I'm not going to narrate the 1983 James Bond movie with Roger Moore as the super 007 agent. But this movie is one of Udaipur's icons, as it was mostly filmed in this city.
But Udaipur is much more that the scenery of an old movie. A city with tons of romantic scenes, full with palaces, now big luxury hotels, gives the city an important presence in Rajasthan. It surrounds a lake, where women, and in less measure, men, go there to wash themselves as well as their clothes.
Artists try to get you in their shops to get you to buy their art. Mewar art is one of Udaipur's pride and I must say it's really amazing. In general, Rajasthani art is one of the most delicate and patient I have ever seen. Not only in paintings, but in carpets, textiles and marble.
Whereas artists in Europe tend to aisle themselves into a bohemian lifestyle, artists in Udaipur dress and act as wealthy westerners. Or at least they try to. By no means their intentions provides the city of glamour, but locals are really proud of it. On the contrary, the city is dedicated fully for tourists, with guests houses and hotels, restaurants and coffee shops at every corner.
The beauty hidden in Udaipurs big palaces and shops makes it an expensive city where you get constantly harassed by shopkeepers, rickshaw drivers and travel agencies. And so, it's one of the most annoying cities I've been to. This, however, must not back away the readers, as the city is really enchanting, has wonderful things to do, and is really beautiful at night.
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
And alone again
The end of the camel safari meant separation from Dan and Charlotte. Sad in a way, but relieved in another. I was up for exploring for myself. I felt confident, though cautious, strong though wary. And after a last day in Bikaner had a warmth goodbye at the bus stand.
A freezing bus ride that would take me to Udaipur to new adventures, new experiences, new people and again to bargain for myself. Dan was so helpful on that matter. I'll miss them, but I reckon we'll meet again.
A freezing bus ride that would take me to Udaipur to new adventures, new experiences, new people and again to bargain for myself. Dan was so helpful on that matter. I'll miss them, but I reckon we'll meet again.
Camel safari
Riding a camel is no easy thing. Specially riding a horny one. It wasn't my case, but Dan had a good deal of it. He insisted on riding the camel besides the advisement of the owner that the animal could jump or bite without previous announcement. At all, did the camel follow his instructions and when another horny camel passed by, Dan's started to jump, as if trying to get rid of him, and then, trotted towards the other camel.
Before anything worse happened, the camel owner got to ease it with shouts of some kind. Watching everything from the cart was really entertaining. A variation from the monotonous landscape. Dan wasn't as pleased though.
When the jumps started he had both his hands occupied on his Ipod and could only hold with his legs, causing a scratch in his inner thigh. Just when he was thinking on throwing himself to the ground so not to fall under the camel and get smashed, it started to trot and he could regain his balance and hold on to the reins.
Back in the cart, the camel owners and me included were laughing from the situation and Dan's face. Scary but comical at the same time, and fortunately nothing really bad happened.
Besides that little accident, the camels went peacefully behind the carts hold by a rope. So there was no chance for jumping or going whatever way they wanted.
Though we were supposed to be in the desert, it didn't really fell like it and the landscape wasn't that appealing. The only dunes we got to see where at our campsite. There, the guide, a bit drunk by then, and the camel owners, amused us with a song about wood, lakadi in Hindi.
We had our choice on how to sleep. That is, either in a tent or outside. Dan and Charlotte decide to sleep outside and me and the English couple going with us on the safari chose the tent. The couple had their own tent, and I had one for myself. Though sleeping outside with a starred vault as a ceiling seemed amusing, wind and cold made me think otherwise. Might as well be getting old...
At the end, the experience was nice and new. Saw some antelopes and had some laughs. And ended totally knackered from the camel riding. One day was enough for me.
Before anything worse happened, the camel owner got to ease it with shouts of some kind. Watching everything from the cart was really entertaining. A variation from the monotonous landscape. Dan wasn't as pleased though.
When the jumps started he had both his hands occupied on his Ipod and could only hold with his legs, causing a scratch in his inner thigh. Just when he was thinking on throwing himself to the ground so not to fall under the camel and get smashed, it started to trot and he could regain his balance and hold on to the reins.
Back in the cart, the camel owners and me included were laughing from the situation and Dan's face. Scary but comical at the same time, and fortunately nothing really bad happened.
Besides that little accident, the camels went peacefully behind the carts hold by a rope. So there was no chance for jumping or going whatever way they wanted.
Though we were supposed to be in the desert, it didn't really fell like it and the landscape wasn't that appealing. The only dunes we got to see where at our campsite. There, the guide, a bit drunk by then, and the camel owners, amused us with a song about wood, lakadi in Hindi.
We had our choice on how to sleep. That is, either in a tent or outside. Dan and Charlotte decide to sleep outside and me and the English couple going with us on the safari chose the tent. The couple had their own tent, and I had one for myself. Though sleeping outside with a starred vault as a ceiling seemed amusing, wind and cold made me think otherwise. Might as well be getting old...
At the end, the experience was nice and new. Saw some antelopes and had some laughs. And ended totally knackered from the camel riding. One day was enough for me.
Monday, December 17, 2007
Weddings II
On our next wedding, this time in Bikaner, the situation we bumped into was a bit more aggressive. In this case, while coming back from the bar, our auto rickshaw driver drove us on a wrong direction that took us straight to a wedding.
The party was still, men were dancing, the groom was on a fully decorated horse, a cart with big speakers ready to shout out music, a band constantly playing and a rickshaw giving energy to big kitsch lamps carried by children. The last being the oddest.
As it couldn't be in any other way, Dan jumped out of the rickshaw to make some pictures, and a minute later we were all being dragged into the dancing circle. Charlotte, who this time was with us, wasn't sure about dancing with so many men surrounding her, and thus one of the women around kindly danced with here. Soon others joined.
But the men were getting very excited, not only from the occasion, the music, the people, and the alcohol, Charlotte was the main motive. The aggressiveness of the men made the women leave the music circle and Charlotte was left alone to the only help of Dan and me.
An old man with a kind face who continuously thanked us, we don't know why, also helped Charlotte against the drunk village people who insisted in dancing with her. And as their excitement grew and grew, the tension among the guests also increased, ones trying to dance with Charlotte whilst others pushing them away.
And I would say, that at the precise moment, as if predicting a catastrophe, we were literally dragged out of the dancing circle and forced our way to a rickshaw that should get us back on the right path to our hostel.
Fun, but I just hope to get a bit sooner the next time.
The party was still, men were dancing, the groom was on a fully decorated horse, a cart with big speakers ready to shout out music, a band constantly playing and a rickshaw giving energy to big kitsch lamps carried by children. The last being the oddest.
As it couldn't be in any other way, Dan jumped out of the rickshaw to make some pictures, and a minute later we were all being dragged into the dancing circle. Charlotte, who this time was with us, wasn't sure about dancing with so many men surrounding her, and thus one of the women around kindly danced with here. Soon others joined.
But the men were getting very excited, not only from the occasion, the music, the people, and the alcohol, Charlotte was the main motive. The aggressiveness of the men made the women leave the music circle and Charlotte was left alone to the only help of Dan and me.
An old man with a kind face who continuously thanked us, we don't know why, also helped Charlotte against the drunk village people who insisted in dancing with her. And as their excitement grew and grew, the tension among the guests also increased, ones trying to dance with Charlotte whilst others pushing them away.
And I would say, that at the precise moment, as if predicting a catastrophe, we were literally dragged out of the dancing circle and forced our way to a rickshaw that should get us back on the right path to our hostel.
Fun, but I just hope to get a bit sooner the next time.
Weddings I
Fireworks in the night, with no festival in the way, means there's a wedding going on. First notice of weddings was at Jaipur, where a few were going on at our arrival. And precisely there, we had our first wedding experience, being the other one in Bikaner. Can't tell which one ended up in the most weirdest situation. But I would stick to the first one.
We arrived very late and finding a place to stay was very hard. We had two conditions, it had to be cheap, and not sharing a double room between the three of us. So once we got a very strange place with the strangest of manager, Dan, as always, was starving. So he and I went on the search for food. On our quest, we stumbled into a finished wedding where people were still eating and hanging around. The big stuff had obviously finished and chance of seeing the married couples wasn't available. However, the main point was getting food, and that seemed like a good place to ask. And Dan was the first to do so.
Very kindly they filled us up with everything they had, curry, roti, chilly, sweets, and I can't recall what else. The attention was incredible and communication was very difficult. Family members were always chasing guests away from us when we hardly could eat of so much effort trying to communicate and answering to their questions, but they had trouble as well trying to answer ours, with not much interest anyway. We were another amenity of the night and they weren't in a serious mood.
We could not fulfill ourselves with any more spicy, damn it was spicy, food, and so it was our turn to take them as the amenity of the night. Dan asked for taking pictures, and all of a sudden we were dragged to an alley were they insistently asked for pictures and pictures.
And then, things started to get strange. We didn't want to be rude, and though our intention was to get back to the wedding to say thanks and head to the hotel, three of the youngsters did not let us go so easily. They insisted on having a smoke, to which we didn't know if they were talking about drugs or just a cigarette. I offered my rollings, but they wanted Indian cigarettes. After our refusal of going away to buy them, we were asked to seat with them for while. I decided to stay up, and Dan sat down. One the Indians sat right next to him and immediately put his arm around his leg, while touching his inner thigh. Rubbing it I'd say. Dan was uncomfortable, but didn't want to offend the guy, as Indians are very touchable within themselves, holding hands, playing with their fingers and hugging, and other stuff, to a point you never know what is culture and what is homosexuality.
With no previous advertisement, the guy lent to Dan like if trying to kiss him, but Dan was swift enough to miss the shot. And then the guy just directly asked him for a kiss. Dan's No was enough, and they asked me to seat down next to the guy, to what I kindly refused. Dan had had enough of the touching and his eyes were looking straight to mines telling me with no words necessary we should get the hell out of there, and quickly.
Once outside, I could not help but properly burst in laughs, though Dan didn't think the situation was that funny.
We arrived very late and finding a place to stay was very hard. We had two conditions, it had to be cheap, and not sharing a double room between the three of us. So once we got a very strange place with the strangest of manager, Dan, as always, was starving. So he and I went on the search for food. On our quest, we stumbled into a finished wedding where people were still eating and hanging around. The big stuff had obviously finished and chance of seeing the married couples wasn't available. However, the main point was getting food, and that seemed like a good place to ask. And Dan was the first to do so.
Very kindly they filled us up with everything they had, curry, roti, chilly, sweets, and I can't recall what else. The attention was incredible and communication was very difficult. Family members were always chasing guests away from us when we hardly could eat of so much effort trying to communicate and answering to their questions, but they had trouble as well trying to answer ours, with not much interest anyway. We were another amenity of the night and they weren't in a serious mood.
We could not fulfill ourselves with any more spicy, damn it was spicy, food, and so it was our turn to take them as the amenity of the night. Dan asked for taking pictures, and all of a sudden we were dragged to an alley were they insistently asked for pictures and pictures.
And then, things started to get strange. We didn't want to be rude, and though our intention was to get back to the wedding to say thanks and head to the hotel, three of the youngsters did not let us go so easily. They insisted on having a smoke, to which we didn't know if they were talking about drugs or just a cigarette. I offered my rollings, but they wanted Indian cigarettes. After our refusal of going away to buy them, we were asked to seat with them for while. I decided to stay up, and Dan sat down. One the Indians sat right next to him and immediately put his arm around his leg, while touching his inner thigh. Rubbing it I'd say. Dan was uncomfortable, but didn't want to offend the guy, as Indians are very touchable within themselves, holding hands, playing with their fingers and hugging, and other stuff, to a point you never know what is culture and what is homosexuality.
With no previous advertisement, the guy lent to Dan like if trying to kiss him, but Dan was swift enough to miss the shot. And then the guy just directly asked him for a kiss. Dan's No was enough, and they asked me to seat down next to the guy, to what I kindly refused. Dan had had enough of the touching and his eyes were looking straight to mines telling me with no words necessary we should get the hell out of there, and quickly.
Once outside, I could not help but properly burst in laughs, though Dan didn't think the situation was that funny.
Bars
Not all bars are the same. That happens in India or in Europe. But here, differences are astonishing. Either you get bars totally dedicated to tourists or you get bars totally dedicated for Indians. And the difference is well noticeable.
In an untouristic town as Bikaner, only an Indian bar was available. Women were allowed, but we could not see a single feminine spirit around. A dodgy place, with a security guard that looked more as a police officer, dim lights and full of locals drinking eating, drinking and smoking.
I've already talked about other bars, as the one in Rishikesh, or Carpe Diem at Mc Leod. This one, however, had nothing to do with them. While fun was almost assured in the other two, on this one no entertainment was available. Cheaper, and boring, thus more quieter. Everything seemed under control. So controlled that it closed at half past nine.
Definitely, not my choice of a bar.
In an untouristic town as Bikaner, only an Indian bar was available. Women were allowed, but we could not see a single feminine spirit around. A dodgy place, with a security guard that looked more as a police officer, dim lights and full of locals drinking eating, drinking and smoking.
I've already talked about other bars, as the one in Rishikesh, or Carpe Diem at Mc Leod. This one, however, had nothing to do with them. While fun was almost assured in the other two, on this one no entertainment was available. Cheaper, and boring, thus more quieter. Everything seemed under control. So controlled that it closed at half past nine.
Definitely, not my choice of a bar.
Bikaner
Got to Bikaner after a deceiving stop at a wildlife sanctuary. Nine square kilometers of a few small antelopes and empty terrain. As we still had the car, we decided to go to Kolayat, not without arguing with the owner of the car about the price again.
Another bad decision. Another empty space, a ghost town that surrounded a lake, full of temples and ghats, and babas that enhanced the ghostly sensation.
Back to Bikaner, we went to see the fort. Beautiful, but just another fort. And so, we prepared ourselves for a camel safari we had booked.
Another bad decision. Another empty space, a ghost town that surrounded a lake, full of temples and ghats, and babas that enhanced the ghostly sensation.
Back to Bikaner, we went to see the fort. Beautiful, but just another fort. And so, we prepared ourselves for a camel safari we had booked.
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
The Shekhawati Region
Our romantic idea of searching undiscovered and untouristic places took us to the Shekhawati Region. We got immersed into a region full of havelis, beautiful buildings, lovely decorated with detailed miniature paintings of their time.
Our first stop took us to Nawalgar, where most of the buildings were in ruins, and the paintings could hardly be seen on some occasions. Only a couple of tourists we got to see, and this weren't our age, but older. Surprisingly though, the city, though untouristy, it was more expensive than we thought it would be. This shocked us, and it definitely ruined any conceived idea of the money I was to waste in this experience.
On that first night, we met with a 14 year old kid who asked for nothing and helped us much. He was a smart kid, knew what he wanted, and so went for it with determination. His idea was to be a guide, and so he helped uninterestedly to tourists, getting them to his home and showing them the best and cheapest of the area.
