Saturday, May 15, 2010

India- The Holy Land

So we embark today on a month long journey starting out in a hostel Bangkok for a 12 hour lay-over before our 4 hour flight to New Dehli, India.

It is not as dangerous as it sounds however, we will be staying at the airport and in the airport area on the outskirts of town to ensure we don't have to deal with any hostility between the red shirts and police/military. Friday, for a lack of a better term, the shit hit the fan in Bangkok. So we are staying away.

Anyhow. We start in New Dehli, then we take a crowded train to Anwar to see the Taj Mahal, then a train to Hadiwar, the holiest place in India. From there a train to Rishakesh, a bus to the himalayas for a week long, guided trek and then to Darmhasala, where the Dahli Lama lives. Then a train to New Dehli and then back to Thailand.

I wish I could make it sound more mystical, but I can't as we haven't experienced this intensely beautiful place. I will post when we get back, as I will have almost a month to myself while my little world traveller of a girlfriend heads off almost directly to China.

Anyhow. I will update when I can. Take care.

Til Next Time.

_Brock

2 comments:

  1. Have a nice SAFE trip, you will be seeing some of the world's most beautiful sites on your journey. Most of us will only have seen them on postcards , TV or in movies. Hopefully you will post some really great shots. Wish you weren't traveling alone. Will be nice to get you back stateside.

    --- Uncle Wade

    ReplyDelete
  2. Wow! What an adventure. Please do keep your head on straight and be very safe. I can't wait to hear from you again. Love to you both!

    Love, Aunt Jo

    ReplyDelete

The Beginning

The Beginning

I am a 25 year old, southern Gent. I've been bothered by the fact that I've not traveled the world or even left the country, sans a trip to Cancun when I was in High School, but that was so muddled with tequila and strip clubs (sorry mom), that It doesn't REALLY count- that I have decided to take a adventure across the globe with the love of my life.

All I needed was a motivator, I needed someone to push me to travel and tell me, "Now's the time to do this, and we should totally do it". She came, she said those magic words and now we've got our bags packed, watching the calendar.
 
I had intentions on moving to New York City with my girlfriend. We are both really big into music and both have a spot in our hearts for the city. The opportunity escaped us after having our hopes deflated by the freaky rent prices there. We kind of ditched the New York idea immediately following a trip there and the mention of Thailand. 

We had always tossed around the idea of traveling together. I knew I wanted to travel with her. The first place she mentioned was Thailand, and after 20 minutes on Craigslist, checking out places and prices, we were sold (prob not the best way to chose where you want to spend your life, but that's just how it happened, and this is my story). Thailand it was.

So here we are 6 months later, a ticket for Bangkok dated August 4th in our hands. When people ask us how long we will be in Thailand, we say "Indefinitely". We are ready for a life change, something that might coax us into never coming back.

I have been dreaming of the sand and the crystal beaches since we mentioned the move, I have also had nightmares of being locked up and having to deal with a girlfriend who has been kidnapped by some crazy python handler, but those are just dreams.

The truth is, I have never been so excited and nervous at the same time for anything in my life. Right, now as I sit on my couch in South Knoxville looking out the window at the homemade bird feeders we made, on a hot Sunday afternoon, it blows my mind to think that in a little under two months, I might be laying in the sand with the tide riding up my mini bathing suit, with some concoction of a random Thai's design to sip in one hand, watching long-tailed boats float over the horizon, holding the love of my life in the other.

I expect to be shocked, excited, impressed, disappointed, lost, scared, found, happy, comfortable, uncomfortable, drunk, frightened, enlightened, ready to come home, ready to stay forever- all at different times on this journey.  

But one thing that will never change will be when I am an old man, maybe back in South Knoxville, sitting on my porch in a rocking chair with my old wife, widdling some crazy little thing old men on porches widdle, I will be able to look over to my wife and ask, "Remember that time we went into that local bar in Thailand and we saw that Thai Prostitute perform that "Ping-Pong show?" I am glad we shared that moment together."  

And she will say, "Brock that's disgusting" and then smile a little bit.


_Brock