After 30 hours of traveling to San Francisco from London via Washington Dulles via Frankfurt we crashed for about eight hours before getting on the road to head for Portland. We left Tim's mom's place at about 8 (where Tim's truck was left), but had to stop in San Francisco to pick up other things we left before we went to India. We got into Portland at about 10 PM, and I woke up this morning pretty depressed. Back to the same old crap. Everyone in the USA runs. I don't know where they are running to, but they run. Like the guy who speeds past you ony to sit and wait at the red light while you pull up directly behind him. People are angry, frustrated, and stressed out. People hang their heads, apologize profusely for things that aren't their fault, and beat themselves up over the smallest things. The man behind the counter asks you if you are having a nice day as if he cares, so obviously not even waiting to see if there's an answer. Nationalsim and militarism is so popular and over-the-top that I felt like I stepped into 1937 Germany when I got off the plane in Washington Dulles, especially when I saw the store called "Amerika!" filled with wonderfull White House paraphenalia.
While in the store of Amerika! browsing at all the propaganda, I noticed a foreign woman staring at this little "Pet Toy" of Saddam Hussein that is meant as a chew toy. She looked at it for a couple of seconds in complete disgust and then in English said, "This is so horribly wrong".
Americans seem so insecure. We run around with aggregating wealth in order to prove our worth (because in the USA society values you not on who you are but rather how much you make), and our over-compensated nationalism arises from a lack of national identity. We blow ourselves up like pufferfish, even when we are not threatened, just to make sure any possibility of threat is quelled. Just like our military adventures abroad. We are so afraid of what we do not know, and we are so afraid of what might be lurking around the corner, always fearing the absolute worst. People in the airport don't look at each other for fear they might make eye contact, while others walk around puffing up, staring at people aggressively and making threats about where their luggage is supposed to go. Everyone seems to always be looking for a fight, as they talk to themsleves in a fit of anger about the guy who acidentily bumped into them 10 feet back. Our nation is ill. Seriously mentally ill. It's no wonder that we have the highest rates of depression in the world. And it all comes back to our obsession with wealth. All of it.
This is my last post.
03 August 2003
Emergency Room Visit
24-hour stay in hospital
3 blood draws
3 Malaria slides
TB test from blood draw
3 Sputum tests
Urinalysis
Chest X-Ray
Blood Count
Blood Culture
Serum Electrolytes
4 meals
___________________
Total Cost $0.00
And I don't even live here. The care I got was just as good as I've gotten anywhere in America. As a matter of fact, I would bet that it was better then had I waited to get back. Had I gone into hospital in the States without insurance, there would be no way in hell they would have kept me for that long and did such a battery of tests knowing that I probably couldn't pay for it. Here they wanted to keep me until Monday. I had to argue to let them release me. Not only did I get tested for Malaria and TB, but they also figured they'd run tests for any other bacteria that may be brewing and come up to "bite [me] later". Get it together, America. The socialized health care system here is CHEAPER than what we have with the same quality (whether it is paid for out-of-pocket or through taxes), because there's no profit margin to be maintained, and it seems to be more concerned about actual CARE as well. Oh, and if you want to go to a private doctor here you can; you're not forced to get free, quality care if you don't want it. You can pay out the ass for the same thing if it's your desire.
The fact that we are still the ONLY industrialized nation to not grant health care as a human right considering we're the wealthiest nation in the world is disgusting. Just absolutely repulsive.
24-hour stay in hospital
3 blood draws
3 Malaria slides
TB test from blood draw
3 Sputum tests
Urinalysis
Chest X-Ray
Blood Count
Blood Culture
Serum Electrolytes
4 meals
___________________
Total Cost $0.00
And I don't even live here. The care I got was just as good as I've gotten anywhere in America. As a matter of fact, I would bet that it was better then had I waited to get back. Had I gone into hospital in the States without insurance, there would be no way in hell they would have kept me for that long and did such a battery of tests knowing that I probably couldn't pay for it. Here they wanted to keep me until Monday. I had to argue to let them release me. Not only did I get tested for Malaria and TB, but they also figured they'd run tests for any other bacteria that may be brewing and come up to "bite [me] later". Get it together, America. The socialized health care system here is CHEAPER than what we have with the same quality (whether it is paid for out-of-pocket or through taxes), because there's no profit margin to be maintained, and it seems to be more concerned about actual CARE as well. Oh, and if you want to go to a private doctor here you can; you're not forced to get free, quality care if you don't want it. You can pay out the ass for the same thing if it's your desire.
The fact that we are still the ONLY industrialized nation to not grant health care as a human right considering we're the wealthiest nation in the world is disgusting. Just absolutely repulsive.
02 August 2003
Just spoke w/the Dr. They're doing one more set of tests just to make sure it isn't malaria and that it is safe for me and others for me to travel on a plane. I should be out shortly, and will only need to come back tomorrow morning for one more blood test. Dr. think's it's just a nasty viral infection.
A recollection of events starting from 6 PM yesterday:
1800: I phone National Healthcare Services regarding me cough. It's free for me to phone and talk to a nurse. I tell them my concerns, and they tell me a nurse will phone back within the hour.
1900: The nurse tells me that it's probably nothing to worry about, but that I should go to the walk-in clinic and get looked at for safe measure.
2020: After an hour of public transit, I make it to the clinic. I get punted over to A&E (the ER) because, I'm told, I'll need bloodwork and a chest x-ray.
2130: I get pulled into "minors" and talk with the nurse. They isolate me because of the possibility of TB. Good news is that my NBP is 117/63 and my HR is at 62. Healthy as a lamb for being ill.
2230: Further isolated and put on a BP/HR monitor. I've given a cup into which to spit up goobers.
0100: Chest X-Ray
0200: Blood draw. First go is a miss, second one is a big bruise. I think the guy was new at it. It took him quite some time to do it all, and he was quite talkative.
0430: Talk with Dr. from infectious diseases: "Nothing obviously TB, but there is definately an infection, and given that you just got back from India, we're admiting you for more tests." I tried to conince him to do the tests as an outpatient, as there was no overt evidence of a TB infection, but he had none of it. Especially considering that a former travel partner just informed me that he was told by a doctor in an Indian hospital after a chest x-ray that he'll need to come back for TB tests. Oh, that and the fact I'll be getting on an airplane and could easily infect numerous people.
0530: Moved to the infectious diseases ward and quarantined in my room. But have this great internet gadget, and I can leave the room to wander the ward if wear this bright pink face mask shaped like a bill; a "duckie mask" I believe one of the nursing students called it.
They wanted to keep me through Monday, but considering my flight is Monday morning, they may need to speed up their game a bit. It's 14:25, and I have yet to see the Dr, let alone do the mandatory induced sputum activity.
1800: I phone National Healthcare Services regarding me cough. It's free for me to phone and talk to a nurse. I tell them my concerns, and they tell me a nurse will phone back within the hour.
1900: The nurse tells me that it's probably nothing to worry about, but that I should go to the walk-in clinic and get looked at for safe measure.
2020: After an hour of public transit, I make it to the clinic. I get punted over to A&E (the ER) because, I'm told, I'll need bloodwork and a chest x-ray.
2130: I get pulled into "minors" and talk with the nurse. They isolate me because of the possibility of TB. Good news is that my NBP is 117/63 and my HR is at 62. Healthy as a lamb for being ill.
2230: Further isolated and put on a BP/HR monitor. I've given a cup into which to spit up goobers.
0100: Chest X-Ray
0200: Blood draw. First go is a miss, second one is a big bruise. I think the guy was new at it. It took him quite some time to do it all, and he was quite talkative.
0430: Talk with Dr. from infectious diseases: "Nothing obviously TB, but there is definately an infection, and given that you just got back from India, we're admiting you for more tests." I tried to conince him to do the tests as an outpatient, as there was no overt evidence of a TB infection, but he had none of it. Especially considering that a former travel partner just informed me that he was told by a doctor in an Indian hospital after a chest x-ray that he'll need to come back for TB tests. Oh, that and the fact I'll be getting on an airplane and could easily infect numerous people.
0530: Moved to the infectious diseases ward and quarantined in my room. But have this great internet gadget, and I can leave the room to wander the ward if wear this bright pink face mask shaped like a bill; a "duckie mask" I believe one of the nursing students called it.
They wanted to keep me through Monday, but considering my flight is Monday morning, they may need to speed up their game a bit. It's 14:25, and I have yet to see the Dr, let alone do the mandatory induced sputum activity.
01 August 2003
Thursday I went out to Cambridge to check out the town and the University. I wasn't expecting, however, to be charged to go into every bloody college, and then not even be able to go into any of the buildings. I guess Cambridge is pretty touristy, and they wanted 4 Pounds from me just to wander the King's College campus and check out the Cathedral.
I was initially intending on checking out Oxford because it was closer and I've read plenty of books either by people out of Oxford or printed on OUP. But I was convinced otherwise, only to pay a pretty pence, and last night I heard from two Oxford grads that it is absolutely free to wander around Oxford, and that no one is going to be guarding the doors and barring people from entering the buildings.
That night I went out to meet up with James' friend and a friend she brought along. It was "great crack", and we were invited to go to a pub and club this Saturday with a group of people. As for tonight, I will probably take it easy, because I am still fighting this bugger (whatever it is), and I don't want to wreck myself before Saturday. Ugh, viruses are to coolest things until they happen to you, and I just found out that a guy we were travelling with just before leaving might have TB. So I may be heading in for a FREE skin test today. It's amazing how England treats its guests with free health care, and Americans won't even give it to their own citizens. Ehem.
I was initially intending on checking out Oxford because it was closer and I've read plenty of books either by people out of Oxford or printed on OUP. But I was convinced otherwise, only to pay a pretty pence, and last night I heard from two Oxford grads that it is absolutely free to wander around Oxford, and that no one is going to be guarding the doors and barring people from entering the buildings.
That night I went out to meet up with James' friend and a friend she brought along. It was "great crack", and we were invited to go to a pub and club this Saturday with a group of people. As for tonight, I will probably take it easy, because I am still fighting this bugger (whatever it is), and I don't want to wreck myself before Saturday. Ugh, viruses are to coolest things until they happen to you, and I just found out that a guy we were travelling with just before leaving might have TB. So I may be heading in for a FREE skin test today. It's amazing how England treats its guests with free health care, and Americans won't even give it to their own citizens. Ehem.
31 July 2003
Yesterday my illness got the best of me. Whatever I caught in India put me out. I had a low-grade fever that peaked at about 100.2 deg F, then disappeared as of this morning. I'm still fighting a chest infection, but any fear of congruent Malaria symptoms has subsided.
So last night Tim went out with two of James' friends and, from what I hear, had a blast. Hopefully we'll have a chance to go out with them again when I'm well.
I'm hoping to wander around the Oxford or Cambridge campus while I'm here, but I don't know if it will happen, as time is quickly ticking away. I might be going down to Brighton tonight or tomorrow, Saturday is Camden, and Sunday is Soho (I think). Monday we challo USA. It sucks I've lost 30% of my London time to this virus, but better here than in India. By a long shot.
Damn, this coffee is good. No more instant Nescafe.
So last night Tim went out with two of James' friends and, from what I hear, had a blast. Hopefully we'll have a chance to go out with them again when I'm well.
I'm hoping to wander around the Oxford or Cambridge campus while I'm here, but I don't know if it will happen, as time is quickly ticking away. I might be going down to Brighton tonight or tomorrow, Saturday is Camden, and Sunday is Soho (I think). Monday we challo USA. It sucks I've lost 30% of my London time to this virus, but better here than in India. By a long shot.
Damn, this coffee is good. No more instant Nescafe.
30 July 2003
Same old thing here in London: wandering around aimlessly afraid to look at a menu for fear of spending the budget for an entire day in India on one meal. Oh, and the sunglasses fashion out here is Out. Of. Control. It's London for crying out loud. Why on earth would you spend that kind of money on something you might wear one week out of the year?
London is also filled with people not from London. I don't think I have ever been in a city anywhere where I have heard so many different languages being spoken on the street: English, French, Italian, Dutch, German, Spanish, etc, etc.
Yesterday we tried initially to meet up with a friend of James and a friend of hers, but we missed each other. She had some trouble with tube (subway) tickets, and Tim and I ended up going to the corner of the meeting spot for some fish and chips before heading home. We later found out that she arrived 45 minuted late, 5 minutes after we decided to take off. Then I guess she was standing right at the meeting place when we came out of the pub lunch, we passed her, Tim looked to find her, and we just completely missed each other. We literally walking past eachother and not seing each other. But those fish and chips were heaven. I've waited eight years for a proper fish and chips. What is so hard about a slab of cod and french fries? Why is it so difficult for Americans to understand how to fry a slab of cod? I think I have a business idea . . .
We did end up meeting the friends of James last night at the pub for a drink and some dinner, though. It was good conversation, I just wish I wasn't feeling so ill; I was very poor company. I came down with this illness only a day after arriving, and it has been becoming progressively worse. Just a cold, but a nasty one at that, and last night was ridden with sweaty tossing and turning. Tim is ill as well as his mother, so we sound like a right infectious disease ward.
London is also filled with people not from London. I don't think I have ever been in a city anywhere where I have heard so many different languages being spoken on the street: English, French, Italian, Dutch, German, Spanish, etc, etc.
Yesterday we tried initially to meet up with a friend of James and a friend of hers, but we missed each other. She had some trouble with tube (subway) tickets, and Tim and I ended up going to the corner of the meeting spot for some fish and chips before heading home. We later found out that she arrived 45 minuted late, 5 minutes after we decided to take off. Then I guess she was standing right at the meeting place when we came out of the pub lunch, we passed her, Tim looked to find her, and we just completely missed each other. We literally walking past eachother and not seing each other. But those fish and chips were heaven. I've waited eight years for a proper fish and chips. What is so hard about a slab of cod and french fries? Why is it so difficult for Americans to understand how to fry a slab of cod? I think I have a business idea . . .
We did end up meeting the friends of James last night at the pub for a drink and some dinner, though. It was good conversation, I just wish I wasn't feeling so ill; I was very poor company. I came down with this illness only a day after arriving, and it has been becoming progressively worse. Just a cold, but a nasty one at that, and last night was ridden with sweaty tossing and turning. Tim is ill as well as his mother, so we sound like a right infectious disease ward.
27 July 2003
We arrived in London just a couple of days ago, and I have been just hanging out in Tim's mom's apartment overlooking London. It's nice to have a comfortable bed and to enjoy the food of the western world, but it is nonetheless quite strange being back. Everything seems so imbued with sterility, vanity, and gluttony.
India refused to let go of me, as it chased me all the way to London. Athough we were flying Lufthansa, we checked our bags at Lufthansa in India, and they didn't tag it appropriately, tagging it only to Frankfurt Airport. So there I was with a dirty t-shirt and shorts where here in London it was in the 50's (F). When I complained, LH tried to blame their contracted baggage company, who in turn blamed me (?!?). It was ludicrous. I got my bags later that night, but there was no reperations for the 10 hours I went without my bags and the two hours I spent in the airport attempting to deal with the situation. They offered me a free food voucher, but I refused it telling them that that was the most insulting thing I've heard in my travels. So if you're thining of flying LH, don't. I might expect that kind of crap from some small poor airline, but for LH it is inexcusable. In India when things go wrong, it isn't intentional; people are just way diorganized over there. When LH messess up and tried to blame you for it, that's just greed. Blah blah blah rant rant rant.
