Bikaner, Rajasthan

I'm smack in the desert now, in Bikaner, Rajasthan, after surviving the 17 hour train ride getting here. It was cold and boring, but having a bunk I managed to sleep through a pretty good chunk of it, then the last few hours in the morning was pretty interesting scenery through the desert. Today I went to a camel festival that was held in the sand dunes a little ways outside of Bikaner. It was actually fairly mellow by Indian standards, only a few thousand people there. That's because the fair is only about 15 years old, whereas the big camel fair is the one in Pushkar, also in Rajasthan, where I went the first time I was in India and had the photo taken of me sitting on the grinning camel (which my brother Christo then photo-shopped Santa hats on me and the camel for an X-mas card). Anyway camels are pretty darn cool, they look like some kind of weird creature out of Star Wars, and they're really big around here, seem almost as tall as elephants. Watching them race was pretty funny as they aren't the most graceful of creatures, although they definitely have a certain appeal. There were also horse races there but the camels were much more interesting.

So, Bikaner is a nice little city, it's about 600,000 people apparently, but doesn't feel like it at all. By Indian standards it's quite relaxed and easygoing and the pollution isn't nearly as bad as most other cities. But it has tons of character, the people are extremely friendly and it certainly feels a long ways from the mountains, by comparison I feel as if I'm in the Middle East, except for the lack of many Muslims. I was actually expecting to see more Muslims in this area, being so close to Pakistan. But it seems that isn't the major factor, there are towns and cities in south India, a long ways from here, that still have major Muslim populations. I'm assuming that's simply a matter of those who decided to stay whereever they were during the time of India's partition in 1947, when Pakistan and Bangladesh were created.

But the other nice thing about being here is that it's warmer and I think the desert air is a good thing for my cold, which I'm mostly over, other than a lingering cough. I'll probably stay here a few more days to see the sights, then I'll be headed to Jaiselmer. It's supposed to be really touristy, but for good reason, it's apparently a very romantic and beautiful small town way out in the desert, with an awesome fort and mystically scenic desert surroundings. It sounds like another good place to stay for a while, so I'll likely hang out there for a week or two, and enjoy the tourist amenities, after being out in the boondocks there for a while. Omelettes for breakfast, yum! A man can only live on peanut butter and bananas for so long...

the flu and the fog

I'm still in the hill station of Mussoorie, but booked a train ticket for Monday evening that goes to Bikaner, in Rajasthan State. That's a 16 hour train ride, but it's an overnight sleeper train, so I'll have a bunk to sleep on. And although it'll be a narrow and hard bunk that's still much better than sitting upright on a bus, and not getting any sleep at all...So, not too much has happened here in Mussoorie due to the fact that the day after I got here, I came down with a pretty bad cold. Nothing wrong with the stomach (which is what you would think would happen to me one of these days in India, but not yet miraculously), just the usual running nose, sore throat, stuffy head, etc. But it was the best place to get sick, since I have a hot shower and, even more importantly a TV. So I've definitely caught up with the news (can't wait for my $800 check from the government, even if it is Prez. Bush handing it out, that will be nice timing if it's waiting for me when I get back) and watched plenty of movies and music videos. But as it turns out I didn't miss much while being in bed the last couple of days, as Mussoorie got hit by this crazy fog that hasn't lifted the entire time I've been here. I'd mentioned that I was looking forward to seeing the views of the Himalaya from here, but at times the fog is so thick that I literally can't see the trees that are about 20 feet away from my window. So, this evening I was feeling a lot better and went out and walked around a little before it got dark, and got some great photos of the town engulfed in the fog. But I'm hoping that by either tomorrow or else Monday morning before I take off there will be some clear skies so that I can hike up Gun Hill (right in the middle of town and an easy hike, but has the best views around apparently) since this will be my last chance to see the mountains for a while. Otherwise, at least I got those photos from the bus. So the next time I write will probably be from Bikaner, in the desert of Rajasthan (where I'm hoping to heck it'll be warmer, the forecast here is a low of around freezing tonight....I know that doesn't sound so terribly cold, but you just have to imagine seeing your breath everywhere you go, even in the restaurants and your room, and then 40 degrees or so gets pretty darn chilly)....

