say a prayer for max / @ildumpetto

4/30/12 - Eating indian food for 7 straight days finally did in max. while i slept soundly, i awoke to find out max had spent the entire night "trapped" in the WC. for those that know max, on the surface, this would seem like a godsend - he loves toilets; however, based on his complexion that am (a mix between alabaster and Babe Pig in the City), i knew this time was different. But a defiant max rebounded, making it out for a day at the Jantar Mantar (a huge and impressive astronomy center developed hundreds of years ago) and the city palace, still the home to the local king. today, while cut short, was interesting for a few reasons not-sightseeing related:

a) its amazing how closely tied astrology / spiritualism, science, and societal values are in classial hinduism. people combined their study of the stars / astronomy with astrology, going so far to arrange marriages based on astrological signs. i know some people check the Town & Country Horoscopes religiously, but i believe this is a step beyond.

b) our guide, kovram, bought interesting perspective to hinduism and his own spiritual beliefs. he told a story about seeing an astrologer who told him he would be married by the end of february, but it was february 2nd and he had no girlfiend. sure enough, on february 5th the father of his bride to-be stopped by to see his own father and within five days a marriage was arranged. I'm nervous to see an astrologer here, as they will probably tell me i will be married at 45...

c) While cultural views are obviously being changed here as india modernizes, it was interesting to hear kovram's perspectives on meditation.i really hope by the end of this trip i can do a better job separating out all of the stresses that go on in my mind, especially those that i cannot control. one regret i have had on this trip, and it has only been a few days thus far, is with wifi and ipads, i'm often connected to my life back in america. this means reading facebook updates or a twitter post that i may not like.  i'm really looking forward to my hikes up in Shimla and my trek in nepal, as i think it will give me greater balance and allow me to better separate myself to these influences.

lastly, when back in the room for an attempt at an afternoon nap, i came accross XXX 2: State of the Union. while surely an unpopular view, i believe i came to the opinion that the second XXX is superior to the first. its Oscar in cinematography was well deserved, as was Xzibit's MTV Movie award.

while max's condition forced us to cut a few things out today, they have been postponed until tomorrow - max, there was no way you were escaping the Monkey Temple! pictures to follow...

jacob

4/29/12
When on safari in ranthambore, you have little sense of direction. Each safari covers a specific zone (there are eight in the national park), The guides speak Hindi with each other, and much of the park looks the same this time of year- bare trees, shrubs and the occasional low-leveled lake. One moment you are tearing down a mountain path, the next you are sitting in the shade, driver and guide figuring out next steps. Your experience is truly at the discretion of the guide and the luck of your safari path.

On our second drive, we were once again striking out. The afternoon sun was blazing, and like any sensible jungle cat, the tigers were believed to be taking naps deep in the forest. However, our guide seemed to be tipped off by one park ranger and made a quick u turn. Soon we seemingly at a dead end with a sleeping park ranger in front of us. Our guide has a few brief words with the still sleepy gentleman and we pass through a hidden path along a lake. Moments later we see 2 jeeps ahead with professional camera crews from national geographic. To our right, a wild tiger. However, moments later we drive off and the guide swears us to secrecy. We had crossed a boundary reserved for national geographic and needed to leave ASAP before the non-sleeping park rangers were alerted. When most of the other jeeps met up to share recon we learned that no one else had seen a tiger. And when asked by a neighboring jeep, neither had we. I have seen tigers in books, zoos, movies and cartoons. But there is something about seeing it in the wild, without the safety benefits of moats or cages that adds to the excitement. These are truly extraordinary creatures to see up close and personal. My favorite part of the tiger is his / her paws - they are huge and I hope one day I can give one a pedicure / paw massage.

The next am we saw another tiger. This time right after he picked up lunch in the form of a deer. Now we were two / two and hoping for more tigers. Unfortunately no more tigers would be seen and we would conclude our visit with 2 sightings. I have included some photos below.

My tiger sighting was great if not a touch bittersweet because I'm a lunatic. Seeing a tiger in the wild is like going to a nice strip club. Women are nice to look at but you want to touch...and that is strictly forbidden! And now, you can't pay extra for personal tiger time - there is no tiger champagne room.

Next stop today - Jaipur via the Indian railroad system.

Jacob / sop

In search of Shere Khan

4/27/12 - Our safari jeep ambles along a bumpy dirt road. All of a sudden, the trees start shaking but there is no wind. Overhead, 30 monkeys cackle in unison. The group of 8 sambal deer ahead of us freeze in mid stride, one leg hovering in the air. Our driver comes to a halt; our guide turns around and whispers. "Warning calls; there is a predator in our midst." 20 Minutes into our first game drive in Rathambore National Park and not only were we on the verge of seeing a tiger, but perhaps a kill! We waited patiently. I got out my camera; Max got out a pair of binoculars. We waited there silently, poised. Then 30 minutes passed. Finally the monkeys stopped their hollering. The sambal deer resumed their morning jaunt. While there was a predator in our midst we did not see him / her. We continue our search for tiger.

