Beyond The Specs

Leaving Pushkar to drive to Agra turned out to be quite the adventure. For this leg of the journey we were due to leave Pushkar and head to Agra for the final stint of our car and driver portion of the trip. The plan was to hit Agra and then leave from a nearby town, Mathura, via train to go to Mumbai, and then begin our journey south. But en route from Pushkar to Agra it looked like the roads were closed?? All of them in the direction of Agra? Billu was not happy and not very pleasant about it at all. We first hit a major traffic jam and that kicked off the rest of the day. The drivers have their own form of channel 9 on the highways and were quickly yelling out of windows at one another as they pulled U Turns to head in the other direction. This is where it got fun. With everyone saying the main highway to Agra was closed, it was time to find an alternate route.

This is where it got tough. The drive from Pushkar to Agra was supposed to be a long day but this turned into over 12 hours of driving. We would veer down a dirt road through a village only to find that road not functioning or not connected to the next road. Complete country villages came out to see the convoy of cars snaking through their towns. When i say dirt road. I mean more like a cattle straight or pathway. Most were barely wide enough for our tiny car, and some just weren’t. It was fascinating to take in the scenery though. Like a cliched 80′s save-the-children informercial, the kids came out en masse, waving and screaming at the cars and running along. The dust was thick and abrasive but it didn’t seem to bother them. Groups of men seemed to ponder the events; slowly gazing as we passed. And the women. Well the women just kept working. Thats the big observation we have both had here. The women of India freaking work, but every 15 feet you see a clutch of men, just hanging out. Or at least seemingly hanging out. The women were in the fields, tending animals, hauling loads of wood on their heads; but the men were just there. And that trait seems to be holding through a lot of small towns at least.

While the journey was hard, and the temp increasing with no AC, and the air too thick with sandpaper to want to inhale it; it was exciting to be on an adventure. In the beginning it was annoying, and i swear i wanted to jump into the communication chain and use my GPs to help the convoy, but after a while we just settled back to enjoy what is India.

We arrived late in the night to Agra. Billu didn’t want to drive to the old part of town by the Taj but he serendipitously offered help finding a rickshaw driver for each of us. This is where it got mildly uncomfortable for us. Each of us climbed into the PEDAL driven rickshaw to head to the hotel. And we had to have the skinniest and smallest drivers in all of Agra. We were killing these guys. Especially me. And as he heaved with each press of the pedal, I just felt bad. Must go on diet! But it was also just too much of a physical toil for him for me to feel good.

We crashed quickly at the hotel in preparation to see the Taj Mahal the next day and then head out of town to catch the train to Mumbai. We got up before dawn to go get our tickets for the Taj. Walking around this quarter of the city was spooky. The smog is so thick, that it looks like fog, and beings seem to emerge from it suddenly as you walk past. Looking ahead we saw these massive creatures that looked like something out of Cloverfield, but they turned out to be camels. But it’s scary that the smog is THAT thick.

Slinking Giants

Tickets in hand, it was time to join the queue. It was a cool assortment of people. Both westerners & Indians. It was also cool to see the long list of the restrictions for entry. They really do try to prevent anything that could be used to make a statement (flags & propaganda) and/or deface the monument (gum, candy, plastic).

So let’s get it out of the way. The Taj Mahal is beautiful. It’s just like all of the photos and it’s exactly the image you have in your head. Going before sunrise was smart because it wasn’t so hot yet and the number of tourist was still low.

When you enter, you see massive gardens and water fountains surrounding the Taj in the center. And when you get to the actual White Part of the monument you have to either take off your shoes or put on little booties to protect the marble from your feet. Nice touch. We searched for a unique place to take in the sunrise.

Photographing a crazy popular place or known monument is hard for me. I want to try and find an angle that’s unique or special but it’s almost impossible. You see clutches of tourists in the classic spots making lesser versions of the post cards you can by for $.03. Chuckles jumped up and out on a balcony and found a cool spot for some shots and we took those.

Taj Sunrise

Looking at the shot above, it’s very volumetric and “foggy” as that’s what the morning was like. But remember that haze/ fog is pure pollution that you can taste and smell.

I didn’t realize that the Taj was set along a body of water either.