Gangnani to Mussoorie

I survived the Himalaya. Not that I exactly climbed Mt. Everest or anything, I was only at about 5,000 feet. But Gangnani was really amazing, although I was a bit trepidatious going there. When I left Uttarkashi it was raining, a very cold rain, and then I ran into some minor complications actually getting to where I was going. There was no bus because it's low season, but only share taxis (jeeps that they fill up with as many people as possible). Then the taxi drivers tried to convince me there weren't even share taxis going there, but I'd have to pay 500 rupees for a private taxi all the way to Gangnani (about 30 miles away). Once it became clear I wasn't going to pay that, I figured out that although technically it was true that the share taxis didn't go all the way there, what I needed to do was take a share taxi about halfway, for 25 rupees, to the next substantial town, then change to another taxi from there. Once I got there I ran into the same routine, with a taxi driver saying there weren't any share taxis going all the way, but he would take me there for 200 rupees. Since I'd had to wait a while for the previous share taxi, I decided to go ahead and shell out (well, 5 bucks) for the private taxi and just get to my destination, since it was cold and wet and I was thinking about soaking in the hot springs. So he took me up there, which was on a terrible road that had some pretty bad mud pits due to the rain, and a lot of road repair going on along the way, including a crane or some piece of heavy equipment that had turned over upside down and was partly blocking the road. Also I wasn't exactly sure what I was going to find there, since I'd gotten differing reports of whether lodges would be open. But I was going mainly on the recommendation of some locals from Rishikesh, who had initially told me that it was a good place to go, had been there several times and said it would still be open in the middle of winter.

So, the taxi driver dropped me off at what was basically a series of chai stalls along a muddy section of road, on a steep canyon going down into the Bhagirathi River, which eventually becomes the Ganges. Above the road on the right side was a jumbled assortment of ramshackle-looking buildings. After searching around a little though, I found this great little lodge with a small but cheap room for 150 rupees (about $4) that had multiple windows on two sides looking straight down into the canyon and the river, as well as up and down the canyon both ways. The only bummer was that there weren't any real mountain views from that area of the snow-covered peaks I'd seen on the bus trip getting there, precisely because it was down in a canyon. And I wasn't able to get much farther up the road from there because of the storm, which went on pouring down rain there for several days. Basically, I could see the snow level right out my window, just above where Gangnani was at, and not much farther up the road snow was apparently deep enough to be blocking the road.

When I first arrived I was the only guest at the lodge, although various other people came and went for a night or two. The lodge was run by a very nice Indian guy from south India, who spoke enough English to get the basics across. Fortunately he also cooked, including basic Indian dishes with rice and chapati, and great omelettes, so I had my meals there as well, other than the snacks that I'd brought myself. I ended up staying there 6 days, and didn't wander too far from there, although I did a little bit of hiking around, including up to a tiny village that was just above the hot springs area. The hot springs consisted of two large concrete pools, one for men and one for women, which were about 20 feet away from the door of the lodge, and they were super hot, fluctuating from just right, to almost too hot to get into. During the day there were plenty of other people in them much of the time, including people that lived right there at Gangnani, from the village up above, people driving past to the next village up the road that you could still drive to, and also I think some of the workers that were working on the roads. It was pretty cold up there, the temperature inside my room hovered around 45 F, the lowest I think it got was 43 F (6 degrees celcius) (I have a temperature gauge on my travel clock) so the hot springs were pretty crucial for warming up. Otherwise there wouldn't have been much reason to stay there long, just hanging out in your room shivering. Other than hiking around I did yoga for an hour or two just about every day, another good way to keep warm, read, wrote, sketched a little, etc. There was no electricity for most of the time I was there, because of an extended power outage, but it didn't matter too much knowing that even with power there still wouldn't be any heating for the rooms. So the owner provided candles until the power finally came back, the only difference being that then there was electric light, and also he had satellite TV.

So two days ago I left Gangnani (just waiting on the road until a share taxi came along) and went back to Uttarkashi, an hour or so away. From there I planned to go to Mussoorie (where I am now), a "hill station" (resort towns set up by the British to escape the summer heat) not far west of Rishikesh, which I could get to without having to go back to Rishikesh, since I was ready to see somewhere new. But I was too late to catch a bus out of Uttarkashi that day, so I ended up staying there again for the night, at the same place I'd stayed before right near all the busses. Also there was a big fair going on since that's the largest town in the area, so it was particularly noisy. The next morning I caught a bus back the way I'd come from Rishikesh, but got off partway there at the town of Chamba. From there, I got another bus headed for Mussoorie, which is actually a little higher in elevation than either Uttarkashi or Gangnani, at about 6,000 feet. The bus ride there had some of the most amazing views I've seen. The sun was setting, and the road went along a high ridge so that looking north you got a great view of the Himalaya, better than I'd seen previously since apparently we got up to 10,000 feet, that was cast in pink from the sun, and then looking the other way you were looking way down these mountains onto the plains where the sun was setting. Fortunately I had a great seat at the very front of the bus and got a bunch of pictures, so those should turn out pretty good.

