THE TRIP's PREPARATION
I started the preparation of the trip with the intent of only taking one bag. This is not cosmically possible for a member of a large Indian community full of people who like to "smuggle" durable goods through the use of other innocent passenger's luggage. I ended up taking 4 bags. Although, true to form as parents do worry … my mom and dad decided to pack a HUGE mini pharmacy and utility shop for us to take. It was probably half the weight of my bag.
I figured I'd just try to sell all the stuff on the streets in India so I took it. (ahhem ... excuse me while I make it sound like I had a choice in taking all that stuff). But as you will read later ... this small pharmacy and utility shop become very handy on the trip and was actually used more by Srin and Ramesh than myself. Thanks Mom and Dad!
So to the trip. This is an adventure among 3 friends: Srin, Ramesh, and I. We all attended GT together. Srin and Ramesh both earned their PhD's from Tech and after graduation, Srin who is from Michigan moved to DC to work with the FDA and Ramesh who is from India moved to Bombay to become a professor at the Indian Institute of Technology. I currently still live in Atlanta and recently started my PhD.
Ramesh is now getting married. So this trip was planned to experience a bit of India before attending the wedding as a way of celebrating Ramesh and our friendship. The plan is to travel for 2 weeks across Northern India including a trip to the foothills of the Himalayas.
Although being from the states, I go to India quite frequently as I still have lots of family there. From a very young age, my parents took us fairly frequently and so I had been visiting India probably averaging every 3 years or so. But every time I've gone ... I've only gone to where my family lives in Gujarat (Navsari area). I've actually never traveled around and this is going to be my first time traveling around in the motherland.
ARRIVAL
One of the highlights of the trip is supposed to be a trip to Sikkim (foothills of the Himalayas). It is a special protected area so I need a special permit to go there. I am supposed to be able to get the permit from the Bombay airport. So, upon arrival and before I exited the airport I acquired it at some tourist counter inside. Upon exiting the airport (no re-entry), I was reading the permit I just paid 300 rupees for. It was a liquor license instead of the Sikkim entry permit I needed! I was ripped off within the first two hours in India! Go figure.
Ramesh (getting married) had come to pick me up. Prior to my arrival, we had never actually discussed that I will be bringing 4 bags (of smuggled goods) so he was not prepared and didn't have a car waiting for us. Oh well ... there are plenty of taxis around ... its Bombay! There were like 500 taxis around the airport. We went to the first taxi and they say no, we go to the second taxi and they say no, the third ... no. It turned out they only take people who have prepaid permits from the taxi stand INSIDE the airport. No one would give us a ride!
So imagine two guys running around the streets near the airport in Bombay with my 4 bags and newly granted liquor license in the drenched in sweat due to the summer humidity looking for a taxi. We eventually found a rickshaw driver who would take us thanks to some expert negotiating by Ramesh. If he wasn't going to take us, I had planned on bribing someone with my unwanted liquor license!
We were so excited to finally grab a taxi that we failed to realize that we now have a task of fitting 4 large luggage bags with 2 people in the back of a tiny 3 wheel rickshaw. It took us forever to find the taxi and did not want to let it go sooooo .... my definition of "stuffed" was redefined!
So to recap, within the first 2 hours of landing in Bombay ... I was ripped off, was almost part of a bribery, and was stuffed like a sardine. Any type of laziness can be cured in the streets of India!
Ramesh and his brother are great cooks! After all that, the food at Ramesh's place was all worth it!!
So the journey begins!
June 4th-5th, 2009 -- A Time to reflect BEFORE the Adventure.
Srin does not get in to Bombay until the 6th and I came early for one purpose, so that I can visit and stay at an Ashram. Its a place I've known since childhood and in all of our family trips to India growing up, we've always visited and stayed there. I’ve known the people in the Ashram from childhood. They are basically family and it's a home for me. It's the most peaceful place I know and will always be for me.
So I went there first and came back to Bombay on the 6th right before Srin flew in to begin the adventure.
So I went there first and came back to Bombay on the 6th right before Srin flew in to begin the adventure.
June 6th, 2009 -- The Journey Begins... (Srin)
This journey started with me already half-baked from the Hockey North America (HNA) finals in Toronto (3rd place, not too shabby for a rag tag bunch of guys). It didn't quite hit me that I was headed to India until I stepped onto the plane headed for Bombay.... the attitude and intense aroma (curry and BO mixture) of the passengers (mostly Patels, I'm sure :) were purely Indian. If that didn't do it, the heat/humdity and utter chaos outside the Bombay (sorry I should call it Mumbai now) airport drives the point home quickly.
In the chaos, I somehow found Ramesh and Po and we headed back to Ramu's place on the IIT campus. He lives in a fairly small 1 bedroom with his younger bro Satyendra (aka Bhollu). The night ended well b/c I was able to get some of Ramesh's famous chole.
Let the adventure begin (chalo chaloooo!)
In the chaos, I somehow found Ramesh and Po and we headed back to Ramu's place on the IIT campus. He lives in a fairly small 1 bedroom with his younger bro Satyendra (aka Bhollu). The night ended well b/c I was able to get some of Ramesh's famous chole.
Let the adventure begin (chalo chaloooo!)
June 7th, 2009 -- Bombay is Cool .... actually HOT!
Ramesh is now a professor at ITT Bombay which is also where he lives. The campus is located in the Powai district of Bombay. It's pretty isolated from the rest of the cities noise and pollution and pretty nice. The first morning, even before taking a shower, we all went for a walk up a huge hill behind the campus (which apparently has no name) and saw a wonderful view of the city. Took panoramic pictures of the view.
We wasted no time and this very first day went down to the bay area. Keep in mind that we are in India during the summer in one of the hottest summers to record. We first went near the Taj Hotel where the part of the November 2008 Bombay shootings occurred. We ate at the famous Leopold Café. It is a cafe known for tourists to visit, hence why it was also targeted during the shootings. The walls and frames stilled showed the bullet holes! I can't help to think that it was an Indian business decision to keep the holes … it will attract more tourists! Predominately a white crowd at the café.
We decided to take a boat onto the bay to go to a small island in the bay called Elephanta Island. The boarding of the boat was guarded and watched by the “911 Security Squad” lol. Not kidding … just reading what the uniforms said! But, they serve a very important function … securing the loading dock and boats in one of the busiest international trading ports of India so we took it seriously when we approached the dock. The "911 Security Squad" told us to stand in line to enter the boat. They were very serious and professional. Then out out of the blue they proceeded to sell everyone in the line bags of chips and snacks! Indian enterprise at its best! So the "911 Security Squad" runs an emergency snack service!
So finally on the boat and the bay is great! It busy with boats from all over the world! There was a sign on the boat … “Photograhi is not allowed by order of the Indian Navy”. I know how to spell Photography … I’m just spelling it how it was spelled on the boat. I took a picture of the sign … ironic? No … everyone was taking pictures and no one seemed to care. Could be just my opinion … but I don’t think the “911 Security Squad” was going to stop anybody from taking pictures ... they’ll probably start selling disposable cameras soon.
