Last Stop in India ~ Varanasi!

Varanasi is India on steroids. We arrived after a 13 hour train ride in the heat of the day. The traffic, horns, dust, rubbish, cows, horses, goats, heat and smells welcomed us and were way too overwhelming considering the bout of ‘Delhi belly’ that I was fighting. I spent the remainder of Saturday locked away in my room pretending that I wasn’t in India. The only English channel on the 12” TV played the Hannah Montana movie and The Day the Earth Stood Still. In my humble opinion, Keanu Reeves was really only good in the Matrix. Sunday was also spent in recovery and trying to clean laundry, a seemingly simple yet impossible task here. I have added a washing machine and dryer to my list of things I really miss from home.

On Monday, we got up with the sun and hired a boat. The man rowing our boat was adorable. He was three rows away from having a heart attack, which is why I quickly tried to recall the steps to CPR, just in case. He had the most remarkable ear hair, in both length and quantity, which I’ve ever seen on a human. He also liked to repeat the four English words he knew over and over through his almost toothless mouth...I loved him!

Varanasi is the spiritual heart of India. The Ganges River runs right through it, and the waterfront is buzzing with activity 24 hours a day. The elderly population of India make their final journey to Varanasi to die. I was not really prepared, emotionally speaking, for what that might mean for people like us out for a sunrise cruise on the Ganges. Before I continue, if you’re eating right now, you may want to read the rest of this later on!

The Ganges, the holiest of holy rivers, is the lifeblood of India. Here’s what I have seen the river used for: drinking, bathing (humans, monkeys, dogs and buffaloes), laundry, disposing of waste, disposing of bodies (human, cow, dog), prayer and worship. Depending on your caste, age, etc., you are either burned or placed in the river once deceased. We eventually made our way to one of two main burning areas. Here, we smelled hair and flesh burning, saw corpses burning on logs. It was surreal. I was overwhelmed with emotion at the seemingly non-ceremonial way the bodies were disposed of….feeling the heat from the fires, covered with ashes of the dead...it made me uncomfortable and even more sick to my stomach. I spent the remainder of the day in quiet contemplation and shock.

The next day, I went off on my own to the second burning site, determined to face what I was uncomfortable with and to attempt to understand it…to observe with an open heart and mind, now that my stomach was better prepared to handle it. I saw two corpses, heads uncovered, go through the process from start to finish. There is actually a ceremony, simple yet respectful, involved for those whose families are present. I came to accept that this is the way it is for this culture. The Ganges and all that it symbolizes is the conduit to heaven for the Hindu Indians, therefore, the way that the dead are disposed of, while shocking to Westerners like me, is exactly what those who follow that belief system hope for all their lives. I found peace with it when looking at the situation from their perspective.

We tried banana lassies at the infamous ‘Blue Lassi’ shop. I took a cooking class, where I learned how to make a delicious mango and coconut soup and rice pulao (rice with vegetables). I had a Reiki treatment done to cleanse my body of bad energy. The Yogi performing the treatment on me said that I was itchy (allergies), that I was thinking too much, and that I had a bad stomach. Not too bad of a diagnosis!

Gundula and I have done some shopping...bought some cool scarves and wood carvings. I ventured off into the city on my own yesterday, first to the post office, then to the ‘mall’. The post office was like a step back in time. They put my stuff in a box, tied the box with string, wrapped the box with cloth, sewed the cloth up, then put hot wax seals all over it. I burned my finger on one of the seals. At the mall, I was elated to find a McDonald’s. I tried the McVeggie burger. It wasn’t great, but the French fries were delicious...it was like I had found a long, lost friend in the unhealthy yet comforting food from home! There are no hamburgers at McD’s in India, in case you were curious, only chicken and fish. Interestingly, they also have ‘Pizza Puffs’. Sadly, no McFlurries! I went into a proper clothing store where there was air conditioning, Western music and proper dressing rooms. Also, no one was hassling me and I didn’t have to negotiate on the price. It was WONDERFUL!! I restocked on tops…nothing that I came into India with is coming away with me…it’s all too filthy. Later this morning, Gundula, who has been learning how to give Reiki treatments, will give one to me as her graduation. Then, we fly to Delhi. We plan to hit the clubs to celebrate our last night in India together. It’s going to be hard to say goodbye to Gundula…our relationship has blossomed into a wonderful friendship and the experiences we have shared together and memories we have made here and in Bali, I will always treasure.

