Skinny jeans on the horizon

So my trip is winding down.

Today is my last day in Madras before starting the big trek home.

It's been an eventful week in Madras and really nice to relax and not be back packing for a while.

Getting here from Rishekesh was an adventure. After my last post we all got sick again. We had to take a taxi or "tuk tuk" for an hour from Rishekesh to Hardiwar and catch a sleeper train to Delhi. Outside of the trainstation in the parking lot there were about 1000 people asleep on the ground. It may sound like an exageration but it's not. My first thought was that it was a protest of some kind but Justine assured me that's just how train stations are. Eventually we got to Delhi, wasted the day away there, and flew to Madras.

Some highlights:

Mamallapuram is a 7th century temple ruin on the coast of India that was carved out of a single stone. When we were getting ready Justine walks into my room and hands me a bikini because it's on the beach and we might want to sun bathe..... I love India. We went to an incredible seafood place called Moonrakers, and saw Krishna's butter ball. The butter ball is a 1500 year old boulder that is situated on a hit and looks like it should be rolling down the hill. But it hasn't fallen yet. In the 1800's the British tried to knock it down using an Elephant which didn't work. so naturally I tried... It didn't work either but hey.. when in Mamallapuram.

We've spend allot of the week relaxing, eating good food, getting massages, drinking wine. It's been pretty tough. I don't think I can take much more of it ;)

Home in 48 hours!

I lost count what number blog this is supposed to be

Today made Rishekesh completely worth it.
I should start by saying that everyone besides me and Caitlin are sick. Even Justine the native has come down with what we think is a virus. No need to go into the details but it's all part of the experience right? I can say this because Caitlin and I were sick yesterday so we've paid our dues.

Anyways, she and I went white water rafting on the Ganges today. It was some of the most fun I've had since being here. We were picked up in this truck that resembled the car from Jurassic park and we drove for about 20 minutes upstream on this road that overlooked the Ganges. We could see the rapids the entire way up the trail. Eventually we got to a beach that about 7 other boats were launching from as well. In the boat were three guides, me and Cait, and this lovely German couple we met.

And then it all started. We went through two rapids and then Ganesh(that was his real name) asked if we wanted to jump out. So the next thing I know I'm swimming in the Ganges and looking really attractive in my bright yellow helmet and life vest. Caitlin brought a water proof camera so we took pictures through the whole ride.

We climbed back into the boat and went through the biggest rapid called "The Golf Course".... That's not what I would name a scary rapid but hey, I'm in India. Halfway through the guide tells us we can jump out in the middle of the rapid.... so I did and went body surfing in the golf course.

We rounded a corner of the river and saw a river bank with a whole group of rafters beached on with a tall rock outcrop to the right. What was really impressive was that there were 3 vendors on the beach. How did they get there?! I don't know.

We beached our boat and my guide asked me if I wanted to cliff dive off of the large rock outcropping. It was so much fun. Then they brought us to a water fall which they called "the water massager"... Again not my choice for a name.

We finished up floating through rishekesh pretty peacefully. It was a beautiful day. I had an absolute blast and I can't wait to post the pictures.

Off to Delhi tonight on a sleeper train, and tomorrow Madras!

Much love

K

Isn't India supposed to have better yoga?

I know it does. And I've taken a really incredible class but our stay at the ashram was disappointing. Rishekesh is the birthplace of yoga and the ashram that we were stay stay (called Parmeth Niketan) was supposed to be the best and one of the most famous ashrams in Rishekesh.

Parmeth Niketan hosts a huge ceremony everyday called the aarvti which is a fire ceremony worshiping the river ganges. It was beautiful, with hundreds of people there watching on.

Meanwhile back at the ashram...

We were under the impression that we'd stay there and take part in the ashram life which as I understood it meant yoga, meditation, service, and allot of quiet time.

Unfortunately for us that wasn't the case. They asked us for money up front which is not traditional for an ashram. Generally you have your experience and make a donation at the end of your stay. They insisted we pay up front.

Secondly, our rooms turned out to be.... difficult.

