Varanasi, part 2

Once I had my fill of the old city, I moved to a much nicer hotel near the train station for a night. At dinner I began chatting with a lovely local family. It was 14 year old Shubham’s birthday celebration and he was most excited to have met ‘the Australian woman’.

An Indian sweet factory

The final stage of the sweet making process

The next morning they picked me up and took me to their home for the day. I visited their sweets factory (quite fascinating to watch!), and a school they are involved with. Shubham’s father bought toffees for me to distribute to all the children (about 500 in total). They were also very excited to have me visit. I ended up signing about 200 autographs, and was presented with sweets, pepsi (I felt awful having this in front of the entire school!) and a large trophy.

At the school, with teachers and students

The kids enjoyed my visit

Afterwards we went back to the family home where I had lunch, and entertained the extended family with my woeful Hindi. It was a great day and I felt lucky to have been able to witness a slice of Indian life.

Home cooked lunch, delicious!

Unfortunately health wise I am suffering from a dreadful head cold/sinus/respiratory infection and am really struggling. Hopefully my health will improve once I reach the clear mountain air of Dharamsala, my next destination after a couple of nights back in Delhi.

Varanasi – the Old City

After a couple of days relaxing in Delhi, it was time to move on. I left booking train tickets til the last minute which meant there was only one ticket available to Varanasi in the foreseeable future – in first class. I want to experience all classes of train travel, so booked it. Although there was room for four people, I shared a lockable cabin with one Indian gentleman, who was most polite and agreeable. My bed was large and comfortable, the only downside was the frigid air conditioning, and I had forgotten my jacket.

AC First cum AC Two Tier

First class

Nothing first class about the dinner, oh well

We arrived in Varanasi, India’s holiest city, the following morning. I had prearranged a pick up at the station, which turned out to be a good idea, as the alleyways in the old city are narrow and confusing, I never would have found the guesthouse on my own. The location was brilliant, right on the banks of the River Ganges, next to the main cremation ghat, Manimarnika. In the end I was disappointed in my choice of hotel – the manager was rude, I got attacked by bed bugs, and there was no restaurant in or near to the hotel. I didn’t fancy wandering through the maze of alleyways in the dark on my own to find a place to eat.

Dawn boat ride on the Ganges

Despite this, the old city of Varansi is a fascinating place, full of colourful life and death, completely confronting and in your face. One of the best ways to explore the many ghats was to take a boat along the Ganges, at sunrise and sunset. There are always people bathing, praying, cleaning, washing clothes, having a shave, or a massage, you name it. The water itself was fetid, apparently there is such a high count of bacteria in the water, it makes you wonder what proportion of people get sick after taking their holy bath. Occasionally a dead body would float past, as not everyone is cremated – the young, pregnant, holy men, animals, and those bitten by snakes are spared. Up a little too close and personal at the cremation ghat was a most confronting experience. A guide explained the process, but it was a little hard to concentrate as there were burning human bodies less than 2 metres away.

Sunrise in Varanasi

Pilgrims bathing in the water

Boat laden with wood destined for Manimarnika Ghat, the main site of cremations in Varanasi

I’m back….

Many apologies for falling behind… 5 months behind!

I have a better set up now so will do my best to update this more regularly. Here’s a brief rundown of what I have been up to since Tibet:

Mid May: 2 weeks in Johannesburg, South Africa for the Indian Premier League with dad, including a visit to Kruger Park, a Lion park and tour of Soweto

End May – Mid June: Back to India, starting in hot, sweaty New Delhi. Train to Agra to see Taj Mahal, etc, then made my way to fairly remote Bandhavgarh National Park. Saw tigers in the wild (brilliant!), expensive but worth it. Hired a jeep to Khajuraho, home of ancient temples full of intricate carvings, with the occasional rude carving thrown in amongst the rest. Invited to hen’s night of a village wedding, with John, who I met at Bandhavgarh. We were automatically assumed to be married (Indians can’t understand platonic friendship with the opposite sex), I had the mark of marriage applied to my forehead, and before we knew it we had gone from strangers to married in 3 days! Train back to Delhi, stayed at a friend’s place for a while to escape the oppressive heat – in Khajuraho it topped 47 deg C, John’s motorbike was melting into the road. Caught a 37 hour train to beachside Puri, visited the Sun Temple at Konark, and then spent 2 exasperating days in Bhubaneswar. Was very happy to leave this town, caught a 15 hour train down to Chennai.

