Cusco - Alpaca Meat

Today was just a day of purposeful wandering. Brody and I started the day with a glorious sleep in until 11 AM. After getting organized for the day, we headed towards the main square. 

We stopped at the Qorikancha, which forms the base of the colonial church and convent of Santo Domingo. It was once the richest temple in the Inca Empire; all that remains is stonework and beautiful art. In Inca time, this was literally covered in gold. The temple walls were lined with some 700 solid gold sheets, each weighing about 2kg. There were solid gold replicas of corn, llamas, babies, and the sun for ceremonial and ritual purposes. But within months of the arrival of the conquistadors, this was all gone. Various other religious rites took place here - it is said that mummified bodies of previous incas were kept here, brought out into sunlight each day and offered food and drink., which was then ritually burnt. Once inside the temple, you enter a courtyard which is beautiful in its own right. Everything is architecturally impeccable. Brody and I didn't understand what the rooms each meant since we chose not to hire a guide. 

We then ventured through the Inglesa de Santo Domingo, which was super unimpressive other than for the first paintings of Peruvian looking people. It's interesting that all of the Inca and Conquistador history is depicted in white people. Apparently this church is known for its paintings of archangels depicted as Andean children in jeans and tee shirts. Honestly, they look new and fake. Most of the time when I'm looking at these depictions of religious deities, I see great Irish dancing dress designs. Also in this church were two monuments with relics of different saints - really they looked like either a finger tip or a small bone. Either way, creepy. 

Somehow we ended up in the Covenant de Santo Domingo as well. It was this small offshoot that had several paintings in it that had been obviously retouched poorly. It's a shame people thing old paintings need to be updated to their view of what they think it should look like. The only neat fact I have is that one of the paintings was from 1501. 

Brody and I eventually made it to the main square where there were massive riots going on. I think it was the teachers union that caused the Peruvian government to put this area into a state of emergency on June 20' 2017. So being smart travellers we went and hung out in McDonalds and had lunch to wait the protest out. There were tons of tourist, security, riot, military, national, regional and special forces police out. Yes - they truly have that many kinds of police. Either way, the protest dissipated so we went and got Starbucks. 

We then ventured to the worst museum I've ever been to - the Inka Museum. It's so not worth the 10 soles entry price. It's bare, dark and cold. It did have pottery, metal work, textiles and models but wasn't worth the hike uphill to see. 

Brody and I then headed uphill (like really uphill) to see the White Jesus. Think the one in Brazil but smaller and less impressive. It was amazing to the scope of Cusco as a city since you are legit on top of the hill. This monument is located in Sacsaywaman. It's of both military and religious significance. This Fort was the site of  one of the most bitter battles of Spanish conquest in 1536. It really only looks like rocks organized into protective walls. We did see the Inca's Throne which is a wall with carved in benches. 

Since Brody and I had a couple of hours before it got dark and we had to be back in the hostel, we saw the Museum Arzobispal and Temple San Blas. Honestly, neither were great and the uphill on cobblestone was not worth it but it was free from our pass yesterday. 

Our last stop was at the Coca Museum (not to be confused with the Cacao Museum).  It had some neat facts and different types of coca leaves displayed. 

We've also eaten twice at the Mamaji restaurant next door which is amazing. I had pesto pasta and Brody had lasagna tonight. Brody bravely tried the alpaca loin that came with my meal. Man I wish I had filmed his reaction. He nearly puked it onto the table. Alpaca meat is not good. It's chewy, salty, and is okay until it hits your throat. Either way - it's off the bucket list and will not be repeated. 

AFN  

Cusco - Adventures of Briggani and Brori

We landed in Lima and hit the ground running. Cusco is a beautiful city and way way way way nicer than Lima. So it's true what the travel books say - the days are nice and the nights are like bloody Antarctica. 