I said before that most of the Havelis were in ruins. However, a couple were being restored into hotels. Luxury hotels they seemed to me. This would for sure make the area even more expensive. The kid took us to one of this Havelis and we got good detail of what was going on.
The following day the kid directed us to Parsurampura to show us the place, and got us in the middle of a camel safari, were they offered us food for a 100 Rs. each. The food wasn't ours, and Dan and Charlotte didn't find it appropriate to eat there even though paying. So we said our goodbyes to the tourist of the camel safari and our new little friend.
The following destination turned out to be, without a doubt the most expensive town I have encountered so far in India. Mandawa is a town full of Havelis, some of them already restored into fancy and expensive hotels. Beautiful without a doubt, they were huge havelis, and the little ones seemed to be forgotten.
Having two days of Havelis and this town, made a decisive effect in our relationships, were Charlotte wasn't in a very good mood with Dan, and getting accommodation was starting to make me uncomfortable. Prices were totally out of place in Mandawaand the feeling of being out of the tourist path had vanished. All together kicked us out of the Shekhawati Region into Bikaner one day in advance.
Our first stop took us to Nawalgar, where most of the buildings were in ruins, and the paintings could hardly be seen on some occasions. Only a couple of tourists we got to see, and this weren't our age, but older. Surprisingly though, the city, though untouristy, it was more expensive than we thought it would be. This shocked us, and it definitely ruined any conceived idea of the money I was to waste in this experience.
On that first night, we met with a 14 year old kid who asked for nothing and helped us much. He was a smart kid, knew what he wanted, and so went for it with determination. His idea was to be a guide, and so he helped uninterestedly to tourists, getting them to his home and showing them the best and cheapest of the area.
I said before that most of the Havelis were in ruins. However, a couple were being restored into hotels. Luxury hotels they seemed to me. This would for sure make the area even more expensive. The kid took us to one of this Havelis and we got good detail of what was going on.
The following day the kid directed us to Parsurampura to show us the place, and got us in the middle of a camel safari, were they offered us food for a 100 Rs. each. The food wasn't ours, and Dan and Charlotte didn't find it appropriate to eat there even though paying. So we said our goodbyes to the tourist of the camel safari and our new little friend.
The following destination turned out to be, without a doubt the most expensive town I have encountered so far in India. Mandawa is a town full of Havelis, some of them already restored into fancy and expensive hotels. Beautiful without a doubt, they were huge havelis, and the little ones seemed to be forgotten.
Having two days of Havelis and this town, made a decisive effect in our relationships, were Charlotte wasn't in a very good mood with Dan, and getting accommodation was starting to make me uncomfortable. Prices were totally out of place in Mandawaand the feeling of being out of the tourist path had vanished. All together kicked us out of the Shekhawati Region into Bikaner one day in advance.
Hiring a jeep
One of the reasons to travel with Dan and Charlotte, as I stated before, was to hire a jeep and explore Rajasthan in a less touristic way. The jeep not only would all9ow us to stop at little towns, but also risk ourselves into places the Lonely Planet did not talk about.
However, ours, was just a romantic idea. Hiring a jeep would never allow you to do that, as it involves, in a cheap manner, at least 5 people. These would be uncomfortable in the jeep, and my experience tells me, there would be a lot of tension in time of decisions.
At the moment being, I think that the best way to travel India is by motorbike, which I hope to be able to do some day.
So we headed for a cheaper option which discarded totally the jeep, and took into consideration a car. Getting a car was also the consequence of not being able to get more people to participate in the experience.
After not little bargaining on Dan's behalf, we got a very good price for a car, but at that moment, Charlotte wasn't involved and knew nothing about the change of plans. Once we had consulted her about the situation, we had to bargain again the price in a vain try to cheap up the jeep, but with no luck.
Charlotte was fond on going on an opened jeep, which Dan and I had already discarded because of the obvious discomforts, and even thought Charlotte wouldn't approve such a jeep. But apparently, her romantic idea did involve an open jeep, and we had to regain our charge and go for it.
As I said, we had no luck with the jeep, but there was still a little detail Charlotte had minded us of, and was that it made no sense to end up the trip at Jaipur, and we should end the trip in Bikaner. This was no easy bargain as our previous deal consisted on stopping the adventure at Jaipur. This was an obvious distress for the owners as going from Jaipur to Pushkar was only a 3 hour trip, while from Bikaner it took 6. However, we managed to get the same deal, and depart the following day at 10:30 am.
However, ours, was just a romantic idea. Hiring a jeep would never allow you to do that, as it involves, in a cheap manner, at least 5 people. These would be uncomfortable in the jeep, and my experience tells me, there would be a lot of tension in time of decisions.
At the moment being, I think that the best way to travel India is by motorbike, which I hope to be able to do some day.
So we headed for a cheaper option which discarded totally the jeep, and took into consideration a car. Getting a car was also the consequence of not being able to get more people to participate in the experience.
After not little bargaining on Dan's behalf, we got a very good price for a car, but at that moment, Charlotte wasn't involved and knew nothing about the change of plans. Once we had consulted her about the situation, we had to bargain again the price in a vain try to cheap up the jeep, but with no luck.
Charlotte was fond on going on an opened jeep, which Dan and I had already discarded because of the obvious discomforts, and even thought Charlotte wouldn't approve such a jeep. But apparently, her romantic idea did involve an open jeep, and we had to regain our charge and go for it.
As I said, we had no luck with the jeep, but there was still a little detail Charlotte had minded us of, and was that it made no sense to end up the trip at Jaipur, and we should end the trip in Bikaner. This was no easy bargain as our previous deal consisted on stopping the adventure at Jaipur. This was an obvious distress for the owners as going from Jaipur to Pushkar was only a 3 hour trip, while from Bikaner it took 6. However, we managed to get the same deal, and depart the following day at 10:30 am.
The Nab
Before we get out of Pushkar, I find necessary to narrate the story of the nab and the opium priest.
Apparently, the nab is a ball we all have in the stomachs at the point of the belly bottom. I don't recall if I've said it before or not, but my stomach wasn't feeling so good, and neither was Charlotte's.
Dan had met this priest, or so he claimed to be, when doing the Punja, and he was convinced that our problem didn't come from food poisoning but from displacement of the nab, and that no western medicine would avail us.
On meeting with the priest, he insisted on taking Charlotte to a woman that would definitely realign her nab and so she would be in perfect condition straight away. She wasn't sure of it, but Dan's pressure on the subject and the priests itself made her accept the offer, not with little apprehension.
Finally, we both tried, as I was curious to experiment the massage the woman had done to Charlotte. While her nab was misaligned about 3 cm, mine was not even 2, and so the woman took more time on her than me. The priest was very concerned on Charlotte's misalignment as her problems had started a week before, and so he insisted she should go back again on the next morning, as she wasn't still 100% cured.
What really happened though, was that the woman massaged our stomachs and, consequently, produced the need of farting and burping. Well, Charlotte is more refined than me, so she only burped, and very silently. I, though, tried my best in spite of being in India and burping being so common everywhere. We both actually did feel better after the massage, but the whole story to it is absolute bullocks!
Apparently, the nab is a ball we all have in the stomachs at the point of the belly bottom. I don't recall if I've said it before or not, but my stomach wasn't feeling so good, and neither was Charlotte's.
Dan had met this priest, or so he claimed to be, when doing the Punja, and he was convinced that our problem didn't come from food poisoning but from displacement of the nab, and that no western medicine would avail us.
On meeting with the priest, he insisted on taking Charlotte to a woman that would definitely realign her nab and so she would be in perfect condition straight away. She wasn't sure of it, but Dan's pressure on the subject and the priests itself made her accept the offer, not with little apprehension.
Finally, we both tried, as I was curious to experiment the massage the woman had done to Charlotte. While her nab was misaligned about 3 cm, mine was not even 2, and so the woman took more time on her than me. The priest was very concerned on Charlotte's misalignment as her problems had started a week before, and so he insisted she should go back again on the next morning, as she wasn't still 100% cured.
What really happened though, was that the woman massaged our stomachs and, consequently, produced the need of farting and burping. Well, Charlotte is more refined than me, so she only burped, and very silently. I, though, tried my best in spite of being in India and burping being so common everywhere. We both actually did feel better after the massage, but the whole story to it is absolute bullocks!
30
The day after having the Bang Lassi I woke up officially being 30. Had it not been for my friends back in Spain, giving me that age for the past two years, this day would have been hard.
However, before I keep up with the story of this day, I must thank Dan and Charlotte for a great day.
So I woke up to meet Jeff (whom will talk about later on) and Dan greeting me such a day with an effusive hug. I wasn't expecting really nothing, and was thinking on my head whether I had finally brought some candles with me or not, and where would I get a little cake for the matter of blowing them out. Nothing of this really mattered after a while, Dan, more excited than me, brought a card and a gift, which I couldn't open until Charlotte came back from her wanderings through town.
Once we were all together, I was gladly delighted with a beautiful card decorated by a green leaf with two elephants on a black background. The gift was a black and blue patchwork cushion cover which amazingly, fits my style very much.
But the day couldn't end up there, and Dan and Charlotte insisted on doing what I pleased. So we wen on the search of a Baba, but more on Baba's on a next post. The interesting adventure turned out to be a walk around the hills that surround Pushkar, with no luck on finding our Baba. So we had to go back to the hotel, where I was decided to get a shower and refresh myself from the hot sun.
Dan had already told me there were more surprises coming, as I said he was more excited than me on celebrating my birthday, and so I assumed they might surprise me with a birthday cake, and so I got that idea out of my mind. But before any of that could happen, I was delighted with a cold, blond beer.
I already stated that Pushkar is a holy town, and so for that fact, no drugs, alcohol or meat are allowed. Finding meat is totally impossible, drugs are very easy, and alcohol requires a medium effort and a special occasion. We can't forget how, according to locals, parties are organized on the dessert for the joy of tourists and with no intervention of the government police forces.
With the beer and the idea of getting something to eat I regained the concept of the candles and a cake, but Dan came again to my rescue, and as he was more excited than me about my birthday, he told me more surprises were to come. So I forgot again about the matter hoping to get a cake from them. Somehow.
And effectively, there was a cake. A beautifully decorated cake by the daughters of the owner of the hotel we where staying at. It said: "Happy Birthday" "Erik" "30". Apparently, later I knew that they had to keep on asking how to write my name. I must add as well, that the taste of the cake was really good, which surprised us all. And after the cake, more beer!!!
I already thanked Dan and Charlotte, who made a great effort on comforting me on such a day and making it really nice. But I also feel the need to thank in this post the 17 birthday emails I received on that day, and the delayed ones as well. And sorry for the short replies.
Thank you all.
However, before I keep up with the story of this day, I must thank Dan and Charlotte for a great day.
So I woke up to meet Jeff (whom will talk about later on) and Dan greeting me such a day with an effusive hug. I wasn't expecting really nothing, and was thinking on my head whether I had finally brought some candles with me or not, and where would I get a little cake for the matter of blowing them out. Nothing of this really mattered after a while, Dan, more excited than me, brought a card and a gift, which I couldn't open until Charlotte came back from her wanderings through town.
Once we were all together, I was gladly delighted with a beautiful card decorated by a green leaf with two elephants on a black background. The gift was a black and blue patchwork cushion cover which amazingly, fits my style very much.
But the day couldn't end up there, and Dan and Charlotte insisted on doing what I pleased. So we wen on the search of a Baba, but more on Baba's on a next post. The interesting adventure turned out to be a walk around the hills that surround Pushkar, with no luck on finding our Baba. So we had to go back to the hotel, where I was decided to get a shower and refresh myself from the hot sun.
Dan had already told me there were more surprises coming, as I said he was more excited than me on celebrating my birthday, and so I assumed they might surprise me with a birthday cake, and so I got that idea out of my mind. But before any of that could happen, I was delighted with a cold, blond beer.
I already stated that Pushkar is a holy town, and so for that fact, no drugs, alcohol or meat are allowed. Finding meat is totally impossible, drugs are very easy, and alcohol requires a medium effort and a special occasion. We can't forget how, according to locals, parties are organized on the dessert for the joy of tourists and with no intervention of the government police forces.
With the beer and the idea of getting something to eat I regained the concept of the candles and a cake, but Dan came again to my rescue, and as he was more excited than me about my birthday, he told me more surprises were to come. So I forgot again about the matter hoping to get a cake from them. Somehow.
And effectively, there was a cake. A beautifully decorated cake by the daughters of the owner of the hotel we where staying at. It said: "Happy Birthday" "Erik" "30". Apparently, later I knew that they had to keep on asking how to write my name. I must add as well, that the taste of the cake was really good, which surprised us all. And after the cake, more beer!!!
I already thanked Dan and Charlotte, who made a great effort on comforting me on such a day and making it really nice. But I also feel the need to thank in this post the 17 birthday emails I received on that day, and the delayed ones as well. And sorry for the short replies.
Thank you all.
Friday, December 7, 2007
Bhang lassi
Dan got one when we got to the hotel at Pushkar and he did not say a reasonable word for a bout four hours. To put you in situation, a Bhang Lassi is made of the little leaves of a marijuana plant. Leaves are smashed together and made into a soft brown mass. This, is then mixed with curd (kind of yogurt) like in a shake. The taste is really bad, and you can get it soft, medium or strong. So basically, taking into consideration that what you eat has about 10 times the effect that what you would smoke, it just gets you very stoned.
I decided to get one as well, planning not to do anything afterwards as I saw what a strong lassi had done to Dan. But I went for a soft one, or at least that's what I asked for, thinking it would just get me stoned for a good while and then I would be OK. I also hoped that eating right afterwards taking the lassi would minimize the effects.
Dan and Charlotte had disappeared and I was getting bored waiting for them at the hotel, so I left with a Bhang Lassi in me still not noticing the effects. Got to a restaurant to eat and waited for them to come. As I was seated there, the lassi started making its effects and I was feeling more and more stoned as minutes passed. Food arrived and I wished eating would help me out on this one. By the time Dan and Charlotte arrived, I was very stoned and hadn't achieved the maximum point yet. Dan had had a strong one just before coming to meet with me and we were both laughing stupidly at everything.
The time at the restaurant was being never ending, and the effects on me weren't being too good anymore, and to make it longer, Dan decided to have a "Hello to the Queen" dessert (Chocolate, ice-cream and don't know what else).
Once finished, we finally headed towards the hotel. A trip that would turn out an odyssey for me. The worst part was going down the four storey of the restaurant. My legs were shaking at every step and I had to look for something to hold on to, but I could only lean on the walls. Walking made a good effect, but keeping up with Dan and Charlotte's pace was very hard at that point. And besides, I wasn't feeling stoned anymore, I was feeling more sick than anything else. A sickness that accompanied me for the rest of the night.
The last crazy story of the 20's.
