Welcome to Laos. Thirty day visa on arrival to continue backpacking South East Asia.

Posted on 09/04/2013 by Drewmanity

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My first step into Laos. Welcome to Laos.

A day with the Big Cats

Posted on 24/02/2013 by Drewmanity

Thailand Tiger

Navratri holiday in incredible India

Posted on 25/10/2012 by Drewmanity

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The kids and their parents who invited me to celebrate Indian holiday Navarati

I hadn’t planned for to red powder on my white clothes today, in fact I was walking to a Hindi Temple then was invited to join in a passing parade of locals with red powders and lots of music. There was maybe 100 or so of them dancing and singing to extremely loud music, a few of the village men and women invited me to join in dancing.

Later I realized well, I had been powder bombed from head to toe. And the cause was for Navratri,a festival dedicated to the worship of the Hindu deity Durga.

I was told that the word Navaratri literally means nine nights in Sanskrit. So, on the last night typically the tenth day is referred to as Vijayadashami. Today was Vijayadashami?Well it is actually pretty confusing trying to learn about all the religions throughout my travels this year, but once I get an understanding I think it makes better sense. Here is what I will say, the simplest way to look at it, is we are all human beings fro different parts of the world, and our goal in life is typically all the same, to be happy.

“Diversity in the world is a basic characteristic of human society, and also the key condition for a lively and dynamic world as we see today.” – Hu Jintao, Chinese Statesman

West India’s desert dunes on a camel

Posted on 20/09/2012 by Drewmanity

INDIA!!!

I traveled as far west as possible in India. Really only 20 miles east of the Pakistan boarder and about 50 miles west of Jaislmer. I made the journey with a couple friends that I’ve met while staying in India. We all were sitting around one day last week talking about a “camel safari” and just decided to make it happen. We talked to a few people who had done it before, and a man who knew a guy who knew a guy. So technically we didn’t go through a travel agency or a brochure but rather it was through a friend of a friend who was opening up a new business in the industry of camel riding and camping.

We thought about it and considered it a golden opportunity to really see India’s sand dunes, ride a camel, and camp out under the stars. As I learn from my travels, most often you get the most interesting adventures when you go through word of mouth. This would be a prime example of the weird and uncommon experience India has bestowed upon my travels so far. Here are some photos of the experience.

Camel riding

YOGA!

These goats had bells around their necks. It was pretty neat to hear them coming over the hills with their bells,

Sleeping over night under the stars, in the dunes was priceless but a little cold.

31st Birthday at the Taj Mahal a UNESCO World Heritage Site

Posted on 10/09/2012 by Drewmanity

Namaste from the Taj Mahal in the Agra District of Uttar Pradesh. Many of you may know of this mighty marble mosque/tomb. The Taj sits on the south bank of the winding Yamuna River across the river are gardens that are part of the elaborate Mughal garden that encompasses almost 17 hectares. I’m excited to be here for my birthday as it is another one of India’s world heritage sites. (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO))

I arrived the night before looking for the hotel. didn’t get much sleep as I was very hot and uncomfortable, plus thinking about my age of 31, there were mosquitoes in the room and it was just overall a very uncomfortable hot night that did not assemble much sleep. Shortly after I fell asleep I woke up at 5 am to get a move on. I heard that if you get there early enough you may be the first one in to get a really clean photo of the Taj and the gardens. So when it was still dark I headed to the que

. As I’m sure there were various employees that work on the grounds that were there in the gardens and inside before me, I was indeed the first tourist and from it looked like the first to enter on the day of. I snapped some really good photos, and had a nice lady take my photo before anyone else came through the gates. Overall the entire day was great, but an unforgettable experience to have your photo taken with the ultimate back drop with no one else around.
Have a look at some of the many photos I snapped.