We had a cockroach infestation our first night. The night guard came in and had a cockroach hunt while the girls and I cheered him on. They moved our room that night to a much nicer room upstairs.

The next morning at 6 am we went to our first yoga class. It was super super elementary, very gentle, and I noticed that all of the people in the class were foreigners, there were no Indian students at all. I enjoyed it but I was hoping for a stronger more challenging class. I mean I thought I'd be able to twist myself into a pretzel by the end of my trip. but hey, you can't have everything right?

We were then asked for money again and the price kept changing. We eventually paid what we were quoted for the three nights and went out for lunch. Aly and I went to yoga again in the afternoon under the impression that it would be a more advanced class and more of the community from the ashram would be joining. Also there was supposed to be an hour of meditation put in there.

The yoga class was just about the same and the meditation was laying in corpse pose for 40 minutes. It was disappointing. Oh! and there's a curfew. If you don't get back to the ashram by 10 pm they lock you out and you have to fend for yourself against the cows.

We decided we wanted to leave and move across the river to a different part of Rishekesh to stay with a couple of Jus's friends from England .

So Aly, Dyl, Cait, and I went to the reception desk this morning to ask for a refund and check out. Oh forgot to mention there were 2 more cockroaches and bed bugs in the boys room. They put up a big fuss about giving our money for the third night back. I was very stern :) Aly was assertive, and Dyl and Cait were the muscle and eventually they gave our cash back.

So the ashram was a bit disappointing but it Luciana's birthday today (Jus's friend) so hopefully we'll have a nice dinner and tomorrow we're going rafting down the Ganges!

And tomorrow night we take the train back to Delhi so we can fly to Madras for the last leg of our trip


I'll write soon

hope all is well

K

I feel like I can now call myself a back packer.

Yesterday we discovered that if we took a bus from Dharamsala we could get to Rishekesh in 13 hours instead of taking a train all the way back to Delhi and then another train back up.

This bus ride was unlike anything I have ever done before. The boys sat on the aisles because the bus was overbooked and there were men rubbing up against them the whole time. The seats felt like wood with a thin blanket over it. I'm still sore. We discovered after the fact for about 5 hours of the trip the police were transporting a prisoner on our bus, fully loaded down with hand cuffs and chains. The bus ride was supposed to last about 13 hours. We made it in 17. Talk about Indian time.

Once the sun came up it was a pretty beautiful drive. We went through jungle with mountains on either side of us( Most of them the foot hills of the Himalayas.)

Long story short we arrived in Rishekesh which is situated in 5 differnt parts all surrounding the mouth of the ganges. The side that the ashram is on there are no cars allowed to cross the bridge so we took a boat across.

Have to run! We're checking into the ashram today so I probably wont be online for the next few days

much love!

#3

It's been a while... but hey I'm in India.

There's no hope I can relay all of the experiences I've had over the past week effectively so I'm just going to put some rambling prose out there.

Since we left Delhi much has happened. Amritsar was a very different city from Delhi but a city none the less. It's pretty small and the focal point is the Golden Temple, the holiest of places for the Sikhs. Getting to spend a few days in that place was such a gift. I met dozens of people and was welcomed unconditionally. The golden temple itself is situated in the middle of a man made lake called the tank of nectar. There are countless stories dating from 500 years ago to a few months ago of people making pilgrimages to this water and getting cured of diseases and infirmities. The energy of the temple was palpable. All of the Sikhs who travel there take part in a ritual of bathing in the waters. Men just out in the open strip down to their underwear and women are invited into what looks like a white wooden bathhouse. The premise of Sikhism is that all are welcome no matter their faith, ethnicity, gender, or caste. It was founded in an effort to break down the India caste system. So we all bathed. The girls went into the house and a mass of Sikh women welcomed us and walked us through how we were supposed to do it.
We went back to the temple about 5 times while we were there. The last time we went at 2 in the morning when the temple opens everyday and went inside. Gorgeous.