The island we went to housed ancient caves called The Elephanta Caves where carvings of many gods was done in the 4th - 6th century! It is one of 60 or so Unisco's National Heritage sites of the world! Being over 2000 years old … one of the oldest artifacts I have ever seen live and up close! Although the it seems the identity of the original builders is still up for debate, the estimated time of building crosses over the time the Gupta Empire ruled all over India (The Golden Ages of India). Was an amazing site!
LEACH or BE LEACHED
We all know about Indian driving … it has no rules nor guidelines to follow. Drive anywhere there is open space is the principle. Well … that also seems to apply to boats! As observed on our way back to the bay, these boats literally fight for rights to dock. There is no concept of waiting in line to dock. Every boat for itself. In fact, when one wins … other boats “leach” off the one who just won “docking rights”. The crew on the “runner up” boat jumps onto the “winning boat”, tie them together (all the while fighting off the crew of the winning boat). Then all the people from the second boat spills over to the docked boat to quickly empty their boat quickly. It was much like pirates taking control of a ship! Not only that but if you looked further back … there is a “second runner up” leaching off the “first runner up” and a "third runner up" leaching off the "second runner up" and so on. It's an ego trip and everyone wins! It's an interesting phenomena that we observed and we had plenty of time to do so … it took 30 MINUTES of all this rambling and fighting of boats for even the first boat to win the docking rights!
Our driver was not aggressive enough to be the winner … we got pushed back 3 times. We got into it and started rooting for our driver! Wasn't our fault ... our boat had to slow down as one of the other boats leached onto us and unloaded its passengers onto our boat and left even before we were able to dock so we were carrying double the people! But was kinda exciting little game ... we sure had a lot of "facetime" with a lot of people we didn't know on our crowded boat!
We finally got off and ended the day exhausted from the heat. But what a way to go!
We wasted no time and this very first day went down to the bay area. Keep in mind that we are in India during the summer in one of the hottest summers to record. We first went near the Taj Hotel where the part of the November 2008 Bombay shootings occurred. We ate at the famous Leopold Café. It is a cafe known for tourists to visit, hence why it was also targeted during the shootings. The walls and frames stilled showed the bullet holes! I can't help to think that it was an Indian business decision to keep the holes … it will attract more tourists! Predominately a white crowd at the café.
We decided to take a boat onto the bay to go to a small island in the bay called Elephanta Island. The boarding of the boat was guarded and watched by the “911 Security Squad” lol. Not kidding … just reading what the uniforms said! But, they serve a very important function … securing the loading dock and boats in one of the busiest international trading ports of India so we took it seriously when we approached the dock. The "911 Security Squad" told us to stand in line to enter the boat. They were very serious and professional. Then out out of the blue they proceeded to sell everyone in the line bags of chips and snacks! Indian enterprise at its best! So the "911 Security Squad" runs an emergency snack service!
So finally on the boat and the bay is great! It busy with boats from all over the world! There was a sign on the boat … “Photograhi is not allowed by order of the Indian Navy”. I know how to spell Photography … I’m just spelling it how it was spelled on the boat. I took a picture of the sign … ironic? No … everyone was taking pictures and no one seemed to care. Could be just my opinion … but I don’t think the “911 Security Squad” was going to stop anybody from taking pictures ... they’ll probably start selling disposable cameras soon.
The island we went to housed ancient caves called The Elephanta Caves where carvings of many gods was done in the 4th - 6th century! It is one of 60 or so Unisco's National Heritage sites of the world! Being over 2000 years old … one of the oldest artifacts I have ever seen live and up close! Although the it seems the identity of the original builders is still up for debate, the estimated time of building crosses over the time the Gupta Empire ruled all over India (The Golden Ages of India). Was an amazing site!
LEACH or BE LEACHED
We all know about Indian driving … it has no rules nor guidelines to follow. Drive anywhere there is open space is the principle. Well … that also seems to apply to boats! As observed on our way back to the bay, these boats literally fight for rights to dock. There is no concept of waiting in line to dock. Every boat for itself. In fact, when one wins … other boats “leach” off the one who just won “docking rights”. The crew on the “runner up” boat jumps onto the “winning boat”, tie them together (all the while fighting off the crew of the winning boat). Then all the people from the second boat spills over to the docked boat to quickly empty their boat quickly. It was much like pirates taking control of a ship! Not only that but if you looked further back … there is a “second runner up” leaching off the “first runner up” and a "third runner up" leaching off the "second runner up" and so on. It's an ego trip and everyone wins! It's an interesting phenomena that we observed and we had plenty of time to do so … it took 30 MINUTES of all this rambling and fighting of boats for even the first boat to win the docking rights!
Our driver was not aggressive enough to be the winner … we got pushed back 3 times. We got into it and started rooting for our driver! Wasn't our fault ... our boat had to slow down as one of the other boats leached onto us and unloaded its passengers onto our boat and left even before we were able to dock so we were carrying double the people! But was kinda exciting little game ... we sure had a lot of "facetime" with a lot of people we didn't know on our crowded boat!
We finally got off and ended the day exhausted from the heat. But what a way to go!
June 8th, 2009 -- Hiranandani --> Europe in Mumbai?
Po had been telling me about how in ATL he has been on this P90X training program to get in shape. He brought the DVDs so he could stay in shape on the trip. That morning we played them on his laptop and did a plyometric workout. I think Satyendra thought we were nuts (silly Americans). We only did half the workout (30 min.) but it hurt us pretty good... guess, we're not in as good shape as we thought... although it didn't help that it is ridicuoulsy humid and hot here.
We ate lunch at Rodas restaurant in Hiranandani. The buffet was fantastic... they had good indian style pasta (tons of garlic and spicy). The indian dishes were also excellent and the asian manchurian was crispy and good as well. Ate a ton of food.
Hiranandani is a very affulent area of Mumbai. If I didn't know any better than I would think I was in Europe. Beautiful buildings and large, clean streets. The women were also better looking!
Went to a supermarket @ night... they had tons of fruits, vegetables, rice, grain, etc. Interesting to see big supermarkets in India. Apparently Walmart is supposed to be coming to the subcontinent soon. How does everyone feel about that?
We ate lunch at Rodas restaurant in Hiranandani. The buffet was fantastic... they had good indian style pasta (tons of garlic and spicy). The indian dishes were also excellent and the asian manchurian was crispy and good as well. Ate a ton of food.
Hiranandani is a very affulent area of Mumbai. If I didn't know any better than I would think I was in Europe. Beautiful buildings and large, clean streets. The women were also better looking!
Went to a supermarket @ night... they had tons of fruits, vegetables, rice, grain, etc. Interesting to see big supermarkets in India. Apparently Walmart is supposed to be coming to the subcontinent soon. How does everyone feel about that?