Last night I arrived in Mussoorie, and decided to splurge on a room slightly over my budget, but a great deal still, with a private bathroom with hot water and a TV for a change, plus a great view, for 5 bucks. I hadn't been to Mussoorie before and was pleasantly surprised getting here. It's basically spread out along part of the same ridge that the bus ride went along getting here, with similar views down to the plains. It's definitely one of the more affluent places I've been in India, as it's a very popular tourist destination for middle-class Indians. But winter is the low season, which I think is why I got a good deal on my room, so it's fairly quiet here with a number of shops apparently closed up, although there are still plenty of people around. One of the other reasons it's pretty quiet is there's not much traffic on the main thoroughfare because it's on a narrow ridge, so there's basically one narrow lane that goes on for miles, with assorted shops, hotels, restaurants, etc. on either side. There's barely enough room for a car to go through, with almost no room for passing, so cars have to back up when they encounter one another until they get to a wider spot. During the high season apparently the route is closed off to vehicles altogether. So it's just this atmospheric, if a bit touristy area spread along this ridge, with views on both sides at various points. But it's apparently not much of a destination for Western travelers as I've only seen a few, although getting here was the first time I'd seen any since leaving Rishikesh. I can see why though, as Uttarkashi was rather dirty and noisy, despite being a small town in the mountains, with not too much really to see right there. The real reason to go that way, other than the hot springs, is the mountains beyond where I went, which sound pretty amazing. I'll have to make it back there again sometime in late spring or summer, when you can get higher up into the mountains.

My next destination from here is the state of Rajasthan in the desert next to Pakistan, and although originally I was planning to just stop in Mussoorie long enough to get a train ticket from Dehra Duhn (which is down the mountain in the plains, but only an hour away) to either Jodhpur or Bikaner, which are both near my destination of Jaiselmer, I like Mussoorie a lot so will probably stay here for at least a few more days. There are supposed to be more great views of the Himalaya on some of the hills from here, but today was overcast, so hopefully we'll get a sunny day soon so that I can see the views. In the meantime I'm taking care of assorted stuff like washing the laundry (which I usually give to someone else to wash, but decided to avoid waiting for it and just did it in my room today) and doing some random shopping. Also I think this is my first time having TV in my room in India on this trip, so that's fun, especially since they have 200 channels. Last night I was watching one of the Rocky movies, definitely a little strange.....

a long and winding road....

I survived the long bus ride from Rishikesh to Uttarkashi. It actually took just over seven hours, to cover less than a hundred miles. It was just winding mountain roads the whole way, mostly paved but occasionally gravel and pretty narrow much of the time, although fortunately it wasn't one of those roads where you're staring down a cliff a few feet away the whole time. There actually didn't seem to be all that much elevation gain, and so it's really not much colder here than it was in Rishikesh. But it was also a very clear and sunny day today so it sounds like today might have been warmer than normal. I talked to someone in town who said yesterday it had rained here. But good to know it's not intolerably cold, so far at least, as I wasn't quite sure what to expect. But it was an absolutely gorgeous bus ride, which I would have enjoyed more if it hadn't been so long, and also if I hadn't been crammed into a small seat with my knees jammed against the seat in front. It was a smallish bus and it was pretty full much of the time, although most of the riders were people getting on and off regularly, going shorter distances. But I got several amazing glimpses of the fully white Himalaya, which can't be too far away at this point. It's definitely a trip when you see huge mountains that aren't just snow-capped, but are completely white top to bottom. But the hills right around here don't have any snow on them, although I get the impression that if I were to hike up one of them then the snowy peaks might be right there.

So, tomorrow morning I'll decide whether to stay here another night or else head straight for Gangnani, where the hot springs are. Right now I'm feeling like heading up there tomorrow. Uttarkashi is set in a beautiful valley, with the Ganges (although here it's the Bhagirathi I think) flowing through it, but as for the town it's pretty much a typically busy and dirty Indian town. So no particular reason to hang around, as more of what I'm looking for is some peace and quiet, and views of the mountains, which it sounds like there will be great ones up at Gangnani. Then from there I might go even a little farther north to Harsil, but I'll just see how much colder it is up in that area when I get there. Also the guest house I'm staying at tonight, although cheap and the owner is friendly and speaks English, is pretty funky and right near the bus stand so rather noisy during the day, just one more reason not to stay here long. But it feels great to be farther up in the mountains and also to be away from a major tourist spot, as I haven't seen any other Western travelers so far since I got on the bus in Rishikesh. But my guest house owner did mention that a German guy had stayed there a short while ago, so I'm not the only one going north when everyone else pretty much is headed south.

I'm assuming that there won't be any internet access in Gangnani, but you never know, it's just about everywhere these days. I don't have a firm idea of what sort of facilities there are in Gangnani yet, like whether anyone actually lives there or if it's just a few lodges. So hopefully my guest house owner can fill things in a little for me. It sounds like the accommodations there might be a little over my budget, so that could be a determining factor as to how long I stay there, we'll see. Well I'm pretty wiped out after getting up early and then enduring the bus ride, so I'm headed to bed early tonight. But I had a great meal at a restaurant here, it was just some flavored rice, dhal (which is lentils generally, but this seemed to have some kind of other beans in it) and chapati, but the guy cooked it all up within view right at the front of the restaurant and it was excellent. The one time I really can't do Indian food is breakfast (they eat spicy stuff and rice balls), so to solve that I bought a jar of peanut butter in Rishikesh, some biscuits that are more like cookies, then I bought some oranges and bananas here, plus a loaf of bread. So with that I can do breakfast on my own (peanut butter and banana is great together, by the way) and then I can survive on pretty basic Indian stuff for lunch and dinner, if that's all there is. But I'm guessing I'm probably going to be missing the great selection of food I had down in Rishikesh. I think it will be a worthwhile trade-off for the mountain views though....

