Delhi Once More

Just 24 hours until I fly out of India for real this time. A couple errands around the city, a visit to Humayun’s tomb, I’m out of here.

I snapped this one of a group of friends checking out an old mosque on the tomb complex.

Humayun’s mausoleum kicked off theIislamic-inspired Mughal tomb trend, the most outstanding example of which is the Taj Mahal. The use of red sandstone and white marble is strikingly beautiful.

I finally got a picture of the grass clippers here in India. I don’t recall ever having seen a single lawn mower. Instead I see teams of two or three workers armed with sickles methodically working away at the grass. As with most Indian people doing photogenic things, these women outside of Humayun’s tomb demanded baksheesh for posing. Sheesh.

Just one last stop: the Urdu Bazaar outside the Jama Masjid.

Check out the sweaters for sale. I see grown men wearing these hideous things much more than I should.

In the evening I finally made it to Indira Gandhi International. Among the restricted carry-on items is Indian style pickle. Who’s to say whether it’s as dangerous as guns or cricket bats. Hopefully they won’t find my little jar of the stuff…

God’s Own Country

I ended my trip to India on a good note by training down to Kochin/Cochi in Kerala. Home to a rich past of monarchs and spice trade, Fort Kochi is an incredible old town to wander or pedal through. It’s in the middle of Malabar (of spice trade fame) on a large bay.

In the north are the enormous, spiderlike Chinese fishing nets, first introduced by Kublai Khan in the 14th century. They take at least 4 men to operate as they dip their nets into the shallows, rest for a minute or two, and then return to their upright position with assistance from large stone weights. I showed up in the morning and helped out for a while.

The south has a rich Jew town, including an old synagogue and plenty of upscale restaurants, cafés, and boutiques. One particularly awesome store was Play Clan, with a lot of artists contributing to make modern and uniquely Indian shirts, mugs, and other trinkets. I bought the best shirt in India.

With my Kiwi friends I made a tour of Keralan culture as well, starting with a visit to the Keralan Cultural Center. It’s a private venture, 3 stories high, and absolutely packed with ancient and antique artifacts. It was well worth the visit; even the building itself was composed of heavy wood walls and ceilings and tile flooring.

Next we went on a tour of the famous Keralan backwaters just out of town from Aleppey. We hired a small motor boat just big enough for all of us and took a tour down the canals. It’s easy to see why Aleppey is referred to as the Venice of the East.

We finished the night off with a performance of a part of the Mahabharata, in which the esteemed archer Arjuna faces down a disguised Shiva and learns a little humility in the process. The makeup, costumes, facial expressions, gestures, and accompanying music were all incredible.

Dinner was pick-it-yourself seafood next to the Chinese fishing nets. We selected a couple kilos of mussels, prawns, fish, and calamari before taking it to a nearby restaurant to have it grilled with rich Keralan spices. It was easily the best seafood I’ve ever had.

Hampi

I’ve heard from a number of friends and travellers that Hampi should be on my itinerary, and I managed to squeeze it in towards the end. All it took to get there was one long overnight bus ride in a double bed on a freezing air-conditioned sleeper next to an Australian whom I quickly made friends with before falling into a sleep that was bumpy, cramped, and cold. Despite that I was one of the best rides I’ve had in India, and I won’t complain. :)

Hampi is full of boulder fields, hills, rivers, and amazing ancient temples everywhere. Minus the temples, it reminds me a lot of parts of southern Utah. I started the day off at the Virupaksha temple. Despite being over 600 years old, it’s still plenty busy. Pilgrims file around a circuit at the temple, making their rounds at the deities tucked in every corner and basement of the complex. The tour is completed when pilgrims pay their respects to Lakshmi, the temple elephant.

 Splitting coconuts for rituals

Blessings by elephant

After that, a hike into the hills to see Vittala temple, and then race down to see temple highlights like the Queen’s Bath and the Underground Shiva Temple. The entire thing had as much atmosphere as the Indiana Jones ride at Disneyland, except that I had to keep pinching myself to remind that it’s all real (and certainly less crowded).

