Monday, December 31, 2012

Desert & camels (but no beer)....Pushkar Rajasthan

Pathway and lights to the temple on the hill
(Sunrise sunset, it's a great walk)

Pushkar is on a small lake surrounded by 52 Ghats....
steps down to the water from 52 individual temples)..
Sunrise was awesome, since there was no-one to try to sell me anything...
the lake was formed when Vishnu dropped a Lotus petal
to the desert and it formed 3 lakes....Great stories...




Pushkar is also the focus of the annual Camel Fair on a full moon weekend...supposedly more than 100,00 camels are about with all the trading and yahooing going on....Unfortunately we missed it by a few days and there were only stragglers...
They still had on their party clothes.....



Proud of his cart.....







Incredible meal.....cashew curry, cashew bhriyani, but alas no
beer....Sacred towns in India seems to limit the alcohol, meat
and eggs.....good thing for the curry....



Becky got caught with all these amazing wood cuts for
printing cloth..... great detail....






















Great balance while he danced.....
Check out the video clip, the guy dancers
were great and the singers had incredibly
high voices.....Maybe it's the camels....
The music does grow on you...















                                                                                                                                 Enjoyed some very different drumming and
vocals with some dancing by what we thought were women....but...


Monday, December 24, 2012

A little peek at Sri Lanka

In Polonnaruwa the ancient capital of Sri Lanka with amazing budda statues, structural remains of temples and castles, we toured on bicyclesto easily see the sites. Because of the torrential rainand warm climate, umbrellas with shorts and flip flops were the best attire.

 
A wild elephant! A treat to see this one from a car window ripping up vegetation for lunch.
This is short and sweet - as again we've got a slow connection and other people want to use this computer....

Merry Christmas

We wish you all a wonderful Christmas, and warm time with your family and friends. We're enjoying damp Nuwara Eliya, Sri Lanka. This island country is so varied: ancient ruins in the tropical jungles, tea plantations in hill country, roaming wild animals, and soon to be discovered by us...warm beaches.
Cheers to all for the Holdidaze....instead of the beach we are spending Christmas in the Hill Country were it's a bit cooler......Hope the best and we'll get back to this when we can....MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!!

We enjoyed Christmas eve last night with a lovely Sri Lankan meal of varied curried vegetables: jack fruit, pumpkin, greens with coconut and chilis, potatoes, pickles onions and peppers and of course some pompadums. A French couple we met opened a can of foi grasi they brought special from home and shared with us - we contributed a bottle of Australian wine. With a Christmas tree decorated in blinking lights and balloons, and Christmas country music playing over the radio, we swirled sparklers as the staff shot off bottle rockets. A very nontraditional but lovely evening.

Friday, December 14, 2012

The Land of Raj------Jaipur Rajasthan



Took the overnight (sleeper) train from Varanasi to Jaipur Rajasthan, a mere 17 1/2 hours. Pretty dang comfy  until morning came and the bunks turned into seats and the classic Indian squeeze plan started. Luckily it was only 5 hours of being squeezed into the bench seat with 3 others(or 4,or 5).....
Jaipur....also known as the "Pink City"...The old
town was painted pink to impressive a British
dignitary....If it looks a little orange...it's either a
paint chip from Home Depot looked a little  more
pink or this color was on sale...7 square km of
town painted like this...

The colors of the temples.......color powders to
sprinkle on everything....









Palaces on the mountains, palaces in the city...
lets put a palace on the lake......Jai Mahal was
this one's name, the pool wasn't big enough
at the old palace for the queen, so.........

Plenty of Camel parking
Amber Fort....just the biggest of the palaces

Main elephant gate.....

The walls on the ridges surrounding the palace...
Thought we were in China.

The cauldron in the foreground is one of 2 in the palace
 galley I guess they cooked for big crowds.....
Becky still couldn't find the shower,
but she did find a marble  tub, now
I'm looking for the faucet.
Traffic jam on the commute to the front gate
The beautiful doors into the Palace of the Winds (Hawa Mahal), This palace was in the Pink City and  originally housed the women of one of the Maharajas. They had dozens of windows to look down on the city streets
Pretty fun place to explore with somebody looking out most of the time.
This guy was keeping an eye on me and grandma an eye on him.........

Becky found that she didn't like the smallness of the whole thing.... and where is the door down to the street and  why do I have to cover my head and who does this Maharaja guy think he is...............

Saw this doorman with the turban and the great
muttonchops, he saw me taking his photo, but
instead of  charging me rupees for the photo...


He unwrapped his mustache from around his ears and held it out for me
to admire....The Rajasthanis love their mustaches........











Next to the Palace of the Winds was an
Observatory that was quite the
"Salvador Dali Park" Everything that is built
into a sextant was built huge in this
several acre park....."Go Big"

Each sign of the Horoscope was represented
and built to line up on that constellation  at
it's appropriate time of the night
...Here's Becky in Scorpio.....