I decided to get one as well, planning not to do anything afterwards as I saw what a strong lassi had done to Dan. But I went for a soft one, or at least that's what I asked for, thinking it would just get me stoned for a good while and then I would be OK. I also hoped that eating right afterwards taking the lassi would minimize the effects.
Dan and Charlotte had disappeared and I was getting bored waiting for them at the hotel, so I left with a Bhang Lassi in me still not noticing the effects. Got to a restaurant to eat and waited for them to come. As I was seated there, the lassi started making its effects and I was feeling more and more stoned as minutes passed. Food arrived and I wished eating would help me out on this one. By the time Dan and Charlotte arrived, I was very stoned and hadn't achieved the maximum point yet. Dan had had a strong one just before coming to meet with me and we were both laughing stupidly at everything.
The time at the restaurant was being never ending, and the effects on me weren't being too good anymore, and to make it longer, Dan decided to have a "Hello to the Queen" dessert (Chocolate, ice-cream and don't know what else).
Once finished, we finally headed towards the hotel. A trip that would turn out an odyssey for me. The worst part was going down the four storey of the restaurant. My legs were shaking at every step and I had to look for something to hold on to, but I could only lean on the walls. Walking made a good effect, but keeping up with Dan and Charlotte's pace was very hard at that point. And besides, I wasn't feeling stoned anymore, I was feeling more sick than anything else. A sickness that accompanied me for the rest of the night.
The last crazy story of the 20's.
A camel fair?
We got to Pushkar with one day left to see the camel fair. The guy from the hotel was supposed to pick us up at the us station, and so he did, in a motorbike. As four people can't go in one, apparently in India three may, I had to walk for a while in a very dusty road till he came back for me.
We had booked a tent at the rooftop where the three of us would sleep at least for two nights. It wasn't the most comfortable accommodation I've had so far, as the tent was kind of little for the three of us, and Dan and Charlotte managed to get most of the space. A couple of accident occurred, like me hitting Charlotte's nose with my elbow and Dan knocking his head to my face.
Apparently, besides the camel fair, a great pilgrimage was going on. People were coming from all parts of India to bath at Pushkar's lake. A holy lake that, according to the legend, was created after Brahma, the Lord of creation, left a lotus leaf there. Tons of Ghats and temples surround the lake in order for pilgrims bath at its waters and pray for their families, what's called Punja.
Priests try to get you into that, by giving you a flower which you have to deposit in the lake and then, follow his chantings and prayers for each member of your family, and for which he will want to charge you about 100 Rs. for each one of them. Obviously all religions are the same...
So between the camel fair and the pilgrimage, the place was really full. At points, you had to push your way through the streets without consideration whatsoever, as they didn't have it with you at all. The attitude of the priests harassing you all the time when going through the ghats and the attitude of village men when looking to girls and trying to touch them wasn't very pleasant. So this and the fact that my stomach wasn't in a very good shape caused me to miss the fair and the ceremonies going on at the ghats. Not that it bothered me too much I must say.
However, after everything had passed, the little city became very peaceful, though still too touristic, full of hotels and restaurants with western food, specially Israeli.
At the end, my impression of Pushkar wasn't too good and I was still looking forward to shill out at one place for a few days and sort things out for Christmas and New Years Eve at Goa. Something that will end up being a total adventure.
We had booked a tent at the rooftop where the three of us would sleep at least for two nights. It wasn't the most comfortable accommodation I've had so far, as the tent was kind of little for the three of us, and Dan and Charlotte managed to get most of the space. A couple of accident occurred, like me hitting Charlotte's nose with my elbow and Dan knocking his head to my face.
Apparently, besides the camel fair, a great pilgrimage was going on. People were coming from all parts of India to bath at Pushkar's lake. A holy lake that, according to the legend, was created after Brahma, the Lord of creation, left a lotus leaf there. Tons of Ghats and temples surround the lake in order for pilgrims bath at its waters and pray for their families, what's called Punja.
Priests try to get you into that, by giving you a flower which you have to deposit in the lake and then, follow his chantings and prayers for each member of your family, and for which he will want to charge you about 100 Rs. for each one of them. Obviously all religions are the same...
So between the camel fair and the pilgrimage, the place was really full. At points, you had to push your way through the streets without consideration whatsoever, as they didn't have it with you at all. The attitude of the priests harassing you all the time when going through the ghats and the attitude of village men when looking to girls and trying to touch them wasn't very pleasant. So this and the fact that my stomach wasn't in a very good shape caused me to miss the fair and the ceremonies going on at the ghats. Not that it bothered me too much I must say.
However, after everything had passed, the little city became very peaceful, though still too touristic, full of hotels and restaurants with western food, specially Israeli.
At the end, my impression of Pushkar wasn't too good and I was still looking forward to shill out at one place for a few days and sort things out for Christmas and New Years Eve at Goa. Something that will end up being a total adventure.
The Pink City
Very much like Delhi, Jaipur is a very busy city with people all the time trying to sell you something or get you scammed. As in Agra, rickshaws try to sell you day trips offering themselves as guides. While in Delhi everyone is trying to get you to Kashmir, in Jaipur they try to scam you with gems and jewellery. And jewellery in Jaipur is very nice, though you have to watch out with prices.
Here I got my so desired snake bracelet and a couple of rings. The guy I bought it to had been to Spain, or so he claimed, and kept on saying bullshit in Spanish as we looked over bracelets, earrings, rings, and others. However, I got a better discount than the Brits just for being Spanish. For once, useful!
As the pink city, Jaipur is not that pink. The only traces of such a color are at the old city's outer walls. Surrounded by a big pinkish fort, once inside, it just looks old, like most India. And as like everywhere in India, what you get to see inside are bazaars and temples mainly.
I don't know during the day, which I've heard if very busy and annoying, but at evening it's quite interesting to visit. Dim lights, a lot of people and a big variety of goods gives the bazaars a very errant and enchanting atmosphere.
Here I got my so desired snake bracelet and a couple of rings. The guy I bought it to had been to Spain, or so he claimed, and kept on saying bullshit in Spanish as we looked over bracelets, earrings, rings, and others. However, I got a better discount than the Brits just for being Spanish. For once, useful!
As the pink city, Jaipur is not that pink. The only traces of such a color are at the old city's outer walls. Surrounded by a big pinkish fort, once inside, it just looks old, like most India. And as like everywhere in India, what you get to see inside are bazaars and temples mainly.
I don't know during the day, which I've heard if very busy and annoying, but at evening it's quite interesting to visit. Dim lights, a lot of people and a big variety of goods gives the bazaars a very errant and enchanting atmosphere.
Catching trains
This is a subject I'll probably have to talk about later on as there are probably tons of trains to catch. But for the moment...
So far, I haven't really had that much experiences with trains. Got a sleeper train to Ramnagar and the trains to Delhi and Agra. But it's very interesting how the atmosphere of the wagons change according to classes. Haven't been on a third class yet, and don't know if I'll get to that point, but you never know.
The train to Jaipur became a very interesting trip. It turned out that our seats weren't together. So I had to seat behind Dan and Charlotte, our backs facing each other. That didn't troubled me at all, but my seat was already occupied by a kid of a couple from Bangladesh. They kindly asked me if I could occupy the kids seats instead, which didn't bother me at all. So I ended up even farther away from my travelling companions and next to the parents of the kid.
While Dan and Charlotte had talks with a family sitting in front of them and an astrologer, I talked openly with the Bangladesh couple Roby and Muna. Their clothes and English distinguished them from the rest of the people surrounding us. They had been travelling around the world, where obviously she did most of the talking. Her English was far much better than his. They claimed to be in the show business and to have contacts in Bollywood. They even said to have as a guest at their place some famous Indian actor. At the end, we ended up exchanging cigarettes and peanuts, and they gave me their telephone number and home address if by chance I ended up in Bangladesh after India. And I must say that seemed like a very appealing offer. So you never know...
The thing is, that the ability to interact with people in India depends on your ability to be understood and their willingness to talk to you. One of the locals sitting in front of us was curious about me, but did not there to ask me questions. Instead he asked Roby. So language turns a barrier they don't dare surpass, staring at you all the time without saying a word. But between them, they talk freely in opened and friendly conversations. While in Europe interacting with other passengers might seem strange, and often misunderstood, in India is very common to see them interacting with each other, and if they can, with tourists.
As a first experience in train interacting, I think of it as very amusing and probably useful. What's for sure, is that it has to be repeated as Indians are generally very friendly and helpful, always ready to tell you which is your station, one of the main problems in getting public transport around here.
So far, I haven't really had that much experiences with trains. Got a sleeper train to Ramnagar and the trains to Delhi and Agra. But it's very interesting how the atmosphere of the wagons change according to classes. Haven't been on a third class yet, and don't know if I'll get to that point, but you never know.
The train to Jaipur became a very interesting trip. It turned out that our seats weren't together. So I had to seat behind Dan and Charlotte, our backs facing each other. That didn't troubled me at all, but my seat was already occupied by a kid of a couple from Bangladesh. They kindly asked me if I could occupy the kids seats instead, which didn't bother me at all. So I ended up even farther away from my travelling companions and next to the parents of the kid.
While Dan and Charlotte had talks with a family sitting in front of them and an astrologer, I talked openly with the Bangladesh couple Roby and Muna. Their clothes and English distinguished them from the rest of the people surrounding us. They had been travelling around the world, where obviously she did most of the talking. Her English was far much better than his. They claimed to be in the show business and to have contacts in Bollywood. They even said to have as a guest at their place some famous Indian actor. At the end, we ended up exchanging cigarettes and peanuts, and they gave me their telephone number and home address if by chance I ended up in Bangladesh after India. And I must say that seemed like a very appealing offer. So you never know...
The thing is, that the ability to interact with people in India depends on your ability to be understood and their willingness to talk to you. One of the locals sitting in front of us was curious about me, but did not there to ask me questions. Instead he asked Roby. So language turns a barrier they don't dare surpass, staring at you all the time without saying a word. But between them, they talk freely in opened and friendly conversations. While in Europe interacting with other passengers might seem strange, and often misunderstood, in India is very common to see them interacting with each other, and if they can, with tourists.
As a first experience in train interacting, I think of it as very amusing and probably useful. What's for sure, is that it has to be repeated as Indians are generally very friendly and helpful, always ready to tell you which is your station, one of the main problems in getting public transport around here.
The Taj Mahal
At about eleven we stumbled into this hotel near the Taj were we got a double bedroom for the three of us. With the thoughts to get up again at about half past 5 for sunrise at the monument, we got there at about eleven a.m.
The first impression from the outer complex is good, but I guess that having seen so many pics of the place and it being such a famous building, you expect more. And with this, I'm not saying it's a shitty thing, by no means, it's incredible.
It's white marble shinning under the midday sun is an impressive view from the distance as it is on a closer look. Its walls are all decorated with flowers and random intentioned lines and figures. A river runs at the back side providing an interesting view, and it is said to be very nice to see the Taj at the other riverbank.
Once inside though, it doesn't seem that big, but mainly because what's opened to the public is a very little space. Nevertheless, the beauty of its inner walls are comparable to the ones outside. Being such a touristic destination, you can find Indians as foreigners. The saris of Indian women make a perfect complement to the white structure.
However, so much tourism can be annoying for foreigners who constantly have to deal with locals wanting to be photographed with them. I said Dan would be useful, and as he drew all the attention, I did not have to be a tourist attraction. It feels strange to be a tourist attraction within one. We should get paid to get inside, instead of having to pay the huge amount of taxes. Getting into the Taj costs 750 Rs. Within this amount, 500 are taxes.
After tons of pictures of the Taj in all possible angles, we decided to head to Agra's Red Fort, which is supposed to be much nicer than the one in Delhi. And I have no idea if it is or not, as we had payed 750 for the Taj, we weren't happy to pay 300 more for the fort. So we headed back to the busy streets near the Taj letting time consume for catching the train to Jaipur, the Pink City.
The first impression from the outer complex is good, but I guess that having seen so many pics of the place and it being such a famous building, you expect more. And with this, I'm not saying it's a shitty thing, by no means, it's incredible.
It's white marble shinning under the midday sun is an impressive view from the distance as it is on a closer look. Its walls are all decorated with flowers and random intentioned lines and figures. A river runs at the back side providing an interesting view, and it is said to be very nice to see the Taj at the other riverbank.
Once inside though, it doesn't seem that big, but mainly because what's opened to the public is a very little space. Nevertheless, the beauty of its inner walls are comparable to the ones outside. Being such a touristic destination, you can find Indians as foreigners. The saris of Indian women make a perfect complement to the white structure.
However, so much tourism can be annoying for foreigners who constantly have to deal with locals wanting to be photographed with them. I said Dan would be useful, and as he drew all the attention, I did not have to be a tourist attraction. It feels strange to be a tourist attraction within one. We should get paid to get inside, instead of having to pay the huge amount of taxes. Getting into the Taj costs 750 Rs. Within this amount, 500 are taxes.
After tons of pictures of the Taj in all possible angles, we decided to head to Agra's Red Fort, which is supposed to be much nicer than the one in Delhi. And I have no idea if it is or not, as we had payed 750 for the Taj, we weren't happy to pay 300 more for the fort. So we headed back to the busy streets near the Taj letting time consume for catching the train to Jaipur, the Pink City.
Thursday, December 6, 2007
The appropriate route
As I wasn't going to Calcutta anymore, the most adequate route to follow down to Goa was heading to Agra first and then break through Rajasthan. While Charlotte as heading back to Mc Leod for her classes, Dan and Charlotte were planning to go to Rajasthan first. So on that basis we headed to the train station in order to book our tickets.
I was decided to go to Agra, and so my plan was to get a night train on that direction. Getting a night train would let me time to seek a cheap place to stay, see the city, and watch the sunset at the Taj Mahal. Dan and Charlotte reasoned on their own on where would their next stop be, getting to the conclusion that it seemed more practical to go to Agra first and then Rajasthan, and so, accompany me there.
To our surprise, there was no direct train to Agra until a couple of days, and the only possibility was to get to Delhi and try luck there. The available train to Delhi was early in the morning, which meant second day of waking up when the sun hadn't raised yet.
Once in Delhi, after a very uncomfortable and boring ride, we went straight to book the train to our desired destination. When doing so, Dan and Charlotte where decided to book a train to Jaipur for the next day from Agra, and asked me if I wanted to join them. They were planning to hire a jeep to travel around Rajasthan, and having me around would make it cheaper, and they would only have to look for one or two more people to go with us. I agreed, and that is really how our travels together started.
I was decided to go to Agra, and so my plan was to get a night train on that direction. Getting a night train would let me time to seek a cheap place to stay, see the city, and watch the sunset at the Taj Mahal. Dan and Charlotte reasoned on their own on where would their next stop be, getting to the conclusion that it seemed more practical to go to Agra first and then Rajasthan, and so, accompany me there.
To our surprise, there was no direct train to Agra until a couple of days, and the only possibility was to get to Delhi and try luck there. The available train to Delhi was early in the morning, which meant second day of waking up when the sun hadn't raised yet.
