The Adventures of Miss Chow

My Royal Trek, Part 3

Oh boy.  I've been neglecting my blog over this past month!  I'm so sorry about that.  I don't know where all the time has gone.  I leave tomorrow for my NEXT travel adventure, and here I'm not even done writing about my LAST adventure.  I've put myself in a conundrum now, haven't I?  Well, all I can do is try to get one post off before I leave on Friday. 

So, the next part of the trip involved the beginning of the trekking.  Before going to the Upper Himalaya range, the plan was to do some hiking at moderate altitude (between 4,000-7,000 ft.) in the Kathmandu Valley area.  So, we started the hike in the town of Parping, just outside of Kathmandu.  I can't remember if I mentioned in a previous post, but the city of Kathmandu is very polluted.  And I mean SUPER polluted.  It's so polluted that you blow your nose and you can't believe the color of the stuff coming out of your body.  Eew.  So, even as we drove out of the city, the air cleared up a bit, and the sun was a little stronger.  We started in this small village, and wound our way up, through rice paddies which were on beautiful, tiered hillsides (see left).  Again, there had not been a drop of rain in over 6 months, so the dust was out of control!  We stopped for lunch (homemade tortillas, honey, peanut butter, fruit, hard boiled eggs) where I promptly picked up the honey jar and dropped it all over my pants.  Since it was warm out, the honey was really runny, so I managed to get about half of the jar on my leg.  Boy, did I feel like a klutz! Luckily, there was a water spigot nearby, and amazingly, the honey washed right off the fabric.  Thanks, North Face!  Whew. 

You may be thinking, "Trekking??  Wow.  How impressive!"  Think again.  All I was carrying was my backpack, with water, sunscreen, snacks, etc.  My duffel bag was being carried by amazing porters who had my duffel strapped with someone else's duffel and they were carrying these TWO duffels on their backs.  Oh yes, they were doing this while wearing FLIP-FLOPS.  You can see them in the picture below.  It's hard to see, but trust me: they were each carrying about 40-50 pounds.  Unreal.  And, what I didn't know yet was that once we arrived at our campsite for the night, our tents would already be up, and hot tea and biscuits would be laid out for us.  Now that is the way to trek! 

At first, I felt bad about having people carry our things.  But KP told all of us instead, we should feel good that we are actually helping the people living in the area.  For all the treks he leads in this area, he employs locals for all the jobs (portering, cooking, setting up tents, etc.) and pays them a wage that is much more than they would ever get farming. 

Oh, and it was as I feared: I was the slowest person.  Ugh.  It's not a very good feeling to always be the slowest.  You always wonder if you're holding people back from doing what they want to do.  It's a little stressful, to tell you the truth.  In my defense, on this first day of trekking, I was battling a hitchhiker from India in my stomach.  I kind of had been in denial over the past couple days and tried to make things better with Immodium, but it became clear that was a losing battle.  So the morning we started our trek, I took out the big guns: Cipro.  I know.  Evil and strong antibiotics.  But you know, I just wanted to feel better and be able to eat and have energy!  I felt better almost immediately (hooray for strong antibiotics), but was weak from no food from the past couple days.  That's just my excuse for being slow this one day.  I suppose another excuse for this day (and subsequent days) was that it was HOT!  I am not a hot-weather person (I know, but I live in FL!  I can't say I like the heat there either.).  So I'm a slow hiker.  Like the tortoise.  Not the hare. 

During these 4 days of hiking and camping in the Kathmandu Valley, we did not see a single tourist.  We were so lucky to truly immerse ourselves and see the people, houses, and villages of REAL Nepal!

One thing that quickly became clear was that KP was a total rock star in the Kathmandu Valley.  As we passed various villages and people, they all knew him, they all said hi, and he talked to all of them.  He lives in this area, so I thought maybe that's how they all knew him, but there was more than that.  He had started to mention "his foundation", but I couldn't really gather what he was saying (being the slow hiker I am, I couldn't hear what everyone else was talking about in the front). 

But, let me tell you about this foundation KP kept talking about.  In 1998, KP inspired some trekkers to help him give back to his country. Within a short time, these trekkers from the US had worked with KP to found S.E.E.D.S. (Social Educational Environmental Development Services).  It's a non-profit, based in Oregon.  KP is the founder and Executive Director.  It was unbelievable to see, first-hand, all of these wonderful things this organization was doing.   S.E.E.D.S. has projects throughout Nepal, and their goal is to make the villages/villagers self-sufficient.  So they set up these projects (for example, water distribution), build them and make them happen, and teach the villagers how to upkeep and maintain systems.  KP told me that their yearly budget is $100,000.  It is amazing how far $100,000 can go in a country like Nepal.  You can read on their website about all of the different types of projects, but I want to tell you about the ones that I saw for myself.

(This picture on the left is at the S.E.E.D.S. school we visited. They had written "Hearty welcome to the respected guests of REI group" in chalk on the ground.  A few of the kids were dressed up for a dance presentation they had been working on for us.  It was a really touching experience visiting them.)

Throughout our time in Kathmandu valley, these were some of the results I saw from S.E.E.D.S.: running water systems had been installed from village to village, making it so that villagers didn't have to walk up to 2 miles one-way, each day, just to get water (this also allowed the villagers to grow crops year-round); composting toilets were built throughout the region, resulting in cleaner vegetable fields and helping to prevent the spread of infectious diseases; S.E.E.D.S. helped to build the school we visited and also helped send the teacher to Kathmandu for schooling; they now subsidize the teacher's salary; 15 of the students at the school we visited have to walk 90 minutes one-way to school, so S.E.E.D.S. buys those kids lunch every day (the other students can walk home for lunch); other students at other schools throughout the valley are sponsored at their schools, helping them buy school supplies, uniforms, etc. (many of our porters/cooks/etc. had children who were being sponsored by S.E.E.D.S.); villagers were being helped to save money to build big water cisterns at their homes and also so they could buy a real stove (instead of the open-fires in their homes that turn walls, ceilings, and their lungs a tarry black color); and S.E.E.D.S. also encourages further education by sponsoring students to continue their studies in Kathmandu or even abroad.

A note about sponsoring a child.  KP said that there is a couple in the US who are sponsoring two of our porter's kids.  I asked him how much it was, per year, to sponsor two kids.  I could not believe it when he told me: $250.  Wow. 

(Here are some of the kids at the school we visited.  They were all so cute and so eager to test out their English skills!)

I could go on and on.  S.E.E.D.S. is an incredible organization, run by people who truly love the people of Nepal.  I also really respect that this organization is not trying to push the people of Nepal into a direction that we (the Westerners) think they need to go.  They are just seeking to help Nepalese people, to make their life a little easier, and most importantly, to educate the kids of Nepal.  Out in the countryside, villagers don't see education as any sort of benefit.  Instead, some think that education just takes their kids away from them, away from working for the family.  However, I think that KP and his organization are really showing the villagers that education is important and necessary.  Check out their website (link is above) to learn more!

So we did about 4 days of trekking.  Often we were going from one campsite to another, but there were a couple days when we took day hikes and came back to the same campsite.  The hikes were very hilly, hot, and dry.  There were 4-hour hikes when I finished 3 liters of water.  That's a lot of water in such a short amount of time! 

We were able to visit Nepalese homes and to interact a lot with the locals.  At one particular campsite, in the late afternoon, about 20 kids came to greet us.  Well, "greet" would be an overstatement.  It would be more accurate to say they slowly trickled together, whispered eamongst themselves, giggled, came a little closer, and continued this cycle until they were nice and close.  At that point they gave us girls bunches of rhodedendrons.  One thing we found throughout Nepal is that kids love getting their picture taken and then looking at themselves on the screen.  So eventually, after much whispering , they started singing to us.  We had no idea what they were singing, but it sure was cute.  They finished, we clapped,they whispered more amongst themselves and promptly started singing another song.  When they were done, I suggested that we sing for them.  We went back and forth: they sang a song, we sang a song, they sang, etc.  I think we ended up singing: Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star; Row, Row, Row Your Boat (in a round, of course); and Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.  Of course, they sang much more meaningful songs (such as the Nepalese National Anthem).  It was a really fun exchange!

I have to end this post now, because it's late, and tomorrow, I am leaving tomorrow for another 23-day trip!  My parents and I are flying to Barcelona where we will spend a couple days before getting on a Mediterranean cruise that goes to: Monte Carlo, Florence/Pisa, Rome, Naples/Capri, Mykonos, Istanbul, Kusadasi (also in Turkey), Athens, and Venice.  After the cruise is done, my parents will come back to MN, but I get to spend an extra week in Italy visiting a friend in Bologna!  It will be a really great trip, and I'm looking forward to it.  

When I come back, I promise I'll finish up the Nepal trip (there's so much to tell...I haven't even GOTTEN to the Upper Himalayas yet!!) and hopefully get a good start on the Mediterranean trip.  I haven't put new pictures from Nepal on Snapfish yet, so there's no link in this post to pictures.  Again, sorry!!

