Wednesday, July 30, 2008
mountain bike ride
saturday we went walking around thamel (the tourist part of kathmandu) looking for new places, when i spotted an adventure company offering a mountain bike ride the next day. i'd been itchin to get out and do something active and this seemed like the perfect opportunity. the man told us there were 2 american women signed up, but we wanted to know their intensity level before committing! we were all out for a nice, leisurely, non-technical ride through the country side so it seemed like a good match. then, another woman, minerva, from the philippines, joined in, but she had only arrived in kathmandu a day before from dubai...where she works. she by no means looked like an 'athlete,' but was game so she also signed up. the next morning came and we were all geared up with snacks and camelbacks in tow. the ride started out heading out of kathmandu at rush hour. ?? yes, we had to ride through traffic. i felt like a little duck following its mother, only santosh, our guide was way ahead of us. lol. also, kathmandu is in a valley, so whenever you head out of the city, you naturally head UP! we climbed quite a while before getting to our tea break. kari and lindsay are from montana and colorado and are young, so they did fine, but minerva was hurtin and lagged behind. we finally turned off the main road onto some less travelled roads, but that's when we hit the mud. i enjoyed it all tremendously, but it became more technical than we had bargained for! we were sloshin around in the mud and slippin our way through some deep truck tire grooves. the only scary part was riding along a 10 inch path that sharply fell down a mountain side to the right...hold on! 2/3s through we came upon the women from the video clip. they spotted us, so i waved and they waved us towards them. we ditched the bikes and worked our way along the narrow pathways in between paddies until we reached them, shin deep in the water crop. they were very jovial and friendly, offering us water (pani) and thrilled to see their image on the screen of my camera. christy gave them some gummie bears and they shared them amongst their group. it was really a nice excursion as i'd never seen how rice was grown up close like that. it truly is labor intensive work and demands so much water. 20 minutes later, we continued on our way, and after stopping for lunch at a local joint, did we arrive back in thamel...our starting point. tired, sore, muddy, sweaty, stinky, hot, and happy, we walked home to even more stares than usual...being in shorts and all muddy...we got many smiles, giggles and points! christy got a funky tan line from her shorts and mud spatters on her legs. it's so pretty... : ) good times...i love getting out and having an excuse to get all muddy...haven't done that in a looong time! hope you get the chance soon. love, j
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
goa
we spent about a week down in goa, which is 2/3s down the west coast of india. it's known for a party atmosphere, trance dancing, sherry wine, drugs and spicy seafood. i guess that's all during high season! we didn't see any of that...it was nice and quiet and peaceful. we rented a scooter and cruised around to different beaches and sights, soaking up the arabian sea air and enjoying the rush of the intense, monsoon tide. the water was too rough to swim, but it was still enjoyable walking or running along the sand. i got a few soakers while running and even got stung by some tiny, glowing blue jellyfish several times while strolling with my feet in the water. ...i prefer the soakers... : ) throughout goa there are tons of shrines. 80% of the population is hindu, but from portuguese settlement, 20% is catholic. the christians built a lot of shrines cause they were all over: on the roadside, seaside, under trees, awnings and any place imaginable where there was space. goa has its own language, too, that's only recently been recognized by the government. considering goa became an indian state in the '80s, things are much different there. the literacy rates and quality of life are both higher than in any other place in india. one of my colleagues from wenddy i house has family living in goa and asked me to go visit them. we embarked on about a 40 minute scooter ride through some rain and beautiful scenery before arriving at their home. it is so interesting to get inside someone's home...they had a beautiful sloping lot with tons of fruit trees and flowers. they were saying that they had so many mangos, figs, jackfruit and other edibles that they had to give most away and some inevitably wound up rotting. such problems... : ) they were nice people and gracious hosts. while in goa we stayed at an old portuguese style guest house. the rooms were fabulously decorated with antique furniture and were accompanied by lovely balconies overlooking the sprawling, luscious flora. they had 2 sweet kitties and a very friendly dog...all of which we found in our room on several occasions!! our time in goa was very quiet and relaxing...and already seems like a long time ago! so, enough of vacation photos...back to the 'du activities on my blog. i promise, when i'm home, i'll look at all your vacation photos if you want... : ) take care, love, j
Saturday, July 26, 2008
sufi singers and raj ghat
