Haridwar & Rishikesh.

After flying from Goa back up to Delhi, we thought we'd go for a quick trip up to Haridwar and Rishikesh. We'd heard they were pretty chilled out places and since it was only 4hours by train away, we figured it'd be a nice stress-free way to end our time in India. But we were wrong. We arrived at Haridwar at about 9pm and hated it instantly. The next day we walked down to the ghats where millions of pilgrims were bathing in the Ganges River, cleansing themselves in a river so polluted it is now classified as 'septic'. It just wasn't a nice place to be - and far from peaceful - so we got an autorickshaw to Rishikesh as quick as we could.
Rishikesh is known as the 'yoga capital of the world' and people go there to stay in ashrams, meditate, and practise yoga. About 40years ago The Beatles stayed in an ashram there, until they became disillusioned with their gurus demands for money and attitudes towards women, and left. Seems alot of people flock to Rishikesh desperatly searching for enlightenment or other such things to justify - or escape from - their lives. It's a pretty weird place. I talked to an american lady who had spent the last 34 years following some Indian guru, only to discover he wasn't a guru at all and just wanted her money and it seems there's alot of naive and/or brainwashed people in Rishikesh doing that. There's sadhus (holy men with dreadlocks) everywhere, except none of them are legit. Some even wear fake dreadlocks to trick people that they are of a high standing - the longer your dreads, the more enlightened you are believed to be. That's why Sean gets called 'baba' all the time hehe.
After a couple of the weirdest days I've had in India, we headed back to Haridwar because we had to get a train back to Delhi from there. Sean and I went to the train station to line up to buy tickets, but buying train tickets in India isn't exactly like buying them anywhere else in the world. There was a ticket window for women only so I lined up there, but soon enough the line became a moshpit and I had to fight off crazed Indian women (and the occasional man who tried to sneak into the womens line) and use all sorts of sneaky tactics to keep people from pushing infront of me. After over an hour of this in insane heat, I got up to the ticket window only to be told that the trains were completely booked for the next week. We had 2 days before we needed to be in Delhi to fly out so things weren't looking so good.
After talking to a travel agent we were told to line back up and ask for the foreign tourist quota seats, so Sean battled it out at the train station again for over an hour, just to be told the quota seats were full.
So, we were stranded in Haridwar - the worst town I've ever seen. We ended up having to get a taxi all the way back to Delhi and I've never been so happy to see the main bazaar in Pahar Ganj, New Delhi.
We're leaving for Thailand tonight to relax at the beach for a week before returning to NZ and the real world. See you all soon!

(will put photos up soon)

Goa Photos

The first 2 are of Candolim beach, where I stayed. In the first photo are the pulled down beach shacks, in the second you can see the shipwreck.

Me at Vagator beach.

Vagator beach.

Poster in Panajim.

Church in Panajim. In South India they're christian instead of hindu so there's crosses, churches, and 'jesus saves' everywhere instead of temples and 8-armed gods.

A pile of street dogs in Candolim.

Indian Summer

It's been awhile since I last updated this, so here's a brief rundown of what I've been doing since Pokhara, Nepal....
After a sad goodbye to our Nepali family we took a bus back to Kathmandu. A scary scary busride - I kept my eyes closed most of the time and everytime I opened them I saw a bus wreck either on the side of the road or off the edge of the cliff. After afew hassles and much trouble with airport security (lots of frisking, lots of bag emptying, lots of questions about drug paraphenalia which I didn't have!) we flew past Mount Everest back into the crazyness of India. And Indian Summer.
With summer you get intense heat (around 45degrees) and rain, which cools things down but turns the streets of New Delhi to a river of sludge and feces. So we got on a plane the next day and flew to Goa, in the south, to cool off at some beaches.
Because its monsoon season, there's no one around (except for afew Indian tourists who wear their matching "goa is heavenest" tshirts and take photos of the two strange people with white skin - being constantly stared at isn't nice but being photographed is so much worse) and all of the restaurants, shops, and hotels have either been torn down or closed and wrapped entirely in plastic. I love monsoon; there's no crowds or hawkers, everything's cheaper, and the electrical storms are so pretty.
We're renting a little house near the beach at Candolim and have our own manky-guard-dog and also a kitchen so I've been able to have all the foods Ive been missing like marmite and tofu yay.
We've been in Goa for about 2 weeks now, just relaxing and swimming and exploring the other beaches and sights by scooter. The roads are insane to navigate and we nearly died so many times and were both heading towards a nervous breakdown after afew days of driving!
We're coming to the end of our trip now and have about one month left, and no set plan.....

