Last Chance for Tigers (Ranthambore National Park)

Don't expect to see any tigers...

Tegan - We made this little pit-stop just south of Jaipur with the hope that maybe, just maybe, this would be the place where we would finally have the pleasure of seeing some tigers. It didn’t work out as planned, and instead of setting our eyes on some unbelievable creatures we had the pleasure of a rough ride through the national park (zone 7).

Leading up to the tiger no-show, things were actually pretty exciting . We had spent most of the early afternoon fighting to get spots in one of the gypsys (jeeps) instead of the huge rooftop buses that take safaris out. When I mean '’fight’, I actually mean more of a scrum. And by ‘we’ I mean, Mike haha! This was hilarious. A simple line-up just doesn’t seem to make sense in front of the ticket counter. Instead a scrum of men, young and OLD, are trying to squeeze passed each other. Myself and a couple of other women had the pleasure of sitting back and enjoying the show!

After the show, we had come out successful! Mike had gotten us seats on a gypsy and our departure was less than an hour away! After speaking to so many people who had been out earlier that day or the day before, things were looking great for us. Almost everyone had seen a tiger or two!

I think it was the zone we got sent out to, but we had no luck. The most exciting thing that happened on our safari was that we came across another gypsy coming towards us, while we were on this tiny path on the side of a huge hillside. Eventually things were figured out and the gypsy full of women and children, us, had to get out of the jeep while the it drove up the hillside a bit so the other jeep (full of men in leather coats) could get past lol. At the time this didn’t even phase me, all I was thinking was: “Maybe this is our lucky chance!!”

Mike – We saw some animals that we had yet to cross paths with – antelopes and gazelles, mostly – and we ran into many people who had the privilege of spotting tigers, but, in the end, “no dice”. We repel tigers. They must smell that there are true carnivores amongst them.

The highlight of this stop, if you can call it that, was when I went to buy our “safari” tickets. For the first time, we decided to forgo the price gougers at the hotels, and book our safari directly from the source – the park wardens. I thought the cost savings would entirely compensate the additional effort of procuring our own passes. Boy, was I mistaken.

Those hotel price-gougers I spoke of, yeah, the ones who charged huge commissions to get tourists their passes, well, now, I’m in line with all of them at once. We are jostling, fighting, (at times coming to blows), for a chance to get to the front of the line to get those damn passes. I’m using my height in order to stop people from reaching over me into the ticket counter, while simultaneously trying to wriggle my arm through the throng of screaming Indians, so I can acquire just enough room to perform the transaction. This went on from noon until 2pm, at which point, I finally cleared enough space to buy the tickets. Even after I’d got to the front, I was having to prop one leg up on the wall, for strength, in order to keep the sprawling mass of sweaty, commission-hungry, Indians from toppling over me while I’m in the process of presenting our passports and paying the park.

And, finally, it was done. I grab the passes and turn to leave, only to see Teg revelling in the situation from the background; laughing, snapping pictures, just having a grand ol’ time. I felt the urge to run a victory lap myself. Needless to say, that was the only safari we did at Ranthambore.

Jaipur

Photos of Jaipur...

Mike – Another lost day in Jaipur. No time to see forts, but we did get to walk around the pink city and check out the sights contained therein. The City Palace was very nice. It was nowhere near as extravagant as the Raj Palace we saw in Mysore, but it definitely had a unique flavour to it. The architecture looked to me like something of a Lousiana/Mughal hybrid.

I also had my first encounter with a snake charmer (Teg wouldn’t go near it). The cobra was surprisingly calm. It only snapped at me once when I was holding it’s neck too hard (it wasn’t poisonous, don't worry). Teg captured the moment in a pretty funny series of photos, if you're interested, click here...

The Jantar Mantar was an exhibition of ancient astronomy practices. Teg and I left it wishing we’d gotten a guide (which is unusual for us because neither of us are very keen on guides). From the little I picked up from eavesdropping on the guides around me, the whole thing was pretty ingenious.

My general impression of our short time in Jaipur was pretty positive. It has a very vibrant history, and some great restaurants. It was a tad bit expensive, relative to Indian standards, of course. Part of me wishes we had another day to spend here, but I think we are both pretty tired of cities and are excited to be out of them for awhile. Plus, we’re onto the final month of our journey, and suddenly, it seems we are very short on time…

Teg- I agree with Mike, Jantar Mantar was such an amazing observatory but it was so hard to figure out how it all worked. I found myself eaves-dropping on other guides as they described how this or that instrument could tell time, then excitingly asking their followers to check their watches which should agree with what he’d just measured. The time was always bang on. The other thing that made Jantar Mantar so great was that there was a nice park on one end where we were able to escape the madness within walls of the pink palace and relax for as long as we liked. I had to eventually (hours later) pry Mike off the book he was reading so we could continue checking out all the crazy astronomical instruments that were set up all around us!

The day was jam packed with different places to go, but what made it so do-able was that everything was within walking distance of each other. We entered the pink palace and wandered along a few crazy-busy bazaars before reaching Jantar Mantar. Within minutes of leaving the Observatory we had bought tickets and were walking through the gates to the City Palace. Oh wait, this wasn’t of course before Mike had a little snake-love on the street outside the gate! It was pretty funny to see Mike take a seat next to the man, wear his turban, and attempt to charm the snake with his squeaky flute playing!lol

Not too much to say about the City Palace really. The highlight for me was seeing a Christmas tree dead center of Diwan-I-Khas, this marble-floored private audience hall. The same hall that has holds the world’s two largest sterling silver vessels, once used to bring the Ganga river water up to England. Each with a capacity of roughly 4000 litres I was told!

Our next stop after the Palace was Hawa Mahal, definitely the place to go if your looking for great views of the city and surrounding area! Apparently this place used to be the home to all the women of the royal family??, It was amazing. Weirdest part about this place (that I found) was that instead of climbing up through a stairwell to get to the top, it was a narrow, small, ramp-well. Easy access for all I guess!!