River Haze

Post sunrise, we just explores the grounds and took it in. It’s quite the monument. The actual interior of the building is quite small and blocked off for tourists. So it’s a fast exploration. It’s not like Al Hambra in Spain or Angor Wat in Cambodia. And I guess that was slightly a let down. If you have seen the post cards you have seen the Taj. There aren’t a lot of nooks and crannies to explore. But it is nice to just sit on a bench and think with it as a back drop.

With the number of tourists and the temperature rising. It was time to grab a few more shots. Remember the post card shots. Ugh. I still felt compelled to get them.

Taj Pano

Mahal Reflected

The plan post Taj Mahal was to check out, rickshaw out of the old part of town, meet Billu and head to Mathura to take a night train to Mumbai.

Given our early start, we had a few hours to burn. So we went and explored Agra. We met an eager shop merchant, who wanted to help us find the ATM. For some reason we felt good with him and went on an errand adventure through the old city of Agra. It was cool as he led us through the real city. The main streets are fronted with stores selling trinkets but then there is a network of streets and alleys behind that have the real commerce. Like the Souks of Morrocco. We needed to get a SIM card, withdraw money, and food for our epic train ride.

The Real Agra

To get our cell phones activated we needed to get pictures taken and copies of passports made. Let me just say our mugshots are awesome! We look like criminals or middle school yearbook. Sorry can’t post those… Yet.

With the errands run, it was time to meet Billu and get to the train. We were early, so we dropped the bags with him and went searching for street food. We settled in on the shop below.

Samosa Hut

Doesn’t look like much but one of the shops up the street suggested it. We each got two Samosas and a Cola. Would this be the time that got us sick? We were out of hand sanitized and had been haggling through the old city. Oh well. These Samosas were delicious. Spicy, piping hot and fresh, and little dumplings of happiness. Yea, I love indian food. The best part though was the sense of pride that the shop owners son had. He was psyched we were eating there and he knew his stuff was delicious!

Proud Chef

Post Samosas and stomach feeling great, we headed back to car. We saw this pimp shoe smith offering his services. I am not sure how many of you played street fighter growing up, but this guy is a a character from that game!

Streetfighter

From here is where it all goes down hill. You can see from the other posts that the trip started to come off it’s intinerary.

There aren’t a lot of pictures at this point because it was that stressful. When we arrived at the station we checked to see what track the train was leaving from and where to wait. Just getting help was a nightmare and then when we got it the information was all over the board. One person said it was going to be 4 hours late and the other said 24+ hours late. yup the discrepancy was that broad. Meanwhile Billu is getting annoyed because he is ready to leave. This was his last point and then he could go back home and deal with his aggression solo. But we didn’t want to cut Billu Loose without having a plan because it was Mathura. This was not the Delhi train station. Mathura felt rough. The people stared more intensely than any other place and the men seemed to want to push us to fight. They formed circles, stared angrily, and started to encroach personal space. Mildly grabbing an arm to try and get your attention. Not good and not welcomed. I am used to staring, comments, jeers, yells, and even an arm grab now and then. I know the difference between cultural curiosity and just plain aggression. And these guys were just fucking with us. We finally told Billu to just leave us and we would deal with it/ figure it out. If we had to we could take like 50 of them, like Neo in the matrix. But Billu showed a rare moment of caring and said no and to call the travel office. Another few hours on the phone and it was decided we should cancel our tickets at the station and double back 5 hours to Delhi. On top of that, all of this took 5 hours to sort so it was now dark. 5 hours of Indian highway night driving. Ugh. No fun. But we made it back to Delhi, found a dirty and cold place to stay and went to bed.

Waking up, we were done with the north. With the trains not trustworthy, we turned to the planes and plotted a plan. We went to the train station first thing in the morning to try and get a refund on our tickets. While the bureaucracy was taxing, we did learn we were entitled to a full refund on the tickets! But we had to hurry and get it from the travel agency before the train departed. Doubling back to the rebel agency, the guy of course starts his hustle about cancellation fees. Nope. Not going to play that game dude, we just got back from the train station and it’s all ours. Ok ok, he goes. Ugh. Really. He still got us for a $1 but if it’s that important to him, he can have it. We booked fights and it was off to Kochi in the south.

We had high hopes for the south. India hadn’t yet caught the flame in my imagination or heart.

Pushkar. So waking up in Pushkar for a day of pure exploration and no travel was exciting. We rallied the tribe for a quick breakfast and then we were off to walk into town and explore. Pushkar is a small town known for it’s Brahma temple, one of the few existing in the world. It’s also has it’s share of Sikh temples as well.