All that aside, London has been a treat, and India seems like it was a long dream. The strongest last memory I have is taking the Taj express to Delhi, hearing the clickity-clack of the wheels on rail joints, watching the lights flicker on and off, and hearing the call of the chai man "Chaiiiiiiii. Chaiiiiiiiii." in his deep contorted voice developed especially for calling out on loud trains all day everyday.
It all seems so surreal.
India refused to let go of me, as it chased me all the way to London. Athough we were flying Lufthansa, we checked our bags at Lufthansa in India, and they didn't tag it appropriately, tagging it only to Frankfurt Airport. So there I was with a dirty t-shirt and shorts where here in London it was in the 50's (F). When I complained, LH tried to blame their contracted baggage company, who in turn blamed me (?!?). It was ludicrous. I got my bags later that night, but there was no reperations for the 10 hours I went without my bags and the two hours I spent in the airport attempting to deal with the situation. They offered me a free food voucher, but I refused it telling them that that was the most insulting thing I've heard in my travels. So if you're thining of flying LH, don't. I might expect that kind of crap from some small poor airline, but for LH it is inexcusable. In India when things go wrong, it isn't intentional; people are just way diorganized over there. When LH messess up and tried to blame you for it, that's just greed. Blah blah blah rant rant rant.
All that aside, London has been a treat, and India seems like it was a long dream. The strongest last memory I have is taking the Taj express to Delhi, hearing the clickity-clack of the wheels on rail joints, watching the lights flicker on and off, and hearing the call of the chai man "Chaiiiiiiii. Chaiiiiiiiii." in his deep contorted voice developed especially for calling out on loud trains all day everyday.
It all seems so surreal.
26 July 2003
23 July 2003
We decided to plurge on a room, taking a three bed AC room in a hotel with a swimming pool. Oh, how nice it was to sleep in AC. From here on out it will be a 7 hour non-AC sleeper train to Agra tonight, then on an airplane at 2 AM tomorrow night. It seems British Airways workers are on strike, so we may have some trouble getting from Frankfurt to London. Cross your fingers for us and the workers.
It is too much to think that we will be flying out of India tomorrow night. I feel like I have just become comfortable with India - knowing how to get around, deal with touts, rickshaw drivers, and learning the art of haggling. The first two months were a lot of work, and a lot of mental space used for adapting and adjusting. It is strange to think how when we first arrived I saw a cow in the middle of the road and I thought it was the coolest thing. Now it is just normal. Or how I didn't eat much for the first few days scared to bits about what I could and couldn't eat and where I should eat. How much should I pay for a ten minute rickshaw? What is a reasonable price for market goods? What in god's name is a train "berth"? Trying to find Alprax or Valium to calm my nerves on the crazy bus journeys through the Himalayas, later soberly sleeping calmly as the bus swung back and forth avoiding 500 m drops.
I think I have a pretty strong reverse culture shock period coming up. I will definately enjoy some of the western amenities wihtout which I have gone, but I will also sorely miss India for all its friendliness and culture, craziness and chaos, and all the people I have met along the way whom I will never forget.
Next time - South India.
It is too much to think that we will be flying out of India tomorrow night. I feel like I have just become comfortable with India - knowing how to get around, deal with touts, rickshaw drivers, and learning the art of haggling. The first two months were a lot of work, and a lot of mental space used for adapting and adjusting. It is strange to think how when we first arrived I saw a cow in the middle of the road and I thought it was the coolest thing. Now it is just normal. Or how I didn't eat much for the first few days scared to bits about what I could and couldn't eat and where I should eat. How much should I pay for a ten minute rickshaw? What is a reasonable price for market goods? What in god's name is a train "berth"? Trying to find Alprax or Valium to calm my nerves on the crazy bus journeys through the Himalayas, later soberly sleeping calmly as the bus swung back and forth avoiding 500 m drops.
I think I have a pretty strong reverse culture shock period coming up. I will definately enjoy some of the western amenities wihtout which I have gone, but I will also sorely miss India for all its friendliness and culture, craziness and chaos, and all the people I have met along the way whom I will never forget.
Next time - South India.
21 July 2003
I will be attempting to recollect events backwards. It has been quite a few days since I've written, and my memories become sparse the further back in time I go.
Today (21 JUL) we went and visted a Haveli (mansion). This haveli was 400 years old and we were fortunate enough to have a guide who was very knowledgable. We took it easy today, because it was very hot and one of our travel partners was feeling ill from dehydration. Tonight we will be taking a train to Jaipur, staying one night, then taking a night train to Agra. We will just stay the day in Agra then take a night bus straight to Delhi and then directly to the airport. We are working out logistics with the french couple we met, and we may share a taxi froim Agra to Delhi, allowing us to go straight to the airport without taking a rickshaw and possibly avoiding a bus breakdown which could cost us our flight. Because the travel over the next few days will be intense I may not be posting any more until I get to London.
Yesterday (20 JUL), we went to the Jaipur Fort Palace. This palace was quite stunning, but not as much as the City Palace in Udaipur. We had a great time, though, talking with a couple of people from France that we met that morning, and have been hanging out with since then. We got a haircuts and shaves last night before we went out on the town. We decided we would splurge and spent Rs 300- each on dinner at a fancy restaraunt. We found out what we already knew: paying more in India doesn't always mean you get better quality. The food was great, but it wasn't worth paying close to ten times what I would normally spend on a meal in India. Nonetheless, it was a great time. The french couple we met were so great, that we held off on leaving Jaisalmer until this evening, and will be meeting them again in Agra prior to our departure (on our way back to Delhi).
19 JUL: This was a pretty mellow day, except for a little run in James had with an Indian at a restaraunt. This town seems to be filled with Indian romeos who can be very territorial. I had earlier met a Dutch woman briefly on my way out of the fort. When we went to eat dinner, she was there with her travel partner, and so we joined them just to chat and swap stories. None of us were at all interested in chatting them up, but this local romeo gave James the stare-down - most likely because he is half-Indian and this man felt threatened. James is a poster child for the saying "the toungue is sharper than the sword." This romeo was talking smack, and James just ripped him to shreds without the guy even knowing that he did it. The Irish are known for this skill, and perhpas it is his Scottish half that he takes after in this regard. James brilliantly used self-deprication to insult the guy, and the subtely of it went right over his head.
18 JUL: We arrived in Jaisalmer this day after riding all night on the train. We were very tired to say the least. We got a cheap cab ride to the fort city (inside which we were staying), but of course they would not take us all the way to the central square claiming that "jeep no longer allowed". We knew, and later confirmed, that this was not true, and that this is just another ploy to get tourists to a different hotel. Regardless of the fact that we kept telling them that we had reservations and that we knew which hotel we were going to, they hoped that by forcing us to walk up to the hotel and touting (verb?) us the whole way would cause us to fold. We found our way to the hotel we wanted to stay in, and we got a primo rate. James had been there before, and since we showed up as five (there was Tim, James, two English girls with whom we traveled from Jodhpur to Jaisalmer, and I) they gave us the rooms for less than 1/3 the price they were giving others (and this wasn't a line). It's a great place, and the staff are superb. They go on word of mouth. They are not in the Lonely Planet, but they seem to be always packed only from backpackers telling other backpackers about it (although they may show up in the next addition).
Coming into Jaisalmer fort was absolutely stunning. I could easily spend weeks here. People still live in the fort city in the same homes they did hundreds of years ago. The whole town is a labrynth of hisotrical architecture, and the Jaisalmer Fort City is listed as a World Heratage Site. Everyone should come here if they ever come to India. There are two places that I have been absolutely astounded by. One of them is Ladakh, and the other is the Jaisalmer Fort City.
Today (21 JUL) we went and visted a Haveli (mansion). This haveli was 400 years old and we were fortunate enough to have a guide who was very knowledgable. We took it easy today, because it was very hot and one of our travel partners was feeling ill from dehydration. Tonight we will be taking a train to Jaipur, staying one night, then taking a night train to Agra. We will just stay the day in Agra then take a night bus straight to Delhi and then directly to the airport. We are working out logistics with the french couple we met, and we may share a taxi froim Agra to Delhi, allowing us to go straight to the airport without taking a rickshaw and possibly avoiding a bus breakdown which could cost us our flight. Because the travel over the next few days will be intense I may not be posting any more until I get to London.
Yesterday (20 JUL), we went to the Jaipur Fort Palace. This palace was quite stunning, but not as much as the City Palace in Udaipur. We had a great time, though, talking with a couple of people from France that we met that morning, and have been hanging out with since then. We got a haircuts and shaves last night before we went out on the town. We decided we would splurge and spent Rs 300- each on dinner at a fancy restaraunt. We found out what we already knew: paying more in India doesn't always mean you get better quality. The food was great, but it wasn't worth paying close to ten times what I would normally spend on a meal in India. Nonetheless, it was a great time. The french couple we met were so great, that we held off on leaving Jaisalmer until this evening, and will be meeting them again in Agra prior to our departure (on our way back to Delhi).
19 JUL: This was a pretty mellow day, except for a little run in James had with an Indian at a restaraunt. This town seems to be filled with Indian romeos who can be very territorial. I had earlier met a Dutch woman briefly on my way out of the fort. When we went to eat dinner, she was there with her travel partner, and so we joined them just to chat and swap stories. None of us were at all interested in chatting them up, but this local romeo gave James the stare-down - most likely because he is half-Indian and this man felt threatened. James is a poster child for the saying "the toungue is sharper than the sword." This romeo was talking smack, and James just ripped him to shreds without the guy even knowing that he did it. The Irish are known for this skill, and perhpas it is his Scottish half that he takes after in this regard. James brilliantly used self-deprication to insult the guy, and the subtely of it went right over his head.
18 JUL: We arrived in Jaisalmer this day after riding all night on the train. We were very tired to say the least. We got a cheap cab ride to the fort city (inside which we were staying), but of course they would not take us all the way to the central square claiming that "jeep no longer allowed". We knew, and later confirmed, that this was not true, and that this is just another ploy to get tourists to a different hotel. Regardless of the fact that we kept telling them that we had reservations and that we knew which hotel we were going to, they hoped that by forcing us to walk up to the hotel and touting (verb?) us the whole way would cause us to fold. We found our way to the hotel we wanted to stay in, and we got a primo rate. James had been there before, and since we showed up as five (there was Tim, James, two English girls with whom we traveled from Jodhpur to Jaisalmer, and I) they gave us the rooms for less than 1/3 the price they were giving others (and this wasn't a line). It's a great place, and the staff are superb. They go on word of mouth. They are not in the Lonely Planet, but they seem to be always packed only from backpackers telling other backpackers about it (although they may show up in the next addition).
Coming into Jaisalmer fort was absolutely stunning. I could easily spend weeks here. People still live in the fort city in the same homes they did hundreds of years ago. The whole town is a labrynth of hisotrical architecture, and the Jaisalmer Fort City is listed as a World Heratage Site. Everyone should come here if they ever come to India. There are two places that I have been absolutely astounded by. One of them is Ladakh, and the other is the Jaisalmer Fort City.
17 July 2003
Yesterday we went up to the Jodhpur fort. I didn't find it as awesome as the City Palace in Udaipur; it was bigger, but the City Palace allowed one to wander through most all of the rooms and get close up to the painting and architecture, whereas the Jodhpur Fort was more touristy in that we had to pay twice as much and got these audio tour guide contraptions following a prescribed path.
Tim left early to catch a date (see below) on the back of a motor scooter by someone who offered him a ride. As they started down the hill from the fort the driver told Tim, “We have to go very slow; I have no brakes.” Classic.
Last night James and I went to On the Rocks Bar and Restaurant where I was able to enjoy A/C for the first time in India (except for some shoddy A/C we had in two of the rooms when we first arrived). As James and I were drinking Gin and Quinine Tonic Water to help with the mosquitoes Tim was off having dinner at the house of this Indian woman he "picked up" at the train station. Tim didn't think much of the date, but I don't think he really was taking into account cultural context. He was there getting asked by her sister and brother-in-law chaperones about marrying an India wife and she sung Hindi songs of finding love under the moon, and when asked to sing a tune Tim could only think of singing the Dukes of Hazzard theme song. For those of you who know Tim, you shouldn't be surprised. For those of you who don't, think "Big Lebowski", as James has named him (and quite appropriately at that).
Before we went to the bar, I saw from the rooftop of our guesthouse, which overlooks the “blue city” part of town and the Fort hundreds of kites that were being flown by people on their rooftops. It was really a beautiful sight.
We are taking the night train to Jaiselmer tonight, and should arrive nice and early. Jaisalmer is in the Great Thar Desert, and Jodhpur, where we are currently, is on the border. Today it was 96 deg F in the shade (and although it is on the edge of the desert there is still enough humidity to make it feel much hotter). I think it's time to buy some rehydration salts.
Tim left early to catch a date (see below) on the back of a motor scooter by someone who offered him a ride. As they started down the hill from the fort the driver told Tim, “We have to go very slow; I have no brakes.” Classic.
Last night James and I went to On the Rocks Bar and Restaurant where I was able to enjoy A/C for the first time in India (except for some shoddy A/C we had in two of the rooms when we first arrived). As James and I were drinking Gin and Quinine Tonic Water to help with the mosquitoes Tim was off having dinner at the house of this Indian woman he "picked up" at the train station. Tim didn't think much of the date, but I don't think he really was taking into account cultural context. He was there getting asked by her sister and brother-in-law chaperones about marrying an India wife and she sung Hindi songs of finding love under the moon, and when asked to sing a tune Tim could only think of singing the Dukes of Hazzard theme song. For those of you who know Tim, you shouldn't be surprised. For those of you who don't, think "Big Lebowski", as James has named him (and quite appropriately at that).
Before we went to the bar, I saw from the rooftop of our guesthouse, which overlooks the “blue city” part of town and the Fort hundreds of kites that were being flown by people on their rooftops. It was really a beautiful sight.
We are taking the night train to Jaiselmer tonight, and should arrive nice and early. Jaisalmer is in the Great Thar Desert, and Jodhpur, where we are currently, is on the border. Today it was 96 deg F in the shade (and although it is on the edge of the desert there is still enough humidity to make it feel much hotter). I think it's time to buy some rehydration salts.
15 July 2003
Yesterday we went sight seeing in Udaipur, checking out gardens and a “crafts village”, of which the latter wasn’t too interesting; there was nothing going on. We didn’t make it to the Monsoon Palace for sunset, because of . . . the monsoon. It would start raining at about 2 PM and stay cloud and rainy for the rest of the day. I’ll have to save it for next time. The two most amazing things I saw in Udaipur were the City Palace, which was the most amazing architecture and art I have seen in India (I have about a roll of film of it), and this posh hotel Odaivilas. We posed as potential customers and got the tour. This hotel was larger than the City Palace itself with some rooms having their own swimming pool. All of the architecture is traditional Rajasthani, and it claims the second highest dome in Rajasthan. Rooms start at $370 and go up to $1700. A coke cost Rs 100- and a beer Rs 600-, about 6x more than you would find in a decent restaurant. There were in our scruffy clothes hanging out at the shared pool taking pictures with disposable cameras, and all I could think about was Bill Murray’s character in “Caddy Shack” saying “Ya mind if I take a dip in the pool?” When I win the Lotto, that’s where I’m going.
Last night we took the sleeper bus to Jodhpur. I've never actually seen a sleeper bus, let alone seen on one. When I was told we were taking one, I thought we would be taking the typical 2x2 "luxury" bus with reclining seats. This bus not only had reclining seats for people, but there were also small compartments above the seats where one can sleep. It wasn't quite long enough for me to stretch out completely, but it was much better than having to try to sleep through the night on a seat. There was quite a bit of lightning, thunder, and rain through the night, the last waking me up as it pummeled my face through the open window in my little cupboard. I would then close the window from the rain, then wake up from the heat, then open the window, then a couple hours later close it from more rain, etc. But I got at least seven hours of sleep, which means I won't be wasting today in a bed.