We didn’t stay long, the views are amazing and that’s all you really get. After declining a few too many people asking for “1 photo?” with us, it helped quicken our departure back down the ramps. From here, our rickshaw driver offered - for a great price - to take us to a few places unlisted in the LP which sounded pretty cool. Sunset was fast approaching at this point so we didnt have too much time. A couple quick stops left and our time in Jaipur would soon be over!

We quickly stopped off to view Jai Mahal, what looked like a floating palace on this lake named Man Sagar. In actuality, it’s half under water, which when you get close enough you can see. Mike and I started making bets on how many floors this palace actually had. Neither of us won. As we hopped back in our rickshaw, our driver told us there are 5 floors, 2 of which are completely under!

Last stop, or so we thought at the time, was this elephant ‘something?’. I couldn’t understand what he was actually calling it, but it was this little open area in amongst some old buildings where 5 elephants were hanging out. We were told this is where they keep them in between festivities, and though it sucks to see them with a chain around one foot, it was still pretty awesome to get right up-n-close with them. Love them!

So lastly, as we think we are heading back towards our hotel to get some din-din, our driver insists on making a ‘quick’ little stop at this handicraft store. We agree - which is abnormal for us - but it turns out to be not the quick stop we were expecting. After maybe 30 different duvets are laid in front of us, we weaken and succumb to purchasing one of them!!! So in the end, we all win. Driver makes a percentage and we walk away with an amazing duvet!

Agra Beyond the Taj Mahal

Pictures...

Teg- Beyond the Taj, Agra itself definitely offered some interesting experiences. We arrived the day we think was the finale of Ramadan, because there was non-stop music all day and all night (till 4 am..)in the surrounding area around the Taj Mahal. On almost every street corner there were dangling lights and speakers where excessively loud music catered to little or no people. It was weird. I went up to the hotel’s rooftop restaurant that night at around 10pm to grab us some waters, and while there I was able to look down at what sounded like some crazy street party, only to witness bare and empty.Music was still on full volume.

Easy making conversation with other foreigners the next morning; few of us were able to drown out the streets’ festivies.

We had just enough time in Agra before our next train to see Agra Fort and Fatehpur Sikri, both were well worth it! After taking it easy after our sunrise with the Taj, we biked west from the Taj over to Agra Fort, 5 km or so. Well when I mean bike, Mike biked. Though he wasn’t feeling all that great all morning, he suddenly had this massive boost of energy, allowing both me and the rickshaw ‘driver’ to sit and enjoy a great ride! Pretty smooth actually, handled the mad traffic well and signalled more than anyone else!!haha! Downfall: we still had to pay once we got there. The ‘driver’ was all smiles though, nothing beats a paid break!

The best part about Agra Fort was that it had great views of the Taj Mahal. Most of the grounds inside the fort were inaccessible, occupied by either the military or the Archaeology Survey of India. Part of the fort seemed relatively new, somehow recently renovated while other parts were quite old and dilapidated. The area accessible to us was much smaller than I had anticipated, yet it didn’t really matter as long as we had that eastern look-out.

Our last day in Agra was dedicated to Fatehpur Sikri, this beautiful fortified ancient city some 40 kilometres from town. It was a beautiful place. There were many well kept gardens and lawns all over, and the architecture, well, it was something else. It really did seem like a city because there were many buildings and halls everywhere, all over a relatively large area. The mosque too was beautiful, but it seemed almost expected after everything else we had seen that day. This mosque is still in use today and thus was quite busy. We didn’t end up staying there for too long.

We experienced one of the proto-typical moves played by drivers during this outing. Though we have come across this sorta thing before, this time it seemed a little more annoying.

 

Mike – Firstly, we overshot our Agra stop en route by train. It was the middle of the night. We both woke up and went outside to check and see where we were only to discover that we had overslept, and were an hour past Agra. Our only option was to stay up all night at the train station and grab a second class ticket for the 6:15am direct train to Agra. Two months in India, and we still haven’t gotten the hang of the trains…

It was our first experience riding second class, and it really wasn’t all that bad. It was actually pretty funny seeing all the men sleeping up in the luggage compartments.

Agra, itself, was quite a struggle. I got sick again the day we went to Fatehpur Sikri, so I actually didn’t get to see much as I spent my day within sprinting distance of the washroom. The night before was horrible, as Teg describes above. It was the most obnoxious festival I’ve ever encountered. It was so loud that you couldn’t sit in a restaurant within the Taj Gank area and have a conversation. It was an unrelenting assault on your patience; the same song over and over again. Even the next day our taxi driver to Fatehpur Sikri decided to play that song at full blast on his car stereo; you just could not escape it. I still haven’t been able to listen to my I-Pod. I feel I’ve lost my taste for music.

I can’t really comment on Fatehpur Sikri, but Agra Fort was very nice. We are now in Rajahstan, and I get the feeling that we are about to be overloaded with Mughal forts (Jaipur has three) and Raj Palaces, so I’ll keep this description to a minimum, as there will be many more to come...

The Taj Mahal

The Most Photogenic Monument in the World...

Teg- The Taj is exactly how you’d expect it to be. Breathtaking. Unbelievable. It’s funny actually, if you look at this blog backdrop it’s a shot of the Taj taken from the NE corner at sunset, with the Yamuna river to the right (North). Being out on that river was my best experience of the Taj Mahal. Though this backdrop is beautiful, it doesn’t really depict what an average day at the Taj is really like. Crowded beyond belief, like ants, we all roam. And I guess, rightfully so. But out there on the river, it was something else. Just Mike and I (and the two men who paddled us out) onthe only boat out on the river. We were able to view the sunset from a great, if not the best, view of the Taj. 

