The World Will Never Be the Same...: September 2009

Namaste from Kathmandu! We’ve done a lot since we last wrote from the resort in Pattaya. So, to backtrack…

(Note: We’ll keep up the “conversational” feel from last time. Any paragraph without our initials was written by both of us)

Our flight from Bangkok to Kolkata on August 14th was the inaugural flight of this route for Kingfisher Airlines, our new favorite airline. Turns out we were the first passengers on this first flight, which meant that we became mini-celebrities in the airport. We had numerous pictures taken with the CEOs of Kingfisher along with natively-clad young ladies, and were given the most useful gifts two gals traveling around the world could ever ask for – a giant model airplane and a large posterboard boarding pass (which we later disposed of after realizing they would cost over $100 to ship home). The flight itself was short, but we got fed numerous times and landed, full and happy, in India.

That night we were met at the airport by our newest couchsurfing host, Rahul, and were almost immediately whisked away on a whirlwind tour to the beach for Independence Day. This tour began at midnight the evening we landed – we drove for a few hours, stopped at 2 am to eat, slept in the car from about 4am to 6am, and reached the beach a few hours later. Exhausted, we rented a bungalow, where we freshened up and napped for a few hours. We went down to the beach after resting where Jess and our host swam in the rain – and even though Em didn’t swim, she got just as wet! Following our swim, we drove the 4 hours home and spent the rest of the day eating and sleeping. Great intro to India!

J: I immediately fell in love with India. Sure, it was hot and humid and our transportation would prove to be the most difficult of any country (read on), but for me India was still amazing. It is a place of bright colors, the women draped in saris of every shade of the rainbow and patterns that would be clashing anywhere other than India, with dark cinnamon skin set against gold piercings. It’s a place of vibrant flavors – the best food so far, everything spicy and savory and purely vegetarian. It is a place of sound, both traditional music and constant traffic; a place of the most abject poverty set against high rise hotels; a place of blackouts during rainstorms, face masks protecting against the smog-induced asthma, rolling farmland and worshipped cows. I want to come back and volunteer/live in this part of the world on a longer-term basis – I don’t think I’ve seen the last of India, and I’d like to be able to delve into the culture and the language deeper than is possible in 2 weeks of travel.

E: I also felt an immediate affinity for that country. Driving to the beach took us through a bunch of small villages and rice paddies. It was just amazing, such a nice contrast from the resort. Part of it for me too was that I was expecting a lot from India since I’ve had friends who’ve spent extensive time there and loved it. Thankfully, I wasn’t disappointed. It felt so welcoming there. The people were so extremely friendly and hospitable. It was so great too that so many of them spoke at least some English, except towards the end I started feeling a bit like a freak show. The gender roles are so defined there. Everyone was convinced I was a boy. That got pretty frustrating, but what can you do.

We spent a few days in Kolkata, and then we were planning to take a bus to Siliguri and on to Darjeeling. Our plans were interrupted, however, when our bus broke down halfway between Kolkata and Siliguri. Luckily, we had made friends with a local, Miku, and he offered to take us to his home town of Islampur before traveling onward with us to a new destination in the hills, Gangtok. Glad for the company and local knowledge, we agreed.

Islampur was a little one-horse town along the highway. This was made apparent by the fact that the local press club did a story about us coming there, since it seemed to be the most interesting thing that had happened in quite a while. We spent a day longer there than anyone ever needs to, before finally heading toward the Sikkim region of India (Gangtok).

J: I would like to take this chance to offer my most sincere and deepest gratitude to the many civil engineers and state employees who maintain the US’s highways and roads. Even in Tanzania I didn’t realize just how bad roads could get – they were unpaved there, which perhaps was the better idea. The roads in India were horrible – “potholes” doesn’t even begin to cover it. However, on the road to Gangtok, I also became extremely impressed that roads could even be built in the hills that we were driving through. We switchbacked up the mountain at impossible angles, crossing rivers where they ran across the road, with cliffs ascending to one side and descending to the other. We’d reach portions of road that were barely wide enough to pass through, the rest of the road washed away in a recent landslide. We’d see road crews filling the biggest of the holes/unpaved areas, which consisted of men and women breaking up bigger rocks into smaller and smaller rocks and carrying piles of them on their heads to the place they were needed. Needless to say, I will never complain about frost heaves in New England again.

