more travels

After we left our less than stellar lodging, we boarded the train the next day to Ajmer. From Ajmer, we took the bus to Pushkar. We then wandered around and ended up at a place recommended to us by a friend, "Sunset Palace." The price was right. The location was gorgeous, but the rooms turned out to be a little... dirty. Our rooms had a pair of lost underwear, a condom, and uncleaned toilets. The next day, we packed our bags and found what would be the cheapest and best place we stayed all of vacation. At 200 rupees ($4) a room, it was fantastic.

We didn't do a whole lot in Pushkar, but we did enjoy it still. It was a very touristy spot with lots of Europeans. We spent most of our time wandering around, eating, and eating again. We enjoyed avocados, pancakes, and tasty desserts that we normally don't get in Mussoorie.

We headed back to Jaipur to pre-celebrate Lindsay's birthday. We had great plans, that of course changed as things do in India. Our original restaurant of choice closed shortly after we got there, and we ended up eating at Little India. We got a nacho platter appetizer and felt complete once again. After dinner, we tried to find the Coco Berry (frozen yogurt chain) that we ate at the last time we were in Jaipur, but we couldn't find it. We settled for a Baskin Robins because those are much easier to find in India.

The next day we boarded our flights with Katie heading to Hong Kong, and the rest of us heading south to Goa.

Goa brought sun burn, pineapple, watermelon, and seafood. We stayed on one of the quieter beachers and felt happy with our decision after we visited the more popular beaches that were covered with tourists due to the holiday. We swam, ran, read, napped in the AC, and played Phase 10 to determine the best competitor. Goa was another place filled with European tourists. There were also Indian tourists who felt compelled to be a white girl's friend, especially one who worked in India.

We wished each other Merry Christmas as the sun set on the beach with mixed feelings of missing our families and feeling blessed to be in a such a beautiful place.

We got back on a plane and flew to Mumbai, a much less budget friendly spot.

6 weeks of helping the tourism industry of SE Asia (part one)

Well, I'm back.

I left Woodstock School on December 14th and didn't return until January 27th. It was a long vacation, where at times, I simply forgot I had a job. Let me tell you some of what I did in those six weeks.

We hopped on the train to Delhi on the 14th and spent a couple days there lounging around and hitting the club scene before heading to further ventures. I enjoy Delhi for it's accessibility to theaters, malls, easy transportation, and many other amenities that are hard to find in Mussoorie.

The last time we were in Delhi for quarter break, we got down at a hotel/dance club and had oodles of fun doing such. We were hoping to recreate the scene this time around but found our usual spot to be deserted and full of chirping crickets. We didn't give up hope and ventured to another club that was hosting "ex-pat" night or as I like to think of it-foreigner night. This seemed like a great idea. Upon arrival, there seemed to be something strange about the scene. It looked like we had walked into a high school dance. Most of the guests appeared to be American teenagers. We ventured upstairs where we found people closer to our age and longer skirts.

After we left the club, we ventured to Old Delhi to get some late night snacks. We were experiencing the strange luxury of having a friend with a car, so the world all of a sudden seemed up for the taking. It was almost like rolling up to a drive through window. We ordered, waited in the car, and they brought the food to the car on plates for us. We ate like starving dancers and dreaded our thoughts of waking up at 5 am to catch our train. We got some oranges and hit the road.

The next morning, I rallied the troops and got little grumbling. We boarded our train, got in our sleeping bags, and went to sleep. We arrived in Jaipur with little idea of what we were doing or where we were going. An excessively tall taxi driver picked us up and said he'd take us to some places. This would be the experience that led me to have suspicion of all other people who wanted to "help" us. He didn't rip us off or kidnap us, no. We just ended up at a hotel that was more than our price range and was filled with less than stellar staff. No major loss, we were leaving the next day.