Cusco is the cosmopolitan Inka capital. I can see why. There are beautiful ornate cathedrals. I think the entire country is super Christian or Catholic (to be fair I can't tell the difference between the two). According to legend, in the 12 century the first inca (king for us English speakers) Manco Capac was ordered by the ancestral sun god Inti to find the spot where he could plunge the golden rod into the ground until it disappeared. At this spot, deemed the navel of the earth, he founded Cusco. The Inca empire's main expansion occurred in the hundred years prior to the arrival of the conquistadors in 1532. The ninth inca, Pachacutec, gave the empire its first bloody taste of conquest with an unexpected victory against the more dominant Chanka tribe in 1438. His first wave of expansion would form the Inca Empire.  This ninth Inca is also credited with the puma shape and diverting the river around the city. Expansion continued until the Europeans arrived. At this point the empire ranged from Quito, Ecuador to south of Santiago, Chile. Pizzaro entered Cusco on November 8, 1533! It was eventually captured by the Spaniards in 1536. What is more interesting is the Spanish kept chronicles in Cusco including Inca history as they related by the Incas themselves. 

Today we wandered to the centre of the historic city - the Plaza de Armas. Everything is steep and cobblestone. In Inca time, this was called Huacaypata and was the centre of the capital. Two flags are flying in the centre - the Peruvian flag and a rainbow flag of Tahuantinsuyo representing the four corners of the Inca empire. 

In the Plaza we went into the La Cathedral. It's construction started in 1559 and Tom almost a century. It was built using blocks pilfered from the nearby Inca site of Sacsaywaman. El Trifuno, Cusco's oldest church, houses a vault containing the remains of the famous Inca chronologer and a few really old priests. There's tons of colonial art and gold throughout the church. It's amazing to see the paintings and the age of some of them. 

We also saw the Palas de Justicia and just wandered generally. The best part of the day was Starbucks where we were called Briggani and Brori, respectively. 

Tomorrow the plan is to go visit museums and site see a bit more. 

Step count: 17,461 over 69 floors and 12.05 km 

AFN 

Lima, Peru - A City of Pure Sketchiness

So after the world's longest flights, Brody and I made it to Lima. The drive to our hotel made Brody's eyes pop - it's most definitely a rough city. Every place is gated or has a foot wide fence that is 12 feet tall with barbed wire on it. The graffiti is rampant. I wouldn't suggest any girl do Lima on her own ever. I'm not even sure Brody could do it on his own either. We stayed at the Hotel Lima which was clean, secure and had hot water. All three as important as the next. 

Lima is a city of 10 million people and it shows. 

Brody and I took a cab to central historic Lima. None of the drive made me feel comfortable. Lima is super rough and sketchy. It's almost like the entire city is decrepit. After we got dropped near the Palas de Armes. We looked at all of the old buildings in that area. It's amazing to see buildings built in 1537 and before. The Palas de Armes was the heart of the 16th Century settlement established by Francisco Pizarro, it was the centre of the Spaniards continent wide empire. The buildings are stunning and contain huge sculptures and great detail. It was the second day of the Peruvian holiday - celebrating independence, so everything was packed with Peruvian tourists. None of the people I saw where white. It it weird to be in a place where no one speaks English and everyone isn't white. 

We also toured La Cathedral de Lima. This church sits on a site designated in 1535 to be the site of the city's first church. The building has been rebuilt several times - 1551, 1622, 1687, and 1726 with the last major restoration in 1940. The alters are spectacular carved wood. The alters were carved in various styles celebrating different deities. 

Since it was day two of Independence Day there were celebrations and traditional dancing in the Parque de la Muralla. During the 17 century the heart of Lima was ringed by a muralla (city wall for those of us who singularly speak English). Much of this wall was torn down in 1870s when the cit was expanding.  You can still see remnants of the wall though. We visited on the site museum which was weird and contained pottery and other random items. 

We also visited some library thing which was entirely in Spanish. 

Step counts: 10,541 over 11 floors and 7.32 km 

AFN 

On the road again!

So what does one do when they have a month off? Obviously the answer is pack a backpack and head to South America. I convinced Christina and my brother to come spend a portion of the month with me adventuring through Peru. Brody and I will be staying in Lima, Cusco, Huacachina, and Iquitos over the course of 12 days. Christina and I will be doing Lima, Cusco, Macchu Pichu via the Lares trek, Puno, and Lake Titicaca. Both trips will be completely different - Brody's portion will be unplanned and by the spur of the moment, Christina and I are doing another G Adventures tour where everything is booked and planned (thank god).

