Eat Me! Releases!

This has very little to do with global travel, but since part of this year's adventure has entailed more than a little movie-making, and because it is just damn exciting, I have to share the news that my first feature film as a writer and producer ( oh, and actress) Eat Me! is now available WORLDWIDE.

We are for sale via Indieflix both as a DVD and as streaming video.

Click Here to go to Indieflix

It's amazing to think that I could watch Eat Me! right now, from the beach side in Sri Lanka, and so could anyone else with an internet connection and 4 point 99 American dollars. The world truly is an amazing place.

Animalitos!

This Sri Lanka is a delightfully wild place. While staying in Hikkaduwa and Mirissa, we have seen some unexpected and impressive wildlife action.

Below, a sea turtle, refusing to pose.


There are sea turtles a-roaming in the turquoise waters we’ve been swimming in every day. We’ve watched them rolling in the shallows, and have glimpsed them out in the deep. At lunch one day, waiting for our rotti to be kottu’d, we spotted a meter-long, fat legged, massive-tailed komodo dragon (or possibly monitor lizard?) ambling along the roadside. Expectant of noodle-like vittles instead of large reptile appearances, we sadly did not have our camera to capture its sizable self. Later that evening, while sitting on our patio, a ferret-like creature with a very long and luxuriant tail scrambled up our palm tree. What was it? Dunno. But it was wild, man!

But first, a quick low down on the local eats.


Above, Roti- manifested as a burrito like square, filled with spicy fish. With Kottu Roti.


Above, Kottu Roti, Roti diced up with onions spices, and your choice of protein. If you are lucky you get curry sauce with it.


Moving on further south to the bottom edge of this teardrop-shaped island, we stumbled upon a wild peacock while arranging to go whale watching.




Blue whales, humpback and sperm whales are known to migrate along a shelf not far from the town of Mirissa about this time of year. We managed to glimpse a few sperm whales, who obliged us only briefly before getting annoyed by our motors and deep sixing it (word is, sperm whales can hold their breath for an hour, so they can majorly snub you). We were more warmly met by dozens and dozens of dolphins who enjoyed surfing along the bow of our boat, occasionally turning sidewise to glance up at us before shooting off again in a flurry of high pitched squeakings. There were several mother and wee dolphin pairings, which was super cute, and the water was so clear that I was able to capture on video some of their amazing grace and speed underwater. Video coming soon, but here's a pic nonetheless.

INDIA Wrap Up!!!

(Above, Mysore Palace)

It’s been a little more than a week since we departed India after spending almost two months traversing the country coast to coast and more or less top to bottom. Here’s a quick run-down of the cities we hit along the way.

Mumbai- Chaos on the waterfront. Lots to see, but a tough learning curve. Our best day here was the India's Independence day, when everything slowed down and the city had a moment to catch its breath.

Panaji- coastal town in beachy state of Goa. We investigated the Portuguese influence and the scattering of churches they left behind.

Benaulim Beach- Not far from Panaji, this beach town boasted access to the crystalline calm waters of the Arabian Sea paired with mediocre vindaloo.

Hampi- In a boulder-strewn desert, this pilgrimage site riddled with ancient ruins and impressive temples felt ripped from another time.

Below, Hampi, doing what it does.



Bangalore- What can I say about Bangalore? They had great internets and nightlife that felt like Orlando, Florida (perhaps because there was a Ruby Tuesday’s on our street). We did catch a glimpse of the multiday airshow on our way to the airport, which aside from the fact that the gridlock of onlookers almost made us miss our flight, was rather awesome.

Mysore- Mysore was hot, polluted and loud. It also boasted a very amazing palace with an unforgettable peacock-themed central atrium and a heavy population of urban bovines.

Trichy- Over on the east coast, Trichy had not one but two massive temple complexes- one perched on the top of the highest cliff in sight, and the other, a collection of soaring, statue-laced pyramids, as colorful as candy.

Pudicherry- Smack on the Bay of Bengal, this Frenchi-fied town was charming, almost like an Indian Key West. Not so much to do though, as the Bay of Bengal violently met the shore along a rocky sea wall and the sights were easily covered in a single day’s stroll.

Mamallapuram- North of Pudicherry, Mal was a sleepy beach town which happened to be packed with people attending a Hindu Full Moon celebration. There were also several impressive Hindu sites adorned with fine carvings and a beach temple. Swimming in the Bay was possible, but rough surf meant it was no picnic.