As this is my last entry from India, allow me please to share my thoughts on my whirlwind tour of Northern India - 12 cities in just over 6 weeks! India is incredible; drastically diverse in landscape, climate and culture. It is one of the most accepting countries I have visited, tolerant of all belief systems and people. The people are beautiful, leading colorful, disciplined lives. India is intense - it has stretched my comfort zone in many directions, which is a good thing. I have learned to go with the flow and accept the way things are in a way that no other experience could have taught me. Most of all, India has taught me that you always have a choice in how you see things. You can choose to smell the cow shit and the rotting garbage or you can choose to smell the sandalwood and incense permeating the air. You can choose to see the pollution and the chaos or you can choose to see the beauty and the order within the chaos. You can choose to love it or you can choose to extremely dislike it. I choose love! I wanted to come to India for some hard core traveling...I definitely got it and so much more!

I am so excited about seeing my Brother tomorrow in Thailand that I can hardly sit still or hold a thought in my head (to paraphrase Shawshank Redemption!). ;)

What an Amazing Week!

It has been an incredible and busy week!! We spent most of Monday on a train from Rishikesh to Agra. The scenery was amazing...lots of corn and rice fields, small villages, beautiful women wearing brightly colored saris working the fields, wild peacocks, men going to the bathroom on the side of the road (what impeccable timing!)...ha ha!

We were the first two tourists into the Taj Mahal on Tuesday. As soon as I saw the largest dome, I got the chills! The Taj Mahal is mesmerizing and such a beautiful expression of love. I always had the idea that the building was pure white marble. There are actually little grey and brown swirls in the marble which look amazing with the different angles of the sun, clouds, etc. Inside, the marble inlays are so intricate and colorful. We stayed in the grounds for over 5 hours and took hundreds of pictures. While I was taking one of those hundreds of pictures something/someone came up and aggressively reached into my pant pocket. I turned and wondered what on earth Gundula could possibly want so quickly from me when I realized that it was a monkey!! We've heard that monkeys are sometimes trained to steal from tourists...luckily all it got out of my pocket was lint!

I went on my own to the baby Taj Mahal, older, smaller and more detailed than the famous one. I hired a guy to pull me in a rickshaw by bicycle. He was the skinniest man alive and he had to get off the bike several times to pull my fat ass up hill. After touring the baby Taj and going through a small village to view the Taj from the opposite side of the river, the monsoon started. We pulled into a tunnel to avoid the rain where I bonded with all the other bicycle and motorbike guys. Twenty minutes later, it lightened up. We moved on and three minutes after that, it came down so hard that I was completely drenched from head to toe within seconds. I've never seen rain like it. I felt so bad for the poor driver but I paid him double what he asked (because of the rain and the size of my pants!). ;)

We spent Tuesday night on a train from Agra to Khajuarho. I was really excited to see this city because it is known for it's erotic carvings on the temples, where the Kama Sutra came from. There were 85 temples in the past, now there are less than 20 left. In reality, there are only 5 or 6 graphic carvings on each of the temples we saw. Pretty cool but I wouldn't recommend the city just for the carvings to anyone else. However, my time in Khajuarho has been the highlight of my time in India so far because of the people we've met.

On Wednesday, I made friends with a 13 year old boy named Suneel. He wanted to practice his English and we were hungry, so we invited him to join us for ice cream. He is a very bright, friendly kid with an infectious laugh. Two of his older, much 'cooler' friends, Guloo, age 17, and 'Tony', age 22 also joined us. We spent the next 6 hours talking and laughing, playing cards and drawing henna on each other. Suneel wrote 'I Love My India' on my right hand and on my left arm 'I love you' in Sanskrit. So precious!

Thursday, we toured the temples and then I spent some time in the afternoon playing cards with Suneel and his friends. We went to a local ceremony at a Shiva temple that was beautiful...blowing of conch shells, banging of gongs, lighting of incense, lots of kissing and bowing and praying to the lingam in the center of the temple.

