We thought that we might write last night as we missed the film about prisoners/refugees from Tibet as we were waiting for a fabulous freshly cooked Indian dinner. Enjoyed the dinner and chatting with a couple of Israeli girls -lots of Israelis travelling here after they complete their army service. So as we were walking up the dark narrow street with l8-24 inch deep gutters of dirty water, garbage, etc. Clive misplaced a foot and fell down. Not harm done - had to clean up some though. ....it was literally like 'shit' got in the way of our destination.
Had a super time in Dharamsala - when we first arrived it seemed a bit overwhelming -but that changed fairly quickly. This place is full of Tibetans refugees. The Dalai Lama lives here and the Tibetan government in exile. As well there are orphanages and lots of monks and Buddhist teaching going onhere. It is quiteWestern here -lots of Westerners come to learn and volunteer in the Tibetan community. We even had coffee made with an Italian espresso maker and homemade fresh pasta and pizzas. The Tibetan food was kind of stodgy and the Indian food great. So much available here and a slow pace. From breakfast to coffee, walks in the countryside and then another tea up the mountain. Such a friendly place and no pressure here to buy or be hassled. I must tell you about one of oour pizzas out on a patio watching the setting sun and chatting with a German married to a Tibetan who translates Tibetan books and studies the culture (as well as theauthor of the German guide book on Tibet)...oh yes the pizza - we had the Fiorentino which had walnuts placed around it, spinach, basil, wedges of hard-boiled eggs decorating each slice. We try them all and enjoy the food sooo much.
When we walk, we do a lot of straight up and down and we see fields, homes, people cultivating the land, rock paths. In fact, we watched a team of four men work together and break great huge rocks with a sledge hammer and big piton like nails. Unbelieveable how much hand labour there is. They were building a retaining wall and then they will build a room orhouse of some description. ....we have seen so much manual labour on the roads as well. From making asphalt with a fire and tar and rocks, to breaking rocks with hammers, carrying dirt in baskets on their heads and so on. So slow but they do get there.
Today it was the public bus for us - another experience -the only bus to Amritsar each day leaving at the wonderful hour of 5am. Arrived early this afternoon leaving the cool of the mountains and interesting terrain behind. Now we are apparently in the breadbasket of India-lots of farms and a reasonably rich state -lots of the school kids that I taught in Calgary came from this area. It is pretty warm here.
We had a wonderful lunch and met some Sikhs (we are near the Golden Temple which it their equivalent of Mecca or the Vatican). It was a wonderful experience to see the temple -going in with covered heads and bare washed feet - a large peaceful awesome sight with a lot of colorful people about -turbans of everycolorin the rainbow and saris of every hue.
Anyways, till the next update ta da and love to all
Friday, October 28, 2005
Tuesday, October 25, 2005
Delhi
The play that I mentionedin the last letter ended up lasting till 1am (7 hours) - it appeared to be mostly a long speech in the end - very little music or movement or interaction and the audience sat on the hard dirty ground so patiently and quietly. Quite amazing! Anyways we finally got to sleep after it finished.
Saw athe sights of New Delhi the next day on a tour. Then we caught a train to the old English summer retreat in the hills, Shimla. As we left Delhi, we saw lots of shanties made of plastic and sometimes corrugated steel rooves - no toilets - lots of people defecating beside the train tracks. Obviously no running water and lots of poverty. Much worse than the trrain view from London or elsewhere. My stomach was doing cartwheels.
As we spent the day on the train, we enjoyed seeing the agriculture and countryside with people much more spread out and working the land and living. We arrived in Shimla and climbed the mountain hills. The hills everywhere are pretty much straight up and down - not even the switchbacks that we are used to in the Rockies. We go quite some distance everyday - so I am not missing Sikome hill and Clive just does it all.
We meet people everyday and having an interesting time. Mostly travellers but not always.
We took a 10 hour bus ride through the twisty mountain roads - very narrow, of course no shoulder and often parts washed out - they are fixing the road often by hand - banging and breaking rocks and filling in the eroded parts - unbelieveable to see the painstaking effort that it takes to make the road passable.
Arrived in Manali, another wonderful more remote mountain village. Had a wonderful time here hiking about and meeting people, etc. We hired a taxi one day and a guide and went up to the pass at 3400 meters. The Himal-layas (not Him-a-layas). I went on a hike with 3 others and the guide. It is slow going at this altitude - Clive could not walk very far as the altitude affected him too much - it was wonderful. The Himalayas are not unlike the Rockies when you actually get there - but they are a long way up. Saw the glacier in the distance and lots of prayer flags. Everyone builds a little rock cairn (each adds a rock) and says a prayer. It was pretty chilly at this altitude.
