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Costa Rica - Day 7: Tamarindo

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Today is the last full day in Costa Rica.  We are still in Tamarindo, and will be driving back to San Jose right after we check out.  It's another beautiful day, but we got a long drive back.  

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We made it back to San Jose...safely.  I think that Kapil pee'd his pants because of some of the close calls that Sahil had when driving back.  Yeah...not so great.  The weather changed to rainy so, that didn't help.  And to top that we stopped at a Burger King for a chicken sandwich that hit the spot.  Once back in San Jose, we needed to figure out what to do because all of our flights are early in the next morning.  Originally, we planned to just stay up all night.  But we ended up getting a hotel so we can put our luggage somewhere.  We had returned the car as well.

Of course, I cannot sleep if there's a casino near by.  So, while Kapil decided to wuss out and sleep, Sahil and I hit the casino.  Of course, we didn't do too well, but that's alright.  We just hung out for a while and had more drinks.  

After we killed enough time, we went back to the hotel.  I got ready because I was the first to leave.  

And that's it...trip over.  Not too exciting of an end.  But it was a fun and relatively inexpensive trip.  Gotta love the fact that Costa Rica is only a five hour flight from Denver.  

Costa Rica - Day 6: Tamarindo

Today, we ended up hanging out on the water.  We met up with Capt Jean who was going to take us on his fishing boat, for four hours.  We attempted first to catch some fish.  I wasn't too impressed because I thought we would be more hands on.  It actually felt like he did the work and we just watched.  We weren't doing that for much longer because we also had wanted to go snorkling as well.  This of course was in a different area, so we had to get there, which took some time.  And we ended up snorkling for a half hour, and it wasn't that great.  I think it would have been better to just do the fishing and not try to do everything all at once.  But at least it was good to be on the ocean.

In the evening we just hung out at the bar and went to a local place for a pizza.  Not that exciting.

Costa Rica - Day 5: Tamarindo

We moved to Tamarindo for the last couple of days of our trip.  Tamarindo is a beach town on the west coast.  It is a lot more developed and definitely caters to the tourists.  It reminds me of surfer towns in California.

Unfortunately, being at the beach for a couple of days isn't very appealing, especially when it's not the spring break like atmosphere.  I don't really enjoy the beach as a type of place to "find" myself.  I do much better when I'm active.  This place is full of couples and families.  So, it is a different dynamic here.  The night we got here, there was a wedding.  Nice wedding, but didn't really need to see it. 

This place is reminding me a little bit of my honeymoon, which was the last time I had really spent on the beach.  Yeah, there was Cancun, but it wasn't the same (and I don't know why).  It's funny how it reminds me of the good memories, even though there were some tense moments on those trips too.  I guess I would definitely enjoy this place a little bit more if I were here with someone I was in a relationship.   

It's good to be relaxing.  I'm not really thinking about work and stuff like that.  But my mind is constantly running and thinking about relationships and my situation.  I do miss the interaction with someone.  Don't worry, I don't think about her, because we already know that there are plenty of reasons why that wasn't that good.  It's just tough because I miss the fun and exciting stuff.  

On odd thing is hat I don't feel much different here.  I think it's because I was in a different state of mind before leaving for the trip.  I was already relaxed and work was a little slow.  I was a little bit unfocused before and now I feel the same.

I'm actually looking forward to being home.  Well, I'm definitely anxious to see my nephew.  I cannot believe that my baby sister is a mom.  So, I'm looking forward to seeing him on Saturday after I get back. 

It's a little funny traveling with these guys.  On one hand, you dealing with kid in a candy store who finds everything so amazing.  On the other hand you have someone who is more like the person out of college, who's just out to have fun.  I'm definitely in the middle.  I want to have fun and meet a lot of people, but I do want to get back into a meaningful relationship.  Not just any relationship.

Back to Tamarindo.  It hasn't been eventful.  The first day, we just hung out and drank at the bar.  We then ended up a local club across the street called Aqua.  We met two women who didn't speak a word of English, but convinced them to teach us how to dance.  We were definitely drunk because they did look better that night than they did during the day, when we ran into them on the street.  Anyways, it was a fun night, but surprisingly, I wasn't as hungover like the rest of the guys.  Maybe I just have a higher tolerance now.  And I usually stick with beer which slows down my drinking.

