Fighting off monkeys in Shimla

Namaste! We arrived in Shimla yesterday afternoon, after another interesting bus ride. Our bus was scheduled to leave Dharamsala (a 10-15 minute taxi ride from McLeod Ganj) at 6:00 a.m. We had decided to take the "Superfast" bus, as it was a difference of approximately 4 hours...knowing how cramped these buses are, we thought we'd save our knees the trauma. We got to the bus station at about 5:25 a.m. and moments later, a driver hops on the bus and calls out "Shimla". I hopped on to see if this was THE bus, and by the time I got to the front, the bus was in gear and starting to move. Chris had both of our bags outside, getting ready to climb up and lock them to the racks. No time for that. I called out to Chris to jump on with the bags and the moment he was on board, we took off. Remember that Dharamsala is in the mountains... the bus starts careening downhill, making crazy turns and poor Chris is trying to get both of our big packs up the small bus aisle. The conductor nicely kicked a man out of the front comfy seats and gave them to us. Comfy is relative of course, but there was more leg room even though we had to straddle our bags. Again we enjoyed having a daredevil driver who liked to lay on the horn and play chicken with oncoming trucks, buses and cows. I couldn't keep my eyes open after topping myself up twice with a Gravol like pill appropriately named "Vomistop".

So we are in Shimla. Shimla is at 2205 metres and spreads across a mountain ridge for about 12 km offering views of mountains as far as the eye can see. Everything here is a hill, many that have steps built in. In the mid 1800's Shimla became the summer capital of the British Raj. Until 1939 the entire government of India came to Shimla during the heat of the summer. Due to this, the town is an odd mix of urban forest, British colonial buildings (reminiscent of many a Fairmont hotel, actually), and homes that densly hug the slopes. Once the Brit rule ended, the buildings were and are used still by Indian government offices. Again we have to remind ourselves that we are still indeed in India. The streets are immaculate and due to a prohibition of motor vehicles in the centre of town, extremely quiet! It is nice being up at this altitude, the sun is hot, but the air is cool and pleasant. The temperature today is 16.5.

This morning Chris and I walked up, up, up to Jakhu Temple, a temple dedicated to the monkey god, Hanuman. Along the walk you can rent a walking stick, used for fending off the many monkeys that live in the area. I rented one and it came in handy. While on our way up a local man warned us to put our sunglasses in our bag, as they seem to be a favorite item for monkey theft. Before arriving at the temple, a women sold us several packages of prasad (food offerings - actually little white balls of candy) to bring along to the temple. There were two temples, the first and larger one surrounded by monkeys and people (some of the people hired to keep the monkey business to a tolerable minimum). Once we took off our shoes, we entered and gave our prasad to the holy man inside, who said a prayer, marked our foreheads with saffron and gave us holy water to drink and a mix of the sweet candy and dried chick peas to eat. We of course understood very little of it, but helpful locals pointed out what we should be doing, and we did it. Outside the temple we could hear a group of girls sqealing as the monkey thugs got too close. Monkeys are literally everywhere here and range in size from tiny babies to big beefy males, I'm guessing weighing at least 30 lbs. In our room last night, we could hear lots of monkeys jumping on the roof... if you weren't aware of the monkey situation here you would definitely think it was people up there they sound so heavy. We just read that a man in Delhi (I think their Deputy Mayor) was killed by monkeys. He was attacked by a large group of them, and in his panic he fell over a balcony and died. Scary! Monkey advice: no eye contact, no smiling at the monkey, and no sticking out your tongue -- all are translated as "Bring it on, monkey! Lets see what you got".

Anyhow, that's all I have for now. Hope everyone is well at home.

xoxo
Paula

McLeod Ganj

Namaste from McLeod Ganj, India. McLeod Ganj is the home of the Dalai Lama in exile. It is also home to many Tibetans. I keep having to remind myself that we are indeed still in India. It feels very different this high up in the mountains, and we see more Tibetans than Indians in this town.