Once in Delhi, after a very uncomfortable and boring ride, we went straight to book the train to our desired destination. When doing so, Dan and Charlotte where decided to book a train to Jaipur for the next day from Agra, and asked me if I wanted to join them. They were planning to hire a jeep to travel around Rajasthan, and having me around would make it cheaper, and they would only have to look for one or two more people to go with us. I agreed, and that is really how our travels together started.
The closing border
My days of relax had definitely, momentarily finished, as in on day we left Mc Leod, got to Amritsar, saw the Golden Temple, Jallianwala Bagh (a small park where, in the nineteen hundreds, about 2000 Indians were killed and wounded while peacefully demonstrating against a law that allowed the British to imprison, without previous trials, Indians suspected of sedition), the closing border at Atari (Indian-Pakistan border), booked a train for the next day to Delhi, and saw the Golden Temple at night. But everything was worth it.
As I said, we had a rickshaw that would take us the 30km that separated Amritsar from the border to see the flamboyant spectacle of its closing ceremony. Fancy military suits on both sides, though I would stick to the Pakistani uniform, march from one side to another in strong gestures and a sense of pride.
But the show itself starts way far from the border, where buses, cars, taxis and rickshaws arrive letting a flow of Indians and foreign tourists. At both sides of the road you can get popcorn, peanuts and other snacks, drinks, etc. You get harassed by tons of kids trying to sell you postcards, DVD's and Indian flags. And once you're finally there, you actually feel like in a stadium, being seated in stands. The party has already began outside, but in there, Indians dance energetically to their rhythms while kids run up and down waving the national flag and the guards do warming up exercises. Everyone claps, sings and cheers to Hindustan, while foreigners watch stunned at the show.
A look at the other side of the border shows you the same kind of picture. And suddenly, everything starts.
Soldiers march toward the gates. Open them. Afterwards, officials meet and, energetically, shake hands, not knowing if it's just acting or if there is really a strong animosity between them. Soldiers keep on marching back and forth while trumpets sound from time to time. And finally, they lower their flags, slowly, slowly, so that neither flag is higher than the other, and so, ending the show.
But it will be back the next day.
As I said, we had a rickshaw that would take us the 30km that separated Amritsar from the border to see the flamboyant spectacle of its closing ceremony. Fancy military suits on both sides, though I would stick to the Pakistani uniform, march from one side to another in strong gestures and a sense of pride.
But the show itself starts way far from the border, where buses, cars, taxis and rickshaws arrive letting a flow of Indians and foreign tourists. At both sides of the road you can get popcorn, peanuts and other snacks, drinks, etc. You get harassed by tons of kids trying to sell you postcards, DVD's and Indian flags. And once you're finally there, you actually feel like in a stadium, being seated in stands. The party has already began outside, but in there, Indians dance energetically to their rhythms while kids run up and down waving the national flag and the guards do warming up exercises. Everyone claps, sings and cheers to Hindustan, while foreigners watch stunned at the show.
A look at the other side of the border shows you the same kind of picture. And suddenly, everything starts.
Soldiers march toward the gates. Open them. Afterwards, officials meet and, energetically, shake hands, not knowing if it's just acting or if there is really a strong animosity between them. Soldiers keep on marching back and forth while trumpets sound from time to time. And finally, they lower their flags, slowly, slowly, so that neither flag is higher than the other, and so, ending the show.
But it will be back the next day.
The Golden Temple
Got to Amritsar after a 6 hour bus ride from Lower Dharamsala. We had just stepped out of the bus when we were surrounded by by at least 8 Indians trying to get us by taxi to all the touristic places to visit. Dan, a tall thin, but well built, English fellow with blond dreads and hippy colorful clothes draw all the attention. This would turn out to be very good on the future.
He, actually, got us a pretty good deal on a taxi, though we refused the hotel they were going to get us in. However, the taxi turned out to a rickshaw. A big one, but still a rickshaw. One that would take ages to get to Atari and that would let us, so kindly, breath the fantastic air of a very polluted Amritsar. Not to say, freeze on the way back from Atari after seeing the closing border show at the border with Pakistan.
So we went to the Golden Temple of the Sikhs as our first stop to get a room and leave our bags, as you can stay in there for free. Sikhs are well known for helping the poor and anyone who needs it, so for that reason everything is free, though a donation is expected. On that basis, we got our dinner for free as well. Just some rice and dal, which was very good to consider that hundreds of people eat there everyday. After eating though, you may help on cleaning some dishes, which is actually very interesting and fun, interacting with the locals that are next to you.
The Golden Temple does receives its name with correctness. Totally yellow and shinny, it brights everything up with every ray of sun. It cries your attention far away from the main entrance dazzling in the middle of a holy artificial pond. A couple of stairs separates you from that holy experience which exclusive for Sikhs and tourists can't approach it. Carps , holy carps I reckon, swim peacefully in its waters while Sikhs take their holy baths as if washing out their sins.
When seen at a distance, your eyes marble at such construction, when you take a closer look, the details in its walls are even better. Details is what Indian architecture is all about. At night, the white marbles of the exterior complex turn to green, blue and pink, ad the Golden Temple acquires even more magnificence, shinning as much in the air as in the water that bath it.
And though all together is extremely beautiful, the amount of energy needed to maintain such beauty at night could probably feed hundreds of people. Four big lights focus the big temple at its four sides, making it shine more spectacularly than during the day. And on this reasoning, I don't even think about all the other lights that color up the rest of the complex, or the speakers that go on none rest all day with prayers and prayers. I guess then, that such magnificence must be over any other essential human need, not only for its beauty but for its religious connotations. After all, all religions are the same.
However, I would not like to be too harsh on the Sikh community, as they really do give shelter and food to many people, even to foreigners like me unable to understand their religious praxis. After all, the same comparison can be made with Times Square or Piccadilly Circus, and nothing is given in exchange to all the homeless that are seen more as a problem than as a way to help.
And so, to their honorable cause, for a free stay and a free meal, I donated 100 Rs, which is not much, but it might help to keep that Golden hope of food and warmth.
He, actually, got us a pretty good deal on a taxi, though we refused the hotel they were going to get us in. However, the taxi turned out to a rickshaw. A big one, but still a rickshaw. One that would take ages to get to Atari and that would let us, so kindly, breath the fantastic air of a very polluted Amritsar. Not to say, freeze on the way back from Atari after seeing the closing border show at the border with Pakistan.
So we went to the Golden Temple of the Sikhs as our first stop to get a room and leave our bags, as you can stay in there for free. Sikhs are well known for helping the poor and anyone who needs it, so for that reason everything is free, though a donation is expected. On that basis, we got our dinner for free as well. Just some rice and dal, which was very good to consider that hundreds of people eat there everyday. After eating though, you may help on cleaning some dishes, which is actually very interesting and fun, interacting with the locals that are next to you.
The Golden Temple does receives its name with correctness. Totally yellow and shinny, it brights everything up with every ray of sun. It cries your attention far away from the main entrance dazzling in the middle of a holy artificial pond. A couple of stairs separates you from that holy experience which exclusive for Sikhs and tourists can't approach it. Carps , holy carps I reckon, swim peacefully in its waters while Sikhs take their holy baths as if washing out their sins.
When seen at a distance, your eyes marble at such construction, when you take a closer look, the details in its walls are even better. Details is what Indian architecture is all about. At night, the white marbles of the exterior complex turn to green, blue and pink, ad the Golden Temple acquires even more magnificence, shinning as much in the air as in the water that bath it.
And though all together is extremely beautiful, the amount of energy needed to maintain such beauty at night could probably feed hundreds of people. Four big lights focus the big temple at its four sides, making it shine more spectacularly than during the day. And on this reasoning, I don't even think about all the other lights that color up the rest of the complex, or the speakers that go on none rest all day with prayers and prayers. I guess then, that such magnificence must be over any other essential human need, not only for its beauty but for its religious connotations. After all, all religions are the same.
However, I would not like to be too harsh on the Sikh community, as they really do give shelter and food to many people, even to foreigners like me unable to understand their religious praxis. After all, the same comparison can be made with Times Square or Piccadilly Circus, and nothing is given in exchange to all the homeless that are seen more as a problem than as a way to help.
And so, to their honorable cause, for a free stay and a free meal, I donated 100 Rs, which is not much, but it might help to keep that Golden hope of food and warmth.
Leaving Mc Leod
I was totally decided to leave Mc Leod on a Monday towards Amritsar, but fortune seemed to want to twist things up a bit. So while drinking a beer at Carpe Diem on Friday, I learned that Charlotte and Dan were also heading there, but on Sunday. Deciding whether to go with them or not seemed alike a lot of pressure after such a relaxed time, and I was waiting to know if I could meet with the people of Ecotibet or not during the weekend. And for that I needed to find Eleanor. And so happened that same evening I met with her and managed to sort things out. Ecotibet did not opened on weekends. So an unexpected goodbye party with Clare, Matt, Frank and Charlotte (the other one) was about to go on at the pool place, when it turned out that Charlotte and Dan weren't leaving on Sunday anymore, but on Monday.
I must say that this caused an intense shock on the other Charlotte and me. On her, because I had convinced her to come with us while listening to a band at Jimmy's Italian Restaurant. It wasn't really hard as she was planning to go there anyway on a day and a half trip, going back to Mc Leod to keep on with her English classes with Tibetans. So leaving on Sunday was good for her as she could be back on Monday, and so keep on with the classes.
It shocked me, as I had my mind already focused on leaving that day, and didn't really know how to spend that last Sunday, which I spent hanging around with Clare, Matt and Charlotte, and even went to see a movie.
I've got to realize that making decisions on where to go next and when, while travelling on a long term plan, can get very hard, not necessarily depending on if the previous place is really nice or not, it's just that there are so many things to see, you ain't going to get the chance to see everything. So you want to have a good time, see as much and the best. The amount of pressure this is turns unbearable when things go wrong, and people get on very bad moods. This happens because people focus only on the bad things that surround them, not being able to look at the little good experiences, and how a wrong twist of events can let you learn more than if everything went right. I think it's unbearable in an exciting way, cause it's much more interesting to let go and not commit to anything, specially in a place like India.
So as I saw it, I had more time to spend with the new friends and had a very good Sunday. And finally left as planned on the first place.
I must say that this caused an intense shock on the other Charlotte and me. On her, because I had convinced her to come with us while listening to a band at Jimmy's Italian Restaurant. It wasn't really hard as she was planning to go there anyway on a day and a half trip, going back to Mc Leod to keep on with her English classes with Tibetans. So leaving on Sunday was good for her as she could be back on Monday, and so keep on with the classes.
It shocked me, as I had my mind already focused on leaving that day, and didn't really know how to spend that last Sunday, which I spent hanging around with Clare, Matt and Charlotte, and even went to see a movie.
I've got to realize that making decisions on where to go next and when, while travelling on a long term plan, can get very hard, not necessarily depending on if the previous place is really nice or not, it's just that there are so many things to see, you ain't going to get the chance to see everything. So you want to have a good time, see as much and the best. The amount of pressure this is turns unbearable when things go wrong, and people get on very bad moods. This happens because people focus only on the bad things that surround them, not being able to look at the little good experiences, and how a wrong twist of events can let you learn more than if everything went right. I think it's unbearable in an exciting way, cause it's much more interesting to let go and not commit to anything, specially in a place like India.
So as I saw it, I had more time to spend with the new friends and had a very good Sunday. And finally left as planned on the first place.
Sunday, November 25, 2007
Bar fight
Another relaxing night at Carpe Diem, chilling out pretty nice with Eleanor, Clare, Charlotte's, Matt and Eddie. Suddenly, a great noise from behind, a glass breaking. Ady had brought this Tibetan guy to the bar, with the condition they would leave early, as the Nepali's had warned him about the guy.
From nowhere appears one of the owners, this little guy always smiling, with no smile in his face, and smacks the Tibetans face twice. Not having enough, he decides to give him a good kick in the back. To this, Ady stands up for the guy claiming you can't hit someone when he is already in the floor. Meanwhile, the drunk Tibetan guy manages with help from other costumers to stand up, falling everytime he was left alone. Ady is on a strong discussion with the two owners while the other costumers get the Tibetan guy out of the place.
At this point, Ady has gained all the attention arguing about how they shouldn't hit people when they are on the floor. Though the owner had hit the drunkard on the back, Ady claimed it had been on the head. And so everything got even worse when Shambo, the musician got in the middle and threatened Ady with a knife he didn't even had. A notice must be said, that Ady was big enough to kick everyone asses in that bar, specially the Nepali guys who were specially small.
At the threat, Ady rage grew even more trying to take Shambo outside. The scare face of that Nepali was a poem. And obviously, everyone tried to avoid him going downstairs or Ady approaching him. At some point, some of the westerners joined into the discussion with no success in calming Ady down.
But the most hilarious part of the night was when this woman who, later on we knew, had been living in Mc Leod for ten years appeared from no where to calm everyone and settle the discussion once and for all.
At the end, we were all kicked out of the place, kindly of course, and so we all left, leaving Ady inside. It was pretty clear Ady had no intention whatsoever of starting a fight, but he was the only one in the bar who had stand up for the unnecessary violence. Besides, not only the westerners would not let Ady start a fight, but though he seemed pretty strong, and, actually, he is a big guy, there were at least 8 little Nepali guys working in that place.
At this point, I think I must make clear a couple of things. We are in India, and with such violence is how people are treated when doing something wrong. On the other hand, Ady had been acting as a prick all the week, and so, everyone thought he was one, and did not understood his point of view, and all the attitude about it.
To make the story short, finally we left to accompany Eleanor to her place, and in the floor, eyes wide opened we found the Tibetan guy. We tried to get him to his place, but no one knew where he lived, and to tell you the truth, fuck him! So we left him at some stairs, from which he stood up, and fall again, and there he stayed, at least for a while, because on our way back he was there no more.
Exciting night I must say, but I couldn't finish my beer!
From nowhere appears one of the owners, this little guy always smiling, with no smile in his face, and smacks the Tibetans face twice. Not having enough, he decides to give him a good kick in the back. To this, Ady stands up for the guy claiming you can't hit someone when he is already in the floor. Meanwhile, the drunk Tibetan guy manages with help from other costumers to stand up, falling everytime he was left alone. Ady is on a strong discussion with the two owners while the other costumers get the Tibetan guy out of the place.
At this point, Ady has gained all the attention arguing about how they shouldn't hit people when they are on the floor. Though the owner had hit the drunkard on the back, Ady claimed it had been on the head. And so everything got even worse when Shambo, the musician got in the middle and threatened Ady with a knife he didn't even had. A notice must be said, that Ady was big enough to kick everyone asses in that bar, specially the Nepali guys who were specially small.
At the threat, Ady rage grew even more trying to take Shambo outside. The scare face of that Nepali was a poem. And obviously, everyone tried to avoid him going downstairs or Ady approaching him. At some point, some of the westerners joined into the discussion with no success in calming Ady down.
