Final Destination

Ganga Pooja

Animals eating garbage in the middle of the road

Morning Bath

Stupa in Sarnath

Varanasi, the ancient city on the Ganges River where Indians come to die. My final destination in India, but not quite in the same way. Hindu's from across the country come to be cremated on the ghats, the final remains disposed into the holy Ganga. As one of the holiest sites of Hinduism, the streets are naturally filled with holy cows and big piles of cow shit. Filthy cows and goats and dogs and feces from 10 different species (including human) line the winding lanes of this very distinctive Indian town. Every morning, the locals bath and wash their clothes in the same river where they dump corpses. The level of sanitation in this place is beyond belief. That said, I am fascinated by it. We stood over the burning ghats one afternoon and watched the body burners at work. The corpse is carried on a stretcher (fortunately covered by colored fabric), washed in the river, and then openly cremated on the river bank. The family members walk around the fire five times (for the five elements: air, fire, earth, water, sky). We saw one man do this while chatting on his mobile. The burning takes a few hours and produces a smell of burning flesh, kinda like a barbeque. Every evening at 6:30, a pooja to Ganga is held, with dancing and singing, a very elaborate ceremony. One morning, Sara and I took a boat ride to observe the activities of the ghats from a safe distance, a pleasant change from dodging the animals and their excrements.
Being in such a spiritual place, we thought it a good idea to do a yoga meditation course with a lonely planet recommended instructor, which was very relaxing.
We also visited Sarnath, a popular site for Buddhist pilgrims right outside of Varanasi, for it is said that the Buddha preached his first sermon here. Much of the site has been destroyed during later invasions but one of the stupas remain standing and many artifacts are preserved in the museum, which was surprisingly well kept and very informative.
From Varanasi, Sara and I said our goodbyes. She will be heading to Delhi to continue her travels up north to Punjab; while I head back to Bombay to prepare for my final departure from India.

PS. The ride was 26 hours and so I read the Memoires of a Geisha, so sad, i cried.

Brrrr... its cold up here! but at least its not Indian!

Prayer flags at a Buddhist Temple

Drinking Tumba

Tea Picker in Darjeeling

Khangchendzonga Peak at Sunrise, from Tiger Hill

My first time travelling on sleeper class (dirty and crowded) but I guess it wasn’t so bad. There is no direct train between Calcutta and Darjeeling, so we had to take a jeep from NJP station up the hills. Once we got there, we were all too overwhelmed by the cold to pay any attention to the beautiful landscapes surrounding us. We quickly equipped ourselves with wool socks, hats, long underwear and big blankets (all of which we wore the entire time we were there).
Darjeeling is different from the rest of India in everyway possible; the climate, the landscape, the people, the food, the clothing… such a wonderful feeling to be leave India behind for one week. The majority of the inhabitants come from either a Nepal or Tibet, bringing along their culture, including food, dress and religion. As a result, we spent the days exploring Buddhist monasteries (Ghompas) and visited the Tibetan Refugee Self Help Center, where Tibetans sustain a livelihood by producing traditional crafts. We ate delicious momo’s (very similar to the dumplings you get in Shanghai), bowls of Tenthuk soups and drinking lots of hot tea to keep us warm.
Being the troopers that we were, we managed to drag our asses out of bed at 4am one morning to see the sunrise from Tiger Hill. As the sun rose, we admired the beauty of the Himalayas as the sunlight reflected off the Khangchendzonga peak, while feeling a bit nauseous from sleep deprivation and the bumpy ride up.
Andrea and Naomi planned to do an 8 day snow trek up in Sikkim. Being relatively less diehard about the cold, Sara and I decided that this is where our paths split, so the two of us made arrangements to go to Varanasi instead. We spent our last night together at a small teahouse, drinking Tomba, a hot drink of fermented barley. The shopkeeper was the sweetest lady who told us a sad story of her childhood. It was a wonderful way to say goodbye to Darjeeling and to our friends. *single tear*