At our wonderful little hotel we were the only guests - the season is finishing. On the last night, I cooked with the chef and made dinner. It was great - what they manage to do and the flavors. I now know that curry means gravy here and I was reminded that tomatoes and onions are the thickener in Indian cooking.
Not wanting to do a 10 hour night journey on a bus through the mountains, we got together with 4 others and hired a taxi to travel the about 200 km through the mountains to Dharamsala/McLeod Ganj - that took 7 hours - so you can imagine the state of the roads. The drive was wonderful. We had tea at the taxi driver's home about halfway here. Looks pretty prosperous here - agricultural - quite a few cars and tractors (occasionally) - but still no toilet at his house - they are in the process of building one.
McLeod Ganj - the centre of Tibetan refugees here has lots of Westerners visiting. Lots of people exploring Buddhism, yoga, reiki, etc - hope to do a class or two - but so far they appear to be 8 or 10 day courses.
Our stomaches have not been upset - we are fairly careful - and we do love the food so far. Great weather everyday, lots of walking and of course interesting people.
We considered going to Kashmir yesterday - but after researching thought not to. People really do try and get you to believe what they are saying. One wants to trust people and what they are saying but we are approaching most things with some skepticism. People do have tales - at least they just lose some money - not getting what they thought they had purchased. Of course, it is nice not to be taken for a ride, bu of course much more important is one's personal safety. So we decided against Kashmir - even thoug they try to show you letters of how great it was (one letter and 144 clients). ..Lines like "this will be the best part of your vacation in India....but no pressure...I have 3 others going and later in the day,,l,,suddenly 5 are going and now it is 2 jeeps ....I have Canadians out there now and they are extending their stay --the best thing that they have ever done.....and so on....still no pressure...no loss if you don't go"- and then the Aussie who sits down beside us and says that he is going - maybe he is in on the con (if it is one) or maybe he is just naive. Anyways, one always has to be on one's toes and look after oneself. Nice to meet other travellers to share tales with. Of course, we have met wonderful hoteliers but one needs to approach carefully and not trust too readily - more difficult I am sure if you are younger? or alone.
Anyways, thats the latest - a bit disjointed but life from this minute's perspective. Probably here for about a wek and then off to Amritsar.
Saw athe sights of New Delhi the next day on a tour. Then we caught a train to the old English summer retreat in the hills, Shimla. As we left Delhi, we saw lots of shanties made of plastic and sometimes corrugated steel rooves - no toilets - lots of people defecating beside the train tracks. Obviously no running water and lots of poverty. Much worse than the trrain view from London or elsewhere. My stomach was doing cartwheels.
As we spent the day on the train, we enjoyed seeing the agriculture and countryside with people much more spread out and working the land and living. We arrived in Shimla and climbed the mountain hills. The hills everywhere are pretty much straight up and down - not even the switchbacks that we are used to in the Rockies. We go quite some distance everyday - so I am not missing Sikome hill and Clive just does it all.
We meet people everyday and having an interesting time. Mostly travellers but not always.
We took a 10 hour bus ride through the twisty mountain roads - very narrow, of course no shoulder and often parts washed out - they are fixing the road often by hand - banging and breaking rocks and filling in the eroded parts - unbelieveable to see the painstaking effort that it takes to make the road passable.
Arrived in Manali, another wonderful more remote mountain village. Had a wonderful time here hiking about and meeting people, etc. We hired a taxi one day and a guide and went up to the pass at 3400 meters. The Himal-layas (not Him-a-layas). I went on a hike with 3 others and the guide. It is slow going at this altitude - Clive could not walk very far as the altitude affected him too much - it was wonderful. The Himalayas are not unlike the Rockies when you actually get there - but they are a long way up. Saw the glacier in the distance and lots of prayer flags. Everyone builds a little rock cairn (each adds a rock) and says a prayer. It was pretty chilly at this altitude.
At our wonderful little hotel we were the only guests - the season is finishing. On the last night, I cooked with the chef and made dinner. It was great - what they manage to do and the flavors. I now know that curry means gravy here and I was reminded that tomatoes and onions are the thickener in Indian cooking.
Not wanting to do a 10 hour night journey on a bus through the mountains, we got together with 4 others and hired a taxi to travel the about 200 km through the mountains to Dharamsala/McLeod Ganj - that took 7 hours - so you can imagine the state of the roads. The drive was wonderful. We had tea at the taxi driver's home about halfway here. Looks pretty prosperous here - agricultural - quite a few cars and tractors (occasionally) - but still no toilet at his house - they are in the process of building one.
