Caving, Slapping, Meltdown, and a Parting Gift from India

For the same price of leaving Delhi for Bangkok, we could go to Mumbai and depart from there. Althought both of us were feeling fatigued by India, we decided to push on so that we could see some ancient caves south of Mumbai in Aurangabad.

On our train ride there, we witnessed our second incident of vigilante justice. A drunken guy offended a lady so her son sought justice by slapping him silly. All of this happened in broad daylight in an overcrowded train. Just as soon as the commotion started, it ended. In a way, it was quite effective to express the anger right away rather than suppress it. Imagine this happening at home or at work. It could definately get ugly!

At Aurangabad, we met a cool British couple Patty and Gary who we went with to the Ellora Caves. The World Heritage Caves were built between 600AD to 1000AD. The 30 plus caves represent the Buddhist, Hindu, and Jain religions each of which have intricately carved sculptures. The Kailasa Temple in one of the caves covers twice the area of the Parthenon in Anthens, is 1.5 times larger, and was hand built starting from the top to the bottom. The caves are definately one of the most impressive sites I have ever seen!

After an "ace" (awesome in Brit slang) day at the caves, we went back to Mumbai for our final 2 days. I was hoping to finish on a high note but that wasn't on in our destiny. I had a major heat stress meltdown walking around the city. I was in near tears as I grappled with the heat, a disgusting feeling of stickiness, and a sense that my brain was cooking in my head. I could not have survived the day without Nico who put up with my craziness and escorted me to the nearest a/c restaurant where we had one of our best Indian thalis (meals)!

Just as we were back on a high, we had dinner at a kebab stand that we had eaten at before. Either it was the kebab or water from our breakfast chai teas that put us flat on our backs with traveller's diarrhea. I was not as sick as my first bout in the Himilayas but Nico was violently ill all night. We spent the next day in bed within a stone's throw from the toilet. So that was the lovely kick ass parting gift that India surprised us with. Merci et tabernac from the Chungs!

Now that I am at the end of this leg of the trip, you may wonder whether India is a place that you should go to. Despite the lows, I would still recommend it. But just as I was excited to arrive, I was even more excited to depart. I felt that it was a really tough trip. Mentally, there was the constant action and sheer volume of people (mostly men) to deal with. Physically, I got sick a few times but met some traveller's who did not get sick once. The heat and the frequent sight and smell of human shit, piss, and garbage are also barriers to overcome. On the flip side, I saw some of the most amazing things and met some of the happiest, helpful, and soulful people.

If you decide to visit, I am sure that your experience will be interesting at the very least and uniquely different from mine.

So that's a wrap India. Now it's back to the creature comforts of Thailand before we head to Indonesia.

Pic 1-4 Ellora Caves

Pic 5 Killer Kebabs

Pic 6 Thali Meal Post-Meltdown. I think I've lost about 5-10 pounds...not good!

From Buddhism to Sikhism

Many people are drawn to Dharamsala to immerse themselves in Buddhism and other forms of spiritual practise. It is the home of the exhiled Tibetan government, its people, and arguably one of the most influential spiritual leaders the Dalai Lama. I found the Tibetan people to be very hospitable, friendly, and soothingly mellow. Getting to eat their regional food was a treat since it's a lot closer to mom's home cooking than Indian food. For about $0.25, you can get 4 freshly steamed 'momos' which are bit sized rice buns stuffed with asian green leaf vegetables, onions, and sometimes mutton or chicken.

With the zen aura of the Buddhist monks, the misty surrounding mountains, and my hope that the Dalai Lama was in town (in this case, it was his aura since physically he was out west) and snippets of philosophical discussions about 'ego' at the cafes, it seemed a very fitting place for me to conclude my first read of 'A New Earth' by Eckhart Tolle. My buddy Jo and I have been using his simple teachings to break down our life issues in the past 8 months. Referring to pieces of different religions including Buddhism and Christianity, he advocates the need to be present in our everyday actions to live more fulfilling and creative lives. A simple example from his book is when you walk, your focus should only be on that rather than the destination. This is not an easy thing for my wee little overactive mind! In so many ways, it has started to rewire me. I've probably already recommended the book to you but if not, think about getting a copy or download one of his podcasts.

Shifting gears, we went from Buddhism to Sikhism with a visit to the Golden Temple in Amritsar. It is the holiest temple in the Sikh religion. The religion was founded by Guru Nanak Devi who could not find fulfillment in Hinduism, particularly the caste system. The religion welcomes all castes to worship together and it emphasizes rebirth and karma. The temple is guilded with let's say lots of gold and a constant live chant echoes throughout the temple from 8 to 8. The whole experience was really pleasant and uplifting.

I'm on the train to Delhi now. I'm quite unsure of where this journey will take me next. 'Today is what matters now with tomorrow being the next today' as told to me by a very random encounter with a body reader in Shimla.

Shallow side notes:
-There were some extreme new age hippies in Dharamsala, one who was dressed like a hobbit with the haircut of Gollum.
-We stayed in our worstguest house in Amritsar. It smelled and tasted like fart.
-I've been wearing the same hammer pants for the 4th day in a row because I've been too lazy to get my other pants from the bottom of my pack. Cleanliness has disappeared from my vocabulary. At a public toilet, my feet feel dirty even though I am wearing shoes!

A Can-Indian Experience

The Himilayan mountain range is breathtaking. There's no other word to describe it.

First, I'll bring you up to speed since my last entry a couple of weeks ago. We arrived in Shimla, a hillstation/ monkey terrorist base at the start of the month. It was our first taste of milder weather with temperatures in the low 20's during the day and dropping to 10-ish in the evening. Shimla is a very frequented mountain town so it was quite overpriced and packed with the usual crowds. Notable to the town are it's Simian monkey terrorists. These monkeys are so naughty because they have been fed too much so they now attack passing tourists and break into any open entry in search of snacks. I was very freaked out about being rushed by a pack of monkeys but fortunately was spared. The monkeys did however break into our hotel room. When I entered our hotel room the first night out, I jokingly chuffed about monkeys breaking in. To my surprise, the balcony door was open and the monkey had gone straight for some sweets. We were so lucky that they did not tear through the I-Pod, cameras, and clothes conveniently next to the sweets as we witnessed the next day when a guy was trying to retrieve his wife's purse off a branch about 20 feet above him. Another case of monkey terrorism!

From Shimla, we went to Manali which is where I am writing from. Manali has every convenience a traveller needs including awesome internet connection, western food, etc. It's a primary lauching spot for further touring up north and it also happens to be a major tourist destination. Set against a beautiful mountain backdrop, it is tainted by constant traffic. Ironically, the car emissions seem a lot worse than Delhi! I'll comment more on that later. We are in Old Manali where the backpackers converge. It is the peaceful part of town unlike New Manali which might as well be New Delhi.

Just today, we returned from the most worthwhile motorbiking experience on the road to Leh. Although we did not make it to Leh due to the early season road conditions and a general lack of preparation, we were able to hang out in a little town Keylong which has yet to see massive tourism. On route to Keylong, we were surrounded by mountains soaring to 6000 metres, waterfalls, and valleys dotted with terraces ready to unleash the fruitful bounty of the Himilayas. It reminded us so much of home but at a magnitude I have never experienced until now.

Our trusty ride was our rented Royal Enfield. It could be compared to the Volvo of motorbikes; heavy, sturdy, reliable, and not so agile but more tank like. There were some pretty funny moments on this bike starting with loading it up with far to much weight, precariously teetering and wobbling down the steep path from our guesthouse, and then crashing at slow motion. This all happened at 7am when everyone was just waking up so immediately we were surrounded by a bunch of helpful locals. Aside from bruised egos, we escaped unscathed. The other funny moment was following a zen experience visiting an unfrequented fort in a hill town at around 4500 metres. It was about 20 minutes away from Keylong in possibly one of the most mellow places you could picture yourself being so of all places, it was a pretty ideal one to get a flat tire and we were able to roll ourselves down to the highway. I felt pretty relaxed but Nick on the other hand was delusional from the thin air or something. He was on high stress as he was changing the tire. The final straw was when he thought the mechanic did not give him the right tool. The mechanic Johnny, who had been his buddy two days ago was a yell outloud "COCKSUCKER" at that moment and with that, Nick accidentally thumped a hole in the seat of the Enfield. And the tire? Well, it popped out without the tool he thought he needed. Karma's a bitch when she's rubbed the wrong way!! Afterwards, we had a good laugh about how ridiculous the whole situation was.

Back to my earlier comment about car emissions. I saw some of the most amazing landscape in the past few days. I also inhaled the most emission ever and probably burned a loonie sized whole in my lung at a place called Rohtang (aka HELL!). Rohtang is a glacier that many tourists flock to. It's on the route to Leh and Keylong so it's absolutely unavoidable. For about an hour, we are subjected to following a non-stop lineup of cars to Rohtang. At the destination, there is a ridiculous parking lot of idling cars inching up a 200 metres stretch. Okay, so maybe I am spoiled because I have grown up with snow but really, where is the joy in driving up to this spot where all there is a dirty patch of snow that is black because of pollution? The sad thing is that this glacier will probably not exist in the next 5 years with the amount of car emissions just from the tourists. There is no drama here. On 3 seperate days, there was the same steady stream of cars.

Next stop is Dharamsala, the home of the exhiled Tibetan government and the Dalai Lama. Our time in India is drawing to close so stay tuned as we savor more moments from our wild ride!