Here are some last little bits from India - more so just random things we found out, saw, did and our final thoughts on the country.
Wipe with the left and eat with the right - haha I don't need to explain more. It was a bit weird the first time we saw people eating with their hands in a restaurant.
They don't use toilet paper - so all of the sudden my first statement takes on a different meaning. LOL. I still can't figure out how it works and how they don't get wet in the process.
The Head wiggle - they do this funny head wiggle and you can never tell if they are saying yes or no. It could mean yes, no or I don't know
We didn't drink once while we were there - not that that is a huge deal, but booze is really hard to come across. Especially in Pushkar.
We learnt a lot about the Hindu religion. Funny that they are ALL so into religion, but then won't bat an eye when trying to scam or steal from you LOL.
India was one of those countries that we will NEVER forget - actually we are STILL talking about it to this day. I would eventually like to go back, but only to see the South. As a women, I found it exhausting and frustrating - even when I did cover up, people would still stare which made it really uncomfortable. The way women are treated or expected to behave was pretty backwards to us, especially since we grew up in North America. Arnold had a really tough time in India - I don't think he will ever go back. For him, people looking at his "wife" like that made him want to fight people. (it was kinda cute, he was VERY protective over me). And secondly, the people - he said they weren't friendly and the only time they were, is when they wanted money from you. He was so happy to get to Thailand - he wasn't on edge and we could walk around without being bothered. I think over time, India could end up being one of those countries that makes you want to go back even though the first time around was intense - sort of like a love hate relationship. For me, my two biggest challenges were being told I couldn't wear something and hygiene haha. India is dirty.
Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed our stories from India. I don't think I can really explain India properly - it's very complicated and definitely not something that can be summed up in a couple of sentences. I know I made it sound bad, but it definitely wasn't all bad. (see complicated haha) Every day we would have at least one moment that was just so amazing - it took away any negative feelings we had and put a huge smile on our face. Sort of like "did that just happen to us? wow, we are so lucky to have seen that". It was definitely a challenge and a country that tested your patience :)
One day we will go back (I'll just have to drag Arnold with me LOL). As soon as I can post pictures, I will. I know some of you guys are looking forward to them. Have a couple stories from Thailand coming and then I will let you guys know about our current location - which is and could be, maybe the best place we have been to yet? Okay, well maybe not the best, but definitely top two.
Love Melissa and Arnold
Thursday, July 28, 2011
Mumbai
The reason for us even going to India was because of the book "Shantaram" if you haven't read it, you should, it's really good. The way he describes Mumbai and India in general was very inspiring. Most of the book takes place in Mumbai so we were super excited to finally get to Mumbai and see what we had been reading about. Mumbai is the biggest city I have been to and the traffic there is like nothing I have EVER seen and hopefully will ever experience again. WOW!! It's all I have to say. Our hotel was in Juhu beach and about 25kms from South Mumbai (Colaba) that number could be wrong, but it's essentially not very far. Or so we thought. In reality, it is about a 2 HOUR drive. Traffic is horrible at all times of the day. Like terrible. The most insane traffic I have ever seen. And there is NO order - people are driving where ever they can fit, but this time it is mostly cars and bikes (no random stuff like Varanasi) and the horns - non STOP. We hired a driver for our last day and I swear 6 of the 8 hours we had him were spent just driving. (to put it another way - we had to leave the area we were in at 7pm in order to make it to the airport in time for our 11:35pm flight LOL) You can not get anywhere in Mumbai quickly.
But traffic aside, we LOVED the city. It is really different then Delhi and has some pretty amazing areas - the University, the Train Terminal and Hight Court were sooo beautiful. We drove past the most expensive house in the world. I think it cost 2 Billion to build. CRAZY! In a country as poor as that and someone builds this "house" that is 27 stories for one family is something else. As we were doing what we called "the Shantaram tour" we came to learn that the main bar he hung out in his book was actually the place where the terrorist attacks started last year. They open fired into that bar before heading off to the Taj Hotel. So now they have armed security guards at the entrance of the bar. We went to the place where almost all of the laundry in Mumbai gets done. when you see it, you wonder how clothes can actually get cleaned in that water LOL.
Even thought the traffic made it a tough city to really enjoy, but we were happy to end our tour of India there. They were a bit more relaxed in terms of their views of women and had a different vibe then Northern India. The only thing that put a damper on the city is after we left and had heard about the bombings. It was VERY scary - considering that the day before we had been at each one of those spots walking around. I think we both thought "what if it happened one day earlier". There are soo many people just walking around those areas that it's amazing more people didn't get hurt. I think that was it for Arnold - he's never going back LOL. Bombing attacks and two train accidents while we were there - he's done.
Love Melissa and Arnold
But traffic aside, we LOVED the city. It is really different then Delhi and has some pretty amazing areas - the University, the Train Terminal and Hight Court were sooo beautiful. We drove past the most expensive house in the world. I think it cost 2 Billion to build. CRAZY! In a country as poor as that and someone builds this "house" that is 27 stories for one family is something else. As we were doing what we called "the Shantaram tour" we came to learn that the main bar he hung out in his book was actually the place where the terrorist attacks started last year. They open fired into that bar before heading off to the Taj Hotel. So now they have armed security guards at the entrance of the bar. We went to the place where almost all of the laundry in Mumbai gets done. when you see it, you wonder how clothes can actually get cleaned in that water LOL.
Even thought the traffic made it a tough city to really enjoy, but we were happy to end our tour of India there. They were a bit more relaxed in terms of their views of women and had a different vibe then Northern India. The only thing that put a damper on the city is after we left and had heard about the bombings. It was VERY scary - considering that the day before we had been at each one of those spots walking around. I think we both thought "what if it happened one day earlier". There are soo many people just walking around those areas that it's amazing more people didn't get hurt. I think that was it for Arnold - he's never going back LOL. Bombing attacks and two train accidents while we were there - he's done.
Love Melissa and Arnold
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
Airport Security
Is tight in India. They don't mess around. Just to get to the check in counter you have to go through two security check points (sometimes 3). First guy looks at your boarding pass and passport, second one looks at your boarding pass, passport and then screens your bag. And they don't just glance at your passport, they study it. If you don't have a flight booked then you aren't going into the airort. It is actually pretty intense, but we both thought it was good. Once you check in, it's off to security - one line for girls, one line for guys. Every bag you bring onto the plane has to have a bag tag (just like the ones AC gives you) because at security they scan your bag and if everything checks out okay then they stamp the bag tag. Everyone
gets the full pat down. When it's time to board the plane they don't have airline crew checking you in, but armed guards. If your bag doesn't have a stamped bag tag you aren't allowed to get on the plane - you have to go back to security and have it re-checked to get the approved bag tag. If your bag tag falls off and you have it in your hand, you aren't allowed on the plane. I watched as this older lady tried to get onto the plane, but her purse bag tag had fallen off and the guard wasn't having any of it. The airline crew tried to talk him into letting her on, but he refused so she had to go back to security. Obviously, they have reasons for the security and they make no exceptions to the rules.
