darling darjeeling

Tues Nov 29 – Thursday Dec 1

Our train got in at 8am but it was a three hour drive in a jeep with eight other people (plus the driver) to get to our destination. 

We arrived in the cozy little mountain city of Darjeeling with a full day still ahead of us.  I just loved this city right from the start.  It was fairly cool this far north.  Everything seems different here.  The people look really different, they dress really different and there’s just a really unique feel about the place.  Every little shop is selling all kinds of fantastic knitted things.     

We took the Toy Train that evening.  It’s just a small train that goes around the city.  Unfortunately it was super over cast and cloudy so we couldn’t really see much outside the immediate city but it was still really fun.  It’s a really quaint place.  The brightly painting buildings speckle all over the hills. 

There are a lot Tibetan Refugees in Darjeeling.  There are tons of Tibetan restaurants.  Darjeeling is famous for it’s tea plantations so every second shop sells “world famous tea.”  I almost wished I was a tea drinker! 

N felt really lousy in the morning so I went off wandering on my own.  I decided to set off in a direction that we hadn’t yet explore and ended up way outside of the city.  I did find the zoo so I went and checked that out.  Among other things, they had a very friendly bear, some tigers and a bunch of red pandas.  Then it was still about an hour and a half walk back, up hill.  I really got my work out that day!

In the afternoon we went up Tiger Hill to try and get a view of the big mountains but again the weather was bad so we couldn’t really  see much. 

The shops all close fairly early, just as it’s getting dark because the shop keepers pack up all their merchandise and carry it come with them each night.  They use these straps which they lift using their foreheads.  It’s really insanely impressive how much they lift this way.  Anyways as a result there’s not much to do in the evening.  So we decided to go out to a movie.  And there just happened to be a really nice little coffee shop outside the theatre that we sat at while we waited for our show to start.  It was a really lovely little date before we head off.  

We had to leave this morning so we thought we’d try and get one more shot at seeing the famous Himalayas.  We left for Tiger Hill at 4:30 am!  Everyone goes that early to see the sunset.  It’s totally packed!  There are about two hundred people standing out in the chilly dark morning anxiously waiting for the sun.  It was nice but I’m not sure if it was worth the sleep deprivation.  We stayed way longer than most people hoping that the clouds would lift and sure enough after almost everyone else had left the clouds dissipated and there they were!  We could see just a tiny little tip of Mt. Everest.  And Mt. Khangchendozonga WOW!  It’s enormous!  It’s the worlds third largest peak standing at 8598 meters high.  By comparison Mt. Everest is 8848 m high.  It seems to just shoot up out of the hills way above everything else.  It was really impressive.  We were so thrilled that we actually got to see it before we left!  That was really amazing! 

Tomorrow evening around 6pm we will arrive in Vijayawada.  We are all jitters and excitement.  We are really looking forward to meeting the Ebenezer family and settling into a permanent place after being on the go for these past weeks.  We look forward to getting to work!

hindu holy city

Sat Nov 26-Mon Nov 28

We flew out from Khajuraho in the late afternoon and arrive in Varanasi around 3pm.   We thought our flight was in the morning…but it was delayed several hours.   

In Hinduism the number seven is very important.  There are seven holy cities and seven holy rivers.  Varanasi is one of these cities and Ganges are one of these rivers. 

We had been forewarned of the touts in Varanasi before we got there and I was glad for that because pretty much from the time we landed it felt like a constant bartering battle.  The area that our hotel was located in had all these little tiny winding streets.  The buildings go up about seven stories and the lane is so narrow N could reach his arms across and touch the walls on either side, in most places.  It is a claustrophobics WORST nightmare, it feels like being in a maze.  Oh and did I mention that I’m claustrophobic?!  Haha so unfortunately this greatly detracted from my personal enjoyment of the city since by the time we got to the hotel I was hyperventilating.  Once we got out of there and got out to the Ganges and got to experience the city a bit more it’s really interesting. 

It’s not my favorite place we’ve been but I think it’s a major destination for good reason.  It’s a really interesting place! 

Every night at 6pm on one of the main Ghats (which we think just means stairs down to the river) they perform the ganga aarti ceremony.  It last about an hour.  It was quite interesting. There are bells ringing throughout the entire thing and seven holy men dressed in orange sing om  chants and wave incense and candles etc.  It seemed like it was very meaningful to the worshipers there.  We went to it both nights.  Once we saw it from a boat and once we went right up on the ghat.  From the boat you can light a little candle in floating flower.  From what I understood people do it sort of the way that you might wish upon a star if you are superstitious.  Mine got sucked under the boat right away. 