But the most hilarious part of the night was when this woman who, later on we knew, had been living in Mc Leod for ten years appeared from no where to calm everyone and settle the discussion once and for all.
At the end, we were all kicked out of the place, kindly of course, and so we all left, leaving Ady inside. It was pretty clear Ady had no intention whatsoever of starting a fight, but he was the only one in the bar who had stand up for the unnecessary violence. Besides, not only the westerners would not let Ady start a fight, but though he seemed pretty strong, and, actually, he is a big guy, there were at least 8 little Nepali guys working in that place.
At this point, I think I must make clear a couple of things. We are in India, and with such violence is how people are treated when doing something wrong. On the other hand, Ady had been acting as a prick all the week, and so, everyone thought he was one, and did not understood his point of view, and all the attitude about it.
To make the story short, finally we left to accompany Eleanor to her place, and in the floor, eyes wide opened we found the Tibetan guy. We tried to get him to his place, but no one knew where he lived, and to tell you the truth, fuck him! So we left him at some stairs, from which he stood up, and fall again, and there he stayed, at least for a while, because on our way back he was there no more.
Exciting night I must say, but I couldn't finish my beer!
Conversation classes
The Irish should have departed on a Sunday, but they didn't. So they decided to leave on Monday, but they didn't. This day, as I was going to met them at their place, I got distracted with what was going on right next to their hotel. As I was looking over the fence, this Swedish guy, Robert, approached me and explained everything about the conversation classes with Tibetan people, which I found interesting and decided to join and meet with the Irish later on. The story was to talk with a group of Tibetans, whose amount depended on the number of volunteers available, but it was usually from 3 to 5. You could talk about anything, the weather, the family, life, anything. Nevertheless, in my case, most of the days we always ended up talking about the Tibetan problem.
As you may all know, or not, Tibet was invaded by China in 1959, and the government, as well as monks, as the Dalai Lama, searched exile in India. Since then, they have been fighting with peaceful weapons to FREE TIBET. More of this, you'll find on the internet and history books.
Going back to conversation classes, you got the opportunity to talk with many different kind of Tibetans. From monks to very shy girls. Their level of English also varied, and so you had to search for conversations everyone would understand. Though you had constantly work on getting everyone to speak.
Learning about the Tibet situation, and how do they manage their lives has been very inspiring. Overall, their faces of gratitude after each hour class, from 17:30 to 18:30 was the most fulfilling. I got to do conversation classes from that first Monday till the end of week, Friday, not wanting to miss any day and regretting not starting doing this classes since I got to Mac Leod.
As I said, these 5 days were very inspiring. I lately claimed not to be a person done for volunteering with people, I did not search this on my travels through India and the world, but doing this has meant a deal of a change on this point of view. I even made a Tibetan friend with whom now I send emails. Unfortunately, she has had to go back to Tibet for reasons I don't know, and so her purpose for being in Dharamsala learning English has momentarily vanished. I hope for her all the best.
Just to leave you all with the thought before finishing this post, monks, and I would say many other Tibetans, have to walk during 40 to 50 days to get to India from Tibet as they are not allowed to have passports. They have to avoid guards as going in or out of the country, not to mention all other prohibitions they must have in their country.
Many movies have been done on this issue, the best known being "Seven years in Tibet", with well known Brad Pitt and the latest, probably "Dreaming Lhasa". But I would say none has or will have the impact needed so that the whole world stands up for a FREE TIBET.
As you may all know, or not, Tibet was invaded by China in 1959, and the government, as well as monks, as the Dalai Lama, searched exile in India. Since then, they have been fighting with peaceful weapons to FREE TIBET. More of this, you'll find on the internet and history books.
Going back to conversation classes, you got the opportunity to talk with many different kind of Tibetans. From monks to very shy girls. Their level of English also varied, and so you had to search for conversations everyone would understand. Though you had constantly work on getting everyone to speak.
Learning about the Tibet situation, and how do they manage their lives has been very inspiring. Overall, their faces of gratitude after each hour class, from 17:30 to 18:30 was the most fulfilling. I got to do conversation classes from that first Monday till the end of week, Friday, not wanting to miss any day and regretting not starting doing this classes since I got to Mac Leod.
As I said, these 5 days were very inspiring. I lately claimed not to be a person done for volunteering with people, I did not search this on my travels through India and the world, but doing this has meant a deal of a change on this point of view. I even made a Tibetan friend with whom now I send emails. Unfortunately, she has had to go back to Tibet for reasons I don't know, and so her purpose for being in Dharamsala learning English has momentarily vanished. I hope for her all the best.
Just to leave you all with the thought before finishing this post, monks, and I would say many other Tibetans, have to walk during 40 to 50 days to get to India from Tibet as they are not allowed to have passports. They have to avoid guards as going in or out of the country, not to mention all other prohibitions they must have in their country.
Many movies have been done on this issue, the best known being "Seven years in Tibet", with well known Brad Pitt and the latest, probably "Dreaming Lhasa". But I would say none has or will have the impact needed so that the whole world stands up for a FREE TIBET.
Carpe Diem
After my last post, I think a proper introduction to this place should be made. I talked about Carpe Diem before though, but now I'll introduce you to its everyday nights.
My last week meant spending all the nights in here. Beer, generally good food and good music are the most attractive qualities of this local. It's run by Nepali guys, some of whom might get a bit too permissive with girls. However, they are very friendly, always trying to remember your name and always remembering your face, ready to say hi and make your stay comfortable.
On Thursdays there was always a jam session where anyone could play. I got to see two of these sessions, and though Shambo and Rohan played most of the songs, sometimes foreigners joined. And here is were I'll talk about Allister. A brit guy that seem to be everywhere. He had this awful mohawk and explained this fantastic stories which no one believed. On his turn at the Jam session, and any time he had the opportunity to do so, he played this horrible song about killing a judge and raping his wife. Not to say he was out of place most of the times, I was lucky enough not to have to talk with him personally. Bad luck for the Irish, as he had asked them if he could travel with them to Manali, and Jamie, very carefully diverted the conversation into something else. However, there he was!
Again with Carpe Diem, the rest of the nights were basically spent around a fire on the rooftop listening to the same music again and again. I must say, I started to hate Coldplay and Bob Marley, the hits of the Nepali guys.
However, it was a good place to meet people and chill out for a while. If you were not interested in the music, you could just chill out in the cushions on the roof top.
My last week meant spending all the nights in here. Beer, generally good food and good music are the most attractive qualities of this local. It's run by Nepali guys, some of whom might get a bit too permissive with girls. However, they are very friendly, always trying to remember your name and always remembering your face, ready to say hi and make your stay comfortable.
On Thursdays there was always a jam session where anyone could play. I got to see two of these sessions, and though Shambo and Rohan played most of the songs, sometimes foreigners joined. And here is were I'll talk about Allister. A brit guy that seem to be everywhere. He had this awful mohawk and explained this fantastic stories which no one believed. On his turn at the Jam session, and any time he had the opportunity to do so, he played this horrible song about killing a judge and raping his wife. Not to say he was out of place most of the times, I was lucky enough not to have to talk with him personally. Bad luck for the Irish, as he had asked them if he could travel with them to Manali, and Jamie, very carefully diverted the conversation into something else. However, there he was!
Again with Carpe Diem, the rest of the nights were basically spent around a fire on the rooftop listening to the same music again and again. I must say, I started to hate Coldplay and Bob Marley, the hits of the Nepali guys.
However, it was a good place to meet people and chill out for a while. If you were not interested in the music, you could just chill out in the cushions on the roof top.
Irish Departure
On the third try, Jamie, Hugh and Carol managed to leave towards Manali for the harvest season. Surpringsingly, later I knew Allister also went there, though he'll be properly introduced later on.
So there I was again, left alone with a bunch of new people to get acquainted with. I'll start with Clare, a sweet kiwi girl I had met on the conversation classes, which I'll also talk about later. It was hard to understand her, and Frank and I used to make fun about it, as he is German and had as much difficulty on that subject as I did. However, she took it very well, and we had much fun together.
Matt and Gillian, brother and sister, are a couple of very nice brits traveling together for the first time, almost by chance. It was also very difficult to get everything Matt said, so I used to laugh or nod to what he said though I had no clue what it was he was talking about. As he said, he had a crap English, and I must agree on that. However we understood each other pretty well and hang around together along with Clare pretty often.
Eleanor turned out to be a very useful brit, as she got me the contact of ecotibet.org, an NGO from Tibet which I was supposed to meet, but at the end... "Welcome to India". At the end I send them an email, but have had no response whatsoever.
Eddie stayed at my hotel. He used to hang out with Nico and an Argentine couple until all 3 got into a meditation retreat for 5 days. That is, staying in confine without a word, a smile, a look, a smoke, or any kind of thoughts, as you're supposed to be meditating. So, complete silence. Going back to Eddie, I must say he is a very cool guy, with very good hash!
Bikers Ady and Phill were to hell of characters. Totally opposite to each other, Phill was a very peaceful guy with a sunburned funny face, always smiling, whereas Ady used to act as a total prick, though I must admit it was funny most of the times. However, I got to meet in the morning when he wasn't too stoned yet, and I must say he did seem like a nice guy. So I presume he was just acting and making fun about everything, though sometimes it could be seen as disgusting. But Ady has owns post for himself later on.
Charlotte, another London girl, who seemed to know everyone. You couldn't walk with her without constantly stopping to chat with this monk or this Indian fellow. She reminded me of someone, for some reason...
Other people were around as well, but I shall finish this intro with Charlotte (another one) and Dan. Charlotte, I had met her as well at the conversation classes, though she did not remember about that hours later. So we got to know each other, as it could not be in any other way, at Carpe Diem. I had hardly seen Dan as he got sick and spent most of his time in his room and used to go to bed very early, but they play an important on my traveling role later on.
So I managed to keep with good company after all, and once again I thank Debbie letting me out of her company.
So there I was again, left alone with a bunch of new people to get acquainted with. I'll start with Clare, a sweet kiwi girl I had met on the conversation classes, which I'll also talk about later. It was hard to understand her, and Frank and I used to make fun about it, as he is German and had as much difficulty on that subject as I did. However, she took it very well, and we had much fun together.
Matt and Gillian, brother and sister, are a couple of very nice brits traveling together for the first time, almost by chance. It was also very difficult to get everything Matt said, so I used to laugh or nod to what he said though I had no clue what it was he was talking about. As he said, he had a crap English, and I must agree on that. However we understood each other pretty well and hang around together along with Clare pretty often.
Eleanor turned out to be a very useful brit, as she got me the contact of ecotibet.org, an NGO from Tibet which I was supposed to meet, but at the end... "Welcome to India". At the end I send them an email, but have had no response whatsoever.
Eddie stayed at my hotel. He used to hang out with Nico and an Argentine couple until all 3 got into a meditation retreat for 5 days. That is, staying in confine without a word, a smile, a look, a smoke, or any kind of thoughts, as you're supposed to be meditating. So, complete silence. Going back to Eddie, I must say he is a very cool guy, with very good hash!
Bikers Ady and Phill were to hell of characters. Totally opposite to each other, Phill was a very peaceful guy with a sunburned funny face, always smiling, whereas Ady used to act as a total prick, though I must admit it was funny most of the times. However, I got to meet in the morning when he wasn't too stoned yet, and I must say he did seem like a nice guy. So I presume he was just acting and making fun about everything, though sometimes it could be seen as disgusting. But Ady has owns post for himself later on.
Charlotte, another London girl, who seemed to know everyone. You couldn't walk with her without constantly stopping to chat with this monk or this Indian fellow. She reminded me of someone, for some reason...
Other people were around as well, but I shall finish this intro with Charlotte (another one) and Dan. Charlotte, I had met her as well at the conversation classes, though she did not remember about that hours later. So we got to know each other, as it could not be in any other way, at Carpe Diem. I had hardly seen Dan as he got sick and spent most of his time in his room and used to go to bed very early, but they play an important on my traveling role later on.
So I managed to keep with good company after all, and once again I thank Debbie letting me out of her company.
Sunday, November 11, 2007
Hindi
And I thought I had been loosing my time with those german classes back in Spain. It turns out that Hindi is very similar to german, at least in gramatics, phrase structure and it's simplicity. Yes, you decline, yes, you put the verbs at the end, and yes, it's not too complicated to make up the sentences together, as you don't use all the prepositions, and many words are included already, depending in how you declilne the verb, as for example, please.
My teacher, Surinder, former manager of a hotel nearby mine, makes it quite easy to get the hang of it pretty quickly. So it's not really difficult to makes sentences, apart from having to learn new words. Which at my age, it's not so amusing.
But the most entertaining of Hindi is writting in its symbols. Harder it is to read from them. There doesn't seem to be an exclusive way of writing.
Bad me milenge! (There should be a slash on top of the first A and a dot on top of the N at milenge)
My teacher, Surinder, former manager of a hotel nearby mine, makes it quite easy to get the hang of it pretty quickly. So it's not really difficult to makes sentences, apart from having to learn new words. Which at my age, it's not so amusing.
But the most entertaining of Hindi is writting in its symbols. Harder it is to read from them. There doesn't seem to be an exclusive way of writing.
Bad me milenge! (There should be a slash on top of the first A and a dot on top of the N at milenge)
Deceiving massage course
As I've said so many times, you can't always be too cheap. Yes, sometimes, being expensive, might end up being usefull. I rejected a 2500 Rs. Ayurvedic massage course cause I thought it was too expensive, as the rest costed about 2000 Rs.
The added problem of finding the places announced here in Mc Leod Ganj, made me consider getting the massage course at Synergy. There, the massage teacher, Pinky, would show me the secrets of an Ayurvedic massage, so popular here in India.
However, it turned out the first day, I had nobody to practice with. And they weren't very enthusiasthic to provide me with such an important part of the course. First of all, I should have asked, I entone here the "mea culpa", however, knowing that so many people travel alone in India, they should probably advise you on this matter. But let us not forget, I'm in India!
So I turned out with a provisional solution for my second class. In the first one, I got to practice with Pinky's feet, as she would not let me practice with her head or her shoulders. Understandable, notting, I'm in India! So Karol, an Irish girl travelling with Jammie and Hugh, offered herself to be my massage model for the next class. but that would only be for the next class, as they intendet to depart in the following days. Got to practice head and shoulders and legs.
And next, I qoute Pinky's words: "Tomorrow is your free day, I'll see you the day after tomorrow at 11 a.m.". Note that tomorrow was the Diwali festival, so it seemed reasonable they would not open.
It would have seemed I was lucky, as Karol was still around on the stated date, though to my surprise and hers, the center was closed.
I hadn't been very happy with the second class anyway, as Pinky wasn't very helpfull, nor intented to be much, so I decided I would not waste more money on this for the time being, and so I stated this to her when she called me this morning to notify me that she was waitting for me for the course.
