TravelStream™ news feed for member sameer_chandani on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/sameer_chandani en-us Copyright ©2009 TravelPod.com Fri, 11 Jan 2008 04:41:10 -0500 http://www.travelpod.com http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sameer_chandani/trip_2k7/1230714720/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sameer_chandani/trip_2k7/1230714720/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sameer_chandani/trip_2k7/1230714720/tpod.html Fri, 11 Jan 2008 04:41:10 -0500 Backpacking to SE Asia, Cousin's Stag in Dubai, Cousin's wedding in Karachi, Auto rickshaw challenge in India

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Pondicherry, India

Hi all,

Happy New Year! I am in Pondicherry and we have a day off.

well, where should i start! yesterday was a trying day as expected. made it to Pondicherry safely even though we had to drive for an hour in the dark with no working head light. we started late on Monday morning as the central minister wanted to flag us off but was late - in face, not sure he ever showed up.

everything was a challenge as the organizers were really disorganized and flow of information was very disappointing. anyway, we set off from chennai and got lost right away but within 15 min we were back n track caught in the crazy hustle bustle of monday morning traffic out of chennai. for an hour the driving required some extra focus and i managed to scrape the back end of the rickshaw against a large bus while overtaking it - not yet used to the length of the vehicle! anyway, that was fun. once we made it out of the city, it wasn't bad at all and driving along the coast was a treat.

made it to Mahabalipuram by 1PM and had to answer some challenge questions. then we had a nice sea food lunch on the beach and then headed off to Pondicherry. on the way there were a few challenges and we went on a goose chase for 80 minutes which ended up being very disappointed as it was not worth it. consequently we missed visiting the 1st school! because we were a bit delayed, the few members of the support team that were flagging people down left. seemed the organizers decided to make it a "challenge" to actually find the school! many people did not make it and have complained that visiting the school should be a PRIORITY and not a challenge so hopefully there will be some changes.

on our end, we have decided to not go for the small challenges during the day and to focus on getting from point A to B and visiting the school on the way. anything else will be secondary. we were really disappointed that we did not make it to the school. i gave the lead organizer a mouth full as did other disappointed participants!

along the way we did fulfill one challenge by fining an old Mughal fort built in 1760 AD and that was cool; the forth it self was in ruins and not really a sight to see. we were at least in the top 10 to make it to the destination hotel. along the way we met other rickshaws that had broken down. it seemed to us that if we had not lost those 80 min, we would have easily made it to pondicherry with some sunlight left.

so, tomorrow is another day. i will get some pics to you - having trouble with the internet cafe computers here!

till tomorrow then!
sameer - by the way - our team name is "Canadian Coconuts"
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Kutraalam, India

Sixth leg of the journey on relatively good roads and beautiful scenery. see next entry for more details.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sameer_chandani/trip_2k7/1199742000/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sameer_chandani/trip_2k7/1199742000/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sameer_chandani/trip_2k7/1199742000/tpod.html Tue, 08 Jan 2008 04:47:45 -0500 Backpacking to SE Asia, Cousin's Stag in Dubai, Cousin's wedding in Karachi, Auto rickshaw challenge in India

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Kanyakumari, India

HELLO ALL!!!

I'VE MADE IT TO THE END WITH NO DISASTERS, INJURIES OR SERIOUS BREAKDOWNS!

so, let me start with yesterday - could not get to an Internet cafe! are rickshaw was fixed the previous night with some serious arc welding at the bottom of the handle bars. just amazing how no rickshaw is given up on! we got into Courtaalam just after 6:30 so it was slightly dark and this was because we started late. the lead organizer's family is from Tuticorin so his father invited us to his farm and we ended up spending more time there than we should have. so we left the farm at 2PM to cover about 140 km!!! luckily the roads yesterday were the best we've seen so we could cruise at 40 to 50 km/hr!! Another participant and i decided to skip the farm and instead we spent all morning in Tuticoriin buying goods for the school and as we have learned, to give out while we are driving through villages. lots of kids just run up to the rickshaw so we have started handing out stuff to them too. we got a local participant (who speaks Tamil) to help us and the three of us packed the whole rickshaw full with 30 cricket bats, 30 badminton rackets, 6 sets of stumps, tonnes of stationery, 50 school bags, 2 fans, tonnes of alphabet toys, 50 skipping ropes, 50 caps, 10 footballs, 50 calculators, and a carem board. we got lots of curious stares. after the farm we went straight to the school of 25 young children, all less than 10 yrs. so we gave out the toys, school bags and stationery. a nearby school heard of us and came running so we gave the 15 of them bags and stationery too. one of the little girls was crying as it was past school time and she wanted to go home. along the way we gave out badminton rackets, cricket bats, balls, calculators and pens and notebooks. at one point we saw a group of boys playing cricket in a parking lot with a stack of stones as the stumps. so we stopped and gave them 6 stumps, 2 balls and 2 bats and they were so thankful.that was the best part of my day. the rest of the day was just a nice drive on "good" roads.