Varanasi had some really fun shopping too. They had all these fixed price scarf shops with really beautiful things for really reasonable prices.  I like so much when you don’t have to negotiate and you get great deals! 

We went again for a boat ride in the morning.  You can see the Ghat’s where they do the cremations (photos are prohibited).  The river is a really central part of the Hindu faith.  As I understand it, being cremated here allows a person to reach moksha or liberation and escape the cycle of reincarnation. 

I always thought that they burned the bodies out on the water but they don’t they just drench it in the Ganges water before it’s burned.  And someone told us that babies prior to 8months old are believed to be without sin so they are not cremated they are just floated down the river. We are pretty sure we saw one.  And we also saw a few cremations.  If no one told you what it was it just looks like a bon fire.  Thankfully you can’t see anything gory or anything. Considering how public the cremation is it’s done really discreetly and respectfully.  We saw lots of men and women with shaved heads, in Varanasi.  When we asked about it, someone told us that it was done by the immediate family of the deceased. 

There’s a lot to learn! 

The Ganges were much bigger than N was expecting.  The city of Varanasi looks really pretty from the water, all lit up at night. 

We had a really cool answer to prayer on our way out of the city. 

We caught a rickshaw to the train station.  We were told it should not take more than half an hour to get there and had allotted just over forty-five minutes to get there.  Our rickshaw driver seemed in no hurry at all.  Which, in our experience, is a bit out of character for a rickshaw driver.  He stopped for gas, twice.  He stopped and chatted with friends a couple of times pulling right over on the side of the road and turning off the rickshaw.  And at one point he stopped to purchase a wreath of flowers.  We were trying to be patient but were also feel a bit nervous that we were going to be late.  About a half an hour in we realized that it was more like a 45 min to an hour drive to the station.  And that despite our rushing the driver we were not making good time.  I started praying like crazy that somehow God would intervene.  We had a lot of trouble even booking these tickets and I was not sure what would happen if we missed this train.  It was a long trip through the night ahead of us, it wasn’t going to work to try and grab a last minute seat. Unknown to me, the night before N and been praying that God would reveal himself to him in a very tangible way.  I began to feel reassured that things would work out, even though I had no sense of how.  We finally got to the train station.  We jumped out and were running around madly trying to find our platform.  The train was due to depart 15 minutes prior to our arrival.  We were really late!  I was pretty sure my legs were going to give out under the weight of my enormous pack as we tore up the steps.  We finally get where we need to be and there’s no train.  I begin to loose heart.  N asks an official about the train.  And our train is two hours late. 

In all the train trips we’ve taken we’ve never had a train even be more than five minutes late.  In fact I’ve never even heard other tourists comment on it before.  The trains here seem to run pretty much like clock work.  It was truly blessing.  I think these kinds of stories are never as meaningful second hand.  To read it maybe it doesn’t sound like that big a deal.  For N and I though this was a very moving experience.  It was a very power answer to prayer.  We really felt that God was making himself known to us in a very obvious way.  And we were extremely grateful!  Grateful, not only to have caught our train but also to have caught such a clear glimpse of the power and tender care of our God. 

blush a little

We arrived early in Khajuraho because when we headed out Wed Nov 23 (to catch a bus, to catch a train, run like crazy, to catch a train, to catch a bus) this guy pulls up in a really nice SUV and tells us that he lives in Khajuraho and that he’s going home.  It wasn’t really going to cost us very much extra money and it was about a million times more convenient, so against our better judgment we went for it.  Unfortunately as it was not really the smartest thing to do and we knew that neither one of us could relax and just trust the driver (who turned out to be a professional tourist driver for a big company in Delhi).  So it was a pretty tense six hour drive there.  Fortunately it all turned out for the best, we got there safely with no glitches.  The driver was very keen to drink whiskey with us and lend us his motorcycle to drive out and seem some waterfalls that are supposed to be very impressive but we politely decline.

Thursday Nov 24 – Fri Nov 25

We wandered around and checked out the temples.  There are three main sections with about half a dozen temples at each.  The temples look very similar but the sculptures on them vary slightly.  The images were not actually as explicit as we had expected, which was kind of nice.  Regardless of the content, the carvings are really amazing!  They are some of the finest temple are in the world, listed as a World Heritage Site.  We thought they were really worth the trip.  Each temple is dedicated to a different Hindu god.  And we were not totally sure that we understood this correctly but we were told that they were built to bring pleasure to the gods, to sort of appease them.  Although we should probably look into the truth behind that, a bit more. 

The city itself has a really laidback rural atmosphere. It was really enjoyable to wander the streets and do a bit of shopping.  Although the fact that their main tourist attracts are erotic temples some of the souvenirs also made us blush a little.