Today, we tried to meet Suneel when he got out of school but he had already left on the bus. His teacher showed us around the school, I met with the principal to discuss important things like where I was from, if I was married or not and if I wanted to teach or not. The kids went wild seeing two foreigners at their school grounds. We took a ton of pictures of them (they love seeing themselves on the camera screen!) and had a blast letting them practice their English with us! Some of the older boys were playing cricket, so they let me take a few swings. I think they were impressed that I actually could hit the ball! It was so fun!

Once all the children had finally taken the bus home, the teacher invited us to his home. We met his wife, daughter, son, niece, nephew and the 5 people renting the room adjacent to his. Their home consisted of one room, maybe 15x20. They all sleep together in the same bed. He volunteered that he made 2,000 rupees a month, annualized to $480 a year. What different lives we all lead...very humbling indeed. His daughter liked to dance, so the Mom turned on music and she grabbed my hand and away we went. Gundula joined us and the three of us were putting on our best versions of Indian dancing...everyone was laughing, clapping. Tears started streaming down my face...such an incredible, unique and touching experience. Amazing!

I'm writing this in our room...we have tapped into an unsecured WiFi signal which is so nice to have. It's incredibly hot...I've never sweat so much doing absolutely nothing. There's a mouse in our room with us...she seems friendly enough and thankfully hasn't eaten all of our crackers on the shelf. So with that, Gundula, the mouse and I will say Namaste!

The Ganges

We ended up staying in Shimla for one more day…it was way too comfortable what with the enclosed toilets, paved roads sans cows and power. On Thursday, we boarded a bus at 5:15 AM for an 9 hour journey out of the Himalayas bound for Rishikesh, the world capital of yoga and the city the Beatles made famous back in the day by visiting an ashram. Eleven exhausting hours later, Gundula and I vowed to not set foot on a bus for the rest of this trip…something worthy of celebration! We celebrated by treating ourselves to a rickshaw ride into Rishikesh. Rickshaws, it turns out, are even louder, bumpier and dustier. Scratch those too.

The Ganges River runs through Rishikesh. It is a massive, brown and powerfully flowing river. At this point of the river, pretty fresh out of the Himalayas still, it is relatively clean. We each went up to our knees yesterday. I even splashed water on my arms and forehead so that maybe it would qualify as ‘bathing’. Bathing in the Ganges, considered by Hindus a holy river, is supposed to wash away your sins. It felt cold and wet to me….my fingers are crossed that what I did counted as bathing and that my sins are far downstream by now!

Rishikesh is real India. There are sadhus everywhere. Sadhus are the holy saints of Hinduism who give up their families and all of their possessions to devote their life to God. They wear either bright orange or white and seem to be very chilled out people. The sadhus share the riverside with hundreds of people bathing in the Ganges, cows who have free reign of the place and flies who follow the cows. Not to brag, but I have become quite adept at watching what’s going on all around me while sidestepping cow poop. Also, my fly swatting skills have quadrupled since arriving…Grandma, you’d be proud! ;)

We checked into the Parmarth Niketan Ashram which came highly recommended. The room is basic, as most have been, but it’s surrounded by beautiful gardens and sculptures of Shiva and hundreds of other Hindu Gods. We completed a Panchkarma treatment at their spa Friday and this morning. Friday's treatment consisted of Abhayanga (an ayurvedic massage with oil), Shirodhara (hot oil that dripped on my third eye for 30 minutes) and an ayurvedic steam treatment. It was heavenly and oh boy was I greasy! This morning, I got another oily massage and this time they put oil in my nose and ears. I have been hacking and spitting like a true Indian ever since. Also, my hearing and sense of smell seems to be hypersensitive....not a great day to fight the car horns and smells at the local market! I met with the ayurvedic doctor to get some insight on my health. Unfortunately, I have come down with yet another rash (thank you body!). This time, my rash is from Indian vitamins that I purchased to help offset the severe lack of protein I’ve had since arriving here. The doctor was pretty insightful. He told me to stay away from cheese. I followed the advice by ordering a brownie with ice cream for lunch. There’s always tomorrow.