I spent the whole day yesterday in our room nursing a stomach flu (that's what I have called it). We have been very lucky with gastro issues throughout the trip, however yesterday was not so good. Our room is pretty basic but has the most incredible views of mountains, and the town of McLeod Ganj overlooking Dharamsala down the hill about 500m. We have windows on two walls and a balcony, and while napping yesterday two BIG monkies (monkeys?) woke me up looking in the windows. You have to be careful here with leaving balcony doors open, or leaving laundry out on the balcony as the monkeys (that looks right to me) get up to no good. I wouldn't want to wake up to them in my room - they are really big and beefy. Anyhow, feeling better today thankfully.

While McLeod Ganj is a busy town with infrastructure and tourists, just a few minutes outside it is quite rural and quiet. It is surrounded by green rolling hills and has a mountain backdrop. We went for a hike today from here through to Bahgsu and a nearby waterfall. At the waterfall there were monks in the basin bathing (the water was not running very high) and washing their robes. Long pieces of fabric, both bright orange and burgundy were laid on the rocks to dry while the monks went for a swim in the water. From the waterfall we continued uphill again to Dharmkot then back to McLeod Ganj. It was nice to walk in forest again with massive pine trees...all uphill of course which is not my favorite. Everything here is uphill or downhill... no flat road anywhere!

Had our first momos today for lunch - momos are Tibetan gyoza. Tasty little bundles of goodness. We ordered veg, and also a plate of cheese momo. They are served steamed with firy chili sauce. Going to take another cooking class, this time Tibetan - momos 1 day, soup the next, and bread the day after that. The bread here is looovely... Tibetan brown bread - kind of looks like an English Muffin, but it is a perfect texture, chewy, tasty, yummy.

Anyhow, thats all for now.

Hope that all is well at home,

Paula
xoox

Finally, The Himalayas

This morning we left Chandigarh, the capital of Punjab and road 8 hours in a mountainized schoolbus with enough legroom for a person who is 5 feet tall. I have to hand it to these drivers, they can maneuver the crazyiest roads I have ever seen with relative ease. Donkeys, children, 500m drops, cows, water buffalo, oncoming trucks and buses all presented little apparent challenge for our driver, who I have affectionately named the 'Indian Hammer'. Anyhow, we arrived at 4pm, I climbed onto the top of the bus to retrieve our bags and next thing the driver is pulling away. Some quick dancing and I avoided some power lines and threw the bags down as the driver pulled off. A lot of excitement after 8 hours of sitting on a bus. A short cab ride (500m climb in 6km) and we at our hotel.

It is considerably colder here. Roadside stalls sell just about everything including touqs and socks and mittens. It is not the India we left. Many of the people here are of Tibetan descent and look nothing like your typical Indian. Prayer wheels line the streets and prayer flags are strung overhead. Lots and lots of shops of just about everything Tibetan you can imagine. Everything is a hill here - McLeod Ganj is literally on the side of a mountain. I am pretty excited to be here - the air is clean and cold and the feeling is chilled and relaxed. Looking forward to some good walks and hikes and some quiet time for reading, planning world domination and whatnot.

Lots of beautiful sights here, we will make a concerted effort over the next couple of days to get some photos uploaded.

Bye for now!

Chris
XOXO

Delhi Dental Dilemma

We have just returned from a trip to the hospital. We had to find a dentist for Chris as he cracked his molar. My theory is that it was cracked a while back in Tanzania when a soccer ball crashed into the side of his face. Anyhow, a piece of tooth came away from a filling in the tooth, and the filling/tooth was cutting into Chris' tongue. The dentist said he needs to get a root canal and crown but that it will most likely hold together til we get back home. He grinded it down where it was bothering Chris's teeth, and that seems to have helped a lot. The medical centre that we found was a part of Delhi's Apollo Hospital, a beautiful hospital that would not be out of place in North America. What was amazing, was that we had no appointment, and 5 minutes after arriving, Chris was visiting the dentist (a young guy who could not have been 30). Good thing it happened now (in Delhi) and not as we head further north. We are learning that facilities are always better than we expect they will be. It is a major benefit to get out and travel, challenging all of the misinformed stereotypes that we have.