Mid-end June: Was met by Ranjan at Chennai railway station, who drove me 3 hours to Vellore, where I spent the next fortnight. Ranjan’s wife Dolly spent 3 years in Adelaide with their children, Rohan and Divya. Dolly worked at a hospital, the kids went to my mum’s school. Had a nice relaxing stay with them, but was feeling worn out. Dolly encouraged me to have a check up at her hospital, I ended up having bloods, urinalysis and chest radiographs, which were all ok. The hospital in Vellore was interesting, had a tour and spent a day with a nurse doing house calls to the poor. Visited the ‘new’ Golden Temple near Vellore.

July 1-14: Flew Chennai to Colombo, Sri Lanka, where dad was officiating in the Sri Lanka v Pakistan series. As it was the first time the two teams had met since they were attacked in Lahore earlier this year, security was tight. We had police escorts accompany us everywhere. Spent time in Colombo and Galle. The resort in Galle was incredible; I only went to the first day of the test then spent the rest of the time relaxing by the massive, 75m long pool, luxury! Was measured for a dress for the upcoming wedding in Colombo, dad will bring the dress home later, hopefully it will fit.

July 15-30: Flew from Colombo – Chennai, then onto Delhi. Train to Amritsar. Visited the Golden temple and other sights, took a bus to the India-Pakistan border to witness the bizarre border closing ceremony that take place at sun down each day. Next I took a bus to Chandigarh, highlight was the Fantasy Rock Garden, a collection of amazing sculptures made from trash. Took the Toy Train from Kalka to Shimla, a beautiful 8 hour trip, passing through over 100 tunnels and bridges. Shimla was cool and rainy, beautiful! Wore shoes and jumper for the first time in 2 months. Overnight bus to Manali, now well and truly heading up into the mountains.  I loved Manali, relaxed and much cooler than the plains. Stayed 4 nights before catching a 19 hour straight minibus up to Leh, on one of the most spectacular roads in the world. The road is only open for 2 months a year, and is in a constant state of (dis)repair.

August: Spent the month in a family home in Saboo, a village near Leh, which is in Ladakh, high up in the Himalayas. Volunteered with Vets Beyond Borders, sterilizing street dogs. Had a great time – the stunning setting in the mountains, the lovely family we stayed with and local team we worked with, and a great team of volunteers from Australia, NZ, UK and elsewhere made it a highlight of the trip so far.  Didn’t work the whole time though, did some sightseeing, and spent time at the Dalai Lama’s teachings, along with 40,000 Ladakhis. Caught up with John, who took me on his Royal Enfield Bullet motorbike up to the highest motorable road in the world (Khardung La, 5606 metres above sea level) and then on through the beautiful Nubra Valley.

September  3-21: Flew Leh – Delhi, and then home via Dubai and Melbourne. Had a beer spilt all over me on the way to Dubai, so spent an hour of the 8 hour layover in Dubai washing and drying my clothes in the loo. An hour before we landed in Melbourne I started feeling rather ill, and by the time I reached my hotel the food poisoning had well and truly kicked in. I spent an awful night on the bathroom tiles then struggled to make my plane home to Adelaide in the morning, including fainting in the line to check in.

It turned out that I had Salmonella and it took a good 2 weeks to completely clear my system. In the meantime I had a hectic, but great time at home. Tim and Kate got married on a beautiful spring day (my dress from Sri Lanka was fine, a little loose but nothing a few safety pins couldn’t fix). I spent the next fortnight catching up with family, friends and even spent a day at work, giving my Persian a hair cut under a general anaesthetic. I had mixed feelings about going back to India, as I had so enjoyed my time at home, but off I went, via Perth and Dubai, back to New Delhi (for the 8^th time this year!).

Everest Base Camp, the Tibetan side

The walk to ebc was chilly

We all got up early and hiked to Base Camp this morning. Wow! It was so cold, that my water bottle froze during the hour or so it took to get there. There was an army checkpoint just before Base Camp where our passports were checked. As we weren’t climbers, we were only permitted so far. The camp consisted of a smattering of tents, and not much more. We climbed a small hill festooned with prayer flags, where we had yet another spectacular view. Past the hill, there was the main camp, where there were many tents. May is the best month to climb Everest, so there were many hopeful mountaineers preparing to tackle the mountain.