I hope you have a good few weeks.  Cheers!

My Royal Trek, Part 2

Is this some sort of cruel April Fools joke?  I'm sitting here in MN, it's April 1, and it's SNOWING.  Not just little harmless flurries.  But full-on snow.  The weather gods are laughing at the joke they've played on us here and saying, "Ha, you people thought it was SPRING?!?!?  You thought you saw little green shoots starting to poke out of the ground??  You were WRONG!!!" 

Sigh.

Back for more, eh?  Haha.

I'd like to share a few factoids about Nepal:

Nepal is a landlocked country, sharing its border on the north with China, and the south, east, and western borders with India.  It is approximately 147,000 square km, which is roughly between the size of Iowa and Illinois (thanks, Wikipedia!).  There are about 30 million people living in this small country.  A monarchy throughout its history, Nepal is now the world's youngest republic, having been established as a federal democratic republic in 2008 (more on this intriguing history later).  Wow, think of all the changes that has brought to the country.  Also fascinating to me is that in this tiny country, the altitude goes from about 60 meters (approx. 200 ft.) above sea level all the way up to the world's highest peak, Mt. Everest, a whopping 8,850 meters (over 29,000 ft.)!  Unreal.  Of the 14 peaks in the world that are over 8,000 meters, eight of them are in Nepal.  Since there is such a variation in altitude, Nepal has five temperate zones: tropical/subtropical, temperate, cold, subarctic, and Arctic.  And one last fact for now: the Kathmandu valley and surrounding areas have not had a DROP of rain in over six months.  That is not good. 

So, my first full day in Nepal started with a 5:45 a.m. wake-up call (actually it was a wake-up knock on the door) and we left the hotel at 6 a.m. to head to the domestic airport.  We were going to take a one-hour flight to see the Himalayan mountain range. 

Upon our arrival at the airport, we saw that we would be flying on...Yeti Airlines.  Yes, Yeti Airlines.  Oh, and then we also saw Buddha Air.  Having no guide with us, we made our way onto the bus that would take us to the plane.  The plane was small (one seat, the aisle, then two seats), and only about 10 rows. 

So we took off, rose above the smog/pollution that just sits in the valley, and then we were up in the clear blue sky.  Oh, and then the mountains.  The mountains!  I had no idea that the Himalayas actually span six countries: Afghanistan, Bhutan, China, India, Nepal, and Pakistan.  From the airplane, it just looked like they went on forever.  I took a bunch of pictures from the plane, but as to be expected when taking pictures from behind scratchy, dirty windows, they're not so good.  But, here's one on the left.  Our flight attendant was very kind and pointed out different peaks to everyone, and we also had a panoramic picture we could look at to give us the names of the peaks.  Interestingly enough, Mount Everest was the most boring of the mountains!  What I mean is that despite the fact that it's the world's highest peak it is just didn't look that interesting, as far as mountains go.  Other peaks had so much character to them that Everest was just kind of...blah.  I know, I know.  That's probably completely sacrilegious to say.  But there.  I said it.  

After breakfast back at the hotel, we were off on our very full day of sightseeing.  Our first stop was a Buddhist stupa.  Stupas are a symbol of enlightenment, and are the oldest and most prevalent forms of Buddhist architecture.  There are stupas everywhere; it appears that anyone can build a stupa.  It just has to be built with specific Buddhist things in mind and has to be blessed by a Buddhist teacher.  Stupas also house a treasury filled with offerings. 

So the first Buddhist stupa we visit was called Swayambhunath, or Monkey Temple.  It's called Monkey Temple after the monkeys that live on the grounds, but I did not see a single monkey while we were there, so...?  In any case, the entire complex has the stupa, and a bunch of shrines and temples, including a Tibetan monastery.  Before we got to the actual stupa, we walked through some of these shrines, and I was pleasantly surprised that not only were we allowed in the monastery, but we were allowed to take photos and/or videos as well.  The monks were chanting, and it was fascinating to watch.  There are also prayer wheels everywhere, which have a mantra on them, and turning these wheels (always clockwise) is supposed to have the same effect as though you were reciting the mantra. 

Here's a picture of Swayambhunath, which is among the oldest religious sites in Nepal.  In the front of the picture, you can see small shrines/temples that individual families have built there.  I don't really understand how it works, but there you have my best explanation!  

You can see the eyes and eyebrows of the Buddha painted on the stupa, and also what looks like a nose.  It's not a nose.  Instead, it's the Nepali symbol for "unity".  This stupa is the 2nd-most sacred sight for pilgrimage in Nepal, and although it's important to many schools of Buddhism, it's also a revered site for Hindus as well. 

I think it's so fascinating that Buddhists and Hinds get along so well in Nepal.  The main religion of Nepal is Hinduism (80% of the population), followed by Buddhism (10%), Islam (4%), Mundhum (3%) [I have no idea what this religion is], and Christianity and "other" rounding out the rest at 1%.  I know, it doesn't add up to 100%.  Anyway, Hinduism and Buddhism worship common deities, share temples, and, if I understand correctly, come from the same background.

After spending some time here, we went to Pashupatinath Temple, the most sacred temple of Shiva (the Supreme God in Hinduism).  It's located on the shores of the Bagmati River, and it is the oldest Hindu temple in Kathmandu.  We, as non-Hindus, were not allowed inside the actual temple, but we could walk around it and catch glimpses of what was going on inside.  We wondered how they could tell if we were Hindu or not (i.e. what if we had converted to Hinduism), and it was as I suspected: one can only be Hindu by birth.  So it was going to be pretty unlikely that we, who were clearly westerners, had been born Hindu.  I don't claim to know all the world's religions, but I can't think of another religion (of my not-so-vast knowledge of about 10) that one cannot convert to.  This was a major pilgrimage site, and there were many, many, many people around. 

Wikipedia is a very helpful thing, and I got the following information from them.  I'm kind of glad I didn't know about this until now, long AFTER I was at the temple!

The chief priests of the temple have been Brahmins from South India since the Malla era [a long time ago, I'm guessing]. This, along with the alleged corruption within the temple, has been an issue among Nepalese people.

In January 2009, after the resignation by the chief priest of Pashupatinath temple, the Maoist-led government of Nepal "hand picked" a Nepalese priest to the temple without fulfilling due procedure. [I don't know what this due procedure is.]  This appointment was contested by the Bhandaris of the temple, stating that they were not against the appointment of Nepalese priests but against the appointment without proper procedure.  After the appointment was challenged in the court of laws, the appointment was overruled by the Supreme Court of Nepal.  However, the government did not heed the ruling and continued with its decision.  This led to a public outrage and protests over lack of transparency. The semi-armed group of CPN (Maoist), called YCL, attacked the protesters leading to over a dozen injuries.  Lawmakers and party activists of the opposition parties joined protests and stated that their support were with the Bhandaris and other protesters.  Despite these events, the government still continued with its decision.

However, after dissatisfaction was expressed by Indian politician Mulayam Singh Yadav, BJP and after other Indian celebrities could not visit the temple due to the protests, the government promptly reverted its decision and reinstated Indian priests.

I'm just going to point out that this happened in January, and I was there in early-March.  Whoa.  Funny how our guide left this part out of his explanation of the temple!  

Just outside the temple was one of the most intriguing and interesting, yet slightly disturbing, things I think I saw on my entire trip.  On the banks of the Bagmati River, there is Arya Ghat, the most widely used cremation place in Nepal.  One can understand why this cremation site is located here, on holy ground, right outside of the most important Hindu temple. 

Let me try to paint the picture of this site for you.  Imagine the river, which is really more like a puddle of muddy water (no rain, after all).  Then imagine, on one bank of the river, about 6 concrete slabs.  These are where they build a cremation pyre.  So now imagine watching this: men bring out a deceased person, covered, and lay him/her on the ground.  Then, someone starts putting wood on the concrete slab to build the funeral pyre.  After the wood is set, then the body is laid on top, and an elaborate set of rituals is performed (walking the body around the pyre 3 times, placing offerings, etc.), and the body is burned (always starting from the mouth).  After completion, the ashes are pushed into the holy river.  And then it all starts again and they bring out another body.  This goes on all day, every day.  It's out in the open, for all to see (and smell and breathe).  It was a really surreal experience.  On one hand, it felt wrong to watch such an intimate thing happening.  On the other hand, it was out in the open.  

Whew.  It was intense.  We walked across the river and were met by about 60 monkeys RUNNING toward us, coming down the stairs.  We had to quickly step out of the way. I swear, it was like something out of The Wizard of Oz, with the crazy flying monkeys.  Except these weren't flying.  But they just kept coming!  It was a little freaky. 

By this point of the day, we were all wilting and in need of lunch.  We went to our next stop and had our meal on the rooftop of a restaurant, overlooking the Boudhanath stupa, one of the largest in the world, built sometime in the 14th century.  The guide referred to the neighborhood around the stupa as "Little Tibet", and there are many monasteries (or gompas) around Boudhanath, and since the 1950's when many Tibetans left Tibet, many have decided to call the area around Boudhanath their home. 

