The first number to the answer of life, the universe, and everything. 42. Now this is weirdly ticklish. A bit apprehensive. A bit of yearning for more adventure. A bit just knowing I won't see these guys hauling a half-ton of bricks and rebar on a cart. By hand. Up hill.
A bit of wondering what changes the USA has gone through. What has the economy done to the landscape? are people hiding out in rubble with shotguns? Has Starbucks lowered the blast shields. Are the red evil devil eyes staring out? Now more lattes. The take over has begun.
What changes has the office gone through. How do I walk through the door of AECOM? Just like normal, sit down, get to work like no one's business. Hey, how come you're all here so early? I will miss thinking about how we could do projects here. Try writing a health and safety plan - just for crossing the street! That would be 3-inches thick on its own. Yeah, I don't so.
How long before India wears of? Maybe never? Part of it will never do that.
4 days.
Tomorrow I venture into Corbett Tiger Reserve. I understand the tiger sightings are up. The elephants are on the move. Matt will put on the anti-chicken smell and the anti-coconut shine. Kinda like the appendages and various pieces and parts I was born with. The jeeps are open to the air. At least the tigers are as lazy as AIG execs on a Palm Springs rejuvenation junta - on your tax dollars.
Where I am now is a little city called Ramangar. Noisy a f%#@. Near here is Corbett park named after Jim Corbett. He was the dude mostly responsible for "containing" the Man Eaters (I almost made a funny and said naan eaters) to the area now know as the Reserve. And that's exactly what was happening. The Man Eaters were surreptitiously slinking out of the jungle and dining on the local naan eaters. They didn't it was so funny. So in comes Jimmy-boy with his 416 Rigby and does a bit of crowd control. Subsequent to this success, India established one of it's first natural reserves here to study tigers, elephants, etc...
I'll let all y'all know how it goes. It may be a whirlwind what with the all day safari on Sunday and two half-day safaris on Monday. Then a train on Monday night. Then mostly sitting on my ass Tuesday in Delhi. I'll give it a go at uploading some photos. It's been a Parvati trying to do so.
Well, I'm going back to my mango grove guest house. I'm going to relax. Lounge on my bed. No, perhaps just sit at the bench and drink chai.
Ciao USA dudes and dudettes.
Love and naan and steak.
Saturday, February 7, 2009
Friday, February 6, 2009
Bugs with little wings
Rishikesh again.
Oh yeah, some Beatles fans may be aware of the Rishikesh connection to the Beatles and the White Album. Kinda cool to see the ashram where they composed the lyrics. Walked out to the end of the road where the monkeys threated to eat me. I snapped a few pix. I'll upload later when the I-net shop isn't closing.
History can be Awesome to stand where major events occurred.
Anyway, ciao.
Oh yeah, some Beatles fans may be aware of the Rishikesh connection to the Beatles and the White Album. Kinda cool to see the ashram where they composed the lyrics. Walked out to the end of the road where the monkeys threated to eat me. I snapped a few pix. I'll upload later when the I-net shop isn't closing.
History can be Awesome to stand where major events occurred.
Anyway, ciao.
Lions, Tigers, and Elephants, oh my
To my loyal followers and commenter's; and loyal lurkers - I know you're out there.
Take a look at your fingers and toes. Wiggle them around. Yummy aren't they? It think tigers think so also.
Remember the carnival ride at the local county fair? The fair where you wondered how many times the Ferris wheel had been set up and how many bolts were missing? Then that scary carnie guy would say "keep your arms and legs in until the ride is over." Yeah, no shit Sherlock.
Well, I will be venturing into a park where you'd be a dumb ass to even attempt poking your finger out the window. Remember the SF zoo? The tigers that escaped and tracked down exactly the jackass that taunted it and threw stuff at it? And then ate that kid?
For my final India stop I figured why not take Shrikant's advice - it's been pretty spot-on so far, almost like he lived here before, or something like that - and am heading waaay, waaay, waaay deep into the inner reaches of wild, wild Corbett Tiger Reserve. According to Sanjeev Mehta (Mohan), of Mohan's Adventure Travels, the tiger sighting have been pretty good right now. Right on! That's Hot!
Tigers. Not in a cage. Not in a zoo. Just tigers being tigers doing whatever tigers do. Hopefully not gnawing off my arm. But that's what tigers can do. Omnivores. No, opportunivores.
