It wasn't long after accepting raveeshes offer that we were thrust into a new and exciting part of the city. Raveesh drove us around in his car to find a doctor, we needed to see one who could (evaluate our health) for the trek without doing anything but signing our papers ^^ after a while of searching we finally did find such a doctor and paid (the price) for them.As we would soon learn of India all things are possible but are much more likely to occur with the proper application of a candy coated voice and an underhanded bill or two. Then it was off to get our photos taken and our id's copied for record, he also showed us where to eat and what to do in case of whatever situation he could think of might occur.At the end of the day we were more concerned with sleep than anything else, it had been a long 48 hour day, spanning 3 countries, 12 k miles, 3 planes and multiple time zones, at the end of which the discription of our body and minds would understanably be (the walking dead). We tried to go to sleep but somehow awoke every single hour and simulaniosly looked at each other and then our watches then back at each other, each time adding another layer of total bewildermint to our already lost expressions. To us it was hard to tell wether or not we had slept into the new day or had merely had a magical glimpse of rest that had given the illusion of a nights peace.A few hours past and then (the snoring) A man laying on the other sife of us began emitting this very particular noisey snore, which in and of itself wasn't so much of a bother, what really set it apart from anything else Id ever experienced was its rythme! By god such a procession couldn't truely be human! I swear this man had somehow overcome human biological possibility by this act.His snore was such that it completely ignored the need to exhale after the initial inhalation, thus a constant inhaling snore was heard uninteurrpted for several hours, until finally a draft from within the builing cause our door to slam shut anf then thanks to whatever god or godess was at the helm during that night, the man turned in his bed and fell silent. During the last part of that nightmarish period I had been lying awake staring blankly in his direction both in shock and total disbelief at the situation I and I alone was subject to, all other were neatly tucked away in their beds sound asleep, including Blake who during which time had also turned with the slamming of the door.After the room fell silent for the first time that night I too turned in my bed in the direction facing away from what had drawn my total and absolute attention for the majority of the night, and when I finally laid myself to rest, the final thought that sounded boldly and clearly within my mind was "thank god."
Chapter 6: Enter Raveesh Kapoor
Sitting together in that shitty room, we looked at each other silently, a good 5 minutes past before Blake shifted his weight, sighed... or rather let his irratation to the whole situation be known through non verbal means, then spoke. "We got to get the fuck out of here." Even though I couldn't have agreed more, the options for doing so weren't exactly writtin plainly on the nearest "how to" Wallpaper."lets find out about the trek" he said, "sounds good" I replied. "why don't you go downstairs and ask, I'll watch our bags." 20 or so minutes later Blake came back with a rather, how to put it.. proud look on his face. "whats with the look?" "Come with me" was all he said. Down the stairs we went, through the lobby and into a A/C office room I hadn't seen before. We went in and standing to my right was a man of about 6' 5'' talking to one of the ederly office workers, whom I could only assume was the manager or the like.Blake led me over and introduced me to Raveesh Kapoor, a slender and somewhat imposing man, seemingly in his late 20's, with a boney face and light unblemished skin. His words were calculated and proding yet gentle in tone and dilvery. He said that he was also going on the hike and would be glad to help us with the particulars. Without any doubt the same thing that was passing through my mind was also passing through Blakes, "Game day baby!!" lol, well maybe there would have been a little variation in our thoughts but the basic idea would have been the same.Halfway through signing our papers, he took us aside and looked us both rather seriously in the face. "Can, I ask you something?" at first I couldn't be sure if he was going to enquire about the true nature of our souls or the exact date of the coming armaggedon, That was what both of us figured out about Raveesh rather quicky, he was unpredictable and not exactly in the greatest of fashions.Anyways, what he said was basically along the lines of "Were all going the same place why not go together?" Without any doubt this is a (Much) more simplified version of what would undoubtably be the longest single man conversation we had encountered thus far.I took Blake aside and with a serioud tone broke into a short spiel about the whole safty and caution with strangers routine, it wasn't so much of a (lets not trust this lanky, half dracula half witch doctor man) kind of talk as it was a (lets just be sure to have our cake and eat it too) kind of thing.When that was over we agreed to travel together, and from there the road to our new path was set out before us.
Chapter 5: Arrival
My first thought when arriving at New Delhi airport was... How had I traveled back in time to a world war 1 airport without noticing the effects of time displacement? This airport was seriously falling apart at the seems and all around I could see remnants of past eras.Clearing customs was a pinch and soon after we got our baggage from the stupid rail thingy and soon after that had some of Blakes trail mix packets. We Exchanged our money at 48.10 rupees to the dollar. I Exchanged 700 and Blake 175. I got 32k he got 8k the money changers took 15 dollars from me for the service and 8 from Blake.Funnily enough our first experience with the government approved taxi was him trying to rip us off, lol, well we made short work of him and paid the right price promptly. We got into our "taxi" a simple box car with wheels with no radio no ac/heating or anything else besides a steering wheel, accelerator and brake. Our drivers name was mano, a young guy who spoke just enough English to keep us vaguely informed and guessing as to what we were informed about.The traffic in Delhi is chaotic at times and madness every time else, but Mano swerved through nooks and crannies that bikers in the US wouldn't even attempt, and after an hour we got the hostel. It was HOT and that's not including the layers of toxins and airborne moisture's that permeate Delhi in all it's many sections.We checked in and got to our bunks, the fans weren't running yet, we really wished that they were though. I wasn't sweating so much, but I could see the buckets running off Blakes brow. The whole time all I could think off was how much trouble we were really in, 2 american kids running arround this mega city with no clue and no help... But little did we know of what was in store for us.
