From Addis to Amritsar to Ayutthaya...

Well, at the risk of being even more behind in this neglected blog, I figured I owed everyone at least a recap of the last several months before bringing you up to current speed. As it stands, I'll still have a few more posts to add before I can join you in real time now, but I guess this is better than nothing. It's amazing how tough it is to find time or space to write in some of the places we've been lately.

Back in late July, we said a tearful goodbye to Kenya after a surprisingly wonderful month there, and headed a bit reluctantly to Ethiopia. We weren't expecting much, and that was a good thing. Despite reports that Addis Ababa was on the rise, it's still a depressingly dreary, backwards, dust- and poverty-ridden city. I sadly doubt that will change for many years to come.

We'd braved a trip to Ethiopia with the express purpose of doing the northern tourist circuit, which includes stops in Bahir Dar, Gonder, and Lalibela, the latter known for its famous 13-century rock-hewn churches. Sadly, after several frustrating visits to Ethiopian Airlines, the only carrier for these towns, we discovered it would take a total of seven flights on small planes to make this circuit doable. To get to Lalibela, the most desired on our list, we'd have to stop twice in the former two places. Didn't sound like a fun or safe way to travel, and taking a bus overland was even riskier: Unsafe and two days to reach a destination not so far away...ugh. So we made the tough decision to skip these destinations, save our sanity, try to make the best of Addis, and leave early for India. (The fact that we have no pictures to show from our week in Ethiopia says a lot: It honestly felt too risky to wander the streets with a camera around our necks.)

A few nice surprises cropped up in this strange city. We treated ourselves to an afternoon at a really nice day spa, of all things, getting our first massages in four months. David also got a much-needed haircut, and I got a much-needed pedicure. That was nice, albeit a big Western-style "splurge." Then we ate early dinner at a very Western cafe that rocked (our first real sandwich in four months, with chicken salad, ricotta, and caramelized onions...go figure). Of course, that delightful experience was quickly relegated to the past as we awoke the next day, braved the crowds at Ethiopian Airlines, re-ticketed to leave early, and then took our first minibus (where you ride for 15 cents with about 12-14 other Ethiopians) to the outdoor Merkato, supposedly the largest in Africa. Let me tell you, THAT is an experience like no other...makes Cairo look like NYC. We lasted about an hour before two attempted pickpocketings - including one guy who grabbed my arm 10x harder than any angry parent ever would - sent us in search of a minivan out of there. I screamed at the guy and he ran off, but it was wacky. Similar to Marrakech, when the dancing hawker whacked me on the arm with a big tin plate. That hurt, too.

But we survived to tell about it. I pet a goat, smiled at a few donkeys, made it through massive amounts of mud and rocks and water without slipping, and managed to find a minibus back to the general proximity of our hotel, where we proceeded to fight with the front desk about our checkout date. Sorted that out finally, but even so, the place is pretty dingy and you'd probably want plastic on the chairs in the room before you sit down, but hey...this is Ethiopia. About 10 years ago everyone here was either killing each other or starving or both, so you can't ask for much.

I am weary, though...weary of the looks, the lack of smiles, the poverty, the dirt, the funky food that makes my system upset, the misunderstandings, the lack of belief in the concept that the customer is always right...and somehow, I think things will get better in India. I fear I'm in for a big surprise.

But oh, how Delhi delighted us in so many ways! Despite being bleary eyed after another lovely red eye, we alit in Delhi around 8am and were kindly greeted by a driver from our hotel, who shuffled us into the cushy back seat of an old Ambassador, and off we went. WE LOVE IT HERE! It's a mix of the urban development of Bangkok (yes, you read that correctly) and the crazy, colonial character of Hanoi. Our hotel is great and in the heart of the Karol Bagh district, which is the main shopping area: Think street vendors and tons of little shops, and it's ALWAYS chaotic except in early morning when things are shut down. But it's HONK, HONK, HONK even if there's nothing to honk at.