Though Armitsar was beautiful, we had a bit of an adventure leaving. The day we arrived in Armitsar there was a shooting in Vienna. Some Sikh men entered a place of worship of another sect of Sikhism and opened fire on the leaders. One is recovering and one was killed. At that moment we were in the Sikh capital of the world. Protests, demonstrations, and riots started all over the state we were in and a "Bhund" was put into effect. A bhund is a curfew basically where they close all of the borders to the state, shut down all transportation, and prevent people from meeting in groups after a certain time at night. Being foreigners we wanted to exit the state gracefully and unobtrusively as soon as possible. The manager of our guest hous had a friend who ran a taxi service. We spoke to him and the owner of the service agreed to drive us personally to Dharamsala himself (which by car is about 7 hours). We left around 4 in the morning and drove until we got over the state border. We arrived safely and got over the border with no problems. The bhund didn't end until yesterday.

We spend 4 days in dharamsala home of the Tibetan government in exile and the Dali Lama. Again we were in a very holy place for a totally differnt faith. We went to prayer service one day and the people around us took it upon themselves to help us participate. We were given bowls full of something called tibetan butter tea, which tasted allot like melted butter. It was pretty gross. And different kinds of bread to dip in the tea as the service went on. We hiked a bunch in Dharamsala as well and met many many travelers like ourselves. We are leaving tonight on a 13 bus to Rishikesh to spend 5 days in an ashram.


Hope all is well everyone!

much love

write soon!

K

#2

Finishing up our time in Delhi tonight. Tomorrow morning at 630 we take our frist train to Armitsar, the home of The Golden Temple, the holy place of the Sikhs.
But the last two days have been packed.
Yesterday morning after having a huge first day we decided it would be a great idea to get up at 530 AM and work out before we started our day.
Around Delhi, in the residential districts they have these small enclosed parks that have a walking path around the outside wall and a few trees and benches in the park. In the morning many people in the neighborhood come to walk and do some exercises.
Well yesterday morning they had company. Aly is a personal trainer and what was meant to be a five minute warmup before our run turned into and 1 and a half hour workout. It felt wonderful and almost everyone who passed stared at these foreigners doing high knees in the middle of Delhi.
After that we went to some of the local markets in Delhi and I learned the fine Indian art of haggling. I am proud to say that I haggled for a dress and got the guy down to 150 Rupees( about $3.)
We had lunch with Justine's Auntie Kunchin and Uncle Navin.( In India you call your family friends and elders Auntie and Uncle, so you probably have many Aunties but not many if any at all actually related to you.) The food was wonderful but the high light was definitely the Limo Pani. Limo Pani is a drink made from limes and tastes so good in the 100 Delhi weather.

Today we had an even better idea. We woke at 430 AM and went for a run before our bus to Agra(home of the Taj Mahal.) We were jogging through Delhi before dawn. Cait, Aly, and I were doing well until we ran past a pack of wild dogs who decided they wanted to follow Caitlin down the block. I slowed down a bit and ran with her and eventually they left. Wild dogs, cows, and sometimes goats and monkeys run wild in the streets. It's such an everday occurence no one pays them any mind.

We took a bus down to Agra, which is a small city to the east about 3 and 1/2 hours from Delhi. We saw three monuments including the Taj Mahal. It was breathtaking. After living in the chaos of Delhi for the past 3 days coming the very organized manicured lawns of the Taj was an important experience. Like the temples we had visited we had to remove our shoes to go into the Taj. It's hard to articulate what it was like, so I'm not going to try. You'll all just have to go and see for yourself. :)

The other highlight of the day was Mathura, which is the birth place of Lord Krishna in the Hindu faith. As we arrived I was confused as to where we were because we had turned into a very narrow street, almost an alley. Like many of the other places we have been there were little shops littered on each side of the streets with vendors and child beggars following us in a line down the street. Once you get down this alley way and make a left you can see the entrance to a temple, but honestly it still didn't look very impressive. Once you walked through the front door it opened up into this large outdoor courtyard with a maze of buildings around the sqaure. There was a little area where they sold things for worship and what looked like hindu miraculous medals. So Justine, Caitlin, and I got a ring of Jasmine flowers, and wrapped it in our hair as we walked into the first of the temple. I found the worship to be jouyous full of smiling and singing. We walked down a side passage toward a place when a huge crowd of people were singing the Hare Krishna. Thanks to George Harrison and my father I knew the words and could sing along.

