Milestone Complete! Visa Application

The Canadian Passport has until this trip represented a wonderful privilege. I have been travelling hassle-free for quite a few years now. I don't know what's happened on this trip. Ghada's been gloating she managed to get us tickets for $1800. But factor in those Visa costs, and the price has shot up.

A visa, thanks to our forward thinking PM, to the UAE has suddenly become necessary. $250 CAD.

A visa to India, $80.

The visa to the UAE went out 2 weeks ago. It hasn't been sent yet to the UAE for processing.

The visa to India went out 3 days ago, and they're already ready for pick-up.

Some Pointers for those applying for a visa to India:
1- Don't be Pakistani
2- Don't be Pakistani
3- If you're looking to get a picture for the application, get it at the Visa Center. It costs less than Walmart, and Walmart's cheat-sheet of picture sizes is not up to date. I assume the same would be true for other photo-centers.
4-Did I mention: Don't be Pakistani

Next on the list of To-Dos: Vaccination. Vaccination. Vaccination. I'll let Ghada figure that one out, she needs to start pulling her weight on the planning, and anyways, she's the bio-chemist.

Those dastardly AUMS

Some time back, in one of those 'I need an explosion of sensory stimulation' phases, I was renovating my condo, and was left with the choice of sleeping on the streets or taking refuge in Ghada's apartment, or should I say, the couch (I was constrained within a 1m radius from the couch- that was my space).

Ghada had gotten into one of her Spiritual phases with some Guru or another and she had joined one of those evening Yoga type retreats, where she learned how to A-U-M. I write the letters separately, as Ghada explained to me that as one A-U-Ms, one should dedicate equal time enunciating each letter.

I should say that for the longest time, I couldn't decide which wake up call got more under my skin, the repetitive tune that my Blackberry played, or those morning A-U-Ms. This Guru apparently transformed Ghada's life, and she no longer needed to stay in Bed well into the early afternoon. No- she was up at 7:00am, daily.

She would flip anytime I so much as made a little sound. I could not distract her. Nor could I snicker, or make any sound she would interpret as a snicker. Truth be told, I never did snicker (well maybe I did the first time, but that was only because she wouldn't stop bursting out every time she started the routine).

Something happened in the months that followed, and I grew quite accustomed to those A-U-Ms. There was something strangely soothing about them. And then suddenly they stopped, and she's returned to the habit of waking up in the early afternoon.

Will this India trip bring them back? And why ever did Ghada stop in the first place? 

The Picture in question

This is the picture that Ghada is making reference to. And yes, I love monkeys! So much so, we are going to make a stop at the Monkey Temple!

Ghada: Mumtaz Mahal?

I think I was Indian in my previous life. I am sure if I go see a hypnotist (my indian summer student keeps telling me strange stories to that end) , I would discover that I may really have been the reason the Taj Mahal was built. Who knows? I will let you know if I experience some déjà-vus.

I am fascinated by the indian culture, the food, the colors, the people well, the men, but then again that’s another story, and it also involves Gaby. All this has been a manifestation, I believe, a preparation of what is yet to come. Visiting India has always been on top of my bucket list and who better to do it with than my incestuous lover?

I like living in the moment, Gaby is right. But Gaby is not someone who usually delves deeper than what his eyes meet or his tongue tastes, so his knowledge on this attribute stops at that observation. I enjoy whatever the moment brings me even if it really brings nothing or as Gaby probably means, no outside stimulation. Gaby doesn’t like to listen to himself, he just prefers the outside stimulation. He has been insisting on seeing Jaipur’s monkeys and keeps bugging me to ask my Indian student where he can have a fun time with them. Again external stimulation. Well, to be fair, it may be reminding him of his last visit to India when he was a toddler. I remember seeing a photo of him with a monkey on his shoulder. Gaby is truly a tender animal loving soul, he’s just bitchy to humans.

