Rajasthan

The state of Rajasthan is easier than some of India to travel around due to shorter distances and more obvious routes to take.  Unfortunately my Dad had to leave after our first stop in Jaipur due to family reasons.  It was a very sudden decision so it took me a few days to get used to travelling without him but luckily I met Johanna from Germany, Zoe from Manchester and Tasha from Essex so we travelled the rest of the state and beyond together.  Jaipur is allegdedly the pink city although at best it looks slightly orange in places.  We visited the astrology museum Chanta manta with many anceint working contraptions to measure the position of the stars and the sun.  We hired a rickshaw to take us to see the water palace which is basically a palace in a lake.  We visted Megarh fort and another fort for an amazing sunset view over the city.  In the evening we had a cooking lesson in Zostel hostel and ate the delicious food they made and went to the cinema to see a Bollywood film which turned out to be set in London!  The next day we went to the monkey temple which wasn’t very exciting and then shopping before my Dad headed to Delhi for his flight and Johanna and I got the bus to Pushkar.

We stayed in Najar Palace guesthouse and had dinner before moving the next day to The White House hotel which was a lot cleaner with more character.  The chef Hammand made us some delicious coconut milk porridge and I had a day on my own for the first time in a long time.  I took a route round to the Sikh guruwara, Hindu temples , round the lake and over the bridge to complete the circuit.  I stopped for falafel and to chat to people along the way. Pushkar in a small town in the desert set around a lake with holy ghats.  In the evening Johanna and I climbed up a mountain for a sunset view over the desert, it was beautiful.

The next day I wandered around and made a bracelet with a shopkeeper and found my friend Donna.  There are many tailors and fantastic fabrics in Pushkar so Donna was visiting on business for her clothes label.  We met her friend Suraj and arranged for me to go with him the next morning to visit Aloo Baba (the potato sadhu).  Then we went and had some heated discussions with various tailors before having dinner on a rooftop and catching up.  The next day I went with Suraj on his motorbike to visit the sadhu who has his own temple and only eats potatoes.  We sat with him for a while and then explored the desert around.  Suraj took me to his village on the way back where I met his wife and daughter.  They live in a little straw hut although he said they move to a tent in monsoon season when the rains come.  He made me a chai and played his homemade local instrument.  The main activity in Pushkar are shopping for various clothes and Donna took me to a magical wonderland shop of clothes a metre thick all over 2 floors!  The other thing to do is hang out at the lake at sunset and listen to various musicians and singers which is lovely.  The last day we went to Lauras Cafe for a delicious lunch and then hopped on the 4 hour bus to Bundi.

Bundi is a quiet little town which a beautiful crumbling palace that had kept some of the orginal paintings.  We stayed at the Raj Mahal guesthouse, visited the fort and hung out with leather shop owner Romeo who was a total character.  We tried Bhati for dinner which are like big chapati balls and were delicious.  The next day we walked around town and up to the fort.  We got chased by dogs in the little streets but were rescued by a teenage boy who invited us in for tea with his family.  There was an importnat muslim guru in town so it was quite busy as people went to satsung with him.  I receieved some the sad news that my grandad has died so we toasted his life with a beer overlooking the lake. We left that night on the 1am train to Udiapur.

I love Udiapur.  It is a city set round large lakes and is very scenic.  It is artistic city famous for minature paintings.  I organised for a few of us to have a lesson with Ashoka Arts where we spent 2 and half hours painting with incredibly thin paintbrushes onto a small silk square.  I chose to paint a typical peacock which was difficult but I enjoyed it a lot.  I also visited the palace there which is beautiful with collections of of kinds of art and artefacts inside.  Johanna and I walked up to a temple for a view of the city and we also had a cooking lesson with Shushi.  She was an inspirational woman.. She was married with children but in her 30’s her husband died.  She is of the highest caste (Brahma caste) and therefore she had to mourn for weeks, months, years.  She wasn’t able to leave the house so could not work to support her and her family. Luckily her brother supported them until one day they had some tourists stay with them.  They insisted she gave them a cooking lesson because her food was so good and that’s when the business was born.  She is now able to support her family and not upset the rules of her caste.  She is now number 1 for activities in Udiapur on Tripadvisor.  We stayed at the Bunkyard hostel where one night I gave everyone a henna design on their feet or hands.  The atmosphere was great there.  We continued our journey onwards with Tasha and Zoe to Jodhpur. Other things to try in Udiapur: famous dosas at Shree Nath Masala Dosa, Prakash’s unusual yoga class (8am and 7pm daily).

We went to the fort in Jodhpur and had a nice long lunch on the roof.  The next day was festival and people were making little shrines for Shiva.  We went on a bicycle tour of the city which was great.  We tried jalea which is basically batter fried and then dipped in syrup.  We went to famous ‘Fatso’ stall to get it where fatso himself sat with his belly hanging out and a big smile on his face serving the treat.  We learnt about the many Hindu Gods that get added to even now. the latest one is apparently the motorcycle god!  Then we went uphill to get a view of the blue part of town as Jodhpur is known as the blue city.  This is because this is the colour people of a high caste painted their houses. In the afternoon we went to a park with temples, monkeys and new brides and grooms. At 10pm we headed to the train station to go to Jalsaimer but unfortunately with wrong advice from strangers found ourselves on the wrong train going the opposite direction!  We waited 2 hours for the first stop and then managed to book a train for 3:30am to the correct place.  This train had no sleeper seats left and we were left to the women’s carriage which is also the luggage carriage and ended up sleeping in luggage compartments for the 10 hour journey.  Not fun.

