The End of This Leg

The End of this Leg

Viva la Email fans.

Alas the time of the Wookiees Travels (the Indian leg) must end but on with the journey, next stop Singapore (and into the temptation zone for rabid conspicuous consumption), if I escape without a burnt pocket it will be a miracle.

Since last we spoke I have ventured into the mountains once more for another speculative search for the Yeti, but what news? no breakthroughs in the case and I fear that to expect to find a snow-dwelling creature with an obvious propensity to hide from the hunters gaze in the temperate zone of SE Asia is to expect a miracle.
"I'll get you next time, next time!"

My attempt at experiencing enlightenment in the land of Buddha, namely Bodhgaya, Bihar (yes, the lawless state, where simply voting out of turn can mean instant death) was thwarted to some extent by a condition of the stomach (something I have christened Calcutta stutter, promise me that next time you are in Calcutta you won't get a rush of bravado and drink the water) and so I was laid low in bed most of the time but this comes with the territory.

To all those contemplating the Sub-continent as there next stopover, do it and do it soon before The Indian government prostitutes everything to the Yanks and/or the line of control in Kashmir sees the South Asian land mass inexplicably cease to exist because of nuclear proliferation that was initiated by an unfavourable result in the cricket for either India or Pakistan.

But seriously (nuclear capabilities are too abstract for me to deal with at this stage), my time in India has provided endless and obviously unexplainable insights into the everyday of a billion people, 3 months has been just the right amount of time for this stint but I will be back no doubt, I still haven't seen the South and I didn't get to the Taj (but after all if I need to see a rock that acts as a tourist attraction I could always head up to Ayres rock for a look).
Till next we meet on the information highway, or at the crossroads of the world.

Keep this thought in mind, time is just a quantity that works in parallel with the course of our lives and as the Indians proudly say "Tomorrow, Tomorrow after, no problems".

Talk to you then.

Love,

The Wookie.

Goin' To Kathmandu

Goin’ To Kathmandu

"Here is all persons broadcast"

Namaste, to anybody who gets this email.

In those immortal words of Bob Seger, (Thanks John) "I'm goin' to Kathmandu and there's nothin' that I’d rather do".

Well I'm here and molai Nepal man parcha. (I like Nepal)
I'm finally out in the world and what a place to begin an adventure.
To tell you what I have seen in only six days would take hours so i'll condense the story.
Saw Everest on the flight into Kathmandu...from 7000m it's big.
Cab ride from the airport past cows wandering down the street through traffic that is like a flooding river with honking horns as the soundtrack.
Staying in Kalimati away from the tourist area. A bonus.
The people I’m staying with are wonderful and the food they give me provides a new taste sensation at every meal.
Ridden on the back of a motorbike, in a cab, tuk tuk, and rickshaw and on pushbike plus plenty of time on "shanks' pony".
I got lost after dark but managed to navigate home along the river.
I have been seeking out places away from the touris areas where people observe me, I observe them and they are incredibly friendly, no hassling to buy anything, no westerners clutching Lonely Planet guides as if this were the one stop bible for seeing the country. There are too many tourists walking around as if it were an imposition to enjoy yourself in Nepal.
I walked for an hour on Sunday without seeing a tourist, very liberating.

Anyway enough of the pompous ranting.

Tuesday I leave for Pokhara and the Annapurna Circuit Trek, 21 days in the mountains. This means I will be out of contact for at least this long, staring at snow-capped mountains and communing with nature when the Wookiee will meet his evolutionary cousin the Yeti. Sounds idyllic to me.

Thankyou to everyone for the great send-off, words of advice/encouragement and for being good friends.
Too anyone who misses this email, someone will pass it on I suppose.

Until next time we talk, it's Love and good-bye.

The Wookiee.