From above, the stupa looks like a giant mandala, or diagram of the Buddhist cosmos.  There are all sorts of symbolic things on the stupa, which you can read about here (under What to See).  I like how everything symbolizes something else. 

It was amazing, walking from the busy street into the stupa.  It was suddenly very calm, very reverent.  As with turning prayer wheels clockwise, one walks around the stupa in a clockwise direction.  There are stores and restaurants lining the walkway (of course), but it just felt so peaceful.  I saw people doing full-body prostrations (one guy even with a clicker to count how many times he had done them!).  Up and down.  And everyone walking clockwise, some turning prayer wheels, some chanting to themselves, and others just looking peaceful.  I really enjoyed this stupa.

Then it was back to the hotel to pack for our first day of trekking in Nepal!

I took a lot of pictures in Nepal.  Here are more pictures from this day. 

Cheers!

My Royal Trek, Part 1

I know, I know.  We're back to Part 1 again.  Warning: this part of my trip was 16 days, so I'm PRETTY sure this will end up being at least a 10-part entry, if not more.  Sorry!  Hope you're enjoying reading about my adventures so far.  It's great to be able to share them with you.  :)

Well, as one chapter of my journey ends in India, it's time to start a new chapter: Nepal! 

I've been asked by many people, "What made you choose to travel to Nepal?"  Well, I think originally, I really wanted to go to Tibet, but seeing the current political climate there, it didn't seem like the best time.  So I can't remember exactly what my train of thought was, but somehow I came to the conclusion that Nepal was close enough to Tibet, so why not look into going there? 

Another question that I've been asked a lot is how I came to choose REI Adventures for my trip.  If you're not familiar with REI, it's an amazing store that sells all sorts of outdoor gear (camping, biking, hiking, kayaking, etc.) and supplies and clothes.  I have a love/hate relationship with REI stores: I love them because they have so much fun and awesome stuff.  I hate them once I bring said stuff to the checkout counter and see the total dollar amount of my purchases.  REI is great for other reasons as well.  They are a co-op, so once you join as a member (a $20 one-time fee), you actually get yearly dividends on your purchases.  They are also very environmentally conscious.  So somehow (maybe on their website?) I saw that they have a REI Adventures branch of their business.  They have tours that range from weekend trips in the US to an almost-three-week trek to Everest base camp as well as many, many, many trips to other parts of the world.  I found a trip to Nepal that I thought sounded interesting and would show me different parts of the country, so I signed up!

I wasn't sure what to expect since this was my first adventure trip.  REI rates their adventures on a scale of 1 to 5, one being sitting on a bus all day, every day (given that they are an outdoorsy company, they really don't have trips that are 1's) and 5 being the trek to Everest Base Camp (up to 17,000+ ft.).  The trip I chose, Nepal's Royal Trek, was rated a 3/hard 4.  In some of the pre-trip paperwork, one of the questions was something like, "List the last 3 multi-day hikes you have done, including place, distance, altitude gain, and number of days."  Um...well...multi-day hikes?  I have done long day hikes.  So, needless to say, based on the paperwork, I was a little worried.  But I knew that I could manage, but you know, there's always that twinge of fear of getting into more than you bargained for!

So, after a short plane ride from Delhi (1.5 hours on Jet Airways, during which they not only served drinks but LUNCH as well!), I was in Kathmandu!  The information REI supplied me with prior to my departure was so clear (bring 4 passport photos, have the visa form filled out, have $40 US dollars to pay for the visa, etc.) that it made going through the visa line a cinch.  There were other tourists who didn't know they needed photos (so they had to leave the long line and go to a passport photo booth, get their photos, and get back in the long line!), or they didn't have the visa form.  I got a 30-day visa, and headed down to get my bags.  The Kathmandu airport is nothing to write home about.  Low ceilings, florescent lighting.  After retrieving my bags, I walked outside.  Customs, shmustoms. 

I was quickly reminded of the feeling I had when arriving in India and walking out of the secure airport area into the place where everyone is holding signs.  Oh, it's not a very good feeling!  I looked around, trying to look for my name while waving away about 100 guys who wanted to know if I wanted a taxi.  Thankfully, after a week of dealing with similar situations in India, I felt confident in my abilities to deal with them.  So I pulled my stuff off to the side, and started to consult my REI materials.  Before I knew it, there was a young man asking me if I was with REI Adventures.  He said he saw my REI Adventures luggage tags (again, good thinking, REI!!).  Thank goodness! 

It turns out that another member of my group was on the same plane as me from Delhi.  I thought that I had seen the REI Adventures t-shirt (really, again, good thinking REI) that we were supposed to be wearing upon arrival at the Kathmandu airport.  So, I went back inside to wait for my roommate, Alex.  I finally saw her coming, and we left the airport together, headed for the hotel.

After being in India for the week and having no native English speaker to talk to all week, I found it difficult to have a "normal" conversation!  It was a really weird feeling, being able to put together sentences as they came up in my head instead of having to simplify them and also being able to talk at my normal, quick speed.  I think I actually had to apologize to Alex for stopping and stuttering so much!

My initial impression of Kathmandu was that it was WAY more relaxed that India.  I mean, there were still the cars/trucks/buses/bicycles/motorbikes/rickshaws, and the horns were still going a mile a minute, but it was just less frenetic.  I think if I had come directly from the US, I would have been overwhelmed.  But after India, no problem!  It's all relative, right? 

We got to our hotel, Nirvana Gardens, and dropped off our bags and settled in for about an hour before we were to meet the rest of the group down in the lobby at 5 p.m. 

I bet you're all wondering about the people in my group!  I was wondering too.  Before we left, REI supplied us with names and snail-mail addresses, but no e-mail addresses, so there was no communication between any of us prior to our arrival in Kathmandu.  I'll tell you about my travel-mates now!

I was the youngest in the group; there were 3 girls in the mid-30's range, a guy and girl in their early-40's, and one guy who is 60. 

My roommate, Alex, lives in Chicago.  She used to be a lawyer but left that life, and now works for a non-profit organization in the Chicago area.  

There were three people from Boston.  I thought that surely they all knew each other, but that was not the case.  One of the Bostonians is Leslie.  The other two Boston people were friends: Darcy and Peter.  They both work in some sort of commercial real estate, I think. 

Naomi is a relief vet from Denver.  We quickly bonded over the fact that she is half-Chinese, and we had a grand old time over the trip discussing things such as dim sum (yum!) and plastic sheet protectors. 

Last but not least was Doug, who was the "international" traveler on our trip.  He's from Queensland, Australia!  He met Leslie on a trip in September in Turkey (not with REI, but with another great adventure company called World Expeditions), and when Leslie mentioned that she was going to go on this trip to Nepal, Doug decided he'd like to come as well!  I think that's so great...one amazing trip leads to another!

I should mention that for the most part, all of my fellow travelers were well-seasoned travelers!  It was my very first adventure trip, and it was Alex's as well (although she had lived in Costa Rica for some time).  So many sentences (especially during the first few days) started like this: "When I was in Machu Picchu..." "When I was teaching in Costa Rica..." "In Belize, I..."  "When we hiked in Turkey..."  You get the idea.  I just sat and listened.  I'll admit that the thought, "Oh my god, what am I doing here??" went through my head...maybe even more than once.  :)

Anyway, that's the breakdown of who my travel companions would be for the next 16 days!

We met in the lobby of the hotel and not only were we meeting each other for the first time, but we also met our trip leader, KP Kafle, his second-in-command Hari, and KP's business partner Kashab, who stays in Kathmandu and takes care of office details.  KP asked us things like, "Why did you choose Nepal?" and "Do you have any goals for this trip?".  

Our hotel was in the neighborhood called Thamel.  We left the hotel as a group and walked through the streets of Kathmandu to go our welcome dinner at Thamel House.  During our walk, I couldn't believe all the storefronts selling North Face, Mountain Hardware, and Marmot gear: clothing, jackets, parkas, tents, packs, etc.  It was store after store.  I am SURE they were not genuine articles (reinforced by the fact that Leslie had bought a Marmot down jacket for $40 US dollars instead of renting one), but they were extremely good knock-offs!  

Um, I think now would be a good time to mention one SMALL detail that REI failed to mention.  Kathmandu has electricity for...get this...FOUR HOURS each day.  Four hours!!!  There are schedules for different parts of the city, and the four hours for a particular area change daily.  So sometimes, we had power from 8 p.m. to midnight.  Other times, it was from noon-4 p.m.  Ha!  During the other 20 hours of the day, you could hear the hum of generators going on everywhere.  Think about it: hotels, restaurants, stores, etc., all running on generators.  Unreal.  This has been going on for at least 3 or 4 years.  Years!  I guess they get their power from hydro-power, and there just hasn't been enough rain to be able to sustain their power needs.  It's also possible that Nepal sells their electricity to India.  Anyway, even though it wasn't a huge deal, it's still a big piece of information for REI to leave out!  I was sure glad that I brought my headlamp for the hotel room at night.

