Amit Sinha's Travelog

(Written on July 5th, 2006)

Airports in Laos can prove to be venues for really unique
observations and experiences. Firstly, you have to go through
passport control, even for domestic flights. The weighing scales when
you check in, are old manual scales, the kind used to weigh rice and
vegetables in neighborhood markets across Asia. Being small, with
just a few flights every day, the airports have a relaxed, lazy feel,
and the authorities really don’t seem to have much to do.

At Luang Prabhang, the x-ray machine at security check was out of
order. Next to it, the security officer sat nonchalantly, waving
passengers through without nothing more than a cursory check.
Meanwhile a female assistant of his, in police uniform, stood by his
side and was either massaging his head, or looking for lice, I wasn’t
really sure.

Experiences such as these just add more to the charm of a place I am
already sad to leave. Luang Prabhang, is truly charming, and the
experiences I’ve had here have been wonderful. From trying to change
British Pounds at 8am, trekking through jungles, hanging out with
tribals, meeting an elephant, kayaking down-river to the city,
haircut by a beautiful Lao girl and a Gay guy, spending an evening
with charming British girls, all in the course of a day.

At 8am, just minutes before I was to head out for my trek, I realized
that I did not have enough money on me to pay for my trip. ATMs are
still foreign to this town, and luckily I had some British Pounds
tucked away in my backpack somewhere. Grabbing a fistful of pounds, I
headed to the main street to find a place that would change it into
liquid currency like the Kip, or the almighty dollar. of course, at
8am, the options for International Finance in the bustling trading
center of Luang Prabhang’s pretty limited. The first place I went to
just did not recognize the Queen, while the second tried to buy them
from me for $1.10, trying to convince me that it was Euros that I had
on me. By now I was getting dangerously close to missing my ride to
the Trek, and took my chances by stepping into what looked like a
high-end handicrafts store. The lady inside spoke no English, but
took a look at my notes, and then started talking to her cell-phone,
and then surprisingly agreed to change my pounds for a relatively
decent rate!

The trek was truly magnificent, and educational. For about three
hours, we trudged through dense forests, walked on river-beds, went
up and down hills, and witnessed some spectacular views. At various
points, we would find clearings in the forest, and farmers growing
sticky rice. My guide mentioned that the increased farming was
leading to erosion, water problems and depletion of the forests. The
government had therefore initiated a program to resettle some of the
villagers in Luang Prabhang, promising them compensation and jobs.
The guide, who was pretty frank, felt it was a good idea, as that
would provide children with access to schools, as now hardly any
existed in the villages up in the hills.

After a couple of hours, we made our way to a village populated by
the Khmu tribe. While I was having a simple lunch of fried rice, corn
and bananas at the local store, the store-owner, a young lady,
brought some papers over to my guide and they had an animated
conversation for several minutes. She did not seem to happy with what
my guide had to say. Apparently, a few weeks ago, a group of men came
to the village, selected seven women, and she was one of them, and
told them that high paying jobs could be arranged for them in
Thailand. They had to sign some papers, and within a month, the men
would have their work permits and passports ready. My guide tried to
tell her that its not easy to find jobs in Thailand, especially if
you are uneducated, and that in most likelihood, they would end up
working in bars, or worse. Plus, its took six months to officially
obtain a passport in Laos, so he was not sure how these men were
going to get all paperwork done in a month. Its unfortunately a story
that’s repeated across the countryside in Indochina.

After a brief stop at an Elephant sanctuary, we hopped on kayaks and
made our way back to Luang Prabhang over a nice leisurely three
hours. Whenever the heat got too much, a short dip in the waters
cooled you down. On the way we passed fisherman casting their nets
and setting their traps, little kids swimming and playing in the
water. It felt like miles away from anything.

On the way back to the guest house, I stopped by a hairdresser to get
a haircut at a place that I was attracted to by this absolutely
charming and beautiful Laotian young woman, and then a little more
than a tad bit disappointed when it was her gay colleague who ended
up giving me the hair cut!

The rest of the evening was spent with three charming young women I
met at my guest house. Cathy and Phillipa are teachers in Thailand,
and Cathy’s sister Tess was over visiting from England. They were
traveling around Lao by bus and train, and it was fabulous chatting
about their experiences, backgrounds, and just talking about the
world in general. Having grown up in very multi-cultural backgrounds,
and having traveled extensively, their perspective on life and the
world was truly refreshing, and I found myself quite enjoying their
company and listening to them talk.