June 8th, 2009 -- Hiranandani --> Europe in Mumbai? (Continued)
As Srin said, we went to the super market. The old habits of taking things from the US to India because it can’t be found there is no longer useful! They have everything and in fact probably have more than the US! So, since we were there, I decided to think opposite and try to find something we can’t get in the US instead. Looked all around and really could not found anything so decided to stick to some chocolate that said “India”, which I’m sure can’t be found in the US. Bought the biggest bar which was like a foot and a half long!
Stood in line to check out. Was a long line so a long wait … but was worth it because I found something I can’t get in the US! My turn to checkout came and I put my stuff on the belt to check out standing in front of the cashier … all of the sudden some old lady came from nowhere and walked right in front of me, casually put her stuff in front of my chocolate, looked me in the eye and proceeded to check out! It’s not like there was space in front of me either … there literally was no space, she actually rubbed up against me to take that spot! I suppose that is accepted. I was thinking to myself, must have been her family who cut in front of me 3 times on the plane for the restroom! This time I had had it with all this blatant rudeness and knocked her out with my elbow! Apparently, that is not accepted?! I was arrested and thrown into jail!
Okay, a slight exaggeration … I didn’t knock her out and just stood there like a punk and let her take the spot. Apparently, I looked that way too because the cashier gave me a look that I comprehended as “ooohhh …. you just got told boy!"
But at least I had gotten my Indian chocolate. I went to open it to share with everyone and Ramesh reads and says … “oh cool, you bought Italian chocolate!” I read the name again and this time I read it correctly as the brand “Indie”.
Great … none of the objectives were met
1) Get something Indian that can’t be found anywhere else… an X to that
2) Don’t be punked out by a 60 year old women … an X again!
I'm 0 for 2.
Stood in line to check out. Was a long line so a long wait … but was worth it because I found something I can’t get in the US! My turn to checkout came and I put my stuff on the belt to check out standing in front of the cashier … all of the sudden some old lady came from nowhere and walked right in front of me, casually put her stuff in front of my chocolate, looked me in the eye and proceeded to check out! It’s not like there was space in front of me either … there literally was no space, she actually rubbed up against me to take that spot! I suppose that is accepted. I was thinking to myself, must have been her family who cut in front of me 3 times on the plane for the restroom! This time I had had it with all this blatant rudeness and knocked her out with my elbow! Apparently, that is not accepted?! I was arrested and thrown into jail!
Okay, a slight exaggeration … I didn’t knock her out and just stood there like a punk and let her take the spot. Apparently, I looked that way too because the cashier gave me a look that I comprehended as “ooohhh …. you just got told boy!"
But at least I had gotten my Indian chocolate. I went to open it to share with everyone and Ramesh reads and says … “oh cool, you bought Italian chocolate!” I read the name again and this time I read it correctly as the brand “Indie”.
Great … none of the objectives were met
1) Get something Indian that can’t be found anywhere else… an X to that
2) Don’t be punked out by a 60 year old women … an X again!
I'm 0 for 2.
June 9th, 2009 -- Last Day in Mumbai (Presentations, Trains, and Night Life)
This was our last day in Bombay. It was a hectic day as we still had a lot to do. Srin and Ramesh had presentations on the campus that afternoon. Ramesh being a professor there had a talk at the conference on campus and Srin was invited by Ramesh as a guest to talk about his work. Both of these fools are PhDs. I have to say, I was quite impressed with the presentations. Both of them held up the questions rhetoric very well and had the elite crowd eating out of their hands. As Srin would say, they "Rocked it!" and as Ramesh would say they totally "kicked their butts!"
I offered up my expertise as a presenter at the conference to Ramesh but apparently my topics were too advanced for such a conference so we decided it best for me not to present. And we'll keep it at that ;)
We rushed off to our next adventure for our last night in Bombay before we head out to the Himalayas.
All three of us have been heavily involved with Asha for Education (charity) for many years. (www.ashanet.org) Ramesh being one of the original members in Atlanta, Srin being a former Coordinator in Atlanta, and I being the most recent Coordinator in Atlanta, we all had a goal of visiting an Asha project up close to see with our own eyes how the work for fundraising in the US makes a difference to the projects in India that we work for. So we had coordinated a site visit of one of the schools in Mumbai that Asha supports to talk to the director and assess how the school is doing.
We were running late and it was almost dark. We rode the Indian local trains to get to the project … at night! People climb anywhere and everywhere and lean outside of the train as if it’s the safest dangerous thing to do in the world. I can’t image how it is during rush hour.
[NOW TO THE ASHA PROJECT] ....
I offered up my expertise as a presenter at the conference to Ramesh but apparently my topics were too advanced for such a conference so we decided it best for me not to present. And we'll keep it at that ;)
We rushed off to our next adventure for our last night in Bombay before we head out to the Himalayas.
All three of us have been heavily involved with Asha for Education (charity) for many years. (www.ashanet.org) Ramesh being one of the original members in Atlanta, Srin being a former Coordinator in Atlanta, and I being the most recent Coordinator in Atlanta, we all had a goal of visiting an Asha project up close to see with our own eyes how the work for fundraising in the US makes a difference to the projects in India that we work for. So we had coordinated a site visit of one of the schools in Mumbai that Asha supports to talk to the director and assess how the school is doing.
We were running late and it was almost dark. We rode the Indian local trains to get to the project … at night! People climb anywhere and everywhere and lean outside of the train as if it’s the safest dangerous thing to do in the world. I can’t image how it is during rush hour.
[NOW TO THE ASHA PROJECT] ....
June 10th, 2009 -- To the Himalayas we go
After a short, but enlightening stay in Mumbai we woke up ~early to get going to the foothills of the Himalayas (Sikkim).
Below was our day O traveling
Mumbai @6am --> New Delhi (Go Air)
New Delhi --> Guwahati (Go Air)
Guwahati--> Bagdogra (Go Air)
Bagdogra --> Pelling @ 9 pm (via jeep)
View Larger Map
It was a long trip out to Sikkim, but the highlight, by far, was seeing Mt. Everest (and the Himalayan Mtns range) out the window of the plane. AMAZING! Imagine being in a plane @ an altitude of ~ 30,000 feet and look directly out the window and level with you is peak of Everest... gives you an idea of how impressive it is that people climb to the top.
Long car trips in India are always an adventure b/c the only traffic law in India is that the bigger vehicle has the right of way... other than that it's pretty much a free-for-all. This drive was especially troubling b/c we traveled up to Pelling on one lane roads carved into the side of the mountain. You put a lot of faith in your driver as any slight deviation to the right and down you go off a very steep cliff. Oh and did we mention that there were tons of mudslides in the region due to the monsoon rains.
We finally arrived in Pelling (1750m elevation) around 9pm and stayed at a backpacker's hotel called Garuda. We chose Pelling because it has spectacular views of Mt. Kanchenjunga, the 3rd highest peak in the world at 8500 meters (Everest is 8800m). Not as well known as Everest and K2 b/c you can't climb the peak (considered a holy mountain). Hopefully we get to see the peak tomorrow. Hotel owner told us best time to see it is 5:30am.