G Adventures - Christina and Britt's Route of Travel

Lares Trek Route

Back of the Envelope History of Peru 

As a bit of background because I'M SO BORED AT WORK... Peru is made up of three main geographical areas - the Andes, the Amazon, and the desert coastal area. I will actually hit all three parts on this trip. 

The history of Peru spans about 4 millennia - Peruvian territory was first home to the Norte Chico civilization, which is one of the six oldest in the world, and to the Inca Empire (from approximately 1438-1532). It was conquered by the Spanish Empire in the 16th Century. The Spanish Crown gave the name "Peru" legal status in 1529 Capitulacion de Toledo, which designed the newly encountered Inca Empire as a province of Peru. Under Spanish rule, the country adopted the denomination Viceroyalty of Peru, which became the Republic of Peru after independence in 1821.

The Inca Empire originated from a tribe based in Cusco. Pachacutec was not the first Inca but was the first ruler to considerably extend the boundaries of the Cusco state. Obviously he did so through violent invasions and peaceful conquests. One of the major remaining ruins from this era is Machu Picchu. Interestingly Peru is currently suing Yale to return artifacts removed by Yale archaeologist  Hiram Bingham Sr. in 1911. 

Fast forward a couple hundred years from Spanish rule, Peru has been subject to many iterations of democracy and militarism between 1930-1979 - think guerrilla warfare, Communism, military coups, and democratic elections sprinkled throughout. According to scholars and other worldly researchers, during the 1980s the cultivation of illicit coca was established in large areas on the eastern Andean slope. Given the proliferation and vast financial gain from this, rural insurgents movements increased until the 90s resulting in the "internal conflict of Peru". Only because it sounds cool - the internal conflict of Peru is an ongoing armed conflict between the Government of Peru and some guerrilla organizations such as the insurgent People's Guerrilla Army, armed wing of the Communist Party of Peru, and the Tupac Amaru Revolutionary Movement. It is estimated that 70,000 people have died due to this conflict. Today the main fighting still occurs in the VRAEM area in Peru - it is nowhere near where I am going so don't stress. Fun fact - Peru overtook Columbia as the worlds largest cocaine production country. 

The 90s was a great time (and not just because I'm a 90s baby) - Peru was ruled by a dictator named Alberto Fujimori who caused inflation to drop from 7,650% to 139%. His term was dogged by insurgent groups that carried out terrorist campaigns through his two terms. Today, democracy is live and well in Peru with the odd exception where the President declares a state of emergency and hands power over to the military over certain regions. All is good. 

Fun Facts About Peru 

• Peru grows over 3,000 kinds of potatoes and 55 types of corn 
• Peru dominates a lot of the world's largest or top ten global lists:
• Peru was officially declared the world's biggest producer of cocaine by the UN 
• Peru is the eighth largest producer of coffee in the world 
• Peru's the largest exporter of asparagus in the world 
• Peru is home to the world's largest flying bird - the condor stands up to 4 feet high with a wingspan of 10 feet 
• Peru is the third largest producer of fine copper in the world 
• Peru is ranked as fifth in global production of gold and first in silver 
• Peru is the third largest zinc and tin producer globally 
• Peru's cocaine industry takes in an estimated USD $1 billion annually 
• About 65 million guinea pigs are consumed in Peru every year (or according to Google they are) 
• National University of San Marcos is the oldest university in the Americas - founded on May 12, 1551
• Chili sauce and hot spices were banned (and remain banned) from prison food in Peru in 1973 on the grounds that they might arose sexual desires in inmates 
• The Incas had no formal system of writing, instead they developed a system of record keeping using a system of knots (called quipus) 
• Globally there are 10 million alpacas and 75% of them live in Peru 
• In 1885, the Coca Cola Company began making wine with coca leaves that was converted into the soft drink coca cola (coca leaves were removed from the recipe in 1903) 
• Some of Cusco's main streets are designed to align with the stars at certain times of the year 
• Traditionally before a Peruvian couple can marry, they must enter into a period of sirvinacuy during which the woman works with her mother in law and the man with his father in law - I think this is something that can stay in Peru

