Trip to India : Part 4 Report #1 from India (Dharamsala)

I am sitting in a cybercafe in McLeod Ganj, some 500km north of New Delhi. This is my 3rd day here having arrived on Monday morning at 8.30 am at Dharamsala. It was long journey by bus from New Delhi on Monday as the bus trip took 15 hrs. It was quite uncomfortable trip due to the humidity and heat in the bus. Thus bus ticket cost RP450 (RM 50) about RP200 (RM 22) cheaper than the air-cond. bus. I should have take the A/C bus as I didn't get much sleep. After I checked in the hotel, I was so sleepy that I slept until 5.00pm.

A common sight here is the Tibetan monks wearing maroon and orange colour robes. There are many Tibetans living at Dharamsala and McLeod Ganj. If a visitor is expecting to experience a "holy" atmosphere, one will solely disappointed. The town consists of three narrow roads surrounded haphazardly by concrete shops. Occasionally I see western backpackers both men and women walking around. These are however your normally dressed backpacker wearing "Taj Mahal" T-shirts, khaki shorts and sandals. Many sport long braided hair hair, embroided jackets and mala beads strung around their necks. The hippy look ow updated to the 21st century. I hear there are good hashish (ganja) available but so far no one has offered me a joint.

For today, I plan to visit some temples and check the shops selling Tibetan handicrafts.

Trip to India : Part 3 DEPARTURE

I will be flying to India today on Malaysia Airlines departing from KLIA at 6.00pm. My preparations include several emergency medical supplies listed below:-

1. Alcohol wipes for minor cuts.
2. Antiseptic cream for minor cuts.
   
3. Plaster for minor cuts.
   
4. 12 Panadol (aspirin) tablets.
5. 16 sachets of oral rehydration salt (ORS) for potential diarrhea effects.
6. 8 sachets of vitamin C powder.

Hopefully I do not have to use the ORS any time during the next two weeks. I did not bring any running T-shirt or shorts. So no plan to run anywhere and anytime in India.

Good luck to the Pacemakers and other runners running the SJ10 km this Sunday and other races in early Sept.

I wish all Malaysians Selamat Hari Merdeka. I won't be in the country when 31 August comes around. I hope the occasion won't just be "Everything is fine"but would be a time to reflect what has gone wrong in the past, what is wrong now and how to remedy the problems the country and Malaysians are facing in the future.

Bad Bus Experience "Puker No. 2"

I didn't run during the weekend due to the continuing problem with my right knee. The weather was perfect but I just could not do it.

Today I did a modest 3 km on the treadmill at the gym. Pace: 9.5 km/hr. I stopped after 3 km as my right knee became too sore.

Having taken the bus from Klang to Kuala Lumpur twice daily since 1988, it is a mathematical certainty (approximately 7,000 trips to date that I will encounter a few bad experiences. Today was one of those experiences.

As I was reading the STAR newspaper, I heard gurgling noises coming from someone who was seated on a seat two rows behind me on the opposite side of the aisle. When I turned around to look, the guy started to puke onto the floor. An awful stench started to permeate the bus. Mr. "Puker" rested his head on the seat in front of him and a few seconds later he puked again. After relieving himself in this manner, he started spitting on the floor several times. No doubt to clear the system at the expense of the other passengers.

One passenger, an Indian women seated in front of the "Puker got up, left her seat and decided to stand. The rest of the passengers including me scrunched or covered our noses in an attempt to block out the stench.

After spilling of most of his stomach contents onto the floor, the "Puker" seemed to feel a bit better. Fortunately we were spared further puking episodes when he got off the bus near the PJ Hilton hotel.

BTW this was the second time someone had puked in a bus I was traveling in. The first puker I encountered was in 2005. He was dead drunk and seated behind me. He puked a couple of times and the stench was worse than today. His puke smelt a mix of food, curry and alcohol.

Trip to India : Part 2

Today I bought my air tickets to India. I will be flying on Malaysian Airlines, economy class of course. The ticket price for a return flight from Kuala Lumpur to New Delhi is RM 2,003. I also saw a travel insurance plan at the travel agency and filled up an application form for 31 days "VIP" plan. I was a bit surprised to see it was quite cheap at RM 70 for 31 days. I remember way back in 1998 when I traveled to Indochina (Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam) and Thailand for 5 weeks, I paid RM 200 for a travel insurance(different company).

I managed to run a bit this week; Monday (5 km) on a treadmill and Wednesday (3 km) at KLCC park. Wednesday's run was quite unforgettable due to the severe soreness of my right knee. I had to stop running after 3 km although I still had the endurance to keep going. My knee was very sore on Thursday and as of today, it is still quite sore. After that unpleasant experience I wondered why I was still doing it (running) at all.

Today I managed to run 3 km on the treadmill instead of KLCC park. My right knee is not as sore as during Wednesday's run. It looks like I have to limit running to a treadmill. I am planning to stop running during the fasting month (Ramadhan) in September. Together with next week, 2 weeks plus in India, 4 weeks of fasting and 1-2 weeks after that, I won't be running for about 2 months.

Trip to India : Part 1

I haven't reached India despite the title above. One of the places I will be going is Dharamsala located at about 1200m above sea level. The conditions are not exactly conducive to travelling. It is now the monsoon season and it rains just about every day. The season's minimum temperature to my surprise is suprisingly low (12 deg. C). I plan to stay actually at another town, McLeod Ganj at 1800m is 600 m higher than Dharamsala. The minmum temperature is probaly nearer to 8 to 9 deg C. The low temperatures means I will have to pack a few lightweight winter clothing plus an umbrella as well.

In the meantime, I have been reading some blogs written by others who have gone to Dharamsala. Some of the blogs are ; Hope's Travel Blog, Travelling Tigress and Tashi Delak!.

When am I going to Die?

Death comes to all those who are born. According to this website, http://www.deathclock.com/, I will die on 22 October 2037 when I am 73 years old. If I was a smoker, I would die seven years earlier at 70 yeas old. If I was a non-smoker and overweght (BMI = 30), I would live one year less, dying at the age of 72 years old.

However, I am optimist and according to the Death calculator, this adds a whopping 15 years to my longetivity before finally calling a day in year 2052 (age 86 years old). Hmm, this could be correct as Mr C*** , a famous Malaysian fortune teller foretold that I would die when 86 years old. But in the meantime, I will do all I can to live a healthy life.

P.S. Notwitstanding my bum right knee, I will be running today in an effort to maintain by BMI below 25.