Mother Ganges

We took two boat trips on the Ganges yesterday -- one at dawn so we could see the sunrise, and the other at night to witness the prayer ceremony that takes place every evening around 6:00 pm. The city was almost quiet at 6 am, and the scene at the Ganges was surreal with all the fog. We were concerned we wouldn't see anything, but as soon as the sun peeked through, visibility improved. Every day at every hour, people bathe in the river. We also saw laundrymen washing clothes, each with their own assigned rock. On the night tour, we had the opportunity to light an offering and float it in the river; both of us wished for a safe and happy conclusion to our trip. We also saw more than a half dozen cremations taking place. Words escape me to describe this experience. The river is a peaceful and spiritual place, a respite away from the hustle and bustle of Veranasi city, yet full of life.

In between boat trips, we visited a series of traditional weaving centers. Varanasi is a center for intricate weaving of silk material used to create saris, shawls and decorative materials. Weaving takes place by hand (most time consuming and complicated) and also with cardboard cards that are used to automate the pattern. But in most cases, the weavers memorize their patters, which may take them years to master.

On the banks of the Ganges at night, students from from the nearby Sanskrit university are assigned prayer duties as part of their studies. Each of them stand on a platform and start out by blowing into a conch shell to create the "om" sound. Then they ring a series of bells, perform a series of movements with flaming items and something that resembles a feather duster (we need more research on the purpose of these items - hope to update you later). After the festivities ended, we traveled back to our hotel on bicycle rickshaw, then tut-tut and enjoyed a very nice meal at the hotel. Today we get a bit of rest while we wait for our overnight train to Agra at 4:30

Crossing into India

As we leave Lumbini, we are only about an hour from the Indian border. Once we reached the Nepalese border, we walked 20 meters to the Nepal customs office and once we completed the paperwork, walked another 20 meters to the Indian customs office, changed our Nepalese rupee notes to Indian rupees and off we went. Turns out our tour guide in India is the assistant guide; he'll be escorting us all the way to Varanasi, about an 8 - 10 hour ride by van. Unlike the spacious van we had in Nepal, we're crammed into this little van with all 12 seats taken and no more room for bags inside - they go on top. The roads seem very similar to those in Nepal; lots of honking, daredevil moves, stops and starts. I try to grab a little sleep but it's nearly impossible. We travel through a lot of flat land, rural areas, and a few large cities with the most unbelievable traffic jams we've ever seen. Cars, buses, trucks, cows, sheep, goats, bicycle rickshaws, bikes, motorbikes and pedestrians jockey for positions and somehow, we all make it through. When we reach Varanasi, we're pleased to see that we are staying in a very nice hotel, Hotel Suyra, which is in a very distinguished older building. We are even more delighted to see that the hotel has a reliable supply of hot water and a heater in our room! After the last four nights of no hot water and cold rooms, this is just what we need after being chilled to the bone. After an invigorating hot shower, we join our group for dinner and a nice cup of masala tea to discuss the itinerary for the rest of the trip. We are also treated to a wedding ceremony at the hotel. Turns out this is one of the last days of the wedding season. We

are looking forward to our tour of the Ganges River tomorrow morning, so get to bed early for our 5:30 am wakeup call.

Lumbini - Birthplace of Buddha and it's cold here in winter

We get a 7 am wakeup call at Chitwan, with breakfast at 7:30 to fuel us for our four hour trip to Lumbini, the birthplace of Prince Siddharta Gautama – otherwise known as Buddha. The temple complex features temples that have been constructed by Buddhists around the world including Japan, Germany and Vietnam. We cross the plains, head up into the mountains again and down again. The roads aren’t quite as curvy, but they are almost as treacherous. Yep, that's a tour bus in the ditch.

We pull into the Lumbini Buddha Lodge at 12:30 for lunch and our tour of the temple complex begins at 2:00. We saw many pilgrims from all over the world, chanting. As for the lodge where we are staying -- it is best known for bird watching, but with the cold and foggy weather, not many birds are out. This would be a great place to stay in the summer but in winter, not so much since there's no heat. Just a few weeks ago in Indonesia, we thought a tour of Iceland sounded so nice and we couldn't wait until the cooler weather!

Once we get to the Nepalese border tomorrow morning, we will bid goodbye to our Nepalese guide and meet our Indian guide for the remainder of our journey.

