One of the things I didn’t necessarily want this blog to be was a day by day itinerary of what we did because normally I found the travel blogs I read that did this to be somewhat boring and more like reading a tour brochure than an experience of travel. That being said I do know that some of you may also want an idea of day to day what we did so I will try to do a shortened (??) rundown of each country and some of the things we did and enjoyed. Obviously I’m also catching up on my posts as we were in S. Africa in Sept. but just haven’t had the time or internet connection until now (resting in Thailand)

South Africa started Sept. 7 as we arrived in Johannesburg and spent the first night with a friend from Seattle who had serendipitously been on the same flight from the States. We stayed at the Airport Grand Hotel (recommended). On the 8^th we met a friend’s aunt and uncle who graciously let us stay with them the next few nights. Later that day we went to the Apartheid museum which is the one thing in Johannesburg I would highly recommend for anyone. It gave us a great overview of South African history and culture as well as the story of Apartheid.

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We also were able to visit a lot of local artist galleries and the school our host helped to run. It was a three year program for Africans teaching them not only art but how to use art to start their own business as a trade. Erinn loved some of the art they were doing – we saw a collage of material being made by each student about schools and learning which would eventually be sewn together to make a giant mural quilt. We also saw some of a former students work with print patterns – making dish cloths, dinner place mats, and T-Shirts.

Later in the week we went to a modern dance performance of Carmen choreographed and performed by a young African woman. It was a powerful display and unlike anything I’ve seen in dance.

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Friday of that week we left early in the morning to drive to the Mkuzi game (my post) reserve where we spent the next 3 days viewing animals, having braais and conversing with new friends.

On the 14^th we drove to Durban and then flew to Cape Town on 1Time airlines (SA’s budget airline). Arriving in Cape Town we stayed in the Sunflower Stop hostel (not so recommended). As the weather wasn’t the best we walked down to the VA Waterfront and viewed the many craft shops and tried to restrain our buying instincts (nice job Erinn). We realized that being on an extended trip means we need to limit our buying because we don’t have the space to carry much more! There are a lot of wonderful things in Africa to buy – carvings, canvas paintings, jewelry. Erinn loved the carved hippos which came in all sizes and were big fat round pieces made out of wood, soapstone, granite, and jade. One of the things I really enjoyed was a man who made African animal scenes out of different pieces of wood put together and then shaded with a woodburning tool. We also were able to take in some jazz at the Green Dolphin one night – a S. African bebop pianist which was great.

We also had our first taste of the forewarned SA danger when a man approached us on the street for money and when we said no said calmly, “don’t make me get out my knife”. Thankfully there was a security person up ahead for a hotel and he eventually just backed away. We also talked to a woman at our hostel who had been mugged in mid-day but the man was caught as 4-5 people around her chased after him and surrounded him (good to hear that others responded). Walking back a different day in another area of town we also saw a woman talking to police officers about being mugged (also in daylight) so while I didn’t feel danger much it obviously does happen.

Also while in CT we hiked up Lion’s Head (pics) which was amazing and highly suggested (especially on a day where Table Mt. is clouded in and Lion’s Head is not). We saw para-gliders ad even had a man land right by us on the top!

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Great White Shark cage diving was next as we drove out early from CT to Gansbaai. (my post) Upon returning we took the cable car up Table Mountain and hiked around the top (long day!). Everyone said you must do Table Mt. and everyone was right. The top has amazing flora and is an almost completely flat mesa where you can see all the way to Cape Point.

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After CT we had one of the best times in Franshhoek one of the local villages in the wine region. We decided to stay in Franshhoek mainly because it was a bit smaller than Stellenbosh (another famous wine region) and was known for it’s cuisine. We stayed in a B&B on the outskirts of town and five minutes after arriving met a young honeymooning couple from Slovenia that became our touring friends for the next day. We visited several wineries in the region with Glennwood being our favorite. The woman who hosted was gracious enough to open early when we arrived and was informational and engaging. It was a small winery which I always personally enjoy more as it is usually much more personable. We ate some amazing food at La Petite Ferme (lunch only but some of the best French food I’ve had) and at the French Connection. The scenery there is fabulous with mountains all around and classic estate construction.

