India... "I've a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore".

Enjoying a Tuborg by the pool in Mumbai

I've now been to 2 cities in India, Mumbai (formerly Bombay) and New Delhi.  If you've never been to India, there's no possible way for me to describe in words that could accurately convey the experience.  But I'll give it a shot.


The initial assault to the senses is the insanely filthy air quality.  There is so much pollution that as soon as we step off the airplane, I immediately feel congested and a little short of breath.  I believe that the poor air quality is a result of the continuous burning of firewood, animal waste and dead bodies.  I'm fairly sure I don't want to know what kind of health issues this may be causing me.


The next thing we have to deal with is the totally inefficient method of getting through customs and immigration.  They have so many people in this country that they will assign any mundane job they can to everyone in order to appear productive.  The opposite ends up being the result due to the "red tape" at each phase of the process.  In Mumbai they literally had someone assigned to take our paperwork from one podium to the next.  That's all they did... just carried our papers 100 feet to the next person with a rubber stamp.  In addition to the inefficient process, the actual procedures change every time you go there.  Once we had to surrender our passports and didn't get them back until we left.  The next time we kept our passports but were required to each pay a $40 fee for a "visa"... (wink, wink, nudge, nudge).    Funny how we never actually received a visa.  The next time we were allowed through with no surrendering of anything.  We did have to listen to one of the customs officers scold us, saying that we arrived too early and next time we'll have to wait for the shift change.  We had arrived at our scheduled time but that was apparently irrelevant.  


Once out of the airport and into the hotel car, the fun begins.  There are stripes painted on most of the roads just like in any civilized country but in India they are purely for decoration.  At any point in time during our ride to the hotel I could've reached out of the window and touched another vehicle.  A friend of mine described it best when he compared it to an ant colony.  The cars, motorcycles (usually with 3 or 4 people on them), and the Tuk Tuks all just cram together and somehow eventually get where they're going.  One thing you don't see is a vehicle that doesn't have some body damage somewhere on it.  It is definitely a sight to see.

Typical traffic

Once at the hotel, which is very nice, there is everything you need, for a price.  The food and drinks are very expensive except for the breakfast which is included, and very good.  If you decide to venture out from the hotel you need to be prepared for the stench of abject poverty.  The level of sanitation is horrific.  I personally had to sidestep a pile of human feces on the sidewalk and to see someone just stop and take a piss on the sidewalk is very common.  Needless to say you don't want to trip and fall.

Visiting the market

The food is the next item.  I haven't had any issues to this point with getting sick from the food but I'm always pretty careful not to eat food from the street vendors.  I know of guys who have and do but I also know guys who have been pretty sick from eating there as well. 


In summation... I'm not a big fan of India.  I do realize that I've only been exposed to the "big city" and I could've just as easily been talking about New York or Chicago.  There may be some fantastic places to see in India and since I'll probably be back there regularly in the near future I may get a chance to see them.  Until that time, I'm going to continue to consider India as a place that if I never see again I wouldn't be too upset.

A Kingfisher at the mall in New Delhi

A la sature!

The Important Things in Life

Just before leaving for my last trip, I was asked by a good friend if I wanted to go out fishing on Alder Lake.  It was forecast to be a beautiful day and so I gladly agreed.


We spent the majority of the day telling stories and enjoying the sunshine.  We ended up not catching any fish but neither one of us really cared.

Cheers!

Kuwait a minute here!

A "Budweiser NA" at the "Ayam Zaman" restaurant in the hotel in Kuwait.

Recently I was presented with an "opportunity" to go to Kuwait.  Actually, it was more of a matter of being told I was going there to fly an airplane out of there the next day.  I decided to view this as a chance to see another new city I hadn't seen before instead of dreading the inevitable bureaucratic BS that is always associated with entering and leaving any city in the middle east.  So after parking our airplane in Bahrain, myself and the rest of our crew took a commercial flight to Kuwait City on a Gulf Air A320.  It was a fairly painless hour-long flight and before I knew it I was in yet another dirty city located somewhere in a desert.  


Once out of the airport, the fairly quick van ride to the hotel was good.  It gave me a chance to see some of the buildings of the city.  I must say that it was fairly a unimpressive experience.  At least with Bahrain, (and from what I've seen on TV), Dubai, there are quite a few buildings with very interesting architecture and are pleasing to the eye.  Now, maybe I just didn't get to where the cool stuff was but I found that Kuwait was very depressing.