Greetings from ranbir kapoor!

So far a great trip!

Flight to delhi was easy and in our first day in Delhi, I have been identified as a dead-ringer for ranbir kapoor, one of bollywood's finest by our escort to the airport.

http://www.bollygraph.com/profile/ranbir-kapoor-biography-filmography-and-interesting-things/7027/

Even the gate agent at the airport agreed. Only a few hours after landing we were back at the voluminous and empty Delhi airport and en route to udaipur.

Deciding to stay outside of the city proper, found ourselves at the Devi garh, which was a working palace that fell into disrepair and had been renovated back to life and is now a 40 room hotel. The hotel has been amazing and i highly recommend it. Our first afternoon, max and I took off to explore the town and the countryside. Unlike Delhi and Bombay, there wasn't begging in delwara and people seemed happy and welcoming. Max was happy as there were a variety of feral pigs roaming the streets so he felt at home. On our walk we encountered two teenagers who offered to show us around so they could practice their english. When asked about an old tower on top of a mountain in the distance, they agreed to lead us there. While we expected a path, what we got was a straight shot through farmland and up a mountain face through thickets and rocks. It felt great to be exploring but max felt uneasy that maybe these teens were leading us to an ambush. Outside of me being maimed by a thorn bush (thx tetnus shot) it was a great walk and the views over the aravali hills were spectacular; however, max's apprehension was validated the next day when we were admonished for traipsing around unmarked land which is deemed a prime cobra habitat!

The next day we started with a private yoga lesson and then explored udaipur which was a nice city with lots of lakes, sort of like a poor man's Lausanne. The key take away was that there were elephant fights here back in the day which were a giant form of tug of war using elephants. I asked to attend one and was told they are now banned.

Also, wedding season is in full swing here. Both in our village and at the city palace. I was told I should have a wedding at the city palace for only 300k dollars. When I told our guide I didn't have a girlfriend, he told me that they also threw bday parties. Snakefest 5.0 in India?

Yesterday found us at ranakpur, the largest and best kept Jain temple. While there, max prayed for a repeal of the Basel 3 rules and I wondered if I could go completely vegetarian which here means also giving up booze (which Jains are). On the way back, we stopped on the road to see some monkeys which caused max to nearly tap into our emergency toilet paper supply. I guess max is afraid of monkeys as well as sun and girls, and the driver and I had good fun opening up various windows as the monkeys approached. I alerted max to the fact that we are visiting the monkey temple in jAipur next week and that he should begin preparing himself. This morning when he awoke, the first thing he mentioned was " I had a dream about the monkeys." should be good times ahead.

Today we drive 6 hrs to ranthambore where I hope to meet my tiger friends. I hope I am able to give one a belly rub. If I meet my end over the next few days, know I went out on my terms!

Overall trip has been great and hope all is well in the states. I've attached a few pics so far to this post -jacob

T-minus 24 hrs till liftoff

I leave the states in twenty four hrs. Where am I going?

I will be spending the first2 weeks with my friend max, who has a fondness for equity derivatives almost as great as his aversion to the sun.we will be making our ways through northern India.

Next I'm off to Nepal solo to embark on a three week trek up to everest base camp.

Towards the end of may, I will be off to Indonesia for 3 weeks via Bombay to stay with ashay shah, a good friend from my Bank of America days who once threw a chair at me over an incident related to hidden pizza.

Indonesia is currently in planning stages however I know in mid June I will be off to aspen to attend the food and wine festival with friends from college.

The last month or two before a school or in flux and will probably include a trip to the middle east with my brother Daniel.

I will try to update this blog with pics and posts as interesting things happen.

No one has paid attention to me for 7 hours... So I'll start a blog

I often make fun of people who share too much online. Why does person x need to provide Facebook status updates on an hourly basis. Does person z really think twitter is the best medium to find out about visa requirements for southeast Asia or do they just want everyone to know that they are traveling g to se Asia and you aren't.

So why start a blog?To be honest some of it is narcisstic. I'm about to embark on a 3 month trip and felt it would be an easy way to share updates with the all of the people I assume actually careabout where I go and what I see. Does anyone care outside of my parents?i don't know. And if this blog solely serves as a gurnal for me to mark and remember the first considerable time off from work I've had for the past 6 years or for the next 20 so be it.

Also, as Veronica corningstone said, when in Rome. I'm going to be going back to business school in the fall and if everyone there is an over sharer I may as well see what it's like before I get oncampus.

-Jacob / the snake