It was nice to just stroll into town and not have to deal with Billu. We actually called him in the morning to drive us around for the day. But he just lied and said cars couldn’t go in the old city. The walk was more fun anyway.

We did see some of the traffic Billu was obviously fearing.

Traffic Jam

Pushkar sits in a desert region as thusly the camel safari or ride was always being offered. But this one family was very interesting to just talk to about their camels and their curiosity about what country I was from.

Camel Family

One of our first stops was at a Sikh temple. If you look at the traffic jam shot you will see it in the background. This was a cool experience. To enter the temple you had to cover your head and body and enter barefoot through a cleansing pool. The temple itself was made of marble and felt calmingly cool underfoot. It was a simple temple with a reading room in the center, but it did have a very cool walking labyrinth etched into the marble floor. Clearing the mind while tracing the pattern soothed the soul.

Back on the town we walked toward the market area. The goal for the day was to walk the markets, go to Brahma Temple, and see the Ghats.

Descending into the Market

The market vendors were out and active. And the locals were buying. I always wonder how far people travel to these markets because having driven through the countryside to get there I really wonder where all the green vegetables and fruits come from. This woman had a modest display for sale.

Wrinkled Onions

We also spotted this guy selling fried wonton like noodles. Looked to be a tasty snack.

Wontons

Our tribe grew thirsty and so we stopped for some sugar cane juice.

Sugar Cane

Popcorn was another staple that was everywhere and it really did look delicious. I promise that in another week we will be eating out of the hands of strangers (literally), but I am just not there yet.

Orville

While there is a lot of selling going on, there is also a lot of just living too. This family was just staring out onto the action.

Bouncy Baby

Again texture plays such a deep role in this experience as well. The layered smell of diesel, urine, cow dung, samosa, masala, dogs, and people intermix to create a olfactory ballad that’s unforgettable. It dances across the brain. Really unforgettable. But speaking of texture the shot below caught my eye.

Foil Vendor

We finally found our way to the Ghats and it was an experience. The Ghats are the stairs down to the Pushkar lake. When you approach them, the hustle begins. A holy man comes to take you down to the lake to talk to you. Of course he doesn’t want any money. So they put rose petals in your hand and down to the water you go. Once you get down there its time for a ceremony and some chatting up by the holy man. I don’t mean to sound jaded but the hustle is hard. There have been some very amazing people who have gone out of their way to guide or help us. But a lot are working it. And I can’t decide for sure which category these guys were in. I decided to let the rest of the tribe descend and I would watch shoes and just observe. The holy man did not like that. He kept pushing me that it’s ok, no money, it’s holy. No I’m good for now. One by one I watched them get separated and counseled. And one by one I watched the wallets come out for “donations”. I just didn’t like it. It was good to experience and have a quiet moment there. What’s even more fascinating is that when you have had the experience they tie a bracelet on your wrist. Like a symbol or rather signal, that you had been through it. Was it a scarlet letter or the pope’s ring? Hmm.

Post the Ghats it was back to the market and to see some of the other side of the town. The market is organized along a strip in front of the Lake, and while the lake is encircled with development, there is definitely a front a back to town.

Working our way to the back part of town we attracted a beggar. But she was different. Had a delicate but scary aura to her, and she had taken a liking to our tribe.

The Hobbit Beggar

Her face was so finally wrinkled but her demeanor was almost child like. She is still stuck in my head.

We made it to the back side of the town and were looking for a quiet place to take in Lake Pushkar and we found it and shared it with a new friend.

The Pilgrim

We spent some time just experiencing the place and lake. Seeing the settlement around this small lake as the sun began it’s arc lower was calming.

Lake Pushkar

Leaving the lake, we walked along dirt roads, away from the bustling market and vendors. Passing a small farm house, a group of kids came to take a look.

Neighborhood Watch

Yea, doesn’t get much cuter than that. Our loop took us back to the main road at the top of the city. With the sun setting and the dusk swirling in the air, Pushkar started to glow.

We were among a troop of pilgrims exiting the markets.

The Flock

And the fella below had cleared his cart and was going to get another.

Push Cart

But the shot below best captures the feeling of being there. The glow, the dust, the movement, the smell.

Pushkar

Ok, so due to the overwhelming request for frequency vs length. I am going to just go with more frequent posts though they may lack the awesome depth of my traditional posts The wedding post is going to come some point in the future because I am determined to put up 10 great shots and i am wrecking my brain to figure out which would be best. So wait for that one.

