Nepal

Whilst traveling in Nepal I don't intend to bring my computer with me, as my internet stick doesn't work outside of India. I may be persuaded otherwise in the next twenty-four hours, but a heads up if you do not hear from me for another week, I'm wandering around Nepal. But its okay, I'm bringing a friend along :)

Traveling reflections at random

I am back in Delhi now, hanging at my friend's house reading assorted books and watching assorted tv shows for a few days. So I suppose my blog post has to be nothing else than a sort of thought out reflection about my experiences traveling.

I'm not backpacking around India - in fact I have a roller suitcase - and am not always traveling by the cheapest modes of transportation. I fly whenever possible to avoid the train and the bus. I don't quite have the hippie traveler mystique.

I'm not brimming with energy ready to throw myself into every situation, and in that sense am not in the 'inexhaustible obsessed with everything dive right in' traveler category. I get tired. I like to pace myself. And I'm cautious.

What I'm leaning most towards, but still have a long way to reach, is that category of traveler that is so calm about the situation, it seems almost disinterested. I don't mean for that to sound bad, I mean to say that this traveler adopts an attitude that all will be well, and all will work out, and the flow will guide itself. I've a long way to go on this yet.

I travel around India in my skinny jeans, college sweatshirt, and roller bag. I've traveled this way by taxi, shared jeep, train, flight, and tour guide from the south to the north. I started my packing with a fair amount of worry as to flights being on time, a constant preoccupation with where I was going and how I was going to get there and what I would do if something went wrong and where I would stay. The how I'd get places is a big one. It is still the main source of my anxiety. Everything in my travels has gone smoothly though, which I have greatly appreciated.

Traveling by yourself is good in so many ways, but mostly you learn how to rely on complete strangers. To give you directions, to take you to where you need, to ask for help. Traveling puts you forever in a new place and forever at the mercy of those who you turn to for help. You have to trust them, you have no choice, but again, I have met incredibly helpful people.

When traveling by yourself you talk to yourself a fair amount. You have to do something to keep your mind busy. I have a theory that that is the source of a lot of anxiety. You have too much time to mull around problems in your head.

Meeting people is an exceptionally good thing to do. Sometimes you hit it off. Sometimes you go back to your coffee by yourself. Sometimes you exchange contact info. Sometimes not.

Always carry a book on you. Lunch is often boring without one.

I've found its best to decimate my guidebooks and ruthlessly tear out pages and keep those on me. The guidebook to India is fricking huge, and I feel like a fool pulling it out when I'm asking an auto driver for directions. plus its huge.

I've gotten incredibly more relaxed about traveling the past few weeks. The anxieties are of course there. But sometimes, when I feel I'm approaching that calm traveler category, I feel as though its not so much that I am moving, but that the world around me is picking up and changing, and depositing itself differently in front of me. At the eye of that storm, all is calm and peace and I can watch as it goes by. This feeling I generally get in car rides.

I have only gotten sick once. Bad chicken.

I have more traveling coming up soon, this time to Nepal, for seven days or so. I do not know if I will be bringing my computer on this one as my internet stick doesn't work outside of India, so I may rely solely on internet cafes and my cell phone. But I leave on the first, so thats not for another few days. 

Some pictures from Meghalaya

Dear the Gods of Technology,

I'd like to figure out who are the Gods of Technology and write them a thank you note.

Despite being on the other side of the world, the skype connection was good enough that I got to watch my family and my dogs open their presents Christmas morning. It was kind of the best thing ever.

I can't really imagine how I'd have survived this far if communication meant letters that took a month to mail back and forth. Despite being in India, I've been able to keep contact with my friends to the point that, according to Jackie, "it just feels like she's been in the library for a really long time."I am on most days able to chat with both my parents and some friends as well. It keeps me grounded and sane.

Today I'm leaving Tura to Guwahati, will spend the night at a hotel, and tomorrow fly from Guwahati to Delhi again, for a few days I'll be in Delhi, then off to Nepal, and back to Delhi for school again....

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas from Meghalaya


I happen to be in a city that, as a result of Christian missionaries, makes a fair deal of Christmas. Generally I'm opposed to soliciting one's beliefs on other people (My grandma would always point to the 'no soliciting' sign by the door and tell the door-to-door Mormons that they were soliciting their faith) but in this case I appreciate their efforts for the familiarity it brings me now. I attended and sang at a Baptist Church ceremony conducted in English and Garo (native tribal language) in a part of India that is basically Myanmar. See, there's been lots of inter-cultural interaction even before cell phones and the internet!


