1/25 I took a hike to Palchan and then Kothi villages (6km away) for some really nice views of the Himalaya. At Kothi, the road up to Rohtang pass was closed for the winter, but they kept about 6 km's of it open passed where it was closed b/c the gov't had a hydro plant or something up there, so I took the opportunity to hike it as most of the other hiking would have been in too deep of snow. It was a nice hike going through a snowy forested area with some good views. And of course the peace and quiet was amazing. Sometimes it takes the near opposite of something to appreciate the other thing (I had never fully appreciated the beauty of Estes until after the 1st semester of college in which flat, dreary winter caldwell had been encased in the worst inversion in years. I still remember to this day cresting the hill as hwy 34 arrives into the Estes valley and seeing the view that stretches from Longs Peak to the mummy range with bright blue Colorado sky behind it). After being in the busy cities (sometimes it seems that all of India is a city if you are not in the mountains) I really, really enjoy the quiet and lack of horns, touts, generators, etc. So although the hike was nothing too spectacular, it was great just to be out in the quiet wilderness.
If you kept going on the road it would go over Rohtang passes and then several other passes (2 of which are the 2 highest motorable roads in the world and something like 5500m high) to get to Ladakh and the mountain village of Leh, which is blocked off from October to early June by snow. Ladakh state and some of the really mountainous areas in Himachal Pradesh state are pretty much the only places in India that I will not be visiting that I would really like to visit at some point. But they have a very short visitable season b/c of the snow and it is ok b/c HP is a lot like Nepal I think with the Himalayas and Ladakh a lot like Tibet in being the really dry himalaya full of Tibetan Buddhist culture.
There was a bit of snow in the evening in Solang which is how it should be when you are staying at a ski lodge.
1/26 Took the bus back to Menali. I then walked along the road to Bhang. This 5km stretch is like a gauntlet for one piece sweet ski outfits as this is the road that the Indian tourists come up through to get to the ski area. I walked this road partly because I didn't have much else better to do, but mainly so I could get some nice pictures for my bro of the ski suits so he could see where he needs to go shopping next year for gaper day! There was also the Indian Snow and Avalanche study center there. Considering all the powder, the gaper outfits, and the avalanche research center combined with also the possibility for alpine touring, heli skiing, and then mountain biking in the summer, I think this may be Bro's dream place to live! And he wouldn't have to worry about finding a lady as all the marriages are arranged anyways, so let the parents do the work!
I then came back to Manali to enjoy the dancing, music, and food of the winter carnival. I had tried hard to get the luxury, private, or ac buses from Manali to Dharamshala, but I just had no luck. Lots of buses go in the summer when there are both more western and indian tourists, but in the winter, just one would go overnight this time of year and it would only go if they had enough people. So this meant I had to take the 10 hour local bus through the mountains overnight (I wouldn't regret this decision b/c it gave me one extra day in Dharamshala instead of taking one during the day and wasting a day and the Dharamshala area is amazing). So I put on all my warmest clothes, charged my ipod, and got on the bus. I got a bit of sleep, but it was basically impossible to sleep b/c again the seats only came up to my mid back, the knee space was tight at best, the road was incredibly curvy and the driver was speeding around all of them, and it was bloody cold. Several of the windows were broken so the wind and cold came rushing in. The first few hours until 10pm it was warm enough b/c the bus was pretty full, but after that there was only about 6 or 7 of us going to Dharamshala. I think I slept from about 11pm to 1:30, but then was up most of the rest of the time. The bus was supposed to arrive at 5:00, but was way early and came in at 3:30. Dharamashala is known as the place where the exiled Tibetan government and the Dalai Lama is located, but it is actually just a city and the Dalai Lama's residence and the backpackers area is in a smaller town 4km's straight up the hill from Dharamshala in a town called McLeod Ganj. There was obviously no buses at that time in the morning and a taxi would have charged a ridiculous amount and all the guesthouses would be closed anyways, so it would have been stupid to go up. So I just sat there trying to stay warm until around 6am a bus from Delhi arrived and a Korean guy (Tsu) asked if I was also going to McLeod Ganj. As the dawn would be coming in a bit, we decided to walk. On the steep walk up we witnessed a spectacular sunrise that was somehow fitting to arriving in the new home of the Dalai Lama. When we arrived around 7am, it was still hard to find a place to stay as everything was closed up. But we found a really nice guesthouse run by a very friendly tibetan family that we would later find out had great sunset views from the room. Tsu was looking for a cheap room, hopefully a dormitory, so I asked him to share a room with me. It was funny, b/c he was so surprised and happy. In broken English he told me "I not think you would to share with me, Westerners always want to have own room. I like you" And from then on we became good friends. While Tsu went to take a nap, I walked around McLeod Ganj enjoying the food and the friendliness of being back in a Tibetan village. We met up for lunch at a Korean food place (there are tons of Koreans on the main India tourist trail for some reason, probably b/c it is so cheap so there are often Korean hotels and restaurants) where we met another Korean friend (blanking on the name). He was funny and was planning on asking his girlfriend to marry him. So he had this white dry erase board and was having other tourists and locals write some love thing on it and then he was taking a picture of himself and the whiteboard and the author and would give it all to his girlfriend. I wrote some cheesy lines relating his love to powerful himalayas and comparing her to the sweetness of a mango lassi--McLeod Ganj has both beautiful himalayan views and tasty lassis. After lunch we visited the Tsuglagkhang temple and complex where the Dalai Lama resides and some important temples are located that take the place of the ones in Lhasa or the ones destroyed in Tibet during the Chinese cultural revolution.
It is interesting the contrast between here and Lhasa. It feels like the Tibetans are more happy here and more free. They are not so scared to talk about things. They are in exile here, but the Tibetans living here have much more freedom than the ones still in Tibet. There are lots of Free Tibet posters and stickers. Big signs asking for help in recovering the Panchit Lama (the 2nd or 3rd most important person behind the Dalai Lama who was kidnapped by the chinese when he was like 8 or something...the youngest political prisoner ever and to this day no one still knows where he is other than the chinese say they have him). Signs against the olympics in Beijing, etc, etc. We met two nice Tibetan refugees who now work for an NGO here and they showed Tsu, the other korean guy, and me a really awesome Tibetan restaurant. It was so interesting to hear them talk about their experience of fleeing from Tibet and how the Tibetans really feel about china and all that. They could actually speak about the whole situation as compared to Dolkar our guide in Tibet
1/28 I got up early and hiked 12km along a path to Triund a small collection of huts up on a ridge at 2930m/9600ft. On the way up I stopped at the small Tibetan temple, Galu. The hike was mostly southfacing so there wasn't much snow until the last hour of walking in which it was mostly packed snow due to the few villagers in Triund portering up supplies. Early on in the hike I picked up a very faithful dog that followed me the whole way up. I named her Masala to keep in the tradition of naming random dogs that seem to latch on to me after tasty foods. There was alfy (short for alfredo who used to meet me about 1 mile from the dunraven on my bike ride to work at that italian restaurant.) Adobo (for chicken adobo in the philippines who my mom had to chase off with sticks and rocks to keep him from entering the national park), Mee (for mee goreng in Indonesia), Pad (for Pad Thai in Thaialnd). When I got up to very snowy Triund, it was much earlier than I expected, so for some reason I got an inkling to climb the mountain there. It was very rough going, and I almost turned around a couple times, (though I just can't give up) because it was so steep, there was obviously no path, and the snow was quite deep. Of course I wasn't too prepared as I was wearing shorts (my pants were getting washed) though I did have my rain pants and my shoes at this stage are rags and have all but fallen apart (but there is no where to buy size 13 shoes around here). I had to hand it to Masala. She was quite loyal and kept following her crazy tourist even though at some points I was rock climbing and at other points climbing up steep slopes of snow that was up to my waste and up to her neck. A few times we got cliffed out and had to turn around and try and find a new path up. Eventually we made it to the top and we were both quite happy after that difficult challenge. Of course the views of the Himalayas to the north were spectacular.
On the way back down, despite soggy and icy shoes, I explored Dharamkot village and Bhagsu village (tiny nepali style villages with no roads connected to them) and then stopped by the tiny Bagsu waterfall and Bagsu-nag temple.
1/29 I spent the day chilling around Mcleod Ganj. Enjoying the food and lassis; reading a lot; and catching up on my blog. McLeod Ganj is a really cool town. Lots of yoga/meditation/cooking classes. Great food. Chill atmosphere. Lots of Buddhists monks walking around along with Langurs and Macaque monkeys. Tasty momos for sale all over the street.
Hey guess what?? I am finally caught up again with the blog!
Tomorrow I head off to Jammu from where I hope to catch a shared jeep or bus to Srinagar in Kashmir where I will meet up with David (my trekking partner in Annapurna from Belgium). It could be a bit tricky getting from Jammu to Srinagar. Kashmir wants to be independent so they often close the road. When my guidebook was written all buses were suspended and you had to fly. Two weeks ago the road was closed for a week b/c of snow and 2 days ago with was closed for India's national day (like our 4th of july) b/c the Indian gov't tried to raise the indian flag in Kashmir...which is a no no! But it was open today, so it looks good. From Srinagar David and I will head to Gulmarg, one of Asia's top 10 ski areas (and the only one not in Japan in the top 10 so I have heard). Reading about it, it sounds quite cool and has a huge vertical of like 5700ft which is more than Jackson, Snowmass, and BC which have the biggest verticals in the US and is mostly backcountry style open bowl skiing.
http://www.skihimalaya.com/
http://www.skihimalaya.com/gulmarg/mountain/gondola.php
I'm excited, can't wait!
Saturday, January 29, 2011
Ski India!!