Love Melissa and Arnold
gets the full pat down. When it's time to board the plane they don't have airline crew checking you in, but armed guards. If your bag doesn't have a stamped bag tag you aren't allowed to get on the plane - you have to go back to security and have it re-checked to get the approved bag tag. If your bag tag falls off and you have it in your hand, you aren't allowed on the plane. I watched as this older lady tried to get onto the plane, but her purse bag tag had fallen off and the guard wasn't having any of it. The airline crew tried to talk him into letting her on, but he refused so she had to go back to security. Obviously, they have reasons for the security and they make no exceptions to the rules.
Love Melissa and Arnold
The Final Straw
Arnold wasn't enjoying India and was starting to lose his cool with everything related to India. He hated the heat and the non stop sweating, hated the humidity, hated the people staring at me, hated that I couldn't wear the clothes I wanted to because of the attention, hated how everyone was just trying to take your money. Everything - he was sick of it. BUT the breaking point for him was this (which is so funny that I couldn't stop laughing).
We got back to our hotel in Jaipur and headed to the cafe style restaurant at the hotel. I wanted to save our table outside so I told him to leave his "hanky" (aka sweat rag/bandanna) and newspaper on the table. I wanted him to leave the water, but he ended up taking inside when we went to order. Now, first, the hotel was nice, not Four Seasons nice, but it was okay. Mostly families or couples like us. Definitely not a low budget backpackers place. Anyway, we came back outside after ordering - we were gone for maybe 6 minutes and when we got back his hanky was gone. HA HA.
First off, who steals a sweat rag, like really?? And it wasn't even nice looking, plus it was wet from him using it all day. OMG, honestly, I thought Arnold was going to lose his mind right then and there. He was like "I knew that was going to happen, I knew I should have just taken it with me". He was so mad - like if he could have he would have left India in that second and never came back haha. I tried not to laugh because in my mind the whole situation was hilarious, but I kept it together for about 10 minutes until I burst out laughing. The whole situation was so funny and couldn't help bug him about his lost hanky. That was it for him though,
he wanted nothing more to do with India after that. We laugh about it now ;)
India as you can tell by posts, is a very, very tough. While you are there, you want to leave, but looking back maybe it wasn't so bad.
Love Melissa and Arnold
We got back to our hotel in Jaipur and headed to the cafe style restaurant at the hotel. I wanted to save our table outside so I told him to leave his "hanky" (aka sweat rag/bandanna) and newspaper on the table. I wanted him to leave the water, but he ended up taking inside when we went to order. Now, first, the hotel was nice, not Four Seasons nice, but it was okay. Mostly families or couples like us. Definitely not a low budget backpackers place. Anyway, we came back outside after ordering - we were gone for maybe 6 minutes and when we got back his hanky was gone. HA HA.
First off, who steals a sweat rag, like really?? And it wasn't even nice looking, plus it was wet from him using it all day. OMG, honestly, I thought Arnold was going to lose his mind right then and there. He was like "I knew that was going to happen, I knew I should have just taken it with me". He was so mad - like if he could have he would have left India in that second and never came back haha. I tried not to laugh because in my mind the whole situation was hilarious, but I kept it together for about 10 minutes until I burst out laughing. The whole situation was so funny and couldn't help bug him about his lost hanky. That was it for him though,
he wanted nothing more to do with India after that. We laugh about it now ;)
India as you can tell by posts, is a very, very tough. While you are there, you want to leave, but looking back maybe it wasn't so bad.
Love Melissa and Arnold
My story about the cow
I wasn't even going to share this story, but my sister found it sooo funny, that she started telling everyone about it. So I guess I will share it.
We were walking around the narrow streets in Old Town in Jaipur one day (they weren't as narrow as Varanasi, but definitely not big by any means) and I could see a cow (or maybe a bull) walking towards me, as I went to move out of the way a man came up beside me and sort of cut me off so I couldn't go around the cow as I had planned. For whatever reason, I stopped and was waiting for him to move a bit more so I could get out of the way, but I was too late. The Cow/Bull put his head down and rammed his head into me. He made like that bucking motion with his head- put it down and then pushed up. Right into my body. I FREAKED. Honestly, freaked out LOL. Threw the stuff I had in my hands, screamed and jumped into the first store I saw. haha.
All I could see were the cows horns and all I could think of was getting trampled like they do at the Rodeo. Overreacted, maybe? but I was terrified. Like shaking. Of course everyone around is looking at me like I'm mental and looking back it's pretty funny. I like to call it a very low speed head butt haha. I wasn't hurt (maybe just my pride). I think anyone watching from the outside would have been on the ground laughing - I pretty much had a yard sale with my stuff, was screaming my head off and running around like an idiot haha.
Needless to say, Arnold had a lot of good material for the weeks to come. And now I have a new fear for cows haha.
Love Melissa
We were walking around the narrow streets in Old Town in Jaipur one day (they weren't as narrow as Varanasi, but definitely not big by any means) and I could see a cow (or maybe a bull) walking towards me, as I went to move out of the way a man came up beside me and sort of cut me off so I couldn't go around the cow as I had planned. For whatever reason, I stopped and was waiting for him to move a bit more so I could get out of the way, but I was too late. The Cow/Bull put his head down and rammed his head into me. He made like that bucking motion with his head- put it down and then pushed up. Right into my body. I FREAKED. Honestly, freaked out LOL. Threw the stuff I had in my hands, screamed and jumped into the first store I saw. haha.
All I could see were the cows horns and all I could think of was getting trampled like they do at the Rodeo. Overreacted, maybe? but I was terrified. Like shaking. Of course everyone around is looking at me like I'm mental and looking back it's pretty funny. I like to call it a very low speed head butt haha. I wasn't hurt (maybe just my pride). I think anyone watching from the outside would have been on the ground laughing - I pretty much had a yard sale with my stuff, was screaming my head off and running around like an idiot haha.
Needless to say, Arnold had a lot of good material for the weeks to come. And now I have a new fear for cows haha.
Love Melissa
The Golden Triangle
After leaving Varanasi we were off to the "Golden Triangle" to see the Taj and the cities in the surrounding area. We hired a driver who picked us up from the Delhi Airport and then drove us to Agra, Jaipur, and Pushkar (plus some small towns on the way to our destinations). Looking back, hiring a driver was great, but how we survived the driving is beyond me. I couldn't watch, honestly, it's that bad or should I say scary. One time I was sleeping and our driver hit his breaks so hard we started skidding and I woke up with a bit of a
scream haha - He was just slowing down for a speed bump, but I had no idea what was going on. People are crazy drivers. We had to slam on the breaks hard a couple of times in order to dodge a cow on the road.