Underground(/Flooded) Shiva Temple 

Hampi looks like a lot of this, everywhere. 

Inner sanctum, Vittala Temple 

 Lotus Palace

I walked along the river and through a banana plantation to get lunch at the Mango Tree, recommended by a friend I met in Udaipur and again down here in Hampi. He showed up not long after me. It’s interesting to keep seeing the same people you befriended earlier on your tour. I really enjoy seeing a couple friendly faces in an entirely new crowd.

Shoe minders at Mango Tree

Tomorrow: rent a bicycle and pedal around to the sites I missed in my whirlwind tour today. Start the day off right with a couple new friends and a sunrise hike to a nearby hill. Done.

Palolem, Goa

After Arambol, we decided to try a quieter beach in Goa. Palolem happens to  be one of the prettier ones, set up in a sweeping arc and insulated from the rest of the world by a coconut forest (remember to duck!). In the Bourne series, Jason Bourne laid low here for a couple years before the authorities caught up with him—I even jogged along the same stretch of beach he used for his workout just before the Russians show up.

Paradise?

Aside from spending time in the sun, I finished my gastro-tour of Goa with a fiery yet delicious Beef Xacuti: coconut-based curry. We tried a freshly caught and grilled fish as well on the way out. Every night, each restaurant lays out its own table of iced seafood ready for tourists to select for dinner.

I also finally spent a day on my first geared motorcycle ride, and on my dream-bike at that! Royal Enfields have impressed me on my last two trips to India as a delicious piece of Indian machinery. Their well-defined throbbing engine note and classic looks make them stand out in every way. I managed to convince the renters that I had enough motorcycle experience (ha!) before they handed me the keys to a shiny 350cc Royal Enfield Bullet Electra 5S. Having only ridden a 100cc scooter days before this, I was very excited but still a little apprehensive about driving one. Then the man showed me an even nicer ride: his own brand-new, 2 day old silver Bullet, with some plastic still protecting brilliant chrome. This was to be the first bike that I ever drove, and the pressure was on! If I protested any more that I needed time to learn to ride such a beautiful beast, my lack of riding experience would have been apparent. I had to jump on and just go for it, and thankfully I managed to find all the levers and pedals at the right times. Everything went smoothly, and he was convinced that I could safely take the older model for the rest of the day.
I took the bike up the coast to the beach at Agonda before cruising along some lazy winding roads to the ruins of a Portuguese fort at Cabo de Rama. I rode alone through jungle, fields, and towns just as the afternoon sun was turning the sky a fiery orange. I was on my own time, fully in control of where I went and how fast I got there. The freedom was exhilarating! I couldn’t have asked for a better first experience on a gear bike. Thankfully the whole thing went off without any horror stories or crashes.

Heading out. Just about to put the helmet on, honest.

Agonda, first stop on my bike tour. Not as busy as Palolem.

Portuguese fort at Cabo de Rama

What’s Goan on:

I’m staying at Arambol beach in the north of Goa with our buddies from the Darjeeling trek. We’ve been relaxing and spending time on the beach. It doesn’t feel like India, save for the hawkers cruising the beach up and down, selling fruit, sarongs, bracelets, and massages.

The food here is superb, with fresh fish and Portuguese-influenced dishes like carfreal, peri-peri, and xacuti. Yesterday I found a family-run eatery only serving only fish thali, or lunch. I was treated with fiery, tangy fish curry, spicy salad, marinated cauliflower, and a flatfish fillet battered in cornmeal--with Indian pickle on the side. My face was burning from the spice afterwards, but it was by far the best food I’ve had in Goa(/India?). It was a nice change from the overpriced, oversized touristy restaurants that try to cater to the tastes of every nationality.

