Taking a Journey
American Express invited me and fellow travel bloggers Evelyn “Journeywoman” Hannon and Janice “Solo Traveler” Waugh — as well as bloggers who cover lifestyle, family, music, etc. — to celebrate the one year anniversary of the American Express Gold Rewards Card with a night out to see 80s mythic rock bands Foreigner and Journey in Toronto. The photo above was taken during Journey’s Can’t Stop Believing grand finale, when they showered the crowd with fireworks and confetti.
It was a fun night out. Many in the crowd were having a blast, especially the row of mullet-wig-wearin’ rocker dudes in front of us (see photo below), singing along to hits from the 80s. Is there a better karaoke song than I want to know what love is?
But of course the reason we were there was to celebrate the AMEX travel rewards card — which has got to be one of the best — the best? — travel rewards cards available. (more…)
Photograph of me in Kerala, India 2006, at the start of my six-month pilgrimage
Back in 2005, when I set off on my first six-month trip to India, there was no question that I was going alone. The thought of traveling with someone else never even crossed my mind. Although I was heading out on my first real voyage of discovery, my first pilgrimage, I instinctively knew that I had to do it alone. I don’t remember anyone telling me, or giving me this advice — it just seemed obvious.
I was going to India for two reasons: one, I had always wanted to go to India, but it seemed like an impossible dream. But I was at a time in my life when I knew that if I didn’t start following my dreams, my life wouldn’t be worth living. And, two, I was very unhappy, and needed to shake up my life. I was in a deep rut, trying desperately to come out of a lengthy depression following a series of devastating losses (including the deaths of both my parents and the break-up with my fiance).
What I needed to do in India, I needed to do alone: Jump off the cliff and find out if the net would appear. Stand on my own two feet. Face myself. Find the fuel, or inspiration, or reason to keep living. Re-start my life. Truly experience adventure.
This is why I enthusiastically support solo travel proponent Janice Waugh. I follow, and have contributed to, her website Solo Traveler. I belong to the Solo Travel Society on Facebook. I follow her Twitter feed @solotraveler. And now I am reading her new book, The Solo Traveler’s Handbook, and loving it. For a review — and to find out why I think this book is important — keep reading.
Tiffin-wallahs, Churchgate Station, Mumbai
Sylvia Fraser in India, 2000
In 2005, as I was getting ready to go to India for the first time, on my six-month “trip of a lifetime,” my friend Chrissy gave me a copy of The Rope in the Water. As I read about Toronto author Sylvia Fraser’s pilgrimage to India, I was struck by the many similarities between us; and completely flabbergasted to discover that we share the same birthday (March 8 – International Woman’s Day).
I loved the book and decided I had to meet Sylvia Fraser; that somehow my destiny demanded it. Well, it took me five years to finally connect with her and I am happy to report that we are now friends. I interviewed Sylvia in February 2011 about her many transformative travel experiences and her reality-defying “rope in the water” story (see below and find out how a non-existent rope saved her life when she was being carried out to sea by a riptide, off the coast of Kerala in South India). Here are the highlights of our interview.
Mariellen Ward: What is travel to you, and why do you prefer being a seeker and going on pilgrimage?
Sylvia Fraser: Travel is something I love to do, it’s a need, not a luxury. If I’m not happy, planning a trip is absolutely the best. (more…)
me and my Tilley Hat at The Farm Villa, near Ranthambhore, Rajasthan
If you don’t know, Tilley hats are legendary in Canada, where the company is headquartered — and in many other places too, I am sure. Tilley Endurables makes lots of other great products for the active traveler, but it was the Tilley hat that first made the company’s name.
It was specifically how the hat was tested — which involved an elephant’s digestive system. I’m not sure whether anyone intended to actually feed the hat to the elephant, but the hat was eaten, later extracted, thoroughly cleaned and found to be still in near-perfect condition.
To read more about Tilley Hats and how I came to love them (hint: India is sunny and hot!), read Enter contest to win a famous Tilley Hat. And here are the contest details – it’s easy to enter, and you have until July 27, 2011.
On the Ganges River in Varanasi, India
The 7 Links Project
I was one of the many travel bloggers nominated to share 7 special links. The goal of this project, started by Tripbase, is to ‘unite bloggers in a joint endeavor to share lessons learned and create a bank of long but not forgotten blog posts that deserve to see the light of day again.’ Though I am not a “rules person” (to say the least!), I will follow the rules on this one, which are:
1) Blogger is nominated to take part
2) Blogger publishes his/her 7 links on his/her blog – 1 link for each category.
3) Blogger Nominates 5 More Bloggers
Arrggghhh, already stumped. I write about India because I feel it is beautiful, but I don’t really have the photographic skills to capture it. (However, hopefully all that will change with my evolving partnership with photographer Andrew Adams of Katha Images). I will have to nominate Aurovalley Ashram: A haven of peace and conscious living because it is about such a beautiful place — “my” ashram in northern India.
