And the shopping continues..

The food here has been pretty good and so cheap - dining is half the fun of vacation! Breakfast is intense here though - masala dosa, puri, potato curries and even fried food for breakfast! No wonder India is the diabetes capital of the world!

We went to khane a couple of times in Goa which was nice - there has been a khane in every city we've been to so far. We will be celebrating Khushali in Delhi but apparently there are fewer Ismailis there.

We met up with Alkarim Devanis family when we got back to Mumbai who were such kind and caring people. They were offended that we didn't stay with them but we had everything pre-booked with a travel agent so couldn't change much after the fact. Where they live is so cool - its an Ismaili "society" as they call it - there around ~ 6 apartment buildings in the complex and every single person that lives in that area is Ismaili - ~1000 people. They have there own khane (mosque) there too but unfortunately we spend most of our time shopping that we missed khane.

I am officially exhausted from shopping! But the good news is that I have gotten all of my wedding events outfits (puro, reception, wedding, mendhi, green saree, etc). But still have to get blouses sewn, more bangles and shoes and stuff for my family. Adam is one heck of a soldier - he has been there with me through the whole thing and barely complained. We were so intense that we usually skipped a meal to get stuff done and the sales staff at Seasons and Bawree boutique in Mumbai knew us by name! We really didn't see much of mumbai b/c its takes too long to get around and we definately did not have the energy to check out the nightlife, which is unfortunate.

FYI on the shopping front - if you are looking for really nice stuff, my favorites were Seasons and bawree in santa cruz - all operate on a fixed price basis which is good and bad - its not exhausting to shop but not cheap. Of course, there is Millionaire in juhu but that was super overpriced for the amount of work. Got one saree from satye paul so far - gotta check other cities now! Other apparently good places for shopping are Linking road and elco arcade in bandra. We never really got a chance to give it a good shot though.

We just got to jaipur this morning which is super hot! The rest of India has been okay so far esp since the monsoon is here which cools the place down like crazy. India is dirty already and the rain make it dirtier but the temp is very nice.

Shopping frenzy

We are now in Goa! Its a pretty nice place but its off season so most of the guests are Indian tourists. We are staying at a resort but its a bit secluded and hard to get around. The monsoon has definately hit Goa but it doesn't rain all day which is nice. It actually cooler which is nice.

Our train ride from Puna to Goa was quiet interesting! At first we were dreading the overnight sleeper train but it turned out to be an interesting experience. The man sitting across from us was so fascinated that we were from Canada but looked Indian and he just made himself at home with us! Midway through the ride, he started doing Yoga on his bed then asked if he could read one of my books. The book he was reading was "Dental Practice Management" which he read outloud and commented on anything interesting he read although I was reading my own book at the time. We wish we could have taken pictures of him but it would have been too obvious.

I went on a shopping frenzy in Pune so its nice that there is some downtime in Goa! I did most of my shopping on a street called Laxmi Road and MG road. On MG road, I did 100% of my shopping at one store called Anchaal. We are going back to Mumbai soon where I have to get the rest of my wedding stuff so its going to be a hectic 3 days!

So far we have been safe but there was one Rikshaw driver that scared the shit out of us b/c he kept asking about our blood type. We thought he might take us to the hospital to give blood or something so we just got his to stop, paid him and took another one from a nice hotel.

Incredible India!!!

Greetings from India!

We are now in Pune which is a few hr train ride from Mumbai. Mumbai was a very interesting city - so many frickin people! 20 million to be exact! There are ppl everywhere at every hour.
The first day we went sightseeing with a guide - saw a lot of places that were in Slum dog millionaire including the famous laundry area (dhobi ghat?!), Haji Ali mosque, Elephanta Caves, Gateway of India, Hanging garden, etc etc. It was cool to have a guide b/c he explained a lot of things that we would have never know about and got the driver to take us to see Amitabachan's house! Old and new house! His house was not what I'd expect - nothing crazy at all but apparently the real estate is insanely expensive - between $1000 - $2000/sq foot. Thats worse than Trump tower!

