Deshain is the biggest festival in Nepal, and for the two weeks of the festival, almost everything in the country is closed. Lucky for me, my first week in Nepal coincided with the last week of Deshain. Although it has been interesting to learn a little bit about the festival and to enjoy a Kathmandu emptied of its residents who have returned to their ancestral villages, it also meant that we couldn't get the necessary permit for the trek. Our initial plans thwarted, we took a bus to Pokhara, during which we sat on the roof for most of the journey. I definitely understand why dogs love having their heads out the window - it's such a great feeling to have the wind blowing in your face, smelling the smells of the Nepali countryside, and seeing the sun set over some of the highest mountains in the world. What's great about Nepal is that on almost all the public buses, about half of the passengers sit on the luggage rack on the roof - it's safe because of the bars, and such a fun way to travel. We felt oh so very Nepali sitting up there, but were reminded of how silly/incredible cool we must have looked when a van full of Japanese tourists drove past us and everyone inside began waving and taking photos.
We've been in Pokhara for almost a week, just chilling and enjoying the town. We've been doing pretty much nothing - not to be confused with not doing anything, though. It's really beautiful here - we can see the Annapurna chain of mountains from the roof of our hotel, and go for a swim in the warm lake. I wanted to go on a little trek - maybe Annapurna Base Camp - to really see Nepal the way Nepalis see it, as they say - on foot. Unfortunately, I'm a dumbass and fell on the stairs of the hotel and busted my knee. It's alright now but it's probably not a good idea to climb up a mountain with it. I did go on a day hike to a village a few hours away from here, where we watched the sunset and sunrise over the mountains, which was wonderful.
We've mostly been hanging out with some kids on Fulbrights here, a German girl who studied at SOAS for a year and is now spending the year in Kathmandu learning Nepali and Tibetan, as well as another girl from SOAS. It's been nice being social, but I will be starting my solitary Nepali adventure again in a few days, when I head to Palpa, a town about half way between Pokhara and Chitwan National Park. Eventually I will try to make my way to Bandipur, a newar village which is supposed to have great architecture, before heading to Chitwan to ride an elephant through the jungle and spot Bengal tigers :)
Also, I found Craisins in Pokhara. I may never leave.
Friday, October 29, 2010
Monday, October 18, 2010
I love you, Kathmandu
“I must find peace in the only place possible in India. Within.”
This quote from the amazing book called 'Holy Cow' essentially sums up my trip to India. That, and “The north Indian men on the streets stare so hard and are so sleazy that I often feel like I've somehow starred in a porn film without knowing it.”
The last 10 days in India, since my last post, were really nice. Udaipur is definitely one of my favorite places that I visited in the country. I also met up with some other travelers and we had a great few days of eating thalis in the best restaurant I've ever been to – think Fogo de Chao meets spicy Indian food and my inability to eat rice with my hands. The people in Udaipur were much less aggressive than in northern Rajasthan, so it was nice to only have to say 'namaste' to half the shopkeepers instead of every single one of them. I finished my trip to India with a camel safari in Jaisalmer, two night trains to get back to Delhi, and a Bollywood film where all the white girls were strippers in a seedy theater. I see where the men here get their ideas about Western women.
I feel like I must also add a little commentary on Delhi and the Commonwealth Games, and how absurd the whole thing is. I took a bus through Delhi a few days before the games were scheduled to start – the city still looked like a construction site – I can't believe they had enough buildings for the events! When I drove through Delhi again, this time to the airport on the last day of games, the city was like the Twilight Zone - police barricades everywhere, street cleaners with uniforms. Uniforms! What happened to the women in brightly colored saris?! There was almost no traffic, and special lanes for Commonwealth Games cars. Wherever there were slums along the roadside, they just put big billboards advertising the games in front, to hide them. Shame these billboards occasionally fell down and showed the world their tricks. The preparations of the Games were so marred with corruption and missed deadlines, but during the Games they managed to make Delhi into a somewhat livable, European-style city. The organized chaos was gone, and was replaced by soldiers, police barricades, and express lanes. Although it was nice that my lungs didn't hurt after an hour-long auto-rickshaw ride, I think I like the real India better.