 

In Jalsaimer we checked into the Roop Mahal hotel and decided to find the nearest hotel pool and treat ourselves with an afternoon relaxation after the horrific journey.  Johanna and I went to dinner with Yogi, a camel safari owner from Bikaner in an amazing restaurant.  We organised to do yoga there the next morning.  I spent the rest of the next day wandering round the castle on my own, talking to some interesting people until I met Alberto who was enjoying a beer by the cannon spot in the castle with a great view.  He invited me ti join him at a haveli for a photoshoot with a lady he’d met.  My shoe broke and we hunted for a new option that would fit while I walked bare foot round the dirty streets.  Eventually we found Santra who is a stunningly beautiful woman selling fake jewellery on the street.  Her husband is close by playing and selling the traditional Rajanthani instrument.  I instantly click with Santra who dresses me up in all her jewellery and let’s me play at being a street seller for a while.  We walk hand in hand talking about life, men and laughing all the way back to her little hut house on the hill with the best view of the castle in the city and a hundred meters from sunset point.  We meet the whole family. Her little son the youngest and the daughter ranging from 5 to 15.  One daughter is making chapatis on an outside fire when we arrive and we are soon made chai.  After playing with the children for a while Santra decides to dress me up in traditional clothes and put make up on me including eyeliner with a matchstick which hurt.

She then parades me up at sunset point in front of other locals and tourists where we dance and laugh.  Her husband explains to me and Alberto in English that they love their simple life up on the hill and they show us photos of people that have come to their house and sent them photos.  One girl even stayed for a month which I wasn’t surprised about as I felt very welcome and at home in their family. We were going to stay for dinner but unfortunately Alberto didn’t feel so well.  On the way back I got lost and was rescued by a passing shopkeeper I was speaking to that morning who drove me round on his Motorbike for half an hour before we could find the hotel.  I ate dinner with the girls and we prepared for our camel safari the next day.

The next day we checked out, had breakfast, bought some cookies and left our big bags behind n the office as we set off for a camel safari.  We drove into the desert until we stopped and the camels awkwardly rambled towards us.  They sat down as the guides packed our bags and told us to get on.  My camel was called Calu and the only other one I can remember was Michael.  They are comical creatures and seemed happy rambling along in line through the desert.  We stopped in a village for chai then continued to the sand dunes where we set up camp for the night in the open air.  It was a bit cloudy but we saw a bit of the sunset and some amazing night stars for a while. The guides cooked us a great dinner and then we went to sleep. In the middle of the night it began to rain so the guides came running over and said, “Rain? No problem!” and covered us with a large sheet or tarpulin! Not quite the rain protection we had in mind.  Luckily it stopped so we didn’t suffocate.  In the morning we went back on the camels and back to Jalsaimer.  That night we headed to Bikaner, another desert town which is busy and noisy. We spent the day there having trouble arranging onward transport but eventually Johanna headed to Rishikesh and we headed up to Amritsar.

Holi: Vrindavan and Mathura

Vrindavan take India to new levels of uncleanliness. More dusty, dirty than other places, with the fragrance of drains mixed with cow poo. I can’t even bear to shock you with the filthiness that is our hotel room. (If  you’re desperate or want to avoid it is Maa Padma Residency).  As if it wasn’t dusty enough, every year the town celebrates the Hindu God Krishna by throwing coloured dust over each other.

Tired from a 7 hour bus journey to Delhi followed by a 3 hour bus journey and a rickshaw I arrive, have a hotel booking confusion (scam) and move to find my friend Alberto. We get breakfast at a relatively cleaner restaurant in town. I feel exhausted by head out to explore the town ahead of the Holi madness tomorrow. Thus is the first town I’ve felt stares upon me when I walk down the street and I;m guessing the town receives foreign visitors only once a year for the festival. It’s not long before I’m targeted by a bomb of pink powder paint from a passing rickshaw filled to the brim with rowdy boys – double points if you hit a tourist, triple if it’s a female!

It seems a few temples are celebrating early as groups of men wearing white walk past covered in colour. I stop for a coconut refresher and give a small, skinny boy half. He reappears 5 minutes later with a friend wanting more but he’s too late, I’ve eaten it so he gives in and shares with his friend. I’m not in the mood for the deafening vehicle horns, mangy monkey and vicious dog dodging so I decide to head back to the safety of Alberto at the hotel and prepare for tomorrow. On the way back I can’t resist a quick look inside a big marble temple. Celebrations are starting, crowds of people are singing and dancing to praises of Hare Krishna songs. I go upstairs to find a walking meditation room with 108 lotus flowers painted on the floor around the edge of the room. Someone explains the idea that you chant /sing/say the usual words:

Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare hare.
Hare Rama, hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare hare.

You chant them for each time you walk on the next lotus flower to create a walking meditation. This is supposed to take about 7 minutes when in reality it takes a lot longer. I saw many devotees cheat and skip a few flowers or only say half the words each time!

The next day we were up early ready for Holi, we were told the temple celebration starts at 6am when it fact it was 8.30am but it was great to see the build up of excited people anyway. We woke at 5.30 and prepared. i wore a head scarf to protect my hair, long trousers and an old t-shirt. Shoes are essential for quick escapes! I also had sunglasses but these lasted 5 minutes in the crowd. We waited outside the temple, got interviewed by Indian TV and soon we had a crowd 30 or more strong simply staring at us. We paid a guy with a shop outside to take care of our shoes and a lovely guy Tarun took round the back of the temple where you could walk straight in without the push when they opened the front gates, only a few hundred people seemed to realise this was possible. Alberto is a professional photographer and it wasn’t long before a man approached us and let him bribe him to let us go up onto the balcony for a god view from above. I was very grateful to be up there with him because even before the temple doors opened it was full of people. When the doors opened people pushed and crushed each other to get a view of the idol Krishna. i wouldn’t be surprised if someone died in that crush, it was insane. They open and close the curtains every now and then so that women don’t get seduced by Krishna and their soul doesn’t go with him. The pushing and shoving went on for about an hour as people tried to get their offerings to the idol statue. When it calmed down we went downstairs and the paint fight began. Outside the temple it was crazy, we retrieved our shoes and made our way onto the streets surrounding the temple. I was targeted by groups of guys throwing paints in my face, pouring coloured water over me and coloured spray foam. I soon realised there were too many attackers to get revenge on them all so I’d pick one occasionally to shove a load of green powder in their face. Everyone was happy and saying Hare Krishna or haribo or other Krishna related greetings.