The second day was an entire day of shopping! Poor Adam! He's the best fiance ever! Don't think too many guys could put up with my indecisiveness and he actually has good feedback to give! Mumbai has some beautiful clothing and is heaven for shopping but not cheap at all. I have mostly browsed so far and got an idea of whats out there but I managed to already buy my wedding saree for khane (mosque) which I love and another random saree. So much choice - it is overwhelming!

At first it seemed really hot but now we've adjusted to the temp and its really not that bad so far. However, it gets super hot in Jaipur and Agra so that will be the real test of whether or not we can handle it! India smells like everyone says but it reminds us of thailand and other 3rd world countries we've been too. Much to our suprise, it did not smell like someone took a shit right outside the plane like Russel Peters said!

Last post from Ecuador!

So today is our last day of our vacation - so sad =( Its been a fun 3 weeks with lots of ups and unfortunately a couple of downs. Actually its been almost 5 weeks for me but time flew by so quickly. The thought of going back to school is horrifying though and I don´t think I remember anything about the oral cavity right now! The first week back will be very interesting!

We came back from Banos this morning which seems to be a vacation spot for Ecuadorians. It has several natural hot springs and a lot of spas in town! So you can only guess what I spent the day doing - Beautify-ing myself! Since it was so damn cheap and I couldn´t decide what services to do, I basically decided to do them all! The day started off with a eucalyptus (sp!) steam, body scrub, milk and rose water bath, fruit body wrap, body massage and then a facial! But that wasn´t enough so this morning I went to the spa in our hotel for a manicure and pedicure! So much fun! In case anyone ever decides to go there, stay at the Sangay Spa and Hotel NOT Hotel Palace like the lonely planet suggests - we stayed at both and Sangay was much nicer.

If we had another day, I really wanted to go Swing jumping which is a less intense bungie jumping but we didn´t have time and Adam didn´t want me to do it. I chose the spa over extreme sports! Now your question must be, what the heck was Adam doing while I was spa-ing it up?! He basicallly was in the room with me reading a book for over 3 hrs and didn´t complain at all - what a good boyfriend! I tried to convince him to join me for some services but he´s burnt (yes, i know - how do brown ppl burn?!) and he hates other ppl touching him so no massages.

Today we are back in Quito and just chilling out before our 2nd dance class and our flights are at 6:30 am so it will be a super early morning and I fly to Toronto and Adam is flying to Calgary so its gonna be a long ass 15 hours. See you all when I get back!

Capital of Ecuador

So Quito is a pretty cute city and way more modern than any of the cities in Peru! Its very American-ized esp compared to Peru and Brazil but then again, there is no Ecuadorian currency - they use American dollars which is so odd but sometimes you get a mix of Ecuadorian coins and american coins for change. Who knows - random.

We did a whirlwind of sightseeing today - went to check out the Historic centre, the view from a famous monument and we went to the centre of the world - actually! There is a spot just outside Quito that is at the equator, where you can be in two hemispheres at the same time! Yes, its geeky but its a touristy thing to do so we went.

The most interesting part of our day was taking a private salsa class at a Dance school in the Mariscal district of Quito - we have a long way to go but we are signed up for another class with the same teacher on Thurs when we get back from Banos, which is a city known for its spas and hot springs! Should be a relaxing few days!

