One Year In!!

One year ago today, I boarded a plane bound for South Africa. My dream of traveling the world for an entire year has come true. It has been an unbelievable journey and by far the best year of my life.

In the last year, I have been cage diving with great white sharks, watched lions hunt gazelles and zebras, snorkeled in the Great Barrier Reef, climbed the Great Wall of China, trekked with Komodo Dragons, skied in the Himalayas and smiled and laughed with countless strangers. I got to share precious time and China with my Mom and got to watch her dance in the People’s Park in Chengdu. I saw my first opera in the Sydney Opera House with my dear friend Mendy. It is amazing to think of all that I have seen and experienced. More importantly, I have met incredible people, who I am now proud to call friends, from all over the world. Above all, I have gotten to know myself and that has meant more to me than words can express.

Before leaving, a lot of people asked me what I wanted to accomplish or said something like ‘I hope you find whatever it is you’re looking for’. The truth is that this trip was always about the journey, about the experiences, whatever may come. In doing so, I have found so much more than I initially hoped to discover about the world and about myself.

I hoped that time would slow down – no alarm clock, no real schedule. Time, unfortunately, does not slow down. My pace is slower now and I am a lot calmer. I can appreciate down time now, even times of boredom, and no longer have the feeling that if I’m not doing something, I’m wasting time – that it really is okay and even really healthy to slow down, even stop, to smell the proverbial roses!

I have learned to be more patient with people and situations which I cannot control. I have learned to be more trusting and to not be so skeptical. I have realized that I need to open my heart for the possibility of love and am excited about the future, whatever that might bring. As much as I am excited for the future, I have and continue to try to focus on being present in the moment – fully conscious of what is going on around me. It is a wonderful thing to experience ‘now’.

I have observed that the people with the fewest things are the happiest and the most at peace. Sitting Sunday night watching the Germany vs. England game and cheering with people from all over the world, I was struck by how borders seem such an antiquated notion and how much the same we really all are. We all want joy in our lives and the best for our friends and family... peace, friendship, laughter and love. I have learned to be grateful for these and so many other things.

On the practical, day-to-day side of things, I’ve learned a ton too. First, my thoughts on essential items to pack on a round-the-world trip in 365+ days: a head torch/flashlight, MP3 player, Swiss army knife and sewing kit. I would not have survived without them. Good shoes are really important, so is a good jacket! Sometimes, it’s better to fly. If it gets wet, it will eventually dry. Traveling without a schedule and without a guidebook is absolutely the way to go – just let things happen, flow and see what happens! Urine can be used for a lot more than meets the eye. Never enter a bathroom without your own tissues. Always say yes! Follow your heart…

Writing this blog has been such a rewarding and enjoyable exercise. I appreciate you taking the time to read it and share in my experiences! To everyone who talks to my Mom about my blog: thank you. She never fails to mention your thoughts on my latest escapade when I talk to her! Writing it makes me laugh and I hope it has made you laugh at times too.

Three months ago, I never imagined that I would be in India at the one year mark. As I write this, I am sitting on grass next to the Beas River, which flows with so much power. I am surrounded by green trees, mountains, blue skies and can feel a cool breeze. I continue to be amazed by how beautiful our planet is, how precious life is and how happy and thankful I am to be a part of it.

The Himalayas...Wow!

Namaste! The bus ride from Dharamsala to Manali, which we later found out should only have taken 8 hours, ended up taking 13. Tuesday was a very long night! Gundula moved to another seat to stretch out and give us some room after a stop where a lot of locals got off the bus. Five minutes later, we stopped again and a few more guys boarded the bus. I was lucky enough to have the Indian version of Santa Claus (sans beard) who reeked of liquor sit next to me. The bus broke down twice, so those were the only times that I was able to doze off…the roads are way too bumpy for anyone who is not on drugs to actually sleep! Gundula and I are seriously evaluating whether or not we have it in us for anymore overnight bus trips in India!