The next day, it was pretty rainy so we didn't do anything really.  That was good because we had been up all night the night before.  Eventually, we drove out to Conchal, which is a pretty nice beach near by.  The skies has cleared up enough to see the sunset.  Again, it was fun, but not anything special.  

We got back to the hotel where we ended up at the bar again.  We met someone who happened to be eating by herself and invited her to play euchre.  I had to teach everyone how to play, and it didn't help that Kapil was my partner.  He was still drunk from the night before.

Afterwards, we had dinner at a local place on the beach.  Our waitress was definitely high.  At least the food was much better.

By the time we got back to the hotel, it was late and even the bar had closed.  

Costa Rica - Day 3: Arenal

Today started like yesterday, with a pretty easy breakfast.  We ran into our new friend Priscilla, who had changed her mind about leaving the area yesterday.  So, today we invited her to hang out with us.

Our goal was to do the zip line, and pretty much the primary goal of the trip for me.  It was a blast.  Seven stages, some about 200 meters high over the forest, some traveling up to 45 mph.  That was awesome.  Each stage began with the heart pounding, but each stage had breathtaking views.  I didn't close my eyes and enjoyed the ride.  This definitely made the trip for me.  

Costa Rica - Day 2: Arenal

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Today was a pretty chil day.  We started the day with breakfast where we ended up meeting Priscilla from San Diego.  This just added a new dynamic to the conversation, so that was pretty cool.  

After breakfast, Kapil, Sahil, and I went down to La Fortuna for an ATV tour.  It was a lot of fun, although it wasn't very muddy, which would have made it worth it.  At one point, we stopped at a local swimming hole where a lot of locals hang out and jump into the water using swing rope.  Of course, we did the same.  That was fun.  We proceeded to an overlook of the water fall, which was pretty nice.  The tour ended with a lunch at a local place.  Nothing fancy...and not that great of food.  Every thing I've read about this place has said Costa Rica wasn't really a place for foodies.

After ATV'ing, we we to the Tobacon to hang out in the hot springs  The water was great, and we had plenty of drinks.  But at this point, I'm starting to realize that this trip would have been better if there were women in the group.  This is not the type of place for a group of guys, especially since there aren't too many people here.  It's definitely not like spring break here, which is almost the atmosphere I would like at this point...to have some more fun.

We pretty much spent the rest of the day at the Tobacon, drinking, and finishing off by having dinner there.  It wasn't impressive, since it was Middle Eastern night.  Where is the native food?


Costa Rica - Day 1: Arenal

The trip to Costa Rica has officially begun.  I'm at the airport now waiting for the flight to board.  Had my customary shot of Jaegar and a beer.  It's definitely not a vacation without that.  I'm psyched to be going on a vacation again.

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I've landed in San Jose.  The airport is small and, being so early, clearing customs was really quick.  Of course, I'm here pretty early, and I have a while to wait for the rest of the crew to show up.  So, I've ventured out the a Denny's near the airport.  I've realized how little I've prepared to be in this Spanish-speaking country.  I don't even have a Spanish-English dictionary, especially since I've already encountered people who don't speak English well.  I didn't even bother to learn anything about the country before I got here.  I don't even know the exchange rate!  It may have been a good idea to pick an iPhone app or two.  Luckily, this Denny's has WiFi, meaning I don't have to pay for international roaming/data service.  So, I downloaded a few apps just like that.  Gotta love that.  I also just realized that I may be able to make a few calls for free using Skype.  Of course, that depends on a reliable connection.  Anyways, I don't really plan on being connected to the outside world too much during this trip.  This trip is all about relaxing and clearing the min and to be inspired.  Once I get back, I have a lot of personal things still left to do, and I need to get focusted.  So, that's what I hope to regain during this trip.  Now, I just have to wait for these fools to get in.  Still have three hours to go.

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I got back to the airport and met up with Sahil.   We had to wait for Kapil so we ended up getting the rental car squared away and did a little exploring.  Finally, Kapil's plane shows up and we're off to Arenal.  Took us a couple of house to get there.  The roads weren't as bad as I expected (like Peru), but had plenty of stops, one-lane roads, small towns on the way.  

We made it to the Arenal Lodge, after a 3 km steep drive from the entrance.  We had wanted to stay the Tobacon, but was little more expensive than we wanted.  So, we ended up at this place, and it's not too bad.   Our room has a great view of the volcano, although the cloud cover isn't helping today.