Alright so post wedding it was time to head out of Jodphur and go to Udaipur. At the wedding, as typical with this type of travel, we met some kindred spirits who through 6 degrees of separation we realized we were connected. Both through subject matter interest, ecology, and through a shared relationship, my brother. Its always striking when you realize how small the world is , no matter what part or corner you may be in. It’s amazing. They too were headed to Udaipur but via bus. We made plans to connect in Udaipur and stay at the same hotel. So when they departed via bus, we made it back to our car.

Again, our driver really isn’t winning any points with us at all, but it’s to be expected at this point. The highlight of the trip to Udaipur was where we stopped and had lunch. The thing about the indian highway network in Rajastan is that it basically runs through varying levels of desert, so you see nothing and then a settlement or small town will pop up along the road, but then as quickly as it appeared, it will subside. I was not looking forward to eating at one of those roadside pop-up delis. But this place where he took us was nice. And what better way to start to relax from the wedding experience than a couple of beers. The first few days of the trip have been hectic. Filled with lots of movement, unexpected expenses, and pressure to be good guests and well dressed. Yea i know life can get harder than this, but still stressful. It was nice to sit at this table surrounded by greenery and just start to take in the fact that we are in INDIA, with complete freedom of movement, and of course good company (except the driver).

Yes, we like it strong

The rest of the drive to Udaipur was uneventful. By Indian standards at least. I do really like the incidence of tractors on the road…

Built Ford Tough

And the love of the auto rickshaw. You look at these things and they look very human like. Like a little baby with it’s eyes all round and happy. Makes you want to hug one. But trust me, you don’t.

A little baby auto-rickshaw

Arriving in Udaipur, things turned up. This place really was beautiful. We have now moved away from the Lonely Planet and moved on to Tripadvisor to lead us in our hotel choices. Our first choice was booked but we found another, The Hotel Tiger, which was available and highly regarded. It did not disappoint. We met up with our two traveling tribesmen, and we headed to the roof to take in the sunset. It was stunning.

The Udaipur Glow

Post the sunset we decided to take in a government sponsored dance performance, showcasing the dances of Rajastan. Like many things in India, the start time is approximate. So a 6:30 show actually started more like 8 PM. But it was worth it. I was concerned that it would be a hockie show for tourist, but the Indian families outnumbered us, and it was given in both Hindi and in English. The dances were amazing and the performers were into it.

Dancing Queens

But the show’s finale really took the cake. For the finale, a single dancer performed a dance celebrating the water gathering tradition of the women carrying 9 pots of water on their heads back to their families. This woman was amazing. I have a full series of shots but need more time to process them, but it really was splendid to watch. But what i liked most was her face, there was such a sense of mastery and pride in her eyes. It was amazing and made me warm.

Momma can do it

Post the dance performance it was time for some sleep and the next day promised more exploration of Udaipur and then a trek to Pushkar. But on the way back, this scene caught my eye and I just liked it.

Still Life

Sitting at brunch on Wedding Day! It’s an amazing morning though a little tired from dancing last night. Full report on the night coming later this morning! Though I do feel under dressed for the day… Let’s hope this suit tailor rocks it. Yea more on that too.

So the first day in India was an eventful one. The flight from Frankfurt into Delhi was uneventful but landing in Delhi is when the adventure began. First there is this smell when you hit the airport, its a thin but pungent smell in the air. You try to place it and as you walk the maze of corridors to get to passport control you can see a fine mist in the air. Its almost like the misting they do on hot summer days at amusement parks the way, it sits in the air, but it’s dry. And as you descend the stairs, through passport control and out the door you realize that mist is actually pollution! The air is quite simply filthy with industrial progress. Instantly China flashbacks.

But before we can leave the airport we need our luggage. One bag unceremoniously makes it’s way off the belt, though the pushing and jockeying for position was fun, almost like a rugby scrum. The second one did not make it off. I knew we would lose one bag and quite frankly I was glad it was this one which had the suits and dress clothes, vs. the one with the everyday wear. After finding our way to the baggage office it was time to prepare for Mad Max style line surfing to get some help. The ticket office was a small room about 10 x 8 that surged with people trying to file claims. It seemed like Lufthansa decided to just send half the bags somewhere else. This was my first introduction to line etiquette or the lack there of India. After patiently queueing waiting to be helped. I watched one after another just push forcefully past me to the front to be serviced. That didn’t last long, then it became the full box out and crushing of the little people. Did I mention it was hot? I quickly rose to about 100 degrees F in the room and got steamy. Nice. After a couple of HOURS waiting to sort the bag, I was given 4000 rupees (about 80 bucks) and told “good luck, we will try to contact you”, but man you don’t have my number, shouldn’t I give it to you… Yea so not too optimistic about that bag. With that sorted it was time to be off into the city.