Gangtok was awesome – set up in the hills, overlooking the entire valley. The town was literally carved into the mountain, with clouds hugging the slopes around us. The weather was blessedly cold, the rest of India being hot and humid this time of the year, and the sightseeing -- which consisted of Tibetan monestaries, (to Jess’s delight) a solar-powered waterfall park, and a lot of driving over washed out portions of mountain road -- was marvelous. We also spent a day longer here than we would have wished, which made us realize that being on someone else’s schedule was undesireable and that, while we were entirely taken care of by Miku, we would rather rely on ourselves for our plans in the future.

J: I had forgotten that it can be terribly annoying to be a blond foreign girl in countries where this is an oddity. It became clear to Em and I that Miku was trying to keep us around for longer because he was seriously smitten with me. In the typical Indian Bollywood style, he would follow me around with his puppy dog eyes, claiming heartfelt friendship for both of us while at the same time professing a broken heart when “I left him”. This had been the case with Rahul’s friend in Kolkata as well, and perhaps would continue to be so with any men who offered their friendship. We vowed not to get into this situation again – though our Indian friends were beyond polite and never made any inappropriate remarks or advances, we would still rather be lost and on our own than relying on other people with other agendas.

Happily on our own again, we took a train for 20+ hours to Agra to see the Taj Mahal. Our plans to see it at sunrise began with our waking at 530am and leaving the guest house at 6am. We could only find a bike rickshaw to take us the 5km there, and so we slowly rolled our way down the highway. Upon arriving, we realized we did not have enough money to buy tickets, and so we had to take another bike rickshaw away to an ATM – the first TWO of which were broken – before finally buying tickets and heading to be thoroughly frisked by the lady guards before entering. During frisking, we were informed that we had numerous items that were not allowed in the Taj area, and we had to walk back to the lockers to deposit our stuff (and more money) before again trying to enter. Needless to say, by the time we actually got to the monument the sun had been up and waiting for us for a while – but the Taj was still absolutely magnificent.

J: The Taj is one of the most incredible expressions of love that has ever been left behind, constructed in a time when one could commemorate the death of a loved one with such an act, to forever leave a monument/work of art that would say to the world “Here lies the one I loved, please remember”. What is the modern day equivalent – how would someone today commemorate such a deep, intense feeling of loss when their beloved leaves this world?

E: Taj was great. So incredibly beautiful. The gardens in front as well as the mosques to the side are all set up symmetrically. It was so impressive that this tremendous project was all done by hand 350 years ago. And there was so much marble. I couldn’t even begin to fathom how much work went into the planning and execution of such an immense structure. And the designs were so intricate and fine. Amazing.

Following our day in Agra, we booked a train to Varanasi to see the holy bathing ghats along the Ganges River (imagine bathing daily in a river that is 1 parts fecal matter for every 5 parts water – no thank you!). The train ride was uneventful, until the train stopped unexpectedly, and stayed stopped … for hours. Eventually, we asked someone where we were and it turned out we were stopped about 1km from the Varanasi train station. We donned our bags, jumped off the train, and hiked the rest of the way to the train station with some other foreigners we had met.

J: I always (though time and time again it has proven false) expect someone to come through the train/bus and tell us what’s going on when something is wrong– like, at any time, some conductor could have walked down through each carriage and been like “Hey, we broke something, but you can basically see the station – why don’t ya guys just walk?”. I suppose I haven’t had as much experience with public transportation as Em, who assures me that Greyhounds in the states have the same “mums the word” policy about technological failures. I’m really going to be more proactive about asking if this happens again (knock on wood).

E: Broken trains or buses can definitely be frustrating at times, but I try and remember that it’s all part of the experience. But it can be really tough when trying to deal with these things unnecessarily. We literally sat 10 minutes from Varanasi for hours. Lame.

Hungry and tired, we booked another train to head to Bodhgaya that evening, and spent a few hours exploring the ghats in town. The highlight of this experience was learning about the cremation ghats, where hundreds of hindus come yearly to die and be cremated. We watched a few of these fires be built and set, and breathed in more than our fair share of ash (trying not to think about its actual composition), before making our way back to the train station.