A coupe days back we went down to Vagator and Arambol beaches to try out the electronica concert offerings. Goa was once famous for its enormous trance parties; since then it’s withered into a sunny tourist place with only a whisper of its former nightlife glory. The all-day trance and electro-house party at one of the bars was populated but the atmosphere was dead, and the music got a little repetitive. We went up to Nine Bar to wait around for 5 hours for Dub FX to show up. He performed dub, hip-hop, and dubstep numbers using only distorted and looped sound effects from his mouth. He was joined onstage by his future wife and Mr. Mahesh, an extremely talented traditional South Indian singer. The show was an incredible fusion of cultures and musical styles.

 Ben, Dub FX

 The Talented Mr. Mahesh

Yesterday we got together, rented scooters, and buzzed down to Candolim beach to check out a shipwreck. The hull turned out to be too far offshore to inspect on our own. The beach was overrun with Russian tourists. It got to the point where restaurant owners and beach masseurs greeted us with ‘Privyet!’ and then launched into heavily accented Russian. We visited Goa’s largest fort, Aguada, before heading back north to home base Arambol.

Fort Aguada

The Skidmarks

Lest I rot in Goa, I’ve purchased all of my bus, plane, and train tickets to get out of here. The plan is to go down to Palolem in South Goa to check out another recommended beach, recreate the scenes from The Bourne Supremacy and rent some Royal Enfields. Then off to Hampi, then Keralan backwaters, then Delhi, then gone. I’m out of here in less than 2 weeks!

Udaipur

I’ve always liked Udaipur because it’s a mix of India and Venice: it’s situated on a lake in the desert. This makes the domes, parapets, and archways in the city that much more striking. Getting lost in the anarchic side streets and alleyways is a pleasure, provided you’re not in a hurry to get anywhere.
We got here and moved in instantly to our favorite hotel-owner’s place, who runs a tight operation in the center of everything. From here, it’s easy to access the lake, ornate city palace, or any number of the excellent bakeries, restaurants, and cafes.

The day we got in I took a great boat ride around the lake to stop at the larger of the two palaces situated in its midst. I checked out the menu at the restaurant there, but it was even more expensive than my boat ticket, at least by Indian standards. Nevertheless, my tour was worth it to get a up-close look at some of the nicest and priciest buildings in the city.

Just below the large temple dedicated to Lord Jagganath, of Puri fame, is a tiny lunch stall or dhaba selling mouth-watering samosas and deep fried sandwiches washed down with a steaming glass of chai. One can be satiated here for a mere fifty cents!

We also enjoyed a delicious afternoon tea at the City Palace, with breathtaking views of the sunset dancing on the boats around the Lake Palace. The luxury of being served fine tea by a turbaned man wielding a silver teapot is worth it, and it makes the chaos and dirt of India much more bearable.

At night I was invited to the hotel owner’s son’s engagement party. It seemed like the entire town was there to enjoy each other’s company over food. The bride- and groom-to-be seemed to be content with the match; they had only met a week prior. Unfortunately there was no dancing here, as there will be at the 3000-guest wedding ceremony in a year’s time. I entertained the other bachelors my age with a poor rendition of the lyrics to a popular Bollywood song. We got along well.

Delhi2Pushkar

We spent a quick couple days in Delhi. I started with a long-awaited trip to Jama Masjid, the largest mosque in India. I was walking through the maze of a bazaar that surrounds the mosque when I saw a turkey wandering around too. I briefly considered asking the cost to prepare it for my Thanksgiving dinner before I grasped the enormity of the task of making my request understandable to non-Thanksgiving celebrators.

Old Delhi is dwarfed below the Friday Mosque

I gave up and instead headed towards KFC in the center of New Delhi for the next best thing. There I ran into a couple Americans celebrating as well. Afterwards, I picked up the suits that I had tailored--looking like a million bucks now costs under 200. Just as it was getting dark I headed towards the Dargah near the Nizammudin station for some qawwali music (sufi devotional singing). I only caught a couple minutes of it before the musicians packed up and prepared for the evening prayers. Walking around the tight alleyways among hundreds of people praying, eating, and socializing was an amazing experience though. For the evening I met with a friend we met on the way to Everest Base camp and checked out Delhi’s night life.