Ok, so the word ‘exile’ might be a little strong, given that I am
sitting at a Starbucks, using an incredibly fast Wi-Fi connection
while looking at the bustling lunchtime traffic of bankers and other
sundry professionals walk around the Collins Street business district
of Melbourne. However, for a short while at least, that’s what I’ve
been reduced to, courtesy the United States Government.

The United States of America is truly one of the great nations in the
world. Its educational centers and corporations are known for their
efficiency and innovation. Its consultants have made billions
advising the world on better customer service and communication
methods. The internet found new uses and legs thanks to US-based
entrepreneurs, financiers and large telecoms. A walk down the crowded
and busy streets of New York provide the appropriate image for the
old adage, “Time is Money”. However, this concept of efficiency,
customer service and communication does not appear to have made its
way across to its foreign consulates and embassies, which continue to
vie with third world government organizations for a place in the
Customer Unfriendly Hall of Fame.

Over a month ago, on May 12th to be precise, I made my way to the
U.S. Consulate in Melbourne to have my U.S. Visa renewed. Everything
went smoothly at that time, and the lady at the counter assured me
that I would get my passport back with the visa within two days. A
week passed, and there was no response, and I had to leave the
country for New Zealand. Getting in touch with the consulate was
another exercise in futility. The very American concept of a Toll-
Free number was replaced by an equally American innovation, the 1-900
number. Its Aussie equivalent was used here, and for a mere $15 I had
the privilege of listening to a recorded message that provided me
with positively zero information. By now it was time for me to head
to Sydney, where I had a couple of days before New Zealand. Finally,
in response to an e-mail I had sent a couple of days earlier, I
miraculously received a response saying that they would return my
passport so that I could make the New Zealand trip and they would
contact me when my visa was ready. While my passport made its way
from the U.S. Consulate in Melbourne to my relative’s place in
Melbourne from where it was forwarded on to my hotel in Sydney to
arrive about fifteen hours before my flight to New Zealand, I decided
to set the stage for the next level of negotiations by sending an
email to the consulate asking them to provide me with an estimate of
when I could expect the visa, and also what could be the reason for
the delay. I figured if they required additional documentation and
suchlike, I might be able to help them. Needless to say, i received
no response to the aforementioned email.

Anyway, not allowing such trivial matters to come in the way of
enjoying life, I figured I’d let the U.S. Government’s affairs take
its own course, and put my faith in the fact that when the
authorities of a ten trillion dollar country say they will get in
touch with me, they would, I continued on my tour of Australia,
arriving into Melbourne a day before my departure to South East Asia.

And that brought me to this morning, when, without any email in my
mailbox, I decided to head over to the Consulate and try and
penetrate their defences and meet with some human being who might be
able to help me. At the entrance, I was stopped by security, who I
will admit was kind enough and extremely helpful. He took my
information and call somebody upstairs while I waited.

Anyway, so finally here’s where we stand- They have taken my
passport, and are going to ‘look at their system’ to see what the
issue is. They cannot tell me when they will know the status, and
neither can they tell me when I can expect to hear from them, and of
course, they cannot tell me when I will get my visa or what the
reason for the delay is- as a result, I am now confined to remaining
in Melbourne for anywhere from a day to an eternity.

I have the utmost respect for Governments wanting to protect their
borders and their citizens from brown-skinned young men who have a
penchant for dong things like flying aeroplanes into big buildings.
Protecting a nation, its people and making it safe to live is noble,
and I have no issues with things taking time in order to ensure that
all the boxes have been checked and the consulate has verified all
details. Providing a visa to an Indian whose been in the U.S. for ten
years, and has been working in New York for the past six with the
country’s second largest bank, may require checks that are a little
more onerous than say someone who decides to hide in a crate and make
his way into the country.

What I do have an issue with is the lack of communication. I believe
I have a right to at least know what’s causing a delay, how long they
expect the delay to be, in order to make my plans instead of spending
time and money switching flights and travel plans around. I might
also be able to help the matter, providing them with any information
that might be lacking. However, that would just be making life way to
convenient for the public I’m afraid.

Ok, so I am done venting now. I shall get back to my Venti Soy Chai
at Starbucks and figure out what to do with my extra time in
Melbourne. Maybe look for a job or something in case its a long wait.

The first installment of Central Asia pictures have been uploaded and
can be found at http://www.sinhatravel.com/photo under Dragoman Silk
Route.