We had planned ahead and had he first night planned for us and they arranged an airport pick up. I didn’t feel like hitting the scam game the first night and thought it smart for us to plan ahead. Most of the time when you pre arrange car service you get nicer and cleaner cars than you would otherwise get at the airport just flagging one. This was not the case for us. Out little van-scooter-car pulls up and the driver grabs our bags and puts them on top of the fuel tank which is literally a tank in the back of the car behind the seats. Nice. And we’re off.

Arriving at our hotel which is in the main bazaar area of Delhi was real. It was about 5am when we arrived and were taken up to our room. We got to look at two rooms, and we took the room with the least amount of stains on the sheets. As you look at the photo below it looks nice. But it wasn’t. And the bathroom, it’s too graphic to show. So officially the lonely planet #failed us. But it was only for a couple of hours sleep because we still needed to leave later to head to Jodphur. After saying the bed bug protection prayer, it was lights out.

Waking up, or rather, getting up 5 hours later we had to sort the transport for the day. We were staying close to the New Delhi train station and knew all the details to get to the ticket office and get our tickets for the overnight train to Jodphur. Of course we didn’t stick to the struck advice of the Lonely Planet, and we took an auto-rickshaw instead of walking to the train station. Mistake #1. While the chap was really nice, we never made it to the train station we went to a travel agency office where they told us to book the tickets. Ugh this is not what we wanted. And of course the train was sold out and he offered to book us flights. No that’s not what we want. Back to rickshaw and demanding to be taken to train station.

The Ride

Ok, to the station we go and of course another fare. Then at this “station” we follow signs and end up in a dusty lot of sorts and of course a very helpful guy comes and Inform us our train leaves from Old Station (which I knew to be true and that we needed to go there to buy), ok back in another autorickshaw. Hmm, as we pull up this doesn’t look like a train station but rather another travel office. Ugh. And again the train is booked full for the day but tomorrow was free. Ugh we have a wedding to go to. Tomorrow is not good enough. So then the game begins. Now given the experience of the day it’s hard to not feel like you are going to be taken. Like a voice isn’t over your shoulder saying “squeal like a little pig”. But tired and needing to get to Jodphur. We let him work it. The end plan he came up with was like $1500. Ouch. So we settled instead for the first leg. We would have a driver and DRIVE to Rajastan, go to wedding, explore region and then double back and train down to Mumbai for New Years. Epic. This still wasn’t cheap but was about the same as the flight and gave us a driver and car for a week. I am sure as my brain does the math now we were taken. But oh well, time to go. After refusing to live a week in a tiny car the size of a geo metro we got underway in a car the size of a Toyota Tercel. Sweet.

So with a planned itinerary in Rajastan of 2100km driving and us fashionably compressed into our car, we’re off.

Let’s talk a but about Indian driving. Holy crap. It’s unreal. The speed and the honking. But the cool thin once you observe it is that there is a nice system
Of driver communication and type of “flocking” almost like birds do when flying in a group. Really fascinating and clearly a lot more going on than just honking and chaos. Strapped in we just took in the countryside.

We saw all manner of people and machines on the road. This triplet of dude went absolutely nuts when they saw me.

The Triplets

I really liked that shot for the energy it captures as it comes closest to the feeling. It was striking to watch tractor, car, donkey, camel, all share the road together. And while India has the highest motor vehicle death rate in the world it was still quite amazing we didn’t see any of it.

Bike + Moto

We stopped to get gas along the way and it was also time to put something in the belly.

This place was awesome and well branded.

Pepsi

Again guide books ruin you, as you fear catching a parasite at every meal. For the rest stop I was fine to indulge in a bag of Lays and a soda. But my adventurous buddy wanted to eat some hot food. Ok. Here we go. The prep station looked impressive enough, and the chef was clearly in command of his kitchen.

Charlie Trotter?