Interesting Facts About Cocaine  

• Scotland has the highest cocaine use of any other country in the world (US consumes ~37% of world's cocaine) 
• Pure cocaine was first extracted from the leaves of the coca plant in 1859 and was market in a fortified wine in France as early as 1863
• Cocaine was first used in the US in the 1880s where it was applied as an anesthetic in eye, nose and throat operations 
• Coca cola originally contained 9 mg cocaine per serving (it has been removed but coca leaves still are added for flavor) 
• Sigmund Freud advocated cocaine for treating depression, alcoholism and morphine addiction 
• Direct pharmacological effects of the drug itself only cause one-third of the deaths associated with cocaine (the rest come from homicide, suicide, and car collisions due to the properties of the drug) 
• Ingesting both cocaine and alcohol cause more deaths than any other drug combination 
• Trace amounts of cocaine can be found on 4/5 bills in circulation in the US 

AFN 

Pokhara, Nepal

Pokhara is by far the prettiest we have seen yet. It's surrounded by three mountain ranges and has a lake. It's gorgeous. On our way here we visited a G Adventures sponsored charity called Sasane for trafficked women in Nepal to become trained as paralegals or in the tourist industry if they didn't finish high school. Great program with four main programs. I didn't realize trafficking was such a big problem in Nepal but the facts state otherwise. Google them if you want to see what they do or how to help. They did teach us how to make momo here as part of their lunch presentation. That was the highlight of that visit.

The drive to Pokhara was stunning. It's such a diverse country. There's emerging from farms to rice field on side of mountains to steep windy narrow roads. The 89 km drive from our last stop to here took 7 hours by bus. That shou,d give you an idea of the conditions of the roads.

In Pokhara, Christina and I wandered around the lake at night. It's stunning and has great views of snow capped mountains. Diner was meh with the group.

As a theme of this trip, we got up at 400 am again. I swear we haven't slept past 530 am yet and it's day 14. This time we took the bus to the top of Sarangath to see the sunrise over the three mountain ranges. Stunning. Significantly too early. As a perk, we had the most amazing breakfast with real coffee. I mean no instant coffee like every other cup on this trip. It was real espresso based coffee. The banana crepe was good too but man alive the coffee.

The rest of the morning was a self guided tour of caves under the city, Davi's Fall (highly recommend avoid - so unimpressive) and World Peace Pagoda. The cave was cool, literally and figuratively. Davi's Fall is lame. It's one single fall of three feet. Big whoop. The world peace pagoda is cool. It's apparently the second most holy place in the world. It's on top of Pokhara at the highest point. It's a silence zone so no sound is made in the area. There are 5 giant Buddha in various positions on a white dome. The views are spectacular of the city. Christina and I both got burnt on the places sunscreen didn't quite touch today. It's made for some great burns and tan lines.

As a relaxation moment, Christina and I splurged on $27 90 minute Swedish massage each. Big spenders. My girl made it more like a deep tissue and it was to die for. The rest of the afternoon was spent napping as we have a big night ahead of ourselves, which means we will have dinner then get exhausted and while every one else does a night club, we will go home and sleep.

Tomorrow we go to Kathmandu by bus (another wonderful 7 hour drive). I'm so sick of tour life. The people bother me. The morning bother me. I'm done. I want our beach holiday now.

AFN 

Royal Chitwan National Park, Nepal

We stayed in the middle of rural Nepal for two nights in a community. It was a stunning area surrounded by farmland. The entire community was very excited to greet us and took great care if all of our needs for the three days we were there.

Over our stay Christina and I did a bike tour of the area - luckily we found elephants playing in the water. Not wild elephants but elephants owned by the resorts but no longer working. Still exciting. We also did a safari into the park itself. The only thing we saw was 4 rhinos in the distance. It was hot and dusty otherwise. Break time with bananas and juice boxes reminded me of little kid soccer snack time. Otherwise, it was just kicking around the farm area and community without air conditioning in 36+. The food was amazing though. All fresh home cooked meals. Momo is a traditional Nepalese dish that is incredible. I'm going to make them when I get home they are that good. I'd recommend staying in this area if you get the chance. It is quite relaxed and peaceful.

