INDIA: Agra

After Varanasi, we were way too tired and hot to take another regular class train so we opted for the a/c train. They have many classes so we took the modest 3rd a/c sleeper train. It was amazing! It is such a step up from the regular sleeper cars. You get a pillow, sheets, and a blanket! Looking out the window from inside the a/c car felt like looking out at another world. Needless to say, when we arrived in Agra I was in much better spirits.

We had heard less than positive remarks about Agra from various people yet I found it quite pleasant. It certainly helped that recent rains had eliminated the intense heat we had just felt in Varanasi. Many people that complain about Agra only take a day trip to Agra, see the Taj Mahal, and move on. It is hard to like any city when you are running around all day. Still, we only spent a night.

We arrived in the morning, found a place, and immediately went to the roof to sit around a rest. We had a beautiful view of the Taj from up there. What a spectacular building to have a city centred around. We wondered through the small market in town and got these delicious mangoes. That night, we hired a rickshaw to take us to the other side of the river to see the Taj with the sunset behind it. To lessen the cost, we agreed to have him take us to a few shops so he could get commission. It is a reasonable deal if you have nothing better to do.

The ticket to get in to the Taj Mahal for foreigners is 750 rupees and only 20 rupees for Indians. Many backpackers are turned off from the price and do not enter and are resigned to look from outside. I think this is a terrible mistake. The Taj is too beautiful to pass up. It is the most stunning building I have ever seen.

The next morning, we woke up bright and early to get to the gates for its opening at sunrise. The guards that search you when you enter do not allow you to take in books or food. They do not want people to sit around all day inside. That was precisely what I wanted to do. They let me bring in my book with a small amount of objection. We spent a good 5 hours in the grounds and I could have spent much longer. It is easy to sit around when you in the midst of such a work of art.

The story behind the Taj Mahal is of love. Shah Jahan, who built the Taj, had many wives but his favourite was Mumtaz Mahal. When she died during complication with the birth of her 14th child he was devastated and wanted to build a mausoleum so she would not be forgotten. Even before its completion, his son had him imprisoned and he saw its completion from his jail cell. She certainly will never be forgotten with such a building.

We left that evening for Rishikesh.

Avidan

Nepal: Chitwan National Park

Bengal Tigers, Indian Rhinoceroses, and Sloth Bears, oh my! These are the magnificent animals, amongst others, that we were able to see in the Chitwan jungle. Unfortunately for us, we only had to worry about the rhino.


We happened to arrive at the village next to the park, Sauraha, in the off season. I guess this meant that it was hotter and there would be less visible animals in the jungle but to us it only meant that it was quiet. The little town seemed deserted by tourists in comparison to the many guesthouses and restaurants build throughout the town. This certainly did not stop us from having a great time as well as meeting some other great tourists.

We were recommended a guesthouse from a friend but when we arrive we decided the price was too high for the quality and we moved on. With a little recommendation from our friend, Lonely Planet, Randy went in search of a place called Chilax guesthouse. On his walk, a man on a motorcycle asked him where he was going. It turned out he worked at Chilax so Randy jumped on the back and quickly we found a new home.

The room was alright and clean but the real draw was the people that worked there. Immediately, like most other people in the town, they brought up the topic of a jungle walk. There was something about them that seemed honest and trusting so we decided to use them as our guides. There names were Deepech and Anil. We had a great time with these guys and I remember them fondly.

We started out with a canoe ride along the river which is the boundary to the park. The canoe was a hollowed out tree trunk and was propelled by the owner using his long staff to push on the bottom of the river. This part was not that exciting except for the few crocodiles that we saw swimming around. We departed the bought 45 minutes after we started and immediately started our walk seemingly in a random spot. Obviously, our guides, one in the front and one behind, knew where we were and where we were going. We walked through many different paths, stopping suddenly when one of the guides, usually Deepech, heard something. At the beginning, it was deer and birds.


The goal of many tourists in the jungle is to see the infamous and graceful Bengal Tiger. From talking to many people, our chances were slim to none so we had few expectations to see one. The closest we came was a fresh footprint in the mud. That was still pretty cool.

It was hot and humid so we took regular stops every hour or so at these wooden lookout points scattered throughout the park. These allowed us to see over the tall elephant grass that we spent a lot of time walking through. This was not the only terrain and we soon found ourselves in bush moving through overgrown paths.

This is where we saw the highlight of the day. Deepech stopped us with excited eyes and informed us that there were probably a few rhinoceroses in front of us. We crept forward and after climbing a few trees and sneaking closer, we discovered it was a group of maybe 10 rhinos all together staying cool in the river beside us. Supposedly, it is very rare to see so many together as they tend to fight amongst themselves. Also, you are never supposed to get too close to a rhino as they are unpredictable and might charge. Randy and I climbed a tree to get a better look at the rhinos. Then we ate lunch maybe 80 metres away from where they sat.

The day continued with some more deer, monkey, and bird sightings. We also saw Pumba. By that I mean, we saw a few wild boar and one with its little piglets next to it. It was a long day of walking, maybe 8 or 9 hours in the jungle. We spent the night in another village in a different part of the park right next to the river. We bathed in the fast flowing river.


The next day was more of the same walking. We took a nice little nap at one of the lookout towers and made it back by mid-afternoon. A few hours to eat and shower before our elephant ride. It was a bit much for two days and we were dead tired. The elephant ride was cool but uncomfortable and uneventful. They say you will see a rhino 95% of the time on an elephant ride. No such luck for us. It was fascinating to see how close the elephants came to the deer without them reacting. The elephant scent masks the human scent so the deer don’t run away. I assume it is the same with the rhinos.

Check out the third leg on this elephant.


The next day, we went down to the river and had an elephant bath. The elephant handlers bring their elephants down to the river to cool off. They let tourists pay a little and sit on the elephant while it sprays itself with water. The handler is standing on the back jumping up and down commanding the elephant to spray us and then fall over and make us fall off. It was a lot of fun. At one point the elephant stayed under the water for a long time and did not move. For a fleeting second, I thought it was dead or hurt because it wouldn’t respond to the handlers incessant yelling. I am happy to say we did not kill it and it stood up to continue its bath.

We had a jammed packed few days in Chitwan; exhausting and fun.

Avidan

NEPAL: Annapurna Base Camp

*click on the photos to see full picture*

Although chilling in Pokara, waiting for the strike to end was great fun, Nicole was interested in trekking and we had nothing better to do. We all decided to do the Annapurna Base camp trek. This trek was shorter than the Annapurna Circuit and we were able to walk right out of Pokara to do the trek. This was important because there were no taxis or buses to take us to any other starting point.

The night before the trek, we were organizing. We needed to ensure that we all had warm clothes as it would be cold at the top. Since there are so many tourists trekking in Nepal, the price for food in the villages along the way is astronomical (compared to the rest of Nepal). We brought muesli, mixed nuts, and raman noodles for the whole trip.

The night before, after we were all ready, I overheard a local man talking about how the strike had ended. The night before we left! The trek was initially organized BECAUSE there was a strike. Now that the strike ended... We decided to continue on the trek and also walk right out of Pokara instead of taking a bus to cut out a days walk.

An important piece of the puzzle is our desire to do the trek without a porter or guide. Not having a guide is no big deal as the trek is well established with mostly obvious routes (certainly not always). Anyway, the toughest decision was going without a porter. We minimized our bags as much as possible but the warm clothes and food we brought added some back-breaking weight.