But it’s hard to ignore the surroundings and when the “waiter” brought a pitcher of water to the table even our driver had to intervene and say “not for you”. But um isn’t that the water they clean the plates and spoons with? Nice. The food arrives hot and steamy and looks delicious!

The First Supper

My buddy was grubbing and loving it. I couldn’t resist and dove in for a few nibbles. It really was tasty, not sure what it was but yummy veggie, cheesy stuff.

It’s back on the rode after that. This is when it really started to sink in. Wow, we are in India. The smell and scale of development was amazing. And as the hours wore on and miles passed it was a calming experience to just gaze out the window.

Our driver will certainly get his own section at some point but as he approached Jaipur he really was great at forcing us to take in the place. We stopped and got peanuts and watches some men arc weld pipes.

Infrastructure Projects

As we got into the city walls he got into tour guide mode and taught us about the sites. And he insisted we stop and get a picture of the below. It was truly breath taking under the full moon. The iPad limits my ability to really work this photo but it was truly a magical scene. We got out and walked to the edge of the rail and just took it in. It was amazingly beautiful and peaceful. I took some long exposures and had fun with the camera. Magic.

The Water Palace

Now it was time to head to the hotel. This tome screw lonely planet and it’s all about Tripadvisor (which hated the first hotel we stayed at). Sorry driver, not taking your advice just yet, let’s go to the Pearl Palace, #1 rated hotel in Jaipur and rooms from $7-25.

They had one $20 double left and in we went. Amazingly clean, comfy, and they had towels!! Yes yes yes! Then up to the roof for an amazing rooftop dinner and 4, 30oz beers. Yes yes yes!

Day 1 in India: amazing

So day 1 in India is off and running. It’s already been an adventure. After finally getting to the hotel at 5:00am because it took forever to get out of the airport due to some lost luggage. That’s another story for the full report later today/ tonight.

We had to try and figure out a way to get us to Jodphur, India for a wedding. Unfortunately the trains were full, the flights were crazy pricey. So instead we booked a car and driver and a few legs of train rides to get us to Mumbai on 12/28. Now we are driving in the back of a tiny car to Pushkar before getting up tomorrow and heading to Jodphur.

We have definitely been scammed a bit but hopefully not too much. The first feelings of India are, congested, polluted, & a lot like Honduras actually. Slightly comforting.

So I have just touched down in Frankfurt Germany en route to India for a few weeks of exploration. I have a wedding to attend, a few camel
races to watch, and generally a bit of photography to do. Expect to see a ton of activity over the next few weeks with posts every other day if not daily. I’d recommended subscribing via the box the right to get notified of the latest updates.

For about a month of travel I have packed light, only a carry on bag of clothes and small bag for camera and lenses. And I brought the power cords but somehow in the scramble left the laptop!! The iPad better stand up to real use!

Mom, dad, brother, and sister love you guys and talk soon!!

Living in Chicago, its a city i take for granted, and don’t explore as much as I should with my camera. The past few weeks, when I have been home, I have ventured out and explored a bit with my camera. Here are some of my favorite shots:

So despite having just gotten home from China on a Monday. A buddy and I decided to head to South Dakota the following weekend to experience the Badlands and just take in that part of the country. Unlike the China adventure, this is not a day by day entry, as I was too lazy for that…

First up was the uneventful flight from ORD to Rapid City, SD. The plane was TINY and packed, so it made for a shitty knee crushing experience. One request that i have of people on airplanes is that if you seat feels hopelessly jammed forward, thats probably the super tall dude behind you that you spotted when you were boarding the plane’s knees. It’s not very nice to assume that your aggressive pushing and shoving against the bones are going to miraculously compress his legs. Oh and at 5’6″ i think you are going to be ok.

Anyway, arriving in Rapid City, it was time to explore. We didn’t have much time on the weekend, and we had an aggressive sight seeing goal; Mt. Rushmore, Badlands, Crazy Horse, Missle Silos, Cave, and newly added… Wall Drug.

Picking up at Avis, the sky felt BIG

With car packed. We were on our way to explore. We headed first down toward the Badlands national park. But along the way we couldn’t help but keep seeing signs for “Wall Drug”. From free donuts for military men, to $.99 pie. It was shaping up to be an Oasis. Like mice following a trail of cheese we made our way to the town of “Wall”.