these are the last photos of delhi... one of our final nights there we met up with a guy who is an alumni of one of christy's friends. they had never met, but through the alumni association, we were able to connect with him and see the sufi singers. really nice guy...he led us back through the small alleys, past tons of prayer mat sellers, offering vendors and innumerable hawkers of anything muslim. just getting back to the dargah (mosque) took adept maneuvering and resilience. after removing our shoes hundreds of yards from the venue, we popped out at the dargah and realized we needed our heads covered. back we went into the maze to get some "little house in the prairie" head scarves. apparently there was a huge pilgrimage that week which accounted for the large number of people. usually there are a couple hundred, we are told, but easily, this day, there were thousands. the baskets of rose bearing men were queuing to get into the mosque while the women hung outside. after a while, the sufi singers came out and slowly started their rhythmic music accompanied by drums and a harmonium. apparently their songs are mostly of persian origin and are poems passed down through this oral tradition. i felt a little funny being there at first, being in a muslim place and the only clearly westerners, but i soon relaxed into the rhythm of the music and friendliness of the people. we walked around to the back of the mosque and were swarmed by people who wanted to take photos of us or with us. the one woman in purple from the slide show was so excited to be in our presence...we couldn't speak the same language, but she was touching and hugging us and insisted on photos. then the little girl couldn't get next to us quickly enough to have her photo snapped. the photo of the family, however, is the funniest one to me. the looks on their faces cracks me up...we didn't really know where we were, how to communicate, what we were supposed to be doing or what to expect, but we were very warmly received by all.
the next day we took a rickshaw over to raj ghat. this is the place where mahatma gandhi was cremated...a ghat is a cremation pyre. years later, nehru, indira and rajiv were all cremated here. as was ravi gandhi...very interesting and tragic family: the nehrus, if you are inclined to read up on india's history. mahatma was not related to indira, she was a nehru who married a gandhi. one of her two sons, ravi was killed while piloting a plane that crashed, indira was assassinated by her own body guards and rajiv, who took over as prime minister after her death, was also assassinated. now rajiv's italian born wife is high up in office, but does not want to be prime minister because she inevitably will be assassinated, too. in any case, this huge park is on the convergence of several holy rivers and all of the leaders of the country get their own ghat and memorial. all of the people i mentioned had very nice memorials and ghats, except indira...hers was a simple monolith with no signs, no words, no markers, no nothing and she was a huge figure in indian politics. we walked right past it without realizing what it was. rajiv's ghat was a lovely black granite pyre carved with 46 lotus flowers, one for each year of his life. he was a kind and gentle man and was highly regarded amongst his constituency. i didn't photograph nehru, indira or ravi's ghat. as far as mahatma's ghat, it is in a separate section of the park and has an eternal flame. every friday there are ceremonies held there as that's the day he was assassinated and, in addition, there are official services every year on his birth and death day. it is such a big deal that any foreign dignitary who comes to india traditionally visits this site. george w. and laura bush made an appearance in 2006 while touring india. the mahatma gandhi museum is close by and very interesting...i knew very little about indian history. shocking. one more posting of india pics to go...whew...aren't you glad you don't have to sit through travel photo albums and stories??! lol. lots of love, j
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
maoists take their ball and go home
president ram baran yadav
old delhi (in words)
on the outskirts of old delhi is qutab minar. built by the muslims in 1193 as a monument of victory over the hindus, it's 5 stories high and a nice example of afghani architecture. most impressively is how it's withstood all of these years with only a slight tilt. the iron pillar is 7 meters high and over 2000 years old and shows no signs of rust. no one can figure out how they cast it at that time given the technology that was available. one thing that happened time and time again wherever we went, but this time i could get a few photos for proof, is that kids follow us and people come up and want their picture taken with us as if we're tourist attractions, too. the two kids in the pic with christy were following us, yet keeping their distance. when we realized it, we smiled at them and they came closer until we could shake their hands. the kids were smiling and giggling the whole time...until...we took their picture! people don't usually smile in photos here; i think it has something to do with not letting the devil in their soul, but i'm not sure. : / in any case, the same goes with the boy i'm with, sandeep. he had some homework to interview someone while at a tourist place. i filled it out for him and arranged, after many frantic phone calls by his mother, to send him the photo, or 'snap' as they call it, over email. he was smiling with me until...we took the photo. the two that were following us earlier, we saw again with their family outside. they were very friendly people and were all loaded onto a motorcycle ready to go into the heavy delhi traffic. no helmets and 5 people on a motorcycle. all you can do is wish them well...geesh.