None the less, we had a great time. Jaipur is probably my second favorite city - we liked it so much that we ended up spending a lot of time there. The Taj, well I don't think I need to even explain that - it is STUNNING. Wow, we were more then impressed by it, plus we saw a couple get engaged there - it was so cute and you couldn't pick a better spot to do it. The one thing that we didn't like though was the intensity of the touts. They are bad in this area - as soon as they saw you they would swarm you and they weren't
all that nice either. Just in your face all the time. I think that was starting to wear Arnold down and he would just get more annoyed by the day.
Pushkar was a little bit weird at first - when we first got there and went for a walk, we had a bit of a group following us. There was about 6 adults (my mom's age) giggling behind us and finally they pointed to my camera and asked me to take their picture. Then as soon as I did - they wanted to see it. They started laughing again and then were on their way - it was hilarious. I think they liked seeing themselves on the screen. (A LOT of people had those old school film cameras haha).
I even went for a camel ride haha - now that was scary, I was worried it was going to take off running. Like I said before, the streets in India are like a circus - they have everything there.
The place that we are currently at doesn't have the best wifi - it's slow, so there is no way I can add some pictures. But I think next time we get to somewhere that has really good wifi, I'll just do a post of pictures from India so you can see a bit of what we saw
Love Melissa and Arnold
scream haha - He was just slowing down for a speed bump, but I had no idea what was going on. People are crazy drivers. We had to slam on the breaks hard a couple of times in order to dodge a cow on the road.
None the less, we had a great time. Jaipur is probably my second favorite city - we liked it so much that we ended up spending a lot of time there. The Taj, well I don't think I need to even explain that - it is STUNNING. Wow, we were more then impressed by it, plus we saw a couple get engaged there - it was so cute and you couldn't pick a better spot to do it. The one thing that we didn't like though was the intensity of the touts. They are bad in this area - as soon as they saw you they would swarm you and they weren't
all that nice either. Just in your face all the time. I think that was starting to wear Arnold down and he would just get more annoyed by the day.
Pushkar was a little bit weird at first - when we first got there and went for a walk, we had a bit of a group following us. There was about 6 adults (my mom's age) giggling behind us and finally they pointed to my camera and asked me to take their picture. Then as soon as I did - they wanted to see it. They started laughing again and then were on their way - it was hilarious. I think they liked seeing themselves on the screen. (A LOT of people had those old school film cameras haha).
I even went for a camel ride haha - now that was scary, I was worried it was going to take off running. Like I said before, the streets in India are like a circus - they have everything there.
The place that we are currently at doesn't have the best wifi - it's slow, so there is no way I can add some pictures. But I think next time we get to somewhere that has really good wifi, I'll just do a post of pictures from India so you can see a bit of what we saw
Love Melissa and Arnold
Delhi Belly
I tried my best to be careful, but no matter how careful I was, I still got a case of Delhi Belly. I think within 4-5 days of getting to India I was sick. I was on a rice and naan bread diet for a couple of days until "my instrument" sorted itself out. I call it my third world diet - I would have toast for breakfast and then rice for the rest of the day. And this time I wasn't alone, finally, Arnold got sick too haha. His iron gut wasn't strong enough against the grime of the Indian Restaurants. It just took him longer to get sick, by the time I was feeling better, it was his turn. Which probably worked out best because we didn't have to fight for the washroom. Arnold and I have crossed some new boundaries yet again.
Delhi Belly aside, India has incredible food. We never had a bad tasting meal there - if I could have, I would have had street meat in a second, but I wasn't going to push it. The great thing about India is that they have a lot of vegetarian options - poor Arnold lost a lot of weight because it was hard for him to find meat dishes.
Okay, almost caught up now. I wrote 11 posts today for the blog, but I'm too tired to finish posting the rest. The past two days have been travel days for us, so I am sleepy. I will add the rest tomorrow morning once I get up. Sorry for slacking, but India was non stop go with no time to write and Thailand was a lot of the same. I posted 5-6 stories for you guys so lots to read :) I needed some time for India too. Happy Reading. Sorry for the grammer errors too LOL
Love Melissa and Arnold
Delhi Belly aside, India has incredible food. We never had a bad tasting meal there - if I could have, I would have had street meat in a second, but I wasn't going to push it. The great thing about India is that they have a lot of vegetarian options - poor Arnold lost a lot of weight because it was hard for him to find meat dishes.
Okay, almost caught up now. I wrote 11 posts today for the blog, but I'm too tired to finish posting the rest. The past two days have been travel days for us, so I am sleepy. I will add the rest tomorrow morning once I get up. Sorry for slacking, but India was non stop go with no time to write and Thailand was a lot of the same. I posted 5-6 stories for you guys so lots to read :) I needed some time for India too. Happy Reading. Sorry for the grammer errors too LOL
Love Melissa and Arnold
Memories from Varanasi
As I mentioned before, I could go on and on about Varanasi. There really isn't enough time to explain every detail or every story so I'll just pick a couple.
1) Arnold and I had a private yoga session with a yogi master who had been doing yoga for over 30+ years. He must have weighed about 85 pounds and was Cirque du Soleil flexible. It was by far the best yoga experience we have ever had. He made sure we were doing the correct poses and really spent time explaining everything.
2) The never ending hunt for chai teas. Ugh, Chai's!! India definitely has the best chai and it was so cool to hang out road side sipping a glass of chai with the locals after waiting months to do it. Our guide took us to this amazing tea maker who made some of the best masala in Varanasi. I am bringing back a lot of India tea home - so come on over if you ever want me to make you a cup. I would go to shops and sit down and learn how to make them and then drink the product after.
3) Stumbling upon a group of young boys playing "street cricket". Canadians play street hockey and Indians play street cricket, but far more intense haha. After every point they would start yelling about how many points that it was actually worth. We watched them play for a while - it was awesome. Arnold had a pretty big smile on his face after that.
Sorry for going on and on about Varanasi, but I think it needed to be done because it was that sort of town.
Love Melissa and Arnold
1) Arnold and I had a private yoga session with a yogi master who had been doing yoga for over 30+ years. He must have weighed about 85 pounds and was Cirque du Soleil flexible. It was by far the best yoga experience we have ever had. He made sure we were doing the correct poses and really spent time explaining everything.
2) The never ending hunt for chai teas. Ugh, Chai's!! India definitely has the best chai and it was so cool to hang out road side sipping a glass of chai with the locals after waiting months to do it. Our guide took us to this amazing tea maker who made some of the best masala in Varanasi. I am bringing back a lot of India tea home - so come on over if you ever want me to make you a cup. I would go to shops and sit down and learn how to make them and then drink the product after.