this morning was a fine one as it was the last leg of the challenge. we did not get a chance to buy anything the previous night so we drove to the nearest town to the school and got there by 10PM just when the shops were opening. another team bought stationery this time so we bought 3 fans for the school. got to the school and gave the fans, plus whatever was left over from yesterday (calculators, some stationery and footballs) and the carem board. they were also young children and the headmistress was very appreciative and was the first one to ask us for our addresses in Canada. all this time we've been telling the schools that we are from Canada and the donations are from friends and family. after the school we went to some ordinary waterfalls to fulfill a challenge and then made it straight to kanyakumari by 3:30. going to go see the sunset soon.

well, that is it for the challenge. i did not manage to spend all the donations (spent just over 60%) and am very reluctant to hand over cash to the organizers. very shady people and not even sure whether the money will get to the schools. all the other teams have not been buying stuff so they will be handing their donations over and that is sad because from what i have seen, i am not too impressed by the organizers of this challenge. it has been a great experience for me but the daily planning and organizing has been very unprofessional and not up to my standards. everyone has the same opinion but is too polite to say or do anything about it. there are 2 other teams that have been vocal like us.

so, we plan on using our day in chennai day after tomorrow to find some orphanages and donate the money to them.

will send out an email in a day or two.

enjoy the pics at
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=78878&l=cccdd& id=690225651

take care,
sameer
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sameer_chandani/trip_2k7/1199580240/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sameer_chandani/trip_2k7/1199580240/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sameer_chandani/trip_2k7/1199580240/tpod.html Tue, 08 Jan 2008 04:40:36 -0500 Backpacking to SE Asia, Cousin's Stag in Dubai, Cousin's wedding in Karachi, Auto rickshaw challenge in India

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Tuticorin, India

Hi everyone,

thanks for all the personal emails - glad to see them.

sorry i could not send an email last night as there was only one internet cafe and i did not have time!

so i am in Tuticorin which is in Southern Tamil Nada on the east coast. let me start off with yesterday's drive from Madurai to Rameswaram.

we started off in the morning with the Police commissioner and local media taking epics and interviews, a process that actually delays us every morning. the previous night we managed to get 50 sets of backpacks and stationery for the kids. luckily found a Hindi speaking shopkeeper and so the experience was painless. we got lazy and left the stationery in the rickshaw and lo and behold, half of them were gone in the morning. since only the mechanics, support drivers and 3 guardsmen were there all night, the head mechanic asked them all the search the area and 20 min later they turned up a bag hidden behind a tree! after flag off we went to see the Meenakshi Temple complex which is huge and spent an hour there. then we headed off to the school. the drive was quite enjoyable and minimal traffic and for the first time we felt like we were ahead of schedule! got to the school and it was a very beautiful village with a serene river running through. the 20 odd kids were all under 10 and so it was a pleasure to hand out the stuff. then we drove on and got into Rameswaram at 4:15 and kept driving to the finger tip of India. there is a finger tip shaped piece of land that juts out and one can see Sri Lanka from there. Hindus believe it is the point where Rama sent his army to Sri Lanka to rescue Sita. the beach there was amazing the the distance from one end to the other is about 70 meters. small fishing shantis line the beach and the sunset was heavenly. that night i arranged to have 200 sets of stationery ready for the next school.

