my-undiscovered-country

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This is my kink

Portal Icosahedron by Anthony James 

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Seen today with my dad in Phanoi Cave, just north of Muang Ngoy, Laos.

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Today's lunch: a South Indian Thali served on a banana leaf at A Taste of Kerala in Mumbai. Total including the liter of water: 180 INR, which is less than $3.

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The little vegan friendly resaurant I'm eating in tonight, which is likely my last night in Goa. It's called The Avocado Garden. So far the Mango Lemonade (containing like juice instead of lemon) is really good. I'm a bit nervous to be leaving Goa. This is the state where I split off from my mom 10 days ago and started traveling on my own. Which caused a lot of anxiety before I got my accommodation booking. Subsequently I've improvised travel plans and changed where I was taking connecting busses one day and arrived in a place (Arambol) with no accommodation booked only to find the one I wanted was unavailable. But I punted there, got in a nearby hostel (Rasta Mansion) and had a lovely time. I really like staying in Hostels. They make what could be a really solitary travel experience into a quite possibly very social one. And I've found I like the social connections more than the beach (at least by myself), and probably more than any one other thing too. I've also been to some music parties here in Goa, which have been a mixed bag. The one I went to last night "Silent Noise" at Neptune Point here in Palolem was amazing. Way better than all the rest. The best another guy had been to. It was a headphones party with 3 DJs and 3 channels of music and it was so amazing and good. And made even better by the social element. I went with a number of people fromy Hostel and we ended up dancing with 3 Indian ladies there on a bachelorette trip. All the interactions were great. Anyhow, my Palak Paneer has arrived so I should stop writing and get to eating.

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Gaur crossing the road in far Eastern Goa near Backwoods camp. Apparently they are the largest extant bovine, according to Wikipedia.

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Tons of Kites riding thermals near Chapora Fort

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It crab

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Agra train station

2/18/18 8pm

Waiting for a train in Agra. Saw the Taj Mehal yesterday. The Taj was amazing. Made me want to cry. Almost did 3 times, probably would have if I didn't stop myself. Today I saw Agra Fort, Akbar’s Mosoleum (at Sikandra) and the “baby Taj” Itimad-ud-Daulah. The Mosoleum was wonderful. Reminiscent of the gates and mosques around the Taj. More… solemn? Could tell more that a soldier designed it for himself. The deer/gazels and birds in the surrounding gardens (lawns really) spoke to a calm contemplative mood. And the darkness and cavernous empty space of the tomb itself was far more meditative and calm inspiring rather than awe and weeping inspiring the way the Taj was.

9:15pm

There's a seat conflict on the train. We’re supposed to be in B2-2 and 4, and someone else has B2-2,3,5. Fortunately they are very nice. They are traveling with a small child and want to have a lower bunk and are willing to swap with us. Mom has gone off to get Sanjeev (our guide) so we can resolve this.

Sanjeev is here. I'm confident things will be settled quickly.

Sanjeev has gone to check the manifest on the side of the train, since the bookings do seem to conflict.

Turns out we are in B2-1 and B2-4. So no conflict.

10pm

We're well underway now. Our beds are made and we've crawled into our berths. (Above the woman with the child). There is soap and toilet paper in the western style toilet compartment, and all is right with the world. There are two other international travelers in our compartment. Tobias and Sabrina. They're from Munich, Germany. They seem very nice too. They'd like to travel to Alaska someday. They seem impressed that it gets down to -35 C in Fairbanks. (Not as impressed as the Australians in our tour group who think 0 is cold though).

I think I'm going to turn in now. It will be nice to get some good sleep. (I think I'm getting an upper respiratory infection, as my nose keeps dripping and my throat is a bit sore -- which I thought was due to the pollution at first.)

Anyhow, enough writing, my thumbs are getting sore and I'll want this smartphone battery charge tomorrow.

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Scenes of the rural areas around Abhaneri.

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I guess there are McDonalds everywhere. But the menus are a bit different in India. Lots of vegetarian options. Aloo means Potato, and Paneer is a mild cheese, for reference.

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Hello World!

I'm off on a new adventure, quite possibly a new chapter of my life. Because of the craziness around the time I was leaving Fairbanks, I've actually been on the road a while now. (Quick break to check a calendar for the first time since I've been in India) Apparently it's been 2 weeks! Things are slightly less crazy now, I've fallen more into a routine of Travel and I'm hopeful I can get this travelogue (travelblogue?) up and running, and catch up on some of the places I've already been.

My intent with this blog is mostly to post pictures, videos and short texts about my experience of traveling. I hope it will help folks back home keep up with me, where I am and what I'm doing.

Thanks for reading!