to take at then end. He asked me for a tip afterwards and I offered 70 ruppes. He scoffed at me and said "That is not a tip." I thought to myself, "I know. That's why I am offering it." But all I said was "That's all I have." He said nothing and drove off. Good riddance.

Anuj and I had a great time in Gurgoan. We had McDonald's and then went to TGIFriday's for drinks. I needed to get some Westernized food. Gurgoan is pretty developed and growing fast. It's a large center for business process outsourcing so a lot of call centers are there. English is also pretty widely spoken.

That night I fell sick to food poisoning. I had a high fever of 101.2 and let's just say bad stomach problems. Anuj and his wife, Aditi, took me to see the doctor the next day. I got some medicine and pretty much slept and watched TV until my flight at night. Aditi made some great rice and lentil dish called Kishishi (sorry for all my spelling errors), which is very good for upset stomachs. I really have to thank Anuj and Aditi for everything they did in taking care of me. It was much appreciated. Below is a photo of Anuj and me right before I headed out to the airport.

I did India without a guide book and I think it shows. I'd definitely recommend doing a bit more research than I did before heading there. I am very thankful to everyone who helped me out on my adventure there.

Dubai - Land of Oppulence and Missing Luggage

In Dubai, I was fortunate enough to stay with Sanjiv who graduated a year ahead of me from Michigan. He works in Dubai as a consultant for Oliver Wyman. Leena Ray another classmate from Michigan met up with us in Dubai. It was actually coincidence that our trips were planned at the same time. It was good to finally meet up with fellow Michigan students.

Sanjiv's apartment was in the Marina. Like in the rest of Dubai, construction was going like crazy. People often said that one third of the world's cranes are in Dubai. Below is a photo from Sanjiv 25th floor balcony.



While in Dubai, I did something that I didn't think I'd do until this winter. I got back up on the snowboard and carved it up. That's right, my first run after dislocating my shoulder last winter was in Dubai, of all places. Ski Dubai in the Mall of the Emirates is an indoor slope that they keep at a constant minus 1 Celsius. We didn't have gloves so I can vouch that the snow was definitely cold. The result gives you all the gear you need except for gloves. Here we are outfitted out below. Nice gear!!!

I was amazed at how they built a slope indoors and took a lot of photos. Here's a shot looking uphill from the bottem of the lift.

The next day we set out to get a look at the Burj. The world's only 6 star hotel. Security is tight and we can only get in if you have a reservation there, be it a room, dinner or just afternoon tea. Alas, we weren't able to get a reservation for any of these and had to look from afar.

We did manage to sneak into another hotel in the area. Below is it's oppulent lobby complete with chandelier.

I neglected to mention that Dubai is the first place that my luggage was lost. After many unanswered phone calls to Gulf Air, I discovered that my bag had not even been loaded on the plane when I left Kuwait. It sat there for 2 days before being discovered. In the meantime, I did some shopping as I was running out of clothes and my travel insurance supposedly should cover it. Leena and Sanjiv went to see a movie while I did my shopping. I needed a pair of jeans and decided to get them at a place called Jack Jones in the Mall of the Emirates. I tried on 2 pairs but they didn't fit. They were a bit oddly shaped for me or I was oddly shaped for them. The sales clerk wasn't a whole lot of help so I ransacked the shelves and tried a some more jeans on. After some time and no help from the sales guy, I finally found a pair that fit. At the check out counter, the same sales clerk said to me. "You're a bitch." I said, "Excuse me." and he repeated that I was a bitch. He said it in such a way that it could be construed as a compliment or at least I think that's how he meant it. He wasn't mad at all, just matter of fact. I was befuddled and didn't know what to say. I managed a "Thank you" and made a hasty exit from the store.

Kuwait - Souheil's Brother & Shopping Malls, Shopping Malls and Oil

In Kuwait, I stayed with Souheil's brother, Sami, and his family. Sami and his wife run a construction management business in Kuwait. Their work primarily involved stores in shopping malls, notably Starbucks.


My first night in town involved Sami giving me a tour of the country/city. We drove all over and even went up in the Kuwait towers at night as shown below.


When Iraq invaded Kuwait, the "barbaric Iraqi invaders" destroyed the Kuwait towers. Photos of the destruction with accompanying captions were on display in the towers as shown below.

Hussam picked me up the next day and we went to see the fish market. Hussam negotiated my way on a fishing boat while it was in harbor. Below is a photo I took with the crew.

After visiting the boats, we went into the fish market where hundreds of baskets of shrimp were for sale. Apparently we were there right at prime time shrimping season.