The park itself covers 20% of Nepal. In the park there is 40 types of butterflies, 600 rhinos, 200 tigers and countless leopards. We didn't see tigers or leopards - just rhinos from afar.

Nepal only declared its constitution last year. One of the major tenants is mandatory education by 2022. It has a population of 33M of which 81% is Hindu. There is estimated over 500M Hindu followers worldwide. If your bored and want to nude stand why Christina and I have slept in shitty hard beds for the entire trip Google the tenants of Hinduism. One of them is no comfortable bed.

AFN

Lumbini, Nepal

After a delicious breakfast of buckwheat pancakes with banana and chocolate, we got back in the bus to go to Lumbini. It is about an hour drive from where we stayed last night.

Nepal has 1,200 temples and some even date back 2,000 years. Lumbini claim to fame is that it is the birthplace of Buddha. Our first stop today is the temple of the mother of the lord Buddha.

Nepal is significantly quieter, nicer, and more calm than India. The constant honking in India blew my eardrums and I bet I lost hearing there. Literally every car, motorcycle and rickshaw is constantly honking to let you know they want by you or are passing you or are just honking to honk. Nepal has a lot less cars on the road, the people are nicer thus far and much prettier. They are darker and look more Asian than Indians. There's been tons of open spaces and grass to look at instead of buildings and dirt of India. Albeit, most of the roads in Nepal are single lane for two directions of traffic. How it works is a mystery.

In Lumbini, we visited the birth site of the lord Buddha. It is located in a UNESCO world heritage location. It smells like fresh flowers and is super tranquil. There is over 300 monasteries in this area alone. The story goes, as butchered by me, that Buddhas mother was visiting her parents when she decided to head home. Half way home she started to give birth. She came upon this place, had a holy shower theN gave birth standing while holding a tree. Apparently she had a 10 month pregnancy as well. Lord Buddha did not found Buddhism until he was 35. He was born into a superbly wealthy Indian family. He founded it upon researching all different religions. As such, Buddhism has five tenants. There is a beautiful stone carving of it outside of the temple.

Fun fact: the Nepal prayer flags have five colours for the five elements of a human - wind, fire, water, soil and ether. Blue is not sky, it is water if anyone is playing trivia. Green is sky.

From this temple we drove about 5 hours to Royal Chitwan National Park for our Homestay.

AFN

Things I wish I knew before India

Cash
- Cash can only be taken out at State Bank of India. ATMs do not always work. You also can only take out 10,000 Indian rupees at a time. Finding cash is difficult. I'd recommend bringing smaller bills as most places don't have change for the 500 rupee bills.
- Credit cards are not widely accepted. Cash is still king in India.

Dress
- You can wear tee shirts into temples. You do not need long sleeves but you must cover your chest and shoulders. As expected, you need your knees covered. I should have brought more tee shirts. We did do laundry in Varanasi but still.
- It's freaking hot so lulu is the best bet. I'd highly recommend not wearing jean capri. Lulu pants seem to be fine everywhere.
- You will be wearing a money belt every time you leave your hotel room.

Food
- There's a serious lack of protein in their diet. It's a lot of carbs - rice, naan, and potato. When ordering food if it just says chicken it's just chicken. If it says chicken and sauce then it's that. You must order all parts separately.
- Meals take ages. Lunch takes about an hour. Dinner can take up to two hours for a single course. I'd recommend getting your bill as soon as you've received your food to speed up meals.
- I've struggled to find food that is filling besides butter chicken, chicken tandoori,  and continental breakfasts. Naan gets tiring fast. They've got a ton of Chinese meals on most menus but nothing looks appealing normally.
- Indian medium is our blow your head off. Their mild is our normal high spicy.
- Based on how Christina and I travelled, we spent about 1,100 rupees per day on food including the thousand bottles of Fanta we drank. Pop is normally cheaper than water.
- Expect to spend 180 rupees per day on water bottles. You go through about 4-5L a day.