Our train to Bodhgaya was supposed to be 5 hours, but as our experiences with Indian transportation had so far proven, something was bound to go wrong. Around 9pm, the train stopped at a random station in the middle of nowhere, and we were eventually informed that a disturbance in the tracks ahead would mean that our train was NOT going to Bodhgaya that evening. They also informed us that it was unsafe for us to go anywhere outside the station master’s office, and so we spent the night “sleeping” amongst a plethora of bugs, train whistles, dirt, bright lights, etc on the concrete floor of the office. At 6am, we were able to board the next train, and gratefully made our way to Bodhygaya.

After our travel woes, Bodhgaya was exactly the place we needed to be. We got the opportunity to stay in a monastery outside of the main town. It was a very cool experience to live in such close quarters with monks and to be able to share meals with them, as well as sit in on one of their prayer sessions. We also met Oliver and Anna, two German tourists who were staying there. In addition to giving us their Nepal Lonely Planet, they gave us a contact for an olive oil manufacturer that they know in Germany, who happens to own an olive farm in Greece that we may be able to be employed at as migrant olive pickers this winter! We’ll keep you posted as this develops.

The next morning, we awoke at 430am to make our way to the Mahabodhi Temple, a World Heritage site where THE bodhi tree where Prince Siddhartha reached enlightenment to become Buddha is located. It was so incredibly beautiful this early in the morning, with only the sound of monks chanting as they circled the temple in prayer. We spent an hour in quiet contemplation at this immensely powerful site, before returning, refreshed, to the monastery for breakfast.

J: This was one of the most powerfully peaceful places I have ever been. I think that anyone could go there – the angriest, most stressed out person in the world – and walk away feeling like a new person. If I lived in the area, I don’t think I would ever do anything but meditate at the Bodhi tree – even I could become a monk in this place.

E: Yeah, Bodhgaya, definitely my favorite place in India. Staying at that monastery was an excellent experience. Although, at times, it felt a bit like a Buddhist boarding school with all the little monks running around. It did reinforce my desire to join one though. I would love the dedication to enlightenment by living simply, studying and praying all day. Visiting the Bodhi Tree was a wonderful experience for me as well. I felt so at peace there. I could have walked around that temple for the rest of my natural life or longer.

We made plans in town to head the border of India and Nepal the next morning – first a bus 4 hours to Patna, and then an overnight bus to Raxual at the border. However, we awoke to unpleasant rumblings of the bowel and proceeded to become very, very sick. We made the first leg of the trip in extreme discomfort, and while sitting at the travel agent’s office in Patna we decided a trip to the doctor was necessary. Our experience at the Indian hospital was pleasant – it was quick, the nurse giving us 5 prescriptions for our various loose bowels, naseau, fever, bodyaches, etc – and we crossed the street to have the rx filled before heading back to the travel agent to sit for HOURS in uncomfortable plastic chairs, sweating and making frequent trips to the loo. We finally decided to spend the night in Patna and take the bus the following evening, hopefully feeling a little less like death after 24 hours of meds and sleep.

J: Ok, I’m going to be honest with you all right now – you shouldn’t feel TOO bad for us, because it was our fault we were sick. Since being in India we hadn’t been exactly careful about our water consumption – i.e. we were drinking any water, from the tap or otherwise, and not treating it with iodine or even asking if it had been boiled. We knew we were tempting fate, but over 10 days had passed since we had started drinking the water and we thought that we were in the clear. This was silly of us, and we will NOT do it again. (Now, I may or may not have bragged to a certain person who is currently reading this blog that we had immune systems of steel and scoffed at the possibility of water-borne illness… if this person would like to commence making fun of me, they
know where to reach me J).

E: When we went to the hospital, we left our bags at the travel agency, thinking they would be safe there. When we checked into the hotel, I noticed that my camera was missing. I didn’t want to jump to the conclusion that it’d been stolen, but I was fairly sure that that’s what happened. So when we went back to the travel agency I asked them if they’d seen my camera. I said I think it was stolen. They said that if bags were left there no one opens them. They said I should’ve been more careful. They would take no responsibility for the fact that it was missing even though the ONLY time my bag was out of my sight was in their care while we were at the hospital. They wouldn’t even say they were sorry. They just blamed me for me carelessness. Lesson learned, I suppose. Trust no one. Thanks, Patna.