After a while we were exhausted from constant attacks and we wandered to find food and shelter from the sun. A young girl approached us and invited us to her family home where they gave us chai and traditional Holi sweets. They didn’t seem to mind that we were covering their house in a layer of powder. The girl told us her story. She is 17 years old and she gained a sponsorship for a course in the sciences in the college of Vrindavan. Unfortuately, being a girl, she cannot come and live on her own in another town so her entire family, mother, father, brothers and sisters came with her so she could complete the course. They rent a small house during term time, an incredibly supportive family. Alberto took some photos of the family and their father looked over them proudly.

We continued on and took refuge in a restaurant with other tourists needing a break from the constant bombardment. It was 3pm, we were multicoloured from head to toe and exhausted so we retired back to the hotel where we soon found that showers do not wash away Holi paint! In the evening we got a rickshaw to Flowers which was the only nice restaurant n town on a roof and had dinner with Colin, another photographer.

The next day we woke up and headed to Mathura where we thought the madness may have calmed a little from yesterday…WRONG! Mathura was crazy. Everyone seemed to have been out all night and were looking quite worse for wear. It was soon clear that there was a different atmosphere from the day before, only groups of guys on the streets and it is definitely not safe for a western woman to be there. I advise any woman to not go there for Holi at all for their own safety. We got invited by a funny character with a big moustache and massive gold beaded necklace into a small temple where it was just his family and friends celebrating. Of course they absolutely ahnilated us with buckets of ink water, powder and water guns but they did it with such a big smile on their faces that all we could do was laugh! Everyone wished us Happy Holi individually and they gave us a special hoii drink and sweets. There was music and the women taught me to Indian dance with them. They let of coloured smoke sticks and danced around them. It was a magical experience and we stayed for quite some time. We decided to continue to the big temple but before long decided that it was too dangerous for us to be on the streets so we jumped in a rickshaw back only to be attacked in the rickshaw by a big group of guys.

We took shelter in the hotel the rest of the day, sending Colin out for take away food and eventually the Holi players subsided in the evening allowing us to meet with Eric and his friends, 3 Canadian girls who reported that they’d had a very tough time of it aswell. I decided to give the 3rd Holi celebration a miss and head to Delhi the next day.

Agra and Taj Mahal

We arrived in Agra at sunset to get a wuock first glimpse of the Taj Mahal from a rooftop and check in to a horrible hotel. The next morning we got up early to beat the crowds and to see the sunrise light. We paid our 750ir which includes shoe covers and a bottle of water, went through security checks and got in around 7am. We had a beautiful sunny day. The Taj is a  magnificent white marble homage to Emperor Shah Jahan’s 3rd wife Mumtaz Mahal who died giving birth to their 14th child. The emperor built it as a memorial to her and they are both buried there. It has intricate patterns made of precious stones and if you shine a torch on the marble you can see it’s translucent properties. Even with all the thousands of people that visit, it still seems peaceful somehow. We had a professional camer guy take some photos of us in front of it in ridiculous poses that were delivered to our hotel later and I attempted to coach my dad into taking some with noone in (a difficult task). We saw an eagle fly down onto the grass mistaking a sock for prey. After a few hours, when we had admired the spectacle from every angle, we left and moved to more comfortable Zostel.

We ordered a private car to take us to Fatehpur Sikri about an hour away where Emperor Akbar built a fort and a mosque. We hired a guide who explained the fascinating history. Akbar built a palace for each of his 3 wives. One was Hindu, one muslim and one Catholic, all with corresponding features in the architecture. The mosque was the most impressive part with a special place to make an offering of cloth and tie ribbon in the middle. This is where Akbar prayed for a son which his Hindu wife then gave him so people now come here to pray for family related things in their lives. The touts were cut throat outside the temple for some reason and bullied my dad into buying 3 bracelets!

In the evening we went to Mehtab Bagh park which is the other side of the river tothe Taj and gives you a view of the monument and the sunset with a lovely light shining on the marble. People were sitting on the grass and socialising here which made a good atmosphere too. After we went to the cultural festival and had some food from a pop up  restaurant there. There were stalls selling all kinds of handmade items that I wished I could fit in my bag.

The next day we had planned to go to Jaipur but due to some serious riots where the water supply to Delhi had been stopped, a bus of passengers had been killed and the train rails wrecked all transport had been cancelled. There is a caste of people that were unhappy with their fincancial position. They wanted to lower their caste so they were able to do governsment jobs.There were quite a few people in the same position so we decided to see what the outcome would be later on. I went with a German girl Johanna to see the Agra fort. We got a bicycle rickshaw but the man handed the job over to a younger guy half way saying we were too heavy for him! Despite seeing many forts by now this one was impressive as it had intricate designs in some rooms and great views of the Taj from the main windows. It is a red sandstone structure made by Emperor Akbar when he realised there was no water supply left at  Fatehpur Sikri and later his grandson Emperor Shah Jahan took his favourite stone marble and added features too!

Back at the hostel a.plan had been hatched that we could hore a.private driver. It was hard to find someone who would do it because the main roads were closed which lengthened the journey from 3 hours too 7 hours. 7 of us with all our backpacks squeezed into the car foe the journey which wasnt particularly comfortable but we eventually made it safely to Jaipur.
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Khajharou and Orccha

We checked into the Zostel (Indian hostel chain) in Khajharou and got some needed sleep before hiring bicycles to check out the famous erotic temples in the town. Khajharou is a small rural town around a lake. We stopped first at the west temples which were in a well kept grassed area. The rock carvings were so detailed and some depicted erotic scenarios. After was a great day cycling around the temples,  through villages in the sun. In the evening I went to the market and watched the sunset from some ruins near the lake.

The next day we took a local 4 hour bus to Orccha which is a small town full of forts, palaces, temples and cenotpahs. We ate in a nice restaurant opposite the palace and asked the owner if he knew about the Friends of Orccha homestay program. He managed to track down the manager and he took us to the village of Ganj. The program consists of around 10 houses who were given loans to build a spare room for tourists. Then room rates are fixed at 800 a night for a double room and the money shared between the families in the scheme. This creates a very welcome atmospheric as the families are not in competition with each other. The families pay back a certain amount per month on the loan until it is paid back and they can choose to continue withbthe scheme or not. Any money from food goes straight to the family. Our host family had a kitchen which was mainly a open fire and a few pots and pans and cooked a delicious meal. It was very peaceful and friendly in the village.  Families would invite us in for a cup of chai and a chat although.usually only the teenage children could speak.some English.