The Crowne Plaza in Kuwait on the other hand, was fantastic.  It is most likely in my top 3 or so hotels I've ever stayed at in terms of pure opulence.  It is very nice to say the least.  During our brief stay, we met for dinner at one of the 4 or so restaurants in the hotel.  It featured very good food and had a pleasant environment.  We chose a spot in the "no-smoking" section which of course I found funny in that there were tables not 15 feet away with many people smoking mu'assel in the big ornate, hookah pipes.  I've always thought that having a no-smoking section in an open air restaurant is like having a "no-peeing" section in a swimming pool.  But I digress...

Taken in the main lobby at the Crowne Plaza.

During our meal, we decided that after our long day we should have a beer.  Of course being in Kuwait where alcohol is banned, we were left with only one "beer" option... Non-Alcoholic.  So we each got a "Budweiser- NA" and to a man decided that it was one of the worst tasting beverages we'd ever consumed.  In addition to the horrible taste, it was fairly expensive as well which made the experience just that much more like a jab in the gut with a stick.  


Overall, the experience is one I won't mark down as "great"... however, it was definitely interesting to see, feel and smell a country where the vast majority of Americans will never go.

Time warp at The Tav

Anyone who's ever been to "The Tav" will immediately recognize the carved brick wall and tables

I have been a student at 5 colleges in my life.  2 Community Colleges, 2 Universities and one Technical College.  One of the Universities I attended was Central Washington University.  I chose CWU because of their Bachelor's of Science in Aviation program and their relative close proximity to home.  I just got out of the Navy and was determined to become a professional pilot.  I ultimately left CWU and attended Emery Aviation College to complete my aviation degree but that's another story.


During my time @ CWU, I occasionally found myself down at "The Tav".  This was a popular hang out for the college students and was remembered mostly (by me anyway) for the large brick walls and wooden tables that are carved with hundreds of names. 


Recently my Dad, my brother (a CWU Alum) and I were driving back home from a motorcycle ride in eastern Washington and stopped in Ellensburg for a bite to eat.  We found ourselves at "The Tav" and my brother and I were a bit surprised to see it still around after all these years.  Many of the other establishments that we had frequented were no longer around, but "The Tav" remains.  


We had a good burger and a beer and headed home.  Not sure when the next time I'll be in Ellensburg will be but my guess is that The Tav will still be there.




Cheers!

Thailand

A cappuccino in Bangkok

A Pepsi in Phuket

During my time at Korean Air I traveled to Thailand a few times.  The two cities I visited were Bangkok and Phuket.  These were very different experiences.  While Bangkok was an interesting place to see, I find the crowded, dirty city not really that much to my liking.  The hotel we stayed at was one of the nicest hotels I've been in so the Bangkok experience was not all bad.


I enjoyed Phuket, however.  With it's beautiful beaches and laid back lifestyle, I took advantage of the relaxed environment it provided.


Fun Fact:  Both of the drink photos feature non-alcoholic beverages and the Pepsi in Phuket was one of the first 2 or 3 photos I took with this project in mind.

Surin Beach, Phuket

Choc-tee!

Welcome to East Germany

A very quaint little pub/restaurant called "Grober Gottlieb"

Located roughly 180km SW of Berlin is a town called Halle.  It is a very nice town where the University of Halle-Wittenberg is located.    There are many shops and restaurants within walking distance from our hotel, The Dormero.  One of the restaurants/pubs that I was introduced to is called Grober Gottlieb.  It's a nice, quiet place with good food and good German brews.  If you ever find yourself in Halle... I suggest you check it out.

Prost!

It's not just a job, it's an "AirVenture"

At "The Vintage Grill"

In the summer of 2010 I was fortunate enough to be able to fly out to Oshkosh, Wisconsin with a couple of friends and attend "The Worlds Greatest Aviation Celebration".  We flew a nice Cessna 210 (owned by a good friend of mine) from Seattle to Oshkosh in one day and set up tents under the wing of the airplane while parked in the “North 40”.  This was my first time at the Oshkosh air-show and I must say it was a great experience.

Mike, Roy and Myself beginning our journey

One of the best parts about attending the EAA sponsored event was that one of my long-time friends from high school (let's call him "Hal", since that's his name) works at EAA and was able to take a few minutes out of each of his very busy days to give us a bit of a “behind the scenes” look at Oshkosh.  He was a terrific tour guide and he provided information about many of the vintage airplanes that few people on the planet know.  When Hal wasn't available to show us around, his wife, Muffy was kind enough to take over the "tour guide" duties as best she could and it was nice to be able to visit with her while exploring everything that Oshkosh had to offer.

My good friend, Hal

As the week wound down, we decided to start heading back for home and so we loaded up the reliable, old Cessna and made our way westward.  Due to the winds and other weather encounters, we took 2 days to get home.  Our stopover point was Polson, Montana where we stayed with my cousin and his family.  It was a very nice visit.

This was an adventure that I’ll hopefully get to experience again in the near future.

Cheers!