Video!

Here is a video of the Cock fights it a little bad in the beginning, but it gets better. 

Adventures!

A few days after the cock fights my dad and brother had to go into town on scooters and print some papers for Jack's school work then go explore the surrounding area. When they got back about 5 hours later they had a very interesting story to tell about their adventures. Apparently they rode inland to see the little towns. They stopped at a rural town in a valley and a man beckoned them to follow him up a mountain trail. At around half way my dad was ready to die of the heat so he dunked himself in a waterfall that was by the trail. Later my brother said that it was probably a sacred waterfall. After that my dad couldn't take any more so they turned back.


So since my brother and dad had an adventure it was my mothers' and my turn to go. We drove inland through a valley which was incredible because it was so green . We kept driving until the road petered out then we turned back and crossed a dried out river and up a road until it turned into a trail.

It's almost crazy how green it is in the valleys. It's like someone just took a huge green paint brush and painted the entire valley.  

Cock fights

A few days ago an employee at our hotel  mentioned something about “cock fights” to my dad and of course being my dad and all, he jumped at the idea. My mom had to stay with Bella and my brother had to do work, so that left me to go with him. My dad and I hopped on the backs of Wayan's and his cousin's scooters and off to the “cock fights” we went. We stopped in front of a small corner store and Wayan led us around to the back of it and down a small trail.

 At the end of the trail it opened up to a a clearing that had a small bamboo covered ring or arena in the middle. It was surrounded by vendors and little kids waiting for the fights to begin and on the small waist height walls there were bags hanging on them with little twitches coming from the bags. About an hour later the actual fights began but before any fighting could be done all of the fishermen had to place their bets and the owners of each rooster went and squatted in the middle of the arena with their rooster of choice and fondled, weighed, bounced, compared, challenged each other to fights and sometimes kissed each others' roosters. After a pair had been chosen, the roosters had fitted and attached to the razor blades that go on there feet. After a fair fight was agreed on, the two roosters and their owners with their rooster squatted in the middle and bounced their roosters up and down, getting them all hyped up for the fight while all the people in the crowed yelled something that sounded along the lines of "halle, halle, halle," or "salle, salle, salle". Then the owners of the roosters let them go and retreat to the edges of the arena and the fight starts. The actual fight only lasts about 2 or 3 minutes but in those minutes the roosters jump over each other and claw peck and stab each other. The fight is usually to the death or until one rooster can't fight anymore or  if the losing rooster is still alive he gets killed 5 minutes later when they cut him up to be eaten. The fights last for about 3 or 4 hours but overall it's very interesting to watch the people and betting because sometimes the owners can win up to 400 dollars. The actual sport was banned in most civilized countries around 1850 but many Third World countries still permit it.

Amed

One of the many great things about Bali is the coral reefs, in Mexico and Belize we had to take a boat to get to the nearest reef but here you can just walk into the water from your hotel and BAM!, you have a coral reef right there. All you need are some goggles and a swim suit,  if you are really feeling fancy you can go get a snorkle and flippers. In the past few days we have been taking advatage of that by waking up at a horribly early time to beat the waves and the sun so its much nicer to snorkle in. The area we have been staying  in is called the Amed coast which is lots of little fishing villages in a line that go up the coast. Two days ago we walked to a stretch of beach where an old millatary ship had sunk creating a man made reef. Also I learned that every fish from "Nemo" can be found on the reefs here and so far I have only seen 3 out of the  5 fishes I'm looking for.  We haven't done much else other than snorkling, work ,and swim. By the way have I ever mentioned that probability is literally the boringest (my father has said it is good to create words) math in the world. 

Bangkok

Six Floors of fun!

After our escape from India to Thailand, we all needed a nice hotel to relax and get our health back. Since no one was healthy enough to go out and go on adventure we decided to stay a few days to do some school work.  After about 2 days of doing work, or wallowing in sickness in my dads case, we all were well enough to go out on a boat ride on the river Chao Phraya to see another wat which was called Wat Pho. The Watt consisted of a huge golden Buddha and a lot of little pointy roof like things. After that we caught a cab to Chinatown. Getting a taxi back to our hotel was annoying because almost every cab driver we asked said that he wouldn't use the meter because there was too much traffic which doesn't make much sense because they get paid more if we have to sit in a traffic jam (there was no traffic on the way back). The next few days consisted of working and then going out to markets or malls. One of the malls we went to was an IT mall that purely sold electronics and computer parts which was awesome for my brother and I at least. The next day we planned on flying to Bali but my mom was too sick so we just did school work for one more day. The next day we had to wake up at 5  to fly to Bali, which was just lovely!

