I'm on my way out of Varanasi this evening and following a 13 hour train ride, I'll be in Agra.
Varanasi has been...well, a bit off to be honest. I had a hellish time getting here from Kathmandu. I had to take an 8 hour ride to a shitty Indian border town, where I hid in my (wildly over-priced) hotel room, watching CSI:New York with Hindi subtitles. Then I had to take a 6 hour train ride to Varanasi only to arrive at 5 am. I got to my hotel and passed out until 11 am.
Now, here's where I did something stupid. I decided to go out right then, instead of waiting a bit to avoid the noon heat. No smart. I went to Sarnath, a town about 5km north where the Buddha preached his first sermon. It was great but I nearly fainted from the heat and had to go back to the hotel to rest for the rest of the day. It was lame.
The next day, I planned much better. I got up at 4:45 and hauled ass to the Ganges so I could get on a boat and see the sunrise. It was absolutely beautiful. People, mostly men, were doing puja in the river. Puja is the Hindu show of devotion, offering something to the gods, ringing a bell to let the gods know the offering is there, saying a mantra, and in this case dunking themselves in the holiest river in India.
I also saw the body burning ghats but I didn't notice any bodies or anything. I wasn't searching too hard, though, so maybe there were.
After checking out some temples, I went back to my hotel to wait out the 11-3 hours when the sun is hottest. I took a nice refreshing nap and headed back to Old Town and saw the Muslim quarters where they make silk products. All by hand, yo! It was pretty cool to see and I bought a gift for my hosts in Ghent.
I went back to the ghats in the evening to see the evening puja ritual. It was ok but not nearly as beautiful or spiritual as the morning. It's hard to appreciate the spirituality of a moment when small children are trying to sell you fans, bindi dye, etc.
Varanasi was nice but I am eager to move on.
Wednesday, 16 September 2009
Wednesday, 9 September 2009
Pokhara
I am currently in Pokhara, about 200 km west of Kathmandu. It's absolutely beautiful and breathtaking. I literally gasped when I saw the lake that the city is named for. Just amazing...
The day after I got in, I left for a four day trek to Poon Hill. It had been recommended by several people and I was super excited for it. Ram, my fearless guide, and I took the bus to Naya Pul and began our trek from there. We hiked for about three hours to a tea house and settled there for the night.
The next day was absolute hell. We had to climb about 2,000 (give or take) stone stairs up to Ghorepani. I got sick about 30 minutes in and puked up everything I had eaten for breakfast, but we pressed on. About that time, it started raining and throughout the entire day, it was a steady drizzle of rain and we were soaked pretty early on. We stopped for some delicious potato soup and black tea (and to dry out our raincoats) and at about 3 pm we finally hit Ghorepani and sat in front of the fire, trying to get feeling back in our toes.
This guesthouse was pretty funny, all the rooms had the names of famous athletes on the doors and the owner was very loud and accommodating. I had the most delicious Tibetan bread with jam there. I cannot tell you how lovely the hot bread was, along with a cup of tea, after changing into dry clothes and sitting in front of the fire. It was one of the purest moments of pleasure I've ever had.
The next day, we were supposed to get up at 4 and see the sun rise over the Himalayas but there was a fucking rain storm and no one could see anything. I am trying to be very zen about it but it was a pretty bitter disappointment. Even more so was the fact that we had to start on our way down in this rain storm. Ram made me buy a huge plastic bag, which he then cut head and arm holes into, and I had to wear that the whole way down. Tres chic.
At the same spot I got sick at the day before, I got sick again but this time much worse. I began violently throwing up and my head hurt so bad I thought it was going to burst. I was running a fever and felt all kinds of dizzy but I managed to trek back to our first guest house and made it to the bed there. It was awful but Ram was really nice and he got me Sprite to settle my stomach. He told the owner of the guest house what happened and the owner thought I was haunted by the spirits of the people who died in a landslide at that spot 3 years ago. Huh.
I felt much better the next day and we made an early start back to Pokhara. We were home by about 3 and I spent the rest of the day returning to normal...shower, hair wash, massage, etc. My calves are in so much freaking pain, I can barely walk but it was worth it for the amazing trek. The limited views I saw were still pretty incredible and just doing the trek made me feel like I accomplished something. It was my first ever and wow, was it a mental challenge.
Today is a down day in Pokhara and tomorrow I take the bus back to Kathmandu. I leave the day after for India! Very excited...
The day after I got in, I left for a four day trek to Poon Hill. It had been recommended by several people and I was super excited for it. Ram, my fearless guide, and I took the bus to Naya Pul and began our trek from there. We hiked for about three hours to a tea house and settled there for the night.