Its quite a bummer to be away from the family at Christmas time, but I have to be thankful for things I've experienced and seen this far into my sojourn in India. Like a car absolutely laden with what I discovered to be toilet paper rolls - someone had to explain to me they were going to get re-rolled. Or the beautiful himalayas in Sikkim, or Darjeeling (If I had to pick anywhere in India Darjeeling has been my absolute favorite place ever, I could live there). And I have in about a week a trip to Nepal before heading back to school (ugh). 


Merry Christmas from the East, Best Wishes and all, Sedona

Meghalaya

Today I spent most of the day driving around with Michri's friends and seeing some picknick spots and waterfalls, and eating momos (one of my favorite activities).

While I was here, we were hoping to take a day trip to a place that is said to be where spirits cross over, and where some of Michri's friends have taken pictures in which these spirits have showed up. But unfortunately we won't be able to, as we heard from a family friend who works in the forest service that a paramilitary organization has set up camp there. Bummer. This is just one of those situations that does not exist in the US. and that is a strange reaction: Bummer.

I'm happy to be here and with friends, but its hard to be now five months from home in a place so unfamiliar. Its not merely distance, it the degree of familiarity, that makes you seem far. Here where there is more Christmas spirit than in other parts of India, its a little easier. But I've been living away from home for seven years now, and therefore Christmas has been a special time on top of a special time, magical for me even though it wasn't anything out of the common way. This being my first Christmas from home, and not going home for another four months, isn't always the easiest thing. 

Tetengs

Today I saw a pig get cut up in a neighbors driveway. It was weighed by a guy holding a scale and adjusting the other side with weights. Then I saw the cleaning of the parts we bought, where Michri's mom poured boiling water over them and was then able to pick off the hair and cut off the skin.

In a certain part of Tura, it is said there used to live little people, called Tetengs, kind of like elves. They supposedly mimic people, like their laughter, and have feet that face the other direction. To have ones near your house is considered a blessing.

Thats all I got today. 

Sikkim to Meghalaya

I've made it to my friend's house in Tura, Meghalaya (spelling...) over in the north east of India where tourists don't usually get to. I'll be here for christmas, and though I've been conscious here for about three hours, its good to be here.

I woke up at 6:30 in the morning yesterday, to take a taxi to the shared jeep stand in Gangtok, Sikkim. From there drove about four plus hours to Siliguri, from which point my driver helped get me an auto to the train station about half an hour away. At the NJP train station I arrived just in time for my train, and spent the next seven hours going to New Bongaigaon, in Assam.At which point I was picked up by my friends and taken home, arriving at about two in the morning. 

_____

excuse me?
Excuse me?
EXCUSE ME?!

There happened to be what looked like a high school soccer team on the train with me. Finally looking up at who was screaming at me, I get, "hi. Whats your name?" I muttered it softly enough they couldn't really get it, and seem to have decided it was Sheba. Periodically then I had to ignore: "excuse me...excuse me...excuse me..." punctuated with the giggles and hindi conversation of five to six boys in the berths across and above me. Ignoring them proved to be a good course of action as for their own amusement they added in kissy noises and questions as to whether I had a sister. All of this was incredibly amusing to them. Thankfully they tired of getting no response and went to make a ruckus somewhere else.

Distance is relative I've found. Its measured more by what is around you than by where you came from. And in the midst of awe-inspiring landscapes and fun and unique experiences, you can still be struck by the feeling of being too far for too long. Thats really the best phrase I can think to describe the feeling: Too far for too long. I'm not heartbroken for home. In fact I'd like the time to pass before going back to Saint Anselm. Yet today I still feel the weary longing of having been too far for too long.

Maybe its because I've been living out of hotels for the past weeks. Maybe its because I like the area of India I am in now more than Delhi. Maybe its because its the holiday season and my facebook is filled with statuses such as: Home! :)  

I don't really know. Of the five international students who came to LSR last semester, I will be the only one continuing. My friend from Australia intended to be there the whole year, but decided that the inhospitable administration and classes you could sleep through and learn all you need were not worth her time, energy, or effort. Which may very well be a good choice as during our last meeting of the semester, the director of international programs spent most of the meeting trying to convince my friend that her health wasn't good enough for India, and that she should go back to Australia. Despite my familiarity with South Delhi, I'm not entirely eager to go back. When I go back, I will be turning twenty-one and have a seven thirty curfew. I'm tired of the oppressive mentality that, 'you will get raped if you go outside alone ever.' I'm tired of washing my underwear in the sink. I'm tired of people watching me. I'm tired of every little thing taking so much effort. I think I may just have been too far for too long.

