we took a night train from mumbai to aurangabad...the town is named for aurangzeb, one of the formal mughal rulers...there are three reasons to go to aurangabad...one, bibi qa maqbara is located there...(otherwise known as the poor man's taj)...two, the caves at ellora are only an hour away...and three, the caves at ajanta are only 2-3 hours away...our first day we arrived in the early morning, so the three of us (ben joined us) slept in our hotel room for a few hours...nothing is open at 6am anywho...in the afternoon we walked to bibi qa maqbara...apparently no one else walks in this town, because we got a lot of strange looks...then again, we are three foreigners, two with long hair...(ben's got long blond hair...i'd kill to have his hair)...the poor man's taj is quite a lot like the better known taj mahal in agra...but it's cheaper, and smaller...as has happened several times previously, many of the indian tourists there asked to take pictures with us...
the second day we arranged to go to ellora to see the caves...since the caves at elephanta island were my idea (i'm the one of the three of us that always reads the guidebook) and those weren't all that great, ben and layna weren't super keen to see these caves...i myself wasn't too confident...but these caves were AWESOME...there are 34 of them at ellora...the first 12 are buddhist, the next bunch hindu, and the last 5 are jain...i should explain that none of these are actual caves...they're all man made excavations generally in a line...the entrance ticket booth is perpendicular to cave 16, you have to walk to one end to see the buddhist ones, then come back to the middle and walk all the way to the other end to see the jain caves...cave 16 receives the most attention of all of them...it's HUGE...according to lonely planet, it's twice the space of the parthenon in athens, and 1.5 times as high...the temple in the middle is still an active temple...there were a LOT of people there, and it was by far the loudest cave...yet again, we took pictures with more random people...ben and i were invited to take a picture with a school group that had arranged itself on some steps...after a while of feeling like celebrities, we finally had to just walk out...we ended up spending 3.5 hours at the caves, and even skipped a number of them...maybe it sounds rude, but after a while, all buddhas look the same...so do shivas, and every other god...we were caved out...
the third city to which we traveled with ben is called hyderabad...layna and i hadn't originally planned to go that far south...but back in the states, ben worked with a guy who had lived in india for 3 yrs (is that right?) and had a lot of friends, and he passed on a lot of contact info to ben...ben convinced us to go to hyderabad with the promise of meeting upper class indians...hyderabad is also sometimes called cyberabad...together, hyderabad and bengaluru make up the IT center of india...hyderabad definitely doesn't have a lot of tourist sights, and there weren't any touts in front of the train station...the first night there ben called up one of his contacts, he and layna went out and joined a birthday party...i'm not going to repeat their stories...hee hee...
the second day those two slept in...when we left the hotel room to do our normal walking around the city, i aimed toward the one landmark that sounded slightly worth seeing...charminar...it's not all that exciting, but oh well...along the way, an indian guy fell in with us, and kept trying to talk to us...he hardly spoke any english, and after a while, we tried to lose him...but as soon as one of us would get away, he'd fall in with one of the other two...as we walked into the charminar area, he tried to walk in with us...but the security guys stopped him...then he tried to get layna to pay for him...but she didn't...charminar is a big tower of sorts, and as we got up, we looked down and saw the guy waiting for us!!! he waited for quite a while...so we hatched a plan...whoeva went down first was going to take him on a wild goose chase, and we'd all meet up on the steps of a mosque (men's only mosque, said to be able to hold 10,000 people)...but the guy didn't follow ben when he went down first!!! when layna and i walked out, i walked in one direction, she walked in the other...he followed her...it took her half an hour to get rid of him...and even so, she had to tell him directly to go away...which he did, finally...or so we thought...after finding each other on the steps, we started walking back...and the guy showed up again!!! we told him again that he needed to go away, and he said that he would, or at least indicated that, but he wanted to shake the hands of layna and i first...fine...after shaking my hand he poked me in the boob, hard!!! he knew he had done wrong, because he took off, fast...argh...
hyderabad is known for one other thing besides it's IT world...a food called biryani...biryani is steamed, spiced, fragrant rice...apparently hyderabad has the best in india...from both ben's friend and another random indian we met in mumbai, we were told about a certain restaurant...our last evening in hyderabad, we decided to see what it was all about...after trying three different rickshaw drivers (one of whom thought we wanted to go somewhere else then couldn't even get us back to where he picked us up) we finally found the restaurant...HUGE portions...and good...but it's rice, and i've never gotten that excited about rice...tasty, but rice...
one more thing to see in hyderabad is a buddha statue in the middle of the lake...i've again forgotten the specifics of the story, but after it was carved, as it was being transported, the boat sank, along with the buddha..."miraculously" when it was raised a number of years later, there was reputedly no damage...so a small island was built in the middle of the lake, and that's where it has stayed...you can take a boat out to get a little closer...
the tourist quota on the night train from hyderabad to bengaluru is 2...only 2 tourists per class on the entire train!! which was a bit of a problem, since there were three of us...howeva, ben wanted to go out again, and volunteered to stay in hyderabad an extra evening, and meet up with us later...
31 January 2009
27 January 2009
india part 5
mumbai is probably more in the news these days than any other indian city...first because of bollywood, and 2nd because of 26 november...we arrived in mumbai the morning of 22 jan...there are no rickshaws in central mumbai, which means we had to take a taxi from the train station...the first offer we got was for 270 rupees...we got it down to 80...(though the other taxi drivers weren't too pleased with our driver)...mumbai has some of the most expensive accomodation in india...we paid more there than anywhere else!!!
the daily average income in mumbai is three times the national average...yet more than half the city lives in slums...some of you have probably heard of slumdog millionaire, the movie that has won several awards...much of it was filmed in mumbai, a couple of the child actors in the movie still live in the slums...our first day there, layna and i walked through a very small area of slums...surprisingly, it was one of the friendliest places we've been...the streets are small, and everything is crowded, but the people were really friendly, and eager to talk...the movie opened in india quite a bit later than in the states...(it had already won several golden globes before opening in india)...we went to see it opening night...though it has it's share of complainers, we enjoyed the movie...i wonder if we enjoyed it more because we are currently in the middle of everything it shows?
at the end of the day, ben arrived in mumbai...he's another american, 31yrs old...i know some of you think i've done a lot of traveling...but compared to ben, i've never left my couch...his travelogue gets 5000 hits a month!!! anywho, this is his first time in india, so we introduced him a bit...he just had surgery on his acl a couple months ago, and has only been mobile for 2-3 weeks...he wanted to strengthen the muscles, and reverse some of the atrophy...so we walked...a lot...he said that in the past he's always been the one to want to walk more, but that we put him to shame...hee hee...most of our days in mumbai we walked at least 15K, sometimes as much as 20K...mumbai was our first warm city, so we went from being cold much of the time to sweating much of the time...
