Field Trip to Torrey Pines

Hi Kids. Click on the blue or green link below to see the photos.
https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/sredir?uname=chickyboomboom&target=ALBUM&id=5670058476757961617&authkey=Gv1sRgCPzA6Mu9q8Ppbw&feat=email

California to Oregon Road Trip

Aug. 4 - Aug. 22, 2009
Camping Road Trip from San Diego, CA to Portland, OR

I drove from San Diego to Portland over my summer break in a rental car (so I could fly back... since I was by myself I didn't want to drive both ways). I camped the whole way until I arrived in Portland and my friend Josh kindly welcomed me into his house.

Click on the link to view photos (they follow the same order as notes below): http://picasaweb.google.com/chickyboomboom/CAORRoadtrip809#

Along the California coast (I took Hwy 1 the whole way), I camped in Sate parks in the Redwoods.
Places I visited along the way:
1. Morro Bay - famous rock was fogged over.
2. San Simeon Pier - sea lions and kayakers.
3. Elephant Seal beach - only 5 elephant seals to be found.
4. Salmon Creek Falls - trail was confusing and I never found it.
5. Camped at Pfeiffer Big Sur - blue birds, mosquitoes, chilly night, broke a flip-flop, hiked to McWay falls (beautiful... there was a bench dedicated to some lady the read "you could count on her" really?), kelp beds, hiked to pfeiffer falls, hiked valley view trail (warning sign about bobcats "keep your children close as the bobcats seem to prefer them" creepy), early morning rain meant i had to pack up a muddy tent.
6. Big Sur Light house
7. Bixby Bridge
8. Point Lobos State Reserve - drizzly, only person on trail, family of 5 deer came right up to play with me (magical),
9. Carmel - 17 mile drive (rip-off), sunset drive (great)
10 Monterrey Bay Aquarium - super crowded but beautiful animals on display (see videos... click here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RcBHoLzriPc )
11. Camped at Big Basin Redwoods - California's 1st state park
12. Ano Nuevo State Reserve - cool old barn, pretty large pond, two dead seals on the beach (eww), a dead starfish in a stream, 2 deer came up to me
13. San Francisco - visited my wonderful friend Tiffany and stayed at her great apartment, Golden Gate bridge fogged over (of course)
14. Point Reyes National Seashore
15. Bodega Bay
16. Point Arena Lighthouse
17. Russian Gulch State Park - devils punchbowl, pretty views of bridge and inlet
18. Chandelier Drive-thru Tree Park - stood and drove through crazy large tree
19. Camped at Standish-Hickey - awesome swimming holes with cliff jumping
20. Avenue of the Giants - amazing, redwoods right along the road (see video clips here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f8GYEMjYXcM )
21. Camped at Redwoods State Park (Hidden Springs) - founders grove trail (a tree over 350 ft tall), Rockefeller forest grove (amazing, immense trees), nice swimming hole, surpassed 1,000 miles on my trip, bull creek north and south trails, big tree grove (national champion: 363 ft tall, 53 ft circumference) saw family of 4 deer (even a little Bambi that still had spots)
22. Humboldt Bay - drove down to south spit jetty (large jellyfish, beautiful area, many colorful starfish, passed and alpaca farm
23. Ladybird Johnson Grove and Redwood Creek Overlook
24. Elk Pasture - Saw 7 elk with huge antlers munching on grass
25. Fern Canyon - down and 8 mile dusty, bumpy road but worth it, prehistoric looking, ferns taller than me
26. Prairie Creek - saw more elk
27. Camped at Mill Creek campground in Del Norte Coast - klamath river overlook, coastal drive (3 bobcat cubs and a state prison with cute garden out front), big tree, prairie creek and revelation trail, trees of mystery park (huge paul bunyan and babe, sky tram to great view point, amazing woodcuts done by chain saw), crescent beach overlook, Jedediah smith redwoods (stout grove, deer, swimming hole)

Finally entered Oregon
1. Grants Pass - got speeding ticket
2. Rogue River
3. Camped at Crater Lake - deer ran in front of my car (but I didn't hit it), freezing and didn't sleep at all, gorgeous lake
4. Toketee Lake - very pretty
5. Camped in Dexter - random
6. Camped at Silver Falls - passed sheep farms, grass seed capital of the world, cool farmhouses, 5 mile loop to see 7 waterfalls, swimming hole, 1 mile to see last 3 waterfalls.
7. Portland - basic city stuff but with a great tour guide: thanks again Josh. gorgeous and green city, Columbia river gorge, waterfalls, rose garden, amazing toy store

flew back home

India (7): Mumbai, Newark, & Home

Coming Home: Jan 14-15, 2009
My last morning in India I woke up at 5:00am and ate breakfast. My hotel in Cochin had arranged a taxi to take me to the airport. The ride was dreamy. A thin layer of fog hung in the air as the rising sun coated the tropical landscape in its orange glow. The fishermen were slowly venturing out in the canals with their boats while crowds gathered in the churches and temples for early morning services. It was a perfect end to a great adventure.

