I'm alive!!!

Hi hi!

I have decided to start blogging on this trip as I figured it is a much for effective way to let you know what I am up to while on adventure. Hopefully this is will be something you find entertaining and not what you decide to read when you realize you can’t fall asleep and need some help (I mean I am always glad I could be of help but it this turns out to be the sole purpose of this blog in your life just lie to me and tell me how amazing my trip was when I get back okay? Thanks!).

First of all, sorry it has taken me so long to let you know that I am alive but one of the things you learn when you come to India is that most things don’t happen when you want them to! The internet was supposed be active about six days ago but then again, six days Canadian time does not equal sixdays Indian time. Nevertheless, it is (finally) up and running and you all now know that I am alive and have not been eaten by a rouge goat (*please note that this will be one of many random references to rogue wildlife). I have only been gone for about ten-ish days but it feels like I’ve been away for weeks! I guess the beginning of this trip is a good place to start the updates!

Day one: New York (ish)

The ish is because the trip really started off at the bus terminal in Toronto when the Megabus pulled away from the station. The bus ride was fairly non eventful. The seat I had chosen for the ride was permanently stuck in its reclined position so it lessened the guilt of reclining your seat while an old man was sitting in the row behind me. Luckily, I did not have any one sitting beside me so most of the bus ride was spent falling in and out of sleep (more in than out thanks to the neck pillow-no longer do I understand how I was able to sleep in buses or cars before this!). Anyways, I arrived in New York at about 9 am, hopped in a cab, dropped off my luggage and was ready to start exploring.

Anyone who has taken a bus for travelling knows that you do not come out of it looking like (or smelling like for that matter) a bouquet of roses, instead you more likely resemble a bunch of cheap store bought flowers who have been sitting on the counter for a few days; in short, not so pretty. I decided that what I needed was a bathroom (to freshen up) and some coffee (to waken up) so off in the search for a Starbucks I went. Now, we all know that Starbucks are around every street corner in the US, but apparently either they have become invisible or I am getting blinder by the day (sadly the latter seems to be the more likely option). After what felt like a long ass time walking around the city and passing a number of delicious smelling breakfast places I found a Starbucks (the free wifi was what I was looking for so I could let you know that I was alive). A quick bathroom trip and a coffee later I sat down to send so I could whatsapp you only to have my phone freeze and require a restart. Great. (You Iphone users may not know this but the Blackberry takes about a year (okay maybe I’m exaggerating a little) to restart.)

The rest of my day involved a lot of aimless roaming through the city, some shopping and some eating. I spent most of my time in SoHo since its one of those areas I haven’t really explored. Found an awesome Kimchi Taco food truck (definitely recommend their Korean beef tacos-soo good!!)

had a really delicious cup of wicked hot chocolate (hot chocolate spiked with a few different chili peppers) from Jacques Torres

and finished off my indulgent day with the main reason I went to New York, a waffle from the Waffle Truck!!! I finally got the chance to sink my teeth into this piece of heaven I had been craving for so long; a liege waffle with speckuloos spead (it is like peanut butter but made from graham crackers) and let me tell you, it was most certainly worth the wait.

By this time I was kind of bored (really full but a little bored) and it was pouring rain so I had decided to grab my bags and head to the airport. I had strategically chosen this luggage storage facility (there were three different locations) as it was quite close to Grand Central which is, conveniently, where the bus to the airport leaves from. Unfortunately this turned out to be a terrible idea as no cabbie was wiling to take me the 5 blocks to Grand Central. I was left lugging around two suitcases through the busy streets of New York (the trip turned out to be more like 6ish blocks because I managed to get lost along the way). But with the help of a new found friend (a nice little old woman) I was eventually able to get myself to the bus and was on my way to the airport. Check in was pretty easy once you got past the giant line up and to the counter. Boarding pass in hand I headed to the gate and eagerly waited for the next chapter to begin.

Day Two: some where up in the air

The 13 hour flight seemed like a nightmare upon boarding the flight-what the hell was I going to do for thirteen hours?! But thankfully my time in New York solved that problem for me; I was so exhausted from running around the city (and I later realized that the burning pain in my arms was not from sleeping funny but from dragging my suitcases around the city!) that I pretty much slept through most of the flight. When I finally woke up I decided to make use of the great in flight entertainment system Etihad has. I watched Midnight in Paris (I liked it but only as much as one could like a Woody Allen movie…if that makes any sense), Something Borrowed (I know, I know, you were right, it wasn’t that good and kind of made me mad), and Kung Fu Panda 2 (c’mon, it’s a panda who does kung fu, how can you not love it!). Before I knew it, I was in Abu Dhabi waiting for my next flight. The Abu Dhabi airport is tiny compared to the Dubai airport (which is what I had in mind when I found out I’d be stopping in Abu Dhabi). After a quick 5 min self guided tour of my terminal I settled into a seat and waited for my next flight.