Day 1 - Naudanda

The first day consisted of walking through many villages on a road suitable for a car. It was not the wilderness we were looking for. We walked up to Serenkot again but it was too cloudy to see the great views again. The road was somewhat boring but nice to see some villages. It was a good start day as it wasn't too difficult and we were able to get used to the weight of our rucksacks. My back was sore once we got to our destination and we were all exhausted. The nicest part of the day was the end.

We arrived in this place Naudanda looking for a guest house. All the guest houses were surprisingly expensive as we weren't even on the trekking route yet. It started raining so we found shelter at this small convenience store type shop. I decided to ask him if they could make us some food. He was initially reluctant but he decided to ask his son if he was interested in making some money. His 16 year old son cooked a fabulous Dal Bhat (rice, lentils, veg curry) for us. It was a yellow curry with lots of cabbage and a nice amount of spice. We ate with our hands which always brings a big smile to any Nepali's face. We also asked for a place to stay. The children were kicked out of their room and joined the parents while we took the beds. Despite the beds being hard, it was a great experience. We paid them, of course. It was a lovely house and the family was very friendly.

Asking for a place to stay at a regular household was a original experience for us. It really emphasized why I like Nepal so much. It was pretty simple to arrange everything and make some new friends.

Day 2 - Tolka

We woke up early and had some tea and noodles for breakfast. Not the best breakfast but it was fine. It took us awhile to find the right route as the place we were going had recently changed its name and people referred to the town with both names. Eventually, we started our ascent which we found to be very tiring with our big bags. We took many breaks for rest and water. We finally made it to the start of the Annapurna Sanctuary where we showed our permit and had a lovely lunch of Muesli and water. Probably, the worst lunch we had the entire time. We continued the trek through some nice forests and arrived in Tolka where the Didi (older, female owner) of the guesthouse offered us free accommodation and some free tea if we ate dinner at her guest house. Dinner was nice and ample. They give you refills for Dal Bhat and Randy mistakenly took two full helpings and ate both plates.

Day 3 - Chomrong

We discussed the route the night before and it seemed to us that the days route would be long but easy. We were completely wrong. It was the most physically demanding day of my life. As we started the day, we realized that Tolka was much bigger then we thought. We were staying at the outskirts. This tended to happen with most of the villages. These little guesthouses want to get customers so they put the town name on the guesthouse. It works well when you are exhausted.

Anyway, The town was situated on top of a hill so we had to walk down into a valley next to the river and walk next to the river for awhile. This river turned out to be next to the path the entire way up into the mountains. The beginning of the day was secluded despite walking through many farmers' fields. We stopped for a break at a nice waterfall and continued on these rolling hills for awhile. Finally, we found or point of ascent. We still had 1000 metres to climb that day and we spent most of the morning going down into the valley. The ascent was mindbogglingly long. It just kept going. We really felt the heavy bags at this point. When we came back down on the way back, I was shocked by how long we walked up. It was just stairs which was a bit disappointing. It makes sense because of all the people living in the villages a long the way. Chomrong was the biggest village along the route and, it seemed, the hardest to get to. We decided to stop for the day which turned out to be a great idea when we saw the route the next day.

We had walked for a good 8 hours and were rewarded with a great Dal Bhat that came with these local ferns that had a delicious bitter taste. This was our guest house.



Day 5 - Duerali

We woke up to a clear view of the holy mountain, Machupachare (Fishtail) and ate breakfast. The picture is above. Fishtail is named that because it supposedly looks like a fishtail. I don't really agree but nobody asked me. We continued walking and again discovered we were staying right at the beginning of the Town. Chomrong was huge and we had to walk down the other side of the mountain to cross a river. It was extremely tough on the knees and we tried to put it out of our minds that we would have to walk back up on our return.
Once we got down to the river, we had to walk up the other side. This day was extremely long and tiring because we kept walking up and down hills. steep ones. We did manage to take some breaks.



We ate lunch, raman noodles, at a place called Bamboo. The days walk was great and not as difficult as the day before. It turned out to be the most hours walked. It was about a 10 hour day with our bags on. We decided to skip the standard route and continue a bit further to another village. This part was a semi-steep climb that ended at the huge over hanging rock that could serve as a nice shelter. We could see Duerali (the place we were staying) from this cave. From the cave, we walked down to cross some rivers. This valley we were walking through had huge cliffs on each side with waterfalls all over the place. Many would cross the path. We were forced to jump from rock to rock to cross them. There was one very rough river which, with the wrong step, could have been a dangerous fall into the rocky waterfall.

Since Duerali was at a high altitude and far in the mountains it was more of a tourist village so all the people working there were young, seasonal workers and they did not know how to cook like the real villagers. Dinner was disappointing.

I also want to mention that along the walk near the top were many workers carrying huge pieces of wood probably to build a new guesthouse.



Day 5 - Annapurna Base Camp



Since we walked so far the day before, the final ascent to the base camp was shorter. We took our time stopping a lot. Since we were deep in a valley with high rock walls, it took the sun awhile to get in leaving the beginning of the walk cold. It was a great walk as we slowly began to see more and more of the mountains. We made it to Machaputchare Base Camp within a few hours. We didn't stay long but continued into this other much more open valley. It was only 1.5 hours more to Annapurna base camp and the route was easy with just some rolling hills to cross. The 4,000 metre altitude was a bit harder to walk in. In this valley, we were able to look back at Machaputchare which was spectacular and huge. It felt like it became this wall right behind us.

By the time we made it to the Annapurna base camp, everything was engulfed in clouds. On our other trek, when we reached the final point we were rewarded with beautiful views of the mountains. This time we were rewarded with indifferent guesthouse managers who would not compromise. It was the most expensive night and the food was expensive and bad as well.

Also, soon after we got there, it got extremely cold. We had got there at 11:30 AM and it was freezing by 2PM. We were bundled up in all our clothes and basically hid in our rooms under two blankets each. It started raining in the evening and quickly turned to snow.

We woke up early to see the sunrise and were greeted with a blanket of snow. The difference from the night before was astounding. It felt like a different place without the clouds. It felt like we were right in the centre of many enormous mountains that felt really close. Even Machaputchare felt like it closed the circle. It was really cold until the sun came out completely.





Day 6 - Sinewa

Once the sun came out it got a lot warmer and the snow started melting. The melting seemed like a daily occurrence. As we were leaving, we saw this weird Israeli girl we had met standing up on the rocks with one leg up playing the didgeridoo into the mountains. This image will forever be sketched into my mind.

We returned along the same path at a much faster pace. Nicole had a bit harder time on the down hills going at our pace because she didn't have proper hiking boots. This resulted in a bit of an accident. Nicole slipped and fell on a little bridge. Luckily she didn't fall into the water. She seemed okay and we continued to Sinewa. It turned out to be a long day but we got a really nice guest house with three walls completely windows. Also, for the first time, it rained so the clouds disappeared at night and we saw the mountains in full force at night from our beds.

Day 7 - Jennudundra

Jennu has hot springs. We were extremely excited to soak our aching bodies. We only had a little way to go to get there and planned on spending the rest of the day in the springs. It took us a bit longer then we though it would. We started late and Nicole found that her leg was in pain from her fall. The hot springs were soothing.



There was this American guy on vacation in the springs who wanted to be a Navy Seal. I guess to practise, he would get out and go stand in the freezing cold glacier river for as long as he could then come back. it was a bit humourous.

