Ghost Runners

Glad to be home - Missing India

2010-05-28T16:15:00.000-07:00

Man, 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

back in the US, back in the US-S-S-A!

2010-05-10T11:13:00.000-07:00

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 in my head

Goodbye, Mumbai

2010-05-03T00:07:00.001-07:00

The 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

a good ride

2010-04-27T22:25:00.000-07:00

today 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

Darjeeling 1

2010-04-22T06:05:00.001-07:00

Varanasi

2010-04-22T00:36:00.001-07:00

Taj Mahal

2010-04-22T00:30:00.000-07:00

Agra and Agra Fort

2010-04-22T00:25:00.000-07:00

Madness? This ... Is .... AGRA!!!

Ajanta

2010-04-22T00:16:00.001-07:00

Dualatabad

2010-04-22T00:11:00.001-07:00

Ellora

2010-04-22T00:03:00.000-07:00

darjeeling

2010-04-21T21:07:00.000-07:00

18 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

veranasi

2010-04-20T20:45:00.000-07:00

we 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 (

Very-ee-naazzz-ee

2010-04-20T06:09:00.000-07:00

Some 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!

Monkeys!

2010-04-17T00:12:00.000-07:00

This is more a video test than anything - check out these awesome monkeys we met up with in Hampi!

taj

2010-04-17T00:09:00.000-07:00

slept 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 scale,

Taj-ma-freakin'-Hal

2010-04-16T23:26:00.000-07:00

Just 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 mother

Jalgaon to Agra

2010-04-16T08:04:00.000-07:00

after 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

Ajanta

2010-04-13T22:51:00.000-07:00

we 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

Ellora and Dualatabad

2010-04-12T22:23:00.000-07:00

the 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 was

Bijapur to Aruagabad, the hard way

2010-04-11T22:07:00.000-07:00

been 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,

down with the sickness

2010-04-08T06:09:00.000-07:00

we'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.

to Bijapur

2010-04-07T22:55:00.000-07:00

our 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 beautiful,

hampi exploration

2010-04-05T17:47:00.000-07:00

after 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

bye, bye bangalore

2010-04-04T05:32:00.000-07:00

our 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 the way

2010-04-02T23:34:00.000-07:00

8:05pm, Bangalore. The setting: 2nd floor of the brigade road MacDonalds. Ambiance: Theme from Mortal Kombat.For the first time since 2003 I'm eating at MacDonalds. I remember the last time because I was so sick for three days that I was too busy hallucinating to eat. Why break the dry spell? Why enter the anti-food establishment my haute-cuisine, olive munching, wine sipping, freerange local egg

Munnar (Munnat) #3

2010-04-02T23:32:00.000-07:00

Learning to ride Motorcycles; The scene: Bazaar in Munnar. Renter guy: "you gringos are sure you know to operate one of these?" Us: (nervous glance) yup.Renter guy: "great! Here you go!"Us: (nervous glance)Our own personal peanut gallery:India or ... The Shire?

Munnar (Munnat) #2

2010-04-02T23:29:00.001-07:00

Munnar (Munnat) #1

2010-04-02T23:26:00.001-07:00

Sometimes, in India, you just seem to walk into a postcard:For scale, those little white specks on the left are plantation workers:Homemade louge:

Farewell, fort kochi

2010-04-02T23:24:00.000-07:00

@ our cooking class:@ the XL bar with friends from the class:really horrible looking cat that snuck into our hotel for a nap:Bon Oui, Seth:

back to work

2010-04-02T22:05:00.000-07:00

yesterday morning about 6:00am our bus pulled into bangalore. after getting jerked around by a rickshaw driver who refused to believe that we knew the way to bonaswadi main road and continued to inform us that the route was "most direct," we yelled at him to pull over, paid his exorbitant fee and walked the rest of the way. had a dosa at our favorite joint just around the corner from "mighty"