Culture
- You will be stared at everywhere you go. It is not common to see a lot of white tourists.
- Children and men will ask to take photos with you. It's slightly annoying.
- All temples you must take your shoes off to enter so if you are seeing quite a few in a day wear flip flops.
- You will be constantly asked where your from. It's a sales tactic to get you to talk then they "invite" you into their shops.
- When being harassed for a sale or a tuktuk the best policy is silence and to not even shake your head.

Transportation
- When crossing the road, the name of the game is commit. You have to cross it at a single speed as vehicles will avoid you.
- Rickshaw are cheaper than tuk tuk for transportation. Always argue what price you want to pay upfront.
- There are no rules of the road. It's organized ish chaos.
- It's noisy. Like constant honking when you are on the road. Expect to have your ear drums blown. Cars honk to pass, let you know they are passing, and if you are in the way or just cause. It's loud 24-7. You almost feel constantly agitated due to the noise.

Bathrooms
- Bathrooms are typically western at hotel and on trains but else its squatting potties. I'd highly recommend carrying toilet paper and hand sanitizer constantly.
- Both Christina and I have had a solid tummy ache from lack of pooing. It's almost a period cramp because your body is so stuffed up. But when you get that poo feeling go immediately. Do not hold it in. I don't think you can even hold it in. You will get to know each other well when the poo starts coming down like a literal shit storm.
- Everyone at some point I'll get the running shits. It's not if, it's when. Bring drugs both pharmacy and gravol.
- You must brush your teeth and wash your face with mineral water. The water is not safe enough to do either activity.
- When buying water bottles buy mineral water else it's just filtered water. Filtered water needs to be sanitized if you buy it. We bought Camelback UV filters and they work amazingly.

Other
- Electrical sockets are 250 volts. I blew an entire hotel room trying to plug in my iPhone charger. That blew my charger. It's a type 4 adapter in both India and Nepal.
- All temples you must take your shoes off to enter so if you are seeing quite a few in a day wear flip flops.
- You have to wear bug spray constantly. I mean even at night in your room. It's a real hassle but there's mosquitos everywhere.
- India smells like pee and burning garbage. Expect to see garbage in every corner of India. It's amazing how little they care and just throw everything on the streets. There's not an inch that doesn't. Varanasi at least swept it into piles. Elsewhere just had it sprawled everywhere.
- It's dusty. Expect to wear sunglasses to protect your eyes from all the dust. Also it's sunny so win-win.
- I'd recommend bringing protein bars, tons of Advil, electrolyte solution, and tons of bug spray and hand sanitizer. I'd bring more than you think you need - almost double.
- Wifi is not as common as everyone made it seem. Hotels have it. Some make you pay for it and majority only have it in the lobby. Some restaurants have it too. Else it's no where to be found.

Varansi, India

Day 1
To get to Varanasi we had to take an overnight train.  It was supposed to be a 12 hour ride but it took 17 because Indian rail has a policy that on time trains get priority and late trains get to be later. We were on a late train. I slept maybe 6 hours on this train. I luckily had a bottom bunk. It was air conditioned train. One of the people in our bunk had no clue about people or body language. She legit made everyone delayed in getting into their beds because she individually took out each item and hogged the aisle until she was done. The train ride was uneventful otherwise. Long but faster than a bus and likely more comfortable.

On the train I asked our guide why woman wear the veil over their face. Did you now it's so that they don't question what they are being told? I would not make a good wife in this country. I cannot blindly follow what my inlaws and parents tell me constantly. India has a population of 1.2 billion and 60% still live in villages. Those living in villages are more likely to veil up.

Hindu believes there is four stages of life. The first is childhood and education. Second is marriage and having your own kids. Third is grandparent hood. Final stage is about self time to meditate. It's all about credit and debit in karma. That's why family is so important to Hindu people.

I hit the post because we had no food for basically 20 hours that I could kill people and not look back. The child on our trip asked me a question and I had to tell him I can't talk I'm too hungry. Christina laughed because she knew I needed food hours before but we couldn't get to it. She knows once I'm starving the world needs to not talk to me and I go silent.