It rained while were in the springs which was nice and also cleared up the sky for the evening. This allowed us to go sit outside and stare up at the sky full of stars. It was amazing.

Day 8 - Pokara

This final day was a bit different. The route was on the other side of the river and was much easier then if we went the same way back. It was through a lot more villages. The scenery was a lot less inviting because they were building a road. This eliminated a lot of the shade and made the walk feel completely like we were just trying to get back and less enjoyable. We made it to the starting city, Nayapul, and caught a bus back to Pokara.

It was a great trek through and through. It was very rewarding having carried our bags the entire way. Personally, the trek in Sikkim was more beautiful and more rugged as we stayed in tents. I had a lot of fun with Randy and Nicole and loved the experience.

Avidan

NEPAL: Pokara

We had spent too much time in Kathmandu and were excited to go to Pokara which we heard to be more relaxed. The bus ride turned out to be a substantial moment in our Pokara adventure as we met this lovely lady, Nicole. From that day until we left Pokara (accept when I was rafting) we saw her everyday. A great relationship and I will miss her for the rest of my travels.

So now it is the three of us that arrived in Pokara to the nightmare of the bus park with all the yelling totes trying to get us to use their taxis and hotels. They also used the selling tool that there were few taxis on the road because of the impending strike. We just ignored them and ended up walking a good 40 minutes, with our bags on, to North Lakeside. To give you some orientation, Pokara is situated on the beautiful Fewa Lake and the tourist area is Lakeside. North Lakeside is closer to the actual Lake and much quieter.

We found this cozy guesthouse called, Pokara Quiet Home. It was one floor, consisting of 5 rentable rooms and another room for the family of four to sleep. Every night in Pokara was spent at the Quiet Home. It became almost a family. The other people staying there were all our friends and often stayed at Quiet Home until they left Pokara or went on a trek. The son of the family had his birthday while we were staying there and we were invited to the big party. This consisted of a big feast cooked on an open fire outside the small kitchen, a piñata that two of the tourist-guest made out of paper mache, and lots of children running around. As per usual, the piñata almost caused numerous injuries.

Digressing a little, the whole talk of no taxis because of the strike was accurate and the next day the strike (Bunda) began and no taxis or any motorized vehicles were allowed on the roads. This strike was called by the Maoists who represent the peoples desire for changed government and, as the name probably already declared, a more socialist Nepal. These activist were fighting the good fight against the government and demanding change for the people they represent. In reality, the Maoists are a group of thugs that bring in uneducated, easily manipulated people from poor villages and give them sticks to march around chanting. Most of the shops in Pokara did not want to close. They were forced to close their doors for the stick wielding Maoist would come harass or hurt them. Since tourists still needed to eat at restaurants, as we could not cook for ourselves (technically), most of the restaurants took a half-open stance. Either one could sit inside with the doors closed, one could sit away from the main road, or they left the shudder half open and closed it for any trouble. This was the same for shopping. Many shops would leave the shudder open a bit. If you knocked they would let you in. Anytime Maoists came strolling down the street everything closed up tight. The bunda continued for 6 days. Produce started to get expensive for the locals as nothing but police and Maoists were permitted to use the roads.

Despite the negatives, it was an interesting experience. We got to experience Pokara without the cars and trucks ruining the mood. Many children off from school played soccer and cricket in the middle of the streets. There were bicycles everywhere and smiling people. There was, unfortunately, lots of Ox feces in the streets as the Ox/water buffalo were allowed to roam free to graze. The shops were also permitted to be open between 6-8 pm. This is when the main part of Lakeside came alive. Yet all would stop during the day when the Maoists marched down the street. Most of them holding sticks but some of the biggest bullies held iron poles that they would drag to intimidate. The day before the strike ended, the shopkeepers of Pokara held there own demonstration, marching down the main street. The police stopped them and the Maoists came running to start a counter demonstration. The two groups were separated by 100 metres and a lot of police. It ended as quickly as it started but these uprisings from shopkeepers happened across the country and probably resulted in the stoppage of the strike the next day.

Life certainly continued despite the strike. One day, we bought a watermelon and some vegetables and bread and rented a boat to take out into the lake. The lake is so peaceful. We had my little speaker playing Bob Marley and we sat in the sun and swam in the water. Our little picnic lunch was delicious.



The strike made us be less active. I was interested in rafting but that was stopped. I wanted to do a motorcycle course but that too was on "strike". We took to reading, eating, and sitting. Three great pastimes. We discovered, thanks to our friend Etai, the best meal in Pokara. In Nepal, they eat Dal Bhat. That is watery lentils, veg curry and rice. This place called Sweet and Sour served the best Dal Bhat which also included this amazingly delicious chili sauce. The locals eat with their hands. This is not unlike India but I felt more comfortable in Nepal. Anytime I would order Dal Bhat, which was almost everyday, I would eat it with my hands. It felt more natural eating that meal with my hands. The interesting thing is that now that I am in India and ordering similar meals, I have no urge to eat with my hands. Must have been Nepal's charm. I would also eat this meal in the morning. Around 10am I would head over to sweet and sour and meet Nicole, Randy, and Etai for a morning Dal Bhat. After stuffing ourselves because of the refills, I would walk 20 metres to the lake and jump in for a swim.



We also did some wondering in Pokara and around. We went to this town, Serenkot, situated on top of a mountain. Here, if you are lucky, you can see a clear view of the entire Annapurna range. We were lucky. It was crystal clear. Although we didn't know it at the time, we would trek right into those mountains.

INDIA: Varanasi

Sitting here, in Rishikesh, at a roof top restaurant overlooking the Ganges river, I immediately think of a few days before when I was in the holy city of Varanasi - considered one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in existence. Although just a few days ago, it feels like I was on a different planet. I remembered thinking while I was in Varanasi that the entire country of India is a different planet or least it could be. You could land in India with a spaceship and not be the least bit surprised. I now realize while sitting in Rishikesh that it is not India but specifically Varanasi is the 'other planet'. Varanasi and any city like Varanasi. Although, I doubt there is one.

I have to apologize, for this post initially was not supposed to be a tiresome rant about Varanasi, as you will see, but a lovely description of my immediate rebirth upon entering the cool (only 30 degrees) hills of Rishikesh. I decided that neglecting to describe the senses and feelings that I had while being in Varanasi would be self-destructive. I cannot hold in the hatred I felt for that city.

I surprise myself with such a word yet the feeling is true and maybe mutual. I can't speak for Varanasi but I feel she doesn't like me much judging by my bowel movements while I was there. Many talk about Varanasi as this spiritual, holy place with a sense of foreboding. The most common feeling I had was disgust. How can people let their holy river get so polluted? How could millions respect their dead by burning them next to the filth that is the alleyways of Old Varanasi? How can a rotting body on the side of the river bank completely abused as a tourist photo-shoot be considered holy? I have heard that Varanasi holds this limbo position between the real world and the dream world. Is it not just the mythical hell on Earth with that never ending fire and revolving door of bodies? Now that is a bit harsh.



There is something to be said about that limbo position. This IS the real world. Period. That city exists and I went there, Smelled her, tasted her, and hated her. That is truly what makes Varanasi so infamous. The holiest city for the Hindu people and I am disgusted with it. It is not that I am so much disgusted by the idea of thousands of bodies being cremated beside a river and beside me, it is many other things. I am disgusted with the garbage spewed carelessly all over the streets and the "holy" cows that walk the alleys eating garbage and releasing the most unnatural splashes of feces everywhere. How do you carry your recently deceased family member through these filthy alleyways to the dead river Ganges so polluted it lacks sufficient oxygen?