the drive today was fun and long! it was along the east coast and on a "small" highway so that means one lane, full of potholes and through rural Tamil Nada. we really tested our rickshaws today. it was fun because i will always be a boy and driving "fast" on bumpy roads and dodging potholes is fun and invigorating. we got to the school and it was closed (the organizers are not the smartest group) and luckily the commissioner had sent a bunch of policemen. so we handed dover the stuff and made list so hopefully we can confirm with the headmaster on monday. we had extra so we kept some pens with us and along the way we gave it to the numerous kids that would run up to the rickshaw. with about 90-120 minutes left to our destination and 40 min to "good roads" we broke down. well, the front of the rickshaw gradually caved in (fractures and cracks in the metal frame) and suresh got a bit cramped in the driver's seat. there was a support team 10 min behind us so they drove the rickshaw while we hitched a ride in another rickshaw. so ours is off for fixing tonite. i would say it was 'normal' that our RC broke down due to the roads and 'abnormal' that others survived. i mean, they were not designed for off road sporting events.

all in all, the last 2 days have been fun and enjoyable. putting all the problems and lack of planning on part of the organizing team aside, the last 5 days have been amazing and seeing the smiles on the children's' faces is so uplifting, i wish i could drive around in an SUV and hand stuff out to every child. maybe someday, i shall!

enjoy the pics at http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=78878&l=cccdd& id=690225651

take care,
sameer
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sameer_chandani/trip_2k7/1199493360/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sameer_chandani/trip_2k7/1199493360/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sameer_chandani/trip_2k7/1199493360/tpod.html Sat, 05 Jan 2008 08:39:51 -0500 Backpacking to SE Asia, Cousin's Stag in Dubai, Cousin's wedding in Karachi, Auto rickshaw challenge in India

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Rameswaram, India

From a big city to a small pilgrim city. These roads were okay and got better as we got closer to Rameswaram. see next entry for details.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sameer_chandani/trip_2k7/1199319300/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sameer_chandani/trip_2k7/1199319300/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sameer_chandani/trip_2k7/1199319300/tpod.html Thu, 03 Jan 2008 08:44:21 -0500 Backpacking to SE Asia, Cousin's Stag in Dubai, Cousin's wedding in Karachi, Auto rickshaw challenge in India

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Thanjavur, India

Hi all,

well, TODAY was a good day.

we left pondicherry late though - about 1/2 hr and as soon as we left the hotel ramp, the rickshaw died! so we had to call a mechanic right away and he made a small adjustment and we were off. First stop was the school as we made it a priority yo get there. we got there at 1:30PM and it was incredible. the organizing team was not there (they were running behind) so we asked the media team to explain in Tamil and organize the kids into a line so that they could receive the stationery that we bought for them. the day before in Pondicherry, we bought 50 pieces each of a school bag, red pen, blue pen, 2 books each, geometry box, 10-pack pencil, pencil box, fancy pencil, ruler, fancy colorful erasers. it was a joy to give them out. you can see pics at http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=78878&l=cccdd& id=690225651

Before we got to the school, 20 km away, the rickshaw broke down! we inspected the engine and noticed that one of the main axles was dislodged. luckily there was a mechanic nearby and we pushed the rickshaw there. when we pointed out the dislodged axle, he pointed out two other points on the engine that were dislodged!!! so he fixed it for us in 20 min and "made" a spare parts and charged us 75 rupees ($2)!! we gave him 100. that is a far cry from the organizers price of $200 plus spare parts and a minimum 45 min wait for a dispatcher!

after that we visited a temple to answer some challenge questions and then carried on to Thanjavur. we were speeding at 40 km/hr and ppl were eating our dust! unfortunately, at one of the towns we passed by a very sad scene. a child had been hit by some vehicle (not present at the spot) and died on the spot. his head was covered with a piece of cardboard but the blood and crushed head were evident. it was very sad.

we made it to the hotel by 6:30 PM which and 10 out of 28 rickshaws made it before us. some teams are not interested in stopping for the challenges or the schools and make it to the destinations earlier.

well, that was another day and it was the longest leg of the journey. so i suppose subsequent legs will be easier. as there are 200 students in the school tomorrow, we may buy large ticket items like fans and get a smaller number of stationery items.

the hotel reception today was amazing. a photo, valet parking, a garland, sweets, hot towel and a drink. and now free Internet. felt like i was participating in the "amazing race".

best wishes,
sameer
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sameer_chandani/trip_2k7/1199404800/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sameer_chandani/trip_2k7/1199404800/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sameer_chandani/trip_2k7/1199404800/tpod.html Thu, 03 Jan 2008 08:41:44 -0500 Backpacking to SE Asia, Cousin's Stag in Dubai, Cousin's wedding in Karachi, Auto rickshaw challenge in India

