In case you haven't been keeping up, the names of almost all the big Indian cities have changed. Think they're trying to get rid of the Englishized names.

OLD......................................NEW
Bombay.................................Mumbai
Madras..................................Chennai
Calcutta.................................Kolkata
Banaras.................................Varanasi
and the lastest change...
Bangalore..............................Bengaluru

I'm currently in the state of Tamil Nadu. Each state in India is pretty unique. And this one is one of my favs because of the temples.

temple detail

saddhus - wandering holy men

the lingum in the temple's sanctum

I just love the temples here. I could spend hours inside each one. It's like watching the circus.

When I lived in Kathmandu wore Indian style clothes everyday. Even doned the forehead dot & a gold nose ring.

Indian clothes for women are beautiful... soft silks, golden threads, pretty pinks & reds & lots of flowing fabric. Very feminine. Love 'em.

First thing when I got here, went out & bought an Indian style outfit. Not a sari - the more casual kameez sawar which is a dress worn over pants. But not a totally Indian looking one. The dress without the pants would easily fit in back home. And instead of pants, gotta a pair of leggings.

While playing dress up is fun, & again, Indian clothes for women are beautiful, it's important to me to remain true to my own style. I was 20 when I'd gone native but now when I look at the Westerners who've gone totally native, especially the men, they just look sad & lost to me.

And on a different note & know it sounds strange, but dressing too natively increases the harrasement. Dress too revealing & every man is undressing you with his eyes but dress to much like a local girl & you can see every man picturing your wedding.

Coconut trees maybe one of the world's most perfect creations... the uses are endless...

You can build an entire house with coconut trees - the tree trunk makes a good support beam & the leaves can be woven together for the walls & roof. Then you can furnish your new house with coconut furniture & baskets.

After you're done with all that work, you can take a shower with coconut soap & use coconut oil in your hair as conditioner.

Then when you're in your new house & all cleaned up you can invite the neighbors over & pick some more coconuts for the gang to drink. After the juice is gone you splice the coconut in half & cut a spoon outta the shell to eat the meat inside. Or if it's the harder stuff they're after, bring out the coconut whiskey made from coconut tree sap. Or if you're that kinda person, chew on the root for a mild narcotic effect.

And later when the neighbors are gone & you've drank too much & feeling suicidal because your life is all about coconuts, you can sit under the tree & wait for one to fall on your head & kill you.

A coconut tree can do everything.

My ideal travel companion is around in the morning & at night. With my afternoons free to talk with locals. But most of the time, that just doesn't work. With most other travelers & especially tourists, it's all or nothing.

Spent the past 10 days almost entirely with tourists. Don't get me wrong, enjoyable company. But today had to break free. Hit the "big city" (population 40,000) away from the tourist zone on my own. And it was like walking into an alternate reality! Total culture shock! And all the annoying things I'd previously become accustom to... like people stopping dead in their tracks to stare, every car honking at me & getting wrong directions from everyone... was completely overwhelming. But at the same time, the nice things... like an old woman stopping to ask if I like her country, teenage girls playing with my hair & an old man helping me cross a busy street... those were so utterly endearing.

While it's nice to be back in shorts & sans the fake wedding ring in my tourist bubble, I gotta remember where I am & be sure not to hide that long again.

Sri Lanka is hot.... very hot. 100 degrees & humid. My sweat rag (washcloth) is constantly in use. In fact, growing out my eyebrows again so the sweat stops running into my eyes. On the upside, discovered a new way to stay hydrated -- suck the sweat off my upper lip. Believe me, with this much sweat, it helps!

And I'm used to all that. But what really irks me, plastic chairs. For some insane reason the whole world loves plastic chairs. Plastic allows no air to pass & next to a hot ass results in SAS - 'sweaty ass syndrome' or when it's so bad it looks like you've peed in your pants, 'serious SAS'. Oh, how I love a nice wooden chair....

view from my balcony

view from my toliet!

My last hotel was perfectly acceptable - relatively clean, relatively flat bed, small view of the ocean. And I liked this town but was anxious to leave. My new hotel - very clean, very flat bed, great view of the ocean plus lots of light & hot(ish) shower. Not to mention it's $2.50 cheaper but it also has a fantastic view while from the toliet! (Waiting for the pervs outside to figure that one out!) But now... love this town... definately gonna spend the rest of my time here.

Beach paradise spots are not the place to meet locals. Or at least not normal ones... the only locals at the tourist beach spots are 'beach boys' who chase the foreign women & pathetic alcoholics that would chase the women if they could stand.