If you weren't convinced yet of such a wonderful place the heat of Varanasi might sway your vote. Varanasi's over 40 degree heat makes your brain sweat while abusing your nostrils by baking piles of dung and garbage. As you walk through these tight alleyways trying to avoid both types of piles, you must also avoid other people, bikes, motorbikes, cows, and harassing shopkeepers who offer everything they sell in one long breath. It is also unnerving when these shopkeepers get right into your face and you can see their red stained teeth from the Paan leaf that they chew. This disgusting habit leaves red spit stains all over the streets. All of this in the sweltering heat. A heat that I have never felt before and hope to never again.



There is an alternative to paan for the desperate people of Varanasi. You can get a small packet of some kind of chewing tobacco readily available at any shop. This tiny pack of tobacco packs a big punch. I have no idea what it does to your body or mind but it definitely affects mine. These people put this stuff in their mouths and then attempt to talk - attempt to talk to me. I just feel like being the motherly figure and refusing to talk to them until they remove that crap from their mouth. This is how they live and function. Surprisingly, they don't just do it to annoy me.

Furthermore, all this magic was magnified by the simple fact that I was sick. I was exhausted, ate very little, and took frequent trips to the squat toilette. The heat amplified my sickly state and completely drained any hope of enjoying even a tiny bit of Varanasi. I dreaded leaving the guest house for the madness of the street. I would only consider going out at night when the beating sun disappeared and the world seemed a bit more sane. My diet consisted of toast and bananas bought from the guest house restaurant. I developed a paranoia towards any other food in Varanasi.

Varanasi epitomizes the word 'extreme'.

Now, while in Rishikesh, I am looking at the same river Ganges yet I see life. I want to swim in its holy waters. I want to wash Varanasi from my body in the Mother Ganges.

Somewhat dramatic but you get the point.

- Break -

I have now washed for the first time in the holy waters of the Mother Ganges and I feel great! I woke up this morning from the first good nights sleep in two weeks and I am looking forward to a day filled with very little. India is again exciting for me. Varanasi attempted to obliterate my desire to be in India by smacking my senses against a rock. I have now felt the cool, clean waters of the Ganges and am rejuvenated towards the rest of my trip. (The sweet mangoes may also have contributed to this rejuvenation).

Varanasi is an interesting place as you might have gathered. At the same time, not going to Varanasi would have left me without such an experience. If you go to India, Varanasi is a must. I will never forget that city.

NEPAL: Kathmandu and Chitlang

After our trek, we spend a little more time in Sikkim enjoying, as the Israelis say, "Da Nature". Sikkim is a wonderful place full of Israelis. Actually, India is full of Israelis. I have met more Israelis in India/Nepal than I met in Israel. It is a shame I didn't do this India trip before the internship in Israel because I would have had so many more Israeli friends. "Why like dis?"

Moving on, after Sikkim we spent a few more days in Darjeeling and then headed for the Indian/Nepal border at Kakarvita. The trip to the border was uneventful, just a few shared jeeps and a unpleasant stop in Siliguri. The bus ride from the border to Kathmandu is where the real fun lies.

There is no "tourist" bus from that border to Kathmandu. Tourist bus means that you pay a little more and the bus has mostly tourists and stops less. Oh, it also doesn't have bags a rice piled up in the aisles. Our bus was considered a local bus. We were seated second row from the back. Never sit at the back of the bus in Nepal and India. The buses and the roads are so poor they combine to an extremely bumpy ride. More bumpy than any bus ride you have ever taken. The bus was really dusty, we had a argument about our bags been locked under the bus, the bus stopped all the time, bags of rice in the aisles that Randy used as a foot rest because he is a giant in this country and can't fit and more and more. The distance between the border crossing at Kathmandu is 600 KM. They tell you the bus should take 12-14 hours which is already twice as long as it would take us in Canada to go that distance. We were stuck on the dirty, smelly bus for 17 hours. Travel takes forever in Nepal. At one point the bus stopped and a family came on. This old, skinny man sat next to me. After a bit, the owner/manager (?) of the bus came to the back to discuss something, probably money. They got in a big argument with yelling and some arm pulling. I have no idea what the problem was but it was all happening right beside me. Then, after the lights were turned out, I saw the old man reach across me with a bottle full of liquid and pour it out the window. I know for a fact he had finished the water out of the bottle earlier. Unfortunately, my mind went straight to urine being poured out the window over me. I still think that's what it was.

We finally made it to Kathmandu and we were greeted with a mob of hotel owners and taxi drivers trying to get us to go with them. This happened when we got to Pokara too. It is extremely unpleasant especially after 17 hours on that bus. They just keep bothering you to take their hotel or taxi. It is one of the worst things about Nepal. We ended up leaving with someone to get out of the mess of people.

Kathmandu was a surprising relief from Indian cities. It is still dirty, noisy and dusty but there are a lot less people. Somehow it felt calmer. Also, there is so much to buy in Kathmandu. There is trekking gear, crafts, jewellery, clothes, counterfeit musc/movies, and anything else you can think of. It is overwhelming to the point where I bought very little. They also have live english music every night with a few places offering live Nepali bands. This was exciting at first because we were used to the 9 o'clock curfew in Sikkim. It soon became a bit obnoxious as the set lists did not change and all the bars were close enough that you could hear competing music trying to overpower each other.

After too many days in Kathmandu we decided to go to this small village we had heard about from some other tourist. It was almost a secret Israeli tourist spot as they all tell each other about it. Anyway, this village is called Chitlang and the man with the home-stay has a goat cheese factory. This Israeli girl, Raya, who we had been running into all over on our travels, accompanied us to the village.

It was a small farming community up in the mountains but within a valley. When we arrived, they were just finishing a week long religious celebration. A holy man was in the village to celebrate and the entire village along with neighbouring villages were all together. We were quickly ushered into the big tent where people were dancing and the holy man was chanting. We were urged to dance and had a nice time trying to copy the Nepali dance while being stared at by 300 people many of which don't see many white people.

After a little time, we left and went for a nice walk through the fields and hills. We found ourselves in wheat fields that sparkled with the sun. The whole area was beautiful. We had a lot of fun wondering around.


We returned to find that the party had moved out of the tent and there was a dance circle outside which we got dragged into. The girl dancing with Randy is his future wife.


Although it was a lot of fun, it was nice that it was the last day of the festival so we could have some quiet and do other things.

We were only there two nights yet we managed to experience a lot. The man, Oshuk, who invited us into his home was amazing. That first night, after a bit to drink, I suddenly experience something I have never done before. I became really dizzy and upon my trip to the bathroom I fainted. This man came running when he heard the bang and carried me into the room to lay me down. I was completely fine once I was lying down but he was so caring. He kept hugging me and kissing me like a father and not like a person I had met 10 hours before. It was suggested that I have some sugar so he went running and came back with a handful of sugar. I politely refused putting a handful of sugar in my mouth but accepted the cookies and water he brought. It was such strong love for a stranger that really blew me away.