3) Stumbling upon a group of young boys playing "street cricket". Canadians play street hockey and Indians play street cricket, but far more intense haha. After every point they would start yelling about how many points that it was actually worth. We watched them play for a while - it was awesome. Arnold had a pretty big smile on his face after that.
Sorry for going on and on about Varanasi, but I think it needed to be done because it was that sort of town.
Love Melissa and Arnold
Part 4 - Mukesh
Or as he first told us "it's like moon kiss, get it, moon and kiss - mukesh" LOL. For our duration in Varanasi we had our own local tour guide - totally unplanned and unexpected, but made our time there far better then we could have imagined and saw things we would have missed without him. After checking into our hotel we headed out to grab lunch and this young Indian boy came up to us and started to chat with Arnold. I didn't think much about it and thought that Arnold would get rid of him right away, but surprisingly he kept talking to him (Arnold hates small talk with the locals because normally they are just trying to sell you something).
For whatever reason, Arnold asked him where a good place to eat was and the kid stuck around - we invited him to eat with us, but he declined and just had a pop instead. After lunch was finished I definitely thought he would be on his way, but he stuck around and I think at that point it became clear that he wasn't going anywhere unless we told him to leave.
We spent our whole time with him while we in Varanasi - he was a good kid and very protective of us as well (he almost got into a fight with another Indian guy because he touched Arnold's arm and asked him if he wanted drugs) LOL. He told us he was 18 and going to school, but we have our doubts. He looked young and when we asked him about school, he said it was a holiday for them?? I think that's what the local boys do there for work - they approach tourist's that have just arrived and take them around to all of the sights.
Varanasi is mostly a walking city, so it works out well, plus as mentioned above, it is a network of alley's so there is no way you could possibly find your way around without a local. When he was with us, we wouldn't get hassled like we did when it was just Arnold and I. A win win situation all around. The best though was when he would tell me what to order when we were at a restaurant - never had a bad meal once. It was the best having a local around taking us to all the good places to eat and drink chai.
He had a really funny way of talking and had a couple amazing quotes that I don't think we will ever forget. "No honey, no Money" "No Wife, No Life" - hahah so remember those quotes boys. Plus "first impression, is a lasting impression" - not original, but he used it on me while trying to sell me a scarf. And lastly, "Don't worry, it's safe for your instrument" meaning it was safe for my stomach. We are going to miss our little Mukesh haha
Love Melissa and Arnold
For whatever reason, Arnold asked him where a good place to eat was and the kid stuck around - we invited him to eat with us, but he declined and just had a pop instead. After lunch was finished I definitely thought he would be on his way, but he stuck around and I think at that point it became clear that he wasn't going anywhere unless we told him to leave.
We spent our whole time with him while we in Varanasi - he was a good kid and very protective of us as well (he almost got into a fight with another Indian guy because he touched Arnold's arm and asked him if he wanted drugs) LOL. He told us he was 18 and going to school, but we have our doubts. He looked young and when we asked him about school, he said it was a holiday for them?? I think that's what the local boys do there for work - they approach tourist's that have just arrived and take them around to all of the sights.
Varanasi is mostly a walking city, so it works out well, plus as mentioned above, it is a network of alley's so there is no way you could possibly find your way around without a local. When he was with us, we wouldn't get hassled like we did when it was just Arnold and I. A win win situation all around. The best though was when he would tell me what to order when we were at a restaurant - never had a bad meal once. It was the best having a local around taking us to all the good places to eat and drink chai.
He had a really funny way of talking and had a couple amazing quotes that I don't think we will ever forget. "No honey, no Money" "No Wife, No Life" - hahah so remember those quotes boys. Plus "first impression, is a lasting impression" - not original, but he used it on me while trying to sell me a scarf. And lastly, "Don't worry, it's safe for your instrument" meaning it was safe for my stomach. We are going to miss our little Mukesh haha
Love Melissa and Arnold
Part 3 - Cremations
As mentioned before, Varansi is known as one of the holiest cities in India. People go there to die, be cremated there or to bathe in the Ganges. BTW, the Ganges is so dirty, it's hard to believe that they actually drink that water and hold it so sacred. On our tour of the city, we stopped at the main cremation Ghat and learnt all about it. It's actually very interesting, but hard thing to watch. The rituals and traditions surrounding the ceremony is long and very detailed. It's far too hard (and too long to type) to explain everything properly, but I will mention some of the key points.
that we will never forget.
Love Melissa and Arnold
- 200-300 bodies are cremated at this Ghat EVERY day - 24hours a day, 365 days a year - it's always going
- Loved ones are cremated within 24 hours after dying (I didn't know this until right before I was going into the mix of families because had I know, I probably wouldn't have gone) but it makes sense, because there is no such thing as a morgue there.
- The body is prepped for cremation and one of the things they do is douse the body in water from the Ganges so that there is no odor when burning.
- Not everyone is cremated - they have 6 rules on who can not be cremated.
- It's expensive for the family to be cremated at this Ghat - they have to pay for the wood that will be used to burn the body and of course certain woods cost more money then the others
- It takes about 3-5 hours for the body to burn
- Women aren't allowed to attend the cremation of a loved one - only men.
- In men, the chest bone doesn't burn and in women, the "hips" don't burn- they are known as the strongest part and therefore won't burn. So once the burning is over, the family member will take the hips or the chest from the fire (with long sticks) and throw them into the Ganges.
- Once the cremation is over, the family member will walk around the fire a certain amount of times and then take a pot filled with water from the Ganges and throw it over their left shoulder onto the fire and never look back.
that we will never forget.
Love Melissa and Arnold
Part 2 - Alleys, cows and dirt
Varanasi is dirty, actually India in general is dirty. Like really, really dirty. I don't think I can tell you how dirty it is. But I found Varanasi tough because of the small streets. In order to get to our hotel (which was right on the Ganges) you had to walk through these narrow and winding alleys. When I first entered them, I nearly passed out - it was hot (remember +36 plus humidity), there were flies EVERYWHERE, the smell was overwhelming and it felt like I was never going to get out of that maze. I have never felt claustrophobic until that point. It was a huge challenge for me. And then I realized that in order to get to most places, you have to use those alley's and that was just the way it was. Ugh, I struggled, but it did get better after time.
People would walk around in bare feet and there are "urinals" on the side of buildings, so as you walked past, you could hear, see and smell guys peeing. Like I said, it was HARD. Throw garbage, cows, cow poop, and heat into the mix and my gag reflex was going full time. I know I make it sound really bad (because it really was haha), but it was also something that will stay with me forever and gives Varanasi it's charm.
