TravelBlog
March 19, 2008
Travel
()
Not much travel of recent. I flew out to San Diego to present at the Youth Service Institute in late December, but barely saw anything outside the hotel. A and I did Texas for the winter holidays -- but West Texas just doesn't change much, which is both frustrating and relieving.
Coming up: A trip to LA to visit A in April, perhaps a longer trip in the summer to the West Coast to do San Fran, wine country, and so on.
We're planning some form of international jump in the late fall when she's back in DC again -- maybe a Europe trip, maybe Argentina.
Posted by griffjon at 10:21 PM | Comments (0)
December 04, 2007
Granada and Las Isletas
( Nicaragua )
Granada's a beautiful, chill city that's being slowly re-invaded by Gringos buying it up. Huge numbers of expats walking the streets. 
We got to see a funeral procession:
We climbed a belltower for a great view of the city:
At dusk, we took a boat around "Las Isletas" - a group of ~365 islands formed when Volcan Mombacho erupted a few hundred years back:
Posted by griffjon at 09:53 PM | Comments (0)
Nica 2007: La Boda De Chana y Jorge (Managua)
( Nicaragua )
I'm holding off on posting too much about the wedding to try and give Chanita some time to go through all the photos A and I gave her and post them herself. Until then, some photos from our first couple of days in Managua and Granada:
Managua:
Managua has some of the best street art / graffiti / murals
The Parque de la Paz was a huge bonfire of weapons used during the Sandinista revolution, burnt and concreted over:
It's a country in a big hurry to forget it's troubled past. This is the Somoza family grave. The Somozas rules Nicaragua for over 40 years, bleeding it dry (they had some great friends, too)
The shadow of Sandino on top of Tiscapa:
Posted by griffjon at 09:48 PM | Comments (0)
November 07, 2007
More India: Best photo from India
( India )
I so envy Audrey for being the one to capture this moment (by explicit and almost forced request of the village elder, in the glasses, mind you)
Posted by griffjon at 03:44 PM | Comments (0)
More India: Jain Temples in Jaisalmer's Fort
( India )
Another case of words detracting from the photos:
Posted by griffjon at 03:42 PM | Comments (0)
More India: Jaipur's Jantar Mantar (Observatory)
( India )
There's not much text I can throw in here to really explain or improve the photos, so here's an eruption of photos from an astronomical/logical site in Jaipur:
Each of these "small" tools was aligned for its specific zodiac, you can guess ours?
This is a REALLY LARGE SUNDIAL:
This was a fancy star chart/calendar:
And a planet chart:
This smaller sundial could get within 20 seconds accuracy, the large one had 2 second accuracy:
Posted by griffjon at 03:41 PM | Comments (0)
More India: On Public Tranist
( India )
If you haven't seen Wes Anderson's latest; The Darjeeling Limited, I highly recommend it. Standard Anderson, people dealing with distant/absent parents and their own messed up lives, but filmed in India. Not really India-accurate, but hilarious nonetheless, and some awesome shots/scenery. If only the trains were actually remotely like that.
The main for of transit is autorickshaws, which I blogged about from India with my "three riddles" :
1) What's the only thing scarier than an autorickshaw ride during rush hour with a shaky transmission?
2) How many autorickshaws does to take to get you to where you want to go?
3) How many lanes does an Indian road have?
(answers at the bottom)
So, what IS an ARS anyhow? It's a three-wheeled gocart-type affair, with a pull-start motor and motorcycle-like handlebar controls. They're about 1/2 as wide as a normal car, and very dexterous moving through traffic. Here's some visual explanation: 
not enough?? Fine. Here's a video of a normal, calm ride in a rickshaw. The (unusual) blasting bollywood tunes help you imagine you're a dashing hero out to save a modest female!
So while ARSs are the best in-town transit, it's the trains that get you between towns. Now, you have to fill out forms for everything at the train station; to get tickets, to request information about what ticket to get, to store your luggage... You even have to sign a log book if you wait in the waiting rooms for the reserved-class cars (the ones where you have a reserved seat, as opposed to the "hope you can squeeze on" style. Fully in line with the standards of bureacracy one comes to expect, we discovered where these forms go: 
note that this was taken at a chest-high window into a room filled with piles of old forms. I'm sure there's a 27B/6 in there somewhere....