leaving Rishikesh

I'm finally heading out from Rishikesh tomorrow (Monday) morning on the 8 am bus, for Uttarkashi. I guess it takes 6 hours somehow even though it's only about 100 miles. It's hard to imagine how it could take that long, even on windy mountain roads, but I doubt they're wrong about the time, so I'll see why it's so slow going tomorrow. Uttarkashi is a fairly good-sized town, about 15,000 I think, so I should still have internet access there. It sounds like a pretty nice little town, and I admit I'm ready to get off the tourist trail here in Rishikesh as well as just see something different. Although, Uttarkashi is actually on a tourist trail of sorts, as it's on one of the routes that tons of Indians make to visit 4 different temples in the mountains north of here. Uttarkashi is on the way to a temple located at Gangotri glacier, which is considered the source of the Ganges (although there are several rivers that merge coming out of the mountains, before it's actually called the Ganges). But the Indians aren't making that pilgrimage until summer when the higher elevations are accessible, so there most likely won't be too many people up there, but I guess I'll find out. I just checked the forecast, and it's supposed to be partly sunny tomorrow, but with a low of around freezing, and then there's a couple days next week where it calls for rain, possibly mixed with snow. So, it's going to be cold.

I forget if I already mentioned, but one of the reasons I'm headed up there is because on the train from Delhi to Haridwar, I met an Italian couple who lives in Rishikesh, and asked them about some good spots to check out in the mountains, that I could still get to in winter. So they recommended this place called Gangnani (not the same as the glacier at Gangotri) which is about 30 miles north of Uttarkashi. It's apparently not even a village really, but just a spot on the road where there's a nice hot springs, a small temple and a few lodges of some sort, and they highly recommended it. So I'm hoping those hot springs, which I think are free, will help out in the keeping warm factor up there, as long as they're actually plenty hot. But it sounds like a good place to just hang out for a couple of days in the mountains, do some hiking around, sip some tea (I bought my own herbal tea bags and mug, since I don't drink the caffeinated, overly-sugared chai), read the couple of books I bought and who knows what else. So I'll just see how it goes, if it's too cold I'll just hop on a bus back south and then most likely head for the deserts of Rajasthan. What I really need to do is come back to this area in late spring and early summer sometime and explore the same area, because it sounds really awesome, especially if you can get up into the higher elevations. So anyhow, that's the plan. I may write again from Uttarkashi. But in case I don't stay there long or for some other reason don't get online, then it's possible I might not check internet for a week or more. Just depends on how it goes, and how well prepared I am for the cold (particularly while sitting around my hotel room, since there probably won't be any heating as usual...but maybe up in the mountains they're better prepared, I can hope so at least)....

Happy New Year

(Some photos with people from the meditation/yoga retreat at Sivananda Ashram, including myself on the left, Mami (pronounced "Mommy") from Japan, Om from India and Harri from South Africa)....

Happy New Year! I'm still hanging out in Rishikesh, the little town on the Ganges in north India. I guess I haven't written in a while, partly because not too much has happened. The main thing is that I participated in a weeklong yoga and meditation retreat at one of the ashrams here, that I accidentally stumbled upon right before it started. When I arrived in Rishikesh, a week or so before Christmas, I was keeping my ears open for anything that might be happening for Christmas. I ended up asking someone, I forget exactly who, that said they thought something was happening at the Sivananda Ashram, which I didn't know anything about. It's just across the river from where I was staying at the time, so I walked over there to find out what exactly was going on. They said there was something happening on Christmas Eve, but that I should talk to the person in charge of it for more details. So, to make a long story short, in the process of enquiring I found out that the X-mas Eve celebration, which was open to anyone, was the unnofficial beginning of a retreat, starting officially on Christmas Day, that included meditation, yoga, lectures and satsangs (Hindu chanting, etc.) that was geared towards Westerners, so everything would be in English.