1/24
Early in the morning, I took the bus up to Solang Nullah valley to SKI! When I got to my hotel, I quickly rented skis and headed up to the hill. But apparently in India they don't get the ski lifts running as early (opens at 10am), so I went back down to the village for breakfast. I ran into 4 canadians from BC (the only westerners I would see at the ski area) who were doing a ski tour to the different valleys around here which are closed off in the winter due to snow on the passes. They were skinning up a slope on the opposite side, so I joined them as the lifts weren't open yet. I still had my himalaya trekking legs and was able to keep up with them even though I was bootpacking until we got high enough that the snow was just too soft and deep. So then I had to ski down and say goodbye to them as they headed off for the spiti valley. When I got back down to the resort, it was time to ski. The whole skiing experience there was just hilarious. Partly b/c of the carnival I am sure, the whole base area was packed with Indians. They were all dressed in old 70's and 80's one piece suits and wearing rubber boots they they all rented on the road up. I was by far the biggest gaper at the resort...mainly because I was the only non gaper. There I was in my rain pants that could easily pass for fashionable snow pants and fancy softshell hagloffs jacket with a nice ski cap looking like a goofball probably to all those people in their pink one pieces, rubber boots, and backwards baseball caps. In this big base area they were busy taking photos of being in the snow. There were the lower caste Indians who would get paid to push them around on wooden sleighs and then some people were posing with yaks or riding horses. It was one huge chaotic (and fairly dangerous) playground. The whole area had this hole recklessness feel to it that of course would never EVER be allowed in America or Europe. First there were tons of paragliders landing right onto the snowfield with all the people (the paragliding was some of the cheapest I have seen, but no way would I do it there as there have been reported deaths and just watching them take off, sometimes they hit trees, other times didn't quite get lift off and just dragged along the steep slope). When these paragliders would come in at high speed (with the Indian tourist yelling his lungs out) sometimes they would take out some of the tourists down taking photos in the field. There was also this thing called a zorb ball. A huge blown up ball about 10-12 feet in diameter in which they would put a couple of people in on top of the bunny slope and roll them down. It ended up being like bowling for humans. This ball rolling at high speeds would come crashing into the crowd of people, yaks, horses, chai stalls at the bottom of the field. If you weren't paying attention, you would definitely be taken out! Then there were tubers coming into the crowd from steep ramps all over the place and of course out of control skiers. There were also tourists riding 4-wheelers and snowmobiles here there and everywhere. Just sitting and having a chai and watching it all made me laugh and laugh. It was almost better than skiing. They advertised "guides" for 4 dollars for the day, which I first thought would be backcountry guides, but it really meant more of a ski instructor. But ski instructing would be a bit generous for what they did. Basically, these "ski instructors" who I wonder if they could actually ski themselves, just helped the tourists put on their boots and skis without falling and then would push them around on the flat land. The ski instructors were dressed in just jeans and usually like a professor type jacket. I myself had rented K2 fours. The rental place gave me their newest skis since they said I knew how to ski and b/c the K2s have USA written on them and they thought it would be fitting for me--and they definitely were much newer than most of the ones I saw lying around. However, to give you an idea, these k2 fours were a model earlier than my k2 fours (and the ones Sherman had) that I bought USED while in highschool in about 1999. I was surprised that they were able to find some boots that my feet actually fit in, though I would guess they were about size 10 or 11 as my toes hurt quite badly by the end of the day, but for the 1st 1/2 actually felt quite good. Of course they didn't do any adjusting to fit the boots to the skis nor adjust the DIN or anything, nor did they have the tools to let me do it, and the numbers for the DIN were rubbed off anyways so I wouldn't have been able to tell. They had 2 lifts at the resort which was either called Solang Nullah or Ski Himalaya...I couldn't quite tell. A thing I found funny was that the big signs they had advertising for SKi Himalaya had pictures of Bode Miller and Lindsey Vonn skiing and celebrating at the Vancouver Olympics. I really doubted if the two of them knew they were the posterboys for Himalayan skiing. Of the 2 lifts, one was a poma that was free and just serviced a tiny bunny hill similar in grade, but shorter than the galloping goose run at Winter Park. The other was a gondola which was a 3 1/2 minute ride and I would say serviced vertical about 1/3 as much as say Vail's gondola or 1/2 as much as Beaver Creek's Centennial Express so decent vertical, but keep in mind that those lifts in Colorado typically dump you off 1/2 to 2/3 up the mountain and then you have even another lift to take you higher. To ride the gondola you paid per ride (300 rupees) as opposed to buying like a day pass. And an interesting thing is that before getting on the gondola, you had to go through security and a pat down. Thank God we don't have to do that in the US or lines could be tremendous. There were lots of Indians riding the gondola, but they all just rode it to the top, took lots of pictures and then rode it back down. The whole day that I was there, I was the only one I noticed that actually skied down. This mean that even though it hadn't snowed in over a week, I still had first tracks and fresh powder all day. The mountain, other than the gondola really had no other of the ski facilities that you would think about at a resort back home, so basically it was just backcountry skiing accessed by a gondola. For example, there was no ski patrol, no avalanche control, no named runs or marked runs (well actually no runs just backcountry), no grooming of course, no ropes. I was pleasantly surprised to find that the terrain was actually quite steep and almost everything accessed by the gondola would have been a black or double black I think. From the gondola I would hike about 10 minutes to the top of the mountain (which had great views of the himalayas) there and then ski down. The top 1/2 of the ski was through really nice soft powder, the bottom 1/2 was through powder if you were on more north facing slopes and through slush (or ice depending on time of day) as the bottom was warmer and more springlike. But I can only imagine what it would have been like if you were there after some big snows. Fresh tracks all day for a week with great snow! From the top there were about 3 main pistes you could ski and since they had no names, I named them. The lift line and gulley I called Chai Express as it was the quickest and most direct route down to the 10 cent chais. To skiers left was a really nice run full of powder, nice glades, some cliffs and good steeps. I called this Bro's Face as I figure he would have liked it a lot. To skiers right was a very very steep run (which even made me a bit nervous as first) and some tough gullies and I named it Delhi Belly, which is also what they call the traveller's diarrhea that most people get in India. Since they charged per ride and the ride wasn't super cheap really, I took the gondola 3 times, hiked up it twice, did the poma lift a few times, and then took a few other means of getting up. Once I took a horse and another time a Yak. In the US we have the poma horse to get you up terrain...in India, they have The Horse. I figure the horse and yak must come in handy during power cuts and such.
I of course was the photographic delight of lots of people there and I can only imagine how ecstatic they must have been in the gondola when they saw me ski Chai Express as every time I rode the gondola up they were so busy snapping pictures of everything, so to actually see a skier coming down and perhaps taking a nice tumble in the powder must have made them so happy. I was asked several times to walk a ways up and ski down so they could photo and video me, and I was also asked whether I was a professional skier...I had to answer no, but I could just hear manly man's (jeff from VT) voice saying, but you are a professional driver. I met one guy that told me he used to ski for the India olympic team and now he owned a hotel up here. I wish I could have gotten which olympics so I could see how he did. B/c I remember India's first ever women's olympic skier was like 3 and a half minutes behind lindsey vonn in the downhill (I think my own mother would have maybe been just over a minute behind lindsey). But he was pleased to know that I had met both of the posterpeople for the resort (Bode and Lindsey) when I worked at the Beav.
Although I would be far from the best skier on the mountain at a Colorado resort, here I was no doubt the king as would any of my family members had they been there instead. The only people actually skiing (other than those being pushed around by the "guides") were a few people from like bombay or delhi on the poma lift and then once school got out, lots of kids skiing in boots like 3 times there foot size and ski the same height as mine.
Everytime I would finish a run I would grab a chai and then sit at smile and giggle at the crazyness of the scene going on at the bottom. One of the things that travellers talk about is that is there any place in super crowded and chaotic India where you can be alone and have quiet. Well, definitely not at the bottom of the ski hill, but certainly in the middle of a powder-filled double black run. The silence was so strong that it almost felt loud if you know what I mean.
I was staying at a pretty nice hotel that had amazing sunrise and sunset views of a huge mountain that reminded me of the Maroon Bells. The place even had some little propane heaters in their dining room that were nice to hang out by and read.
I sort of thought it would be interesting to do a comparison between Vail Resorts (namely Beaver Creek) and this Solung Nullah in terms of price
B/c of the winter carnival and although I booked a couple of days early, the only place that had free rooms at the actual base of the mountains was the fanciest resort. It was ski in ski out. I paid 11 bucks a night for it. I would guess at ski in ski out at the Beav you would easily, easily be looking at 500+ per night, though not only would your place likely come with a heated pool and jacuzzi it would also have heat, a hot shower, and running water (the water only ran in the afternoons at this place b/c it was frozen during the night and mornings).
Dinner at the nice restaurant there cost me about 1.50 and another 50 cents for a drink. I think dinner at the beaver creek chophouse, grouse mountain grille, or mirabelles would easily run 45 bucks plus 10 for a drink.
Breakfast was to be had for 75 cents with tea for 10 cents. At the beav you would probably be looking at at least 10 for a breckie and 5 bucks for a starbucks. Though at the beav you get free hot chocolate for the 1st hour and free amazing chocolate chip cookies at the end of the day!
Lunch on the mountain was about 1 buck to fill you up where as at one of the lodges on the mountain at the beav, you would be looking at probably 20+ bucks, though if you go guy brother style (which Lucas unfortunately knows all too well) you are looking at eating for free on crackers, honey, and hot sauce.
My rental for the day cost me 10 bucks. I would guess you maybe could get by at 25 or 30 bucks in Avon for the most basic and up to 70 up at the beav for demos.
The bus from the nearest transportation hub (Manali) cost 35 cents, though you had to walk the last 2km's b/c the road was too snowy for the bus and of course it wasn't heated. I think (but I can't quite remember) that busses between Vail (where a greyhound drops I believe) and the beav are free or like a buck. Of course once at the Beav, the shuttles are free and on call at your service, and walking 2km would NEVER happen. Instead, you would be treated to Lucas Frederick Stringfield driving up your drive and carrying your skis to the door for you...now if you are a young lady, this is worth every cent of that overpriced vail resort ski ticket!
Now the place where the skiing was a bit expensive was the lift tickets. One ride up was 300 rupees or 3 rides for 900rp (20 dollars). A lift ticket at the Beav right now costs 94 dollars if you buy it right there at the resort day of (of course you can get major discounts if you buy at other places, have the colorado card, buy multiple days, etc). So that would mean that at Solang Nullah, if you paid 94 dollars you would get to do 14 runs. Now if you were my parents nowadays that would likely be more than you could do in one day, but also keep in mind that the runs at the Beav are much longer, are taken care of, include ski patrol rescue and insurance, toilets, heated lodges, high speed lifts, cute kiwi lift operators, groomed runs, marked obstacles, terrain parks, maps, signs, snow making, etc. For people like my brother, stringbean, and myself, I've never really counted, but I would guess when we are skiing hard and from first chair to last chair we ski somewhere between 15-20 runs in a day, and we're talking long runs. Does that sound right guys? So in that case, it is actually cheaper to ski at the Beav and when you consider the rest of the prices, that means the skiing at Solang is actually really expensive. Though of course the Indians never do more then one gondi ride anyways. Good thing is the really good ski area that I am going to next in Kashmir supposedly has an all day pass as well for like 25 bucks, so that is good news!
But WOW! what a sweet day of skiing. From the good skiing with powder to the crazyness of the Indians at play in the snow and the overall cheap costs...amazing. I only wish I had my brother or my hlp Stringbean to be whooping it up through the powder and trees.
