tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-65783052489351011412024-02-07T18:22:11.219-08:00Ghost Runnersjust a couple guys trying to inconspicuously do some good in the world.drewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08279339009031369962noreply@blogger.comBlogger197125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6578305248935101141.post-88125528040187226532010-05-28T16:15:00.000-07:002010-06-03T01:08:47.568-07:00Glad to be home - Missing IndiaMan, it sure is good to be back in my home country. Stuff smells, tastes, looks, sound, etc as I remember it, as it if it were some long ago dream of a place I used to live. It feels odd to be on the right side of the road, for example; it does feel like stepping into a daydream memory, as my thoughts of the US have become such since being in India for 3 months. All that being said, I miss India Merlinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05783470038467019416noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6578305248935101141.post-58769054094993877352010-05-10T11:13:00.000-07:002010-05-10T11:13:45.684-07:00back in the US, back in the US-S-S-A!so i've been back in the united states of awesome air-conditioning for 6 days. what can i say? it's good to be home.
hindsight narrows the feeling of the time i spent in india. days spent wondering when and if i'd ever get back to my friends, my wonderful girlfriend and my family seem like they flew by. all the trails and frustrations are funny now. all the sights are just snapshots drewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08279339009031369962noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6578305248935101141.post-44341928213283092422010-05-03T00:07:00.001-07:002010-05-03T00:07:24.229-07:00Goodbye, MumbaiThe last four days have been a blur - 48 hours on a train culminating in a 1am ride through the streets of Mumbai stopping at trashcan fires to ask for a lodge, the dim plea of please-don't-rob-me set under my desperate melody. Found the Anjali inn - remarkably my aimless wanderings had placed me 1.5km from thier door, another remarkable unpredictably-predictable India moment. Crashed here for drewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08279339009031369962noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6578305248935101141.post-60806358821883781372010-04-27T22:25:00.000-07:002010-04-27T22:25:37.541-07:00a good ridetoday is my last day in darjeeling. two days ago i was white-water rafting in a river fed by run off from the himalayas. i've sipped tea and coffee for days up in the hills and yesterday even became a member of the Darjeeling Gymkhana club for a day (playing snooker and drinking coffee in a big wooden clubhouse on a hill - very english, very relaxing. the score is 2-0 / Drew-Eliot, btw). but drewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08279339009031369962noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6578305248935101141.post-12910890850403380432010-04-22T06:05:00.001-07:002010-04-22T06:05:02.769-07:00Darjeeling 1drewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08279339009031369962noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6578305248935101141.post-6263509468280853822010-04-22T00:36:00.001-07:002010-04-22T00:36:09.656-07:00Varanasidrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08279339009031369962noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6578305248935101141.post-32082324692285744822010-04-22T00:30:00.000-07:002010-04-22T00:40:44.702-07:00Taj Mahaldrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08279339009031369962noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6578305248935101141.post-36955677946992648472010-04-22T00:25:00.000-07:002010-04-22T21:33:30.252-07:00Agra and Agra Fort
Madness? This ... Is .... AGRA!!!
drewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08279339009031369962noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6578305248935101141.post-45552234718363919342010-04-22T00:16:00.001-07:002010-04-22T00:16:11.376-07:00Ajantadrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08279339009031369962noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6578305248935101141.post-50724775660722898242010-04-22T00:11:00.001-07:002010-04-22T00:11:06.417-07:00Dualatabaddrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08279339009031369962noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6578305248935101141.post-11725058904531205752010-04-22T00:03:00.000-07:002010-04-22T00:05:11.788-07:00Elloradrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08279339009031369962noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6578305248935101141.post-23156168432705005242010-04-21T21:07:00.000-07:002010-04-21T21:07:11.323-07:00darjeeling18 hours on another train brings us to darjeeling. thousands of meters up in the air, it's a city of winding market streets that drop suddenly into steep mountain faces, big spectral clouds alighting on the tops of urchin-spiny pines. everywhere there are twists and turns in the roads, the ramshackle old buildings packed to tight against one another that you often miss the stairway alleys until drewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08279339009031369962noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6578305248935101141.post-84528812502286583252010-04-20T20:45:00.000-07:002010-04-21T20:57:10.984-07:00veranasiwe left veranasi about two days ago and i've been struggling with what to write about it. as the "holiest city in hinduism,|" people from all over india travel there to bathe in the ganges river, pray and die - for if you die in veranasi, it's believed you will reach moksha immediately (end of birth-rebirth cycle). people who die in veranasi are covered in silks and linens, carried to the ghats (drewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08279339009031369962noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6578305248935101141.post-14285553640737333572010-04-20T06:09:00.000-07:002010-04-22T06:53:15.693-07:00Very-ee-naazzz-eeSome shots of Varanasi while floating upon the Ganges at dawn. Pilgrims lined the shore washing their sins away, funeral pyres burned the recently deceased on their way to Moksha and the sun rose behind us and lit up the sky. Pretty cool.This goat was also there to wash away his sins. Or just hang out.20 hours later, Darjeeling!Merlinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05783470038467019416noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6578305248935101141.post-44476860594545233012010-04-17T00:12:00.000-07:002010-04-17T01:51:36.590-07:00Monkeys!This is more a video test than anything - check out these awesome monkeys we met up with in Hampi!Merlinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05783470038467019416noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6578305248935101141.post-11339255001643779742010-04-17T00:09:00.000-07:002010-04-17T00:09:40.198-07:00tajslept in the morning after we got to agra. a sixteen hour train ride really takes it out of you. spent the morning eating and drinking coffee on a rooftop overlooking the taj. since the place is closed on fridays, we took the bikes 2km down the road to one of the "finest preserved Mohgul fortresses."
