Merry Christmas!

I'd like to wish you all a Merry Christmas, wherever you may be. I'd also like to thank my friends for all their, sometimes drunk, text messages and phone calls from around the world.  Giving holiday wishes and kind reminders that they are still traveling some exotic lands while I'm back home in the freezing Canadian prairies..

It will be just over a week until I'm back in my home city again and I have a post that will have to wait till then. I will be looking into my half unpacked bags to see what actually made it through the entire trip with me, what items I would never have survived without and which I would never take with me again.

Till then happy holidays!

Remember to eat, drink, and be jolly!

You've got mail!

I received a notice in my mail yesterday that a parcel had arrived. I thought it may be the one I sent home just over a month ago but didn't want to get my hopes up.

I went to the post office this afternoon and after searching around for a couple minutes they presented me with a dirty and beaten parcel from Neyyerdam Thiruvananthapuram, India! When I picked it up with my hands I could tell that there was no structure left to the parcel as it had a long and rough trip across the ocean. The only thing holding to together was the, originally, white cloth sewn around it. Eager to see what made it back home in reasonable condition I raced home to open what could be considered my Christmas present to myself as I had forgotten what I packed inside almost two months earlier.


The contents:

• My custom made-to-fit yoga pants (x2)
• Some white women's yoga pants (there was lack of guys & therefor guy clothing at the ashram)
• Hand panted t-shirts
• Shirts from the ashram
• Tons of book (religion, meditation, yoga, and various other topics)
• CDs (yoga and meditation)
• Chakra poster
• Ties, cufflinks, and handkerchiefs (I knew I'd have to 'suit up' again eventually)
• A gift for someone
• Various other things I bought for no apparent reason

Out of the entire package there was only one thing that I bought for someone else, but I suppose I have the right to be greedy with space when shipping costs so much!

Culture Shock (Reversed)

It's been a few days now since I arrived home. Not too many people know this, but every time I fly through airports I like to play little games with other people to keep myself entertained without spending any money. During my flight to India back in September I decided that people don't smile enough and set out to make as many strangers smile during my 5 hour layover in Minneapolis and 6 hour layover in Amsterdam. I ended up loosing track of how many people smiled back at me after only a couple hours but I'll consider that a good thing. Not only did it keep me entertained without spending money but I'm hoping it made someones day a little better when I was able to put a smile on their face.

On the way back from India, seeing as how I was constantly getting searched and questioned by security on my flights to India in September, I thought I'd dress as someone who fits the typical stereotype of a possible threat to airport security. I wanted to see how dressing in a foreign cultures clothing and having my ungroomed beard would play into the 'random' security checks and the racism of airport authorities. When I was in India, towards the end of the trip, everyone asked me if I was Muslim so that's the look I went for on my flight home as I was sure it would cause problems when going through the USA. I was quite surprised with the results of my little game.  I got through security at Amsterdam quicker then I had before and absolutely flew through the USA's security check, faster than any of the other people in my line. Sure I got a lot of stares as I waited for planes during my layovers, but it was nothing in comparision to the stares you get in India. Actually, I'm pretty certain that India took more pictures of me than I took of it.

Back home, my dog and a lot of snow.

Now that I am back home in Canada I'm facing some (reverse) culture shock similar to my first week in India. The structure to everything, the absolute quietness, and the way people isolate themselves from others is chipping away at my nerves. I'm not really sleeping yet. Wide awake every night until well into the next day, it's taking a long time to get my body back to its original time zone. Driving on the icy Canadian roads is stressful, I'd take an Indian road over an icy road any day. I'm glad to see family, old friends, and familiar faces once again. I have just over one week to prepare for a conference I'm facilitating and after three months of no responsibilities getting down to work has proven difficult.

I'm hoping that this is all just the effects of reverse culture shock but it almost feels like I don't belong here, I'm already looking forward to my future travels.

Coming home..

Today will be my last full day in India, and it's been a crazy one. I've done so much running around and spent hours this afternoon in Mumbai's 'red light district', all work no play, trying to find a certain Christmas gift for one of my brothers.

I can't believe that three months have already gone by. I haven't taken many pictures since I've been back in Mumbai so I'm bringing some old ones back for this post. The city seems so different but the pictures help remind me that its just my perspective that has changed, Mumbai is still the busy crazy place it's always been.

My suit is getting its final touches as we speak, I'm hoping its done in time. They assure me it will but India has taught me to know better.

I've payed for another night in my hotel room even though I won't be staying through till the morning. I'm just using my room as a preparation area for my packing that I really should start on soon.

Bollywood: Late this afternoon while wondering the streets of Mumbai, looking good as always, I received my first reasonable offer to be in a Bollywood movie as an extra. They were willing to pay me a salary on top of paying my room, board, and moving me out to Goa for a week. Of course this is terrible timing as I leave for home in less then 24 hours.

I gave the Chicken Maharaja Mac another try, three months later at the same McDonalds in Colaba, Mumbai. Although it will never quite be comparable to the original western 'Big Mac' it tasted a lot better then I remembered.




Well this is me signing off with my last post from India. It will be a long journey home full of many cups of coffee, random conversations, and more time zone changes then I care to think about. I've reached into the softer-side of my iTunes library to find my departure song.

Hope you enjoyed following along for my travels, you'll be hearing from me again soon.

Mumbai: Quick update

I arrived back in Mumbai yesterday but haven't had any time to write a post until now. I'm staying further to the southern tip of Mumbai this time and after going to several hotels that had no rooms I found a place called 'Delight Guest House' for 350rs/night. I think calling it 'Delight' is pushing it a little far as my room is the size of the old style prison cells with nothing but a bed and table but its clean and cheap (by Mumbai standards).

My guest house is only a couple hundred
meters from the gateway of India.

I'm spending today in alternating sessions of running around to shop and get everything done I want to before leaving India with periods of relaxation over the deliciously spicy and flavorful India food I'm sure to miss. But for now I have to run for a fitting as I'm getting a new suit made for myself [prices for hand-tailored suits range from 4,500-15,000rs($100-330+) depending on the quality of your tailor and the materials they use].

Still in Jaipur.. opps..

So yesterday didn't go exactly as planned as I'm still in Jaipur when I should have now been in Mumbai, but that's India for you. My ticket for the train yesterday was 'WL-1' which means I was the first person on the waiting-list and would be given a seat when someone canceled. 99% of the time anyone with WL-1 status would be confirmed, but seems I found that other 1%.

After a fair amount of paperwork I was able to get access of their 'tourist quota' seats and get a confirmed spot (AC3) on fully booked train at 2pm today. So I will be arriving in Mumbai a day later than planned but should still be able to get everything done I need to before leaving India. 


When I came to India Mumbai was the first city I saw and I ended up spending a week there so I'm looking forward to being there once again to see how my perspective on it has changed with my time in India. One of the things I'm not looking forward to about the big city, the overbook and ridiculously expensive accommodation

One week remaining

I just realized that one week from today I will be on a plane, on my way back home.

I booked a train to Mumbai tomorrow. Seeing as it will be my last train ride in India I thought it was worth splurging a little and booked a first class air conditioned berth for 2,350rs($50). I don't have a confirmed ticket though as every train was fully book so I'm waitlisted. Being waitlisted isn't anything new, but it is making me slightly nervous as I need to get back to Mumbai for my flight.

For those of you wondering what I've been up to in Jaipur, other then the entertaining first couple days, not much. Sure the city has ancient forts and temples, but it's nothing I haven't already seen a million times. I've been spending most my days sharing travel stories with other backpackers over a McChicken burger at McDonalds, fighting with rickshaw drivers, or wondering the endless bazzars in the old city.