That said, we really enjoyed it. A nice breath of fresh air (literally, if you can believe that) from East Africa. That shows you how backwards things were there (even in Kenya, despite our love of the country). We ended up (long story) meeting a tour agent, who booked us a driver and car for a 16-day tour of Himachal Pradesh and Punjab states. As an added bonus for our booking, he gave us a free day tour of Delhi by private car. We saw great sights and got a good introduction to this massive sprawling city. The next day we ventured out on our own via the subway to the old quarter, and what a change! This is the India I've read about...packed dusty streets full of rickshaws and vendors, people scrambling every which way, dark alleys beckoning you in. A visit to the Red Fort rounded out that experience.

On the way to a restaurant near our hotel one night (where we ate dinner like kings for a total of $3.50!), we found a homeless mama dog with about eight brand-new puppies curled up in a disgusting park. I got my rescue hat on, and we found a department store (yes!) and got them to give us a large box for the dog. We then figured she needed food and water, so we went to the nearby McDonald's (double yes) and ordered two chicken burgers (remember they don't serve beef here) for only $1 total, and got two free cups of water to go with it...score! We then took this all back to the mama dog, who was scared but thrilled. We got quite a few looks from the locals, but then it was almost dark so we left. But oddly, the box, the dog, and all the puppies were gone the next day, so we're a little worried that someone did something bad, but at least we did what we could.

Leaving Delhi was a serious trip in itself. In 16 days we explored the Himachal Pradesh hill towns of Shimla, Manali, McLeod Ganj (just outside Dharamsala and home to the Dalai Lama), and Dalhousie, and then ventured west to glorious Amritsar in Punjab, home to the famous Sikh Golden Temple. Too much transpired on that journey to include in this blog, so you'll just have to wait for the book. :-) We thoroughly enjoyed all of the locations and had a lot of great days just exploring and soaking up the local cultures. McLeod Ganj is a huge Tibetan refugee outpost, and our few hours spent at the Tibetan Children's Village there were a highlight of the entire journey. Sadly the Dalai Lama was teaching in Ladakh and not in residence, but I'm committed to getting an audience with him one of these days. Also sitting during prayer inside Amritsar's Golden Temple on the pond was extremely spiritual. So many beautiful colors and sounds whirling around in there.

We bid India a short goodbye (knowing we'd return in late November for a month or so) and headed out on yet another red eye, this time to our favorite SE Asian city: Bangkok, baby! We arrived safely and were so happy to be back. It's very refreshing and a bit eerie to be transported to such an exotic, faraway place that feels like home. I guess we really are world travelers, especially when you consider that the hotel where we'd stayed in Jan. '06 had reserved the exact same room we had 1.5 years ago and even still had us in their system with our old address. Too funny! When we first came to Bangkok in Nov. '05, we hated it: The smells, the traffic, the pollution, the heat, the sounds. But after having been in places like Cairo and Addis, this wacky city now takes on an angelic sort of glow.

In our first seven hours back in the Land of Smiles, we lived a complete deja vu. We'd just walked a few blocks down Silom Rd. near our hotel, and I said, "Hey, there's where I got my pedicure last year, that's where you got your haircut, there's our 7/11, I remember that front desk guy, etc." Too funny! Little comforts like that go a long way after where we've been lately.

Having done the typical tourist circuit last time we visited, we opted to chill out a lot this time around, often frequenting the plethora of slick, modern, fabulously air-conditioned malls complete with their massively tasty food courts, killer gelato, and multiplex cinemas. We also got our share of Thai massage almost nightly.

We did take a great day trip out to the former capital of Ayutthaya, where we rented bikes and rode around ancient temples, eating pad Thai from a street vendor and riding the 3rd-class local train with the rest of Thailand. We also took a great walking tour of the less-visited Thonburi neighborhood on the other side of the Chao Praya River. We toured a great temple there where we fed fish and turtles hunks of funky sausage on sticks, then sat at another temple in front of the largest golden Buddha I've seen to date. I never tire of watching Thailand's saffron-clad monks wandering the streets or sharing a standing-room only space with me on the ferry boats that ply the river.

Next stop was China: Were we prepared for the Communist land of long-lost Mao? The endless coughing and street spitting? The throngs of people? The Szechwan food that burns your lips? The world's dirtiest public toilets? Only time would tell...