The City!

Big Budda big budda juda

FETS!

Air India!

As much as we loved India (not) we had to hit the road again to Thailand early. But little did we know that would be a lot harder than we thought. We woke up around nine in the morning and our flight was at 1:30.  In Canada they say that you need to arrive at the airport about 2 or 3 hours before your flight but when we did that in Singapore, the airport staff laughed at us for coming so early. The driver got to our hotel at ten after eleven  which was a little late but fine at the time. Along the way we noticed that our driver wasn't going the fastest way possible because he had to stop meet his buddy  to give him a sign. By that time we were pretty close to the airport, but we didn't have much time till the check in closed. We got there about 10 minutes before the check in closed so my dad, who was very sick at the time, raced ahead of us to get in the line but when he tried to walk through the door a soldier stopped him and asked him if he had any proof of his flight. But of course the paper we had wasn't enough so he and my brother had to run down to the farthest door to get a paper printed out saying when our flight was. When we finally got into the airport and to the right desk three minutes before the check in closed, they said it was closed and they said we could maybe get checked in at another desk. After going to that one we got send to another one, and another one until we got sent back to the first one. By that time it was one minute past the time when checking-in closed for our flight and the girl at the desk said we couldn't get in.  Then she said we could go buy  new tickets  for tomorrow at the customer service desk. When we first walked into the airport I could hear some shouting and banging.  At the time we were in a rush and I thought it was just repair work going on but it actually turns out it was the customer service desk. It was a desk with a very thick glass divider that separates the customer and the Air India employee. The glass was covered in marks from peoples' hands and faces up against the glass complaining about how crappy Air India is.  After about an hour of waiting in line with all the other mad people my dad finally booked us a ticket for the next day. 

The next task at hand was getting a cheap hotel that was close to the airport. But sadly once again that was going be another stressful ordeal. At the information desk they said that hotel booking was  a floor below at the arrivals and that we had to take a staff member with us to get through the security. After taking an elevator down to the first floor with a employee, my dad and him confronted the soldier to ask him if we could go to the arrival floor to get to the hotel desk but he said you have to go outside and down and come in from the outside. After taking the elevator down to the first floor we were once again met by a soldier  in front of the entrance. He found it unbelievable that we wanted to go into the arrivals area and  said," no, go ask the guy at the next door". But that guy said go to a different guy.  It was the check-in desks all over again!   Eventually we got sent back to the original soldier and with some convincing,  my dad got in to the airport to book us a hotel. After that we headed to our hotel and didn't leave the capule for the rest of the day.

The Taj Mahal

Waking in up at 5 o’clock in the morning in my opinion is pointless. But it can have a point, when you want to get a picture of the Taj Mahal with no people in it. That is how hardcore we are (not really). So I got woken up at 4:30 and I think somewhere along the line i fell back asleep because  i opened my eyes again and my dad was tell me that we were leaving in 5 minutes. When we arrived at the east gate there was already a bus load of French tourists in line. At that time it was about 5:30 (crazy Frenchies) and someone told us that the actual gate opens at sunrise for religious reasons or 6:37 . As the gates finally opened at 6:37  everyone rushed in and through security, or  metal detectors that aren’t even turned on. As my family and I walked out of security, the fastest of the Frenchies ripped out of security in a mini jog with their cameras at the ready, to get that perfect shot/selfie of the hall before the crowds arrive. After spending about 20 minutes of just taking pictures of the hall with and without people in it we started to explore the  actual hall itself. In most pictures you see on tv it doesn’t seem that big but once you get close to it, it is massive. The bronze piece that is on top of the main dome doesn’t seem that big from far away but it is actually 6 meters long. Overall, with all of its symmetrical temples and mosques if you ever go to India you have to see this. It is truly awesome.