asia's busiest train station is in mumbai...it used to be called victoria terminus, and now has a long indian name...people still call it victoria terminus, or vt for short...it's shown several times in slumdog millionaire...we saw the oldest english building in mumbai as well, a church...there are a lot of memorials in the church, and it was interesting to see the differences...some described entire careers, some said how the person died, and some seemed to place more emphasis on who built the memorial...there are lots of colonial style buildings all over mumbai...it's easy to imagine the british there...very very easy...
one of the british influences in mumbai are three different maidans...(think big empty field)...the oval maidan is probably the most well known...the only organized activity allowed on the maidan is cricket...there were LOTS of different games going on...with bowlers coming from every which direction, and balls flying everywhere, it was amazing people weren't being knocked down left and right...the last time we walked through this maidan was republic day, one of only three national holidays...(yup, the entire country only celebrates three holidays together...each state has plenty of it's own holidays and festivals though, and they're awesome)...republic day was very very very security conscious over the whole country...because of additional terrorist threats and a foiled terrorist plot in delhi just the day before, delhi was practically on lockdown, and there was a lot more security in general...during the republic day parade in delhi, the airport wasn't allowing flights in or out...because of what happened in mumbai in november, there was also a lot of additional security...
one activity that ben has become involved in during all of his travels is hashing...it's a running club, much of the time with a drinking problem...it's international, with different kennels in every city and country imaginable...anywho, ben found a hash for us to run, or so we thought...after arriving at the proper place, we realized we were 2.5 yrs late...the owner of the house had even passed away!! note to the mumbai hash club: update your website!!!!!!!! instead of going back to our hotel, we went to the biggest laundry area i've ever seen in my life...HUGE...they do laundry in india by beating the dirt out of your clothes...they slam it against stone again and again and again, in between soakings...it's rather impressive...nearly all the laundry done in the city is done in this one area...i wonder how it doesnt get all confused and returned to the wrong people...
that afternoon we took the ferry out to elephanta island...the guidebook talked about caves with buddhist carvings, and i thought they sounded interesting...as this was only ben's second day in india, and he's got the world's most sensitive stomach (after all his traveling you'd think it wouldn't be that way anymore...when he was in turkey he lost 25lbs in one month!!) he had to run back to the hotel, so he ended up on a different ferry...hee hee...the caves didn't end up being all that great...we liked the ferry ride better than the caves!!
our last day in mumbai we walked to chowpatty beach...it's a reasonable beach, but the water is NOT CLEAN...toxic maybe?...so people just stand around a bit, but don't go in the water much...after the beach we continued walking, all the way to malabar hill, which is supposed to be the ritzy area of town...it's definitely nicer than other areas, but maybe we missed the best spots, because it didn't seem that fabulous...layna and i have developed a love for curd, and when we saw buffalo curd advertised, we couldn't resist...we devoured a half kilo of the stuff, in record time...i don't think ben was very impressed...he loved his lassi though...
in keeping with habits layna and i have developed, we stuck to local places to eat...we rarely eat in places mentioned in the guidebook...we've found that places crowded with locals offer better (and cheaper) food...YUM!!!
the daily average income in mumbai is three times the national average...yet more than half the city lives in slums...some of you have probably heard of slumdog millionaire, the movie that has won several awards...much of it was filmed in mumbai, a couple of the child actors in the movie still live in the slums...our first day there, layna and i walked through a very small area of slums...surprisingly, it was one of the friendliest places we've been...the streets are small, and everything is crowded, but the people were really friendly, and eager to talk...the movie opened in india quite a bit later than in the states...(it had already won several golden globes before opening in india)...we went to see it opening night...though it has it's share of complainers, we enjoyed the movie...i wonder if we enjoyed it more because we are currently in the middle of everything it shows?
at the end of the day, ben arrived in mumbai...he's another american, 31yrs old...i know some of you think i've done a lot of traveling...but compared to ben, i've never left my couch...his travelogue gets 5000 hits a month!!! anywho, this is his first time in india, so we introduced him a bit...he just had surgery on his acl a couple months ago, and has only been mobile for 2-3 weeks...he wanted to strengthen the muscles, and reverse some of the atrophy...so we walked...a lot...he said that in the past he's always been the one to want to walk more, but that we put him to shame...hee hee...most of our days in mumbai we walked at least 15K, sometimes as much as 20K...mumbai was our first warm city, so we went from being cold much of the time to sweating much of the time...
asia's busiest train station is in mumbai...it used to be called victoria terminus, and now has a long indian name...people still call it victoria terminus, or vt for short...it's shown several times in slumdog millionaire...we saw the oldest english building in mumbai as well, a church...there are a lot of memorials in the church, and it was interesting to see the differences...some described entire careers, some said how the person died, and some seemed to place more emphasis on who built the memorial...there are lots of colonial style buildings all over mumbai...it's easy to imagine the british there...very very easy...
one of the british influences in mumbai are three different maidans...(think big empty field)...the oval maidan is probably the most well known...the only organized activity allowed on the maidan is cricket...there were LOTS of different games going on...with bowlers coming from every which direction, and balls flying everywhere, it was amazing people weren't being knocked down left and right...the last time we walked through this maidan was republic day, one of only three national holidays...(yup, the entire country only celebrates three holidays together...each state has plenty of it's own holidays and festivals though, and they're awesome)...republic day was very very very security conscious over the whole country...because of additional terrorist threats and a foiled terrorist plot in delhi just the day before, delhi was practically on lockdown, and there was a lot more security in general...during the republic day parade in delhi, the airport wasn't allowing flights in or out...because of what happened in mumbai in november, there was also a lot of additional security...
one activity that ben has become involved in during all of his travels is hashing...it's a running club, much of the time with a drinking problem...it's international, with different kennels in every city and country imaginable...anywho, ben found a hash for us to run, or so we thought...after arriving at the proper place, we realized we were 2.5 yrs late...the owner of the house had even passed away!! note to the mumbai hash club: update your website!!!!!!!! instead of going back to our hotel, we went to the biggest laundry area i've ever seen in my life...HUGE...they do laundry in india by beating the dirt out of your clothes...they slam it against stone again and again and again, in between soakings...it's rather impressive...nearly all the laundry done in the city is done in this one area...i wonder how it doesnt get all confused and returned to the wrong people...