Arriving in Manali more than made up for the sleepless and crammed journey to get here. I am living in a postcard, literally. I am writing this blog from the balcony of our room which overlooks a wide and rocky river and huge mountains are all around us (picture!). It is truly breathtaking. The sound of the river is so meditative. Last night, we watched the nearly full moon rise over the snow capped mountains…incredible.

We spent most of Wednesday lounging by the river in a café, reading, taking cat naps, eating delicious food, enjoying the incredible temperature and scenery and watching World Cup. Go USA and Germany!

On Thursday, Gundula and I went off on a small hike which turned into a five hour trek. It was so great to be out in the woods again smelling the fresh mountain air. We passed through several small villages, apple orchards, etc. We kind of got off the main trail and ended up in the middle of a small cow pasture. One of the calves and I instantly bonded, meaning that he came up and started trying to eat my backpack. He was licking me (cow tongues are like sandpaper!) and then started to eat one of my braids. It was so funny! I had cow saliva all over me...first time for everything.

We got up really early on Friday and hired a taxi driver to take us up to Rohtang Pass, a famous pass about 52 km from Manali. On the way, Petra (the German girl we met in Bhagsu), Gundula and I hired ski clothes and ski equipment. The ski clothes were hilarious – all from the early 1980’s…lots of great neon colors. My ski pants looked more like M.C.Hammer pants from my 5th and 6th grade years at Apollo Elementary School. The skis were not any newer. The 3+ hour ride up to the pass was terrifying. I am not a fan of narrow, winding mountain roads mostly because I tend to get car sick and am afraid of tumbling down the side of the mountain. The road was rocky and broken, sometimes intermittently paved, and there were spots were waterfalls were literally running over the dirt. ...the whole place is one big avalanche waiting to happen…luckily it didn’t happen yesterday! No reinforcements or guardrails, blind turns, hairpin bends…stressful. On top of that, you have to share the road with other cars trying to pass you on the single lane, random fallen boulders, horses, cows and goats. Oh, and it was raining the whole way up. I am very thankful to be writing this blog today.

The ski area in Rohtang Pass was what I imagine Tahoe looked like maybe 100 or more years ago. There were tents strewn about haphazardly with people selling grilled corn, chai tea, noodles. There were horses to pull you up the mountain, a few snowmobiles and people who pushed sleds up the mountain…no ski lifts! I skied down the bunny slope and only fell once when the binding on my ski broke. Therefore, I didn’t actually get to ski that long, but for all technical purposes; I have skied in the Himalayas! Even the little bit that I did was challenging as I had to navigate around plastic bottles, corn cobs and other bits of trash. India could really use a waste management system. We took pictures, I made a snow man and by that time we were all freezing. We warmed up with some chai tea and then headed, slowly, back down the mountain. The skies had cleared up for the ride down and the views were simply stunning. The highlight on the way down was seeing a goat riding a horse. Great times in the Himalayas!

I Never Finish Anyth

I saw that saying printed on a t-shirt and it made me laugh. It is rare in Asia to find a t-shirt that is spelled correctly (almost!), makes sense, and that is actually really funny. It’s the little things…

The last few days in Upper Bhagsu, about 1.5 km north of McLeodGanj, have been very peaceful. Friday we heard rumors that the Dalai Lama was still in town and so went on a mission to find him, asking every Monk, tourist, Tibetan and Indian along the way whether or not the rumor was true. He had already left for Japan, but that didn’t negate his presence that could be felt at the largest Tibetan temple outside of Tibet. We spent a few hours at the temple listening to the Monks and worshipers doing their prayers 108 times over. It was a beautiful thing to witness; such dedication and focus…it gave me goose bumps then and still does when reflecting on it.