Munnar Motocross

2010-04-01T01:56:00.000-07:00

today we booked tickets on a seriously long bus ride (10-12 hours) to reach bangalore, the bikes, and the world beyond southern kerala. since the bus doesn't leave until 5, we were stuck in munnar ... which is a great place to be stuck, incedentally. still feeling the rush from the amazing trek we took yesterday, we rented a motorcycle. this was not before i attempted to rent my own bike, nearly

leaving kochi

2010-03-31T02:50:00.000-07:00

we bid seth farewell and wrapped up our planning at the Paradise Inn in fort nagar, fort kochi. B the W, if you are in Fort Kochi i really cannot recommend the paradise inn enough. a great laid back indian surfer dude seems to run it and makes excellently strong coffee / sludge. it's cheap and clean and there is a semi-permanent artist in resident in the form of a swiss dude who refuses to wear

bon chance, seth

2010-03-29T23:42:00.000-07:00

our companion seth has broken off on his own for the last leg of his journey in india. it was great having a third around to talk to, learning cribbage, and sharing in his knows-no-limits sweet tooth. we wish him all the best as he journeys south to trivandrum and out to Dubai. and now we turn our eyes back to bicycling. for now, the mission becomes to head back to bangalore where our friend

Fort Kochi

2010-03-29T04:57:00.001-07:00

Chennai again & Kochi

2010-03-28T07:42:00.000-07:00

The tomb of "Doubting" St. Thomas. Religous-studies thirst, totally quenched:Train toilets. Intimidating, ain't they?Havelock's revenge strikes Seth:

Andamans #3

2010-03-28T07:37:00.001-07:00

That's my room there in the middle:And just out beyond those silohuetted trees is white sand and clear water:Pabst Blue ... Gin?

Andamans #2: Beach #7

2010-03-28T07:32:00.000-07:00

The road to beach number seven. Hummed the theme to Jurassic park on the way in. On day two we had rented scooters so I blasted to the beach and back on these trails at about 35kmph blasting thin lizzy on my iPhone. nature + rocknroll + two wheelers = my bliss:

Andamans #1

2010-03-28T07:24:00.001-07:00

You say Shabika, I say burrito. Sweet Salavation & praise be to the Andaman Islands!My napping buddy. Excellent taste in literature:Some Britishers who gave us the excellent tip re: beach no. 7:

Hello & Goodbye, Chennai

2010-03-28T07:18:00.001-07:00

Leaving kotaguri:Chennai train station at four in the morning:Bleak and grim accomodations at the salvation army. Super cheap, at least:NoClue:Sleeping in the airport:

there and back, the island journey

2010-03-28T07:01:00.000-07:00

when last i wrote, we were in kotaguri headed out to matapullayam to catch a train to chennai to catch a plane to the andamans. it's been (checking calendar ...) almost a week since i updated. sincere apologies! so we arrived in chennai on the 21 in the wee small hours of the morning. a ticket snafu had us stranded there unless we could book another flight to the andamans. we made it to a travel

Homesick

2010-03-28T04:51:00.000-07:00

Yep, it's about that time. Feeling a bit of weariness and longing for my home. Make no mistake, India has been, and will likely continue to be, a total mystery and wonder to explore. Constantly we are surprised and re-surprised by so many aspects of life here. The place is truly fascinating, warts and all.India aside, I miss the States. I find myself clinging to Western cultural tidbits existing

Back on the Main Land!

2010-03-27T03:26:00.000-07:00

Howdy, Ghosterinos!Drew, Seth and myself have successfully navigated back to the mainland (Chennai, right now). We also successfully enjoyed the heck out of ourselves on the Andaman Islands. Andamans - translation: don't tell anybody about it, but this place is beyond heavenly. We're due to catch an overnight train to Calicut right now, but more crisp, exquisite, juicy details are sure to come.