Random Photos in Pokhara

The first photo is of Fewa Lake, in Pokhara and the second one is of my Nepali family in our garden.
This is the lights from rides at New Year 2065 festival by the lake (which went for 10days).It was the most terrifying fair I've ever seen. The ferris wheel (which I was too scared to even go on) had no doors to keep you in the cage and it went so incredibly fast. I saw a motorcycle show where 3 guys - with bandaged up heads - drove around the walls of a circular enclosure. We paid 30rupees and stood about 5metres up ontop of the structure and I was terrified that it was going to collapse. And then the motorbikes started getting higher and higher up the walls and taking their hands off the handlebars and by then I was hiding and wanting to run away. The motorcyclists looking like they were going to drive too far up the wall and fly into the crowd, but I couldn't leave either because everything was shaking too violently for me to get down the stairs! And then two taxis starting circling around the walls aswell - crazy stuff.
The last photos are taken at the museum, and yes they had a section on the yeti who apparently likes to steal potatoes.

Panchase Trek

To get to the start point of the trek, first we had to take a local bus (the kind where people ride on the roof) for 9km, which took an hour. We wound our way up and down cliffs, constantly beeping the horn and getting far too close to hurtling over the edge into the lake below and then we got to the part where the road is still being built so the tough old bus went offroad through paddocks and even through dried up riverbeds until we reached a little village which was the start of the Panchase trek.
After a quick breakfast of dhaal bhat (lentil soup with rice and some vege curry) we began climbing steep rock stairs up and up and up and they just kept on going up. After a couple of hours of the torturous stairs our guide told us that the whole trek was just a steep incline to the top of the 24oometre mountain and was one of the hardest treks to do. We thought we were off on a nice short wander through some flat land. Oh dear. I considered turning around and going home afew times, but somehow managed to persevere (and yes Katherine, I looked to Billy Blanks for inspiration!).
Most of the trek was through jungle and we stopped off at one village where we invited ourselves into someones home and asked them for some tea. They were feasting on a species of endangered monkey. The views were pretty cool along the way but because its been so dusty lately we couldn't see any of the himalayas.
So, up and up we went for about 7 hours and just when I thought I couldn't possible walk any further we arrived at our home for the night. I was so happy I nearly cried! I was surprised that there were afew guesthouses up there, and even more surprised that the guesthouses were all full. We ended up with a room to stay in though and our guide just slept on the kitchen floor.
We sat down to a dinner of dhaal bhat and black tea which the coolest old lady cooked up for us on an open fire which was in a pit in the kitchen floor. She was the strongest little lady and when she gave me a hug she nearly crushed me!
Our guide then started to drink raksi (homemade millet beer) and got pretty annoying pretty quickly so we went off to bed, leaving them to sing and dance all night. We had taken our bhai (little brother) from the hotel with us and he asked to sleep in our room with us because of the drunken guide who had promised not to drink.
I had a surprisingly good night rest on my bed which was just a wooden plank with a grass mat on it. The next day was meant to be a day of rest and wandering but we decided to head back home after a morning spent skimming rocks and watching buffalo swimming.
It was much easier and quicker going back home but so much harder on my body and my legs are so sore I can't walk!
Our guide ended up being a total dick and told his boss that we didn't pay him enough even though we actually overpaid him, and he's trying to swindle all sorts of money out of all sorts of people. Apparently it's quite hard to find an honest guide that doesn't just get drunk and try to rip you off.
All in all, I'm glad I did the trek - and did a short one before embarking on a 3week one - but I don't want to ever do one again! I'm giving my shoes away so that I never get tempted to do a trek ever again!

Here's afew photos from the trek..... The first two photos are of the view along the way, the next two are of the village I stayed in. The last two photos are of the women who ran the guesthouse, and of Mama cooking roti (like a thin pancake) for breakfast over the fire in the kitchen floor. The last photo is a random one of a snake charmer in Pokhara.

Happy New Year 2065

Being in India was like travelling hundreds of years back in time. Being in Nepal, it seems I have been transported 50-odd years into the future. Yesterday was New Years day in the year 2065 - it's pretty surreal and does actually make me wonder if I fell into some kind of Alice in Wonderland rabbit hole.