We’re staying in a great guesthouse here that was recommended by a former travel partner, Ben (who is now in London), first having to endure the obligatory rickshaw take-you-to-a-different-guesthouse-with-a-smiliar-name-than-the-one-you-actually-want trick. It was trash for a high price, a common scam here, and needless to say the rickshaw driver gets commission if you stay there. They know that tourists travel with guidebooks, and so they figure out which guesthouses are the most popular ones recommended in the guidebooks and then call it something really close to the original hoping you won’t know that they’re trying to pull a fast one. Fortunately, the guidebooks also warn against this.
We found that there is a train that leaves from Jaisalmer at 15:30 and arrives in Jaipur at 5:30 the next morning. This saves us day (we won't have to jump trains in Jodhpur on the way back), so we are taking a night layover here in Jodhpur to see the fort, Umaid Bhawan (a palace here), and possibly Pushkar. We will also now have 2.5 days in Jaisalmer, which should allow us a short one-day camel safari if we want to do it. We fly out in less than 9 days. Crazy. Then, of course, is the 10-day chill-out period in London.
Last night we took the sleeper bus to Jodhpur. I've never actually seen a sleeper bus, let alone seen on one. When I was told we were taking one, I thought we would be taking the typical 2x2 "luxury" bus with reclining seats. This bus not only had reclining seats for people, but there were also small compartments above the seats where one can sleep. It wasn't quite long enough for me to stretch out completely, but it was much better than having to try to sleep through the night on a seat. There was quite a bit of lightning, thunder, and rain through the night, the last waking me up as it pummeled my face through the open window in my little cupboard. I would then close the window from the rain, then wake up from the heat, then open the window, then a couple hours later close it from more rain, etc. But I got at least seven hours of sleep, which means I won't be wasting today in a bed.
We’re staying in a great guesthouse here that was recommended by a former travel partner, Ben (who is now in London), first having to endure the obligatory rickshaw take-you-to-a-different-guesthouse-with-a-smiliar-name-than-the-one-you-actually-want trick. It was trash for a high price, a common scam here, and needless to say the rickshaw driver gets commission if you stay there. They know that tourists travel with guidebooks, and so they figure out which guesthouses are the most popular ones recommended in the guidebooks and then call it something really close to the original hoping you won’t know that they’re trying to pull a fast one. Fortunately, the guidebooks also warn against this.
We found that there is a train that leaves from Jaisalmer at 15:30 and arrives in Jaipur at 5:30 the next morning. This saves us day (we won't have to jump trains in Jodhpur on the way back), so we are taking a night layover here in Jodhpur to see the fort, Umaid Bhawan (a palace here), and possibly Pushkar. We will also now have 2.5 days in Jaisalmer, which should allow us a short one-day camel safari if we want to do it. We fly out in less than 9 days. Crazy. Then, of course, is the 10-day chill-out period in London.
14 July 2003
We left our guest house in Rishikesh at 5 AM to catch a 7:30 train in Hariwar. We had wait-list tickets, and were unable to get a seat. This train ride showed me what people described when talking about packed trains. Rishikesh is a holy city, and at the time there were plenty of pilgrims. There were people riding on the roof of the train, and Tim took a spot on the floor in the luggage car in order to get some sleep. James and I stayed in third class and sat on the floor cramped into each other, nearly hanging out of the doorway (the doors are kept open on India trains). It was nice to have the breeze and such a large window, though. Tim didn’t bring his bag into the luggage car as he was sleeping, because he feared something happening to it in there with all of the people as he was asleep, but nonetheless he had his camera and Leatherman stolen from his pack in the third class seating while James and I were shoved farther and farther away form our bags. I fortunately invested $60 in a backpack metal mesh and lock that I have been using religiously, otherwise I’m sure my bag would have been ransacked as well.
The first train arrived in Jaipur, Rajasthan at 7:45 PM. We then had some time to get a meal before boarding the next train at 9:50 PM, and finally arriving in Udaipur at 10 AM the following day. We were a bit concerned about the night train, as we all had wait-list tickets for that train as well, but we got beds, and I slept through the night nearly undisturbed. Getting to sleep, however, was a different story as there were three Indians arguing about something just across from me. All I heard was Hindi Hindi Hindi optical fiber Hindi Hindi Hindi Commission Department Hindi Hindi Hindi Business Week . . . They were nice guys, though, and I had a good chat with one of them when I boarded.
We are lucky enough to be staying in a Hotel that normally costs RS 1200-/night (ten times more than I usually spend). It is off-season, so we have the room for RS 100-/each. Not bad, not bad. The entire place is marble – the stairs, the banisters, the shelves, etc. There is a great rooftop restaurant overlooking the lake (which is now the ONLY lake – there were three lakes, but because of the lack of rain over the past few years and the increasing amount of industry that requires the use of large quantities of water, the other two lakes have disappeared). It is strange to look at ghats that are 500 m from any water, and to look at buildings that were once islands in a lake now landlocked. The only place still surrounded by water is Jagmandir Island. The Lake Palace hotel is only surrounded by water around half of its circumference. Today was the first big monsoon rain of the season, though, and if the rains treat Rajasthan half as good as the rest of India, hopefully some of the lakes will return.
The next few days will involve a lot of intense traveling; we only have ten days left. We arrived in Udaipur today, and we will be taking the night bus out tomorrow. The night bus gets into Jodhpur at 5 AM. We will spend the day there and then take a night train to Jaiselmer. We will be only two or three days in Jaiselmer, and then take off back to Jodhpur so we can get the next train to Jaipur to only stay one day. Then we take another night train to Agra to stay only the day and take an evening train into Delhi, leaving us about one day in Delhi before departure. Phew.
The first train arrived in Jaipur, Rajasthan at 7:45 PM. We then had some time to get a meal before boarding the next train at 9:50 PM, and finally arriving in Udaipur at 10 AM the following day. We were a bit concerned about the night train, as we all had wait-list tickets for that train as well, but we got beds, and I slept through the night nearly undisturbed. Getting to sleep, however, was a different story as there were three Indians arguing about something just across from me. All I heard was Hindi Hindi Hindi optical fiber Hindi Hindi Hindi Commission Department Hindi Hindi Hindi Business Week . . . They were nice guys, though, and I had a good chat with one of them when I boarded.
We are lucky enough to be staying in a Hotel that normally costs RS 1200-/night (ten times more than I usually spend). It is off-season, so we have the room for RS 100-/each. Not bad, not bad. The entire place is marble – the stairs, the banisters, the shelves, etc. There is a great rooftop restaurant overlooking the lake (which is now the ONLY lake – there were three lakes, but because of the lack of rain over the past few years and the increasing amount of industry that requires the use of large quantities of water, the other two lakes have disappeared). It is strange to look at ghats that are 500 m from any water, and to look at buildings that were once islands in a lake now landlocked. The only place still surrounded by water is Jagmandir Island. The Lake Palace hotel is only surrounded by water around half of its circumference. Today was the first big monsoon rain of the season, though, and if the rains treat Rajasthan half as good as the rest of India, hopefully some of the lakes will return.
The next few days will involve a lot of intense traveling; we only have ten days left. We arrived in Udaipur today, and we will be taking the night bus out tomorrow. The night bus gets into Jodhpur at 5 AM. We will spend the day there and then take a night train to Jaiselmer. We will be only two or three days in Jaiselmer, and then take off back to Jodhpur so we can get the next train to Jaipur to only stay one day. Then we take another night train to Agra to stay only the day and take an evening train into Delhi, leaving us about one day in Delhi before departure. Phew.
12 July 2003
12 JUL 03
It looks like I will actually be taking a day train to Jaipur, then after a two-hour layover, I will be taking a night train to Udaipur. It will be about 27 hours travel time. I'll be leaving here at about 5:30 AM and getting there about 10:00 AM the next day.
Today is Martin’s birthday (he is one of the Norwegians we’ve been hanging out with). So we had some cake this morning that was delicious, and tonight we’ll celebrate a bit (although I will be attempting to retire early after all of these late nights so that I can get some sleep before the journey).
I forgot to mention that on the night of the tenth, while we were sitting up on the balcony, where I only need to stand to see the lower courtyard, I heard some rustling, then the guard dog start barking, then a loud crash. By the time I heard the noise and stood up, I found the dog in the middle of the courtyard barking and a motor scooter knocked over. The manager woke up and came out with a large stick looking quite concerned and examining the pile of cement premix. The next day he took us to the pile and pointed out a leopard print. Our guesthouse is right on the edge of town bordering undeveloped jungle. The manager lost a mountain dog to a tiger just before we arrived, and he showed us the old dog's color. He's getting another, because he claims that the leopards and tigers will not attack two dogs, but he was very concerned that right now he only has one. Needless to say, we were a bit jumpy last night hanging out on the balcony and walking back to our respective guesthouses and rooms; I carried my large monkey stick I bought in Shimla.
I also saw an article in today’s papers about how monkeys are terrorizing people in Delhi. Supposedly a child was attacked by a band of them yesterday. Monkeys: they’re only cute when there’s a solid barrier between you and them.
It looks like I will actually be taking a day train to Jaipur, then after a two-hour layover, I will be taking a night train to Udaipur. It will be about 27 hours travel time. I'll be leaving here at about 5:30 AM and getting there about 10:00 AM the next day.
Today is Martin’s birthday (he is one of the Norwegians we’ve been hanging out with). So we had some cake this morning that was delicious, and tonight we’ll celebrate a bit (although I will be attempting to retire early after all of these late nights so that I can get some sleep before the journey).
I forgot to mention that on the night of the tenth, while we were sitting up on the balcony, where I only need to stand to see the lower courtyard, I heard some rustling, then the guard dog start barking, then a loud crash. By the time I heard the noise and stood up, I found the dog in the middle of the courtyard barking and a motor scooter knocked over. The manager woke up and came out with a large stick looking quite concerned and examining the pile of cement premix. The next day he took us to the pile and pointed out a leopard print. Our guesthouse is right on the edge of town bordering undeveloped jungle. The manager lost a mountain dog to a tiger just before we arrived, and he showed us the old dog's color. He's getting another, because he claims that the leopards and tigers will not attack two dogs, but he was very concerned that right now he only has one. Needless to say, we were a bit jumpy last night hanging out on the balcony and walking back to our respective guesthouses and rooms; I carried my large monkey stick I bought in Shimla.
I also saw an article in today’s papers about how monkeys are terrorizing people in Delhi. Supposedly a child was attacked by a band of them yesterday. Monkeys: they’re only cute when there’s a solid barrier between you and them.
11 July 2003
11 JUL 03
Couldn't access the account two days ago, and yesterday the power was out from 4 PM until after 11 PM.
Yesterday Ben, Sam, and Colleen left for Delhi; the French couple left for Varanasi; Tal left to travel North; and Chris headed to the Paravati Valley for a party. There was a definite shift in dynamic. Instead of there being loads of us on the rooftop until the sun came up, there was only six of us hanging out on a different balcony, and I retired earlier than I have in at least a week.
I went for an ayurvedic massage yesterday. It wasn't the typical "deep tissue messages" one gets in the States. It is more "superficial" and didn't quite work all of the muscles. It did, however, include a great head massage. The massages (head and body) include quite a bit oil and quite a bit of noise [and not the noise from the street below, which was startling at times] of which I do not know the purpose - perhaps it is for show, and perhaps the cupping of the hand beating down on your leg/arm/etc adds some extra massage power. It was very rhythmic; you would think the guy was practicing for a fill-in gig as a drummer. It was quite relaxing, nonetheless, even though there was only power on in the room for a few minutes (we lost power for over 6 hours yesterday).
The day before yesterday I got my haircut at a barber who said he had clippers. Little did I know that these were not electric clippers but manual. The blades looked just like an electric clipper, but instead of having a power cord they had a handle that reminded me of the manual lawn clippers one used before the “weed-whacker”. And it hurt. The guy was moving too quickly and my hair was pulled the entire time. But I was impressed at how even he was able to get a buzz cut without an electric clipper and guard, but rather using the manual and a comb for height. He was also really good with the razor, applying just the right amount of pressure to shave hair but not cut or give razor burn.
Tim and James will being going back to McLeod Ganj today for a few days, while I take a direct train from Haridwar to Jodhpur in Rajasthan (around a 24-hour journey) on Sunday morning. There was a waiting list of 20 people for the train, but I was told at the travel agency that even if my ticket is not confirmed by the time I have to take the train I should just hop on the train anyway, baksheesh [read: bribe] the train conductor RS 50- and I will get a berth. They seemed absolutely sure that this would work saying they do it all the time. I wouldn’t believe them just for their word, because it seems anyone selling anything here will tell you whatever it takes to sell you something, but rather I’ve been here long enough to know that there’s a 95% chance it will work. To quote the guy at the travel agency, “everyone wants to make some extra money” (plus I’m a foreigner). When I asked whether I should be discrete about it, they told me that he would just ask me for it right there at my seat (wherever I might be sitting at the time). I hope they’re right, because a 24-hour train ride without a bed or seat through the heat of the plains would be quite uncomfortable.
Tim and I will probably meet up in Rajasthan somewhere before heading back to Delhi. I fly out in 13 days.
Couldn't access the account two days ago, and yesterday the power was out from 4 PM until after 11 PM.
Yesterday Ben, Sam, and Colleen left for Delhi; the French couple left for Varanasi; Tal left to travel North; and Chris headed to the Paravati Valley for a party. There was a definite shift in dynamic. Instead of there being loads of us on the rooftop until the sun came up, there was only six of us hanging out on a different balcony, and I retired earlier than I have in at least a week.
I went for an ayurvedic massage yesterday. It wasn't the typical "deep tissue messages" one gets in the States. It is more "superficial" and didn't quite work all of the muscles. It did, however, include a great head massage. The massages (head and body) include quite a bit oil and quite a bit of noise [and not the noise from the street below, which was startling at times] of which I do not know the purpose - perhaps it is for show, and perhaps the cupping of the hand beating down on your leg/arm/etc adds some extra massage power. It was very rhythmic; you would think the guy was practicing for a fill-in gig as a drummer. It was quite relaxing, nonetheless, even though there was only power on in the room for a few minutes (we lost power for over 6 hours yesterday).
The day before yesterday I got my haircut at a barber who said he had clippers. Little did I know that these were not electric clippers but manual. The blades looked just like an electric clipper, but instead of having a power cord they had a handle that reminded me of the manual lawn clippers one used before the “weed-whacker”. And it hurt. The guy was moving too quickly and my hair was pulled the entire time. But I was impressed at how even he was able to get a buzz cut without an electric clipper and guard, but rather using the manual and a comb for height. He was also really good with the razor, applying just the right amount of pressure to shave hair but not cut or give razor burn.
Tim and James will being going back to McLeod Ganj today for a few days, while I take a direct train from Haridwar to Jodhpur in Rajasthan (around a 24-hour journey) on Sunday morning. There was a waiting list of 20 people for the train, but I was told at the travel agency that even if my ticket is not confirmed by the time I have to take the train I should just hop on the train anyway, baksheesh [read: bribe] the train conductor RS 50- and I will get a berth. They seemed absolutely sure that this would work saying they do it all the time. I wouldn’t believe them just for their word, because it seems anyone selling anything here will tell you whatever it takes to sell you something, but rather I’ve been here long enough to know that there’s a 95% chance it will work. To quote the guy at the travel agency, “everyone wants to make some extra money” (plus I’m a foreigner). When I asked whether I should be discrete about it, they told me that he would just ask me for it right there at my seat (wherever I might be sitting at the time). I hope they’re right, because a 24-hour train ride without a bed or seat through the heat of the plains would be quite uncomfortable.