So that has probably been the most useless 1000 Rs I've wasted in India so far. Let me hope for being more brighter in making questions the next time.
Always something to learn from your mistakes...
The added problem of finding the places announced here in Mc Leod Ganj, made me consider getting the massage course at Synergy. There, the massage teacher, Pinky, would show me the secrets of an Ayurvedic massage, so popular here in India.
However, it turned out the first day, I had nobody to practice with. And they weren't very enthusiasthic to provide me with such an important part of the course. First of all, I should have asked, I entone here the "mea culpa", however, knowing that so many people travel alone in India, they should probably advise you on this matter. But let us not forget, I'm in India!
So I turned out with a provisional solution for my second class. In the first one, I got to practice with Pinky's feet, as she would not let me practice with her head or her shoulders. Understandable, notting, I'm in India! So Karol, an Irish girl travelling with Jammie and Hugh, offered herself to be my massage model for the next class. but that would only be for the next class, as they intendet to depart in the following days. Got to practice head and shoulders and legs.
And next, I qoute Pinky's words: "Tomorrow is your free day, I'll see you the day after tomorrow at 11 a.m.". Note that tomorrow was the Diwali festival, so it seemed reasonable they would not open.
It would have seemed I was lucky, as Karol was still around on the stated date, though to my surprise and hers, the center was closed.
I hadn't been very happy with the second class anyway, as Pinky wasn't very helpfull, nor intented to be much, so I decided I would not waste more money on this for the time being, and so I stated this to her when she called me this morning to notify me that she was waitting for me for the course.
So that has probably been the most useless 1000 Rs I've wasted in India so far. Let me hope for being more brighter in making questions the next time.
Always something to learn from your mistakes...
Friday, November 9, 2007
Teachings and Diwali
So today is a day full of things going on in Mc Leod Ganj. Not only the Dalai Lama is giving teachings, but it's the Diwali festival, supposedly the most glamorous festival in India. Info is though, that here in Mc Leod Ganj is not that nice. People just get drunk and throw firecrackers.
About the teachings, they run til sunday I think, when the Dalai Lama blesses those who go there. I'm not going neither to the teachings nor the blessing. And I must state here my total dissapointment with His Holiness receiving the golden medal of the US Congress. Well, I must clarify myself. I don't mean he doesn't deserve it, he obviously has done his best for the Freedom of Tibet, but isn't accepting a reward from a country that promotes war in the name of oil and other natural resources a bit hypocritical? And besides, such a wise man should know it's in the US best interested to maintain the tension with China, specially now that they are going to have to deal with the olimpics. And besides, if your final goal is to free Tibet, what's the point in challenging China by receiving such an award from the US? Or perhaps, His Holiness has forgotten what is his mission as the Dalai Lama? Let's not forget he is just a man carrying within himself a symbol for Buddhism. He is as Holy as his 13 predecessors, and he is known better than the rest because he has had to deal, in a very good way, so far, with exile. But I don't want to extend myself on this matter more than needed.
About the Diwali festival, it means Array of Lamps. Therefor, it's a festival of lights that symbolizes the victory of the righteous and the lifting of spiritual darkness. It represents therefor, the victory of good over evil.
I say, I'm in the wost part of India to see this festival, and most probably Rishikesh would be a great place to see it in all it's magnificence. But that will have to rest till some other time in the journey.
About the teachings, they run til sunday I think, when the Dalai Lama blesses those who go there. I'm not going neither to the teachings nor the blessing. And I must state here my total dissapointment with His Holiness receiving the golden medal of the US Congress. Well, I must clarify myself. I don't mean he doesn't deserve it, he obviously has done his best for the Freedom of Tibet, but isn't accepting a reward from a country that promotes war in the name of oil and other natural resources a bit hypocritical? And besides, such a wise man should know it's in the US best interested to maintain the tension with China, specially now that they are going to have to deal with the olimpics. And besides, if your final goal is to free Tibet, what's the point in challenging China by receiving such an award from the US? Or perhaps, His Holiness has forgotten what is his mission as the Dalai Lama? Let's not forget he is just a man carrying within himself a symbol for Buddhism. He is as Holy as his 13 predecessors, and he is known better than the rest because he has had to deal, in a very good way, so far, with exile. But I don't want to extend myself on this matter more than needed.
About the Diwali festival, it means Array of Lamps. Therefor, it's a festival of lights that symbolizes the victory of the righteous and the lifting of spiritual darkness. It represents therefor, the victory of good over evil.
I say, I'm in the wost part of India to see this festival, and most probably Rishikesh would be a great place to see it in all it's magnificence. But that will have to rest till some other time in the journey.
Thursday, November 8, 2007
Plain toast
Plain toast and black tea without sugar, that's what I've been eating for the past two days. And yes, it's the best way to loose weight. I definately feel much thinner.
So everything started 3 nights ago when I woke up at something past 12 with an urgent sensation on throwing up. And shit did I throw up. I had to get up from bed at least three times to do so. The last time, the worst, as this brownish fluid came out hell knows from where!! I guess that must've been the bile.
The first time though, was even worse. I didn't get in time to the toilet so all the bathroom floor was a total mess, and so were my pants and feet. So after uncomfortably throwing up, I had to clean all the bathroom with cold water. As it wasn't cold enough in the room. (To remind you all, I'm at about 1900 meters of altitude and there are no heaters in the rooms.)
I had to miss my hindi class the following day, and had to make the effort to go till the massage course to ask if I could start the next day as their phones didn't seem to work.
So though my stomach is still painful from all the throwing up, and still not in a great mood for big stuff food, I'm still controlling what I eat, but definately giving it more and more everyday.
I'm so fucking hungry!!
So everything started 3 nights ago when I woke up at something past 12 with an urgent sensation on throwing up. And shit did I throw up. I had to get up from bed at least three times to do so. The last time, the worst, as this brownish fluid came out hell knows from where!! I guess that must've been the bile.
The first time though, was even worse. I didn't get in time to the toilet so all the bathroom floor was a total mess, and so were my pants and feet. So after uncomfortably throwing up, I had to clean all the bathroom with cold water. As it wasn't cold enough in the room. (To remind you all, I'm at about 1900 meters of altitude and there are no heaters in the rooms.)
I had to miss my hindi class the following day, and had to make the effort to go till the massage course to ask if I could start the next day as their phones didn't seem to work.
So though my stomach is still painful from all the throwing up, and still not in a great mood for big stuff food, I'm still controlling what I eat, but definately giving it more and more everyday.
I'm so fucking hungry!!
Sunday, November 4, 2007
His Holiness, the Nobel Peace Prize winner, the 14th Dalai Lama
13 hours: We get to this little cafe in the Temple Road to wait for his Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama, who was comming back home.
14 hours: Had some drinks and biscuits and we got very good seats next to the road. But boredom and buddhist monks were taking us from from our priviledged spot little by little.
Nothing to do but make pictures and pictures of the people around, the monks all lined up with their red and orange tunics, and incense everywhere purifying the atmosphere, so we decided to go for another tea, when suddenly everyone stands up and an intense excitement fills the streets invading us all.
False alarm.
16 hours: Everyone gets ready. the smell of incense is stronger than ever fullfilling our nostrils till saturation. More pictures, this time about monks with their hats on. However, still more waiting, every minute it passed getting more impatient, not to see Him, but to get out of there.
Everyone, camera on hand, ready, fingers trembling to get the shot in that precise moment when the Dalai Lama would appear. You could hear the committee of expensive jeeps aproaching. And in a sudden, he appears, smile in his face, hands opened...What the fuck!!! Only with a polarizer on your camera would you be able to get a decent picture of him.
But we saw Him, everyone did, everyone was happy, they got to worship his holiness, the Nobel Peace Prize winner, the 14th Dalai Lama.
14 hours: Had some drinks and biscuits and we got very good seats next to the road. But boredom and buddhist monks were taking us from from our priviledged spot little by little.
Nothing to do but make pictures and pictures of the people around, the monks all lined up with their red and orange tunics, and incense everywhere purifying the atmosphere, so we decided to go for another tea, when suddenly everyone stands up and an intense excitement fills the streets invading us all.
False alarm.
16 hours: Everyone gets ready. the smell of incense is stronger than ever fullfilling our nostrils till saturation. More pictures, this time about monks with their hats on. However, still more waiting, every minute it passed getting more impatient, not to see Him, but to get out of there.
Everyone, camera on hand, ready, fingers trembling to get the shot in that precise moment when the Dalai Lama would appear. You could hear the committee of expensive jeeps aproaching. And in a sudden, he appears, smile in his face, hands opened...What the fuck!!! Only with a polarizer on your camera would you be able to get a decent picture of him.
But we saw Him, everyone did, everyone was happy, they got to worship his holiness, the Nobel Peace Prize winner, the 14th Dalai Lama.
Personal thoughts III
India surprises you in all kind of ways. By it's pushy people trying to rip you off, by the different kind of people you keep on encountering, by the so many kind of tourism you can practice, by it's food, by it's sights, by everything...
However, I'm starting to get the hang out of India, or that's what I think.
Travelling and seeing places doesn't seem as important now. Once I got my thoughts together, I realized I wasn't going to be seeing it all. It looks more interesting to stay in places for some time, meet people, foreigners, indians, nepalies, whatsoever. Learn things as their language, their music, anything that takes you a bit closer to their culture. Consequently, getting to know the country a littble bit better.
I started my trip thinking what the fuck was I doing in India, now, I'm already thinking in comming back.
However, I'm starting to get the hang out of India, or that's what I think.
Travelling and seeing places doesn't seem as important now. Once I got my thoughts together, I realized I wasn't going to be seeing it all. It looks more interesting to stay in places for some time, meet people, foreigners, indians, nepalies, whatsoever. Learn things as their language, their music, anything that takes you a bit closer to their culture. Consequently, getting to know the country a littble bit better.
I started my trip thinking what the fuck was I doing in India, now, I'm already thinking in comming back.
Mc Leod Ganj
Home of the 14th Dalai Lama, it's full of tibetans, buddhists, nepalies, indians and tourist from around the world. A drawn Shiva in a lesbian encounter on a wall of a bar with Nepali guys playing Radiohead gives a vague idea of where you are, as it doesn't seem to correlate correctly with buddhist lifestyle.
Got at Dharamsala, town south of Mc Leod Ganj, at 5:30 am, amazingly, 2 hours ahead of the supposed schedule. That was really annoying as there was no transport to Mc Leod until 7:30 am. While at the canteen we met a french woman who told us about a jeep, that would cost the same as the bus and would take us to Mc Leod, departing at 6:30 am. Anyway, I'm seriously thinking on not travelling on a night bus again. With such bad roads, it's just impossible to sleep. However, Indians seem to make it.
After some sleeping in the Mount View Hotel, we headed towards Bhagsu, a small place full of guest houses and places to drink and eat. Nearby though, there's a waterfall, were people go to do some washing, read, and rest. There we met Hugh and Jammie, two irish guys who turned out to be very fun, though sometimes you just can't understand what the fuck they're saying as they speak so fast!
A Buddhist temple, the Dal lake or going to Triump are other possible choices to entertain yourself in the city, as as in Rishikesh, there isn't much to do, other than doing yoga, or a very wide choice of courses, from learning Hindi to breakdancing. Otherwise, you can go on a trek, but I've had enough of that for the moment being.
Got at Dharamsala, town south of Mc Leod Ganj, at 5:30 am, amazingly, 2 hours ahead of the supposed schedule. That was really annoying as there was no transport to Mc Leod until 7:30 am. While at the canteen we met a french woman who told us about a jeep, that would cost the same as the bus and would take us to Mc Leod, departing at 6:30 am. Anyway, I'm seriously thinking on not travelling on a night bus again. With such bad roads, it's just impossible to sleep. However, Indians seem to make it.
After some sleeping in the Mount View Hotel, we headed towards Bhagsu, a small place full of guest houses and places to drink and eat. Nearby though, there's a waterfall, were people go to do some washing, read, and rest. There we met Hugh and Jammie, two irish guys who turned out to be very fun, though sometimes you just can't understand what the fuck they're saying as they speak so fast!
A Buddhist temple, the Dal lake or going to Triump are other possible choices to entertain yourself in the city, as as in Rishikesh, there isn't much to do, other than doing yoga, or a very wide choice of courses, from learning Hindi to breakdancing. Otherwise, you can go on a trek, but I've had enough of that for the moment being.
Changing partner
Surrounded with so many people and no place where to hide, except her room, Debbie was growing uncomfortable and uncomfortable everyday. She said she wanted to travel alone and do her way, so I had to think on something. We were both heading to Dharamsala, but I didn't want to bother her any more by travelling with her, so I didn't know what to do.
Fortunately, Anat, an israeli girl who was travelling on herself wanted to go to the same place, but she had to go to Shimla first. That meant a lot of travelling, as it was to go backwards, whereas from Tattapani there was a bus that gets you to Mandi and there you could get a bus to Dharamsala. I didn't know what to do, so I hadn't even asked for bus schedules. So the day I was planning to leave, one way or other, everything came easy, the bus to Mandi had left at 6:30 am, so the obvious option to follow was to go to Shimla and there get a night bus to Dharamsala.
And so, I left Debbie in Tattapani with the israeli people, and started a new trip with a different partner, Anat.
Fortunately, Anat, an israeli girl who was travelling on herself wanted to go to the same place, but she had to go to Shimla first. That meant a lot of travelling, as it was to go backwards, whereas from Tattapani there was a bus that gets you to Mandi and there you could get a bus to Dharamsala. I didn't know what to do, so I hadn't even asked for bus schedules. So the day I was planning to leave, one way or other, everything came easy, the bus to Mandi had left at 6:30 am, so the obvious option to follow was to go to Shimla and there get a night bus to Dharamsala.
And so, I left Debbie in Tattapani with the israeli people, and started a new trip with a different partner, Anat.
Friday, November 2, 2007
Tattapani
Small town north of Shimla, you can a get nice place next to the river Sutlej. Hot water springs come out from it's banks, offering a great time in the evening when it starts getting cold.
To our surprise, after the most uncomfortable bus trip I've ever been, we seemed a can of sardines, we got to meet a bunch of people from Israel at the guest house we decided to stay at. Surpringsingly, they were very opened as most of them tend to be very close to their people and do not mix much with foreigners from other countries.
In Tattapani the relationship with Debbie wasn't at it's best point, and the worst is that I don't even know why. And it kept getting bad and bad as the following day passed. Moment I decided we should have a talk, which ended in separating our ways, though we were both heading to the same direction.
Apart from this, Tattapani reminded me of Rishikesh, in the sense of tranquility and peace you get there. And probably because there isn't much to do there anyway, other than going to the Shiva cave. A place where Indians worship an stalagmite as if it where Shiva itself. However, there is a river next to it where you can get a peaceful bath in its waters.
To our surprise, after the most uncomfortable bus trip I've ever been, we seemed a can of sardines, we got to meet a bunch of people from Israel at the guest house we decided to stay at. Surpringsingly, they were very opened as most of them tend to be very close to their people and do not mix much with foreigners from other countries.
