India Part V - A Loners NYE

New years eve.. for some reason I always manage to let this day to get to me. Another day where I feel sorry for myself, often dwelling on my flaws as a person rather than my attributes.. often allowing myself to get trapped in a deep hole of self pity. While I don't intend this post to be emotional dribble of poorly structured English.. this is my personal blog after all, and I need to utilize this space for the purpose of venting and ranting.

However, this year has been different. Regardless of the lows, I am going to dedicate this post to all the highs that have occurred during the year. In January, I was given the opportunity to work in one of the dopest retail stores in Australia, let alone Perth. This has become my place of refuge, as my colleagues have become more than just peers, but good friends. Additionally, I've met a lot of truly genuine people in 2010.. and I now have a stronger circle(s) of friends, who were there for me when I really needed it [similarly, I hope they know I will always have their back... truth].

In the first quarter, I traveled to Sydney and Brisbane to see Brand New perform live. Around the midyear mark, I traveled to Melbourne to see A Tribe Called Quest perform live. In November I traveled to Japan.. a country where I can definitely see myself settling down in one day. In February, I traveled to Indonesia to see my brother get married to my beautiful sis'n'law.. truly one of the highlights of the year for me. And to finish off 2010, I traveled to India.. where I sit and write this now.

So how did I spend NYE in 2010? Lets go back to the map of India..

On the 31st early morning, I left Jodhpur and traveled 270 km through the Great Indian Desert by road to reach my destination for the night.. Jaisalmer. A small town that sits practically on the border of India and Pakistan. I'm not going to delve into the history between the two countries, but essentially border towns aren't the safest of areas, especially during NYE celebrations. So what drew me to Jaisalmer? Well, I was told about these desert camps the Rajasthani villagers organise, and I thought it would be a pretty awesome experience. And an experience is what I got... as the villagers greeted me into the camp toting rifles on their back, Indian Army choppers constantly circling the desert skies above, random gun fire in the early morning [possibly celebratory related discharge?], and border jeeps patrolling the dunes throughout the night.

I was hesitant using the DSLR in this region, so didn't take as many pics as I would have liked to. DSLRs are banned in places like Ahjmer [hence why no photos were taken there] due to the high level of conflict/terrorism.. much like what they're trying to enforce in Iraq now. According to an article I had read recently, SLR/DSLR's makes the public uneasy, especially in said conflict regions. I should always travel with a compact, lesson learnt..

First stop, attainment of local Indian hard liquor.

Last sunset of 2010..

I sincerely wish everyone a safe, prosperous and healthy new year.

Peace.