Christine Ka’aloa | GRRRL TRAVELER

About GRRRL TRAVELER

Christine is a Camera Operator & Producer for reality TV in North America. She enjoys photography, writing, creating art and traveling off-the-beaten path to remote countries and lifestyles she never thought she'd explore.
Website: http://www.grrrltraveler.com
GRRRL TRAVELER has written 383 articles so far, you can find them below.

What will your Kip buy in Laos budget hostels and hotels?

Filed under Accommodations, Laos by Christine Ka'aloa on June 23, 2011 at 12:37 am {4 comments}

Mixay Guesthouse in Vientiane

In Laos, it seems that you’ll always have a place to lay your head. Even if it’s peak season.

Taking advantage of Laos’ budget holiday accommodations is where the backpacking fun is at. But awesome digs at a quarter of the cost takes real shopping. You might want to figure out if it’s worth your time. While I didn’t come across many guesthouses which dazzled me with electric chic, the pads I slumbered in might give you an idea of the backpacker budget median you’ll find in Vientiane, Nong Khiaw, Muong Ngoi and Luang Prabang. (more…)

World’s Worst Toilets: The “Company Toilet” (India)

Filed under Ladakh, World's Worst Toilets by Christine Ka'aloa on June 19, 2011 at 6:06 am {7 comments}

I was sightseeing the town of Leh, when the urge hit. I had to pee.

Don’t you just hate when the percolating pee-pot hits FULL, when you’re on the road with nowhere to go…? Well, maybe not nowhere…

Public toilet? eek. When I’m traveling, I like to avoid them. So I thought I’d outwit my surroundings; I went to a well-known telecommunications store in India (whose name shall remain anonymous) and asked for their employee john. They were kind to oblige.

Okay, so I wasn’t handed a corporate bathroom key, but company toilets… can’t be that bad, right?

(more…)

Travel light: Packing a guidebook, bit by bit

Filed under Packing Tips by Christine Ka'aloa on June 16, 2011 at 10:37 am {7 comments}

lonely planet guidebooks

Digital times has reduced the power of paper; yet, my eyes don’t enjoy the constant absorption of LED light from computer screens and handhelds. E-books? PDF guides? No. I want paper when I travel… I want my guidebook!

But I resent taking paper-weighted guidebooks with me. I hate it with a passion. Some guidebooks are absolutely behemoth and as a backpacker, I often resent being a sherpa.

My backpack doesn’t need to feel 5 kilos (the weight of my India book) heavier when I’m referring to it only 1/6th of the time I’m traveling. Albeit, that 1/6th is usually an emergency…

How do I lighten my guidebook load?

(more…)

Getting my Yoga Teacher Training Certification (YTTC) in India

Filed under GAP YEAR TRAVEL, India by Christine Ka'aloa on June 12, 2011 at 5:00 am {7 comments}

My guru is my environment : Dharamsala, India

After a month long yoga boot camp at Himalaya Yoga Valley in Dharamsala, I finally graduated with my Yoga TTC (teacher training certification). Woot!

Muscles aching, belly battling waterborne parasites, while hurdling through two asana classes a day and intensive schedule of studies and teaching practicums… It was a lot! Along the way, you accept your body’s shape-shifting to it’s surroundings. Your foreign environment molds you– injury happens, bad diets take form (aka carb-loading for lack of veggies), India initiates you with horrible toilet habits.

But good things come from it as well…

I’d found my gurus.

• Friendship

I had formed a family and a lifestyle that was my a warm cocoon, in the secluded sanctuary of Dharamsala, away from the blistering stains and antagonizing bustle of Mother India. (more…)

Love Letter #12: Passion & Voice for Tibetans in Dharamsala

Filed under Dharamsala, Love Letter Postcards by Christine Ka'aloa on June 8, 2011 at 9:54 pm {2 comments}

Temple Road, Dharamsala, India

Dear Love,

Something is burning. Is there a fire?

