2017 Reunion Blawg

I.                  INTRODUCTION

a.      “We put the slog back in Travelers Blog”

Well…. Long time no blog.  When we started this blog many years back, we had very little intention to continue blogging after our initial trip to Southeast Asia.  But we are looking back at nearly 10 years together and nothingsays celebration like a reinvigorated blog (except perhaps wizened old folk rockers on reunion tours).  Additionally, in talking with our paranthas (our new endearing nick-name for each our parents, which also happens to be our new favourite Indian stuffed bread) about keeping in touch and sharing our experiences while travelling in India, we wondered what platform might be best… Should it be private email? Perhaps the ease and huge platform of the Facebook? Or Instagram?  The options to share experiences in this social media age are endless.  So we decided, why not switch it up and revisit that vintage blog we so lovingly crafted all those years ago.  We were shocked that it still exists too!!!  Nonetheless, the modern age has transitioned from the supreme quality of LPs and turntables to the convenience of Googleplay Music, and in an era where @RealDonaldTrump tweets increase the risk of migraines, hopefully these pithy remarks regarding our trip can provide solace and informed awareness regarding our adventures.

So blog readers, Thomas and Michelle are back to share with you some pictures and tales of our travels.  We are terrible at doing this type of thing regularly or thoroughly, but we think our paranthas might be on to something that sharing with others is good.  Also, we’ve been terrible with taking pictures, as our Canadian etiquette about picture taking gets in the way/we have gotten caught up in the hustle and bustle and just don’t capture what we see.  Besides, we are having too much fun to remember to blog more than a few times.  Please note: the headings are designed to facilitate a more convenient and user-friendly reading experience.  (This was a hot tip from law school learned by Thomas; it inflates the amount of work done re length)

II.                 A BREIF REVIEW OF THE LAST 9 YEARS

a.      Intro to the review

To catch this blob up in the time since we last visited, our time has been spent primarily in school with spring and summer journeys happening each year.  Our intention has always been to take at least one trip per year together, and we have been pretty successful at doing this.  We don’t have wedding photos, kids (besides Monroe) or a mortgage, but we have had some fun making memories with beautiful people in lovely places.  We now turn our attention to the trips we have taken in previous years.

b.      Trip summary

Very shortly after our 2009 Asiaextravegahnza Thomas enjoyed some time in Mexico and Central America with a few amigos while Michelle stayed in school.  Together, we hit up New York, Portugal, Spain, Mexico again, travelled in Canada from East Coast to the West Coast, Michelle beyond the Arctic Circle and a bit of everything in between visiting all the Canadian provinces except NWT, Yukon, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador—Canada is beautiful.

c.       Where we are now

Now, with Thomas finishing his Law degree (Yay Thomas!) and Michelle doing school and in a fairly flexible working situation we are now in India and then on to Thailand just to revisit that fun country that we loved so much (Feel free to look back to recall some of our fun last time.  Or don’t, but we had fun walking down our memory lane in that online journal).  With this in mind, we hope you enjoy reading about this trip, which is outlined below.

III.               AIRPORT ADVENTSCHH

We left Osler with Thom’s Mom and Dad at 3:30 am April 12^th.  Stupidly early but we are thrifty and have great family!  Then, we had a 12 hour layover in Toronto Pearson.  Laura (Michelle’s sister) came to the Toronto Airport and we had lunch at the Sheraton.  Food was okay, getting to see Laura was great!  When Laura left to get back to work in Hamilton, we still had several hours to kill, and there is this awesome feature in Pearson where you plop yourself down in front of an Ipad and you can summon cocktails and snacks to your heart’s content, which we did.  That was fun.  Thomas also submitted his final major research paper while sipping an old fashioned.  That was nice too, resulting in a cathartic moment coupled with intense euphoria (equal parts bourbon and completion of paper). 

Then, as we prepared to board our 14 hour flight from Toronto to Delhi a short baby booming woman sidled up to us.  We usually avoid cueing for our seats on those flights until the last moment, and this was no exception.  Due to the large population of East Indians living in Toronto, the cultural experience of this flight was akin to being in India as the flight began.  This meant that the cue to board was not a conventional Canadian line, rather it was a big push to get into the plane.  Back to the boomer.  She remarked on how ridiculous the line was and that she was making a mistake by going to India, and then we realized that she was flat out drunk on vodka cocktails.  She proceeded to latch onto us in the most lecherous way, and we did our very best to distance from her and her racist comments.  We managed to board the plane before her, and ultimately she ended up being banned from the flight for being too sauced and downright offensive.  

Air Canada provided us with two Indian meals and an Indian snack (see image above) which was a pleasant anticipatory precursor to the delicious flavours of India.