In other news, I have made a major move and booked a flight home. My brother and I will turn Thailand and Laos upside down here in a few weeks, then I’ll have a few weeks to explore Cambodia and visit some new friends in Vietnam. From there, I’m heading to Ecuador to sail around the Galapagos Islands. Then, it’s home, sweet home. I’ll be Stateside by Friday, October 29th. For a lot of reasons, it is time and I am ready. It’s a bittersweet feeling to know that this trip has an end in sight now, but I am ready for a different kind of purpose in my life. I will happily accept any offers of couches to sleep on while I look for gainful employment!!

To close this entry, I’d like to share a passage from a book I’m currently reading called Holy Cow – An Indian Adventure by Sarah MacDonald. Sarah is an Aussie girl who traveled and subsequently moved to India. It is hilarious. My favorite line, talking about the traffic which could apply anywhere in the country really…’It’s as if Delhi is blind and driving by sound – except it seems many are deaf.’

Better Late Than Never!

Gundula and I passed those words painted on a sign next to the ‘road’ somewhere in the heart of the Himalayas. We cracked up laughing. We also got a good chuckle out of reading ‘Good Luck’ painted on the side of a mountain that we inched by. At least the Indians have a good sense of humor when it comes to their ‘road’ signs in the mountains! I’m using ‘’ around road because it’s a bit of a stretch to actually call it that.

The last week has been the most trying of my entire time away from home. We ended up being stuck in Kaza until Thursday morning when the roads opened up. It was rainy and cold the entire time, minus about three hours of sun on Wednesday afternoon. We took advantage of the sunny skies (still cold!) and went for a walk down by the river. The scenery in Spiti Valley is simply breathtaking. We spent the majority of Tuesday and Wednesday playing cards, watching the quarter finals of the World Cup and watching the rain fall.

On Thursday, we boarded an early bus towards Rekong Peo on what we thought would be a 10 hour journey. At 4 ½ hours in, we hit a road block. The Kissan Union, some sort of farmers/ag union we learned, was striking. The strikers put up logs at the end of the only bridge across a river and sat on a tarp on one side. For the first few hours, we sat by the river enjoying the sun, reading and writing. When it became clear that the strikers had settled in for a long day of protests, we started to get restless. Two Belgian guys, Nico and Shive, who are doing the Himalayas on motorbike, also got stuck in the strike. We spent the rest of the day and night hanging out with them. I asked the strikers if we could join them on the tarp to play cards because the roads were filthy. For the next hour, it was almost like we were playing in the World Series of Poker because about 40-50 men gathered around to watch us play. Once they realized that they couldn’t figure out what game we were playing (called Kabo, a game from Peru), they dispersed and we were left alone on the striker’s tarp. I am thinking that my next career should be peace mediation and conflict resolution through card playing.

As it got dark, we realized that the strike wasn’t going to end and we settled in to the only restaurant in town. Gundula and I were seemingly the only females out in public that day, and certainly the only ones in the restaurant. Once we finished our second whiskey and black tea, the men started swarming. They serenaded us with amazing Indian songs and dances...I was laughing so hard I was crying. Then, they begged us to sing and dance, so I quickly taught Gundula the words and the moves and we performed a great rendition of I’m a Little Tea Pot. Upon finishing, they clapped and cheered for us like it was the most incredible thing their eyes had ever witnessed. Awesome. A small group of Indian Army soldiers were also stuck in the strike, and they loaned us a sleeping bag and a mat. Nico also had an extra sleeping bag. The kindness of strangers can be so wonderful. With our borrowed bags, we nestled down on the concrete of the second floor balcony of a guesthouse and passed out watching shooting stars. All in all, not a bad day for being stuck in the middle of nowhere!

After 28 hours, we finally made it to Kalpa where we had views of snow capped mountains that exceeded 6,050m – so beautiful. We spent Friday afternoon and Saturday recharging batteries after a week of no power, enjoying the mattress and hand washing laundry (a lot of my stuff is now what I like to call India black…covered in dust…and they don’t have washing machines here that we have been able to find!). Sunday we made our way to Chitkul, another 6 hour bus ride away. On the way, we had to stop for a few hours so that they could blow up some huge boulders that had fallen on the road. Dynamite is loud! I went across the rubble to another village to try and find food. I could not find anything, but a wonderful woman gave me apples. Chitkul is the closest village to Tibet and we hiked as close as we could get through a valley full of wild flowers...amazing. The village reminded me of a living museum except it's real life. It's the kind of village where no one has an email address and only three or four of the cool guys have cell phones. It is an incredibly peaceful and remote way of life.