Bengali sweets and headless goats

Vendor of Kali Images by the Kalighat temple

Sara, Andrea and I after visiting the temple

Man in lungi carrying table on head, Calcutta

Pomagranates on on a street of fruit vendors

To end my time in India with a Bang, I decided to jump on the opportunity to see the northeast with Andrea, Sara and Naomi. We started in Calcutta, where I was told to expect more poverty than in Bombay, (not particularly true) The city has a very different flavor than both Bollywood Bombay and Capital New Delhi. Calcutta, (or Kolkata) meaning city of joy has also remained the cultural hubof the nation. The major monuments we visited included the Victoria Memorial, giving an account of British rule from an Indian perspective and the Kali ghat temple. Where Mumbaikers love Ganesh, the god of wisdom with an Elephant head, Calcutta has a special attachment to the wrathful and destructive goddess Kali, who is depicted wearing a necklace of bloody human heads. To satisfy her, , goats are regularly sacrificed at the Kalighat Temple. We went one morning to see the slaughtering. Poor little goats, they must have thought it was a special day, going for a walk and getting a special bath. Before they knew it, someone is holding their front legs behind their backs and putting their neck on the guillotine, in one quick motion their heads are chopped off while their headless bodies are still kicking away.
Down the street, I also got a chance to visit Mother Teresa's home for the dying destitutes. Other than that, we spent most of our time on Park Street eating at Flury's and visiting local sweet shops for their famous Bengali sweets. YUMMMM
Our stay in Calcutta lasted only 3 days. The truth is, in the end its just another Indian city. We were ready to get away from the noise, the traffic, the people, the pollution and the heat - and we did just that. After a 13 hour sleeper class train and 3 hours of winding up the mountains in a 11 person Jeep, we arrived in a alternate reality of India - the tea plantation paradise of Darjeeling.

Backwaters and Tea Plantations

Floating through the backwaters of Kerala

G having Tea on Houseboat

Fishermen in Kochin

Village School in the mountains of Munnar

Waterfall

Tea Plantations

It was a packed and therefore hectic but very worthwhile trip to Kerala. Since G could only get a few days off work, we did Kerala the express way. We were on the road constantly, though without much time to lay back and enjoy (not entirely true) we did manage to see a lot of Kerala. We started off in Fort Kochin, and took some time to explore the churches and the one synagogue (which was unfortunately closed). There are fishing nets along the beach where tables are also set up to serve freshly caught seafood.

We caught the train to Allepey for the famous Backwater houseboats. For 24 hours, G and I lazed around while being served fruits, tea and full meals, gazing out into the amazing landscapes of tropical Kerala. We went for a quick swim in the murky water, not the best decision either of us ever made…. Luckily, a bit of rain saved us from the scorching heat of Kerala in this time of year.

Off the house boat and onto catch a bus to Munnar via Kottayam. Munnar is a hill station located in the mountains in Western Kerala, amidst the tea plantations. We met some New Zealand guys on the way and found a cheap guesthouse together. (what can I say, its sooo much easier to travel with men!) The next morning we had a fab breakfast of idli’s, chutney, dal and chai for only eight rupees with some Israeli girls we had met in Allepey. Then we set off on a beautiful hike in the mountains, through tea plantations and villages and waterfalls. It was a bit cloudy and mildly chilly in the mountains. Perhaps the lack of heat confused me – but I didn’t put on any sun screen and got pretty red after 4 hours of hiking in the peak hours of the day.

Our flight was scheduled for 4am, and since we were both exhausted and didn’t want to navigate our way to the airport in the wee hours, we parked ourselves at the airport by like 10:30 pm. With neither duty free shops or even a decent café, we had to make do with a deck of cards and 2 novels... at 8 am this morning, we were safe and sound in our beds in our Bombay homes.

Note: People in Kerala are so much more laid back than the other parts of India I've seen. They are friendly but not aggressive, such a refreshing change from big cities!