that afternoon we took the ferry out to elephanta island...the guidebook talked about caves with buddhist carvings, and i thought they sounded interesting...as this was only ben's second day in india, and he's got the world's most sensitive stomach (after all his traveling you'd think it wouldn't be that way anymore...when he was in turkey he lost 25lbs in one month!!) he had to run back to the hotel, so he ended up on a different ferry...hee hee...the caves didn't end up being all that great...we liked the ferry ride better than the caves!!
our last day in mumbai we walked to chowpatty beach...it's a reasonable beach, but the water is NOT CLEAN...toxic maybe?...so people just stand around a bit, but don't go in the water much...after the beach we continued walking, all the way to malabar hill, which is supposed to be the ritzy area of town...it's definitely nicer than other areas, but maybe we missed the best spots, because it didn't seem that fabulous...layna and i have developed a love for curd, and when we saw buffalo curd advertised, we couldn't resist...we devoured a half kilo of the stuff, in record time...i don't think ben was very impressed...he loved his lassi though...
in keeping with habits layna and i have developed, we stuck to local places to eat...we rarely eat in places mentioned in the guidebook...we've found that places crowded with locals offer better (and cheaper) food...YUM!!!
22 January 2009
india part 4
after jaipur we went to another "ur"...there seem to be lots of them...udaipur is named for udai singh, a maharaja...it is built around lake pichola, which is supposed to be really pretty...according to who knows who, udaipur is the venice of the east...i wouldn't really agree with that...the monsoon has been pretty crappy for the past two years, so the lake is pretty low, and doesn't look very pretty...not at all...there are two islands in the middle of it...one is a palace, and one is a hotel...they're both lit up at night, and quite picturesque...it's pretty at night than during the day...at least that's what i thought....there is another lake on the north side of the town, called fateh sagar...that lake is low as well, and looks just as icky...
when we arrived in udaipur my foot got caught as i was getting out of the rickshaw that delivered us to a hotel...i didn't think anything of the cut on my hand at the time...
there are a number of temples around town, and the first one we discovered was nearly completely deserted...of course, as we walked in to explore, two locals came with us, each trying to be our guide...udaipur was the place where we had the most people who would walk along with us for a little while telling us facts and showing us places, then ask for money, even though we hadn't asked them for anything in the first place...frustrating...anywho, this temple was indo-aryan, with exquisite carving...we went to another one as well, but it was covered in people, and somehow that made it less interesting...
our favorite part of udaipur was a cooking class we took from a lady named shashi...having been in india for nearly a month, we had tried a lot of different foods, and were really excited about learning how to make some of them...she started the class by telling us her life story, which was awesome...she's a widow, and by the laws of her caste, she's not allowed to remarry, ever...she also told us some other details....she's a very strong woman...anywho, 3 hours later, we had prepared a FEAST, and got to attempt to eat it...that was probably the first and only time in india that we weren't able to finish everything in front of us...so much food...and such good food...as part of the class we received the recipes of everything we made, and now we're both really keen to have "indian night" with some friends after our trip....at the end of the class shashi also gave us earrings, a keychain, and a friendship bracelet...fantastic experience...
we left udaipur on a bus one morning, and arrived that afternoon in mt abu...it's a hill station, and the road up the mountain is windy...surprisingly, i didn't get sick...we hired a paddleboat and paddled around nakki lake for an hour, which was nice...at one point on the lake a couple indian guys in another boat attempted to make conversation, and one even climbed over onto our boat...the only problem is that they spoke only a few words of english...i'm not exaggerating...when we said we were going to keep going, i had to indicate that it was time for him to get out of the boat, because he didn't understand...he also asked us for our mobile numbers, which of course we don't have, and wouldn't have given him...that would be a conversation of total silence!! anywho, the other reason to go to mt abu is to see the jain temples at dalwara, a few kilometers away...they are made of white marble, with incredibly intricate carving...you're not allowed to take a camera in, so i don't have any pictures other than the ones in my head...there are 5 temples, and to someone like me, they all look somewhat the same...they are awesome though...temple #5 isn't finished...according to someone who works there, while it was being built, a war broke out, and funds that were supposed to go to the temple were diverted to the war fund...sad...
on the bus ride from mt abu to ahmedabad, i did get motion sickness...at least i felt awful on the way down the mountain...but after our first food stop i felt a lot better...that was our first time (and only time) in a sleeper bus...when we arrived in ahmedabad, it wasn't clear at all when we were supposed to get off the bus...we asked, and got conflicting answers from the same guy..."last stop"..."this stop"..."next stop"...we're used to miscommunication by now...ahmedabad is one of the more muslim areas of india...there are quite a few mosques, and quite a few women who are almost entirely covered...the street market is huge, and keeps going and going and going...we saw another bollywood movie, chandni chowk to china...we didn't like it as well as our first movie, rab na bana di jodi...there aren't many tourists in ahmedabad, i don't think we saw any other foreigners...
when we arrived in udaipur my foot got caught as i was getting out of the rickshaw that delivered us to a hotel...i didn't think anything of the cut on my hand at the time...
there are a number of temples around town, and the first one we discovered was nearly completely deserted...of course, as we walked in to explore, two locals came with us, each trying to be our guide...udaipur was the place where we had the most people who would walk along with us for a little while telling us facts and showing us places, then ask for money, even though we hadn't asked them for anything in the first place...frustrating...anywho, this temple was indo-aryan, with exquisite carving...we went to another one as well, but it was covered in people, and somehow that made it less interesting...
our favorite part of udaipur was a cooking class we took from a lady named shashi...having been in india for nearly a month, we had tried a lot of different foods, and were really excited about learning how to make some of them...she started the class by telling us her life story, which was awesome...she's a widow, and by the laws of her caste, she's not allowed to remarry, ever...she also told us some other details....she's a very strong woman...anywho, 3 hours later, we had prepared a FEAST, and got to attempt to eat it...that was probably the first and only time in india that we weren't able to finish everything in front of us...so much food...and such good food...as part of the class we received the recipes of everything we made, and now we're both really keen to have "indian night" with some friends after our trip....at the end of the class shashi also gave us earrings, a keychain, and a friendship bracelet...fantastic experience...
we left udaipur on a bus one morning, and arrived that afternoon in mt abu...it's a hill station, and the road up the mountain is windy...surprisingly, i didn't get sick...we hired a paddleboat and paddled around nakki lake for an hour, which was nice...at one point on the lake a couple indian guys in another boat attempted to make conversation, and one even climbed over onto our boat...the only problem is that they spoke only a few words of english...i'm not exaggerating...when we said we were going to keep going, i had to indicate that it was time for him to get out of the boat, because he didn't understand...he also asked us for our mobile numbers, which of course we don't have, and wouldn't have given him...that would be a conversation of total silence!! anywho, the other reason to go to mt abu is to see the jain temples at dalwara, a few kilometers away...they are made of white marble, with incredibly intricate carving...you're not allowed to take a camera in, so i don't have any pictures other than the ones in my head...there are 5 temples, and to someone like me, they all look somewhat the same...they are awesome though...temple #5 isn't finished...according to someone who works there, while it was being built, a war broke out, and funds that were supposed to go to the temple were diverted to the war fund...sad...