Chennai- We stopped in Chennai only because it happened to be a transport hub. I can’t say much about it, as we experienced little more than the claustrophobic alleyways that surrounded our hotel, and one equally disorienting shopping complex.
Hyderabad- The biggest bummer travel-wise, but was not a total loss because the food here was awesome. We arrived the morning of a big transit strike, which endured the entire two days we were planning to spend there. Everything from tourist sites to local stores were closed in case of unrest, and the streets were teeming with idle young fellas (not a good sign), so we did little more glimpse the main mosque and watch a lot og Indian T.V. ( the” Rocky” series was in constant play the entire time we were in India). But, on the positive, we had the best chicken tikka masala and chicken biryani that I ever hope to taste again, as well as discovering Jowar Roti (?) which was similar to a thali in the sense that you get a bunch of different stewed and curried veg and lentils, expect instead of serving rice with all the delicious goo, they served roti.


Kolkata- Kolkata has always seemed to me eponymous with some lower circle of hell, so I was really delighted to discover that its bad reputation is undeserved. The city was much cleaner and less chaotic than Mumba, and although the streets were still arteries of pure terror, there were sidewalks (lined with countless food vendors selling everything from noodles to chai in disposable terra cotta cups). We saw the Victoria Memorial and were surprised by all the surrounding green space in the middle of the city.

Below- The Impressive Victoria Memorial



Varanasi- I think that Varanasi in itself rather covered everything, mystic, mysterious, puzzling, bizarre and beautiful about India all in one stop. From people bathing, laundering, watering cattle and passing on to permanent repose on the ghats, to the tight, labyrinthine alleys of the town that backs them, there was absolutely always something new and possibly disturbing around the next corner.


Delhi- The backpacker ghetto of Delhi where we stayed was the typical slightly nightmarish collection of guesthouses, souvenir shops and bad cafes. We journeyed into two other parts of the city, one that felt like an Indian Dupont Circle, and the old city, where we saw the massive and very impressive Red Fort.



(above, the Taj, in a rare view without tourists all up in its grill)

Agra-Here we saw the Taj Mahal. Yes, it is amazing and absolutely worth seeing. The big negative is that the food here was on the whole, available only on the roofs of guesthouses and prepared by the owner’s wife/daughter/servant or whoever happened not to be sleeping. That is to say, it was mostly terrible, and one half of team GC was stricken with Delhi Belly here.

Jaipur- I’m not really sure what the big deal is about Jaipur. There was a lot of shopping and a few sights, but nothing to blog home about. Either that, or as one of us was still on the road to recovery, it was time to leave India.

Below, looking out at the Backpacker ghetto on our last night in India




SUMMARY ROUNDUP!

Highlights-

FOOD!-
(Below, Thali with my beloved, POORI!)


I would say we very, very rarely had a bad meal in India (Agra excepted). The mostly vegetarian South India food such as dosas, thalis, poori ( how I miss you already poori) idly etc repeatedly rocked our worlds. In fact, I would eat delicious fried puffy poori with curried potato every day if I could (those of familiar with my typical breakfast habits will understand the monumental nature of this statement). North Indian food was also good, but there was not the healthy preoccupation with hand washing, food purity, and general cleanliness that we found in the south. I suspect this may be why many people who visit the north fall ill.

MUSIC!
Music was ubiquitous all over India. Played in buses, on the street, from people’s windows, cellphones, or emitted from temples, music was a constant factor in daily life. As if by some strange magic, the music that filled that air always seemed to match and enhance the surroundings perfectly.

MOVIES!
Even the fleabag hotels we frequented had a t.v., which was awesome, since Indian t.v. is really pretty great. There are tons of Bollywood movies starring guys with pot bellies and impressive moustaches and beautiful ladies with huge glassine eyes, and if you wait long enough (or change the channel) you are bound to encounter a totally impressive dance number. As a filmmaker, I was impressed with how creative the India filmmakers are with their shot selection, and how much interest a little ingenuity can add.

TEMPLES!
Mystifying and absolutely different from anything I’ve seen, the holy places of Hinduism are rich in variety and all show astounding craftsmanship.

Below, Temple. Trichy.




SARIS
The variety of colors, fabrics, workmanship and the way the Indian women wear them make the sari a very beautiful thing indeed. It doesn’t seem like a long ream of fabric would translate into a gorgeous and functional outfit, but I’ve seen women wear them while accomplishing just about anything. Jewelry, particularly gold jewelry, is also an obsession here. I admired many a store window.