The next day was absolute hell. We had to climb about 2,000 (give or take) stone stairs up to Ghorepani. I got sick about 30 minutes in and puked up everything I had eaten for breakfast, but we pressed on. About that time, it started raining and throughout the entire day, it was a steady drizzle of rain and we were soaked pretty early on. We stopped for some delicious potato soup and black tea (and to dry out our raincoats) and at about 3 pm we finally hit Ghorepani and sat in front of the fire, trying to get feeling back in our toes.
This guesthouse was pretty funny, all the rooms had the names of famous athletes on the doors and the owner was very loud and accommodating. I had the most delicious Tibetan bread with jam there. I cannot tell you how lovely the hot bread was, along with a cup of tea, after changing into dry clothes and sitting in front of the fire. It was one of the purest moments of pleasure I've ever had.
The next day, we were supposed to get up at 4 and see the sun rise over the Himalayas but there was a fucking rain storm and no one could see anything. I am trying to be very zen about it but it was a pretty bitter disappointment. Even more so was the fact that we had to start on our way down in this rain storm. Ram made me buy a huge plastic bag, which he then cut head and arm holes into, and I had to wear that the whole way down. Tres chic.
At the same spot I got sick at the day before, I got sick again but this time much worse. I began violently throwing up and my head hurt so bad I thought it was going to burst. I was running a fever and felt all kinds of dizzy but I managed to trek back to our first guest house and made it to the bed there. It was awful but Ram was really nice and he got me Sprite to settle my stomach. He told the owner of the guest house what happened and the owner thought I was haunted by the spirits of the people who died in a landslide at that spot 3 years ago. Huh.
I felt much better the next day and we made an early start back to Pokhara. We were home by about 3 and I spent the rest of the day returning to normal...shower, hair wash, massage, etc. My calves are in so much freaking pain, I can barely walk but it was worth it for the amazing trek. The limited views I saw were still pretty incredible and just doing the trek made me feel like I accomplished something. It was my first ever and wow, was it a mental challenge.
Today is a down day in Pokhara and tomorrow I take the bus back to Kathmandu. I leave the day after for India! Very excited...
Thursday, 3 September 2009
Ka-ka-ka-Kathmandu!
Hello, fair readers. I am now in Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal, and it is awesome!
I got in on Monday, after a fairly standard airport experience. Getting a visa was a bit of a pain since it's all done by hand and it took a long time. Soon enough, though, I had it and ventured into the city. I got massively lost trying to find my hostel and sat down on a ledge to re-group when this wonderful Polish man found me and brought me to my guest house.
My guesthouse is called the Kathmandu Garden House and it lives up to its name completely. It's about a 5 minute walk from Thamel, the main tourist area, and that makes all the difference. All the traffic sounds are hushed as soon as you walk onto the guesthouse's street and you can smell the flowers and plants right away. It's such a lovely bit of quietness in the midst of a bustling and loud city, I love it.
I spent my first night recovering from the travel and didn't leave my guesthouse but I did meet two Americans and chatted for a bit with them. The next day, I took a rickshaw to Durbar Square, the famous historical part of Kathmandu with the temples that look like this:
I found a tour guide and he took me around (for a nominal fee, of course) and learned a ton about the 49 temples.
The best part, though, was going to the Kumari house. The Kumari is a living goddess, a manifestation of Durga/Cali. She is picked from a special Newar buddhist caste and she has to fulfill 32 physical requirements, can have no blemishes, must have the right horoscope, and finally has to endure tests like watching 104 animals sacraficed in front of her. If she doesn't freak out, she goes to the Cali temple and has to be locked in a room with hallucinogenic incense and severed animal heads. Again, if she doesn't freak out, that's your girl. She remains the Kumari until she gets her first period then the process starts again.
She comes out to a window of her inner courtyard about once a month and I happened to catch it. I was only with about 6 other people when she was carried to the window. She's four years old and absolutely adorable. She looked out the window, we all bowed and said "Namaste" and then she wandered away. Very interesting experience.
I went back to the hostel after taking a gazillion photos and ran into one of the Americans, Jon. We decided to go back to Durbar Square that evening because we heard there was going to be a big festival. Sadly, we were a couple days off but we did get to see a procession of young men/boys led by an elephant puppet.
