Planes, Trains and Automobiles – Malaysia, Singapore, New Delhi and the Golden Temple

On a two week holiday, the slightest inconvenience can reek havoc on the entire trip. But when circumstances beyond control make major travel changes necessary during a year-long global trip sometimes it is the formula for an adventure. So when Emily and I woke up early on 26^th of November to catch our Bangkok to New Delhi flight only to find out that Bangkok airport was under siege by angry anti-government protestors, we made a quick decision to re-route our flight out of Singapore instead. We managed to arrange a flight from Singapore to New Delhi on Dec 4^th, which left us with about 6 days to reach Singapore by land. Linda and Jill from England – who were caught in a similar predicament – learnt of our plan so we invited them to join us. Not only was the airport under siege but the protestors were also threatening to block major road and train arteries throughout the county. So we made the decision to get out of Thailand as quick as possible just in case. Within two days we managed to cross the Thai-Malay border via train and decided to spend the next few days exploring the Malaysian Peninsula. We hadn’t planned on visiting Malaysia but in retrospect, it would have been a shame to miss it as it was a beautiful well-run (although somewhat authoritarian) country. With only a few days to explore, we decided to spend a day in the capital Kuala Lumpur and a few days in the Cameron Highlands.

Here are our friends Linda and Jill on our 'escape from thailand' trainThe Petronas Towers of Kuala Lumper (once the world's largest)Em reaching out

The Petronas towers in their full glory

You can actually take an elevator up to the 'sky-bridge of the Petronas Towers but by the time we got their it was sold out for the day, so we did the next best thing and took a trip up the nearby telecommunications tower

My new wedding band (i lost my old one....long story)
Emily looking a little too happy despite the fact that we were currently waiting for over an hour and a half for our bus to the cameron highlands.

Emily on one of the many hiking trails in the cameron highlands

Bananas growing wildly

Malaysia is very industralized country, especially compared to the neighboring countries. Even the land is heavily worked

Tomatoes growing in the highlands

wheeeeeen tthheeeeee moon hits your eye like a big smiiiiiily faaace that's amore.

We were out wandering aimlessly one evening when we spotted this night scene, we thought it the 'eye's where stars, we read in the paper a couple days later that they were actually venus and jupiter....cool!

Tea Gardens in the highlands

More Tea:

Singapore

We arrived to the city state of Singapore at about 8pm in order to catch our flight to India at 2am. We will be back in Singapore in a few months so we decided to make our first trip short and sweet. Our goal: visit Raffles Hotel and have a Singapore Sling in Singapore. Mission accomplished!!!

On our way to the Singapore airport we took the metro, one of the stops has a very similar pronounciation to the resort at which we were married....

India

India marks my 25^th country, 26^th for Emily. But if we had never left Canada or if we had traveled to 100 countries more, we still would have been ill-prepared for India. Even though we’ve spoken to many travelers about their experience in India, nothing can compare to seeing it firsthand. The poverty and inequality is shockingly real. The lack of basic infrastructure for the majority of the population and the chaos of the streets is juxtaposed with historical and religious structures that are the apex of human imagination and ingenuity. These buildings as well as the homes of the upper crust of Indian society offer tranquility and solitude bar none. Although the caste system of India is technically illegal, from first glance it appears as though it will be around for at least a few more generations in the mindset of the general population.

We have been fortunate enough to have timed our trip with Leila’s return to India. Leila is an Indian lady who met Emily’s parents, Jim and Valerie, on their world tour back in ’79. Leila, Jim and Valerie kept in touch over the years and eventually Leila, along with her two daughters Rashmi and Tunu immigrated to Canada and became part of Emily’s de facto family. Leila is currently in Delhi visiting friends and relatives including her elderly Auntie. So we have come to stay with Leila in Delhi almost 30 years after her first encounter with Jim and Val!!! We are currently staying with Leila’s friends Raj, Susan (aka Shashi) and their son Robin and our ever indebted due to their fantastic cooking and hospitably.