I thought about it for a couple of days and then the day before it began, I went up to see if there was still room to join. They said there was, so I decided to go for it, despite the fact that the morning meditation began at 5 am. But I figured it would do me good to get a little more acquainted with the early morning, since I tend to sleep until 9 or 10. It included room and board at the ashram (and was all very reasonably priced, fortunately), so I moved up there on Dec. 24th in the afternoon. I ended up rooming with one of the few Indians who was participating (a businessman from Mumbai, who spoke good English and told me he'd done another retreat there in the summer, that was more for Indians and drew 2,000 people from all over India). There were about 60 people altogether at the one I attended, from all over the world, I think every continent was represented (other than Antarctica, obviously). Although it was a fairly full schedule, the afternoons were left open to do what you wanted, and they weren't cracking the whip about showing up to everything. So a couple of times, after going to early meditation and yoga and then breakfast, I just went back to bed for the rest of the morning and missed a few things to catch up on sleep. But otherwise it was nice to change my routine a bit, as well as to meet lots of other folks, after traveling solo for the past couple of months. And it was a great mix of activities, with several different people leading yoga classes twice a day, some of whom were people attending the retreat, and lectures given by a number of different swamis associated with the ashram. And given that it started on Christmas Day in India with people from all over the world there, it was open to all different viewpoints and so wasn't too rigid about the philosophy, although it was also clear that the man who'd started the ashram, Swami Sivananda (who died in the 1960s) was held in high regard. This morning was the final meeting for the retreat, but I'm staying there again tonight. Then tomorrow I'll have to look around for another hotel room back on the other side of the river, since I plan to stay in Rishikesh a little longer. I was hoping to get my old room back, which was both cheap and I liked pretty well, but they're full up because there's some other big conference or retreat or something going on around here that involves several thousand people. By the way, in case anyone's curious, the website for the organization associated with the ashram is http://www.divinelifesociety.org.

So, from here I'll be heading north up into the hills a bit to get a little more of a taste of winter and of the mountains around here (aka the Himalaya). But I'm in no big hurry, since I've still got almost 3 months left in India. So I'll just see when I'm truly ready for the 6-hour bus ride on a windy mountain road, to the first destination of Uttarkashi, and sufficiently prepared both mentally and physically for a bit more cold. There were several people at the retreat who had been up in the area I'm headed for, some of them just a few weeks ago, and they all said it was gorgeous, but that it was going to be pretty darn cold about now, and also you don't have the food selection in the restaurants that you have here in Rishikesh, since it's not as popular with Western tourists. By the sounds of it, the only reason that it isn't more popular is simply because it's a section of the Himalaya that gets overlooked by other areas of north India to the west, and then Nepal to the east. But otherwise, it has some of the tallest peaks in the world and is supposed to be pretty spectacular. My exploring options will be limited obviously being the middle of winter, but it sounds like there's still places where you can go now that will at least give some pretty good views of the higher peaks. And basically, as soon as I get too cold, I'll just hop on a bus south, most likely coming back to Rishikesh again before heading for some other spots around India.

Favorite places in the world (not necessarily in any order)....

(Photo of the Kalalau Valley on the Na Pali Coast of Kauai, Hawaii)

—Na Pali Coast, Kauai, Hawaii
—Rishikesh, India
—Lost Coast, California
—Sierra Nevada Mountain Range, California
—Santorini Island, Greece
—Hampi, India
—Bangkok, Thailand
—Western Scotland, United Kingdom
—Highway 50, Nevada and Utah
—Highway 1, California
—Oregon Coast
—Portland, Oregon
—Denali National Park, Alaska
—land where I was raised near Willits, California
—Vancouver, B.C., Canada
—Cascade Mountain Range, Oregon
—Rainbow Gathering sites in Wyoming (1994), New Mexico (1995), Montana (2000), Idaho (2001)
—Pelloponnesus, Greece
—Tenakee hot springs, Alaska
—Bagby, Cougar and McCredie hot springs, Oregon
—Arcata, California
—Marble Mountains, California
—Grand Tetons National Park, Wyoming
—Jaiselmer and Khuhri, India

some more about India

I thought I'd write an addendum of sorts to yesterday's message, just to fill in some details since I got to India, because some pretty funny stuff has happened. The first thing was getting a train ticket at the New Delhi railway station, which is a long story unto itself....

There's a tourist desk upstairs there where foreigners can go in order to skip over the hassle and confusion of doing it the normal way, which will make perfect sense in a second, because it's pretty convoluted. I needed to take the train (trains are always preferrable to busses in India because there are almost no freeways here, it's all two lane roads that are filled with obstacles, and is a very nerve-wracking experience, to say the least) about 4 hours north to Haridwar, where the train tracks end because it starts to get mountainous, and then it's just a short 16-mile bus ride from there to Rishikesh. So I wandered down to the train station, which was only about a 15-minute walk from my hotel, the day before I planned to take the train. I knew about the tourist desk, but also knew that it can be a long wait, and it's quicker to use the normal ticket booths downstairs once you figure out the system. But for starters I figured I'd head up to the foreigners office and just see how things looked. As you walk in there's a desk just to the left, where you basically get general information as to how to proceed from there. After that there's a bunch of seats with people sitting in them, and you have to figure out which form to fill out and then which area to sit in. So I asked at the desk and realized the first thing I need was my passport, which was back in my hotel room. So with that, I decided to go ahead and try dealing with things downstairs.