Early in the morning, I took the bus up to Solang Nullah valley to SKI! When I got to my hotel, I quickly rented skis and headed up to the hill. But apparently in India they don't get the ski lifts running as early (opens at 10am), so I went back down to the village for breakfast. I ran into 4 canadians from BC (the only westerners I would see at the ski area) who were doing a ski tour to the different valleys around here which are closed off in the winter due to snow on the passes. They were skinning up a slope on the opposite side, so I joined them as the lifts weren't open yet. I still had my himalaya trekking legs and was able to keep up with them even though I was bootpacking until we got high enough that the snow was just too soft and deep. So then I had to ski down and say goodbye to them as they headed off for the spiti valley. When I got back down to the resort, it was time to ski. The whole skiing experience there was just hilarious. Partly b/c of the carnival I am sure, the whole base area was packed with Indians. They were all dressed in old 70's and 80's one piece suits and wearing rubber boots they they all rented on the road up. I was by far the biggest gaper at the resort...mainly because I was the only non gaper. There I was in my rain pants that could easily pass for fashionable snow pants and fancy softshell hagloffs jacket with a nice ski cap looking like a goofball probably to all those people in their pink one pieces, rubber boots, and backwards baseball caps. In this big base area they were busy taking photos of being in the snow. There were the lower caste Indians who would get paid to push them around on wooden sleighs and then some people were posing with yaks or riding horses. It was one huge chaotic (and fairly dangerous) playground. The whole area had this hole recklessness feel to it that of course would never EVER be allowed in America or Europe. First there were tons of paragliders landing right onto the snowfield with all the people (the paragliding was some of the cheapest I have seen, but no way would I do it there as there have been reported deaths and just watching them take off, sometimes they hit trees, other times didn't quite get lift off and just dragged along the steep slope). When these paragliders would come in at high speed (with the Indian tourist yelling his lungs out) sometimes they would take out some of the tourists down taking photos in the field. There was also this thing called a zorb ball. A huge blown up ball about 10-12 feet in diameter in which they would put a couple of people in on top of the bunny slope and roll them down. It ended up being like bowling for humans. This ball rolling at high speeds would come crashing into the crowd of people, yaks, horses, chai stalls at the bottom of the field. If you weren't paying attention, you would definitely be taken out! Then there were tubers coming into the crowd from steep ramps all over the place and of course out of control skiers. There were also tourists riding 4-wheelers and snowmobiles here there and everywhere. Just sitting and having a chai and watching it all made me laugh and laugh. It was almost better than skiing. They advertised "guides" for 4 dollars for the day, which I first thought would be backcountry guides, but it really meant more of a ski instructor. But ski instructing would be a bit generous for what they did. Basically, these "ski instructors" who I wonder if they could actually ski themselves, just helped the tourists put on their boots and skis without falling and then would push them around on the flat land. The ski instructors were dressed in just jeans and usually like a professor type jacket. I myself had rented K2 fours. The rental place gave me their newest skis since they said I knew how to ski and b/c the K2s have USA written on them and they thought it would be fitting for me--and they definitely were much newer than most of the ones I saw lying around. However, to give you an idea, these k2 fours were a model earlier than my k2 fours (and the ones Sherman had) that I bought USED while in highschool in about 1999. I was surprised that they were able to find some boots that my feet actually fit in, though I would guess they were about size 10 or 11 as my toes hurt quite badly by the end of the day, but for the 1st 1/2 actually felt quite good. Of course they didn't do any adjusting to fit the boots to the skis nor adjust the DIN or anything, nor did they have the tools to let me do it, and the numbers for the DIN were rubbed off anyways so I wouldn't have been able to tell. They had 2 lifts at the resort which was either called Solang Nullah or Ski Himalaya...I couldn't quite tell. A thing I found funny was that the big signs they had advertising for SKi Himalaya had pictures of Bode Miller and Lindsey Vonn skiing and celebrating at the Vancouver Olympics. I really doubted if the two of them knew they were the posterboys for Himalayan skiing. Of the 2 lifts, one was a poma that was free and just serviced a tiny bunny hill similar in grade, but shorter than the galloping goose run at Winter Park. The other was a gondola which was a 3 1/2 minute ride and I would say serviced vertical about 1/3 as much as say Vail's gondola or 1/2 as much as Beaver Creek's Centennial Express so decent vertical, but keep in mind that those lifts in Colorado typically dump you off 1/2 to 2/3 up the mountain and then you have even another lift to take you higher. To ride the gondola you paid per ride (300 rupees) as opposed to buying like a day pass. And an interesting thing is that before getting on the gondola, you had to go through security and a pat down. Thank God we don't have to do that in the US or lines could be tremendous. There were lots of Indians riding the gondola, but they all just rode it to the top, took lots of pictures and then rode it back down. The whole day that I was there, I was the only one I noticed that actually skied down. This mean that even though it hadn't snowed in over a week, I still had first tracks and fresh powder all day. The mountain, other than the gondola really had no other of the ski facilities that you would think about at a resort back home, so basically it was just backcountry skiing accessed by a gondola. For example, there was no ski patrol, no avalanche control, no named runs or marked runs (well actually no runs just backcountry), no grooming of course, no ropes. I was pleasantly surprised to find that the terrain was actually quite steep and almost everything accessed by the gondola would have been a black or double black I think. From the gondola I would hike about 10 minutes to the top of the mountain (which had great views of the himalayas) there and then ski down. The top 1/2 of the ski was through really nice soft powder, the bottom 1/2 was through powder if you were on more north facing slopes and through slush (or ice depending on time of day) as the bottom was warmer and more springlike. But I can only imagine what it would have been like if you were there after some big snows. Fresh tracks all day for a week with great snow! From the top there were about 3 main pistes you could ski and since they had no names, I named them. The lift line and gulley I called Chai Express as it was the quickest and most direct route down to the 10 cent chais. To skiers left was a really nice run full of powder, nice glades, some cliffs and good steeps. I called this Bro's Face as I figure he would have liked it a lot. To skiers right was a very very steep run (which even made me a bit nervous as first) and some tough gullies and I named it Delhi Belly, which is also what they call the traveller's diarrhea that most people get in India. Since they charged per ride and the ride wasn't super cheap really, I took the gondola 3 times, hiked up it twice, did the poma lift a few times, and then took a few other means of getting up. Once I took a horse and another time a Yak. In the US we have the poma horse to get you up terrain...in India, they have The Horse. I figure the horse and yak must come in handy during power cuts and such.
I of course was the photographic delight of lots of people there and I can only imagine how ecstatic they must have been in the gondola when they saw me ski Chai Express as every time I rode the gondola up they were so busy snapping pictures of everything, so to actually see a skier coming down and perhaps taking a nice tumble in the powder must have made them so happy. I was asked several times to walk a ways up and ski down so they could photo and video me, and I was also asked whether I was a professional skier...I had to answer no, but I could just hear manly man's (jeff from VT) voice saying, but you are a professional driver. I met one guy that told me he used to ski for the India olympic team and now he owned a hotel up here. I wish I could have gotten which olympics so I could see how he did. B/c I remember India's first ever women's olympic skier was like 3 and a half minutes behind lindsey vonn in the downhill (I think my own mother would have maybe been just over a minute behind lindsey). But he was pleased to know that I had met both of the posterpeople for the resort (Bode and Lindsey) when I worked at the Beav.
Although I would be far from the best skier on the mountain at a Colorado resort, here I was no doubt the king as would any of my family members had they been there instead. The only people actually skiing (other than those being pushed around by the "guides") were a few people from like bombay or delhi on the poma lift and then once school got out, lots of kids skiing in boots like 3 times there foot size and ski the same height as mine.
Everytime I would finish a run I would grab a chai and then sit at smile and giggle at the crazyness of the scene going on at the bottom. One of the things that travellers talk about is that is there any place in super crowded and chaotic India where you can be alone and have quiet. Well, definitely not at the bottom of the ski hill, but certainly in the middle of a powder-filled double black run. The silence was so strong that it almost felt loud if you know what I mean.
I was staying at a pretty nice hotel that had amazing sunrise and sunset views of a huge mountain that reminded me of the Maroon Bells. The place even had some little propane heaters in their dining room that were nice to hang out by and read.
I sort of thought it would be interesting to do a comparison between Vail Resorts (namely Beaver Creek) and this Solung Nullah in terms of price
B/c of the winter carnival and although I booked a couple of days early, the only place that had free rooms at the actual base of the mountains was the fanciest resort. It was ski in ski out. I paid 11 bucks a night for it. I would guess at ski in ski out at the Beav you would easily, easily be looking at 500+ per night, though not only would your place likely come with a heated pool and jacuzzi it would also have heat, a hot shower, and running water (the water only ran in the afternoons at this place b/c it was frozen during the night and mornings).
Dinner at the nice restaurant there cost me about 1.50 and another 50 cents for a drink. I think dinner at the beaver creek chophouse, grouse mountain grille, or mirabelles would easily run 45 bucks plus 10 for a drink.
Breakfast was to be had for 75 cents with tea for 10 cents. At the beav you would probably be looking at at least 10 for a breckie and 5 bucks for a starbucks. Though at the beav you get free hot chocolate for the 1st hour and free amazing chocolate chip cookies at the end of the day!
Lunch on the mountain was about 1 buck to fill you up where as at one of the lodges on the mountain at the beav, you would be looking at probably 20+ bucks, though if you go guy brother style (which Lucas unfortunately knows all too well) you are looking at eating for free on crackers, honey, and hot sauce.
My rental for the day cost me 10 bucks. I would guess you maybe could get by at 25 or 30 bucks in Avon for the most basic and up to 70 up at the beav for demos.
The bus from the nearest transportation hub (Manali) cost 35 cents, though you had to walk the last 2km's b/c the road was too snowy for the bus and of course it wasn't heated. I think (but I can't quite remember) that busses between Vail (where a greyhound drops I believe) and the beav are free or like a buck. Of course once at the Beav, the shuttles are free and on call at your service, and walking 2km would NEVER happen. Instead, you would be treated to Lucas Frederick Stringfield driving up your drive and carrying your skis to the door for you...now if you are a young lady, this is worth every cent of that overpriced vail resort ski ticket!
Now the place where the skiing was a bit expensive was the lift tickets. One ride up was 300 rupees or 3 rides for 900rp (20 dollars). A lift ticket at the Beav right now costs 94 dollars if you buy it right there at the resort day of (of course you can get major discounts if you buy at other places, have the colorado card, buy multiple days, etc). So that would mean that at Solang Nullah, if you paid 94 dollars you would get to do 14 runs. Now if you were my parents nowadays that would likely be more than you could do in one day, but also keep in mind that the runs at the Beav are much longer, are taken care of, include ski patrol rescue and insurance, toilets, heated lodges, high speed lifts, cute kiwi lift operators, groomed runs, marked obstacles, terrain parks, maps, signs, snow making, etc. For people like my brother, stringbean, and myself, I've never really counted, but I would guess when we are skiing hard and from first chair to last chair we ski somewhere between 15-20 runs in a day, and we're talking long runs. Does that sound right guys? So in that case, it is actually cheaper to ski at the Beav and when you consider the rest of the prices, that means the skiing at Solang is actually really expensive. Though of course the Indians never do more then one gondi ride anyways. Good thing is the really good ski area that I am going to next in Kashmir supposedly has an all day pass as well for like 25 bucks, so that is good news!
But WOW! what a sweet day of skiing. From the good skiing with powder to the crazyness of the Indians at play in the snow and the overall cheap costs...amazing. I only wish I had my brother or my hlp Stringbean to be whooping it up through the powder and trees.
Back to the Himalaya
1/23 I was hoping for peace and quiet in Manali which is a major backpacker place in the summer and supposedly dead in the winter, but I ran into an unexpected winter carnival for the Indians. At first I was a bit disappointed by this, but the carnival was fun (it lasted all week) and it was still easy to find quiet in the mountains by just taking some hikes and going skiing. The carnival had lots of live music and dancing all day and all night and various performances by all types of Indian cultures. Also, lots of tasty food stalls. I was told that the carnival had people from all over India coming to show off their culture. The first day I watched a huge and well done parade with lots of different tribes/ethnic groups from all over India wearing their fanciest local attire. During my whole time in Manali I ran into about 9 westerners and 4 of them were med students volunteering at a clinic (2 from australia and two from chicago). The first of the future docs I ran into was stephanie from australia. One of the floats in the parade was a rather blunt float about getting the terrible british out of India. I commented to her that I hoped she was british as they had stopped for a while right in front of her and that is when I found out she was an aussie. One of the funny things about the parade was that on two occasions, we were actually the cause of the parade stopping completely as people in the parade actually left their floats or their spot in the parade to come take photos with us!