Leaving the temple, Gundula made friends with a Monk named Nga Wang Jikmet. We walked with him across the mountainside to a place where the Monks go during breaks from their seven hours a day spent worshipping in the temple. It was magical – Tibetan prayer flags in yellow, red, blue and white flying everywhere, maja bells ringing, blue sky, a cool breeze and mountains all around. We watched Jikmet get his head shaved by another Monk. We dodged the cows who were roaming freely amongst the flags (cows can go wherever they want here and everyone gets out of their way). We sat under the flags on the side of the mountain, breathing slowly and taking it all in. We talked with Jikmet about our lives back home, our wishes, etc. He also wrote prayers for us. It was amazing. I was kind of startled and then had to laugh when Jikmet turned and punched a cow in the ribs that had gotten too close to us. We walked back with him so that he could resume his afternoon prayers and along the way got to see where the Dalai Lama resides.

Friday night, Saturday and Sunday, my stomach was adjusting to India which means that I didn’t venture out too much. I did have the strength to visit the Tibet Museum which was a really eye opening experience. I did not realize that since China invaded Tibet in 1949, that over 1.2 million Tibetans have died as a result. Their environment has been raped of resources and their culture has been virtually eliminated. The Tibetans have such a peaceful and compassionate way of life; it hit a lot of emotional chords with me to realize that China continues to destroy it today.

On Sunday, I had enough strength to venture out into the foothills of the Himalayas alone to do a little hiking. The air was so fresh, the trees so tall and green – it has been a long time since I’ve been in the mountains, and I didn’t realize how much I’d missed them! I saw a Monk sitting on the ground in a remote area reading alone. I came across a pack of baboons, about 20 of them, hanging out in the trees. I stood as still as possible and watched them for at least a half an hour. I kind of felt like Jane Goodall, with my subjects being baboons instead of chimpanzees. A mother baboon ran after me, teeth showing and hissing, when I got a little too close to her baby (picture!). That got my heart rate up and made me a little more aware of where the baboons were in relation to my exposed limbs.

The rest of my time tucked away in a little Tibetan village in the mountains has been spent eating good food, watching the World Cup, reading and sleeping. The monsoon season has started to sweep north, so we’ve had a few lazy afternoons watching the rain and hail pour down. Although I am technically still in India, it feels a lot different here with all the Tibetans around. I am reminded, though, that I am in India when I smell the smells of the street and hear the car horns. My olfactory senses have been overloaded since arriving in India…some of the most disgusting and potent smells imaginable! The Indians also seem to enjoy installing ridiculously loud horns, and for extra fun, horns that play little tunes. They seem to find pleasure in using their horns about every 10 seconds or so. Patience, Jamie, patience.

Tonight we take a 10 hour bus ride from Dharamsala to Manali. We’ll be much higher in the Himalayas after arriving…hope that we adjust to the altitude okay! Looking forward to a lot of hiking, possibly some paragliding and some beautiful landscapes….until next time…Namaste.

Can I Snap With You?

I could write a novel on my first 3 days in India. At 4:30 AM on Monday, we headed to the airport in Kuala Lumpur. After 6 hours, we found ourselves in the Chennai airport with a few hours to kill before our connecting flight to Delhi. My first impression, while sitting in a café at the Chennai airport is that I had traveled back in time to the mid-80’s. Men here love mustaches. The music videos involve a lot of line dancing by men and what seems to me very cheesy story lines. I was reminded of the TV show Chips, specifically Ponch, for whatever reason. It was great. We arrived in Delhi late and as Gundula waited for our luggage, I went to the pre-paid taxi stand to sort out a ride to the train station – we had to catch a train in less than 1 ½ hours and traffic in Delhi is supposedly horrendous. I bought our ticket and left, but realized about 15 minutes later that the guy had taken too much money. I went back and said that I was afraid that in the rush/confusion of trying to figure out which train station, that he had actually taken 500 Rupees (about $11) too much money. I figured it was a lost cause, but figured it was worth asking about. His reply was, “no problem, ma’am. Here is your money. You are a guest in my country and I don’t want you to worry.” No questions, no argument. It was a great way to start off our Indian adventure.