One day on our way to this yoga studio our guide led us through probably the worst alley in the whole city. That was the first time that I was so so close to saying "that's it, I'm done, Nope, not going down there" haha. I turned the corner and down the alley was about 3 cows, loads and loads of garbage and cow poop. I nearly died. I had to give myself a pep talk before I could move. One thing I should mention is that width of the alley is small - one cow and one person and it's tight. So you can see why I would freak out. We dubbed that famous alley as cow alley and I told our guide that I am never going that route again ahah. I think in a 20 meter span we passed 7 cows. On a side note about the cows - people let their cows roam free in the city to eat. They keep their cows in their house - not right inside their house, but I guess in what you could call a "garage". The cows graze on vegetation if they can find it, but I think mostly garbage. It is so bizarre - coming from Canada where cows graze in fields and are kept in barns, I had a hard time processing it. And when officials comes to the city, the police will go around and round up all the cows and take them away so that the officials won't see them. Sort of like a cow catcher. haha then the owner has to go and free them from the pound. Funny.
Love Melissa and Arnold
People would walk around in bare feet and there are "urinals" on the side of buildings, so as you walked past, you could hear, see and smell guys peeing. Like I said, it was HARD. Throw garbage, cows, cow poop, and heat into the mix and my gag reflex was going full time. I know I make it sound really bad (because it really was haha), but it was also something that will stay with me forever and gives Varanasi it's charm.
One day on our way to this yoga studio our guide led us through probably the worst alley in the whole city. That was the first time that I was so so close to saying "that's it, I'm done, Nope, not going down there" haha. I turned the corner and down the alley was about 3 cows, loads and loads of garbage and cow poop. I nearly died. I had to give myself a pep talk before I could move. One thing I should mention is that width of the alley is small - one cow and one person and it's tight. So you can see why I would freak out. We dubbed that famous alley as cow alley and I told our guide that I am never going that route again ahah. I think in a 20 meter span we passed 7 cows. On a side note about the cows - people let their cows roam free in the city to eat. They keep their cows in their house - not right inside their house, but I guess in what you could call a "garage". The cows graze on vegetation if they can find it, but I think mostly garbage. It is so bizarre - coming from Canada where cows graze in fields and are kept in barns, I had a hard time processing it. And when officials comes to the city, the police will go around and round up all the cows and take them away so that the officials won't see them. Sort of like a cow catcher. haha then the owner has to go and free them from the pound. Funny.
Love Melissa and Arnold
Part 1 - Traffic
The city isn't big by Indian standards, just over 1 Million people, but the traffic there is CRAZY. It seems like everyone in the city empties out onto the streets at the same time because it is non stop traffic and people. And really, where are all of these people going all at once and at all points in the day. People walking, people on motorbikes, auto rickshaws, bike rickshaws, cows, bulls, cars, carts pulled by cows, carts pulled by people - you name it, they are out there on the streets. It's like a circus - and loud, louder then any other city we have been too - horns are going nonstop. I think it's the assualt on the ears that makes it seem so much worse then it is. But coming from Europe it's a shock to the system. The one surprising thing though, is that traffic is always moving despite all the chaos.
Varanasi, was also the first city we saw the random cow in the middle of the street. I had seen it in pictures, movies, etc etc, but it still really shocked when I first saw it. It is sooo random. And they are everywhere - and not just in Varanasi, we saw cows on the street in Mumbai as well. First time is always the shocker though. (I have a good cow story coming haha). The first time I had to walk by one in the alley, I had a little panic attack, it's scary to pass those things because (in my mind) you have no idea what they could do - I hated having to walk past them. haha.
Booo, I tried to upload this video, but it's taking too long - large file so I had to cancel it. And pics are taking ages as well - sorry!!
Love Melissa and Arnold
PS. I'm getting to the traffic in Mumbai which pretty much blew my mind. It's a different kind of traffic there - a whole new meaning to traffic jam. LOL
Varanasi, was also the first city we saw the random cow in the middle of the street. I had seen it in pictures, movies, etc etc, but it still really shocked when I first saw it. It is sooo random. And they are everywhere - and not just in Varanasi, we saw cows on the street in Mumbai as well. First time is always the shocker though. (I have a good cow story coming haha). The first time I had to walk by one in the alley, I had a little panic attack, it's scary to pass those things because (in my mind) you have no idea what they could do - I hated having to walk past them. haha.
Booo, I tried to upload this video, but it's taking too long - large file so I had to cancel it. And pics are taking ages as well - sorry!!
Love Melissa and Arnold
PS. I'm getting to the traffic in Mumbai which pretty much blew my mind. It's a different kind of traffic there - a whole new meaning to traffic jam. LOL
Sunday, July 24, 2011
Varanasi
Probably the most intense city I have ever been to and probably my favorite experience while in India. I think you could pretty much write a book about the city and still not cover everything. You would have to go there and see things first how to really believe it. It is dubbed as the holiest city in India. Millions of people go there to be cremated or take a bath in the Ganges. To give you a bit of an idea of what we were heading into - here is what the Lonely Planet wrote for the intro for Varanasi "Brace yourself. You're about to enter one of the most blindingly colourful, unrelentingly chaotic and unapologetically indiscreet places on earth. Varanasi takes no prisoners. But if you're ready for it, this may just turn out to be your favourite stop of all." So you can see why Arnold and I were nervous about going there - haha, they make it sound amazing, but terrifying at the same time.
Delhi was a very gentle introduction to India, but not accurate to how the country really is. I don't think I can really explain myself properly to demonstrate the sights and experiences, so I will just tell you a bit about it and hopefully get some pictures so you can see what I mean. I am going to break this post into sections because there is so much to say about it. We had such an unreal experience there and probably won't
every forget it. I think everyone needs to go to Varanasi at least once in their lifetime and give yourself fully to this amazing city. I know what they mean about the "no prisoners" part now, but if you just let go of EVERYTHING (and I mean everything) that won't happen and you will walk away with something special.
Love Melissa and Arnold
(I'm actually excited to write about it (even thought I won't do it justice) but it makes me relive every crazy moment we had there). Pictures will come, I promise (tomorrow when we have a better connection)
Delhi was a very gentle introduction to India, but not accurate to how the country really is. I don't think I can really explain myself properly to demonstrate the sights and experiences, so I will just tell you a bit about it and hopefully get some pictures so you can see what I mean. I am going to break this post into sections because there is so much to say about it. We had such an unreal experience there and probably won't
every forget it. I think everyone needs to go to Varanasi at least once in their lifetime and give yourself fully to this amazing city. I know what they mean about the "no prisoners" part now, but if you just let go of EVERYTHING (and I mean everything) that won't happen and you will walk away with something special.
