Amit Sinha's Travelog

In 2006 I had started this blog to record my thoughts as I traveled around the world on a 6 month sabbatical. 3 years on, I am now married, have a son, and am back in New York at my job.

I am now starting my blog again, with the intention of making this a resource for travelers who want to head out on their own, or with friends/family, and are seeking destinations, tips and things to do that one wont find in the typical guidebook.

Sitting in a hotel room in Beijing, with a view of construction
cranes, concrete slabs that are apartment complexes, and as I try to
make out the mountains in the background through the haze of
pollution, I think back to Laos, where, less than twenty four hours
ago, I was in a country that was still ‘unspoilt’ by development.

I am in two minds about development. It is easy to go, as a tourist,
with a fistful of dollars in hand, into a poor, under-developed
country like Laos, and live large, and enjoy the nature, and friendly
people. Its easy to come back to the modern world, sit at a fancy
restaurant, or in the air-conditioned comfort of your home, and wax
eloquent about your trip, sipping a pinot noir, and talking about how
you enjoyed a place like Laos because it still hasn’t been developed,
and then, as a rejoinder, you sadly mention how you feel its all
going to get corrupted, as the country is opening up its economy. To
me that feels hypocritical. Who am I to deny a country the chance of
improving the lives of its people just so that there is a place that
still has its “charm” for me to return to when I want to get away
from all the luxury that development has bestowed upon me. I see the
modern International terminal in Vientiane airport, managed in co-
operation with the Japanese, and think about the jobs its created,
and think whether its right for me to say that progress such as that
is wrong, because its changing something that in my modern,
westernized mind I find “quaint and exotic”.

Development is good because it provides an opportunity to improve the
quality of life of the people in the region. However, the unfortunate
aspect of development is corruption- both in the conventional form,
as well as social corruption, where, blinded by dollars, people lose
their basic moral fibre, history and culture, and pander to tourists,
or switch to aping the West. If development can be achieved without
such corruption, then I think a healthy balance for both the people,
and the visitors, as well as the environment, can be achieved.

I don’t want the Laos I saw to change. I want to be able to go to
Luang Prabhang and walk the streets without being harassed by
shopkeepers. I want to be able to walk into a village and have a
conversation with the local villagers without being expected to throw
money at them, such as in Tonle Sap in Cambodia. I still want to
retain my faith in the basic genuineness of people. And if this can
be achieved while having better roads, schools, airports, and maybe a
couple of ATMs here and there, then I have no issues with
development. I think its possible, and not just in Laos, but also in
say India, which is probably at a stage that’s early enough so that
development can be channeled in the right way, without unduly harming
the environment, culture, and corrupting the people.

(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.

After spending almost a month with family in Melbourne, I’ve made my
way up north alone to the resort town of Cairns, in North Queensland.
Cairns at first glance, is like any tourist beach resort town, with
nothing distinguishing it from say the Caribbean or Florida or maybe
even California.

It might be the loneliness that I am experiencing after having spent
a month in the company of close relatives, but I get the sense that I
enjoy being a traveler in undiscovered regions more than being a
tourist in a popular destination such as Cairns. To be fair to
Cairns, it really is very beautiful, and there’s a lot to do, and a
lot of young people and beautiful women around. However, I get the
sense that I would enjoy it a lot more if I was here with friends or
family rather than on my own.

I must be getting old. I am staying in a youth hostel sharing a room
with four others. At $20 a night its about a tenth of what I paid for
my luxury hotel in Sydney, but its got all the comforts you would
need traveling alone. One of my roommates is a bricklayer in-between
accomodations. This young guy of seventeen has been traveling around
Australia since the age of fourteen doing odd jobs for a few months
here and there. At 28, I feel old in front of him. I met a couple of
girls today at the beach and around town who were all high school
kids, making em feel old again!

Aside from that nagging feeling of loneliness, my first day here has
been quite a fine experience, and the next few days look pretty
promising as well.

My hostel, the Bellview, is located on the Esplanade and pretty much
in the heart of the city. After making bookings for a reef trip,
rainforest trip and a skytrain trip, I headed out to the beaches, and
visited the commonplace Trinity Beach and Palm Cove, a very quiet and
beautiful little hamlet along the coast, perfect for couples. I
pampered myself with a massage there and then spent some time
relaxing by the waters. I then headed to the Aboriginal Cultural
Center, Tjabukai, where I threw my first boomerang- its a really cool
experience. Came back, and went for a short half hour run, after
which I was looking for a place to eat when I came across the
Courthouse hotel which was showing a movie on a big screen TV on the
lawn. I ordered a beeer and a pasta and sat down and watched the
movie- it was pretty relaxing.

While all of this is quite nice, I get the sense that its something I
could have done taking a regular vacation from work, and in some ways
feel guilty that I am using up valuable sabbatical time which should
be spent somewhere else, either more unique or unreachable, or by
doing something productive.

I’ve also been thinking a lot about my time in India, and would like
to spend some more time there again, maybe with some more of the
organizations that I was helping out with.