You spend lots of time waiting for trains. We had five train rides, 2 of which were 5+ hours late, 2 ~1 hr late, and one on time. You discover all sorts of things while waiting or riding, such as new flavors of chips (warning, may cause mischeviousness):
And you remember why you're paying exhorbitant amounts for a reserved seat:
Excuse me, conductor, this cow doesn't have a ticket:
Rickshaw Quiz Answers!
1) an autorickshaw ride during rush hour with a *good* transmission
2) One more.
3) One more. Tags: delhi indi
Posted by griffjon at 03:40 PM | Comments (0)
More India: Hidden Delhi
( India )
A and I finally merged our massive photosets, took out exact duplicates, and did some work to pick the best couple of hundred photos, so if you ask us for an in-person slideshow, you know what you're getting yourself into. In the meantime, I've updated Flickr with the missing photos; Jama Masjid, a hugemongous mosque in Old Delhi, more Delhi shots, Jantar Mantar, a huge stone astro-nomical and -logical observatory, and some other random shots.
Jama Masjid
We went there because my finely-honed "late afternoon tropical thunderstorm" senses were tingling, and we figured we could find refuge. After wisely toting our shoes (you can't wear shoes in mosques), the sky broke open and deluged the less fortunate:
After the rainstorm we slipped and slided and clammered up a tall and steep minaret/tower to get a view of the city; it was... harrowing, unlit, narrow, and super crowded with 2-way traffic up a 1-way staircase. We survived, with some great shots. 
Some pictures of India Gate, government buildings, and the presidential house:
A Hindu temple, and the Bahai temple:
There are three more choice photos from our morning at Humayun's Tomb that I must share. First:
There is one parrot, and five ninjas, in this photo.
Second, I come halfway across the world to find a country overrun by mesquite trees? Next time I'll save money and jetlag and go to west texas:
Third:
Important lesson for female travellers: don't get your picture taken with men outside of family groups. That shit-eating grin on the guy's face? Yeah, he's grabbing Audrey's ass. Not that I can blame him, really, but still.
Posted by griffjon at 03:38 PM | Comments (0)
September 23, 2007
Desert Safari
( India )
In the middle of our time in Jaisalmer, we went on a 2 day, 1 night camel safari. We never got that far away from civilization, but far enough to see some nice stars and feel far away.
The first day we got up early, jeeped out an hour, and met our safari. We went with a hippy from Germany. Three Indians were with us, Suban the guide, a camel driver, and "the boy" (who was a guide in training/internship). We each had our own camel, plus one camel which was in training (and not very happy about it)
Riding camels is smoother than horses (as long as they're not running!), it's a weird side-to-side, forward and back sway (camels move both feet on each side simultaneously). Getting up and down is a bit difficult, as they have a multi-step sitting process. As long as you're ready for it and holding on, it's no problem. Up on top, you realize that camels are TALL.
We cameled it from just past dawn until lunchtime, going through a few villages along the way. The desert was mostly scrublands, where some villagers were raising crops (mustard, millet, melon) and/or goats and sheep. They lived in thatch and adobe-style huts mostly, and many of them are Hindu refugees from Pakistan from the Partition.
From noon until almost 5 we just camped in the shade of a tree. We started with chaye and lunch, then chilled out for a while. A hunter came by and we made more chaye to share with him and the guides chatted with him for a while. Suban and Audrey played with their cell phones, though were still unable to download any free Indian ringtones to her phone :(. In a word, it was hot, with very little breeze. We drank lots of water and waited, then got back up and went another hour to camp.
Camp
We camped on a set of dunes, free of insect problems (except for lots of dung beetles) and grass burrs. After the sun set, it cooled down until it got a slight bit chilly late at night. I tried to take some star pictures, but my camera doesn't seem to allow for more than a 15 second shutter time.
We arrived just in time to catch sunset 
We had dinner, and I played around with my new Indian jews harp, and taught "the boy" a bit of it, but Suban was more interested (and skilled at) playing midi tunes on his cell phone.