We woke the next morning to the sound of goats bleating and a cockerel crowing. It was cold when we woke but as soon as the sun appeared the temperature rose to baking again. We decided to go to the palace and some of the surrounding historic buildings. There are some grand buildings everywhere you look in Orccha and we soon came across a temple where the baba gave us a blessing. The palace was enormous and you could climb up little stairways to different levels with great views of the city and around. There were elephant stables and temples too. Then we explored the very neatly kept cenotaphs and also visited the main temple in town where a man took us to the top of the tower where vultures and parakeets lived.

The village was extremely busy with everyone queuing to get into the temple to see the idol, pushing and shoving each other out the way. Outside were many stalls selling religious offerings and trinkets. After a while the people filtered back to their villages and we took a short walk down the river. On our return back to Ganj a lovely girl took us into her house where she proudly introduced to her family and gave us a cup of chai and some snacks. Their house was similar to the others in Ganj, one room with a bed that also serves as a living room, a few religious posters on the painted walls and otherwise very bare. Her father worked in a shop selling oil so she got me some coconut oil as a present. Then we went back for a family cooked dinner. One daughter in law cooked under surveillance of the grandmother and the other daughter in law looked after her baby, with kohl black eyeliner eyes. The grandfather mainly sat playing with the baby or smoking. We didnt see much of the sons as they were out working a lot.

The next day I finally got to go in the temple when it was less crowded. I met two lovely guys from Delhi who explained to me the religious ideas. We went to another temple where you needed a ticket I had the previous day but my new friends told me to ignore security so we did and they didnt seem to care. On the way back I tried paan which is beetle nut (more a fruit than a nut, I wasn’t allergic to it) along with a variety of different coloured pastes and coconut wrapped in an edible leaf. People chew it until the flavour is gone and then spit thw juice left in their mouth on the street  it was kind of sweet and spicy at the same time and I actually enjoyed it. Then we went to another villagers hosue qhere the eldest girl taught we some henna patterns. She did one hand and I copied on the other and I soon picked up the technique and made a good firat attempt. I was sad to leave the simple life of the village and all it’s lovely chai stops along the way.

I met a lovely Canadian couple who supply beautiful items they find on their travels for sale online:  www.kebeandfast.com

Varanasi

Stops

We arrived in Varanasi with a jolt because we nearly missed the train stop completely. It was late, we had a sleeper train and we couldn’t  tell if the train was stopping at a station or not. Add to that that we had been told various different arrival times and the fact we were very tired. So we discovered at the last minute the train had been stopped in Varanasi for a little while and rushed to grab our shoes and bags and get off the train. A man started to joke with us on the platform and conveniently he had a rickshaw parked  outside. I didn’t trust him at all but my Dad was tired and grumpy and wanted to go with him despite.my warnings. This guy clearly had an agenda of some kind other than simply taking us to a location. We got a receipt from the police for a pre-paid paid rickshaw and went with him. Of course he would not take us where we had asked to go at all but instead took us to a variety of guesthouses he knew he could get commission from. My dad got very cross with him and if I hadn’t  have felt so unwell and tired I would’ve  found the whole thing entertaining. Eventually after the 3rd wrong place we agreed to take the 1st one he had shown us for the night which was run by a lovely Indian/Japanese couple. (Sandhya Guesthouse).  They made me a snack in their rooftop restaurant despite it being past 11pm and the owner told me how George Harrison was cremated  in Varanasi.

In the morning I was not feeling  well at all. I enjoyed a fantastic breakfast on the rooftop but we decided to check into a really cosy hostel called Stops. I felt very ill so I decided to rest at the hostel. A guy shared some food with everyone that his girlfriend had ordered all the way from Singapore for valentines day.
In the afternoon  I was feeling a little better so decided to go on the hostel boat trip on the ganges for sunset.  Luckily we saw my dad on the way who had been out exploring so he joined too.We weaved through narrow maze of dirty roads to get to the ghats.

My first view of the Ganges was from the top of the ghats steps and I was impressed. It was wide, river bed on one side and the side we were standing was ghats steps as far as the eye could see both ways. Then we were rowed up the Ganges as the sun was setting behind the temples at the ghats. On the other side people gathered to socialise, playing games and laughing. Our guide told us that someone important in the next city had bought the land so it could not be built on. He told us that Hindu people believe that the Ganges is sacred and that if you bathe in it your sins are washed away. We continued to the burning ghat where families cremate their deceased loved ones openly in public.  As Varanasi is such a holy place this is particularly auspicious place to die, it is believed that if you are cremated here you break the cycle of reincarnation and your spirit is free. Women do not attend the cremations in case they cry. If a loved one eyes at the burning the spirit becomes distracted by their grief and does not leave or become free. If the person that dies is under 8, over 80, has some illness such as leprosy, is pregnant or is a holy man, they do not have the right to burn the body. Instead, the body is tied to a greater weight, rowed out to the centre of the river and thrown in.  Some even come to the ghat and wait to die so they can be cremated there.  The ghat has up to 200 cremations a day and is open 24 hours.We watched as families brought bodies to the river on a stretcher covered in bright clotbes. They then bathed the body for one last time in the river before waiting until a fire was ready for them to burn their loved one. Exactly the right amount of wood is used to burn the whole body which is paid for by weight, this includes sandlewood to make it smell better. The closest male family member has their hair shaved and leads the event. We sat in the boat and watched with facination as fires burnt, families washed and carried their relatives and people looked on. I found it hard to understand that people would choose to bathe in the river when this was going on just upstream along with many other pollutants but the guide told me there was a special bacteria in the Ganges that prevents disease…. that’s what they wants to believe anyway!