Chapter 4: Take off
We had lunch with our families one more time before the longest flights of our lives would occur. The food was good and the company better so all was well. We said our goodbyes and see you laters at the gate and pushed forward. Once on the flight we immediately started watching movies, which wasn't all that bad considering Singapore airlines has the best selection I've ever seen.12 hours later we arrived at Incheon South Korea, stayed there less than an hour then got on the same plane headed for singapore itself. On the plane we actually read a little and passed on the provided dinner, why you ask? Well lets just say our previous meals had us questioning the safty of our composure and didn't really want to arrive feeling sicker than we would later on during our journey, "it's best to start off at your best"Besides a guy loosing it on the stewartess in the seat behind me, and what I could only assume was a boxing match with the back of my seat half the flight everything went well.Were here In singapore now, wow, what a gigantic super structure!' It's the largest airport i've ever seen, and quite exquisit in style and luxury. Sigh, now comes the waiting, another 9 hours, only now were not moving. lol, were keeping each other entertained though.We might just go out on the town ^^
Chapter 3: Feelings and Preperations
Well here we are ladies and gents, take off in t minus 4 days. It's so exciting to be off again, seeing the world and in so doing seeing my potential as a journeyman in this life grow as well. A week ago I got my pack and sleeping bag for the trip, along with thermals and other assorted items, I can't wait to use them for real though.Today I got my journal, which will be the record in which we place our trust for lack of trust in what will eventually be our failed memories, it always amazes me, every single time, the way I could have completely forgotten an entire section of my life, not to mention the little things that build upon our life as a whole. Even if you keep a journal everyday, inevitably things are omitted, forgotten, over or under stated, exaggerated, miss-remembered, or flat out lied about, and in the end years down the line you've forgotten which was real or otherwise and so what you wrote becomes the truth that you believe, which is why I do my best to be accurate and persistent in my recounting s of what I've seen and done.Right after my mom and I got the journal we went to see Mr. Lee at the loft, we compared notes and he showed me what to look for in India, if I wanted to become a salesman lol, I'll take the opportunity if I get it for sure, but I find it just crazy to think of myself as a businessman running around India looking for treasures at a bargain price. No matter which way I think about it though it surely will be an grand experience.So, I can't speak for Blake but I'm almost all set. I've packed my room up and put all my things away so my mom can rent out my room and I've set out all the things I'm taking with me across my bed so I can do inventory. All in all I feel good about my equipment, of course I'll add more along the way but generally this will be my starting gear, and so with that the excitement and anticipation builds.Every time I have traveled abroad I've felt the same strange feeling days before we would depart, it's a feeling unlike fear or nervousness in that It doesn't make me feel uneasy, but neither is it like excitement or happiness because I don't look forward to the feeling or seek it out. I've thought about it before and recently I've come to the conclusion that it really isn't a feeling at all, it's actually a force all in and of self, a presence that pulls me away from the known and into the unknown. I've felt it so many times before, and yet it always hits me exactly the same way, and as always I give in and never look back.India lies ahead of us, yet even beyond it there is so so oh so much more... For now though will keep our focus on the immediate ^^.
Chapter 2: Reality Sets In
Does it ever strike you as odd that the moment we get what we've been waiting for our guts fall through the floor? I'm not talking about silly stuff like a gameboy, new bike or going to disnyland, no im talking about the, "I've been waiting to go to India for over a year and now that I bought My ticket I'm pissing my pants." kind of getting what you want.It happened in a matter of hours, as these so often do, we were helping Blakes dad, Mr Lee, lift the jakoozi into a truck with these 3 army guys and a crazy guy named mike. After we were done I showed them these cheap tickets I had found online. Now they were cheap but they were for May 12th... a whole 18 days before we had originaly planned to leave, which isn't all that bad except now not only are we locked in to leave we have to prepare everything we need to leave in less than 3 weeks.This wouldn't have been all that much of a problem were it not for one little thing, I have no more usable pages in my passport and now not only do I have to go to San Francisco to get more pages added but I have to pay $60 dollars, wait in San Fran another day just to get my passport then hopefully get our Indian visas that same day. The whole things pretty shitty but It's going to work out just fine.So we got our flights but unlike blake I hadn't gotten my injections yet, so I call up Lee super speedy like and get all 4 injections for polio, Tetnus, hebatitus A and Typhoid 2 shots in each arm! Holy shit man I felt like I was juicing for a body building event, my arms were killing me a few hours later too. That all cost $160 which for making me immune to death is actually a great deal ^^I made appointments for the visa stuff and I'm getting us a place to stay in SF, once I get all that out of the way only the small details like what to take and what to buy now vs later while were there will remain.So now the true countdown to Take off has begun, let the games begin!