Endorsement: Antimicrobial Undies

2010-03-24T04:50:00.000-07:00

Hoooboy; in the first of the endorsement series, I'd like to introduce a true lifesaver to the wayfaring vagabond with little time for trifles such as washing their underwear. My antimicrobial undies stay un-stinky for about 10 times longer than my regular decrepit cotton undies do. Check this out: on an overnight train from the Western Ghatts to Chennai, I can tell that I should be exceptionally

Endorsement: Traveling Sleeper

2010-03-21T04:50:00.000-07:00

So you've got a few choices of train class travel when overlanding it in India. Although you've got 3 air conditioned choices (1AC, 2AC, 3AC), the next class is both cheaper, similar in accommodations and not that much less cool during the spring. Now, I could totally change my tune when we get to the super hot months, but for now (March), it's fairly pleasant, gets you face time with lots of

I Miss My Cat

2010-03-20T04:49:00.000-07:00

That's right, I miss Mr Merlin, my fuzzy face cutesy pants mcgee gato head, who lights up my dark days and keeps my lonely life interesting. My wise and generous grandparents are looking after him while I am abroad, and I thank them for it. Still, I miss my little buddy daily, and find myself questing after the little bedraggled gatos we run across here, most of whom wonder why this big hairy

I'm on the Night Train...

2010-03-19T22:43:00.000-07:00

To Chennai - tonight we take long distance train No.2 for a 8-9ish hour ride across mountains and valleys, through the darkness of nighttime India to the Eastern Coastal city of Chennai. From there, we have precious few hours to kill overnight in the Chennai airport before a drastically early flight to Port Blair in the Andamans.I (Eliot) really look forward to the methods of travel, sometimes

More from Kotagiri

2010-03-19T22:23:00.001-07:00

Banana cat!Flower merchants in the market. Tamil flourists!Movie we caught last night ...... At this theater:

Photos from Ooty and Kotagiri

2010-03-19T22:15:00.001-07:00

Looks awful, taste awesome - mushrooms in ooty:The EXCELLENT Y.W.C.A. In ooty:In and around Kotagiri:

Photos from the Hills of Ooty

2010-03-19T22:11:00.001-07:00

Some pho-phos in & around Saint Stephens Church in Ooty. I fell in love with the cemetary there. Check it out:And the tea plantations and hillsides outside town ...

Tamil Nadu - Texas, India

2010-03-19T22:06:00.000-07:00

After leaving Mysore and arriving in Ooty, we had officially crossed state lines again, this time into Tamil Nadu. Tamil Nadu or "Land / Country of the Tamil" is the southern most state, the site of a thriving civilization since at least 2500 BC and home to a slew of martial arts grindhouse cinema masterpieces known effectionately as "Tali-wood." The Dravidians (the indigenous aberiginal

Cameras Lost

2010-03-19T04:51:00.000-07:00

One temporary, the other gone for goooood.First, Elioto's: My battery died, and I left the charger in Bangalore. No pictures for the Andamans. Bummer. Temporary.Second, Seth's: this happened so swiftly and elegantly, I could swear it was orchestrated by some mighty universal force with a funky sense of humor. We were at the Kotnagiri bus station, on a small hill next to a drainage ditch running

Take Me Home, Ooty Roads

2010-03-18T22:55:00.000-07:00

The Nilgiris remind me of Oregon in some ways, high moountain lakes, pines, dry central Oregon summer dust, the smell of cool grass in the shade. Of course there are a million other differences signifying my presence in India, but high up here it feels homey. Seth and I both have reflected that being born and raised in a land of hills makes us particularly attracted to places like these high hill

A Feast For The Eyes

2010-03-18T05:42:00.001-07:00

Got some fresh uploads from my (Eliot) camera, from our hike earlier today in the Ooty hills to Seth's arrival in Banga-town.Seth wasn't so sure about Sugar Cane juice with Pepper.Dosa: Yummers.Devour.Dominoes. Best way to spend 4 hours out of every day.Tea and carrots..We ain't got time to bleed. But Drew bled a little earlier, actually.Unnamed lake. Sparkling. We mushed around in the woods up

Motorcycles of India

2010-03-17T07:09:00.000-07:00

Because I promised Jon, a collection of motorcycles from India. The ones below are all Royal Enfeld Bullets and one Jawa. I'll be adding more as I find em.

