Hello world.
My name is Allen Riddell, and this is my blog. The main purpose of this blog is to communicate with friends and family when travelling abroad. I will do my best to keep this updated, interesting, relevant, and entertaining. I apologise now for any spelling or grammar errors.
The impetus of this blog at this point, and not some time in the past, is an upcoming trip to India, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand. I will be travelling with my lovely girlfriend Mandy, and we will be out of the country for a little over three weeks. Our trip begins in our hometown of Lexington Kentucky, and then continues as follows: Detroit, Amsterdam, New Delhi, Agra, Varanasi, Gaya, Bodhgaya, Kolkata, Kuala Lumpur, Denpasar, Sanur, Kuta, Ubud, Kuala Lumpur, Phuket, Ko Phi Phi, Kuala Lumpur, New Delhi, Amsterdam, Detroit, Lexington Kentucky.
The last time I traveled out of the country was to visit my girlfriend in Australia when she was studying abroad. My communications then were in email form, quite long, and only sent directly to my family. When I got home, I found that these emails were forwarded and circulated to other people who were interested in knowing what was going on with me, and who also found the emails to be entertaining and enjoyable. So now I will be writing my long stories here, where people can share the link as they see fit. ;)
Today is the day before we leave, and I'm doing my best to stay calm. I'm sure anyone can understand my apprehension, as I am more comfortable on my couch than just about anywhere else. Which luckily for me, my couch is where I sit and write these very words right now. I'm trying to enjoy my couch as much as I can in the time leading up to my grand exit from this grand country, and dare I say, I'm doing quite a good job.
Its important to enjoy the small comforts you have in life on a daily basis. (tip of the day... first one is free)
We have most of our stuff packed, our planes booked, taxis from the airports arranged, hostels/hotels booked, and rail set up from city to city. Still with everything essentially in "go" mode, one can't help but wonder, "What am I forgetting? What the hell am I forgetting?" I can't for the life of me remember what I am forgetting, or how important that unknown item may be. I'm sure it will hit me the second our plane touches down in New Delhi, half a world away.
Why India?
I don't know how many times people have asked that. There are so many reasons for why India, but lets start at the beginning.
My parents are wimps.
There I said it. Sorry Mom, sorry Dad. Wimps.
Our original plans of travel involved much more Thailand, and India was more of a consideration because we were already in the general area, so why not pop over and check it out. Now, that isn't really being fair to India, as India has always been a country that has intrigued and fascinated me. It is home to some of the oldest living cities in the world. Its history and culture go back far beyond Rome and Greece. Their deities predate Jesus by thousands and thousands of years. Their people continue customs and practices that pre-date written word. So, yeah, it seems like a neat place to go. ;)
BUT Thailand was our first choice. We envisioned ourselves trekking through deep jungle, and lounging on pristine beaches. Stuffing ourselves in Thai food and partying in the party capital of South East Asia.
Then came the red shirts. No, not the ones from Star Trek, the other ones. Yeah, those ones, the protester ones. Which goes back to my wimpy parents. "You will get blown up." and "You will die." they said. (I'm paraphrasing, but you get the point) To which I replied, "You can't die unless you are out living!" (In my mind I said that... in reality...we are going to India)
So, my parents (I'm looking at you Dad) freaked out and said "Don't go to Bangkok because the protests there will kill you." Which I said, "The protests will probably be over by the time we go in September." But did my parents listen? No. "Blown to smithereens." was often bandied about, and to calm my parents down, we decided to go into Thailand from the south, not through Bangkok. (which by the way... protests? over.)
So, we had to re-think our whole trip. We decided to do India first, and then end in Thailand. So, we sat down and started talking about what we wanted to see in India, and as we go to these places and I update pictures and tell our tales, you will see why we chose the cities and places we chose.
The first thing I said about India is, "We have to go to Goa." As many of you know (and a few are finding out) I was a DJ for many years in the rave scene here in Kentucky and Indiana. I played drum and bass (or jungle if you prefer) and went to many parties as both DJ and raver. I was introduced to Goa through Goa trance. Goa was (and still is) a mecca for electronic music. It has a rich and interesting history with American and English hippy expatriates migrating there in the 60s and taking up roots. Many of the old hippies are still there, and as time progressed their scene progressed. Goa trance was a melding of old and new, as dance and music were (and still are) integral parts of some Hindu worship. Lord Shiva acts as lord of the dance (not unlike Michael Flatley) where he literally dances the universe into creation, sustainment, and ultimately destruction.
So in Goa the worlds of music, technology, hippy culture, and ancient Indian beliefs and archetypes melded to create Goa trance, and a pretty amazing club and dance scene.
On that note, we are not going to Goa. LOL!
Our plan was to go to India, then Malaysia, then Indonesia, then Thailand, and finally BACK to India through Mumbai (hello Bollywood!) and then take rail down to Goa, and ultimately fly from Goa back to New Delhi to catch our flight home. This however would have left us with no more than 3 days in any particular place, which seemed like a waste. Also it added yet another flight, and our resources are certainly nowhere near limitless. In fact, the only reason we are able to go to so many places is because our US dollar goes so far in South East Asia.
So, Goa is out. Instead we are sticking to northern India. We will be travelling basically from the north middle of the country towards the eastern shore. We will be stopping in many different cities that I will explain more about when we get there. For now, I'm here in Lexington, and I just went to get some Mcdonalds while I still can. The next 12 days will probably be red meat free.
I'm still going to do my best to stay calm and cool. We fly out tomorrow though, and I'll update as I can. Feel free to share this with people if you feel like it. Isn't that what blogs are supposed to be about?
Peace and love to everyone....
