Trekking to Everest

So, mid-trek I am actually able to get on-line from a computer in my lodge.  The owner is letting me use his laptop, but unfortunately I am not able to upload any photos.  I will try to get on wifi in another village so that I can e-mail myself photos from my phone and add them to the post.

Once again I nearly missed an international flight on Saturday because I didn't get to the airport early enough.  In this case, I think I could have gotten to the airport in New Delhi six hours ahead of time and it still would not have been enough time.  My cab was about half an hour late picking me up for the hostel so I arrived at the airport only about an hour and a half before the flight to Kathmandu.  However, the line for check-in was so long that in half an hour I had barely moved an inch.  Luckily at that point the airline let me skip to the front of the line.  Then I had to wait to pass through immigration in a line that was just as long and also not moving.  I finally went to the "special assistance" counter and though the agent originally indicated for me to get back in line, he finally processed my passport when I pleaded with him that my flight was boarding.  The next hurdle was security.  They had to open all my bags and look through all my cameras and electronic equipment before concluding I didn't pose a threat.  The agent claimed my gate was close by, but it turned out to be on the other end of the terminal.  I just made the final boarding call, though once again I wasn't even the last person on the plane.

When I got to Kathmandu I made the stupid mistake of accidentally deleting the address to the hostel from my phone.  I knew approximately where it was so after quite a bit of inquiry, my cab driver and I found the location.  It was actually more a home stay than a hostel since the owners live in the house and cook breakfast and dinner for the guests every day.  The proprietress, Sarita, was also nice enough to bring me into downtown Kathmandu to start looking into trekking companies to book my tour.  We rode in a small tuk-tuk bus and on the way back crammed into the front seat of a somewhat larger mini-bus.  There were so many people crammed into such a small space, but I guess the people who live there are just used to it.  I had a chance to go around to about three different places to get tour rates before we had to head back for Sarita to cook dinner.  I shared the meal with an Indonesian girl who is studying in Kathmandu and a retired Dutch couple who are volunteering at a school there.  After the meal, I had about four cups of Sarita's delicious homemade chai tea.

The next morning, I went back into Kathmandu in the tuk-tuk bus (called a tempo) and started going around to more trekking agencies.  I decided to book a tour with an agency that had a group from the UK that had just left that morning, which I could hopefully catch up with.  The tour agent then took me to a trekking shop to get everything I needed to hike.  I ended up paying way more than I would have liked on boots, thermals, socks and a pair of pants.  I also rented a down jacket, a sleeping bag and those stupid hiking poles that look like cross county skiing poles that I always make fun of people for using.  The shopkeeper had to talk me into getting them and boy am I glad he did.

At about 5:00pm, I went back to the trekking agency to pick up my tickets and permits.  When I got there, the agent had some bad news.  He told me the tour group from the UK didn't want to wait for me and so I was going to be on my own with another guide.  He wanted me to pay for half of the guide's flight since that wasn't factored into the original cost.  I was pretty upset because I had wanted to go up with a group and didn't feel like paying the extra fee for him mistake.  In the end, I paid for about a quarter of the ticket price in US dollars.

Bright and early on Monday morning, I left for the airport for my flight to Lukla.  I had left about 10 minutes late and then went to the international terminal instead of the domestic one.  So I was about half an hour late to meet my guide when I finally got to the right place.  I didn't see anyone waiting for me and started to worry that he had given up on me and left.  I didn't have my airline ticket so I couldn't even go inside the terminal to see if he was there.  I thought our flight was at 6:00am and was sure I was going to miss it.  Then I started to think that maybe the guide wasn't coming at all.  I furiously thought about how I was going to back to the trekking agency to give the owner a piece of my mind that afternoon.  Then finally a guide showed up and when the security officers asked his name, he confirmed he was my guide, Chandra.  It turns out our flight was actually at 7:00am and we were supposed to meet at 6:00pm.  Crisis averted.

We flew the 23 minutes up to Lukla and safely landed at one of the most dangerous airstrips in the world (whoops Mom and Dad... forgot to mention that.)  We then hiked from Lukla up three hours to the next village where we spent the night.  The next morning we started at the crack of down for the long and strenuous hike up to Namche Bazar.  After just about five and a half hours we arrived at our lodge.  On the way, we had the chance to see Everest from afar for the very first time.  One more of the items on my "List of 25 Thing to Do Before I Die" (not to be confused with my "Top 10" list for this trip)--See Everest--has been checked off.  Today was a rest day to get acclimatized to the altitude.  We are at 3,440 feet and have about 2,000 more to go.  We went on a short hike today up to the highest "airport" in the world, but it was too cloudy to have much of a view.

I will try to write another update at some point before the end of the trek.  We should arrive at the base camp in about four more days!

Old and New Delhi

I arrived in Delhi, India at about 9:30pm on Tuesday night, which translated to 4:30am Australia time.  I was pretty exhausted when I got off my second flight after traveling for nearly 19 hours.  I had arranged an airport pick-up from my hostel so I called after picking up my luggage to tell them I had arrived.  They told me to stand outside by the big pillar next to (some word I couldn't understand).  I left the terminal and discovered that there were quite a few big pillars and they all seemed to be for taxi pick-up.  I wasn't sure how they were coming so I instead crossed the street and stood where all the passenger cars were pulling up for arrivals.

After a few minutes a man came up to me and asked me where I was going.  I told him I had someone picking me up because I figured he was trying to get to take his cab.  After a few more minutes, it appeared that my driver still hadn't arrived and I had no idea how I was going to find him in all of the traffic madness.  I bit the bullet and called on roaming charges from my cell phone (there was no pay phone outside) and was told to stand by Pillar 1.  I tried to explain that that was for bus service, but finally grudgingly crossed the street to the pillar.  Then the man who had approached me originally came toward me and I realized he must have been the right guy all along.  He brought me to a car with a driver and I took off with the two of them through the streets of Delhi.  About 10 minutes into the ride, it dawned on me that they could be kidnapping me and there was nothing I could do about it.  Even when we pulled into a parking lot that looked more like a construction site than a building complex, I wasn't sure we were in the right place.  Fortunately someone then came out of the hostel to greet us.