THE INFINITE!
Wait long enough on any corner in India, and something unusual (to you at least, foreign devil) will happen. Whether it will be a wedding parade, unusual vendor, unexpected camel, or goat and monkey show (really.), the possibility of the infinite means that there is rarely a dull moment. You can’t be bored. It is impossible.



Not So Highlights

Roads
In our short time in India, we experienced two bus accidents, one wrong way tuk-tuk scrape-up, and a fender bender. It’s not that people can’t drive, its that there are too many people, in an inexplicable hurry to get somewhere to presumably, continue sitting around. Being in traffic and walking anywhere near traffic was loud, suffocating, and dangerous.

Below- Millions of People + One Airshow + One Road = Big Troubles



"Hello! Which Country?"
Ah, the perpetual call of the hawker, beggar, tout. Entering into any conversation begun this way leads to the inevitable ask. It feels callous to repeatedly ignore other humans, but heeding the dozens of “Hellos” and requests for rupees or “one American coin for my son/daughter/ayurvedic specialist’s collection” each day is not an option. There is no good feeling way to handle it, you just do.

Noise-
Souped up car-horns, murders of screeching crows, calls to prayer at 5 a.m. India is a very noisy place. Luckily, there is Excedrin.

Delhi Belly-
No joke, it lasts for about four to five feverish days. Since we made it through almost seven weeks without incident, the worst part of DB is knowing that it would be avoidable if not for someone being careless or negligent with food prep.

Dirty Dirty-
One billion people create a lot of waste, and only in select parts of some of the biggest cities does there seem to be any system in place to deal with it. Most people, having no other option, toss their waste over the nearest wall or to the vacant lot or railway side. It’s not because people aren’t trying. I review my video clips, and in so many of the there is the ever present whisking sound of someone sweeping. But it’s not enough. Education, a willingness to try something new on the part of the populace, and a lot of labor could help stem the problem, but any change seems a long way off, if it ever happens.

So, as a final comment- Even having spent almost two months travelling all over India, I don’t feel like we’d even scratched the surface or come close to understanding how people think or what it would be like to live there as a normal resident. The caste system remained absolutely invisible to us. We could tell wealthy, poor and achingly poor, but that was it. Religious and ethnic differences were also obscure, (except when occasionally plainly obvious), which I mention only because these tensions and others seem deeply woven into daily life and strictly govern who you are in society and what you can do with your life. As a privileged westerner, I think it would be so tough to simply accept what you’re handed and just live on, but that is exactly what so many millions do here. Born with nothing, promised nothing, and given nothing better to hope for, people keep on keeping on.

Below, Life goes on, Varanasi

Sri Lanka Happens

It's been strange times in the last 72 hours or so. We've departed India and arrived in gorgeous, tropical Sri Lanka. The transition has been head spinning. Sri Lanka for one, has about 880 million less people than India (that's a book-learning fact, readers) so life here is not as frantic, loud, chaotic, or desperate. At least that's my initial view after seeing the capital city Colombo and coastal retreat Hikkaduwa. The people are very warm and laid back, and the land, sea and air are close to unspoiled. We love it here already.

What has been strange and heartbreaking has been the news from Japan. Having no T.V. or internets, we'd been oblivious to the news until a Swiss woman at breakfast approached us yesterday (probably thinking that YWL was Japanese) with the grim tidings. Sleeping eight feet from the water line had already assured that thoughts of tsunami were not far from our minds, but these dangers seem abstract until the worst happens (and typically the worst is always happening to someone far away in a foreign land). The Sri Lankans, having lost thousands in 2004, are especially sympathetic towards the situation faced by Japan. I'm hesitant to ask any of the locals about their experience in 2004, because I can't imagine that there is anyone here for whom that wasn't the worst day of their lives. It's just very sad to hear the news as it seems to continually worsen, but if Sri Lanka is any example, the worst of it will come to pass, people will recover, and life will again move on.

Full review of India to come including photo highlights. And of course, pics from Sri Lanka coming soon.

Taj Mahal!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Call me jaded, but I did not expect to be floored by the Taj Mahal.

We arrived in Agra by train, and tuk-tuked through grim, dusty streets to our hotel in the backpacker ghetto. We climbed up to the roof deck, and there it was, massive, yet delicate, bone white and mesmerizing. It was Friday when we arrived, the day the Taj is closed to visitors,meaning our first glimpse of it was uncompromised by the skittering masses of tourists that are on the monument from dawn till dusk.

