[click to zoom]

[click to zoom]

[click to zoom]

[click to zoom]

[click to zoom]

[click to zoom]

[click to zoom]

[click to zoom]

[click to zoom]

January 23-29, 1999

We parted ways with the Dutchman and the four of us (Jeff, Mike, Josh, and now Rochelle) took an 18-hour train from the southern tip to the fourth largest city in India - Madras. We tried to book a room for the evening and found that although the price ranged from 250 to 1500 rupees, the quality of the rooms ranged from crappy to dumpy. When we finally found a place that had four beds in one room, the not-so-kind, unhelpful hotel manager would only let three of us stay in one room that had four beds, and made us book a second room that, in the end, went unused. We went to see the sights of Madras using Josh as our tour guide; (Josh had spent 3 months here while in college 2 years ago). Josh's tour went something like this: first and foremost, a delicious all you can eat thali at the Karpagam, a restaurant Josh had been talking about since the Gokyo Resort. He said it was, undisputedly, the "best" thali he had ever had in all of India. It was pretty good, but six weeks of thali meals had slightly jaded all of us. Second on the tour, was Josh's favorite carpet shop, but once again six weeks of carpet shops had slightly jaded all of us. We decided that before we would drop twice the amount of money we had spent in two months of living in India on a carpet, one would need a house to lay it in, and not have a small Chihuahua that likes to pee on carpets. As that was the end of Josh's tour, Jeff took over as guide and led us to a cybercafe and then back to the hotel for a nap!

Before our tour we went to the Madras train station with dread weighing heavily on our heads. As you have already read numerous times, the train station ticketing event can often be as grueling as say… removing your own tonsils without Novocaine. It can take 5-6 hours to get or sometimes not get one ticket, and we had to purchase 3 tickets a piece. We sat in the entrance, got some coffee and psyched ourselves for our attack. We were not altogether surprised to find that there was a "tourist" office. We had encountered "tourist" offices before in both Delhi and Jodhpur, and thought we knew what to expect. Delhi had been the easiest place to purchase train tickets so far, and it took us two hours with only one complication (being sent to the wrong office initially by a commissioned street tout). Jodhpur had the nicest tourist waiting room by a long shot, but for those who have read that story we will not repeat the insanity involved in buying tickets at the Jodhpur station, other than to say buying tickets there is no simple task. With these past experiences in mind we didn't expect much from the Madras "tourist" office. We encountered a situation that made our jaws hang open and we nearly fell to our knees with amazement. The woman running this "tourist office" booked all 12 of our tickets within 45 minutes. This time frame included checking the computer for other trains that might work for our needs (an unheard of occurrence), helping other travelers while we discussed among ourselves the possibilities she presented to us and she even allowed us to pay by travelers check. We were so impressed that we told the woman she should not only be in charge of the Indian Railway, but perhaps the whole Indian Government. We had spent about an hour researching the train schedule and were planning to go to Bangalore form Madras around January 31st, and then head up north to Katmandu from there on the 5091(the Bangalore to Lucknow train). The train queen told us that the train was full, but that we could get to Lucknow on February 2nd from Madras. Obtaining this information would normally taken standing in 7 lines, filling out 4 forms, listening to 6 "not possibles" and basically numerous hours of headache. We ended up booking a round trip ticket from Madras to Bangalore and a separate ticket from Madras to Lucknow.

In Bangalore, we got to stay with a family friend and Minnesota native - Mike Schloff and his wife of four months - Liz Hochberg. Mike and Liz are also on a seven-month expedition. They are living in Bangalore, "the Silicon Valley" of India, where Liz is working as a volunteer in India's large non-profit social industry; and Mike is on retainer to recruit programmers for a New York computer company. At first we felt a little awkward about showing up at their apartment with four of us, but they assured us it was "no problem." After we found out the Vikings choked, we planned on spending two days in Bangalore and then heading back to Madras. Upon arrival, the lack of sleep, excessive travel and greasy train food caught up to us. Mike and Jeff got sick., after three and one-half months of relatively perfect health. Mike became sick with stomach problems and Jeff with fever and chills. Rochelle and Josh decided to leave the two invalids in Bangalore to recover for a few extra days, and head south to Mahabalapuram. The four travelers planned to meet for a reunion dinner two days later at the Karpagam. On the upside, these two extra days allowed Mike and Jeff to celebrate Mike's (Schloff) 30th birthday. The four of us, Mike S, Liz, Mike and Jeff, went to the cousin of the Taj hotel in Mumbai - The Taj West End - where we had a great Thai meal- prepping us for the coming journey into Thailand.