Then we moved back down stream to the main ghat where there were 2 big pujas going on. Lots of boats gathered to watch as well as people sitting on the steps of the ghats.  The brahmas stood on platforms ringing bells and waving incense and fire completely synchronised while music played and people chanted. It was very atmospheric. This ceremony happens every night of every day of the year, rain or shine, as a blessing to the Ganges.Then we were told that it was time to light little plates of flowers and candles and place them in the water alight as a blessing.

The next day I was still feeling unwell so I stayed in bed and ate take away from the Brown Bread Bakery organic restaurant who give profits to charity. The next morning we went on the sunrise boat trip on the Ganges. Sunrise was 6.30am so we went and gor in the boat in the dark and watched the morning puja which is similar to the evening one except the brahmas come down to the river to wash their hands. Then we rowed along watching people who wash in the river every morning,  ducking under 5 times. We saw a small package being rowed out to the middle of the river and discovered that a deceased baby was being put into the river. The sun rose through the clouds like a giant red ball before disappearing again for the rest of the day and we watched the city slowly come to life around the ghats. I went for a walk through the filthy streets, along the ghats exploring until it looked like rain and retreated back to the hostel to meet my Dad for a nice meal in Iba Japanese restaurant.

The next day we wandered round the ghats and streets with my Dad and Eric and got properly lost…my favourite thing to do. we stopped at the famous Blue Lassi shop with was a tiny outlet with one guy making lassis out the front. I don’t usually like lassi but this one was amazing. He crushes your chosen fruits and ingredients into an individual one use clay cup and then adds the curd which is like yoghurt and then adds your fresh ingredients on top too. I chose pomegrante and coconut and it was delicious!  We also found a beautiful mosque and cute little shops where the owners sit in the front. Then we had a lunch on the rooftop of Brown Bread Bakery and headed to catch the bus to Khajharou.

Bodhgaya

Bodhgaya is a small town in the province of Bihar where the Bodhi tree stands that the Buddha became enlightened under so it is of  international to Buddhists. The tree is now surrounded by the big Mahabodhi temple and shrines celebrating this moment in history. Every Buddhist country has also built a temple or two to honour the moment as well.

We arrived early morning from an overnight train and found a hotel, driving past many of the temples.  It was like a mini world tour as we flew past the Thai, Japanese, Taiwanese, Chinese, Nepalese, Tibetan,  Bhutanese, Cambodian and Indian temples in a rickshaw! We went exploring and to find food. I found a tiny little Japanese restaurant and soon realised with all these international temples there was going to be some good international  food.

We walked into some of the temples  along route to the main temple and tree.  The entrance to the temple is free but they charge 100ir for camera use. There were hundreds of monks and pilgrims around the temple. The whole site is decorated in beautiful strings of orange and yellow flowers, floating flower arrangements and colourful Tibetan flags.

I walked down the steps to the temple and entered the line of people to go in on the left as usual. People were offering various things like flowers to the statue of Buddha inside. Then I walked left around the temple where some people were prostrating in a route around the temple which involves kneeling down, then putting the whole body flat on the floor, arms stretched out and getting up again and repeating this many times. Some monks had set up tents outside so they could continue this act 24 hours. Round the back of the temple the Bodhi tree stood tall and it’s  branches reaches out beyond the temple walls where monks where chanting and playing instruments which was very dramatic. I sat for a while to meditate under the Bodhi tree just as the Buddha had done all those years ago. I then walked around the grounds which include a water filter tank that Thai and had donated in honour of the Buddha and gardens with interesting  quotes on stone plaques.

After I went with new friend Nadia to find where the Kamapa temple was.  The Kamapa is the second to  the Dalai Lama and was in the town for a week of teaching. Nadia informed me that this Kamapa in his early 30s was bringing hope to young Tibetans with his teachings and was quite charismatic. She also said  that there was some controversy over whether he was the true Kamapa as apparently there were two babies in question and the Dalai Lama said it was him but there was still some support for the other. We found the temple after the several obligatory wrong directions and worked out how to sign up for the teachings the next day. She also told me that without access to Tibet it is possible that this Kamapa may become the next Dalai Lama. All of this sparked my interest to want to hear him speak. On the way back we saw an amazing white temple with a mirrorball effect that dazzled in the sun… it looked like a disco temple! We watched the the sun disappear behind the temple and headed off to find some Tibetan vegetable momos before popping in to some evening ceremonies in the temples on the way home.

We were up early at 6 30am as we needed to register and get in before the Kamapa’s teaching on ‘The Torch of Life’ at 8am. We arrived in good  time to get our pass with a passport photo and get in the queue with hundreds of other people wanting to listen. In the queue locals wrre selling basic radios for 200ir as there was special frequencies for the teachings in different  languages. I had my mp3 player on hand but the talks were actually translated into English and a Chinese  language anyway. The talk was in a giant hall and we quickly found a spot on the floor to sit where we could get a  clear view of the Kamapa and the big screens too. There was music an chanting from the monks at the front. As he arrived and bowed down in front of the hall everyone stood up and bowed to him with respect. Then some Buddhist chanting began with translations on the screen. He then began his talk explaining it was part of many talks over the past 2 years that he had given. It was a very specific part on how to make a mandala, speaking about materials etc so it was difficult to take much from it. He then joked that some people were falling asleep and there was a tea break. After the break he resumed but there was only chanting which was in fact more interesting as it was about the beliefs of Buddhism and reaching enlightment.

Im the afternoon we headed to try some Tibetan steamed bread and walked round the back of town through the market. It was so busy and even human traffic was at a standstill amongst the tooting horns of motorbikes, tractors, rickshaws and a stray cow who was looking very confused in the middle of it all! When we escaped the madness we came to the town boundary and found the open space of a dry riverbed. I went back to the main temple and a few others on the way back. At dusk I went to the Japanese temple where a man was playing a drum with a beautiful sound so I stopped there to listen  and contemplate the day.