At the airport, I checked in and napped while waiting for my plane. The first stop was in Mangalore. The ride over it was lush and green and filled with rivers. Very inviting. The next stop was Mumbai (formerly known as Bombay). The flight over Mumbai was incomprehensible. There were miles and miles of slums. 55% of the population lives in slums and the average daily income is less than $3.00 but seeing the massive slums brings those facts into undeniable visual reality. Click on the link to see a video flying over Mumbai: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UM4DbzzydSY

After disembarking in Mumbai, I had a long wait. My layover was about 12 hours. I had planned to find a place to store my luggage and check out Mumbai a bit. I rode the shuttle to the international terminal, meeting a fellow solo female traveller from Israel. We tried to check in for the next flight but all counters were closed. We asked about a place to store our bags and they said there weren't any. It wouldn't be much fun hiking around with all my stuff and it was expensive to get a taxi into Mumbai proper so we decided just to wait it out in the airport.

We found a place to sit and were soon joined by other travellers: another solo girl from Israel finishing 5 months by herself, an overly paranoid girl from Thailand now living in Brussels who decided she was too scared to do India alone and was leaving, and a young Indian man who lives in Chicago. The airport was rather boring. There was a lot of construction and only a pizza stand for food. We were trapped in the airport also. Security guards were stationed at all entrances and wouldn't let us go outside. (Due to recent attacks in Mumbai, I guess). It was a long wait but at least I had company.

Finally it was time for me to check in and I bid farewell to the others. Then I had the 14 hour flight to Newark, New Jersey. On the plane, there was an Indian guy on my left going to a university in Indiana and an Indian girl on my right attending a university in New York.

Landing in Newark, it was snowing. Awesome. I think I have only seen it snow once before. I was very excited to watch it from inside the warm airport since it was 27F outside. Before taking off we had to have the plane de-iced. They sprayed a bunch of fluorescent green goo all over the wings. After about 36 hours since showering and leaving the last hotel, I finally landed back home in San Diego where my sister was waiting to pick me up for a delicious, welcome home, bean and cheese burrito.

India (6): Cochin

Cochin: Jan. 10-14, 2009
Flying from Udaipur, I had two quick layovers and finally landed in Cochin in the southern state of Kerala around 10:00pm. The second I stepped off the plane I knew I would love it. The warm humid air and tropical green trees surrounding the airport enveloped me in a welcoming hug. The driver from my hotel loaded my bag in the car and took me on the slowest ride ever. He tried to be Mr. Tour Guide pointing out sights along the way to Cherai Beach (located on Vypeen Island in Cochin) but, as it was almost 11:00pm and pitch black out, I couldn't actually see any of them. It was a sweet thought anyway.

I checked into my room (Brighton Beach Hotel for 950Rs ($19) a night) and showered. Well, not exactly, because for some reason the hot water only came out of a knee level spout and not the shower head so I filled a bucket with hot water and took a good old bucket shower. (All of the hotels I stayed in while in India provided buckets so you always have that option...in case you really like bucket showers, I guess. Also, there were also no shower curtains in any of the hotels.).

The sound of crashing waves was a great morning call. I strolled over the sandy path to the open air restaurant/patio and ordered some grub. At the edge of the patio was a big rock wall about waist high and just over it was Cherai Beach along the Arabian Sea. The waves crashed right against the wall. Turning my back to the sea was a sandy palm tree covered paradise. A beautiful relaxing last stop on my tour of India. While eating breakfast, I watched two frolicking dolphins and a few fisherman at work in colorful boats just off the coast.

I finished my food, changed into my swimsuit, and slathered on some sunblock. I climbed onto the rock wall, walked down a few paces and climbed over to the beach on the other side. The beach was completely deserted as far as I could see. I laid down my towel on the soft sand. Directly behind me were groves of palm trees and in front of me a gorgeous turquoise ocean.The sun was strong and I soon headed in the ocean for a swim. The water was a cool but not cold and very calm. I could just lay back and float. The weather in southern India is much warmer and more humid than the northern cities as it is closer to the Equator. I had landed in paradise. Ironically, I was sick. My sinuses were all stuffed, my nose was runny, and I had a fever. Oh well.