Even at a distance, it is achingly beautiful. The semi-translucent marble changes with every type of light, delicately mirroring the color of the sky. Up close, you see the inlaid calligraphy and the myriad of tiny details that elevate it, in my opinion, above all other monuments. The walls are lavishly adorned with flowers formed from inlaid slivers of precious stones. The motif is duplicated both inside and outside the structure, ringing the minarettes and domes, transforming the entire edifice into a whimsical jewel box. Where there are not inlaid jewels, the marble is carved into flowers. Where there are not marble flowers, there are marble screens carved so finely that it looks like ivory wax.

The Taj Mahal is special because it is so uniquely feminine. Created by Shah Jahan for his wife Mumtaz (who died after giving birth to their 14th child), it is the only monument of its caliber that I can think of which honors a woman who was not a Greek goddess. That it seems so personalized to this woman in particular, and that after four hundered years it is absolutely pristine, is very moving. But more than that, the fact that it was created as a gesture of a great love between two humans, and not to god, country, or some other intent, that it is so powerful and unique. If we need a mark on the Earth to prove the depth and beauty of human love, you can find one, in India.


Yes, it's BIG!


Tower designed to tilt slightly outward, so in the event of an earthquake, they don't crush the world's fanciest box.


More proof that it is BIG!


Everything is marble, and every inch is decorated. You wear special booties inside to not mar the floors.



I've now come away with the strong feeling that a lot of the "Taj Mahal" Indian joints I've patronized in the past have been a bit over-reachy with their choice of nomenclature.

We've got video footage of a lot of the finer details from the Taj coming at some point in the future. Stay tuned!

Pics from the past...

There have been may internet dry spells here in India, so a few cities have gotten lost in the shuffle. Here are a selection of pics from the East Coast of India (about two weeks ago).



In bayside Pondicherry, we met the Temple elephant.

She has some very nice anklets and did not mind that I put a rupee in her trunk nostrils.


Below, the Bay of Bengal. This is about the time our second digital camera got its viewing window smashed in, so jumpy shots (well, all shots now) require some guess work. Only later when we view the images on the laptop do we see what we've gotten. It's almost like using film.




Captured below, a Bunny. And the skinny guy that's on all the money here. Ghandalf, or something...



Below, a very elaborate stone carving. Lots of masterful carving around here. Even the local guys selling trinkets on the street were still actively practicing the local art. Too bad heavy rocks and long journeys do not mix, or I would be the proud owner of a new stone Shiva.



The above and following pics are from beach side town Mamallapuram (or Mal, if you're lazy). We arrived just in time for a full moon festival on the beach. Evidently, the full moon is an auspicious time to get married. Being already married, we just checked out the gauntlet of vendors selling Indian knick-knacks to Indian folk. Seemed like everyone was having a great time, camping out on the beach, watching the musicians perform, and taking the occasional dip in the rough seas.


Above, beautiful, ephemeral art usually created with colored rice flour. Usually gracing doorways, they are meant to be enjoyed, and then destroyed.


Above, Young with another elephant. All the Hindu gods roll with style, so they've each got their own temple-chariots pulled by an animal familiar.

The goddess Parvati uses a lion. You may be as delighted as I was to learn that Ganesha, the elephant-headed God, is carted around in his chariot by... a mouse. I learned long ago from "Dumbo" that this is a questionable pairing.


Also at Mal, gorgeous Temples right on the water.


It is said that when the tsunami struck back in 2004, the receding waters briefly revealed temples even further out at sea, which had been hidden by the water.

Gloom Delhi

We're in New Delhi, and for the first time in more than a month, it is Raining. The rain has the undesirable effect of liquefying everything in the streets (yes, I mean poo) and the slippery conditions make the rickshaws, motorbikes, cars, cows etc more difficult to negotiate. But that hasn't stopped us from checking out a few sights, including the below:




It looks like a Mini Taj Mahal, but actually built first. In an interesting reversal of the Taj, this monument was commissioned by a woman for her husband.



There are also about 100 other important people lying rest there too. There is exceedingly lovely stone work all over the place.



Below, a photo I took of school kids taking a picture of me. META!



I've got a really huge backlog of photos to share, but here are just a few from Varanasi, which was beyond overstimulating.


Above, sunrise over the Ganges.

True believers, bathing and offering devotions to the rising sun.


We did see a handful of non-Hindu tourists taking a dip in the Ganges and photographing the process. Because we feared such an action would lead to a stomach parasite as large as the pictured python, we kept dry. I have no regrets.


There is a Varnasi video in the works, but until then, here is a rough clip.