We left at 7am the next morning via a private car. We had arranged a tour for the day to take us to some other Buddhist sites in the area and then to the train station to continue our journey. We drove past little farming villages with our first stop being      which is a Buddhist pilgrim site. We climbed the many steps to see the cave with hundreds of Tibetan flags and a family of enormous langur at the top. Then we continued on to see the Japanese stupa on top of the hill with great views of the surrounding countryside. The stupa showed the 4 stages of the Buddha’s life in golden statues. In the temple next door a man was gave me some blessed sweets and played a giant drum with the most mesmerising sound I have ever heard. I sat a while and let the sound vibrate through my body. We caught a one person chair lift back down that looked like it might break any second

Then it was onto the town of Nalanda. We stopped at a temple on the way which was the home of some holy hot springs. A man took us, put water on our heads and made us promise to give some money claiming to be a priest. I walked away but my Dad gave him 200ir! There were many people bathing in the holy water, women fully clothed and separate of course. There was a great view above the spring of the surrounding  area. In Nalanda was the ruins of an ancient Buddhist university/monastery and a museum  opposite showcasing all the important  artefacts they found there which was mainly Buddha statues. We squeezed in a visit to the black Buddha which was surprisingly small, the Chinese temple dedicated to the life of X      and the Jain temple which was really quaint and lovely. Then we headed back to Gaya train station at break neck speed, nearly knocking over an old lady and a girl on a bike, not because we were late but because the driver was crazy with a horn tooting obsession.

Links:

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Kolkata

We flew over a whole day from Varkala to Chennai to Kolkata and arrived in the evening. We took a bus to the city centre where we eventually found Marquis street and a decent hotel room at Hotel Gulshan Inn. I bought a dodgy copy of Shantaram on route!

Kolkata is how you imagine India to be from everything you heard about it in the media. There  are people from all walks of life sharing the same streets. There are a lot of people living permanently on the streets, washing there from the free water pumps, eating there, everything. There is every mode of transport you can imagine: cars, taxis, rickshaws,motorbikes,  bike taxis, human taxis (a man with a cart carrying other people with his strength alone and often no shoes  through the busy roads) and here is also India’s only city with an underground metro system.

The next morning my dad decided to get a sim card for his phone whoch turned out to be very stressful because the man put the sim card in the wrong phone and another guy walked off with my dad’s phone by mistake! Luckily this was resolved quite quickly when he found him at his hotel. I had breakfast at a little restaurant with Bengal cuisine and then we went to find the Victoria Memorial which is a building built for Queen Victoria. We didn’t  go inside because all government buildings are closed on Mondays. We walked around the grounds, visited St Pauls Cathedral and then headed back to find the Mother Teresa House and Shishu Bhavan in time for the 3pm meeting  about volunteering.  The meeting took a while but told us all the key information about the organisation and the volunteering.  There is no minimum amount of time you can give so we chose to give one day out of our three in Kolkata but some people were there for a lot longer. There was one 80 year old Italian lady who was volunteering  for 3 months.  We chose our house and signed up for the next day. After we visited Mother Teresa House where her tomb is and her room she used to work and live in. The tomb had ‘Love begins at home ‘ written in flowers on top and her room was very simple with a bed and desk. There is a little museum about her life there too which is interesting. We found another Bengal I place for dinner and got an early night in preparation for the next day.

It was an early morning start to arrive at the Mother Teresa House just before 7am after the daily mass. There was bread, banana and chai for breakfast before we all separated into our chosen house. I can’t disclose which house is which due to security issues. In the morning I worked with handicapped children that now live full time in the house, most with cerebral palsy. There were 35 children in total from about 4 years old up to about 13 years old. They each have a cot bed and basically the few staff try to keep them comfortable and stimulate them as much as possible. As a volunteer I was expected to change nappies, give the children food and water, sing to them and play with the including some gentle physiotherapy exercises to strengthen their muscles. It was very difficult especially when some children are left on the floor for periods of time whilst you gave your attention to another. Often you didn’t get much response from the children but sometimes, a child would give you the biggest warm smile from the heart that I’d ever seen. Some of the children were completely  blind but they still seemed to know what was going on around them and laughed at the girl stealing the others food. The morning shift finished at 12.30.

The afternoon shift started at 3pm and this time I was placed in the toddlers school  which is basically a full time care home for street children whose families need help in caring for them for a period of time. It was difficult to think that unfortunately these.were the lucky ones and that there were still so many out them who had no help and we’re in the same desperate situations. The day before I had a little girl cling to my leg and beg for money and I wondered what her situation could be.

The children had cots back to back and sid  by side and I would say there was around 50 of them in total. The children were desperate for attention and as soon as I walked into the room and dat down they all clambered over each other and pushed each other out the way to be as close as possible. One little boy even bit the back of my leg to get my attention. Some of those children had disabilities like missing limbs and one little boy was the same size as the 2 year olds but was actually 8 years old. He looked very lost. My job was simply to play with them, give them love and attention and help to feed them. They didn’t understand a word I said apart from hello but they all seemed to understand the universal train going.in the tunnel game when it came to meal time! The afternoon shift finished at 5.30pm and I was exhausted physically and emotionally. My dad was in a similar condition after a day with the dying and the desitute so we hunted down some food and then went to bed.

Our last day in Kolkata we first visited the flower market which was bustling and colourful with people selling flowers for religious offerings and more. Nothing was wasted as the women collected the leaves left over to make small food packages. Then we went to find a famous poet’s old residence which took ages to find. It was a nice building which also serves as a museum of his life. He was an interesting Indian man with a crazy beard who travelled the world. Then we headed to the K area of the city where they make all the idol statues. This was amazing, statues made of all plaster and straw using moulds, then painted and decorated to be used in religious festivals.  There were lots of alleyways full of the workshops and some fantastic detailed  statues with hair, usually female deities. I loved it. On the way out I stopped off for some tasty looking chick pea street food which was delicious and some school boys started talking to us and offered to show us the way to the metro station. We thanked and followed them. They told us all about their school and how they were in the market to collect decorations for the festival at the weekend. Then they asked if we would like to see their school because it was right next to the station.