I relaxed all day on the beach, taking breaks for nourishment on the hotel's patio for lunch and at dinner enjoyed the amazing sunset. While laying out, there were a couple of men that stood on the rocks behind me and just stared at me for awhile. It was rather uncomfortable but they left eventually.

The men in southern India all wear a doti which is basically a sheet wrapped around their waist worn either knee length or ankle length and a button up shirt. The women wear their rainbow of saris. Kerala is a communist state and apparently very proud of it as evidenced by the posters and paintings of a hammer and sickle plastered around the area. Oh, and Catholicism is huge in the south. It was weird walking around and seeing crosses on all the churches and trying to remind myself I was still in India.The language also differs in the south (the government recognizes 22 official languages in India). In the northern cities I visited the predominate language was Hindi. In the southern state of Kerala, the main language is Malayalam. As seen in the sign below, Malayalam (top) is very loopy and round while Hindi (middle), also with some curls, has a line over all the words. The next morning, I got up at 5:30am for a backwater village canoe tour. Actually I was awoken numerous times by a mouse that was scratching around in the A/C vent. The people at the hotel were kind enough wake up and cook me some breakfast and ordered me up an autorickshaw for the 45 minute ride to Ernakulam.

Cochin is a city on the Arabian coast in the state of Kerala comprised of peninsulas and islands: Vypeen Island (where I was staying), Ernakulam, Fort Cochin, and more. Throughout inland Kerala there are meandering canals and rivers collectively called the backwaters. On the ride to Ernakulam, we crossed over tons of bridges and canals wandering through the jungle covered land.I arrived in the urban city of Ernakulam, checked in and paid the KTDC tourism office (400Rs ($8)) for the half day backwater tour. Then I hopped in a shuttle with a group of 6 other people (an Irish couple, an Indian couple and their mom, and our Indian guide) and rode out to meet our canoe.

Our guide showed us a few plants and explained their traditional uses and then we loaded into a large wooden canoe. They had placed plastic chairs single file inside for us to sit on. How odd. Once aboard, we slowly drifted through the peaceful canals with our guide pushing us with a long bamboo pole. The area was gorgeous. We were surrounded by lush tropical jungle including palm, banana, mango, and almond trees and colorful flowers. Many animals curiously watched us: goats, cows, dragonflies, butterflies, cats, and birds. Occasionally we would happen upon a house with women or children bathing in the canal and washing their dishes or clothes in the canal. The women washed their clothes by dunking them in the river and pounding them on rocks or tree stumps. It was amazingly serene and enchanting. I could live there.We ventured into one of the villages to witness local women demonstrating how they use coconuts to make coir rope and weaving rugs out of palm leaves. All of the residents seemed content and enjoying their surroundings. Unfortunately the reverie came to an end and we took the shuttle back to Ernakulam.

I wanted to check out Fort Cochin before heading back to Vypeen Island (where I was staying) and lucky enough the couple from Ireland were heading there also. We walked down to the dock and got into a packed ferry for the short ride over to Fort Cochin (3Rs ($0.06)). The tip of Fort Cochin was lined with large cantilever Chinese fishing nets. None of them were in use at the time we were there though. The area had many tourists, more than I had seen in any other part of India. The prices reflected this abundance of consumers.

We walked around town awhile, watching Indian families playing in the park, men and boys playing cricket and soccer in the fields. We found the St. Francis Catholic church. It was constructed by Portuguese Franciscan friars in 1503. Vasco de Gama, who died in Fort Cochin, was buried here for many years. The church itself was nothing special. I stumbled upon an English language book shop, serendipitous since I was about to run out of reading material. Then we stopped at a cafe for some lunch and refreshments.

Afterward, we parted ways and I went to the dock to catch the ferry to Vypeen Island (2Rs ($0.04)). The boat ride was only about 5 minutes. From the dock, I luckily found a bus heading toward Cherai beach. The bus was crowded and zoomed down the street at a frightening speed given the pedestrians and animals around. I found a guy who spoke English and he let me know when we had reached my spot. Unfortunately, when I got off, I think they were guiding me to transfer to another bus but I got confused and just started walking. I thought I was much closer than reality later made apparent. The walk from the bus stop to the beach was about 30 minutes.

The main beach at Cherai was packed with Indians. There were people, cars, and buses everywhere but no rickshaws to be found. I still had to get to my hotel up the road and it was getting dark. Of course this was the one day I didn't bring my flashlight with me. It took about 45 minutes to walk there. It was a little scary with no lights except sporadic passing headlights and random sounds of stragglers on the beach. I kept hoping a taxi would pass but you can wish in one hand and poo in the other and see which one fills up faster. So, the gods were against me.