On Thursday, I got to Kathmandu. My first taste of Nepal: I gave the lady at the visa desk five $20 bills for my visa. She drops one on her desk and tells me I only gave her four. She insisted the other bill was not on her desk, which was hidden from me, so I had to fork out another $20. Welcome to Nepal?
Other than that, I really like this place. I've spent the past few days discovering Kathmandu and hanging out with Ross, which has been fun. if we get the required permit, we're hopefully going to go trekking for two weeks in a really remote area near the border with Tibet, which should be really fun.
I love the vibe Kathmandu gives off – you can just tell why hippies were so attracted to this place back in the day. Old temples are scattered throughout the city, it's beautiful, and without all the cars and tourism infrastructure it must have been the best place in the world! I wish I knew what this place was like before it became so touristy – it's now full of middle-aged Europeans and Americans with massive calf muscles and camera lenses.
I'm excited to immerse myself in a new culture, to be out of my comfort zone again, and to learn new things about myself. This trip really has been teaching me more about myself than anything else. I think it takes a great amount of confidence to travel alone, to eat in restaurants alone, to deal with problems that arise on a daily basis, alone. The fact that I was able to do all of that in India without any trouble has just increased my confidence in myself. It has made me reassess what I'm capable of (everything?) and what I want to do for the next few years (discover the world and myself in the process). It's so true that the only place you can find peace in India is within, and I really think I have. I also think that the Peace Corps is a natural progression to my travels, life goals, and inner path. As I wait for my invite and contemplate where I will be in two months, six months, 2 years, I know that I can and will learn from every experience, good and bad, easy and difficult, close to home and far from everything familiar. I was talking to a friend recently, and he was saying that until he's 30, he just wants to fill his head with memories, rather than his wallet with money. No one can take those experiences away from you. They are more 'yours' than anything you could ever buy. As I listen to older people talk about their crazy life stories, travels, amazing people they've met, challenges they've faced, the more I hope to have stories like that to tell my grandkids one day. At this point in my life, I want to take every opportunity for an adventure that presents itself to me, and every opportunity to learn more about myself and the world I live in. Right now I can't imagine going home, getting a job and settling into a regular routine. I definitely need a few more years of traveling and adventures.
I will end with some words of wisdom from India.Arie (in honor of my girl Amber):
I was always too concerned with what everybody would think
But I can't live for everybody, I gotta live my life for me
I've reached a fork in the road of my life
And nothing's gonna happen unless I decide
I choose to be the best that I can be
And I choose to be authentic in everything I do
This quote from the amazing book called 'Holy Cow' essentially sums up my trip to India. That, and “The north Indian men on the streets stare so hard and are so sleazy that I often feel like I've somehow starred in a porn film without knowing it.”
The last 10 days in India, since my last post, were really nice. Udaipur is definitely one of my favorite places that I visited in the country. I also met up with some other travelers and we had a great few days of eating thalis in the best restaurant I've ever been to – think Fogo de Chao meets spicy Indian food and my inability to eat rice with my hands. The people in Udaipur were much less aggressive than in northern Rajasthan, so it was nice to only have to say 'namaste' to half the shopkeepers instead of every single one of them. I finished my trip to India with a camel safari in Jaisalmer, two night trains to get back to Delhi, and a Bollywood film where all the white girls were strippers in a seedy theater. I see where the men here get their ideas about Western women.