We agreed so they showed us the building. We were then invited to look at a typical classroom which was about half the size of any classroom i have worked in and they said held 45 pupils! There were tiny wooden desks in rows. We said our thanks and was about to leave when we were told the principle would like to meet us. He came and invited us to his office for tea and snacks. After some awkward conversation and us informing him what a credit to the school the boys were, he gave his apologies that he was very busy with giving out exam results so he left us in there waiting and eating. We waited some time and the boys kept popping their heads round the door to see if we were ok and explained they were honoured that we had visited their school because we were the first foreigners to visit! We were told to wait a little longer so the staff could have their photo with us. They put 4 chairs out with us sitting in the middle, the head and deputy on either side and all the staff around.  We said our goodbyes and everyone wanted to shake our hand. About 15 boys came to see us to the metro station, taking selfies with us along the way!

We had some food in the Blue Sky restaurant and waited for our overnight train to Bodhgaya.

Herb Alive Cafe

Amritapuri

From Alleppey we took the bus south and I waved my dad goodbye as he continued to Varkala and I got off at Kayamkulam to get to Valliuou jetty. I walked over the bridge to Amritapuri ashram. Amritapuri is the guru Amma’s ashram.  Amma is world famous for being the hugging guru. She does an enormous amount of charity work and travels around the world giving ‘Darshan’ (a hug and blessing). I was lucky enough to drop by the ashram when Amma herself was actually there and not on tour somewhere. The ashram is not what you might expect it to look like… it’s a collection of big pink buildings that look like a block of flats. It is located on a thin strip of land between the sea and the backwaters main channel. I walked in the gates and saw the temple in the centre. I found the international accommodation office and checked in for 3 nights, 4 days. I think Amritapuri  must be the most organised place in India, everything runs like clockwork and everyone seems to know what is going on. My room was on the 6th floor of the AJ block, a 3 person basic room but comfortable. I met my room mate Dorothy from France who had been there a few weeks and went to explore and have Indian lunch which was tasty. Three meals a day are included in the 250 rupee accommodation costs. I popped into the info office and signed up for a 3 day IAM meditation course. I collected my linen and then met in front of the temple for the 4pm orientation in English. An ashram is like a commune with everyone doing their bit to help out so you can sign up to do Seva each day.  An American guy showed a few of us around and taught us a bit about the ashram. It has everything  you need there: Indian canteen, international  canteen,  Internet room, washing facilties,  hospital, shop and more. We were then taken to the beach in front of the ashram where Amma was to appear for a mediation and Satsung which is a question and answer session.

There were a few hundred people gathered on the beach sitting on chairs  or in meditation positions on the beach. I sat down on the sand. There was a buzz of excitement in the sea air and a lovely breeze blowing the leaves of the palm trees. Soon everyone stood up and pushed us back because Amma was coming. She right walked past me, a little lady of 62 dressed all in white. She sat in the centre crossed legged on a platform with her helpers around her to make her comfortable. She was smiley and joking. Everything she said was translated into English after which was very useful. The guided mediation began as we meditated for world peace together on the beach and the sun set. It was very special. Afterwards one person was chosen from the crowd to ask Amma a question. It was a French guy who asked the question how does Hinduism fit into Western lives? Amma answered thoughtfully and basically said that you need to take the useful parts for you and that she was accepting of all cultures and religions. She uses lots of metaphors and stories in her explanations which make it easy to relate to. At the end Amma requested all the newcomers to come to the front to meet her. I was suddenly nervous, I hadn’t expected to meet her so easily and so soon but apparently  she likes to greet everyone on their 1st day. I lined up where Amma’s helpers took my bag and wiped my face in preparation. When it was my turn Amma embraced my head and then chanted a blessing  in my ear. I was handed my bag back along with a sweet with Amma written on and a small envelope full of white powder which I think was maybe jasmine dust. It smelt nice. Then everyone went inside to sing ‘Bhajans’ which are Hindu religious songs. I sat on the floor at the front and joined in. There was a band of drums and other instruments and Amma led the singing and sometimes muttering some religious words and standing with joy. It was a bit like Amma kareoke as the words were up on the screen in phonetical English to pronounce. It ended with the lights going off, a faster song and visuals of flowers and stars on the screen. It finished at 8.30pm after an hour and a half and then dinner began. I decided to get up for the daily ‘puja’ which is a religious ceremony at 5am the next morning so it was an early night for me.

I had a rough nights sleep but managed to get up in the dark and go down next to the temple for the puja. It was very atmospheric with the women chanting in the temple next door. The Brahma who is a religious leader used flowers, incense and a fire to contact the gods. They use a puja for many occasions like births, deaths and even to bless a new business venture. You could pay if you wanted the puja to be for you. At the end we had to wash our hands and make an offering of nuts to the gods by throwing them in the fire. Then people wafted the smoke from the incense onto their heads. I was exhausted and went back to sleep for a while after.

There is a schedule when Amma is at the Ashram. Monday and Friday are beach meditation in the evening days, Tuesday is lunch with Amma. Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday  and Sunday are public darshan days. It was Tuesday so at around 11am there were Bhajans with Amma and then she blessed everyone’s food as everyone handed it back in the crowd. When everyone had received the plate of food Amma said a blessing and we all began to eat with our hands. In the afternoon  I went to the mediation course introduction where they told me it was another 5am start! I ate in the international  canteen which  was delicious and went to bed.

The next day was the puja at 5am. This time with more people and the Brahma  splashed the holy water onto the crowd of people watching. There was prasad (blessed food) after and we put a a dot in the centre of our heads…the 3rd eye. Then straight to the course. I sat at the front. The course is on IAM mediation which is Amma’s method to help people meditate. We had to sign a confidentiality agreement to say we wouldn’t tell anyone the method as they feel it needs to be taught properly. At the break I went and got my darshan token and looked up my stage sitting  time which I would miss due to the course. Amma schedules everyone to have the chance to sit near her on the stage on darshan days. My darshan token was number 1800-1900. All day from 11am Amma gave darshan with just a few 20 minutes breaks until 12.30am!