It wasn’t long before I was back in the air but it was quite uncanny as I ended up sitting beside the same person as in my flight from New York! Sadly he was neither good looking nor close to my age (I know you all were thinking that question). Anyways, the service on this flight was totally lacking when compared with the previous flight but then again after seeing how obnoxious some of the passengers really were I don’t blame the attendants! If I ever become a flight attendant I am never doing Indian sectors!! I just spent my time watching more movies; Rio and Limitless (which I sadly only got to see half and now really wants to know what happens next!!) A couple hours later (the flight was only about 3.5 hours), as the sun slowly began to peek out, the plane touched ground.

Day Three: Chennai, India (pronounced Chen-neigh)

I landed in Chennai at about 4 30 in the morning. Customs was a breeze but waiting for my luggage to come out took a while-the whole time I was praying that they hadn’t lost my luggage! About half an hour later I was in the back of cab with my dad racing though the streets and bracing myself for the coming heat as the sun was rising.

Dad suggested a quick breakfast and I (naturally at the thought of caffeine) obliged. Little did I know he meant an Indian breakfast (which tends to be one of their biggest meals of the day). A dosa and a cup of chai later we were on our way to the hotel. My Dad’s house is over 10 hours away from Chennai (which is one of the major cities in the south of India) so we decided to spend the night in Chennai and hop on a train in the morning to Coimbatore (pronounced Coim (like coin but with an m)- baa-tour).

Days Four to Ten: Ooty (pronounced ooooh! Tea!! J )

You would think I’d have all the time in the world to update you (since I basically spend my days sitting in the chill air, sipping my tea and enjoying the scenery) but we’re off to Sri Lanka tonight so I will give you a fairly concise rendition of these last few days.

The train ride to Coimbatore was actually kind of nice because they serve you food! (Which is much more I can say for most flights these days!) Anyways so we had some breakfast and lunch on the train, and while eating some breadsticks and soup check out this lovely Indian spelling flub (look at the name of the company on the top and then look at the email address!).

J

Once we reached Coimbatore one of Dad’s friends picked us up and we began the 4ish hour drive up the mountains to my Dad’s place.

At this point my legs were asking me a multitude of questions; ‘Why don’t you love us anymore? Are we no longer useful for you that you must sit on your ass for a ridiculous numbers of hours?!’ Let me tell you, in the span of four days I spent so much time sitting down (bus, plane, train, car) that I’m pretty sure I’ve flattened what little ass I had!

When we finally reached my Dad’s place (it’s a quaint little old English bungalow) I was really not prepared for what I was to face-I was freezing cold! Now my dada had warned me about this, he said ‘temperatures can dip below 10^oC during the night so bring sweaters’ but me being the Canadian that I am said, ‘below 10?! Psssh, nothing new!’ It was most certainly new as I didn’t fully realize old English bungalow = no heating! See in Toronto, when its that cold outside, you are a) dressed appropriately and b) in and out of heated areas. Totally not the case here. After a quick shower to freshen up I was wrapped in my pjs, a hoodie and wool socks.

These past few days have just been spent exploring the town and meeting some of my Dad’s friends. He took me to the charity home that he helps out and it was truly a humbling experience. It’s a home for children with mental disabilities that is run by two brothers and their families. I had the opportunity to interact with some of the kids and I definitely think they took a liking to me J on the ride down to the charity home we drove through animal reserve areas and I had the opportunity to see deer, monkeys, peacocks and elephants!! It was very cool!

A couple days later we drove to one of my Dad’s friend’s tea estates and he took me on a tour of the factory which involved a lot more processes than I had imagined. Makes me appreciate my cup of chai all the more! Later we drove around the mountains and saw some amazing views! Honestly with these views you wouldn’t believe you were in India; it looked like the forests that you could find in BC. It was so easy to get lost in the beauty of the greenery that would totally forget where you are but then you are quickly brought back to reality by a rouge cow (*rouge wildlife reference number two) just non-chalantly sitting in the middle of the road (since cows are viewed sacred by Hindus they are allowed to roam free most of the time). I wanted to take so many pictures but these roads were definitely not made for stopping; they can comfortably accommodate one car and I would be terrified to see what happens when there is two way traffic and a stopped car! There were also what seemed like a bajillion hairpin bends and some of these bus drivers (yes the Indians are crazy enough to operate buses up steep ass mountains and insanely bendy turns) take these turns at some high speeds!! That experience had me holding my breath at every turn.

That’s about it so far! I’ve been trying to master the art of doing nothing and simply just enjoying my surroundings which my father continuously points out I cannot do. My Dad keeps trying to convince me to go out on morning walks with him but I cannot seem to find the motivation to get out of my warm bed and trek 3 km every morning!! Anyways I will try my best to keep you updated on my livelihood (and encounters with rogue wildlife) now that the internet is active.

Love and miss you lots,

Arlene