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From the Center of Chaos to The Call of the Islands

Greetings again, Faithful Readers,

I have survived the true Heart of Darkness. Not to offend my college freind Aanand’s family-homeland, but India was absolutely filthy, scummy (in a bad way), polluted, chaotic, hectic, and crazy, yet strangely amazing, intriguing and stimulating! In my limited time there I was only able to get through Delhi, Agra (home of the Taj Mahal), and Jaipur - basically the most tourist spots in the massive country. I hear other places are less hectic, but I also hear that Aanand’s family-homeland of Varanasi is the most insane of all (open air cremations, bodies floating with feces in the river that people bath and brush their teeth in, etc.). Still, the history and architecture that I experienced are amazing and I will definitely have to go back to India some day for a more thorough visit. I also met several very cool travelers in India and I hope to hear some of their emailed experiences while they are still there. I did finally meet my friend Aanand on the last night of my stay for 4 hours before I had to leave for the airport. We had some beers, but managed to stay out of trouble - though agreeably I probably wouldn’t tell people if we got into anything overly-shady. Drinking in Delhi is very low key as it is somewhat offensive to the Muslims and some of the other religions. Some places act like selling a beer is a drug deal (they don’t have it on the menu, they scope around before getting it, pour it under the table and keep the bottle on the floor). Aanand also claimed he didn’t know where any strop bars were in Delhi, but I am not sure I buy that… still we managed to stay out of trouble, so that is probably for the best…

Greetings Again,

I have been in Thailand the last 2 weeks and I have decided that this is definitely my Happy Place. Never before have I been in a place where you have less worries and can be so relaxed. I would stay 2 more weeks, but my tickets got fucked up due to the bankruptcy of Ansett, so now I have to head to India tomorrow, then Australia on the last day?of the month (after which my ticket there expires). Currently I plan to hook up with Aanand in Delhi for a few days, though I am not sure if that is a really good or really bad idea…