As mentioned, Oshuk has started a goat cheese factory through a cooperative with a French organization. One of the tastiest things we ate was a platter of fresh garden vegetables covered in soft goat cheese. I don't normally like tomatoes but when this platter came out I could not resist. I now will eat tomatoes.
The factory was very simple. Only four rooms with little inside. The family made the cheese everyday. We ate a lot and he even made us some Lavne, Israeli soft cheese spread, which tasted more like cream cheese but was exquisite. He even had Zatar from some Israeli visitor. Most of the cheese was sold to expensive hotels in Kathmandu. I don't think there is another goat cheese factory in Nepal.

The second day, we had another unique experience for city kids. Oshuk brought over a goat and tied it to a post next to the house. My suspicions were confirmed when I saw them sharpening the knife. They brought the goat over to a log, one person held its back legs, the other held the rope around its neck, and Oshuk held the knife over his head.

Randy took some very graphic photos of the whole event. Some of the less graphic ones can be seen on Facebook. We watched the entire process from the beheading, to the draining of the blood, to the cleaning and sorting of the meat. They eat almost all of the goat in some way or another. We were treated to some of the fresh goat meat in our next meal. Some of the meat was tough and we had no idea which part of the goat we were eating. I don't eat meat much but after watching the whole slaughter process, eating the goat was essential. At the same time, watching the process and truly realizing the complete disconnect we have from our meat has made me even less interested in eating meat. That goat was alive just a few hours before I ate it. I watched it annoyingly poop on the porch where it was being tied. And then I ate it. That connection and realization to our meat has been lost in our society and there is something wrong with that.

Anyway, the next morning, Randy and I went on a long walk to see a lake in the area. It was about a 3 hour walk both ways and we were planning on going back to Kathmandu when we got back. The walk was nice. We walked through villages then forest, then next to rivers. We eventually made it to this spectacular lake.

While we were sitting, we noticed that a group of school children were canoeing across the river. This must have been there daily route to school. We spent too much time sitting and wondering around this lake that we had to hustle back.

Chitlang village with certainly remain in my mind, not just for the different experiences, but for the warmth that was shown to me as a guest. A truly magical place.

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Goecha La Trek - Sikkim, India

After a long, comfortable stay in Darjeeling, we took a shared jeep to Sikkim; another province in India. I have spoken about the shared jeeps before but you are packed in like sardines. Anyway, because of bad planning, we were forced to go to a different town first. This place is called Pelling but it is just a road full of hotels. Not much character to the place and the spectacular view is not available at this time of year. We had our eyes set on Yuksom.

Yuksom is another small town where one leaves to go to the Goecha La trek. Yuksom has a quiet, village feel to it. Also, the province of India, Sikkim, has some very interesting rules. This meant that at 9:00 PM a policeman walks the street blowing a whistle and all the restaurants have to close or at least bring everyone inside. Sikkim is a much stricter place. We were required to get a free permit to go to this province and my passport has more stamps in it from Sikkim than all the times I went to Israel. It has some very positive non-bureaucratic rules too dealing with the environment. They have created a culture there completely opposite to most of the rest of India: they don't litter. It is extremely frowned upon and plastic bags are banned. Monitoring the tourists like they do is in order to limit the garbage brought in and limit the erosion of the beautiful Sikkim landscape. The problem is they don't have the same power with South (more south than Sikkim) Indian tourists who do not need a permit and throw their garbage out the window without a second thought.

Another requirement in Sikkim (only for non-Indian tourists) is to go on the treks with a guide, porters, and yaks.

As you can obviously see from the picture, these animals are not actually yaks. Yaks can not live at such low altitudes. These are Juang (most likely misspelled), a mix between a cow and a yak. Anyway, being required to have these things made the trek more comfortable in certain ways. All our food was cooked for us, all our stuff was carried for us, the camp was set up for us, and we were guided. Nonetheless, we still had to sleep in tents.

We organized the trek with this nice women who, with her husband, ran and owned the guesthouse we were staying at. There were five of us: Randy and myself of course; another Toronto guy, David; this girl from California, Lisa; and this Israeli girl we met, Sivan. For the five of us we had two guides, 5 yaks, 3 porters, 1 yak guy, and a cook.

The trek started through these beautiful forests up and down the hills walking down to valleys to cross amazing rivers and waterfalls. Then it turned to a steep part that ended with us at a place called Choka at 3000 metres. We spent an extra night acclimatizing to the altitude before we went on. The day after, we continued up a steep part through a Rhododendron forest. For those that don't know, a Rhododendron tree blooms in the spring and has the most beautiful, big wildflowers. The highlight is the amount blooming at the same time and the different colours of the flowers.
By the end of the day, we were walking above the tree line looking out at the cloudy sky with bits of mountain peaks in between. We crossed over the peak and went down a bit lower to Dzongri at 4050 metres. Many people just trek to Dzongri because the view is spectacular. We woke up the next morning, early, for the sunrise over the snow-peaked mountains. The bonus was the snow that accumulated the night before. It started as hail and moved to wet snow that made our campsite look somber yet exciting.

Another interesting part of the trek was the mountain dog/dogs that follow trekkers up and down the mountain. We named ours Yoda because it was wise to the ways of the mountain. In Dzongri, it managed to squeeze its way into our tent and slept at the foot of my mattress. It was very cold outside and the dogs have no shelter.

The next day, our plan was only to walk maybe 5 hours and stay at a similar altitude. It felt a lot longer because of the altitude. It is hard to breath up there so usually easy walks or ascents can be difficult. This day we continued to walk above the tree line in these big open fields with next to nothing but shrubs growing (the Yak picture from above was taken during this day). The day ended with an extremely steep decent to a strong river and a surprisingly tough walk to our campsite. This was our first of three super cold nights.

In these mountains, after about 1-2pm, there is complete cloud cover and the wind picks up making it extremely cold. During the morning, the sun hits the top of these snow covered mountains and lots of the snow evaporates to forms these clouds. This happens in the early afternoon and makes the place freezing. A stark contrast from the morning sun.

The following day, day 5, we only walked 1.5 hours over flat ground to another campsite. A the same cold day as the day before and waited for dinner so that we could crawl into our tents after dinner and keep warm. We had an even earlier night then usual as we had to wake up before sunrise to climb to Goecha La. Another lucky night where we had a snow storm that covered the ground with fresh snow.

Goecha is a mountain peak and Goacha La is the pass between the Goecha peak and the other side. So, our sixth day of trekking and we woke up at 4am to walk. The first part passed a quiet lake and rose into the mountain pass just beyond the lake. We were walking up to 4500 metres so the going was slow. The amazing view of Kanchendzonga (third highest mountain in the world) made the breathless walk worthwhile.

This first view point was not the actual pass. This was another 1-2 hours away. The walk took us over a dried lake bed (which wasn't dry 10 years ago) making it seem like we were on some kind of glacier expedition. We then started our climb up to 4800 metres. It was a tiring trek up the side of a ridge. At the top, the first thing you see looking down is Green Lake. This beautiful lake unfrozen in the mountains. Then you look out at an even closer view of Kanchendzonga and some other peaks including Goecha.

As I was sitting at the view point, I could hear cracking and rumbling coming from some of the smallish glaciers on top of the mountains. After a lot of cracking sounds a tiny piece of the glacier broke off and fell almost into the lake. It was interesting to witness. The noise was incredibly loud for the seemingly small piece that broke off.

We then began our descent back to our last campsite. In total, our day was about 10-11 hours long, walking at over 4000 metres. A well deserved rest at the bottom.