Marble elephants, turbans and mustaches...what more could you ask for...
unfortunately they made Becky keep her eyes closed.
Excess...I think so..2 of these solid silver urns were
made to carry Ganges water to England when
the Maharaja went to visit....Nice touch

Cool doors, doorways and turbans, that was what
the City Palace was all about.

Each entryway was different 
This guy had the turban, mustache and  played
a rawanhatha
during our lunch at the Palace.


After a few days of palaces and incredible textiles
it was time to hit the desert and maybe a few camels
Off to Pushkar Rajasthan for us.......

Thursday, December 13, 2012

Varanasi intensity

  Hello strangers...I mean friends and family. I think I've probably broken the first rule of blogging, which is to post regularly if you expect people to read what you share. But I must say that traveling without a computer and trying to access one as we move about and through all the electrical outages has been quite a challenge for me. 
  We're currently in Varkala, Kerala, India where there is lots of sun, sand and surf. But, my post won't be about that yet. I've some catching up to do. Stretch just posted the last section of our trek in Nepal with comments from me added in.

  Since Nepal we headed back into India to Varanasi. This is where the Hindu come to die and/or have their cremated ashes scattered into the Ganges River.  It is their belief that in doing so this will end their cycle of reincarnation and they will reach nirvana. We stayed in a nice place above the ghats (steps down to the river). There were ceremonies conducted every evening to sent the deceased's spirit on. It involved elaborate dancing, bell ringing, fire, incense, and music.

Dancers for the deceased
The funeral ceremony was separate.  We observed various stages of the family carrying the body of the decease through the streets on a bamboo stretcher, covered in a mostly gold shroud. When they reached the river, the body was submerged in the water. After purchasing as much special kind of wood as the family can afford  the body was placed on the funeral pyre and cremated. Nearby a son had his head shaven, then set a clay pot of water on the fire when it was close to ashes. Out of respect for the families, no picture were taken.


Stacks of wood ready to be weighed and purchased for a funeral pyre.
The city was focused around the holy river, as it has been for centurys. Every morning people were down bathing in the water, taking boat rides, or making puja (offerings).  I found it to be contradictive though - with all the sacredness, there was also lots of uncleanliness in most public places.

Morning bathing. People all had different ghats they would go to. I can't tell you much about that, but there were lots of ghats.
Walking through the old part of the city was facinating; narrow alley, old buildings, tiny shops, cows, dogs, and motorcycles with both the unpleasent smells of waste and the aromic fragrance of cooking.
Doorways like this, with a small entrance were not for a dog. No way! These were to insure that you bowed as you entered the building.

This backstreet shop made delicious smelling food. But with all the washing and cooking water on the streets coming from the Ganges, I decided it was best not to eat here.
So, to get back into the flavors of India, I took a cooking class. It was just me and the lady who gave a demonstration in her little kitchen. It was amazing what she whipped out in an hour and a half. I got to stir a pot once... but mostly took photos as trying to keep up with writing notes became impossible. I was pleased  all the ingredients she used I can get at home.

Paneer simmering in ghee and cumin seed

It was so wonderful, having to eat that lusious meal myself. She would wait for her husband to come home for lunch @ 3:00 and they'd eat the rest of it then.   I do have a photo...but this computer is taking forever to load images, and Stretch has gone to have a beer. So, I'm out of here!
More soon, I promise.

The Sardus can be very colorful and are looking for new
ways to charge you for taking their pictures. Basically
they are Hindu pilgrims that locals support to be on
their spiritual quest, but there is better money in
gringos....  SGD

This Sardu was all about photo ops.....SGD

The true Sardus just kept to their business
and were part of the amazing drama of
Varansi! SGD

Sunrise and boat rides were magic time on the mighty Ganga river...SGD

Temples views and old stuff on the river Ganga
SGD

What could be more spiritual than the Ganga
river, Varanasi and a Brahma cow? SGD

Henna Becky ? SGD

The colors of Varanasi....SGD

The Last (?) Pass and the long way out


Bare with this post....it's been almost 2 weeks since I've had a chance to get online and 3 weeks since we were in Nepal. It's harder and harder to want to sit down at a computer when the big decisions are where to eat next and what to see and do......somehow the computer doesn't rate very high.....
To finish off this post we are leaving beautiful Gokyo and coming to the end of our high altitude trek.....

Heading up to our last Pass (5360m - 17,580') Sad to leave Gokyo, but ready for some warmer weather...

Becky boldly heading up to Renjo La....The altitude was slowly wearing her down  and making me want more and faster.....not a great combo..Luckily for both of us, we were not effected by any true altitude sickness... Only light headaches from not enough water......
...Well,  my headaches did take the "umph" out of my stride. I'd down copious amount of water I thought, but it was never enough. My secret power food became Snickers bars! They'd get me up the last part of the passes. (B)
Are you sick of seeing Everest yet....Well this was the last view of the trip from Renjo La ... We "think" it's all  down hill from here on out......

