Amy's Adventures

I'm still alive...

2007-02-02T13:40:00.000-05:00

Firstly, massive apologies for the even more massive gap in blogs. A combination of a dearth of internet cafes, laziness and wanting to experience more rather than write more is to blame. My time since Bhutan has been without camera (both the body and my favorite lens broke in India), so I don't have photos to post either. Fortunately I bought a new camera in South Africa, so blog and photos from Cape Town through Zambia will probably wait until after I get home, which is in LESS THAN A WEEK!!! That which follows is a brief summary of the last 3 months of my life:

INDIA

After my last blog posts, I acquired my first sickness en route. I thought I had traveler's diarrhea and was subsisting mainly on toast. After a few uncomfortable days, I realized that the toast was actually made with milk and my 'sickness' was merely my lactose intolerance. After healing and getting back on my bike, we made it up to Cochin where I decided to stay for a few extra days. [I almost came home for a 48 hour thanksgiving in NYC with the fam, but chickened out at the last minute.] I had a wonderful Friday night shabbat in the oldest synagogue in India with Indian, Israeli and Montreal Jews before heading up to Mumbai for a 3am flight to Ethiopia.

ETHIOPIA

I was relatively glad I didn't go home as my time in Ethiopia was like going home. I was supposed to stay with an American Jewish doctor who houses about 15 orphans for one night before transferring to the Mother Theresa's Mission. However, after falling in love with his children, I ended up spending my entire stay with the doctor and his family. Unfortunately, the doctor was back in the US with one of the kids who was having surgery and only returned for my last few nights.

There was another American traveler staying at the house and the two of us unintentionally (but willingly) assumed the roles of 'mom' and 'dad.' In fact, the kids had trouble pronouncing "Amy" and ended up calling me "E-ma" -- Hebrew for mother. I fell into a comfortable pattern of cooking American and Israeli food (some of the kids had been to Israel and requested salads and falafel), helping with homework, playing soccer, and dancing until bedtime.

We did take a 3 day mini-break to Bahar Dar to see the old island churches, bike around to some smaller villages and hang out with some rastas. After 3 weeks of espris, injera, and attempting to learn Amharic -- given that the word for 'thank you' is 'ah-meh-sah-geh-nah-lu' i didn't get much beyond the basics.

MAURITIUS/REUNION (the section formerly known as Madagascar)

After three full days of travel (Addis Ababa, Ethiopia to Nairobi, Kenya to Johannesburg, South Africa to Mauritius), I arrived ready for two more days of travel to the village in Madagascar where I was supposed to be volunteering in a clinic. However, due to a combination of the political situation and the fact that the head of the clinic had decided to head off to the Philippines, which i only found out two days prior, I decided to make camp on Mauritius.

I spent two days on the romantic paradise of Mauritius before seeing the "Hiking on Reunion" section in my Lonely Planet. I immediately booked a flight to Reunion and ended up spending two weeks hiking around Reunion. Like Europe, the hut system is well-developed and I hiked hut-to-hut through 3 cirques and on an active, erupting volcano (Piton de la Fournaise). In addition to hiking, we passed through some really remote mountain hamlets where I leaned some creole slave songs, drank a lot of Dodo (the local beer), and sang the creole songs a little louder. Like the Metropole, no one actually speaks English (regardless of whether or not they know the language...they just won't speak it!), so I left Reunion almost fluent in French. I returned to Mauritius for a day on the beach before heading back to mainland Africa.

BTW:

The craziest thing about traveling is how ridiculously small the world is; the family next to me on the flight from Mauritius to Jo-burg actually knows my cousins (two different sets) from sleep-away camp and their town. The number of times I've met people to whom I'm connected by a single degree of separation are too numerous to list.

SOUTH AFRICA

I spent a week in Cape Town climbing Table Mountain, visiting museums, exploring the wine region and just relaxing before heading up through Namibia and Botswana to Victoria Falls on an overland truck. To be continued...

Photos from Bhutan

2006-11-18T12:51:00.000-05:00

I have posted about 50 photos from Bhutan on Smugmug, which can be accessed at amymendel.smugmug.com/gallery/2144498. There are captions under many of the photographs explaining a few things about the pictures. Enjoy!