The view from EBC

The Tibetan name for Everest is Qomolangma

I hadn’t actually expected Everest to affect me as much as it did. I was more excited about visiting Lhasa and seeing Tibet, I had considered Everest as a bonus, but getting that close was a real highlight. There is something very special about it.

The tent camp by day

After breakfast, I visited the “Post Office” – for a fee you can get an Everest Base Camp stamp placed in your passport. We headed off at about 10.30 am, with a massive day ahead of us. Unfortunately after about half a kilometre, we broke down. This time it was something to do with the oil freezing! As with our last break down, it couldn’t have been a more picturesque setting, but we were keen to get going. We were stuck there for almost 4 hours, departing finally at 2.30pm.

What a place to break down at..

We skipped lunch and drove on until 6.30pm, when we stopped for dinner at Tingri. The roads here are closed during the day due to a new highway being built, so we had to soldier on. The road was atrocious, and we struggled along it for 7 hours, arriving in the border town of Zhangmu at 3am. Driving through the town, all that was open were the grog shops and brothels, along with prostitutes wandering the streets. Nice. The hotel was filthy but we didn’t care, it had been a long day.

Mt. Everest, aka Qomolangma, aka Sagarmartha

Today we left early and had a long drive ahead of us, but we didn’t mind – today we were heading to Everest Base Camp! Our first glimpse of the highest mountain on earth came in the late morning. It was only a small bump on the horizon then, but we were all spellbound. Later we stopped at the Gyatso La, our highest point on the trip, at 5248 metres above sea level. It was freezing up here, and the air very thin, but we all got out and hung prayer flags amongst the many already present, and took the obligatory photos.

First view: far right, and a long winding road to get there

Gyatso La, the highest point on our journey

Gyatso La

Gyatso La

A little later we stopped at Pang La (5050 metres altitude) for a stunning panorama of four of the world’s highest mountains: Makalu (8481m), Lhotse (8511m), Everest (8848m) and Cho Oyu (8153m).

We pulled up to the tent camp a little out of the actual Everest Base Camp in the late afternoon. We opted against staying at the very basic, cold conditions at a nearby monastery, and instead chose the tent camp. Local villagers can erect tents and rent out sleeping space within. Inside there was plenty of room. Couches are used as mattresses and they use heavy blankets to keep the patrons warm. In the centre of the tent there is a stove/heater fuelled by sheep/

yak dung. Surprisingly it didn’t smell too bad and was nice and toasty.

We had a brilliant view of the Tibetan side of Mt. Everest from the camp, there it was, looming directly in front of us. After we arrived, we walked a short distance to a small monastery. The monks offered to show us to a cave. I decided to give it a go, thinking it couldn’t be too bad… it wasn’t until I was well inside and past the point of no return that I began to feel just a little claustrophobic, and calmed myself by taking deep breaths. Some of the group carried torches, but I must have missed that instruction, so stumbled along in the dark. We crawled in parts, then had to drop vertically down, and later, climb vertically up. I was so pleased to see daylight again!

It got dark very quickly, and there wasn’t much to do after dinner other than crawl into bed. I spent a little time mucking about with some long exposure shots on my camera outside, but it was just too cold to bear, so cocooned myself in my bed and slept very well.

Mt. Everest

One of 2 caves I climbed into today. At least this one was lit up!

Everest from the tent camp, what a stunner

View from tent camp by night. Notice anything spooky?

And on to Sakya

Having been warned not to eat at the hotel, four of us found a great place for breakfast. At 1 yuan each (about 20c) we had a couple of pieces of fried bread (sounds odd but was very tasty). We were supplied with tea cups and hot water, and Olga had one sachet of instant coffee and one of sugar, which she kindly shared between the 4 of us. It was a simple but memorable breakfast, with loads more character and much cheaper than the 30 yuan ‘buffet’ on offer at the hotel.

Breakfast

Today we visited Tashi Lhun Po Monastery. On the way there, we were warned in no uncertain terms not to speak of any controversial topics as there were many spies about. Again this place was incredible, my words cannot do it justice. I thought I may get ‘monastery-ed out’ but it wasn’t so. Tashi Lhun Po has 3 important burial stupas, including one housing the combined remnants of the 5^th, 6^th, 7^th and 8^th Panchen Lamas (sort of a 2ic to the Dalai Lama). The original burial stupas of these leaders were destroyed in the Cultural Revolution. The much revered 10^th Panchen Lama built this stupa containing what was left of the bodies, and mysteriously died a few days after its completion.