on the bus ride from mt abu to ahmedabad, i did get motion sickness...at least i felt awful on the way down the mountain...but after our first food stop i felt a lot better...that was our first time (and only time) in a sleeper bus...when we arrived in ahmedabad, it wasn't clear at all when we were supposed to get off the bus...we asked, and got conflicting answers from the same guy..."last stop"..."this stop"..."next stop"...we're used to miscommunication by now...ahmedabad is one of the more muslim areas of india...there are quite a few mosques, and quite a few women who are almost entirely covered...the street market is huge, and keeps going and going and going...we saw another bollywood movie, chandni chowk to china...we didn't like it as well as our first movie, rab na bana di jodi...there aren't many tourists in ahmedabad, i don't think we saw any other foreigners...
15 January 2009
india part 3
after jaisalmer was the town of bikaner...we ended up getting off the train at the wrong station w/out realizing it, but that was a blessing in disguise...as usual, someone approached us quickly about a place to stay, and also handed us a schedule...(we went to bikaner because we had heard about a camel festival and wanted to check it out)...the price sounded good enough, it was family run, and we always knew we could go somewhere else if we hated it...staying in that guesthouse turned out to be a great decision...the father was super friendly, as were the wife and kids...three kids...one of the girls spoke pretty good english, and could read and write as well...the wife cooked great food, and the portions were HUGE...the father was fantastic about helping us with directions, and suggesting things to do...
the first full day there we went to the fort in the morning...it's totally different from the fort in jaisalmer...this fort was originally the residence of the local maharajah, and most of the original decorations and furnishings are still in the fort...the entrance fee includes a required guide, and for once, we were happy that we had the guide...w/out him, we wouldn't have found all the little hallways and palaces, etc...the interior decoration is pretty fancy, and it was neat to go up on the roof...in several rooms there are old pictures on the wall, from maharajah parades and such...
that afternoon, we took a bus out to the camel festival...AWESOME!!!!! it was in the village of ladera, not too far from bikaner...we got to see decorated camels, and of course took lots of pictures...we saw a dune race, which wasn't all that exciting...at one point, layna joined in a long jump contest, running and jumping down a dune...(a photographer took her picture, and it ended up in the paper the next day:)...we watched camel races, during which not all the jockeys could control their camels...they didn't always go in a straight line, and they weren't always able to stay on the camels...funny...we got to watch the women play musical chairs...it sounds tame, but some of them really wanted to win...each woman seemed to have a cheering section, and when some of them were out, those cheering sections were NOT happy...at one point we were told we should get out of the crowd, as it was getting rowdy, and we were told the police might have to use force...we got to watch a cultural show, which had exhibitions of traditional song, dance, music and costumes...they had announcements in punjabi and english, so we always knew what was coming up next...though the english announcements were, how can i put this, very flowery and slow...after the cultural show the last event of the evening was a fire dance...only men in a certain caste of a certain faith could participate in the dance...first a bonfire was burned down to nothing but red hot embers, then the men danced through and around the embers...very cool...at the end, they used their feet to spread out the embers, so they were no longer a danger...after it was over, we saw one old man pick up embers twice and put them in his mouth...they said that true believers would not feel the pain of the fire...either way, it was pretty impressive...we took the same bus back to bikaner, and it was a bit more of an adventure...not too long after we left, the guy taking money got into some sort of argument with some of the passengers...lots of yelling back and forth, layna and i sitting there clueless...it got so bad that the bus driver pulled over and stopped the bus, waiting until it was all sorted out...when it was sorted out, many of the passengers cheered, i still wish i knew what it was all about!!!
the next day was more fun...we went out to the karni mata temple, also known as the rat temple...i'm not sure of the story, but the end result is that rats are allowed to run freely all over this temple...they're supposed to be the incarnation of something, or someone...we were told there are 30,000 rats living there...who knows what the actual number is, but it's a lot...there are large bowls of milk set out in several places, it's both creepy and fascinating to watch all the rats perched on the edges, leaning down and drinking...it's said that it's good luck if the rats run across your feet (did i forget to mention that you take off your shoes before going into the temple?)...they did run across our feet...there is one white rat (albino) and it's also said to be good luck if you see him...and we did...so i guess we're double lucky:) ...seeing and being around all those rats was definitely not in my comfort zone, that's for sure!! in the afternoon we went to a camel farm...officially called the national camel research centre, or something like that...it's either the only one in india, or the only one in asia (depends on who you ask, or what you read)...we learned a lot about camels (i won't bore you with the facts unless you ask)...we got to see camels milked, see camel products (made from camel bone, camel hair, etc) and more...while standing next to one corral, several camels came over to investigate us...several kisses and attempted bites later, we had some new friends:) ...we also tried camel milk ice cream...YUM!!!
after bikaner we went to jaipur, the capital of the state of rajasthan, because we had heard about a kite festival...jaipur is just as bad as delhi in terms of touts and the aggressiveness of the city...after finding a guesthouse, we were told by several different people that it's impossible to walk around and see the sights of the city...i guess layna and i are different than most, because we don't consider 5K very long to walk to get to something...not at all...anywho, we did walk...during the day, layna ended up talking to a guy on the street trying to sell us traditional rajasthani puppets...the conversation resulted in an invitation for both of us to come spend the day with his family for the kite festival the next day...SO MUCH FUN!!! we got to his neighborhood, and spent the majority of the day on the roof...we learned how to cut kites (the idea being that you use your kite string - while flying of course - to cut the string of someone else's kite) and were served the best chapati we've had...we met the entire family, and all the cousins/friends/neighbors who were close...all the roofs in this neighborhood were made of sheets of corrogated tin held in place by rocks...and most of the roofs were very close to each other, so we didn't have to go down to the ground to move around...we got a LOT of attention from all the kids (particularly guys) in the area...i was proposed to twice, but since both were just teenagers, i decided to wait on matrimony...hee hee...seeing all the people on the roofs, flying kites was awesome...mostly kids, but some adults as well...in reading the newspaper the next day, it seemed everyone had been in on the fun...politicians and other big wigs even took a few hours out of their work days to fly kites!!! jaipur is known as the pink city because the old city is painted entirely pink...it was originally done to welcome the prince of wales (who later became king charles something or another) and the tradition has remained...it's also a great place to shop, if you have the desire...shoes, fabrics, electronics, bikes, toys, food, etc...it's all there...