Hubbub at the Dargah

Katie met up with me the next day after having some time off in Rishikesh, and we took some time to explore Old Delhi before we left. and we stopped by Haldiram’s restaurant and sweet shop. They served some of the best lunch platters (thalis) as well as Indian sweets, but for both Katie and me, they are a taste that we have yet to acquire. Haldiram’s also claims to have branches in California, so we’d like to see what it’s like back in the States.

With a half an hour to spare before our train I sprinted along the main street to check out the famous spice market. It’s an incredible assault on all the senses, and much more industrialized than I expected. Instead of handfuls of spiced traded, shop owners were trading in entire sacks of dried chilies and turmeric. I was dodging porters, handcarts, and trucks rather than other spice shoppers. Once, I was practically hit in the face by a strong waft of cardamom, though I never managed to locate its source. Everybody was hacking and coughing in the chili hallway because of the irritating fumes.

We took a long afternoon train to Ajmer and hopped onto a bus to Pushkar, where Brahma dropped a lotus flower and produced a nice lake. The lake is now surrounded by hotels, temples, a pleasantly relaxed atmosphere, and hippies. Great for reading. It also makes for great sunset pictures, as the day’s last rays dance on beautiful Mughal architecture.

Aside from that, it’s not a particulary enthralling town. Once we had picked over the handicrafts and imbibed at all of the major coffee bars, we felt the need to move on. They did have a particularly good lassi/smoothie place that made a killer muesli fruit salad lassi in the morning.

Still in Sainji

Though I haven’t been updating the blog, I have certainly been busy. It takes a lot of un-blog-worthy events piled together to make a worthwhile post.

Life in Sainji goes on. Aaron has now headed back to the States for Thanksgiving, leaving me in India. Since we last spoke, here’s a list of what I’ve been up to:

• Senior Project: Rural Phone Charger
• Interviews with retailers and cell phone users
• Drawings of concept designs
• Appointments: All manufacturers are in Delhi and Mumbai
• EWB
• Family Interviews of sanitation project families
• Basic Surveying of future construction sites
• Filming and pictures of kids and NGO for upcoming film
• Seeking partnerships with local universities and Rotary chapters
• Local School (Garhwal English Medium)
• Teaching math to 2nd through 5th grades
• 2 failed model hot air balloons, but I’ll keep trying

#2

• Preparing to give the kids a crash-course in toothpick bridge-buiding
• Riding on the back of jeeps—safer than you think!
• Cruising around Mussoorie followed by lunch at Domino’s Pizza…we gave in
• Argyle sweater-vests
• Indian-style pickled garlic: yummy!

Happy Thanksgiving from Sainji!

Heading out to Delhi on Thursday. My work here is wrapping up.

Sainji at Last

After landing in Delhi Airport from Kathmandu (via 737-800, courtesy Spicejet) we hopped on the month-old airport superfast express to the New Delhi train station to drop off our bags and explore the city. We finally got to Delhi’s Red Fort, built by the same megalomaniac prince that erected the Taj Mahal in Agra. Inside were incredible ornate palaces, mosques, and sitting rooms.

 The Red Fort at Sunset, Delhi

Night rolled in and we went to get fitted for a couple suits each, then to the United Coffee House for a cup of the good stuff in an amazing 1940’s era posh restaurant. Afterwards, a pint at Q’BA bar (pronounced Cuba), one of the swankest in Delhi. We jumped in a rickshaw to the station, picked up our bags, found our train, and passed out in comfortable 3rd class sleepers until it arrived at the end of the line the next morning. A $0.70 bus ride into the hills and we were in Mussoorie, where we were picked up by our friends Lori and Kunwar of Sainji.

Made it!

Since then we have slid right back in to the rigors of rural village life. The kids all recognized and welcomed us immediately. We’ve been helping out at the schoool teaching the older students latitude and longitude proficiency with my GPS. At night I practiced pounding roasted wheat for chura, a treat for Uttarakhand’s own version of Diwali in a couple weeks. Other than that Aaron and I have been helping out the Engineers Without Borders team by taking water samples and talking to villagers about our upcoming project. We’re getting requests for more corn de-kernelers, which we’re really happy about as well.