I feel like I must also add a little commentary on Delhi and the Commonwealth Games, and how absurd the whole thing is. I took a bus through Delhi a few days before the games were scheduled to start – the city still looked like a construction site – I can't believe they had enough buildings for the events! When I drove through Delhi again, this time to the airport on the last day of games, the city was like the Twilight Zone - police barricades everywhere, street cleaners with uniforms. Uniforms! What happened to the women in brightly colored saris?! There was almost no traffic, and special lanes for Commonwealth Games cars. Wherever there were slums along the roadside, they just put big billboards advertising the games in front, to hide them. Shame these billboards occasionally fell down and showed the world their tricks. The preparations of the Games were so marred with corruption and missed deadlines, but during the Games they managed to make Delhi into a somewhat livable, European-style city. The organized chaos was gone, and was replaced by soldiers, police barricades, and express lanes. Although it was nice that my lungs didn't hurt after an hour-long auto-rickshaw ride, I think I like the real India better.
On Thursday, I got to Kathmandu. My first taste of Nepal: I gave the lady at the visa desk five $20 bills for my visa. She drops one on her desk and tells me I only gave her four. She insisted the other bill was not on her desk, which was hidden from me, so I had to fork out another $20. Welcome to Nepal?
Other than that, I really like this place. I've spent the past few days discovering Kathmandu and hanging out with Ross, which has been fun. if we get the required permit, we're hopefully going to go trekking for two weeks in a really remote area near the border with Tibet, which should be really fun.
I love the vibe Kathmandu gives off – you can just tell why hippies were so attracted to this place back in the day. Old temples are scattered throughout the city, it's beautiful, and without all the cars and tourism infrastructure it must have been the best place in the world! I wish I knew what this place was like before it became so touristy – it's now full of middle-aged Europeans and Americans with massive calf muscles and camera lenses.
I'm excited to immerse myself in a new culture, to be out of my comfort zone again, and to learn new things about myself. This trip really has been teaching me more about myself than anything else. I think it takes a great amount of confidence to travel alone, to eat in restaurants alone, to deal with problems that arise on a daily basis, alone. The fact that I was able to do all of that in India without any trouble has just increased my confidence in myself. It has made me reassess what I'm capable of (everything?) and what I want to do for the next few years (discover the world and myself in the process). It's so true that the only place you can find peace in India is within, and I really think I have. I also think that the Peace Corps is a natural progression to my travels, life goals, and inner path. As I wait for my invite and contemplate where I will be in two months, six months, 2 years, I know that I can and will learn from every experience, good and bad, easy and difficult, close to home and far from everything familiar. I was talking to a friend recently, and he was saying that until he's 30, he just wants to fill his head with memories, rather than his wallet with money. No one can take those experiences away from you. They are more 'yours' than anything you could ever buy. As I listen to older people talk about their crazy life stories, travels, amazing people they've met, challenges they've faced, the more I hope to have stories like that to tell my grandkids one day. At this point in my life, I want to take every opportunity for an adventure that presents itself to me, and every opportunity to learn more about myself and the world I live in. Right now I can't imagine going home, getting a job and settling into a regular routine. I definitely need a few more years of traveling and adventures.
I will end with some words of wisdom from India.Arie (in honor of my girl Amber):
I was always too concerned with what everybody would think
But I can't live for everybody, I gotta live my life for me
I've reached a fork in the road of my life
And nothing's gonna happen unless I decide
I choose to be the best that I can be
And I choose to be authentic in everything I do
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
Rajasthan
What to say about Rajasthan...
I arrived in Jaipur last week. It basically felt like a smaller, but more touristy version of Delhi. Since the tourist season is over, vendors are a little overeager to sell everything in their shops – this overeagerness translates into literally blocking my way on the sidewalk with merchandise that I will never buy. One funny thing that happened, though, occurred as I was walking down one of the main streets. An older man in a long white Muslim-style robe with a henna-ed beard asked me where I was from. After I said 'Switzerland,' he yelled after me 'Switzerduch?” Random. Gruetzi sir.
After spending a few days there avoiding street vendors and insisting that no, I will not transport your “precious stones” to Europe and make a quick profit from avoiding customs for your jewelry company, I got a bus to Pushkar. Some people I met in Jari had told me about a great guesthouse they stayed at, which was a converted palace right on the lake. My room's two windows had great views of the lake, which was really nice to wake up to in the mornings. I really liked Pushkar, although again, the shopkeepers are way too pushy, and saying 'namaste' to every single one of them gets a little tiring after like the 50th shop. I got a traditional salwar kameez made though so I'm all set to fool everyone into thinking I'm Indian...