We went inside the Taj Mahal grounds the following day - where Indian/foreign price difference seems to have hit its peak (20/750 Rps) – at sunrise and this too was amazing. Not as crowded early on which was nice. But don’t be fooled, it was still swarming with photographers eager to make a rupee or two. My fondest memory at the Taj was the cool (relatively clean?) marble that I couldn’t keep my hands off of.

Mike – I echo Teg’s thoughts exactly. The touts and prices can be a real detractor for most people when they visit the Taj, but I say: “Get over it!” The building is truly a man-made marvel.

Arriving at our hotel, ascending to their rooftop restaurant, and being welcomed by a view of the Taj is a really great feeling. Not only did we not expect to be so close, but you realize, even from a distance, how detailed and well thought-out the structure really is.

The crowds really never phased us either, besides perhaps the jostling around that everyone has to go through in order to get the perfect shot of the Taj and it’s reflection (something that you just can’t resist doing). Otherwise, it’s very humbling to be in the presence of one of the most recognized buildings in the world. So recognizable, in fact, it seemed that each angle and each view-point we’d seen before on some poster or another. But, the act of simply “being there” just takes your breath away.

Salman Rushdie said it best when writing a piece for National Geographic:

Announcing itself as itself, insisting with absolute force on its sovereign authority, it simply obliterated the million million counterfeits of it and glowingly filled, once and for ever, the place in the mind previously occupied by its simulcra.

And this, finally, is why the Taj Mahal must be seen: to remind us that the world is real, that the sound is truer than the echo, the original more forceful than its image in a mirror. The beauty of beautiful things is still able, in these image-saturated times, to transcend imitations. And the Taj Mahal is, beyond the power of words to say it, a lovely thing, perhaps the loveliest of things.

 

 

Khajuraho Kama Sutra Temple

Warning: You must have been born prior to 1992 to view these photos...

Teg- Khajuraho had both great moments and bad. For the first half of it Mike was done-in with some sorta stomach bug which definitely sucked. So we took it easy, going and spending a few hours here and there wandering the town or checking out the unbelievable temples, bit by bit. There were a few different groups of temples scattered around the area, the ‘western’, ‘eastern’ and southern’, all named just based on their location. The ‘westerners’ were the most prestigious of them all and thus of course, the ones we had to pay to go see. They were well worth it though ‘cause they really were beautiful and extremely well preserved. It was quite surprising actually to see just how many sexual sculptures there were, all over each temple! Some were HILARIOUS!! It definitely explained the overwhelming amount of touts selling this-n-that karma sutra stuff all over town!

Great story, but I must start at the beginning so bare with me. On our second night in town, one of the men at the hotel who had helped us get train tickets to Agra had also went out and got us tickets for this Indian Folk dance. Mike ended up not being able to go to this dance because his stomach was malfunctioning, so I jumped on the back of the hotel-man’s (Naqash’s) motorbike and was driven over to see the performance. Before we get there, he makes a pit-stop at this tiny little shop, apparently owned by his uncle. I agree to go in and look around ‘cause we got 15 mins to kill before the show starts. Turns out, this shop is owned by a man who lives in Kashmir, ‘Super Mario’, who comes down to Khajuraho for 6 months of the year to run the store.

I sit, enjoy tea (amazing! Kashmiri tea) with two other French woman and get shown tons of the man’s works. He has these beautiful shawls and scarves and quite quickly I become attached to two of them. One is expensive and the other is reasonable, worth bargaining for. I end up getting the cheaper one – a Sunday-Monday – and pass on the other, heartbreaking though because it was SO nice. I couldn’t make him budge below 4200 Rps.

After the tea and scarf purchase Naqash takes me over to the dance, and waits for its ending so he can drive me back to the hotel. The great guy that he is, I ask if we can stop at the chemist so I can pick up some meds for Mike and it’s no problem. Once we get back, he offers to lend me his motorbike so Mike and I can visit the temples further away the following day. Without hesitation, I accept.lol 

So tomorrow comes and I’m eager to take Mike to this little Kashmir shop because I know he’s been mentioning an interest in rugs lately, and I know Super Mario had some great rugs! Plus, I wanted some more of that tea...lol. We wander over there with Naqash and first thing I see when I step inside, my fav shawl lying on one of the beds, just staring at me. It was painful. After our teas we pretty much get up and leave, Mike is uninterested.

Once we get back to the hotel to pick up some things for the days’ adventures, plans suddenly change and instead of getting on the bike, we are gunna do it tomorrow ‘cause Mike has to get a permit to drive the thing.

I hang out in the hotel garden while Mike scampers off to get his permit, and on his return, nothing but smiles. I just figured he was pretty amped to be the one able to drive, something we had earlier been debating over. 

Best part. The next (and last) day in Khaj we planned to use the motorbike to drive to this waterfall (which Mike ended up HATING) but Naqash was a no-show so we had to auto-rickshaw it there instead. Before heading out to the falls we decided to pack our bags so that we could head to the train station right when we got back. As I dig into my pack to start organizing it, what I think is the medical bag that I’m pulling up out of my pack turns out to be THE AMAZING SHAWL I had been heartbroken over!!! At this time Mike is lying on the bed reading, and as I’m rustling the bag the shawls in, getting it out, I can just see his book inch closer and closer to his face. A long silence ensued before he finally lowered the book to reveal a huge grin. He had got me good!!!

As I drape myself in the shawl, Mike tells me the story of how he pretended to be getting a permit (which don’t exist I guess) while instead he went back over to the Kashmir shop and bargained with both Naqash and Super Mario to get a way better price on the shawl!!! That pretty much sums up Khaj for me haha! Super Mikey ;)!

Mike – haha thanks Teg… After witnessing Teg’s look when she left the scarf I couldn’t resist… It was difficult to keep “Super Mario” from ruining the surprise as he was intent on making the sale immediately. There were a lot of nudges, nods, and careful looks being exchanged so as not to ruin the surprise. She’s been taking care of me through many ills this trip, so it was the least I could do.