That afternoon I explored Old Manali which is a little village where the tourists usually hang out, but it was mostly dead except for the locals. On the way through the town I did a couple sled runs with some of the young kids around who had built these tiny sleds with runners and had quite the sweet sled course going down a frozen road. I hiked up to a nice viewpoint of the Himalayas on a ridge but then had to stop as the snow became too deep as I hit the north facing slope. The town of Manali also had a fair amount of snow, but most of it was packed down as it hadn't snowed in over a week. After the walk up to the ridge I checked out some of the temples around town and then watched some of the winter carnival performances.
That afternoon I explored Old Manali which is a little village where the tourists usually hang out, but it was mostly dead except for the locals. On the way through the town I did a couple sled runs with some of the young kids around who had built these tiny sleds with runners and had quite the sweet sled course going down a frozen road. I hiked up to a nice viewpoint of the Himalayas on a ridge but then had to stop as the snow became too deep as I hit the north facing slope. The town of Manali also had a fair amount of snow, but most of it was packed down as it hadn't snowed in over a week. After the walk up to the ridge I checked out some of the temples around town and then watched some of the winter carnival performances.
Border War
1/21 In the evening, I took a little shared van to the Indian border with Pakistan to view the crazy and wild border closing ceremony which occurs at sundown. When you get to the border area, you go through some security and then are ushered into stadium type seating. The majority of the people there are obviously Indians with a few westerners sprinkled here and there. When the ceremony starts, Indian military and border guards dressed to the hilt in fancy suits and with crazy hats come out doing just over the top high stepping. On the other side in Pakistan, a similar thing is happening. There is a guy in a sweatsuit that is sort of like a crowd warm up artist or something (or mascot you could say) getting the crowd revved up. They are all waving Indian flags and chanting things (like India India! and likely F-U Pakistan in Hindi) Then all the guards line up and do a yelling contest against the Pakistani guards. A microphone is put in front of each soldier one at a time and they yell for as long as they can before they are out of breath. This goes on for each soldier, and when each one is done, they march to the border gate and do some fancy high stepping and a quick salute to the opposing pakistani guard. When all this is done, there is lots more fancy stepping and maneuvering (and of course plenty of cheering by both sides in the bleachers) and then finally they actually open up the gate which had been closed. Then one large luxury bus (with police lights on it) drove through across the border from India with everyone in the bus doing raise the roof signs and such. Then more saluting and high stepping and then finally both country's flags are lowered at the same time and they close the gate and thus the border for the night. After the ceremony, the crowd rushes down to the road where the soldiers are treated like celebrities. Photos are taken with them, handshakes, high fives, autographs. Really the whole thing was just a hilarious scene. It actually reminded me of a college football game at a neutral site, like the rockymountain showdown between CU and CSU, with the crowd on opposite sides of the stadium cheering (C-U, C-U!) and jeering and taunting (FU CSU, FU CSU) and waving flags while the soldiers down on the field do fancy maneuvers (fakes and jukes), and mascots and cheerleaders run around getting the crowd into it. After the border was closed and the photos with the celebrity soldiers taken (and of course lots of me and the two tall germans in my shared van who had done the exact same trip as me except starting in germany instead of the czech republic), the Indians retired back to this carnival type area with little rides and lots of popcorn.
Part of the interesting thing is that although this is like a competition thing, it is actually very friendly compared to what you hear about the Pakistani/India border in areas up north where the border is disputed and they are constantly firing shells at each other
That evening I went for some more food at the temple and then checked the temple out as it glistened under lights at night.
1/22 I visited the golden temple at sunrise and had lots of chai as I circled around the pool. I then went out and explored Old Amritsar by foot and attempted to find a private/ac overnight bus to Manali. Lots of people tried to help me, but in the end we only found one bus that wasn't a local bus, but I wasn't quite sure if it was really going, so instead I took a bus to Chandigarh 5 hours away and then caught an 8 hour night bus to Manali from there that was a private bus. In India, b/c the transport is so cheap, I am more than willing to take the private/ac busses as opposed to the local buses for night trips for a few reasons: I feel a bit more secure about my luggage on the more expensive busses, the local busses are much slower and some of the most uncomfortable buses I have been on (same buses as in nepal) for a night journey as the seats come up to about my lower shoulder so there is no putting your head back, the seats obviously don't recline, and there is not really enough leg room for me. But one of the main reasons is that the ac busses are sealed off well and b/c it is so cold right now at night in the mountains, those busses stay warm while the local busses with their leaky and often broken windows are ice boxes. In fact, the bus I took to Manali had HEAT! It was the first time I had felt heat (that wasn't a wood or yak dung fire) since last winter at home. So this meant that I slept well on the night ride up to Manali at an elevation of about 7000 feet. I arrived into Manali about 6am and of course it was bitter cold. I walked through packed snow to find a hotel room and then went to bed again until the sun came out.
Part of the interesting thing is that although this is like a competition thing, it is actually very friendly compared to what you hear about the Pakistani/India border in areas up north where the border is disputed and they are constantly firing shells at each other
That evening I went for some more food at the temple and then checked the temple out as it glistened under lights at night.
1/22 I visited the golden temple at sunrise and had lots of chai as I circled around the pool. I then went out and explored Old Amritsar by foot and attempted to find a private/ac overnight bus to Manali. Lots of people tried to help me, but in the end we only found one bus that wasn't a local bus, but I wasn't quite sure if it was really going, so instead I took a bus to Chandigarh 5 hours away and then caught an 8 hour night bus to Manali from there that was a private bus. In India, b/c the transport is so cheap, I am more than willing to take the private/ac busses as opposed to the local buses for night trips for a few reasons: I feel a bit more secure about my luggage on the more expensive busses, the local busses are much slower and some of the most uncomfortable buses I have been on (same buses as in nepal) for a night journey as the seats come up to about my lower shoulder so there is no putting your head back, the seats obviously don't recline, and there is not really enough leg room for me. But one of the main reasons is that the ac busses are sealed off well and b/c it is so cold right now at night in the mountains, those busses stay warm while the local busses with their leaky and often broken windows are ice boxes. In fact, the bus I took to Manali had HEAT! It was the first time I had felt heat (that wasn't a wood or yak dung fire) since last winter at home. So this meant that I slept well on the night ride up to Manali at an elevation of about 7000 feet. I arrived into Manali about 6am and of course it was bitter cold. I walked through packed snow to find a hotel room and then went to bed again until the sun came out.
Amritsar: The Antithesis of Agra
1/21 I arrived early morning into Amritsar in Punjab. And I wondered if perhaps I had taken a train out of India. I had gotten used to the India that is Varanais, Agra, and Khajaraho full of touts and people trying to cheat you. Well Amritsar is the home of the Golden Temple, a major pilgrimage site for people of the Sikh religion (I was first introduced to this in Burma on the trek with Harri and his brother). The first thing was that there was a free shuttle bus from the train station to the Golden Temple. Once there, they have tons of rooms and dorms for all the pilgrims and a special dorm area for Westerners. They lead you right to this westerner dorm (which is free!) and get you settled in. After checking in a man at a place giving out free purified water called me over. At first I ignored him, thinking he was a tout, but he said he wasn't. So I walked over and he explained to me a bit out the Golden Temple and told me that if I had any questions or needs just to feel free to ask anyone. Most of the people working there were volunteers and he gave me some very helpful information like where to find different busses and such things. Once I had talked to this guy, I deposited my shoes at a safe storage area (though who would want my torn up shoes), again for free and was given an orange bandana to cover my head (again at no charge, which in most places in India they would be taking full advantage of these services), and then walked into the Golden Temple after washing my feet in warm water. The temple was also free (compared to the Taj which was 18 dollars per entry, so even in one day if you left for lunch or a drink you had to pay 18 again to get in!), which was great b/c it meant you could come and go when you want and view it at different times such as sunrise, sunset, daytime, and nighttime. The main temple, which is covered in brilliant gold, sits on a little island in the middle of a holy pool in which pilgrims come to bathe in. You then walk clockwise around the pool gazing at the temple and also the fancy buildings around the little pool. The floor is marble, but they provided a carpet pathway to keep your bare feet from freezing. At different parts along the path, people call out and invite you in for a big bowl of free chai (different tasting than the chai I had been used to). I did a couple of circumambulations around the pool and then went to the giant cafeteria. Supposedly this 2 story huge building serves 60,000 pilgrims a day (more during festivals). You walk in grab a bowl for chai, a bowl for water, and a plate. You then are directed into the huge building where everyone is arranged in lines on the floor. Then people hurry along filling up your bowls with chai and water and then others come by with chapatis (there is supposedly a chapati machine there that can make 19,000 chapatis per hour), a sweet yellow rice, rice porridge, dal, beans, vegetable curry, and other punjabi foods. Again, all this is free. So for breakfast, lunch, and dinner you can come into the temple for free meals. I was finding Amritsar to be the complete opposite of Agra not only in terms of all the free things, but everyone there was so genuinely friendly and full of hospitality. And the whole area was so calm with no touts, guides for the temple, etc bothering you. Holy men were in these little booths in the temple singing calming scriptures which added to the mood as you walked around the pool. And this music was sang around the clock 24/7. Just such an amazing and unbelievable atmosphere after being in Agra!
Friday, January 28, 2011
The Taj
1/17 We arrived in Agra in the morning and were given a nice Agra welcome of "hello money change, hello tuk tuk, hello internet, hello postcard, hello jewelry, hello breakfast, hello room etc. etc" And the touts would follow you for quite some time. And then there were the little kids "hello money, hello pen, hello chocolate, hello gum" hanging on to your arms as you walked. All this put the "one dolla" of cambodia to shame. It was so intense. So intense in fact that we didn't leave our room unless we had to. I would almost rather stay in my room an read then to venture out for food sometimes. Even when you went into a shop to buy water and some snacks, the guy would pester you to buy more! It almost made me want to say, sorry, and walk away, but of course you needed the water and snacks. Agra though has by far been the worst for this and likely this is b/c India's number 1 tourist attraction is there and a lot of the people coming in are rich europeans or americans on 2 week vacations that are easily scammed as they aren't used to the Indian travel life. Nonetheless, it was quite tiring and difficult to deal with. You really just had to walk with your head straight ahead and ignore everyone. But we soon got out of the tourist zone (Taj Ganj) and took a 12 km one way walk past the Agra fort and across a huge train bridge to get to the otherside of the river and then eventually to a park that had really nice views of the Taj. From here we had a beautiful sunset view as the sun fell behind the Taj. At the park, I noticed someone walking along the river with a gate I very much recognized. David Vanneste!! My trekking partner on the Annapurna Circuit! We had plans to meet up in Kashmir, but this was an unexpected surprise. After the sunset, we had hoped to catch a rickshaw back to Taj Ganj, but we couldn't find one. Funny how there are too many of them when you don't want one, but none when you need one. So we ended up walking all the way back. However, we still beat David and his friend who had come on a rickshaw and had it reserved for going back b/c they were unfortunately on one of those commission rickshaw rides where the driver takes you to some random jewelry store, hotel, or other such thing where he gets commission and you get pressured to buy something. The usual thing is when you arrive at a train or bus station and tell them you want to go to x hotel they will say no it is closed or full or double booked or some other thing and then just take you to a hotel where they get commission and thus you have to pay more. So what you should do instead is say you want to go to a landmark near where you want to stay or that you are meeting friends at a certain place and then they can't pull the hotel scam. That night I had a nice dinner with David and his friend from a rooftop restaurant.