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After Franshhoek (which we could have extended by at least 2 or 3 days!) we drove around Cape Point for a couple of days visiting Boulder’s Beach (penguins) and Cape Point Park (Africa’s most south-eastern point) and the lighthouses. Again this is a place we could have stayed longer as the hiking and chances to explore the beach and coasts are plentiful.

Boulder’s Beach:

Cape Point:

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After driving through Cape Point we made our way through Hermanus (viewed the whales and stayed a night) and up through the Garden Route. One of the highlights here for me was Tsitsikama National Park. We had reservations up at KNP which was over 1400 km away so much of the driving trip was rushed and Tsitsikama was no exception. We had just a couple of hours to hike to a suspension bridge where a river met the ocean. Beautiful views and it was good to get out of the car and stretch our legs.

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We drove through the Garden route (staying one night in Hogsback – where JR Tolkien spent some of his childhood) quickly and decided to move up through the central of SA instead of the coast – advised both in quality of roads and safety. (We originally had planned to go up near the coast through the trans-sky section of the country and stay in Swaziland one night.) This route took us through the Drakensburg region and Golden Gate & Royal Natal Nat. Parks.Again we quickly took in what we could mainly driving.

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We reached Kruger shortly after that and spent five nights there staying in Pretorioskop two nights, Letaba, Satara, and Oliphants one night each. We took a morning, sundown, and night drive as well as a bush walk in Satara (it was said by many that the bush walk in Oliphants is the best w/ Satara ranking high on the sundown drive because of its many cats). I’ll let the pics do most of the talking here but I’ll say Kruger is amazing in both the ability to see animals and the relative ease and cost of traveling here.

We had a couple of nights inbetween our Kruger section and a night at a private reserve, Elephant Plains in Sabi Sands (my post).We spent these nights in a local mountain town called Granskop and did some sightseeing of the mountain views and rock formations.

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Then came our glorious night in Elephant Plains (my post). This was our splurge of SA and it was amazing. While we didn’t see nearly as many animals as in Kruger (surprising) we did see cats and were able to drive right up to a couple of leopards and a pride of lions feeding on a dead elephant carcass (it died of natural causes).

Finally we finished up staying a night in Hazyview and doing an elephant encounter experience… the highlight for me being kissed by an elephant – think giant shop vac on your neck.

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I can’t end this w/o talking about our trip to the airport in which we nearly were lost (who knew that to get to the airport east of town you had to drive west for so long???) and battled traffic the entire way. I was grateful to get to the airport only to have to have some issues returning our cell phone rental and working out our air tickets which were in the computer system incorrectly! Anyway off to Hong Kong!

As a mental health counselor, I work with people’s stories, their stories of life. I would often hear their unheard stories, stories of innocence, tragedy, love, abuse, and sometimes, if I was especially blessed, stories of transformation. In January, I will start teaching at a college where narrative therapy is the most widely used approach. I was trained at a school where the story of your own life was preciously and meticulously examined. I have a faith that often implores me to remember the story of redemption and how it occurred. Needless to say, stories are an often thought-about part of my life.

I’ve had this experience before, especially in cities where I’ll look around at the throngs of humans around me and realize each one of these people have stories – complex, unique, dare I say holy stories. Stories that can be talked about and known well but never fully known or experienced by another in the same way they have experienced them. Stories that have changed their lives in drastic ways, stories that define and affect who they are and how they are in the world.

