Sunsets at 2pm, Heart Ventricle Soup and the Bony Knee Mass

A day in the life (2 of 3)

After tea and a coffee (make that a pot of coffee for Kori), we commonly do one of three things:

1) load a bus/train off to the next place

2) tighten our boot laces for the day's hike or climb

3) set out to explore the city we are in

Inevitably within 4 minutes of leaving, Kori has to use the ladies room. I have been testing a theory that this is just another method of coercion for her to get her second round of coffee as she typically says something like, "I need to go to the bathroom...I bet you So and So's has a clean bathroom...oh...and I can get a coffee there too!". We tend to walk a lot--so long as the place is safe we will do not take taxi's much. In our experience this is the best way to get to know a place fast. In most of the developing world, walking around cities is nothing short of insane. To get from point A to point B may be only a mile, but you may have to cross 4 streets to get there. Waiting on the corner for the light to turn is fruitless, as many cities don't have traffic lights and if they do, people do not even consider obeying them. Plus, if you stay in one spot for more than a few seconds, you are bound to pummeled by a cluster bomb of exhaust. In Calcutta, the sun is a soft red by 2 in the afternoon--an unforgettable sunset. At first I thought this was just another great aspect of traveling there, until I realized that is was caused by smog so thick it makes LA look clear. When you blow your nose in Calcutta, Kathmandu, Ulaanbaatar, the tissue turns black.

By noon we are scheming for lunch. On a bus it’s usually whatever the street sellers push through the windows...commonly bananas, peanuts, and dried maize. The uncommon bus/train fare? Tooth breaking dried curd in Mongolia, goat skewers in Rwanda and hot vodka in Siberia. Kori tends to favor the bananas. Speaking of bananas, we have had them all. The normal ones, the short ones that are extra sweet, the odd triangular ones that crunch when you bite and the red ones which are our favorites. In cities we try to eat local food as much as possible--this worked out well for us in France as we gorged on cheese and wine. In Mongolia, it was a trying time for Kori's culinary patience. Outside of the capital they eat only dairy and meat. I would inhale most meals in minutes and watch Kori separate out the edible parts from the meat and wait until no one is looking until she spoons it into my bowl. Those moments are few and far between in Mongolia as the entire extended family gathers for meals in the Ger...And all of them stare directly at us throughout the meal. I remember looking over at Kori one night and seeing her try to suppress an expression of terror as she stared into her food. This look is not unfamiliar to most of you who have eaten with Kori--she is often grossed out by things she doesn't normally eat. But this time she had an excuse, as there was what appeared to be the greater portion of a heart ventricle in her bowl, a noodle strung through the aorta. And of course, it ended up in my bowl before the end of the meal.

In the afternoon, whether we are exploring, hiking or on a bus, we are typically at work planning. We have found overland travel to be very strategic. We may want to do some backcountry here, but if we have to spend four days in transit going the wrong eventual direction is it worth it? We have done OK all in all but have made a couple big mistakes. Like being in the Ukraine a few days before our flight left from Istanbul, over a thousand miles away. There is always a solution--in this case we had to bypass some places in Eastern Europe and take a 3 day train south to get there on time. But all ended well, as instead of seeing Bulgaria, we shared a train cabin with a Bulgarian family of trapeze artists who made the trip very memorable. Although we have read a ton on the trip, we find our noses buried in our guide books for hours at a time. We have learned to read between the lines for many of the attractions. Take museums for instance. Everyone goes to see the Michelangelo’s David at the Uffizi in Florence...waiting in line for reservations and tickets and finally fighting the masses for picture of the famous statue. But, front and center of the Uffizi museum is an exact replica of the David--and you can enjoy it for free while sipping a cappuccino and watching Italian kids feed pigeons in one of the greatest squares of the world. Kori and I are attempting to be honest with ourselves on this matter--why go see something that may not interest us but is the so called best, first or only in the world? On the Spanish border of France, my parents and I went to the town of Lourdes. The town is known as the site where a young woman said she witnessed Mary and people come to see the grotto where it happened. The line to see this sacred place was much longer than our interest in seeing it, so we passed it up and just enjoyed being in a small French town in the mountains. This turned out to be a great experience--by skipping the touristy site we were able to see the Tour de France from a great vantage point and enjoyed the best Cassoulette I have ever had. That morning, I got up early for a jog and had the roads to myself. I ran from town in the countryside and directly into the heart of the religious area. I had U2 blasting in the ipod (thanks to the Denver crew) and little did I know that morning masses had gotten way and they were all held outside. Ironically, I looked up from the pavement listening to "The Streets have no Names" and found myself in the middle of a hundreds of Irish worshippers, all were either starring at the priests giving mass or the tall lanky guy singing "I want to run, I want to hide" under his breath as he slowly realized that he had just ran into the middle of Sunday mass, wearing shorts and listening to rock and roll. At least U2 is Irish.