The Monastery also has its very own onsite hospital, to treat the poor, and also the many elderly and ailing pilgrims who visit Tashi Lhun Po from far distances. Traditional Tibetan medicine is practised here, with no surgery ever performed. There was a pleasant shady courtyard where as many as 30 elderly Tibetans sat around chatting, while receiving intravenous fluids. It was a really calm, peaceful place.

Next we drove on to Sakya. I hadn’t slept well the previous night and sleep eluded me on the bus, so I struggled through the tour of the ancient Sayka Monastery, built in 1268. Housed here was a locked Chapel of the She-Devil. Khun Do, our Tibetan guide, told us that she is locked up in chains and at night could be heard wailing. We had small smiles on our faces, but Khun Do wouldn’t have it, she was convinced she was real, she told us, and it was obvious that she was petrified of her.

While the others explored the small town of Sakya, I tried to sleep. It was freezing! I turned up to dinner later wearing everything I owned, much to the amusement of my tour mates. I don’t know if it was the altitude, but I sure wasn’t feeling great. Later I discovered we actually had electric blankets, which kept me warm for the short time the power lasted!

Shigatse: Fun at the Nangma

After seeing the sights in Gyantse, we piled into the bus and headed to our next destination: Shigatse. Our rooms in Gyantse had been very ordinary, so we were keen to inspect our next hotel rooms. We found them to be filthy, unused and unfinished! With the border having been closed for a long time, they obviously hadn’t seen too many tourists lately. Our entire group changed rooms, which were a little bit better. Olga and I were all set to explore the town but found that our door didn’t lock. It took ages to get the message through to the staff, but eventually they understood and a new lock was installed.

After dinner, we returned briefly to the hotel before heading out to a Tibetan Disco. To our dismay, our new lock, which we had tested earlier, now wouldn’t unlock! We alerted the first staff we found, 2 young women, who couldn’t open it either. They knocked on the door next to ours, which was occupied by 2 guys in our group. We had already seen that prostitution was rampant in this town and had seen several girls in the hotel obviously ‘on business’. The boys thought someone was playing a trick on them! These girls were genuine though, and walked purposely through the room to the window, and opened it. Without hesitation, and with much giggling, one climbed outside, opened our window, climbed in, and opened the door from inside. Did I mention that we were on the 3^rd floor and there was absolutely nothing to prevent the girl from plunging to the pavement, not even a window sill?!!

With that drama over, we headed to the nangma, the Tibetan disco, with our Tibetan guide and a few friends. There were flashing neon lights outside, and inside was really busy, with tables set up around a large dance floor. We found a spare spot and ordered Lhasa beer. This time it arrived with shot glasses to drink it with. At the front of the dance floor there was a stage, with a compere. The music alternated between traditional Chinese music (of the wailing variety), sort of- rock music and popular Tibetan songs, with the very occasional western song thrown in. There was even a Chinese Michael Jackson impersonator!

The Nangmar dancefloor and stage

Tibet's own Michael jackson impersonator

The crowd was interesting to watch. There were the young, hip, Tibetan and Chinese dressed in modern clothes, together with older Tibetans wearing their traditional outfits. Everyone joined in the festivities, drinking and dancing, it was lots of fun. With a little persuasion we all hit the dance floor, and were welcomed into the throng of dancers. The most popular dance was like a line dance, with everyone standing in circles facing the centre. Once mastered, the dance could be, and was, performed to any song – ‘round and ‘round we went, having a blast.

Our version of the Potala Palace

Gyantse

This morning we visited the Pelkhor Chode Monastery and the Gyanste Khumbum, the latter had a total of 100,000 images of Buddha spread over 6 floors.

The Gyantse Khumbum

One of the 100,000 Buddha images within the khumbum

We walked through Gyantse’s old town. Each house was beautifully decorated and each had a cow or yak tied up outside. There were piles of cow dung patties drying in the sun, to be used as fuel.

Gyantse's old town

Next up was a steep climb up to the Gyantse Fort (and as the ticket reads, ‘anti-British site’). There were bizarre re-enactments of the tax office and chapel, complete with freaky mannequins in need of a paint job. Higher up, there was a sign, pointing higher still, which read “Jump off cliff”. Sure enough, there was a memorial monument to the martyrs who had indeed jumped off the cliff!

