Been a While!

End of day 11 ( The massage). Once again I have a computer with a dodgy space bar, so please forgive.
The massage was hilarious. I had to work really hard not to laugh. It was relaxing though, just a lot weird. They did pressure points then cracked my knuckles, folded my ears in, pinched my eyebrows, slapped me on the forehead, pulled my hair, and rubbed my belly. Very weird.

Day 12
It's a bit tricky to remember now. This was the first day of our rafting. My cold was playing up but the trip went ok. It was a nice easy cruise down a river which joined the Seti a little while in. It was beautiful. We stopped for lunch on a little sand bank and the girls started playing a lawn-bowls type game with different coloured rocks, which sort of evolved into a stick throwing competition. Lunch was very average, soggy bread that fell apart, tuna, cheese, and coleslaw. Vince thought he lost his lens cap before I realised it was in my pocket.

Back in the rafts, a few 'rapids' and after a particularly fun one we came to our overnight spot. We camped on a beach that night. Vince discovered once we got there that he didn't pack any pants or socks. This put him in a very foul mood, as all packing mistakes seem to be my fault, regardless of the true cause. Once his pants dried a bit his mood improved and we ended up having a nice night. The rafting crew provided all the meals, and unlike lunch dinner was not too bad (although, in true Nepalese style it took hours to prepare). They bought some chooks from a near-by house and we had chicken for tea with rice and Dal (I think - it was a while ago now!). There was also some nice mushroom soup. One of the rafting guys showed us a word game. He placed a number of sticks on the sand to spell "HOTEL" (imagine it with matchsticks, and the "O" uses four). Moving only two sticks you had to change it to another word - one that people use when they are bored. I'll let you all think on that one.

The same guide was enjoying his rum quite a lot and was pretty drunk at the end of the day. I was the last around the fire. When we first pulled in a mangy looking black dog showed up and hung around all night (enjoying the warmth from the big camp fire I think). Before I turned in the guide grabbed the dog and started pushing him towards the fire. The dog, mistaking the gesture as affection, was pushing into the guide (but not silly enough to be pushed into the fire) so the guide hit him in the head. The dog yelled, and our Nepal guide, Raju, told off the rafting guide. I went to bed, and heard the dog cry out a few more times that night. We were kept up/woken up a few times that night as the drunk guide sung his heart out until late. The guides slept under the upturned rafts (propped up on a couple sticks), we all had tents.

Day 13
The next day the rafting was good. I was feeling very unwell, but the rapids were fun - a little bigger, a little longer and more of them. We got stuck on rocks a couple times, and during one rapid I almost went for a swim. We were coming down and into a big rock on my side of the raft (the right side, Vince was in front of me, I was in the middle). We hit and the raft lurched towards the right. My paddle disappeared (I don't remember letting go of it) and I grabbed onto Vince, while Steve, sitting opposite Vince at the front) also looked like he was going to land on Vince. Christie (my opposite) said she thought I was going off. Vince was so preoccupied with the giant rock he didn't even noticed Steve almost landing on him and me clinging to him. After we got out of that section (my sitting around, as I had no paddle) a guy coming along in a sort of one person mini-boat thing paddling along (smoke dangling out of his mouth) and handed me back my paddle.

The rafted ended, but not after a few good soakings near the end. Shivering and shaking we climbed a hill to waiting bus and a warm change of clothes. I changed in the bus and was feeling very ordinary. My head was hot, and I waiting on the bus while everyone else said good bye to the guides. I was pleased to hear that the drunk guide fell into the Seti while we were rafting that day (he was not on our raft). I didn't mention, there was also a sort of jr guide who rowed our gear along using two wooden paddles. Often the extra guide on our boat (we had 5 people, 2 guides, the other boat the same, but one of their guides was Raju) would jump between our raft and the pack raft (literally jump).