Tim and I will probably meet up in Rajasthan somewhere before heading back to Delhi. I fly out in 13 days.
08 July 2003
It has cooled a bit here, and the evenings have been breezy. Last night we listened to Radiohead, "The Bends", and it made me miss PDX and playing music with the guys.
The circle up on the roof seems to be getting lerger every day; we've been joined by more English and Australians, and we just yesterday ran into a traveler from Chile (!) who has been hanging out with us in the evenings.
Sam and Colleen, two of the original people we met here, will be leaving soon for Delhi after an eight month travel to fly back to England.
I am unable to access my webmail account again! I don't know what the problem is (and neither does the guy who works here). Sometimes I change computers and that works, and sometimes nothing seems to work. The machines here some days just won't "find the server". Rishikesh is the only place I've seemed to have this problem. Oh, well. At least there's intermittent access to email.
The circle up on the roof seems to be getting lerger every day; we've been joined by more English and Australians, and we just yesterday ran into a traveler from Chile (!) who has been hanging out with us in the evenings.
Sam and Colleen, two of the original people we met here, will be leaving soon for Delhi after an eight month travel to fly back to England.
I am unable to access my webmail account again! I don't know what the problem is (and neither does the guy who works here). Sometimes I change computers and that works, and sometimes nothing seems to work. The machines here some days just won't "find the server". Rishikesh is the only place I've seemed to have this problem. Oh, well. At least there's intermittent access to email.
06 July 2003
For some reason I couldn't get into my email account yesterday, and yesterday, of course, involved as trip to the waterfall.
I was bit by something strange a few days ago that gave me a "pins and needles" feeling in the limb in which I was bit, then spread a little bit. It seems to have subsided, though, and one of the guys that works here seems to think it was some kind of spider bite. I've had a hell of a time trying to get information about spiders and scorpions in the area; I just couldn't find any information on-line. My only concern was that it may have been a scorpion bite, which could be fatal, and so I just monitored things to see if they got any worse.
Last night we stayed up until the sun came up, and once again I got up at 3 PM. I feel, however, that after two-and-a-half months in India that I am FINALLY starting to relax a bit from too many years working way to hard. And being in such a great place that is quiet and filled with great people with whom to socialize (the current social group is comrpised of people from England, Israel, Norway, America, Canada, and France) has definately helped.
I miss the food back home. Mom and Sittee's homemade cookin'. Mmmm, mmm.
I was bit by something strange a few days ago that gave me a "pins and needles" feeling in the limb in which I was bit, then spread a little bit. It seems to have subsided, though, and one of the guys that works here seems to think it was some kind of spider bite. I've had a hell of a time trying to get information about spiders and scorpions in the area; I just couldn't find any information on-line. My only concern was that it may have been a scorpion bite, which could be fatal, and so I just monitored things to see if they got any worse.
Last night we stayed up until the sun came up, and once again I got up at 3 PM. I feel, however, that after two-and-a-half months in India that I am FINALLY starting to relax a bit from too many years working way to hard. And being in such a great place that is quiet and filled with great people with whom to socialize (the current social group is comrpised of people from England, Israel, Norway, America, Canada, and France) has definately helped.
I miss the food back home. Mom and Sittee's homemade cookin'. Mmmm, mmm.
05 July 2003
Another day of late sleeping and trek to the waterfall. Today was much cooler, however, and last night it stormed with heavy rain. Today on the way to the waterfall we saw a group of Indians gathered around and looking at the ground in the middle of the street. When we got up close, we noticed that they had stunned a poisonous snake and it was lying quite motionless on the ground.
We have also noticed that the guard dog at the guest house where we are staying wears a steel spiked collar about 4-5 inches wide and which is padlocked around its neck. When we asked the owner what the collar was for, he stated that it was for tigers that would go for the dog's neck. Supposedly tigers occasionally show up around here. I guess that makes the cockroaches seem like a frivolous worry.
We have also noticed that the guard dog at the guest house where we are staying wears a steel spiked collar about 4-5 inches wide and which is padlocked around its neck. When we asked the owner what the collar was for, he stated that it was for tigers that would go for the dog's neck. Supposedly tigers occasionally show up around here. I guess that makes the cockroaches seem like a frivolous worry.
04 July 2003
04 JUL 03
We are still in Rishikesh. Last night was the hottest it's been. At half past midnight, it was 90 degF, and by 4 AM it was 86 degF. I remember watching scences from movies or commercials where there is someone just sitting, drenched in sweat, and I thought I could identify. But NOW I can identifiy. It was 2 AM, and we were all sitting around a table outside soaking wet from sweat. We've been getting a bit of lightning every night, but the past couple have days have brought only sprinkles of rain. This is jungle.
It has been so hot that I have been sleeping until about 2 or 3 in the afternoon and staying up until 4 or 5 in the morning. The daytime seems so hot, that there is nothing else one can do but sleep, read, and go spend time on the internet. We've met some great peole here, though, which makes the nighttime a lot of fun. We normally sit up on the roof and talk and drink until 3 or 4 AM. We've also been making a daily trek (not till 5 PM) with some of the people we've met here to the waterfall to cool off .
Tim and I have been reluctant to think about leaving not only because we've met some great people here and it has been nice to take a break fromthe constant travelers schedule, but also because we know that when we move, we'll be moving to warmer temperatures.
We are still in Rishikesh. Last night was the hottest it's been. At half past midnight, it was 90 degF, and by 4 AM it was 86 degF. I remember watching scences from movies or commercials where there is someone just sitting, drenched in sweat, and I thought I could identify. But NOW I can identifiy. It was 2 AM, and we were all sitting around a table outside soaking wet from sweat. We've been getting a bit of lightning every night, but the past couple have days have brought only sprinkles of rain. This is jungle.
It has been so hot that I have been sleeping until about 2 or 3 in the afternoon and staying up until 4 or 5 in the morning. The daytime seems so hot, that there is nothing else one can do but sleep, read, and go spend time on the internet. We've met some great peole here, though, which makes the nighttime a lot of fun. We normally sit up on the roof and talk and drink until 3 or 4 AM. We've also been making a daily trek (not till 5 PM) with some of the people we've met here to the waterfall to cool off .
Tim and I have been reluctant to think about leaving not only because we've met some great people here and it has been nice to take a break fromthe constant travelers schedule, but also because we know that when we move, we'll be moving to warmer temperatures.
03 July 2003
02 JUL 2003
We left Shimla for a ten hour (day) bus journey to Rishikesh, where we are currently. We've been here for a few days staying in a guest house a couple hundred meters up from the road, so it is quiet. This little pocket of guest houses also has an internet cafe, where it costs only Rs20/hr and the connection is relatively fast.
On our way down the mountains from Shimla, we hit some pretty bad rains. All of us who were sitting next to the closed but poorly sealed windows were soaking wet. Our driver's windshield wiper wasn't working, but this, of course, didn't stop him from barreling down the road. We ended up stoping in this small town where there happened to be a State repair shop for the busses, and we got the wiper fixed. After the wiper, the driver backed the bus into a garage so they could arcweld the back of the bus back on. I can't belive that Indians arcweld without any eye protection, and then on top of that they have an audience of people lining up to be blinded by the near-100% UV radiation coming off the torch. And, of course, all of the arcwelding is bring done while all the people are on the bus. But they were nice enough to put a grounding wire on it before begining.
Rishikesh (not the city proper, but the areas around it with the ashrams, like Luxman Julla) is a fairly peaceful place. However it is very hot right now. Temperature get into the mid- to upper-ninties every day, and the humidity here has to be at least 80%. We're all drinking about 3-4 liters of water a day just to stay minimally hydrated.
Because Rishikesh is warm and humid, there is a plethora of insects, including the infamous "texas size" cockroaches, which have a propensity for invading people's bedrooms in droves. The insects here also bite. I was even bit by a cricket. Go figure. I am fortunate, however, to have a gecko that lives behind the mirror in my bathroom, and he comes out everynight to keep the insect population down. My friend, the gecko.
The first day here we went down to the Ganga (Ganges) and hung out with the babas. I left my guidebook in Manali, and Tim's got soaked on the way out here (the bags are put on the top of the bus), so I've tried looking for a new one, but all I can seem to find is a five-year old edition of the LP that is photocopied and they are trying to sell for twice as much as it's worth. We'll be OK with Tim's waterlogged "Let's Go" for the time being, so I'm going to wait until I find a proper book.
I had stopped the anti-malarial meds in the mountains, because there were no mostquitoes to be seen, but I quickly started taking them again and dousing myself in DEET now that we are here. Very people here actually take anti-malarial meds; the only people we've known to take them are Americans. It must be the over-cautiousness to prevent law suits or something. Although the meds help, they do not prevent malaria 100%, and if you get it, you just take an immense amount of anti-biotics for a few days and that's it, rather than taking anti-biotics for three months and still having a chance of getting it. BUT, I figure it's only a few weeks until I am back home, and I'd rather take them while we are out of the mountains in hot, humid, wet areas.
Yesterday, about five of us walked up to a waterfall in the jungle and went for a swim in the punchbowl. It was a small punchbowl, and only about 3 feet deep, but the water was refreshing, and there were no leeches. We happened to meet up with two others we knew here up there, but it soon started getting dark quickly, and we began to head back as my paranoia of a tiger attack grew. We got off-track a couple of times, but we just kept following the river and made it out OK.
That night, we met up with some Israelis who were quite friendly, and the 14 of us (James and Sam from England, Ben, Tim, two Duth women - Annalles and Sabine, Collen from Canada, the Israelis, and me) sat up on the roof, chilled out, drank some whiskey (a birthday gift for me from James, whom we met here in Rishikesh), and watched for almost two hours as a thunderstorm rolled in. That had to be the best part of the day, as it has been a long time since I've seen proper thunderstorm. The rain went from non-existant to monsoon in about 30 seconds, so we all cleared out and called it a night. It was a fantastic time.
I'm trying to tread my way through Crime and Punishment, but I feel it's almost too hot during the day to even read. It's going to be even hotter in Varanasi and Rajastan.
We left Shimla for a ten hour (day) bus journey to Rishikesh, where we are currently. We've been here for a few days staying in a guest house a couple hundred meters up from the road, so it is quiet. This little pocket of guest houses also has an internet cafe, where it costs only Rs20/hr and the connection is relatively fast.
On our way down the mountains from Shimla, we hit some pretty bad rains. All of us who were sitting next to the closed but poorly sealed windows were soaking wet. Our driver's windshield wiper wasn't working, but this, of course, didn't stop him from barreling down the road. We ended up stoping in this small town where there happened to be a State repair shop for the busses, and we got the wiper fixed. After the wiper, the driver backed the bus into a garage so they could arcweld the back of the bus back on. I can't belive that Indians arcweld without any eye protection, and then on top of that they have an audience of people lining up to be blinded by the near-100% UV radiation coming off the torch. And, of course, all of the arcwelding is bring done while all the people are on the bus. But they were nice enough to put a grounding wire on it before begining.
Rishikesh (not the city proper, but the areas around it with the ashrams, like Luxman Julla) is a fairly peaceful place. However it is very hot right now. Temperature get into the mid- to upper-ninties every day, and the humidity here has to be at least 80%. We're all drinking about 3-4 liters of water a day just to stay minimally hydrated.
Because Rishikesh is warm and humid, there is a plethora of insects, including the infamous "texas size" cockroaches, which have a propensity for invading people's bedrooms in droves. The insects here also bite. I was even bit by a cricket. Go figure. I am fortunate, however, to have a gecko that lives behind the mirror in my bathroom, and he comes out everynight to keep the insect population down. My friend, the gecko.
The first day here we went down to the Ganga (Ganges) and hung out with the babas. I left my guidebook in Manali, and Tim's got soaked on the way out here (the bags are put on the top of the bus), so I've tried looking for a new one, but all I can seem to find is a five-year old edition of the LP that is photocopied and they are trying to sell for twice as much as it's worth. We'll be OK with Tim's waterlogged "Let's Go" for the time being, so I'm going to wait until I find a proper book.
I had stopped the anti-malarial meds in the mountains, because there were no mostquitoes to be seen, but I quickly started taking them again and dousing myself in DEET now that we are here. Very people here actually take anti-malarial meds; the only people we've known to take them are Americans. It must be the over-cautiousness to prevent law suits or something. Although the meds help, they do not prevent malaria 100%, and if you get it, you just take an immense amount of anti-biotics for a few days and that's it, rather than taking anti-biotics for three months and still having a chance of getting it. BUT, I figure it's only a few weeks until I am back home, and I'd rather take them while we are out of the mountains in hot, humid, wet areas.
Yesterday, about five of us walked up to a waterfall in the jungle and went for a swim in the punchbowl. It was a small punchbowl, and only about 3 feet deep, but the water was refreshing, and there were no leeches. We happened to meet up with two others we knew here up there, but it soon started getting dark quickly, and we began to head back as my paranoia of a tiger attack grew. We got off-track a couple of times, but we just kept following the river and made it out OK.
That night, we met up with some Israelis who were quite friendly, and the 14 of us (James and Sam from England, Ben, Tim, two Duth women - Annalles and Sabine, Collen from Canada, the Israelis, and me) sat up on the roof, chilled out, drank some whiskey (a birthday gift for me from James, whom we met here in Rishikesh), and watched for almost two hours as a thunderstorm rolled in. That had to be the best part of the day, as it has been a long time since I've seen proper thunderstorm. The rain went from non-existant to monsoon in about 30 seconds, so we all cleared out and called it a night. It was a fantastic time.
I'm trying to tread my way through Crime and Punishment, but I feel it's almost too hot during the day to even read. It's going to be even hotter in Varanasi and Rajastan.
01 July 2003
26 JUN 2003
After the five-day rest in Manali, we decided to take a night bus to Shimla as the drive would take at least 10 hours. The most difficult part of traveling the state of Himachal Pradesh is the lack of trains. Because it lies in the Himalayan Mts, the only mode of transportation is by road. The roads are so bad, and the state busses uncomfortable, that a ten-hour bus ride really exhausts one (even two to three hours can be exhausting). We decided to splurge and take a private “luxury” night bus for about twice the cost (to quote Tim: “This makes Greyhound seem like flying first class on Singapore Airlines”). We had been told that we would be in the middle of the bus, but when we arrived, we found that the seats we were given (“reserved”) were the very last seats on the bus. Of course, one never exactly knows whether someone is telling you the straight truth, so we just had to shrug our shoulders count it as another loss, and get ready for what now seems like a long night to come.
We got on the bus about ten minutes prior to leaving and everything was fine until we got to the back where our seats were. There was nothing noticeable on the way back there, but someone right in our vicinity had some really stinky feet, and Ben, Tim, and I were left to wrap handkerchiefs around our faces even with the back window open entirely. It started to rain, and of course we had to shut the window making matters worse. Everyone else seemed to be asleep by this time, but because we were stuck in the back, the bumping of the bus kept us all awake.
During the rain, the bus broke down in a tunnel. We were stuck there for about five minutes when we finally found out what was going on. I looked at Tim and Ben and said, “This isn’t a very good place to stop.” To which Ben replied, “CO poisoning”. Had it gone on another ten minutes we would have started walking toward the end of the tunnel and met the bus outside, but fortunately the driver was able to get it started up in ten.