IV.              DELHI!

a.      Arrival

We arrived late at night, and after making some friends on the flight we were invited to a wedding.  Sadly we decided it was impractical to go because it was just too far our of the way (We’ve realized India is a huge country) but it was nice to be welcomed so sincerely.  The warm evening Delhi air greeted us and carried on it was the spicy smell of incense smoke, falling flowers, food, and exhaust.  Immediately, we fell in love.

We were greeted late at night by the caretaker of our airbnb, a goodhearted gentleman named Pitamber.


                 b. Transportation and a hierarchical breakdown of the traffic system

We stayed in a great place in a quiet part of Delhi that was very well connected by the best public transit system we’ve ever enjoyed (better than London's Tube or NYC Subway in our opinion).  We ventured into Old and New Delhi and enjoyed making our way through the crowds.  Never before has crossing the street been such an adventure!  It appears to be a traffic system premised upon the notion of accountability to avoiding accidents at all costs (we definitely wonder about insurance), but that there is flexibility in where you can drive depending on a relationship between various transportation entities.

Our take on it is that there is a hierarchy of responsibility regarding accident avoidance without a compromise on speed and access to destination.  If there is an open space, it can be filled.  Pedestrians are free to go where they want and can  travel with impunity as long as they telegraph where they are walking.  Uncertainty is a definite risk.  Sidewalks are not part of the equation and if a pedestrian is porting something they remain hierarchically dominant over non-porting pedestrians.  Second, scooters and motorcycles avoid pedestrians, and weave throughout traffic due to agility, size and speed while avoiding non-mechanized transportation methods (bicycles and rickshaws are a slower version of a scooter, therefore there is limited weaving but faster than walking thus requiring pedestrian avoidance).  Third, tuk-tuks avoid pedestrians and scooters, but when there is more than one tuk-tuk in formation they have the capability of restricting access to certain areas of the street, and in that case their avoidance responsibility increases to that of a larger vehicle.  Larger four wheeled vehicles (including taxis and personal vehicles) must avoid pedestrians and smaller transportation units unless the road is very narrow, in which case they receive right of way.  The commercial/industrial large vehicles do not have the mobility or agility of smaller vehicle and do considerably less weaving (please note: this is a simplified description)

We even climbed through a tuk tuk during a traffic jam to make our way across the street once.  We ate amazing food at fancy high class Indian restaurants as well as delicious naan and dahl in dark single room restaurants and street stalls, drank splendid chai, met some lovely people, Michelle said hello to every dog/cat/cow we passed in the street (that’s a lot of hello’s), and all in all had a supremely beautiful time.  Delhi is really great.

           c. Below is a smattering of photos from our four days in Delhi along with necessary remarks...

To the right: Kake di Hatti.  Amazing paranthas and dal.  The place looked like a brown sludge pile of a snack bar from the outside, but it was teeming with Indian folks eating and upon watching the kitchen looked quite clean.  We scoped it out by walking by a few times until we decided to risk it.  We're glad we stopped because the food was of most excellent quality.  Spicy dal! 

Approaching the Red Fort there was a pop concert of some sort with all of the musicians dressed in pseudo-military garb (or they might have been military).  The crowd just loved it.  This was the start of people asking to take pictures with us, and it hasn't ended.  We had to start limiting our photo sessions to just families with children and women in beautiful saris.  No more photos with single men.  It became rather overbearing and we imagine this must be how it feels to be a minor celebrity.  

We went to the Red Fort during the middle of the hottest hot day where the temperature peaked @ +45.  We could get in to the history and significance of the Red Fort, but you can look it up.  Suffice it to say, it is basically a walled off city that is no longer in use and is built using red sandstone bricks.  There is no food or water available inside which we did not know prior to entering.  The buildings are gorgeous and the garden is peaceful but thirst and heat were a factor in determining the length of our visit.  In some of the buildings there are displays of various items, and we enjoyed these enclosed spaces not only for their historical content but because of the oscillating fans.  In visiting the building that had been the hammam (the public and royal baths), Michelle wished for hammam herself (but perhaps in the luxury style of Ten Spa in Winnipeg).  

Michelle petting a puppy in the New Delhi Train Station.  We will include further stories about the trains in an upcoming blog.  One of the things that has impacted us is the way that people live their lives.  There is a certain playful acceptance that comes across, and while there is tremendous poverty and suffering, it is still apparent that life is good.

An open-air market.  Michelle went with a new German friend and found some neat stuff.  Thomas is not an avid shopper, however it is quite the experience just to be immersed in the life and vibrancy of each moment.

North Indian thali plate with selection of curries, dals, raita, chutney, and sweet with nann and roti.  We love to eat the thalis as you get a great selection of foods to try for affordable prices.  All of this food was around 4 dollars.  Quite frankly, the food has been amazing and we look forward to every meal!  

Thanks for reading our first blog!!  Next up our first train ride and time in Varanasi....