Today we are heading to Chandigarh. Apparently it is the greenest city in India. The whole city is a modernist design, designed by Le Corbusier. The city is on a block/grid system that divides into "Sectors" - our hotel for example is in "Sector 18". We've been told it is very clean and modern. Will be yet another interesting contrast here in India. We'll be there for 3 nights, then boarding a bus to Dharamsala!! Looking forward to seeing the Himalayas and feeling the change in temperature that a rise in altitude will bring.

Hope everyone is having a good Fall. We just saw that the temp in TO is 10 today and 13 in Vancouver. Sounds so good to me right now!!!!

Bye for now

Paula

Haircut

After some deep meditation and thought, I decided to get my haircut today. Cut, shave and head massage (unlike any I have ever had) for 300 Rupees. That's the news for today...

Udaipur and Jodhpur

We are in an internet cafe in Jodhpur, escaping the mid afternoon heat outside. Jodhpur is near the desert in Western Rajhastan and we are feeling the heat. Happily there is no humidity so we are coping ok. I'll start with our time in Jodhpur then move to Udaipur as I'll have more to say about that. Jodhpur is a city with an old section and a sprawling new section. There are narrow streets with shops everywhere, and like most big cities, packed with people, rickshaw wallahs, motorbikes, cows, and stray dogs. People are quite friendly here and we haven't had any problems finding our way around. This morning we visited the massive fort that overlooks the city. It is where the maharaja family lived until the 70's and has since been restored into a cultural centre and museum. The architecture is amazing here, with beautiful sandstone and marble carved into gorgeous patterns, and lots of wood and stone lattice work in the windows. The rooms are full of bling -- the walls are often covered in mirrors, coloured glass, luxurious fabrics, paintings, and even semi precious stones.

After the fort we took a rickshaw to the train station where we bought tickets for a 5:55 a.m. ride to Jaipur for tomorrow. What a fuss buying tickets. There is a line for "Ladies, Foreign Tourists, and Senior Citizens" that we stood in. This is our second time purchasing tickets so we knew the drill. We didn't anticipate the crazy budding! Man oh man, what a production! We finally got our tickets (for one of the trains, the other tickets we needed were not available so we will have to do the whole thing again when we get to Jaipur!).

Back to Udaipur. We loved Udaipur. We were there for three nights and really enjoyed this quiet, peaceful city. Octopussy was filmed here and is showed nightly at pretty well every hotel in the city. The streets were narrow and winding as well as hilly -- most building were painted white and it was very clean. Udaipur as a city is trying to be more environmentally friendly (lots of solar panels around), easy on tourists (not so much haggling), and also generally cleaner. From our hotel we could see the beautiful Lake Palace - formerly home to Maharajahs, now a gorgeous hotel. In momsoon season, the lake surrounding it fills and there are boat rides that you can take at sunset - which we did. It is lovely. On one side of the city, the Monsoon Palace perches high up on a mountain. We went up there for sunset on our first night in Udaipur. Amazing view, funny monkeys and a beautiful if somewhat dilapidated building. This is where the Maharaja would spend monsoon season. The City Palace is home to the Maharajah now. The Maharajah doesn't hold official power anymore, but the family is very involved financially in the well being of the city. They live in part of the palace and the rest is used as a museum.

We took a rickshaw tour with Salim, a guide we met at the train station. He was a good guide and took us out for two half day trips. On our first day we visited some city gardens, ghats, a memorial and the Monsoon Palace. On our second day we visited the spice market, a burial ground for the royal family (amazing - hundreds of "cenotaphs" - huge stone or marble memorials), some local villages and a Jain temple. One of the Jains' most fundamental beliefs is that all animal life is precious and should be protected. Some of the very devout Jains will actually cover their noses and mouths to prevent accidental inhalation of insects, and may also carry a broom that they use to sweep in front of themselves while walking to avoid stepping on insects.