next we went nearby to jama masjid mosque. it's the largest mosque in india and built by shah jahan in 1656. he's the same guy who built the taj mahal. apparently he had it built before his son imprisoned him! in any case, it holds 25,000 worshippers when full. we went up into one of the minarets and had a great view of old delhi.
old delhi is a much different experience than being in the malls and movie theaters of new delhi. old delhi is a maze of narrow streets that rickshaws rule and pedestrians swarm like ants knowing exactly where they are and where they need to be. it's amazing that it even all works! it's recommended to take a rickshaw tour through the twists and turns for 2 reasons: rickshaws rule and you won't get lost. we rode around through the different areas which specialize in selling certain things, metal goods, kites, and spices just to name a few. we went through a really old jain temple (where we got yellow tikas) tucked way inside the labyrinth and also stopped and walked around the back alleys of the spice area. the smells certainly changed when we were in the spice area and i found myself coughing a little from the potency. as if the street chaos wasn't enough, the back alleys were another series of stairways and pathways leading through tons of burlap bags of all kinds of spices. unbelievable that they consume that many of anything. we had some tea with our guide and then got back into the rickshaw to continue the tour. one more place we stopped was a paan shop. paan is a mild narcotic concoction that is wrapped in leaves and filled with all kinds of spices and sugars and ...well, ...stuff. you was it up and stick it in your cheek. apparently you're supposed to chew it up and NOT swallow the juice. you're supposed to casually (??) spit out the reddish brown slimy saliva and it'll give you a buzz after a short while. well, i didn't know that, so just kept it tucked in my cheek until it was time to spit it out. christy's was all gnarled and chewed up and mine was...still a big wad. it made a splat as it hit the ground, she had this shocked look on her face and we both started cracking up. maybe i'll try it again some day... : ) by the way, if you drag your cursor over the pics, it'll give you the caption and pause the movement. take care! love, j
Sunday, July 20, 2008
our trip to agra (in words)
this was a short trip, 2 days, but we packed a lot into those 48 hours. belu picked us up again...(he had driven us to jaipur as well), really early in the morning and we drove 4 hours on the 'highway' between delhi and agra. 40 kms outside of agra is a place called fateh pur sikri (pronounced fah-tee purr seek-ree), which was the mughals' capital city for 10 years in the mid 1500s under akbar the great. inability to get and maintain a water supply forced them to abandon the city and move to agra, where they then built the agra fort. yeah, totally abandoned the city...it's bizarre. i mean, it was a huge structure...the guy had a mosque, a musicians' platform, a human sized chess board where his harem would dress up and play the pieces, summer and winter bedrooms, etc. it must have been a bummer not to get water...unfortunately he didn't realize it's in a desert, much like vegas. oops.
the next morning, bright and early...6:30 am, we were at the taj mahal. we went that early for 3 reasons: 1...the light is beautiful on the white marble, 2...it's far less crowded, and 3...it's not sooo frickin' hottttt that early in the morning! so, the taj...never in my life did i really ever imagine seeing it. very surreal. it is beautiful and inspiring and unbelievable. it is a mausoleum which was built in the mid 1600s by shahjahan for his favorite wife, mumtaz who died in childbirth. he was completely devestated and wanted to build the greatest tribute ever. it took over 1,000 elephants and 20,000 laborers and artisans 22 years to complete. it's earthquake proof and has endured several invasions and wars. this was the first time white marble was used to create such a structure and if built today, would cost in the trillions of dollars. everything in the grounds is symmetrical except for shahjahan's tomb which is offset to his wife's centered remains. it's worth reading up on if you don't really know the story. he spent so much money on this and other forts and buildings that his son imprisoned him so his inheritance wouldn't be depleted. he was confined there for 7 years and shahjahan died in his palatial prison which is at the agra fort. he had a great view up the yamuna river of the taj and his wife's memorial. rumor has it that before he was imprisoned, he started building another mausoleum across the river in black marble where he was to be entombed. we went to the park to see the foundation and happened upon a pakistani music star filming a video for one of her songs. that was fun to watch, but more impressive, considering how incredibly hot it was and how much we were sweating! surely she must also have been perspiring in her jeans and long shirt... all in all, it was a great day spent around one of the world's most recognizable monuments...not a bad way to pass the time... : ) hope all's well with you. love, j
Thursday, July 17, 2008
the "pink city," jaipur (in words)
the first few pics are of the drive to jaipur from delhi. it was a little hilarious cause i thought...huh...260 kms, the speed limit's 90...we'll be there in 3 hours with a potty break. hmm, i forgot to take into consideration all of the other 'traffic' on the road! i don't think we ever reached 90 kmh. driving into jaipur we saw the lake palace that no one really knew the name of. someone at least told us that it was being restored and they hoped to open it to the public sometime in the near future. that's one thing i love about india...there's something architecturally ancient and/or amazing around every corner, but most people shrug their shoulders as to what it is or for what it was built.