OK, so we had a delicious traditional Nepalese dinner, complete with the local rice alcohol called raksi (pronounced ROCK-shee).  I did not try the raksi, but smell alone of the local brew at Thamel House was enough to slay me.  One highlight of the yummy dinner were the mo-mos, steamed dumplings.  While we ate, they had traditional Nepalese dancers dancing, dressed in different clothing signifying different tribes of people in Nepal.

We went back to the hotel for the night.  We were going to meet at 6 a.m. the next morning to take a domestic flight to go see the Himalayan mountain range!

Sorry, no pictures from this day, but again, don't worry.  The onslaught of pictures will begin in the next post!! 

Cheers!

Passage to India, Part 4

Wow, even now after looking at my Taj Mahal pictures, I'm still amazed by its beauty!

The night of the Taj visit was a rough night at the hotel.  First, there was silly me not closing the top of my water bottle completely (post-lunch) so about 1/2 a bottle of water spilled in my bag, soaking my notebook, passport (!), and my cell phone.  I was so stressed out that night because the cell refused to turn on.  I asked the hotel for a hair dryer and tried to start drying everything.  So there was that!  Ah, travel.

Let's just say that the rest of the evening consisted of me trying to fall asleep while a huge wedding party was going on right outside my hotel "window".  I put window in quotes because in reality, my ground-floor window opened up to...yes, the banquet room.  Between the permeating bass sounds coming from the sub woofer and people talking right outside my window, it became quite clear to me that there was no way I would fall asleep in this room!  So, I called the front desk and asked to be moved to a different room.  Ha.  They moved me to what was essentially a basement room in which the A/C didn't work.  My thermometer on my clock said it stayed a steamy 81 degrees in the room all night.  It was miserable.  I was too tired and too cranky to ask to be moved AGAIN, so I just had a really fitful night of what one might call sleep.  The next morning as I checked out, they tried to get me to pay for my restaurant charges from the night before, but I refused, throwing a mini-fit and making them come down to the room to feel just how hot it was.  Ugh. 

Anyway, Sanjeev and I left Agra at 8 a.m. and set off for the last destination on my India trip: Jaipur.  On the highway to Jaipur, again things were very lush and green.  There were a lot of really tall chimney-like stacks protruding from the ground.  It turns out they were kilns that were making bricks.  Apparently this part of India makes a lot of bricks, because there were many of these kilns spewing thick black smoke from the top. 

As we got closer to Jaipur, the terrain became a little hilly and drier.  After a 5 hour drive, we drove up through some hills, and arrived in Jaipur.  

Jaipur is known as the Pink City because in 1853, the Prince of Wales visited, and the entire city was painted pink to welcome him.  I have to say that it was actually a pleasure to be on the streets of Jaipur!  The main roads all ran north-south, east-west.  If there were no cars, you could see from one end of the long streets to the other end (NOT the case in all the other towns I had been in!).  The streets were WIDE, a welcome change as well.  I'm not saying that the traffic was organized, by any means.  But there was more space on the roads, there were traffic lights (gasp!!), and all in all, it was a much more pleasant experience in the car. 

I met my guide, Vijay, the next morning.  First, we stopped by Hawa Mahal, or Palace of Winds (left).  It was in the middle of a busy street, but we pulled over and got out to talk about it a bit.  It was built in 1799, and apparently back then, women weren't allowed out in public...EVER.  So this building, with its 900-or-so little windows, gave royal ladies a chance to watch the everyday life that was going on down on the street.  Can you imagine??

Then we were off to the Amber Fort, the palace where royalty used to live.  Nearby, even higher on the hill, is an army fort called Jaigarh Fort.  I rode an elephant (!) up from the base of the fort to the palace.  The elephant ride was interesting.  It was a rolling, side-to-side motion, and I did have to hang on a little more than I thought I would. 

We entered the palace where the public would have been able to come in and view the king.  However, the common person could not directly speak with the king, so if they had any problems or grievances, they could talk to their representatives, who would in turn talk to the ministers, who would then speak to their superiors, etc., and then maybe, just maybe, your problem would get presented to the king.  Hey, that's kind of like how it is today, isn't it?  Ha.

The palace as it stands today was built in the 1590's.  It also went through various renovations throughout the years.  Apparently, the king's wife was from Kashmir (I think this was in the 1700's), and she wanted to grow saffron in her garden, but it wouldn't grow in Jaipur's soil.  So, hey, she's the wife of the king, so she had soil brought in from Kashmir so the saffron would grow!

The palace has a HUGE water tank (I don't even remember how many millions of liters), making it self-sufficient in case of attack.  Jaigarh Fort up the hill, also has it's own water tanks (6 million liters!) for the same reason.  From the army fort, one could see as far as 40 km away.  This is not the case anymore due to pollution, but I asked Vijay if the Amber Fort was ever attacked, and he said no, never, because it was so well-built and so strategically placed up in the hill.

Oh, Jaigarh Fort has the Jaivana cannon, which is the largest wheeled cannon ever constructed (back in 1720)!

There were all sorts of ramps in the palace with raised ruts on them.  Apparently, back in the day, the royal women of the court wore very heavy garments (9 kg, or 25 pounds!), and these ridiculously heavy garments (that included a lot of jewelry as well) made it too difficult to walk.  So, the logical solution, of course, would be to have chairs that the women would sit on, and they would be carried from room to room on these chairs.  That is why the palace has ramps with raised ruts, so the poor people who had to carry the women wouldn't have to go up stairs.  Yes, it seems SO logical that instead of the woman having to carry her own weight plus the garments, why not have some poor guy carry the woman, her garments, a chair, plus his own weight!  Hmm...I don't think so.  Yikes.  

One of the most beautiful parts of the Amber Fort was the Hall of Mirrors (right).  I think it was part of the winter palace, and one can imagine how beautiful and cozy it would have been with candles burning and reflecting off all the mirrors.  

The summer palace had two water tanks in domes on the roof, one on each side of the opening to the place.  There was a pipe connecting the two tanks, and from that pipe, they used to hang a curtain made of grass.  The water would drip down the grass, and when the breeze blew through the grass, the air was cool.  Air conditioning!

After a stop at a jewelry store (Jaipur is apparently known for their cutting and polishing of semi-precious and precious stones) and lunch, we were off to our last destination for the day. 

The Jantar Mantar is an astronomical observatory, built between 1727 and 1734.  There are 14 geometric structures/devices that are used for all sorts of astronomical measurements: predicting eclipses, finding planets, measuring time, figuring out the exact axis of the planet, etc.  It's a pretty amazing place.  All of these measuring instruments are big structures, with the largest being the world's largest sundial.  This sundial, which stands 27 meters high (about 88 feet), is accurate to TWO SECONDS.  Amazing!!

The last thing I wanted to do while in India was to get a henna tattoo on my hand.  Tattoo?!?  No, don't worry.  That tattoo is made from a paste from the henna plant, and it fades over time (actually, the skin exfoliates, so it seems like it's fading, even though it's not).  It's usually something that women have on their hands and/or feet during times of celebration (weddings, etc.), but I just wanted to have it done!  In case you're curious, the color started fading after a few days and the design probably lasted for about a week.  One funny thing is as I'm typing this, I can see the outline of the design on the back of my hand.  I think that once I got to Kathmandu and was in the sun a lot, my skin tanned, but the skin under the henna didn't! 

Well, my time in India was coming to an end.  It was back to the hotel so I could pack and get a good night's rest.  Sanjeev and I were scheduled to leave Jaipur at 5:30 a.m. the next morning to get to the Delhi airport for my flight to Kathmandu! 

We had an uneventful, but quick, car ride to Delhi, mainly due to there being very little traffic on a Sunday morning on the highway.  I will say that the ride was TERRIFYING until it started to get light out.  It was hard to see more than 10 feet in front of the car, and since trucks were going much slower than cars, we'd creep up on a truck before knowing it.  Also, there were often trucks traveling side-by-side, taking up both lanes, so we did the "Sure, we're a little car.  Let's squeeze between the trucks" thing.  I also learned that at night, instead of honking the horn, one flashes their bright lights to say all of the things a horn says ("I'm behind you, I'm going to pass you, move over, etc.").  That was intriguing. 

I really enjoyed India.  I think one of the downsides to traveling by myself is that I didn't feel comfortable going out and experiencing any of the cities at night or even going out on my own during the day.  Also, I think that since I was going from tourist place to tourist place, I didn't really get a good sense of the people of India.  However, neither of these things was a deal-breaker for me, and it was a great trip!  I'm glad I did it the way that I did (note: NEVER try to rent a car in India...get a car and a driver!), and I enjoyed seeing all of the sights.  While I'm happy that while I saw the cities, I also had an opportunity to at least drive through the beautiful countryside to see that aspect of India as well.  Although I know there's so much more of India that I didn't get to see, I am so lucky to have had the opportunity to visit such a varied and beautiful place.  I know I'll remember this trip to India forever!

