Nepal: Kathmandu

Home to the greatest mountaineering in all the world. Kathmandu is a much bigger city then I anticipated. They do a great job of catering to tourists. You can rent or buy almost anything needed to get going. Needless to say every 2nd shop in Thamel (Tourist area) is either a trekking tourist agent or selling mountain gear. Time for a real winter jacket.lol...

I have met up with my best bud serge and we will be leaving Kathmandu tomorrow to do some trekking.

The Annapurna base camp awaits. Should be awesome.

Your Nepalese traveller,
-Jonathan  

India: Delhi, Agra, Varanasi, Calcutta & Daljeeling

Welcome to India. This place is unmatched by any other place on earth. Let me try and paint you a picture of the environment.

1. A monkey, dogs & cats running wild
2. A cow wondering the streets and it's shit
3. Four different rickshaw drivers asking you if you need a ride
4. An Indian squatting down by the side of road and whipping it out to have a squirt
5. Multiple starving Indians sleeping by the side of the road that probably weigh 100lbs or 45kg.

All the while rickshaw and car horns are screaming relentlessly 24 hours.

Given the above, Delhi is the ultimate zoo. Needless to say everybody tries to rip you off. But given that a hotel can cost 5$ CDN and a good meal can go for 1.50$ CDN the amount they rip you off is insignificant. The Taj Mahal is in Agra and about 2 hours from Delhi. It is absolutely spectacular. Even walking toward it feels like I've ripped a page out of Aladdin.

Varanasi has a huge river that runs adjacent to it. The Ganga is used in so many way. Here are a few:

-Wash humans
-Brush your teeth
-Cremation remains are tossed in it
-Deceased who can't afford cremation are tossed into it with a rope a rock (mafia much?ha ha)
-Cows bath in it

Dead bodies are burned just on the edge of the Ganga for all to see. Every night locals will hold a ceremony to celebrate this river. Of course the river looks disgusting.

Calcutta was probably the most civilized city I visited. I began to wonder why. Then I found out it was occupied by the English for many years. Probably the first place you would want to visit if you want to ease into India.

Now I am in Darjeeling. I am up in the mountains north of India and bam a bug. I spent yesterday as sick as a dog with fever. Luckily I had A bunch of drugs with me and my fever has subsided. Gastro is part of the Indian purification process. Not a single local uses toilet paper. So your using your hand all the time? Needless to say, hygiene is pretty low on the hierarchy of needs. Especially when you have so little to eat.

In a couple of days I'll be meeting up with Sergio, one my best buds in Kathmandu. Wish me luck in
Nepal...

Your now Indian experienced traveller
-Jonathan

Mount Sinai, Egypt

Mount Sinai is best known as the place where Moses was handed down the twelve commandments.

At the ungodly hour of 1:30am our tour group was awakened in order prepare ourselves for the climb.

After a quick coffee we were off and ready begin the trek. At the base we were offered the possibility of riding a camel up. Of course taking a camel up would relieve me of all my street cred. The challenging uphill climb of 7km took us about 2 hours. Word to the wise, watch out for the camel shit when it's pitch black. Many of you may be wondering why we set off so early. By leaving so early we were climbing the mountain when the weather is cool rather then roasting like a thanksgiving day turkey. Temperatures during the day will easily hit 30+ degrees Celsius. Finally at 6ish the sun peaked it's head out from the horizon and our sunrise was born. Magnificent...

I only have a couple of days left in Egypt and then it's off to India. Can I get one more order of culture shock to go??

Yours truly,
-Jonathan

Egypt: Cairo & Temples

From the second I stepped off the plane, I knew the possibility of culture shock was imminent.

Welcome to Cairo, quite possibly the most chaotic city in the world. Driving in that situation would take some sort of divinity. Honking occurs as often as breaths, not to mention the amount of time people get cut off. Being with mom and sis made the insanity much easier to take in. We had all booked a tour group leaving from Cairo that would take us around Egypt including the Nile.

One of the most notable day trips we have had was visiting the Abu Simbel temple. The temple was constructed to pay respect to king Ramsey the second.  The temple has four statues of the king which show his age when he began his reign (19) and eventually when he died (97). To think this temple dates back 3500 years ago is absolutely overwhelming (I promise to eventually upload a picture of this temple when I have time).

So far Egypt has been far more then I have expected in every sense of the world.

Your now Egyptian world traveller,
-Jonathan