I finally reached the hotel and ordered dinner, enjoying the crashing waves and the moon glittering on the sea. When I went to shower, there was no hot water. Great. When I asked about it, an American girl dating one of the Indian hotel guys offered to boil me some water for my bucket. Sweet. That night I slept soundly until I heard the mouse scratching around again. I even saw it's tail in the vent. It took me awhile to get back to sleep. The next night I closed the vents for more peace of mind.

The next day I took an autorickshaw down to the main beach to call my sister and then walked over to the beach. I passed a large group of young Indian women who curiously surrounded me and asked me a bunch of questions. Only two seemed to speak a little English. They all wanted photos with me. It was a bit intimidating. As I strolled down the beach back to the hotel I was stopped by at least 5 different groups of people to get photos with me.

Even though it was very warm and humid, I only saw men swimming and wearing tight little swim trunks. The women just put their feet in the water and none of them wore swimsuits, just their regular clothes. Just past the main beach all the people dwindled away and I had the beach all to myself. I ate lunch at the hotel and sent out an email. Later, I laid out and swam for awhile.

On my last day in Cochin, I strolled down to the north end of narrow Vypeen Island. The small road meanders back and forth from the beach side to the inland canal side and was surrounded by palm trees. The inland canal side had numerous Chinese fishing nets. I found a few in operation. The men work together hauling up and dropping down the counterweights that cause the nets to raise and lower in the water. Click on the link to see one in action: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z934-Wo79sw Each time they brought it up, there weren't really any fish. They had been at it all morning and when they showed me their tin bucket, their catch of the day amounted to 10 pinky-sized fish, and maybe 4 palm sized fish. Not much. There were also many colorfully painted fishing boats heading into the sea, hopefully they had better luck. Many men, with their skirt-like dotis, were at work at the tip of the island hauling huge boulders to build a wharf. Women were at work too, slapping their wet clothes on rocks or tree stumps and fetching water from local spouts. Everyone was really friendly, waving and shouting hello to me. Most of the houses were concrete block in a variety of pastel colors and a few were more like huts. Some had goats tied up outside. A few people passed on motorcycles or bicycles. I saw one tourist on a bicycle that stopped to chat. He was from Moscow. The rest of my last day was spent laying on the sand, swimming in the calm ocean, and eating snacks on the patio. I packed, settled up my bill (there was some confusion because on my first day, I was told I could pay with US dollars but now they were saying I couldn't but I didn't have enough rupees and they didn't take credit cards. Since it was their fault, I gave them the US money and they took it to an exchange office), and ate dinner.

The next morning I woke up early, showered, ate breakfast, and got in the taxi headed for the airport. Then end of my trip. Click the link to view all the Cochin photos: Cochin photo album

India (5): Udaipur

Udaipur: Jan. 7-9, 2009
My train from Delhi to Udaipur was scheduled to be 12 hours and ended up being 18. But that just meant more sleep for me. I was able to sleep better on this train because I didn’t have to worry about missing my stop. Udaipur was the final stop. I shared my compartment with a sweet, older Indian couple that spoke elegant English. Coincidentally, they had even been to San Diego to visit their daughter who was living there. They kindly shared a few cookies with me.

The train pulled into to Udaipur at 1:00pm, instead of 7:00am as scheduled, cutting into my already limited time there. My hotel had sent an auto-rickshaw and I rode into town. Udaipur is in the state of Rajasthan and known as a beautiful desert region of India. But my ride to the hotel seemed less desert-like and more city-like. After Delhi, I was looking for a change but... oh well. We arrived in town driving through narrow streets and I checked in. My room was so lovely. I stayed at the Jheel Guest House for 540Rs ($11) a night. I had to climb up a very narrow, twisty, steep staircase to the 4th floor. My dreamy room had 3 sides of windows and was loaded with color: blue curtains, orange chairs, pink and orange bed sheets, yellow doors, green window frames, blue and pink flowers painted as a border… I could have just lived in the room the whole time.

I showered and went across the street to the rooftop restaurant. The owner of the hotel and the kitchen help were all very friendly. The main cook even taught me how to write my name in Hindi. The hotel was right on the edge of a large lake, Lake Pichola. Due to little rain, the lake was very low and murky near the hotel but further out it looked pretty and peaceful. In the middle of the lake is a very fancy all white hotel, the Lake Palace Hotel. It was built as a royal summer palace in 1754 by Maharaja Jagat Sing II. It lies on Jagniwas Island but completely covers the land giving the illusion of floating. It is gorgeous and about $600 a night! It was featured in the James Bond film, Octopussy. Numerous hotels around town show Octopussy every night at 7:00pm.