Yesterday as we were driving through Jaipur, a “small” but extremely busy city of three million, this same thought kept washing over me as I looked around me and saw different faces. I looked at each and wondered what were the important stories of their lives and did anyone else know them. There was the sad emaciated woman with two stubs instead of arms that came looking for food, the small child held by a begging mother with disheveled hair also looking for a meal. I thought of our driver who has three sons, one a cook and another a “good” mechanic, whose salary seven years ago went from 18,000 ($400) rupees a month to his current 3,000 ($70) a month. There was the auto rickshaw driver with his “bad son” that only eats one meal a day who wanted us to pray to his Hindi god when we stopped near a temple, or the many hotel porters that studied the bald white man suddenly in their hotel (one who insisted I looked like Stone Cold?? the WWF wrestler – more on this later), or the rich hotel owner that booked our trip who repeatedly said he didn’t have to worry about money because his family was rich (but also paid his driver 3,000 R a month). What were and are the “stories” behind these people. Suddenly sorrow rushed over me as I wondered about the certain tragedy and hardship in these peoples lives and I wondered about who knows this. I believe there is a God who knows these stories but I questioned his action in them. It seemed overwhelming to know there are 1.3  billion stories.

The Lotus Temple at sunset

Our return trip to Delhi included a day tour of India Gate, The Palace of the President, and a recommended tour of the place of Gandhi’s death. Gandhi’s place of assassination was informative and historical not only about his life but that of India as a country. Fairly humbling to see Gandhi’s “worldly possessions” all on a wall consisting of his reading glasses, walking stick, and a few other non-descript possessions.

The highlight for me of the return trip though was a visit to the Lotus temple at sundown. This is an amazing modern temple built to resemble the Lotus flower which is a significant symbol in Hindu religion and culture. The temple is beautiful inside and out and is definitely worth a visit although it’s away from most other things in Delhi.

One entry in the "World's most beautiful camel" contest

Pushkar was our final destination in India for the famous camel festival. No cars are allowed in the town proper so Mr. Puri dropped us off at the hotel and we walked into the town to go to the famous Brahman temple (the only temple in India dedicated to the Hindu god Brahma or creator).

Something Goes Missing

As we walked into the town many people forcefully asked us to take flowers from them to dedicate to our family members when we went to the lake. This is another famous Indian ploy for tourists’ dollars as they then want to charge as much as 200 rupees PER family member or friend because “they’re worth it” as one fellow tourist told us. We politely said no and no and no again. We immediately noticed an “upping” of the pressure and brashness in the town as again and again we were approached.

When we finally reached the temple, E didn’t really want to see another temple so I took my sandals off and gave them to the attendant who put them in a numbered box. As I walked into the temple another man approached me pressuring me to take flowers even saying that I wasn’t respecting his culture if I did not. Again this is the dilemma you constantly face in India. He may have a point about respecting his culture (after all I’m taking my shoes off to respect his culture), but I also knew there would be a nice price tag to go with the acceptance (which somehow I don’t think is respecting overall culture in general). So I resisted and went into the temple with him yelling at me.

When I came out 15 minutes later my orthopedic Chaco sandals were “missing”. As I questioned the attendant he calmly looked at me and said, “the festival is happening and many people around – sometimes people take these. I cannot monitor everything”. The guy who before had tried to sell me a padlocked locker came up and said “should have gotten my locker” and many others just looked at me as I frantically searched the area for my sandals to no avail. We spent the next 20 minutes arguing about what happened, E even tried to “reward” a younger kid who worked there if he “found” the sandals. They finally took me to a local shop for “free sandals” which amounted to plastic flip-flops that could be had for around 100 rupees probably. (Later we watched a movie called “Outsourced” – which if you’ve been to India is a must-see – where I learned the acronym for INDIA – “I’ll Never Do It Again”)

The rest of my time in Pushkar was somewhat tainted by this last Indian dagger, but we did go and view the camel beauty contest and found a great restaurant, Little Italy, right near our hotel. Overall Pushkar seemed to be quite a bit more touristy than other places – probably because the fair was going on – but not one of my favorite places. We also found the camel festival to be somewhat camel scarce in our opinion and the famous Pushkar lake also was nearly dry because of a botched engineering project to clean it up. Overall not our favorite Indian place but definitely an “experience” (experience is often the word we get from other travelers when they describe their visit to India!)

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Will we see the owner of this???