Sorry for the switched media source, but depending on the internet connection, some websites work better than others!

Photos from Lao

2006-11-18T05:09:00.000-05:00

the main street of Vientaine

the mighty Mekong

Miranda: same as in Ghana

a well-attended market stall

Bird Flu!

Out of the Mountains and Into the Jungles

2006-11-14T02:06:00.000-05:00

I've made it safely out of Bhutan and am now in Kerala in the South of India. I will have to explain more fully later, but Bhutan did not go as planned due to a contractual issue with the yak herders; after two weeks of acclimatization and training, we were unable to enter the remote valley of Lunana. However, our modified route afforded us two days at the natural hot springs at Gaza and an opportunity to see more of the cities and villages of Bhutan. Bhutan receives the trophy for the most beautiful and interesting place visited on this trip so far. It's a magical kingdom with incredibly happy people (albeit a few barbarian yak herders who like to burn walls and doors of huts for warmth when above tree line!) and a wonderful appreciation for their own culture and heritage.

Just to dispel one rumor that I had heard before going to Bhutan: the people love their king. He is truly a man of the people and does not hoard the people's or tourist's money for himself. In fact, 75% of the tourist visa fee goes to education and healthcare. The king lives incredibly modestly and does his best to interact with the people. One story of his compassion relates to a dilapidated house on the road from Thimpu (capital) to Paro (city with the airport). After passing this house many times the king wondered what tragedy could have befallen this man such that he let his house fall into such disrepair -- almost all houses in Bhutan are huge and ornately painted in the traditional style. One day while driving by, he asked his driver to stop, so that he could talk with the man. When he entered the house, he found the man drunk and gambling with neighbors on a wooden box.

I very reluctantly left Bhutan early on November 5th to spend a quick day in Kolkata organizing a package of gear to be sent home -- the budget domestic airline in India only allows 15kgs for a checked bag and I had almost 40kgs! Then I was off to Rishikesh in the himalayan foothill state of Uttaranchal for a very relaxing three days at an Ayurvedic spa. I flew back to Delhi for what turned from a one night stay into a two night stay when my flight which was scheduled to leave at 11am decided to leave at 9:15am. Gotta love budget airlines!

I am currently in the South India state of Kerala. Kerala is what you'd imagine tropical India to be with coconut palm trees, thatched huts, red clay dirt roads and warm ocean waters lapping at the yellow and black sand beaches. With the highest literacy rate and life expectancy in India, the communist state of Kerala is doing quite well; in fact, the literacy rate here is HIGHER than in the US! My two weeks in Kerala will be spent on a bicycle. I've found biking to be a wonderful way to travel to little known villages and meet local people who aren't jaded by the tourists. I've spent the last few days along the coast and am excited to head inland (and uphill!) to the mountain-cooled, hill stations that are surrounded by tea, spice and rubber plantations.

PS: Given the e-mails I've received about the China photos, I promise to post photos from Lao, Bhutan and India as soon as I get a decent internet connection.

2006-10-07T08:45:00.000-05:00

I apologize to my loyal readers (all two of you besides my parents) for not typing up Lao and Kolkata before leaving for Bhutan in a few hours. Hope you all have a wonderful month and I'll be back online in mid-November. [If there's nothing posted by the end of November, I was likely snowed into the valley and will not be able to get out until next September...in that case, have a great year!]

Photos from China (3 of 3)

2006-10-03T21:00:00.000-05:00

Pictures from Old Lijiang and Old Dali:

(mmm...dinner!)

(the above picture may appear a little hazy, but that's about how it looked to us after drinking bubble water (aka Dali Beer) all night!)

Photos from China (2 of 3)

2006-10-03T20:30:00.000-05:00

Pictures in Green Lake Park -- probably my favorite place in Kunming, where families take their child on weekends to play and go on paddle boats and grandparents exercise, congregate, read, sing and practice tai chi (OR dance) during the day:

(view from the paddle boat)

Pictures from the Hike in Tiger Leaping Gorge:

(the mountains in the center are Tibet!)

Photos from China (1 of 3)

2006-10-03T20:00:00.000-05:00

As smugmug is just not working out (taking 1 hour to load 10 photos) here are a few shots from China. You can click on each photo to view it larger.