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Madurai, India

hi all,



i have survived another day and it was a GOOD day! not a single
breakdown and on good roads with minimal traffic. it was actually a
nice drive and Suresh drove half the time today. still weaning him into
the Indian driving scene!



woke up early to go visit the large temple here which is historic. it
is a world heritage site and the temple was built in 1010 AD. it is
considered the pinnacle of Tamil culture and development. as suresh
say, since then the Tamils have been on a steady decline. we left the
hotel at 9 AM. and went straight to a school and were there before
noon. we were the 5 th team to arrive at the school and learned that
when the first teams showed up, the school was surprised and not
expecting anyone. but they accommodated us and were happy to see us.
last night we went to an appliance store in tanjavur and it was packed
like a fish market due to a new year's sale. bought 5 standing large
fans and lots of stationery. in fact the merchant we went to did not
want to sell his stock so we had to grab and choose lots of things and
could not get 200 of one kind. we gave out an assortment of stationery
and the kids were amazing today and ranged from 4 to 12 years and all
lined up and said thank you and shook our hands. great day.



after that we drove straight through to our final destination stopping
twice for petrol and once for snacks. when we stopped for snacks we met
two men who spoke Hindi (instead of Tamil only) so i was able to
converse and tell them about the rally and try some local snacks. i
should clarify that my team mate understand Tamil but cannot speak it
much. so we do have issues with the language barrier every now and
then. along the way we saw great country sides, farm and seemingly
sustainable communities.



the drive in to madurai was crazy. big town with 1.2 million people and
lots of roads, working traffic lights, traffic policemen and relatively
clean. going out later to buy stuff for the school tomorrow.



enjoy the pics at

till tomorrow,

sameer
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sameer_chandani/trip_2k7/1197903960/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sameer_chandani/trip_2k7/1197903960/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sameer_chandani/trip_2k7/1197903960/tpod.html Fri, 28 Dec 2007 10:12:08 -0500 Backpacking to SE Asia, Cousin's Stag in Dubai, Cousin's wedding in Karachi, Auto rickshaw challenge in India

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Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

hello ladies and gents!

well, it has been more than 2 weeks now and i am lagging behind...not because i am having a great time, but because I've had no time. was in Dubai last week for a stag and now in Karachi for a wedding so sleep is a valuable commodity when you have so many family functions that last till 4 AM!

so, week 7 was primarily spent in Vietnam. we flew in Hanoi from Bangkok and spent the day in Hanoi. obviously the first thing we did was get some Vietnamese noodle soup - Pho! it was quite good and the chillies were a lot hotter than i expected - broke a sweat. spent the rest of the day touring around. the mode of transportation in Vietnam is mopeds or motor cycles and thus there are motorcycle taxis knows as / xe om/ and include a motorcycle, you and a driver! so being the skinny guys we are, we both got on to the back of a motorcycle and the three of us merrily began our ride to a famous monument. and what do you know, we got a punctured tire within 10 minutes. luckily there "happened" to be a garage there and we waited while our driver had to buy a whole new tube. our driver really did not seem to know all the major monuments and museums so we had to direct him! and then he wanted $13 at the end of the 2-3 ordeal of us directing him to several sites! ended up giving him $7.

that night we went to a neighborhood known for its food where there are supposedly 100s of food stalls! after walking around, finding the area and making sure we were at he right place, we were disappointed to see 10s of stalls and not many people. nevertheless we picked a place, sat down and luckily befriended a Vietnamese lady living in Australia so she guided us through the menu. ate some mussels, sea shells, and red snapper and payed a total of $15, which we thought was expensive for a road side meal! anyway, that's Vietnam for you. somethings are dirt cheap and some things are not. like they say in SE Asia, "same same, but different"!

next morning we went for a 2 day, 1 night boat tour along the famous Halong Bay on the great china sea. it has approx 2000 small and large islands scattered off the coast and is one of the most beautiful bays in the world. but first the breakfast.....freshly baked french baguettes sold with egg, pate, and other goodies for 5000 - 10000 Dong (30 - 50 cents). there are so many baguette ladies around Vietnam due to the French colonialists. we got to the boat dock late morning and there were about 100 boats all doing the same business and taking tourist out on 1 or 2 night excursions. our boat had 12 people and half were french and the other half were Australian and us two Canadians. so obviously we split into two groups and it was quite odd as both groups could not effectively communicate with each other! luckily the English speakers were in their 20s so we all got along. we smuggled some alcohol on the boat as the prices on the boat were dear. that afternoon on the water was spent visiting one of the largest man made caves in the bay, a nice beach, sun taning and some people paid to go kayaking as well. the food on the boat was a bit disappointing though and at some points we were hoping for more. after dinner we just sat on the deck and drank. there were many other boats around but within earshot. slept well on the boat last night. it was basically a houseboat with 7 rooms, each with a bathroom. next morning we just sailed around and toured the islands.