When I got to my six-bed dorm room I was the only one in there and I fell asleep within minutes... only to be awakened every two hours throughout the night as one after another guest arrived and turned on the light.  The fourth and last person showed up probably around 7:00am.  I guess that's the price you pay for staying in a hostel and I could always have put on my sleep mask if I'd had enough motivation.  By about 8:30am I was up for the day myself and down for breakfast in the lobby.

Following breakfast, I went with the four guys who had arrived in my room overnight to the Garden of Five Senses just down the street from our hostel.  I'm not quite sure what the five senses were exactly.  Sight I got, but the only scent I really smelled was that of food and the only sound was that of other people talking.  I touched a few plants for good measure and ate some samosas from a food stall, which I guess counts as taste.  The garden was nice, but it was so arid that it wasn't like gardens back home.  The area also seems to be a big make out spot as we kept running into couples while walking down a wooded path.  I had the most fun while sliding down a conveyor belt slide that was supposed to generate electricity, but had long since been broken.

After the garden we took the metro to an area near Old Delhi and walked to the Red Fort.  Along the way we were walking down a major road that was so jam packed with cars, tuk-tuks, food vendors and pedestrians that it was nearly impossible to get through. When we arrived at the fort we saw a massive (red) structure that is 2.5 kilometers in length.  We decided not to go inside out of protest after discovering that the local admission price was 10 Rupees and the tourist price was 25 times that at 250 Rupees.  We later learned it was the same deal for all the World Heritage sites in India.  I know that most Indians are a lot poorer than visiting foreigners so it makes sense, but still doesn't seem quite fair after we've come all that way.

We headed back early that day, enjoyed a free dinner at the hostel and then went to bed a bit early.  On Thursday, I woke up with a case of the Delhi belly, but still decided to drag myself to the Qutb Minar with about five people from my hostel.  The minaret is apparently the tallest free-standing stone tower in the world.  The Quwwat-ul-Islam Mosque right next to it was the earliest mosque built by the Delhi Sultans in the 1100s.  Given my state of distress I had a bit of trouble really getting into what I was seeing and had more fun taking pictures of the funny-looking Indian squirrels.  The thousands of school kids at the site had more fun shaking our hands and taking our pictures.  At times it was hard to tell what the main attraction was--the mosque or us gringos.

After leaving the Qutub Minar we took the subway even farther out to the Akshardham Hindu Temple on the banks of the Yamuna River.  The temple is only six years old, but it is incredibly ornate with elaborate carvings in sandstone in marble.  It only must have cost about a trillion dollars or so to build.  Security is also incredibly tight around the complex.  You can't bring in any bags or cameras so photos were obviously out of the question.  You also had to go through a full-body pat down that almost felt like it crossed the line even though it was conducted by a woman.  Since we didn't want to leave our bags at the coat check, two of the guys agreed to wait outside while the rest of us went in.  Following the temple visit, everyone else went get something to eat in the main commercial center called Connaught Place, but I was feeling so bad that I decided to go back to the hostel with one of the other guys.  We had plans to go to one of the big malls and try to find some American food to eat for Thanksgiving dinner, but my hostel mate fell asleep shortly after we got back.  I resigned myself to a free dinner of rice and gruel (as I called it mainly because I didn't know what was in it rather than that it tasted bad) at the hostel. Happy Thanksgiving to me!

On (Black) Friday, I was feeling a bit better and headed over to Connaught Place with another American girl who had just arrived the night before. We ate lunch--my first Indian meal in a restaurant--and tried to find a local bazar, which turned out to just be a bunch of cheap men's clothes.  We then sat in the park in the center of Connaught Place until we started to get weirded out by the antics of some of the men around us.  Meredith went back to the hostel and I met up with my friends, Vikas and Sarah, from New York who happened to be in town visiting Vikas' parents.  We had drinks at a "Western"-style coffee shop and then browsed at a nearby antiques market where Sarah, the interior designer, looked for some new ideas for her design work.  It was really great to see them and get another little taste of home for even a short time.

Yesterday I left for Nepal and will now be embarking on a two-week trek to the Everest Base Camp starting early tomorrow morning.  Since I don't anticipate having access to the internet and won't be bringing my computer, I'll catch you all up when I get back!

Ups and Downs

I have to admit that before and even while I was in Australia I started to get a bit homesick and road weary.  For a while I was even wandering if I could make it a full year.  Since I haven't booked the tickets for the second half of my trip yet I was starting to think I maybe I would cut it a bit short.

When I arrived in Melbourne I had a bit of a rejuvenation while staying with my first couchsurfing host because her home was so homey and comfortable (though cold).  It was also nice walking around her neighborhood with the warm, but not hot, sun shining down and the scent of spring flowers in the air.  It reminded me a bit to literally "stop and smell the roses."  I also picked up and started reading Eat, Pray, Love (a book I had not previously read and which did not, contrary to popular opinion, influence my decision to take this trip).  I only got through the "Eat" section in Italy and part of the "Pray" section in India before I moved on from that house, but it did have an influence on my view on my travels.  The entire time the author was in Italy she did not go to one museum.  She did spend a lot of time walking (and eating) her way through Rome, but she did not put pressure on herself to see and do something monumental or important each day.  She even quit her formal Italian lessons midway through upon finding it took time away from her actually getting out and speaking the language.  I was taking it easy and not doing much my first few days in Melbourne and taking in the author's perspective made me feel like this was actually okay.

Then things started to go wrong again--my computer broke, I was stressed about money in pricey Australia and constantly worried about arranging the next place I was going to stay.  My newfound zen perspective suddenly went right out the window.  Of course there were still many good moments--dressing up on Halloween, going out sailing, working on the vineyard.  And I started to get excited again about my upcoming plans just by watching Nat Geo Adventure at Lachlan and Dan's house.  And episode of "Anthony Bourdain" actually made sad I'd already come and gone from Bangkok.  By the time I got to the vineyard in Orange I was in a much better place again, having settled on a plan for the rest of my time in Australia that saved me money and allowed me to relax a bit in the beautiful countryside in spite of the five hours of daily farm work.  Meeting up with Becky back in Sydney was also a nice sense of home that made me feel like I'm not always all alone by myself out there on the road.