In McLeod Ganj, Dharamsala, I witness the passion and suffering of Tibet, as its monks and people suffer and protest daily for its freedom. Another monk falls to self-immolation. The community mourns. Who will hear their cries beyond the walls of Dharamsala? Tourists? Fellow Tibetans?…

It’s the quintessential paradox:

If a tree falls in the woods but no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?

What is a voice crying for help, if it cannot make its way beyond the thick forest? A passion can be fiery, but that’s not always enough. Its voice must be able to spread like wildfire to have a bigger effect. It must spark beyond the home, beyond its small community. It must reach the ears and touch hearts of others, to gain the notice of the larger world outside–

Free Tibet!

Sometimes, it just needs the help and push of good media coverage. Will someone please, get out there to rescue it?

Burning,

GRRRL

A Peek Inside an Indian Yoga Ashram

Filed under India, Kerala / Karnataka by Christine Ka'aloa on June 2, 2011 at 8:55 am {19 comments}

At 6 AM. the morning fog was lifting off the lake. Devotional music poured joyously over the loudspeaker of a neighboring temple and echoed eerily, as fly by birds bore life to the serene setting. Sitting in silence I felt the sun spreading its rays across my body with an exquisite orange and gold. I inhaled.

OM.

Kerala was a perfect escape from the heat, haggling, piss-perfumed stains and madness I know as India. Lush green foliage and forest, the Keralan coast was degrees cooler and more welcoming. I’d seen the film Eat Pray Love and told myself I’d have no aspirations to it. Still, an epiphany was coming through– that there were spots in India which could be peaceful, clean, beautiful and serene!

Universities, nice roads, lush forestry, posh and brightly colored mansions backed by Saudi money all seemed to say – Hey, this state’s got money! Yes, “God’s own country” (as the saying goes) was truly rich.
.

(more…)

Where to lay your head in budget India?

Filed under India, India tips & stays by Christine Ka'aloa on May 29, 2011 at 5:09 pm {13 comments}

places to stay in gokarna

I’ll be honest– finding a place to crash is one of my ugh parts of traveling solo in India. It’s literally draining.

Budget cradles here spell the need for an open-mind, with a crowbar of willpower and let’s face it– India is not as cheap as it was and your room doesn’t always match the higher rupee you’re paying!

I’m not saying that there’s no decent cribs in India; but as a solo female backpacker on extended travel, I’m hunting for a way to make my rupee stretch, without compromising decent, safe and clean (forget chic!). If I’m too cheap, I might find myself in the gut of a basement afraid to touch anything in my room; something a little pricier might be better, but I’m still not in my skin. Why? Obviously, the rules of the game and standards of house-keeping are different here.

Here’s two examples:

Blankets

Do you really think the blankets and throws on the bed get a wash each time a person leaves? (I don’t even use the throws on (more…)

When Tibetan monks get downright passionate!

Filed under Dharamsala, Interesting People by Christine Ka'aloa on May 26, 2011 at 1:39 pm {5 comments}

We all have this idea that Tibetan Buddhist monks and nuns have very stoic , temperate and reserved personalities. Afterall, walking Buddha’s Middle Path (of compassion), doesn’t exactly lend itself to the appearance of being excitable, emotional or argumentative. Yet, monks have their moments and in their monk clan, they reveal themselves to be absolutely human when it comes to “the art of debate”!

(more…)

I’m visiting who… the Karmapa?

Filed under Dharamsala, Interesting People by Christine Ka'aloa on May 23, 2011 at 12:55 pm {6 comments}

Picture of the Karmapa as a boy. (Dharamsala, India)

Who are we seeing? I asked

The Karmapa.

My party of yogi friends chimed in.

Who?

The name didn’t stir recognition for me.

His gaze was intense for such a young-looking face.

Piercing. Penetrating, as if he could see right into you…

Standing in the long queue, I could feel the excitement around me. He was just in the next room, visible through the open door.

The foreign traveler in front of me was so in awe and smitten that she bowed her way all the way while backing out the door!

A little excessive, I thought. After all, he wasn’t Buddha! Still, a part of me wondered if I should follow suit. How does one address or approach a Karmapa Lama? Bow profusely, prostrate myself, fold my hands in simple Namaste prayer ? I had no (more…)