our last evening in jaipur we decided to go to a bollywood movie...it was our first, and we had been told about a great theater by a couple different locals...the theater was indeed fancy...the story was that the person who had designed it had suffered some sort of mutilation afterward so he couldn't design anything that great again...i don't know that i trust that story...anywho, watching a bollywood movie was definitely an experience...at the first flash of the stars on the screen the crowd cheered...they cheered, clapped and generally got involved with the plot of the movie as it was playing...it definitely wasn't quiet...i can't remember how many times mobile phones started ringing, and people answered them!!! the movie followed the same storyline that seems to be common...people fall in love, there are difficulties, and by the end of the movie, everything is hunky dory...they even hug at the end!!
the first full day there we went to the fort in the morning...it's totally different from the fort in jaisalmer...this fort was originally the residence of the local maharajah, and most of the original decorations and furnishings are still in the fort...the entrance fee includes a required guide, and for once, we were happy that we had the guide...w/out him, we wouldn't have found all the little hallways and palaces, etc...the interior decoration is pretty fancy, and it was neat to go up on the roof...in several rooms there are old pictures on the wall, from maharajah parades and such...
that afternoon, we took a bus out to the camel festival...AWESOME!!!!! it was in the village of ladera, not too far from bikaner...we got to see decorated camels, and of course took lots of pictures...we saw a dune race, which wasn't all that exciting...at one point, layna joined in a long jump contest, running and jumping down a dune...(a photographer took her picture, and it ended up in the paper the next day:)...we watched camel races, during which not all the jockeys could control their camels...they didn't always go in a straight line, and they weren't always able to stay on the camels...funny...we got to watch the women play musical chairs...it sounds tame, but some of them really wanted to win...each woman seemed to have a cheering section, and when some of them were out, those cheering sections were NOT happy...at one point we were told we should get out of the crowd, as it was getting rowdy, and we were told the police might have to use force...we got to watch a cultural show, which had exhibitions of traditional song, dance, music and costumes...they had announcements in punjabi and english, so we always knew what was coming up next...though the english announcements were, how can i put this, very flowery and slow...after the cultural show the last event of the evening was a fire dance...only men in a certain caste of a certain faith could participate in the dance...first a bonfire was burned down to nothing but red hot embers, then the men danced through and around the embers...very cool...at the end, they used their feet to spread out the embers, so they were no longer a danger...after it was over, we saw one old man pick up embers twice and put them in his mouth...they said that true believers would not feel the pain of the fire...either way, it was pretty impressive...we took the same bus back to bikaner, and it was a bit more of an adventure...not too long after we left, the guy taking money got into some sort of argument with some of the passengers...lots of yelling back and forth, layna and i sitting there clueless...it got so bad that the bus driver pulled over and stopped the bus, waiting until it was all sorted out...when it was sorted out, many of the passengers cheered, i still wish i knew what it was all about!!!
the next day was more fun...we went out to the karni mata temple, also known as the rat temple...i'm not sure of the story, but the end result is that rats are allowed to run freely all over this temple...they're supposed to be the incarnation of something, or someone...we were told there are 30,000 rats living there...who knows what the actual number is, but it's a lot...there are large bowls of milk set out in several places, it's both creepy and fascinating to watch all the rats perched on the edges, leaning down and drinking...it's said that it's good luck if the rats run across your feet (did i forget to mention that you take off your shoes before going into the temple?)...they did run across our feet...there is one white rat (albino) and it's also said to be good luck if you see him...and we did...so i guess we're double lucky:) ...seeing and being around all those rats was definitely not in my comfort zone, that's for sure!! in the afternoon we went to a camel farm...officially called the national camel research centre, or something like that...it's either the only one in india, or the only one in asia (depends on who you ask, or what you read)...we learned a lot about camels (i won't bore you with the facts unless you ask)...we got to see camels milked, see camel products (made from camel bone, camel hair, etc) and more...while standing next to one corral, several camels came over to investigate us...several kisses and attempted bites later, we had some new friends:) ...we also tried camel milk ice cream...YUM!!!
after bikaner we went to jaipur, the capital of the state of rajasthan, because we had heard about a kite festival...jaipur is just as bad as delhi in terms of touts and the aggressiveness of the city...after finding a guesthouse, we were told by several different people that it's impossible to walk around and see the sights of the city...i guess layna and i are different than most, because we don't consider 5K very long to walk to get to something...not at all...anywho, we did walk...during the day, layna ended up talking to a guy on the street trying to sell us traditional rajasthani puppets...the conversation resulted in an invitation for both of us to come spend the day with his family for the kite festival the next day...SO MUCH FUN!!! we got to his neighborhood, and spent the majority of the day on the roof...we learned how to cut kites (the idea being that you use your kite string - while flying of course - to cut the string of someone else's kite) and were served the best chapati we've had...we met the entire family, and all the cousins/friends/neighbors who were close...all the roofs in this neighborhood were made of sheets of corrogated tin held in place by rocks...and most of the roofs were very close to each other, so we didn't have to go down to the ground to move around...we got a LOT of attention from all the kids (particularly guys) in the area...i was proposed to twice, but since both were just teenagers, i decided to wait on matrimony...hee hee...seeing all the people on the roofs, flying kites was awesome...mostly kids, but some adults as well...in reading the newspaper the next day, it seemed everyone had been in on the fun...politicians and other big wigs even took a few hours out of their work days to fly kites!!! jaipur is known as the pink city because the old city is painted entirely pink...it was originally done to welcome the prince of wales (who later became king charles something or another) and the tradition has remained...it's also a great place to shop, if you have the desire...shoes, fabrics, electronics, bikes, toys, food, etc...it's all there...
our last evening in jaipur we decided to go to a bollywood movie...it was our first, and we had been told about a great theater by a couple different locals...the theater was indeed fancy...the story was that the person who had designed it had suffered some sort of mutilation afterward so he couldn't design anything that great again...i don't know that i trust that story...anywho, watching a bollywood movie was definitely an experience...at the first flash of the stars on the screen the crowd cheered...they cheered, clapped and generally got involved with the plot of the movie as it was playing...it definitely wasn't quiet...i can't remember how many times mobile phones started ringing, and people answered them!!! the movie followed the same storyline that seems to be common...people fall in love, there are difficulties, and by the end of the movie, everything is hunky dory...they even hug at the end!!