1/18 Got up bright and early to be first in line to get into the Taj Mahal grounds. Witnessed a gorgeous sunrise lighting up the Taj. It is truly a spectacularly gorgeous building with its pearl white domes and perfect symmetry. The perfect reflection in the ponds in front of it add to the spectacle. The Taj really reminds me of the palace in Aladdin and the street scenes in the bazaars when Aladdin is a street urchin is quite similar to Agra as well even including monkeys like Abu running around the city. We had the first couple hours in relative peace before the tour bus crowds arrived as well as the train from Delhi. But it was one of those buildings after having walked all around it, that you could just sit and stare at for a while. It was built by a king when his 2nd wife died giving birth to their like 14th child. The king would later be overthrown by his son and imprisoned in Agra fort where he could look out at his masterpiece through a tiny window. After hanging out at the Taj until about noon, Esther, Jovan and I walked to the Agra fort to check it out. It's a huge red fort overlooking the river and the Taj and has some palaces and mosques inside as well. That evening we had Lassies from a rooftop restaurant with nice views of the Taj as the sun set.
1/19 I got up early to watch the sunrise over the Taj from a different vantage point along the river. After Esther an Jovan woke up (they liked to sleep in more so I would often go out myself and see some things until they woke up) we took the bus for an hour to the city of Fatephur Sikri. It had a cool bazaar and a ruined city that we toured around as well as some of Akbar's palaces from the time that this had been the capital for a short time. It also had a huge (2nd biggest in India I believe) outdoor mosque with a gorgeous gate. The ruined city was calm and peaceful which we enjoyed just as much as visiting the palaces and red ruined city.
1/20 Had my last breakfast with Jovan and Esther as they were headed to Delhi. I spent several hours doing internet job stuff, then got my last view of that gorgeous Taj before getting on an afternoon train (2nd class this time) to Amritsar in Punjab.
1/18 Got up bright and early to be first in line to get into the Taj Mahal grounds. Witnessed a gorgeous sunrise lighting up the Taj. It is truly a spectacularly gorgeous building with its pearl white domes and perfect symmetry. The perfect reflection in the ponds in front of it add to the spectacle. The Taj really reminds me of the palace in Aladdin and the street scenes in the bazaars when Aladdin is a street urchin is quite similar to Agra as well even including monkeys like Abu running around the city. We had the first couple hours in relative peace before the tour bus crowds arrived as well as the train from Delhi. But it was one of those buildings after having walked all around it, that you could just sit and stare at for a while. It was built by a king when his 2nd wife died giving birth to their like 14th child. The king would later be overthrown by his son and imprisoned in Agra fort where he could look out at his masterpiece through a tiny window. After hanging out at the Taj until about noon, Esther, Jovan and I walked to the Agra fort to check it out. It's a huge red fort overlooking the river and the Taj and has some palaces and mosques inside as well. That evening we had Lassies from a rooftop restaurant with nice views of the Taj as the sun set.
1/19 I got up early to watch the sunrise over the Taj from a different vantage point along the river. After Esther an Jovan woke up (they liked to sleep in more so I would often go out myself and see some things until they woke up) we took the bus for an hour to the city of Fatephur Sikri. It had a cool bazaar and a ruined city that we toured around as well as some of Akbar's palaces from the time that this had been the capital for a short time. It also had a huge (2nd biggest in India I believe) outdoor mosque with a gorgeous gate. The ruined city was calm and peaceful which we enjoyed just as much as visiting the palaces and red ruined city.
1/20 Had my last breakfast with Jovan and Esther as they were headed to Delhi. I spent several hours doing internet job stuff, then got my last view of that gorgeous Taj before getting on an afternoon train (2nd class this time) to Amritsar in Punjab.
Saturday, January 22, 2011
Kama Sutra Khajaraho
1/14/10
Because we were three and because we found a taxi driver that had to go to Khajaraho to pick up some people, we got a very good deal on a taxi to Khajaraho, which saved us a major headache of getting there by public transport as both Tala and Khaj are out of the way. The taxi stopped about 1 hour outside of Khaj for a dinner. We made the mistake of not asking the price for the food before ordering as in Tala everyone had been so honest and nice. When we asked for the price, they told us 220 rupees (5bucks) each for a meal that in tala had cost us 30-40 rupees. We all burst out laughing at this. They tried to rip us off soo bad that they shot way over. Had they asked for like 70 each we probably would have paid. Instead we each gave 50 still laughing and headed off. We asked the driver later and he had paid 30. Khajaraho would end up having the strangest people we had come along so far. When our taxi arrived around 10pm and the streets were mainly empty. 5 teenage guys were there to welcome us. They all spoke good spanish (as well as english) and showed us around to different hotels. They were quite nice, but after our stay in Khaj they had become annoying. They were always there talking to us and would wait for us to come down from our rooms or leave the temple complex and keep following us. (and of course always mentioning that we should go visit their shop) We called them our personal surveillance guards as they knew where we were at all times and would keep track as to whether we were in the hotel, what restaurant we were at or at what temple complex we were at.
1/15 Today Jovan, Esther and I visited the world heritage Khajaraho temples. They were a collection of temples that avoided destruction (as they were hidden in a deep jungle) when the Muslims came through and destroyed all similar temples due to the sexual nature of them. They are probably the most ornately and detailed carved temples I have ever seen. The artwork was really quite beautiful. The carvings included war scenes with plenty of elephants and other daily life scenes. The temples are mainly honoring women, so carvings of women are the main focus and grace all the temples. Of course what makes these temples most famous are the Kama Sutra and erotic carvings which had all the Indian tourists pointing and laughing and many of the western tourists blushing. There were definitely some pretty crazy carvings.
After we had seen the temples we just laid down in the grass (first place we had seen nice grass in India) to read and lounge and just have peace and quiet. The temples are a bit expensive to get into, but one of the bonuses of going is is that there are no honking horns, touts, and people bothering you. Though as we sat on the grass reading, we were definitely part of a huge photo shoot as all of the Indian tourists would walk by and try to discreetly (though unsuccessfully at this)take pictures of us. Besides all of the Indians trying to take photos without us noticing, there are also plenty that walk right up to you and say nothing else other than "just one snap" in which they don't wait for you to respond and stand right next to you while there friend takes a photo. You have to be careful of this in some of the busy areas like the Taj, b/c just one snap for them turns into a long line of other people also wanting a picture. Eventually you just have to say no or you wouldn't get anywhere. At lots of the tourists sights there are the lower class Indians dressed up in native outfits or with a camel or pony or something and you can pay 20-40 rupees (1/2 to 1 dollar) for a photo with them. If I also charged that same fare for a photo with me I would pay for my Indian trip more than twice over!
That evening we got asked by a man who said he was throwing a birthday party for his daughter to come attend and eat with his family and such. He said it was because he liked to talk and meet westerners. We were thinking about it, but he was very pushy and in my opinion too pushy for someone who just wanted to invite us for something. So in the end we didn't think it would be a good idea and that perhaps at the end or something there would be an uncomfortable scene where he demanded a lot of money or something. These types of scams are common in the heavily touristed areas of India. It is one of the unfortunate things of India is that you always (well at least until you are the quieter and calmer and more friendly mountains) have to be on your guard with everyone...that everyone is trying to scam you or cheat you and just see westerners at big ATM machines. As compared to somewhere like the Philippines or China or Malaysia where you wouldn't have to worry about those things. The best places to meet friendly Indians though are on the trains b/c these locals are just traveling and have not anything to do with the tourist scene. They are always very friendly, offering sweets and other goods they have brought along for the journey.
1/16 Just sort of a hang out and relax day. I did lots of job stuff both for USAjobs.gov and raytheon. That evening around 10 we took a rickshaw to the train station to get a 2 hour train to Mahoba. From there we got off as we had a train to catch to Agra departing at 1:30am. Thankfully! the train was only 40 minutes late as it was soo cold. The three of us sat there on a cold metal bench and huddled together. The train station as usual was full of what appeared to be big lumps of blankets, but it was really huge groups of Indians huddled together sleeping on the concrete floor covered in blankets with not even their heads sticking out. We had the 4th class (which means cold and drafty) train to Agra, but this time we wouldn't be arriving until 9ish, so I wasn't afraid to pull out the warm sleeping bag and go into a nice deep sleep! Plus as we were 3 there was a good chance at least one of us would be awake.
Because we were three and because we found a taxi driver that had to go to Khajaraho to pick up some people, we got a very good deal on a taxi to Khajaraho, which saved us a major headache of getting there by public transport as both Tala and Khaj are out of the way. The taxi stopped about 1 hour outside of Khaj for a dinner. We made the mistake of not asking the price for the food before ordering as in Tala everyone had been so honest and nice. When we asked for the price, they told us 220 rupees (5bucks) each for a meal that in tala had cost us 30-40 rupees. We all burst out laughing at this. They tried to rip us off soo bad that they shot way over. Had they asked for like 70 each we probably would have paid. Instead we each gave 50 still laughing and headed off. We asked the driver later and he had paid 30. Khajaraho would end up having the strangest people we had come along so far. When our taxi arrived around 10pm and the streets were mainly empty. 5 teenage guys were there to welcome us. They all spoke good spanish (as well as english) and showed us around to different hotels. They were quite nice, but after our stay in Khaj they had become annoying. They were always there talking to us and would wait for us to come down from our rooms or leave the temple complex and keep following us. (and of course always mentioning that we should go visit their shop) We called them our personal surveillance guards as they knew where we were at all times and would keep track as to whether we were in the hotel, what restaurant we were at or at what temple complex we were at.
1/15 Today Jovan, Esther and I visited the world heritage Khajaraho temples. They were a collection of temples that avoided destruction (as they were hidden in a deep jungle) when the Muslims came through and destroyed all similar temples due to the sexual nature of them. They are probably the most ornately and detailed carved temples I have ever seen. The artwork was really quite beautiful. The carvings included war scenes with plenty of elephants and other daily life scenes. The temples are mainly honoring women, so carvings of women are the main focus and grace all the temples. Of course what makes these temples most famous are the Kama Sutra and erotic carvings which had all the Indian tourists pointing and laughing and many of the western tourists blushing. There were definitely some pretty crazy carvings.
