Dubai: Camel Markets, fancy shopping malls and sandcastle forts

We spent an evening and a day in Dubai. For this leg, Bill let us rent a car so we could visit some stuff outside of town. It seemed like a good idea at the time but ended up sort of kicking our butt:  lots of traffic, major problems finding parking and we got a soft tire and had to stop twice to get air put in it.

But it did give us some mobility so first thing in the morning we headed out to Al Ain, an oasis town about 2 hours from Dubai.  We had to visit the Al Ain fort which looks like a sandcastle fort. 

Also made a stop at the Camel Souk where they buy and sell camels.

This baby camel was putting up quite a fight (and was making loud honking noises) to be sold away from its mother.  Made me so sad.

And in the middle of the market, there was a dead camel. Just lying there. Everyone stepping over it. Like it was nothing. 

As an aside, Jordan has shown a stunning ability to sleep - ANYWHERE.  And I mean ANYWHERE.

Then we headed to a fancy, fancy, fancy mall where we had to ski on the indoor ski slope.  That's right .... an indoor ski slope with ski lift and everything.  It was such fun.

Followed by a swim in the Arabian sea. Only one team member had to get wet so the Raineys and Angel took the salty, sandy experience for 50 points.

My friend from childhood (Sonia) now lives in Dubai.  She moved here a few years ago from London.  So at the end of the leg, she came over to our hotel and had dinner with us and we got to catch up.  It was so nice to see her. 

We are now off to Budapest, Hungary... another new country for me (YAY).  We were supposed to  have a 7 hour lay-over scavenge leg in Istanbul but - for the very first time - we hit a difficult travel obstacle:m 3 teams got bumped off our plane from Dubai to Budapest.  The airline re-routed them and they should arrive in Hungary just a few hours after us but it messed up our plans somewhat.  Plus we arrived late into Istanbul so it would have been more like a 4 hour leg here - and the airport is 45 minutes from town - so Bill just canceled the leg.  Instead of eating Turkish delight and getting a Hamam bath experience, I'm sitting in an airport cafe blogging and waiting for our connection to Budapest. 

Budapest will be the start of the Europe leg which is typically a multi-day leg where we have to travel - by ourselves and with all of our luggage - for 4 or 5 days over a series of European countries.  Not sure yet what route we'll be on... but stay tuned and I'll let you know.

Incredible India: The countryside, Jaipur and Delhi

Background: Bill (the event producer) made the India leg a Par 7.  This means that there is a LOT riding on this leg as whoever wins it will get a BIG point advantage on everyone else.  So we knew we had to do long, hard days to even stand a chance.  Rainey and I came into India in first place but a loss here would set us back dramatically. And this is a tough country, mainly because of the powerful heat.

Bird Sanctuary:  SO - After we saw the Taj Mahal, we headed for a bird sanctuary a pretty good distance out of Agra.  There we rented bikes and rode through the park.  Hard to explain how nice it was to just be away from people for a short time.  The sheer crowds of India can be oppressive.  But we were dripping with sweat by the time we returned the bikes as it was 100+ outside.

Then we drove through the countryside to Ramthanborne National park.  The road took us through small villages and open spaces.  To women fetching water from a village water pipe or just riding along in a thoroughly dusty truck…. In such color.

We spent the night at the national park and set off at dawn the next day on a jeep safari in search of Royal Bengal tigers.  Sadly we found none but the very next Great Escape team (whose safari was 10 minutes behind ours) saw TWO tigers… one was eating a kill… and got some National Geographic worthy photos (soooo jealous).  

We did see tons of monkeys and some of the baby monkeys made me laugh out loud.  They were being so scamper-y and naughty. And the really little ones just hug on to their moms and peak out at you

Then on to Jaipur where we stayed the night in one of the most incredible hotels I’ve ever been in: The Taj Rambagh Palace.  It was the actual palace of one of the last maharajahs and recently was turned into a luxury hotel.  Talk about special.