I realize it seems quite selfish and petty of me to be complaining about this amazing opportunity I have, but there's just no denying that it's not all sunshine and roses (see second paragraph... haha) all the time.  I know I'm still putting a lot of pressure on myself to make the most of every day and not waste a single second, but it's really hard to maintain that intensity and be "on" all the time.  I know it sounds totally silly since I don't have a job, but unlike people with jobs I don't feel like I ever have a "weekend" off.  I spend nearly every day either sightseeing, making travel arrangements/dealing with logistics back home or in transit.  Sometimes it's a little bit of all three.  As I continue on through these next eight months, one of my goals is to give myself more breaks every now and then and actually be okay with it instead of laying the guilt on myself.  We'll see how that goes!

Sydney and Melbourne, Part Deux

After five days in Orange, I headed on the train back to Sydney on Wednesday afternoon to pick up my passport and theoretically my new computer that was supposed to be shipped to my childhood friend, Becky's, house.  Becky and her husband, Anton, had offered to let me stay at their place for a few nights and also to sign for the delivery.  Since I had missed my bus, it was already dark by the time I arrived in the western suburb of Macquarie Fields where Becky lives so she graciously agreed to pick me up at the station.  I had a late dinner and we caught up a bit before heading off to bed.  Of course my computer had not yet arrived as it was supposed to on Monday since Apple claimed they weren't able to get ahold of me to "confirm" my order even though I had been responding to all their e-mails.  Apparently ordering and paying for something on-line is not good enough.  No, they actually need to hear my voice over the phone so they know I'm a real, live human person.  Or something like that.

The following day, I got the good news that my passport was ready and after spending the morning trying to sort out my computer issues (Apple finally processed my order and promised the delivery would arrive on Friday) I headed into Sydney.  I was still nervous about my visa because the website just said the "application" was ready for collection as opposed to the actual approved visa.  I can change the dates of my flights (for a fee), but not the routing so I didn't know what I was going to do if I wasn't allowed into India. I headed to the consulate first and nearly cried with relief when I was handed my dual-entry visa allowing me to leave for Nepal and then come back into India.

After picking up my passport I tried to contact the director who I had worked with on the Hong Kong shoot who lives in Sydney and Cam from Bangkok to see if they wanted to meet up.  I left a message for Paul saying I would call back and told Cam I would try to stop by the bar where he had started working near Darling Harbor.  It was rainy and grey out so instead of heading right to the bar I decided to go the Opera House and get a tour of the inside.  I caught the last tour of the day and was able to see Concert Hall, Opera Theatre and small Drama Theatre below the Concert Hall.  They were doing sound checks and starting a rehearsal for a Tim Finn concert that night so it was kind of cool to actually hear some music being played in the hall even if it was just disjointed drum and guitar riffs.

After the tour wrapped up I saw that Paul had e-mailed me to say he had been around during the day, but couldn't meet up at night since he had to leave early in the morning for a shoot.  I felt bad for not calling him back sooner, but I guess that's the price you pay for not having a cell phone.  I then headed toward Darling Harbor and tried to find the bar where Cam was working, but wasn't able to track him down.  Then my phone battery died so I couldn't even get into my e-mail to find his number again to call.  Since it was getting late I decided to head back to Macquarie Fields and call it a day.

On Friday, Becky and I waited around all morning for the computer to arrive while Anton worked on building a new retaining wall for their poll outside. By midday, the shipment tracking didn't even show that the package was on a truck so I knew there was no way it was getting there by the end of the day.  I called Apple and told them to cancel the order realizing I would have to buy the computer in Melbourne.  The woman on the phone said we should just refuse delivery when the package arrived and Apple would refund the money once it was returned.  With no need to wait around any longer Becky and I left to go to the Mount Annan Botanic Garden, which is the largest botanical garden in Australia.  It obviously features native plants, but is a bit more wild than the Royal Botanic Garden in Sydney.  We first walked along a woodland trail where we saw a pretty big monitor lizard and then went into the Big Idea Garden, which is supposed to educate people about sustainable landscaping.  Our final stop was the Water Garden where a wedding (or at least wedding photos) were in full swing.  We saw a lot of eucalyptus trees and cool-looking banksia plants.

After leaving the gardens, we went back to the house so that I could pack for my overnight bus to Melbourne.  I decided to book a bus because it was less than half as much as a last minute flight.  I knew it wouldn't be the most comfortable night sleep, but that I could make do.  Before going to the bus station, we stopped off at a hotel bar to meet one of Becky's co-workers for a drink.  We ended up rushing to make the bus, but luckily arrived with minutes to spare.  Once I boarded, the bus driver proved to be quite chatty, which got me quite worried about getting a decent night sleep.  He then put on a movie, which further added to my concern.  Once the movie ended, I had started to drift off to sleep until around 11:00pm, we stopped at a rest stop and the driver went on for about five minutes before letting everyone off the bus.  I was now really worried that he was going to make a big "to do" every time he stopped the bus.  Luckily, he quieted down and I was pretty much able to sleep until we started approaching Melbourne early in the morning.  I still crashed for a few hours once I got to my friend Lisa's house where I was staying until my flight to India.

Once I woke up in the afternoon, I went down to an Apple reseller and was pleasantly surprised to find out there was a sale going on so the Macbook I wanted was almost $100 off.  I still ended up paying a little bit more than I would have if I had gotten the education discount I had been able to get on-line, but it was better than nothing.  I spent the rest of the afternoon at the State Library of Victoria where I walked through an exhibition on post-war photography in Melbourne.