11 January 2009
india, part 2
after delhi we went north to the indian state of punjab...for those of you who haven't been to india, what you know of india probably comes mostly from punjab...tandoori chicken, a lot of curries, etc...
we went to the city of amritsar, home of the golden temple...it's the holiest shrine in sikhism, and attracts a lot of sikh pilgrims...made of white marble, and covered in 750kgs of pure gold, it's beautiful...it's on a small island in the middle of a holy pool, and you walk across a white marble bridge to go in...it's not big, not at all...inside there are holy men reading the sikh holy book, and musicians singing and playing sikh hymns...they are broadcast around the entire complex from 0300 to 2200 each day...arriving in amritsar was much more pleasant than arriving in delhi...the golden temple is a big deal, and they have a lot of pilgrims/visitors, so they run a free bus from the temple to the train station and back quite regularly...once we found the correct spot to wait outside the train station, the touts and rickshaw drivers left us alone...soooo nice...when we got to the temple, we were immediately shown where to go, and very quickly shown into a room...nearly all of it was done w/out any english (or much talking at all, for that matter)...the temple provides (free) accomodation to pilgrims and tourists...it's simple accomodation, think dorm style...each night there were a lot of people sleeping in the courtyard of the building in which we had our room...communal bathrooms, etc...they can accomodate as many as 30,000 people at a time, which apparently happens a few times a year, during major holidays...there is also a GIANT community kitchen, which can serve 40,000 (free) meals a day...eating there was quite an experience...the entire complex is staffed by volunteers...they do everything from organizing the accomodation, to peeling potatoes, to serving chai, to washing spoons, etc...all of it is paid for by donations and the offering money in the temple...it's an amazing example of how incredible something can be when a lot of people happily give time and energy, and all work together...during breakfast of our second day, we ended up talking to a 20 yr old punjabi girl...she wanted to practice her english, we had lots of questions to ask...she was at the temple with her family, for the second time in her life...she answered all of our questions, both about the sikh religion, and about herself...a total sweetheart...she even helped us get train tickets!! we also spent some time with her after our last dinner there...
one of the other reasons to go to amritsar is that it's an hour bus ride to a border village called attari...the border with pakistan, that is...the pakistani side of the border has a village called wagah...each afternoon there is a fancy border closing ceremony that lots of people come to watch...each country has built permanent stands for all the spectators...(and they are separated by sex)...you're not allowed to carry a bag of any kind to the ceremony, and you are searched on the way there...the soldiers in the ceremony are wearing super fancy uniforms, complete with head stuff...i have no idea how to describe them, maybe head plumes? lots of marching, stomping and the like...even some high kicking, which, as lonely planet puts it, is so high that you wonder they don't concuss themselves...the crowds on either side are really patriotic, chanting and cheering the entire time...LOUD...at the very end of the ceremony, the flags of each country are lowered in unison, staying at an equal level the whole time...considering the level of animosity between the two countries, the degree of cooperation during the ceremony (for choreography and the flag lowering) is pretty incredible...tensions between the two countries have never been good (going back to when the modern borders for india were set and pakistan was created)...politics are different, and so are the religions...pakistan is mostly muslim, while india is mostly hindu...during the partition, hundreds of thousands of people were killed and injured as they crossed the country in order to get to the right territory...the anger hasn't ever gone away...and now, after the bombings in mumbai, the feelings continue...
after amritsar, we went to jaisalmer...a pretty town, mostly built of yellow sandstone...throughout the town there are beautiful havelis, old, VERY ornately carved houses...the town is most known for the fort in the middle...unfortunately, the fort is on the world monuments watch list for the world's 100 most endangered sights...the drainage system under the fort was only built to handle a 10th of what it is dealing with now, and as a result, the ground is slowly collapsing...the fort is slowly sinking into the hill...there are currently 99 bastions surrounding the fort, 3 have already collapsed...it's not ethical to stay in a hotel inside the fort, and we didn't...we didn't eat at any of the restaurants in there either...people still live in the fort, but they always have, ever since the fort was built...it's the hotels and restaurants that are so awful...basically, the town is killing itself by not practicing conservation...the town isn't big, there is no reason to stay inside the fort...layna talked to a guy at our hotel whose family emigrated here in 1971 from pakistan...at that time, the countries didn't like each other, but the border was relatively open...now, they can't really go back...this guy would like to see where his family is from, but he's not likely to ever do so...he said he considers himself indian, not pakistani...and he doesn't like pakistanis...he said no people live in pakistan, only animals...soooooooooo, yeah, the two countries don't get along so well...
we went to the city of amritsar, home of the golden temple...it's the holiest shrine in sikhism, and attracts a lot of sikh pilgrims...made of white marble, and covered in 750kgs of pure gold, it's beautiful...it's on a small island in the middle of a holy pool, and you walk across a white marble bridge to go in...it's not big, not at all...inside there are holy men reading the sikh holy book, and musicians singing and playing sikh hymns...they are broadcast around the entire complex from 0300 to 2200 each day...arriving in amritsar was much more pleasant than arriving in delhi...the golden temple is a big deal, and they have a lot of pilgrims/visitors, so they run a free bus from the temple to the train station and back quite regularly...once we found the correct spot to wait outside the train station, the touts and rickshaw drivers left us alone...soooo nice...when we got to the temple, we were immediately shown where to go, and very quickly shown into a room...nearly all of it was done w/out any english (or much talking at all, for that matter)...the temple provides (free) accomodation to pilgrims and tourists...it's simple accomodation, think dorm style...each night there were a lot of people sleeping in the courtyard of the building in which we had our room...communal bathrooms, etc...they can accomodate as many as 30,000 people at a time, which apparently happens a few times a year, during major holidays...there is also a GIANT community kitchen, which can serve 40,000 (free) meals a day...eating there was quite an experience...the entire complex is staffed by volunteers...they do everything from organizing the accomodation, to peeling potatoes, to serving chai, to washing spoons, etc...all of it is paid for by donations and the offering money in the temple...it's an amazing example of how incredible something can be when a lot of people happily give time and energy, and all work together...during breakfast of our second day, we ended up talking to a 20 yr old punjabi girl...she wanted to practice her english, we had lots of questions to ask...she was at the temple with her family, for the second time in her life...she answered all of our questions, both about the sikh religion, and about herself...a total sweetheart...she even helped us get train tickets!! we also spent some time with her after our last dinner there...