Its amazing how you can feel this in the afternoon, after having done this in the morning:

Just one of those days I guess. 

Sikkim Pictures - Yumthang Valley and Zero Point

Yumthang Valley

Zero Point

Zero Point - behind that glacier about 20 miles is Tibet

Me and the German ladies drinking millet wine

So silent you stand, and so hushed the river

Fifteen thousand feet, a new world, your own

And the rest could still fall

And here would stay silent

And here would bear witness

And not judge the crimes

You make no apology of the ice in the river

You make no apology of the wind in December

And let me walk in the dust and the rock

Apart and above and without much a mind

Naturally you say this far and no farther, and

Naturally all but three or four oblige

And despite all our efforts to meet you, you remain

Further away somewhere far like the clouds

I am permitted to stand on your ground

So that we may bear witness to one another

In the air so thin

And the dry cold winds

We come for a moment

And breathe one breath together 

Adventures in North Sikkim!

I am back from my adventures in North Sikkim, which I had with two German ladies, who were excellent company. The internet isn't quite quick enough to upload lots and lots of pictures (which I took), but I'll give you a rundown of what all we did.

We left in the morning for the four or five hour drive up to Lachung, North Sikkim, where we stayed the night. On the way, we stopped for a few sights, photo shoots, and tea breaks. One stop was the place where the Tibetans and the indigenous Sikkimese people declared a blood brotherhood, vowing not to fight until a nearby river ran dry and Kangchenjunga fell. A pretty bold pact, and the place does give you the chills. And here is where I learned one of the German ladies just so happens to practice Kriya Yoga meditation, as per Parmahansa Yoganada, which is a blatantly crazy connection to my life.

Our road suffered from the regular yearly landslides, as well as huge ones caused by the 6.8 earthquake that happened a few months ago. We could see landslides and buildings that had suffered along the way. Regardless, our guide and driver preferred this road, which at points we were inches from cliffs required either faith in God, the abilities of the driver, or both, to survive without a panic attack, to the 20 km tunnel they had to take when the road was blocked by landslides. They say there could be feet of water they'd be driving through in the dark.

North Sikkim is cold. Especially at night and in the morning. That being said, it hadn't quite started the snow season yet.

Day 2 we went further north to Yumthang Valley, where the road on the map ends, and further to Zero Point, where the road really does end. Maybe 25 miles ahead is Tibet, but you'd still have to cross a glacier and the Indian army at 15,000 ft. We went on a little walk, about an hour and a half, and thats enough at 15,000 ft in the cold and windy.

We came back down to Gangtok today, leisurely making our way down stopping at monasteries and for photos we didn't get coming up. We got to sit in on a prayer service at one monastery, which was very cool. And now I'm back, and its comparatively warmer here, and Sikkim is beautiful and wonderful.

Sikkim

I came to Sikkim with no great expectations. Yes, its a beautiful state, but in order to go in you need a permit. In order to go east you need a permit. To go north you need a permit. So I expected to not waste too much of my time with the permits and to stick around to see what sights I could in the south and the cities.

I came to Sikkim in a shared jeep, so for a three hour ride, I sat squished in a seat of four (though I had a window). I had chatted briefly with these two older German ladies before getting into the jeep in Darjeeling, but hadn't sat next to them and so didn't continue conversation. When we got off, I had absolutely no plan, so I asked if they had a hotel in mind, and we went off searching together.

When we discovered we all wanted to go to Tsomgo Lake, to which you need a permit and a guide due to its proximity to the Tibetan border, so we decided to find a travel agency to fix it up and go together to cut costs. We ended up with something better.

We're in Gangtok, the capital. Tomorrow morning we'll leave to go up to Lachung, Yumthang, and beyond that until the road ends at Zero Point. We'll do lots of hiking, see monasteries, and beautiful views along the way. Gone 3 days and 2 nights. 

And we get to do the lake as well. 