Bright and early on Sunday morning, I joined Lisa and her friend on a surfing trip down in Torquay one-and-a-half hours south of Melbourne.  Lisa loaned me a surfboard and a spare wetsuit, but I was still freezing cold once we got into the water just after 7:00am.  I learned very quickly that I am apparently no good at surfing.  The first beach we went too was a bit too calm and overcrowded so we left there and drove five minutes down the road.  This second beach had a bit more wave action, which might not have been the best thing for me.  I was able to paddle out, but was having trouble even timing it right to catch a wave.  Then at one point, as a bunch of waves broke around me, I kept getting knocked around and started swallowing a lot of water.  I was actually a bit scared and paddled back to the beach for a bit to take a bit of a breather.  I did eventually go back in, but never managed to stand on the board.  The closest I got was one time on my knees before I lost my balance and fell off.  In spite of my failure, I think I would like to try surfing again, though I definitely need some lessons.

We finished by around 9:00am because Lisa's friend had to get back to Melbourne, but in the late morning I met up with a friend I had met through Ross's roommate when I first arrived in Australia.  Toby and I drove about an hour down the beginning of the Great Ocean Road from Torquay.  Our first stop was a golf course that is always filled with kangaroos.  Of course, my camera battery was dead so I had to use my cell phone with its crappy zoom app.  The picture I got is the worst ever, but at least it proves I saw kangaroos in Australia!

After going down along the coastline, we headed back into town through the surrounding rainforest.  Toby had run a race that morning and I had also been up really early so we crashed back at his place for a few hours in the afternoon.  Then in the evening, Toby had a free ticket to a benefit for the Sea Shepherd organization, which fights against Japanese whaling in the Southern Ocean.  I decided to go along and buy my own ticket.  It was a fun night with some live music and a number of Australian celebrities who I had never heard of.  The event was held at a venue owned by a former Australian Football League player who was the MC, the Australian comedian, Dave Hughes did a stand-up set that was pretty funny and Sea Shepherd founder, Paul Watson, gave a good speech about the organization's mission.  After the fundraiser ended I stayed in Torquay for the night and then took the train back to Melbourne on Monday morning.

Before leaving Australia I tried to take care of all of the little things that I knew would be harder to do once I left the "Western" world again.  As a result, I spent Monday afternoon getting my hair cut and having couchsurfing host/computer guru, Ross, copy over my old hard drive onto the new computer so I would still have all my old data.  On Tuesday morning, Lisa's housemate was kind enough to drop me off at the airport on the way to visit his mom, but I STILL almost missed my flight.  I made the mistake of standing in the regular check-in line instead of the web check-in line (even though I had checked in on-line) because it looked much shorter.  However, it also moved much slower.  In the end I was one of the last people to check in for the flight.  Then the line for immigration was miles long.  It turns out I wasn't the only one who had issues, though, because they ended up holding the flight for some passengers who were also delayed getting to the gate.  I've got to say--this flying internationally every few weeks is not getting any easier.

An Orangewoman in Orange

I think it boded quite well that the town where I ended up going to volunteer as a WWOOFer was named Orange since I am a distinguished alumnus of the Syracuse Orange(men).  I arrived in Orange on the afternoon of November 11th via train and coach (bus).  The proprietress of Lofty Vineyard, Loretta, came to pick me up at the station and bring me back to the farm.  The vineyard is located on the top of a hillside with a beautiful panoramic view of the vines and valley below.

The first day I arrived, I was reprieved of any farm duties and was able to relax and get to know two of my fellow WWOOFers, Marylaine from Holland and George from England, once they came in from their afternoon shift in the vineyard.  That night Loretta and her husband Charlie, the winemaker, went out for dinner so Marylaine, George and I made our own pizzas out of French flatbread and a wide array of toppings.  For dessert Marylaine had made Dutch cookies which disappeared in a matter of minutes.

In general, WWOOFers work four to six hours a day on organic farms in exchange for their room and board.  At Lofty Vineyard, we worked five hours each day--generally three in the morning and two after lunch.  The rest of our afternoons were free.  When I woke up on Saturday morning, my first task was to dig a hole around a leaky pipe in the front yard so Charlie could get in there and repair it.  Loretta loaned me an old pair of paints, boots and dish gloves, but I stupidly wore my own shirt initially.  It was quite a challenge to get down to the pipe because it was next to a tree so I kept hitting tree roots and the hole continuously filled with water.  After not too long I was pretty well covered in mud and made the wise decision to change into an old shirt to finish the job.

After I finished my digging, I joined Charlie in the winery to help clean up and wash some of the work spaces.  I then spent the afternoon helping Charlie's friend, John, to pull empty barrels of the racks in the barrel room and wash them in preparation for the next batch of wine.  We had a nifty machine that Charlie had borrowed to clean out the barrels that worked kind of like a car wash.  Unfortunately some of the barrels were a bit stubbornly dirty, but we had to wait until the end of the day to clean them with hot water.    To use the hot water you had to turn on some sort of generator in the machine, which created a strong fuel smell.  We decided that was probably not the most appealing for visitors coming to taste and buy wine in the the Cellar Door tasting room next door.

I ended up working a bit long on Saturday afternoon because I didn't want to leave John by himself with the barrels.  By the end of the day, though, I was rather tired and my arms were sore from all the heavy lifting.  That night Loretta made dinner and I finally got to try some of the vineyard's wine.  Charlie poured some Chardonnay and one of his red blends, which led us to drinking long after dinner had ended.  Loretta started putting old records on the player and we listened to music until the wee hours of the morning when we finally headed to bed.  Of course, Charlie was up at 6:00am in the fields with the vineyard.  The rest of us slept till nearly 9:00.

On Sunday, I worked out in the vineyards for the first time, desuckering the plants.  This basically entailed cutting off all of the small branches and growths that were coming out of the trunks of the vines and sucking energy from the rest of the plants.  Marylaine and George had electronic clippers, but I was using manual ones so my hand was a bit tired by the end of the day.  George, who was feeling the pains of the late night, took a long siesta and ended up working in the winery with Charlie in the afternoon.

That afternoon another WWOOFer, Sarah from Germany, arrived in Orange.  She had the day off, but joined us out in the vineyard desuckering on Monday.  Then on Monday night, a fifth WWOOFer was added to the crew.  Nicolas from France made us all feel rather dense when that night at dinner he started waxing on about the percentage of oak in the wine we were drinking.  Apparently he was from a fifth generation winemaking family.  Sadly, Charlie was out of town at a conference for the week so there was no one else at the table with whom Nico could truly confer.