the next series of pics are from the amber fort. before getting there we read up on it in our 'lonely planet' book and knew that elephants were used to cart tourists up and down the long ramps leading from the main road to the fort entrance. we also read that they are out of their elements, aren't treated very well...like not enough water, are overworked and burn their feet on the pavement. well, that's all it took for me to not want to ride them, but on the bright side, an activist organization is stepping in and building a better home for them and trying to regulate their working hours. i didn't want the handler of the baby in the photo to know i was taking a picture otherwise he would have asked for money, like the snake charmers and people with monkeys that do tricks. that part makes me sad, but one of indira ghandi's daughters-in-law is heavily involved in animal advocacy and is significantly reducing this kind of exhibition in india. hooray!! so, ...where was i...the amber fort...huuuge! this citadel was primarily built in 1592, with additions and renovations taking place over the subsequent 150 years until the then capital was moved to jaipur. royalty lived here which accounts for the mirrored palace that could be well lit by a single candle.
up on top of the hill is the even older jaigairth fort. they're connected by underground tunnels and are largely considered one fort with the external walls surrounding both edifices. although it seems quite close, it took us 20 minutes to drive the winding road upwards. it houses the world's largest wheeled canon that was made within the fort's own armory. the view was amazing and that was before i spotted a huge troop of monkeys in the trees nearby. the fort was cool and all, but monkeys rule! on our way out we saw a few touristy things and despite having to pay 10 rupees to take the photo, i wanted one of the snake charmer because the two boys seemed as if they were the ones in a trance. poor snakes... and further down i saw the camel and his handler. he let us pet his camel and it was very sweet to see it gently rubbing his head on the man who couldn't help but smile.
we stayed in old jaipur which is actually the "pink city" part of jaipur. during the 1870s, the prince of wales visited the city, and in his honor, the prime minister made everyone paint all the buildings pink because he thought it was a happy, welcoming color. the tradition has continued all of these years and despite the dirty and run down feel to the old town, we were assured annual fresh coats of paint are applied. hawa mahal palace is the 5 story tiara shaped facade with over 100 peep hole windows for royal women to see what was happening in the streets below without being seen. along the streets every morning we'd see huge piles of greens and vegetables/fruits put out on the sidewalk or edge of the street for the cows roaming around. i have never seen that in delhi or kathmandu...people actually feeding and taking care of their livestock! wow. and another pic shows a guy making fried cakes in the blazing heat...not a job i covet...but i did think his halter top was cute. the only other notable about jaipur was all of the elephants and camels working on the streets. they were hauling loads of whatever, wherever, but right along side cars and motorcycles and mopeds and bicycles. again, a little disturbing, but we also saw horses, bulls and buffalos hauling carts as well.
the last set of photos is of the bizarre place jantar mantar. emperor singh built 5 such astronomical units all over the indian state of rajasthan from 1727-1733. the one in jaipur is the most impressive and massive, housing the world's largest sundial, astrological doo-hickies, planet whatcha ma doodles, eclipse thinga ma bobbies and lots of other fascinating and incredibly accurate mechanisms. if you're interested to know more, it can all be at your virtual fingertips with a google search. considering i have a few more sets of pics to post, you may want to choose your favs... : ) hope all's well and i hear from you soon. love, j
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
a few 'hot' delhi sites (in words)
these photos are from the first week i spent in delhi. our friend, lydia, came out for a long weekend and we toured a few places. more importantly, however, that weekend, was that we spent a lot of time at the air conditioned western mall, ate really good food from different ethnic restaurants and saw 'sex in the city' on the big screen...again, in air conditioning. did i mention delhi was reeeeeally hot?! one day it reached 46 degrees celsius (114 F) ...shocking, i know. but, we made the most of it and endured the heat so we could site-see with all the indians (they tend to travel on the off (monsoon) season cause it's cheaper, as well). so, first, there are a few pics of the sandstone red fort which is masssssive! it's a unesco world heritage site and was mostly completed in 1638 (with later additions) by emperor shahjahan and the mughals. during the mid 1800s the british claimed it and used it as a military post and housed many soldiers. now, it's a tourist site and the place where the prime minister of india traditionally addresses the nation every august 15th, independence from britain day. from there we wandered across the street to the jain's bird hospital. the jain religion is such that they are vegetarians and won't even eat potatoes or other tubers and root vegetables because digging them up kills insects and worms. they go to great lengths to protect and convalesce all animals and have this large hospital with tons of re-cooperating avifauna. it was something to see...tons of feathered friends with casts on their wings, bandages on their heads and bodies, etc. as you can imagine, the majority were pigeons, but plenty of parrots, canaries and birds of prey.