We arrived in Shimla at about 5:45 AM at the bottom of “the hill”, upon which Shimla sits. We had to walk straight up hill with our packs, having not slept for 36 hours at least, for at least 25 minutes before reaching the main mall. We found that upon arriving to Shimla on a Saturday morning in the middle of summer that one would be hard-pressed to find a room. So we spent at least another hour climbing hills until we were able to find one room open at Hotel Ashoka way at the top of a hill. The only catch was that the room wouldn’t be open for another two hours.
The last day we were in Shimla, Tim and I decided to brave the journey up to the Hanuman temple. Hanuman is a Hindu god that looks half monkey and half man. Shimla is overrun by wild monkeys, and the majority of them seem to hang out at the Hanuman temple, where they can rob visitors of their purses, pickpocket keys, and threaten people out of giving them food. I bought myself a walking stick to protect myself from any encroaching monkeys, and about half way up Tim bought a bag of monkey food to keep them off our backs. This was not the greatest idea however (and we were even advised to buy them form other travelers), because the monkeys see that you have a bag of food and then go for it. So only ten meters up from where we bought the food, a big male comes up to Tim. Tim tosses him a bit of food, but the monkey is not satisfied. He wants the whole thing. He starts hissing and approaching. So I started pleading with Tim, “Just give the damned thing the whole bag”, as I was banging my stick on the ground to try and scare him off. He tosses the bag at him, and the monkey took it on his way back up a tree.
There we so many monkeys on the 30-minute walk up there that I lost track of them, but there were at least 200 of them. At the top, one stole food right out of a woman’s hand. In Shimla Centre, Tim and Ben saw one monkey attack an old man and another pickpocket something out of a woman’s purse. These buggers would make Al Capone proud. Every night we have to deal with them jumping on the roof and possible fighting their way into the room.
The night of the last day we met some Punjabi students who first wanted our picture, and then wanted to take us for drinks. Then they wanted us to meet their teachers (they were on field trip for their computer class). This involved going up to the YMCA where they were staying and where at first there was six of us in the room within 5 minutes there were 55. The entire class wanted pictures of us, individually, cameras were everywhere, and the students were trying to set us up with their teacher. After a few minutes we made our way outside as the masses followed and finally ended up just hanging out on the street with the three original guys.
The next phase of the trip was to go toward the Sangla Valley, but after traveling an entire day on a bus to only get half way there, and after reassessing our time left and how much time we’ve already spent in the Himalayas, we decided to head back to Shimla. So here we are, once again, in a town that seems so peaceful compared to other Indian towns. There is no traffic allowed on the main mall. There is a Rs 50 fine for spitting and a Rs 500 fine for smoking on the main mall. There are a lot of people, but it is quiet; a wonderful change from the average bustling noisy Indian city.
We ran into a streak of bad food on our way into the Sangla Valley and upon our return to Shimla. Most of it was just bad quality, but yesterday involved both other travelers having some fairly intense intestinal battles. However today we had the greatest pizza we’ve had in India. If I got served this pizza in Chicago I wouldn’t complain. As a matter of fact, I would probably frequent “da joint”. So if any of you are heading to Shimla anytime soon, head to the Park Café located between the upper and lower mall strips on a staircase.
Our next phase will probably take us out of the Himalayas and onto the baking hot plains, were temperatures are still in the upper 90’s, if not lower 100’s (F, of course). The positive side to this, however, is that we get to take trains, and the busses won’t be swaying along on mountain roads for ten hours at a time.
After the five-day rest in Manali, we decided to take a night bus to Shimla as the drive would take at least 10 hours. The most difficult part of traveling the state of Himachal Pradesh is the lack of trains. Because it lies in the Himalayan Mts, the only mode of transportation is by road. The roads are so bad, and the state busses uncomfortable, that a ten-hour bus ride really exhausts one (even two to three hours can be exhausting). We decided to splurge and take a private “luxury” night bus for about twice the cost (to quote Tim: “This makes Greyhound seem like flying first class on Singapore Airlines”). We had been told that we would be in the middle of the bus, but when we arrived, we found that the seats we were given (“reserved”) were the very last seats on the bus. Of course, one never exactly knows whether someone is telling you the straight truth, so we just had to shrug our shoulders count it as another loss, and get ready for what now seems like a long night to come.
We got on the bus about ten minutes prior to leaving and everything was fine until we got to the back where our seats were. There was nothing noticeable on the way back there, but someone right in our vicinity had some really stinky feet, and Ben, Tim, and I were left to wrap handkerchiefs around our faces even with the back window open entirely. It started to rain, and of course we had to shut the window making matters worse. Everyone else seemed to be asleep by this time, but because we were stuck in the back, the bumping of the bus kept us all awake.
During the rain, the bus broke down in a tunnel. We were stuck there for about five minutes when we finally found out what was going on. I looked at Tim and Ben and said, “This isn’t a very good place to stop.” To which Ben replied, “CO poisoning”. Had it gone on another ten minutes we would have started walking toward the end of the tunnel and met the bus outside, but fortunately the driver was able to get it started up in ten.
We arrived in Shimla at about 5:45 AM at the bottom of “the hill”, upon which Shimla sits. We had to walk straight up hill with our packs, having not slept for 36 hours at least, for at least 25 minutes before reaching the main mall. We found that upon arriving to Shimla on a Saturday morning in the middle of summer that one would be hard-pressed to find a room. So we spent at least another hour climbing hills until we were able to find one room open at Hotel Ashoka way at the top of a hill. The only catch was that the room wouldn’t be open for another two hours.
The last day we were in Shimla, Tim and I decided to brave the journey up to the Hanuman temple. Hanuman is a Hindu god that looks half monkey and half man. Shimla is overrun by wild monkeys, and the majority of them seem to hang out at the Hanuman temple, where they can rob visitors of their purses, pickpocket keys, and threaten people out of giving them food. I bought myself a walking stick to protect myself from any encroaching monkeys, and about half way up Tim bought a bag of monkey food to keep them off our backs. This was not the greatest idea however (and we were even advised to buy them form other travelers), because the monkeys see that you have a bag of food and then go for it. So only ten meters up from where we bought the food, a big male comes up to Tim. Tim tosses him a bit of food, but the monkey is not satisfied. He wants the whole thing. He starts hissing and approaching. So I started pleading with Tim, “Just give the damned thing the whole bag”, as I was banging my stick on the ground to try and scare him off. He tosses the bag at him, and the monkey took it on his way back up a tree.
There we so many monkeys on the 30-minute walk up there that I lost track of them, but there were at least 200 of them. At the top, one stole food right out of a woman’s hand. In Shimla Centre, Tim and Ben saw one monkey attack an old man and another pickpocket something out of a woman’s purse. These buggers would make Al Capone proud. Every night we have to deal with them jumping on the roof and possible fighting their way into the room.
The night of the last day we met some Punjabi students who first wanted our picture, and then wanted to take us for drinks. Then they wanted us to meet their teachers (they were on field trip for their computer class). This involved going up to the YMCA where they were staying and where at first there was six of us in the room within 5 minutes there were 55. The entire class wanted pictures of us, individually, cameras were everywhere, and the students were trying to set us up with their teacher. After a few minutes we made our way outside as the masses followed and finally ended up just hanging out on the street with the three original guys.
The next phase of the trip was to go toward the Sangla Valley, but after traveling an entire day on a bus to only get half way there, and after reassessing our time left and how much time we’ve already spent in the Himalayas, we decided to head back to Shimla. So here we are, once again, in a town that seems so peaceful compared to other Indian towns. There is no traffic allowed on the main mall. There is a Rs 50 fine for spitting and a Rs 500 fine for smoking on the main mall. There are a lot of people, but it is quiet; a wonderful change from the average bustling noisy Indian city.
We ran into a streak of bad food on our way into the Sangla Valley and upon our return to Shimla. Most of it was just bad quality, but yesterday involved both other travelers having some fairly intense intestinal battles. However today we had the greatest pizza we’ve had in India. If I got served this pizza in Chicago I wouldn’t complain. As a matter of fact, I would probably frequent “da joint”. So if any of you are heading to Shimla anytime soon, head to the Park Café located between the upper and lower mall strips on a staircase.
Our next phase will probably take us out of the Himalayas and onto the baking hot plains, were temperatures are still in the upper 90’s, if not lower 100’s (F, of course). The positive side to this, however, is that we get to take trains, and the busses won’t be swaying along on mountain roads for ten hours at a time.
25 JUN 2003
Ladakh is one of the most mystical places I have seen in my life. The people are marvelous, and the landscape magnificent. Ladakh’s landscape has been coined a “lunar landscape”, but those traveling with us concurred that it is more Martian that lunar. Ladakh was its own independent kingdom until it fell under control of the kingdom of Jammu (prior to Indian independence). When Jammu and Kashmir became part of the nation of India (after independence), Ladakh, too, fell under control of the Indian government. Since then, Ladakhis have been fighting for independence. Ladakh was open to tourism in the 1970’s, and tension has risen and fallen frequently since then. However, just a few years ago, Ladakh was given some autonomy to govern itself and to distribute funds as it sees fit. Leh is majority Buddhist, but also has a fairly large Muslim population. The two have lived peacefully for centuries as a self-sufficient communal society, but it seems with the oncoming industrialization resources are becoming scarce, there is a growing disparity of wealth, and so tensions are rising between the two ethnicities in competition for those resources. In the States there has been over a hundred years since our industrialization, and so it becomes difficult to source effects of industrialization back to their causes. However in Ladakh, many people are studying the effects of industrialization, because it has come so quickly in this small formerly isolated community. But enough academic spiel.
The third day we were there, Ben and I decided to hike up to the Leh Palace, which overlooks the town of Leh and is where the royal family used to live. On our way up, two dogs attacked us. Ben was behind me, so he was getting the brunt of the chasing. Ben fell over at a switchback, and so they started chasing me. I started to throw rocks from the wall off behind me as I ran in a sort of James Bond oil slick maneuver, and that seemed to back them off enough so that we could both start hucking rocks at them and force them into retreat. I could have sworn that Ben got bit, but there was no marks to indicate such. Nonetheless, Ben was freaking about being rabid, and I, too, started getting paranoid thinking that the scratch on my left arm from the rock wall actually came from a dog who had just got done licking its paws with its rabid little tongue. Neither of us are rabid, and we ran into a couple of people who were chased by the same dog, and they said they noticed a litter of puppies nearby, which would explain the behavior.
The altitude did effect us for a few days. Our sleep was disturbed, I kept getting de ja vous, nearly had a panic attack for no reason, and it did not take much to make us feel winded (Leh is at about 12,000 feet). One we acclimatized, we decided to head to the Nubra Valley, open to tourism for only eight years, and which would involved driving over Kardung-La, the highest motorable pass in the world at over 18,000 feet. The road over the pass was easy due to the fact that it is the main route for military transportation to the Siachen Glacier, where Pakistanis and Indians lob mortars at each other at an altitude of 24,000 feet. This road was much easier than the road to Leh from Manali, and the altitude did not seem to effect us as much as we anticipated. At the top of the pass we
saw Indian military hanging out in snow suits acclimatizing for Siachen.
While in the Nubra Valley, we saw wild camels in a small collection of sand dunes, and visited one of the most tranquil and bucolic villages any of us had seen. You could not get into the village by auto, so we had to walk in under archways and over small bridges that went over irrigation canals. We spent our last night at Panamik, the farthest tourists are allowed to go due to the proximity to Siachen, and we met a couple of military officials who would not disclose how close we were . . . “By mountain ad then some . . .” We did know, however, that we were about 50 km from base camp. Our permit for Nubra was only for seven days, so we were soon back in Leh, where we spent the last of our days there checking out old gompas and eating the best Tibetan food we had eaten in India.
The journey back to Manali was not as bad as on the way there, because the road had been open for a couple weeks by that time, most of the snow had melted, and the rivers and streams were calm. This meant, however, that our driver would drive like a bat out of hell. We broke the journey at Keylong, and the next day got a jeep to Manali.
Our driver ended up with a flat. First he tried to jack the car up by the suspension, and then he tried by the axle. All of us were waiting for the thing to snap. Why not jack it up by the frame? Because the jack was too small; something for a small car, not a jacked-up jeep. He finally was able to prop the car up on some rocks, and he replaced the blown-out tire with a bald tired with the retread hanging off of half of it. We were a bit nervous, to say the least, as we headed over the last pass with that tire, and as our driver was passing goods trucks and busses on mountain roads on that tire. As we headed down off of the pass we thought we were in the clear until our driver hit a small boy carrying water across the street. It was not our driver’s fault (surprisingly), as the kid just didn’t look before crossing. He was OK, just stunned, at least it seemed, and we drove the mother and the child to the hospital before disembarking in Manali. We took a rest in Manali for a few days, and then took a night bus to Shimla, which is where the next post picks up.
Ladakh is one of the most mystical places I have seen in my life. The people are marvelous, and the landscape magnificent. Ladakh’s landscape has been coined a “lunar landscape”, but those traveling with us concurred that it is more Martian that lunar. Ladakh was its own independent kingdom until it fell under control of the kingdom of Jammu (prior to Indian independence). When Jammu and Kashmir became part of the nation of India (after independence), Ladakh, too, fell under control of the Indian government. Since then, Ladakhis have been fighting for independence. Ladakh was open to tourism in the 1970’s, and tension has risen and fallen frequently since then. However, just a few years ago, Ladakh was given some autonomy to govern itself and to distribute funds as it sees fit. Leh is majority Buddhist, but also has a fairly large Muslim population. The two have lived peacefully for centuries as a self-sufficient communal society, but it seems with the oncoming industrialization resources are becoming scarce, there is a growing disparity of wealth, and so tensions are rising between the two ethnicities in competition for those resources. In the States there has been over a hundred years since our industrialization, and so it becomes difficult to source effects of industrialization back to their causes. However in Ladakh, many people are studying the effects of industrialization, because it has come so quickly in this small formerly isolated community. But enough academic spiel.
The third day we were there, Ben and I decided to hike up to the Leh Palace, which overlooks the town of Leh and is where the royal family used to live. On our way up, two dogs attacked us. Ben was behind me, so he was getting the brunt of the chasing. Ben fell over at a switchback, and so they started chasing me. I started to throw rocks from the wall off behind me as I ran in a sort of James Bond oil slick maneuver, and that seemed to back them off enough so that we could both start hucking rocks at them and force them into retreat. I could have sworn that Ben got bit, but there was no marks to indicate such. Nonetheless, Ben was freaking about being rabid, and I, too, started getting paranoid thinking that the scratch on my left arm from the rock wall actually came from a dog who had just got done licking its paws with its rabid little tongue. Neither of us are rabid, and we ran into a couple of people who were chased by the same dog, and they said they noticed a litter of puppies nearby, which would explain the behavior.
The altitude did effect us for a few days. Our sleep was disturbed, I kept getting de ja vous, nearly had a panic attack for no reason, and it did not take much to make us feel winded (Leh is at about 12,000 feet). One we acclimatized, we decided to head to the Nubra Valley, open to tourism for only eight years, and which would involved driving over Kardung-La, the highest motorable pass in the world at over 18,000 feet. The road over the pass was easy due to the fact that it is the main route for military transportation to the Siachen Glacier, where Pakistanis and Indians lob mortars at each other at an altitude of 24,000 feet. This road was much easier than the road to Leh from Manali, and the altitude did not seem to effect us as much as we anticipated. At the top of the pass we
saw Indian military hanging out in snow suits acclimatizing for Siachen.