Photos from Mysore & Ooty

2010-03-17T07:06:00.001-07:00

There whiskey in the box-o? Mysore palace: En route to ooty: Ooty:

Chorgao & the train to Bangalore

2010-03-17T06:51:00.001-07:00

In & around Panaji

2010-03-17T06:47:00.000-07:00

More on this later ...ThaliYup, there he is folks, the "Jerk."Music store in PanajiAn oft visited cafe we called the "Bladerunner."Street shrine of the Virgin.

bang a gong, get it on, bangalore

2010-03-17T06:44:00.001-07:00

of the bat, the SPACE THEMED BAR: NASA. for the duration of a pitcher of kingfisher, i was truly at peace. note the flight uniforms of the waiters and the general star wars-vibe of the place sweet relief! a decent book store in Bangalore! Blossum's comes highly recommended: Seth is here: Bob hoskins reprising his role from Super Mario Bros. in bollywood? check that dude in the

Goin Up The Country

2010-03-17T05:13:00.000-07:00

Heading south out of Bangalore, I already miss our clean, quiet and cool temporary home. But we didn't come all the way over here to veg out, eat dosas and play dominoes and cribbage for hours on end. Although that does sound pretty fantastic.In the meantime, it's fun watching Seth adjust to India and compare it with his four month trek through China, Vietnam, Thailand and Cambodia. The traffic,

Mysore & Ooty

2010-03-17T05:05:00.000-07:00

with seth in tow, we departed early yesterday morning from bangalore on a long bus ride to the town of mysore. there is a whomping big palace there that they light up at night with about a million incandescent lights. nice to look at, and the street food leading up to the palace is to die for. seriously, readers: when in india (or any country for that matter) go street food. it's cheap, usually

three vagabundos

2010-03-15T00:21:00.000-07:00

Seth arrived safe and sound and has taken well to the eliot and drew daily schedule: 1. wake up early 2. drink chai 3. eat a dosa 4. wander around being a gringo 5. chai 6. chai 7. gringo activity #2 8. chai 9. play cards, read, chat idly over ... 10. chai 11. sleep it's good to have a third (now we can play cribbage with cards and matador with dominos. sick to the power of awesome!) and seth

Bangalore home tour

2010-03-14T00:52:00.000-08:00

The Joy of Eating (possibly due to intestinal parasites)

2010-03-13T04:10:00.000-08:00

Man, I (Elioto) looooove eating in India. Mainly because I am constantly hungry and thus can almost always fit more into my expanding hatch. This is a fabulous problem to have, as food in India is readily available pretty much everywhere, and chances are it is either sweet or spicy, and nearly always delicious. So I can look forward to eating three or four full meals a day, plus snacks, cookies,

Iron Horse

2010-03-12T03:37:00.000-08:00

we found our seats and stored are bags. sleeper class on indian trains works like this: you get assigned a berth, say S9 (S for sleeper, dummy). that's your car. then you find your seat which is a number in a sequence of 8 (say, 21-29) and a letter: U for upper, M for Middle, L for lower. moving towards the front of the train on any car, you will see two seats facing each other on your right.

More Goan Daytripping

2010-03-10T03:25:00.000-08:00

Awake and looking for more adventures around Panaji (pronounced, inexplicably as "Panjim"), we rode 5-6km to a ferry crossing and took a boat over to Chorgao island. there, our tourist office map informed us, was bird sanctuary. it turned out to be, in eliot's estimation, "a mosquito sanctuary" but the fresh air, bizarre mangrove formations and a few herons actually made it almost worth the 50Rs

My skin is falling off

2010-03-10T00:49:00.000-08:00

Of my face. We're taking Doxycyclene for malaria meds, and one of the side effects is it makes you more suseptable to sunburn. While riding down the road, I've just been reapplying 30spf sunscreen hourly, but today I learned that is not sufficient. Now my sweet tan has turned into the top of a creme brûlée, torched crispy and all. Now check out my bodacious head wrap that Seth got me in Thailand.