In Tattapani the relationship with Debbie wasn't at it's best point, and the worst is that I don't even know why. And it kept getting bad and bad as the following day passed. Moment I decided we should have a talk, which ended in separating our ways, though we were both heading to the same direction.
Apart from this, Tattapani reminded me of Rishikesh, in the sense of tranquility and peace you get there. And probably because there isn't much to do there anyway, other than going to the Shiva cave. A place where Indians worship an stalagmite as if it where Shiva itself. However, there is a river next to it where you can get a peaceful bath in its waters.
The Honeymooners city
Indian tourist place for excellence. People from everywhere of India, and few foreigners. However, meeting them doesn't seem to please them.
Addidas, Reebok, Domino's pizza and others are the gem of 'The Mall', main street where everything is very expensive.
A city situated in a mountain at more than 2000 meters of altitude, there are constants steep up and downs, which can be very breathtaking. Views are OK, but you wouldn't die for them either.
Two main things to do in Shimla, one, take a look at the agressive monkey populated Jakhoo Temple. Dedicated to Lord Hannuman, it makes a lot of sense having so many monkeys in it's surroundings. Says the legend that Hannuman stopped in this place to rest while looking for some medicine loosing a sandal on its way.
You can also look for 'The Glenn', however, if you find it, tell me about it, cause after a two hour walk there was no way to get an exact direction of where it was. And definately do not relay on indians maps.
Addidas, Reebok, Domino's pizza and others are the gem of 'The Mall', main street where everything is very expensive.
A city situated in a mountain at more than 2000 meters of altitude, there are constants steep up and downs, which can be very breathtaking. Views are OK, but you wouldn't die for them either.
Two main things to do in Shimla, one, take a look at the agressive monkey populated Jakhoo Temple. Dedicated to Lord Hannuman, it makes a lot of sense having so many monkeys in it's surroundings. Says the legend that Hannuman stopped in this place to rest while looking for some medicine loosing a sandal on its way.
You can also look for 'The Glenn', however, if you find it, tell me about it, cause after a two hour walk there was no way to get an exact direction of where it was. And definately do not relay on indians maps.
Mussoorie or Shimla
Before heading towards Shimla with Debbie a great dilema sounded in my ears. Stick to beer and joints withthe gang from Rishikesh at Mussoorie or go with strange Debbie to Shimla. Beers and joints seemed a good idea, specially spending so much time in the Holy City of Rishikesh, with no alcohol, but I thought I could stick to that later on at Goa. So I went for Shimla, as it was one of the choices I had rejected on a first basis before meeting all this people.
But was going with Debbie a good idea??
I had spend some time with her alerady, and wasn't sure if we would get along well enough. She looked very willing to experiment and learn and help and be part of India, but in an innocent way I thought. A combination that might not let you see beyond reality sometimes. So whenever that happens, she gets uncomfortable, mad, untreatable, or at least difficult to do so.
My case is totally different, I lack her innocence, I trust noone and expect always a scam or other. I live on a world based on hard times, were I care first for myself, and then probably for the rest.
We are definately not the best travelling companions, but we might help each other with what we are missing.
But was going with Debbie a good idea??
I had spend some time with her alerady, and wasn't sure if we would get along well enough. She looked very willing to experiment and learn and help and be part of India, but in an innocent way I thought. A combination that might not let you see beyond reality sometimes. So whenever that happens, she gets uncomfortable, mad, untreatable, or at least difficult to do so.
My case is totally different, I lack her innocence, I trust noone and expect always a scam or other. I live on a world based on hard times, were I care first for myself, and then probably for the rest.
We are definately not the best travelling companions, but we might help each other with what we are missing.
Thursday, November 1, 2007
Neverending hours in Haridwar
Tried the Kashmiri dunaloo at the Big Ben restaurant as the lonely planet suggested, and it was a strange sweet-salty-very chilli combination. Not bad, but not the best indian plate I've tasted. Trying to hang out in there waiting for our bus to Shimla, but it seemed mission impossible. Debbie and I were kicked out at 17 hours with no place to stay at crazy Haridwar.
While still at the restaurant, getting my way to know the time for the next bus to Shimla would have been an odyssey if I weren't expecting it. Asked three times for the Tourist Information Office, once there, though it was opened, it was their holiday. But I finally found the info needed in the bus station, unthinkable.
It turned out that the bus was leaving at 22 hours so we had some time to waste somewhere. After some walking we got to this tiny little place with 2 miserable computers that saved our time being spend in the bus station with nothing to do. However, 3 hours in front of the computer didn't seem the best idea either, but that's what happened.
Finally in the bus station, a bus was leaving at 21 hours, so why not get it, and get the hell out of there!!!!
While still at the restaurant, getting my way to know the time for the next bus to Shimla would have been an odyssey if I weren't expecting it. Asked three times for the Tourist Information Office, once there, though it was opened, it was their holiday. But I finally found the info needed in the bus station, unthinkable.
It turned out that the bus was leaving at 22 hours so we had some time to waste somewhere. After some walking we got to this tiny little place with 2 miserable computers that saved our time being spend in the bus station with nothing to do. However, 3 hours in front of the computer didn't seem the best idea either, but that's what happened.
Finally in the bus station, a bus was leaving at 21 hours, so why not get it, and get the hell out of there!!!!
Until the next time Rishikesh
A warmth sad feeling overcame us all in the bus towards Haridwar. Heading there with Debbie and Janin, we left nice people back in the guest house and some others going to Mussoorie. Like leaving behind a newly created family of friends. Red Chilli people, everyone from the guest house, all was left behind as if it were just a dream. Suddenly you wake up and it's all gone, the good times, the bad times, the ackward times, everything, and you look forward to what has yet to come.
Rishikesh, I'll be back!
Rishikesh, I'll be back!
Yoga class
Stretch, stretch, stretch....
Oooommmmmmmmmmm.....
Stretch, stretch, stretch......
Meditation, Om chanting, stretching, exercises (leopard position, cobra position, bla bla bla position, two many positions in a row to remember), tired, more stretching, relaxation.
More or less, that was how the Yoga class went. I must admit it was good, you do feel much better at the end, very relaxed, but still, being the first day, I was peaking all the time to Debbie that was at my side checking out how the positions were. And always mixing up with the right and the left!!! What a mess!
So 100 ruppies used on a yoga class that would get a pretty good back ache the next day, well it wasn't a back ache, it was only sour from the exercising. Thought it would be stronger from the trekking...
Anyway, I must add that some positions weren't very good for my knees, so I decided not to go again.
That's all the yoga for me in India, at least for the time being.
Oooommmmmmmmmmm.....
Stretch, stretch, stretch......
Meditation, Om chanting, stretching, exercises (leopard position, cobra position, bla bla bla position, two many positions in a row to remember), tired, more stretching, relaxation.
More or less, that was how the Yoga class went. I must admit it was good, you do feel much better at the end, very relaxed, but still, being the first day, I was peaking all the time to Debbie that was at my side checking out how the positions were. And always mixing up with the right and the left!!! What a mess!
So 100 ruppies used on a yoga class that would get a pretty good back ache the next day, well it wasn't a back ache, it was only sour from the exercising. Thought it would be stronger from the trekking...
Anyway, I must add that some positions weren't very good for my knees, so I decided not to go again.
That's all the yoga for me in India, at least for the time being.
Monday, October 22, 2007
Hanging around Rishikesh
Well, yesterday was an interesting day, and the longer I stay in Rishikesh it gets even more interesting. Apparently, yesterday there was a big feast, where everyone around it ended up bathed in colorful powders. At the end, this big statue of a girl was burned up in the Ganges, where afterwards everyone would bath. Fireworks, flames, music and chantting was everywhere. Really nice.
So after talking with the people from Corbett I headed back to my hostel to get a bite, where I met these Bilbao people, not very pleased with their trip I think. Spaniards...
Anyhow, after my usual aftereating cigarette, went up to my room to read a bit, where I met with Dean, my South African neighbour. With him, I also met Deborah, from Switzerland, and whatever her name is spelled (girl from Canada). The Canadian girl, Dean and me headed to the most chilling out place in Rishikesh, where you can get beer if ordered in advance. Apparently it's prohibited to drink as Rishikesh is considered a Holy place. Joints come and go, and though tourists there aren't really sociable, I met Matt and Roberto, from Chicago and Mexico respectively.
Today we all had breakfast together, or somehow togethere, as we kept joining at diferent times, and afterwards, some of us headed towards a waterfall that was supposed to be half an hour walking from the hostel we are at. On the way we met with 2 Irani girls that decided to try out luck with the waterfalls as well, though their intention was to go to the beach. Anyhow, after not finding the place I decided to get back for some photo downloading, due to several demanding petitions for photographs of the trip around here. The rest decided to keep on with the waterfall search.
I've just seen Deborah, who is behind me at another computer, exhausted of so much walking and the sun heating pretty fiercely, and it happened they didn't find the waterfalls as they kept asking and everyone said it was farther and farther.
Anyway, today I have to make up my mind with the Corbett decision, and if I'm in time I might go on a yoga class, you never know, it might be cool after all!!
So after talking with the people from Corbett I headed back to my hostel to get a bite, where I met these Bilbao people, not very pleased with their trip I think. Spaniards...
Anyhow, after my usual aftereating cigarette, went up to my room to read a bit, where I met with Dean, my South African neighbour. With him, I also met Deborah, from Switzerland, and whatever her name is spelled (girl from Canada). The Canadian girl, Dean and me headed to the most chilling out place in Rishikesh, where you can get beer if ordered in advance. Apparently it's prohibited to drink as Rishikesh is considered a Holy place. Joints come and go, and though tourists there aren't really sociable, I met Matt and Roberto, from Chicago and Mexico respectively.
Today we all had breakfast together, or somehow togethere, as we kept joining at diferent times, and afterwards, some of us headed towards a waterfall that was supposed to be half an hour walking from the hostel we are at. On the way we met with 2 Irani girls that decided to try out luck with the waterfalls as well, though their intention was to go to the beach. Anyhow, after not finding the place I decided to get back for some photo downloading, due to several demanding petitions for photographs of the trip around here. The rest decided to keep on with the waterfall search.
I've just seen Deborah, who is behind me at another computer, exhausted of so much walking and the sun heating pretty fiercely, and it happened they didn't find the waterfalls as they kept asking and everyone said it was farther and farther.
Anyway, today I have to make up my mind with the Corbett decision, and if I'm in time I might go on a yoga class, you never know, it might be cool after all!!
Working in Corbett
After more than 1 hour waitting, the couple from the Corbett Reserve got to the Red Chilli Office. They are a very nice couple, that gave me a realistic insight on what going around in Parks around India.
First of all, they are all ruled by the Indian Goverment, which was obvious. Secondly, they advised me that the only way to work in conservation programmes is through ONG's or Universities. The second option is discarded, and the first one, well I'd probably could make it paying them a whole bunch of money.
What they offered me? Well, I'll start with what they do at the Resort. The camp get clients from around the world and India and provides them with excursions or safaris, call it however you please to. So working there would consist on helping in the camp work, such as cleaning, making beds and stuff, and learning how to be a guide, which would be identifying animals as well as spotting and traccking them.
For that to happen you usually have to stay a whole season, which lasts from November to June.
So this is what happened: They actually seemed interested in letting me be there, though they were not sure about it as my Visa end in february. That would force tehm to look for someone else afterwards. On my side, I'm not really sure I want to go for that right now, though it looks like really cool stuff to learn.
So after pretty much thinking, I thought that it wouldn't be fare neither for them, for me, or for the person comming afterwards. For them, as they would need someone else once I left. For me, because I wouldn't finish what I started and I don't know how much would I end up learning. And for the guy comming afterwards because he would hardly have time to start learning well.
At the meantime, I think it's a possibility for the following year acocrding what goes on with my life at that moment, and I could get back and go for a volunteering Visa for longer time instead of a tourist one, which would let me be there the whole season, finish what I started and have a good time as well perhaps.
It still does look like a good thing to do, and I'm not sure if I'm making the right decision by not doing so, but I think it's the best and fairest thing to do.
First of all, they are all ruled by the Indian Goverment, which was obvious. Secondly, they advised me that the only way to work in conservation programmes is through ONG's or Universities. The second option is discarded, and the first one, well I'd probably could make it paying them a whole bunch of money.
What they offered me? Well, I'll start with what they do at the Resort. The camp get clients from around the world and India and provides them with excursions or safaris, call it however you please to. So working there would consist on helping in the camp work, such as cleaning, making beds and stuff, and learning how to be a guide, which would be identifying animals as well as spotting and traccking them.
For that to happen you usually have to stay a whole season, which lasts from November to June.
So this is what happened: They actually seemed interested in letting me be there, though they were not sure about it as my Visa end in february. That would force tehm to look for someone else afterwards. On my side, I'm not really sure I want to go for that right now, though it looks like really cool stuff to learn.
So after pretty much thinking, I thought that it wouldn't be fare neither for them, for me, or for the person comming afterwards. For them, as they would need someone else once I left. For me, because I wouldn't finish what I started and I don't know how much would I end up learning. And for the guy comming afterwards because he would hardly have time to start learning well.
At the meantime, I think it's a possibility for the following year acocrding what goes on with my life at that moment, and I could get back and go for a volunteering Visa for longer time instead of a tourist one, which would let me be there the whole season, finish what I started and have a good time as well perhaps.
It still does look like a good thing to do, and I'm not sure if I'm making the right decision by not doing so, but I think it's the best and fairest thing to do.
Sunday, October 21, 2007
New Horizons
So why was going trekking the second best decision done? On the first place, because of the sensation of a free life style, the views of the spectacular Himalyan Range just in front of you, being in India, without all its chaos surrounding you. Higly recomendable!
On the second place, I met Erin and Arvind. Erin might provide me with a contact working on a National Park south in Chennai. It looks like a very interesting contact to get to.
On the other hand, Arvind has already arrange it for me to meet today this couple working on a resort in the Corbett Tiger Reserve. It seems interesting, though I have to know what working there might offer me, so we'll see today!
On the second place, I met Erin and Arvind. Erin might provide me with a contact working on a National Park south in Chennai. It looks like a very interesting contact to get to.
On the other hand, Arvind has already arrange it for me to meet today this couple working on a resort in the Corbett Tiger Reserve. It seems interesting, though I have to know what working there might offer me, so we'll see today!
The Kuari Pass - Back to Rishikesh
Back in Rishikesh we decided Red Chilli Adventure would arrange us a place to stay, as it was pretty late, and risky to go with your bagpack looking for a place to stay, when probably all would be full, specially in the area I intented to go to.
So we got to the office, and as tired as we were, and with the previous hangover, we had more rum and whiskey waitting for us. After a couple of hours drinking, you could feel you were part of the Red Chilli family, talking with the raft and trekking guides. A great sensation.