One thing that has surprised me a little bit since being in Rajasthan is that people will try every trick in the book in order to get your money, including inviting you into their house or having you sit down for tea, only to ask you for money as you leave. This is something I've never experienced in Africa, the other parts of India I've been to, or anywhere else in the world. It's pretty sad to have to doubt people's hospitality, but that's what I have now learned to do. Another thing I found very surprising in Pushkar, a holy city, is how many tourists were in short shorts and tank tops! Do these girls not realize that prostitutes in this country cover up more than they do? It even surprised me to see knees and thighs in the street for the first time in almost 5 months. No wonder the men here have no respect for foreign women.
From Pushkar I took a bus to a town a little bit off the tourist trail called Bundi, which is incredibly beautiful. Most of the buildings in the old town are painted blue, and perched on a nearby hill overlooking the town and a lake is an old castle that seems right out of a fairytale. It's been nice to meander through the small streets, where kids run up to me to take their pictures. I met an older woman yesterday who basically turned our encounter into a photoshoot – she even changed into her best sari mid-way through! It's crazy how much nicer and more relaxed people are in places where there are fewer tourists.
Anyway, I'm off to get ma hurr done.
Next stop: Udaipur – supposedly the most romantic city in India – how depressing for the single traveller!
I can't believe in one week I will be in Kathmandu!
I arrived in Jaipur last week. It basically felt like a smaller, but more touristy version of Delhi. Since the tourist season is over, vendors are a little overeager to sell everything in their shops – this overeagerness translates into literally blocking my way on the sidewalk with merchandise that I will never buy. One funny thing that happened, though, occurred as I was walking down one of the main streets. An older man in a long white Muslim-style robe with a henna-ed beard asked me where I was from. After I said 'Switzerland,' he yelled after me 'Switzerduch?” Random. Gruetzi sir.
After spending a few days there avoiding street vendors and insisting that no, I will not transport your “precious stones” to Europe and make a quick profit from avoiding customs for your jewelry company, I got a bus to Pushkar. Some people I met in Jari had told me about a great guesthouse they stayed at, which was a converted palace right on the lake. My room's two windows had great views of the lake, which was really nice to wake up to in the mornings. I really liked Pushkar, although again, the shopkeepers are way too pushy, and saying 'namaste' to every single one of them gets a little tiring after like the 50th shop. I got a traditional salwar kameez made though so I'm all set to fool everyone into thinking I'm Indian...
One thing that has surprised me a little bit since being in Rajasthan is that people will try every trick in the book in order to get your money, including inviting you into their house or having you sit down for tea, only to ask you for money as you leave. This is something I've never experienced in Africa, the other parts of India I've been to, or anywhere else in the world. It's pretty sad to have to doubt people's hospitality, but that's what I have now learned to do. Another thing I found very surprising in Pushkar, a holy city, is how many tourists were in short shorts and tank tops! Do these girls not realize that prostitutes in this country cover up more than they do? It even surprised me to see knees and thighs in the street for the first time in almost 5 months. No wonder the men here have no respect for foreign women.
From Pushkar I took a bus to a town a little bit off the tourist trail called Bundi, which is incredibly beautiful. Most of the buildings in the old town are painted blue, and perched on a nearby hill overlooking the town and a lake is an old castle that seems right out of a fairytale. It's been nice to meander through the small streets, where kids run up to me to take their pictures. I met an older woman yesterday who basically turned our encounter into a photoshoot – she even changed into her best sari mid-way through! It's crazy how much nicer and more relaxed people are in places where there are fewer tourists.
Anyway, I'm off to get ma hurr done.
Next stop: Udaipur – supposedly the most romantic city in India – how depressing for the single traveller!
I can't believe in one week I will be in Kathmandu!
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