Greetings from Goa

2010-03-09T04:27:00.000-08:00

Eliot and I came to Goa on saturday the 6th and have stayed here ever since. for two nights with stayed Horrible Harold the landlord at the Comfort Inn. The place was amazing, and the manager wasn't sooo bad, just really gruff and weird. He looked just like Chuck Hughes, for those in the know. lots of cool pictures of frank frazetta-esque female araby around. pretty great, actually. on monday

New Fotographias!

2010-03-09T04:22:00.000-08:00

Eliot here, with a dump of neuvo photos for your waiting eyes. These range from the first few days in Mumbai down to just a few days before we bopped into Goa just days ago. As we reach closer and closer to the 2-week mark, reflecting back on things we've done and things we've seen, it feels like a year. I can barely remember Holi, much less arriving and feeling that first breath of fat, humid

Fun in the shun

2010-03-09T00:46:00.000-08:00

The beaches of Goa are beautiful, no doubt. As we have an appointment in Bangalore in a few short days, we're hanging out in Panaji and taking day trips to the beaches. Yesterday we went up north to Vagator beach and Chapora Fort area. I (Eliot) did not consider the implications of my antimalarial medication's tendency to make one sensitive to the sun when applying my sunscreen, and thus, got

The country wave

2010-03-08T00:49:00.000-08:00

Amid our disagreements, we (Drew and I) have come to one conclusion about our travels in India: more often than not, we enjoy the country over the city. Being both wide-open-space-o-philes, this is no big news, but although we have met some genuine people in the city (folks at Anjali Inn, Rakesh, Shipla), more often than not one can set their mind at ease out there rather than in here. Cities

pho-phos

2010-03-07T00:01:00.001-08:00

hey ghost-followers: big ol steaming update to the picasa album happened today so go check it out! we're having some workflow issues with our mobiles, so we're going to drop photos there until we can incorperate them into the actual blog later. surf on over to THIS site and check out the 50+ new pictures. UPDATE: as of 3/7/10 @ 16:44 i have uploaded all the pictures from picasa over to the

Go-Go Gadget Goa

2010-03-06T23:05:00.000-08:00

Arise with the sunrise, as per usual, and leave the so-and-so hotel in so-and-so town. in just one or two days we would be in panji in goa. if we were to meet the alscasians, we would have to hurry. we made good time in the morning, cover about 30km in two hours. we managed to convine one of the three-wheeled truck wallas to give us a ride in the bed of his vehicle and covered about 15km before

Drew & Eliot beyond Ratnigiri-dome

2010-03-06T23:04:00.000-08:00

after chai with the Alsacian contigent, we bid farewell with plans to meet in Goa in three days. that means some heavy biking for me and eliot, so we stock up on quinoa, lentils and masala sauce from the local market. we purchase a bar of tide to wash clothing with that night. seriously: we stink. we walked over to a restuarant for more tea and chai. there, a cow arrives on the doorstep and

Photos from Greetings from ??? and Go-Go Gadget Goa

2010-03-06T05:43:00.000-08:00

From Ghost Runners From Ghost Runners From Ghost Runners From Ghost Runners From Ghost Runners From Ghost Runners From Ghost Runners From Ghost Runners From Ghost Runners From Ghost Runners From Ghost Runners From Ghost Runners

Greetings from ???

2010-03-05T06:26:00.000-08:00

not quite sure where we are, but we have a hotel and an internet cafe. covered an insane 90+km today!!! we're definetly getting the hang of this - biking longer, faster and with more food and water on the bikes than we can consume. budget has been wrangled in. i started my 25th birthday at sunrise in a field in india, biked nearly 100km and am crashing in a hotel with a cold beer, american