 Collecting drinking water samples in the jungles above Sainji

Comparing notes and GPS to find treasures

Mountain Biking In Kathmandu

Kathmandu and Nepal in general is well-geared for other sports than trekking, including rafting, bungy jumping, and mountain biking. I opted to go on a guided day trip, though only cross-country and not the 31 km downhill trip near Tibet, though it was tempting.
We started off on jeep trails in the hills northwest of Kathmandu. Relatively leisurely, but my guide could easily pull away from me on the climbs. He’s been training and racing for the past 6 months, on his way to national championship glory. Bumpy descents, poor suspension, and kids throwing rocks made me almost want to quit.
We stopped for brunch of delicious sandwiches, chickpea curry, cookies, and chai, and then everything turned around. We were heading into the technical singletrack downhill section, so things were looking up. Turns out the trails they ride are the mud service paths along fields and irrigation canals. incredibly narrow with steep drops on either side, with not so much as an inch for error, and no room to put your foot down if you stop—I found that last one out the hard way. Just keep going and balancing, through fields dodging farmers and their hoes. Super-gnarly descents down stairways and over gaps as well. It was extremely challenging and a lot of fun.
We returned back to the bike shop via bustling city streets. We were dodging pedestrians, cows, motorcycles, trucks, and buses as we raced through thoroughfares and narrow alleyways. The ride was incredible, with not even a single close call. My guide Rajan had his head on a swivel and kept us always in the right place at the right time.
I apologize for not having any good pictures. I was trying not to crash off a ledge or into a truck the entire time. Suffice to say it was the closest I got to Nepali agriculture and transportation, and an experience well worth the cuts, scratches, and monetary costs I incurred.

Rajan, of Himalayan Singletrack tours, above Kathmandu

The one shot I managed, in a less-technical section

Next we’re heading out to Sainji again in the hills of Uttarakhand. Time to visit old friends, teach the kids some engineering, and even get a little work done on the side.

The Everest Trek Post

Update: Lukla-Everest Base Camp GPS trail (EBC Trek.kml , open in Google Earth)
EBC Trail Download

So we waited in the Kathmandu airport’s domestic terminal for two full days before we made it out. We were stuck in a large hall full of expedition luggage, mountains of ramen and onions, and irate travelers. Turns out if you don’t get on your flight on its scheduled day, you’re on the bottom of the list for tomorrow. All because of a little bad weather at our destination at Lukla (one of the most dangerous and highest altitude airports in the world). We should have taken it as foreshadowing for the delays to come… We gave up on the third day and got a couple seats on a helicopter so we could get on with the trek.

The domestic terminal of Tribuvan Airport, AKA home

Once we made it out, we high tailed it through Phakding for the night before slogging up a 600m climb to Namche Bazaar. This town, perched in a small hilltop valley and shaped like a tilted bowl, is filled with mountaineering goods stores, hotels, and bars playing Everest movies and documentaries daily. We already started noticing the climbing prices of food, as everything has to be flown or ported in on the backs of sherpas or yaks. We did a short day-hike above Namche to acclimatize to the altitude and get our first views of Mount Everest.

Namche Bazaar

Out of Namche, we came across one of the most beautiful parts of the trek: walking on a level path along the edge of a mountain, perched above a valley, and surrounded on all sides by massive snow-covered peaks. We passed a chorten commemorating fifty years of Everest ascents, Tenzing Norgay, and the rest of the Sherpa community. Sponsored by Rolex of Geneva, of course. (Tenzing was wearing a rare antique of theirs on the first ascent).

Though it rained and then snowed on us on the way to Tengboche, the snow-dusted monastery and incredible bakery more than made up for the town’s smallness and abundance of European tour groups in mountaineering boots. The monastery was the first to let us take pictures inside. At the bakery, I broke down and purchased a sourdough loaf fresh out of the oven with a large helping of butter on the side. Delicious.