We started our bus ride to Chitwan, I had a few panadols and after an hour or two my fever was gone although I still felt wretched. We arrived at our hotel (the tiger view hotel park or something - I should have kept a list) and I managed a bit of food before heading to the hotel room. Steve and Christie (two of the other travellers going through the whole trip with us) gave me some antibiotics that Christie had. I had a nap while Vince went to the group intro/briefing. We met our new additions today. Our original group from Kathmandu consisted of:
Steve and Chrsitie (An Aussie couple. They are quite nice, Vince and I have gotten along well with them. We play cards a lot although it took a while to figure out some of the rules).
Steve and Kathrine (Another Aussie couple. Kathrine is young, 22.)
Usha, Linden, Pauline (a trio of UK-ers). Linden is Scottish, and I think Pauline is too. They all live in Londen, Pauline and Linden are house mates, and Usha is a friend. They were a lot of fun, very bubbly. They were the instigators of our great Christmas Day. The trip has been a lot quieter without them.
Margaret (Aussie, travelling alone. Very sweet, but a bit unsure of herself, liked to confirm things a few dozen times.)

The two couples (and us) are doing the full tour (Nepal and India), however the girls were only going up to Chitwan. Here we were joined by the Indian contingent - a group of people only doing India (the wusses, no trekking or rafting ;) ). I can't remember their names, and am not even going to try.

Day 14
We got up early and had a jeep ride through Chitwan National Park. We had to ride in a small canoe-style thing across a very misty stretch of water. It was pretty cool looking, although the boat didn't seem too stable. We piled into two jeeps, Vince and I were with the 3 UK girls and Steve and Christie. It had rained the night before and was very cold. This unfortunately meant that there were not a lot of animals about in the early morning fog/mist. If they were out we couldn't see them, because the fog was very very thick. We eventually saw a Marsh Mugger crocodile before going to the Chitwan animal park thing (I will find the proper name later). They bred alligator type things (can't remember their names) and had a tiger.

The tiger was a female, about 4 years old. Her mother was a confirmed man-eater. I think they said she took 5 people from a village in one week alone. She was found and killed, and of her three cubs two didn't make it alone. The third, our female, had learned from her mother and inherited a taste for people. There were two options - kill her, or lock her in the 'zoo' (animal park). It was a small enclosure, and I'm not really sure which option was better in the end. She was very pretty though. She was laying having a sleep when we got there but eventually got up. I was standing, peering through the wooden slats, a metre or so from her when she got up. She could hear me/smell me and looked right into my eyes as she stood. She started to pace around the cage, and tried to attack Margaret through the fence a few times. The fence was high, but not so high that she couldn't have gotten out if she really put her mind to it (there was one ledge with a raised area that wouldn't have been more than a few metres from the top of the fence. The fence itself was made of long planks of wood, nailed together. I forgot to take a photo of it. There were big gaps in the wood which gave a good view. It was sad that she was stuck in there, but it was probably the best for her. I can't imagine an actual zoo allowing a man-eater.

Back in the jeep after this and back to our hotel. On the way back we found a wild rhino and took some photos. We were very close to it, not more than a couple metres. It was great and a little scary - the jeeps were very small and open. I would've backed the rhino.

After lunch we went on an elephant safari. It was good. Look - riding a Elek for real. The ride was uncomfortable with four to a basket. We had to dodge tree branches and the like. We ended up seeing six rhinos! (three pairs of two, two were babies). It was pretty neat, but hard to take photos on the moving elephant. We saw some Marsh Muggers and crossed through a stream only a hundred metres or so away from where one went into the water. While crossing the stream it was cute that the elephants lifted their tails - they didn't want them to get wet. One of the negative things about the experience was the way they controlled the elephants. Two big sticks. One was a regular stick, short round wood, the other made of metal with a point at the end and a pointed curved off bit, like the top of an "f", but imagine the cross in the f to be longer than its tail. This was used to hook the elephants ear if it wasn't responding to the verbal directions (thankfully only happened once). The stick was used to whack the elephant on the head if it spent too long trying to eat instead of move, or if it was doing something dangerous or out of control. I don't think they actually hurt the elephants very much, if at all, but they sounded horrible. Apart from that the ride was good, and we saw a lot. We were told that we were quite lucky to see that many rhino, and I remember reading that these days even seeing a rhino is becoming rarer. We saw no wild tigers or sloth bears.