got back to Hanoi in the evening and went for a water pupped show which is a Vietnamese skill. it was really well done and the show was entertaining. not much more i can describe about that!

we took a sleeper bus that evening to Hoi An. the infrastructure in Vietnam is not even close to that of Thailand so it was either a train or a bus, bit journeys being close to 15 hrs. the sleeper bus is a cool concept with the insides of a large tour bus being replaced with fully reclining beds with your legs along the length of the bus. there are three rows and two levels. for the cost of $25 we got to sleep semi-comfortable and made it to our destination...well not really, we stopped at Hue in the morning and had a stop of 3 hrs. that was not what the travel agent told us. so we tool the opportunity to see the large cathedral and royal palace in Hue so that was a blessing in disguise. had a good pho lunch and then had out 4 hr journey on a "regular" bus to Hoi An.we arrived at 6 PM so basically it was a 24 hr journey from Hanoi to Hoi An!!!!!!

Hoi An is the place to be to get tailor made clothes. over 80% of the retailers are tailors. the town itself is also beautifully situated on a river and has remnants of old school french architecture. the pace is slow, the streets are quaint etc and all the charms of a nice laid back small town - which for backpackers like me is a heaven! so we stayed for 3 nights in a room for $10 which had A/C, private bath, hot water, reception,satellite TV, fridge etc... we came to realize that Vietnam is not really up on the backpacking scene as most places of accommodation are actual hotels and it is hard to get a room less than $10 as we did in Thailand and Laos. so in that respect, Vietnam is NOT cheap as many people would have you believe. that same night we hit a a few tailors and shopped around for a good place. while deciding, we met a couple of friends we had met in Chiang Mai and had dinner with them at a local fav called mangoes. the chef has supposedly traveled the world! the staff was good, wine was dear, food was phenomenal and we paid $25! the most expensive meal i have had in over 7 weeks (not counting the ones paid for by Bookham!!)

so, we picked a tailor by 9:30 PM and spent the next 2 hrs telling them what we wanted, haggling over the price, and getting measured. so i got 11 shirts, 4 trousers, 3 full suits, 3 sports jackets, and 2 winter jackets for $700!!! pretty much my whole new wardrobe and custom made - couldn't resist having my name embroidered on most of the items!!! so over the following three days, we went in for fittings and alterations and all my stuff cam out great! unfortunately, all of Alykhan's stuff got screwed! it's like that made it to fit someone else. there are two theories. one is the tailor could not believe how small the measurements were for a man, and decided to scale them by 10%! or the tailor was high! so it was a quite a frustrating experience for Alykhan and those that know him can appreciate how important fashion, clothing and style is to him! feel sorry for the guy..............i on the other hand don't care much for these things and everything went well. karma sucks! in fact, we were still getting alykhan's stuff altered right till 15 min prior to us catching another sleeper bus to Saigon or Ho Chi Minh City. so now in addition to my backpack, I've got a 15 kg box of clothes and gifts for family at the wedding.