Tengboche Monastery, from our hotel.

Two storey buddha, inside the monastery’s main prayer hall.

Detail of decorative hangings

On through a rhododendron forest, past a nunnery, and up to the White Yak mountain hotel at Pheriche (14,000 ft). This was a very cozy place with excellent food and a friendly set of German PHD students working on their medical and dental degrees. We helped them with their research by serving as test subjects in their studies on high-altitude effects on heart-rate and blood flow (including ultrasound!).

Aaron and me living the high life at the Mount Everest suite, White Yak Hotel (photo: Katie)

High altitude dental checkup by Knut (in red)

Also interesting was the Himalayan Rescue Association clinic there, with daily talks on altitude sickness and its cures. Since they showed up in 1971, altitude-related deaths have plummetted. Plus it’s fully powered by solar and wind, as is everything above this point. Hydroelectric power isn’t possible like it is in the villages below.

The very helpful HRA Clinic

Aaron and the Gamow bag, used to simulate lower altitude.

Unfortunately we had to leave Katie behind at this point, since she was losing energy in the battle against unhygenic food common at this altitude. In fact, we didn’t meet a single person that didn’t have digestive issues, and the question, “How are you handling the food”? is perfectly acceptable to complete strangers.

Aaron and I soldiered on with nights in Lobuche and finally Gorak Shep. From there it was a short 3 hour hike to our end goal: Everest Base Camp. It’s basically a rock situated on a glacier covered with a sign and a bunch of prayer flags, with tents in the distance. We hiked to the tents but they weren’t taking visitors, and there was a storm approaching. By this time Aaron was succumbing to the food as well, so we thought it best to head out. On the way back, we had incredible views of the sky, Khumbu ice falll, and the tip of Everest.

Everest Base Camp (far left corner of icefall) Everest (unimpressive darker peak in the center of the three tallest on the right) and the Everest Base Camp Rock (direct center). Sky’s deep blue due to less atmosphere.

On the way across the glacier to base camp.

Boom, nailed it. Trek done.

Return Trip

The next morning we had planned to climb a pitiful black hill, Kala Patthar (5545m) to watch the sunrise behind Everest, but we were both too sick from what we had eaten and decided instead to speed down to Pheriche, and get away from the mountains and their poorly cooked dishes.

As we pulled into Lukla, we noticed the town was more packed than usual. We checked 6 full hotels before finding an available room. Apparently flights had been canceled for 2 days before and tour groups were starting to congest in the small town. The airline representative advised us to hike to Jiri and catch a bus instead of waiting for planes. It would be six days before anyone started flying out by plane. The Nepalese army even had to fly in with an enormous Soviet Mi-17 helicopter to start ferrying people out. Before that, 3,500 tourists and Nepalis were stranded there, and we heard reports of shortages on rice and dahl, rum, followed by a couple arrests for stone-throwing.

Scenic place to be forced to spend a week, isn’t it?

The fact that Jiri is 4-7 days away by foot over multiple steep ascents and passes was a slight deterrent, but Aaron, Katie and I decided to take it and cash in the return ticket for a refund. The trail down from Lukla ranges from subalpine to tropical, and is much less traveled (or maintained), though the odd lodge or lunch stall is often not more than 3 hours’ walk away. After one day on the trail with Aaron and me, Katie wanted to avoid our masochistic 10 hour-a-day hiking scheme, and was able to make friends with a couple friendly and leisurely-paced Brits. We raced ahead to keep up with a couple incredibly fast Austrians and were able to finish the trek in 4 days (35 hours of hiking) to catch a 10 hour bus back to Kathmandu. It’s little frustrating that all was is equivalent to a fifteen minute taxi and a 45 minute flight, but it was a good experience, if not a little painful.

My new favorite creature: the lovable and not-so-smelly yak.

It’s so good to be back in Kathmandu. The food costs about the same but it’s both better quality and bigger quantities. Dinner was pepper steak and beer.

Boom. Posted.