Our next stop was the Arabian Gulf (or Persian Gulf as we know it in American). I went down and put my hand in the water thus keeping with my principal of touching every major body of water I've been to.
Sami and his wife have two kids named Malek (age 8) and Leanne (age 7). They both reminded me of my cousins. We played table tennis and Malek introduced me to the Nintendo Wii. Man, I loved it. I proceeded to get the high scores in Home Run Derby and in Golf Chipping. I played it when everyone went to sleep. Below Malek is showing me how to bowl and Leann is doing something, I'm not too sure.
Hussam took me around town while Sami was at work. Hussam works for Sami but his workload was light so Sami had him drive me around town. Hussam sometimes drove like a maniac and his car's AC needed some work. It broke down twice when I was there. Once it broke down on a day that was 54 Celsius (129.2 Fahrenheit). That sucked!! Below is a photo of Hussam dropping me off at the airport.

Beirut - Party Without the People and the End

You could tell Beirut was at one time a big party city but on my visit no one was there. Streets that used to be crowded with people were empty. There were a few stragglers here and there. Some people had changed their travel plans because of the city's volatily. Notable, DLai, a classmate of mine from Michigan and fellow world traveler, did not go as planned to the area. I only learned this when reading his long awaited reply to my many e-mails as I sat in an internet cafe in Beirut. All I have to say is that he is a wussy.

In Beirut, I met up with Ibraham in my dorm room. Ibraham is a college professor of economics in Rotterdam who decided to take some time off. He and I hiked all over the city. We walked about 2 hours to the beach on the Mediteranean to see the Rocks below.



On our way, we walked through some areas of the city that had still not been repaired from the fighting in Beirut. Below is a photo of the Holiday Inn on the left with large artillery holes still in it and new high rise construction on the right.

The following day Ibraham and I ventured out to Byblos. It's supposed to be one of the older continuously inhabited towns in the world (but I've read about a lot of towns in the area with this proported claim). The ancient city of Byblos was pretty much in ruins except for a Crusader castle and 4 Roman columns. Below is a photo of the castle and old port.

As I previously mentioned, Beirut was deserted. Below is a photo of the clock tower in the downtown area. Normally, this area is jam-packed with people but as you can see no one is there now.

Near the clock tower, Ibraham and I thought our lives were about to end. We were walking down a street that we thought was closed to traffic. Razor wire and barricades were every where. Out of no where comes this old Chevy Caprice. It's gunning down the road and screeches to a halt about 50 feet from us. The driver smiling. My heart skipped a beat. I thought to myself, "This is it. The end. This guy's going to blow up his car." Quickly an armed soldier came over and started yelling at the guy. There were two other high school aged boys in the area. They were laughing. We weren't because we didn't understand what they were saying in Arabic. Ibraham and I laughed later because we both thought it was the end. We thought what are the odds that this joker/bomber chose the street we were on out of all the empty streets in Beirut. We breathed a sigh of relief and headed on. Still I little on-edge though.

Close to the clock tower is a mosque, the name of which I forget. Apparently the former prime minister was assassinated with a large bomb right next to the mosque. Hence, our nervousness about the potential car bomb.

Ibraham and I went out Friday and Saturday night. The only real places to go were in the Christian area because alcohol is not against the religion. The first night we went out near our hostel. The bars were pretty packed compared to the rest of town. On Saturday night, we went to Monot Street where all the clubs are. Not much seemed to be happening in the clubs so we went to a bar with a live band. The band was rather interesting because they covered songs from the "60s, 70s and 80s and U2" (as per the lead singer). The funny part about the band is that they were so far off key that it took me a good 2 minutes to figure out which song they were covering. Below is a photo of Ibraham and myself at the bar.

Nazareth - Meeting Souheil's Uncle

I had one day left before I had to get to Amman to catch my flight. In order to make it into Amman for my flight, I would have to spend the previous night in Jerusalem because the border crossing can be difficult.

On my way to the bus station, I debated heading straight back to Jerusalem or spending a couple of hours in Nazareth, where Souheil whom I worked for in New Orleans grew up and where Jesus grew up as well. I made the decision to head to Nazareth when I saw the bus pull up. I thought to myself man, I hope I make it back to Jerusalem tonight because Nazareth is in the wrong direction.

On the bus I did some more debating. I had the phone numbers of Souheil's family up in town. I knew I could only stay there a couple of hours if I wanted to make it to Jerusalem for the night. I wasn't sure if it would be worth calling them. After some self-deliberation, I gave them a call. The first two numbers didn't work but the third rang through to Rania, Souheil's cousin. She was expecting me and told me to call when I got to the bus station (at least that's what I heard). I stayed on the bus waiting for the bus to stop at the station but it never did. I was the last one on the bus and the driver asked me in Hebrew where I was going. I gave him a blank star. Then he asked in English. I told him Nazareth. He said I missed it and then told me to get off the bus and take another bus back into town. He pulled over and booted me from the bus. I got off and called Rania to tell her what happened. I had to track down a local to help me tell Rania where I was because I didn't have a clue. Luckily, the owner of a pizza joint near by helped me out. Rania came and picked me.