McLeod Ganj - the centre of Tibetan refugees here has lots of Westerners visiting. Lots of people exploring Buddhism, yoga, reiki, etc - hope to do a class or two - but so far they appear to be 8 or 10 day courses.
Our stomaches have not been upset - we are fairly careful - and we do love the food so far. Great weather everyday, lots of walking and of course interesting people.
We considered going to Kashmir yesterday - but after researching thought not to. People really do try and get you to believe what they are saying. One wants to trust people and what they are saying but we are approaching most things with some skepticism. People do have tales - at least they just lose some money - not getting what they thought they had purchased. Of course, it is nice not to be taken for a ride, bu of course much more important is one's personal safety. So we decided against Kashmir - even thoug they try to show you letters of how great it was (one letter and 144 clients). ..Lines like "this will be the best part of your vacation in India....but no pressure...I have 3 others going and later in the day,,l,,suddenly 5 are going and now it is 2 jeeps ....I have Canadians out there now and they are extending their stay --the best thing that they have ever done.....and so on....still no pressure...no loss if you don't go"- and then the Aussie who sits down beside us and says that he is going - maybe he is in on the con (if it is one) or maybe he is just naive. Anyways, one always has to be on one's toes and look after oneself. Nice to meet other travellers to share tales with. Of course, we have met wonderful hoteliers but one needs to approach carefully and not trust too readily - more difficult I am sure if you are younger? or alone.
Anyways, thats the latest - a bit disjointed but life from this minute's perspective. Probably here for about a wek and then off to Amritsar.
Thursday, October 20, 2005
Manali
We are having trouble making a connection here - on
> a very slow connection inManali (at the base of the
> Himalayas). All is going well. We are adjusting to
> life in India and of course out here - away from the
> congestion, poverty, and pollution of the big cities
> - this is a great place to become familiar - though
> of course you can never let your guard down. People
> hassle you less here but it still happens and one is
> learning all the time.
> The food has been great and we are enjoying the
> mountains. We are going up to a pass tomorrow with
> an aussie and 2 brits. It will be great. It is a
> 4-wheel drive and then we have a guide to make a
> fairly short walk to a lake (Rohtang Pass - if you
> can find that Jenny.
> We are planning onn spending most of the coming week
> here. We may go on a 3 or 4 day trek depending on
> how it works out tomorrow with this company. Also
> may do a couple of short hikes here and enjoy the
> town and scenery and our hotel room with a balcony
> of polished wood looking out at the mountains.
> After Manali, we expect to go on to Dharamsala.
> Will write again depending upon getting a better
> connection - probably next week.
>
> a very slow connection inManali (at the base of the
> Himalayas). All is going well. We are adjusting to
> life in India and of course out here - away from the
> congestion, poverty, and pollution of the big cities
> - this is a great place to become familiar - though
> of course you can never let your guard down. People
> hassle you less here but it still happens and one is
> learning all the time.
> The food has been great and we are enjoying the
> mountains. We are going up to a pass tomorrow with
> an aussie and 2 brits. It will be great. It is a
> 4-wheel drive and then we have a guide to make a
> fairly short walk to a lake (Rohtang Pass - if you
> can find that Jenny.
> We are planning onn spending most of the coming week
> here. We may go on a 3 or 4 day trek depending on
> how it works out tomorrow with this company. Also
> may do a couple of short hikes here and enjoy the
> town and scenery and our hotel room with a balcony
> of polished wood looking out at the mountains.
> After Manali, we expect to go on to Dharamsala.
> Will write again depending upon getting a better
> connection - probably next week.
>
Thursday, October 13, 2005
New to India
Just feel compelled to write a little today - Day 2 into acclimatizing in India. It is full on here - wow! We have seen so much - from color, noise, smells and a huge massive amount of people, unbelieveable filth in the streets (contrasting to the indoors) and so much poverty. So many people trying to make a living somehow. People sleeping on the streets, people well dressed, autorichkshaws and bicycle rickshaws aplenty - it is tough trying to walk either down the street or across the street and keeping your feet on terra firma - lots of broken cement blocks, garbage, people everywhere - congestion is the word like I have never seen and more poverty than I have ever seen. People without all their limbs, young children, old men, young people every age and apparent health or ill condition. It looks so massive and where does the health, cleanup, etc ever start. Still lots of people are doing well.