I am not a strict planner, I’d like to have my flight booked, know which cities I will be visiting and get my hotels reserved. The rest I leave to fall into place. And I look forward to what every moment brings me even if it is nothing (according to Gaby), peace (according to me). So that was exactly what I did. While Gaby was surfing the web in search of ruins to see in India, and overwhelming my mailbox with places HE wanted to see, begging me to agree with HIS ideas of discovering India, I was booking our cheap Air France flights. I got an amazing deal from my wonderful travel agent. Her name is Ghada but calls herself Gaby, a strange coincidence. She gave us a round trip including stopovers in Lebanon and Dubai for only 1800 cdn! I then got in touch with a local Indian travel agent and wrote to a guide highly recommended by a good friend of mine. Basically, we have been back and forth or should I say, Gaby took over emailing back and forth the agent in India. I am afraid I will need to take control of this situation before the guy tells us to f-off. Gaby’s demands are sometimes sexually driven like his compulsion on visiting the erotic ruins of Khajuraho.

I am excited about Darjeeling. Tiger Hill sunrise, Toy Train rides, sipping tea. But most of all, I can’t wait to visit the monasteries, probably hike there and feel the vibrations of the world, perhaps even Gaby will utter an Aum!

Travel Philosophies...

One of the core issues that Ghada and I have to work on for this trip is our fundamentally different outlooks on Travel.

Ghada wants to live in the moment.

Just days ago, I sat through a Myers-Briggs test for one of those personal development course at work. There's all sorts of questions on what type of personality you are. Are you spontaneous. Do you like to plan. Yadda-Yadda.

I'm spontaneous. Unless I'm planning a trip.

I like to go with the flow. At least that's what I like to tell myself.

Ghada really is spontaneous. She really does just go with the moment. I wonder if she ever worries that the moment will come and go, and bring nothing along with it.

I like contingencies.

Can't I be both spontaneous, as well as organised?

I also have something to say about this whole New York Smoked Meat. Does one go to Champagne in France, and not drink Champagne? Does one visit Brussels and not eat pralines? Or Moules-Frites? Does one visit Scotland and not taste its Scotch?

I hate Scotch, but rest assured I drank it in Scotland. Isn't that part and parcel of the travel experience?

It's cliche. But what's wrong with Cliche?

And before Indians rise up against this following point, I shall say it. God-darn it Ghada. We're eating Butter Chicken and Goat Vindaloo in India. Not McDonalds Fries!

The Hats Off post

Before we move any further, both Ghada and I owe special thanks for the Artwork that adorns the top of the page.

Her punky pal, Melone, is responsible for la Piece de Resistance that is Ghada.
http://perhapseverywhere.blogspot.com/2011/06/day-7.html

While D-Tchao is responsible for the "Gabaloo" bindi that decorates Ghada's forehead.

Many thanks chaps for your contributions! 

The Itinerary... and the tough decisions (says the Garbz)

So here's the dilemma. Mumbai is a a must-stop. After all, without Mumbai and the wedding, there would not have been an India trip this year. 

Ghada has set her heart on Jaipur (I hope that in due course to know why precisely that city has figured so powerfully in her imagination). Then she wanted to throw a trip to Nepal into the mix. But the trip has not yet started and she has already started being difficult. She wants to spend time in Lebanon, and since Time, like Matter cannot be created, nor destroyed, only transferred or transformed... what extra time she spends in Lebanon comes at the expense of time spent in India. 

So we have from the 1st of September, till the 14th of September. And our hands are tied until the 5th with commitments for The Wedding. This leaves us with time between the 6th and the 14th to see what we must. 

A few points:

1.  I have given up trying to plan, as I typically do, the trip by myself. Navigating the world-wide web in search for clues on how to plan a trip to India has left me more frustrated than anything. How can a distance of 250km, as it appears on my beloved Google Maps really take 5 hours.
2. How can a train ride from Delhi to Jaipur be an almost 24 hour affair. 

and on and on. 