While I was WWOOFing, I would head out every day after work on a "kangaroo hunt" in search of Australia's famous animal.  Sarah started joining me and just about dusk we would walk to the paddock on the edge of the property to try to catch sight of the hoppers.  The first two nights we had no luck and by the third day I was ready to give up.  Then George decided he wanted us to show him the spot that Charlie had told us was the ideal place for seeing the hoppers.  We headed out yet again and paused midway down the hillside to try to see the 'roos in the valley down below.  For the first ten minutes or so it seemed as if our luck was going to be the same as before.  Then all of a sudden, George pointed to the top of the hill and said, "hey I think I see something."  At first I thought he was bluffing, but sure enough there appeared one and then two and then three kangaroos coming down through the woods.  They seemed to be watching us as much as we were watching them.  Of course, my camera chose this exact moment to stop functioning properly.  Eventually, the kangaroos made their way down to the bottom of the hill and we watched four of them hop past, though George swears there had been as many as seven at one point.  It was definitely quite a sight and once and for all dispelled my theory after the first two failed attempts that kangaroos are just a myth.

During my final day at the vineyard, Loretta agreed to let me film a short segment on WWOOFing with hopes of submitting it to the Travel Channel.  By the time I finished filming, ate lunch and went back to the vineyard to get signed releases from my fellow WWOOFers, I was running late to catch my bus back to Sydney.  Loretta drove as fast as she could to the station, but just as we were approaching we saw the bus heading out in the other direction.  It was the first time since I started traveling that I have actually missed my ride.  Luckily the nice man at the ticket counter let me exchange my bus/train ticket for the next direct train to Sydney for only the additional cost of the ticket.  On the way home, I saw dozens more kangaroos hopping off in the distance.  This time, the train was moving too fast for photos.  Despite lack of photographic evidence, I promise, they do exist!

Sailing Into Sydney

On November 1st (Melbourne Cup Day) I took a quick flight in the afternoon from Melbourne up to Sydney and checked into a hostel in the Central Business District right downtown.  It was my first time experiencing an 18-bed hostel room and hopefully my last.  At 8:00pm, the lights were off and people were sleeping, but by 12:00am when I wanted to go to sleep the lights were on and people were milling about.  The room itself wasn't too noisy, but the street traffic noise coming through the open window certainly was.

The following day, I had to check out because there were no empty beds for that night and as I was leaving my bags in storage I ran into one of the Canadian guys I had met in Thailand.  He was now traveling by himself on a working holiday visa in Australia.  Cam and I had a late Irish breakfast at a nearby pub and then I headed off toward the Indian consulate to inquire about the visa application.  When I got there, it turns out I had to go to a different office closer back toward my original hostel.  When I finally arrived, the woman at the counter seemed quite annoyed at my apparently inane line of questioning and basically just handed me a brochure and told me to bugger off.  I did learn, however, that it would take 10 working days to get my visa since I am not Australian, which means I wouldn't be able to go to New Zealand and would have to move back my flight to Delhi.

After leaving the consulate, I made my way a few blocks away to the Apple Store where I had an appointment to get my computer checked out at the Genius Bar.  This was yet another frustrating experience as I learned that my computer was essentially totaled and it would make more sense to just buy a new one rather than try to fix the old one.  I put off the purchase for the time being hoping I could get a student discount through some couchsurfing friends back in Melbourne.

Once I got back from the Apple Store, I picked up my bags and checked into my new hostel--a rundown frat house of a place in the seedy backpackers neighborhood of Kings Cross.  I went into the internet cafe next door to fill out my visa application and then went back to the consulate the following morning.  The first time I went up to the counter I was informed that I needed a copy of my Australian visa and two signed statements: one stating that as a television producer and "former" journalist I would not be conducting any journalism while in India and the other that the reason I needed a dual entry visa was that I planned to go to Nepal, but had not yet booked my flights because I didn't know the duration of my stay.   I realized instantly that it had been a huge mistake to put "journalist" in the "former occupation" field.  Apparently if you are a journalist and you want to visit India even on vacation you have to get a journalist visa.  I was sure that my application was doomed.  Also, since my travel agent applied for my Australian visa I wasn't even sure that I had a copy of the theoretically electronic document.  Luckily once I was able to get on a computer I found the e-mail he had sent with the copied and pasted visa confirmation.

I returned to the visa office for the second time and this time the original clerk was busy so I was sent to the annoyed-by-questions lady from the day before.  I knew this did not bode well.  I almost felt like she recognized me and was instantly judging me and my stupidity.  It turns out I was right to be wary as she quickly informed me that I did not have the requisite visa checklist nor did I apparently have an adequate amount of cash for the application.  I asked if I could pay by credit card and she told me not unless it was an Australian-issued card.  It's a Visa card so I don't really know why it would make any difference where it was issued and my exasperated response was something along the lines of: "Of course, it wasn't issued in Australia.  I don't live in Australia so why would my card be issued here."  However, I didn't even bother to try to ask her to run it and instead informed her that I had to leave to get the additional $30 I needed out of the ATM.  Once I returned with the checklist and cash, she told me how much it was going to be and, having been quoted a lower price this time around, it turns out I had had enough money with me all along.  I just gritted my teeth and gave her the money realizing it wasn't worth it trying to ruffle any feathers.

After finally getting out of the consulate following my third trip of the day there, I made my way down to Central Quay and from there walked most of the way across the Sydney Harbor Bridge where I got an amazing view of the Opera House and the waterfront.  I then crossed back over to The Rocks, an old shipping neighborhood, and then walked around the Opera House into the Royal Botanic Gardens.  It was a bright, clear afternoon and the blue sky really highlighted the white sails of the Opera House.  Walking back to my hostel through the serene gardens was a nice way to end a frustrating day.

