After my overnight bus to Rishikesh I was very happy to have my new friends Nicola and Stewart to share a taxi up the small windy mountain roads to Manali. We arrived at 10pm to a village we had heard about right outside of Manili, (Vashisht) to cold temperatures and pouring rain, and for the first time on the trip, we had a hard time finding a place to stay. We ended up crashing for the night in a cement room with a shared toilet and no sink or shower. They were nice enough to bring up a bucket of hot water. I was starting to be worried... plus they told us the road to Leh was blocked and that is why it was so busy in town... Leh was to be our next stop.
When I woke up in the morning I was eager to find a hotel with a shower. I discovered that we were staying in a beautiful little town and I found a great guesthouse up a hill with balconies over looking the Himilayas! It kind of feels like we are in Whistler but there are constant reminders that we are still in India. For example, the cow that head butted Stewart and the families bathing and doing laundry in the hotspring below our hotel, the Rickshaw drivers and of course the amazing food! The people are different here and so friendly and welcoming.
There is Yoga here too and I continue to try to make my body fit into some very unnatural positions. And for the first time in weeks we have discovered a liquor store! Yes I really think we are in heaven. Which I think may make the yoga class today even harder then it was yesterday. We head out tomorrow on a 3 day trek which after almost 4 months of travelling I am a little nervous about my fitness level. But as we are hiking at about 3000m and up, I will easily be able to blame it on the altitude.
The town is quite busy as the road to Leh, which is usaully open in May, has been closed again due to snow fall. So my life has some stress in it right now, I have to decide whether to hang out in this paradise for a couple of weeks or try to fly to Leh. I know you will all be feeling sorry for me and I would appreciate your prayers during this difficult time.
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
From camp back to travelling
My last week with the kids was amazing, and of course, the longer I stayed the more in love with them I fell. It really is amazing how quickly you adjust to the lifestyle. I never did figure out the clothes washing thing and once and a while I would sneak a half a bucket of rain water to wash my hair. They asked me to stay a bit longer as they were having a "lice free" party the day after I was to leave. But there were a few times in the week where I wasn't able to go to the "lice free" party anyway. I had started to learn some of their Bollywood dance moves that would have helped at the party, but I had already made plans to meet up with Nicola and Stewart in Rishikesh, the yoga capitol of the world. And I am sure most of you know how I feel about changing plans after they have been made.
I headed out from Almora by myself on an over night government bus. I really had no idea what this meant before getting on. Thank goodness I had gone early to reserve a seat, as they stuck 65 people on a 45 seater bus for 12 hours. It was pretty horrible and cramped but the whole journey only cost $5! Which really was little comfort at 3am when you can't sleep or move your legs and you are not quite certain if the man in front of you is stroking your leg and why the guy sitting on your arm rest is not responding to the constant elbows to move over.
Rishikesh was my first experience of the Holy Ganga river and their were people everywhere bathing and washing in it. I stayed at an Ashram, which yes sounds really cool, but was really just a hotel with more rules and they offered yoga classes. I met up with my friends and made some more and we all discovered together how hard "real" yoga is. I swear our yoga instructor was made of rubber and seemed very confused that I could not even remotely get my body in the same position as him.
We spent one morning rafting down the Ganga which I am sure was not even close to the rafting at home but still a lot of fun. Very hard to see the Indians in the raft with us filling up their water bottle with the dirty polluted water and drinking it. I some how expected Rishikesh to be more quaint and starting to doubt the LP's description of things. But alas it still is India and no matter where you are there are a LOT of people. Despite being in the mountains it was still quite hot and we decided to head out to Manali to cool down and hopefully trek in the Himilayas...
I headed out from Almora by myself on an over night government bus. I really had no idea what this meant before getting on. Thank goodness I had gone early to reserve a seat, as they stuck 65 people on a 45 seater bus for 12 hours. It was pretty horrible and cramped but the whole journey only cost $5! Which really was little comfort at 3am when you can't sleep or move your legs and you are not quite certain if the man in front of you is stroking your leg and why the guy sitting on your arm rest is not responding to the constant elbows to move over.
Rishikesh was my first experience of the Holy Ganga river and their were people everywhere bathing and washing in it. I stayed at an Ashram, which yes sounds really cool, but was really just a hotel with more rules and they offered yoga classes. I met up with my friends and made some more and we all discovered together how hard "real" yoga is. I swear our yoga instructor was made of rubber and seemed very confused that I could not even remotely get my body in the same position as him.
We spent one morning rafting down the Ganga which I am sure was not even close to the rafting at home but still a lot of fun. Very hard to see the Indians in the raft with us filling up their water bottle with the dirty polluted water and drinking it. I some how expected Rishikesh to be more quaint and starting to doubt the LP's description of things. But alas it still is India and no matter where you are there are a LOT of people. Despite being in the mountains it was still quite hot and we decided to head out to Manali to cool down and hopefully trek in the Himilayas...