Another 9 hour bus ride, where this time we only had to stop for an hour to fix a tire problem. Gundula and I passed the time by dancing on the street. She taught me the waltz and I taught her the ever classic grapevine. The men tried to learn but were slow to pick it up! Made it to Shimla, the capital city of the state of Himachal Pradesh at 4 AM today. It's so amazing to be back in civilization. I almost did a back handspring when I saw a Subway. That's where I'll be having dinner tonight! Today, I needed to buy a new umbrella and camera bag and the shopowner and I went round and round on the price. He finally ended up giving them to me with my promise to send him something from the States someday. Amazing kindness.

My thoughts on bus rides: Imagine a bus ride you've taken where it was pretty crowded. Triple it. Now ride over dirt, rocks, boulders, inches from the cliff that falls straight into a ravine. If you picture yourself covered in dust, cramped and bouncing all over the place, you've almost got it. Now, picture a woman's handbag banging you in the head, a book falling on your lap from the storage racks above and a man's foot resting comfortably on top of yours and you can't move at all. That's a local bus ride in India. I spent a lot of time trying to guess which direction the bus driver would dodge the boulders, cows and oncoming traffic. It seems logic does not always dictate reality! If you don't laugh, you'd go crazy!!

On Top of the World

The bus ride to Spiti Valley was bumpy, dusty and amazing. The scenery we saw as we wound our way up, over and down the Himalayas was indescribably beautiful. I must have said ‘wow’ a thousand times! For the first three hours, the bus was packed full and we were crammed in – we were lucky enough to have a window and middle seat (yes, in India some of the buses have middle seats- just like a 747). Our knees touched the seat in front of us. The ride was made much more pleasant by the fact that apparently there were Indian comedians on board…about every 5 minutes or so someone would say something in Hindi pretty loudly and then the entire bus would start laughing. It was hysterical. We had no idea what was being said, but their laughter was contagious. So, we laughed and bounced our way up the Rohtang Pass. More than half the bus got off there, so the remaining 7 hours was much more comfortable!

After three hours with no stop, my bladder was about to burst, so I asked the driver if he could pull over. On this journey, I’ve gotten accustomed to using the bathroom in the great wide open. I jumped off the bus, ran towards the back and dropped my pants just behind the bus, out of view to anyone who might want to peak out the back window as there were no rocks, trees, etc. for me to hide behind! What I didn’t realize is that the entire bus also had to use the restroom. It was kind of embarrassing to spend 4 more hours on a bus full of men who had seen my white ass. Better luck peeing outside next time Jamie!

We finally arrived in Kaza when the real fun began – altitude sickness. I had a slight headache for the majority of the ride as we ascended and descended pretty quickly. Kaza is 3740m high and the fact that my body is used to sea level caught up with me quickly and painfully! I went to bed at 5 PM and didn’t wake up until 10 AM the next morning. It was horrible. Gundula is an angel for taking care of me!

On the 4th, we made our way to Kibber, about 4100m high with a population of less than 350. As we walked around, I noticed that the children all looked malnourished – glassy eyed, poor skin, etc. There seems to also be a lot of inbreeding going on. We saw three girls using down electrical lines as a swing and a lot of boys riding and hitting donkeys. It’s another world up there. Nevertheless, we received the biggest smiles imaginable. We had dinner with a French man, a German man, an Austrian guy, a girl from Uruguay and another girl from the States. To celebrate the 4th of July, we split a Kit Kat bar seven ways.

After dinner, the scariest night of my life began. Gundula and I were the only two staying at our guesthouse. There was no power (they sometimes get power for a few hours every other day, but we hit on an off day) so we sat in the room and read by candlelight before falling asleep. About 1 in the morning, I woke up to someone banging like crazy on the wall next to us. For the next three hours, a very disturbed, probably drunk and/or drugged man banged on the wall and door, stood outside our window and talked through the walls trying to get us to come out and talk to him. It was frightening.