On Friday, I putzed around for much of the morning and took care of some errands before taking the train to the suburb of Newtown just west of the city where I was couchsurfing with a guy named Andrew for the night.  We went down the street to the local pub for a drink and then met up with some of Andrew's friends in the neighborhood of Surrey Hills.  We went to a few different bars and as everyone was leaving to head to yet another place, Andrew's friends started trying to dare him to take a running slide into the fountain on the sidewalk right out front.  Some money started to be put on the table so I stepped up and said I was going to do it since I was ready to go home anyways.  Still wearing jeans and a tee shirt, I took a running start and began crawling (it really wasn't possible to slide) through the arches of the fountain.  As was visible from the video one of Andrew's friends took of my efforts, I made it through the first two arches without getting wet, but then just lost it after that and got soaked by the water.  Lots of high fives and $65 AUD later, I was trying to slip into a cab without my drenched state being detected.  The driver seemed a bit suspicious, but didn't seem to realize I was wet until I tried to hand it some watery bills as he dropped me off.  Shivering and soaked, I was never happier to get out of my clothes once I got inside.  In the end, it was worth it.  Never underestimate the depths to which a poor backpacker will stoop!

Part of the reason why I wanted to get back to house and go to bed was that I had to be up on Saturday morning to go boating on the harbor with another guy that I had contacted about couchsurfing.  Dan lived a ferry ride away from Central Quay in Cremorne Point so by the time I got there just after noon they were almost already out the door.  A number of Dan's friends as well as other couchsurfers were joining us on his catamaran.  We motored to the other side of the harbor, where we dropped the anchor and hooked up to several other boats so we could go swimming and have a barbecue.  We didn't stay in the water long because aside from being freezing cold, it was filled with jelly fish that brushed against us, but fortunately didn't sting.  Once the sun set, we brought one of the boats to Darling Harbor where we continued to hang out until finally taking a cab home in the wee hours of the morning.  I was originally supposed to stay in a hostel that night, but since it was too late to check in and all my bag's were at Dan's place I just crashed there on the couch.

On Sunday, Dan had to work, but his roommate Lachlan was participating in an amateur sailing race with his dad and cousin so I decided to join them along with Dan and Lachlan's other couchsurfer for the weekend, Lisa, who lives in Melbourne.  It seems that Lisa's and my main job was to move from one side of the boat to the other while we were tacking (a.k.a. changing what side the sail is on.) There were several times that the side of the boat dipped so close to the surface of the water that it felt like we were going to go overboard.  Despite my penchant for seasickness, I was doing great until I went below the deck to take out my camera.  I was trying to find Lisa's in her bag as well and without a clear view of the horizon I started to feel a bit woozy.  After coming back on deck and getting some fresh air, I fortunately started to feel a bit better.  In the end, our boat came in fourth overall no thanks to any role that I played in the effort.

For the next few days I stayed with Dan and Lachlan hanging out around Cremorne Point and taking an afternoon trip by bus to Manley Beach.  One night when I was supposed to actually go stay at a hostel in the city, a big storm rolled through after which I went on a crazy run with Lachlan up and down steep hills and stairs on what he claimed was a seven-kilometer course.  I dispute his arithmetic because it felt much longer notwithstanding the fact that I walked up many of the hills.  Since it was quite late once we finished and had started to rain again, I stayed there one last night.

Once I got back to Sydney the next day, I spent more time exploring the Royal Botanic Gardens and wandering around the Gallery of New South Wales on the edge of the park.  The museum houses a lot of 19th and 20th century Australian and European art as well as ancient and modern Asian art.  The best part about it was that it was free and open late on Wednesday nights!  I didn't stay until it closed, but the extra hours gave me more time to explore.  The latest (and best in Sydney thus far) hostel I was staying at was also only a short five-minute walk away.

On Thursday, I spent the day trying to sort out my plans for the next week while I continued to wait for my India visa, which I had to pick up in Sydney.  I considered getting in on a ride share and going up to Bryon Bay, but it's quite a drive and I would still have had to find a way back down after a few days.  I was also looking to save a bit of money since housing and food is so expensive in Australia.  In the end, I was able to arrange a WWOOFing situation on a vineyard five hours west of Sydney in the town of Orange.  On Friday morning, I set out by train to become a Willing Worker On [an] Organic Farm.

More photos will be uploaded soon!  For now I'm jet lagged and exhausted in India.

The Land Down Under

Apologies to all for my lengthy absence.  It can be very hard to find opportunities to blog without access to a computer.  After much drama and delay involving an attempted on-line computer purchase, I ended up having to go to the store to buy one in person earlier today.  Amazingly, through a twist of fortune involving an unexpected sale and the rising value of the US dollar, I ended up paying less than I was going to using my friend's education discount at the Apple On-line Store.  So I now return to the land of the computered and can start to post regularly again!

I arrived back in Melbourne by bus overnight from Sydney.  That ends up beginning quite appropriate as I plan to tell you a bit about my first stay in Melbourne, which started about three a half weeks ago.  I flew from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, to Melbourne, Australia on October 25th just as spring was blooming in the city.  The first few nights I couch surfed with a woman in her late 40s or early 50s who lived in the suburb of West Footscray just to the west of the city.  She had a very nice older home that she was in the process of renovating.  It was very cozy and felt very homey, except for one thing: it was freezing inside.  Apparently once spring arrives, people in Australia turn off the heat no matter what the temperature reads outside.  Of course, I accidentally forgot my fleece jacket at the hostel in Malaysia right when I actually needed it.  I spent a lot of time under the covers at that house just to keep warm.

On my first full day in town, I went on a walking tour of some of the historic buildings downtown.  My couch surfing host had lent me the brochure for the self-led tour that started outside the immigration museum wound down some of the main streets of town past old banks, pubs, hotels and warehouses to the Parliament House and finally ending at the Royal Exhibition Building.  Melbourne is definitely a very walkable city and seemed to have a very lively vibe.  I almost didn't make it downtown at all that day, though, after I nearly lost $50 AUD on my way to the train.  When I was coming up to the train station, a man pointed out a $20 bill that had fallen out of my bag.  I was able to rescue it after it blew down the train platform, but I noticed the other $50 I had brought with me was missing.  I realized it had probably fallen out somewhere between the convenience store near my host's house where I stopped for a snack and the train station.  I gave it up for lost, but decided I should still probably retrace my steps just to make sure it was actually gone.  I walked down the street from the station, then turned the corner to go back toward the store.  Halfway down the sidewalk, what should I see on the ground, but my (or perhaps someone else's) missing $50 bill.  Someone was clearly looking out for me that day, though, perhaps my air of resignation and acceptance as opposed to panic and hysteria gave me some good kharma.