Yesterday, I woke up early-ish and Jon and I hauled ass to the monkey temple at the edge of town:
We had to climb a lot of stairs to get to the top but oh, man. Not only is the stupa beautiful and spiritual, but the view of the Kathmandu valley from the top of the hill was stunning. The clouds were just amazing and you could see for ages. The stupa itself, like I said, was pretty incredible too. We spent the evening at Durbar Square again, hoping to see some action but again failing. After, we got accidentally drunk and had to stagger home. Very fun.
I got up at 5:45 this morning to catch the 7:00 am bus to Pokhara, only to be told there were protests on the highway and all buses were canceled. Big time bummer but I'm using this extra day to catching up on journaling/blogging, writing postcards, and laundry.
I got in on Monday, after a fairly standard airport experience. Getting a visa was a bit of a pain since it's all done by hand and it took a long time. Soon enough, though, I had it and ventured into the city. I got massively lost trying to find my hostel and sat down on a ledge to re-group when this wonderful Polish man found me and brought me to my guest house.
My guesthouse is called the Kathmandu Garden House and it lives up to its name completely. It's about a 5 minute walk from Thamel, the main tourist area, and that makes all the difference. All the traffic sounds are hushed as soon as you walk onto the guesthouse's street and you can smell the flowers and plants right away. It's such a lovely bit of quietness in the midst of a bustling and loud city, I love it.
I spent my first night recovering from the travel and didn't leave my guesthouse but I did meet two Americans and chatted for a bit with them. The next day, I took a rickshaw to Durbar Square, the famous historical part of Kathmandu with the temples that look like this:
I found a tour guide and he took me around (for a nominal fee, of course) and learned a ton about the 49 temples.
The best part, though, was going to the Kumari house. The Kumari is a living goddess, a manifestation of Durga/Cali. She is picked from a special Newar buddhist caste and she has to fulfill 32 physical requirements, can have no blemishes, must have the right horoscope, and finally has to endure tests like watching 104 animals sacraficed in front of her. If she doesn't freak out, she goes to the Cali temple and has to be locked in a room with hallucinogenic incense and severed animal heads. Again, if she doesn't freak out, that's your girl. She remains the Kumari until she gets her first period then the process starts again.
She comes out to a window of her inner courtyard about once a month and I happened to catch it. I was only with about 6 other people when she was carried to the window. She's four years old and absolutely adorable. She looked out the window, we all bowed and said "Namaste" and then she wandered away. Very interesting experience.
I went back to the hostel after taking a gazillion photos and ran into one of the Americans, Jon. We decided to go back to Durbar Square that evening because we heard there was going to be a big festival. Sadly, we were a couple days off but we did get to see a procession of young men/boys led by an elephant puppet.
Yesterday, I woke up early-ish and Jon and I hauled ass to the monkey temple at the edge of town:
We had to climb a lot of stairs to get to the top but oh, man. Not only is the stupa beautiful and spiritual, but the view of the Kathmandu valley from the top of the hill was stunning. The clouds were just amazing and you could see for ages. The stupa itself, like I said, was pretty incredible too. We spent the evening at Durbar Square again, hoping to see some action but again failing. After, we got accidentally drunk and had to stagger home. Very fun.
I got up at 5:45 this morning to catch the 7:00 am bus to Pokhara, only to be told there were protests on the highway and all buses were canceled. Big time bummer but I'm using this extra day to catching up on journaling/blogging, writing postcards, and laundry.
Sunday, 30 August 2009
Delhi
I'm in a cyber cafe in Delhi right now, exhausted, jet lagged, and totally ready for bed at 6 pm. Oh, dear.
My flight over was rough. The turbulence, combined with my makkoli hangover, resulted in my barfing during a particularly bad patch. A flight attendant was sitting next to me and I was mortified. However, I had my entire middle row to myself and I got to spread out and go to sleep for a large chunk of the flight. Customs was a breeze, found my airport pick up right away and had an uneventful trip to the guest house.
I wandered over to the local gov't tourist board and planned my trip out and I'm excited because I get to go to Dharmasala, which is where the Dalai Llama lives! I wasn't sure I was going to have enough time but I had plenty so assah! Then, because I spent so much money, they gave me a complimentary (read: just had to tip the driver) private tour of Delhi.
I saw sooo much in about 3 hours. I went to the Gate of India, the Jahan mosque, the Red Fort, the Bahaii Temple, the Ghandi House, the Parliament building and the Presidential Residence, and back again. The mosque was the highlight, I was given a tour by a mute dude who would point and pantomime the information he wanted to get across. I climbed up one of the minarets and had an absolutely breathtaking view of the city.