We have figured lots of the ways the networks here work with tourists. Yesterday we were constantly accompanied by well dressed gentlemen wanting to assist in their friendly manner. When Clive finally said "we don't want a guide" they disappeared within 50 meters and then the next one took over with the same line. They all have cell phones - wonder if they are talking to the next guy.Anyways they all directed us the wrong to Connaught Place which should be a 5 minute walk from here. We never did find it. However, we went out this am and followed our map and presto! there it was just as the map said.
Then we tried to get to the train station for foreigners to buy tickets. they can show you identification showing that they work for the railway and again direct you away from the station down to some travel agent. As we went to go up some stairs, we were stopped two stairs up and told firmly that the office was closed. We went up and there it was! Wonderful!
Again today, some man firmly and politely (like a powerful teacher to his students) asserted that he knew where the government travel agency was as he had id showing uus that he worked for the government. As I didn't listen and walked away, he explained very firmly that I must listen to him. Anways we didn't and again he had attempted to misdirect us.
so now we have some of this sassed out and know to relie on our maps, guidebooks and government official offices (though everyone claims to be legitimate.
We enjoyed our day immensely - ate some great vegetarian meals at nice quiet restaurants, saw the Red Fort (should be called a castle if it was in England), saw the oldest mosque in India and surprise, surprise another festival tonight with all of the proceedings on the same ground as last night so we have been watching fireworks and some of the 3 hour enactment that is still taking place. Apparently some god (Hindu) was in the forest for 14 years and they are celebrating his return. ..we notice at both of festivals the women and children sit together and the men sit at the back. Men and women are not together in public very much. It is so orderly for all of the masses. They gather and sit and then split up very quickly. The play itself has lots of color and very little action. I am sure that the audience must know the story very well - but we are trying to figure out bits. The music and drums go quite often so it is all so entertaining. What timing!
...reading in the local paper here that in Dubai that Ramadan has become too commercial and that people spend too many evenings shopping instead of reflecting on what Ramadan is all about. Sounds like the old story about commercialization of Christmas - just another setting.
Guess that is enough of my story for today - so much to relate and I like to abbreviate it so much - not really into recording - however as we adjust I know that this will seem like a distant memory if I don't relate it now. Everything is so intense - guess that's one of the great things of travel. And we have seen so much and talked to a few other travellers - who keep on returning to India - guess that it gets in their blood - though they don't much care for Delhi. So we shall see how it all unfolds. We have bought a ticket for Shimla for Sat morning leaving at 6am! The life of retirement and we want to get up for a tour of South Delhi early in the am tomorrow. Tough , isn't it? Shimla is in the mountains (or rather a valley). We catch a train part way and then switch to a narrow gauge railway for the last bit. Clive really likes those (and so do I).
Anyways, must sign off for now. We do love to hear from anyone at home - and how you are all doing - miss you all but having a wonderful time.
We have figured lots of the ways the networks here work with tourists. Yesterday we were constantly accompanied by well dressed gentlemen wanting to assist in their friendly manner. When Clive finally said "we don't want a guide" they disappeared within 50 meters and then the next one took over with the same line. They all have cell phones - wonder if they are talking to the next guy.Anyways they all directed us the wrong to Connaught Place which should be a 5 minute walk from here. We never did find it. However, we went out this am and followed our map and presto! there it was just as the map said.
Then we tried to get to the train station for foreigners to buy tickets. they can show you identification showing that they work for the railway and again direct you away from the station down to some travel agent. As we went to go up some stairs, we were stopped two stairs up and told firmly that the office was closed. We went up and there it was! Wonderful!
Again today, some man firmly and politely (like a powerful teacher to his students) asserted that he knew where the government travel agency was as he had id showing uus that he worked for the government. As I didn't listen and walked away, he explained very firmly that I must listen to him. Anways we didn't and again he had attempted to misdirect us.
so now we have some of this sassed out and know to relie on our maps, guidebooks and government official offices (though everyone claims to be legitimate.
We enjoyed our day immensely - ate some great vegetarian meals at nice quiet restaurants, saw the Red Fort (should be called a castle if it was in England), saw the oldest mosque in India and surprise, surprise another festival tonight with all of the proceedings on the same ground as last night so we have been watching fireworks and some of the 3 hour enactment that is still taking place. Apparently some god (Hindu) was in the forest for 14 years and they are celebrating his return. ..we notice at both of festivals the women and children sit together and the men sit at the back. Men and women are not together in public very much. It is so orderly for all of the masses. They gather and sit and then split up very quickly. The play itself has lots of color and very little action. I am sure that the audience must know the story very well - but we are trying to figure out bits. The music and drums go quite often so it is all so entertaining. What timing!