After the course I had dinner and it was still on number 800-900 but after a certain time they changed it to ‘All Tokens’ and I lined up to receive  darshan. I waited three hours for my turn but it was worth the wait but the band played the whole time and a little girl with an angelic voice sang one of the Bhajans. This time it was more official so some people had questions or messages of thanks for Amma and she took the time to answer every one of them. When it was my turn I was told to kneel and put in position with one hand on her chair. She held me for a long time, our breathing synchronised and she kissed my head and I asked her for a mantra. She gave me a mantra token where I had to go to the side of the stage where I was given instructions in English.  The swarmi came round and asked me to say one thing I wanted the mantra to be about. This could be a Hindu deity, God, Allah, Buddha or an abstract belief like love or peace. Then we lined up again and Amma embraced us one by one again, put flowers on our heads and told us our mantra which was then given to us on a piece of paper. At 12.30pm until 1am we had a mantra lesson on how to use our mantra. A long night but special night.

I was a little late for the 6.30am start the next morning for the last day of the meditation class. After the class I got ready to leave the ashram and go to find my dad at the beach in Varkala. Amritapuri will always stay close in my heart, an amazing experience.

Rising in love

Kerala

Our journey in Kerala started in Cochin, a busy coastal city. We headed by ferry to Fort Cochin which in on an island the English built in Colonial times. It is a pleasant touristic area with restaurants  and shops. On the ferry I met Lucy,  who asked me to get her a ferry ticket  as I was further up in the queue. She had been living there for 2 years and kindly sorted us Indraprastham homestay accommodation. The next day I went exploring. First I walked to Jew Town  where I visited the old synagogue which was very small and pretty with a tiled floor, each tile a different pattern. I also visited a temple, church and a mosque so that was quite a lot of the world’s main religious buildings covered in one morning! I walked past all the merchants selling grain and spices in a very old fashioned manner with proper old scales. It was soon scorching hot so I visited a few art galleries including the OED Gallery with work by local Indian artists. Often, I was the only one looking around and got a private tour from the gallery staff. Then I walked round near the sea back to Fort where I saw the Chinese fishing nets which are are big wooden structures that lower nets into the sea from the coast to catch fish. I saw one net get pulled out with about 30 fish which were soon sorted and sold. I walked back to meet my Dad and we decided to take the bus to Alleppey which took around 4 hours. I was glad of the breeze from the windowless bus.

On arrival to Alleppey I was not feeling well at all. We checked into a hostel and I went to sleep. The next day I was still feeling bad so we decided to have a relaxing afternoon at Manari beach which is about 20 minutes away by bus. I sat in the shade and read my book. The sea was quite rough to swim in but my Dad gave it a go.

The next day we were collected at 10am and taken to a houseboat nearby to cruise through the backwaters and stay over a night. We had the whole boat to ourselves for 6000ir with a driver and a chef. We settled into our rooms and then got comfortable on the upper deck watching other boats go past. It was very relaxing and just what I needed when I was not well.

We pulled up for the night and wandered around the edge of the backwater’s edge where we saw people washing in the water, birds catching fish and lots of other houseboats. There  was quite a lot of rubbish in the water unfortunately. Then we had dinner and went to bed in our floating house. The next morning, after breakfast, we made the short journey back to the port and returned to Alleppey where we caught the bus south. I stopped off at Amritapuri ashram (see separate post) and my dad continued to Varkala.

Varkala is a golden endless stretch of powder soft sand and rolling waves. The accommodation and town are on the top cliff so you have to climb down via some steps to reach the beach. There are only very few beach sellers and no sunbeds. The sea can be quite dangerous to swim in here so they have lifeguards  and a helipad just in case. It got so hot in the in the daytime here that it wasn’t possible to be on the beach between 12 and 4am unless you enjoy being burnt to a crisp! The waves are fun and there are a few surf outlets to be found. Sunsets are sublime here with the sun going a very bright red just before it disappears.

I really wanted to see the quieter parts of the backwaters that I had noticed from the ashram so we booked a canoe tour to Munroe island (1500ir) which is about 1.5 hours from Varkala, just past Kollam. A man wearing one of the traditional ‘skirts’ used a long wooden stick to propel us through the water. We soon got off of the main channel and moved into smaller ones. We stopped at a place where they make rope from a spinning wheel using coconut husk. It takes 3 people to do it and they let me have a go of spinning the wheel and gave me a piece of rope I helped to make to keep. This further proves to me that coconuts are the best fruit in the world with yet another use!

Then we continued into even prettier little channels with branches hanging over us giving us much needed shade. We saw an eagle dive down and catch a fish and then eat it on the branch above. As we went under a low branch a bright blue kingfisher watched me glide underneath from about half a metre away before it flew off. There were lots of cormorants diving down and popping up somewhere else and egrits sitting on branches. We passed by a house where we bought a coconut whilst sat in the boat – Keralan drive- thru! We were back just in time for a swim at sunset.

Bandipur and Ooty

We arrived at Bandipur after 3.5 hours on a bus from Mysore. A guy picked us up and took us to the remote Tiger Ranch (1600ir per night including 3 meals) inside the national park. The owner made us a delicious lunch consisting of 5 different curries, roties and rice. Then we took the national park office where you can go for a bus safari (1000ir national park entrance, 180ir for each bus safari). We went round 3 times in hope  of seeing a wild tiger but with no luck.  However, we did see a beautiful Serpent Eagle, some elephants, lots of deer, wild boar, monkeys and langur and a mongoose.

In the evening we went back to our hut for another enormous dinner and a camp fire. The moon was a bright orange colour and we could heard monkeys calling to each other from the trees.

The next day we headed on a 4 hour local bus to Ooty. The air got cooler  and fresher as we ascended the mountains into lush cloud forest and tea plantations. Ooty was surprisingly big and chaotic for a hill top town. We got dropped off at a tea factory and then walked up to the top of the hill amongst the eucalyptus trees and then down past roadside vegetable sellers back to town. We swapped some chocolate for some carrots with a lady at her vegetable stall.

Then we walked to the boating lake which was very large with peddle boats or motor boats and a strange little theme park with a 7D cinema! The next day we headed back down the mountain to catch the train to Cochin.