We set off in search of tigers in Ranthanbore. After having been in South Africa I figured we needed to see tigers to go with our lions, elephants, etc! We had met an Englishman previously that had said he went for 2-3 safaris and saw nothing and frankly hadn’t enjoyed the experience all that much. After our amazing experience in S Africa, I was hesitant to leave this sort of taste in my safari mouth, but it would be cool to see tigers in the wild.

We left on our evening drive, and I immediately knew why the look had come over the Englishman’s face when he mentioned the drives in Ranthanbore. Our covered truck crowded with people (more of that to follow the next morning) was incredibly loud (the metal roof thundered every time we hit a bump) and dusty. I figured if there were tigers within a mile of the truck they would be long gone by the time we neared. With most of the drive finished and having seen only a few “summer and winter” deer we headed back. Thankfully because of the Englishman, I think my expectations were pretty low so I wasn’t too disappointed.

Then suddenly I spotted the striped cat off to the left. A male slowly made his way around us and we viewed him when suddenly a female off to the right also came into view. It was again evident this was an Indian safari when the entire vehicle started shouting, jumping, and making enough noise to repel any animal more from sheer annoyance than fear (this after a long speech explicitly explaining what not to do when you see a tiger). Surprisingly, even the tigers must be used to Indian culture as it simply looked at the green, giant, screaming and rocking, “animal” and kept walking. We had seen our tigers… this was a cap for animals seen in the wild on this trip.

The next morning, I was somewhat reluctant to go through the 4-hr ordeal again with a slim chance of seeing anything. This increased as our vehicle arrived already packed with people and many kids so much that we had to squeeze in a back seat where I barely had enough room to get my knees between the seat ahead of me and the rest of my body. As we headed out of town, surprise, more people to pick up!!

The English couple had a look of dismay as they boarded. The man politely asked if they could sit on the front seat by the driver, which at this point was empty. No the driver replied, there was another couple to be picked up!! Needless to say we got to know each other well as they had to squeeze into the back seat with us. I’m happy to say we were rewarded with our patience as again, very near the end of our drive, a male tiger appeared walking in front of us on the road where we were able to get a couple of shots.

Ranthanbore is not much of an area to see other than if you’re lucky enough to see one of these creature… and thankfully in this instance India was kind to us.

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After a brief scare in which our driver thought he had left his phone in Udaipur, we arrived at probably our favorite place in India – unfortunately only for a night. The hotel in Ranakpur was set in the forest with little quaint bungalows, very laid back and in nature.

Next was the best meal we had in India and possibly the whole trip – fried chicken and French fries. Yes you heard me right, after all the sickness and fear of more Indian spice and food this was like having a PB&J on top of the mountain after a hike – not the best food you could have, but the best food at that particular time.

Best meal in India??

After lunch, we visited a remarkable famous Jain temple near the village. We even had a free entertainment show at the temple put on by the local troop of monkeys. Two of the males got a little frisky and started chasing each other towards people and even jumping on top of cars, one of which had some frightened tourist aboard. For sunset we were driven up to a little hideaway overlooking a dammed (not damned) reservoir. A dam good Indian day… I know enough with the cheap dam jokes.

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Udaipur, site of the James Bond movie “Octopussy”, started with an amazing cultural show – which now I feel I can be an official judge of simply because every night we’ve seen similar cultural shows. This one topped them all by quite a bit.

(unfortunately we don’t have the name as it was part of the tour but for those interested it was very near the city palace) All the shows we’ve seen have the standard woman dancing with the bowls on her head, walking on glass and knives, bending over backwards to grab money with her teeth, and a puppet show. We even had some variations as we saw one woman grab a razor and a needle with her eyelid. But this, probably because it was an actual ticketed show, felt much more classy and less touristy. The dances were explained before in English, which was helpful, and the puppet show, which up to this point had been somewhat annoying with the “yip” of the whistle constantly blowing in the puppeteer’s mouth, was actually entertaining and funny. The ending of the show was on older woman doing the traditional bowl dancing but she didn’t stop at the normal 4-6 bowls but instead went up to an amazing 10! By the time she was finished the bowls on her head were more than the height of her body. It was nice to see an older woman performing (and enjoying it) and doing it in a regal way.