Pictures of the Stone Forest (a forest where the stones look like trees):

Pictures of the city Kunming -- a very modern city with a few reminders of the past:

Laos v. China (Updated with Photos)

2006-09-29T01:41:00.000-05:00

With the exception of the heat, Laos has been a very welcome change from China. First, people here smile. When you smile at them, they return the smile and sometimes offer an unsolicited suh-bai-dee (aka hello); in China no one, albeit one nice old lady on public bus No. 5, seemed to be smiling and rarely would a Chinese person return a smile.
Second, the food is amazing -- e.g., not floating in oil, not overly sweetened with sugar and not fried! In the Yunnan Province it seemed that all of the food was fried and served in a pool of oil. Also, everything was very sweet, even the microwave popcorn (which, if labeled "American Style Popcorn" is a very popular bar snack) was glazed with sugar. In Lao, not only are there really good Laotian dishes, but they have salads which are washed in bottled water for less than a dollar! There is nothing better than a crisp Greek salad to satisfy a raw veggie craving.
Third, the lack of desire to be 'American' is a welcome refreshment. In China, it seems that everything is advertised as being 'American' or is comparable to some Western brand. For example, many of the trademarks for products seem to tip toe the line of infringement.

One of the car companies is named B Y D which is written in black letters below a black outlined circle, the top half of which is royal blue and the bottom half of which is white...sound familiar? The new model is called the F3!

Also, a few sports companies have various swoosh or checkmark-like designs. Hmmm...

One final example...anyone think they know which clothing manufacturer Kalomani Apparel is imitating?

In Lao, people seem to be very content with their Laotian identities and I have yet to see Laotian businesses or companies imitating Western brands.
Fourth, people don't seem to be talking about you in front of you, as they did in China. In China, most Chinese assume that Westerners do not understand Mandarin, which is true. However, when a group of Chinese women point at you, say something in Chinese and then laugh you get a little suspicious. My roommate in China was a Brit who had spent seven months volunteering in a Chinese orphanage and she confirmed that most of these people were in fact speaking about us. We had much fun walking about the markets and when she would hear people saying something like, "stupid westerners don't speak Mandarin" or "I bet her blond hair is fake" she would respond back in perfect Mandarin, "how much does this cost?" or "no, actually my hair is not dyed." Here, people might be more used to tourists such that they don't feel a need to discuss your presence.
However, the heat here is truly oppressive. You have to come to terms with the fact that even if you walk slowly with an umbrella for shade in the morning or evening, you will constantly be sweating. My body will probably adapt as I spend more time here, but the breeze at the cafes along the Mekong River or air-conditioning seems necessary from 1-3pm for everyone.

China Musings

2006-09-28T07:46:00.000-05:00

To be honest, China will probably not be my favorite country that I'll visit on my trip; however, my experience there was just amazing. Although I was averse to group travel outside of climbing expeditions, I met the greatest people on my trip and had an amazing two weeks! Kunming, located in the Yunnan province of China, was a very daunting place when I first arrived. For example, I tried to find a place at the airport to change money so that I could pay the taxi or bus to my hostel. However, no one spoke any English or not enough that I could understand! Finally, through a series of hand gestures, some broken English and Mandarin and someone walking me out of the airport I found the China Bank a few hundred yards outside of the airport where I could change money. My favorite moment of frustration was when one of the security guards decided that since I didn't understand his spoken Mandarin, if he wrote it out in Chinese characters I would understand it!
One nice thing that the Chinese government does do is educate its people at every opportunity. Rather than commercial advertisements, billboards and bus stops are often filled with colorful information regarding topics ranging from medical care/HIV & healthy eating and lifestyle to Intellectual Property rights for new companies. China is not a communist country in the true sense of the word. In fact, it appears to be a controlled capitalist society with the government guiding the ultimate goals of its people through filtered information. For example, our guide, who I will call Jim per his request to stay anonymous for true fear of government retaliation of his truthful answers (NO JOKE!), was a very intelligent man and was very frank with us about most of China's history and present day roadblocks. However, with seemingly childlike ignorance, Jim declared that no terrorists would ever attack China. The government has promised the people that as long as they follow the laws and do not have too much freedom, the terrorists will never attach China. There may be some truth to the fact that the US was targeted due to our freedom; however, one thing 9/11 taught me is to never say never. I think what shocked me was the way Jim laughed as he responded to my question regarding terrorists -- as if I was the one proposing the preposterous idea. This was my first of many exposures to the 'brainwashing' that affects many Chinese.
At dinner that night stories were related of either ignorance, at best, or more likely cult-like brainwashing about Chinese history, Westerns, and other topics. One of my Aussie friends related a story of his friend who, upon having a second child (which is illegal in China) was fired from her teaching job and will only be able to work again if she can get one of her children an Australian citizenship.
One of the upsides of the 'one child' law is that the Chinese revere their children. You see many fathers, grandfathers, mothers, etc... doting on their child.
One final story about the imbalance of exposure to technology and a very scary experience: while flying at around 30,000ft, a man sitting in the window seat of the exit row tried to open the exit door for some fresh air. Ironically, the stewardess had tried to get me to move out of the other exit row seat because she thought that I, as a Westerner, wouldn't be able to figure out what to do in case of an emergency.