Monday, June 7, 2010
Basic Human Needs
A few years ago at my friends Bob and Greg's wedding, I met Jess. She had been living in India for quite a few years and her and her husband had started a school for children living on the streets of Varanassi. This had since expanded to include a hostel for the children to stay in so they were off the streets and had a safe place to live.
When I started to think about India I got her email to see if I could come help out at her school. Things have worked out so beautifully. She flew into Delhi the day Shauna left and was heading up to meet the kids at summer camp in the mountains near Almora. The school had received funds to escape the heat of Varanassi stay in the mountains for a month.
We arrived to 50 kids aged 5 to 16, and 6 staff members. It is so hard for me to even start to describe experience I am having. The first few nights we were 13 to a small room with one bed and I shared it with three other kids. Waking up with legs and arms cuddle up to me and heads trying to steal my pillow. Which woudn't have bothered me if the the smell of the lice treatment in there hair was not so stinky. We have had problems getting water and every seond day we walk an hour to the small river to swim, bathe and all the kids wash out their own clothes. They all find this quite natural and me being the lazy westerner seem to be the only one finding it a little weird swimming and bathing fully clothed and I also seem to get my clothes dirtier every time I attempt to wash them and the kids have to help.
We all eat our meals together on mats on the floor and it sounds stupid but they are soo good at eating with their hands. It is currently nap time and all the kids are asleep or doing chores. The weather has been amazing and on a clear day I wake up to a stunning view of the Himilayas.
To say I am volunteering does not quite sound right. For the most part the kids do the work and I just get to hang out and play with them. It has been difficult as few of the kids speak English but the longer I am here the more they try. I feel like I am just now starting to see India and am so grateful that I have been given the chance to be a part of these kids lives for a little while. The more I get to know them the more stories I learn about there families and how they ended up here. I actually find it hard to look at them sometimes as they are laughing and playing and not cry.
One of the 6 year old girls parents took her out of the hostel for a month so they could use her for begging and then thought it would be fun to get her drunk and make her eat beetle nut (a narcotic) When they finally returned her to the hostel she was presenting as a drug addict. Another boy of 9 years old was left to care for his 4 younger sisters, one night he dropped his baby sister on her head and didn't know what to do and she died. He still does not speak about it. Another 5 year old girl watched as her father killed her mother in a fire. None of the kids have safe homes to go to and the stories go on and on. But here in the mountains and at their school in Varanassi they are safe and loved. The get access to three meals a day, an education and a safe place to sleep. I am really not saying these stories to be shocking but the school is always running out of money and is not funded at all by the Indian government that does not feel that are any problems with the education system. I know everyone has their charities at home that they already give too but being here and seeing how hard working the staff are (they get paid about $120 a month.) and they put so much work into providing for these kids with no overhead bureaucratic and administrative fees I am determined to try to help because I can't imagine even one of these kids on the street again.
Check out their web site if even just to see what I have been up to for the past week and some basichumanneeds.net
And on top of everything else that has made this past week amazing I have made a good friend in Jessica. I will head out on Friday and not sure where or with whom but I really hope to be able to get to Varanassi at the end of the trip to see the kids and the school. Well nap time is over and the kids are up with fresh energy, I think I should have been napping too.
When I started to think about India I got her email to see if I could come help out at her school. Things have worked out so beautifully. She flew into Delhi the day Shauna left and was heading up to meet the kids at summer camp in the mountains near Almora. The school had received funds to escape the heat of Varanassi stay in the mountains for a month.
We arrived to 50 kids aged 5 to 16, and 6 staff members. It is so hard for me to even start to describe experience I am having. The first few nights we were 13 to a small room with one bed and I shared it with three other kids. Waking up with legs and arms cuddle up to me and heads trying to steal my pillow. Which woudn't have bothered me if the the smell of the lice treatment in there hair was not so stinky. We have had problems getting water and every seond day we walk an hour to the small river to swim, bathe and all the kids wash out their own clothes. They all find this quite natural and me being the lazy westerner seem to be the only one finding it a little weird swimming and bathing fully clothed and I also seem to get my clothes dirtier every time I attempt to wash them and the kids have to help.
We all eat our meals together on mats on the floor and it sounds stupid but they are soo good at eating with their hands. It is currently nap time and all the kids are asleep or doing chores. The weather has been amazing and on a clear day I wake up to a stunning view of the Himilayas.
To say I am volunteering does not quite sound right. For the most part the kids do the work and I just get to hang out and play with them. It has been difficult as few of the kids speak English but the longer I am here the more they try. I feel like I am just now starting to see India and am so grateful that I have been given the chance to be a part of these kids lives for a little while. The more I get to know them the more stories I learn about there families and how they ended up here. I actually find it hard to look at them sometimes as they are laughing and playing and not cry.