After we had seen the temples we just laid down in the grass (first place we had seen nice grass in India) to read and lounge and just have peace and quiet. The temples are a bit expensive to get into, but one of the bonuses of going is is that there are no honking horns, touts, and people bothering you. Though as we sat on the grass reading, we were definitely part of a huge photo shoot as all of the Indian tourists would walk by and try to discreetly (though unsuccessfully at this)take pictures of us. Besides all of the Indians trying to take photos without us noticing, there are also plenty that walk right up to you and say nothing else other than "just one snap" in which they don't wait for you to respond and stand right next to you while there friend takes a photo. You have to be careful of this in some of the busy areas like the Taj, b/c just one snap for them turns into a long line of other people also wanting a picture. Eventually you just have to say no or you wouldn't get anywhere. At lots of the tourists sights there are the lower class Indians dressed up in native outfits or with a camel or pony or something and you can pay 20-40 rupees (1/2 to 1 dollar) for a photo with them. If I also charged that same fare for a photo with me I would pay for my Indian trip more than twice over!
That evening we got asked by a man who said he was throwing a birthday party for his daughter to come attend and eat with his family and such. He said it was because he liked to talk and meet westerners. We were thinking about it, but he was very pushy and in my opinion too pushy for someone who just wanted to invite us for something. So in the end we didn't think it would be a good idea and that perhaps at the end or something there would be an uncomfortable scene where he demanded a lot of money or something. These types of scams are common in the heavily touristed areas of India. It is one of the unfortunate things of India is that you always (well at least until you are the quieter and calmer and more friendly mountains) have to be on your guard with everyone...that everyone is trying to scam you or cheat you and just see westerners at big ATM machines. As compared to somewhere like the Philippines or China or Malaysia where you wouldn't have to worry about those things. The best places to meet friendly Indians though are on the trains b/c these locals are just traveling and have not anything to do with the tourist scene. They are always very friendly, offering sweets and other goods they have brought along for the journey.
1/16 Just sort of a hang out and relax day. I did lots of job stuff both for USAjobs.gov and raytheon. That evening around 10 we took a rickshaw to the train station to get a 2 hour train to Mahoba. From there we got off as we had a train to catch to Agra departing at 1:30am. Thankfully! the train was only 40 minutes late as it was soo cold. The three of us sat there on a cold metal bench and huddled together. The train station as usual was full of what appeared to be big lumps of blankets, but it was really huge groups of Indians huddled together sleeping on the concrete floor covered in blankets with not even their heads sticking out. We had the 4th class (which means cold and drafty) train to Agra, but this time we wouldn't be arriving until 9ish, so I wasn't afraid to pull out the warm sleeping bag and go into a nice deep sleep! Plus as we were 3 there was a good chance at least one of us would be awake.
Friday, January 21, 2011
Tigers Tigers! In search of Shere Khan
1/13 I took a morning bus from Umaria to Tala, the town that is at the entrance of Bandhavgarh national park. At this park was the same hassle of trying to find other foreigners to share jeeps with. The cost to enter the park was 3700rp (82 dollars), but it could be shared by up to 6 people. In the first glance of the town, I saw no other foreigners. But then I ran into John from Holland. He was only there for one afternoon, and although sharing with only 1 other person was too expensive for me, I agreed to share b/c otherwise he couldn't go at all, and I figured it would give me good Karma if I helped him out. We ended up being able to find 2 british guys to join with us, so it turned out ok. On the tiger safari we saw tons of spotted deer (the tigers major food source), langurs, macaques, owls, sambar deer, wild boar, tiger footprints, tiger tree scratches, but no tiger. In the town of Tala (a nice quiet, leave you alone town) there were lots of the playful langurs (the monkeys from the jungle book). After the safari I found two danish (Ole and his wife) and a brazilian (Jomar) and Spanish (Esther) couple to join me for the morning safari the next day. We tried to convince John to stay one more day, but he didn't think there was much of a chance of seeing tigers and he wanted to go.
1/14 What a day!! 5 tigers!! After a couple hours of driving around the park, we came upon a female tiger and her 2 cubs (though big cubs as they were about 2 years old according to the guide)resting in the bamboo. They were quite close. Perhaps 25 feet away! We stayed to watch them for a bit and eventually they got up and walked across a field and disappeared. A bit later in the safari they had found a female tiger resting a ways off the road. So we hopped onto elephants and rode out to see her. She was just hanging out in the shade, looking up at us, and not caring about the elephants, so we got really really close and had great unobstructed views of her. So beautiful! Towards the end of the safari we saw one more hidden in the bamboo. We couldn't believe how lucky we were and we were just so incredibly excited. I was shaking the whole rest of the day and just so happy!! A tiger was one of the main things I wanted to see in India. The other great thing was that I was planning on staying as long as I could until I saw a tiger, but this meant I could go right away which alleviated some time budgeting for my trip but more importantly allowed me to travel with Jomar and Esther who were planning on heading to the same place as me next. I was really looking forward to travelling with some people again!
1/14 What a day!! 5 tigers!! After a couple hours of driving around the park, we came upon a female tiger and her 2 cubs (though big cubs as they were about 2 years old according to the guide)resting in the bamboo. They were quite close. Perhaps 25 feet away! We stayed to watch them for a bit and eventually they got up and walked across a field and disappeared. A bit later in the safari they had found a female tiger resting a ways off the road. So we hopped onto elephants and rode out to see her. She was just hanging out in the shade, looking up at us, and not caring about the elephants, so we got really really close and had great unobstructed views of her. So beautiful! Towards the end of the safari we saw one more hidden in the bamboo. We couldn't believe how lucky we were and we were just so incredibly excited. I was shaking the whole rest of the day and just so happy!! A tiger was one of the main things I wanted to see in India. The other great thing was that I was planning on staying as long as I could until I saw a tiger, but this meant I could go right away which alleviated some time budgeting for my trip but more importantly allowed me to travel with Jomar and Esther who were planning on heading to the same place as me next. I was really looking forward to travelling with some people again!
The bathing ghats
1/11 Lots more computer job stuff in the morning. I took an afternoon walk along the ghats. Walking all the way to the railway bridge in the far north of the city. It was neat to walk amongst all the pilgrims coming to bathe at the ghats. I also walked by loads of Cricket games and lots of kids flying and fighting kites (though they don't fight the kites as intensely as in the Kite Runner). In the evening I attended a performance in the ghats that was pretty cool. They used lots of unusual instruments and fire.
1/12 I took a foggy dawn walk along the ghats and then another boat ride along the ghats just because the activity going on along them was just so interesting and fascinating. I then had a wild cyclorickshaw ride to the train station where I boarded a train heading to the small town of Umaria. I was in the 4th class train and the windows didn't close very well so when night came it was absolutely freezing. I was bundled up in all my clothes, but still shaking. It was probably about freezing temp outside and then add the wind to it. I was so tempted to pull out my sleeping bag and be nice and toasty; however, I was also afraid of falling into a deep sleep and missing my stop. Unlike the chinese and russian trains which are on time so that you can just set your watch alarm to a few minutes before you are to arrive and then you know the next station is yours, the Indian trains are almost always quite late. And unlike the Russian trains with the providnistas that will wake you up anyways when it is your stop, there is no one on the Indian trains to do this. The place, Bandhavgarh national park, that I was going was a bit out of the way and I had to depart at this tiny stop called Umaria. The train would only stop for 2 minutes at this stop, so I had to be ready to bolt as soon as I arrived. The train was supposed to arrive at 10:22pm, but I arrived a bit after 3am. I somehow managed to see the name of the station in the dark and make it off on time. I had originally thought about just sleeping at the station, but all the benches were taken up and the very cold and dirty concrete floor did not look inviting (though I would have been joining many Indians huddled up together under blankets on the floor) so I walked the 30 minutes to the town, woke up a hotel manager and took a room.
1/12 I took a foggy dawn walk along the ghats and then another boat ride along the ghats just because the activity going on along them was just so interesting and fascinating. I then had a wild cyclorickshaw ride to the train station where I boarded a train heading to the small town of Umaria. I was in the 4th class train and the windows didn't close very well so when night came it was absolutely freezing. I was bundled up in all my clothes, but still shaking. It was probably about freezing temp outside and then add the wind to it. I was so tempted to pull out my sleeping bag and be nice and toasty; however, I was also afraid of falling into a deep sleep and missing my stop. Unlike the chinese and russian trains which are on time so that you can just set your watch alarm to a few minutes before you are to arrive and then you know the next station is yours, the Indian trains are almost always quite late. And unlike the Russian trains with the providnistas that will wake you up anyways when it is your stop, there is no one on the Indian trains to do this. The place, Bandhavgarh national park, that I was going was a bit out of the way and I had to depart at this tiny stop called Umaria. The train would only stop for 2 minutes at this stop, so I had to be ready to bolt as soon as I arrived. The train was supposed to arrive at 10:22pm, but I arrived a bit after 3am. I somehow managed to see the name of the station in the dark and make it off on time. I had originally thought about just sleeping at the station, but all the benches were taken up and the very cold and dirty concrete floor did not look inviting (though I would have been joining many Indians huddled up together under blankets on the floor) so I walked the 30 minutes to the town, woke up a hotel manager and took a room.
Thursday, January 20, 2011
Is this Africa?...but wham! India right in the face!
I have a bit of time here to update the blog
Took the overnight train to Guwahati on the 4th class (known as sleeper) in which they pack 8 people into a "cabing" area. The same classes on Russia and Chinese trains have only 6 people in them, so it tells you about the crowding. From Guwahati I took the bus to Kazinranga National Park. Even on the bus ride over to Kazinranga, famous for its rhinos, I saw 4 rhinos. My time in Kaziranga would be nice in terms of wildlife, but also a bit stressful for several reasons (aside from worrying about getting resumes, cv's, cover letters, and government internet website applications done when one has not their own computer). When I arrived, I found there was a festival for the Assamese going on and all of the hotels were basically booked. I walked around to every one and although there were no Westerners in the town I was only able to find rooms for the 3 nights I wanted to stay at 3 separate places. So while I was there, I always had to check out at noon everyday to move to another place. I had also hoped to find an internet cafe or at least a travel agent there. This is a famous NP, so I figured there would be one. But no! No travel agent. I had not booked my train ticket leaving Guwahati while in Darjeeling, bc I wanted to stay in Kaziranga long enough to see a rhino and elephant, but no longer, so I figured I would just wait until this was done and then book the ticket. Well, there was no travel agent, and I had recently figured out that Indian train ticket bookings should be made as early as possible (especially when there is no travel agent around) as they fill up quick. There are ways to get urgent tickets (Tatkal...2 days before some are saved, a few tourist quota tickets, and some other methods), but you need the travel agent. Luckily, there was one internet place in the area...a 5km walk. That evening, realizing the rhino would be easy to see and that train tickets are hard to secure, I decided I should just decide to stay about 3 days no matter what, so that I could book my ticket. That evening, around 7 or 8 I arrived at the internet place. It looked sort of like a house and I found out it was more of a teaching place that happened to have one computer. It also looked sort of closed. But I knocked on the door, and a young gal opened it and said that they were just open 9-5, so I could come back in the morning. Of course I would be on the safari the next morning, so it would be not until the afternoon I could reach the internet, and with the Indian trains, every second counts. I had a fair amount of stress during my time in Kaziranga, but I met a few extremely nice and helpful people that made things a lot better (but this would be the last time, at least up to this point that I would say this about the Indian people as mostly they have been quite annoying, always trying to cheat you, etc. As a couple I have been travelling with now said after we had several bad interactions in a row where they really tried to cheat us..."you definitely don't come to India for the people. But assam and darjeeling where I really liked the people for the most part are sort of away from the mainstream India). She was the first one. I explained to her my situation and she let me go on the internet, so I was able to book a train. The train was full, but I got put on a waitinglist as #5. This would of course cause a bit of stress b/c I didn't have a confirmed ticket and I didn't know if being WL #5 was a good chance of getting a ticket or not. And the problem was that Guwahati is so far out of the way, that there are no busses towards main India. And if you really need to book 12 days out to get a ticket, I was getting worried I may find myself stuck there (and besides Kaziranga there wasn't much reason to stay in Assam especially since they were warring in the northern part of Assam, but safe where I was, well except that when reading in the paper you saw that a couple villagers had been attacked by a tiger and killed and the hotel people had told me that a rhino had been walking around the town and had charged a few people) But thank goodness I had been able to book then so that I could at least be WL5 instead of WL20 or something.