That especially was a powerful experience but even more powerful was the ride home. It took so long. Almost 4 hours interuppted by a dust storm and plenty of heat lightning. So we just got back to Auntie Meera's had a little Indian food for dinenr andd are off to bed so we can wake up and run before the train tomorrow. :)

I'm not sure about the computer situation in Armitsar so it might be a while till my next post but it's sure to be a great time.


much love from India

Kat

#1

Hello!
So We've arrived safely in New Delhi and have just finished our first day.

The plane ride was a little intimidating at first, totalling at 24 hours with one stop in Doha Qatar in the Middle East. The plane was pretty empty so we had plenty of oppurtunity to get up and move seats and all. Caitlin and Dylan slept almost the whole flight from JFK to Doha. Aly and I on the other hand found sleeping difficult so we took to playing competitive Tetris and watching "Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls." Being in the air for that long was a really disorienting experience. We took off in the middle of the night and landed in the middle of the night.
However after that first flight the second was a breeze.
Getting through immigration was a little time consuming in New Delhi because every passenger needed to fill out a swine flu survey.
We met Justine at the gate and took her hired car back to her Auntie Meera's B & B in Delhi. It's gorgeous. We have a living room, kitchen, two bedrooms( one with 3 beds and one with 2), 2 bathrooms, a water purifier in the house, and internet. Justine also informed us it was rated the #1 B & B in Delhi according to tripadvisor.com.
We all freshened up a bit and decided to go to a walk before breakfast. We walked down the block to the local Chai Wallah, a man that makes a concoction of tea, milk, spices, and sugar, and serves it to what seemed to be everyone in the surrounding community in little glass tumblers for 10 Rupees or 5 American Cents.
We eventually found our way back, had a wonderful breakfast of Auntie's self proclaimed "Indian Eggs" with a side of sweet Toe-Mah-Toe Chutnee, honey dew, toast, and home made Mango Lasci ( sort of a mango smoothie made with home made yogurt and mango).

After breakfast we were off. We spend the day in Old Delhi which is an indescribable experience that you won't completely be able to grasp until you go there. We took rickshaws all day swerving in and out of traffic because there are no lanes on Indian roads and rickshaws have just as much right of way as trucks, cars, pedestrians, and cows. We wound up losing Caitlin and Aly at one point when their rickshaw driver decided to take them to a different entrance to the Mosque we visited. Later in the day our driver got into a rickshaw accident when he sideswiped a man walking with a huge basin balanced on his head. No one was harmed not even the basin :).

We visited the oldest and biggest Mosque in Asia which is also host to a large bazaar outside.As a woman I had to put on a bhurka to enter and walk barefoot in the blistering Indian Afternoon (today was around 103 I believe.)
What really took getting used to was being stared at by almost everyone we walked by. In simplest terms we looked pretty exotic with our light skin, hair, sunglasses, and American attire.
Not only is Old Delhi host to the mosque but a huge twinning networks of shops and bazaars. (Imagine if Canal Street in China town was about 10 times the size.) And I learned how essential bartering and bargaining was. We haggled for everything from Rickshaw drivers, to jewelery, to the entrance price of the Mosque, which is a national monument.
Thank goodness we had Justine. I don't know if we could have navigated the city if she wasn't there.
For lunch we went to a little place the locals rave about called Karim's. It literally is in an Alley off of another alley in Old Delhi. The food was sublime. And it cost each person a wopping $3 a piece for 5 entrees and 4 orders of different types of bread.We wound up exploring Delhi from 9:30 Am until we got back home at 7 PM . Auntie Meera made us a home made meal of Allo Puri , which is a potatoe curry you place on top of what is like an Indian pop over and then top it all off with a sweet but spicy chutnee. It was a remarkable first day and we are going to sleep so well tonight!

I love and miss you all!

Kat