Amazing Race 14 recap 5: Jaipur, India brings some to tears

by Jamie Rhein on

If you took two places and put them on a spectrum to show a contrast between opposites, you could do no better than Siberia, Russia and Jaipur, India. Icy, white snow switched for dry, yellowish dirt–frigid cold for scorching heat, and organized traffic patterns for chaos. This week’s Amazing Race 14 took teams from one end of this spectrum to another.

Because the teams were all on the same flight from New Delhi to Jaipur, the excitement didn’t start until it was taxi time. Ah yes. Getting from point A to point B in India is a challenge. Some taxis needed gas. Other drivers didn’t know where to go exactly; some taxi drivers walked off with bags still in the trunk; and the traffic, as typical, was horrendous.

Because I lived in India for two years, and went to Jaipur as part of a tour of Rajesthan, I was curious to see what would be highlighted. First off, it was clear once more that India is a country that would seem startling if one didn’t have much warning before ending up there. On little sleep, it can make a person weepy.

That’s sort of what happened to Luke and Cara as their taxis took them through Jaipur. Luke with his mom, and Cara with Jaime, cried buckets on their way to find Dhula Village and the sacred Peepli Ka Pedh tree, the site of the first clue.

Unfortunately, when one is only given a look outside a taxi window of what poverty in India looks like, it can be overwhelming. There’s no frame of reference. India is really a place to stay awhile, otherwise it can become a caricature in a way.

In this episode, one might think that Jaipur was merely a place of camels, men in turbans, cows that mill about garbage dumps, and women who wear clothing of the most brilliant colors. The city has a visually stunning quality and a fascinating history. It’s one of India’s cities of architectural gems that were mentioned by Phil’s narrative, but the cameras didn’t linger much.

In their disorientation of being in a new country without familiar focal points, it took the teams awhile to figure out that the red phone under the sacred tree held their next destination. An Indian voice told them to head to an Amber Fort parking lot to find the next clue. There they found a task of filling wooden trough with water and replenishing a pile of hay up to a certain height, an arduous task, mostly because of the heat. Mike felt bad that Mel, his dad was doing the task, but frankly, Mel smoked it.

One of the things I noticed while watching this section was the traditional rakes. We have one of those that we bought at the Pushkar Camel Fair. It’s one of my husband’s favorite items. Also, there was the typical camel attire of textiles embellished with intricate, colorful embroidery and mirrors. Any textiles from Rajasthan are wonderful. After two years in India, we bought our fair share.

While watching the teams swelter below the Amber Fort, I thought it was too bad that they didn’t have time to see the inside. The Amber Fort, built in 1592, is quite lovely on the inside and a testament to the opulence of the times. But no rest for the weary, not when a million dollars is at stake.

When the camels food and water stocks were sufficiently replenished, the teams were off to Johri Bazar to find a Rajasthani puppet store. These puppets make great gifts for kids. Every nephew and niece and kids of our friends have one of these as well.

At the puppet show, the teams could decide whether to dress up like a traditional Rajesthani dance troupe member to try to get 100 rupees out of passersby or to haul a cycle rickshaw loaded with barrels and hay from Sanganeri Gate to Zorawar Singh Gate, dump the load, and then search for a small silver elephant. Everyone, but brothers Mark & Mike, opted for the dance troupe task.

Before they could do the dance troupe, however, Christie and Jodi had to decorate an elephant with colored powder in a pattern typical for a festival.

The one hitch any team had with the dancing was Cara & Jaime. After they danced, they couldn’t find their taxi for 20 minutes. The driver was probably off drinking tea or something.

Taxi drivers in India are more than willing to wait since it means they can count on money, but no one likes to sit in a vehicle in the heat. They’ll go to the taxi stand where there’s shade to hang out while they wait.

Mark & Mike had a heck of a time finding the silver elephant which gave Christie & Jodi a fighting chance to not come in last after they completed their extra speed bump, a necessary task caused by their last place distinction in Siberia. Still, it wasn’t enough. Mark & Mike arrived at the Pit Stop at Jaigur Fort a couple of minutes before.