We met an older guy named Warren and his friend Ramkishore (sp?), who works at one of the tourist shops, while we were searching for the perfect pair of alibaba pants.  Warren was a very interesting guy.  He’s 77 and permanently lives in Seattle but for the last 17 years has spent the majority of his time in Khajuraho which he really considers home.  We sat and chatted with them for several hours eating peanuts and drinking many cups of masala tea. Ramkishore really wanted us come to his home for lunch.  And so because our flight was leaving early the next morning we agreed to have lunch at 9:30am the following morning (Sat Nov 26).  It was seriously the best food we’ve had since we got here.  His two daughters and his wife cooked us up a real feast!  We sat in their little one bedroom home, on their one bed.  Then the oldest daughter, who is 17, did henna all up my arm. It was a really amazing experience! 

Saturday Nov 26 – Happy Birthday to my Mommy! 

charger

Phone conversation 10 am - this morning (Wed Nov 23)

“Dad!  You’ll never guess what just happened to us!”

“[laughs] You got chased by a tiger.” He jokes. 

“Yes!” 

“Really?”

“Yes!”

I just had to tell somebody as soon as we got back!  I was SO happy to be alive!

It was absolutely insane!  For sure the single scariest thing that has ever happened, to either of us, in our entire lives! 

People talk about those moments where your life flashes before your eyes.  All at once I was having one of those moments.  I was certain the moment I caught sight of this beast coming towards us, that this was the end. 

So what happened…

We set out on a safari in Bandhavgarh National Park at 5:45am – the park gates open at 6:15am.  We were joined by a guy named Mark from Holland. Going with a bit of a group decreased the price because you pay per vehicle not per person to enter the park. He had been here for two weeks and on nine such safari’s without seeing a single tiger!  Having discovered this news I was not very hopefully of spotting a wild cat today.  And especially after our first experience I just didn’t want to get my hopes up and then be disappointed again. 

This was a much nicer trip to begin with than the other.  Mark photographs European Birds as a hobby gone wild, he says.  He had some pretty swanky camera equipment. 

We’ve been driving along in a gypsy (an open top jeep with room for six passengers on benches in the back) for about an hour and a half.  The morning is quite cool and the road extremely bumpy.  We’d all settled in and are enjoying a beautiful drive through the jungle.  We’d seen some deer and a few peacocks. 

Blurry short off the back of the gypsy as we
made our escape from the tiger!

All of the sudden a tigress charges out of the bushes, at the gypsy! 

She saw us long before we saw her.  The driver speeds past her and she cools down on the road. 

Then, as the rest of us our catching our breath, the driver slams into reverse.  We all squawk at him to stop and stay put.  He nearly hit the cat!  She gets scared and runs into the bush.  At first I thought we’d lost her but then I can see her looking out at us from the bushes. 

She lay there just within eyesight for a few minutes.  She was just gorgeous.    Her eyes were large and yellow.  It was hard to read her body language.  For a time, she seemed calm. 

I lower the camera. I wanted to look at her plainly, with my naked eye.  I look right into her stunning sunshine eyes.  And at that moment she’d had enough, of being watched.  We locked eyes and then she came right at us again!  (Although if you ask N the tigress was looking right into his eyes at that moment-I guess only she knows.)
It was as though I could feel all this immense beasts power rushing right at me!  Ugh!  It was so terrifying!

Tigress - Bandhavgarh National Park, India - Nov 23

The driver had turned off the car, for whatever reason. I guess tigers are normally okay with being watched.  The driver panicked and scrambled to get the car started again, as she ran at us growling.  He sped away, it seemed just in time.  My heart stopped.  I pretty much was holding my breath for this entire time. 

She was within about two meters of the vehicle!  And clearly not happy! 

At this point she crossed the road and I got some decent snaps of her.

I wanted to maintain my distance, at this point.  She was clearly feeling we had invaded her territory.  The driver, on the other hand, was going to get us our money’s worth out of this safari.  And he didn’t understand enough English to catch our protests.  So he followed after her.  She went into the bush on the other side of the road and we continued to drive on.  It seemed we’d lost her.  Then she came out of the bush behind us just walking.  We drove on watching her.  When the driver slowed down so we could see her a bit closer she started chasing the car again!  He just slammed on it at this point we were going at least 50-60 km/hr, on this sketchy pothole-filled half pavement mostly dirt road.  The tiger was having no trouble keeping up with us.  Now that she’d given us a good enough scare to keep us going, she let us loose her. 

By the time we got to the gate we were all shaking and panting.  Everyone, including the driver and the guide, was just petrified! 