Back downstairs, there's a series of windows, with metal bars leading up to them that create a mandatory line, which avoids the usual bunching up of people at the window basically jostling to be the next person to be served. So I picked a line, and as I was standing there I read a sign up front in English that stated that you could get a ticket for any destination at any one of the windows, of which there were about a dozen. Also the line was moving quickly enough, so within a few minutes I was at the window. So far, so good. Most people working with anything dealing with tourists will likely speak at least some English, so I told the man at the window I needed a train ticket to Haridwar. He responded with: "Go to booth number 32", and pointed off to the left. I looked up and this was booth number 6 or 7. Darn, not so easy.

So I headed in the direction he'd indicated, which led outside, and then there was another room next door with another series of lines leading up to ticket windows. Of course, these ones didn't have the metal railings that helped maintain the line. I found booth number 32, and miraculously there were only about 5 or 6 people in the line, or rather the bunch. So I stood in the back, meanwhile watching out for people trying to cut in front or go straight to the window, which happened regularly. The first thing is just that you have to make sure and leave no space between you and the guy in front, or someone will definitely cut in. So everyone ends up all bunched together. Then, people still try to simply walk straight up to the counter, acting as if they hadn't even noticed there was a line there at all. Several times I had to tap people on the shoulder and point to the back of the line. Every time I did this though, they were quite polite about it and begrudgingly went to the back of the line. About halfway into the line, I then noticed that everyone had a piece of paper, which I didn't have. I pointed at someone's piece of paper and gave a quizzical look, asking where to get one. He pointed to the far side of another line, so I made a gesture asking him to hold my space. He seemed okay with that, so I went and got the necessary form. The guy let me get back in line, and then I looked over the form.

I realized that I needed to know the number of the train I was getting on before I actually got up to the window. Somebody else indicated to me that there was another window nearby marked "Enquiry", and that was where I needed to find out the train number. So with that I relinquished my place in line, and went to stand in the other line. Once I got through that line, the guy there gave me the number of the train I would be getting on, #2055. Then, back to the other line. While I was standing there, I filled out the rest of the info, my name, place of departure, date of departure, destination, address, signature, etc. Finally I got to the front of the line and slipped my form through the hole in the window to the woman there. She didn't speak any English as it turned out, but indicated that there was a problem. She pointed to the ticket woman next to her, who apparently spoke some English. I was able to nudge my way to the front of that line, with the understanding that the woman from the other line had sent me there. The woman there then told me that I could only get tickets there for trains leaving on that same day. For advance reservations, I had to go to another building, three buildings down the street. With that, I decided screw it, I didn't want to waste my whole afternoon dealing with this, so I'd just come back to the same ticket booth #32 the next day, now that I had the appropriate form and knew where to go, and hope that the train wouldn't be full.

So, fast forward to the next day. The train left at 3:30 in the afternoon, so about 12:30 I made it down to the train station. As I was standing in the line for booth 32, with form in hand, I noticed something written in English just overhead, which I hadn't noticed before, that read "Tickets issued 2 hours until 10 minutes before train departure". It was 3 hours before the train departed. But you never know if a sign is accurate, so I continued waiting in the line. Once I got to the booth, there was a different woman this time who spoke some English, and after looking over the form, she handed it back and said "Come back in half an hour". Okay, no problem, I expected that might happen. I figured the two hours might refer to the time of boarding, rather than departure, since it was still almost 3 hours before the train actually departed. I went outside and stood in the sun for about 10 minutes, then figured I might as well get back in line since that would take another 15-20 minutes anyway.

Back in line. By now I'd somewhat gotten the hang of things, and there were other Indian guys coming up and asking where to get the forms to fill out. So one guy came up along my left side, who it turned out spoke English, but in an extremely formal manner. He said to me something along the lines of "Can you please to tell me sir where must I get the necessary forms which you currently obtain as is most required as necessary." These forms where off to the right. So, I abruptly went to point over in that direction, out of my sight since I was looking to the left, and in the process I ended up punching a guy squarely in the face, who was trying to sneak up to the front of the line. Oy ve. He had glasses on and luckily I hit him in the jaw, because otherwise I probably would have broken his glasses. He stood there stunned and rubbing his jaw, as I apologized profusely and tried to explain what had happened. So eventually that was all okay, and then I moved up to the front of the line. I handed over my form again, she took a quick glance at it and said "Come back in a half hour." Of course, I was seriously frustrated at this point, and exclaimed that it had been a half hour since she'd said to come back in a half hour the first time. She explained that it wasn't possible because the information wouldn't be in the computer yet, since it still wasn't two hours before the train departed. I gave up and went and sat outside again.

Fifteen minutes later I was back in line. About twenty minutes or so after that, I was up at the counter. This time she took my form, looked it over carefully, and busily started typing away at the computer in front of her. After about 3 or 4 minutes though, she handed it back to me and said, "You come back in another 20 minutes." I was of course completely exasperated by now, and refused to do so until I understood exactly what the problem was. She conferred with the woman in the line next to her, who spoke the better English, and that woman managed to explain to me that the computer was running a little slow, the information still hadn't been uploaded, but it could be accessible at any minute. So, back out of line. At this point I decided to go get some change for the 500 rupee note that I had, because the price of the ticket was 107 rupees and I was anticipating that if there was going to be another problem, it would be that they didn't have proper change, which happens regularly. But I knew also that no one ever wants to give change, especially for a 500 note, but it was worth a try. So I tried several different snack shops in the train station, and the third one broke it down into five 100 rupee notes. I also had a 10-rupee note, so I would have it covered. Back in line, and this time, finally I got my ticket, with barely enough time to run back to my hotel room, pack up, check out and then catch the train. That pretty well sums up India.

