[First of all, yes, I've been seriously MIA. Even been debating shutting down this whole blog. Cause, well... lost interest. But one thing it was always good for was releasing some steam. And now, need to rant a bit so let's see... maybe this will get me in the swing of writing again.]

So anyway... hate tourist season!

Foreign tourists jack up all the prices. Hotels get filled & the ones with rooms charge double or triple. In one town not far heard they'd increased hotels by 10x! When you're talking about a $2 room going to $20, it's not a big deal for those on a two week holiday going back to a job & salary. But for me, and the majority of other tourists here in India, it's a budget blower. And these two-weekers, aren't too concerned when a ride or a pineapple goes from $0.50 to $1.50. And most of the drivers and pineapple sellers know that if you won't pay their price, all they have to do is wait 5 minutes for a different tourist that will pay that price. Can't wait, another week & the craziness should start calming down!

But it's these god damn Indian tourists that really piss me off. So I'm at a nice chill beach now. But on the weekends, car loads of Indian men come hootin' & hollerin' down the road, thinking this quaint, quiet little town is Vegas. And this place, well, becomes a cesspool. And why they come here... specifically to look at Western women in bikinis!

There are actually two beaches here. One with a step 30 minutes climb up & down a mountain that most Indians don't go to (too lazy?) -- that's my swimming beach. But the other beach has trees -- that's my laying in the hammock beach. So this past Thursday, walked the hour to the hammock beach & found a thousand Indian men on it. Turned out it was some random Indian holiday. Since I had fairly conservative clothes on, just wanted to read & nap in the swaying trees, decided they wouldn't bother me too much. But as soon as I got settled, 15 really drunk men surrounded me & kept repeating "one kiss"! It was one of the scariest moments of this trip! I jumped up, screamed for help while digging out my pepper spray... & even after I told them I'd hurt them with the spray all theses assholes did... step back 20 feet. And among the 1,000 men on the beach, only one man with his young son came to help! I told him to call the police & it was only when I took out the camera & told the men I'm going to take your photo to show the police did they run away. Did notice one sneak back 5 minutes later to grab the rest of their beer. And the police... never showed up!

So this was two days ago, think it might have ruined the town for me. But my next destination, still filled with the two-weekers & over priced hotels. Guess I'm kind of stuck for a week, hating seriously hating tourism. (And yes, I realize the irony.)

So to get you up to date... entered Nepal on a high. Had taken a long overnight train out of Delhi then at 4am got off & bought a sliver of a seat in a car the size of a Mini for a 3hr trip to the Nepal border. And by sliver, I mean, 8 other people plus me! But it was great... music blaring, the driver flying like a bat out of hell & the other passengers amazed at the white girl speaking Nepali. And when I got to the border... was so excited, sang & danced an old Nepali song for the immigration officials. Then laughed hysterically with them!

And my first town... a semi-modern village where the Buddha was born. Luckily the town was nice & everyone overly willing to help me with the Nepali I'd forgotten because the archeological site where the Buddha was born was totally anti-climatic.

When I left that town, was still on a total high about being back in Nepal after 16yrs. The journey to Kathmandu only added to the high. Because I "could speak good Nepali" actually got to pay less the regular price. A few hours into the trip had the only other tourists on the bus ask for my help (because of the language) & then convinced them to sit on the top of the bus with me. There's nothing like sitting on the top of a bus with the wind in your hair, plus occasional pouring rain, viewing some of the most spectacular scenery in the world while sipping wine that they generously shared. A total high!