fort agra was pretty cool - big red sandstone looking fort that it is. built on a massive drewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08279339009031369962noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6578305248935101141.post-51114806353238593932010-04-16T23:26:00.000-07:002010-04-17T00:05:11.472-07:00Taj-ma-freakin'-HalJust got some downtime and decent Internet, so check out the latest photos from this very morning! Taj-a-Ru!Hard to encapsualte in a photo.As always, crowds.Indians know how to relaxThe latticework was really impressive.SmileDrew hanging out with some cool guys, plus an ultra cool Sikh. Snazzy!The big motherMerlinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05783470038467019416noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6578305248935101141.post-3706492345960466752010-04-16T08:04:00.000-07:002010-04-16T08:04:21.147-07:00Jalgaon to Agraafter ajanta, we rested for two nights in jalgaon which is a pretty unremarkable city. still, it made a good place to refuel and rest up after being sick and exercising too much. we ate a lot, slept alot and bought train tickets to agra. we also we're kept awake one night by a HUGE street festival which consisted of 10 million dudes dancing to sean john songs and setting off fireworks that drewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08279339009031369962noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6578305248935101141.post-41296502958586328792010-04-13T22:51:00.000-07:002010-04-13T22:51:36.583-07:00Ajantawe took a bus to Ajanta, the "Louvre of India" the next morning. lost for hundreds of years, and thus very well protected from humans, the Ajanta caves are a series of temples and monasteries carved out of the rock face a narrow valley. built from 200BC-500AD, there are also the best surviving example of early Buddhist art and architecture. they do no disappoint.
talking about the caves seems drewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08279339009031369962noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6578305248935101141.post-28555227460354140052010-04-12T22:23:00.000-07:002010-04-13T22:44:24.699-07:00Ellora and Dualatabadthe next morning we woke up, packed a small bag and headed for Ellora, 30km from Aurangabad. We intended to bike out there, see the famous ancient caves and carvings, then zip to the hotel for a night of rest. instead, we had one of the most intense days of exercise yet, every bit the equal to the 100k-fiasco day.
first, the 30km to Ellora was almost all uphill, and tired as we were, this drewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08279339009031369962noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6578305248935101141.post-21186900969206082232010-04-11T22:07:00.000-07:002010-04-13T22:44:44.335-07:00Bijapur to Aruagabad, the hard waybeen out of it and travelling for a couple days so here's the skinny:
after we reluctantly took a sick day to rest up in bijapur, we began bicycling the next day covering an amazing 101km in 8 hours, resting occasionally and taking only 45 minutes for lunch. the rest day made all the difference. we had excellent roads, the wind shifted from north-east (blowing in our faces) to true west, drewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08279339009031369962noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6578305248935101141.post-30943962667586923352010-04-08T06:09:00.000-07:002010-04-08T06:09:03.547-07:00down with the sicknesswe're both sick. eliot is doing a little better i think. sneezing all morning. tired and weak but have decent energy. taking a day to rest and see sights here in bijapur. time to eat up, take medicine, and drink lots of water. one way or another, we're off to the next town tomorrow. switch hotels to someplace cooler but somehow more bombed out.drewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08279339009031369962noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6578305248935101141.post-68808287759538567342010-04-07T22:55:00.000-07:002010-04-08T06:06:35.482-07:00to Bijapurour first day of biking we made it 80+km through blistering heat and painful traffic conditions. bad roads, heat and plenty of truck exhaust made yesterday. the most challenging day of biking i've experienced. the fact that food was not stellar, water was scarce and we camped in a bush near recently cleared farmland - i fell asleep in pain. the whole day was just terrible and whatever drewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08279339009031369962noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6578305248935101141.post-45153656521209936742010-04-05T17:47:00.000-07:002010-04-08T05:55:14.753-07:00hampi explorationafter a dosa in hospet, we biked the 12km to hampi, checked into a great little hotel and after laughing at several monkies up to no-good, we biked up the hill over looking town to explore the amazing ruins here.
hampi is home to a huge volcanic valley, hundreds of acres long. the enitre thing is littered with ruins of all types. there are huge statues, temples, columns, ancient roads. it's drewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08279339009031369962noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6578305248935101141.post-45760418009601500162010-04-04T05:32:00.000-07:002010-04-08T05:47:22.200-07:00bye, bye bangaloreour last day in bangalore we spent a good deal of time resting up and relaxing in anticipation of getting back on the bikes. read alot, repacked, boxed some things up for shipping. with newly lightening bags, our spirits were up. we headed out about 7pm. immediately i had a flat tire. on closer inspection a TWO INCH NAIL was embedded in my tire. if you're going to have a puncture, that's thedrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08279339009031369962noreply@blogger.com0