The next morning, we began our serious descent. It took us 6 days to get to the peak and it would take us two to get down (this includes a bit of a short cut). Anyway, we continued our descent through the results of another substantial snow storm. Despite the snow, it was sunny and we soon stripped off our warm clothes.

Randy took some excellent pictures as you can see. The day took us through all for seasons. We woke up to winter, the walk through the melting snow - spring, summer happened later that day after we got a bit further and the sun was at its peak, and fall appeared once we had finished for the day and the clouds came out again and lowered the temperature a far bit. It was a great day with a consistent up an down over hills. For the most part, we still had a great view over the trees of the mountains. Despite the different route back, we arrived at the same campsite as the first night.

That night we had a "party" which consisted of a small amount of whiskey and rum and a delicious chocolate cake made by our cook over a gas flame that said "Happy Trek" on top. Our guide seemed to get a bit drunk every night but this night he had even more and, with his increasing comfort with us, began to do a lot of talking. For one, he basically bragged about how the Himalayan Mountains, his mountains, were better than the mountains in California where Lisa (member of a group) worked. He was a weird guy once you got to know him and not all that nice either.

The alcohol that our guide, Nima, usually drank was called Tongba. This is fermented millet that is served in a big bamboo glass with a bamboo straw. The millet looks like tiny red balls. You refill by pouring more water over them. We drank a lot of these too. Tastes a bit like the Japanese sake.

The final day, we walked back to Yuksom, retracing our steps from the first day of the trek. We stopped for lunch under a bridge that was crossing a waterfall and river. Nice place to eat lunch.

For more pictures, look at Randy's facebook page or his flickr account which is more selective. http://www.flickr.com/photos/46723117@N06/

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Pesach in Darjeeling, India

This post is about the wonder that is Darjeeling and the very unique experience of having a Seder in India.

Darjeeling is known for its great views, its "traveler hub" status, and its nice local people. Like at the tea estate, there was too much haze and fog to see anything. You are supposed to see the Himalayan mountains including the Kanchenjunga mountain (third highest in the world). It gets a bit frustrating not seeing the mountains but it was certainly a travelers hub. We met so many backpackers. A lot of really nice people that we have seen continuously throughout our travels since then. The locals are a nice change from the people further south in Kolkata. They are Nepali and Tibetan people that have a different, more Asian look. They are also more friendly and the women will smile and look at you unlike many other Indian parts.

There are hundreds of hotels in Darjeeling and travelers stay in many different places but a major area is on top of a hill. The road to our hotel, by the end of our stay, was impossible to traverse without having to stop multiple times to talk to people. There was just a way about people too; everyone was ready to talk, share experiences, and give advice.

We arrived a day or two before my birthday and spent sometime exploring. The night of my birthday was fun and the first time we drank in India. They drink a lot more in the North of India. We had a few drinks and listen to live music. That was a nice surprise for us after always hearing Hindi music. As we were sitting a few people joined us and after a nice chat we all went for dinner. There was even a local (weird) Darjeeling guy who joined us. The only issues with the night was I had to rush back to deal with some Darjeeling Duodenum*. If you are confused, Randy had some Kolkata Kolon* earlier in the trip (*Brought to you by Randy). This was a bit of a plague for a big part of Darjeeling resulting in many rushed returns to the room.

That night and the next morning at breakfast, we met two different sets of Israelis that invited us to a Seder they were planning. Including us, they had about 6-8 people. This was the day before the Seder. During the day, more people were informed of the Seder so by the time of our meeting in the afternoon, we had an estimated 15-20 people coming. We were all given different tasks and told to meet at 4PM the next day to help set up. We had planned on ordering food from local restaurants and getting as close to traditional foods as possible. We had really plain japathi for our matzah, soup, chicken, potatos, vegetables, and salad all without any bread products (as best we could).

We set up a small room in someones guest house which barely fit 20 people and certainly did not leave room for moving or even for other guests to move through. Our Seder consisted of Canadians, English, Spanish, and, of course, Israelis. We had a father with a daughter and a separate mother and Aunt with there daughter. It was full of different people from many different places and lives.

We had printed Haggadot for everyone. The Seder went fast with everyone reading around the room. Since it was mainly Israelis, most of the customs were Israeli and it was entirely in Hebrew. Probably the highlight was singing the Four Questions together. Everyone sang loud and boisterous. Soon enough, it was time to eat. We discovered that we had ordered way too much food. I don't even think we finished half of it. I think most of our leftovers were given to someone who needed it.

I think the final count was 23 people as some came late. It was a special Seder and a great connection to home despite being away. Unfortunately, we didn't continue the Seder after dinner but we did have lots to drink and a great time.

A lot of people from the Seder became regulars that I hung out with in Darjeeling and beyond.
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Beyond the Seder, we did some nice stuff in Darjeeling. We went to the nice Darjeeling zoo with many local animals with somewhat sizable cages/areas. This is where we probably saw the only tigers and leopards we are going to see. We also ventured out to this Tibetan Refugee Self-Help Centre which was a nice confusing walk from Darjeeling. They had some interesting workshops and a nice shops that sold all the products they made in the village. It was also fixed, reasonable prices so there was no haggling which was a nice change. The unfortunate part of this journey down to the Tibetan village was that this guy followed us (6 of us) the entire way. He was a local guy from a nearby village who we made the mistake of asking for directions. He was rip-roaringly drunk and most likely had some mental issues. He would not leave us alone despite many attempts to tell him to stay away. He followed us for a good 2-3 hours going from person to person trying to make conversation. It was extremely annoying and eventually the store that we were in began giving us advise. An somewhat humorous, although Randy might not agree, was this guy eventually began to hate Randy. Randy would ignore him or tell him to go away and eventually they guy started given stupid threats and making faces at him. Finally, right out of Seinfeld, he turned to Randy and in front of everyone shouted, "He is a very bad man, very bad!". I almost laughed but Randy got a bit spooked.

The locals in the village were very nice and got some people to somewhat physically remove this man from the village and arrange a taxi for us to take back to Darjeeling. While we waited, they even brought us tea. Good things can come of bad situations.

Anyway, we lived to tell the tale despite Randy saying he saw the guy again.

Next up: Trekking in Sikkim

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Makaibari Tea Estates, Kurseong

Before I get into our experience at the tea estate, I want to write about our sleeper class train ride from Kolkata to N.J.P (New Jalpaiguri). Sleeper class is the lowest class with a "bed". Since it was a 12 hour ride we thought it would be best. We decided against a significant increase in money b taking a more private, a/c compartment. If you travel to India, feel free to choose a more comfortable class but it is a worthwhile experience to take sleeper once but bring a lock for your bag.

Each open compartment has 6 "beds" (two, triple bunk beds) and a bunk bed across the aisle. In the 6 bed area, one the middle bed flips down to be a back rest for all the people to sit with while not sleeping. This is very hard to describe the layout and I don't have a good picture to show. Anyway, before it is time for bed (decided by the gods I guess), everyone sits on the bottom bunks talking, eating, and horking. This is where you meet interesting Indians. Unfortunately, from what we heard there can be some really interesting rides. The "highlight" of our trip was this one horrible guy who seems like a jackass (language barrier) and was horking all night.

The beds are hard and a bit dirty and its a must to lock your bags but we couldn't find a good spot so mine ended up under my head. This meant I could not straighten my legs. Despite the rocky sleep, the mosquitos and the horking, the trip went by pretty fast. We spent a uninteresting night/day in Siliguri and then were off to Kurseong by shared jeep (shared jeep means 13 people plus a child squished into one jeep. Unlike many, our jeep did not have anyone holding onto the back). We did not stay in town but a tea estate close by.