One of our highlights of Udaipur was a cooking class that we took. Shusna is a local lady that cooks a mean Indian dish. We first learned to prepare garam masala as well as masala chai. We also learned how to make paneer, paneer masala, curried dhal, and vegetable raita. At the end we of course got to eat it all too! It was a lot of fun and we are hoping that we remember how to do it when we get home. We both took lots of notes on our recipes, so hopefully it will come back to us.

That is all I have to report for now. I seem to swing between loving it here, and not being so sure. Today walking through the crowded market, walking by the odd open and smelly sewer, and constantly hearing honking horns, I felt unsure again. I think that may be just the way it is with India. Guess you have to take the good with the bad. The good seems very good, I must admit. I feel I am constantly seeing things that make me think I will love it here more than anything else. On our way to the fort today we were invited into a home where we chatted with a man and his wife for about 30 minutes. She henna'd my left hand, introduced us to her grandson, and gave us some good suggestions for local restaurants to try. Like several others they showed us their collection of foreign currency and told us how much they like Canadians "great friend to India, and many Indians loving living in Canada". These are the exchanges with people that you really come to appreciate and that will no doubt make up many of the good memories that we carry back home with us.

Going to leave it there. Hoping that all is well at home. Namaste.

Paula
xoxo

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On the way to Udaipur

We are currently en route to Udaipur, India. After a sleepless night (the Red Sheild didn't turn out to be the bargain we thought - so humid in the room that sleep was virtually impossible) we were up at 5:00 a.m. to get a taxi to the train station for a 6:25 a.m. departure from Mumbai Central to Ahmedabad. We had to wake up a taxi driver who was sleeping in the back seat of his car. He got up grudgingly, took a white shirt from his otherwise empty trunk, and we were off. The train was not what I expected. As this was a day train, we had booked Air Conditioned Chair Class, which basically means a reclining seat in a cool car. I had anticipated fighting our way onto the train, but our car was more than half full. Locals seem to travel in the non A/C 2nd class cars - a little cheaper. The train included meals and water which was a surprise to me (Chris of course knew this as he is super-planner). We boarded and were each given a litre of bottled water and breakfast. Not sure what it was, but closest I can say would be polenta with peanuts, raisins, and beans. Quite nice, actually. It was a 7 hr journey so we were also fed lunch - a tray with several veg dishes - dhal, mixed spicy veggies, a tofu and tomato dish, a roti, soup, and ice cream for dessert. From Ahmedabad we have an overnight train this evening at 11:20 p.m. arriving in Udaipur at 7:15 a.m. India is huge.

Not feeling as positive today - could be the lack of sleep and waiting hours and hours for a train in the crazy humidity with the constant eyes on us. I'm sure it will take some getting used to. Hoping to get some sleep tonight and arrive in a more tourist friendly destination tomorrow. The people are very friendly, don't get me wrong... they are just fascinated by us which is more than a little odd on the receiving end.

Anyhow, just thought I'd add some notes. A good and bad day I suppose!

P

Made it to India!

Hi! Just arrived in Mumbai, India on Sunday morning at 12:20 a.m. We had a good flight from Joburg complete with free drinks and free socks. Those that know me, know how much I like free things! The Mumbai airport was not as chaotic as I would have expected. All ran very smoothly and we got out of there pretty quickly - considering there were three international arrivals at about the same time, I was impressed! No doubt this airport sees a huge amount of traffic.

Leaving the airport building was like walking into a steam bath. The air was so thick with humidity that it felt like you could ring it out. Our hotel was waiting to pick us up along with another guy who was on the same flight as us. Driving to the hotel is an experience that I won't soon forget! We have seen some crazy traffic and driving through this trip - Cairo comes to mind very quickly. Not unlike Egypt, Indians LOVE their horns and use them constantly. The taxis are yellow and black 35 year old Premiers and they are everywhere, sharing the road with autorickshaws or tuktuks, other traffic, the odd cow, and lots of stray dogs. There seem to be few rules of the road and vehicles zip in, out, between, over lanes, and into spots that it doesn't seem they will fit. There are lots of motor bikes of different varieties and they carry one to several people including babies and kids! Happy to arrive at our hotel we were thrilled to find a pretty clean room as well as an airconditioner that more than cooled the room. We got to sleep around 3 a.m. and slept until 11:00, our latest yet I think (in our defense, there is a 3.5 hour time difference between Mumbai and Joburg).