Khajuraho was pretty shocking to say the least. For how modest Indian culture has become, it is pretty unbelievable to see how sexually promiscuous they once were – what happened!? The Chandela dynasty – who built the temples – were a perfect example of a Ken Kesey-esque definition of a psychopath: “Someone who likes to fight and likes to screw” (not in those words, but you get the gist). Most of the carvings on each of the temples consisted either of scenes of war, glory, or seemingly impossible, and sometimes gravity-defying, sexual escapades, which usually involved multiple partners, and sometimes animals… Let’s just say that the Chandela’s weren’t moot for experimentation.

On the front page of the local newspaper there was a story about the highest searched queries amongst Indians. In the “How To” category, the highest googled query was “How To Get Pregnant”. I couldn’t help laughing at the irony of the situation while we were at Khajuraho, staring at some carvings that would make Larry Flynt look like a choir boy. What a wild and crazy country.

It was interesting how – besides the few Jain temples – were literally each knock-offs from the previous one. The temples themselves were nothing short of spectacular, and the sculptures were some of the most detailed that we’ve encountered yet in India, but when they’re replicated over and over again the novelty starts to fade.

Anyway, there’s not much else to write about. I lost days due to sickness again. It seems that I collect germs as most people collect souvenirs, building immunities from place-to-place; I’m looking forward to the time when I can just be healthy.

Tala Tigers

Pictures...

MIke – After Varanasi we decided to header down-South into Madhya Pradesh to check out the Bhandavgar Tiger Reserve, which Lonely Planet described as a “sure bet” for spotting tigers.

I had a pretty depressing thought on the train while on the way down to the Park: There very well may be no truly wild tigers left in the world. I mean, they’re not extinct, in fact there numbers are steadily climbing, but they are restricted to these “Nature Reserves”. So far, it’s been surprising how “un-wild-like” some of these reserves are. Basically, you know where they are going to be, and you know that the area which they occupy is surrounded by a fence which practically keeps them out of the surrounding areas. With the rise of eco-tourism, it’s almost as if these reserves have become glorified zoos; teaming with safari’s, “guides”, souvenirs, and the casual,  passive admirers of tigers. Tigers - the fabled man-eating king and queen’s of the jungle. All this calls into question the actual “wildness” of the tiger, and highlights, once again, man’s mastery over the wild kingdom.

I guess it all depends on ones definition of the term “wild”.

With this in my mind, we arrived at the nearest train station to the park, and grabbed a rickshaw to drive to the border town of Tala, a mere (or so we thought) 30 kilometres away. This took us nearly two hours. Trudging through the pothole-strewn road at a cringingly slow pace, I never thought to think that something might actually be out there.

Well, apparently, there was; a mother tiger and her two fifteen month cubs. We found this out the next day while talking to some fellow backpackers, and our guides in the park. In fact, to confirm the rumour, we saw the cubs later that night on the way home from the safari, sleeping just beyond the tree-line, about ten metres from the road. Apparently, they’d been camping out there for a few days now. What a fucking eye-opener; to be that close to tigers without even knowing it. In the park there’s a sign that says: You may not of seen us, but we’ve definitely seen you. That never rang more true.

There were absolutely no fences in the park, which made my previous gloomy thought about the current state of tigers somewhat unfounded for this park. Instead of physical barricades, there were men on elephants patrolling the perimeter to corral any wandering tigers who venture outside the protected area. The park is roughly 100 sq. km. There may have been four patrolling elephants at any given time. It’s insane.

It’s comforting to know that the wild kingdom hasn’t all been segregated to an area humanly convenient, that there are places in India where the natural world can still both simultaneously humble and garner respect. We saw tons of different species of wildlife, and not only that, we were able to witness how they interacted with each other. With such an intricate system based on interdependency, and it wasn’t hard to see how one externality could throw the whole system out of whack. Even an animal as formidable as the tiger could be vulnerable to the slightest distortion. They’ve really done a good job striking a balance between actively managing the park and letting the animals co-exist uninterrupted when possible.

In terms of the safari itself, it was significantly better than the Sunderbans tour. We got into the thick of the park, and there were tons of animals to be seen – but few tigers. Every now and then you’d hear one growl, or you’d see footprints, or the deer/birds/monkeys would start going nuts, but truthfully, the tigers were much harder to spot than Lonely Planet made it out to be. I saw a silhouette that our guide claims was a tiger. All the tell-tale signs were there, but it could have just as easily been a Sambar deer. I’ll stick with my guns though and say it was a tiger.

It wasn’t actually until we left the park that we saw any tigers, as referred to earlier. Figure that. My camera wasn’t good enough to capture them in the dark, so all you can see is two sets of eyes (the one of the left is just one eye). Our jeep-mates got some pretty great shots, so I’ll hopefully have those up when they e-mail them to us.

Teg- ‘If all you want to see is tigers, than look no further’. That was Lonely Planet’s description of the Bandhavgarh National Park. I was captivated after that line, and soon enough there we were, buying train tickets to get there.

The 30 km, two hour drive at 2 AM after the train ride to the town of Tala was something neither one of us were prepared for. I was inaudibly freaking out about the possibility that a tiger could easily jump into this tiny little auto-rickshaw that was driving no more than 10 km/h at times. But what really made this ride so rough (besides the patchy road) was that it was freezing outside! Neither one of us were prepared for the Darjeeling-like weather that blew into our faces through the open sides of our ride. Going too slow, and I was scared of tigers, going to fast, and I couldn’t feel my toes. I was finally able to ease my mind by thinking that, one, we’re driving with two guys that must surely feel confident about the situation and two, back home the weather is much worse right now.. ;)

Mike’s been going through our toilette paper with his runny nose ever since!

So the tigers. I was rather disappointed. But I guess it’s because I had this idea of “look no further” in my mind still; where spotting a few tigers on our safari adventure would be easy! No tigers during both our evening and morning trips. And from the sound of it, the thirty or so other jeeps that made their way out as well had just the same luck. It’s pretty funny thinking back on it now, because during each three hour journey, my eyes were focused on the bush, just hoping that ‘oh maybe around the next bend, maybe!’. I was glued to the forest with such anticipation.

Though there were no tiger sightings, I can’t deny the beauty in the National Park. Deer were everywhere! Same with monkeys! A couple times we came across a group of spotted deer encircled by monkeys, it was the craziest thing. Also, it was birds galore. If you’re a bird lover, look no further…

Ya, it was actually kinda crazy how many jeeps went out on these scheduled departures. Quite the money making scene! We were super lucky though, and we met some really nice American/British/Ukrainian people that we ended up sharing the jeeps with. The costs split six ways definitely made a tiger-less safari manageable!hahaha!

The two tigers that we did see (though I only saw one of them) were at first sitting just inside the tree line off from the main road. We weren’t the first jeep to get there, maybe the fifth, and within minutes there were more than fifteen jeeps and a few motorbikes all vying for a view. Because it was dark, soon enough pleads were being made for some lights to be shown on them, and not even five minutes after our arrival did the tigers just get up and disappear into the thick bush. No press please!

A new (interesting) first for me here in Tala. Breakfast consisting of deep-fried eggs!!

Gettin’ Lost in Varanasi

Pictures of Varanasi...

Mike – Our first taste of Varanasi was, from what I gather, pretty typical of first-timers. Our rickshaw driver convinced us that he’d find us a better view, price, and location than the Lonely Planet hotel we’d booked. He promised that his choice was within walking distance of the one we’d booked, and thus, would be very accessible if we decided to pass on the first one. We decided to check it out.

He drove into a narrow cobblestone alleyway, parked the rickshaw, and told us to follow him through the labyrinth of back-streets that line the ghats. We had absolutely no idea where we were, no sense of direction, and were forced to walk like sheep, blindly trusting the paan-stained driver, and hoping that our passivity wouldn’t come back to haunt us.

We ended up at a decent enough hotel, with a great balcony and view of the ghats, for 2/3 of the price. There was a colony of ants sharing our room, and a poorly draining washroom, but albeit those things, it was a great bargain. We took a chance, and it paid-off. In the picture below, our room was the balcony jutting out from between the two white columns.

The initial shock of Varanasi was quite overwhelming. The network of alleyways bordering the ghats was, initially, quite disorienting. It was an accomplishment just to get from Point A to Point B. We focused on memorising the way to – what soon came to be – the “bare essentials”, and there was no need to venture any further.

When I say “bare essentials”, what I mean is the famous Brown Bread Bakery, and the Internet Cafe. The latter, being notable only for their willingness to let us plug in my laptop. The bakery was more of a restaurant, but what made it unique (and why we decided to go there for every meal except one) was the fact that it stocked over thirty different types of Indian organic cheeses. Alongside the fact that it baked all it’s own bread fresh each morning, it supplied large portion sizes, and ran multiple local charities for which part of the price went into supporting. Our breakfast each morning consisted of:

-Cheese Platter
-Baked Bread Platter with Butter and Jam
-Roasted Potatoes
-Fried Eggs
-Sausage
-Fruit Curd Muesli
-Orange Juice
-Tea or Coffee

Man, what a great way to start the day. And, don’t even get me started on the dinners. Historically, not being a huge cheese person myself, I will definitely leave Varanasi with the inclination to start eating more of it.

The Lonely Planet warns travellers of the touts, scammers, and thieves in Varanasi. We came here really expecting to be on guard for most of the time, but we never really felt that. Yes, there were a lot of people soliciting our business, but for the most part, they remained very polite and maintained a respectful distance. Relaxed walks by twilight, sunrises on the balcony overlooking the Ganges, dusk boat rides, great cheese, plentiful bread, great grub; at times it felt like what it must feel to be in Venice. Pretty surprising, actually.

The real shocker was the “Burning Ghats”. I had read all about it, but nothing really prepares you for the blistering, and splitting of the skin as it peels off the head of the corpse, revealing the steaming orange skull, which remains as the last thing to completely melt. It’s even more shocking to witness how much of a routine the whole thing is. It’s part of life. Some people will work there, preparing the pyres and stoking the flames, for the rest of their lives as part of their caste’s prescribed duty. At times, there’s almost a jovial vibe to the entire thing. I guess, for them, their loved ones are attaining instant moksha. For as the belief goes, a cremation in Varanasi guarantees the souls freedom from the ongoing cycle of reincarnation. Hence, it’s something to celebrate; something to be proud of. “Burning Is Learning”; as the tout’s would quote, which we heard all too many times.

You’re not actually supposed to take pictures, but as per usual, Teg manages to sneak in a shot or two…

I definitely learned a lot; not quite sure what good it will do for me. Most of it I could’ve lived without, but overall, it was very interesting, and eye-opening how a person’s death becomes such a spectacle, a tourist attraction, an opportunity to earn an extra buck or two. I guess the dead don’t care, and if the relatives don’t either, so what’s the harm? The entire experience was as revolting as it was beautiful.

Teg- The burning ghats were nothing like I had expected them to be. I had this image in my mind that this place would reveal this ceremony unlike anything I’ve ever seen before. It turned out to be (from an onlookers perspective of course) more of a daily chore than an elaborate death ritual.

Maybe the ceremony takes place before the deceased gets to the ghats, but once there it just became one more body in a queue of bodies, waiting for its turn. The ghat is non-stop busy, 24 hours of the day; time is not wasted.

There was (for the most part) the same group of men bringing in body after body into the burning area, piling 200kg of wood in the shape of a bed for the body to rest on. At one point we counted 15 bodies burning, all at different stages of course and on different levels of the ghats. The bodies closest to the river were of the lowest caste, and thus the ones higher up were the highest caste. Each body would get submerged into the river before going up to its pile of wood. We never saw the ashes returned to the river (but they’re supposed to at some point, as that’s the entire idea…). Another pile of wood would soon be set down amidst the ashes of the previous fire.

The amount of wood used for one person was extreme, but no less could be used (apparently), or else the smell of burnt corpse would become too overwhelming.

No women are allowed to be there. As a foreigner I was an exception. Apparently, because (as it’s seen) women are defenceless to crying – a big no-no emotion and sign of disrespect to the recently deceased – none are allowed to come watch. It is just family policy.

Like the burning ghats, it was extremely rare to see a woman bathing in the ganga or sitting on the ghats anywhere along the riverside. It was strange. There were at times a lot of men all bathing with each other, but never were there any women around.

We spent most of our days on the ghats, walking along them as far as we could go, then taking a boat back to the main ghat. It was never hard to find a boat; we were literally always being asked if we wanted to get into one. I must admit though, the boat rides were awesome! Instead of being a part of the chaos we’d get to relax and be spectators!

When not on or near the river, we spent the days weaving through the narrow ‘streets’ (no more than 2m wide) that exist in between buildings. It was a maze and it definitely tested our sense of direction!

I stepped in my first pile of sh*t here. My sandal clipped the side of a huge pile of cow dung, I was actually quite lucky. Lol!

One of the best memories I’ll have of Varanasi is the children’s kites that speckle the sky at any time of the day! Flying kites seems to be a dominant youth past time here. For the four days that we were there, we didn’t go a day without getting tangled up in some old strings or passing by a group of kids all gazing up at the sky while shifting the amounts of string in their hands.

Oh wait! Another great memory here was the Cheese hahaha! This was a great surprise that I (and soon Mike) took full advantage of. I’ve been cheese deprived for a while now, and it’s been an absence that hurts me more than that of meat! Brown Bread was delicious and truly hit the spot! Since when have I had cheese platters for breakfast hahaha!?! Brown Bread bakery is a hole in the wall, tucked away off one of the tiny pathways close to the ghats; it was well worth the risk of getting lost to get to!

Beneath the Bodhi Tree

Click Here for Pictures...

Mike – We decided to break up the long train ride from NJP (the train station servicing Darjeeling) and Varanasi by stopping over in Bodhgaya. For anyone not familiar with this place, it is famous for having been the place where the Buddha attained enlightenment beneath the Bodhi Tree, preceded and followed by weeks of different meditative practices (and somewhat unbelievable endeavours) which culminated in the creation of the philosophy and religion of Buddhism.

The modern-day Bodhgaya consists of a network of large Buddhist monasteries surrounding the most famous Mohabodhi temple, which houses a descendent of the original Bodhi tree. Each major Buddhist country has built a monastery there to house the faithful of its particular branch of Buddhism. There were too many to visit in the 1.5 days we were there, but we definitely got an idea of how the decor and dress can change from sect to sect. I can’t imagine what it would be like if all the major branches of Christianity congregated in one place. Maybe, they do. I’m not sure, but I don’t think it’s anywhere I’d safely want to travel.

The monasteries were each so intricately maintained. The decor was very colourful, and each country’s monastery had a different twist to it. For example, the Bhutanese monastery had a sort-of 3-D layout around it’s walls, as you can see from the picture on the right. The lawns and gardens surrounding the grounds were elaborately maintained, and very well manicured. We were lucky to go at a time of the year when pilgrims from all over the region gather to pay their respect and meditate. Although this made it tough to find lodging, I can’t imagine a better time to go.

The Mahabodhi temple was truly something else. Monks in different colours surrounded the Bodhi Tree and performed, day-and-night, this sort of half push-up, half bridge (core exercise), as a full-range of motion, to pay their respect to the all-mighty Buddha. They do this on a long wooden board with cloth on their hands so as not to get blisters or slivers. There were over a hundred people doing this at any point in time. Beyond that, there were countless amounts of people meditating, and paying their respect in their own way. A fellow from the nearest college showed us around that day, as he wanted an opportunity to practice his English, and he mentioned that some monks will do upwards of two thousand of these exercises a day, which is fricken nuts.

We stayed at the Tibetan Karma Temple, as it was cheap, and close to all the major attractions. We didn’t mind abiding to their curfew as there was only one place in the entire town that served alcohol. Salt Lake City, India.

Besides the torrent of touts that we had to fight through to get from Point A to Point B, it was a great experience to see ground-zero of one of the world’s most interesting faiths.

Teg- Bodh Gaya was well worth the visit but I don’t think I could have handled staying there much longer than we did. Any longer, and I think either one of us might of gone crazy by the amount of haggling that we seemed to encounter everywhere. As beautiful and peaceful as the Mahabodhi temple was, it really felt like the rest of the town survived solely off the foreign attraction the temple brought. Maybe we had become soft from our time in Darjeeling who knows, but it felt like we were no-stop bombarded by hagglers as we wandered the streets. As we entered the gates of different Monasteries we enjoyed moments of peace and quiet, but as soon as we stepped outside the gate again we would immediately be surrounded by people.

The Mahabodhi temple was easily the best temple I’ve been to in India to date. We went both at sunset and dawn and it was great to experience it in different lights. Sunset was beautiful because the huge enclosure surrounding the temple was covered with lights. And though it was still extremely busy with people, it remained relatively quiet. It's funny actually, the only sound we could here was the birds in the trees, but this was no peaceful chirp. It sounded more like a war of over 100 birds in each tree. It was crazy loud whenever we passed under the trees...except the bodhi tree, of course.

For how spiritual the town supposedly is, I was pretty creeped out with the amount of eyes following me (though this is the day to day everywhere else in India). I found it rather rude and disrespectful at the time, but looking back on it now, it was actually pretty funny (refer to the photo on the left).

Dreaming in Darjeeling…

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Teg- Darjeeling was amazing. As soon as we arrived we knew we had screwed up by only allowing ourselves to stay for 4 nights. As we’ve learned over the last few weeks, we have to book train tickets at least a week in advance to insure we get on it, otherwise, we watch ourselves crawl up the waitlist, hoping we get bumped into being a confirmed traveler – never a sure bet. But anyways, we already had booked our train to Bodh Gaya so our time in Darjeeling was restricted.

We arrived around noon after a bumpy ride along the narrow roads up the hillsides of West Bengal. After settling into our extremely cute hotel (where we had to climb over 100 steps to get to our room!), we wandered up the streets checking out all the little stalls towards Chowrasta, a square at the top of the town. I must admit, it was hard to resist many of the beautiful woollens that were being sold all over the place, especially because the weather was much cooler than all our previous days in India. I don’t think I’ve seen Mike in such an excited shopping mood! hahaha!

Day 2 hit the spot. We trekked over to the Himalayan Zoological Park and found what days in the Sunderbans could not provide us. Tigers! Because the whole town is set on a hill side, so is the zoo. So for the most part, we were either looking down the hill into some fenced off animal enclosures or looking up into them. The two huge tiger areas were, unfortunately ones that we had to look up at. At first, this really sucked because we could barely see them; they were just to high up on the hill and amongst the trees and bush.

Somehow, I don’t know how, as I was standing there anticipating the teegs ;) to spring down closer to all of us onlookers, a man in a suit came up to me and asked me how I was liking the tiger experience. I said it was alright, I had barely seen them and that I was hoping to maybe climb up the huge fence a bit to get a better look (all jokingly of course…haha). Without even responding to me, he turned the other way higher up the path and called someone. Within seconds another man showed up who hurried me over to the ‘no entry gate’. I just knew, this was gunna be good. At this point Mike was super close to me, but he was off in day-dreamland staring at wolves. I called him over and soon enough there we were, on the staff side where stairs followed the tiger fence all the way along right to the top. It was amazing. Nothing like being eye-to-eye with a tiger!

   We stayed there for a long time. The staff member eventually just left us! After much convincing on our own part, we made our way back down to the main path only to be asked by others how we had gotten up there. What could we say? It was magical!

After the zoo we spent some brief time in the Himalayan and Everest Museums, and then we made our way even further from Darjeeling to the Tibetan Refugee Help Centre. The walk was definitely further than we had thought it would be and we had to climb up the hillside through a tea plantation to get to the entrance. It was all well worth it though! I ended up getting a Tibetan woollen sweater there that would soon become a daily wear!

The next few days in Darjeeling were wonderful. The town is very beautiful and also very peaceful. On top of it all, we truly stayed in the best hotel in town. Dekeling is a family run hotel, and they easily made our stay that much more enjoyable. Can’t complain about having had the top corner room (still under our budget) that overlooked most of the town! The family was extremely friendly, Madame (the mom) especially seeked to satisfy the needs of everyone staying there. On our last morning she wore a Canadian pin and handed us over beautiful white peace scarves. Such a nice women!

 

Mike – Darjeeling was such a refreshing escape after being in the hot hot heat of India for the past month and a half. The mountain air was fresh and cool at all hours of the day (usually between 0 C and 9 C). This required a change of wardrobe, and a regular influx of steaming Darjeeling tea. There was also Tibetan fare aplenty, which as we came to discover, is really quite good!

Darjeeling is quite the trekkers Mecca. There’s a bounty of great treks, and isolated Gompa’s to visit; four days just was not enough to sufficiently cover Darjeeling and the surrounding area. We met a lot of really nice people through the hotel we stayed at. Throughout the entire lodge, the only room that was heated was the common eating area, so most people tended to congregate there. A lot of people were either going to or coming from Sikkim; it’s definitely going on my list for next time… We also talked to an elderly couple from Britain who had gone to Nagaland, which borders Myanmar, and their experience there was something out of a Gary Jennings novel – singing Eunuchs, royal Hermaphrodites, former head hunters; totally out-of-this-world. Four days just wasn’t enough.

After the Zoo/Tiger experience and Tibetan Refugee Center we were pretty zonked, which worked in our favour because we planned to wake up at 4:00am the next morning to drive to TIger Hill to catch the sunset (and, fingers crossed, a view of Mount Everest).

It was tough to wake up, only to stand in the cold with hundreds of anxious people awaiting the sunrise. When you’re jostling for space amidst throngs and throngs of people, each trying desperately to take a picture of every second of the sunrise, it’s hard to imagine how such a place can maintain it’s appeal. It’s almost as if the rare sight of Everest on a clear day has as much pull as spotting a tiger in the Sunderbans. Yet, unlike the Sunderbans, Tiger Hill did not disappoint.

True, the cloud cover didn’t permit an Everest sighting, but the view was nonetheless spectacular. Tiger Hill was an island amongst the turbulent ocean of clouds, we hovered for thirty minutes as the clouds slowly rose to block the view of the eastward skyline, only to fall again at the most opportune moment. When the sun finally broke the horizon, the crowd started cheering, the pilgrims started praying, and it was overall, a great moment.

We chose to trek back the eighteen kilometres into Darjeeling, rather than share a taxi. From the viewpoint on the top of the hill, we took a trail back down, which took us along a ridgeline. The rising mist from the morning sun provided a very serene backdrop to the hike, and we were absolutely alone on the trail.

When we reached the bottom, Teg was feeling quite hungry and decided she’d trek ahead in order to make it back for breakfast, while I decided I’d check out the various Gompa’s along the way. The monasteries were quite colourful, and unlike the Hindu temples of the South, they were also quite inviting. At one in particular, probably the largest Buddhist Tibetan monastery in the area, I sat in on the service. I couldn’t understand what the head guy was saying, but after each verse there followed a sequence of “Om” chants, loud beatings of the ten-foot bass drum, and a high pitch rattle of a cymbal-esque instrument, which sounded kind of like the hiss of a rattlesnake. This continued for the next fifteen minutes I was in there: “Oooooooooom… BOOM BOOM. Rattle Rattle.” It was loud and I could see how it would be powerful for those involved. Afterwards, they served free chai.

I went to a few other monasteries on the way back, they were less aesthetically beautiful, but their location was practically cut into the side of the mountain which made it much more peaceful. There were many monks in quiet meditation. Tibetan monasteries are very colourful and tend to be surrounded with large prayer wheels, which is quite in contrast to the quiet simplicity characterized by the Japanese style of Buddhism. It’s very cool how proud and happy they are to have foreigners interested in their places of worship. I never felt like I was intruding on anything, nor did I feel unwelcome.

Overall, I’d say from our experience in Darjeeling, in the face of years of conflict and displacement, the people were very friendly, welcoming, and warm. It’s hard to distinguish between the North eastern Indians, the Gorkha people, and the Tibetan exiles, but all-together, they were some of the most genuinely friendly people we’ve encountered in India. We were never badgered to buy anything, pressured to get into rickshaws, or in danger of being scammed. They were very approachable, yet kept a respectful distance, more typical of the West. We were welcomed without any strings attached, it was awesome.

‘Tiger Camp’ at the Sunderbans

http://picasaweb.google.com/mproud3/Sunderbans# (for pictures)

Teg- As our time in Kolkata became more and more prolonged, our anticipation to get to the worlds largest mangrove grew considerably. Luckily, we were able to squeeze a 2night/3day tour in before our booked (waitlisted) train to take us to Darjeeling. We booked the tour from this little hole in the wall right next to the West Bengal Tourism Centre. We went budget, opted for the tent instead of cottage, and thus were prepared to be roughing it in the Sunderbans.

With all this in mind, we really did assume that we would be roughing it; perfect for what we were there to catch a glimpse of – the man-eating tiger! We assumed wrong. The package we bought into was actually way more posh than we could have imagined! A luxury bus picked us up, along with a young family of 5, and I think 4 couples over fifty, and they drove us over to the water’s edge where we all got onto a huge ferry-like boat that would take us to our ‘camp’.

The ‘Tiger Camp’ was this huge walled enclosure filled with buildings of all sorts. Our so called ‘tent’ had windows, a bathroom, and tiled floors. It was all really nice I must admit, but at this point we knew what the next couple of days would consist of: a nice, relaxing, extremely safe time in the Sunderbans.

Our days spent on the huge boat were relaxing, that’s a given, but our chances at seeing even birds were limited because the huge engine scared everything away. We were lucky when we got to see anything. For most of the time on the boat, I was staring off into the thick bush hoping to spot le tigre.

A huge plus about the ‘camp site’ was that in the evenings they threw dances or plays for us to watch before dinner was served. These performances, I found, were the highlight of the trip!

Mike – It definitely wasn’t what I was expecting. I understood going in that the likelihood of spotting a famous man-eating tiger was slim, but the rich, eco-system of the mangroves, supposedly plentiful with birds, lizards, crocodiles, etc., was said to make up for it. Even this consolation seemed to fade as soon as we stepped onto the boat.The crowd was not the “roughing it” crowd, and the boat was not the backwater jetty we had been expecting.

A common theme amongst all animals is that they are threatened by human contact; they flee at the sound of people talking, loud noises, or motors. Well, here we are, in this monster of a river boat driving down the QE2 highway of the Sunderbans backwaters - kids laughing, old people chatting, Indian tourists being Indian tourists… We weren’t going to be seeing much.

It wasn’t all bad, but I definitely left wanting more. I’d say we paid for a nice, long boat ride around the vicinity of the Sunderbans national park (to go into the wildlife reserve, apparently, you need a special permit and a boat small enough to navigate the narrow canals with their changing tides and all). This is very hard to arrange, and I gather you must have a special reason for going – nature documentary, scientific research, etc.

We did see some fresh tiger tracks though…

The guides were very knowledgeable (and local celebrities as we soon found out). Our main guide had interviews in various National Geographic documentaries, and the current version of Lonely Planet. At night, they’d show these documentaries in the conference room (yes, our “camp” had a conference room), and in the morning he’d ask all of us one-by-one if we’d seen him in the movie. Quite the character.

Our camp was near the small villages, so it was a great opportunity to explore the local community. Their industry revolved around agriculture, fishing, and gathering honey. The last part is very dangerous, as it requires that they circumnavigate the fence surrounding the reserve, and enter at their own peril to gather honey. This is where the majority of the tiger attacks occurred.

The village children were a hit. They’d follow you asking to have you take their picture. It was madness, very cute though.

Sunderbans tigers are the only tigers in the whole classified as “Man Eaters”; they crave and hunt humans. The villagers had many stories to attest to this. They are known to swim across the canals, during the night, and prey upon the children of the village. The fact is that you’re dealing with an animal whose hearing is six times better than humans, hunts from behind, and is perfectly camouflaged amongst the dense mangrove forest. Humans don’t really stand a chance; hence, I guess, is why it’s so difficult to get into the reserve. (I just realized that I went from talking about the cute children to how they are in danger of being tiger food – sorry for that…)

Overall, I’d say it was worth doing, as long as your expectations are realistic (mine weren’t). You get an idea of how complex an ecosystem the Sunderbans is, as well as, the sheer danger of life in the Sunderbans (our camp, although it was surrounded by a ten foot barb wire fence, and a central watch tower and armed guards patrolling the perimeter during the night). There were definitely opportunities to spot a tiger from some of the many watchtowers surrounding the park, but you’d need complete silence, a good pair of binoculars, and a shit-ton of patience. The odd group does get lucky, I’ve heard.

It’s a very beautiful region, and I guess, it’s good to have the restrictions in place so as to protect it. It would’ve been nice to see a tiger, but now we can say we’ve been to the Sunderbans. That’s pretty good too, I’d say.