Here is the last installment of India pictures.

Time to go to Kathmandu, Nepal!!  Wheeeee!!

Passage to India, Part 3

On to Agra! 

We left Mathura at 8 a.m., and thinking about it a little bit, I wasn't too sad to leave and move on to Agra.  Mathura was just SO chaotic!

We drove 40 km to Agra.  On our way, we passed a HUGE oil refinery that was spewing all sorts of black smoke into the air.  There were tons of people walking/commuting to the refinery.  On one hand, it was a good thing for the area because the refinery obviously employed a lot of people.  Ugh, but then the pollution was overwhelming!  Upon doing a little research once I returned home, I learned that this refinery is owned by the Indian Oil Company and is one of the largest oil refineries in Asia.  Well, that explains it! 

On the way to Agra, we stopped by a town called Sikandra, and Sanjeev dropped me off to visit the tomb of Akbar the Great (1542-1605), considered to be the greatest of the Mughal Emperors (left).  It was made of red sandstone, and there was a lot of beautiful inlay marble.  All the designs you see in the picture are inlay marble.  I was pretty impressed (not knowing what I was about to see at the Taj!).  There weren't many people there, partially due to the fact that it was about 9:30 a.m., and it was nice to walk on the grounds in peace and quiet.

After arriving in Agra, we dropped off my luggage at the hotel, and then set off to meet my guide for the day, Nadeem.  We were on our way to the famed Taj Mahal.

Cars aren't allowed within a certain distance from the Taj grounds (due to trying to deal with pollution), so Sanjeev parked the car, and Nadeem and I went on a bicycle rickshaw ride to the entrance gate to the Taj grounds.

Imagine a single-gear bike, probably from the 1970's.  Then imagine a rickshaw attached to the back.  Then imagine trying to ride the bike, with two passengers in the rickshaw, up even the slightest slope.  Oh, did I feel for our rickshaw guy!

I paid the entrance fee (about $15), and we walked through the east entrance gate, and headed toward the main gateway to the Taj. 

Before I came to India, those who had been to the Taj said to me, in essence, "I could try to tell you how beautiful/amazing/breathtaking the Taj is, but you'll just have to see it for yourself."  I have to say: they were right. 

 

I mean, really.  What can you say about THAT??  It was awesome.  And I mean "awesome" not in the "Hey, that's awesome," sort of way.  I mean "awesome" in the true sense of the word.  I walked through the main gate (a very beautiful red sandstone gate), and caught my first glimpse of the Taj.  I'm fairly certain that I got a little misty-eyed when I saw it.  I definitely got goosebumps.  It was so amazing! 

As we walked down the walkway, closer and closer to the Taj, every view was breathtaking.  Think about it: it took about 12 years to build, starting in 1632 and the mausoleum was completed in 1643, but construction on other parts of the complex (a mosque, etc.).  20,000 people were employed in the construction.  Materials were brought from all over India and Asia (including China, Tibet, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, and Arabia).  Can you imagine the type of transport and time it would have taken in the 1600's to get materials from that far? 

Look at the top of the dome.  It's hard to tell, but there are HUGE blocks of marble that make up that dome.  I couldn't even fathom how they got these huge slabs of marble up so high.  Nadeem said they fashioned their own pulley system, with ropes and elephants.  I couldn't even wrap my brain around the feat of engineering of the Taj.  This was in the 1600's, for crying out loud! 

On the right, you can see calligraphy (different verses of the Koran) on the marble panels, created by inlaying jasper into the white marble.  One completely astounding fact (to me, at least) is that higher panels have larger calligraphy to reduce the effect of it looking smaller from the ground.  What thought and planning went into all aspects of this glorious structure!! 

The inlay (here and in other parts of the building) are primarily semi-precious stones, although apparently there used to be precious stones as well.  In the 1850's the Taj was defaced by British soldiers and government officials: they chiseled out the precious stones.

Aside from the marvels of logistics and engineering, there is, of course, the story of the Taj and how it has come to represent love. 

From Wikipedia (I know, I know.  You're thinking, "Wikipedia?  Really, Marlena??"  But hey, it's easy, and in this case, I'd say fairly reliable).

In 1631, Shah Jahan, emperor during the Mughal empire's period of greatest prosperity, was grief-stricken when his third wife, Mumtaz Mahal, died during the birth of their fourteenth child, Gauhara Begum.   In her dying breath, Mumtaz Mahal urged Shah Jahan to build a mausoleum for her that the world has never seen before.  Shah Jahan granted his wife's wish, and construction of the Taj Mahal began in 1632, one year after her death.  The court chronicles of Shah Jahan's grief illustrates the love story traditionally held as an inspiration for Taj Mahal.

The Shah and his wife are actually buried in a plain crypt beneath the floor of the Taj.  The public sees the elaborately inlaid caskets of the two in the viewing room. 

In recent times, acid rain (caused by pollution from the oil refinery in Mathura and other industries) has been turning the Taj yellow.  To try to clean up the air, the government of India has set up a 6500 square mile zone around the Taj in which strict emissions standards are in place.  I thought this was really interesting.  I did think that the air was MUCH cleaner in Agra than it was in Delhi; I could actually SEE the sky here!

After spending a good amount of time at the Taj, we left, had some lunch, and continued onto the Agra Fort. 

Much of the fort is still in use by the Indian Army, so only about 25% of the fort is open to the public.  The fort is really important in Indian history, as many great Mughal Emperors lived and governed from here.  There's a long and storied history of the fort that I won't bore you with.  For me, one interesting piece of history is that the fort was the site of one of the battles during the Indian rebellion of 1857, which led to a century of direct rule of India by Britain. 

The fort was surrounded by a now-empty moat, then a strip of land that held wild animals (crocodiles, etc.), and 70-foot high walls.  There was a drawbridge, a slight ascent, and a 90 degree turn between the outer and inner gates, and this made it virtually impossible to get in the entrance.  During a siege, attackers would employ elephants to crush a fort's gates.  However, without a level, straight run-up to gather speed (which is prevented by this layout), elephants were ineffective here.

Some parts of the fort used to be adorned with gold on the walls and ceilings, but at some point, the British came and melted the gold away.  How sad.  I could see glimpses of the beauty that existed here before that happened. It was interesting to try to imagine what it must have been like in all its former glory.

The fort is across the river from the Taj Mahal.  Soon after the Taj was completed, Shah Jahan was deposed by one of his sons who promptly put his father under house arrest in the Agra Fort.  Nadeem said that the son thought his father had gone crazy, spending so much government money on the Taj (with plans to build another Taj across the river as his own mausoleum).  I can't find that information anywhere in my research, so I don't know if that is true or not.  Anyway, the room that Shah Jahan was kept locked in had a balcony-view of the Taj, and it's said that he spent many hours on the balcony, looking at the Taj where his beloved was buried.  It's a good story, no matter how you look at it.  

Back at the hotel, I watched Aljazeera TV (it was the only English-speaking channel that wasn't showing cricket), which was interesting, given what I remember hearing about this TV station.  I didn't find anything objectionable with it.  At night, to keep me company, I put on the non-stop cricket channel, and boy, I was NOT understanding what was going on!

Anyway, thus ends my day in Agra.  It was a day that definitely lived up to the hype!  Next stop: Jaipur.

Here are more pictures of the Taj and Agra Fort.  

Cheers!

Passage to India, Part 2

Whew, that was a long Part 1!  Onward...

After a night of sleep in Delhi, I met Sanjeev (my trusty driver) at 7 a.m. to start on the drive to Vrindavan and Mathura, about 150 km/3 hours.  We left early enough that there was little to no traffic in Delhi...a miracle, I believe.  The sun was coming up in the smog and haze of Delhi, and we were off! 

Some common sights as we drove away from Delhi were: fancy and shiny malls, people relieving themselves on the side of the street, stray dogs (I learned that the Indian government sponsors a neuter program, so that's good, but I don't know how it's implemented), women carrying large water vessels on their heads, overloaded buses/trucks (overloaded with people), overloaded tractors (overloaded with cargo, about to tip over), cows sitting in the middle of the highway (cows are sacred, so what can you do?), small patches of shanty-towns/tent cities, a guy on a bicycle holding onto the back of a truck (hey, it's a free ride), children in school uniforms, women sweeping dirt and dust away from their homes...while being surrounded by dirt and dust, people looking quizzically into the car wondering why I was in the front seat (I was sitting in the front so I didn't get carsick), a car/truck/bus was driving on the wrong side of the road, an occasional camel hauling things, and so much more. 

Soon, the city gave way to wide open spaces, with green, lush farmland.  It was such a dramatic shift from Delhi!

At a toll station, there was a sign with those who are exempted from paying tolls.  Number one on the list: President of India.  I would think that goes without saying!

A sign on the side of the road said: Please do not drive in the wrong direction.  Also, one would THINK that goes without saying, but as I experienced, it was an all-too-common occurrence!

