The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

To enjoy the Good in life, you must experience some Bad. This is just

so you have something to compare it with. Experiencing the Ugly will

also gives you some perspective, and it's usually not something you will

forget.

Here are some of my traveling experiences – Good, Bad, and Ugly

The Good

• Climbing a large ridge above Annapurna Base Camp up to 4500 meters. Amazing mountain vistas in bright sunshine
• The stunning views of the big mountains from the peaks of Kala Patar and Gokyo Ri in the Everest region of Nepal
• Deep mountain valleys, waterfalls, wild rivers, and friendly villages in the Annapurna region of Nepal
• Indian Trains have pros and cons, but they are a wonderful way to meet local families and see the countryside. Night trains are much more comfortable than buses, especially in the better ticket classes. I slept very well with clean sheets and blankets. 
• 30-days of blue sky while trekking in the high mountains of the

Everest Region in Nepal

• The sweet, lovely, and honest people of Burma. This country has

been isolated from the rest of the world for so long, and is just now

starting to open up. The people are friendly and helpful, and even

the taxi drivers are honest

• A dawn boat trip down the Ganges River in Varanasi, India. All

aspects of life and death are out in the open. It is something very

spiritual, even for a hardened agnostic

• The sunset views from a rooftop cafe in Udaipur, India, while

drinking a cold beer from a teapot. The sun dipped behind the white

marble fortress on an island in the middle of the lake, while the

Muslim call to prayer echoed around the city

• A camel trek into the deserts of Rajasthan. Sleeping under the

stars in the sand dunes, watching shooting stars, and then watching

the moon rise. The farting camels sleeping nearby just added to the

experience. The next day was just the Camel driver and myself, and

having tea with his extended family in the desert was an experience

I'll not forget

• The diverse food in India. There is no one Indian cuisine. It's a

wild culinary adventure of frying, simmering, sizzling, kneading, and

flipping. The menus changes radically from region to region and

include flakey parathas, Tandorri chicken that melts in your mouth,

Garlic/butter Nans, Paneer Curries, Jeera Rice, the spicy Fish Curries

and Prawns of Kerala, the Fruit Lassi's that are so thick you need a

spoon, strong coffees in the south, and teas in the north, Dosas in

the south which are a family of large rice-flour crepes served with a

bowl of hot sambar, and another bowl of cooling coconut chatni. After

2 months in India, the food was still an exciting adventure every day.

• Meeting other travelers along the way and sharing experiences and

recommendations

• Bike riding next to the surf on the Beaches of Goa.  The 28 km long beach in Benaulim is stunning.

• Walking the beaches of Varkala, and visiting the fishing villages

along the way

• The porter I had for the Everest Trek. He spoke no English, but we

got along really well. He was really helpful, and a happy, fun person

to be with.

• The comforts and ease of modern Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia after

spending 2 months in India. Wow, paved lighted streets, a luxury

smooth riding bus from the Airport, a clean room with Air-Con, and

then an ice cold beer with tasty Malaysian food. It's just not this

easy in India

• The tiny 5 room Guesthouse I stayed at in Varkala, India. Lovely

and Jinnu are sisters who run the guesthouse and really went out of

their way to make me feel at home. I didn't want to leave.

• Watching the sun dip into the sea and listening to the ocean surf,

while drinking a frosty beer at my favorite beach bar in Goa

• The exotic Camel Fair in Pushkar, India. Camel drivers come from

all over Rajhastan to trade camels, and participate in events like

Horse and Camel Judging, and Mustache and Turban competitions.

Nothing boring here. Every time I turned a corner, I found myself

looking at things I couldn't quite believe.

The Bad

• Bed-bugs in a “first class” Indian sleeper train
• More Bed bugs in a Yangon guesthouse
• The Annapurna trek in Nepal was pretty crowded at times
• Saddle sores from the Camel Trek that took a week to heal. Sitting

was painful.

• The young porter I had for the Annapurna Trek. He was just like a

moody teenager. After I threaten to fire him he improved a lot

• Almost getting hypothermia in an ice cold night bus in Burma. The

AC was on full blast for 10 hours, and even though I had all my warm

clothes I had on, I was actually shaking. I ended up with a cold

after this trip.

• Traveler's Diarrhea a number of times. I took a Cipro Antibiotic

right away when this hit, and it usually only lasted a day

• The bureaucratic process of booking train tickets in India. Train

tickets are usually sold out months in advance. I finally bought an

Indian Mobile phone and applied for and got connected with the online

Indian booking system. This helped immensely, but took more than a

week to get sorted out
• Getting a Visa for Burma in Kuala Lumpur.  It took 2 days, and then the Burmese Embassy lost my passport.  Yikes!  I was standing in a crowd of over 100 people at the Burmese Embassy, and the clerk kept saying they did not have my Passport.  I almost freaked out.  Then I thought I heard someone saying "Mister David Canada" from somewhere in the crowd behind me.  I turned around and this guy was waving a passport.  It turned out they had given my passport to the wrong person.   Was I ever happy to get it back.

• The touts and Rickshaw drivers in India. They must be the most

dishonest and rude people I've ever met. Expect a scam and you won't

be disappointed. I learned to be just rude, which actually helped a

lot.

• Missing a flight in India. It cost me a few bucks, but I did get to

enjoy a few more days at the beach in Varkala. It was totally my

fault. Lessoned learned.

• Getting a sore butt, and stiff legs from all the hour long bus

rides. Anything over 8 hours is a bit painful

The Ugly

• Food poisoning hit me in the taxi while heading to the airport for

my flight from Kathmandu to Varanasi. My stomach said "NO f#$@%$ WAY"

to the breakfast I had eaten, and suddenly tried to expel it from both

ends. I just stumbled right through security at the airport, and

luckily I always made it to the toilet in time. But the airsick bags

from the plane came in handy in the taxi to my hotel. It took me a

week to recover, even with good drugs. Here's the kicker… when I

finally arrived at my dusty cheap hotel in Varanasi, I opened the

balcony doors and saw bodies being cremated right below me on the

Ganges river. I suddenly realized that my room was not covered in

dust, but human ash. I almost lost it.

Overall the good experiences outweigh the bad by far, but we need a

few bad experiences just to keep some perspective. It just makes the

good experiences seem that much better.