Historical facts of the day: The Taj Mahal was built by a Mogul that at the time ruled a large portion of India today. The hall itself was built a grave for the Mogul’s dying wife. According to my mother the conversation went something like this:

Mogul’s wife: “Honey I know I am dying and all but can you make me a massive mausoleum for me.”

Mogul: “I don’t know honey it could take twenty years and the doctor said you only have 3 days left to live.”

Mogul’s wife: “Please honey It will be fun I promise you can make everything symmetrical if you want.”

Mogul: “Oh ok I guess honey.”

Monkeys!!

Shankar's point of view on us

In the past few  days we have been traveling from city to city with a hired driver because India is a right-hand drive country. Our driver Shankar has been very good because picking out a hotel at every city is very hard.  For example we need: internet in the room, a room that’s not too expensive, a good neighborhood, a clean room and a hot shower. So I decided to write a blog post from Shankar’s perspective, as if he was writing a journal.

Day One

Today I picked up my latest group, they are 5 smiley Canadian tourists that are very new to this country.   We are enroute to Jaipur  and they don’t know where they want to go. When we arrived at Jaipur they were all hungry so I took them to the usual restaurant  but the father took one look at it said move on. I took them to the other one across town which  he didn’t like  it either.  He said that they were experienced travelers and asked me where I would go to eat. When I  took him to my favorite restaurant in town he rejected that one too! So finally he told me to take us back to the first one! What picky people they are.

Day Two

I went to there hotel at the usual time today to pick them up so they could go see the fort of Jaipur. But when I got there the mother, Caro,l said that the father was horribly sick something about the water. So I waited there the whole day but they never came out

Day Three

Once again I went to their hotel at 10 today and Carol said that the father was still sick and that later she wanted to go to a store.

Day Four

The finest elephant riders there are!

Today they finally decided to go to Agra. Little did I know how much pain that would cost me. We got to Agra in the dark because they stayed so long at a mosque along the way. So it took  twice the time to get into the city. When we finally got to the first hotel I had laid out for them, the father instantly said, “no”, because it cost  too much. I  expected this so I took them to a slightly cheaper one which he denied because it only had internet in the lobby and it was too much. The next one I took them to was not as nice as any of the others and again he said,  “no” to that one because it was too dirty and had no internet. The next one I took them to was too much once again.  The one after that  seemed to be ok but when the father looked at the room  he said something about not being able to block up the bed.  The next one had  no internet in the rooms. About half an hour later they decided to go back to the one that had no internet in the room, but after they unpacked everything from the car, the  guy at the desk said that the father heard the price wrong and it was too much so we had to pack everything back in the car. These people need so many things just to stay a few nights in a hotel! Ii wonder how annoying they are in Canada. When we got back in the car I  finally learned that  the father’s name  was John (what an odd name).  He  said that we would like to go back to the first one because it had a pool. But of course the pool didn’t work so finally we went back to the one that  was more expensive.  I don’t understand these people!

Day Five

So it turns out that the hotel they are in now is perfect for them and they would like to spend a few days here.  Finally a break from them!

Oh my dad and his poop houses
(cow patty houses!)

Yea, my famliy adopted a goat 

The Streets of India

At my mother's request, I am going  to write a description about the streets of India.

It was a hot Indian day.  A bump suddenly jolted me sending pain up through my spine and

spreading through my back. The  electric "tuk tuk" I was in, hummed along  weaving in and out of cars. We passed a garbage pile milling with cows and goats which sent a wave of manure and other questionable smells our way. When the ride was over I got out wincing as the sun and the smell of rotting garbage attacked my senses.  As  we walked passed streets filled with women clad in berkas and sarees I saw some monkeys hopping along overhangs while little boys

threw bananas up to them. The next street we walked on was one of  the main streets on which one of the rare traffic lights was working. We dashed to the other side just as the light turned green. Then chaos erupted with cars coming from every direction at each other honking, with bikes in the middle of it all weaving through any gaps they could get.As I turned around, multiple people approached me asking if I wanted to buy some spices  that smelt like a mixture of chocolate and chillies. Moving on

I discovered that my family had entered one of the shops. As I walked in, smells hit me like a battering ram.  I could identify only chillies, almonds, and chocolate. But by the time I could register everything my family had left so once again I headed out of the store into the blinding light.