Love Melissa and Arnold
(I'm actually excited to write about it (even thought I won't do it justice) but it makes me relive every crazy moment we had there). Pictures will come, I promise (tomorrow when we have a better connection)
Monday, July 18, 2011
Henna
Do you remember henna? Not the henna body paint, but the henna hair dye? Well when I was pretty young, I tried it. It's supposed to give your hair a red tone and be all natural. Anyway, I had long forgotten about it until we arrived in India. Everyone here uses it. It's pretty awesome. The best is when the guys who are starting to go grey use it because it turns the grey hair really really red/orange and the rest of the hair is just a dark brown color - so they have colored patches all over their head. Or even better is the BRIGHT orange hair. That is a result of when the man is all grey and uses the hair color. I still don't know how the color turns out that way and when it became a good idea to do that, but they all do it. I have a picture - if I can download it, I will just so you can see what I mean. Oh and they even dye their beards bright orange so it makes it even better. Honestly, it's really funny to see.
Love Melissa and Arnold
PS. The photo isn't the best, but you get the idea. This is pretty tame. LOL
![]()
Love Melissa and Arnold
PS. The photo isn't the best, but you get the idea. This is pretty tame. LOL
A white person in India
So this was a huge shock for me and Arnold. We went to our first sight of the day in Delhi and this girl came up to me (within 5 minutes of getting there) and asked if she could get a picture with me?? "Umm okay" and then it was like the flood gates opened. People would take pictures of me with their phones, camera's, whatever. And it was guys, girls, kids, families etc. They would come up to me and touch me and shake my hand. One family stopped us and asked Arnold to take their picture with me in the middle. It was WEIRD!! Then this family pretty much attacked Arnold and I and because they were so happy to see us. Shaking our hands and taking lots of photos. I must have spent 10 minutes with them getting photos taken. I'm not really sure what the fascination is with white people and why they do it, but it's very common.
Another thing that is pretty funny and a challenge (for Arnold, not me because I don't pay attention) is the amount of people staring at me. I think the fact that I'm not covered up like the Indian women, plus being white makes for a lot of unwanted attention. Poor Arnold said that it's getting on his nerves - at first I didn't notice, but Arnold always points it out. On our flight to Varanasi the guy beside me watched me the whole flight - it was pretty uncomfortable. And then I started playing a card game on my PC and he started to help me out - haha I couldn't stop laughing. And they are not discreet about it either. I think Arnold will be very happy when we leave India.
Love Melissa and Arnold
PS sorry I wrote this while we were in India, but it didn't get posted until now, but I am going to tell you more about this issue and how it really got worse as the trip went on. I think it ruined India for Arnold actually? We have lots and lots of stories, it's just hard trying to find the right words for everything. But over the next couple of days I will try and get everyone caught up on our adventure. Heard Calgary is smoking hot - woohooo... Finally summer has arrived. Miss everyone xo
Another thing that is pretty funny and a challenge (for Arnold, not me because I don't pay attention) is the amount of people staring at me. I think the fact that I'm not covered up like the Indian women, plus being white makes for a lot of unwanted attention. Poor Arnold said that it's getting on his nerves - at first I didn't notice, but Arnold always points it out. On our flight to Varanasi the guy beside me watched me the whole flight - it was pretty uncomfortable. And then I started playing a card game on my PC and he started to help me out - haha I couldn't stop laughing. And they are not discreet about it either. I think Arnold will be very happy when we leave India.
Love Melissa and Arnold
PS sorry I wrote this while we were in India, but it didn't get posted until now, but I am going to tell you more about this issue and how it really got worse as the trip went on. I think it ruined India for Arnold actually? We have lots and lots of stories, it's just hard trying to find the right words for everything. But over the next couple of days I will try and get everyone caught up on our adventure. Heard Calgary is smoking hot - woohooo... Finally summer has arrived. Miss everyone xo
Delhi
I'm not going to lie - I was nervous about going to India. On the flight I had a lot of anxiety. I wasn't scared like I was for Africa, just nervous. I'm not sure why - but I was. Africa is a scary place - a lot of bad things can happen there, but for some reason I feel safer in India - in Africa there was no way we were going anywhere after dark, whereas in India, it's fine (it's funny - I said I felt safer, but India can be just as scary as Africa - aka the bombing in Mumbai, but once again I wrote this a while back). When we first got off the plane into that little walk way, I said to Arnold "hmmm it's a lot colder then I thought it would be" (we arrived
at 12:30am) and Arnold just laughed and said "it's the AC, it's currently +28 out" ... ohh. haha. We left the airport and bam, that heat and humidity hits you hard. It is HOT and I mean very hot. Just 3 weeks ago it was +50 there. Thankfully it cooled down to +36 while we were there.
Anyway, Delhi really surprised us. It is really beautiful and quite "civilized" haha, now I use that term relative to India standards. The traffic wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be, but there is a lot of horn honking and not any real road rules. They drive where they want (lanes don't matter). Go when the light is red and pretty much just use their horn to get around. It's loud and chaotic!. But we really enjoyed Delhi and was a lot different then what we were expecting - I think we were preparing for the worst, but it's actually a great intro city to India.
We hired a driver for the day who took us around to all of the sights and in the middle of all of this noise, we would go to parks or temples and it was so peaceful and beautiful. Our hotel was in a very busy area, but you can definitely find really peaceful places there. Now we are really excited to get to Mumbai to see how it compares.
Love Melissa and Arnold
at 12:30am) and Arnold just laughed and said "it's the AC, it's currently +28 out" ... ohh. haha. We left the airport and bam, that heat and humidity hits you hard. It is HOT and I mean very hot. Just 3 weeks ago it was +50 there. Thankfully it cooled down to +36 while we were there.
Anyway, Delhi really surprised us. It is really beautiful and quite "civilized" haha, now I use that term relative to India standards. The traffic wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be, but there is a lot of horn honking and not any real road rules. They drive where they want (lanes don't matter). Go when the light is red and pretty much just use their horn to get around. It's loud and chaotic!. But we really enjoyed Delhi and was a lot different then what we were expecting - I think we were preparing for the worst, but it's actually a great intro city to India.
We hired a driver for the day who took us around to all of the sights and in the middle of all of this noise, we would go to parks or temples and it was so peaceful and beautiful. Our hotel was in a very busy area, but you can definitely find really peaceful places there. Now we are really excited to get to Mumbai to see how it compares.
Love Melissa and Arnold
I might be on a watch list for Europe....
I'm not 100% certain, but I definitely think I will be stopped next time I head there and will have to go through more security then normal. I think to fully appreciate this story we need to rewind 24 hours prior to going through customs in Zurich.