Anyway, our first stop of the day was in Vrindavan.  Vrindavan is a town on the site of an ancient forest where Lord Krishna (very important Hindu deity) spent his childhood days.  Some see Krishna as an incarnation of the Vishnu, while others seem Krishna as the Supreme Being.  In any case, Vrindavan is a very important and holy place.  I visited a temple there called the Sri Krishna-Balrama Temple.  It was made of white marble, and it was very beautiful.  Sanjeev stayed with the car, and after I left my purse (and camera) at the bag check, I walked in.  There was singing and drumming going on by worshipers, and it was very peaceful.

Then we were off to Mathura (about 15 km away), the birthplace of Lord Krishna.  Mathura seems to be an old city, with even more bikes/rickshaws/motorbikes than Delhi.  The streets were VERY narrow.  Sometimes a two-way street could only fit one car in it!  It was even more chaotic on the streets than in Delhi.  I did not think that was humanly possible.  But it was. 

Vrindavan and Mathura are not usual tourist stops on the Golden Triangle (Delhi-Agra-Jaipur), so Sanjeev was not too sure where things were.  I also had no guide on this day.  This led to great adventures and many stops to ask for directions!  I had total trust in Sanjeev, and he never once let me down.  :)  After dropping my bags off at the hotel, we were off to a temple. 

The temple, Krishna Janma Boomi Mandir, is where Lord Krishna is said to have been born.  There was a separate entrance for ladies, as we had a full pat-down by a woman guard.  It is a huge temple, and it's a major pilgrimage site for Hindus.  Once I finished walking around the main temple, I wandered around and found another entrance to a different part of the temple.  Not knowing what I was doing, I walked in.  There were a few rows of people sitting on the floor in silence.  I had no idea what was going on so I didn't want to go in.  I walked out. 

A very kind guard (carrying some sort of giant automatic gun) said I should go back in because that was the actual place of the birth of Lord Krishna.  So, I followed about 15 Hindu women inside.  One of them gave me a big smile and waved me to sit on the floor with them.  I have to say: never underestimate the power of a friendly smile.  Here I was, in a country I didn't know, in a place where I didn't know the customs/religion/etc., and this woman was able to just reassure me, with just a smile, that I was doing the right thing.  I was very grateful for that smile. 

I left the temple,found Sanjeev, and we started off.  We were supposed to go to another temple about 35 km away, but we decided not to go (by the time we got there, it would be closing).  However, I did need to eat a late lunch, so we set off to try to find a place. 

I'll pause now to say that I hadn't seen a single tourist/Westerner in Vrindavan or Mathura.  Not a one.  Needless to say, Mathura was not a "touristy" sort of place, and what that meant was that there was no place we could see for me to eat.  There were plenty of sidewalk places that the locals were frequenting.  Fried, doughy goodness looked to be the fare.  The food at these places looked delicious, and I'm sure it was, but seeing that I really didn't want to pick up a stomach visitor in India, I knew to stay away from the cook-it-on-the-sidewalk sort of place. 

While we were on the quest for any sort of suitable place for me to eat, we got stuck in the worst traffic jam EVER.  I mean, I've been stuck in traffic jams before.  But this one was just something special.  Imagine traffic coming from all four directions, merging into a roundabout.  Doesn't seem that complicated, right?  Oh, but it is. 

We approached the roundabout and eventually wanted to end up going straight.  We sat, stuck somewhere in the middle of the roundabout, for at least 5 minutes.  Bikes and motorbikes were able to squeeze by.  We, however, just sat.  Sanjeev tried many times to inch forward, but really, we didn't move.  I should also mention that in the middle of this traffic stoppage, there were two traffic cops (also carrying large automatic weapons).  Ha!  They were pretty much useless.  I just sat there, watching it all happen. 

I don't know how, but we finally extricated ourselves from that mess.  Whew.  Sanjeev would pull over every once in a while, get out, and ask a local about places to eat.  We were not successful until he asked this one shopkeeper, and suddenly a young boy (in his teens, perhaps?) came back with Sanjeev and hopped in backseat of the car.

OK, so now we're in a city that Sanjeev doesn't know well, and there's a teen in the car with us.  I think the point of the teen being in the car, though, was to lead us to a place to eat.  Unfortunately, the way he pointed us was back to the traffic mess we had JUST gotten out of.  Sigh. 

Anyway, after dealing with that again, we ended up at a hotel restaurant that was no longer open.  Then, we ended up at a local restaurant that was the closest thing we were going to find to acceptable for me and my stomach.  There were tables and chairs.  And a TV playing an India vs. someone cricket match.  Usually, Sanjeev never joined me for lunch, but in this case, I was not about to walk in to this restaurant either by myself or with the mystery teen, so Sanjeev came along. 

It was a delicious meal and by far the cheapest meal I ate in all of India. For me, Sanjeev, and the teen, the grand total was, get this, $3.  Yes, that is correct.  $3 US dollars.

Afterward, Sanjeev tipped the teen and brought me back to the hotel.

I have no pictures from this day.  Cameras weren't allowed in the Temples, and I wasn't comfortable taking the candid, everyday shots of random people. But don't you fret.  Photos are coming in the next post, I promise.  The next day, we left to go to Agra: the home of the Taj Mahal.  Prepare yourself for the photo onslaught.

Cheers!

Passage to India, Part 1

Well, hello there, once again!  I've been back in MN for almost a week now after my latest adventures to India and Nepal, and I've been grappling with how best to blog about a 23-day trip.  It's no small feat!  So far, I have not come up with the answer.  Well, I'm sick of trying to figure it out, so I'll just start babbling and chipping away at the days. I don't know how many "parts" this trip with take to write about.  We'll just see how it goes, right?  Here we go...!!!

I left Minneapolis on Feb. 22, flew to Newark, and then had a direct (!) flight to Delhi, India.  After about 24 hours of total travel, including what can only be described as a SUPER long flight (thank goodness for on-demand movies), I arrived in Delhi at about 9:00 p.m., local time. 

I should say that during the week I was to be in India, I was flying solo.  No group-travel for me.  I did, however, contact a tour operator in Delhi ahead of time, told them what I wanted to do and what my time-frame was, and they built me a trip.  I had a car and a driver to take me everywhere, guides in the big cities, hotels, etc. all lined up before I arrived. 

Upon my somewhat foggy-brained arrival in the Delhi airport, I was met by my travel operator, Ankit.  He and my driver brought me to my hotel, got me checked in, and plans were made to meet Sanjeev, my driver, the next morning. 

My first impression of Delhi (albeit at night, with little traffic) was that it was smokey-smelling and hazy.  I couldn't see much off of the main highway we were on, but I do remember being in the car, seeing lane-markers, but realizing that we were driving ON the marker, and there were people on bikes everywhere.  Ha.  Little did I know what sights awaited me on the roads in the light of day!!

After a fitful night of sleep, I was up and waiting for Sanjeev at the appointed time.  10, 15, 20 minutes later, he still wasn't there.  Of course, immediately my thoughts started racing ("Oh my god, am I stranded in Delhi??  Ahhhh!!!!"), but it turns out he was just stuck in traffic.  While waiting for Sanjeev, I watched the morning traffic go by the front of the hotel.  There was some sort of intersection quite close to the hotel, and I just couldn't get over the chaos of cars, trucks, buses, bikes, rickshaws, pedestrians, and motorbikes that were navigating this intersection with no crashes.  It was quite amazing.

OK, so Sanjeev finally showed up and we set off to the first sight where I was to meet my guide. 

A word about driving/traffic in India:

Imagine you are driving down a 4-lane street.  Oh, but first imagine that you are driving on the opposite side of the street because, after all, the driver is on the right hand side of the car.  Alright, so you're on a 4-lane street.  You see a line to divide your side of the road into 2 lanes.  Pshaw.  Lanes, shmanes.  Where there should be two cars in width (one car in each lane), instead imagine at least 4 cars in width, maybe even 5 (for the most part, they have tiny cars), with perhaps with a bus thrown in there.  OK, then imagine also motorbikes weaving in and out of traffic.  It seems to be a pre-requisite for these motorbikes to come within 1/2 an inch of cars/buses.  And THEN, imagine people also riding bicycles on either side of you.  Throw in a bicycle rickshaw or two, a few trucks, a bunch of people walking, and, yes, a cow or two, and you've got the traffic.

Now imagine this chaos of traffic coming to an intersection.  This intersection is kind of like a roundabout.  It has no traffic signals, etc.  And apparently it has no rules of right-of-way either.  Ack!!

Ooooh, wait!  Now that you've got the visual, we must add in the aural element.  The horn.  It is an essential part of one's vehicle.  You have completely bare tires?  No problem.  You've crammed no fewer than 10 people in a car that seats 5?  Easy!  Your horn on your car/taxi/bus/motorbike/bicycle/rickshaw doesn't work?  You might as well be dead.  If you don't have a horn in India, you are done for.  