Victor & Tammy, who now are getting along swimmingly well, won this leg. For their efforts they were given two ocean kayaks. Great for them. (These are the two I like the least. They seem to really like themselves.) Of the others, I don’t really have a favorite team. They’re all likeable.

[Photos from the Amazing Race Web site]

Porn industry disgusted by flight attendant side job

by Tom Johansmeyer on

“Look, we all have standards,” an adult entertainer familiar with the full- and part-time work of Ryanair flight attendant Edita Schindlerova told The Independent. “I think it’s disgusting that she works for Ryanair. All of us here at Biggus Dickus Productions feel really let down by her. If only she had told us she worked for them, maybe we could have done something to help her. Now, she has lost all our trust. Now, if you don’t mind, I’m off to do a three way.”

If you’ve seen Monty Python’s The Life of Brian, you know not to treat “Biggus Dickus” as a joke name.

While many look down their noses at the porn business, it looks like the airlines are able to give even those in the skin biz someone over which to hold a sense of superiority. Of course, the porn folks could learn a lesson in tolerance from Ryanair, which doesn’t care about Edita’s side job as “Edite Bente.”

If you’re surprised to see the porn industry claim any sort of moral high ground, don’t be. Anyone who has spent a bit of time in this business has had to listen to more than a few hours of First Amendment tirades, claims of wanting to be left alone and so on and so on and so on. Yes, it can get tedious, even though some of it is warranted. Either way, it’s pretty crazy to see the porn industry piss all over the airline business. What happened to “live and let live”?Ryanair flight attendant Schindlerova was recently outed as a part-time porn star by London tabloid The Sun. Her employer doesn’t care, and she hasn’t denied the allegations. She was also featured in the airline’s 2009 calendar, a collection of the sexiest employees that the low-cost carrier has to offer.

Her cover was blown by a pilot who somehow stumbled upon her work. Either this was an incredible coincidence, or this guy, who has not had to see his name in the press, spends a hell of a lot of time cruising the web for porn.

Julia Molony, who covered this story for The Independent, suggests, “Watch out fro the free-orgasm-with-every-flight offer on a billboard near you.” Such naïveté … does she really believe that Ryanair would give “free” anything?

Okay, through some investigative journalism on my part, I’ve been able to find some of her night job work. This is absolutely not safe for work or around children.This is not an adult website, rather it is a Czech tabloid, but do understand that they are able to push the envelope a lot farther than we can in the United States.

See our first story on Schindlerova’s erotic escapades.

Adventure and Luxury in Morocco

by Kraig Becker on

Mountain trekking has become a favorite vacation for adventure travelers, with some jetting off to South America to tackle the Andes, others hopping a plane to Europe for a tour of the Alps, while yet another group will head to Northern Africa to experience the Atlas Mountains. That’s exactly where travel writer Amanda Jones went when she wrote this piece for the LA TImes.

Jones discovered that the Atlases, which stretch for more than 1500 miles across Morocco, into Algeria, and continuing on to Tunisia, are separated into three distinct parts, beginning with the Middle Atlas that run along the north. The High Atlas are located in the central south, while the Anti-Atlas run into the foothills before tapering off into the Sahara Desert in the deep south.

An Atlas trek can be quite an adventure, with trails winding into some remote regions, including up Jebel Toubkal, the tallest mountain in North Africa at 13,671 feet. The scenery is stunning, and hikers frequently pass through Berber villages along their routes. Jones gives excellent details on her own trek, which was six days in length and consisted of 6-9 hours of trekking per day. Nights were spent in a variety of guest houses found in the different villages along the route.

To top off their Moroccon adventure, Amanda and her traveling companion treated themselves to a stay at the Kasbah Tamadot, a luxury resort owned by Richard Branson that includes a spa, two pools, restaurants, and 18 specially designed suites, along with six authenic Berber tents.

No one said you couldn’t spoil yourself a bit after the adventure is over.