We grabbed some food at the restaurant thinking we'd just eat quickly and then hit the hotsprings at the Tobacon, but then we found out that it was $45 to get in.  We decided it wasn't worth the effort for a couple of houses.  So, we decided to chill, especially since we were pretty tired anyways.  One cool thing we got to do was to get one of the two parrots to stand on our arms.  We got the pics to prove it.

Billion Shades

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My friends Bhanu and Ruchi embarked on a 6 month vacation fairly recently.  They plan on travelling to Europe for a little over a month and then spending the rest of the time in India.  I'm totally envious of them taking that much time to travel and not working.  Bhanu will be blogging the travels and setting up links to photos on his website http://www.billionshades.com

Amsterdam Layover

We arrive in Amsterdam for our 8 hour layover. So we decided to venture out into the city to grab some food or something. We are so exhausted from that long flight from Delhi. I don't feel well at all.

We were sitting down at some restaurant having some drinks (ok, I was just having tea)...but anyways...and from a distance, I can't believe who I saw. Mr. Kapil Kedar. Of all the people and all the places...Kapil was there visiting from his contract job in Switzerland. He and his Russian friend joined us for a few drinks...(At this point, I'm in the bathroom throwing up...but enough of that).

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Damn this flight. It is so long. KLM sucks. I'm feeling like crap....

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Finally, arrival in Toronto. This trip is finally over.

Delhi - Day 4

Last day in Delhi, or in India, for that matter. It's about time. At this point, we are anxious to go home.

We went off to Kroll Bagh to do some shopping and to pick up the suits that we had made for us. The suit fit pretty good. There was a place near by where we had some chole bhature. Finally! We also had some gul cupa while we were in Kroll Bagh. Since it was our last day we took the risk.

We then went to Gopinath Bazaar to meet with Davinder uncle which Gulshan uncle did some business. Then Gulshan and I went to meet with the Colonel at his army club. It was a bit stuff and it was just a bunch of older army people just sitting around drinking and smoking.

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We eventually finish packing and go out to dinner to some restaurant in Connaught place. I'm starting to feel a little sick. It could be that gul cupa or the dip in the Ganga.

Indians are chaotic. At the airport, we were trying to find the line to get into the airport. Ok, there is no such thing as a line. It's just a mob of people just pushing their way through. I don't understand how it all works. All I know is that I followed uncle, even when I was getting yelled at by some sardar.

Haridwar

Today, we took the Shitabdi Express train to Haridwar. When we got there, we hired a guy to take us around in his auto-rickshaw. He was actually pretty good. He didn't try to get us to go to any special stores or anything.

Our first stop was the Gurdwara near to where my grandfather's ashes were scattered. While we were there, a guru did a prayer for us.

One thing about Haridwar is that there are people who keep records of names. So, we looked around to find the guy who kept the information of my dad's family. Deepak uncle wanted to update the records with some newer information and I wanted to get the records for my genealogy tree. Well, we ran around from place to place to find the pundit who kept the records. Unfortunately, we ran into a dead end. We needed to know the name of the village from which our family comes, and we did not. I am disappointed.

The next stop was the dip in the Gunga River. Harikapori was the area where we went to take the dip. I stripped down to my underwear and went down the steps into the water. I had to hold on to the chains because the stairs were slippery and the water was rushing fast. I went all the way down into the water. That water was cold. I guess that's because the water is coming from the Himalayans.

We got dressed and made our way back. As we were doing this, we got harrassed by some guy who wanted a handout. Of course, we weren't gonna give it to him. So this guy followed us. And we walked a little faster, and he kept up. He was giving us a look to guilt us to giving him some money. Somewhat amusing and somewhat psychotic. We got into our auto-rickshaw and the guy was not there. We had to do a loop around to get to the main road. Amazingly, we passed by the guy right there. He knew exactly where he needed go to find us. We just drove by, and I gave a little wave.

We ate at a little dhaba near by. The food was really good. And not bad for $2.75.

The driver took us to Temple Row where there are a bunch of mandirs. Alot of them are replicas of famous mandirs in India. Some had animatronics. Some had mazes (just like the original mandirs) to walk through. One mandir was a replica of the one at Vasudevi. We were walking around in water, crawling through cave like structures. Strange.

Then we went to two temples which are on top of these two hills overlooking the river. It used to be that pilgrims would have to walk up the hills. But now, there are cable cars that will take you up.

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