The last pass and the last prayer scarf.... Good weather and good health were ours  through  the Khumbu....
Um, well except for the day we both ate something for lunch that became very unpleasant later. Then the cold I caught from some inconsiderate cough-er going on in the marginally warm huts.  But it was lovely...really! (B)
Becky is less than thrilled and is looking for the 1st hot shower...I'm looking for  another  trek....
Ok, so the scenery and hiking were phenominal, but at this point the stench of my own self coupled with one unpleasant physical ailment after another was getting to me. I admit. (B)
Pasang is happy that, as old as we looked, we didn't walk that way....
3 days early on our trek makes for a big bonus for the boy...No lacking for prayer flags at this pass.

3,000' down to Lumde ......our village for the night. Note that  there will be no more pictures of  Everest...
But every time we saw it, it took my breath away. Really massive. I can't believe I was that close to it! (B)
Lumde, site of the best pizza on the trek, but I only had 3........... Noticeably warmer @ 4300m - 14,100' 
Pasang, Ganesh & Becky overlooking Thame (3750m -12,300') Beautiful spot, great guesthouse (with shower) and sunshine to warm you after....Ganesh has been carrying our gear for the last couple of weeks, but we rarely see him as he grabs our duffle in the morning and runs off to the next village and waits. Here in Thame we decided that we didn't want the trek to end, so instead of flying out of Lukla back to Kathmandu.....lets walk, it's only 6 more days and "all" down hill...Ganesh agrees to carry our gear and act as guide....... 

Thame was memorable for it's many farms in the valleys and a signed walking route that went my many Buddhist historical sites. (B)
Our view from the guest house in Thame after a great hike up to the monastery in the clouds...our fist clouds in weeks.

Hiking down from Thame to Namche the small villages were
mazes of rock walled paths and each village had it's little
monastery.

Back to Namche Bazaar for the night with Ama Dablam looking over the ridge
Ama Dablam was my favorite peak to see though. It was easily recognize no matter the angle we saw it from. We have a beautiful painting in our home of this mountain, given to us as a wedding gift by our friends Jody and Jacquie.
Back to the trees and river crossings 

We sadly leave Pasang at his home in Chheplung and
head out with Ganesh as our leader. Basically we have
given up our 45 minute flight to Kathmandu to hike
out for 6 days and a 12 hour bus ride....Maybe
the altitude did affect us. 

It seemed immediately the trail has changed, very few westerners hiking and  this is the main trail for all supplies coming into the Khumbu that aren't flown in. On mules or backs.....

Gannesh leading out with the duffle bag (only 20 kilos) thru some unusual oak trees

Did I mention that each of the 6 days involves 2-3 thousand feet in elevation loss and gain. We had 4 more passes to hike over and each was about 9,000' then down to the river and across the bridge and up the next pass.  The terracing of the fields was endless and amazing......the vivid greens and the houses perched above... 


We met Veronique, Lawrent (from Quebec) & Chong (from Penang, Malaysia) on the trek out and had originally met them flying in at the beginning of the trek. Here Veronique and Becky "enjoy" a 2 & 1/2 hour lunch wait for food....Pick your lunch spot carefully and everyone order the same thing.......

Lawrent crossing the Dudh Kosi river...the final
"Goodbye to the Khumbu" The bridge was over 100 meters long.

Lawrent and Becky coming in for day 3 of
a 2 & 1/2 hour lunch. We don't learn very
fast.


An actual road winding thru the terraced fields. Not on our side of the valley, but progress marches on and one day all the way to Everest Base Camp.......

On our last pass and last hiking day we finally found a Nepali  "Cheese Factory". We bought big chunks for the Bus ride tomorrow and  over ate while we watched him stir the pot......
That night we arrived in Shivalaya and had our last meal with Ganesh, who we found to have better English than he let on and sent him on his way... Early in the morning we jumped on the forever bus to Kathmandu  for the short ride to Jiri (turned out to be 2 & 1/2 hours) and then the flat tire stop followed by the tire repair stop followed by the lunch stop followed by the back seat bounce all the way back.......
While replacing the flat the riders on the top of the bus didn't want to lose their seats on the soft bundles or our bags. Before every police check point the bus would stop and every one would get off the bus and hike up into the woods. The bus would roll through the check point  and then stop just beyond to pick-up the roof top riders....Naturally, riding on the roof is "illegal".
So back in Kathmandu, we spent our time packaging our trekking gear to send back home, eating, showering and eating some more. We checked in with the"Sherpa Society", who organized our guide and porter and Pasang (another one) invited us to have dinner with his mother at their home...... What a treat and such a kind gesture. Of course we had Dal Bhat and it was a beautiful home..... We figured out how we wanted to leave Nepal ( on Thanksgiving Day)....Of course by bus to the border (the most comfortable so far) and pay our way out of border control with our expired visa.....and hired car to Varanasi (Benares)...Thus ends our Nepal Tour......     Hopefully I'll have a chance to get caught up here.......