Below was our day O traveling
Mumbai @6am --> New Delhi (Go Air)
New Delhi --> Guwahati (Go Air)
Guwahati--> Bagdogra (Go Air)
Bagdogra --> Pelling @ 9 pm (via jeep)
View Larger Map
It was a long trip out to Sikkim, but the highlight, by far, was seeing Mt. Everest (and the Himalayan Mtns range) out the window of the plane. AMAZING! Imagine being in a plane @ an altitude of ~ 30,000 feet and look directly out the window and level with you is peak of Everest... gives you an idea of how impressive it is that people climb to the top.
Long car trips in India are always an adventure b/c the only traffic law in India is that the bigger vehicle has the right of way... other than that it's pretty much a free-for-all. This drive was especially troubling b/c we traveled up to Pelling on one lane roads carved into the side of the mountain. You put a lot of faith in your driver as any slight deviation to the right and down you go off a very steep cliff. Oh and did we mention that there were tons of mudslides in the region due to the monsoon rains.
We finally arrived in Pelling (1750m elevation) around 9pm and stayed at a backpacker's hotel called Garuda. We chose Pelling because it has spectacular views of Mt. Kanchenjunga, the 3rd highest peak in the world at 8500 meters (Everest is 8800m). Not as well known as Everest and K2 b/c you can't climb the peak (considered a holy mountain). Hopefully we get to see the peak tomorrow. Hotel owner told us best time to see it is 5:30am.
June 10th, 2009 -- To the Himalays we go (Po's perspective)
Cheap Airline but afforded a once in a lifetime view!
We woke up early to catch the flight. We are going to the state Sikkim, India. Sikkim is north of Calcutta. Its northern border touches Nepal and its eastern border touches China! I expect to see change in facial structure as we make our way there.
We took an airline named "Go Air" to fly there. A name that when you say it sounds like a corky cheer ... for breathing.
This airline was really cheap. First we get on and the seats don't lean back ... the leaning seats must have been the high class package ... which we apparently did not get. Leaning seats in this airline must only be in first class!
I remember a point when we were on the way ... everyone had settled in and all comfortable and some were taking naps. All of the sudden we here a sudden noise run throughout the cabin that woke everyone up! It turned out that someone had sneezed!!! That's right ... sneezed! The tubing and and insulation was so cheap in the plane that the noise of the sneeze echoed throughout the metal canteen they called Go Air! ;)
I'm just happy I never had to use the restroom in this flight. I would have been afraid that strong noisy flush in planes in this one would have sucked all the week structure and I would have been flushed out of the plane. Although, I was beginning to think ... it's a bad economy and gas is expensive so why carry excess weight to save money ... they probably released all the waste in mid air! People seem to unfortunately treat everything outside as if it were a bathroom anyways. I'm starting to pick up how these Go Air executives think!
It took us 6 HOURS to get to the final destination. The cheap airline actually stopped along the way to multiple cities to pick up more people ... much like a BUS stopping at a BUS STOP or a train at a train station! It just simply landed at cities along the way ... let people get on and took off again ... then landed at the next city in the path, let people get on and took off again! At the last stop ... it actually flew over the city we were supposed to land at to another on the other side (Guhwaty, Assam, India) to pick up people then flew back to the city we needed to land at! I'm just glad they didn't drop us off in the wrong city! :)
Furthermore ... for some unconceivable reason, our flight number changed at one of the stops! First off ... how the hell can a flight number change MID FLIGHT!?!? Well, it did so the at that stop, the ground crew actually came on board to check our boarding passes while we were on board. Thinking more about it ... I supposed we could have had a security breach in mid air. One of us could have been transferred mid flight who hitched a ride off a SEAGAL and taken a seat that he/she has not bought. ;) Just trying to convince myself.
So once the train conductor stamped all of our tickets .... I mean the ground crew checked our boarding passes, we were ready to take off. But we heard yelling behind us. There was a passenger and a male flight attendant yelling at each other contesting the seating arrangements. People were going along as if was normal ... but caught us by surprise! Well, folks ... the city we were stopped at was New Delhi. Apparently, New Delhi is like the New York of the states in terms of "in your face" direct communication. So this was normal ... they settled and we took off again.
So, in short Go Air was cheap! I wouldn't be surprised if they actually used regular gas to fly! Most airline manufacturers names have ring around them like "Boeing" or "McDonnell Douglas Delta" that gives you a sense of security of ... "ah ... that names sounds like they know what they are doing". After this silly ride with Go Air ... I would guess the manufacturers name was "Ramesh's Best Plains pvt ltd." ... notice planes is spelled wrong.
ONCE IN A LIFETIME VIEW
Although, this was the plane ... we are grateful because it did afford us a once in a lifetime view of peak of Mt. Everest from the plane! Amazing to see the world's tallest peak at eye level!
Once we landed in Bagodra, we had a 5 hour drive up into the mountains. That indian driving thing again was once again bothersome. I'm sure we can all imagine how crazy our driving is but this time place that on the 1 and a half lanes wide roads with two way traffic around the mountains with barely any barriers to the cliff ... in fact, sometimes, just raw cliffs waiting for the drivers to make a slight error. It was the season for landslides ... in fact, we probably had just missed a few as the mud was fresh and wet.
Shakespere
Srin and Ramesh were so rattled that they had to force themselves to sleep so they wouldn't worry about it. I on the other hand I, a silent warrior of the night cannot sleep when rattled ... so there I was left alone to bear the suspense all alone in the mountains ... left to fight the fear by thy self. The nightfall was amongst us ... as the "crack of doom" was approaching. Shall I admit a "farewell to all my greatness"? ..... NOPE!! ..... cus .... "I'm a survivor, I'm not gonna give up, I'm not gon' stop, I'm gonna work harder!" ~Destiny's Child.
Okay ... enough of that. The ride was definitely an adventure. At one spot at as we made our way up and it was almost dark ... traffic had backed up for about 45 minutes because a land slide had occurred just ahead. All the people got out of there jeeps and we interacted with some folks. One of the drivers for the jeep walked up to me and started talking ... I knew English and Gujarati .... he knew neither but knew more languages (Nepali, Hindi, Bengali). But we still found some way to laugh ... it's interesting how people can communicate without words.
As we saw all the traffic started to move forward ... I yelled out "Chaloo, Chalooooo"!! Everyone started to head for their jeeps and we went on our way. My outburst of "Chaloo, Chalooooo" was apparently hilarious to all the people ... especially Srin and Ramesh and so with that ... the phrase of the trip became ... "Chaloo, Chaloooo"! Hence the title of this blog. I started it but Srin and Ramesh really made it the theme of the trip for two reasons:
1) Ramesh - he lives in india and being his wedding, he basically planned the travel arrangements for the trip. But it was planned in such a way that we had no moment of rest the entire two weeks we spent with each other .... hence "Chaloo, Chaloooo!"
2) Srin - after my "howling" of Chalo Chalooo ... for the rest of the trip, he probably averaged only 5 minutes between his "renditions" of my yelling "Chalo Chalooo"!