So the trains tend to start on time if you're at the originating point, but oftentimes are late actually getting there. This was the case this time, and we got to Haridwar about 8:30, an hour late. I then walked to the bus station, and managed to find the bus that was going to Rishikesh. I sat down along with about a half dozen other people and waited. After about 10 minutes, everyone mysteriously got up and got off the bus. Then someone who spoke English came back and told me the bus wasn't leaving now for another half hour. So, I decided to just stay the night in Haridwar rather than get to Rishikesh in another hour at best, and then try to find a room late, since it's a small town. So, I found a funky place that would do and went to sleep early that night. There were a couple of things I wanted to see in Haridwar anyway.

The next morning I got up relatively early, and then left the hotel room about 9, with enough time to hike up to a temple on a hill overlooking town, and then get back in time to check out of the room by 12. First though, I wandered down to the end of town, to an area on the Ganges river where pilgrims gather on the stone steps that line the river, and where they also do a candle ceremony similar to Thailand, where they place little lit boats into the river in the evening. I took a couple of photos there just of people gathered around the river, then headed over to the steps that went up to the temple. Right where the steps went up from the street, a woman was selling little plastic bags of various things that apparently were part of worshipping at the temple. It was 25 cents, and had some incense in it, a little plastic bag of stuff to feed the monkeys along the way, some flower petals, a colored headband, and I forget what else. On the way up the steps a little later, I came across some Indian men coming down the stairs, who were gesturing at me in a strange way. One of them then explained in some English that I should put the bag away under my shirt or in my pack, because the monkeys would try to grab it, since it contained monkey food (which I think was puffed rice). Right at that moment, I felt something brush against my leg, and a little monkey snatched the bag from my hand and ran off. This didn't bother me that much since I didn't know exactly what to do with everything anyway, and now I didn't have to carry it. So we all just laughed and I continued up the steps. About 15 minutes later, and halfway up to the temple, I decided to take a break and snack on some nuts and bananas that I had in my bag. Keeping my eyes on the monkeys, I sat down on the steps and ate one of the bananas and a few handfuls of nuts. Then I heard a monkey coming up from behind me, so I grabbed my bag and got out of the way, since I was getting a little paranoid at that point. In the process I grabbed the bag of nuts, but forgot about the bananas, and the rascal took off with my other two bananas. But, I'd only paid 5 rupees, or about 15 cents, for all three of them anyway, so no big loss.

Rishikesh, India

(Photo 1 is a self-portrait on bicycle, with a farmer trudging along in the background. The next is while on the bike trip with Dhane (who had adopted all the Burmese kids), Puck (who was also staying there for a few days) and the Burmese boys. Photos 3 and 4 are of myself with two Thai friends, Ae and Tig, who picked me up hitchhiking near Sukhothai, Thailand. Photo 5 is at Red Fort, Delhi. Photo 6 is a man dressed as Hanuman, the monkey God, in Haridwar on the way up to the Mansa Devi temple)...

I'm now in Rishikesh, in northern India right at the base of the Himalaya and on the Ganges River. But it's only at about 1,000 feet, so I'm not buried in snow or anything. It's just chilly at night and pleasant during the day, although it'll get colder if I stick around here for a little while, which I plan to. But I was last here 8 years ago during my first trip to India, and it's really an oasis from the craziness of most of India. Coming into Delhi was still a bit of culture shock, despite the fact that this is my third time here and I was coming from Thailand. But India is just a completely different world. I guess the difference between here and Thailand is pretty much the difference between second world and third world. So it's good that there are places such as Rishikesh that are a little easier to handle, but where you still get the flavor of India. But I'll talk a little more about where I'm at at the end, since first I should try to catch up with things.

Just so you're forewarned this will probably turn into a pretty long email, although I'll try to skim over things a bit. I think the last time I wrote a detailed message was from Pai, the touristy little village in a valley in northern Thailand, which I guess was just early last week, but feels more like about a month ago. From there I went west almost to the Burmese border to another small town in the hills, Mae Hong Son, the "Switzerland of Thailand" which was also a tourist destination, but for Thai tourists instead of Westerners. At that point I realized that I was running out of time and needed to pick up the pace a little. So I stayed there just two nights, and then took a bus down to Mae Sariang, which didn't have much in particular to see but was on the way and sounded interesting just to check out. So I stayed there two nights as well, spending a day just biking around the town and the valley. Then I hopped on a "songthaew" for the next segment of the journey, because it wasn't frequented enough to have a bus covering the route. A songthaew is just a pickup truck that has been converted into public transportation, with two benches running along the sides front to back, and then sides and an overhead covering. So it's relatively secure, and actually takes the curves better than a bus, but not quite as comfy to sit on, especially for 5 hours as was the case this time. So we headed down a road that skirted the Burmese border through some pretty remote areas, with just a few little villages along the way, to my destination of Mae Sot, which is a Burmese border town. There are tons of factories employing cheap Burmese labor there, and apparrently Calvin Klein has a factory there as well as other big name companies.