While in the Nubra Valley, we saw wild camels in a small collection of sand dunes, and visited one of the most tranquil and bucolic villages any of us had seen. You could not get into the village by auto, so we had to walk in under archways and over small bridges that went over irrigation canals. We spent our last night at Panamik, the farthest tourists are allowed to go due to the proximity to Siachen, and we met a couple of military officials who would not disclose how close we were . . . “By mountain ad then some . . .” We did know, however, that we were about 50 km from base camp. Our permit for Nubra was only for seven days, so we were soon back in Leh, where we spent the last of our days there checking out old gompas and eating the best Tibetan food we had eaten in India.
The journey back to Manali was not as bad as on the way there, because the road had been open for a couple weeks by that time, most of the snow had melted, and the rivers and streams were calm. This meant, however, that our driver would drive like a bat out of hell. We broke the journey at Keylong, and the next day got a jeep to Manali.
Our driver ended up with a flat. First he tried to jack the car up by the suspension, and then he tried by the axle. All of us were waiting for the thing to snap. Why not jack it up by the frame? Because the jack was too small; something for a small car, not a jacked-up jeep. He finally was able to prop the car up on some rocks, and he replaced the blown-out tire with a bald tired with the retread hanging off of half of it. We were a bit nervous, to say the least, as we headed over the last pass with that tire, and as our driver was passing goods trucks and busses on mountain roads on that tire. As we headed down off of the pass we thought we were in the clear until our driver hit a small boy carrying water across the street. It was not our driver’s fault (surprisingly), as the kid just didn’t look before crossing. He was OK, just stunned, at least it seemed, and we drove the mother and the child to the hospital before disembarking in Manali. We took a rest in Manali for a few days, and then took a night bus to Shimla, which is where the next post picks up.
15 JUN 2003
This email will only be about the drive to Leh. I will have to slowly catch people up to speed. The internet in Leh was very slow, expensive, and always we lost connection and/or the power was lost in the town. We left out guest house at 2:30 AM, met up with the rest of the travelers in New Manali. In the jeep was another American couple we met in Manali, Winslow and Katherine, a Nepali, a Dutchman, an Indian, two students – a Swiss and a Frenchman – who had both been sleeping in the street and were going to hitch a ride back because they had no money, and a Leh native who was returning home from school. The road to Leh is sometimes a road, sometimes it is driving up a stream, and many times it is crossing a rivers. At one point after crossing the first pass, we came to a stream crossing that was flooded. There were five jeeps just waiting for it to go down, because one jeep tried to get across and got stuck. Our drive slowed down, stopped for about five seconds, looked at all the jeeps lined up, revved the engine, then went for it. Water was seeping into the jeep due to the height of the river and just to the left of us was a 200m drop over which the water fell. We all though we were going to meet our maker. But we made it across. The we al wanted to take a picture of the gorge we all thought we were going to end up in, when our driver (in very broken English – he was Nepali) screamed "rocks coming", so imagining a rock slide pushing our jeep over the gorge, we all piled in and took off. Between Keylong (about three hours from Manali) and Upshir (about an hour from Leh), there were only two small tent camps of about three tents where travelers could eat. So for about 15 hours we saw no one or no thing, other than these small camps. Just rocks – gray, red, and brown. There were no insects or animals – we stayed above 4000m (x by 3.25 for feet). The only one to suffer from altitude sickness was the Dutch guy, but I think it was mostly psychosomatic. The rest of us only suffered from mild headaches as we went over the passes. The 19.5 hours it took us to get to Leh (stopping only for tea and food) went faster than expected, even though we were completely jammed into this thing. The scenery was so stunning; it was unlike anything I have ever seen, and probably will ever see in my life, especially this plain with a lake at 15,000-16,000 feet. The highest pass on our journey was the second highest motorable pass in the world, at 17,600 feet, and we reached it by about 8 PM. It was dusk, but there was enough light that we could make out the silhouettes of all the peaks around us, most of them lower. It seemed like we were on top of the world. One can really feel the altitude above 3500m, and so as we approached the passes, all became silent, partially from anxiety and fear of AMS (acute mountain sickness [I think], and partially because one really has to concentrate on breathing at that altitude. About 50 km from Leh, our driver started to fall asleep at the wheel. He turned on his Shiva disco lights (this flashing lights around an icon of a Hindu god), and I though to myself, "Shiva isn't going to help you if you don't slow down and wake yourself up". We got the Nepali passenger (who spoke English, because he is a trekking guide back in Nepal) talk with the driver to keep him awake. When we got to Upshir, we made the driver drink lots of tea. The we were off for the last stretch. Our driver, perhaps in an effort to keep himself awake, started drag racing with another jeep. Now for those of you who know mountain driving in India, and driving in India in general, you could see how this might keep anyone and everyone awake. We got the driver to slow down as he laughed at all those who did not believe that Shiva would save us from anything (bit of an exaggeration, but not much. It seems as though many drivers here think that if it is their time, it is their time, regardless if they are driving on bald tires, passing tucks on mountain passes, or falling asleep at the wheel, and don't really seem to get the idea of risk assessment), and we rolled into Leh at about 10:30 at night, and I slept after 36 hours of no sleep aside from a three hour nap prior to departure.
Peace.
This email will only be about the drive to Leh. I will have to slowly catch people up to speed. The internet in Leh was very slow, expensive, and always we lost connection and/or the power was lost in the town. We left out guest house at 2:30 AM, met up with the rest of the travelers in New Manali. In the jeep was another American couple we met in Manali, Winslow and Katherine, a Nepali, a Dutchman, an Indian, two students – a Swiss and a Frenchman – who had both been sleeping in the street and were going to hitch a ride back because they had no money, and a Leh native who was returning home from school. The road to Leh is sometimes a road, sometimes it is driving up a stream, and many times it is crossing a rivers. At one point after crossing the first pass, we came to a stream crossing that was flooded. There were five jeeps just waiting for it to go down, because one jeep tried to get across and got stuck. Our drive slowed down, stopped for about five seconds, looked at all the jeeps lined up, revved the engine, then went for it. Water was seeping into the jeep due to the height of the river and just to the left of us was a 200m drop over which the water fell. We all though we were going to meet our maker. But we made it across. The we al wanted to take a picture of the gorge we all thought we were going to end up in, when our driver (in very broken English – he was Nepali) screamed "rocks coming", so imagining a rock slide pushing our jeep over the gorge, we all piled in and took off. Between Keylong (about three hours from Manali) and Upshir (about an hour from Leh), there were only two small tent camps of about three tents where travelers could eat. So for about 15 hours we saw no one or no thing, other than these small camps. Just rocks – gray, red, and brown. There were no insects or animals – we stayed above 4000m (x by 3.25 for feet). The only one to suffer from altitude sickness was the Dutch guy, but I think it was mostly psychosomatic. The rest of us only suffered from mild headaches as we went over the passes. The 19.5 hours it took us to get to Leh (stopping only for tea and food) went faster than expected, even though we were completely jammed into this thing. The scenery was so stunning; it was unlike anything I have ever seen, and probably will ever see in my life, especially this plain with a lake at 15,000-16,000 feet. The highest pass on our journey was the second highest motorable pass in the world, at 17,600 feet, and we reached it by about 8 PM. It was dusk, but there was enough light that we could make out the silhouettes of all the peaks around us, most of them lower. It seemed like we were on top of the world. One can really feel the altitude above 3500m, and so as we approached the passes, all became silent, partially from anxiety and fear of AMS (acute mountain sickness [I think], and partially because one really has to concentrate on breathing at that altitude. About 50 km from Leh, our driver started to fall asleep at the wheel. He turned on his Shiva disco lights (this flashing lights around an icon of a Hindu god), and I though to myself, "Shiva isn't going to help you if you don't slow down and wake yourself up". We got the Nepali passenger (who spoke English, because he is a trekking guide back in Nepal) talk with the driver to keep him awake. When we got to Upshir, we made the driver drink lots of tea. The we were off for the last stretch. Our driver, perhaps in an effort to keep himself awake, started drag racing with another jeep. Now for those of you who know mountain driving in India, and driving in India in general, you could see how this might keep anyone and everyone awake. We got the driver to slow down as he laughed at all those who did not believe that Shiva would save us from anything (bit of an exaggeration, but not much. It seems as though many drivers here think that if it is their time, it is their time, regardless if they are driving on bald tires, passing tucks on mountain passes, or falling asleep at the wheel, and don't really seem to get the idea of risk assessment), and we rolled into Leh at about 10:30 at night, and I slept after 36 hours of no sleep aside from a three hour nap prior to departure.
Peace.
01 JUN 2003
This will be short. Internet costs twice as much here, and power outages are frequent. We made it to Leh. Only one of the ten of us got ill. I had a bit of a headache, but not bad. The road is no yet officially open, but of course we did not know that upon leaving, as everyone you ask gives a different answer in true Indian fashion. It was quite crazy. The scenery trucking along a plain at 15,500 feet is unlike anything I will ever see or exerience in my life, and Leh is well worth the 19.5 packed- jeep ride. I will have to write about the whole experience later, but for those of you who will be coming to India or returning (Michelle), you MUST take a jeep here (do NOT take the bus) from Manali. We arrived with some of the first trucks, and so today was the first day there was chicken in the restaurants and bottled water in the stores (well, about 5% of them). About 90% of the shops here are still closed, as well as restaurants. But it is just absolutely stunning. I keep having to pinch myself, and yesterday's journey for hours above 15,000ft. is till just a dream in my memory. Phenomenal. No words could accurately describe it. Imagine a city hundreds, if not thousands, of years old isolated by a 20 hour jeep ride with no one in site the whole journey set in a plain at 13,000 ft surrouned by mountain peaks. IF ANY OF YOU EVER GET THE CHANCE YOU HAVE TO COME TO LEH. You probably won't hear from me until we get back from Leh. So don't freak out if it's a while.
This will be short. Internet costs twice as much here, and power outages are frequent. We made it to Leh. Only one of the ten of us got ill. I had a bit of a headache, but not bad. The road is no yet officially open, but of course we did not know that upon leaving, as everyone you ask gives a different answer in true Indian fashion. It was quite crazy. The scenery trucking along a plain at 15,500 feet is unlike anything I will ever see or exerience in my life, and Leh is well worth the 19.5 packed- jeep ride. I will have to write about the whole experience later, but for those of you who will be coming to India or returning (Michelle), you MUST take a jeep here (do NOT take the bus) from Manali. We arrived with some of the first trucks, and so today was the first day there was chicken in the restaurants and bottled water in the stores (well, about 5% of them). About 90% of the shops here are still closed, as well as restaurants. But it is just absolutely stunning. I keep having to pinch myself, and yesterday's journey for hours above 15,000ft. is till just a dream in my memory. Phenomenal. No words could accurately describe it. Imagine a city hundreds, if not thousands, of years old isolated by a 20 hour jeep ride with no one in site the whole journey set in a plain at 13,000 ft surrouned by mountain peaks. IF ANY OF YOU EVER GET THE CHANCE YOU HAVE TO COME TO LEH. You probably won't hear from me until we get back from Leh. So don't freak out if it's a while.
30 MAY 2003
So, everyone, Ben and I have made a reservation on a jeep for Leh. There will be between 7 and 10 of us in there. Tim decided to stay here in Manali and wait for the buses (I dont know why considering the journey by bus takes two whole days) or perhaps take a later jeep. We will be leaving tonight at 3 AM and arriving there around 9 or 10 PM (depending on how many times we have to stop for people to vomit from altitude sickness).
Wish me luck, wish me little vomiting, and I'll capture some fantastic photos taken at 17,000 feet for you to see when I get back.
water, salty soup, water, water, water, and a lot of paracetamol.
Holy tossed cookies, batman.
So, everyone, Ben and I have made a reservation on a jeep for Leh. There will be between 7 and 10 of us in there. Tim decided to stay here in Manali and wait for the buses (I dont know why considering the journey by bus takes two whole days) or perhaps take a later jeep. We will be leaving tonight at 3 AM and arriving there around 9 or 10 PM (depending on how many times we have to stop for people to vomit from altitude sickness).
Wish me luck, wish me little vomiting, and I'll capture some fantastic photos taken at 17,000 feet for you to see when I get back.
water, salty soup, water, water, water, and a lot of paracetamol.
Holy tossed cookies, batman.
27 MAY 2003
We met up with someone last night who is trying to arrange a 10 person jeep to Leh in the region of Ladakh (open to tourism since 1974 after border disputes with the Chinese settled out, and in 1995 was given autonomy from the states of Jammu and Kashmir). We will find out tonight whether or not we will be going. The road has not yet opened to buses from this side (Manali), only to jeeps and motorbikes (and even then the road may get closed for a couple days due to a storm). The road to Leh is the second-highest motorable road in the world, reaching 5328 meters (17,316 feet) at Taglang La [the highest motorable road is from Leh just north on the way to the Nubra Valley where it reaches 5602 meters = 18,207 feet]. Leh is an extremely remote region about 80 km (~50 miles) from the Chinese-occupied Tibet border and at an elevation of 3505 meters (~11,392 ft). The road has only been open since 1989, only half of the road is paved, and many of the people along the way will be nomads. If we do get to Leh, we will need to maintain minimal movement for a couple of days until we acclimatize to the altitude. Essentially our movement will consist of room -> restaraunt -> room. So it may be a few days before you hear again from me.
Man, it'll be cold.
We met up with someone last night who is trying to arrange a 10 person jeep to Leh in the region of Ladakh (open to tourism since 1974 after border disputes with the Chinese settled out, and in 1995 was given autonomy from the states of Jammu and Kashmir). We will find out tonight whether or not we will be going. The road has not yet opened to buses from this side (Manali), only to jeeps and motorbikes (and even then the road may get closed for a couple days due to a storm). The road to Leh is the second-highest motorable road in the world, reaching 5328 meters (17,316 feet) at Taglang La [the highest motorable road is from Leh just north on the way to the Nubra Valley where it reaches 5602 meters = 18,207 feet]. Leh is an extremely remote region about 80 km (~50 miles) from the Chinese-occupied Tibet border and at an elevation of 3505 meters (~11,392 ft). The road has only been open since 1989, only half of the road is paved, and many of the people along the way will be nomads. If we do get to Leh, we will need to maintain minimal movement for a couple of days until we acclimatize to the altitude. Essentially our movement will consist of room -> restaraunt -> room. So it may be a few days before you hear again from me.
Man, it'll be cold.
24 MAY 2003
I write you from Manali, in the Himalayan state of Himachel Pradesh. We left McLoed for Manikaran in the Paravati Valley (this keyboard is horrible). Before we left, Tashi (the Tibetan refugee we met) cooked us homemade Thanthuk. It was sooooooo good. And I got the recipe!!). So on to Manikaran. There were hot springs there ands several Siekh and Hindu temples. We were swarmed by Indian school children there who all wanted us to sign their hands and take pictures with them. It was quite strange, indeed. All the guest houses here have full time hot water from the springs . . . sometimes the water is too hot. We took a three hour trek up the valley with a guide up to Khirganga, where legend has it that Shiva sat and meditated at the hot springs there for 2,000 years. It was absolutely beautiful. There were about 12 babas (spiritual men) and 8 tourists there. Two small Dhabas, and an ashram for people to stay in. We got a bare room - just wood planks on the floor and a small wood stove. The room was Rs25 - a pice and we had to rent blankets and bed pad. We would have stayed for a while, but unfrotunately there were a group of Italians next to us that were singing until 1 AM. Then at 6 AM one of them gets into an argument with her boyfriend, and then at 9 AM they start with the guitars again. It was really quite irritating. At an ashram, a place for travelers at a holy site, there is really not supposed to be such banter. If we had been at the Golden Temple, I am sure the Sieks would have busted out their spears and daggers and had a field day. It is a place for silent meditation and contemplation. These people were there to smoke way too much hash and make abunch of noise. Blah blah blah.