Makairbari Tea Estates is an Organic, Fair Trade tea plantation that grows Darjeeling tea and considered one of the best in the world. They have been organic before it was cool, 40 years. The man behind the successful estate is Kumar Banerjee. A eccentric fellow who we got a chance to meet and hear is philosophy. Despite some arrogance, he has his heart and mind in the right place. He seems to be very supportive of initiatives to improve the community around him. He felt somewhat paralyzed by the political system around him and coined my favorite way to describe India, Organized Anarchy. He is true. There are very few kept rules and it's tough to create change.

We stayed two nights in a homestay in one of the villages that surround the estate. The villages around rely heavily on the estate for employment and wealth. The family that we stayed with was the family of the homestay organizer, Nayan. Nayan and family were extremely nice, welcoming, and pampering. We were served tea whenever we asked or whenever we sat down. The food was amazing and plentiful. The first night, we asked to watch the mother cook to get some tips. She made Momos, which are delicious, dumpling like, Tibetan food filled with vegetables (or chicken). We helped roll a few and pinched a few closed. The cooking area was a bit different. The kitchen did not have many counters. We were cooking on the floor perched on little wooden seats. Everything was clean, it was just mostly done on the floor. We had a great time spending time with the whole family and eating together (actually, they waited until we were done before eating). They also brought us millet beer which taste like watered down sake as it is made from rice. It was an interesting taste but I had enough after my two cups.

We did some fun stuff while we were on the estate. The first day, after lunch, we went on a hike down the hill to see the tea plants and the tea pluckers at work. This nice guide names Passan gave us a tour and afterwords talked to us for a long time about our future plans in a state o India called Sikkim.

It was a great hike and Randy got some nice pictures. Although it is a hike for me, these women do it everyday. It seemed like there was a lot of women working and a lot of men standing around or "supervising". It seems that tea plucking is women's work. I don't really understand why carrying wood and water up the hill also seems to be there work too. Anyway, it makes for amazing pictures because the women are so interesting while the men are much less interesting looking.

The second day, we had an amazing breakfast consisting of Aloo Paratha (potato baked into bread and fried) with a think Dal (lentils) dish. It was one of the best breakfasts I have had in India. We keep trying to replicate it but have not come close to succeeding. This was followed, eventually, by a tour of the tea factory. We did a lot of waiting around.

In the factory, they dry the leaves, then dry them some more and then they sort them for quality. This is the most amazing part. They have the dust, them some other parts, then the tips, then the Golden Tips. These tips are the most expensive. They also have different prices and qualities for seasons and the first pluck is always the most expensive. There is a room in the factory where a group of women sit and sort. I don't know what they are doing but they manage to sort a bunch of dried leaves. At the end, they clean the machines and sweep the floor etc. and the dust that remains goes into tea bags. Enjoy!

We went into the town of Kurseong that day but it was pretty disappointing especially since the day we went into town was there weekend/break day. That night, two volunteers on the estate and a German fellow who was staying at the homestay, came to our homestay for dinner. We had a great time and they even brought us a few bottles of kingfisher beer.

The next day, after some more waiting we went on a hike of our own and then rushed to Kurseong to catch the Toy Train to Darjeeling. This is a small train consisting of 4 cars that climbs the mountain. It was an engineering marvel when it was constructed and now it is solely for tourists. The idea of it is cool but the views are not great when its cloudy. Despite this little description, the train was canceled for the day so we had to take a jeep up to Darjeeling on the worst road I have been on so far. I hear there are plenty of worst roads but this one was pretty bad.

Staying on the Makairbari tea estate was definitely the highlight of the trip so far for me. I am expecting it to be a highlight even after we do a lot of other stuff. Great food, great people and a beautiful place. We could have stayed a week if it wasn't so expensive.

I am writing this post a few weeks after the experience. We ran into our guide from the estate, Passan, in Darjeeling as he was taking a tour around. We then went to Sikkim (the place he talked to us about) and we met him and the whole Makaibari crew. It was a nice moment and exciting to see people you thought you would never see again.

I have found that there is an unspoken rule between travelers. You say 'bye' but never a heartfelt goodbye that you would say to someone you are never going to see again. You always just expect to see them in another town. I think it keeps things easier. Most of the time you don't make strong bonds but when you do it is better as a traveler to say "see you later". Seeing the people from Makaibari is just an example of one of the rare moments when you actually see someone again. It's exciting.

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Kolkata, India

This may be a surprise to many but our flight from Delhi to Kolkata was the easiest flight I have ever taken. I also assume it will be the easiest thing in India for us. Since our bags were already checked through, we were motioned to the front of the queue. This took about 2 minutes and our bags were gone. We went to security and walked right through with the only slow down being the security guard asking me if they use the same process in the Toronto Airport. We boarded the plane and arrived on time and in good shape. It was a bit shaky as you could see a storm in the distance with bolts of lightning. Cool but scary.

I like Kolkata better than Delhi. This might just be that it was the first city but it seemed a bit easier. Nonetheless, it is tough. The same poverty and the same hassling still goes on. As well as the pollution. Sometimes you feel like your head is next to an exhaust and you are breathing that air. We didn't do much the first few days as we were getting used to how to travel, the city, and the fact that Randy already got sick. This did not help our already paranoid feelings about the food.

You are warned time and time again about the food. It is debilitating to enjoy food and a country when you are scared about getting sick. After about a week of the food, I think our stomachs have adjusted a bit better but that fear is still there. It is hard to justify not eating the street food when lots of the restaurants are just street food with tables and chairs. Despite all this, the food is amazing! Everything we have eaten has been great.

The highlights of Kolkata are not really centred around the sites. We went to the magnificent Victoria Memorial, which looks like the Capitol Building in Washington, but the inside museum was boring. The highlight was the grounds around it. The real highlight was it was away from the streets and the honking and the overwhelming amount of cars. It was peace and quiet (kind of). The grounds around the memorial are filled with Indian couples on romantic dates. We didn't stay till dark but supposedly the couples get a lot more heated when the sun goes down.

The next day was the best day in Kolkata and, so far, the best day of the trip. We started off at the flower market. The flowers were nice and interesting (Randy has some cool pictures) but the real draw was that nobody bothered us. They were selling the flowers to other Indians and were not trying to get money out of us. It was so refreshing to be left alone to wander. The only thing they bothered us with was wanting us to take their pictures. Another bit of fresh air (not literally) from the city.
We followed this up with a trip to the Benur Math Hindu temple. Unfortunately, we did not check when it was open and it closed at 12 and opened again at 3:30 pm. We arrived at 12:30. This meant lots of time to kill in the crazy heat. We wondered into this College affiliated with the temple looking for a cool place to sit/nap. There we met these very nice Indian students who were just relaxing. We talked to them for a long time and they offered to show us a good place to eat lunch. Lunch was tasty and they even were aware enough to give us a spoon. Everyone else in the small shop just used their hand (only your right hand). We went back to their dorm room which was surprisingly small. It had 5 beds in the tiny room. Each bed had a wooden frame and a very thin mattress. Did not look comfortable. We traded stories and presents, they dressed us up in Bengali clothes, and then they took us on a tour of the temple. I know I am going to see a lot of temples so it was nice to have a guide for this one. Well actually 4 guides. It was great talking to Indians that are interested in talking and not our money. A great experience.