After about three nights in West Footscray, I came into the city to stay at a hostel in Chinatown.  That night I met up with my next couch surfing host, Ross, for a few drinks and ended up just crashing on the couch at his house.  After retrieving my bags from the hostel then next day I basically just spent the afternoon buying groceries and doing errands up near Ross's place right to the north of the city.  In the evening after I'd cooked dinner, some friends of Ross's roommate, Andrew, came over to get ready for a Halloween party at a friend's house.  They talked me into going with them and wearing a mishmash costume that involved furry overalls and an Australian flag.  I just told everyone that I was Australia or Oz for short.  The party was a bit dead when we got there so we left after a while to go to a bar downtown.  For a while I had fun dancing and hanging out until 4:00am rolled around I decided it was definitely time for bed.  Luckily I talked everyone into leaving with me and we caught a cab home.

The following day I was still freezing cold because the bright sunshine of my first few days in town had been replaced by cold wind and rain.  I decided I couldn't take it any more and had to buy a warmer jacket.  I went to the shopping plaza down the street intending to buy a cheap fleece at Kmart.  I almost wanted to cry when I walked in and saw only rows and rows of swimsuits and sundresses.  Luckily I happened into another clothing store in the complex and found a number of hoodies on spring clearance.  It was still a little bit more than I had wanted to pay, but was absolutely unavoidable.  With my new fleece in hand, I made my way across the river downtown later that afternoon to meet up with Aaron who I had met in Beijing and some of his friends.  Among the people in the group were others who had participated in the Mongolian Rally with Aaron so it was really interesting to listen to all their stories.  After leaving the brew pub, we went back up to Chinatown to have dim sum for dinner.

Monday was Halloween and my mission was to get my computer, which had just stopped working again, fixed.  I brought it to the repair shop and they told me they would take about 45 minutes to take a look at it.  I used that time to walk over to the Old Melbourne Gaol where many notorious convicts were imprisoned and executed.  The most famous of them all was the bushranger Ned Kelly, who has become an Australian legend much like Billy the Kid in the United States.  Among the items on display were the homemade armor he used in his final standoff with police.  You could also walk up to the area where they had the original gallows and see the trap door through which prisoners condemned to death would drop.

I stayed until the museum closed and then walked back to the repair shop.  They didn't have very good news, saying they couldn't fix it and my best bet was to go to the Apple Store when I got to Sydney.  It turned out to be the death knell for my computer as even the "geniuses" at the Genius Bar later gave my computer up for naught.  On that somewhat unfortunate note, I made my way back to my couch surfing home to find Andrew, his girlfriend and her roommate getting ready for another Halloween party.  Even though I was planning to get up early the following morning to go to a party for the Melbourne Cup at Aaron's friend's house, I decided once again to come along.  This time, I just dressed in a red "blood-soaked" dress and painted my face white with red blood streaks.  We rode our bikes (me on Andrew's creaky bike) to the house, which was actually one of three in a row open to partygoers.  Within a few hours there was an absolutely insane number of people inside.  Eventually the police showed up--something that hasn't happened since college--and cleared everyone out.  Since were were friends with the party hosts we stayed after all the other guests left in spite of the early hour.  I started to get rather bored and began to clean up while waiting for Andrew to be ready to go.  I finally gave up and decided to ride the bike home by myself.  It was certainly not the smartest idea ever, but luckily I made it back in one piece.

The next morning when my alarm went off, I had no desire to jump out of bed.  My flight to Sydney left at 4:30pm and my plan had been to go to the Melbourne Cup party and then leave for the airport from there.   The Melbourne Cup is a big horse race kind of like the Kentucky Derby for which everyone in Victoria gets off the day off as a public holiday.  However, I was so overtired that by the time I got out of bed and got my bags packed I knew it was too late to go over to the party.  It is still one of the biggest regrets of my trip that I didn't make more an effort to get there as apparently the apartment overlooked the racetrack and it would have been a great opportunity to experience a truly iconic Australian event firsthand.  I guess we all make our choices and need to pay for the consequences of those choices.  I should have come home from that Halloween party hours earlier so I was well-rested for the festivities in the morning.  I guess as they say, you live and learn.

Made it to Malaysia

So my computer gave it a good fight, but it has officially died.  I plan to buy a new one once I return to Melbourne, but in the meantime I won't be able to post any photos and will only be able to add new posts when I am able to get access to a computer.  Right now I'm in a library in Sydney where I'm technically only supposed to be doing "internet research."  Let's hope I don't get caught.

To make my way from Phuket to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia just over two weeks ago, I first took a seven-hour bus ride to the Thai border town of Hat Yai and then took an overnight train from Hat Yai to Malaysia.  I should have known how things were going to go when my bus broke down just about 200 meters away from the Phuket bus station.  It took them about 30 minutes to get it fixed during which time I debated running back to the station to try to beg for my money back and catch a bus with another company.  Luckily we finally got going and just after nightfall we made it to Hat Yai. 

Once we got into the city, I took a moto ride with all my bags to my flea bag hotel where I had my very own dirty little room.  Let me tell you... Hat Yai is a craphole.  Trying to find some food that night and walking around the next day, it just struck me as very rundown and depressed.  It really had no redeeming charm anywhere that I could see.  It didn't help that I had about $15 in local currency for dinner on the night I arrived and all my meals the following day.  I barely scraped by without having to get more cash out.  I really couldn't get out Hat Yai fast enough.  I actually arrived at the train station two hours ahead of time because I was confused about whether my train was at 2:00pm, 3:00pm or 4:00pm.  Turns out it was at 4:00pm.  At least I was on time.  And some very nice Malaysian people shared some of their fruit and Malaysian candy with me while were were waiting.