Delhi is very, very different from Mumbai. Mumbai is a city's city and full of this energy that I can't articulate but I felt it the minute I got there. Delhi is much more like a giant village that just kept spreading and spreading. It's a LOT dirtier than Mumbai and much more conservative. I had to buy a couple long skirts today because my shorts, which go down to my knee, and my t-shirt are way too flash. My tour guide informed me that I am showing too much skin. I'm a whore lady!
Any how, I am now kinda bored and wishing I could go to bed and wake up in Kathmandu because, honestly, Delhi is not my kind of city. But I'm going to find a nice little place where I can read and sip chai and chill out.
My flight over was rough. The turbulence, combined with my makkoli hangover, resulted in my barfing during a particularly bad patch. A flight attendant was sitting next to me and I was mortified. However, I had my entire middle row to myself and I got to spread out and go to sleep for a large chunk of the flight. Customs was a breeze, found my airport pick up right away and had an uneventful trip to the guest house.
I wandered over to the local gov't tourist board and planned my trip out and I'm excited because I get to go to Dharmasala, which is where the Dalai Llama lives! I wasn't sure I was going to have enough time but I had plenty so assah! Then, because I spent so much money, they gave me a complimentary (read: just had to tip the driver) private tour of Delhi.
I saw sooo much in about 3 hours. I went to the Gate of India, the Jahan mosque, the Red Fort, the Bahaii Temple, the Ghandi House, the Parliament building and the Presidential Residence, and back again. The mosque was the highlight, I was given a tour by a mute dude who would point and pantomime the information he wanted to get across. I climbed up one of the minarets and had an absolutely breathtaking view of the city.
Delhi is very, very different from Mumbai. Mumbai is a city's city and full of this energy that I can't articulate but I felt it the minute I got there. Delhi is much more like a giant village that just kept spreading and spreading. It's a LOT dirtier than Mumbai and much more conservative. I had to buy a couple long skirts today because my shorts, which go down to my knee, and my t-shirt are way too flash. My tour guide informed me that I am showing too much skin. I'm a whore lady!
Any how, I am now kinda bored and wishing I could go to bed and wake up in Kathmandu because, honestly, Delhi is not my kind of city. But I'm going to find a nice little place where I can read and sip chai and chill out.
Saturday, 29 August 2009
Mishap #1
Jesus H. Chrizzle, I just wrote almost an entire post and somehow managed to delete it. GRRRRRR!!!!
The gist was, my first mishap has occured and I haven't even left Korea. As I was waiting for the shuttle to the airport, I discovered my camera wasn't acknowledging battery power. I changed the set a couple times, nothing worked. I went to the airport electronics store but they were no help so I ended up buying a smaller point and shoot so I have a camera for the trip. I'm starting to think I may have jumped the gun but I'd rather scrimp for a bit and spend the $289 to make sure I have a camera than be on this trip and have nothing.
Words cannot express how disappointed I am with my camera. Clearly, not a game day player. I think it let me down so bad because I didn't name it so I've named my snazzy little Canon "GoldMember," since he's gold.
A minor mishap occured last night when I realized Big Blue, my old faithful pack, was too small for the trip. My friend Aviam lent me his bigger pack but damn it, it has a maple leaf with "Canada" on it...!!! The ultimate racist against Canadians is stuck with a maple leaf! Karma sucks.
The gist was, my first mishap has occured and I haven't even left Korea. As I was waiting for the shuttle to the airport, I discovered my camera wasn't acknowledging battery power. I changed the set a couple times, nothing worked. I went to the airport electronics store but they were no help so I ended up buying a smaller point and shoot so I have a camera for the trip. I'm starting to think I may have jumped the gun but I'd rather scrimp for a bit and spend the $289 to make sure I have a camera than be on this trip and have nothing.
Words cannot express how disappointed I am with my camera. Clearly, not a game day player. I think it let me down so bad because I didn't name it so I've named my snazzy little Canon "GoldMember," since he's gold.
A minor mishap occured last night when I realized Big Blue, my old faithful pack, was too small for the trip. My friend Aviam lent me his bigger pack but damn it, it has a maple leaf with "Canada" on it...!!! The ultimate racist against Canadians is stuck with a maple leaf! Karma sucks.
Wednesday, 29 July 2009
Little Moments of Happiness...
Right now, I'm wearing my favorite t-shirt ("Obama For Your Mama"), watching/listening to The Daily Show, and sipping an Asahi. Claudie is passed out at the foot of my bed and the fan is keeping me cool. Life is good.