When we encountered some Indian tourists about a half hour later one of the guys translated, for us, that the driver said he would never go down that way again.  He was pretty shaken up.  He told these guys he’d never been charged like that before. 

This was definitely unusual behaviour for a tiger.  From what I understand Tigers are typically solitary.  They have their own territory. 

Mark says, that some of the territorial males get called Chargers because they’re known for charging vehicles, like that.  The guide knew that this female didn’t have any young to be protecting. So it’s not typical for a female to come at a vehicle like this.  The males are about a half size again, bigger than the females.  I can’t imagine one of them coming after you like this. 

It was the craziest thing we’ve ever experienced! 

I thank God on two accounts!  It was fantastic to see such a powerful majestic beast!  And I feel and even more intense sense of awe to get to tell about it! 

Truly a memory we will never forget!

day in mumbai

We spent one more day in Mumbai with N's sister and co.

We took a tour of the city. 

We went to some gardens in the middle of the city. 

Saw some beaches surrounding the city. 

We took, a civil engineering wonder, this massive bridges from the mainland to an off island. Were we went and checked out some of the Bollywood Stars homes. We were surprised by how unimpressive and unguarded most of them were.

We went to a Jane Temple.

And we went to the Taj Mahal Hotel where there were terrorist attacks in 2008.  President Obama stayed there on his visit to India.  It’s apparently “the hotel” to go to if you’re a hotshot coming to India.  We had some very expensive coffee’s there (even by at home standards). 

We saw where they do mass hand-was laundry.  That was quite impressive. 

We checked out the slum that “Slumdog Millionaire” was filmed in, Dharavi Slum. Although we could, unfortunately, not go into it.  We may try again, on our way home we leave through Mumbai.  A few interesting notes paraphrased out of the Lonely Planet (793). Sixty percent of Mumbai’s population lives in shanty towns or slums.  Dharvi is the largest slum in the country. Though it may look a devastating mess from the outside inside life is surprisingly “normal.”  Dwellers pay rent and most houses have kitchens and electricity.  You can see satellite dishes on many of the structures.  Building materials ranger from flimsy corrugated-iron to more permanent concrete.  And this I found really interesting-many of these families have lived here for generations even if they work white-collar jobs they choose to stay.  It’s the neighborhood they grew up in.  I always find this kind of information really fascinating.  As a foreigner from the outside, something can look so terrible and upsetting.  The reality is that people survive, live and enjoy life in wildly diverse circumstances. 

According to the LP Mumbiakers had mixed feelings about the stereotypes expressed by the hit movie.  And understandably so if this was your home, and you felt safe and at peace here.  I wouldn’t want my neighborhood portrayed as a pit of despair to the rest of the world, either.  At the same time it’s upsetting to walk along the street and see a girl who is clearly still a teenager trying to quite the baby on her hip.  And watching her sooth him by picking up a dirty plastic bag off the street and giving it to him to suck on. 

I think this is why it is important to travel.  It is one thing to watch a stirring movie.  It’s another thing to interact and witness first hand real lives of people. Witnessing poverty like this first hand is really upsetting.  We continue to struggle with how not only to respond but how to cope.  It makes you want to have nothing.  It makes you want not live where you do with the luxuries you have.  It make you feel guilty to your very core.  Sick to your stomached that you happened to be dealt the hand of cards you got, because they didn’t. 

We had dinner all together on the hotel roof top, overlooking the city, that night.  It was great to get to catch up with our sister over these past two days.  To chat and to laugh.  N's sister hates sad ‘good byes’.  She reminded us that, like this trip, you never know when or where you’ll get the chance to connect with loved ones.   So instead of being sad at our parting I look forward to our next exciting meeting abroad. 

It was so wonderful to be together.  And as always hard to say good bye. 

Then N and I caught a 17hr train to Bandhavgarh National Park

a reunion in mumbai

We had an excellent four days in Goa.  (Let me clairify) As we were just lazing around on the beach I didn’t really have much to blog about.   There are great little restaurants all along the beach.  You can find a wide variety in cuisine: including western, Israeli and Italian.  And when the staff aren’t trying to sell you weed you really get quite good service.  It’s kind a of a little hippy hub, in many ways.  You don’t have to walk far to find a bong for sale, a purse with mushrooms stitched onto it or a place that will put in dreadlocks for you!  Many people seem to just come to Goa to work for the high season (which is just beginning) and then return home for the low season.  Not many of the people we met working in Goa were actually from there.  And many of the tourists seem to live there for the entire high season.  It’s not all young people.  Authentic hippies are not hard to find…they have not aged well.  Leathery skin and unkempt hair are in abundance. 