The Town of Wall

This little town was AWESOME, but also bizzare. It had a strange mix of tourist, but also locals at the random restaurants and shops. We made our way into Wall Drug to explore…

We Found it

So Wall Drug is really not just a drug store, but more of a Drug-store, restaurant, hardware store, gift shop. It was awesome. We were starving so we were pumped for the famous donuts, but before we could indulge, a special warning.

I never see signs like this in Chicago.

With the warning fresh in our minds, we made it to the Donut Factory but they had made the donuts for the day and they were available at the counter.

My buddy in a sugary donut induced stupor.

Feeling full and grateful that we heeded the signs, we made our way to see some missles.

Looks like a trailer park to me…

Well looks were deceiving. When we made our way inside, we say about 3 other tourists watching a dorky video talking about the Minutemen missles. Um, maybe its not so dorky, because it turned out to be pretty darn interesting. Missles placed in the ground, ready to deploy to end the world, and all of this in fields with Bison. Pretty cool. The one fact that struck me the most was the 5000+ mile journey to Moscow the missles were ready to make in THIRTY, 3-0, minutes. Why did it take me 14 hours to china??

30 minutes to impact…

Now the only part of this, beyond the trailer park housing, that was a bust is that the actual missle sight is NOT there. What? yep, you got it. This information “center” was no where near where the actual missle was. The best part was that “Butch” was going to be closing the missle site in 30 minutes, but if we hurried and made the 15 mile drive quickly, we might beat him. Oh and they were closed the rest of the weekend, so it was to be today or never. Armed with our map we hit the road, and found the random field, and no Butch!

This was pretty damn cool.

The Dome

The Missle

It was interesting that it was just sitting in the middle of a field. The glass top had been installed for us tourist to peer in. The thing that struck me was that there was just an open gate to walk right in, and no one in sight for days. More than anything I was thinking about some teenagers pulling a prank to collect souvenirs. I guess south dakota kids have better things to do. Remember the sign from Wall Drug…

Leaving the missle, it was on to the Badlands! having heard all of the hype about it looking like the moon (like anyone has really been there…), and being out of this world, the hype was high.

We’re there…Badlands National Park

The park truly is an experience, and AWESOME. the landscape suddenly struts up from the prairie and it really is unique. But the coolest feature of the park is the fact that you can drive all around it. Having coming back recently from Denali, it was a stark contrast to feel free to drive around and see more of the park, and stop and explore. We wanted to drive every mile of the road to explore, and hike around.

The moon?

The rest of the landscape was truly stunning and unique. We spent a total of about 3-4 hours exploring the park, including a late night run in with a bison.

Prairie & Rock

Sky

Controlled Burn

The Road

Not THIS is the moon

Sunset

Bison in the way… (Bad photo but good memory)

Exhausted we made camp that night and explored some more the next morning. The one watchout with the Badlands is that it isn’t really hiking terrain. Sure there are trails here and there, but there aren’t many true long hikes to make, as it’s mainly prairie.

Feeling good with the Badlands we headed out to simply drive some of the small towns and roads of South Dakota, and we came across this awesome car in the middle of a cattle pasture.

Protected

Stalled

That’s the awesome thing about travel. Just being able to stop and explore and then keep going. We were cautious of rattlesnakes though. The day was filled with more sights like the car, but we just took it in over good conversation and tunes.

Next up, were the monuments; Mt. Rushmore & Crazy Horse. Growing up I never heard of Crazy Horse and never had any desire to see Mt. Rushmore, but now, hey, we’re in SD, why not. So while the previous day was ugly and rainy, this day was brilliantly clear. Mt. Rushmore was filled with old couples and friends, seemingly completing their bucket list activities, interspersed with a young family or two. We were definitely the only two buddies there under 60. Was funny.

The Walkway

I feel obligated to also give you the beauty shot

The Men

It really was a perfect day. Next up was ice cream… So the entire time we are there i am noticing the most delicious looking ice cream with grandma and grandpa. I did chuckle as one grandma went to share her ice cream with another grandma and that grandma knocked the scoop off the cone. They both sort of watched as it went tumbling to the concrete, and the look was pure horror. I wanted to get up and get them another, but when I got there I decided I wanted one.

The Ice Cream Shop. These two guys reminded me of me and my buddy.