Chinese Words of the Day:
Yi (pronounced "ee") = One
Er (pronounced "are") = Two
San (pronounced "san") = Three
Si (pronounced "suh") = Four
Wu (pronounced "woo") = Five
Liu (pronounced "lio") = Six
Qi (pronounced "chi") = Seven
Ba (pronounced "bah") = Eight
Jiu (pronounced "geo") = Nine
Shi (pronounced "shuh") = Ten

China Summary for Now

2006-09-28T04:59:00.000-05:00

I've been having too much fun in China to keep up with the blog. Rather than rewrite what my Adelaidian Aussie friend has already so eloquently digitized, I will direct you to his blog: http://garthe.blogspot.com/ for a summary of our trip and some of the more amusing goings-on.

I will try to elaborate on the Aussie's blog within the next few days. Now that I'm on my own again (currently in Laos) I should have more time to write vs. the Chinese drinking games that tended to occupy my free time over the past two weeks.

Just one final note, I've discovered a brilliant way to lighten my load (aka 'the beast,' as my bag has been fondly named): leave things in hotel rooms! For example, brand new, Salomon trail runners...if you leave them in a hotel room in Lijiang, China, your bag gets a bit lighter!

Chinese Word of the Day: Xie Xie (pronounced "si-ay si-ay") = Thank You

Auckland: Part II

2006-09-15T21:36:00.000-05:00

Auckland Part II was quite a bit more exciting than Auckland Part I. I arrived late afternoon on Thursday and met Israeli honeymooners on their year-long 'honey-year.' We exchanged travel stories, ended up at the same hostel and went out for drinks in the evening. I awoke early in the morning to meet Dane, who is a friend of Jordan's from college. Dane is a pilot who took me up in a small Cessna for a birdseye view of Auckland and the surrounds. The city looked beautiful bathed in the morning light and the sharp turns at 3.5 Gs made for a great start to the day. We went out for brunch and exchanged old Jordan stories (he he) before I had to head off to the airport for my flight to Bangkok and then to China.

Random Connections

2006-09-14T12:27:00.000-05:00

Wow, the world is small. So I was walking down the streets of Wanaka with Walt's (a friend from Wolf Greenfield) brother, Matt, when we bumped into a guy who Matt knows from Treble Cone (the ski mountain where they both work). Matt introduced me to the guy, who is named Jared, and we all went on our merry ways.
Long story short, I ended up driving Jared, who I found hitching on the road, up to Snow Park (an incredible terrain park). During the car ride, we figured out that he watched Pats games with my sister Debbie in Tahoe. For those of you who follow Debbie's life, he didn't know her as Debbie Mendel, Debbie from Boston, Debbie from Tahoe...he knew her as Debbie the girl who's apartment was broken into by a crack whore...guess a good story is most memorable!

PS: For those of you who know Walt, I did get quite a few incriminating stories over drinks with his brother Matt!

PPS: Will fill in the rest of NZ tonight or tomorrow.

Destination Dunedin

2006-09-10T02:47:00.000-05:00

A long, coastal drive littered with a couple 30 min hikes/walks landed us in Dunedin to have dinner with Lily -- a friend from Chewonki (aka tree school to WGSers) -- her fiance Doug and their very friendly dog Zach. We had a wonderful time catching up over pizza and salad with herbs from their garden.