...reading in the local paper here that in Dubai that Ramadan has become too commercial and that people spend too many evenings shopping instead of reflecting on what Ramadan is all about. Sounds like the old story about commercialization of Christmas - just another setting.
Guess that is enough of my story for today - so much to relate and I like to abbreviate it so much - not really into recording - however as we adjust I know that this will seem like a distant memory if I don't relate it now. Everything is so intense - guess that's one of the great things of travel. And we have seen so much and talked to a few other travellers - who keep on returning to India - guess that it gets in their blood - though they don't much care for Delhi. So we shall see how it all unfolds. We have bought a ticket for Shimla for Sat morning leaving at 6am! The life of retirement and we want to get up for a tour of South Delhi early in the am tomorrow. Tough , isn't it? Shimla is in the mountains (or rather a valley). We catch a train part way and then switch to a narrow gauge railway for the last bit. Clive really likes those (and so do I).
Anyways, must sign off for now. We do love to hear from anyone at home - and how you are all doing - miss you all but having a wonderful time.
Monday, October 10, 2005
Delhi and Dubai
Well, we arrived safely in Delhi at the wee hours of the am and were pleasantly greeted by a taxi to take us to our hotel. It is a nice cocoon in the midst of filth on the streets and so on - internet cafe and a restaurant - so we will have a chance to acclimatize and get our bearings and make some plans. As usual I decided to pee before picking up baggage and we got our first reaction of a non first world place - smelly, mosquito (singular), squat toilet and no paper! Tonight we enjoyed our first meal and it was great - the same little dishes that we are used to at our favorite Indian restaurant in Calgary. We also had prime viewing of the culmination of a festival from the hotel roof. We looked down into a square that had 3 characters (bad men) about 30 feet high of painted cardboard (a full scale version of children's artwork) and lots of people in costumes, crowds packed in (men in one area of the street and women and children in another area). After some time fires were ignited under each of the bad men and firecrackers exploded and the men disintegrated. Soon the crowds disappeared. We enjoyed watching it all from our cocoon on the rooftop. This celebration is all over India - not just for our pleasure.
Dubai was a land or city of extreme heat and beautiful warm clear waters and fine sandy beaches but not terribly interesting. Tons of large malls and all of the shops that we are familiar with - La senza, esprit, etc - so much square footage for displays and beautiful tiled floors through the expansive air-conditioned shops. Being Ramadan meant no food until sundown - around 6 pm - starbucks opened at 600pm each day so no morning coffee. Quite the reverse of Ramadan at school in Calgary where we eat and the Muslim kids don't. Here we are not allowed to eat or drink in public - so we had a few snacks in our pack and a ton of water. We sneak out of clear sight of everyone and have a drink. They don't do too much this month and I can hardly blame them - no water even, from sunrise to sunset. I believe that they may have been friendlier if they were not so hungry and thirsty. Clive and I were consuming about 8 liters per day - but then we walked quite a lot. At sunset, the restaurants fill up very quickly and most of the restaurants have a wonderful Mediterranean buffet which is decimated in the first hour. They have a whole lamb, lamb stew in yogurt, grilled meats (kebabs), rices, wonderful salads with lots of wonderful ingredients, great spreads (hummous, babwgnoush/, etc and lots of fresh fruits and puddings. The flavours are certainly to our taste - from cilantro to garlic and oil.
The highlight of London was seeing the production of Les Miserables.
Dubai was a land or city of extreme heat and beautiful warm clear waters and fine sandy beaches but not terribly interesting. Tons of large malls and all of the shops that we are familiar with - La senza, esprit, etc - so much square footage for displays and beautiful tiled floors through the expansive air-conditioned shops. Being Ramadan meant no food until sundown - around 6 pm - starbucks opened at 600pm each day so no morning coffee. Quite the reverse of Ramadan at school in Calgary where we eat and the Muslim kids don't. Here we are not allowed to eat or drink in public - so we had a few snacks in our pack and a ton of water. We sneak out of clear sight of everyone and have a drink. They don't do too much this month and I can hardly blame them - no water even, from sunrise to sunset. I believe that they may have been friendlier if they were not so hungry and thirsty. Clive and I were consuming about 8 liters per day - but then we walked quite a lot. At sunset, the restaurants fill up very quickly and most of the restaurants have a wonderful Mediterranean buffet which is decimated in the first hour. They have a whole lamb, lamb stew in yogurt, grilled meats (kebabs), rices, wonderful salads with lots of wonderful ingredients, great spreads (hummous, babwgnoush/, etc and lots of fresh fruits and puddings. The flavours are certainly to our taste - from cilantro to garlic and oil.
The highlight of London was seeing the production of Les Miserables.
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