This temple tour was followed with a short boat ride to the other side of the Houghly where another temple stood. It was Sunday so there was an extraordinary amount of people coming to the temple for prayers and offerings. Many go to wash in the extremely polluted river. We wanted to sit and watch the sunset but annoying Indian teenagers, excited by white people, kept coming over to make stupid comments. We were eventually surrounded with them taking pictures of us. That was enough for us and we left. The traffic outside the temple was ridiculous. Backed up for kilometers going in to the temple grounds. After some trouble, we made it out of there and made it back.

A cold shower is the nicest thing after a long day.

That night, we met a nice Israeli couple and talked with them for a long time. I nice end to Kolkata. We leave today for Siliguri in the North; get out of this heat and get away from the city. It is an 11 hour trip over night. We have a bed (bench) but we have been told that it is quite the experience. I am excited to leave the city.

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India--Avidan

My first post from India.

India is a hard place to travel. This is what I have been told by countless people. It is certainly true. What I wasn't expecting was how overwhelmed I would be with it. There is one thing to read about it and a very different thing to feel it. Poverty and beggars are painful to experience in such tight places and in such force. Sidewalks are not for pedestrians but for beggars, food stands, and people to sleep. This means you have to walk on the street and almost get hit by the multiple different modes of transportation from foot rickshaw, to bike rickshaw, to auto rickshaw, to plain ol' boring taxis. All of which try to get as close to use as possible. They also all have some kind of horn which they use with out mercy. It is a scary event walking through the cities. This is without all the people. Half the people are walking to where they have to go and the other half are trying to get your money. Taxi, food, souvenirs, clothes, or anything else. This is why it is so exhausting and demoralizing to be in an Indian city.

In Toronto airport, we were greeted with a man in handcuffs with a police escort. He was going to be on our flight. My mind immediately expected a ConAir, Air Force One kind of action sequence where I was the hero that saved the day. No such luck and we landed in Brussels and continued onto Delhi with no further incident. It was interesting to see the Indian/Pakistan border from the air. It was just a line of bright lights that went for miles.

We landed in Delhi ready for our trip. A small conflict in the airport with where to put our bags but we made it to our hotel and back the next day with no trouble.

The trouble came from walking the streets of Delhi near our hotel called Main Bezaar. Overload for your senses. The people of Main Bezaar, that is the store keepers, taxi drivers, and tourist offices, can easily smell fresh meat and they are merciless. Although they didn't get our money, they got our spirit. After a long walk to a tourist office that we had no desire to go in. we were beginning to dislike anyone that made conversation with us. It was a long day that did not leave either Randy or myself particularly like Delhi. The explanation mark was the bike rickshaw driver that wouldn't leave us alone. We wanted to go to a certain place but changed out minds. Unfortunately, you can not explain to these people that you don't want to go anymore. you can only talk about price. He followed us for a good 15 minutes with us changing directions multiple times and he doing the same despite having to turn his rickshaw on such a crowded street. You feel badly but just want to run. I feel you dislikes the city you land in.

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Amsterdam--Avidan

Hello all.

This is my first post ever. Blogging is new for me. When I was in Israel I worked on a website updating it and adding articles. That was a bit of blogging. You can check out that at www.green.org.il/eng/

Anyway, after working and living in Tel Aviv, my flight home to Toronto had me stop in Amsterdam for 5 days. I don’t have any pictures as I didn’t have a camera at the time but I have some fun experiences to talk about.

Amsterdam has a reputation for drugs and prostitution; the “free” city (if not country) where you can do whatever you want. This reputation is both somewhat untrue and debilitating in the eyes of the government who is in the process of buying up the Red Light district windows and turning them into windows for artist to display their art. They have also begun to restrict any new Coffeeshops from opening and cancelling licences to coffeeshops that break any rules. This is all in an attempt to improve Amsterdam’s reputation in the eyes of a certain demographic. While the government is doing this, Amsterdam is filled with tourists. I went during the low season (winter) and there were still many tourists.

From talking to people, anyone who hasn’t been to Amsterdam doesn’t understand the Red Light District. This is an area of Amsterdam comprised of many blocks and alleyways. On ground level, there are lines of windows. These windows are more like doors. Inside these windows are girls dressed in bikinis on display with a red light shining from behind. Most of the time they are just standing and often smiling but sometimes they will bang on the windows to get your attention or make eye contact and gesture for you to go to the window. If a curtain is closed they are working (or not there). If there is a blue light in the window then the person in the window either used to be a man or is a man. Areas are also sorted into preference. This means that older women are in a different area from Asian women or the bigger women. Any kind of fantasy is available but you certainly will have to pay more. The girls are checked regularly, practice safe sex, and are all business. There are also many cameras in the area so that the girls are kept safe and don’t try to take a picture. Your camera might be destroyed. You have 15 minutes to do your thing but most people don’t make it. After all, the girls are professionals.

The coffeeshops are interesting. They have their own set of strict rules. Firstly, marijuana is not legal in Amsterdam. It is decriminalized to carry up to 5 grams of marijuana on your person for personal use meaning not in public (unless you are smoking on a coffeeshop patio). This also means that trafficking is illegal. You may be wondering how coffeeshops are able to get their marijuana if it is illegal to grow and sell it. This is the ridiculousness of the whole situation. It is illegal but no one is going to stop you from doing either. No coffeeshop will admit they buy any from anywhere, “it just turns up on my back step”. They still have rules about how much a coffeeshop can have on its premise even though it couldn’t have possibly have gotten that amount of marijuana legally.
Next, you are not allowed to drink alcohol in a coffeeshop. Makes sense, I guess. You are also not allowed to smoke cigarettes in any establishment in Amsterdam. This INCLUDES coffeeshops. One could be in a coffeeshop, smoking marijuana and your friend would have to leave and go outside if he/she wanted to smoke a cigarette.

We are not done yet. Some coffeeshops have two parts to them. One is a “normal” bar and the other the coffeeshop where they sell marijuana. You are allowed to smoke marijuana in these bars. This gets around the loophole of not being able to smoke and drink in the same place. One can go to the coffeeshop, buy marijuana and sit at the bar.

That concludes the drug and prostitute portion of this post.

Amsterdam is a great city. The city centre is compact with trams and buses available to take you most anywhere. The service is extremely good compared to Toronto. There are also about 500,000 bikes in Amsterdam and about 50,000 bike thefts a year. The infrastructure for bikes is amazing in Amsterdam. 40% of the trips taking anywhere are taken by bike. This is not just in Amsterdam but the entire Netherlands. This is how our cities should be modeled. They should be build for people and bikes, not cars.

As you may know already, I am pushing hard for change when it comes to the environment. Amsterdam is a great example of how our cities should be planned to minimize cars and maximize efficiency.

I spent a good portion of my time wondering around the city with my very informative friend from Vancouver who has been living there for 3 years already. I did the three main museums in the city. The Van Gogh museum was amazing as it followed the life of Van Gogh. The Rijksmuseum was boring for me. It had a lot of Rembrandt pieces which, to me, are not very interesting. The final of the three was the Anne Frank House. This was a nice little museum but it was a bit too touristy and modern looking for my liking. I also went on a very informative free tour of Amsterdam. The company is called New Amsterdam and they have free tours all over Europe.

If you have any questions about Amsterdam, I did go to other attractions too. Five days is probably enough time to spend there.

Avidan