I've just arrived in Pokhara. It took about 7hours by bus from Kathmandu and was actually a really nice trip with lots of pretty scenery that was like the south island but with rice paddies. It's always abit unnerving though when you pass lots of burned out buses that've crashed into cliffs along the way and your bus is overtaking other buses while hurtling around corners. I arrived in one piece though and am really liking Pokhara. Its so similar to Wanaka with a big lake and mountains which are so much bigger than I thought they'd be!

Here's some photos from around the Kathmandu Valley.

A god painted down Freak Street, near Durbar Square.

Markets down Freak Street.

The giant stupa at Boudnath, a nice town with alot of Tibetian Buddhists living there.

Prayer wheels around the stupa.

A little girl with 'free tibet' shaved into her hair in Boudnath.

The view from the top of the monkey temple (can't remember the name of the town). I thought it'd be a nice peaceful walk here from my guesthouse, but it turned out to be a walk through fields of rubbish until I was completely lost and had to get a taxi. The temple was a strange mix of monkeys, beggars, monks, and people selling drugs and handicrafts.

Marijuana growing wild on the side of the road.

Kathmandu, Nepal

I've finally arrived in Kathmandu. I had the train ride from hell from Jaipur to Delhi - I hadn't reserved a ticket and there was about 100 times too many people for each seat. I'd been planning on sitting on the ground between the carraiges, but even that part was full of people! But as all things in India go, the kindness of newly made friends guaranteed that everything worked out. I then flew from Delhi to Kathmandu on the scariest flight of my life - I think we were caught in an electrical storm because the whole trip was as though the plane was missing vital parts of its engine and at one point it actually dropped from the sky for afew (very long) seconds. The screaming and praying going on in the seats around me didn't exactly help to calm my fears of an early death either. But we landed safe and sound. I've been here about a week I think, but haven't been able to see much because once again I became crippled by sickness. By the fourth bout of the same illness, you really do start to lose your faith in doctors. Each time I went to a doctor in India they handed out colourful pills, told me to eat bannanas, and told me to 'dont worry be happy'. Sometimes you need a little more than a positive mindset and a bunch of bananas to cure an illness. But oh well, I'm in Nepal now and I have found a real clinic with real doctors in it and sterilised equipment and everything! So things are looking good....
Except for the political situation in Nepal that is. I wasn't aware that the election from last october had actually been postponed until this April - in about 4 days time. In NZ elections aren't really a big deal, but here there's all sorts of bombs and kidnappings involved because of the maoists (a communist party that's pretty pissed off) so Kathmandu is pretty much closing down and we're going into hiding until the elections over and things are safe again.
Besides all that bad news, Nepal is really beautiful and so are the people. They're really tiny people but have big kind smiles. It"s nice to be in a cooler climate too , the hills and crisp air remind me of Dunedin, and the electical storms at night are really cosy. It's also a nice break from the pollution, dirtyness, and constant stares of India - not that I don't love India, but sometimes being stared at all day does get abit annoying.
As usual, there's lots of manky dogs around (they make me miss Jake!) which is cool because they seem to keep to their territories and provide handy landmarks for me when I'm walking through the markets. I refuse to believe that something so cute, fluffy and smiley as a manky street dog could possibly have rabies.
Sorry, no photos yet, I'll get some up as soon as I can venture back out into the world. Thanks everyone for the emails and comments, it's sometimes nice to feel that home isn't so far away :)

Pushkar

Well I ended up leaving Udaipur after afew nights - it was really pretty there but so touristy. I took a train for about 7hours and then a bus for the further 11km to Pushkar. The bus took almost an hour to go the 11km and was full of people, but they managed to stop and put more and more people on every hundred metres! So, I've been in Pushkar for just over a week now and am trying to organise my train out of here for tomorrow, so I'll try to do a vague recap of what I've been doing in this lovely little town.....
Pushkar is known for the camel fair that takes place in November, but since its not November and I'm not really in the market for buying camels, I've been meeting crazy people with crazy stories, hiding from gypsies, wandering the markets, sitting by the holy lake, watching the sun set from a quiet spot in the desert, talking to cows, eating good food, lying on cushions on the rooftop, and taking part in the Holi festival.
The Holi festival began the day before yesterday with a big haystack being set up in the town square and after alot of people throwing flowers and oil on it, it was set alight and the drums began and everyone went a little crazy and did these stick dances. The following day was the colour throwing part of the festival. The second I left my room in the morning I had my face smeared with bright pink and gold dye, as a sign of friendship. I think. So we headed into the town square for this massive trance party where everyone was throwing water and powdered dye and paint. It was mental and I'm still afew strange shades of pink and green today.
Pushkar has been really nice but it's time to leave the heat of deserts of Rajasthan for the cool mountains of Nepal...
The photos are: me at Agra Fort, in Agra. The view of the Taj Mahal from my hotel in Agra. The streets in Agra. Palace on the hill in Bundi. My new family in Bundi. The town of Bundi by the lake. A view of Pushkar. Me in the desert in Pushkar. Me after the Holi Festival.