Photos from Drew and Eliot beyond Ratnigiri-dome

2010-03-04T05:40:00.000-08:00

From Ghost Runners From Ghost Runners From Ghost Runners From Ghost Runners From Ghost Runners From Ghost Runners From Ghost Runners From Ghost Runners From Ghost Runners

maharastra by bus

2010-03-03T22:36:00.000-08:00

yesterday we awoke on the beach, packed up and made tracks to Srivrahndan. after breakfast and water refill, we found out that we could on, in fact, take a ferry accross the creek to continue south but had to catch a mus to mahad and from there get a bus to Diapoli. a quick note: the guide books don't mention Srivrahdan, but it is one of the cleanest, most organized and friendliest littles

stalling for time

2010-03-03T22:00:00.000-08:00

another post to let you know we're a-o-k here in india. we haven't found wi-fi yet but when we do you'll be ablt to catch up on the rest of the first incredible week including: * the time we were rescued by the Indian Ernest Hemingway! * the harrrowing adventure of Daniel the Alsacian! * The mighty HILLS of India! *the NIGHT OF THE GECKOOOOOOOO! and * Beach Bash Summer Sleep Away India

Photos from Maharastra by Bus

2010-03-03T05:40:00.000-08:00

From Ghost Runners

wastelands

2010-03-03T01:48:00.001-08:00

hey guys - there are a ton of updates coming soon! we have about 10 or so ready to go and tons of photos too. only problem is wireless internet has been hard to come by. stay tuned!

Sunset Bus Ride from Mahad

2010-03-03T00:51:00.000-08:00

Though we were greatly incovenienced yesterday by having to take a bus inland and back out to the coast again to circumnavigate hills and a lack of decent roads, good fortune did again come our way. The bus ride (5hrs) through rough and rocky mountain terrain was actually quite calming for me (Eliot). Watching the towns roll by, the monkeys in the trees, the people squatted by the side of the

Hills and Sea

2010-03-02T06:14:00.000-08:00

we biked from the sea beach about 3km to the port. we caught breakfast at the sea rock and there, we met Daniel, a charming Alsacian journalist. it was nice to converse in english for a hwhile and a good break for us. daniel took some pictures of us, and us with him, and we bid farewell. we took some masala for the road. because they wouldn't let us take our bikes to the fort, we skipped it and

Photos from Hills and Sea

2010-03-02T05:39:00.000-08:00

From Ghost Runners From Ghost Runners From Ghost Runners From Ghost Runners From Ghost Runners From Ghost Runners From Ghost Runners From Ghost Runners From Ghost Runners From Ghost Runners

Holi Diver

2010-03-01T06:05:00.000-08:00

after breakfast and coffe with kunal, we made tracks to marud. kunal gave us well wishes and two cocnuts each for 'today's ration" as he said. we were excited that holi celebrations would be going on. not 5km from kunal's a motorcycle pulle over and two guys jumped off. with screams of "HAPPY HOLI" they smeared colored powder all over our faces. for the next several hours, our trip was an

Pictures from Holi Diver

2010-03-01T05:32:00.000-08:00

From Ghost Runners From Ghost Runners From Ghost Runners From Ghost Runners From Ghost Runners From Ghost Runners From Ghost Runners

Hell and Heaven, all in one day

2010-02-28T23:33:00.000-08:00

So much can happen in one day. After a rough, hot and dusty exit out of central Mumbai (thanks Anjali Inn), we turned south to head towards Murud, on the Konkan coast, and eventually to Goa.Let me (Eliot Spencer Murray) tell you, folks, I will often dilute the severity of my bad experiences for the sake of saving face and sustaining pleasantries, but by God, not today. I have absolutely no

Mr. Kunal

2010-02-28T06:04:00.000-08:00

there is no way to sum up everything that happened we met and stayed with mr.kunal. i think, for the sake of the blog, i'll try to sum things up quickly. sadly, i cannot transmit to you everything that was said and felt during our evening with him and his beautiful family. you'll just have to take my word when i say it marks a meeting with one of the finest souls i've met in this life. (fyi,

Panvil to Alibad

2010-02-28T05:40:00.000-08:00

i'm lying in a bed with a warm breeze blowing through the windows. the above is me is wobbly but provides a nice breeze as well. incense is burning to keep away mosquitos. my belly is full of water and eggs - full in a word, maybe for the first time sense arriving here. my head is warm and soft from rum. my skin is clean from a hot shower, my memory overflowing from the day. thinking it over ...