Good times ....
We woke up early to catch the flight. We are going to the state Sikkim, India. Sikkim is north of Calcutta. Its northern border touches Nepal and its eastern border touches China! I expect to see change in facial structure as we make our way there.
We took an airline named "Go Air" to fly there. A name that when you say it sounds like a corky cheer ... for breathing.
This airline was really cheap. First we get on and the seats don't lean back ... the leaning seats must have been the high class package ... which we apparently did not get. Leaning seats in this airline must only be in first class!
I remember a point when we were on the way ... everyone had settled in and all comfortable and some were taking naps. All of the sudden we here a sudden noise run throughout the cabin that woke everyone up! It turned out that someone had sneezed!!! That's right ... sneezed! The tubing and and insulation was so cheap in the plane that the noise of the sneeze echoed throughout the metal canteen they called Go Air! ;)
I'm just happy I never had to use the restroom in this flight. I would have been afraid that strong noisy flush in planes in this one would have sucked all the week structure and I would have been flushed out of the plane. Although, I was beginning to think ... it's a bad economy and gas is expensive so why carry excess weight to save money ... they probably released all the waste in mid air! People seem to unfortunately treat everything outside as if it were a bathroom anyways. I'm starting to pick up how these Go Air executives think!
It took us 6 HOURS to get to the final destination. The cheap airline actually stopped along the way to multiple cities to pick up more people ... much like a BUS stopping at a BUS STOP or a train at a train station! It just simply landed at cities along the way ... let people get on and took off again ... then landed at the next city in the path, let people get on and took off again! At the last stop ... it actually flew over the city we were supposed to land at to another on the other side (Guhwaty, Assam, India) to pick up people then flew back to the city we needed to land at! I'm just glad they didn't drop us off in the wrong city! :)
Furthermore ... for some unconceivable reason, our flight number changed at one of the stops! First off ... how the hell can a flight number change MID FLIGHT!?!? Well, it did so the at that stop, the ground crew actually came on board to check our boarding passes while we were on board. Thinking more about it ... I supposed we could have had a security breach in mid air. One of us could have been transferred mid flight who hitched a ride off a SEAGAL and taken a seat that he/she has not bought. ;) Just trying to convince myself.
So once the train conductor stamped all of our tickets .... I mean the ground crew checked our boarding passes, we were ready to take off. But we heard yelling behind us. There was a passenger and a male flight attendant yelling at each other contesting the seating arrangements. People were going along as if was normal ... but caught us by surprise! Well, folks ... the city we were stopped at was New Delhi. Apparently, New Delhi is like the New York of the states in terms of "in your face" direct communication. So this was normal ... they settled and we took off again.
So, in short Go Air was cheap! I wouldn't be surprised if they actually used regular gas to fly! Most airline manufacturers names have ring around them like "Boeing" or "McDonnell Douglas Delta" that gives you a sense of security of ... "ah ... that names sounds like they know what they are doing". After this silly ride with Go Air ... I would guess the manufacturers name was "Ramesh's Best Plains pvt ltd." ... notice planes is spelled wrong.
ONCE IN A LIFETIME VIEW
Although, this was the plane ... we are grateful because it did afford us a once in a lifetime view of peak of Mt. Everest from the plane! Amazing to see the world's tallest peak at eye level!
Once we landed in Bagodra, we had a 5 hour drive up into the mountains. That indian driving thing again was once again bothersome. I'm sure we can all imagine how crazy our driving is but this time place that on the 1 and a half lanes wide roads with two way traffic around the mountains with barely any barriers to the cliff ... in fact, sometimes, just raw cliffs waiting for the drivers to make a slight error. It was the season for landslides ... in fact, we probably had just missed a few as the mud was fresh and wet.
Shakespere
Srin and Ramesh were so rattled that they had to force themselves to sleep so they wouldn't worry about it. I on the other hand I, a silent warrior of the night cannot sleep when rattled ... so there I was left alone to bear the suspense all alone in the mountains ... left to fight the fear by thy self. The nightfall was amongst us ... as the "crack of doom" was approaching. Shall I admit a "farewell to all my greatness"? ..... NOPE!! ..... cus .... "I'm a survivor, I'm not gonna give up, I'm not gon' stop, I'm gonna work harder!" ~Destiny's Child.
Okay ... enough of that. The ride was definitely an adventure. At one spot at as we made our way up and it was almost dark ... traffic had backed up for about 45 minutes because a land slide had occurred just ahead. All the people got out of there jeeps and we interacted with some folks. One of the drivers for the jeep walked up to me and started talking ... I knew English and Gujarati .... he knew neither but knew more languages (Nepali, Hindi, Bengali). But we still found some way to laugh ... it's interesting how people can communicate without words.
As we saw all the traffic started to move forward ... I yelled out "Chaloo, Chalooooo"!! Everyone started to head for their jeeps and we went on our way. My outburst of "Chaloo, Chalooooo" was apparently hilarious to all the people ... especially Srin and Ramesh and so with that ... the phrase of the trip became ... "Chaloo, Chaloooo"! Hence the title of this blog. I started it but Srin and Ramesh really made it the theme of the trip for two reasons:
1) Ramesh - he lives in india and being his wedding, he basically planned the travel arrangements for the trip. But it was planned in such a way that we had no moment of rest the entire two weeks we spent with each other .... hence "Chaloo, Chaloooo!"
2) Srin - after my "howling" of Chalo Chalooo ... for the rest of the trip, he probably averaged only 5 minutes between his "renditions" of my yelling "Chalo Chalooo"!
Good times ....
June 11th, 2009 -- WOW ... the Himalayas.
Our first day near the Himalayas. We woke up early to try to catch a view of Kanchenjunga ... but it was fully covered with clouds. This is apparently the season when it is hard to catch the mountain because of the clouds and rain. It's amazing how something that big can totally disappear as if it does not exist by being covered with something as simple and light as clouds. You can't even tell that the 3rd highest mountain in the world is hiding behind it!
It is very peaceful around here. Everyone is very kind. The temperature is cool in the morning and the views are unmatched by anything I've ever seen. Sights of mountainous hills of vegetation and greenery with fog covering them. Actually ... it's not fog, we are so high up that it's actually clouds! We are surrounded by these "hills" but anywhere else in the world they probably would be considered mountains since they are so huge. This is the Himalayas so they are comparatively labeled hills since the mountains are much larger.
Imagine standing out in the morning in the brisk cool breeze breathing pure fresh air you won't find anywhere else surrounded by sights of HUGE green hills you've never seen before listening to the sounds of nature as you hear water falling somewhere in the distance but don't know where it is. It's a feeling like you are close to the heavens. From up here ... close enough to the "top of the world" ... you actually see how grand the world is in sight and how simple and peaceful it is in soul. Need to get-a-way? Forget the Snickers ... go to the Himalayas!