Ryanair flight attendant moonlights in porn

by Tom Johansmeyer on

When the crew yells, “Brace!” one Ryanair flight attendant probably looks for the cameras. London tabloid The Sun (NSFW) alleges that flight attendant Edita Schindlerova (hopefully under a shorter name) moonlights in porn – on video and the web. The sexy 22-year-old also makes an appearance in the airline’s 2009 calendar.

The sultry stewardess wore a bikini and a smear of grease in the calendar, but this would be considered fully clothed at her second job. At night, she operates under the name “Edite Bente” and helps people part with their cash. Thanks to The Sun‘s investigative reporting, a tough job for some reporter, involves baring a pair of 34Bs.

The people she works for have apparently taken a more enlightened attitude than one would expect, saying, “What people do before or after they work for Ryanair, or when they’re not working for us, is entirely their own business.”

He adds a few remarks about putting the comfort and safety of passengers first (without editorializing) and makes a comment about employees being able what to do what they want on their own time, as long as their not breaking any laws. He could have stopped there and remained on the high road, but he had to keep talking: “All this proves is that the best-looking girls fly Ryanair.”

Not everybody at Ryanair, however, is on board with Edita’s calling hobby. Her secret was discovered by a fellow Ryanair employee. Schindlerova claims, “I had this shit a year ago with a pilot with nothing better to do than check the internet.”

A friend from work remarked, “We had no idea what she was up to in her spare time.” This person astutely observed, “There can’t be many airlines who have porn stars serving drinks on flights.”

I guess this is the trade-off for having to pay to use the lavatory on a flight …

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Book give-a-way and travel read: The Open Road, the Global Journey of the 14th Dalai Lama

by Jamie Rhein on

When Pico Iyer was growing up, his father was a friend of the Dalai Lama. That was the beginning of Iyer’s own relationship with a person that many seek out as a spiritual rock star of sorts. In his book The Open Road, The Global Journey of the Fourteenth Dalai Lama, Iyer gives insight into what it’s like inside the Dalai Lama’s circle, as well as, what it’s like being inside Iyer’s life.

When the book first came out in hardcover last year, I gave a heads up. This month the Vintage Press paperback version was released.

The publisher has given us two copies to give-a-way. For details, go to the end of the Talking Travel interview with Iyer and post a comment there. You have until tomorrow at 5:00 p.m. to win.

Iyer is a global traveler and a careful observer which makes his books a sensory exploration into the worlds where he ventures. Landscape, people, and the hum of life are woven together into a lush reading experience for anyone who picks up his work. I’ve happily discovered this book does the same.

The backdrop this time is the landscape of the world where the Dalai Lama lives and travels in relation to where Iyer has also ventured. The result of Iyer’s observations is an intriguing examination about the people and places that surround the Dalai Lama’s life and work, as well as the Dalai Lama’s perspective on it all.

Along with certain conversations Iyer has had with the Dalai Lama, including a disinterested version when he was a teenage boy, Iyer weaves throughout the book his observations and musings about Tibetan Buddhism, life in Dharamsala, the Dalai Lama’s speaking engagements where Iyer sometimes sits in the audience and the changes in the scenery and intentions of the Dalai Lama’s work that Iyer has noticed over the years.

I was particularly captivated by the sections where Iyer describes Dharamsala, India a place I have also been, and as luck would have it, one of those people sitting in the courtyard at the monastery where the Dalai Lama lives listening to one of his talks. This book is a welcome companion to that experience because it fills in all the behind the scenes details such as what happens in his life when he is not addressing an audience. Because Iyer’s thoughts were gathered in various personal conversations that range from the Dalai Lama himself to his family members, helpers and random people who Iyer has come across in his travels of meeting up with Dalai Lama in various locations, the result is an unusual, intimate look at places people may have visited themselves, read about or seen pictures of in a lush coffee table book. Iyer brings such scenes to life.

One of Iyer’s purposes for writing The Open Road was to give readers another perspective of a remarkable man about which there has been much written before. I say he has succeeded, as well as, offering the reader another opportunity to see the world through Iyer’s eyes. Every time I spend a few hours enjoying the world the way Iyer sees it, I feel I understand a little bit more the visual cues and subtleties one encounters in a traveling life.