ChCh, Methven and Hamner

2006-09-09T02:27:00.000-05:00

2 hours into our 5 hour drive up to Christchurch (aka ChCh), we arrived at the milky blue Lake Pukaki to see our first views of the 12,500 ft Mt. Cook, which the indigenous Maori call Aoraki (Cloud Piercer). Lake Tekapo, our next stop, with a population of 295 offered a hike up Mt. John and a wonderful Japanese lunch with bus loads of Japanese tourists who were enthralled by our usage of chopsticks. We sped off to ChCh to afford us an hour or two at the international Antarctic Center. Learning about life on Scott Base, administration of the national (US & NZ) programs, and historical, geological and zoological exhibits paled in comparison to the thrills and frostbite of the 'Antarctic Storm' chamber, in which, as the name suggests, an Antarctic storm is simulated.
The next morning, after we learned how to put chains on our car, we headed up the windy Mt. Hutt access road, the looks of which turned our collective knuckles white. Just as we were getting our ski legs back and enjoying the softening snow, harmless looking clouds from the valley rolled up the mountain, causing white-out conditions. We reluctantly turned in our passes for a half-day refund and skidded back down the access road into Methven. We headed the 3 hours up to Hamner for an evening soak in the sulfurous hot springs.
The best part of Hamner which completed our ChCh experience was meeting two Americans on their way back from McMurdock and the South Pole camps on Antarctica. They enthralled us with stories and factoids about life during a winter on Antarctica.

Wanaka: Take 1

2006-09-07T20:43:00.000-05:00

The locals and books alike say Wanaka is a laid-back Queenstown without the tourist-induced commercialism. Although we've been saying that each successive day becomes our favorite, today was my absolute favorite. We arrived in Wanaka with enough time to climb Iron Mountain before lunch and Rocky Mountain after lunch. Rocky Mountain was particularly fun combining a trip around Diamond Lake with wet, rainforest-like slopes, with scrambling up slabs of rock, with a final ascent entailing battling the wind up grassy knolls. After a glass of a local pinot noir and a hearty bowl of a kiwi-fav, pumpkin soup, we contently retreated to our bargained for -- 40% off! -- room at Matterhorn South Hostel.

Te Anau & Milford Sound

2006-09-06T20:35:00.000-05:00

Learning to drive a budget rental on the wrong side of the road in the 5am pitch black on the windy, cliff-edge roads was a challenge; however, watching the sky pinken and backlight the snow-frosted Southern Alps was simply unforgettable. After two days of mirky gray skies, the contained clouds dotting a clear blue sky was refreshing to say the least. I won't insult the majesty of the landscape with an engineer's recounting, but promise to post some pictures soon.
We took a boat ride around Milford Sound and witnessed the dramatic effects of 4 glacial passes as well as the numerous waterfalls resulting from averaging over 20 feet of rain per year. A few small hikes later, we spent our evening in a dark cave viewing glow worms - worms which when hungry, emit a soft green light imitating the sun to attract bugs to sticky threads they dangle.

Queenstown (aka QT)

2006-09-05T17:00:00.000-05:00

Known as NZ's 'adventure capital', QT lives up to its name, but was also a bit anticlimactic. Sure you can heli-ski, bungee, jet boat, sky dive, etc... if you have $200 per half day and the patience to put up with hoards of tourists.
Lauren and I landed on Monday afternoon to make our way to our new home (aka Hippo Lodge) for the next two nights. Besides having 3 bathrooms to ourselves, Hippo was very unimpressive. There we began what was to become our typical wake-sleep schedule: asleep by 8:30-9pm and up and rearing by 5am. By far the best parts of QT were two-fold: (i) Vudu Cafe - amazing brown bread, intimate atmosphere, great people watching and a fireplace, and (ii) our encounter with a star from Lord of the Rings. Orlando Bloom? Viggo Mortensen? No, it was Zoro, one of the black horses on whom the 'Black Riders' rode. We spent an afternoon riding around the foothills on horseback and one of our horses was none other than Zoro!