After the show we had dinner on a rooftop restaurant (many many in the area) and enjoyed the view of the famous Lake Palace (where some of the Bond footage was filmed – Octopussy’s lair for those that recall!) and night lights – definitely one of the most romantic and exotic places in India.

The next day we went to the city palace for a tour which was… crowded. It was the last couple of days of holiday for Indians and this place was packed. Imagine crowded narrow hallways and steps in the heat moving in a single file line being yelled at by guards if you try to cut. This was as close to claustrophobic as I’ve come. Then came a great part – going back to the hotel and sitting by the pool for a few hours reading (The Brothers K comes highly recommended). This was a great contrast to the crowded exhaustion of the palace.

Overall Udaipur felt the most exotic of all the Indian cities we visited with the views of the lake and the rooftop restaurants (and maybe just the thought of James Bond?!). We purchased some spices at a famous clock market which we look forward to using in the near future!

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Jodhpur is called the blue city of India. We visited the Mehrangarh Fort and viewed the “blueness” of the city – houses were painted this color to mark the houses of the Brahmans or the upper caste in Indian society. (sidenote – it’s interesting how we’ve gone through different ways of prejudice from South Africa to India but how similar they are in many ways).

This was one of my favorite views from a fort, probably both because blue is my favorite color and also the magnificence of the city and the ridge upon which the fort lies. I did have what has become a common experience while at the fort – teenagers laughing at me. It’s kind of odd but I’m sure a bald white man sometimes wearing a goofy looking safari hat would have made me laugh and point at that age as well!

While in Jodhpur we also visited the Umaid Bhawan Palace which is one of the most impressive and later palaces built by a Maharaja. The palace was built as a relief effort from a drought that was occurring at the time in order to supply jobs to the area. The palace is now divided into a museum, royal housing, and a hotel in which the elite come to stay.

While in Jodhpur we also ate at one of the better restaurants we had in India called On The Rocks. Odd to see Indian women wearing jeans and walking into the nightclub associated with the restaurant to 70s and 80s American music – I guess we’ve been in India for a bit…

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We officially reached the desert as we entered Jaisalmer or the “golden city” in the far west of Rajasthan. This, other than my Delhi belly episode, ended up being one of my favorite spots on our tour.

Some of it was that this part of India we experienced being the most “laid back”. It was also Dewali the night we arrived and we were able to eat dinner on an amazing rooftop restaurant overlooking the fort with fireworks going off all around us. Even Mr. Puri was in a celebratory mood as he joined in the local band/dance entertainment which we again were requested to show off our massive dance skills (ha ha). The next day we toured the fort which was the only we saw where people still live and work. Our guide lived in the fort and we walked around the city, shopped for jewelry (E), and mixed with the locals. I wasn’t feeling the best that day after our lunch stop the day before at a “not so clean” restaurant – E’s lemon soda had some “floaties” in it which we returned but…! I enjoyed being able to take pictures of what seemed to be local Indian culture with it’s sights, smells (read cow dung offerings), and sounds. After our tour though is when the bug finally got me. Of course it was our wedding anniversary night, but I was out for the next 24 hours. I will spare you the details of that wonderful time ; )

The day after the horror of Delhi Belly, we drove out to the desert to stay and go for a camel safari. I was still a little weak but feeling good enough to ride a camel in the evening and morning. On our evening ride we had an older man and a young boy riding with us. We rode out about a kilometer into the desert and then they dropped us off and rode away. E and I looked at each other and wondered if they would come back. Eventually they did and our young guide especially was keen on laughing at our worry.

We enjoyed this place quite a bit as there were many Indian people vacationing who were more than happy to engage us and were very kind sharing their Indian treats and snacks. I even met an Indian teenager who thought cricket was “boring and stupid” and instead played basketball!!

The pics:

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Our trip to Bikaner included a trip to the city palace (amazing blue paintings) and a stop by another fort in the lake. We also had the pleasure of staying in a palace with very good butter chicken.

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