Errands

As a rule, errands in India take on average three times longer than in the US. By errands I mean all things like groceries, getting shampoo, or, in this instance, going to the post office. When you first encounter it, frustration is either externally oriented (What is the backwards place doing?!) or internally oriented (Why am I failing at life?!), but after a while you just come to realize how it is, and adjust accordingly.

My errand running today was surprisingly smooth. After breakfast, I meandered down to the post office and the foreign registry, to inquire about timings. That is the first important thing to do; timings are notoriously irrational. But to my surprise, places opened before eleven o'clock. So I took my bundle of gifts to ship back to the US down to the post office (and smartly also my book), where I waited for about forty five minutes until the man came in to package everything. I was second in line, and got to watch the fascinating process twice. First, he unpacks and repacks everything, binds it extensively with twine, wraps it in paper, sews up the package in white cloth (yes, needle and thread), and then, what I least expected, wax seals the seams. By 11:45 or so I was done.

I went to the foreign registry for my permit to go to Sikkim. As Sikkim can at times be a contentious border area, they seem to want to keep track of who goes where. My permit expressly points out that I am not to cross into Nepal, Bhutan, or Tibet from Sikkim. I think it interesting they say Tibet, not China. Further, I am to remain in the southern areas of Sikkim, to listed cities, but in effect below a certain point. I suppose they don't want me trying to climb the Himalayas into Tibet. In the south there is a border crossing to Tibet, but only Indian nationals are allowed to use it. Unfortunately.

I've recently become quite obsessed with Tibet and am thinking of exploring some research area in Himalayan water issues between China and India, where Tibet is sandwiched in the middle. Or seeing if water issues plays into the great powers relations regarding Tibet in any way...well, I should read more before I start rambling about how things may be. 

Explorations!

Today was my first day of truly exploring all on my own. And for that, I'm rather impressed with myself, for although you can walk from one end of Darjeeling to another in about an hour and a half, I succeeded in going everywhere I wanted to, alone, and without getting lost.

I visited the Japanese Peace Pagoda, a buddhist temple of sorts, and saw some nice buddha sculptures and sandstone relief sculptures depicting his life. I was always moved by the scene in which, after deciding to sit under the Bhodi tree, is tempted by the full power of Mara, and sits unmoved. When she asks who will vouch for the Buddha's worth to receive enlightenment, only then does he move to touch his fingertips to the earth, which responds by an earthquake, the earth itself vouching for the Buddha's enlightenment.

In the afternoon I visited the local zoo and the Himalayan Mountain Institute museum. For a third world country, the zoo was quite nice, with a variety of local yaks, deer (barking deer are pretty much the cutest things ever), as well as black bears, tigers, leopards, and wolves. I'd be for giving them more space and more places to hide, but oh well. Though I have decided, apart from the barking deer, I want a red panda for Christmas. My God those things are cute.

And the Everest museum in the Himalayan Mountain Institute was cool, and I got to recognize portraits of George Mallory, Irvine, and Hillary.

And then when I got back to my room I had way too much fun trying on my tibetan dress. 

When I say a shitton of prayer flags...

Today was relatively quiet, as I woke up with a pounding headache, I stayed around Darjeeling, strolling abouts. I went to observation hill, which has no view to observe, rather it is a holy hindu and buddhist site, evidenced by the hindu temples and shitton of prayer flags. And when I say shitton of prayer flags, I mean:

That and I significantly contributed to the local businesses of Darjeeling. 

Everest and Kanchandzonga

3:45am, and I'm out of bed again. I didn't sleep particularly well, perhaps because I kept having dreams that I was at the airport with the wrong confirmation number.

I got up so early to go to Tiger Hill, which is a pretty popular place to go and see the sunrise. Its freezing in December at 4:30am. The stars were absolutely beautiful though. More rewarding than the sunrise though were the clear views of Kanchandzonga and Mt. Everest. Everest was a little ways off, but Kanchandzonga was right there, and its pretty cool to now have seen both the 1st and 3rd highest peaks in the world. My camera is not so cool to be equipped to take especially good pictures, but here we go!

Kanchandzonga

Me and Kanchandzonga

Prayer flags and a hazy sunrise

If this were a better picture, and I had skills with drawing arrows on pictures, you'd see that right next to the second dark mountain bump from the left side there's a white smudge...thats Mt. Everest...It was easier to see than to photograph

As evidenced by this pretty bad picture of Mt. Everest. Hey, its in another country. 