1/5 Safari on Elephan back early in the morning. Truly Amazing! Reminded me just like Africa in that there was a similar landscape and so many animals. It truly could have been the Serengeti. We started the trip in the morning mist, which added to the experience and made the sunrise amazing. Saw 5 rhinos (these are indian one horned and very endangered) right up close from atop the elephant. Besides the Rhinos we saw tons of hog deer and swamp deer, lots of wild boars and water buffalo. In the afternoon, I took a jeep safari through a neat lake and grassland area. Tons of rhinos (we saw at least 20), lots of waterbuffalo, eagles, vultures feasting on a tiger kill, wild boars, two types of turtles in the river. We were close to seeing a tiger as we could hear the barking deer warning calls they make when there is a tiger, but the the grass was too high (a jeep behind us would later see the tiger when it walked into the open by a lake). That evening was more train ticket hassle and stress as I tried to contact with travel agents in Guwahati to help me buy a ticket. This is when I met Hari, another extremely helpful person. He ran a little shop next to the jeep safari booking area. Trying to share a jeep for me was a huge hassle b/c there were no foreigners and for some reasons all the Indians thought I wouldn't want to share with them. Of course this would just be way too expensive if I couldn't share the 6 person jeep with 5 others. The first time I did it by myself, but it was so difficult. The next 2 times, Hari would walk over and explain it to the vacationing Indians that I didn't mind, and so he helped me out a lot there! He also made lots and lots of calls to Guwahati with contacts he knew, trying to help me find someone who could get me a ticket (he did eventually find someone who could sell me a VIP ticket, which means a gov't official ticket that won't be travelling and for about 20 dollars more, though in the end this turned out to not be necessary). He spent lots of time and made lots of calls and in the end, the day I was leaving, when I tried to pay him, he wouldn't accept the money. He was hoping to set up a travel agency in his shop and said I was good practice, and he learned a lot from me. But everynight and some afternoons I would spend in Hari's office trying to figure out tickets and him calling and all that, which was not how I wanted to be spending my evenings, but I was just so worried about getting a ticket to get out of there.
1/6 In the morning I went back to the internet place to see if I had moved up on the waitlist (no) and to see then if I could be a tatkal ticket (no, all sold out). Really feeling like I was being stranded now! And to add to this, I had skipped the morning safari to try and make sure I got the ticket and what did they see on the safari...a tiger, which is extremely rare in this park. They also saw elephants, which is something I really wanted to see.
I did the afternoon safari. Again really nice with much of the same wildlife and lots of eagles. And the highlight was 3 wild elephants! That evening I ran into Frederick and Magaline (germans, but now professors at WashU and Columbia) the only other westerners besides me I had seen. I was feeling a bit lonely as well by this time, so it was nice to hang out with them. We visited the big Assamese festival going on with some dancing and booths and other stuff. It actually felt a lot like an American fair, just with Assamese flair. They heard my train story and felt a bit sorry for me and treated me to a nice dinner and beer.
1/7 Took a morning safari to a different range of the park. The area had a nice feel with all of the lakes, grasslands, birds, and of course rhinos around. Lots of just immense buffaloes as well. That afternoon, I took the bus to Guwahati. It was delayed, so I arrived into Guwahati around 7pm, but by the time I got into the city on a city bus it was 8pm. I then proceeded to walk around for 3 hours in the city looking for accomadation. This was incredibly frustrating! And in fact I became even quite angry and a few times I guess I was just overwhelmed by emotion and partly fear and I told a few guys that I hated India and had no idea why anyone would come (b/c I likely won't get too much farther than assam in this posting, I just wanted to let you all know that I have adjusted to India, figured it out a lot more, found some companions, and doing quite well now, so don't worry). But here is why I was feeling like I was. Of course in the back of my mind I was still thinking I had no confirmed train ticket and how was I going to get out of here. The city was completely nasty, dirty, etc. Everything you would expect from an Indian city and of course even worse than most indian cities tourists visit b/c there was no like tourist area or backpacker ghetto. The city was full of hotels, but everyone I went to said they were full. I would ask kindly for help to find one that wasn't full, but they would just give this stupid little smile, do the Indian head dip, and say nothing. A few that did offer a place, directed me towards a $50+ a night 4 star place. After about 2 hours, I became suspicious that it was because I was a foreigner (in india they use that nasty term foreigner as opposed to visitor, guest, or even tourist) since I had had some issues getting the shared jeep due to me being a foreigner. Finally on a few I noticed they still had a lots of room keys hanging on their wall. I asked to see their registration book which they have to keep so I could see if all rooms were checked out. They refused saying it was private (which of course it is not b/c if I were to book a room, they would give me the book and I would sign my name and info on the page right next to everyone else's that is in clear view. So I snatched one and saw that there were plenty of rooms. It was on these occasions in which they were just so blatantly lieing to me that I lost my cool (anyone that knows me well will know it must have been quite the situation b/c I don't easily lose my cool) and told them I hated India. By now it was almost 11pm and the streets were closing up and lights were going out and I was beginning to fear I would have to sleep out on the filthy, feces filled street with the rats and other things. This had not worked out well before for me in a much, much cleaner thailand (think rat bite). Eventually I was pushy enough that I got a room, but they way way way overcharged me for this poor excuse for a room. It was quite gross and grundgy, but I set up my little mosquito tent to shelter me from the cockroaches, mice, and of course mosquitos. That evening I went to the travel agent that Hari had said would get me the VIP ticket. As we were checking to see if my ticket had been confirmed yet (no it hadn't, WL 3 now though), I saw mom on gchat. I had her call me with her cheap international call thing and she helped me to feel much better!
1/8 In the morning I went back to the travel agent. I was still WL #3, but the chart still hadn't been prepared, so there was still a chance. The train was set to leave at 12pm and at 11, while I was sitting there drinking a chai, the guy looked at me and said the chart had been prepared. He sat there looking at me for a bit, adding quite a bit of suspense, then finally he said, "and...you have been confirmed" I jumped right out of my seat, yelling, and ran over and gave him a high five!! I was going to get out of that dump of a city! I ran to my gross hotel to pack my stuff and head off to the train station to catch the train, which of course would be quite delayed, but I didn't care. This time I was on AC-2 or 2nd class which has 6 people in the cabin. I was heading to Mughal Serai which was near to Varanasi. The train took about 32 hours, but was quite relaxing for me and I got to work on my cover letters and such for the jobs.
1/9 I arrived to Mughal Serai around 8pm and attempted to get a ride for the 20kms to Varanasi. Of course the foreigner prices for taxis were ridiculous, but there was meant to be shared jeeps. Of course the jeep operator wouldn't let me on, I guess b/c I was a foreigner or something and they probably get like commission from the taxi drivers to not let foreigners on. But eventually I just forced myself onto a shared jeep and was off to Varanasi. Masato who I met in Ghorepani back in Nepal, had given me a guesthouse number that he liked, run by a japanese woman and her Indian husband. Since I love the japanese and was in need of something I loved, I had booked a placed at Kumiko's guesthouse. It was a lovely place, overlooking the ganges and full of friendly and ever so polite Japanese. It had a special japanese buffet breakfast and lots of charm. It was great. And that is when things turned around for me and since then India has been much better. I mean of course you still have the super annoying touts, all the people trying to cheat you, the smells, the nasty cities, etc, etc...but those things don't bother me so much now and they are more things you joke around with to the people you are traveling with. And the cool things of india, the sights, the food, the festiveness, the color, etc, etc, far overshadow the negative things for the most part.
1/10 In varanasi it was extremely cold (30F as the low and the coldest recorded there...in the paper it said that 87 people had died of cold already that january in the varanasi area) and thus very foggy in the mornings. So instead of the dawn boatride, I shared an after breakfast boat ride with 2 japanese guys from the guesthouse. The boat goes along the very holy Ganges river past the bathing ghats where Indian Hindu pilgrims come to bathe and wash away their sins and also wash their clothes. The ghats are full of life (even kids playing cricket along them) with so much color and festiveness. Some say they are the beating heart of India. The Ganges in lined with temples and palaces for the old royalty that used to come to the bathing ghats, so of course the architecture is very nice as well. The architecture mixed with the river and the bathers and other activity going on along the ghats just created a cool visual spectacle. There are also the burning ghats where you can be cremated and sent off into the river...though they now also have electric cremations as well as wooden ones as they are cheaper. The streets of old Varanasi are quite cool. Very narrow and winding. Filled with cows, monkeys, dogs, people selling stuff and all that. Of course you have to watch your step (like in all cities) to avoid stepping in feces (human, cow, dog, monkey), but I guess it just adds to it. I spent the afternoon doing a fair amount of computer work for jobs
Took the overnight train to Guwahati on the 4th class (known as sleeper) in which they pack 8 people into a "cabing" area. The same classes on Russia and Chinese trains have only 6 people in them, so it tells you about the crowding. From Guwahati I took the bus to Kazinranga National Park. Even on the bus ride over to Kazinranga, famous for its rhinos, I saw 4 rhinos. My time in Kaziranga would be nice in terms of wildlife, but also a bit stressful for several reasons (aside from worrying about getting resumes, cv's, cover letters, and government internet website applications done when one has not their own computer). When I arrived, I found there was a festival for the Assamese going on and all of the hotels were basically booked. I walked around to every one and although there were no Westerners in the town I was only able to find rooms for the 3 nights I wanted to stay at 3 separate places. So while I was there, I always had to check out at noon everyday to move to another place. I had also hoped to find an internet cafe or at least a travel agent there. This is a famous NP, so I figured there would be one. But no! No travel agent. I had not booked my train ticket leaving Guwahati while in Darjeeling, bc I wanted to stay in Kaziranga long enough to see a rhino and elephant, but no longer, so I figured I would just wait until this was done and then book the ticket. Well, there was no travel agent, and I had recently figured out that Indian train ticket bookings should be made as early as possible (especially when there is no travel agent around) as they fill up quick. There are ways to get urgent tickets (Tatkal...2 days before some are saved, a few tourist quota tickets, and some other methods), but you need the travel agent. Luckily, there was one internet place in the area...a 5km walk. That evening, realizing the rhino would be easy to see and that train tickets are hard to secure, I decided I should just decide to stay about 3 days no matter what, so that I could book my ticket. That evening, around 7 or 8 I arrived at the internet place. It looked sort of like a house and I found out it was more of a teaching place that happened to have one computer. It also looked sort of closed. But I knocked on the door, and a young gal opened it and said that they were just open 9-5, so I could come back in the morning. Of course I would be on the safari the next morning, so it would be not until the afternoon I could reach the internet, and with the Indian trains, every second counts. I had a fair amount of stress during my time in Kaziranga, but I met a few extremely nice and helpful people that made things a lot better (but this would be the last time, at least up to this point that I would say this about the Indian people as mostly they have been quite annoying, always trying to cheat you, etc. As a couple I have been travelling with now said after we had several bad interactions in a row where they really tried to cheat us..."you definitely don't come to India for the people. But assam and darjeeling where I really liked the people for the most part are sort of away from the mainstream India). She was the first one. I explained to her my situation and she let me go on the internet, so I was able to book a train. The train was full, but I got put on a waitinglist as #5. This would of course cause a bit of stress b/c I didn't have a confirmed ticket and I didn't know if being WL #5 was a good chance of getting a ticket or not. And the problem was that Guwahati is so far out of the way, that there are no busses towards main India. And if you really need to book 12 days out to get a ticket, I was getting worried I may find myself stuck there (and besides Kaziranga there wasn't much reason to stay in Assam especially since they were warring in the northern part of Assam, but safe where I was, well except that when reading in the paper you saw that a couple villagers had been attacked by a tiger and killed and the hotel people had told me that a rhino had been walking around the town and had charged a few people) But thank goodness I had been able to book then so that I could at least be WL5 instead of WL20 or something.