One of the 6 year old girls parents took her out of the hostel for a month so they could use her for begging and then thought it would be fun to get her drunk and make her eat beetle nut (a narcotic) When they finally returned her to the hostel she was presenting as a drug addict. Another boy of 9 years old was left to care for his 4 younger sisters, one night he dropped his baby sister on her head and didn't know what to do and she died. He still does not speak about it. Another 5 year old girl watched as her father killed her mother in a fire. None of the kids have safe homes to go to and the stories go on and on. But here in the mountains and at their school in Varanassi they are safe and loved. The get access to three meals a day, an education and a safe place to sleep. I am really not saying these stories to be shocking but the school is always running out of money and is not funded at all by the Indian government that does not feel that are any problems with the education system. I know everyone has their charities at home that they already give too but being here and seeing how hard working the staff are (they get paid about $120 a month.) and they put so much work into providing for these kids with no overhead bureaucratic and administrative fees I am determined to try to help because I can't imagine even one of these kids on the street again.
Check out their web site if even just to see what I have been up to for the past week and some basichumanneeds.net
And on top of everything else that has made this past week amazing I have made a good friend in Jessica. I will head out on Friday and not sure where or with whom but I really hope to be able to get to Varanassi at the end of the trip to see the kids and the school. Well nap time is over and the kids are up with fresh energy, I think I should have been napping too.
The Taj to Delhi- The last Shuana leg
We took an overnight train to Agra and were a little tired when we arrived. We were both instantly glad we had saved this part till the end of our trip. Everything that people warn you about India is in Agra. Everything was a fight to get where and what we wanted. After fighting with our rishshaw driver to get to our hotel we were then cheated by our hotel to get a taxi to Fatepur Sikri. We were not quite certain what we were going to see so we caved to one of the goverment authorized guides that seemed to speak English well. Once we had agreed he quickly changed guides on us and sent us on our way. Our new guide was unable to answer or understand any of our questions, he would not let us take pictures while he was talking and instead of protecting us from all the people selling things he brought us to all his friends and tried to guilt us into buying things. Little did he reaize Shauna and I have grown up with more then our fair share of guilt and this really only produced an angry reaction. Although we had a whole bunch of articulate complaints to tell him him opted for walking away without tipping.
The next morning we attempted to get up for sunrise, as this is the best time to visit the Taj Mahal. Athough we missed sunrise by a little bit it didn't really matter as it was soo smoggy that the sun was not to actually be seen for a few hours. The Taj was pretty spectacular but still not sure it was worth dealing with Agra. We were all kicked out of the Taj by 7am as the president of Turkmenistan was coming for a visit. Is that really even a country?
After a few more sights, a fort, palace and the baby Taj, we attempted to catch the train to Delhi. As it was full, we had to fight with several taxi drivers and were both very upset that we had to spend $25 each on a 5 hour ride to Delhi. We were both completely aware we were not putting this in perspective, but unable not to be annoyed.
To sum up Delhi, it was big and dirty. We spent our nights hiding in our aircon and watching tv and the days shopping at the many bazaars (As if we hadn't bought enough stuff already.) It was a little embarassing running into other backpackers with our backpacks on our backs and a huge army duffle bag of stuff between us.
After a very nice pedicure, where it was a little embarassing how hard to was for him to scrap all the dirt off of my filthy India feet, I had to say good bye to Shauna . But I met right up with friend of a friend- Jess and her son Shivam to head up to Almora for the next leg of my trip.
The next morning we attempted to get up for sunrise, as this is the best time to visit the Taj Mahal. Athough we missed sunrise by a little bit it didn't really matter as it was soo smoggy that the sun was not to actually be seen for a few hours. The Taj was pretty spectacular but still not sure it was worth dealing with Agra. We were all kicked out of the Taj by 7am as the president of Turkmenistan was coming for a visit. Is that really even a country?
After a few more sights, a fort, palace and the baby Taj, we attempted to catch the train to Delhi. As it was full, we had to fight with several taxi drivers and were both very upset that we had to spend $25 each on a 5 hour ride to Delhi. We were both completely aware we were not putting this in perspective, but unable not to be annoyed.
To sum up Delhi, it was big and dirty. We spent our nights hiding in our aircon and watching tv and the days shopping at the many bazaars (As if we hadn't bought enough stuff already.) It was a little embarassing running into other backpackers with our backpacks on our backs and a huge army duffle bag of stuff between us.
After a very nice pedicure, where it was a little embarassing how hard to was for him to scrap all the dirt off of my filthy India feet, I had to say good bye to Shauna . But I met right up with friend of a friend- Jess and her son Shivam to head up to Almora for the next leg of my trip.
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