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Holi is India's Most Amazing Festival Experience
March 17, 2009
Last week it was the Holi festival. People throw colourful powder and drench each other with water. I took a cycle ride through the Mehrauli area near the Qutab Minar monument just as the festivities were peaking in the morning. Most people were stained from head to toe in a shade of purple. This was from from having been pelted with every colour mixed together. It was like God’s hand had slipped and knocked the paint palette over.
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Staying with Couchsurfers whilst Waiting in Delhi for Border Bureaucracy
March 15, 2009
I am currently living with wonderful Couchsurfers, Navneet and Priya in Delhi and travelling each day back to the Iranian Embassy. I have a half-baked plan to go back to Georgia overland. The border into Tibet from Nepal is closed. The other options are go back to Pakistan, then come back to India or wait until the border with China opens a couple of months later in May. My no-fly policy was something that was an important part of the original Ride Earth project.
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The Challenge of Border Bureacracy with a Self-Imposed No Fly Travel Policy
March 14, 2009
I’m in Delhi. I got a Pakistan visa about 2 weeks ago. I had applied for an Iran LOI (letter of invitation - required for the Iran visa, through tour agency Stantours.com for a princely sum). I was waiting for the little code of confirmation to come through so I could go to the Embassy in Delhi and pick up my visa. However, it was was not to be. A few days ago I got an email saying my application had been rejected.
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Staying Positive in Delhi and the Frustration of Visa Bureaucracy
February 25, 2009
Having arrived in Delhi, I had been wishfully thinking that I would pick up Pakistan and Iran visas again and make my way by public transport back to Turkey. However, the world’s borders and their associated bureaucracy and politics thought differently. At the time it felt to me like the only point of border was to make life difficult for the overland traveller. I cycled this morning the 16km from my host to the Iran Embassy to be told that I need the Letter of Invitation from a friend in Iran or they need to send my application to Iran, either way it would take at least a month.
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Cycling Out of Kathmandu
February 23, 2009
I cycled out of Kathmandu contending with smoky diesel fumes from the relentless traffic. Gradually I made my way into the suburbs and up out of the valley. I was not used to the mountains but I glad to be cycling on some hills again. It felt like the beginning of another adventure and with the bare trees and overcast weather it reminded me a little of the Black Sea coast in Turkey.
Tags: NepalCycle touringTravel