from there we went to humayun's tomb which is both another unesco world heritage site example of mughal architecture...the first, actually, in india. emperor humayun's wife had the mausoleum built for him in 1562 and it took 8 years till completion. it's the same style as the taj mahal, but not so extravagant. it's part of a huge complex that which began construction in the 1200s, but under different rule. they all had water tanks and irrigation systems with summer and winter living areas based on utilizing the cooling wind and sun's warmth.
then you'll see a few snapshots from lodhi gardens. this place is also from the 16th century. it's one of a few remaining examples of muslim architecture within delhi from the pashtun, lodhi muslim dynasty. there are a few mausoleums and mosques and people used to live in these grounds up until 1936, but then the government relocated them and turned it into a park. joggers and strollers love it as it's navigable by nice blacktop pathways and is loaded with fantastic old trees and lovely flowering bushes and plants. it was really quiet and somewhat of an oasis from the crazy city din. ...except that it was hotter than hell... lol!
next are pics of the lotus temple which was built by people of the baha'i religion, took about a dozen years to complete and was finished in 1986. this expressionist architectural design is comprised of 27 marble clad petals in clusters of 3 to create 9 peaks with 9 entrances and 9 pools which were designed to cool the temple when the air off the water comes in through the vents underneath. it's won all sorts of awards and is one of the most visited sights in the world attracting 4 million visitors a year, or 9 a minute. (did i say i love 'wikipedia?') it is beautiful with a very simple interior and sprawling green exterior. i must say though, we had to take our shoes off quite a ways away from the temple and, despite a wet canvas runner placed on the sidewalk, it was still really hot on our tender, pink feet...yeeouch! afterwards there was a very interesting museum we browsed explaining the origins of the religion and the different temples around the world. there's one in wilmette, illinois, on lake michigan.
just a taste of our trip...i experienced and saw so many amazing things...i'll post more pics soon; it takes a while to load and describe. take care and i hope your summer's not been as hot as delhi's... love, j
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
ahhh, the ocean!
so we're in goa, which is down the indian coast on the western side...south of mumbai (bombay) on the arabian sea. it's so beautiful and quaint and the people are so laid back. we wanted to spend a week on the beach and are fortunate enough to be doing it. now, when i say beach, that means walking along because it's monsoon season here and the waves are quite heavy and undercurrents very strong, but it's the ocean and beach none-the-less, so i'm soaking up as much of it as i can before heading back to land locked nepal on sunday. we rented a scooter and have been cruising all around spending time on different beaches and checking out some local sites. 9 months out of the year, this place is really hopping with trance raves and crazy beach parties with people from all over the world. fresh tropical fruits and cashews and lots and lots of seafood are on every menu. most places are closed up for the season now, so it's pretty quiet, but that is just fine with me! we got off season rates and are staying in this fabulous portuguese villa for the week. it only has 6 rooms and we're up in the spacious penthouse surrounded by a big garden of gorgeous tropical flowers, wild pigs in the distance, geckos on our walls and lots of peace and tranquility. also something you don't find in kathmandu. we've been told the garbage strike is still rendering the 'du 'stanky' and political woes continue. christy's a little more excited to return than i am, but she's been away much longer than i have. we get back on sunday and i have lots of photos to post from our travels. we've seen some amazing things, but sorry, no photos of the cantaloupe sized testicle...for those of you who asked! : ) i just wanted to say hi for now, but will write more later.
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