This night we watched a cultural show. It was very good. A local group of men and boys performed some dances with sticks and some other feather type thing. We had our group's farewell, as the Nepal-only part were leaving the next morning. The girls got together and announced awards/titles for us all which was very thoughtful and sweet of them. I got the award for the "Most confusing game of cards ever" (thanks to the first night of the trek when I was attempting to explain hearts with Steve 1 to the rest of the group). Vince got the title "Most likely to be mistaken for a tiger by a Japanese tourist", thanks to his fledgling beard (which is coming along nicely). Steve 1 accidental saw that they were planning this presentation and made up some with Christie for the three girls so they didn't miss out either. It was a nice farewell, and a nice sleep afterwards!

Day 15 (New Year's Eve)
We had breakfast, gave hugs goodbye to the girls and our bus. The new group seem nice, although parts of the old group were really getting on my nerves. There was some backwards childish posturing about 'them' and 'us', as in "we've been here longer it's our group. They are joining us".

We had a very long drive. We got out and looked at Buddha's birth place. Apparently 's mum went for a bath then took 21 steps grabbed onto a tree branch and gave birth to Buddha. The pool (or its representation) is the most sacred place for Buddhists.

We had lunch, got to know some of the new guys some more, and then back on the bus. I am feeling much better now, but Vince is getting pretty sick. We arrive in our hotel at a Nepalese border town and have dinner in our small group with Raju. After dinner and a few games of poker (Raju one the first one, I won the second one - being heads up with Raju and I after about the 3 rd hand thanks to bad calls by Steve1 and Vince), and Vince and me were the last left in the end game so I think we called it even.

Day 16
Happy New Year. We cross into India this morning, I am a little worse for wear after celebrating a little too hard the night before. Vince is feeling very unwell, his cold has gotten pretty bad. All-in-all it makes for a VERY long drive to Varanasi, India.

We cross the border and organise our passports/visa stuff. We say good bye to Raju and hello to Sandy, our Indian guide. We miss Raju. We drive, taking a few pit stops at "Tourist houses" for toilet-breaks. The India squat toilets are larger than the Nepalese ones. Ten very, very, very, very long hours after we got in the bus we get out at our hotel, the Surya in Varanasi.

It is night by the time we arrive (did I mention the distance between the border and Varanasi is only about 250kms, but the roads are so busy the going is slow). The hotel is like a mirage after all we've seen. We came into a Disney-word like garden in the middle. The tall white buildings were lit by coloured flood lights, and plants lined the paths. We have our Indian briefing with the group. A few of us oldies have concerns about the new guide. The Indian tour seems a lot more structured and planned than the laid-back Nepal part. We were informed that we should have at least one meal as a group every day, preferably all our meals, and that we should all go shopping together (all 14 of us). By now I am feeling pretty good - still coughing and still blocked up sinus, however I have come to accept that I will be feeling like this until the end of the trip. Vince has gone into full-blown cold though. After our briefing we elect to sit inside the restaurant, instead of outside, and are joined by Steve and Christie. We figure we had lunch with the whole group that day, so dinner was for us. We ordered Pizza which they made without tomato sauce! It wasn't very good.

Day 17
We were up at 4.45am, to meet the group at 5.45am. No time for breakfast. We went to the Ganges for a boat ride. The fog/mist was very thick and we couldn't see much, but it was still pretty cool. We went down a way, then back up while the boat-guide told us about the various buildings, the shapes of which we could almost making out in the swirling white. The idea was to see the sun rise over the Ganges, however the mist took care of that. Instead of a rising sun, we saw the mist change colour to a brighter (and therefore thicker) white. After this boat trip we visited a silk factory type place. I was not impressed. They showed us how the silk is made - it is pretty cool, but not riveting. They showed us a lot of this, then took us to a silk place and saw some more, with a guide telling us about the process, which was too hard to understand, so I decided that I'll look it up on Google and YouTube in my own time when I get home. Then we went upstairs and this "guide" turned out to be the store owner. What followed was about one hour or more of a giant silk sales-pitch, aimed at getting us to spend our money there. Meanwhile we are all starving. I gave in, though I said at first that I wouldn't. I bought a couple of blue cushion covers for US$12 each. Not too bad I figured, at least I know it's good quality. We came back to the hotel, Sandy said we could go to our rooms for 15 minutes then meet for breakfast. Yeah right. I made a bee-line to the restaurant. By now it is past 10am and, knowing full-well what the speed of service is like here, am not exactly happy. I am pretty sure the Geneva convention demands that you be feed after 5 hours of captivity.