Day 2
Really, more of the same; walking around on camelback, exploring villages, waiting for the sun to cool, then at dusk we jeeped back into Jaisalmer and returned to our hotel for a much-needed shower.All in all it was very pleasant. Sleeping under the stars (though, BFE Texas locales still win for stargazing) was nice, riding a camel was certainly an interesting experience, and our guides were great (And great cooks)
Camel Videos
The view of the scrub from the back of the camel - the bells are on goats, the grunting noises are from the camel driver, "Uh!" seems to be the way to say "Hey, pay attention, keep going". Other noises were a cicada-sounding chirp and a lop-lop-lop sound, which I think both were speed-up-a-bit sounds. There was a sound to tell the camel to get up/down (jhyu jhyu) and to drink (sounds like a camel/horse drinking sound, verbalized).Also, here's a video of a camel walking. They're odd creatures. In heavy sand, their back feet step in the same place their front feet just left (they walk lopsided, both legs on one side moving in unison).
Camel noises while getting saddled:
Posted by griffjon at 11:28 PM | Comments (0)
Jaisalmer, the desert oasis
( India )
Our overnight train to Jaisalmer was on time (seriously!), and our hotel picked us up at 6:30 AM and even let us check into our room w/o additional charge. Jais would be our longest stop, with a 2 day, 1 night camel safari in the middle. It is dominated by a huge fort which is still occupied and has become very touristy in recent years. The Lonely Planet seems to have information that the increased strain caused by drainage from tourist hotels and restaurants in the fort is degrading the structure, and in the 2007 edition which came out while we were there, it had delisted every establishment, even shops, inside the fort -- which had the people in the fort pissed off, and the hotels and shops outside the fort very, very happy.
The politics of the Planet are very interesting, and you have to take even their comments with a grain of salt; did they talk to someone outside the fort who overplayed the degradation card to get better listings/recommendations for outside the fort? Or are the hoteliers and others inside the fort downplaying it?
Regardless, A and I had the best time wandering the fort in this city. Inside, the shopkeepers were so very friendly, giving reasonable first prices and happy to just chat. No pressures, not even the normal rounds of scams we were used to. It was a breath of fresh desert air and really was needed after so many hassles and scams in the other cities.
We spent a good chunk of one day with bookmakers who made a hardbacked folder to A's exacting specifications (she chose the exact piece of patchwork for the cover, dimensions, folder sizes, etc.), and I bought a nice leather (camel hide, cow hide wouldn't be proper) book that I've yet to decide what to do with.
Clothes shopping is similarly pleasant. You find a shirt that you like, and they tailor it (no additional charge) to your specifications. Don't like the length? pockets? too big? no problem! I picked up two indian-ish shirts for about $10USD
Jain Temples
A has most of the photos for the Jain Temples, but here's one from the outside
Jews harps!
Called a morchang in Rajasthan (other things in different parts of India), it's popular in folk music. I regret not buying a CD with a 'harp track on it. 
Evening at the fort, and Jon discovers his time-lapse mode!
Posted by griffjon at 09:30 PM | Comments (0)
The Plan
Planning (June '01 - January '02)
Read about my reasons and planning, and the Peace Corps Application process
Venezuela: January-June '02
First stop is Venezuela. I lived in Merida, nestled in the Andes mountains. It was 6 of the momst wonderful months of my life, and I hope to return. It will probably become the place I go to chill whenever I have a break in life.
Start reading about my Venezuelan adventures
Jamaica: July '02 - October '04
I was in the pilot IT program in Jamaica with the Peace Corps. We celebrated 40 years of working with Jamaica with my group. I worked with the Ministry of Education, helping to improve the level of computer skills island-wide, and the Jamaica Linux Users Group, with a custom Knoppix CD, open source advocacy and customization.
From Staging in Miami to COS, by way of work, love, coffee and hurricanes!
In Between Days October '04 - August '05
I came back to visit and apply for grad schools, and did a few days of last-minute electoral tourism with my Peace Corps girlfriend in New Mexico. I almost left back to do GeekCorps/Ghana, but in the end decided to stay around and make sure my gradschool applications and loans go smoothly.
Texas, New Mexico, DC, Boston, and back
After that, I settled into Austin for the spring and summer. Those tales, when PG-rated, are available in my normal blog/journal.
Grad School Aug '05 - May '07
I'm a Master's Candidate (2007) for GWU's Elliott School program in International Science and Technology Policy, focusing on IT in development.
Again, watch my normal blog/journal for updates here
Next?
Hopefully, excellent jobs back out in the field in international development work...?