We had a night boat ride on the Ganges River. We saw the major crematorium. Varanasi is the holy city of India. There are over 12,000 temples in this city alone. Varanasi is the oldest city - it's older than all religions. Basically it's the centre for ending life. Indians believe that the Ganges River stops the cycle of birth and rebirth. It's a place of salvation. As such, Indians bring their dead bodies here to be cremated. There is dead bodies being carted down the streets on decorated stretchers. I had one go by me inches beside my nose. My entire body language screamed oh dear lord. We saw nine bodies just burning in public at the crematorium. People buy fire from there because the fire is about 1,000 plus years old. If people cannot afford cremation then they just dump the body in the river. I thankfully didn't see a floating body. There is also certain situations where people cannot be cremated in Hinduism: pregnant woman who died, those with chicken pox, and those bitten by snake, Eunich, and those in a coma.

Day 2
Christina got up at 430 am to do the morning boat ride. I opted out. I woke up dizzy from dehydration. She said it was pretty but definitely came back to nap. Upon her waking, we meandered to the observatory. It had a bunch of sundials but more interesting had informational posters. I learned a ton about the river and its history.

Ghat is a religious temple that is located on the water. You can find all Indian dialects spoken here and a shaman who speaks your language to lead you through a ceremony.

Today was a free day so Christina and I did our own thing. Group travel gets exhausting.

If anyone is in Varansi they need to eat at Blue Lassi. We did twice. It serves the best lassi in clay pots. I had a mango the first time and a mango papaya the next. It is in the middle of the old town. It's a maze in there but people can point it out to you.

Old town is one giant maze of market stalls. It's hot but the same trinkets over and over again. Christina and I wandered around it for a few hours. I bought the cutest hand carved stone elephants for my future house. I couldn't leave India without an elephant. We've seen elephants at Jaipur only. It's a shame.

We had lunch at a rooftop restaurant overlooking the Ganges. If I figure out the name from our photos then I'd also recommend it. It was a recommendation from our yoga instructor. I was super stoked to do yoga but then got way too hot and dogged to go. The heat and lack of water got to us so we skipped out. I should have just pushed through.

After getting back to the hotel, City Inn, we immediately ran into the group who was about to do a silk tour. Snap decision and we joined in. It was lead by this small elderly Indian man who was missing most of his teeth. Super knowledgeable. Silk is still made by hand here. There are five qualities of silk whose names went in one ear and out the other. It was incredible to see the handwork that goes into making silk and the designs. The designs are still hand punched. There is an old method of weaving and an electronic way which still requires human to be there on each machine. Woman still trim the excess thread off the silk pieces by hand. Apparently a scarf takes about three weeks to make individually. Beautiful pieces can be created.

Once we got back to the hotel Christina said she wasn't hungry then maybe just a small snack then maybe let's have dinner in the span of 15 minutes. It's hilarious since I've travelled with her before, I know exactly when she needs to eat about a half hour before she does. It works well.

Day 3
After basically no sleep and a 335 am wake up, we headed to the train to go to Nepal. I was not a functional human. After getting on the train, we quickly discovered that Indian people are sneaky and fit seven people in three seats. The entire six hour train ride was filled with screaming children who kicked our seats the entire time. We learned from the last train to bring a ton of food to avoid snappy grizzly bear Brittany. Once we got to the end of our train ride our bus driver couldn't find us so we had to wait on he platform for about an hour in 36C heat with our bags on. Everyone was staring at us like we were zoo animals. I've learned the best way to get people from stopping and staring is to look them in the eyes. Unfortunately someone died on the platform and we watched it being carried away. That's the first thing of poverty that has actually torn at my heart strings.

Once our buss driver found us we stopped at a fruit market for water, oranges, and bananas. I have eaten so many bananas on this trip as they are one of two fruits we can actually eat. I got solidly bus sick so I took a gravel and slept the entire four hour ride to the Nepal border.  Customs was an interesting process since it's a walking border, you check out at the Indian side at this tiny customs office then walk across the border and check into Nepal. Kinda cool to walk over a border. Indian and Nepal passport holders can freely cross between the two countries. The border crossing we went to is the busiest land border in the world.