the sleeper bus to Saigon was a two part trip. we go their late so choice was limited and i had to take one the sleepers at the back where there are five placed side by side! so i slept between two strangers that night, both Vietnamese so could not even make any decent conversation. in the morning we go to Na Trang which a popular stop in Vietnam for a "hopping" night life. we were only there 20 minutes and then on our way to Saigon. now this drive during the day was phenomenal as it was mostly along the coast line and the white sand was blinding! wish we had time to stop at a resort town called Mu Hien (or something like that). instead we got to stop for lunch and so we ate some good seafood on the beach and enjoyed the breeze. there were lots of surfers so i imagine it is a popular spot for that. we got into Ho Chi Minh City after dark and right in the heart of the tourist area. found a room for $12 on the the floor with no elevator! the weather got lot more humid too so Saigon was not as comfy as N Vietnam. that night we just walked around, tried a donner kebab Vietnam style and just slept. early next morning we started a half-day tour of the the Cuchi Tunnels which are a maze of over 200 km built to fight the Americans. it was quite impressive. the tactics used by the guerrillas is just awe inspiring. goes to show that even a super power like with all the technology in the world cannot win a war. we took a dip into the caves and alykhan and i were the only ones in our tour group that could fit into the narrower ones. we crawled about 100 meters and were tired. at the tunnels. one can fire war weapons so for a $1 a bullet i fired an M16 rifle 5 times. so loud that i can't imagine being on a battlefield. after that we visited the war remnants museum and that was an eye opener in terms of the damage (including to the present generation) and horror inflicted in the Vietnamese during the war due to the use of agent orange. we saw pics of birth deformities that one could not even imagine and that defy nature. i was moved and at one point had to walk away from some of the pics to regain my composure. that night we walked around Saigon and went to a night market, shopped, ate and just enjoyed the local culture. nothing extra i can say about Saigon as in my opinion, all big cities are the same. like they say, same same, but different! but about Vietnam i can saw several things. first off, people are not as friendly and rightly so as foreigners have in the past tried to conquer them. they are not honest with their prices and will quote whatever they think you can afford, including food! that is just plain wrong in my eyes. the tourist industry is in its infancy so lots of changes if they wish to embrace the industry. and lastly, crossing the road is so much fun. you just walk in and the onus is on the mopeds to dodge you. if you stop, you'll cause more confusion and likely be hit due to indecision on your part.

all is all, Vietnam was fun and certainly a place to see and experience. but not sure if i would make a separate trip for that country.

hope you all enjoyed this email as i did writing it. will send week 8 update in a few days and then next week i am off to my auto-rickshaw race in India. i'll actually be driving one this time next week.........

take care and best wishes for the holidays.

sameer
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sameer_chandani/trip_2k7/1197644340/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sameer_chandani/trip_2k7/1197644340/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sameer_chandani/trip_2k7/1197644340/tpod.html Fri, 28 Dec 2007 10:01:41 -0500 Backpacking to SE Asia, Cousin's Stag in Dubai, Cousin's wedding in Karachi, Auto rickshaw challenge in India

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Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

Took a sleeper bus to Saigon which took 24 hrs with a stop in Na Thrang!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sameer_chandani/trip_2k7/1197126360/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sameer_chandani/trip_2k7/1197126360/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sameer_chandani/trip_2k7/1197126360/tpod.html Thu, 13 Dec 2007 10:07:21 -0500 Backpacking to SE Asia, Cousin's Stag in Dubai, Cousin's wedding in Karachi, Auto rickshaw challenge in India

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Hanoi, Vietnam

Hello all,

MISS ME????

Well, it has been over 2 weeks since I last wrote and that's because
there wasn't much happening relative to the first 4 weeks.

I was in the UK for 2 weeks for work. It was actually great and met all
my new colleagues, even the CEO (although I did not realize this until 5
min into the conversation)! The two weeks were definitely spent in
luxury and nice 4 or 5 star hotels, amazing meals, drinks, etc and the
best part, it was all on the company's expense. I could get used to
expensing meals and wine and beer. After being a student for 7 years,
this will definitely be a welcomed.

The first week was spent attending the company annual sales conference
so that really gave me great introduction to the company. Over the
weekend I took the train into London and met with family. My parents
were coincidentally in the London for the weekend on their way to India
and Pakistan for a month vacation. So I met up with them, which was
awesome after having not seen them for 6 weeks. Spent time with my
cousin and his friends and went for a movie (American Gangster). The
second week was spent in training and I already got my hands dirty with
making some measurements for a customer in the lab! Talk about getting
their money's worth.

Last Friday I met with another cousin of mine for a few hours and we
cruised Edgeware Road and smoked some sheesha and went for a movie - The
Golden Compass - got to get the books now so I can read them before part
2 and 3 are released in the theaters.

I flew out on Friday night to Bangkok and spent the evening and night
there just trying to kill time. Met up with Alykhan on Sunday morning at
the airport for our flight to Hanoi, Vietnam. We've been in Vietnam 5
days now and are liking it but can't help missing Thailand. For details,
you'll have to wait till next week's update.

Till then, hope you are all doing well and looking forward to the
December holidays.

See the attached picture.

Sameer
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