We headed back to her house to pick up her sister Shereen and then we headed out to see the sights of Nazareth. The first stop was the Church of Annunciation where an archangel told Mary she would have Jesus. The church looked fairly modern as shown in the photo below.

They also had a grotto/cave where it's believed Jesus, Mary and Joseph lived. Below is a photo. People like to through money and prayers down there. Andrew, you'd have some good reading down there for sure.

Afterwards, they showed me the Well of Mary, the White Mosque, and the Greek Orthodox Church of Annunciation. They have a different sight than the Catholic church. Kinda funny.

We grabbed a shwarma for dinner and had kanofta for dessert. Pretty tasty. Then we headed back to the family house to visit with the family. People came from left and right. I was shaking a lot of people's hands. Sadly I don't remember everyone. Here I am with Souheil's family below. From right to left, there's Rania, her mother, me and Nazrieh (I think he's a cousin or friend. I'm not sure).

Below is me with Souheil's uncle. Everyone was very happy to have me there even if I was there only for a few hours.

After only 3 hours in town, I headed out to catch the bus. Rania drove me to where she thought the stop was but we missed the bus. Actually, it drove by and the driver waved at us (I'm not sure why). Then the next bus stopped to say we just missed the last bus. We hoped back in the car and tried to catch up to the other bus. We also explored me taking a taxi back until some one called Rania to tell her they had just seen the bus. Rania gunned it and we finally caught up to the bus. It was stopped and we pulled right in front of it. For some reason the driver ignored us and pulled out. Rania honked and then the driver pulled over and let me get on. Rania was a life saver because I had to make Jerusalem that night in order to cross the border the next day. I made it back to Jerusalem without problem. Phew. Another close call averted.

Tel Aviv - Beaches and Sun

Tel Aviv was a nice break in traveling. It kinda felt like being in New York for some reason but the beaches were a lot better. The beach on the Mediteranean Sea was great, although a little hot. Ian and Andrew sat out in the sun while I sought the shade. Ian managed to get a nice burn while I was relatively unscathed. The beach was crowded with loads of French on their summer holiday. They didn't bother us too much.

Tel Aviv is a fairly modern city. I hiked to Jaffa and up the hill to get this photo of Tel Aviv and the beach.

On my last night in town, I went down to the beach to meet up with Addi and her friends. Addi is a classmate of mine from Michigan. As always, I took some photos of the sunset. I'm going to have so many photos of sunsets when I return to the US that I probably won't remember where they are from.

I did manage to get bacon and eggs for breakfast on my last day there. I was craving a decent breakfast for a long time. Previously, I had been surviving on pastries and falafel sandwhiches. Bacon and eggs hit the spot.

West Bank - Bethlehem

Yesterday, we headed out to Bethlehem to visit the Church of Nativity, where Jesus was born. We didn't know how to get there so I went to the Tourist Information Office and asked about lodging and buses. I guess I asked at the wrong place. The guy wearing a yamaka and a star of david necklace told me, "Take an Arab bus. That's all I know." And so, we headed out to the Arab bus station and off we went. We decided to just make a day trip of it.

Before passing into the West Bank, we had to go through a check point in the Separation Wall. Since we were tourists, we were promoted to the front of the line. On the other side of the Wall, the taxi drivers were all over us for rides to the Church. They started out at 80 shekels but we finally got them down to 8 total. Quite a reduction but I think they are really hard up for money in Bethlehem, much more so than Ramallah.

Below are some photos of the Church of Nativity. Here's the outside.

Two photos of the inside...

Then here is the birthplace of Jesus, represented by a 16 pointed star.

We think this is his crib because a lot of people were taking photos next to it. I decided to do so as well. Swindell, I think you would have liked this place. Oh I almost forgot, while we were waiting in line to see the birth place, we were talking about all the decorations for the birth place of Jesus. Freddy, one of the guys who was with us, said, "But guys Jesus was born in Bethlehem." We gave him a weird look and said, "Where do you think you are?" Then he remembered that we were in Bethlehem. Strange guy and he's a teacher in Milwaukee. I feel sorry for those kids.

Then we grabbed some dinner and they told us that in Jerusalem we would have paid double the price. We told them we were thankful. The Wall has some graffiti on it and I took a photo. Going through the check point to come back to the Israeli side was much more intimidating. It was kinda like a prison in there with many doors and channels. We were directed through a metal detactor by an omnious voice from no where. We couldn't see this girl at all but she could see us and was telling us exactly what to do. "Go to your right. Proceed.... etc." We made it through without hassle though.