We got to the hotel just outside of Lumbini - Hotel Denovo, which is the best hotel we've stayed in yet as it had water pressure, hot water, air conditioning and wifi in the room plus the hotel was clean and had a pool. I'd highly recommend staying here. We didn't go to all the way to Lumbini as its not safe in Nepal to drive at night for tourists.

AFN 

Orchha, India

Day 5 - Orchha

This morning after another 5 am wake up, we boarded the train from Agra to Orccha. They "served" breakfast meaning two slices of bread and mystery deep fried finger looking things that didn't even leave the package. Christina and I split a quest bar. Who doesn't bring protein bars to a country where we don't eat the food? Happy to share but man today would have been nice to eat an entire bar without sharing.

That landscape of northern India is very much like Saskatchewan with more trees. It's yellow plains either from dirt or crops with trees sprinkled around.

I forgot to mention a while ago in a foreign city in India whose exact location I cannot remember is that the buses here for locals are packed and I mean packed. They fill the buses to way over capacity inside then stick people on the roof. These people then drive down the highway. Safety is not a word or concern here. I'm glad I came because it had allowed me an appreciation of what Indian people have come from and how they view the world. I take back my earlier harassment comments. I do believe that the people actually genuinely want to help you unless they are selling something. I'm tired of people constantly trying to sell me something. I've perfected my no go away hand gesture and tone.

Orchha is my favourite place thus far. It's a quaint little town of only 10,000 people. Orchha means hidden place. It used to be situated in the midst of rainforest. Now it's a barren wasteland with a river. The area is highly illiterate. In this area there is 22 temples, 2 mosques and 6 palaces. Not too shabby for a small town. People said hi but only because they were excited to see you. It was lovely.

I fell asleep the night before at 5 pm so I woke up at 5 am like usual. I needed the sleep badly. Christina, while I had sweet dreams of a steak and vegetables, went to a Hindu religious ceremony. She said it was interesting enough. No other detail though. Upon our early wake up I got to have the best pressure shower I've had so far with below zero water temperature. Id almost trade a good hot shower for this high pressure frozen one. Anyways, I had a calm breakfast buffet that included pancakes instead of mystery Indian food and toast like the rest of the places. I spent the rest of the morning trying to figure out who should be my principal and mentor while Christina talked to Mark. Still haven't decided how bold I should respond to my principal request or not.

Mid morning we headed off to the Raja Mahal. It was built over 62 years to completion in 1605 and the arches looked like peacock feathers. It is a Hindu palace. Dude had six wives. The Queen's bedroom had depictions of evolution dated 5,000 years before Charles Darwin figured it out. Interesting. This palace would have been so much fun to play hide and seek in. It had several sneaky staircases and multiple floors. Attached to this palace was another palace built for the son's coronation. It was only used for a single day. Took 22 years to build. Great use of money. It was called Jhansi Mahal but I am spelling that wrong.

Our tour guide told us that until 10th century, India was ruled by a single ruler. Fast forward a couple thousand attempted invasions later, they ended up with 600 princes until they achieved British independence. Basically how the singular monarch was overthrown is because some invader was smart enough to know that elephants would turn around if shot at. Basically the only way to invade is through the NW of India.

In this town people worship an idol that is a female vulva and part of a male penis. It is the God of fertility. If you are unmarried then you worship the bachelor God who looked like a monkey for celibacy. On Mondays the worshippers fast for a good wide or husband. Not sure if I'd give up food for praying for remaining celebrate.

More importantly, I got henna done! I have my entire left forearm done in beautiful henna. Henna smells like menthol when they put it on.

In our cooking class we made a six course meal. Masala chai. Bhruta baigan - eggplant. Spinach and potato curry. Allhn tomatoes. Cumin rice. Chickpea dumpling. Puri. Making chai from scratch is actually very easy and quite tasty. Bhruta baigan is an interesting dish. I've never seen so much fresh coriander put into a single dish with an eggplant that was fire grilled on a stove. I tasted this dish and fire came out of my ears. It has four green chillis cut up finely in the dish. My mouth was on fire. Spinach and potato curry is maybe my new butter chicken replacement. There was a ton of green chillis in it but the dish itself was amazing. I must saw noting we cooked looked pretty but it was all edible.

AFN