We made it to the train station with just 10 minutes to spare…the taxi driver got pulled over on the way there! We climbed to the top of the three tier bed sleeper train and settled in for a 12 hour train ride to Amritsar. The people were very friendly and curious about the two Western girls who joined them in the second class. As soon as the train pulled away from the station, I put on my mp3, stood by the car door and listened to MIA’s Paper Planes song….I know it’s very cliche, but it was awesome to be riding through India looking at the shantytowns, the trash, the filth and the chaos listening to that song!

After 6 AM on Tuesday, we arrived in Amritsar – no where to stay, no map, only a goal of getting to the Golden Temple. We boarded the bus which was overcrowded by about 50 people. We each climbed in over the driver’s seat. I didn’t realize that my backpack was resting on the horn….there is a lot of noise pollution here!...until a lot of the locals started yelling and laughing at me. Oops. On the bus ride, a woman started a chant and the rest of the bus recited after her. Incredible. Luckily, the pilgrim’s dormitory in the Golden Temple had two beds left, so we gladly claimed them and set out to visit the Golden Temple. The temple, built in the 1600’s, is made entirely out of gold plates and marble and surrounded by a small lake. It’s breathtaking.

It was hard for us to walk a total of ten steps without being stopped by someone who wanted to ‘snap’ with us or who wanted to practice their English or who wanted me to hold their baby. The people are just lovely here. We ate lunch at the temple…did I mention that food and lodging at the temple are free? We sat on the floor, held our plates and men carrying dhal, curries, chapatti and rice scooped them out. We dined with literally 500 other Indians and were the only tourists. It is amazing how efficient the temple is – it feeds and houses people 24 hours a day, 7 days a week – and most of the work is done by pilgrims who volunteer as part of their once in a lifetime journey to the temple. The Golden Temple was a perfect way to start our trip in India.

After a well-deserved nap, we boarded a taxi bound for the Mata Temple and the Pakistan-India border. At the Mata Temple, I felt like I was at a fun house – lots of monkey and elephant statues, lots of mirrors, tunnels to crawl through. I received a blessing of sweetened puffed rice (tasted almost just like Rice Krispies!) and an orange mark on my forehead. The temple is for women who want to conceive children…we’ll see if it works someday!

The Wagha border between Pakistan and India holds a ceremony at the end of each day to officially close the border and lower the flags. We got there early, so had plenty of time to watch the Indian women dance to techno music that was blaring on India’s side. Pakistan also blasted some sort of Arabic techno music…I actually liked theirs better, but no one was dancing on their side. I wanted to go down and dance, so I asked Gundula to join me and off we went down to the street (foreigners are ‘protected’ in a VIP area) but once we made it to the street, guards escorted us to front row seats literally 15’ from the border! Awesome! There was music blaring on both sides, chanting and shouting on both sides, lots of flag waving and patriotism going on. The Indian military guys were all very tall compared to their peers and could do high kicks that would put most women to shame. They did a lot of kicking, knee raises, and stomping during the ceremony. Also, both the Indian soldiers and the Pakistani soldiers wore tall feather-like things in a mohawk shape on top of their helmets. It was a great thing to witness and as close to Pakistan as I’ll likely ever get.

On Wednesday, we went inside the Golden Temple. It was beautiful to hear the sheiks performing the mantras and to see the very ornate temple and the people reading their scriptures all over the place. We dined again in the temple and spent the afternoon walking around the city of Amritsar.

Thursday was a travel day – 7 hours in a ‘semi deluxe’ bus to Dharamsala, just south of Mcleod Ganj, the home of the exiled Tibetan government and the Dalai Lama. I spent a considerable amount of time on the bus pondering what part of the bus would have been considered deluxe. I never figured it out. We arrived hot, dusty and sweaty and excited to be at the foothills of the Himalayas…saw the snow-capped mountains on the ride up…amazing. I’m sitting on our balcony right now looking at the mountains, drinking a Kingfisher beer and listening to the Germany – Serbia World Cup game that Gundula and our new German friend Petra are watching in the room. We missed seeing the Dalai Lama by two days…despite that, life in India is very good. I hope that life is good wherever you are reading this too.