After lunch, I walked around town. I stopped at an amazing temple, Shree Jagdish Temple, and stumbled into a room full of women singing and dancing and drumming in their rainbow of saris. It was great. The entire temple, built in 1651, was intricately carved from top to bottom with elephants and women. There were a few holy men hanging out under a large carved elephant. I stopped in an art studio to watch them creating their works. While walking around, I passed a small herd of burros. I love burros. They are so charming. All the buildings were at least three stories in an assortment of pastel colors and covered in paintings of elephants and camels and maharajahs.At dinner that evening, the Lake Palace was lit up with a magical glow. It was brilliant. I met another solo woman traveller from Germany. She was 60 and traveling for 1 month around India alone. She hadn’t been to India in 36 years and commented on how much things had changed.I slept wonderfully that night and awoke to soft sunlight peeking through the curtains and a chant or morning prayer being broadcast on a loudspeaker. After showering and eating, I checked out a maharajah's house (Bagore Ki Haveli) that had been restored with furniture and decorations of that period. It was built by a former prime minister in the 1700's with 138 rooms. There were many sculptures, paintings, examples of the dress, musical instruments, etc. A display featuring the world's largest turban was quite an attraction. There was even a room filled with famous sites and other curiosities (shrunken down to about 6 feet) carved from white marble. Various shrines were on display. Upon leaving, I noticed the streets were blocked off and crowds were gathering. Apparently that night there was going to be a big Muslim festival. Due to restricted traffic, I had to walk about a mile before I could find a tuk-tuk for a ride to Shilpgram, about 30 minutes away. It is a fake village setup for tourists but I still liked it anyway. There were dancers and musicians and artists showing off there wares. Click on the links to see two videos of dances: 1) Flute Dance and 2) Skirt DanceA decorated camel was available for rides. There were also numerous huts built in various styles traditional in different regions of India. The interiors were also decorated and furnished with the particulars of the specific region. While wandering around, three children covered in dirt asked if they could have my banana in exchange for a photo. I consented and wished I had more to offer them.On the ride back to town, we passed a beautiful lake, rolling hills, and women in bright saris carry bundles of sticks on their heads. Back in town the people were preparing for the evening’s festival. In the meantime, I grabbed some lunch and headed over to tour the City Palace. (Unfortunately, just as I entered, I discovered my camera battery had died and I had left the other one charging in my hotel room so I had to walk all the way back and retrieve it.) The City Palace is a huge, marvelous structure with a maze of hallways, twisty narrow staircases, and tiny doorways leading to one fabulous room after another and surrounding spacious courtyards. Started around 1600 by Maharajah Udai Singh II, the city's founder, it is the largest palace in Rajasthan. Apparently fascinated with facial hair, numerous photos and paintings document his various moustache styles and wacky beard that he parted in the middle and brushed the hair upward on each side. The rooms were fabulous and gaudy. There were rooms with overwhelming paint jobs suffocating all walls and ceilings and other rooms with floor to ceiling colorful mirrored tiles. Many of the walkways also had breathtaking views of the city and lake. Very impressive.After exploring the palace, I hopped on a boat for a ride around the lake. The setting sun helped add to the beauty of the boat ride. We passed the huge havelis with their tiny windows and circled the Lake Palace Hotel in all its grandeur. On the boat I sat next an entertaining 8-year-old boy from Australia who happened to be staying at the Lake Palace with his parents. He asked how many stars my hotel was (I guessed 2) and informed me that his was 5-stars and very different from my apparent hovel. We stopped off at another island, Jagmandir Island, but, to my dismay, you could not actually explore the island. The boat lets you off at the base of an expensive open-air restaurant and that’s all you get to see. The rest of the island is private. What a scam. Back in town, the Muslim festival was in full swing. There were young men drumming and shouting chants, crowds of women in Technicolor saris, men carrying 8-foot-tall paper structures covered in glittery tinsel. The streets were packed. A few processions marched through the crowds chanting and drumming and, upon reaching the lake, tossed the ‘floats’ into the lake (which I was later informed just stay in the lake). I could hear the chants all through dinner and while heading to bed. Click on the link to see shots from the festival: Festival in Udaipur.The next morning, I ate breakfast and relaxed awhile on the rooftop restaurant. I read a bit, checked my email, and met a nice Finnish couple on break from medical school. Later I checked out and shared a taxi with the German woman to the airport. Arriving at the airport at 12:40pm, I discovered my flight was delayed. It didn’t end up leaving until about 4:00pm. Browse all photos from Udaipur by clicking on this link: Udaipur Photo Album.

I was flying to Cochin in the tropical southern state of Kerala for the last stop of my India journey.