Tarantulas aint got nothin on Peruvian Muggers

Thank god we are okay after the worst minute of my entire life. We arrived in Tumbes, which is at the Peru and Ecuador border. On our way to the bus station really early in the morning, we got attacked by two Peruvian guys who jumped out of a Tuk-tuk (like the ones in Thailand). I barely remember what exactly happened but they jumped out of a moving tuk-tuk and tried to grab Adams backpack. Adam basically fought one of the guys off who might I add the most impt detail - he attacked Adam with a knife to his face. It wasn´t a pocket knife - it was almost a machete. The most vivid image is of the two guys just standing and staring at us as they ran back to the tuk-tuk after Adam fought them off. I think the second guy pushed me over bc i got up from the ground but it all happened so fast that i barely remember. Holy shit - it feels like a dream now that i´m writing about it...like it never actually happened. We are still wondering how something worse didn´t happen and how we managed to keep all of our possessions. The bag that they went for had most of our money and passports bc it was so early that we hadnt put our money belts on yet. Then to make matters worse, the precisely planned journey to Machala, a city in Ecuador was ruined b-c the stupid bus company did not follow there bus schedule online and we had yet another journey across the border bc we had a plane to catch at 10:30 am and the bus (safest option) wouldn´t get us there til 12. We were willing to screw the flight but the reason it was booked that way was b-c it was the only one that day and its a small city and small ass airport. Well, all and all we are both safe and sound and there is no need to worry. So much for brazil being such a dangerous place - I have heard first hand stories about worse things happening in Peru from various travellers, so we are just glad that it wasn´t as bad as it could have been. While others are getting engaged on vacation, we are getting mugged!

Ne ways, prior to all this, we spend 3 nights in the Amazon jungle along the Tambopata river which is a tributary of the amazon river. Well, what can I say..I had looked forward to the amazon since I learned about it in elementary school and was especially excited to see toucans in the wild! However, it was much different than expected and we were looking forward to getting away from all the fricken creapy crawler critters of the jungle! Yes, we saw tarantulas but not in our lodge (thank god!). We saw a bunch of different birds, monkeys, white camon alligators, snakes (no vipers or boas) but little snakes and a few other animals. However, compared to an african safari, which of course i am aware is COMPLETELY different, there were far fewer animals to see. It was a good experience overall but not sure if its a must-do in Peru. We met some really nice girls from the US which made the 4 days more enjoyable and our tour guy was cool - JACKSON! He was fricken hilarious and we learned more about Peruvian ppl in those 4 days than I learned in 2 weeks. However, my view of Peruvians is now tainted after our experience this morning.....

We are now in Ecuador, safe and sound, in our nice comfortable hotel esp in comparison to our jungle lodge where there wasn´t always reliable power and water and a daily run in with some ugly bug in the bathroom or spider greeting us at our door. Quito is cool so far but we are really paranoid which I hope will fade. Hope everyone is keeping well....

Wow and wow again

We just back from our Machu Pichu tour and all I can say is Wow! Pictures do not do justice to this crazy ancient Inca city..it was crazier than both of us expected. It is surrounded by beautiful lush jungles in between several mountains. The city itself it at a high altitude but you can hike up and get the ¨postcard¨views of Machu Pichu. Right when you get there, you see exactly why its one of the Seven wonders of the world and the fricken early morning was so worth it! Early means we got up at around 4 am and were waiting in line by 5 am for the first few buses to Machu pichu from the neighbouring town. We got just before sunrise which is the best way to see it b/c the ancient Inca worshiped the Sun and it was built stratigically. The arcitecture is amazing and it is mind blowing how they could have built something with so many stones. They think that it took 94 years to build and is earthquake, flood and landslide proof.


To get better views, you can do several alternative hikes after your guided tour. The most popular is Wayna pichu, which is where you climb a small mountain next to Machu pichu to get cool views of it but its the busiest and they restrict the number of ppl on it. We decided to do another one called Inkatipu (or something like that) and its a hike that connects with the Inca trail. View from the top near what they call the Sun gate is the typical view you see in postcards.

Ne ways, you just have to see `Machu pichu for yourself one day. Its so beautiful that a guy in our tour group proposed to his girlfriend at sunrise. It was very public but cool nevertheless.

We met a bunch of random ppl - we spend a lot of time with two ppl in our tour group - an American and an Aussie. And speaking of Americans, we starting talking to the most random group of ppl in the Hot springs in the town that is closest to Machu Pichu. We met this guy who has been in movies with Michael J Fox, Al pacino etc but I swear me had Gynecomastia..I love that word - it basically means he had Man boobs and him and his likely gay friend were talking about how they could get steriods in peru to bring back to the states. Ne ways, I guess you just had to meet these characters. I still haven´t writen about Cusco but I have to go pick up my laundry from the lady who I am positive is ripping me off! Off to the jungle tomorrow