Elephants in the Mist

Hoyt woke up this morning with a sore throat and was not feeling well. He had signed up for the afternoon jungle walk but decided it would be best to opt out. Yet we both joined the 8 am elephant safari which was great fun. There were four of us riding on the elephant platform at one time for the two hour trip across rivers and through jungle flora and fauna. We crossed rivers and saw a few deer and some birds – no rhinos or tigers, I’m afraid, but enjoyable nonetheless. We bought a few bananas to feed to our elephant afterwards. After the tour, we returned to the hotel via a bumpy jeep ride for some R & R and Hoyt nursed his cold. I went down to the village for a cup of masala tea and shopping, buying a few items from the free trade store in support of the local skill-building program for women. I joined the group for our final night at Chitwan featuring a dinner and an excellent local dance group – actually, right outside our room where they are setting up the bonfire now. Because it was so chilly, Hoyt opted for his dinner in the room, giving him more time to rest and prepare for tomorrow's journey. Tomorrow it’s on to our final destination in Nepal before the crossing into India. We learned tonight that the crossing takes only 20 minutes but we've got another 10 hours to go by bus before our first stop in India. Yikes...

Kathmandu to Chitwan – Wild Ride Along the Road to India

Our guide strongly suggested that we leave this morning at 7 rather than 9 because although the ride to Chitwan National Park, where we were to spend two nights is only 50 miles or so, it can take all day to get there. We quickly found out why: it’s not exactly a 7-lane freeway. It is the main route into India, and there are many large trucks and buses in addition to the usual cars and, for those particularly brave or foolish, motorbikes. So we left promptly at 7, opting for breakfast along with way. It was good to leave the frenetic pace of Kathmandu, but to say the road is not good is an understatement. If an accident were to happen, or if a truck broke down and blocked the way, or if a landslide were to happen, the road could close completely. The road took us over a mountain pass and down into a beautiful valley. We stopped at a roadside restaurant that was surprisingly good: a full buffet of Nepalese goodies and masala tea. After breakfast, we were back in our bus, which didn’t have the best shock absorbers but our driver was a real pro. Several times, it was unclear how we would get past two oncoming buses coming our way, or whether we’d be squeezed out by a local bus trying to pass on a blind curve. Many of the trucks had signs on the back, “Honk Please” or “Now is the time for love.” (more like now is the time for luck or divine intervention!) And we saw a few vehicles that had landed in a ditch. But somehow we made it, and within four hours.

Chitwan National Park is a huge place with jungles and rivers, and people flock there to ride elephant safaris and try to spot a tiger or two. We learn that it can be very hot and humid in the summer, but it’s a bit on the cold side when we arrive – and being December, it’s low season. We’re staying in one of the many lodges near the park border, the River View Lodge. When we arrive, the manager is waiting for us with welcome drinks and a description of the activities for the next two days. After lunch, there’s a village tour and a visit to the Elephant Breeding Center, where we can see baby elephants with their parents, including two recently born male twins. For tomorrow, there’s an elephant safari ride, and an optional four-hour jungle walk. The manager goes into great detail about how risky this jungle walk is, and about the time a Belgian tourist was gored by a raging rhino. He claimed you could “see his heart and lungs” and that his jaw was broken in five places – but he is OK now. Then our guide chimed in and said that one time, a very large woman broke her leg and it took five men to carry her out, then hours to transport her to the nearest “good” hospital in Kathmandu. But of course, they told us, it is up to you – we are only your guides, it is your decision. So I opted for the village tour and Elephant Breeding Center for today, which turned out to be quite enjoyable. After we returned to the hotel that evening, the manager took us down to the river so we could see a rhino (behind a protective wall) and Hoyt captured some great shots of him. After an early dinner, we were quite tired so it was time for another early turn-in.

Pilgrimage to Boudhanath

While in Kathmandu, we visited the great stupa of Boudhanath, one of the most important places of Himalayan Buddhist worship. It is huge; large numbers of devotees (and tourists too) walk around it clockwise, spinning prayer wheels as they go. The stupa is commonly known as Boudha or Boudhanath, meaning lord of wisdom. The dome is approximately 120 feet in diamater, 1 hectare in width and 43 meters high. Tibetan refugees are the most dominant and active community of devotees.