India: delhi-agra-bundi-udaipur

I've been in India for about two weeks now so I'll try to catch up on whats been happening... after Delhi I got a train to Agra where I stayed the first night just out of town and away from all the touristyness of the place. It was really cool, all the people were really friendly, and I found the best samosas in the bazaars there. I moved into the Taj Ganj area and spent most of the time just hanging out and watching monkeys and enjoying the view of the Taj Mahal from the roof of my hotel. On my last day there I got struck down by delhi-belly - with a 12 hour train trip ahead of me that night. I spent most of the day dying in bed but managed to get up long enough to go and see the Taj Mahal. It was pretty cool but im not really that blown away by monuments and was dissapointed that there aren't actually any spikes in the lake there - which Id thought since I was a kid.
The train trip started off ok - the train was about an hour late but I met some nice Indian people in the station. Being a foreigner here is kind of like being a celebrity because everyone just stares at you and wants to come and talk to you and show you to their friends. I had a sleeper class train which consists of rows and rows of 3tier bunks. I was on the top bunk and lay down to try and sleep but all these guys were sitting there staring at me so I got out my sleeping sheet and covered myself, even my face, with it to try and sleep. The next minute someone pulled the sheet off me and grabbed my leg and it was about that time that I swore I'd never go on a train again. Turns out it was a begger just wanting money and after sean yelled at him and then an Indian woman yelled at him, he left and the rest of the trip was fine and 12 hours later I arrived in Bundi, a small town in Southern Rajasthan.
Bundi is really beautiful, and the town looks the same as it would have hundreds of years ago. Most of the houses there are painted blue (to signify that brahmen, the highest caste, live there) and theres a huge old palace and fort overlooking the town. The streets are full of roaming cows, pigs, dogs, and the odd camel and monkeys run around everywhere so you have to carry a monkey-stick with you to scare them off. I love how in India the people just live in harmony with all the animals and let them wander around wherever they want - if there was monkeys and pigs walking around the streets in NZ we'd probably set traps and kill them all! I stayed in an old haveli with this nice family and everyone in the town seemed to have decided taht I was their new best friend. I t was impossible to walk down to the bazaar (marketplace) without being called to come in and drink chai with my new friends. I got the flu while I was there and everyday the locals would ask me how I was feeling, all making sure I was ok and offering to take me to the hospital haha. A lady invited me to her house to look at her wedding photos and drink chai which was really amazing to see how she lived and to talk about Indian culture. I also go to see a Hindu wedding procession going down the street, which I watched from my roof with my monkey-stick at hand. Everyone was so colourful and dancing and playing brass instruments and riding crazy colourful horses. Later that night I got invited to go to the wedding and was made to eat heaps and heaps of really spicy food!
It was pretty sad leaving Bundi, but more adventures lay ahead of me in Udaipur, about 6hours by train. I just arrived in Udaipur last night and am surprised at how touristy it is here - its abit of a shock after being in a little town where there was barely any other foreigners! Its a really beautiful place though and has a big lake and heaps of palaces. The james bond movie octopussy was filmed here, so all of the guesthouses play it.
I'm loving the street food in India, and its so cheap. I can get a samosa for 2 rupees (about 6cents NZ) or a bowl of alu gobbi with a stack of chappati for 10 rupees (about 30cents NZ) or a thali of dhal, vege curry, rice, and chappati for 25 rupees (about 75 cents NZ). Darren - you'd love it here!
All of the horror stories you hear about India are (so far) not true at all. Its more dusty than dirty, the people are so welcoming and friendly, only the minority of men are creeps, and I am yet to come across any bottles of water that have been drained and filled with tap water. It's a crazy place and so much happens everyday that makes you stop and think.