I depart on the 7th at 7, more on channel 7. This will be a 6 to 7 hour jeep ride. Then day one (the 8th) is two half-day safari-lets. We go into two separate parts of the park - just to see what's there. Day two (the 9th) is, ta-da, two more half-day safari-lets.
I hired a tour guide. Why? Trying to plan Corbett myself was making me pull my coconut fir off my head. Just calling the hotels and guest houses was comedy - I'd call and ask, "DO YOU HAVE ACCOMMODATION FOR ONE PERSON ON SATURDAY?" I hear back, "WHAT, HELLO?" Then click. This would happen 3, 4, 5 times over 2 days. I finally realized, hire a professional - they are only a credit card away! Who knows when I'll be back in these here parts?
In the evening of the 9th I bust a move to the Ramnagar train station for the 2140 pm train, overnight to Delhi. That silly train arrives at an hilarious time on the 10th at 0430 am. One taxi ride (probably cost 5,000 rupees) to my hotel near the Delhi Int'l Aeroport. Then it's check-out at vampire time - and uphill from there.
What's cool about my aeroplane ride? I leave at 0340 am on Wed 11th. I arrive SFO 1000 am on Wed 11th. In total, my flight will take 6 hours and 20 minutes - hear it's a vicious tail wind.
Squeezing my India experience to the max. Must run like a Swiss watch. Professionals.
Take a look at your fingers and toes. Wiggle them around. Yummy aren't they? It think tigers think so also.
Remember the carnival ride at the local county fair? The fair where you wondered how many times the Ferris wheel had been set up and how many bolts were missing? Then that scary carnie guy would say "keep your arms and legs in until the ride is over." Yeah, no shit Sherlock.
Well, I will be venturing into a park where you'd be a dumb ass to even attempt poking your finger out the window. Remember the SF zoo? The tigers that escaped and tracked down exactly the jackass that taunted it and threw stuff at it? And then ate that kid?
For my final India stop I figured why not take Shrikant's advice - it's been pretty spot-on so far, almost like he lived here before, or something like that - and am heading waaay, waaay, waaay deep into the inner reaches of wild, wild Corbett Tiger Reserve. According to Sanjeev Mehta (Mohan), of Mohan's Adventure Travels, the tiger sighting have been pretty good right now. Right on! That's Hot!
Tigers. Not in a cage. Not in a zoo. Just tigers being tigers doing whatever tigers do. Hopefully not gnawing off my arm. But that's what tigers can do. Omnivores. No, opportunivores.
I depart on the 7th at 7, more on channel 7. This will be a 6 to 7 hour jeep ride. Then day one (the 8th) is two half-day safari-lets. We go into two separate parts of the park - just to see what's there. Day two (the 9th) is, ta-da, two more half-day safari-lets.
I hired a tour guide. Why? Trying to plan Corbett myself was making me pull my coconut fir off my head. Just calling the hotels and guest houses was comedy - I'd call and ask, "DO YOU HAVE ACCOMMODATION FOR ONE PERSON ON SATURDAY?" I hear back, "WHAT, HELLO?" Then click. This would happen 3, 4, 5 times over 2 days. I finally realized, hire a professional - they are only a credit card away! Who knows when I'll be back in these here parts?
In the evening of the 9th I bust a move to the Ramnagar train station for the 2140 pm train, overnight to Delhi. That silly train arrives at an hilarious time on the 10th at 0430 am. One taxi ride (probably cost 5,000 rupees) to my hotel near the Delhi Int'l Aeroport. Then it's check-out at vampire time - and uphill from there.
What's cool about my aeroplane ride? I leave at 0340 am on Wed 11th. I arrive SFO 1000 am on Wed 11th. In total, my flight will take 6 hours and 20 minutes - hear it's a vicious tail wind.
Squeezing my India experience to the max. Must run like a Swiss watch. Professionals.
Oh yeah, this is New Age
Rishikesh.
The very heart and soul of India's yoga studying, meditation realization, Ayurvedic massage, satsang rejoicing, ashram visiting, and general OM-ing. And the Indians have the Western mindset accurately and precisely pegged. I am impressed with their industriousness and ability to survive in an area where otherwise there might be little more than a few ghats near a bend in the River Ganga.