We arrived in Kuala Lumpur at the very early hour of 5:00am local time, 4:00am Thai time.  Needless to say that when I finally made it to my hostel at about 7:00am, I took a nap on the floor of the lounge (since my bed for that night was still occupied at present.)  After I got up, I did the grand walking tour of Kuala Lumpur.  I was staying in a trendy shopping district in Bukit Bintang.  From there I walked to Chinatown, down the Petaling Street shopping arcade, through the Central Market, past the Jamek Mosque to Merdeka Square.  It was in this square that the British flag was lowered and the Malyan flag was raised for the first time in August 1937.  It's also the site of the tudor-style Royal Selangor Club who used the green as a cricket site.  They still play cricket there as some people were doing informally when I was there.  The sun was setting as I left Merdeka Square so I took the monorail back toward my hostel.  On the way I stopped at the Berjaya Times Square, which unlike (or perhaps just like) the Times Square in New York City is just a huge shopping mall.

The next day I walked the short distance to the Menara KL Tower, took the shuttle bus to the bottom (since apparently it's too hard for tourist to actually walk up hill) and made my way through the maze of pony rides, zoo animals and souvenir shops to the ticket counter.  I had planned to go up, but then I found out the ticket was $15 USD.  I knew I could get one for about $8 from my hostel so I decided to come back another day.  I walked (for shame!) down the hill and then made my way over to the Petronas Twin Towers.  I didn't even bother to try to go up to the observation deck there because I had heard it wasn't worth it.  However, just as I was getting close to the building, it started to downpour.  I went inside to the mall area and just wandered around until the rain finally let up.  Then I walked around the KLCC park for a while before returning back to my hostel for the night.

The following two days were the weekend so I spent those with a family friend, Lim, his wife and two sons. My parents had played host to Lim when he came to take a course at UConn about 16 years ago.  No one in our family has seen him since, but my parents have always kept in touch.  It was the first time anyone in our family had visited him in Malaysia or met his family.  On Saturday, he and his wife picked me up at my hostel and brought me first to the Batu Caves after we ate a traditional Indian breakfast of roti jala.  We walked up the many sets of stairs to the Hindu temples hidden inside the cave walls and then drank fresh coconut water straight from the coconut after making our way back to the bottom.  Along the way, we had to battle the crazy monkeys that would jump out right in front of you looking for food as you climbed the steps.

After leaving the Batu Caves, we picked up Lim's younger son and then had a Chinese lunch of chicken and rice.  Lim then brought me to where he works in Putrajaya, the new administrative seat of the federal government.  The way it was set up reminded me a lot of Washington, D.C.  On one end of a straight two-kilometer road is the Prime Minister's office and the pink Putra Mosque and on the other is the Putrajaya Convention Center.  The whole "island" is surrounded by a manmade lake and crossed by nine bridges, each with a unique modern design.  Lim pointed out the Ministry of Finance building where her first worked after the government moved to Putrajaya and the building where he works now for the consumer affairs department.  We donned pink robes so we could go into the pink-painted Putra Mosque and then took a boat ride around part of the lake to check out the king's palace, Prime Minister's house and some other notable government buildings.  We then had a traditional flavored ice treat before going to the convention center.  After we left Putrajaya, I checked into my hotel and then met up with Lim's family again for a dinner of traditional Malay chicken satay.

On Sunday, Lim picked me up and brought me to his house were we had a traditional Malay breakfast with his wife and two sons.  The first course was a rice dish with an anchovy paste cooked in a banana leaf.  I then tried a bunch of different kuih, cakes and pastries often made with glutinous rice flour and coconut milk.  Some of them were really good and by the end I was pretty stuffed.  We spent the next few hours at Lim's house before going out to a Chinese restaurant for lunch and then driving back into downtown Kuala Lumpur.  We went to the Central Market where Lim insisted on picking out some souvenirs for me and my family.  He then brought me back to my hostel and it was time to say goodbye.

The following day, I bought a ticket at my hostel for the KL Tower and this time went all the way to the top.  There was a nice view of the whole city and the surrounding area, including all the way to the Batu Caves.  Using binoculars, I was able to find the area in Bukit Bintang right near my hostel.  After going back down, I then walked down through the rain forest preserve that surrounds the tower hillside.  I then walked back to the KLCC area to get some photos before calling it a day. 

On my last day in town, I had intended to the Lake Gardens to the west of the city center, but after packing up and getting organized I decided instead to head right to the Central Market where I spent a few hours crafting "Christmas" presents for several people.  I don't want to ruin the surprise so I won't tell you exactly what I made, but I will say that it involved a traditional painting technique that I was able to try out at one of the local market shops.  By the time I had finished my crafts, I had to race back to the hostel in order to get to the post office on time to send back the gifts and several other souvenirs.  I shipped it by sea so I have no idea if the package will actually arrive any time before the New Year.  Whoops!

I had an overnight flight that night to Melbourne, Australia, so after returning to the post office I picked up my bags at the hostel and got ready to leave for the airport.  When I told the hostel owner what time my flight was, he was like "you need to leave right now!"  I thought he was overreacting and assured him nonchalantly that leaving three hours before my flight was plenty of time.  Of course, then I got on the monorail going the wrong direction since I raced onto a train without checking which way it was going and had to go back an extra stop the other way.  I also just missed an express train to the airport when I got the central station and had to wait 15 minutes for the next one.  I still thought I was totally fine with 1.5 hours to spare when I got to KLIA.  Then when I tried to look for the Air Asia check-in desk, I was informed that Air Asia left from LCCT--20 minutes away!  I was nearly out of Malaysian money so I tried to take a bus, but it was a good 15 minutes before the next one left.  I raced to a cash machine then jumped onto the taxi line only to be informed I had to pay at the counter inside.  Luckily my cab driver understood my distress and drove like a speed demon to the other terminal.  I arrived an hour before my flight and they had already closed the check-in booth for Melbourne.  The lady looked at me like I was crazy when I told her where I was going.  Luckily she checked me in, I passed quickly through security and made it on board.  Another close call, but who knows what will happen next time.  I need to start getting to the airport more than a hour before departure!!