Today was a lovely day in Darjeeling. I'd put pictures up of the views I awoke to, but unfortunately that will have to wait until I'm out of Darjeeling and have a bit better internet connection.

I made friends yesterday with another traveler named Maggie, and so today we went to visit a nearby Buddhist temple (unfortunately it was closed, but apparently it houses the original tibetan book of the dead), the Tibetan refugee self-help center, where we got to see wood carving, weaving, spinning, and knitting all being done (and did a bit of shopping), then on the the Happy Valley tea plantation and a short tour of tea processing, on to the botanical gardens, and up a lot of stairs and hills to where our hotels are. Lots of walking, and I loved it. You don't really get to do that at all in Delhi.

I am very much enjoying Darjeeling, for the walking, the friendliness of the people, the ability to wear a sweatshirt and scarf, and the momos. Its also fun to meet other people traveling through. I'm lucky in that my hotel has a little common room where its easy to meet people (at breakfast today I met an australian who lives in Bejing who actually pulled out two tubes of vegemite, I was in awe). Its much more pleasant to travel around with someone, especially when your directions lead you down winding alleys/lanes/into people's backyards/across trash rivers, and then you end up where you needed to go. Its the kind of thing I would have turned around thinking I was going the wrong way, but with someone else you feel a lot more comfortable going on. I'll get used to it, and people here are very helpful with directions.

Well, I am going to try to wake up at 3:45 in the morning (again), this time to see the sunrise over the himalayas. And then more Buddhist temples/monasteries... we shall see. 

Darjeeling

Three forty-five in the morning and my alarm goes off. I’ve gotten maybe four hours of sleep, could have gone to bed earlier but so it goes. Today I came to Darjeeling, which is the most different part of India I’ve thus far encountered.

I proved what a good American I was even as I was boarding my 6:30 flight. Not by any outrageous act of ignorance, nor by creating an ingeniously effective solution, but by walking through the Delhi airport in jeans, a college sweatshirt and vans while balancing a breakfast pastry and an uncovered café Americano in one hand while fishing for my boarding pass on a moving sidewalk (travelator). I didn’t spill a drop, and by so doing, did my culture proud.

The flight traced the contour of the southern border of Nepal from Delhi to Bagdogra, and I had the good fortune of being able to see the Himalayas from the window on my side. They jutted out of the clouds high enough you would have though the clouds were the earth. From the Bagdogra airport I found my cab without any effort involved. Originally, getting in so early, my plan had been to find a shared jeep from Siliguri, but turns out it's a good thing I did order a cab, as the road from Siliguri to Darjeeling is closed due to a landslide, and I missed the taxi strike by one day. We took a little longer route, passing through the hill station of Mirik, with my driver pointing out to me orange trees and the India-Nepal border crossing.

The route started in a valley, but when it reached the hills turned immediately upwards. These foothills of the Himalayas are like their greater neighbors in style, being sharp and steep. The road went up so quickly I could feel the change in the temperature of the air, and did my darndest to keep off my sweatshirt for as long as possible, savoring the sensation of actually feeling cold. We passed by loads of tea plantations, and from where they were being dried you could smell the tangy flavor in the air. We passed through forests of tall upright pine trees with little more than a foot of undergrowth.

When we got to Darjeeling, it was cloudy, which it is this time of year, so I’m not sure how good of Himalayan views I’ll get. I went up about three flights of stairs with my bag to check in (everything is built on a steep hillside), only to find my heart racing and breath coming hard. I had forgotten all that climbing meant a change in altitude as well.

I’m planning on exploring tomorrow, something Buddhist related I think, and hopefully with a friend I just made downstairs at lunch. Functioning on four hours sleep and eight hours of traveling, I’m about ready to crash. But I’ve already decided I’m going to enjoy Darjeeling, having so many of the things I love: cold, momos, and tea. Actually, there was even a puppy I got to pet in the lobby, so that kind of seals the deal. 

Today, my uncle took me down to the end of the island that hangs out between the ocean and the backwaters to go see dolphins. We took the six rupee bus down to the end, a 5-10 minute trip, and then walked along a little jetty to go see dolphins play. It was very fun. Thats the whole story. We didn't get chased off my coconut machete wielding indians as apparently a few people in years before us have, and I didn't actually get any pictures of dolphins as they were hard to catch pictures of, but here are a few: