Taj Mahal, The Golden Temple, Pakistan Border, The Pink City and The Holy Lake

Well, we are officially back in "India" after feeling like we were living in a separate little bubble up North! Back to the chaos, noise, car horns (the back of all large vehicles here have hand painted signs reading PLEASE HONK), dust, rude manners (budging, farting, horking, and burping--all seem to be cultural norms here), hawkers (people selling and constantly approaching to try and have you buy it), having to find a million different ways to politely say "no thanks," interrogation (people always wanting to know exactly where we are going and how much we paid for things), endless hounding for cash and frustration! However, in saying all of this we have also seen some of the most beautiful sights and met some genuinely kind-hearted Indians--and received a bit of nice karma...

Our next stop after McLeod was Amritsar--the home of the biggest Sikh temple in the world, the Golden Palace. It is an amazingly beautiful sight...a literally golden temple  (170kg in gold) in the middle of holy water which people cleanse away their sins in and thousands of gold fish live. Surrounding the temple are large and beautifully designed marble walkways and buildings where you can sit and take it all in. Inside the temple itself lives "the book" (original) which is now what the Sikh religion worship (as opposed to a being or a God). The Sikh religion seems to be all-encompassing and very open-minded of every other religion. They wear turbines and the women must always cover their heads (at least in the temple). Inside the temple someone sings "the book" by memory over and over which is echoed all over the grounds along with an instrument which is a mix between a lap-guitar and an accordion. We slept in a room in the Temple grounds (along with our German friend Tom who we met in our meditation course) and ate amazing free feeds of Dal, rice and chapatti every day for free. The Sikhs feed thousands a day for free by cooking in massively giant pots--it's an amazing service! We then took off our shoes, covered our heads and sat in rows on a long carpet, cross legged on the ground and held out our hands and tin plates as Sikh volunteers came around and fed us. As hungry travelers on a budget we were extremely grateful!

We also went to the border of India and Pakistan where every evening there is a flag lowering ceremony parade where both sides dress in their traditional uniforms (peacock hats and all) and march and yell and face off in a competitive but friendly ceremony. Thousands of people were there and it was very entertaining (although kindof crazy and aggressive).

Leaving Amritsar, we took a 12 hour train ride through the night to the home of the Taj Mahal--Agra. The train was a great adventure and very interesting. We took the lowest class and had bunk beds--I took top to avoid any staring or inappropriate touching while I was sleeping and Des took the bottom to play look-out man and needless to say, he didn't sleep a wink. I'm not sure if it was in order to protect me, our belongings or himself as he was earlier a victim of an attempted leg grope by an Indian man dressed up as a woman and offering him sexual pleasures--yuck! I kicked his/her hand away from Des's leg and said "don't touch him!" and then he/she came into my face and mimicked me smiling and saying "I will hurt you." It was extremely strange but we laughed A LOT about it...and it gave Des the motivation to sleep with one eye open. : )

The train smelled of urine from the squat toilets nearby our beds and every 3 minutes someone came by selling chai, Indian sweets, samosas, blankets, shalls etc. Des and I entertained ourselves with card games and sudukos (Des has mastered them and devotes hours a day to the math game).

Agra itself was a bit of a kip with more flies than I've ever seen, cow dung, pigs, monkeys, cows, goats, camels, scrawny dogs and cats (but at least no mice!) everywhere. There are constant callings on the big speakers all over the city calling the Muslims to face the right direction and pray--lovely and haunting at the same time. Because it is such a tourist attraction, we were annoyingly hounded to buy things mostly made from marble and souvenirs of the Taj or ride in carriages pulled by camels.

The Taj Mahal itself is probably the most beautiful building I have ever seen in my life. (Although stunning on the outside, the only purpose it seems to serve or has served on the inside is holding the tombs of the creator and his wife and being aesthetically pleasing).Gorgeous marble work and semi-precious stones engraved into beautiful patterns with stunning surrounding gardens, Muslim mosques and intricately designed gates. The path up to the Taj is gorgeous with the water and fountains and the building is much bigger than I expected! It's such a romantic place as apparently the creator built it after his wife (last name Mahal) died giving birth to her 14th child. Her husband was so heartbroken that he built the amazing palace in her honor, only to be over-thrown by his son and imprisoned where he could only enjoy his creation from a far away view in prison.

As we took a 4 am rickshaw in the dark the following morning, my lovely new Salomon hiking/running shoes fell off my backpack which they were tied to. As it was dark, I didn't notice until we were at the train station and so phoned the hotel once we arrived in Jaipur. Sure enough one of the staff members picked them up and kept them safe for us! He then arranged to send them with an Muslim family from Calcutta to Ajmer (near Pushkar where we are now) and after a huge ordeal of 3 days of phoning and having our guesthouse staff in Pushkar help us track them down (the family were registered in 5 different hotels)--we got them back! They sent a driver for us to collect the shoes as apparently the area where the family were staying was very dangerous and our hotel owner didn't think it would be safe for us to go. I honestly can't believe we got the shoes back (especially considering the founders could have made an easy and plentiful sum off selling them)...Hail to our good karma and those that are honest in India!

After Agra, we went to the PINK CITY of Jaipur where we saw the unbelievably beautiful AMBER palace and a wall which looked like a mini- great wall of China which ran throughout the hills. We also saw the water palace which was in the middle of a lake (great defense mechanism back in the day) and watched the sunset over the old city where all the buildings are literally pink (or terracotta).

We are now in the back-packer friendly village of Pushkar which has hundreds of temples and old run-down but character-filled buildings surrounding a holy lake. Apparently this is where the lotus landed and Pushkar was born. It is home to one of the last Brahman temples and is an extremely regimented place where there are signs telling tourists not to kiss or show affection (on that note, Des and I have found that we both feel funny even holding hands as men and women don't do that here---it is very PG. Instead, we see MEN and MEN holding hands, cuddling, tickling, hugging etc---all, or at least mostly, in heterosexual spirit--it is another cultural norm--probably to compensate or have an outlet for the affection they are prohibited from publicly displaying towards women). Anyway, signs also told us to respect the Hindu religion by not drinking, taking off our shoes 40 feet from the holy lake etc. There is no sign of any meat, eggs or alcohol here---it's a vegetarian's dream! (Even in McLeod, there were little corner closets on the street with meat being sold and stuffed into gym bags--almost hiding what was being done).

Upon arriving in Pushkar, we went down to the holy lake where a holy man approached us and took us down to the water with him where he tied red thread around our wrist, had us repeat things in his language that we didn't understand but which blessed us, our marriage, any children we may have, and all of our family members. (Which we listed off one by one). Then we threw flower petals into the holy water and he put red marks on our foreheads). We donated 60 rupees to him--around 1euro--apparently, we heard that a foolish couple gave 700 rupees EACH the week before....ouch!

We are getting very adventurous (although still very careful) with the street food here. Our favorite is Bombay mix where they use spices, lime, red onions, chilies, tomatoes, dried peas, dried rice and other little magical touches to create the most delicious snack which they serve in newspaper cones. Another favourite is the veggie burgers that they cook on the street in big wok-looking things. The burgers are either falafels or potato patties and then the add their own touch...delicious! We have been eating pomegranates and guavas which we buy off street vendors each day...they are divine. Tonight we leave for Jaisalmer...off to the desert to go on a 2 day camel trek and sleep under the stars! Can't wait!

Write soon,
Love Andrea

Paragliding and Palm Reading

We are leaving McLeod Ganj tomorrow after almost a month of being here. It is such a wonderfully captivating place that both Des and I feel like we could live here for a long time but there is so much more of India and the world we want to see that we are tearing ourselves away and heading to the Golden Temple in Armistar tomorrow.

Yesterday we went paragliding in Himalayas (Billing). It was a 2 hour journey each way to get to the top of the moutain (3,400 meters-over 11,000 feet ) but so worth the experience! We met our pilots and team members (they were smoking the funny stuff, which wasn't so funny to us considering we were minutes away from jumping off a mountain with them) however, we went for it and survived to tell the tale! We strapped up in our gear and helmets and the pilots laid out the parachutes. We had to wait for the proper wind conditions and then we set sail, one by one, tied tandom to our instructors (who failed to give us any instruction except for "run run run!") I literally had no idea what to expect but I ran as hard as I could with my captain srtapped to the back of me and the parachute strapped to the back of him. I had about 5 meters to make it to the edge of the mountain and then jump--praying that the parachute would catch the wind and we wouldn't drop 11,000 feet! Needless to say, it did and the ride was amazing. We sat back in the cradle of the brace and looked down over the valley and waivering rice fields and up to the massive Himalayan range. The sky was as clear and blue as could be and we were higher than the birds soaring up the heat thermals. We went up and down and back and forth--both Des and I got a bit quesy, but again, worth it! We gradually lowered and landed in a field (me in a pile of dirt--outside the bullseye--not sure if that was deliberate).

We also went for Tibetan massages here--brilliant, although it's a bit too cold to be comfortable. They focus on pressure points and use very effective but unusual techniques. We had our palms read too--the palm reader was on the money in terms of personality and characteristics but he claims I'll only have one child while Des will have 2 and I'll be married more than once (around the age of 31) and Des will be married only once and soon...hmmmmm. Apparently I will be a teacher and I will never retire from working-I will want to keep it going all my life- ha! I will own property in ten years and have an easy run of luck until I'm around 35... Not entirely convinced on much of this but he did tell me what my mom has said since I was a nipper, that I try and do too many things at once and need to try and not spread myself so thin--especially when I'm 35--or I will burn myself out. I also need to stop thinking so deep and daydreaming so much....this I concur! Oh, and he noticed I have some "spiritual gift" in my hands--well done sir, so my Reiki training might have shown itself afterall! :)

All for now,
Love Andrea

His Holiness The Dalai Lama!

   Today we went up to the temple in McLeod and made our way through thousands of maroon robes and tourists (especially Russians who the teachings were dedicated to) and saw the Dalai Lama offer his wisdom! He sat inside the gompa in a big gold chair and everyone filled the area which continued outside into the main area of the temple, downstairs and outside. It was absolutely manic and every part was sectioned off into nationalities so that people could tune into the right language station on their radios and headsets (which they had to bring themselves). We took off our shoes, sat on our cushions on the ground and  snuggled in with the Russians as they were seated at the front and the only other vacant seats for our countries were down below out of eyesight of the Dalai Lama. (I know, not very honest and holy of us, but worth it!).

   We watched him from the corner just outside the open-doored gompa speak in such expression it sounded like he was singing while using many captivating hand gestures. As we couldn't understand Tibetan (or the Russian station) we just sat back and took it all in. He is an amazing, courageous a peaceful man with an absolutely contagious laugh! While listening to him there were handouts of red ribbon which everyone tied around their heads and eyes, flattened seeds (not sure what they were for), round bread and BUTTER TEA (chai tea mixed with butter--very salty--not very tasty--I couldn't drink it and of course Des was disgusted at even the smell, hating both milk and butter with a passion).

   Following the teachings we went for a gorgeously scenic and peaceful walk through a path with views of the mountain and so many prayer flags you could literally get lost in them. It was magical. Another big walk that was a highlight for us here was up to a waterfall with a little pool at the base of it. Baltic cold at this time of year so only the feet went in! It was here that I played geologist for over an hour and smashed up Himalayan quartz to bring home (better than my quartz reiki healing wand!). Des thinks I'm crazy for even having what he calls my "magic wand" (they are everywhere here by the way, and half the price of what I payed for mine in Ireland) and that  I'm responsible for coastal erosion.... and that I have to stop collecting rocks--but we are not on the coast and I have done it all my life--can't stop now!

Write soon,
Love Andrea

Tibetan Babies and Momo Party!

We wake up every day to either massive groups of children singing beautifully from the schools nearby or to herds of goats baa-ing. Strolling the streets of McLeod Ganj, we constantly come face to face with cows (they are holy in India) which have free reign over the pedestrian streets. We watch people walk their goats on a leash, one man skins and cooks goats feet everyday to make soup at one particular stall (the head left on display for all passer-byers to view), eagles soar overhead, monkeys create mayhem, paragliders sail over the himalayas, many lepers beg for money (very sad and disturbing), prayer flags blow in the wind, the base from chanting monks and buddhists in a very low baritone fills the air, the sun warms against the cool mountain air, waterfalls of garbage cascade down the hills, people sell stunning goods, fruit and jewelry in street stalls while remaining non-intrusive (something that we have not experienced in other parts of India from sellers--usually they harass you relentlessly to buy something from them), people chop meat in tiny closet-sized shops as if they are hiding what they are doing from the many vegetarians here,and then stuff it in sports bags, giant logs create scaffolding to hold up buildings, women carry babies while carrying sand or food on their heads, men carry unreasonable amounts of items strapped to their backs up very steep hills, donkeys and mules pull sand and rice, the smell of sandlewood and tobacco follows us and little ladies selling their momos are on every street corner!

Momos are a traditional Tibetan dish which are little dumplings (like Ukrainian parogies) filled with everything from vegetables and cheese to mutton to chocolate and peanut butter. They are steamed or fried and they are scrumptious! It was therefore to my delight that when Des and I started volunteering at a Tibetan baby daycare, we found out we would be learning how to make momos!

The place we were volunteering is the Rogpa Daycare Center which takes care of babies who don't have parents or whose parents are Tibetan refugees and need to go out to make a living. It was a short lived but amazing experience. (We got violently ill following babysitting--we don't know if it was the babies and germs that are sure go with any baby or something we ate). However, it was a brilliant experience. They were the most gorgeous, gentle, adorable, bright little things ranging from 8 months to 2 years. We hugged and held them lots, sang to them, danced to hardcore techno with them (their selection, you should have seen their excitement!), played blocks and balls, watched Tom and Gerry in Tibetan, fed them and basically just loved them! Of course, as always, many of them came straight to Des, especially when crying and adored his games and attention! The women working there were lovely and organized a momo party for us in the evening.

We sat around in groups and made the momos from scratch, pinching them into many different shapes. Then there was a dance party in the daycare where they forced us to dance to hardcore techno (again). They steamed our momos and we ate them--delicious and well-deserved!

I am disappointed to say that that night I went home and got violently ill for the first time since being in India for nearly a month. Thank god our lovely 3 euro a day hotel room had premium cable (I needed a distraction and couldn't move or read for 3 days). Des went back to the daycare center without me a few days later and they sent him home from school telling him he looked too pale and sick to volunteer and needed to go to the hospital. And so we did.

We ended up seeing a Tibetan doctor who I thought was going to prescribe antibiotics to us but surprised us. Sitting in the waiting room, all the doctors and workers gathered in a room and chanted sand script for about 15 minutes. We then went in to see the doctor in his office with healing incense burning strongly and he put his 3 fingers on our wrist and felt our pulse or blood or aura or whatever he was doing and diagnosed us. (We of course also explained what was wrong). He prescribed us different and very definite prescriptions which we obtained just outside the office where there was a plethora of different jars on shelves filled with different little balls. We ended up getting little mixtures of different sized black and yellow pellets that we take at different times of the day and the are ABSOLUTELY DISGUSTING! We have to chew them with hot water and so taste each and every bit of them--it is like chewing aspirin mixed with seaweed and chalk. Last night we had to mix a sachet with hot water that ended up looking (and tasting) like the thick black sludge off the bottom of a lake---again, revolting---but we're on the mend, so it looks like Tibetan medicine definitely isn't too be laughed at or taken lightly! Happy Days!




Monkey Family

 

Hiking to the waterfall

Lost in a sea of prayer flags

Mountain at sunset

Des learning how to make Momos!

Making Momos

Des playing footie with balloon and kids

Holy Cow that's a big tongue!





Our Tibetan Medicine