I would say that I honk my horn maybe 20 times per year (for me, that is a little high, but I DO live in FL for 9 months of the year...).  In Delhi, you are lucky if you honk your horn 20 times per MINUTE!  A honking horn can mean many things: I am going to pass you now.  I am behind you.  I am on the side of you.  Move!!  It's your turn.  Thanks for letting me pass.  Why are we stopped?  Move!!  What are you thinking?!?  Etc. 

So back to our visualization of the road with all it's chaotic glory.  Add in the sound of many, many, MANY horns.  All different-sounding horns, but just horns going and going.  Beep-beep.  Honk.  BEEEEEP.  Honk hoooooonk.  Squeek, squeek.  Quaaaack (most likely a bike horn). 

I was in sensory overload mode in the backseat of the car, watching all of this going on around me.  More than once, I thought I was going to die in a fiery ball during a crash.  However, despite all this chaos, in all my time in India, I only saw ONE ACCIDENT the entire time.  It was mind-boggling!  I have to give Sanjeev credit for being such a calm and great driver.  After the first day of madness, I finally relaxed and fully trusted him to get me where I wanted to go in one piece.  He was amazing!

So, Sanjeev ably navigated me to my first stop, and we waited for my guide, who arrived via motorbike (the easiest and quickest form of transportation since you can zoom between stopped cars, etc.). 

Our first stop was the Birla Mandir Temple (left).  This Hindu temple, built in 1938, was inaugurated by Mahatma Gandhi on the condition that everyone, regardless of caste (India has a really complicated caste system that I don't really understand) or religion.  At first, I didn't really understand the "or religion" part, because isn't a Hindu temple?  I'm not sure I understand it now.  However, most of the Hindu temples in Nepal (jumping ahead a few days here) were not open to non-Hindus, so perhaps there's something to that.  Anyhow, there were no cameras allowed inside this Temple, so this is the best I could do.  While inside, my guide (can't remember his name) and I talked about various gods and goddesses from the Hindu religion, all of whose names were somewhat familiar to me: Vishnu, Shiva, Brahma, Krishna, Ganesh, etc.  I asked him what the ethic breakdown was in India, and he said 80% Hindu, 12% Muslim, and then Sikh and Christian.  I decided to throw caution to the wind and ask him if the Hindus and Muslims got along.  He said no. 

After the Temple, we stopped off at a mosque (Muslim), but they had just started their mid-morning prayers, so no women/tourists were allowed inside. 

Next, we drove to a nice garden area called Raj Ghat, which holds the tomb of Mahatma Gandhi (right).  This was an extremely peaceful park, lush and green, and a welcome respite from the chaos and noise of Delhi.  There is an eternal flame that burns at one end of the tomb.  The head of the tomb faces north.  I really enjoyed the serenity and peace that was all around.  Gandhi's full name is Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi.  "Mahatma" means "Great Soul".  He was a major political and spiritual leader of India.  On his tomb are the words, "Oh God," which are believed to be Gandhi's last words after being shot in 1948. 

After lunch, we drove down the 3 km stretch of road that connects the India Gate (a war memorial) to the Parliament buildings and Rashtrapati Bhawan, the residence of the President of India, Partibha Devisingh Patil. She's the first woman to be elected to this position in India.  The grounds of the residence are open once a year when hundreds of roses are in bloom.  My guide told me that India is the largest exporter of roses.  Is it true?  I don't know.  But it is interesting!  When the flag is up on top of the residence, it means that the President is there, and the flag is taken down when she's not.  Outside her residence, I got my first look at the monkeys that are everywhere in India.  I would not say that they are cute creatures, by any stretch of the imagination.  

Our last stop of the day in Delhi was the Lotus Temple, a Baha'i Faith House of Worship.  The spirit of the House of Worship is that it is a gathering place for people of all denominations to come and worship.  It's a highly-visited site, and it's easy to see why.  It's built in the shape of a lotus flower, with 27 free-standing "petals" made of white marble.  There are seven other Houses of Worship in the world, and each one has a different look.  I stood in line to go inside the Temple.  There was to be no talking inside, and of course, no photos either.  It was a huge, domed room, with chairs set for guests to sit and contemplate, pray, etc. 

Then, after a stop at a Kashmir rug store (I resisted!), it was time to go back to the hotel.  Sanjeev told me that we would be leaving the next morning at 7 a.m. to drive to Vrindavan and Mathura. 

Needless to say, I was EXHAUSTED, and just ready to flop into bed.  I did venture out, before dark, to an Indian fast-food place to pick up dinner.  I have to say that one of the downsides to being by myself is that I didn't feel comfortable exploring the city on my own, much less on my own at night.  So once it got dark, I was in for the night. 

Just a quick word about the air and weather.  I think it was a sunny day out, but it was difficult to tell with the smog that was hanging over Delhi.  Delhi is SUPER polluted.  Polluted to the point that I won't even tell you what I was blowing out of my nose at night.  Ugh.  Temperature-wise, I'd say that it was in the mid-80's, so it was definitely a change from the sub-zero temps I had left behind in MN.  There was no breeze, so those mid-80's sure felt hot. 

I had seen so much in Delhi in a short 5 hours!  I think my brain was a jumble of: Where am I?  Oh, India.  India?!?  Oh, we're going to hit that car!  Oh, now we're going to hit that person.  India!! 

It was definitely time for sleep, blessed sleep. 

(Click here for a few more pictures from this day.)

Breckenridge and Beyond...

Hello, once again!

This is going to be a short post (you read, with a sigh of relief) because I'm in the throws of packing and going bonkers here in MN.  But I did want to let you know about my wonderful trip to Breckenridge, CO this past week.

On Monday, I took a cross-country skiing lesson and did a little bit on my own after the lesson.  I did the old-school cross-country skiing, where you skis are in tracks.  There were people zipping by doing the skating version, and that looked very cool, but probably too complicated for me.  The lesson was very helpful, especially since I haven't been on cross-country skis since I was really young.  All in all, it was a fun time, but I did manage to fall quite a bit, especially going down hills.  I think that must come from having fallen downhill skiing and tearing my ACL, so maybe now I'm being too cautious and that's getting in my way.  Oh well.  It was still an enjoyable time, and it got my heart pumping quite a bit.

Tuesday ended up being a stay-inside sort of day.  It was snowing and REALLY windy, so I didn't feel like going on an adventure that day.  I stayed in the cozy condo and I am sure I was asleep by 8 p.m.!!  Ha!

Wednesday was a great day!  I decided to go on a snowshoeing adventure.  I love hiking, and so it makes sense that I would also love snowshoeing...it's basically hiking through the woods...in the snow.  So I took a trail up to a nice cabin called "Hallelujah Hut", warmed up a little bit, and came back to the lodge.  After a little snack, I went out on another trail, but by the time I was done with that, I knew I was done for the day.  It was so great to get into the woods, all by myself, and just enjoy the sights and sounds of the trees and wind. 

All of my winter adventures took place at the Breckenridge Nordic Center, which I HIGHLY recommend as something to do in Breckenridge besides/plus downhill skiing.  The people who work there were so helpful and so nice! 

I got an early start on Thursday and managed to get on a much earlier flight out of Denver and made it back to MN by the late afternoon.  This was good because I had a lot of unpacking/re-packing to do!!

So, I leave tomorrow for India and Nepal!  The packing is nearly done, and now I'm just trying to get little odds and ends together.  In India, I'll be flying into New Delhi, spending a day there, then going to: Mathura, Varindavan, Agra, Jaipur, and then flying out of Delhi on March 1 to go to Kathmandu.  Once in Kathmandu, I join a REI Adventure tour that will bring me all over Nepal!  I have one extra day in Kathmandu at the end of the tour, and then I fly back to MN via a 9-hour layover in Amsterdam.  I fully plan on leaving the airport and exploring Amsterdam!

I'll be back on March 18.  I am going to say that I won't be blogging as I go, but believe me, I'll have many blog posts to write once I get back!!  :)  Cheers!

Vancouver And All Things Delicious

Greetings once again, my friends!  Thanks to you who have been reading about my sometimes-interesting, sometimes-super-mundane goings on over the past few months.  I'd say that now is when the meat of my year off begins!

I'm sitting here writing this from my friend's lovely condo in Breckenridge, Colorado.  A huge thanks to Laura for letting me come here for a few day to help me acclimatize at 9600 ft. and up.  Minnesota is not exactly a place to do such a thing.  Anyway, I arrived in Breckenridge early this afternoon, and boy, do I love the mountains.  I've spent a bit of time here: a couple summers (1999 and 2000), plus 2 winter trips here in the last few years (one of them the fateful torn ACL ski trip from 2007), and every time I get here, it's wonderful!  I met a friend and her husband down in town for a nice snack and chat before they drove back to Albuquerque, and then I walked back to Beaver Run (the condo).  I've just had a nice soak in the huge spa tub in the place and am now relaxed (a little loopy too, from lack of oxygen in my body) and ready to tell you about LAST weekend when I was in Vancouver!