Post ice cream it was time for Crazy Horse. The story of this mountain is fascinating, and if you ever visit, please do sit and watch the informational video about how the project started. I rarely link out, but this is worth it. (http://www.crazyhorsememorial.org/monument/) The cliff notes are that a powerful Native American chief, asked a sculptor (who was an apprentice on Mt. Rushmore) to build a monument to “the Red Man”. What’s amazing about this project is the sheer scale. Mt. Rushmore is Child’s play to this thing. The heads of Mt. Rushmore would fit on the side of his head, and then that leaves his body and horse. It’s amazing. Check it out. And the project doesn’t accept state or federal funding on principle.

The Vision and The Current State

In the foreground you see a model of the sculpture to be completed and then in the background you see the current status and progress. Yes, its going to take a while to be complete.

A Mt. Rushmore matching beauty shot

Again this monument is huge and amazing. Its a must see. I feel like it should get much more love in the press than it does… But we won’t get too political.

We spent the rest of the trip exploring and just enjoying South Dakota. Overall a big thumbs up to SD and the sights. It’s truly a very special part of the U.S.

So day 8 was a big day in China! Post the panda bust, we got back into our car and headed 200km to the largest buddha on the planet. It promised to be epic but we took it with a grain of salt because the panda center was supposed to be amazing as well.

On the way, we had to stop for gas. And apparently our up close and personal look at the gas pump is not normal. Our driver asked us to get out of the car at the entrance to the station, and we noted others were doing the same. While waiting, both the cutesy and ugliest dog came strolling by. He literally was strolling, he had a plan of where he was going, walked inches past us and never slowed down.

Lomo

Post gas it was back on the highway and I have to say our driver kinda sucked. He wasn’t pleasant at all and even when we would say please and thankyou for stuff, he wouldn’t say anything back. You could tell he was not happy to be driving all day. Poor service I am sadd to say has been pretty prominent this trip, at least by western standards.

Anyway, once we pulled up to the Big Buddha park, the one thing that struck is was the humidity. The air was sopping wet. Crazy crazy wet. It immediately brought back flashes of the Bangkok horror.

The Entrance

Immediately we were drenched in sweat and it promised to be a hike up a huge staircase to get to the buddha. Ugh.

Stairway to Buddha, level 1 of 150

On the way up, there was a “Little Buddha Cave”, so we decided to hop in.

The Cave entrance

Oh cool, there IS a little buddha in there. Well he wasn’t little. More like the size of a d lineman.

Cave Buddha

Post the mini break we got back to the climb. It wasn’t as tiring as sweat inducing. Sweat was literally pouring off us and into our eyes. Gross and it burns.

We did get a few cool views of the surrounding city on the way up.

View of Le Shan

Just about when were ready to call it quits and have a little google images and Photoshop fun, we saw the upper gate.

Final stairway

Ok, this was cool and well worth the hike up. Buddha was HUGE, and it’s impressive to think he was carved into the hillside hundreds of years ago!

First up his “corn rows”, each twist was the size of a head

Corn Rows

Alright let me just show you how big we are talking.

His head is almost as big as my friend Tony’s. Check out the people against the railing for a sense of scale.

Big Buddha

He has an awesome view out onto the world.

Buddha’s POV

Now, this is a full body buddha and his body is carved into the cliff side to the scale of his head. If you look at the picture above you can see the stairway leading you down. I’m sorry to say we just couldn’t do it. It was too hot and the line down was taking an hour minimum. If you have never experienced a packed chinese stairway in the heat, then you don’t get it but we got some awesome views down, but no good photos

What’s really cool about the entire place is that it’s still a working temple, and along the way at all of the Buddha people were praying and showing respect. We found this courtyard with all of these prayer candles and lamps. And of course you could pay and get one, but what was cool is that it was dirt cheap. Not at all priced to make a profit. Very cool.

My lamp for my one wish…

We also spotted this bad ass monk protecting the entrance.

Be Careful

Speaking of pimps, this guy made it look easy

Balance

So it was back to the car and beside the parking lot we spotted her.

Sleeping Beauty

She was in this room of lawn chair, and i initially thought it was some type of cooling room, but then realized it had no door. So maybe it was just a place to catch a rest while waiting for family or friends to come out of the park??

Now it was back in the car and on the way to the airport. The driver was grumpier than ever and the traffic home was tough. We saw a total of 5 accidents to and fro and it made us want to use the seat belts, but of course they didn’t work. Doh!

We made it to the airport and checked into the first class lounge. Not bad. Next up, the final day in Beijing.