Beaches are the place to spend time with other travelers & tourists. And right now I'm hanging with a complete stereotype - 'Franz', an Austrian bodybuilder. And of course he knows my gov Arnie. But what keeps making me giggle (think old SNL)... I'm half expecting a brother Hans to show up & say "WE want to pump YOU up!"

Right now I'm at an internet cafe listening to a very nervous young man Skyping his Australian "girlfriend" & he seamlessly went from telling her he loves her to asking her to send $300.

Seen the situation with only slight variations everywhere. Normally the locals trolling for Westerners are either men or women, not both sexes. If you're a horny old woman, would highly recommend Egypt & if you're a man, Thailand is the place for you.

With the exception of the desperately poor local whose family has asked them to prostitute themself so that their younger siblings don't die, the rest of the local trolls make me sick. There's nothing about the situation that isn't wrong in my eyes.

As for the Westerners... they're either incredibly naive, ugly with a low self-esteem or quite old. In the case of the old ones, can almost, & I repeat, almost, bring myself to say "good for you". (Now that I'm getting older, think it's easier to see that side :))

But the naive ones, really, would like to slap 'em & say he's just using you! How can they not see that?! Does this Australian girl on the phone think it's normal that a guy she met for a few days is telling her he loves her & then asking for $300?? What is her problem? Why hasn't she hung up the phone already??? Wouldn't be at all surprised if after they hang up, he calls another Western "girlfriend" & then ask her for money.

Are people really that stupid????

Really, thought the war in Sri Lanka was basically over. And it is. But never anticipated the rebels going out with a major fight.

When I arrived they were bombing the capital. And yesterday bombed the city I'm headed to next which is only 30 minutes away. They always had a policy to avoid hurting tourists. But they're getting sloppy in their desperate last attempts. Scary.

Know it sounds strange, but I'm just not a beach person. Love the sounds of the ocean. Love the majesty of the sea. Like morning or evening walks along the surf. But swimming... after a short time, bores me. And I'm too afraid of wrinkles to like sun bathing. I'm just not a beachy person.

I've got 8 more days in Sri Lanka & have seen all the cultural sites... that stuff excite me. So guess I'm stuck chillin' in my hammock awhile longer~ And although that sounds so peaceful, today had to chase away a nasty little boy who started masturbating behind me~

Got tiny size 6 feet but in hot, humid climes... my feet get fat & I get cankles! Gets even worse when sitting for a long time or drinking. In Cambodia used to sit around drinking & watching my feet swell! Well it happened again from yesterday’s 10hr long, hot train journey~ Luckily, seen a US doc about it & it's nothing a little medicine can't fix. And over the years I've mastered explaining the symptoms to pharmacists using only charades. So now I'm off to mime for meds...

Really lovin' the buses here. Not too sure why...

First, they're ridiculously slow. A 30 mile trip takes about 2hrs. The roads aren't too bad, just narrow, winding & all go thru lots of small towns. But since its such a small island, there's never that far to go.

And the buses are super packed. Apart from the luggage, fruit & occasional livestock, there's also people standing two across in the center aisle. So unless you get on at the beginning of the journey, it's standing room only. People often take one bus to the beginning point of the same bus so they can get a seat. But nicely, if you're an old person, woman with a baby or a foreign girl, someone will usually give their seat to you.

And there's tons of police check points. Every hour or so you have to get off the bus, show your identification and have your luggage searched. (All because of the ongoing war.)

But what I really love - the price. My last journey was 4hrs & paid the most so far $1.60. All the others have been under $1.

Tomorrow I'm leaving from a city in the far north & heading all the way to the coast in the far south. But this time I'm gonna try the train. Leaves at 5am & takes 9-10hrs. Yuck. Plus no air conditioning & it's about 100 degrees. Not looking forward to that. But the following day, will be relaxing it all away at the beach :)

With the whole financial mess not many people are thinking of traveling. But if you can, now is the time.

The dollar hasn't been this strong in ages. The dollar's trading significantly higher against most currencies than it was just last year. Thailand for example is currently 20% cheaper than it was a year ago due to the great rate of the dollar.

But that's not all. With a large percentage of people canceling their vacations, hotels that deal mostly with foreign tourists are desperate for any business they can get. So in countries where you can bargain, you can really bargain the rooms down. Right now I'm paying half of the normal going rate for my hotel. And as things get direr for these hotels, I expect them to accept lower & lower offers.

Unfortunately transportation prices haven't come down yet to reflect the current petrol costs. But still...

Now is the time to travel!