Leaving Kathmandu - 5 Days of Sensory Overload

We haven't downloaded today's photos so I will have to upload them later, but I just had to report on the culmination of five extraordinary days in Kathmandu and hope my words can adequately express how I'm feeling right now. I'm sitting in the lobby of our hotel right next to the Christmas tree. When Hoyt and I returned from dinner, there was a group of Nepali pastors singing Christmas carols, which was totally unexpected and touched me greatly as it reminded me that we won't be home for Christmas this year. We're totally spent, as this is not an easy place to visit. Kathmandu has doubled in size since 1991, with a population of 16 million. Walking down the streets requires all your concentration, otherwise you risk being flattened by a vehicle of some sort. Places in line mean nothing and the little courtesies we take for granted at home don't mean much here, though people are very nice and tourists are well-taken care of. Pollution can tax your lungs. Hawkers are at every corner in the tourists areas. Yet, there's a sense of spirituality and wonder at every turn. Today we visited a large Hindu temple by the river and witnessed several cremations in graphic detail. The families handle the cremation duties, which occurs within hours after death. The body is washed, wrapped in a saffron-colored cloth and placed upon a platform, in a pile of wood. Cremations occur 24/7 and at all ours of the day. The government provides the wood and the space free of charge. For men, the oldest son circles the body clockwise three times; for women, it's the youngest son. How different this practice is from that in Bali, where cremations don't occur for two to three years after death, except in the case of royalty.

In the afternoon we took a taxi up to the "Monkey Temple" which gives an excellent view of the city of Kathmandu and of the mountains, except that it was very smoggy today. Hoyt remembers visiting this place in the 70s and having a full view of snow-capped Himalayas, but with such population growth, more pollution is inevitable. Nevertheless, it was not to miss.

Tomorrow we leave at 7 am for the Chitwan National Forest, and we'll be staying in a bungalow near the jungle. Internet connections may be spotty, so you may not hear from us online for awhile. We look forward to leaving the city behind and beginning our transition to India.

Exploring Kathmandu

We consider taking a trip to an outlying area for a look at one of the best-preserved temple areas, but decide against it because it will take at least an hour out and back, plus we want to see Kathmandu’s Darbur Square. And with our tour meeting tonight, we need to be back by 5. Turned out to be a good decision. As we were making our way down to the square, we noticed two things: one, there was little traffic.

Could this be Saturday morning light? Then we saw that the local people were dressed up in beautiful, colorful clothing with sashes and badges. We quickly learned that it was a festival day in Kathmandu, marking the beginning of winter and honoring the farming communities. The people came from all parts of the city, representing their schools and community organizations and playing musical instruments as they marched toward the temple. We stood at the major intersection in town and took it all in. A young man approached us and explained to us what was happening. As the parade started to dwindle, we followed the crowd down to the square. The young man stayed with us, showing us several offerings with beautiful flowers and sand drawings on the ground. We kept walking and he kept talking – and of course, we realized that he was becoming our tour guide and would most certainly expect a fee. Hoyt asked him what his business was today – was he here to find a job as a tour guide for the day? He said no, don’t think of him as a tour guide but just a guide and that he was doing it to help people learn. He added, if you want to buy me some food that would be OK. So, we stop at a small market and he picks out a few things, and says that we can give him 1,350 rupees for some milk and bread. That’s $16 or so US – pretty steep! Hoyt offers him 700 rupees – and he was not happy. He said it was “beggar’s price” and gave the money back to us. We pushed it back into his hand and he asked “ are you happy with this?” We said yes, and then he took off without a word. Fortunately, Hoyt’s map and compass were enough to get us on the right track and we had little problem finding our way to the square. We were tiring of the uninvited tour, in any case. The festival culminated at the square and the participants were walking around at a fever pitch – throwing flowers and rice, and banging drums in a very spirited manner. More self-employed guides tried to get us to hire them but we declined. We enjoyed a very pleasant afternoon of people-watching and also found a bakery with some very yummy sweets which served as our lunch. Late afternoon we made our way back to the Kemel, just in time to meet our tour group and our guide for the Nepali portion of our trip. The group seems very nice and we had a great dinner together, back to the Kemel House where we enjoyed our first night’s meal. Our guide, however, seems detached from the group. His opening statement to the group was something to the effect,” I’m not going to be doing much for you,” since we would have local guides every day. He described tomorrow’s itinerary very briefly and tol us to be ready at 9:00 am tomorrow to meet our local guide, said good night and did not join us for dinner. We hope he becomes more involved with us to impart his knowledge, not just collect our money and get us from point a to point b. We miss Gede! Wonder if he would come to Nepal?? Time will tell – too soon to rush to judgment just yet. Great day all around.