And for some clarification: Ganga is the RIVER and Ganja, well, you smoke it. Bang is what your tire does when it pops. Bhang is what makes your mind pop when you drink it. Both are probably best avoided as India provides quite enough mind-altering experience. I think I might otherwise go insane and float down the River Ganga after drinking a big Bhang Lassi while smoking Ganja - all the way to the Bay of Bengal.
OK - I will preface this by saying a few things. First, I try to have an open mind for the experience. Just be. Absorb the place. The people. The sights and sounds. The beautiful river. Tons of Europeans, Aussies, Israelis, Japanese and Chinese (to clarify Asian) partaking in spiritual and holistic modalities of self-improvement. I agree and live part of this life myself. That is when I'm not partaking of eating meat, such murder, but such delicious murder. Oh, and my Scotch. Why does the world of OM have to exclude the highest food group from holistic ways? Vegetables are good. I like vegetables. I eat vegetables. Tasty. Yum. But cows eat vegetables. Cows digest vegetables. We eat cows. Therefore, we eat concentrated vegetables. And there would be fewer cow pies on the street to slip, trip, and fall. Fewer health hazards as we yogis and yoginis exit our yoga classes, barely able to stand on wobbly legs. "Oh, these legs? Yeah, I think those are my legs." Although I kinda like that set of legs over there better...
So I'm staying at this Omkarananda Ganga Sadan guest house. Yes, my first ashram stay! NO! It's actually only a guest house that's attached to an ashram - so the rules are a bit relaxed. No shoes, no alcohol (except the 14-yr single-malt I smuggled in), no meat, generally be nice, and the Iyengar class is totally full - all week - so sorry about all your problems:) Hey, the rooms are nice, the two bathrooms are shared amongst the Sadan floor dwellers. Ok, dig.
Details, details, details days later. I take a few Ashtanga yoga classes. Mornings have felt this good very rarely. It's like an internal Himalaya. Beautiful recharge.
Then here is the second part of my observation: A growing, gnawing, what Angelica (at Cafe Madrid) calls "Angry Matt" starts to emerge. The New Age trinkets for sale are overbearing. Shivas. Ganeshas. Natarajas. Buddhas. OM Hare Hare music. OM Shivaya music. Bells. Singing bowls. Who knows what else. Stuff. Motorbikes going 40 kph across the FOOTbridge honking their presence - and fuckall if you don't move out of the way. So I basically started cussing at the BDLDMFs and waving my arms at their heads. Slowed 'em a bit. Made me feel better. I don't think I slept for 3 nights due to the crazy roar outside my window each night. Yelling. Coughing. Singing. Autorickshaws. Trucks. Honking. Hot in my room. Open the window. Dust in my mouth.
I'm filling my Cipro bottle with single-malt just to calm my nerves. Prescription bottle. Just changed the contents.
Now here's the rub: Perhaps this place, this Rishikesh, this place that is the New Age heart and soul of India is the heart and soul. It's just how you deal with it because this is what it is, this is not something else. Buddha meditated for 6 years before enlightenment. I use this example only because of proximity. We go to great lengths to sit and neither think, nor not think. To not have thoughts, push thoughts away, pull thoughts toward. The Rishikesh that was outside of my window, with all the judgements, the trinkets, the chaos, there was also a mirror out there.
Well, the chaos was out there.
The very heart and soul of India's yoga studying, meditation realization, Ayurvedic massage, satsang rejoicing, ashram visiting, and general OM-ing. And the Indians have the Western mindset accurately and precisely pegged. I am impressed with their industriousness and ability to survive in an area where otherwise there might be little more than a few ghats near a bend in the River Ganga.
And for some clarification: Ganga is the RIVER and Ganja, well, you smoke it. Bang is what your tire does when it pops. Bhang is what makes your mind pop when you drink it. Both are probably best avoided as India provides quite enough mind-altering experience. I think I might otherwise go insane and float down the River Ganga after drinking a big Bhang Lassi while smoking Ganja - all the way to the Bay of Bengal.
OK - I will preface this by saying a few things. First, I try to have an open mind for the experience. Just be. Absorb the place. The people. The sights and sounds. The beautiful river. Tons of Europeans, Aussies, Israelis, Japanese and Chinese (to clarify Asian) partaking in spiritual and holistic modalities of self-improvement. I agree and live part of this life myself. That is when I'm not partaking of eating meat, such murder, but such delicious murder. Oh, and my Scotch. Why does the world of OM have to exclude the highest food group from holistic ways? Vegetables are good. I like vegetables. I eat vegetables. Tasty. Yum. But cows eat vegetables. Cows digest vegetables. We eat cows. Therefore, we eat concentrated vegetables. And there would be fewer cow pies on the street to slip, trip, and fall. Fewer health hazards as we yogis and yoginis exit our yoga classes, barely able to stand on wobbly legs. "Oh, these legs? Yeah, I think those are my legs." Although I kinda like that set of legs over there better...
So I'm staying at this Omkarananda Ganga Sadan guest house. Yes, my first ashram stay! NO! It's actually only a guest house that's attached to an ashram - so the rules are a bit relaxed. No shoes, no alcohol (except the 14-yr single-malt I smuggled in), no meat, generally be nice, and the Iyengar class is totally full - all week - so sorry about all your problems:) Hey, the rooms are nice, the two bathrooms are shared amongst the Sadan floor dwellers. Ok, dig.
Details, details, details days later. I take a few Ashtanga yoga classes. Mornings have felt this good very rarely. It's like an internal Himalaya. Beautiful recharge.
Then here is the second part of my observation: A growing, gnawing, what Angelica (at Cafe Madrid) calls "Angry Matt" starts to emerge. The New Age trinkets for sale are overbearing. Shivas. Ganeshas. Natarajas. Buddhas. OM Hare Hare music. OM Shivaya music. Bells. Singing bowls. Who knows what else. Stuff. Motorbikes going 40 kph across the FOOTbridge honking their presence - and fuckall if you don't move out of the way. So I basically started cussing at the BDLDMFs and waving my arms at their heads. Slowed 'em a bit. Made me feel better. I don't think I slept for 3 nights due to the crazy roar outside my window each night. Yelling. Coughing. Singing. Autorickshaws. Trucks. Honking. Hot in my room. Open the window. Dust in my mouth.
I'm filling my Cipro bottle with single-malt just to calm my nerves. Prescription bottle. Just changed the contents.
Now here's the rub: Perhaps this place, this Rishikesh, this place that is the New Age heart and soul of India is the heart and soul. It's just how you deal with it because this is what it is, this is not something else. Buddha meditated for 6 years before enlightenment. I use this example only because of proximity. We go to great lengths to sit and neither think, nor not think. To not have thoughts, push thoughts away, pull thoughts toward. The Rishikesh that was outside of my window, with all the judgements, the trinkets, the chaos, there was also a mirror out there.
Well, the chaos was out there.
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Badass IS definitely fatass
I made it to Nagtibba. All the way to the tippy-top. It hurt like a mofo going up. Then up a bit more. Then in usual Indian style, but Indian mountian-guide style, "we are only half-way there today," I just knew I was in for a world of flogging. A world I paid to get flogged and see. So I sat back in my shoes, chewed my teeth off to the roots and said nothing. Easier for the root canal anyway. Might as well enjoy the rhodendron in bloom, the oak trees, the Himalayan woodpeckers, the rare species of high Himalayan ox and cow (at what elevation do these frackin things stop?), the weird prickly shrubbry with no berries that kinda act like jumping cholla-wanna-be's, the freak-me-out monkeys that may be 2% off from humans but they stare at us and there are more of them than us.
And a hilarious story from Kuldeep, my guide. He says growing up, one of his friends was chucking rocks at this monkey. Just like a kid would chuck rocks at a dog, cat, beaver, frog, wild boar, toothless-backwoods banjo player, etc... The monkey had enough and waited until the kid was plenty tired. I guess it's difficult to tag an animal when it can swing, jump, run, bounce, grimmace, hang upside down, all while eating a banana. And that dang monkey walked on over and slapped the kid upside the head about three times. Three times. Kuldeep says that type of brown monkey is known for mainly biting and tearing its victim's into submission. Now that's entertainment. For confirmation of other monkey business, check the WWW for that monkey/tiger video where those monkeys swing around and slap these tiger cubs. It's pretty funny. I was pulling for the tiger cubs, but no luck.