Sadly we had to just drop our bags and head straight back out to the city as we only had one afternoon to see Jaipur and there were LOTS of points on the table there.  We even had to dress up in traditional Indian garb for a photo.

How ridiculous do we look?

Then palaces and temples and shrines galore

And we ended our day in Jaipur with a Bollywood movie at this old-fashioned ballroom-styled movie theater.  Lots of singing and dancing.  And all in Hindi with no sub-titles. Quite an experience.

The next morning, it was back to Delhi by train for some last minute scavenges before check-in. In Delhi we volunteered for a few hours at charity, working with kids in the nursery.  Such smiles...

What about a country where people just live - and wash up - on the streets?  And no-one gives them a second glance?

Emily's plotting face...

Next stop... Dubai.  A new country for me. Love it.

Incredible India: Part 1

This leg was long and hard and hot, hot, hot. Surface of the sun hot. Heat stroke after 10 minutes in the shade hot.  Oppressively hot. But so great. I just love India. Every dirty, yucky square inch of her. The colors burn a place in your soul and you can never forget this country.

I’ve finished the blog for the first half of the leg so I’m going to upload that part now and do the second part when I get to Dubai.  (Yes … next destination is Dubai …which is great as I’ve never been there... I love new countries).

We decided to just dive headfirst into India so, once the leg opened, we walked straight out of the hotel and into Tuk-Tuks. It's our first impoverished SouthEast Asia country.. so the first time some of our group have ever been in Tuk Tuks. 

What a familiar sight: from the back seat of a Tuk Tuk. It bought back found memories of last January when we drove Tuk Tuks - ourselves (seems crazy in hindsight) - from the North of India to the South for three weeks.  Miss you “Run Around Sue” (what we named our custom-painted Tuk Tuk).

We headed for Chandi Chowk.  For those who have never been to Delhi, Chandi Chowk is the central street in the Old City of Delhi.  It is busy, chaotic, colorful and powerfully overwhelming. 

There were so many people – everywhere – it’s hard to breathe, far less move.

For the newbies to India, it was being thrown into the deep end of the pool. People pushing and jostling. Stiffling heat. Claustrophobics beware.  Naturally we had some meltdowns and tempers were frayed between team members.

Plus Bill – of course - made us try some pretty sketchy street food.  Here’s Gol Gappa: pastry balls filled with super spicy stuff:

We ended up getting into bicycle rickshaws just to avoid some of the crowds on the streets.  Johnathan had to squish down to fit.  Tuk Tuks do not come in American sizes.

School Bus:  Funny image.  The Delhi "school bus."  So cute.  One bicycle Rickshaw and 11 kids all piled on top of each other and hanging from every available metal bar.

Agra: We left Delhi by train and went to Agra that afternoon.  The train station was an experience and a half.  It looks like a movie set from Slumdog Millionaire.  We got to Agra tired and dirty.  But the next morning we got to see India's crown jewel and a Wonder of the World: The Taj Mahal.  We got up early and were at the Taj Mahal when it opened at 6AM.  And it was still hot.  But at least not as crowded.  What a beauty she is.

And a money shot from across the river … the Taj in the mist.

The Taj is made from marble inlayed with semi-precious gems. It’s an art form called pietra dura.

Naturally we had to go and watch some local artisans actually make some pietra dura marble-inlaid pieces … and yes, we ended up buying some (such typical tourists).  We bought some coasters and shared them out so everyone got a small memento of India. The work really is intricate and beautiful and it seems impossible to believe that it’s created by men sitting barefoot on the floor with little more than a stick that they push back and forth to power a grinding wheel. They etch a groove in the marble and then hand-grind a chip of semi-precious stone to fit exactly in the grove. 

Agra Fort:  We then visited the Agra Fort complex which had wonderful backdrops for photos.  Actually the whole of India - for all of its grime and nastiness - provides amazing backdrops of color.

Literally everywhere you look is something interesting, unique and a gazillion years old.

And my personal favorite… two women working in the grounds of Agra Fort.  They spend hours each day bent over weeding and planting with nothing more than a small hand shovel… but look at their colors.