Everything started off by us being late to leave St. Remy for the train station. We left Remy and had to take a detour because the road to the house was being worked on, then we got stuck in a traffic jam in Remy - how that is even possible I don't know because the town is smaller then Sicamous - there is only one main road. Needless to say it cost us about 12 minutes and made us VERY late for our train. Our train in Avignon, left at 2:15pm and it's about a 30 minute drive from Remy (and I should mention that there is only ONE train a day to Zurich and if we missed it, it would be a mistake that would cost us about $800 CND) - so we were now praying for a miracle because if we caught that train, it would be only be by a minute or two. So you can imagine how that drive was. ;) Haha. Next we were supposed to get gas for our rental car, but that was out of the window. We ripped to the train station pulling in at 2:08pm but still had the rental car - I ran to the platform while Arnold dealt with the car. Much to my surprise the train was delayed by 30 minutes woohooo. We could have stopped for gas haha, but I was just happy we didn't miss our train.
Second problem. I was so flustered by our car ride that I put in the wrong date on our Rail Pass. And holy crap!!! Worst mistake a person could do. I don't want to talk about that whole experience because it wasn't fun. But we got off pretty lightly considering, but it still cost us a bit of money. After thanking our lucky stars we made it onto the train we said going forward that was NEVER going to happen again. We didn't care if we were waiting for hours at the airport/train station. We weren't going to be rushing around like that. HA HA
Arrived in Zurich, spent the night. Got up extra early, made sure we were packed (day one of our new motto). Spoke with the hotel desk about the best way to get to the airport from there. Told us our options and relaxed a bit. We had more then enough time and were feeling good - we even went for a morning stroll and went to Starbucks - and just as a side note. Zurich is fricking expensive!!! Two drinks at Starbucks cost me $15 CAD!!!! hahah amazing, right. Anyway, went back to the hotel, checked out. Got to the train station 10 minutes before the airport train arrived. Sweet!! We were doing it. Going to be early. Our flight was at 12:45pm. We got to the airport at 10:30am. Not bad right. Well this is where things fell apart big time. We check in and head to the lounge because we had so much time to kill. BUT they didn't mention to us that in Zurich you have to clear customs, take a train to the terminal, then go through security and then to your gate.
Our flight starts boarding at 12:20pm so at 12:10pm we leave the lounge to head to the gate. First, the line to get down to customs was 10 minutes. Then once you are down, you have to pick a customs line which was another 10-15 minutes. We picked the wrong one - after spending about 7 minutes in it and not moving
I jumped ship and got a better line for us. Sweet the line is cruising. By this point it's 12:35pm. We get to the customs officer and she told me that I have spent 95 days in Europe and I am only allowed to spent 90 days!?!?!?! WHAT??? Did I hear that right?? What about all those people that backpack through Europe for months on end. My stomach was in knots. What does this mean? are we going to miss our flight? do I have to pay a fine? Do they sit me down and interview me for hours on end as to why I spent so much time in Europe? I could be in a lot of trouble. Thankfully, she was in a great mood, she looked at our ticket and was like "well you are probably going to miss your flight so I'll just let you go, but I'll write a note in your passport". Thank you, thank you, thank you. So we start running thinking we would be near the gate soon. But No, we have to take a train which was 1.30minutes away. Are you kidding me?!?! We might miss our flight and we were at the airport 2 hours before - how could it happen. Ugh.
Needless to say - those next 10 minutes were not fun either. We were running through the airport like two mad people. Seriously, worst 24 hours we could have had. haha, but we made it to India and all is well. If you want entertainment in your life, just travel with us and it is non-stop haha
Love Melissa and Arnold
Everything started off by us being late to leave St. Remy for the train station. We left Remy and had to take a detour because the road to the house was being worked on, then we got stuck in a traffic jam in Remy - how that is even possible I don't know because the town is smaller then Sicamous - there is only one main road. Needless to say it cost us about 12 minutes and made us VERY late for our train. Our train in Avignon, left at 2:15pm and it's about a 30 minute drive from Remy (and I should mention that there is only ONE train a day to Zurich and if we missed it, it would be a mistake that would cost us about $800 CND) - so we were now praying for a miracle because if we caught that train, it would be only be by a minute or two. So you can imagine how that drive was. ;) Haha. Next we were supposed to get gas for our rental car, but that was out of the window. We ripped to the train station pulling in at 2:08pm but still had the rental car - I ran to the platform while Arnold dealt with the car. Much to my surprise the train was delayed by 30 minutes woohooo. We could have stopped for gas haha, but I was just happy we didn't miss our train.
Second problem. I was so flustered by our car ride that I put in the wrong date on our Rail Pass. And holy crap!!! Worst mistake a person could do. I don't want to talk about that whole experience because it wasn't fun. But we got off pretty lightly considering, but it still cost us a bit of money. After thanking our lucky stars we made it onto the train we said going forward that was NEVER going to happen again. We didn't care if we were waiting for hours at the airport/train station. We weren't going to be rushing around like that. HA HA
Arrived in Zurich, spent the night. Got up extra early, made sure we were packed (day one of our new motto). Spoke with the hotel desk about the best way to get to the airport from there. Told us our options and relaxed a bit. We had more then enough time and were feeling good - we even went for a morning stroll and went to Starbucks - and just as a side note. Zurich is fricking expensive!!! Two drinks at Starbucks cost me $15 CAD!!!! hahah amazing, right. Anyway, went back to the hotel, checked out. Got to the train station 10 minutes before the airport train arrived. Sweet!! We were doing it. Going to be early. Our flight was at 12:45pm. We got to the airport at 10:30am. Not bad right. Well this is where things fell apart big time. We check in and head to the lounge because we had so much time to kill. BUT they didn't mention to us that in Zurich you have to clear customs, take a train to the terminal, then go through security and then to your gate.
Our flight starts boarding at 12:20pm so at 12:10pm we leave the lounge to head to the gate. First, the line to get down to customs was 10 minutes. Then once you are down, you have to pick a customs line which was another 10-15 minutes. We picked the wrong one - after spending about 7 minutes in it and not moving
I jumped ship and got a better line for us. Sweet the line is cruising. By this point it's 12:35pm. We get to the customs officer and she told me that I have spent 95 days in Europe and I am only allowed to spent 90 days!?!?!?! WHAT??? Did I hear that right?? What about all those people that backpack through Europe for months on end. My stomach was in knots. What does this mean? are we going to miss our flight? do I have to pay a fine? Do they sit me down and interview me for hours on end as to why I spent so much time in Europe? I could be in a lot of trouble. Thankfully, she was in a great mood, she looked at our ticket and was like "well you are probably going to miss your flight so I'll just let you go, but I'll write a note in your passport". Thank you, thank you, thank you. So we start running thinking we would be near the gate soon. But No, we have to take a train which was 1.30minutes away. Are you kidding me?!?! We might miss our flight and we were at the airport 2 hours before - how could it happen. Ugh.