I wish I had the articulateness of a poet to justifiably express its splendor to you so you can too feel you visited the Himalayas. No matter how many pictures and videos you see of it ... it does not do it justice in the least. It can only be experienced by visiting, and if you have a chance to do so ... you will be happy you did. Guaranteed!
There are a lot of ancient Buddhist monasteries around here and we went to visit many of them. Many of the monasteries have kids living there in the traditional red and yellowish/orange cloths. Everything seems to have meaning ... and the people around are happy to explain it. What a place to meditate!
There was on monastery so high up and the roads were so bad that the car we were in could not make it all the way up so we had to walk up it. It was extremely high but clouds covered everything in sight. If you took one wrong step ... you probably would fall thousands of feet. You don't even know a cliff exists since the clouds cover everything!
That evening at the backpackers hotel, we met some other interesting backpackers. It was basically a collection of 3 dudes who had randomly met each other at various points of their travels. I would call them "wanderers". One was from the UK, another from Canada, and the last from Seattle. [SRIN ... I can't remember all the name. ] The guy from UK had been traveling ... I man wandering around for about 4 months, the guys from Seattle for about 3 months, and the guy from Canada for over a year. The dudes from Seattle and the UK had met each other in Calcutta about 3 weeks ago and they started traveling together. The guy from Canada had just met the other two on that day and they "decided" to just start traveling together. I say "decided" with the quotes because for them I don't think it's a matter of discussion to come to a decision to wander together ... it's more of like:
"Duuuuude ... whats up?" ~#1 says to #2
"I don't know you ... but I think I'm going this way" ~#2 says to #1
"Okay lets go that way" ~#1 says to #2
"Nice to meet you" ~#2 says to #1
"Let's smoke something on the way" ~#1 replies to #2
We had some food at the restaurant. The food is very simple and pretty plain. ... [SRIN: I don't know how to explain the food]. Hopefully we can catch Kanchenjunga in the morning.
It is very peaceful around here. Everyone is very kind. The temperature is cool in the morning and the views are unmatched by anything I've ever seen. Sights of mountainous hills of vegetation and greenery with fog covering them. Actually ... it's not fog, we are so high up that it's actually clouds! We are surrounded by these "hills" but anywhere else in the world they probably would be considered mountains since they are so huge. This is the Himalayas so they are comparatively labeled hills since the mountains are much larger.
Imagine standing out in the morning in the brisk cool breeze breathing pure fresh air you won't find anywhere else surrounded by sights of HUGE green hills you've never seen before listening to the sounds of nature as you hear water falling somewhere in the distance but don't know where it is. It's a feeling like you are close to the heavens. From up here ... close enough to the "top of the world" ... you actually see how grand the world is in sight and how simple and peaceful it is in soul. Need to get-a-way? Forget the Snickers ... go to the Himalayas!
I wish I had the articulateness of a poet to justifiably express its splendor to you so you can too feel you visited the Himalayas. No matter how many pictures and videos you see of it ... it does not do it justice in the least. It can only be experienced by visiting, and if you have a chance to do so ... you will be happy you did. Guaranteed!
There are a lot of ancient Buddhist monasteries around here and we went to visit many of them. Many of the monasteries have kids living there in the traditional red and yellowish/orange cloths. Everything seems to have meaning ... and the people around are happy to explain it. What a place to meditate!
There was on monastery so high up and the roads were so bad that the car we were in could not make it all the way up so we had to walk up it. It was extremely high but clouds covered everything in sight. If you took one wrong step ... you probably would fall thousands of feet. You don't even know a cliff exists since the clouds cover everything!
That evening at the backpackers hotel, we met some other interesting backpackers. It was basically a collection of 3 dudes who had randomly met each other at various points of their travels. I would call them "wanderers". One was from the UK, another from Canada, and the last from Seattle. [SRIN ... I can't remember all the name. ] The guy from UK had been traveling ... I man wandering around for about 4 months, the guys from Seattle for about 3 months, and the guy from Canada for over a year. The dudes from Seattle and the UK had met each other in Calcutta about 3 weeks ago and they started traveling together. The guy from Canada had just met the other two on that day and they "decided" to just start traveling together. I say "decided" with the quotes because for them I don't think it's a matter of discussion to come to a decision to wander together ... it's more of like:
"Duuuuude ... whats up?" ~#1 says to #2
"I don't know you ... but I think I'm going this way" ~#2 says to #1
"Okay lets go that way" ~#1 says to #2
"Nice to meet you" ~#2 says to #1
"Let's smoke something on the way" ~#1 replies to #2
We had some food at the restaurant. The food is very simple and pretty plain. ... [SRIN: I don't know how to explain the food]. Hopefully we can catch Kanchenjunga in the morning.
June 12th, 2009 -- Pelling to Yuksom Hike
The morning started out slightly chilly and cloudy --> no view of Kanchenjunga today
Our hiking guide, Dawa Bhutiya, met us in the morning @ Garuda. He is a fairly quiet, but polite 25 year old Tibetian. It took him some time to warm up to us, but by the end of the night, he was telling us about his girlfriend and how he wanted to marry her even though she wasn't from the same caste. Sounds like a plot from a Bollywood movie.
The first leg of this 2 day hike was a 25 km trek from Pelling to Yuksom. The trail was a combination of dirt trails and paved roads. We hiked a steep downhill from Pelling towards the Loudond River @ the bottom of the mountains. The path down had slippery terrain due to rain from the night before. Ramu, Po, and I fell several times on the way down. On the descent, we went through farms cut into the mountains, called step farms, that grew mainly corn, but also had rice, and banana trees. The landscape in front of us was so green.. not sure pictures could do justice to the natural beauty of the Himalayas.
We hiked down to the river across a pedestrian bridge and back up to a road. The next 10 km was on paved road... saw some great waterfalls. It was about lunchtime and Dawa stopped at a house where he asked the family to cook us some lunch. They made some asian noodles with tomatoes and onions... refreshing to see that on short notice, strangers will cook a meal for us. From the rooftop of this house you could see Pelling (our starting point) in the distance up on the hill top, impressive to see how far we hiked.
We descended down to the Rathung River... another picturesque landscape. The last 8 km was a strenuous uphill. In fact, the terrain was so steep that you could look over and it went straight down for a far as you could see. After 7 hours we ended up in Yuksom, which is popular stop for mountain climbers as it is the starting point for the Goecha La trek which gives you up close views of Kanchenjunga.
We went to the Yak restaurant for dinner. The food was terrible... very bland local food. Po and I had local Sikkimese beer. It was made from red fermented millet grain. They serve you this millet in a bambo wood mug with hot water in a separate glass that you pour into the millet (see below). It tastes more like diluted wine than beer. It was decent, but not something that I would want to have again.
At the restaurant we met two travelers from Singapore. Nikhil was of Indian decent and the other was a girl of Chinese decent. They had planned to trek to Goecha-La, but she ended up with altitude sickness and they had to come down early. Nice people. Both were in med school and traveled through Rajasthan before coming to Yuksom.
There is a curfew at 8pm each night to prevent drunks from wandering the streets and causing a ruckus. Apparently there is a big drinking problem with the males in the Yuksom community.
