Nias - brianazouz

Brian Azouz - wild Delhi tale

brianazouz — Sun, 28 Sep 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Hi all, Brian Azouz here! Just read the wildest tale about a politician in Delhi and monkeys. Check it out!!

The deputy mayor of the Indian capital Delhi has died a day after being attacked by a horde of wild monkeys.
SS Bajwa suffered serious head injuries when he fell from the first-floor terrace of his home on Saturday morning trying to fight off the monkeys.

The city has long struggled to counter its plague of monkeys, which invade government complexes and temples, snatch food and scare passers-by.

The High Court ordered the city to find an answer to the problem last year.

Solution elusive

One approach has been to train bands of larger, more ferocious langur monkeys to go after the smaller groups of Rhesus macaques.

The city has also employed monkey catchers to round them up so they can be moved to forests.

But the problem has persisted.

Culling is seen as unacceptable to devout Hindus, who revere the monkeys as a manifestation of the monkey god Hanuman, and often feed them bananas and peanuts.

Urban development around the city has also been blamed for destroying the monkeys' natural habitat.

Mr Bajwa, a member of the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), is survived by his wife and a son, according to the Press Trust of India news agency.

Isn't that just crazy!!!

Well, just killing time here in Delhi while waiting for my visa.

Brian Azouz in India 2

brianazouz — Sun, 21 Sep 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Brian Azouz here! Working on Nepalese visa. October is supposed to be beautiful in the Himalayas.

Brian Azouz - Delhi, India

brianazouz — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Brian Azouz here! Hot and sticky here. Rain coming down. Not the best transition...ran into several obstacles and bumps in the road. Finally found a place to get on the internet. Determing if I should just fly up to Kathmandu and skip India. Decisions, decisions!!

Brian Azouz - heading to Delhi and the Indian Himalaya

brianazouz — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Brian Azouz here! Well, I am going to do it. I am going to head for Delhi (have to wait six working days for my Indian visa). It has been a rainy wet experience here in the Phillipines and I am looking forward to getting up into the Himalayas at the best time of year to be there. I am particularly interested in visiting Rishikesh and Darahmsala. After getting into Delhi, I am going to stay at a guest house for a few days in the city before heading into the Indian Himalaya. I met some fellow travellers last night who were telling me about their intentions to spend time in Rishikesh. I don't know how long I will stay up there but I hope to run into others there who may be heading to Kathmandu. I would like to do a trek in the mountains. Goodby baloot and hello dal baat!!

Brian Azouz - in Manila

brianazouz — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Brian Azouz here again! I'm in Manila and Wow!! What a totally different scene from Singapore!! It is crazy here. Raining, thunder, people everywhere, definitely not as clean. I'm at an internet cafe. I think I am going to stay at Friendly's Guest House. Seems to be the spot a lot of travellers are staying at. I'll chat with others there and see if anyone has been out to Boracay recently. The jeepneys are amazing. Cheerily decorated and lots of mirrors and bells and whistles, crowded with people. I hear that I must try Calamnsi juice and also baloot.

Brian Azouz - last day in Singapore

brianazouz — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Brian Azouz here! Headed to Manila tomorrow. Then out to the islands. I know I'll be getting some rain but I still want to see the islands. Got a message on my email saying, "Brian Azouz, where are you?" It was a friend of mine from home. Many of my friends wish they were here travelling. It is fun to get away from it all.

Brian Azouz - around Singapore

brianazouz — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Brian Azouz here! Been exploring Singapore. Great food, expensive malls, lots of people from all over the world, very very clean, glistening buildings. There's definitely a lot of money here at this place. I don't know how much longer I could stay here with the prices. Looking forward to getting to an inexpensive beach in the Phillipines.

The satay and peanut sauce is incredible here. Absolutely love it. I also had fresh orange and pineapple juice on ice. Very good!!

I'm hoping to wind surf tomorrow and also want to take in a Chinese or Tamil film. Also want to get a Thai massage (depending on the price).

The nice hotels here are out of this world. I wanted to get a Singapore Sling at the Raffles Hotel but the whole front of the place was chock full of Ferraris, Mercedes and BMWs. Finely dressed people. So I flip flopped over to Newton Food Centre and had some local grub.

Got to get my ticket to Manila today.

Brian Azouz over and out!

Brian Azouz in Singapore

brianazouz — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Brian Azouz here again. Had a great flight from Singapore. I am going to be looking for a good place to stay for the weekend. This is an expensive island so I have to be careful and budget here. I hear the Hawker stalls are a great place to get good food - satay and jumbo prawns. According to the guidebooks, people do a lot of shopping and eating here. The airport is the most incredible airport I have ever seen - Changi Airport. All marble and glass and hanging gardens.

I'm going to make a longer entry later on. Got to find my spot to sleep tonight first.

Brian Azouz - in Medan on the way to Singapore

brianazouz — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Brian Azouz here again. I'm in Medan. Decided it would be faster to go to Medan and then to Singapore on the way to Manila. I am going to take the Silk Air flight to Singapore and then stay in Singapore for a few days before flying to Manila. I think I'll try to get a room at the Hotel Danau Toba. I've got to get some new shoes as well so I think I'll go over to Sun Plaza, walking distance from the Hotel Danau Toba.

Brian Azouz pondering visiting Boracay in the Phillipines

brianazouz — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 00:00:00 GMT

I've had a great time in Nias but am heading for Jakarta. I've heard of some great islands up in the Phillipines that sound amazing, particularly Boracay. So my next entries will be as I am headed up there. Hoping to find some good deals on flights to Manila from Jakarta. I would love to stay here longer but I heard about Boracay and I've got to check it out for myself.

Brian Azouz long dream in Nias

brianazouz — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Brian Azouz here again! I had the most amazing dream last night. I was driving down a long long road on an island that was covered with long green grass that reminded me of women's hair. There was a dip in the road and, as I passed over the dip, I saw a shape in the grass. Suddenly, in the dream, I was diving into the grass and grabbing a monkey with a jewel box in its hands. I opened the box and there was a small scroll inside. The scroll was full of secrets about the origins of life on Earth. At the end of the scroll there was an email address. Then I was running out to the road and driving to an internet cafe at the end of the island. The email address was zappos@greenhairwomanintherain.tv. I sent an email to the email address and instantly got a reply inviting me to a convention where all of these men in suits were handing out special goggles to chldren. The children put on the goggles and were able to see solutions to the problems that the adults were having. The glass in the goggles was made from the sand on the island. I was just about to put on a pair of the goggles when I woke up.

Brian Azouz long conversations on the beach

brianazouz — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Brian Azouz here again! The full moon nights in Nias were incredible, particularly with the sound of the surf. We hung lanterns and talked with the rest of the tribe until late. One interesting topic of conversation was how trees grow from seeds to forests. Everyone there that night took the metaphor in different directions, each with fascinating stories to accompany their meaning.