The Fort as seen from the Monastery

Devious route

Jump off the cliff!

Glad to have reached the top, what a view

Bound for Gyantse

Today we set off in the most luxurious bus for the onward journey. We each had a double seat to ourselves, it was great! After a 9 hour drive we arrived at our destination for the night, Gyantse, but not without some adventures along the way. The scenery was stunning, we passed lakes of the most exquisite turquoise blue, and started winding our way up through the mountains. Earlier in the day we stopped at Kamba La (mountain pass), which sits close to 5000 metres above sea level. This place was an absolute circus, from the moment we stepped off the bus.

Another Tibetan mastiff

First, there were Tibetan men with Bhote dogs, who looked fierce but were very docile – I couldn’t help myself and paid a few yuan to have a photo with them. At this point a very insistent woman selling jewellery latched onto me. I couldn’t get rid of her! She took me to the toilets… a nice building which looked very clean, but which was locked. Instead, we were directed to the side of the mountain, to a small area of 4 piles of human excrement surrounded by a stone wall about a metre high. And there was a toilet nazi here charging 2 yuan for the privilege of using it! My little friend was still with me, and she took me to an area adjacent to this, and gestured for me to drop my dacks, and she would stand guard! It was completely open to everyone and everything though, and I couldn’t bring myself to do it, so I forked up the money to the nazi and relieved myself there.

Next up were the yaks, decorated nicely and with the most amazing backdrop of the Yamdrok-Tso Lake, and snow capped Mt. Nojin Kangstang (7191m) behind. Another 10 yuan later and I had myself a photo sitting on the yak, wearing a fluffy hat and generally looking the fool.

Posing on a yak

I didn’t mind paying a few yuan to have a photo with the dog and the yak, but the woman guarding the stone with the altitude engraved on it was too much! I understand they need to get by, but this was extortionate and she wasn’t even providing a service. She demanded a relatively large amount of money to move aside so we could get a photo. First we distracted her and managed to get a few shots, but then she sat firm and started throwing stones at us! This was ridiculous, so we complained to our guide. Apparently we had already paid for the privilege of parking in this spot, so the man who had earlier collected this money came and bribed her to step aside so we could get our shots, for god’s sake!

What a view

A puppy I met along the way

After Kamba La, we were more prepared at Karo La Glacier, where we pulled over next. This place, while beautiful with the snowy mountains and glacier, felt more depressing than our last stop. Rather than being surrounded by happy jewellery sellers, dog owners, yak owners as we were at Kamba La, this time we were encircled by grubby children and women with babies, all begging for money, toys and sweets.

Karo La Glacier

Girl and kid

Later on during the day, we pulled over, seemingly in the middle of nowhere, apparently there was a problem with the brakes! By now we were through the mountains and travelling through a largely flat, barren land. A young boy, maybe about 9, was herding a flock of sheep nearby, and was very curious of us. His curiosity got the better of him and he abandoned his flock, coming over to check us out. He joined in the group photos we were taking and was very sweet. Our bus was fixed, and we set off, but about 500 metres down the road we stopped yet again. To pass the time, we wandered over to a tiny village nearby, and were invited inside one of the small houses, which was quite fascinating to see.

Waiting for our bus to be fixed, with a new friend

Fixing the bus

The small village we visited

This couple invited us into their home

We got to our hotel in Gyantse and went out to dinner. Today was one of our group, Tim’s birthday. He was presented with silk scarves and a cardboard crown (the sort you get at Hungry Jacks at a children’s birthday party), and then a huge sponge cake covered in thick cream. The restaurant provided him with a meat cleaver to cut it with, and he did a good job. After dinner we weren’t quite ready to sleep, so went on the hunt for a pub. All we found was a little hole in the wall restaurant. We ordered beer and drank it in very small wine glasses, enjoying the craziness of China and Tibet.

Birthday Boy

Norbulinka, the Summer Palaces

Another day we visited Norbulingka, site of the Summer Palaces of the Dalai Lamas. There are a number of Palaces, surrounded by a large area of grassy land. The Palaces were interesting, especially the ‘new’ palace, which was where the 14^th (current) Dalai Lama had resided for 3 years before fleeing to India. This day, May 1^st, was also a National holiday, and the grounds were full of picnicking families, the atmosphere was relaxed and friendly.

The Dalai Lama's former Summer Palace

Have a dog