We had planned to do a hike down to the Ki Monastery but the weather had turned miserable – very cold, rainy and foggy. It was almost like a white out – maybe 100’ of visibility. Luckily, we were able to hitch a ride with a South African guy and made it to the monastery. The Ki Monastery is over 1100 years old, built on the side of a mountain. Boys aged 8 or 9 come to the monastery to study Buddhism and stay for a lifetime in most cases. We stayed for about five hours in the prayer hall listening to their chants and music with horns, drums and chimes. It is a great place to meditate. The dedication of the monks fascinates me – for six or more hours a day they sit Indian style in the prayer hall and recite prayers. I got uncomfortable after twenty minutes sitting Indian style on the floor with them!

One of the monks took us around the grounds – first for chai in a kitchen with no lights, then to the small, brightly colored and somewhat kitschy temple, then to a room where the Dalai Lama stays when he visits. Within this room, they keep a prayer book that is over 1,300 years old and a lot of old Buddhist tapestries that were smuggled out of Tibet. We were lucky to see this room, as tourists are not invited in that often. Another hitch hike back to Kaza, where we spent another freezing night in a room with no power. I’m apparently trying to go for a record of days without showering…the water is too bloody cold to even consider it!

We have been stuck now for two days in Kaza due to the unrelenting rain. In either direction, the roads have been washed out. I've been killing time by learning awesome new card games with some Israelis that are staying at the same place and watching World Cup. We have spent a lot of time at the bus station, where I met an adorable girl who wanted her hair braided like mine...so precious!

Hope you had a great 4th! Go Germany!! Please hope for dry, warm, sunny weather, safe roads and no crazy men in our future!

Manali

The last week – I can’t believe a week has gone by already! – since our Himalayan skiing adventure has been wonderful. Gundula and I have been hiking almost everyday. Yesterday, we went on a long trek into the woods. An adorable golden retriever, who I named Copper, came along with us. For a good ½ km, a cow also joined the walk. It was hilarious – Gundula, a black cow, a golden retriever and me walking through the forest!

We went to a small carnival in New Manali…yak rides, alpine bunny holding, snake charmers, a carousel, cotton candy. We were by far the most popular visitors, judging by how many people wanted to take pictures with us! We went to the Harimba Temple where a chicken had been sacrificed just before our arrival – fresh blood and feathers still littered the floor. I saw a black scorpion just before I stepped on it and witnessed a parade to welcome an Indian dignitary, not in that order.

We went to a hot spring bath house in a nearby village. The men went to one side, women to the other. I wore my bathing suit and had intentions to get all the way in, but after dipping my toes in I realized that it was way too hot! Also, on the women’s side, only very small children were actually getting all the way in and showing skin. I have heard that Indians, men and women, are never nudes…but haven’t gathered the nerve to ask anyone if it’s true or not just yet. Maybe Tobias could start a spin off from Arrested Development in India!? (I’d be curious to know how many of you have a clue what I’m talking about!?!)

Jindu, the guesthouse owner where we are staying, and his wife come and chat with us everyday on the balcony. We talk with his wife over chai about the fact that neither Gundula nor I are married or have children and that we’re both over 30! Our lives seem to fascinate her…she is with Jindu through an arranged marriage and she has been living there for over 25 years. Definitely a different path than I have taken! Thankfully, they are happy in the marriage and have had three beautiful children. Jindu and I sit on the balcony and share local charas…we talk about Western vs. Indian culture, education, politics…so great to get talk with a locals and learn their perspective.

I went across the river strapped in a harness…freezing glacier water and a great ab workout! We have done a lot of reading, journal writing and gazing into the mountains. I have spent a lot of time in the Magic Forest, a nature park nearby. The trees are so tall and the effect on the lighting from below is truly magical. Tomorrow morning, despite our better judgment probably, we are back on a bus for what we’re told is a 10 hour bus ride to the Spiti Valley, farther north still into the Himalayas. The pictures I have seen look incredible…looking forward to seeing it with my own eyes!