From L-R: Shashi, Robin, Leila, Raj, Emily and ......
....Claire

As if we haven’t introduced enough characters in our Indian adventure already, Emily’s sister Claire is also in tow for the next month. We’re probably the first newlyweds to bring their sister(-in-law) on our honeymoon…just kidding, we’re very happy to have her with us, especially since she will be joining us for Christmas which otherwise would’ve been a bit lonely for the two of us).

Emily in her brand new rajistani outfit...isn't she cute???
A typical India scene close to our friends house in New Delhi
An elementary school friend of mine just happened to be in India at the same time as us. Here is Steve and I in front of the Baha'i Temple in New Delhi
Baha'i temple
Emily at Humayun's Tomb in Delhi
same same, but different
Humayun's Tomb again (Steve and I in the bottom right)

Although humayun's tomb was spectacular, these school girls were more interested in having their photo taken with us....a phenomemon that was cute at first, but is starting to get old really fast....we aren't cut out to be celebrities and prefer our anonymity
See a few sites, take a few pictures, sign a few autographs, just another day on the road
Wa wa waaaa :( (no red fort for us)
Instead we toured the nearby Jama Masjid Mosque
Emily at the height of her Indian Culture shock, luckily we weren't at the airport otherwise we might be home by now....but are now happy we stuck it out
Jama Masjid in the foreground, red fort in background
Emily and Claire shoppin' and droppin'
Claire and I at the night market
Our happy florist, the flowers were a small token of our appreaciation the Gupta's hospitatily....they were also the same flowers in our centerpieces at our wedding
Masala Chai made fresh before our eyes...only 5 rupees (20 cents)
More shots from the night market
One of Leila's main reasons for returning to India was to go on a pilgrimage to the golden temple (the holiest temple of the Sikh faith). Although it wasn't orignially on our itinerary, it turned out to be one of the highlights of our trip so far. It was especially nice to visit the temple as most of the indian people we know from back home belong to the Sikh faith. The next several pics are from our day and night in the temple.

This was actually Leila's second trip to the Golden Temple, her first was when she was just 4 years old.
I took one shot of claire and emily and didn't like the results, before i could take another this guy jumped in the photo!
From L-to-R: Claire, Steve, Emily and Paul at sunrise
One of the many inscriptions around the temple to commemorate loved ones or donations.
We spent the night in the temple. One of the greatest parts of the Sikh religion is the believe that all are equal (as opposed to the hindu caste system). Therefore food and lodging is given free to all (although donations are appreciated). These were some of the pilgrims sleeping in the main courtyard, we managed to arrive earlier in the day and were lucky to secure a room for the night.
Emily in front of the communal tea service.
Another beautiful aspect of the golden temple was the volunteers, many people give their time freely for the betterment of the temple, here are some ladies sorting chapatis
Volunteers cleaning plates
A man sweeping the edge of the pool that surrounds the golden temple (the pool is filled with holy water that receives the vibrations of music from inside the temple)
Another lady receiving fresh chapatis off the converyor (tens of thousands are made everyday)
This little boy was in charge of collecting the tea bowls for washing (although he was more interested in similing for the camera)
Just down the road from the golden temple was the site of the Jallianwala bagh massacre which occured on April 13th, 1919 when thousands of punjabi's gathered to protest the recent british act to imprison sedionist without trial. The gathering was meant to be peaceful but the british opened fire killing 300 - 1000 people. It was a precurser to Ghandi's 'non-compliance' movement. Today it is a beautiful park meant to commemorate the tragedyBullet holes in one of the remaining walls
Us in the park
Steve on the streets of Amristar barganing for bananas
This guy stuck a camera phone in my face, it was only fair to get a shot of him after!
Steve and I on the way back to the train station heading for Delhi.
Claire safe and sound back at Gupta's house in Delhi. She doesn't usually look so stunned.
We're now in the blue city of Jodhpur on our next adventure in the state of rajistan. Many more adventures to come, stay tuned!

-Chris, Emily and for the next month, Claire