And this is going to sound absolutely insane, but I know I'm going to be a little homesick on my trip. I like my life in Seoul, I love my apartment and my cats, I love my friends and I mostly love my job. I'm not running away or avoiding anything and so of course I'm going to miss it. I'm going to see some amazing places and do some amazing things but I'm going to miss by stupid cats so much.
Monday, 27 July 2009
Jisan Valley Was Intense
Well, I survived the Jisan Valley Rock Festival by the skin of my teeth.
Dan and I left Seoul on Friday afternoon as soon as I finished work. On the subway, before we had even left Seoul, Dan whipped out the soju and fruit juice cocktails and we took our first steps along the path of complete debauchery. We would not stray from that path for the entire weekend.
The Friday night headliner act was Weezer and the 14 year old Nicole emerged and was swooning all over Rivers Cuomo, even though he's balding and looking a bit rough around the edges. They played a lot of their old stuff, which was amazing, and some new stuff, which was less amazing. Dan and I reached a point of drunkenness that lead us to sing racist England chants ("There were 10 German bombers in the air....but the RAF from England shot one down!...") and to pee in random places along the way back to our tents. Ah, camping!
On Saturday, we were joined by Ben and Aaron, who brought the soju. Saturday was more about our crazy drunken antics than the music but that was ok. We had a lot of fun. I was covered in neon pink paint and at some point in the afternoon, the boys decided the giant inflated Jaegermeister bottle was their enemy and had to be taken down. I nearly wet my pants laughing when two of them ran at it and rugby tackled it, only to bounce off. When Basement Jaxx came on on Saturday, Dan and I climbed up the towers where the cameras were and saw the whole crowd from a bird's eye view. It was pretty incredible.
Sunday was a bit horrible. We were all deathly hungover and couldn't do anything but lie in the grass and sip at beers. No one really woke up until about 8 pm and then we all realized we were drunk from sipping at beer all day. Jet was pretty good plus they were really good lookin'.
The main event, of course, was Oasis and they were pretty fucking awesome. We had to battle to get good spots and then continued fighting to keep them but it was totally worth is. I absolutely love the song Don't Look Back in Anger and they played it, which made me extremely happy. They were just brilliant. Liam Gallagher said "I don't know where we are or what festival we're at but you're all the bullocks" and really, I feel like that summed up the weekend.
Getting back was a horrific experience that does not need to be described but suffice it to say I was an absolute mess today. I am so happy to be back in my own bed with my fan and the cats. Hopefully, tomorrow I'll start feeling human again....but totally worth it!
Dan and I left Seoul on Friday afternoon as soon as I finished work. On the subway, before we had even left Seoul, Dan whipped out the soju and fruit juice cocktails and we took our first steps along the path of complete debauchery. We would not stray from that path for the entire weekend.
The Friday night headliner act was Weezer and the 14 year old Nicole emerged and was swooning all over Rivers Cuomo, even though he's balding and looking a bit rough around the edges. They played a lot of their old stuff, which was amazing, and some new stuff, which was less amazing. Dan and I reached a point of drunkenness that lead us to sing racist England chants ("There were 10 German bombers in the air....but the RAF from England shot one down!...") and to pee in random places along the way back to our tents. Ah, camping!
On Saturday, we were joined by Ben and Aaron, who brought the soju. Saturday was more about our crazy drunken antics than the music but that was ok. We had a lot of fun. I was covered in neon pink paint and at some point in the afternoon, the boys decided the giant inflated Jaegermeister bottle was their enemy and had to be taken down. I nearly wet my pants laughing when two of them ran at it and rugby tackled it, only to bounce off. When Basement Jaxx came on on Saturday, Dan and I climbed up the towers where the cameras were and saw the whole crowd from a bird's eye view. It was pretty incredible.
Sunday was a bit horrible. We were all deathly hungover and couldn't do anything but lie in the grass and sip at beers. No one really woke up until about 8 pm and then we all realized we were drunk from sipping at beer all day. Jet was pretty good plus they were really good lookin'.
The main event, of course, was Oasis and they were pretty fucking awesome. We had to battle to get good spots and then continued fighting to keep them but it was totally worth is. I absolutely love the song Don't Look Back in Anger and they played it, which made me extremely happy. They were just brilliant. Liam Gallagher said "I don't know where we are or what festival we're at but you're all the bullocks" and really, I feel like that summed up the weekend.
Getting back was a horrific experience that does not need to be described but suffice it to say I was an absolute mess today. I am so happy to be back in my own bed with my fan and the cats. Hopefully, tomorrow I'll start feeling human again....but totally worth it!
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