Hmmmm, I would say it’s a tie between The top 5 things I’ve learned after traveling a year in India and The top 5 myths about India. (I’m not including the Eat, Pray, Love film ticket contest or a couple of Bollywood-themed posts.) I guess it’s true, those “top 5″ or “top 10″ posts do get a lot of mileage. Personally, I don’t do these posts lightly, even if the titles sound a bit trite. I spent a good deal of thinking and writing time on both of them, and I am glad they have been so widely read. I have learned a lot about life, and about myself, in India. It is, I always maintain, one of the most potentially “transformative” places you can visit, perhaps especially if you are from western society. (more…)
Lake Palace Hotel, Udaipur, Rajasthan
The Consulate General of India in Canada (CGI) has introduced a new Visa application form. People in Canada desiring to apply for Visa to travel to India are required to go to Indian Visa Online or to the website of the outsourcing agency VFS Global and register their applications online. After registering online, the applicants must take a print out of their application and submit the application along with valid passport and other documents at one of the VFS Global offices. Their office addresses, timings, telephone numbers etc. can be found at their website, VFS Global.
They will continue to accept the old Visa form for the time being. The new form becomes compulsory from July 25, 2011. Any queries regarding online submission of visa applications may be addressed to VFS Global offices.
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Uma Paro, Bhutan
Imagine my surprise when I arrived in Paro, Bhutan, was met at the airport by two very charming men, Kanchzen (my guide) and David (my driver), driven about 10 minutes up a hill outside of town to the Uma Paro boutique hotel, introduced to my butler Jeewan and shown to my 1,200-square-foot villa. It was a bit like waking up in Oz and seeing everything in Technicolor. Or having an old dress turn into a glittering gown and a pumpkin turn into a gilded carriage. I had to rub my eyes and pinch myself to believe it.
The bedroom in my villa
I really didn’t know what to do first. Explore the delights of my villa: Have a bath in the claw-foot tub? Warm up in front of the wood-burning traditional stove (called a bukhari)? Sit outside on my terrace and use the WiFi service on my laptop? Ask Jeewan to fetch me a fresh fruit smoothie from the hotel’s stellar kitchen? Or just stare out the enormous picture window in my bedroom at the million-dollar view of the Paro Valley and Himalayan peaks?
Or explore the hotel: Eat lunch in the glass enclosed circular dining room, Bukhari? Have a treatment at the COMO Shambhala spa? Swim in the indoor pool and use the steam room in the ladies dressing area? Or sit outside and have a cup of steaming chai?
I opted for lunch in the dining room, knowing that over the course of the next five days I would get a chance to try everything else. And I did. (more…)
Dining on the rooftop terrace, under the shadow of Garh Palace
I had great expectations for Bundi Vilas. It is the highest rated hotel in Bundi on Trip Advisor, Lonely Planet gives it an excellent write-up and I had met owner JP Sharma in Delhi — and knew him to be an intelligent, professional man with excellent taste and a deep-seated commitment to tourism in Rajasthan. I was not disappointed. From the moment I came out of the twisting narrow alley leading up to the heveli and saw the soaring archway that marks the entrance, I sensed something special. Again, my intuition and India’s magic led me to a very special treasure, the kind of accommodation that is itself a destination.
And, of course, it helps that Bundi Vilas is located deep in the heart of the old city of Bundi — a town filled with fascinating architecture, exquisite art, elaborate stepwells and an ambience that is reminiscent of medieval Europe. You can read about Bundi in my post, Bundi: Exquisite jewel needs polishing. (more…)
The Farm Villa, Sawai Madhopur
Best budget hotel in Ranthambhore
The Farm Villa in Sawai Madhopur, near Ranthambhore national park, Rajasthan, is peaceful, authentic, friendly and clean — and a unique budget accommodation option for exploring the area and visiting one of India’s most famous tiger reserves. It’s brand new and hasn’t been advertised or marketed as yet… so how did I find out about it?
From a friend of course, in typically Indian fashion. Here’s how it works: you tell your friends you want to go to Ranthambhore National Park to see a tiger and they immediately launch into helping you. Before you know it, you have an appointment with the director of Tiger Watch in Sawai Madhopur, to find out about the real tiger situation in Ranthambhore from someone who is on the ground — and you get an invitation to stay at a new guest house. (more…)
On the morning of April 14 approximately 10 million people streamed into the sacred town of Haridwar in north India to bathe in the Ganga on the most auspicious day during the 2010 Kumbh Mela. I was one of them. Find out how I found myself alone, and at home, at the world’s largest spiritual gathering.
In Varanasi, where the veil between life and death seems very thin, a boat ride on the river can become a journey to the other side. Come along with me on a boat ride on the Ganges River in India’s oldest, holiest city and pierce the veil.
The Ganges / Ganga River is the Mother of India. The River speaks in many voices as she travels from the high Himalayas to the Bay of Bengal. At the source, her song is joyous, full of the the jubilance of youth, the rush of fresh mountain streams, the sincere chanting of pilgrims and the excitement of the onward journey.
