Jaipur, India

I just love some of the faces you can see here in India.


Probably not the best idea, but here is me trying to charm a real cobra. As I played the instrument, it wiggles and stares at you. The music almost puts the snake in a trance.


Just me and the DUDES OF INDIA!

A friend (Chris) that I was hiking the Annapurna circuit with ended up hooking back up with me here in Jaipur. Every time I get on one of these rickshaws the guys driving look like their about to die. I like the exercise and weigh more then 90 lbs so I volunteer to drive and that is way more fun!

This is actually the largest in the world and the King of India (1700's?) used it to haul water from the Ganges river to the UK in fear that the water wouldn't be suitable for him to drink there.

This is the city palace. The old city is mostly painted pink, as it is known as "The Pink City."

Janta Mantar was a really interesting place with all different types of sundials that were incredibly accurate.

The Amber Fort.

Probably a bad idea feeding the wild monkeys as they seem very unpredictable but.......I couldn't resist.

I met this couple from Spain in a train station while I was trying to find my train. Come to find out I had the seat right next to them and enjoyed the 16 hour journey chatting with them. They were moving on to Jaipur when I got off in Agra and didn't expect to see them again but due to illness we ran into each other again in the same hotel. We took a tour of the surrounding city out to the Monkey temple and Amber fort which was one of my favorite days in India so far.

I am starting to see this often now but I can't help but laugh. You know it's getting hot when they are replacing the cows with camels.

I am not yet 100% feeling better still from Varanasi but I am getting close. Not feeling well is a very tough part of traveling. When I got to Jaipur I decided that I was going to take it a bit slower to recover some of my energy. For my 4t stop in India I again have really enjoyed my stop in Jaipur. On a daily basis you have mixed feeling about India but every time I look back I really appreciate what I am seeing here. I am also amazed how smart some of the people selling you things or begging are. As most everyone in India speaks English, as you see other travelers come along and they will quickly switch to another language and carry a full conversation. Seeing a small 6 year old speak multiple languages who looks like they would be able to barely speak one is something I will never forget. One thing that gets old here quickly is everyone asks you the same questions over and over again.

1. Whats your name Mr?

2. Where are you from Mr?

3. Do you like Obama?

4. Want to take my picture?......OK 10 rupees!
5. Or please come look in my shop.

Fatehpur Sikri, India

On the road again.


Young kids hard at work.

Who wants to go for a swim?

These palaces were carved out of stone and the detail and amount of time it must have taken is impressive.

This UNESCO World Heritage site between Agra and Jaipur is definitely worth a stop along the way. It was actually the short lived capital of the Mughal empire between 1571 and 1585. Because of water shortages it was abandoned and the place still seems to be in a exceptional shape. There is a small city just outside and I enjoyed venturing through this area as I didn't see one other foreigner around. As you can see the green water in the picture above, that is all the sewage that runs from the city and drains into this place that forms a small pool. I was astonished to see the kids jumping into the water as if I would have touched the water, it would have probably killed me. It took me days to get over the fact that the most disgusting water I have ever seen in my life was being used as a swimming pool in this extremely dry area. Because this site is a bit out of the way, I don't think too many people come out to see it and as I headed on toward Jaipur I stood in the road waiting for a bus to pick me up!

Agra, India

Mark this one off the list of things to see in my life! What a great place.


This is the Agra fort.

My flights in India before I arrived were scheduled to depart to Europe on the 20th of July and I had anticipated on spending around 50 days in India. My timing for most of my trip as the weather goes has been great but as I looked, I was scheduled to be in India at the absolute worse time to be there. The temperatures were to be high and the monsoon is expected to begin here any day now. Along the way I was thinking that I really wanted to see Egypt and a bit of the mid east on my trip too. I decided within the last week to change my time in India down to 30 days and fly into Europe a bit earlier then I had planned. I figured that I could just explore Eastern Europe a bit or I am thinking I might venture down through Turkey, into Syria, up through Jordan and Israel, and finally head into Egypt. Not sure exactly what my plan is but either way it sounds exciting to me! As far as Agra goes, the Taj Mahal was amazing and the other sites in Agra are almost equally impressive!

Varanasi, India

It is an amazing place to get amazing photos.

Typical traffic. It never lets up so you cross in these conditions.

This is a view from the banks of the Ganges river of Varanasi.

My hotel here was nice but I would laugh at the contrast as you looked out the doorway. As you turned the corner it just got worse.

Don't bother this holy cow while you shop here. Sometimes I feel the animals have it better then the humans do!

India, nothing on earth quite like it. For my first day in India I saw a cobra, python, cow in a department store, dead body in a river, farm animals roaming anywhere and everywhere, poo and trash scattered all over the place, got begged 40 times for money and 80 times to buy a post cards, almost ran over 4 times an hour, and had 3 tuk-tuk drivers try to take me to places that I didn't want to go to buy things that I didn't want! The temperature in India currently is bouncing between 100-118 degrees and AC is not overly common. Half of the time that I have been in India the electricity has been down and when your trying to sleep in a really hot room with out even a fan is extremely tough. There are wild monkeys that roam all over the cities here and I nearly got attacked by one when I saw a cute little monkey arm hanging down. As I pointed at the monkey arm it hoped up hissing at me and as I ran for my life, it chased me while screaming at the same time. As I have been really healthy for my entire trip so far after 4 days in India......sick. Having a fever in this heat is truly miserable and when your stomach is weak, the smells of India that are impossible to miss will be a final blow to any weak stomach. Varanasi is probably the most Holy city in all of India and the people here feel that the water from the Ganges river is the best water in the world. If you read about how it is one of the most polluted rivers in the world; as they dump hundreds of bodies in it daily, 30 unprocessed sewer mains drain right into the the river near by, along with the massive amounts of trash near by you would think that they might question drinking from the river. All I have to say is traveling in India is not for the faint hearted but I am excited to be here and really look forward to the next month of extremes. THIS IS WHAT TRAVELING IS ALL ABOUT! Who wants to go see the same thing and have nothing to talk about?

GOOD BYE BOOTS!

Well, you couldn't ask for more out of a pair of boots. They lived such a glorious life and saw so much of this beautiful world their final resting place is in Kathmandu Nepal. To be honest it was really hard to part way with my boots as I feel like they were such a big part of my trip. I figured that I had walked probably 1500 miles in them as a journey like this involves so much walking on a daily basis.

Annapurna Circuit and Everest Base Camp, Nepal

The view from Kala Pathar at 18,040ft.



Here is the glorious Everest base camp. Just tents and people who don't want you there. The people are so rude to trekkers and they tell you it's private property. I said......"Sorry ....Didn't see the sign there MR. NEPAL"


The dark peak in the middle back is the highest peak in the world. (29,028ft) It's not the most beautiful peak but I was thankful for good weather since the weather is often cloudy. This picture was taken from Kala Pathar. (18,040ft)






When I was young my favorite animal was a cow.....Now it's the Yak!

This had to be a world record for internet cafe. It was over 17,000ft in elevation and over 200k from a road. Who would of thought?

I may be getting older, but I'm still not scared to flip my feet over my head!

NEPAL! This country will blow your mind on how beautiful. Like most places the cities are disgusting but as you head up in to the hills you find mountains that seem so big, you could only find this in a fairytale. In the month that I spent there I walked around 375k between hiking the full Annapurna Circuit + bonus hikes along with Everest base camp trek.

So some friends that I hiked the Annapurna with do a blog and and not half as lazy as I now am when it comes to explaining the hiking adventure. If you want more details check out the link!

http://fv2009.com/2009/06/12/the-annapurna-circuit-annapurna-base-camp/