There are apparently only two places remaining in the world where one can find Orang Utans in the wild.  The first in Malaysian Borneo and the second in Gunung Leuser National Park on the Indonesian island of Sumatra.  Fewer leaches in Sumatra, so that’s where I headed.  A three day hike deep into the steamy (read: rainy, hot and humid) jungle gave an up close look into the lives of these “Men of the Jungle” along with many of their smaller monkey cousins. 

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Categories: Indonesia, Travel
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Arriving in a city like Singaporecan be almost as shocking as arriving in a city like Delhi.  They each overwhelm you with their differences from the norm, and each are at opposite ends of the spectrum.  Arriving in the ultra-modern city after spending months in Sri Lanka and India especially highlights these differences and makes one appreciate some of the things left behind.     

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Categories: Singapore, Travel
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5200 steps. 

5200 steps up

5200 steps down. 

That is the effort required to reach the top of Sri Lanka’s mythical Adam’s peak.  And what is the amazing reward at the top that inspires such feats of endurance?  Fog. 

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Categories: Sri Lanka, Travel
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Sightseeing in Sri Lanka is pretty easily broken down into three groups.  Ancient Cities, Beaches, and Tea Plantations.  For Ancient Cities head north, for the beaches you have your pick of miles of beautiful coastline; just pull over anywhere and you’ll be happy.  For the lush hills covered in tea plantations, Haputale and Ella are the places to be.  The small towns hug the cliffs and the beautiful train ride between the two is definitely the way to go, as long as you don’t have any issues with vertigo. 

 

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Categories: Sri Lanka, Travel
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There is a relatively new traveling phenomenon, forwarded by websites such as CouchSurfing.com and HospitalityClub.org, that opens new avenues for meeting people and experiencing a country.  The way it works is this: you have a free spot where someone could pass the night, (eg: a room, a couch, the floor) you list it online along with some personal information, and those passing through your neighborhood might send you a message to take you up on the offer.  Even those who don’t have place to offer can still sign up to grab coffee of a drink with people passing by.  The “CouchSurfing” community was growing large in Atlanta when I left, and this seems to be the year that it is spreading around the world.  It was in this way that I spent my first night in Sri Lanka.

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Categories: CouchSurfing, Sri Lanka, Travel
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Some of you might have noticed that I haven’t put anything up in a while.  No?  None of you noticed?  Well, it has been awhile, but rest assured that I will continue again soon.  The main problem at the moment is the internet, or lack there of.  Currently I’m visiting the Indonesian island of Sumatra there are two things that have been surprisingly difficult to get a hold of:  Beer, and a descent internet connection.  I’m going through a bit of withdraw from both, as I’m sure you are from me.  The good side is that I’ve got some pretty amazing pics and stories from here to share (of the painfully sober variety).

So, give me another week or so and we’ll be back in action!    

Categories: Indonesia, Travel
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So now for another of the posts that you actually care about: some not-so-bad pics. Wrapping up the rest of the India photos here. Next were moving on to beautiful Sri Lanka, and I promise I’ve got some amazing stuff to share and show (so stick around).

• The temple combing adventures in Madurai and Trichy
• Being outdone by barefoot geriatrics in the beautiful hills of Kodaikonal
• Pushing through the holidays in the post-French Pondicherry

Categories: Photos, India, Travel
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Also located in Trichy, and very important to me, a small airport. I had originally planned to fly from here to Sri Lanka, but it turns out that the budget airline I had planned to use (so budget that you could not buy tickets online) had grounded its one plane for the next two weeks with technical issues. I was happy to avoid any in-air malfunctions, but for a 45min flight, I was more upset that this would mean flying from the large city of Channai, and paying double. Sri Lanka is frustratingly close to India, with the sand bars and reefs of Adam’s bridge almost connecting the two. Because of continued fighting on the island county though, no ferry service exist, and the military forcefully discourages private boats.

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Categories: India, Travel
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Temples are everywhere in India, but Tamil Nadu does a particularly great job of building them impressively large.  They cram together as many gods as possible on the formidable entrance archways, and place long walls sealing of all the large complex.  The weirdest looking characters gracing these archways is a mustaschioed man, looking oddly similar Nintendo’s Mario.  The dark hallways and rooms of the interior do not appear to have changed much in the past several hundred years, and the grooves in the stone stairs and doorways show the wear of thousands of visiting worshipers. 

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Categories: India, Travel
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Happy New Year Everyone!

With the Babu Fever overcome and my health a little more normal, I decided to make my escape from Varkala. The train was thankfully on time, but the sleeper car was the worst I had seen yet. Mice scurried quickly underfoot, and cockroaches searched for meals. I had been careful to leave no food in my bag, which rested on the floor, but kicked the side once in a while to make sure nothing was getting too comfortable in there. Either way for the next week I continued to find little six-legged friends hitchhiking in my bag.

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Categories: India, Travel
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