one of the other reasons to go to amritsar is that it's an hour bus ride to a border village called attari...the border with pakistan, that is...the pakistani side of the border has a village called wagah...each afternoon there is a fancy border closing ceremony that lots of people come to watch...each country has built permanent stands for all the spectators...(and they are separated by sex)...you're not allowed to carry a bag of any kind to the ceremony, and you are searched on the way there...the soldiers in the ceremony are wearing super fancy uniforms, complete with head stuff...i have no idea how to describe them, maybe head plumes? lots of marching, stomping and the like...even some high kicking, which, as lonely planet puts it, is so high that you wonder they don't concuss themselves...the crowds on either side are really patriotic, chanting and cheering the entire time...LOUD...at the very end of the ceremony, the flags of each country are lowered in unison, staying at an equal level the whole time...considering the level of animosity between the two countries, the degree of cooperation during the ceremony (for choreography and the flag lowering) is pretty incredible...tensions between the two countries have never been good (going back to when the modern borders for india were set and pakistan was created)...politics are different, and so are the religions...pakistan is mostly muslim, while india is mostly hindu...during the partition, hundreds of thousands of people were killed and injured as they crossed the country in order to get to the right territory...the anger hasn't ever gone away...and now, after the bombings in mumbai, the feelings continue...
after amritsar, we went to jaisalmer...a pretty town, mostly built of yellow sandstone...throughout the town there are beautiful havelis, old, VERY ornately carved houses...the town is most known for the fort in the middle...unfortunately, the fort is on the world monuments watch list for the world's 100 most endangered sights...the drainage system under the fort was only built to handle a 10th of what it is dealing with now, and as a result, the ground is slowly collapsing...the fort is slowly sinking into the hill...there are currently 99 bastions surrounding the fort, 3 have already collapsed...it's not ethical to stay in a hotel inside the fort, and we didn't...we didn't eat at any of the restaurants in there either...people still live in the fort, but they always have, ever since the fort was built...it's the hotels and restaurants that are so awful...basically, the town is killing itself by not practicing conservation...the town isn't big, there is no reason to stay inside the fort...layna talked to a guy at our hotel whose family emigrated here in 1971 from pakistan...at that time, the countries didn't like each other, but the border was relatively open...now, they can't really go back...this guy would like to see where his family is from, but he's not likely to ever do so...he said he considers himself indian, not pakistani...and he doesn't like pakistanis...he said no people live in pakistan, only animals...soooooooooo, yeah, the two countries don't get along so well...
06 January 2009
india, part 1 of many
technically we arrived in india very early the morning of new years day...but we didn't arrive anywhere until the afternoon of the 2nd, when our bus FINALLY arrived in delhi...delhi is a VERY different capital city from kathmandu...kathmandu is completely tame compared to delhi...delhi is much more aggressive, much more crowded, much more polluted...as soon as we got off the bus we were surrounded by rickshaw drivers who wanted to take us anywhere, at very inflated prices...and they also lied to us about several distances we asked for...fortunately, we were at a bus station, and it had a prepaid rickshaw stand...not surprisingly, they tried to steer us away from it, saying it was closed...surprise surprise, it wasn't...the price we ended up paying was less than half of what any of them were offering...when we arrived in the area where we planned to stay, we again had to fight off touts...they wanted to show us all sorts of hotels, and tried to entice us with tv, big rooms, etc...none of that is what layna and i want in a hotel room...all we need or want are beds, and we don't want to pay much for them...
our first full day in delhi was so so, and both of us thought india wasn't going to be that great...it was our first experience with the radically different entrance fees for foreigners and indians...at the red fort, we paid 250 rupees (1 USD = approx 47 indian rupees) to get in...indians paid 15 i think...the best part of the red fort was the conversation we had with visiting afghan university professors...they were all professors at kabul university in afghanistan, and in delhi for 10 weeks or so attending workshops...later that afternoon we visited jama masjid, the largest mosque in india...the courtyard is supposed to be able to hold 25,000 people...entrance is free, but you are supposed to pay 200 rupees for a camera...layna and i had no intentions of taking pictures, and so hid our cameras...the guy at the gate was only stopping foreigners to check for cameras, which was really frustrating...as he felt my ipod in my purse, he decided it was a camera w/out seeing it and insisted i pay the fee...(my camera was in the back of my waistband, where i knew it wouldn't be found)...i didn't pay the fee, nor did we leave our shoes with the shoe minder, instead we carried them in with us, just like all the indians going in...when we got inside, we were glad we hadn't paid the camera fee...sure, it's big, but not all that picture worthy...the frustrating part was seeing all the indians who were taking pictures, and knowing that they hadn't paid the fee...argh...
our second day in delhi was a LOT better, and both of us loved every minute...first we found a mosque that was marked as an archeological treasure, but wasn't touristed at all...as we went in, the one man inside (who was about to start his prayers) told us the mosque was over a 1000 years old, and that we were more than welcome to look around whereva we wanted...we found several sets of stairs that led to great views around the area...right next to this mosque was part of an old fort...this was also an archeological treasure, but not touristed...and again, we were allowed to explore and climb whereva we wanted...after having two such areas completely to ourselves, we decided to skip the rest of the fort, knowing that it would be much more crowded...next we went to humayun's tomb...i don't know who he was, but the tomb was built for him by his second wife...apparently, she really liked him, cause it's HUGE...built of red sandstone and white marble...beautiful...as we were entering, so were hundreds of schoolgirls on a field trip...the most exciting part of the tomb for us was taking LOTS of pictures with all the schoolgirls...we had a lot of fun, and so did they...lots of laughing and smiling...
the third day we walked to the US embassy, so layna could have extra pages put in her passport...(a free service for US passport holders, in case any of you ever need them)...it turned out to be the day the embassy was celebrating it's 50th anniversary...i guess that's newsworthy, as there were quite a few tv trucks there...the first guard we talked to (to find out which entrance to use) asked us which channel we were from...hee hee...
our first meals in india were great...one of the things we had been looking forward to about india was the food...we realized there are soooooooooooooooooo many types/flavours here, we'll never get to try them all!!! dosas, curries, rices, juices, fruits, snacks, sweets, etc...
and so ends the intro to india.....