Needless to say - those next 10 minutes were not fun either. We were running through the airport like two mad people. Seriously, worst 24 hours we could have had. haha, but we made it to India and all is well. If you want entertainment in your life, just travel with us and it is non-stop haha
Love Melissa and Arnold
Sunday, July 17, 2011
Back in the old hood...
After a very crazy two weeks in India we were off to Thailand for Shelley's wedding. We were excited for a couple of reasons (mostly because we wanted to see our family again), but I sort of felt like coming back to my old hood. I was excited to show Arnold around and take him to some of the places that I had gone to when I was here. But I do have to admit I really miss my thai thai buddy. Karley and I came here a couple of years ago and it's just not the same without her, but it is still as cool as the first time around.
We spent the first two days in Bangkok and then headed down to Ko Samui for the wedding. I took Arnold to a couple of the must see places in Bangkok and then to my favourite restaurant - yes, the one in Hangover 2. It was a blast - but it was different seeing the city a second time around through eyes of a married women. LOL. Two things that we found strange, BUT soooo refreshing after coming from the intense mayhem of India is that a) I could wear "normal" clothes again and b) it was soooo clean and quiet!. Now, coming to Bangkok for the first time you might not think of the city as "clean" but after coming from India, it felt like we could eat our dinner off of the streets because it was so "clean". Don't worry, I will explain the clean and "normal" clothes very soon.
So yes, it felt GREAT to be back in Thailand - I felt proud and like it was my job to take Arnold around and show him how great the country was. Today we spent the day at the beach in +30 weather relaxing - ugh, the first time since we left France. The last two weeks have been non stop madness. We have lots to fill you in on and once again sorry for the delay, but the net was not my friend. Plus it was NON stop sightseeing in +36 weather for two weeks. At the end of each day we were ready for bed and nothing else. But I will try to get things posted tomorrow to fill you in on some pretty amazing stories - things to come - me being blacklisted from Europe, Cremations, White Person in India, Taj Mahal, my run in with a cow and Arnold's breaking point... haha ... we have some goods for you guys
Love Melissa and Arnold
We spent the first two days in Bangkok and then headed down to Ko Samui for the wedding. I took Arnold to a couple of the must see places in Bangkok and then to my favourite restaurant - yes, the one in Hangover 2. It was a blast - but it was different seeing the city a second time around through eyes of a married women. LOL. Two things that we found strange, BUT soooo refreshing after coming from the intense mayhem of India is that a) I could wear "normal" clothes again and b) it was soooo clean and quiet!. Now, coming to Bangkok for the first time you might not think of the city as "clean" but after coming from India, it felt like we could eat our dinner off of the streets because it was so "clean". Don't worry, I will explain the clean and "normal" clothes very soon.
So yes, it felt GREAT to be back in Thailand - I felt proud and like it was my job to take Arnold around and show him how great the country was. Today we spent the day at the beach in +30 weather relaxing - ugh, the first time since we left France. The last two weeks have been non stop madness. We have lots to fill you in on and once again sorry for the delay, but the net was not my friend. Plus it was NON stop sightseeing in +36 weather for two weeks. At the end of each day we were ready for bed and nothing else. But I will try to get things posted tomorrow to fill you in on some pretty amazing stories - things to come - me being blacklisted from Europe, Cremations, White Person in India, Taj Mahal, my run in with a cow and Arnold's breaking point... haha ... we have some goods for you guys
Love Melissa and Arnold
Picture Perfect....
oooh boy, I have been slacking big time on the blogging, but for good reason - the net was horrible in India, but we survived and have stories to tell... Yes, yes, I am getting to them, but right now I am going to tell you about what we have been up to in the last two days.
Picture perfect pretty much sums up Shelley (my sister in law) and Agri's wedding. The whole reason for us going to Thailand. They got married on Friday and it was PERFECT! They couldn't have asked for better weather and/or a better location. For anyone who hasn't gotten married - why aren't you thinking about destination because it can NOT be beat. The ceremony took place on the beach followed by poolside cocktails and dinner. Shelley looked so beauitful and Agri was definitely looking handsome. This was my first beach wedding and I was so impressed with the everything. It was a blast - you get to spend a full day at the beach/pool relaxing then head off mid day to get ready and are back at the beach for 4:30 for the wedding. Plus you get to hang out with everyone afterwards and really soak in the beach vibe. Everyone is relaxed and super happy.
It was really nice to see friends and family again, especially after spending 5 months away from Canada. Arnold and I had the honour of being the MC for the wedding (not that I was very good at it) but it was so much fun to be a part of their special day and getting to meet Agri's family. They had an crazy turn out of guests - 50 family and friends all in Thailand for the celebrations!! I think everyone bought tickets ASAP once they found out the destination - I mean really, who wouldn't want to come to Thailand.
The wedding was full of beautiful moments, tears, laughs, good memories and lots of fireworks. Something we will always remember. Thank you again to Shelley and Agri for hosting such an amazing wedding and for asking us to be apart of something so special. Arnold and I want to wish the newlyweds all the best in the future and hope that they move back to Canada soon ;) we miss you guys!!
Congrats!!!
Love Melissa and Arnold
Picture perfect pretty much sums up Shelley (my sister in law) and Agri's wedding. The whole reason for us going to Thailand. They got married on Friday and it was PERFECT! They couldn't have asked for better weather and/or a better location. For anyone who hasn't gotten married - why aren't you thinking about destination because it can NOT be beat. The ceremony took place on the beach followed by poolside cocktails and dinner. Shelley looked so beauitful and Agri was definitely looking handsome. This was my first beach wedding and I was so impressed with the everything. It was a blast - you get to spend a full day at the beach/pool relaxing then head off mid day to get ready and are back at the beach for 4:30 for the wedding. Plus you get to hang out with everyone afterwards and really soak in the beach vibe. Everyone is relaxed and super happy.
It was really nice to see friends and family again, especially after spending 5 months away from Canada. Arnold and I had the honour of being the MC for the wedding (not that I was very good at it) but it was so much fun to be a part of their special day and getting to meet Agri's family. They had an crazy turn out of guests - 50 family and friends all in Thailand for the celebrations!! I think everyone bought tickets ASAP once they found out the destination - I mean really, who wouldn't want to come to Thailand.
The wedding was full of beautiful moments, tears, laughs, good memories and lots of fireworks. Something we will always remember. Thank you again to Shelley and Agri for hosting such an amazing wedding and for asking us to be apart of something so special. Arnold and I want to wish the newlyweds all the best in the future and hope that they move back to Canada soon ;) we miss you guys!!
Congrats!!!
Love Melissa and Arnold
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)