So we went back to Manikaran for a night and took a bus up to Naggar, where we stayed on a castle that we about 500 years old. We had some fantastic Italian food at a restaurant that was started by an Italian ex-pat. On our final night in Naggar, we met an Italian traveller there, and before we knew it, the four of us (Tim, Ben, the Italian (Paulo), and I) were in the adjoining room drinking homemade rice wine with the locals. Great people that we met there. At one point the owner of the restaurant ( I think the ex-pat sold it), while talking about all the crazy stuff in India says "Sometimes we Indians wonder whether or not we are in India". Classic. We also got a chance to check out the annual festival in Naggar which featured folk dancing, drama, and singing. The ferris wheel there was man powered!!! A guy stood in the middle of the wheel like a mouse on
a wheel and spun the ferris wheel. Crazy.
Oh, I almost forgot to mention that while in Manikaran our last day, we watched a traveling family tight rope act, where the mother and father played rhythm on make-shift items while the son and daughter did tight-rope acts. I got a picture.
The bus ride from McLoed to Manikaran was horrific. We left McLoed at about 5 PM. We stopped every three hours for chai or food. It was a night bus, so you could not see much outside, and being in the Himalayas, the road was extremely bumpy and the bus swung back and forth along the cliffs. People got motion sickness. I did a bit, but not as bad as this Buddhist nun who was vomiting out the window the whole way. Fortunately I bought some meds for it before leaving, but the poor nun, I don't think they use western medication, had no relief. We arrived in the small town of Bhuntar at about 1:30 AM and had to wait at least 4 hours for the bus to Manikaran. We got off at the stop with an Isreali heading to Kosol (a town just before Manikaran that is completely overrun with Israelis), and a Buddhist monk. The monk tried to find a room for us to crash in for a while, but the guest house he found wanted Rs300 - way too much. So we waited and slept until this group of Siekhs walks buy (shortly after the heard of sheep came through town). And started talking to the monk who spoke Hindi. They said they knew the way to the bus stand and so we all started following them, lugging about 40-50 kilos on our backs. Turns out they had no idea where they were going (we figure this out whe the monk turns to me laughing and says "they are arguing about where to go"). So, now, at the edge of town, at 3:30 AM, we start hiking back to where we were. The monk turned to me and said "You write this day in your diary". And I replied, "Many, many pages. Many pages." So we finally settle for a taxi, which we split between the five of us and arrive in Manikaran 14 hours after we left McLoed -7:30 AM. We slept for days.
We were hoping to head all the way to Kaza and Tabo from here, but it looks like the pass (at about 4000 meters [muiltiply by 3.25 if you want feet]) is not yet opened. The only way to get up there (just a few kilomneters from Tibet) would be to go all the way back down to Shimla and circle back and go to Tabo and Kaza from the other direction. We may do this. We have already been here a month, and we haven't left this state . . . but this state is absolutely beautiful, and it is way too hot on the floor right now. So will probably head back down, then head over to the Sangla and Pin Valleys, then up to Kaza and Rekong Peo. Then head out of the state to Rishikesh (yoga capitol of the world), a couple other places in the state of Utterakant (spelling?), the over to Veranasi and to Bodhgaya to the tree under which the Buddha sat in Utter Pradesh, then over Rajisthan for a couple weeks, then home.
I read that (again!) another Indian Siekh was murdered in Arizona because he had a turban on and some ignorant dolt shot him thinking he was a muslim. I swear I am so embarrased for the absolute ignorance of Americans sometimes. It is so bloody frustrating, because then I have to walk around with that crap hanging on my national identity. That, and, oh, everyone wants to talk about how Bush is a warmonger and that now that the US Senate lifted the ban on nuclear weapons development how we are the greatest threat to world peace. Great. We're not a popular lot right now. Did I tell you that I'm Canadian?
Rock over London, Rock over Chicago.
I write you from Manali, in the Himalayan state of Himachel Pradesh. We left McLoed for Manikaran in the Paravati Valley (this keyboard is horrible). Before we left, Tashi (the Tibetan refugee we met) cooked us homemade Thanthuk. It was sooooooo good. And I got the recipe!!). So on to Manikaran. There were hot springs there ands several Siekh and Hindu temples. We were swarmed by Indian school children there who all wanted us to sign their hands and take pictures with them. It was quite strange, indeed. All the guest houses here have full time hot water from the springs . . . sometimes the water is too hot. We took a three hour trek up the valley with a guide up to Khirganga, where legend has it that Shiva sat and meditated at the hot springs there for 2,000 years. It was absolutely beautiful. There were about 12 babas (spiritual men) and 8 tourists there. Two small Dhabas, and an ashram for people to stay in. We got a bare room - just wood planks on the floor and a small wood stove. The room was Rs25 - a pice and we had to rent blankets and bed pad. We would have stayed for a while, but unfrotunately there were a group of Italians next to us that were singing until 1 AM. Then at 6 AM one of them gets into an argument with her boyfriend, and then at 9 AM they start with the guitars again. It was really quite irritating. At an ashram, a place for travelers at a holy site, there is really not supposed to be such banter. If we had been at the Golden Temple, I am sure the Sieks would have busted out their spears and daggers and had a field day. It is a place for silent meditation and contemplation. These people were there to smoke way too much hash and make abunch of noise. Blah blah blah.
So we went back to Manikaran for a night and took a bus up to Naggar, where we stayed on a castle that we about 500 years old. We had some fantastic Italian food at a restaurant that was started by an Italian ex-pat. On our final night in Naggar, we met an Italian traveller there, and before we knew it, the four of us (Tim, Ben, the Italian (Paulo), and I) were in the adjoining room drinking homemade rice wine with the locals. Great people that we met there. At one point the owner of the restaurant ( I think the ex-pat sold it), while talking about all the crazy stuff in India says "Sometimes we Indians wonder whether or not we are in India". Classic. We also got a chance to check out the annual festival in Naggar which featured folk dancing, drama, and singing. The ferris wheel there was man powered!!! A guy stood in the middle of the wheel like a mouse on
a wheel and spun the ferris wheel. Crazy.
Oh, I almost forgot to mention that while in Manikaran our last day, we watched a traveling family tight rope act, where the mother and father played rhythm on make-shift items while the son and daughter did tight-rope acts. I got a picture.
The bus ride from McLoed to Manikaran was horrific. We left McLoed at about 5 PM. We stopped every three hours for chai or food. It was a night bus, so you could not see much outside, and being in the Himalayas, the road was extremely bumpy and the bus swung back and forth along the cliffs. People got motion sickness. I did a bit, but not as bad as this Buddhist nun who was vomiting out the window the whole way. Fortunately I bought some meds for it before leaving, but the poor nun, I don't think they use western medication, had no relief. We arrived in the small town of Bhuntar at about 1:30 AM and had to wait at least 4 hours for the bus to Manikaran. We got off at the stop with an Isreali heading to Kosol (a town just before Manikaran that is completely overrun with Israelis), and a Buddhist monk. The monk tried to find a room for us to crash in for a while, but the guest house he found wanted Rs300 - way too much. So we waited and slept until this group of Siekhs walks buy (shortly after the heard of sheep came through town). And started talking to the monk who spoke Hindi. They said they knew the way to the bus stand and so we all started following them, lugging about 40-50 kilos on our backs. Turns out they had no idea where they were going (we figure this out whe the monk turns to me laughing and says "they are arguing about where to go"). So, now, at the edge of town, at 3:30 AM, we start hiking back to where we were. The monk turned to me and said "You write this day in your diary". And I replied, "Many, many pages. Many pages." So we finally settle for a taxi, which we split between the five of us and arrive in Manikaran 14 hours after we left McLoed -7:30 AM. We slept for days.
We were hoping to head all the way to Kaza and Tabo from here, but it looks like the pass (at about 4000 meters [muiltiply by 3.25 if you want feet]) is not yet opened. The only way to get up there (just a few kilomneters from Tibet) would be to go all the way back down to Shimla and circle back and go to Tabo and Kaza from the other direction. We may do this. We have already been here a month, and we haven't left this state . . . but this state is absolutely beautiful, and it is way too hot on the floor right now. So will probably head back down, then head over to the Sangla and Pin Valleys, then up to Kaza and Rekong Peo. Then head out of the state to Rishikesh (yoga capitol of the world), a couple other places in the state of Utterakant (spelling?), the over to Veranasi and to Bodhgaya to the tree under which the Buddha sat in Utter Pradesh, then over Rajisthan for a couple weeks, then home.
I read that (again!) another Indian Siekh was murdered in Arizona because he had a turban on and some ignorant dolt shot him thinking he was a muslim. I swear I am so embarrased for the absolute ignorance of Americans sometimes. It is so bloody frustrating, because then I have to walk around with that crap hanging on my national identity. That, and, oh, everyone wants to talk about how Bush is a warmonger and that now that the US Senate lifted the ban on nuclear weapons development how we are the greatest threat to world peace. Great. We're not a popular lot right now. Did I tell you that I'm Canadian?
Rock over London, Rock over Chicago.
16 MAY 2003
Thanks for all the emails! So now after 13 days in Dharamsala, we are heading off, but not after I saw ther Dalai Lama again!!! This time he was walking, and there were hundreds of people in the main temple area. We are off to the more remote areas of the state of Himachel Pradesh, and I do not know how much access to email there will be nor how expensive. I'm sure there are pretty expensive internet access monopolies in some of the smaller towns. It will be good to leave, as it is really getting boring here. We've seen about everything we can. It may be different if I were here doing volunteer work, but as a tourist, after two weeks, it's time to move. Tonight we are taking a night bus to Manikaran. We have to ride from 5 PM until 2 AM when we arrive in Bhuntar, then wait 2 hours (hopefully in a chai shop) to take another bus at 4 AM for three or four hours to Manikaran. And the state busses here are not very comfortable. It's a metal bench that barely fits three people across. No stops for bathroom and none on-board. A person coming fro Manikaran to Dahramsala had his bus break down three times on the way. This will be quite a journey. (I keep thinking of you, Konecky, when riding a bus). I'll touch base again soon when I have more to talk about. I just wanted to drop a line in case there is no internet access for a while.
Peace.
(Laura, that handerchief has come in handy more times than you could
imagine - to put on my head at the Golden Temple, to wipe my nose, to
breath through in a dust storm, etc, etc).
Thanks for all the emails! So now after 13 days in Dharamsala, we are heading off, but not after I saw ther Dalai Lama again!!! This time he was walking, and there were hundreds of people in the main temple area. We are off to the more remote areas of the state of Himachel Pradesh, and I do not know how much access to email there will be nor how expensive. I'm sure there are pretty expensive internet access monopolies in some of the smaller towns. It will be good to leave, as it is really getting boring here. We've seen about everything we can. It may be different if I were here doing volunteer work, but as a tourist, after two weeks, it's time to move. Tonight we are taking a night bus to Manikaran. We have to ride from 5 PM until 2 AM when we arrive in Bhuntar, then wait 2 hours (hopefully in a chai shop) to take another bus at 4 AM for three or four hours to Manikaran. And the state busses here are not very comfortable. It's a metal bench that barely fits three people across. No stops for bathroom and none on-board. A person coming fro Manikaran to Dahramsala had his bus break down three times on the way. This will be quite a journey. (I keep thinking of you, Konecky, when riding a bus). I'll touch base again soon when I have more to talk about. I just wanted to drop a line in case there is no internet access for a while.
Peace.
(Laura, that handerchief has come in handy more times than you could
imagine - to put on my head at the Golden Temple, to wipe my nose, to
breath through in a dust storm, etc, etc).
13 MAY 2003
We are still in McLeod Ganj. It seems like many travelers get stuck here for a while. We've met numerous who came here for a day and stayed a week or two. The dust has cleared up and we can now see the mountains that surround the town. I learned that the dust had originated in a dust storm in Rhajastan (in the western desert), and that it had traveled north through Delhi, through the Punjab, and up to 6,000 feet here in Himachel Pradesh (the state we are in). Needless to say, we won't be heading to Rhajastan until the rains start a bit (talk about breathing difficulties) and cools things down and cleans the air.
This community is very environmentally conscious (relatively speaking). It is had to tell whether or not it is the Tibetan influence, the western influence (there are a lot of tourists here), or both. You can refil your plastic water bottle at a cople of shops in town raher than have to continually buy plastic bottles. There is also recycling here.
I have met the most travelers here. I met a German woman who did a four week trek in Nepal (which sounds like one of my next adventures), an Indian and his brother from Jammu, we ran into the Dutch couple and Swiss guy that we met in the Pujab at the Golden Temple (they left the day we both got really ill). I also met this great english born Norwegian, who will probably be in England the same time Tim and I are (we'll be there for 10 days on the way back). The two craziest peole we met are a Finnish guy named Mika (I don't know if that is spelled correctly), and an Indian from Goa named Biju. The one bar here in town where travels gather is always completly boring until those two guys show up. We've had a great time with them; they are leaving today for Delhi and then off to Finland.
We met a Tibetan refugee, Tashi, who arrived here in 2000 with 28 other refugees after making a five day bus journey then trekking for 23 days across the Himalayan Mts. into India. He has only been able to send one letter back home since then, because the only way he can get mail back to his family is by sending it with people trekking back into Chinese occupied Tibet. Absolutely amazing. Tim met with him everyday so Tashi could practice his English, and as a token of appreciation, Tashi gave Tim a scarf for good luck in his travels. Pretty cool.
Ben (the norwegian) was telling me what I have know for a while, teach english, make bank, and get to travel. He has a friend who teaches English in Asian countries for a couple years, then makes enough that he can take a year off and travel, then teaches for a couple years, then travels. I can't do it my entire life, but maybe for a couple years after I get my Masters.
The most amazing thing that has happened here is that today I saw the Dalai Lama. A Tibetan monk came up to us last night and said "The Dalai Lama returns tomorrow". When I asked if he was going to give a public audience, he looked at me funny and said that he has been teaching all over the world and he is a bit tired right now. Makes perfect sense. I felt selfish for asking. Nonetheless, I got up this morning and pitched a spot right outside of his house and waited. And waited. And waited (the monk told me they didn't know when he would arrive). Then the motorcade came. I got a picture of him and a glimps of him as he drove into his driveway (guarded by a gate) and was waving. People were chanting quietly, burning incense, and it was truely an amazing experience. A modest homecoming that was filled with positive energy. It is amazing just to be in the
presence of some who exudes so much love and compassion for every sentient being.
There is supposed to be a big event here on the 16th and 17th (also word from the monk), so I don't know if Tim and I will be stuck here for another week yet or if we will venture on to Manali and the Sangla Valley sooner. We both agree that an India beach (probably Diu), Veranasi, Darjeeling, and Rhajastan are non-negotiable, but other than that, we're flexible. Tim will be taking a cooking course, and I would like to take a meditation course while here (in McLeod Ganj/Upper Dharamsala). I could seriously spend my entire summer here. I'll have to come back some time to teach English to Tibetan refugees (only in the unfortunate case that Tibetans are still refugees).
Peace to all my peeps back home.