I figured that with so little time on our hands, the focus of the trip should be in the Jaipur-Agra-Delhi triangle. We could hire a car and driver (strange thought), and have the liberty of seeing as much as we could in the area. But the mountains were big on my list of priorities, and Ghada wants to Ummm, (no really, she wants to "Ummm") in some remote monasteries. 

Shimla is high up in the mountains, it is where the British retreated for the hot summers. It's close (relatively) to the triangle. That's an option. 

But my heart has been set on a visit to Darjeeling. If I can't be in Everest, shouldn't I at least see it- from a distance? 

Try to figure out how to actually get to Darjeeling. For a country with over a billion people, it seems not all towns have Daily flights. Our time is short. Our options are limited. 

Then there is Khajuraho (shown in map below as a red cross). It is home to the temples of love. It seems to be at least on the way to final destinations. But throwing it into the itinerary seems to be creating more problems. 

I cannot be as ambitious in my plans as I typically am. 

(The trip hasn't even started yet, and does one sense a lots of "I"s?)

The way she sees it....

I love Gaby I really do. He's my favorite cousin and he is also my friend, we've shared good times and bad...but...Gaby snores. He snores so bad. He snores like an elephant, I sometimes feel like smothering him with a pillow... When I travel with Gaby I am sleep deprived. When I'm sleep deprived I'm not happy. But I suffer in silence, because apart from those monstrous sounds, he sleeps like an angel, a smile on his face, his mouth open, his legs spread apart, his undies showing and he often sleep walks and munches on chocolate. Never ever leave chocolate boxes unattended at night if you're hosting gaby unless he's tied up, in an s&m way if you like why not he may not mind. Needless to say, Gaby wakes up hungry as I continue to sleep in for a few more snoreless hours. But Gaby is craving macarons and he is not shy to show it and I creep out of my bed to succumb to his desires.. Gaby needs to find the best macaron shop in every city he visits and strongly believes that I should be sharing his passion that i should also be enjoying New York's smoked meat, Iron Chef Mario Batali's Babbo, he just can't seem to see travelling through my eyes. I just want to chill. I want to walk around, discover a crappy food place, feel sick, continue walking, chat with a random person, have a drink, I want to be surprised, enchanted, Gaby baby you know me so well you say or do you?

Thoughts on the trip- The Garbz's point of view

If there is something that must be said, before all else, it is that Ghada and I enjoy a special relationship. We get along superbly well, we enjoy each others' company- so much so, we typically spend an inordinate amount of time together. We are family of course, to boot.

But there is something we have just not been able to make work, and that is working or travelling together. Some years ago, we embarked on an Amazing Race that nearly ripped the very fabric of our relationship to pieces.

And then, there have been our mini-trips together. Once to Pittsburgh, a few other times to the Big Apple. Throw in, for good measure, a trip to Lebanon.

I think we both want those trips to be, well... swell. But somehow they never seem to work. It seems to me, most days, that Ghada's idea of a trip is to compare and contrast which city offers the most comfortable beds in their budget hotels. Left to her own devices, we'd be out of the hotel at 2 in the afternoon.

I of course am up at 4 in the morning, and survive on 3 hours of sleep a night.

So what possessed me to agree to this mad idea. A trip to India. Where I must leave my good manners in Canada before I board the Air France flight to Mumbai on August 31st? And without my good manners, what will save the day? Will blood prove thicker than water? Will this trip spell the end of this relation?

Keep Reading...

The Setup

Something crazy is about to happen. The Garbz and Ghada are about to venture into a trip together. More on that later.

For now, we simply set up the premise.

Samir (Christopher) is about to jump off the cliff, tie the knot. Venue: Bombay/Mumbai India.

So off will Ghada and the Garbz go, and these pages will chronicle our adventures, from each of our points of view.

Sit back, put your seatbelts on, and enjoy the journey!

Signed: Ghada and the Garbz.