1/5 Safari on Elephan back early in the morning. Truly Amazing! Reminded me just like Africa in that there was a similar landscape and so many animals. It truly could have been the Serengeti. We started the trip in the morning mist, which added to the experience and made the sunrise amazing. Saw 5 rhinos (these are indian one horned and very endangered) right up close from atop the elephant. Besides the Rhinos we saw tons of hog deer and swamp deer, lots of wild boars and water buffalo. In the afternoon, I took a jeep safari through a neat lake and grassland area. Tons of rhinos (we saw at least 20), lots of waterbuffalo, eagles, vultures feasting on a tiger kill, wild boars, two types of turtles in the river. We were close to seeing a tiger as we could hear the barking deer warning calls they make when there is a tiger, but the the grass was too high (a jeep behind us would later see the tiger when it walked into the open by a lake). That evening was more train ticket hassle and stress as I tried to contact with travel agents in Guwahati to help me buy a ticket. This is when I met Hari, another extremely helpful person. He ran a little shop next to the jeep safari booking area. Trying to share a jeep for me was a huge hassle b/c there were no foreigners and for some reasons all the Indians thought I wouldn't want to share with them. Of course this would just be way too expensive if I couldn't share the 6 person jeep with 5 others. The first time I did it by myself, but it was so difficult. The next 2 times, Hari would walk over and explain it to the vacationing Indians that I didn't mind, and so he helped me out a lot there! He also made lots and lots of calls to Guwahati with contacts he knew, trying to help me find someone who could get me a ticket (he did eventually find someone who could sell me a VIP ticket, which means a gov't official ticket that won't be travelling and for about 20 dollars more, though in the end this turned out to not be necessary). He spent lots of time and made lots of calls and in the end, the day I was leaving, when I tried to pay him, he wouldn't accept the money. He was hoping to set up a travel agency in his shop and said I was good practice, and he learned a lot from me. But everynight and some afternoons I would spend in Hari's office trying to figure out tickets and him calling and all that, which was not how I wanted to be spending my evenings, but I was just so worried about getting a ticket to get out of there.
1/6 In the morning I went back to the internet place to see if I had moved up on the waitlist (no) and to see then if I could be a tatkal ticket (no, all sold out). Really feeling like I was being stranded now! And to add to this, I had skipped the morning safari to try and make sure I got the ticket and what did they see on the safari...a tiger, which is extremely rare in this park. They also saw elephants, which is something I really wanted to see.
I did the afternoon safari. Again really nice with much of the same wildlife and lots of eagles. And the highlight was 3 wild elephants! That evening I ran into Frederick and Magaline (germans, but now professors at WashU and Columbia) the only other westerners besides me I had seen. I was feeling a bit lonely as well by this time, so it was nice to hang out with them. We visited the big Assamese festival going on with some dancing and booths and other stuff. It actually felt a lot like an American fair, just with Assamese flair. They heard my train story and felt a bit sorry for me and treated me to a nice dinner and beer.
1/7 Took a morning safari to a different range of the park. The area had a nice feel with all of the lakes, grasslands, birds, and of course rhinos around. Lots of just immense buffaloes as well. That afternoon, I took the bus to Guwahati. It was delayed, so I arrived into Guwahati around 7pm, but by the time I got into the city on a city bus it was 8pm. I then proceeded to walk around for 3 hours in the city looking for accomadation. This was incredibly frustrating! And in fact I became even quite angry and a few times I guess I was just overwhelmed by emotion and partly fear and I told a few guys that I hated India and had no idea why anyone would come (b/c I likely won't get too much farther than assam in this posting, I just wanted to let you all know that I have adjusted to India, figured it out a lot more, found some companions, and doing quite well now, so don't worry). But here is why I was feeling like I was. Of course in the back of my mind I was still thinking I had no confirmed train ticket and how was I going to get out of here. The city was completely nasty, dirty, etc. Everything you would expect from an Indian city and of course even worse than most indian cities tourists visit b/c there was no like tourist area or backpacker ghetto. The city was full of hotels, but everyone I went to said they were full. I would ask kindly for help to find one that wasn't full, but they would just give this stupid little smile, do the Indian head dip, and say nothing. A few that did offer a place, directed me towards a $50+ a night 4 star place. After about 2 hours, I became suspicious that it was because I was a foreigner (in india they use that nasty term foreigner as opposed to visitor, guest, or even tourist) since I had had some issues getting the shared jeep due to me being a foreigner. Finally on a few I noticed they still had a lots of room keys hanging on their wall. I asked to see their registration book which they have to keep so I could see if all rooms were checked out. They refused saying it was private (which of course it is not b/c if I were to book a room, they would give me the book and I would sign my name and info on the page right next to everyone else's that is in clear view. So I snatched one and saw that there were plenty of rooms. It was on these occasions in which they were just so blatantly lieing to me that I lost my cool (anyone that knows me well will know it must have been quite the situation b/c I don't easily lose my cool) and told them I hated India. By now it was almost 11pm and the streets were closing up and lights were going out and I was beginning to fear I would have to sleep out on the filthy, feces filled street with the rats and other things. This had not worked out well before for me in a much, much cleaner thailand (think rat bite). Eventually I was pushy enough that I got a room, but they way way way overcharged me for this poor excuse for a room. It was quite gross and grundgy, but I set up my little mosquito tent to shelter me from the cockroaches, mice, and of course mosquitos. That evening I went to the travel agent that Hari had said would get me the VIP ticket. As we were checking to see if my ticket had been confirmed yet (no it hadn't, WL 3 now though), I saw mom on gchat. I had her call me with her cheap international call thing and she helped me to feel much better!
1/8 In the morning I went back to the travel agent. I was still WL #3, but the chart still hadn't been prepared, so there was still a chance. The train was set to leave at 12pm and at 11, while I was sitting there drinking a chai, the guy looked at me and said the chart had been prepared. He sat there looking at me for a bit, adding quite a bit of suspense, then finally he said, "and...you have been confirmed" I jumped right out of my seat, yelling, and ran over and gave him a high five!! I was going to get out of that dump of a city! I ran to my gross hotel to pack my stuff and head off to the train station to catch the train, which of course would be quite delayed, but I didn't care. This time I was on AC-2 or 2nd class which has 6 people in the cabin. I was heading to Mughal Serai which was near to Varanasi. The train took about 32 hours, but was quite relaxing for me and I got to work on my cover letters and such for the jobs.
1/9 I arrived to Mughal Serai around 8pm and attempted to get a ride for the 20kms to Varanasi. Of course the foreigner prices for taxis were ridiculous, but there was meant to be shared jeeps. Of course the jeep operator wouldn't let me on, I guess b/c I was a foreigner or something and they probably get like commission from the taxi drivers to not let foreigners on. But eventually I just forced myself onto a shared jeep and was off to Varanasi. Masato who I met in Ghorepani back in Nepal, had given me a guesthouse number that he liked, run by a japanese woman and her Indian husband. Since I love the japanese and was in need of something I loved, I had booked a placed at Kumiko's guesthouse. It was a lovely place, overlooking the ganges and full of friendly and ever so polite Japanese. It had a special japanese buffet breakfast and lots of charm. It was great. And that is when things turned around for me and since then India has been much better. I mean of course you still have the super annoying touts, all the people trying to cheat you, the smells, the nasty cities, etc, etc...but those things don't bother me so much now and they are more things you joke around with to the people you are traveling with. And the cool things of india, the sights, the food, the festiveness, the color, etc, etc, far overshadow the negative things for the most part.
1/10 In varanasi it was extremely cold (30F as the low and the coldest recorded there...in the paper it said that 87 people had died of cold already that january in the varanasi area) and thus very foggy in the mornings. So instead of the dawn boatride, I shared an after breakfast boat ride with 2 japanese guys from the guesthouse. The boat goes along the very holy Ganges river past the bathing ghats where Indian Hindu pilgrims come to bathe and wash away their sins and also wash their clothes. The ghats are full of life (even kids playing cricket along them) with so much color and festiveness. Some say they are the beating heart of India. The Ganges in lined with temples and palaces for the old royalty that used to come to the bathing ghats, so of course the architecture is very nice as well. The architecture mixed with the river and the bathers and other activity going on along the ghats just created a cool visual spectacle. There are also the burning ghats where you can be cremated and sent off into the river...though they now also have electric cremations as well as wooden ones as they are cheaper. The streets of old Varanasi are quite cool. Very narrow and winding. Filled with cows, monkeys, dogs, people selling stuff and all that. Of course you have to watch your step (like in all cities) to avoid stepping in feces (human, cow, dog, monkey), but I guess it just adds to it. I spent the afternoon doing a fair amount of computer work for jobs
Sunday, January 16, 2011
Tiger and Rhino elephant safari pics
had some time to upload some pics while sifting through the websites of rayjobs and usajobs
Monday, January 10, 2011
what??? travis is applying for jobs
yes folks, the unthinkable has happened, Travis is applying for employment. Unfortunately I have decided to apply for two government institutions (national parks service with USAjobs and raytheon polar services with rayjobs) that have complex websites for applying. This combined with the fact that I don't have my own computer and access to my own files makes things difficult. Because of this I will be taking a bit of a hiatus from this blog, or at least detailed blogging in order to attempt to secure employment with the limited computer time I have.
Currently in Varanasi exploring the burning and bathing ghats after a week in Kaziranga national park on safari looking for elephants and rhinos. A complete mess and headached trying to get to varanasi, but I am here now and have numb fingers from the cold trying to type all these cover letters and such
Currently in Varanasi exploring the burning and bathing ghats after a week in Kaziranga national park on safari looking for elephants and rhinos. A complete mess and headached trying to get to varanasi, but I am here now and have numb fingers from the cold trying to type all these cover letters and such
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