Touchdown in NZ

2006-09-03T23:38:00.000-05:00

After long, but uneventful plane rides and a wonderfully rejuvenating day in San Francisco with my sister Debbie, I arrived in Auckland at 5am local time. While waiting for the 6am airport-city bus, I met some seemingly young Brits on their GAP year and a man from Charlotte, NC who abandoned his working wife and 27 year old son to travel around NZ for a month. To pass the time until the Auckland Museum -- my stopover activity -- to open, I walked around until I found an adorable cafe and ordered my first of many $3.50 teas.
A few observations about Auckland: (i) Starbucks is cheaper than most cafes, (ii) kiwis where scarves and down jackets in 50F weather, (iii) pedestrians stop for crosswalk signals, and (iv) for what is considered an 'active' country, people seemed shocked that I would want to walk the 3 miles to the museum instead of taking the bus.

Subscribe to My Blog!

2006-08-29T10:53:00.003-05:00

Many people have asked me to keep them apprised of my adventures and now there's an easy way! My computer-savvy friend Adam helped me find Bloglet (see righthand column), which allows you to receive an e-mail updates every time I post a new message...very cool...soooo:
(1) type in your e-mail on the right and
(2) hit "SUBSCRIBE" to receive e-mail updates everytime I post a new message.

Tentative Dates and Activities

2006-07-31T16:06:00.000-05:00

Here is my tentative schedule (all plans and some dates subject to change). If anyone will be in any of these areas on these dates, or would like to join me for a portion of the trip, please let me know!

New Zealand (Sept 2-15):
- climbing/skiing on the South Island based out of Queenstown

China (Sept 16-27):
- visiting Kunming and Lijiang
- hiking in Tiger Leaping Gorge

Laos (Sept 27-Oct 4):
- visiting Vientiane and Luang Prabang

Thailand (Oct 4):
- meeting a friend for dinner in Bangkok

India (Oct 4-8):
- transiting through Calcutta
- acclimatizing and picking tea leaves in Darjeeling

Bhutan (Oct 8-Nov 6):
- acclimatizing in and visiting Paro
- climbing in the Lunana Valley

India (Nov 6-19):
- transit through Delhi
- recovering from climb in Dehradun
- visiting the hippie commune of Auroville near Pondicherry
- visiting the backwaters of Kerala
- visiting friends in Cochin
- scuba diving and relaxing on the Lakshadweep Islands
- transiting through Mumbai/Bombay

Ethiopia (Nov 19-Dec 9):
- transiting through Addis Ababa
- volunteering at the Jewish transit camps in Gondar
- visiting the Blue Nile Falls in Bahir Dar
- hiking in the Simien Mountains
- visiting the bedrock churches of Labilea

Kenya (Dec 9-10):
- visiting a friend in Nairobi

Madagascar (Dec 10-27):
- transiting through Antananarivo
- volunteering at clinic in Maventibao

Mauritius (Dec 27-30):
- relaxing in Port Louis

South Africa (Dec 30-Jan 7):
- meeting a friend for dinner in Johannesburg
- visiting Cape Town and the surrounding areas (e.g., wine country, beaches, mountains, and garden route)
- canoeing on and biking along the Orange River

Namibia (Jan 7-20):
- camping along the Fish River Canyon
- hiking and dune boarding in the Namid Desert
- visiting Swakopmund
- visiting the seal colonies near Spizkoppe
- game drives in Etosha Park

Botswana (Jan 20-26):
- exploring the Okavango Delta in mokoros (dug out canoes)
- game drives in Chobe National Park

Zimbabwe (Jan 26-Feb 1):
- exploring Victoria Falls
- game drives in Hwange National Park

Zambia (Feb 1-7):
- white-water rafting on the Zambezi River near Victoria Falls/Livingstone
- exploring Lake Kariba and the local villages
- visiting Lusaka

Back to Boston (Feb 8)

More details to follow...

2006-04-23T15:15:00.000-05:00

Tentative flight plan for Fall 2006 (Sept 06-Feb 07):

New Zealand --> Thailand --> China --> Laos --> Thailand --> India --> Bhutan --> India --> Ethiopia --> Kenya --> South Africa --> Mauritius --> Madagascar --> Mauritius --> South Africa --> Namibia --> Botswana --> Zimbabwe --> Zambia --> South Africa

Thoughts?