"Conflict is inevitable; combat is optional"
We are still in McLeod Ganj. It seems like many travelers get stuck here for a while. We've met numerous who came here for a day and stayed a week or two. The dust has cleared up and we can now see the mountains that surround the town. I learned that the dust had originated in a dust storm in Rhajastan (in the western desert), and that it had traveled north through Delhi, through the Punjab, and up to 6,000 feet here in Himachel Pradesh (the state we are in). Needless to say, we won't be heading to Rhajastan until the rains start a bit (talk about breathing difficulties) and cools things down and cleans the air.
This community is very environmentally conscious (relatively speaking). It is had to tell whether or not it is the Tibetan influence, the western influence (there are a lot of tourists here), or both. You can refil your plastic water bottle at a cople of shops in town raher than have to continually buy plastic bottles. There is also recycling here.
I have met the most travelers here. I met a German woman who did a four week trek in Nepal (which sounds like one of my next adventures), an Indian and his brother from Jammu, we ran into the Dutch couple and Swiss guy that we met in the Pujab at the Golden Temple (they left the day we both got really ill). I also met this great english born Norwegian, who will probably be in England the same time Tim and I are (we'll be there for 10 days on the way back). The two craziest peole we met are a Finnish guy named Mika (I don't know if that is spelled correctly), and an Indian from Goa named Biju. The one bar here in town where travels gather is always completly boring until those two guys show up. We've had a great time with them; they are leaving today for Delhi and then off to Finland.
We met a Tibetan refugee, Tashi, who arrived here in 2000 with 28 other refugees after making a five day bus journey then trekking for 23 days across the Himalayan Mts. into India. He has only been able to send one letter back home since then, because the only way he can get mail back to his family is by sending it with people trekking back into Chinese occupied Tibet. Absolutely amazing. Tim met with him everyday so Tashi could practice his English, and as a token of appreciation, Tashi gave Tim a scarf for good luck in his travels. Pretty cool.
Ben (the norwegian) was telling me what I have know for a while, teach english, make bank, and get to travel. He has a friend who teaches English in Asian countries for a couple years, then makes enough that he can take a year off and travel, then teaches for a couple years, then travels. I can't do it my entire life, but maybe for a couple years after I get my Masters.
The most amazing thing that has happened here is that today I saw the Dalai Lama. A Tibetan monk came up to us last night and said "The Dalai Lama returns tomorrow". When I asked if he was going to give a public audience, he looked at me funny and said that he has been teaching all over the world and he is a bit tired right now. Makes perfect sense. I felt selfish for asking. Nonetheless, I got up this morning and pitched a spot right outside of his house and waited. And waited. And waited (the monk told me they didn't know when he would arrive). Then the motorcade came. I got a picture of him and a glimps of him as he drove into his driveway (guarded by a gate) and was waving. People were chanting quietly, burning incense, and it was truely an amazing experience. A modest homecoming that was filled with positive energy. It is amazing just to be in the
presence of some who exudes so much love and compassion for every sentient being.
There is supposed to be a big event here on the 16th and 17th (also word from the monk), so I don't know if Tim and I will be stuck here for another week yet or if we will venture on to Manali and the Sangla Valley sooner. We both agree that an India beach (probably Diu), Veranasi, Darjeeling, and Rhajastan are non-negotiable, but other than that, we're flexible. Tim will be taking a cooking course, and I would like to take a meditation course while here (in McLeod Ganj/Upper Dharamsala). I could seriously spend my entire summer here. I'll have to come back some time to teach English to Tibetan refugees (only in the unfortunate case that Tibetans are still refugees).
Peace to all my peeps back home.
"Conflict is inevitable; combat is optional"
03 MAY 2003
Greetings everyone from McLeod Ganj, home of the Dalai Lama (and on your deathbed, you will regain complete and utter consciousness). I first want to thank everyone for their emails. Unfortunately I cannot reply to them all, as the connections here are very slow and it would take me hours to do so (it took me about 25 minutes just to log in and read about ten messages).
Tim and I left Delhi shortly after the last email, as the pollution and heat were becoming unbearable. We left for Amritsar in the state of Punjab close to the Pakistan border. We saw the Golden Temple, the largest Siek temple in India. It was absolutely amazing. What we saw on the train ride there was also amazing . . . air pollution that meade visibility no greater than about .5 miles. Even Indians had handkerchiefs over their faces. I don't think all of it was industrial, some of it seems to be agricultural dust and just general dust from being in an arid region in the summer months before monsoon. But it was BAD. Amritsar, where the golden temple was had no better visibility. While we were
there, Tim and I got very ill, and I had to go get antibiotics. I have never been that ill. It was so surreal to have a fever in 107 degree heat and no AC while you hear Punjabi chanting over loudspeakers from the temple (we stayed in the free lodging in the temple). The we would go to the public restrooms ill as dogs and people just stared. It was like being on acid or something. . . seriously. It was strange. But we are both better now. Before falling ill, we went to the Indo-Pakistan border to watch the closing of the border which was crazy. The Pakastanis and Indians would yell across the border at each other in this huge whoopla. The border guards on both sides would do what looked like a coreographed dance as they approached the gate and came back, opened the gates and closed them. It must be a huge tourist attraction.
We then fled to the mountains for someclean air and coler temperatures. We arrived here and to find that the dust had followed us. The people in town said that the dust arrived the same day we did. So that bites - we cant even see any of the mountains up here even though were at 6,200 feet (visibility is better, but still bad) - but at least it is currently a cool 70 degrees. We will probably hide out in the hills for a month until the rains start down south and then head down there as the air gets washed out. There's just no point to travel around down there when you can't see more than .5 mile - 1 mile in front of you and it is hard to breath . . . even in the country it is almost worse out there).
So I am now off to check out the complex where the Dalai Lama is and other cool stuff in the area. It was so nice to have some raviloi last night. As much as I love Indian food, I needed a break.
Take care everyone.
Greetings everyone from McLeod Ganj, home of the Dalai Lama (and on your deathbed, you will regain complete and utter consciousness). I first want to thank everyone for their emails. Unfortunately I cannot reply to them all, as the connections here are very slow and it would take me hours to do so (it took me about 25 minutes just to log in and read about ten messages).
Tim and I left Delhi shortly after the last email, as the pollution and heat were becoming unbearable. We left for Amritsar in the state of Punjab close to the Pakistan border. We saw the Golden Temple, the largest Siek temple in India. It was absolutely amazing. What we saw on the train ride there was also amazing . . . air pollution that meade visibility no greater than about .5 miles. Even Indians had handkerchiefs over their faces. I don't think all of it was industrial, some of it seems to be agricultural dust and just general dust from being in an arid region in the summer months before monsoon. But it was BAD. Amritsar, where the golden temple was had no better visibility. While we were
there, Tim and I got very ill, and I had to go get antibiotics. I have never been that ill. It was so surreal to have a fever in 107 degree heat and no AC while you hear Punjabi chanting over loudspeakers from the temple (we stayed in the free lodging in the temple). The we would go to the public restrooms ill as dogs and people just stared. It was like being on acid or something. . . seriously. It was strange. But we are both better now. Before falling ill, we went to the Indo-Pakistan border to watch the closing of the border which was crazy. The Pakastanis and Indians would yell across the border at each other in this huge whoopla. The border guards on both sides would do what looked like a coreographed dance as they approached the gate and came back, opened the gates and closed them. It must be a huge tourist attraction.
We then fled to the mountains for someclean air and coler temperatures. We arrived here and to find that the dust had followed us. The people in town said that the dust arrived the same day we did. So that bites - we cant even see any of the mountains up here even though were at 6,200 feet (visibility is better, but still bad) - but at least it is currently a cool 70 degrees. We will probably hide out in the hills for a month until the rains start down south and then head down there as the air gets washed out. There's just no point to travel around down there when you can't see more than .5 mile - 1 mile in front of you and it is hard to breath . . . even in the country it is almost worse out there).
So I am now off to check out the complex where the Dalai Lama is and other cool stuff in the area. It was so nice to have some raviloi last night. As much as I love Indian food, I needed a break.
Take care everyone.
28 APR 2003
Hello everyone from New Delhi, India. I still am in a bit of culture-shock. No matter how much my friends have told me, I don't think there was anything they could have said that would prepare me. Stories gave me great reference points, but it is like when one describes to you what it is like to scuba dive if you haven't, or what it is like to meditate if you haven't, or what it is like to even drive a car if you haven't. So much can be described, but it makes very little sense until it is placed into context. Please remember that what I write below is only describing my experienc in Delhi. India is a HUGE subcontinent, and culture and scenery vary from state to state.
There are few words that could accurately describe life here or my experiences. In order to get by, I guess, it becomes an exercise in zen. Traffic moves like blood through our veins, the only rules being in direction (sometimes). On many roads in the bazar, foots traffic and motor traffic share the same space, and people move in and out breathing with the flow of things. We arrived into Delhi at 2 AM Saturday night, and a friend's aunt and unlce were exrememly gracious in booking us a room and sending a driver to come pick us up. The next day they invited us to their home and we ate a traditional homecooked Indian meal, and I am not exaggerating when I say it was one of the greatest meals I have ever eating. It was SOOOOOOO good. Then we had India ice cream (better than
anything in the US) and this mango . . . the Alfonso mango, the "king of mangos". The best piece of fruit I've ever eaten.
We spent our first night in a nice hotel with AC to help us acclimate. We are now on the main bazaar in a very freindly, but stark hotel. The people at the hotel, have been absolutely fabulous advising on scams and and telling us where to get internet access, where to phone home, etc. They received a great write-up in the Lonely Planet guide for India, and rightfully so.
It is ironic, I must say, that the most white people I have seen are right here in this internet cafe (6/18). The first day we were on the bazarr, Tim and I counted three other white people, and there were tens of thousands along the streets. I don't know how other places in India are, but it is very difficult to aggregate with other travelers here . . . but I think overall that is a good thing. Although it would be nice to find a nook where travelers gather to swap stories. Ah, I'm sure they're around, I just have to look a bit more. It is crowded where we are (the main bazar) on Sundays - it would be like cramming Manhatten into half the size.
The people here are very friendly, and very curious. Sure, there are touts, and people trying to get you to buy goods, but there is grace in it. And we have met some wonderful people here who have helped us out and given advice. And I am still learning how to better integrate myself into the culture. I have shed my western clothes for more traditional Indian clothes, and we have faired OK with finding things to eat and to drink. My hat goes off completely for western (read: white) women who come here and travel, especially alone, or without a male companion. Becca, you're a rock star.
I must also say that this is the first time in my life where looking like an arab has been an asset. As I get more sun, get darker, and wear the more traditional clothing, I am less approached by touts, and I am starting to blend in a bit more. I have been told twice already that I looked a bit India. And for once I flew into an international airport without being pulled aside. I don't know about the rest of India (as I have been told it varies greatly from state to state), but here in Delhi it seems, at least if you are a tourist, that the better you can fit in, the easier things become.
We met a wonderful rickshaw driver today who gave us a lot of helpful advice. Man, I remember the stories from friends and thinking about them, but there is so much behind all of the stories, I am sure that friends have told, and now that I am the one with stories I am having a difficult time trying to express the experience in words. I just remember my buddy Dan saying, "you just have to go". And now I understand what he was saying.
There is such beauty here, behind the pollution and the organized chaos (and again I am really only speaking of dowtown delhi, as this is the only place I have been yet), there is such beauty in the people and the culture. I feel like I have SO much to learn and that in the three months I will be here, I will only begin to etch away at the tip of the iceberg. I could probably stay in delhi for three months and still have so much to learn.
We do not know where we are going to next - could be Rajathstan, prehaps Agra, or yes (sorry to so quickly change my mind, Samir) Kerlala. It seems that Kerala is such a wonderful place to go, and now that we know the train fare and time it takes to get down there, we may opt to go there and skip Diu.
This has been such a powerful experience already. I look forward to what else awaits me here. It is just so amazing.
Namaste.
Hello everyone from New Delhi, India. I still am in a bit of culture-shock. No matter how much my friends have told me, I don't think there was anything they could have said that would prepare me. Stories gave me great reference points, but it is like when one describes to you what it is like to scuba dive if you haven't, or what it is like to meditate if you haven't, or what it is like to even drive a car if you haven't. So much can be described, but it makes very little sense until it is placed into context. Please remember that what I write below is only describing my experienc in Delhi. India is a HUGE subcontinent, and culture and scenery vary from state to state.
There are few words that could accurately describe life here or my experiences. In order to get by, I guess, it becomes an exercise in zen. Traffic moves like blood through our veins, the only rules being in direction (sometimes). On many roads in the bazar, foots traffic and motor traffic share the same space, and people move in and out breathing with the flow of things. We arrived into Delhi at 2 AM Saturday night, and a friend's aunt and unlce were exrememly gracious in booking us a room and sending a driver to come pick us up. The next day they invited us to their home and we ate a traditional homecooked Indian meal, and I am not exaggerating when I say it was one of the greatest meals I have ever eating. It was SOOOOOOO good. Then we had India ice cream (better than
anything in the US) and this mango . . . the Alfonso mango, the "king of mangos". The best piece of fruit I've ever eaten.
We spent our first night in a nice hotel with AC to help us acclimate. We are now on the main bazaar in a very freindly, but stark hotel. The people at the hotel, have been absolutely fabulous advising on scams and and telling us where to get internet access, where to phone home, etc. They received a great write-up in the Lonely Planet guide for India, and rightfully so.
It is ironic, I must say, that the most white people I have seen are right here in this internet cafe (6/18). The first day we were on the bazarr, Tim and I counted three other white people, and there were tens of thousands along the streets. I don't know how other places in India are, but it is very difficult to aggregate with other travelers here . . . but I think overall that is a good thing. Although it would be nice to find a nook where travelers gather to swap stories. Ah, I'm sure they're around, I just have to look a bit more. It is crowded where we are (the main bazar) on Sundays - it would be like cramming Manhatten into half the size.
The people here are very friendly, and very curious. Sure, there are touts, and people trying to get you to buy goods, but there is grace in it. And we have met some wonderful people here who have helped us out and given advice. And I am still learning how to better integrate myself into the culture. I have shed my western clothes for more traditional Indian clothes, and we have faired OK with finding things to eat and to drink. My hat goes off completely for western (read: white) women who come here and travel, especially alone, or without a male companion. Becca, you're a rock star.
I must also say that this is the first time in my life where looking like an arab has been an asset. As I get more sun, get darker, and wear the more traditional clothing, I am less approached by touts, and I am starting to blend in a bit more. I have been told twice already that I looked a bit India. And for once I flew into an international airport without being pulled aside. I don't know about the rest of India (as I have been told it varies greatly from state to state), but here in Delhi it seems, at least if you are a tourist, that the better you can fit in, the easier things become.
We met a wonderful rickshaw driver today who gave us a lot of helpful advice. Man, I remember the stories from friends and thinking about them, but there is so much behind all of the stories, I am sure that friends have told, and now that I am the one with stories I am having a difficult time trying to express the experience in words. I just remember my buddy Dan saying, "you just have to go". And now I understand what he was saying.
There is such beauty here, behind the pollution and the organized chaos (and again I am really only speaking of dowtown delhi, as this is the only place I have been yet), there is such beauty in the people and the culture. I feel like I have SO much to learn and that in the three months I will be here, I will only begin to etch away at the tip of the iceberg. I could probably stay in delhi for three months and still have so much to learn.
We do not know where we are going to next - could be Rajathstan, prehaps Agra, or yes (sorry to so quickly change my mind, Samir) Kerlala. It seems that Kerala is such a wonderful place to go, and now that we know the train fare and time it takes to get down there, we may opt to go there and skip Diu.
This has been such a powerful experience already. I look forward to what else awaits me here. It is just so amazing.
Namaste.
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