Next stop --> Tashiding
Our hiking guide, Dawa Bhutiya, met us in the morning @ Garuda. He is a fairly quiet, but polite 25 year old Tibetian. It took him some time to warm up to us, but by the end of the night, he was telling us about his girlfriend and how he wanted to marry her even though she wasn't from the same caste. Sounds like a plot from a Bollywood movie.
The first leg of this 2 day hike was a 25 km trek from Pelling to Yuksom. The trail was a combination of dirt trails and paved roads. We hiked a steep downhill from Pelling towards the Loudond River @ the bottom of the mountains. The path down had slippery terrain due to rain from the night before. Ramu, Po, and I fell several times on the way down. On the descent, we went through farms cut into the mountains, called step farms, that grew mainly corn, but also had rice, and banana trees. The landscape in front of us was so green.. not sure pictures could do justice to the natural beauty of the Himalayas.
We hiked down to the river across a pedestrian bridge and back up to a road. The next 10 km was on paved road... saw some great waterfalls. It was about lunchtime and Dawa stopped at a house where he asked the family to cook us some lunch. They made some asian noodles with tomatoes and onions... refreshing to see that on short notice, strangers will cook a meal for us. From the rooftop of this house you could see Pelling (our starting point) in the distance up on the hill top, impressive to see how far we hiked.
We descended down to the Rathung River... another picturesque landscape. The last 8 km was a strenuous uphill. In fact, the terrain was so steep that you could look over and it went straight down for a far as you could see. After 7 hours we ended up in Yuksom, which is popular stop for mountain climbers as it is the starting point for the Goecha La trek which gives you up close views of Kanchenjunga.
We went to the Yak restaurant for dinner. The food was terrible... very bland local food. Po and I had local Sikkimese beer. It was made from red fermented millet grain. They serve you this millet in a bambo wood mug with hot water in a separate glass that you pour into the millet (see below). It tastes more like diluted wine than beer. It was decent, but not something that I would want to have again.
At the restaurant we met two travelers from Singapore. Nikhil was of Indian decent and the other was a girl of Chinese decent. They had planned to trek to Goecha-La, but she ended up with altitude sickness and they had to come down early. Nice people. Both were in med school and traveled through Rajasthan before coming to Yuksom.
There is a curfew at 8pm each night to prevent drunks from wandering the streets and causing a ruckus. Apparently there is a big drinking problem with the males in the Yuksom community.
Next stop --> Tashiding
June 14th, 2009 -- Riding the Rails... Indian Style
Last morning in Pelling and for 5 brief minutes, the clouds cleared up and we saw the peak of Kanchenjunga. Breathtaking! It was like he was throwing us a bone for hiding from us the previous 3 mornings.
We hired a driver to take us to Siliguri for our overnight train trip to Patna. The 4'10" driver was CRAZY. Dude had a lead foot and was all about playing chicken with bigger trucks. To add to the fun, the Jeep's suspension was shot so you could feel all the bumps in the road. Was very stressful comin' down the mountain. About halfway through the trip he got into an argument with Ramu about stopping by his uncle's house in Siliguri before dropping us at the train station. the driver was basically a punk, so it was karma that his jeep broke down ~2 km from Ramu's uncle's house. His uncle picked us up from the roadside mechanic and took us back and fed us at his place.
The train trip was quite the experience for Po and in some respects me as well. We were on the overnight train to Patna that left @ 3:30pm in an AC 3 tier car. The smells in and around the bathroom (in between train cars) were awful. We would get a whiff every time someone opened the door for more than 10 sec.
There were 6 people in our berth with 2 others on the side. There was a couple that seemed recently married. The women was NAS-T. After dinner, she wiped her hands and mouth on the window curtain to clean up. On top of that, everytime she was on her cell phone she would shout... very annoying.
Across from us was a mom and her young daughter. She was very interested in us Americans and our MP3 players, journals, conversations, etc. I didn't see it, but Po told me later that her kid urinated on the seat while she was asleep. The mom tried to wipe it up, but she got off @ her stop shortly after the incident. I felt bad for the Sahara TV reporter who took her seat for the overnight portion of the train ride.
Po and I didn't eat much on the train cause we were worried about eating some bad train food and getting sick. I really wasn't that hungry due to the transient aroma of urine and the hygiene of our fellow travelers.
Ramesh and I did poke our heads outside the train and got some great views of the UP and Bihar countryside as the sun set. Reminded me of the train scene in Slumdog Millionaire.
At one of the train stops, workers came onto the train to wash out the bathrooms. The hose they were using clean the toilets apparently got loose and water leaked onto the floor of our cabin and onto my shoes and Ramu's bag. I really hope the water was clean, but have no idea.
Po's mom gave him this sweet bad of essentials (bandages, anti-diarreha, purel, Airbone, Tylenol, etc.) for the trip. One key item was a bottle of Lysol disinfectant. Po used it all over his bed sheets, pillows, etc. I admit I used it as well as was thankful that Moms Patel packed it for us.
I was on the top bunk across from Po (on the top bunk as well). As we were falling asleep, the married man stated choking on water, spit it out on the floor/Ramu's shoes, then spit on the floor and promptly went to sleep. I looked over at Po and he was just shaking his head in a look of resigned disgust... I think he wanted the train ride to finish as quickly as possible.
Riding the rails in India is an adventure in itself.
The train trip was quite the experience for Po and in some respects me as well. We were on the overnight train to Patna that left @ 3:30pm in an AC 3 tier car. The smells in and around the bathroom (in between train cars) were awful. We would get a whiff every time someone opened the door for more than 10 sec.
There were 6 people in our berth with 2 others on the side. There was a couple that seemed recently married. The women was NAS-T. After dinner, she wiped her hands and mouth on the window curtain to clean up. On top of that, everytime she was on her cell phone she would shout... very annoying.
Across from us was a mom and her young daughter. She was very interested in us Americans and our MP3 players, journals, conversations, etc. I didn't see it, but Po told me later that her kid urinated on the seat while she was asleep. The mom tried to wipe it up, but she got off @ her stop shortly after the incident. I felt bad for the Sahara TV reporter who took her seat for the overnight portion of the train ride.
Po and I didn't eat much on the train cause we were worried about eating some bad train food and getting sick. I really wasn't that hungry due to the transient aroma of urine and the hygiene of our fellow travelers.
Ramesh and I did poke our heads outside the train and got some great views of the UP and Bihar countryside as the sun set. Reminded me of the train scene in Slumdog Millionaire.
At one of the train stops, workers came onto the train to wash out the bathrooms. The hose they were using clean the toilets apparently got loose and water leaked onto the floor of our cabin and onto my shoes and Ramu's bag. I really hope the water was clean, but have no idea.
Po's mom gave him this sweet bad of essentials (bandages, anti-diarreha, purel, Airbone, Tylenol, etc.) for the trip. One key item was a bottle of Lysol disinfectant. Po used it all over his bed sheets, pillows, etc. I admit I used it as well as was thankful that Moms Patel packed it for us.