After taking a walk and getting a new SIM card for our phone, we headed for lunch at a nearby vegetarian restaurant where there were lots of families having lunch. No tourists to be seen except us. It was the best Indian food that I've tasted. Perfect naan, paneer masala, and a mixed veggie dish with cashew gravy that I can't recall the name of. Obviously they set the international Indian restaurant standards for service, because it was like a well oiled machine. A great first meal here and no tummy worries, thankfully. We liked it so much that we went back for dinner as well. Both meals together cost less than $20. What a deal.

We moved to Colaba today as our first hotel was selected mainly for its proximity to the airport and cheap hotel transfer. Colaba is much more touristy and there are lots of whities walking around. I was surprised at the lack of interest in us when staying closer to the airport. People went about their lives and a few said hello, but that was about it. Our first day was surprisingly quiet and I thought that maybe we had arrived in the wrong city. This morning (Monday) was a different story. The street outside our hotel was literally FILLED with men, cars, a couple cows, kids, bikes, you name it. I guess it is back to work and these people get up early! It was 6 a.m. when we first started to hear lots of people. By 7:00 the street was packed and the crowd started to dissipate by about 8:30. Looking out of the window was my first real shock so far. It took 1.5 hours to get to Colaba by taxi, all city driving. The city is massive and a jumble of rich, poor, poorer, old, new etc. All contrasts all the time. We both have decided already that we are going to like it here. The city is full of good and bad smells, and certainly not what I was expecting in terms of odour. Not yet at least! Nothing I can't handle... thankfully. People seem to be very friendly overall, men have staring problems but so far no serious hassles, and teenage girls (not unlike in Tanzania or Egypt) seem fascinated by us and giggle when we say hello or look in their general direction. The city is polluted and dirty but not like I expected.

We are staying at the Salvation Army Red Sheild tonight. Thought my mom would get a kick out of that. It is a backpacker deal, everyone knows of it and we have been happy so far - clean room with our own washroom and shower. The hotel is about $15 for the night and includes meals. We have not had a meal there, but it is apparently good. Tonight on our way out the dining room was full of women in beautifully coloured saris, waiting for dinner.

We bought train tickets for an early departure tomorrow. We are heading to Udaipur and are looking forward to seeing a smaller place. Mumbai would likely be a great city to learn more about, but we are both looking forward to getting to Rajasthan.

Hope that all is very well at home. Sibby, if you are still reading the blogs - please send me your home email address!! Hope you are loving motherhood!!

xoxox
Paula

Hot and Bothered in Bombay

Well, not really bothered I spose. We arrived in Bombay on Saturday night late and stayed at a hotel in the Northern Suburbs. We were the only whiteys for miles. The trip from the Airport had me almost peeing my pants with excitement (and as Paula would say, that meant i perhaps let off a slight smile, that's all). Autorickshaws, small fiat like taxis, motorbikes (Honda Heros) everywhere. Indians everywhere, and lots of them. 3AM we finally settle down to bed after watching some Bollywood. The streets outside are still full of life, horns beeping, families walking around. Nuts!

Today we took the 1.5 hour taxi ride from North Bombay to the South, more tourist popular Colaba neighborhood. We stood underneath the Gateway to India, a big monument built by the British just before their departure from India. Tonight we are staying at the Salvation Army Hostel ($15 / night for a double room with our own toilet!). Tomorrow at 6am we are on a train heading North into Udaipur, Rajasthan. We are just going to keep heading North until it cools down a bit. I can hardly wait to get to the Himilayas and the Indian Hill Stations that skirt them. Woo!

I must say that I am thrilled to be here. The food is excellent, the people are friendly. I think we got a little soft in South Africa, it is so Western there, but that came to an abrupt halt :)

We are both healthy (if all this Indian food behaves itself :) and happy. Home lingers in our thoughts from time to time, but so much to do before then....

We miss you all - take care!

Chris
XOXO