This was a good call on our part, because the next night’s trip to Raxual and onward to Kathmandu was a nightmare. The bus to Raxual left at 930pm and was hot, loud, and excessively full, with people sitting on the floor in the aisles and standing near the front. Of course, as with every road in India, the ride was also incredibly bumpy. This was obviously the perfect way for two people recovering from extreme sickness to travel… and so, when we reached Raxual at 4am, we decided to sleep for a few hours before trying to cross the border. Another good call… because, though we crossed the border with no real problems, our travels onward to Kathmandu (K-du) were to prove trying, to say the least.

E: I need to comment about the food in India. Oh my God! Everything was so ridiculously tasty. Literally everything we tried was delicious. We played it safe foodwise and ordered vegetarian for the entirety of India which it’s super easy to do. We ate so many amazing dishes. I’ve decided that I need to take an Indian cooking class so I can eat like that all the time. The only negative review I have is the sweets. They all seemed to be the same consistency due to the fact that they were all made of milk and sugar. So they were all grainy and disgusting. I just longed for some chocolate.

Since we were sick, we were hoping to ride in something more comfortable than a bus. They gave us the option of paying a little more to take a mini-van bus, which would only take 5 hours rather than 9 to reach the capital of Nepal. We jumped at the chance for a shorter, less cramped ride – that is, until we were crammed into the very back seat of the van with the 2 other foreigners, and subjected to a 9 ½ hour ordeal on roads that were (somehow) even bumpier than those in India, amplified by the fact that we were sitting directly on the rear axle and bruising our tailbones with each jarring pothole. The reason the trip took so long was a combination of a flat tire, smoking brakes, and sometimes random stops where the driver would just disappear for a while.

J: I swear I got minor whiplash from the insane amounts of flying out of my seat, banging alternatively against the window and Emily’s ribcage, swearing and trying not to vomit. Luckily, Em had packed some incredible Badger Balm Muscle Rub (kudos to Betsy for giving that to her), and generously rubbed it into my neck before sleeping that evening.

We reached K-du eventually, and holed up in a nice guesthouse on Freak Street, in the older part of the city. The first thing we did the morning after arriving was drop off our laundry to be washed by a machine – it had been nearly a month since this had last happened, and our hand washing was proving less than effective. The next thing we did was meet up with another CS’er, Hem, that Jess had been in touch with. Hem was not only going to host us, but also help us arrange a trip to Tibet (which is currently in the works – we leave on Tuesday).

E: I really liked the guest house on Freak Street. First off, it’s on Freak Street. Second, the place was super cute and tucked away down this little alley. The area was in the old town of K-du so all the roads were brick and cobblestone. All the buildings were towering over the narrow streets giving it a very cool atmosphere. Also the lack of tourists was appreciated immensely.

After meeting up with Hem and starting the paperwork for Tibet, Hem’s friend Vishnu took us sightseeing around K-du. We went to the largest Shiva temple in Nepal, and walked along the Bagmati River – the site of more cremation ghats, temples, and (again to Jess’s delight) lots of monkeys running around everywhere. Vishnu shared stories about Hindu gods, giving us much more insight to the places we were visiting.

Vishnu also took us to Bodnath, the largest stupa in Nepal. It towered above our heads, draped in prayer flags, with painted Buddha eyes watching over the entire area. We wandered around, spinning prayer wheels and hearing more stories, before heading back to meet up with Hem for dinner and returning to our guesthouse. We moved into Hem’s place the next morning, to stay with him, his wife, and two sons for the remainder of our time in K-du.

E: I really enjoyed hanging out with Vishnu. He really likes to tell stories and give the history of places. Also we have a lot in common. He cooks and used to do martial arts. It was so wonderful to have him to show us around. I love learning more about what we’re seeing to understand more about the culture and history. It makes me feel more connected to these places instead of just a tourist.

We’re hanging out in K-du until Tuesday, trying to spend no money since Tibet is costing us 1/10th of our entire budget. From Tibet, we’ll head across China to Kashi, and hopefully be in Kyrgyzstan by the 20th of September. That’s all for now – World Travelers Em and Jess, signing off! (Keep an eye out for more pics before we leave for Tibet)

The World Will Never Be the Same...

Thursday, September 24, 2009

A Quick List of What We've Been Doing, By Jess and Em

Tuesday, September 1, 2009

Misadventures in India and Nepal