There was an optional activity planned that evening, which Vince and I originally planned to miss - it was a prayer ceremony at the Ganges, as they said goodnight to the river. Since the visibility that morning was low I decided to go after all, while Vince rested some more (he sounds terrible and is feeling worse everyday). During the few hours break I decided to get a massage. Oh. My. God. I thought the trek hurt. This was torture... pure and simple. First she wanted to me to take all my clothes off, but I opted to keep my undies on. Then she hurt me. She asked "medium or hard" I said medium. I shudder to think what hard is. After that (dripping with oil) there was a hot-rock treatment that burned. I was flinching and twitching all over the place, but she didn't slow down. Ouch. Another funny thing about it. The lady who did the massage asked me my name. Overhearing from the other room another member of my group, a chatty, friendly kiwi lady, said hello and we exchanged a few words. At the end of her massage she tipped her lady who called out in Indian to the lady who was looking after me. She said, very excited, that my friend left a dollar for a tip, and was a very good tipper. And so, looking for a good tip, she decided to give me an hour massage instead of a 45 minute one! She told me after with a finger against her lips and a smile and sideways nod of the head. Bless her. Ouch. I tipped 200r - about 8AU.

The second trip to the Ganges was more revealing, and quite nice also. I'm glad I did it. In the morning we went to the burning area but there were no funerals. This was fine with me, I had no desire to see more. We were shuttled down to the banks by Taxi and Sandy arranged for us to take a boat ride to watch the ceremony. We got in the boat and he took us up to the burning area. After a few minutes we asked him to take us to the ceremony, which we could hear going on. We watched the ceremony which was interesting. I forgot to take my glasses, so it got boring pretty fast to be honest, but still worth the visit. Worth the 200r per-person for the trip? I think Sandy made a nice little profit from that venture, as 10 of us went.

Day 18
Nothing planned for today, only our train ride to Agra this afternoon. Sandy wanted us to meet at 9am for breakfast. Vince sounded awful this morning and was up at 6am anyway. We went down and ate at 8am, then looked for the group at 9am without any luck. I wandered into the hotel's souvenir shop and found what appear to be the same cushions for 150r each (before haggling). With the Indian rupee exchange that means the ones I paid for at the place yesterday cost me 5 times more each. 150r = about $5 Aussie. Not happy Jan. I bought a few things, we went back to the hotel room and that's about it for today. I did have goat for breakfast, that was interesting (and nice). Vince is very happy in India as there is a channel devoted entirely to cricket. Mostly they have been showing the live test match (Aus v SA) and when that is not on they show Australian State matches!

We start our train trip tonight, not sure when it depends on the trains. We've heard that they are running a few hours late already (we heard this at 9.30am!). We were planing to leave at 4.30pm but we will what time we actually leave.

At the moment I am counting the days until we go home. I don't want to be, but I can't help it. I am tired of feeling dirty and sick. But, I suspect that has a lot to do with not being entirely happy with the guide leader at the moment, and I imagine it will pass once we actually get out and start seeing things, other than the all-cricket channel. Taj Mahal tomorrow! Onwards.

Forgot to mention about the massage. After my name the next thing I was asked "Are you married?". After the massage while waiting for change I was sitting next to a young Indian lady. She looked at me and smiled. "Nice massage?" "Yes, very nice " "Are you married?" "No" "How old are you?" "26" "Oh". It's very different to Nepal here! Marriage is a huge deal, I was just asked if my husband was done with the net (Vince left his computer a while ago) and the other night while I was away they asked him what his wife would like. We never got that in Nepal. Also the staring! It's funny how different it is here. We go to some smaller towns soon, not "metro" towns like Varanasi, where it's going to be much worse. In Nepal we were never told not to show public affection (holding hands or kissing etc), Vince and I didn't anyway just in case, but we were told at the start of this trip that outside of the "Metro" towns we should not do anything like that.