Pictures from Mr. Kunal

2010-02-28T05:28:00.000-08:00

From Ghost Runners From Ghost Runners From Ghost Runners From Ghost Runners From Ghost Runners

Pictures from Panvel to Alibad

2010-02-28T05:24:00.000-08:00

From Ghost Runners From Ghost Runners From Ghost Runners From Ghost Runners From Ghost Runners

One Night in Panvel and the World's your Oyster

2010-02-27T05:40:00.000-08:00

Today marks the end of the first official day of cycling in India! we began the day in ghotkopar near the airport and bicycled with our hotel friend aneel to a major intersection on the outskirts of town. this is a very VERY tame version of what we did today. not our video there, but we don't have wifi tonight and can't upload our videos yet. look - i've biked in texas, i've biked in LA ... i

Hell and Heaven, all in one day

2010-02-27T00:50:00.000-08:00

So much can happen in one day. After a rough and hot first day out of Mumbai (followed by a posh yet expensive hotel), we turned south to head towards Murud, on the Konkan coast towards Goa. Let me (Eliot Spencer Murray) tell you, folks, I will often dilute the severity of my bad experiences for the sake of saving face and sustaining pleasantries, but by god, not today. I have absolutely no

Aneel and Co.

2010-02-26T20:48:00.001-08:00

Stayed up last night working on the bikes and getting them ready for the exodus. About 1:45am there was a knock at the door. Aneel (one of our amazing hosts here at the hotel) saw we were still up, working hard and offered us a beer. Aneel on the right speaking to Robert. They are either arguing about train protocol or arguing over what food or drink to bring us next.Drinks in hand we hung out in

Mumbai, mi amor part II

2010-02-26T20:47:00.001-08:00

After the helpful advice from the Indian call center we stumbled into we found our way to the India tourism office and a man who gave Shilpa a run for her money in terms of helpfulness - Rakesh. Not only did he patiently wait for an hour, himouring our every request, but he gave us loads of maps and recommended hotels for our entire journey! Lots of advice on how to deal with folks, where to camp

Mumbai, mi amor

2010-02-26T12:21:00.001-08:00

Well here we are. India. Two or more years ago Eliot and I started talkin about a trip and, through an intense year of planning and talking (especially the last four months) we're here where we said we were going. That alone is further than a lot of plans make it and I want to take the opportunity to pat myself and Eliot on our respective backs. So patted, let's talk about today.Our tiny hotel

Panic and relief

2010-02-26T08:37:00.001-08:00

As I said before, holy blankety-blank guacamole. Mumbai, you are truly a mega whopper slap to the face. Sitting on our beds a Anjali Inn, I'm reflecting on meeting our liason at the airport and stuffing our bikes in the trunk, the (dangerous?) car ride over, the street kids (lots) who grappled my face when I forgot to roll up the window, the extremely welcoming staff at the inn and most of all,

We're here.

2010-02-25T06:12:00.001-08:00

We left Dubai about 13:45 and arrived in Mumbai 19:00 local. I don't know where to start. And I'm not just saying that as a popular turn of phrase. 30+ near traffic collisions, bungies holding the trunk door of our "taxi" buckling, a slew of child beggars all forcing their hands in the windows towards Eliot, Mosquitos the size of quarters all potentially carrying dengue or malaria or some such

Adios Dubai, hello Mumbai

2010-02-24T23:59:00.001-08:00

Well, it's finally that time: we're kicking out from what has been the most opulent and sensational city in recent memory and bouncing across land and sea to what will surely be one of the most intense and varied landscapes in the world. Holy guacamole.On the way to the check in counter, we passed a rather suspicious looking box, hastily taped and dingy, leaning up next to a column. Spider Sense

The Road to Hafeet

2010-02-24T07:19:00.001-08:00

We're driving through the desert on our way to Al Ain. Allow me to emphasize "desert." This is not a hot dry place with scrub brush. This is orange dunes, camels and a searing sun that bleaches everything. Trees and even grass along the roadside is imported, cultivated,maintained. Only the hardiest of plants grows wild here.We stop at a road stop. The men are dark, their eyes are blood shot,