My dad and I took a trip to visit my grandma, aunt, and cousin in Vancouver, BC.  My grandma is 92 years old, and I have to say, she is in REMARKABLY great health.  I knock on wood as I write this.  But truly, she is amazing.  She looks like she's in her 70's, and aside from just starting blood pressure medication LAST YEAR and getting a hearing aid this year, she is alert, mobile, and keeping herself busy.  She's pretty independent, although these days, she doesn't go out and take the bus to Chinatown or out to run errands any more.  She is intent on learning more English, and every day, she watches a "learn English" program on Chinese TV and does her studies! 

Here's a picture of me, my dad, and my grandma.

So, we got there on Thursday (after a weird experience at the Canadian boarder), and went out to the first of MANY delicious meals.  If you've never been to Vancouver, I'll just tell you now: the Chinese food is OUTSTANDING.  I don't know about all the other genres of food.  All I can speak to is the Chinese food.  There's a huge Chinese population in and around Vancouver, and the Chinese people, we like our food!  The first night we went to a restaurant and had: fresh crab (the meat was the perfect texture and was also super sweet), a hot pot with giant chunks of fried fish with fried tofu and other delicious things, crispy-skinned chicken (scrumptious), green beans with pork, and bitter-melon and beef.  Oh, my mouth is watering just writing about it.  Mmmmm...

The next day, my Aunt had to go to work, so it was me, my dad, cousin, and grandma for the day.  After a late start to the morning, we went to a place called Hon's (their website is waaaay fancier than their restaurants!).  It's basically Chinese fast-food.  But I would not equate it with, say, McDonald's or Taco Bell.  No, it's much better than that.  It is fast, Chinese food.   We went and had juk (rice porridge), delicious chow fun with beef, a plate of Chinese greens, won ton soup,...maybe more?  I can't remember.

Right near my aunt's house, there is a series of walking paths that wind through the countryside.  My dad and I went out for a walk there, and it was great that although my aunt lives in a suburban part of Vancouver (Maple Ridge), just 5 minutes away is the countryside, with farms, open space, and wildlife.  I really enjoyed that. 

Dinner was a combination of leftovers from the night before plus from lunch.

On Saturday, one of my cousins (Melissa) came up from Seattle to spend the day with us.  It was really nice to see her, and I wish I saw all of my cousins more often.  After a "regular" breakfast, we went to Pitt Lake to go for a long walk and to see some of the mountains.  I am coming to the realization that I am really a "mountain person".  I just love being anywhere near mountains.  Anyway, after our walk, we went to an all-you-can-eat fondue place!  What a great idea.  You pay for whatever liquid you want to be your cooking liquid (we opted for plain chicken broth, although you could get really fancy with it), and then they had a HUGE menu that you put down how many servings you wanted of what things.  Some of the items: all sorts of tofu, all sorts of greens, chicken, beef (2 different cuts), lamb, oysters, shrimp, clams, fish, noodles of all sorts, innards of things (tripe, tendons, etc.), and the list goes on.  It was delicious and fun.  Mmmmm...(again)...

Sunday was dim-sum day.  Ever since I was young, I have loved dim-sum.  We drove into a place in Chinatown and had all of my favorites.  Steamed pork buns, steamed buns with lotus paste (sweet), shu mai, shrimp dumplings, egg tarts, fried taro dumplings, pork ribs, oh...yum.  I could eat that all day...but if I did, it wouldn't be the healthiest!  After that, we walked around Chinatown and I took a lot of pictures of the various interesting/weird/whoa! things that were for sale.  :)  Then, we took a trip to Stanley Park, which is this huge park on the edge of downtown Vancouver.  There are lots of hiking/running/biking trails, and it kind of reminds me of Central Park in NYC, but just more...Northwest feeling.  Apparently in 2007, there was a massive wind storm that came up the coast of Stanley Park and tore down 10,000 trees!  That is 10% of the trees in the entire park.  Unbelievable.  So at one point of the park that got hardest hit, there has been a rebuilding effort underway.  I could spend an entire day in Stanley Park, wandering around from trail to trail...

So before we knew it, the long weekend was over. 

Here are a bunch of pictures, if you'd like to see everything!

It was a wonderful weekend full of family and food.  I am so glad that we went, and I look forward to getting to go back there (and Seattle!) again.

Tomorrow in Breckenridge, I will be cross country skiing!  It was suggested that for this trip, I should NOT go downhill skiing.  I had really wanted to conquer that fear since the last time did not end so well, but I was talked out of downhill skiing this time.  My upcoming travels are so important to me, and it would be silly for me to put that in jeopardy at this time.  So, to acclimate, I will do lots of cardio by cross country skiing and snowshoeing! 

Acclimate for what, you may ask?

One week from today, I leave for a 23-day trip to India and Nepal!!  What?!?!?  I know. 

Since I'm here in Breckenridge by myself, perhaps I'll have time another evening to write about that upcoming adventure! 

I Am a True Minnesotan Once Again

Oh, it has been so long since my last blog post.  Sorry about that.  However, since I'm not sure if anyone is actually reading this, perhaps I don't have too much to be sorry about!  Ha.

Let's see...what have I been up to since my last post??

I had a grand time participating in the St. Paul Winter Carnival's Frozen 5k run.  The Winter Carnival, for those of you not from MN, is a week-long (maybe even a couple weeks?) festival celebrating all things winter.  There's ice carving, crowning of winter royalty, much lore involving Vulcans (I have no idea what that's all about), ice fishing, concerts, hockey, etc.  You get the idea.  So as a part of the festivities, they have a half marathon and a 5k run.  I recruited an old friend to join me, and we pre-registered a few days before the run.  Only AFTER pre-registering, did I notice that the temperatures were to dip.  And by dip, I mean drop.  In anticipation of the dropping temps, race organizers shortened the half marathon to 1/4 of a marathon.  By the morning of the run, it was -10F, NOT INCLUDING the windchill!!!

You may think that I am crazy to have even have done the run.  However, I am from Minnesota.  I am a Minnesotan.  After living for 8 years in Florida, where, yes, I have complained about the "cold" there on more than once occasion, I've turned into a weather wuss.  For that, I am sorry.  This was my chance for redemption.  So, I put on a few layers of my new, favorite clothing material (merino wool is amazing), plus a fleece, plus a wind jacket, plus wool sock liners, plus a baklava (no, not the Greek sweet pastry, but one of those hood things that leave only your eyes exposed), a wool hat, gloves (with hand warmers), and set off. 

The run started in downtown St. Paul and went down and followed the river for a while.  Despite the cold weather, it was a beautifully sunny day, and the run was quite pleasant.  Yes, pleasant.  Soon after I started, I realized that it was getting difficult to see.  Only then did I realize that was because I was getting icicles ON MY EYELASHES.  Oy.

37 minutes later, I was done (you can calculate just how slowly I run, if you so choose).  Back into the warmth for post-run treats.  I am so glad I did that, and now I can add it to my list of fun experiences!  I believe that I have now re-earned my "I am a Minnesotan" badge!!

Later that day, my mom and I went to the Como Zoo Conservatory to see the annual Orchid Show (also a part of the Winter Carnival festivities).  Did you know there are over 30,000 varieties of orchids??  I had no idea.  There were so many on display at this show, and I went crazy with the camera.  I think that in a span of 2 hours, I took over 100 pictures.  It was really nice to get inside, into the warmth and humidity, to experience such beautiful flowers in the middle of winter!

I took a trip down to Sarasota, FL to sub with the Sarasota Orchestra, and that was a really fun time.  Of course, it was great to get into the lovely winter, and to visit with friends there.  I'd say that the best adventure of that trip involved ice cream, the beach, and sea gulls.

My friend came down from St. Petersburg for the day, and after a nice shopping stroll on St. Armands circle, we got ice cream and headed for a walk on the beach.  It was a perfect and cool day.  We started walking, and soon, we were being aggressively pursued by about 40-50 sea gulls.  When I say "aggressively pursued", I mean, they were hovering within 6 inches of our heads and dive-bombing us.  We tried to run.  The birds followed.  We tried yelling to scare them away.  They still came.  One of them actually dive-bombed my friend's ice cream cone and took off a chunk!  I felt like I was in Hitchcock's "The Birds".  It was truly terrifying.  Needless to say, the ice cream quickly made an exit into the nearest trash can, and whew, the crises was over.  We did have a good laugh about 15 minutes later when a couple came on the beach with food in a paper bag, and the sea gulls went after them. 

After the Sunday afternoon concert, I drove down to Naples to attend the annual Super Bowl Party.  It was so much fun to see friends again, and it was also great to see their families as well.  The highlight of the Super Bowl was that I managed to win $125 from "buying a square" on a grid (too complicated to explain, but it's not betting on a team or a score...it's basically random).  That was very nice!

In an effort to keep this post short, I'll end now.  Another post will be coming soon (although not Wednesday night, since that is, of course, Top Chef night).