So we got to the office, and as tired as we were, and with the previous hangover, we had more rum and whiskey waitting for us. After a couple of hours drinking, you could feel you were part of the Red Chilli family, talking with the raft and trekking guides. A great sensation.
The Kuari Pass - The Party
So we got to Joshimath after having to change our plans and a whole series of unfortunate situations that delayed our arrival.
The Mount View Hotel is a pretty comfortable hotel with TV and hot showers. The manager is a tiny guy, I'm serious, half my size, and I'm small. So we stayed at the third floor, a third floor was surprisingly harder to get there than the Kuari Pass, as my knee was aching hell. However, some TV and a hot shower compensated the effort.
When I finally got to the dinning area of the hotel, at about 7 p.m., my surprise was to instead of seeing tea cups, there were rum cups everywhere. I though it was a bit early to start drinking, but what the fuck!! So we drank, we ate, and we kept on drinking till 1 a.m., singing and laughing accompanied the night as well.
It was a very pleasant night!!
The Mount View Hotel is a pretty comfortable hotel with TV and hot showers. The manager is a tiny guy, I'm serious, half my size, and I'm small. So we stayed at the third floor, a third floor was surprisingly harder to get there than the Kuari Pass, as my knee was aching hell. However, some TV and a hot shower compensated the effort.
When I finally got to the dinning area of the hotel, at about 7 p.m., my surprise was to instead of seeing tea cups, there were rum cups everywhere. I though it was a bit early to start drinking, but what the fuck!! So we drank, we ate, and we kept on drinking till 1 a.m., singing and laughing accompanied the night as well.
It was a very pleasant night!!
Saturday, October 20, 2007
The Kuari Pass - The Knee
On the forth day of trekking my right knee decided it had had enough and it started hurting pretty much. On the way to the campsite just below the Kuari Pass I had to get a bamboo stick to help me get there. So once there I decided to create a stick for the following days.
One of the horsemen provided me with a stick, but it was really uncomfortable to hold and let the pressure get to the stick and not your leg. So I though I needed an appropiate handle I could lean to properly. And taht's what all my evening consisted on. Getting an adequate branch, cutting it, shapping it, and finally sticking it to the stick.
Well, I must admit I did a great job on that, though I somehow knew it wasn't going to last the rest of the trek.
So the next day was the day for crossing the Kuari Pass. It started with a steep hill up to the pass, where the stick worked very well. We kept on along the snow, where the stick kept on in a good shape, until walking along a riff I sliped and broke. I managed to save the stick for a while, but it needed more effort to maintain the handle in its place than just walking with the stick, so I decided to separate them. 
The rest of the rute was very slippery, muddy, and difficult to get by, with constant up and downs and no plain path. Hardly being able to bent my knee, MEN!!! That was hard to get through!!!
Somehow, I overcame the difficulty and made it to the campsite, I must say, exhausted!
Once there though, it was all worth it!
One of the horsemen provided me with a stick, but it was really uncomfortable to hold and let the pressure get to the stick and not your leg. So I though I needed an appropiate handle I could lean to properly. And taht's what all my evening consisted on. Getting an adequate branch, cutting it, shapping it, and finally sticking it to the stick.
Well, I must admit I did a great job on that, though I somehow knew it wasn't going to last the rest of the trek.
So the next day was the day for crossing the Kuari Pass. It started with a steep hill up to the pass, where the stick worked very well. We kept on along the snow, where the stick kept on in a good shape, until walking along a riff I sliped and broke. I managed to save the stick for a while, but it needed more effort to maintain the handle in its place than just walking with the stick, so I decided to separate them. 
The rest of the rute was very slippery, muddy, and difficult to get by, with constant up and downs and no plain path. Hardly being able to bent my knee, MEN!!! That was hard to get through!!!
Somehow, I overcame the difficulty and made it to the campsite, I must say, exhausted!
Once there though, it was all worth it!
The Kuari Pass - Our previous campsite
After climbing to the Kuari Pass, we found ourselves inmerse in mountains and mountains of snow. Walking through the snow was lots of fun and lots of making photos. However, after the snow, came the mud, rocks, and difficult paths.
We finally made it to an spectacular campsite situated at about 3500 m of altitude, were you could see this amazing views. Mountain peaks covered with snow and clouds making them misterious and even more wonderful.
In the evening it started snowing, and apparently it snowed all night, cause I woke up at 5:00 a.m. with Paul stumbling the tent to get the snow out of the roof. It seemed Pual had waken up with the tent on his face. 6.8 feet isn't easy to fit in a tent, specially if it has crushed halfway down. So about 6:00 I woke up again to get the 20 cm depth of snow out, but from the outside with merely a stick.We woke up again at about 7 a.m. by Choki's voice offering us Chai in our tent. I thought he was telling us that tea was ready and we could go there at any time, but he had the tea with him and was waiting for us to open the tent to handed it to us. What a great gesture I thought.
So the morning was freazing, and once the sun came a bit through the clouds, I couldn't stay with my eyes opened as it was everything so shinny from the snow surrounding us. After breakfast our guide talked us about the bad weather conditions and that it could get worse so we all decided to go under the snow line and camp somewhere else.
The Kuari Pass - Some day in the trek
Actually two days to go back to Rishikesh. The next day we are heading towards a Tapovan where we will have to wait for a car to drive us to Joshimath, where we will spend a night at a Hotel. The next day will be a long ride to Rishikesh...
This day was supposed to be a day off, with a two hour volunteer trek around the area we were camping at. Unfortunately weather conditions made us have to look for another place, so we walked along with the mules and the horsemen.
The new campsite is OK, less colder and plenty of wildlife to see. We could even see Langurs, for which I had to struggle around the forest to take a close picture of them. They seem to be very shy.
That night two of the horsemen had run to Joshimath to get some rum and whiskey and some lamb meat. Unfortunately, no rum came along, and I don't like whiskey, but I sticked to the meat which was deliciously cooked in a very spicy gravy Arvind had prepared.
This day was supposed to be a day off, with a two hour volunteer trek around the area we were camping at. Unfortunately weather conditions made us have to look for another place, so we walked along with the mules and the horsemen.
The new campsite is OK, less colder and plenty of wildlife to see. We could even see Langurs, for which I had to struggle around the forest to take a close picture of them. They seem to be very shy.That night two of the horsemen had run to Joshimath to get some rum and whiskey and some lamb meat. Unfortunately, no rum came along, and I don't like whiskey, but I sticked to the meat which was deliciously cooked in a very spicy gravy Arvind had prepared.
The Kuari Pass - Personal thought II
I have certainly done a lot of listening these days talking with english speaking people. At the end of the day my english got much poorer so I just listened to the conversations going on, saying something from time to time. Days were very tiring, everyday more worse than the other, so talking wasn't my strong point. So the good thing is that I have learned new words and expressions, and probably got a bit more fluent in my english.
The Kuari Pass - Day 3
After a hard night, with dogs barking and chasing each other all night long, bells sounding from everywhere, Paul snoring and the Indian army, apparently not sleeping and crushing against our tents constantly, I wasn't in the best conditions to be as nice with the morning kids, which I totally ignored.So at 8 a.m. I got out of the tent for a couple of toast, as I had eaten so much the night before, and couldn't get anything else in my mouth. None of us had had hardly slept that night so we were all pretty tired.
However, the trek had to go on. The beginning was very steep and hard and only after the first break could I regain my breath and energy and keep up with the group. We passed through an Himalyan Oak forest and saw spectacular views of the snowy peaks surrounding us. I finally understood what it was meant with a breathtaking view, you had to loose it to get to see it.
Arrival to the camp was about a quarter past three. We would all like to go to sleep, though that wouldn't have been a very good idea, as we probably would have to go to sleep very early as there was nothing to do once the night came at 6 p.m.It was our first rainny night with icestones falling, so we went to sleep hoping that would not turn out being another sleeping disturbance.
The Kuari Pass - Food
So it happened to be a vegetarian trip around India. Yeap, no meat at all, and as many of you may know, I'm definately not a veggie guy. Nevertheless, I must admit food was just absolutely great. all was very tasty and it had this homemade camp style that was just awesome.
Indian food has a notorious fame for its spices, and yes, well gained. Even tea is spicy, from Chai to Yogi tea.
Breakfast: After morning tea, came breakfast. Toast, with butter, pineapple jam, nutella, honey, etc. With the toast we had from french toast with french fries, to this kind of indian stew, to banana and nutella pancakes.
Lunch: Arvind usually carried with our lunch, which seemed to be very heavy. We had different kind of rice, spaghetti, penne (both indian style) and some kind of stew with chapatti. All great. I always missed the frequent boiled eggs though.
Dinner: It always consisted on a first course, which was soup (from tomato soup to very spicy ones - undrinkable!!); a second, third and forth course, that consisted of so many dishes I just can't recall!! Most of the days we had Indian food, and a couple of nights it turned out to be Italian night and Chinese night, when they even did spring rolls!!! Delicious!! And finally dessert, usually something done with banana, apple or orange.
But that wasn't all the food we had!! Everyday after each day trek we had some biscuits with tea ready in the table. Just incredible!!!
I know some people who would definately be very pleased with so much food!!
Indian food has a notorious fame for its spices, and yes, well gained. Even tea is spicy, from Chai to Yogi tea.
Breakfast: After morning tea, came breakfast. Toast, with butter, pineapple jam, nutella, honey, etc. With the toast we had from french toast with french fries, to this kind of indian stew, to banana and nutella pancakes.
Lunch: Arvind usually carried with our lunch, which seemed to be very heavy. We had different kind of rice, spaghetti, penne (both indian style) and some kind of stew with chapatti. All great. I always missed the frequent boiled eggs though.
Dinner: It always consisted on a first course, which was soup (from tomato soup to very spicy ones - undrinkable!!); a second, third and forth course, that consisted of so many dishes I just can't recall!! Most of the days we had Indian food, and a couple of nights it turned out to be Italian night and Chinese night, when they even did spring rolls!!! Delicious!! And finally dessert, usually something done with banana, apple or orange.
But that wasn't all the food we had!! Everyday after each day trek we had some biscuits with tea ready in the table. Just incredible!!!
I know some people who would definately be very pleased with so much food!!
The Kuari Pass - Day 2
Night time arrives very early here in India, at about 6 p.m. So we went to sleep very early as well. That meant that at 6a.m. I couldn't sleep, so I woke up. It was nice, as our camping site was a cute nice area next to a river full of goat and sheep shit.
At 6:30, as every morning in the trek, we had coffee and tea ready, and after so much tea I had to go pee constantly. So that first night I had to get up in the middle ofthe night, to what our guide called a "little job". Once in action, it suddenly struck me the following question: What kind of animals roam around here? So all this big mammals appeared in my mind and I definately freaked out, finished my little job as quick as I could and went straight to my tent, as if in there I would be safer!!!
So the day went along walking and making pictures of magnificent views and wildlife and stopping at the village of lower ghuni to eat, ending up above upper Ghuni at 2400 m high. It had been a 3 to 4 hour trek day, so it had been just fine.
The second campsite was full of mules and cow bells sounding from every side of the area. It wasn't a pleasant campsite as the first day, as it was full of foreigners. Even a Spanish group making a lot of noise, as always - Spaniards!! Indian army trekkers were also around, all suited up, and being very noisy and unrespectfull. The place was next to a village, so foreigners made the attention to kids from the village, always asking for something, standing next to you and asking the same questions: Where from, and name. I guess that was the only thing they knew how to say. Tryed to be as nice as I can be...
At 6:30, as every morning in the trek, we had coffee and tea ready, and after so much tea I had to go pee constantly. So that first night I had to get up in the middle ofthe night, to what our guide called a "little job". Once in action, it suddenly struck me the following question: What kind of animals roam around here? So all this big mammals appeared in my mind and I definately freaked out, finished my little job as quick as I could and went straight to my tent, as if in there I would be safer!!!
So the day went along walking and making pictures of magnificent views and wildlife and stopping at the village of lower ghuni to eat, ending up above upper Ghuni at 2400 m high. It had been a 3 to 4 hour trek day, so it had been just fine.
The second campsite was full of mules and cow bells sounding from every side of the area. It wasn't a pleasant campsite as the first day, as it was full of foreigners. Even a Spanish group making a lot of noise, as always - Spaniards!! Indian army trekkers were also around, all suited up, and being very noisy and unrespectfull. The place was next to a village, so foreigners made the attention to kids from the village, always asking for something, standing next to you and asking the same questions: Where from, and name. I guess that was the only thing they knew how to say. Tryed to be as nice as I can be...
The Kuari Pass - Personal thoughts I
I wasn't sure whether I was going to fit in the group, and I must admit I sometimes felt out of it as they spoke so fast and there are so many words I don't know, I couldn't get into all the conversations. However, I think I fit in enough to get along pretty well.
Nevertheless, staying out of the conversations was relaxing from time to time, and I have a great ability for that.
Nevertheless, staying out of the conversations was relaxing from time to time, and I have a great ability for that.
The Kuari Pass - Day 1
The trak I got into was named the Kuari Pass. It apparently consisted in crossing it, though I had no idea what did I get myself into.
So I woke up at 6 a.m. in the morning, as my watch kept on changing the time, so I didn;t really know what time was it and I had to get to the Red Chilli Adventure office at 7:30 a.m. Afetr some tee, I went to the meeting point, to learn I had a complete breakfast waitting for me.
There, I met Arvind, our guide, a showman!! A very funny guy with a lot of sarcasm. A party man doing his ideal job, and you could just see he loved it.
The other members of the trek were also there, except for Erin, whom had gone on another trek days before and we had to meet her at some othe point on the way to the starting point. Paul is a 6.8 feet tall english guy from Sheffield with a very expresive face. And Grainne (pronounced like Gronya or Granya) is funny north irish woman, always laughing at everything.
The 3 of us, Arvind, the cheff, Choky (who seemed to be a great singer) and the driver left to Ghat, however at Chevna we had to change of jeep due to road conditions.
After a long ride full of excitement because of the roads, I did my first camping night in India.
So I woke up at 6 a.m. in the morning, as my watch kept on changing the time, so I didn;t really know what time was it and I had to get to the Red Chilli Adventure office at 7:30 a.m. Afetr some tee, I went to the meeting point, to learn I had a complete breakfast waitting for me.
There, I met Arvind, our guide, a showman!! A very funny guy with a lot of sarcasm. A party man doing his ideal job, and you could just see he loved it.The other members of the trek were also there, except for Erin, whom had gone on another trek days before and we had to meet her at some othe point on the way to the starting point. Paul is a 6.8 feet tall english guy from Sheffield with a very expresive face. And Grainne (pronounced like Gronya or Granya) is funny north irish woman, always laughing at everything.
The 3 of us, Arvind, the cheff, Choky (who seemed to be a great singer) and the driver left to Ghat, however at Chevna we had to change of jeep due to road conditions.
After a long ride full of excitement because of the roads, I did my first camping night in India.
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