I really enjoyed the laidback vibe and the easy going energy.  Although I must say if you’re looking to experience authentic Indian culture, I don’t think it’s on your list of places to go. 

Some hilarious highlights: 

In the ever so conservatively dressed boarders of India, Goa stands distinct.  The lack of clothing was really quite shocking! 

We saw our first ever male g-string proudly marching down the beach. 

And an very old man, with waist length long grey hair and beard, standing in the middle of the beach retying his white sarong.  It is strange, in the first place, how many men wear sarongs in Goa.  And in the second place that, he was wearing nothing at all beneath the this sheer fabric!  And thirdly that he opened widely and really took his time about retying his wrap!  Bah!  My eyes are burning!!!!  Bahaha!

Aside from the expose…Goa was really great!  We just loved it and are looking forward to passing through on our way home again. 

We took a ten hour train trip from Goa up to Mumbai. We arrived late in the evening around 9pm.  Anja, Ureshnie (her very close friend) and Auntie Shama (sp? -Ureshnie’s Mom) arrive shortly after Midnight from South Africa.  We met them at a lovely hotel (which Anja spoiled us with!) 

We stayed up for a few hours being excited to see one another and catching up! 

Then we started our day early and went to check out this fantastic city.  I really like Mumbai.  It seems to me like the Manhattan of India.  It feels quite different from the rest of the country we’ve experience so far.  It’s fairly crowded and bustling as would be expected of a major centre but it’s quite different in many ways.  It was British in it’s early colonial roots, I think, and that seems to give the architecture a really different look. 

We took, an hour-long, ferry over to the Elephanta Caves.  Which is sort of a temple dug into the rock.  It’s an ancient Hindu Temple primarily dedicated to Lord Shiva.  The carvings were very cool!  It’s quite neat to see!

Then we checked out the city and did a bit of street shopping.  It’s great shopping!  There are little booths with treasures all a long the side walk.  It’s cramped but at least out of traffic!   They have everything!  We will do our purchasing on our way back through Mumbai on the way home though, so we don’t have to carry it with us for our whole trip. 

We finished off the evening with an excellent dinner and then went back to our hotel to hang out. 

It’s been just SO wonderful to get to see Anja so unexpectedly soon!  We feel very blessed to get to steal this time together! 

Tomorrow we plan to take a tour of the city and check out the sights.

N and I leave for Bandhavgarh National Park around 9p tomorrow night.  Again hoping to catch a glimpse of those famous wild cats!!!

 (will post pictures later)

goin' to goa

Wednesday Nov 16 2011

Actually we’re already in Goa, at this point, it just didn’t sound as catchy. 

We’ve decided to revise our itinerary a bit.  Our camel tour is quite a ways from where we are and makes the train ride to Mumbai, where we will visit Anja, almost 24 hours.  Which was fine until we started talking to other travelers who were really not recommending it.  Not making it appealing enough to make it endure that grueling train ride.  I’m still not certain that we won’t regret missing out on this experience.

We talked about some options and just sort of randomly decided to fly down and check out some beach.  We’ll trained to Jaipur  and spent a day there.  It’s not a bad city we didn’t make it up to see the fort that everyone recommends as it’s a bit of drive, which was unfortunate.  Then flew to Goa, with Spice Jet airlines (love that name). We’re feeling a little tuckered out - the excitement of India is proving a bit wearing on first time visitors. 

It might be the beach...but it's still India!

I just wanted to rub it in a little bit, for our loved ones back home, that while the flakes fly there, we’re enjoying sandy beaches getting our tan on. 

While this might not have been the most efficient little detour we could have taken we’re glad we made it.  It’s really great here.  The last province we were in, Rajasthan, is called the desert province and we found this kind of strange because we thought it had a lot of green and was relatively lush.  Now that we’re in the south it makes amore sense. 

We’re in Northern Goa, in a town called Arambol.  It’s about an hour and half drive from the airport, we just took a taxi.  It’s very touristy here but surprisingly noncommercial feeling, considering.  It’s kind of a “hippy” community.  We get the impression people come and stay here for long periods of time. 

It’s super hot!  As in sweat always dripping down your back hot.  We have trouble ever finding out the exact temperature. 

Arambol Beach

Goa feels a world away from inland India.  It’s not exactly a profound cultural experience but for us it’s a welcome break from our first week in the bustling city.  We stayed in an ordinary hotel last night but tonight we’re going to look into staying in a hut. 

Last night at sunset a bunch of cattle wandered a long the beach, this was just hilarious to me, as just a little reminder that it’s still India.

We’ll be here for about four days.