03 January 2009
nepal 4
at the end of my last email, i think we were about to go for our third trek...we trekked the helambu area, which is pretty close to kathmandu...well, the start of the trek is close to kathmandu...this trek wasn't as high, or as long as our first, but it was still my favorite...there wasn't quite the variety of scenery, but it was still awesome...we saw soooooooo many farming terraces, each of which was farmed by hand...absolutely incredible...they went all the way up to about 2200m...each day was both physically and mentally challenging...rarely did this trek go flat...most of the time the ascents and descents were rather steep...this trek is less popular than other treks, we saw very few other trekkers during our time on the trails...it's also not marked like the other two treks we did...there were quite a few times we came to forks in the trail and had to decide where to go...most of the time both options looked equally good...several times during the 8 days we missed a turnoff and were lucky enough to run into a nice local person who sent us in the right direction...two of the days we spent 3/4 of our day without any clue as to where we were...it's a bit scary to walk through/over/around hills and valleys when you don't know where you are, and people can only communicate vague directions...
during one of my last days in kathmandu i went to the town of bhaktapur...waaaayyyy back when, during the days of the malla kings, the kathmandu valley was divided into three kingdoms...patan, (which i visited during our first few days in nepal,) kathmandu and bhaktapur...now they're all one giant area, but bhaktapur has held up the best in terms of what it used to be...there is almost no traffic in bhaktapur, it's much more pleasant to walk around than kathmandu...lots of temples, etc...two different guys decided they wanted to be my guide, w/out me asking for that service...one guy got the hint when i said i wanted to wander around on my own...the other guy, not so much...he kept telling me things, and showing me places in the town...i sat near one temple for over an hour and watched people, he even hung around for that!!! i knew he wanted money, and while he did take time out of his day for me, i knew he did it because he got to practice english, and was hoping for money from me...i didn't ask for it though...
another one of our last days in kathmandu we spent more than 5 hours total at the indian embassy...all waiting around, not doing anything...when they finally called our numbers, we were at the window for less than a couple minutes!!! getting a tourist visa to india involved going to the indian embassy a total of three different times...
we spent new years eve day in the village of lumbini...most of you have probably never heard of the place, unless you are buddhist...lumbini is where buddha was born...he was born as a prince...prince siddartha gautama, or something along those lines...just before he was born, someone prophesied to his father that he would be a great teacher or a great ruler...obviously, his father wanted him to be a great king, so he kept him in the palace, learning only the life of a ruler...i don't know why he left, but when he did, he saw the opposite side of life...the sick and the poor...eventually, in bodghaya, in india, under a tree, he found enlightenment...and thats how the "middle path" was born...anywho, in lumbini there is something now called the lumbini development zone...all the countries with strong buddhist histories were asked if they wanted to build a monastary there...nearly all of them did, even countries in which it is currently not a good thing to be a practicing buddhist...(like myanmar and china)...the monastaries in lumbini are big and ornate...another area to visit is the temple in which there is a rock that marks the exact spot where buddha was born...(how they know that for sure, i don't know...cause the rock was put there several hundred years later i think)...just outside this temple is a pool in which buddha's mom supposedly bathed before giving birth...again, how they would know that, i don't know...there are also remains of quite a few monastaries that were built and in use from the 3rd and 4th centuries BC to the 4th century AD...
the morning of new years day we got up early, and somehow managed to avoid all the cycle rickshaw drivers who wanted to take us to the border...they all said the bus wouldn't get us close, that we'd still have to walk 2km...the bus did get us close, we had to walk about 100m at most...we've learned not to trust distance measurements from anyone, as none of them are ever correct...(even signs during trekking shouldn't be trusted completely)...we officially left nepal, walked over the invisible line, then officially entered india...the immigration office in india was a completely open room...four men sat on one side of a table, drinking chai and reading newspapers...if someone hadn't pointed it out to us, we would have missed it completely...
after entering india, we got on a bus, and 30 hours later ended up in delhi...definitely a LONG bus ride, but not nearly as bad as either one of us expected...sure, we were stared at the whole time, but we're used to that...while talking to one guy who sat next to me for a while, i discovered that all of india's problems can be attributed to pakistan...he was also looking forward to obama becoming president:)
and so ends the saga of nepal...
during one of my last days in kathmandu i went to the town of bhaktapur...waaaayyyy back when, during the days of the malla kings, the kathmandu valley was divided into three kingdoms...patan, (which i visited during our first few days in nepal,) kathmandu and bhaktapur...now they're all one giant area, but bhaktapur has held up the best in terms of what it used to be...there is almost no traffic in bhaktapur, it's much more pleasant to walk around than kathmandu...lots of temples, etc...two different guys decided they wanted to be my guide, w/out me asking for that service...one guy got the hint when i said i wanted to wander around on my own...the other guy, not so much...he kept telling me things, and showing me places in the town...i sat near one temple for over an hour and watched people, he even hung around for that!!! i knew he wanted money, and while he did take time out of his day for me, i knew he did it because he got to practice english, and was hoping for money from me...i didn't ask for it though...
another one of our last days in kathmandu we spent more than 5 hours total at the indian embassy...all waiting around, not doing anything...when they finally called our numbers, we were at the window for less than a couple minutes!!! getting a tourist visa to india involved going to the indian embassy a total of three different times...
we spent new years eve day in the village of lumbini...most of you have probably never heard of the place, unless you are buddhist...lumbini is where buddha was born...he was born as a prince...prince siddartha gautama, or something along those lines...just before he was born, someone prophesied to his father that he would be a great teacher or a great ruler...obviously, his father wanted him to be a great king, so he kept him in the palace, learning only the life of a ruler...i don't know why he left, but when he did, he saw the opposite side of life...the sick and the poor...eventually, in bodghaya, in india, under a tree, he found enlightenment...and thats how the "middle path" was born...anywho, in lumbini there is something now called the lumbini development zone...all the countries with strong buddhist histories were asked if they wanted to build a monastary there...nearly all of them did, even countries in which it is currently not a good thing to be a practicing buddhist...(like myanmar and china)...the monastaries in lumbini are big and ornate...another area to visit is the temple in which there is a rock that marks the exact spot where buddha was born...(how they know that for sure, i don't know...cause the rock was put there several hundred years later i think)...just outside this temple is a pool in which buddha's mom supposedly bathed before giving birth...again, how they would know that, i don't know...there are also remains of quite a few monastaries that were built and in use from the 3rd and 4th centuries BC to the 4th century AD...
the morning of new years day we got up early, and somehow managed to avoid all the cycle rickshaw drivers who wanted to take us to the border...they all said the bus wouldn't get us close, that we'd still have to walk 2km...the bus did get us close, we had to walk about 100m at most...we've learned not to trust distance measurements from anyone, as none of them are ever correct...(even signs during trekking shouldn't be trusted completely)...we officially left nepal, walked over the invisible line, then officially entered india...the immigration office in india was a completely open room...four men sat on one side of a table, drinking chai and reading newspapers...if someone hadn't pointed it out to us, we would have missed it completely...
after entering india, we got on a bus, and 30 hours later ended up in delhi...definitely a LONG bus ride, but not nearly as bad as either one of us expected...sure, we were stared at the whole time, but we're used to that...while talking to one guy who sat next to me for a while, i discovered that all of india's problems can be attributed to pakistan...he was also looking forward to obama becoming president:)
and so ends the saga of nepal...
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