Uzbekistan will be uploaded in the next couple of days

Snippets from Turkmenistan

Its funny how things that you learnt many years ago in school crop up in your mind at the oddest of places. In 9th or 10th standard we had a collection of short stories as a textbook in our English class. One of them, titled “How Raj Kapoor Saved My Life”, was a small, but well written piece describing an incident that the author experienced when he visited Russia (or at least I think it was Russia). The story had something to do with how the author was in a strange land, did not know the language, and got into a spot of bother from which he extricated himself by mentioning the famous actor Raj Kapoor’s name, whose movies were apparently closely followed and worshipped. Back in the day, I thought that the story was interesting, and fun, but thought no more of it. This morning, however, crossing the border from Turkmenistan to Uzbekistan, I faced a similar experience, and thank not Raj Kapoor, but Shah Rukh Khan.

Note: For two weeks, I am traveling across Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan by road with Dragoman Overland. The overland experience is a unique adventure in and of itself, with the truck, personalities of fellow travelers, and people you encounter in remote parts of the world. This is the first experience of many to come by on the trip.

Got into Mumbai on Sat night, April 1st, visiting friends and family.

Here are the places I went to, in case you decide to make your way here. If my friends who took me to these places are reading this, kindly add your comments and correct my errors

1. Asia Wok (Bandra, above Shopper’s Stop) : Restaurant, Casual, yet well appointed, and shanghai prawns to die for. Order at least two plates per person. Good view. Reasonably priced for Bombay ($10)

2. Out of the Blue (Bandra or Pali Hillish I guess, next to Olives, off Carter Road) : Excellent afternoon place. nice decor, simple, and not in your face. Nice pastel colors, outdoors are nice as well. sizzlers are absolutely great here. If going in groups, definitely order a pitcher of mimosa- its made with freshly squeezed orange juice. A little on the higher side, but definitely worth it. ($10-15)

3. Taj Lands End (Bandra Bandstand, next to Searock): Their breakfast buffet has one of the largest offerings of any breakfast buffet. Omlettes, dosas, multiple types of cakes, muesli, you name it, its here. Go early as they close by 10:30am, and definitely on an empty stomach. Good view of the sea as well.

4. Zensi (Bandra, near the ICICI Bank branch, walking distance from Shoppers Stop): Excellent decor, very mediterranean feel. comfortable couches outside to relax, good for chilling for a few drinks. Have heard that it gets pretty crowded on fri and sat, but on sunday it was prettty quiet. (About $7 a drink)

5. Great Punjab (next to Shoppers Stop): Good Indian food. Excellent paneer and kababs. Decor is ordinary but food more than makes up for it. Very reasonably priced for the food (Four of us ate for $30)

6. JPMorgan’s Technopolis Campus Cafeteria: A full Indian meal, with yummy mutton curry, dal, palak paneer, rice, roti, and vegetables for Rs. 30 (a little less than a dollar). A compelling reason to join the firm I’d say.

7. Cafe Coffee Day: Local answer to Starbucks, all over India. definitely have the Ethiopian Kava

8. Candys: relaxed breakfast place. Nice sandwiches and pastries and coffee. Very european feel with greenn leafy outdoors. Right next to Lilavati Hospital.

9. Brittannia Coffee House: Iranian coffee house that takes you back in time. In the town area, its a short walk from the high court near the customs house. I don;t remember the name of the area. Incredible food. Had berry pulao and boti-”something that means potato chips” which were out of this world. You have to go here if you are in the town area. Its just a very traditional place.

10. Mocha: Was taken to the one near Church Gate, but they are all over the place. Its the answer to Starbucks and its clones. Moroccan feel, with sheeshas if you are interested, but its also a coffee shop with comfortable cushions on the floor ergonomically placed so that you can comfortablly lie down and have a cofffee and a conveersation. If you are not a fan of half a glass of sugar with a little water, I would avoid the country lemonade.

11. Soul Fry (Bandra): Absolutely heavenly seafood (and meat as well, but seafood takes the cake). We ordered about seven or eight different dishes amongst four of us and every one of them was outstanding. The flavors were unique for each, the fish/prawns/crabs etc. were fresh, and for the first time in my life I had cooked fish that I liked (Fish Tikka). Probably my No.1 recommendation

12. Toto’s Garage (Bandra): Cool bar with a garage theme. Great for hanging out and having a few drinks after dinner

13. Hawaiian Shack (Bandra): Small place with good music, and space to dance. Very east villagy feel.

Also spent time at the JW Marriott poolside- luxurious, but also felt a little guiulty, seeing all this wastage of resources (water, electricity) when compared to places like Timbaktu in Andhra, where they used solar power and eco-friendly architecture.