I was on the top bunk across from Po (on the top bunk as well). As we were falling asleep, the married man stated choking on water, spit it out on the floor/Ramu's shoes, then spit on the floor and promptly went to sleep. I looked over at Po and he was just shaking his head in a look of resigned disgust... I think he wanted the train ride to finish as quickly as possible.
Riding the rails in India is an adventure in itself.
June 16th, 2009 -- Pre-Wedding Festivities
Today was pretty laid back... Po and I had all our clothes washed (out of draws) and ironed for 300 Rs. ($6). I went over to Ramu's parent's place. Met a bunch of his family including his mom (dad was out somewhere). His mom and many of his family members did not speak English well, and since I don't speak Hindi, it was somewhat difficult to have any meaningful conversations.
The entire road outside his place was being setup for the night's festivities, which included a Sathyanarayan puja. The house + yard was decorated with plenty of festive red and green lights. Workers were busy chopping bushels of potatoes, onions, etc. getting prepared for the night's dinner.
The ceremonies began ~9pm in his backyard. Even at night it was freakin hot. During the puja, I was sweating profusely... no fans near us to make it bearable. We just couldn't escape the heat.
Po and I were treated really well by his family. We met more of his cousins like Tushar, Sonnu, Sachin, and others who I can't remember their names. Mantu, Tushar, and Sonnu were the most helpful for Po and I to navigate Obra.
After the puja, there was a huge buffet dinner set up in a tent on the street outside Ramu' house. The food was decent, but it was the same food as we had eaten for lunch and the previous dinner at the guest house Po and I were staying at. They did, however, have liti and choka which was very good. I only had it once before with Ramesh making it in ATL at 7216.
Around 11pm, the party was dying down, so Namrata (old family friend of Ramesh... their fathers went to school together), Ramu and I walked back to the guest house. My sore throat is getting worse which means a cold is coming on soon... Not cool since the wedding is tomorrow.
The entire road outside his place was being setup for the night's festivities, which included a Sathyanarayan puja. The house + yard was decorated with plenty of festive red and green lights. Workers were busy chopping bushels of potatoes, onions, etc. getting prepared for the night's dinner.
The ceremonies began ~9pm in his backyard. Even at night it was freakin hot. During the puja, I was sweating profusely... no fans near us to make it bearable. We just couldn't escape the heat.
Po and I were treated really well by his family. We met more of his cousins like Tushar, Sonnu, Sachin, and others who I can't remember their names. Mantu, Tushar, and Sonnu were the most helpful for Po and I to navigate Obra.
After the puja, there was a huge buffet dinner set up in a tent on the street outside Ramu' house. The food was decent, but it was the same food as we had eaten for lunch and the previous dinner at the guest house Po and I were staying at. They did, however, have liti and choka which was very good. I only had it once before with Ramesh making it in ATL at 7216.
Around 11pm, the party was dying down, so Namrata (old family friend of Ramesh... their fathers went to school together), Ramu and I walked back to the guest house. My sore throat is getting worse which means a cold is coming on soon... Not cool since the wedding is tomorrow.
June 18th, 2009 -- Sickness
Well it was bound to happen... I woke up around 9am with congestion and a slight fever. The traveling, heat, and bacteria finally caught up with me. It was good that it hit me today cause there were no set plans for the day. Still hasn't rained yet.... stupid global warming.
Again, I have to thank Po's mom for the care package... I used Theraflu, Airborne, Gatorade, thermometer, cough drops to get rid of my cold. My fever went up to 101 by the late afternoon. Mostly slept and watched some crappy reality show called "Splitsvilla" on MTV India. If you can believe it, MTV is worst in India than in the States. Didn't have much of a choice since there were only 2 channels in English.
Fever finally broke @ 9pm that night. We are leaving for the holy city of Varanasi tomorrow.
Again, I have to thank Po's mom for the care package... I used Theraflu, Airborne, Gatorade, thermometer, cough drops to get rid of my cold. My fever went up to 101 by the late afternoon. Mostly slept and watched some crappy reality show called "Splitsvilla" on MTV India. If you can believe it, MTV is worst in India than in the States. Didn't have much of a choice since there were only 2 channels in English.
Fever finally broke @ 9pm that night. We are leaving for the holy city of Varanasi tomorrow.
June 20th, 2009 -- A journey down Ganga
We woke up early to get a boat ride on the Ganges. As we got to the banks of Ganga, we saw a dead man lying face down in the water. This was ~10 feet from the canoe we were about to board. The sad part was that nobody batted an eye... it was life as usual. In fact, people were bathing ~10 feet from him (see below).
The rains haven't come yet, so the width of the Ganges was narrow. We saw several of the ghats from the river including the 2 that are for funeral pyres, which one had a body burning as we passed it. As we had heard before arriving in Varanasi, the water was pretty dirty.... most of which was due to the ashes floating downstream.
Varanasi is a difficult place to understand. On one hand, it is the oldest and holiest city in India, where Hinduism is celebrated and people come to wash away their sins and attain salvation. On the other hand, dark and sobering emotions are evoked when I see dead bodies on the streets, in the river, and burning on the banks (funeral pyres). I thought this trip to Ganga was going to be this awesome spiritual experience, but in reality these polar emotions ended up in a visit that overloaded my senses.
Varanasi is very unique b/c you are exposed to extremes all at one time. Growing up in the States, I am accustomed to compartmentalizing different activities and phases of life. For example, the place where I bathe is different than where I pray or different than where I wash my clothes or where I eat or where I go to mourn the dead, etc. Here on the Ganges all those parts of life occur in one place... it seems b/c the poverty level is high here and locals have no choice but to live all parts of their life on the banks of the Ganges. The most appropriate phrase to describe my Ganga experience is "It is what it is."
The rains haven't come yet, so the width of the Ganges was narrow. We saw several of the ghats from the river including the 2 that are for funeral pyres, which one had a body burning as we passed it. As we had heard before arriving in Varanasi, the water was pretty dirty.... most of which was due to the ashes floating downstream.Varanasi is a difficult place to understand. On one hand, it is the oldest and holiest city in India, where Hinduism is celebrated and people come to wash away their sins and attain salvation. On the other hand, dark and sobering emotions are evoked when I see dead bodies on the streets, in the river, and burning on the banks (funeral pyres). I thought this trip to Ganga was going to be this awesome spiritual experience, but in reality these polar emotions ended up in a visit that overloaded my senses.
Varanasi is very unique b/c you are exposed to extremes all at one time. Growing up in the States, I am accustomed to compartmentalizing different activities and phases of life. For example, the place where I bathe is different than where I pray or different than where I wash my clothes or where I eat or where I go to mourn the dead, etc. Here on the Ganges all those parts of life occur in one place... it seems b/c the poverty level is high here and locals have no choice but to live all parts of their life on the banks of the Ganges. The most appropriate phrase to describe my Ganga experience is "It is what it is."
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