Oh yeah, I digressed. How weird. So I made the top. That, as Hillary said, is the optional part. Going down is mandatory. Oh so what a bitch that was. Trail? Ha. Cobbles. Loose. Dust. Cow shit slime. Pounding for something like 12 straight miles down in one day. I think I'm going to activate my old mountain biking mantra: "I'd rather bike it uphill twice than go downhill once." I kept think of Scotty. What would Scotty do? He'd probably bike part of it. I think Krafty could bike part of it. I think Tank could bike part of it. I think I could bike part of it. I know we would ALL go nuclear splat over most of it. Good times!
Ahh, but the view from the top! I can't upload here in Rishikesh - something about spiritual center of the universe. Story later. We weren't supposed to see Nanda Devi. It was supposed to be shrouded in clouds. Way too far away. Well, it wasn't. And at 7,816 meters (a 7-thousander!?, are you for real?), that's a peak taller than any Swede or German I've ever seen. Something that tall - and it wasn't the only peak around. The entire local Himalaya region, including Thalay Sagar (6904 meters - reading about since I was a small coconut), is like a brand new wood saw - sharp and waiting to rip you up if climb and don't pay attention.
It's been about three days in Rishikesh and I am now just learning how to walk down the ghats without wondering whether I'll need to activate my emergency medical evacuation coverage. I keep repeapting, "don't keep your tongue between your teeth." That would suck to fall and bite my tongue off. A bit of yoga helped. Or did it? The instructor asks what your weaknesses are - now I know - exploitation. Makes for good humor in the class.
OK - the dude wants to lock up now. My sadan locks up at ten then I sleep on the street. So I'm outta here for now.
Ciao bella!
Lasagne with one pound of ground beef
posole
lemon pasta
flame-broiled tender marinated steak
INO #1
Mountain bike in the Santa Cruz hills and back P-town ridge.
And a hilarious story from Kuldeep, my guide. He says growing up, one of his friends was chucking rocks at this monkey. Just like a kid would chuck rocks at a dog, cat, beaver, frog, wild boar, toothless-backwoods banjo player, etc... The monkey had enough and waited until the kid was plenty tired. I guess it's difficult to tag an animal when it can swing, jump, run, bounce, grimmace, hang upside down, all while eating a banana. And that dang monkey walked on over and slapped the kid upside the head about three times. Three times. Kuldeep says that type of brown monkey is known for mainly biting and tearing its victim's into submission. Now that's entertainment. For confirmation of other monkey business, check the WWW for that monkey/tiger video where those monkeys swing around and slap these tiger cubs. It's pretty funny. I was pulling for the tiger cubs, but no luck.
Oh yeah, I digressed. How weird. So I made the top. That, as Hillary said, is the optional part. Going down is mandatory. Oh so what a bitch that was. Trail? Ha. Cobbles. Loose. Dust. Cow shit slime. Pounding for something like 12 straight miles down in one day. I think I'm going to activate my old mountain biking mantra: "I'd rather bike it uphill twice than go downhill once." I kept think of Scotty. What would Scotty do? He'd probably bike part of it. I think Krafty could bike part of it. I think Tank could bike part of it. I think I could bike part of it. I know we would ALL go nuclear splat over most of it. Good times!
Ahh, but the view from the top! I can't upload here in Rishikesh - something about spiritual center of the universe. Story later. We weren't supposed to see Nanda Devi. It was supposed to be shrouded in clouds. Way too far away. Well, it wasn't. And at 7,816 meters (a 7-thousander!?, are you for real?), that's a peak taller than any Swede or German I've ever seen. Something that tall - and it wasn't the only peak around. The entire local Himalaya region, including Thalay Sagar (6904 meters - reading about since I was a small coconut), is like a brand new wood saw - sharp and waiting to rip you up if climb and don't pay attention.
It's been about three days in Rishikesh and I am now just learning how to walk down the ghats without wondering whether I'll need to activate my emergency medical evacuation coverage. I keep repeapting, "don't keep your tongue between your teeth." That would suck to fall and bite my tongue off. A bit of yoga helped. Or did it? The instructor asks what your weaknesses are - now I know - exploitation. Makes for good humor in the class.
OK - the dude wants to lock up now. My sadan locks up at ten then I sleep on the street. So I'm outta here for now.
Ciao bella!
Lasagne with one pound of ground beef
posole
lemon pasta
flame-broiled tender marinated steak
INO #1
Mountain bike in the Santa Cruz hills and back P-town ridge.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)