So the reason I was heading there was I'd happened upon this guy online who lived there and took care of Burmese refugee children. He was just a single guy living with a Burmese couple, who had one daughter of their own, and then he had 14 Burmese children he'd adopted, all boys except one girl. I came across him on the Intentional Communities website, which I'd checked just out of curiosity to see what sort of communal arrangements were going on in Thailand. There were only three entries and the other two I also emailed, but they weren't really communities, and although this guy wasn't exactly either it sounded pretty interesting to stop by. He said I could just come by whenever and stay for as long as I felt like it, hang out with the kids and go bike riding or whatever. During the day he worked as an English teacher at a local school.

I'll skip over most of the details, but basically I managed to get a hold of him over the phone once I got into town and then took a taxi out to his house which was just outside of the town of Mae Sot. As it turned out he had another American guy staying with him, who had been there about a week, who lived on a commune himself on the east coast, I think in Virginia. And the guy who was taking care of the kids was American as well, so it was cool to catch up with some fellow countrymen, especially in terms of not having to speak slowly and carefully so people could understand me. I just stayed there one night, on a mattress on the floor of their big wooden house, with half a dozen of the kids sleeping nearby. The next day was Saturday so the guy (Dhane) wasn't teaching at the school, so he, the other American, and 4 of the Burmese kids and I went on this big bike ride, that involved stopping by a market alongside the river separating Thailand and Burma, near the Burma-Thailand friendship bridge (it's a rather rocky friendship to say the least).

That afternoon I then said thanks and goodbye to those guys, hopped on a bus and headed back east to Sukhothai, which is another former Thailand capital with some excellent temple ruins. The thing is that the temple ruins are about 8 miles from the modern city of Sukhothai. According to my guidebook there were hotels and guesthouses near the temple ruins, which was on the way to the new city, so I decided to get off there (at about 8 pm) and get a guesthouse there so that in the morning I could just get up, see the ruins quick and then head for Bangkok, and avoid going there and back from the nearby modern town. Problem was, although there were guesthouses there, there weren't very many and they were all full. It wasn't a huge problem, since I could take a tuk-tuk (three-wheeled little taxi like a rickshaw) from there into town. During the day you could catch one of the shared songthaews for super cheap, but they didn't run at night and the tuk-tuk ride was going to cost about $4.50. That doesn't sound like much of course, except that you can get a hotel room for that, and I'd paid only about $3 for the past 3 hours of bus rides getting there, so didn't want to shell out that much just to cover 8 miles. So, I decided, what the heck, I'll try hitchhiking for the first time in Asia. It was worth a try, and there was a good spot under some street lamps right in front of the last hotel I'd checked that was full. I figured I'd just try it out for 10 minutes or so and if it didn't work then I'd break down and get the tuk-tuk.

To make a longish story shorter, it took about two minutes, and I got a ride in this new pickup truck with an extended cab, driven by a woman about my age and a guy a little younger, both Thai. The woman spoke just enough English to get across the basics, whereas the guy didn't speak any. But we managed to have something of a conversation along the way, and once we got into the new town of Sukhothai they drove me to a guesthouse I'd found in my book, then they invited me to go have a beer with them. I checked into a room quick, then went with them to this restaurant with live Thai music, where I was the only foreigner. We had a great time, the band was super hip, pretty much looking like a rock band back in the States, other than the fact they were Asian. So, that was great to actually get to hang out with some Thai folks one-on-one other than just doing assorted business transactions.

The next day I managed to get up early, take a cheap songthaew to the ruins, bike around there fairly quick, then get back to my room to pack up and catch a bus 6 hours south to Bangkok, arriving late in the evening. But Bangkok is pretty much open 24 hours so I had no problem finding a room there, on the legendary backpacker's haven of Khao San Road (Leonardo DiCaprio stays there, I think, in the beginning of the movie The Beach). To give an idea of what it's like there, you can buy a bucket of beer and then drink it on the sidewalk. Neon lights, clubs and pounding Western music are everywhere. Not exactly my scene, but I wanted to check it out anyway, and I managed to find a hotel room that was just down a little alley and so was fairly quiet. It was definitely a happening place, and I'd actually stay there again, since if you want a change of scene you just take off and walk or catch a bus elsewhere. Otherwise you have all the amenities you might need there, plus plenty of interesting people-watching while eating your breakfast.

Well I should wrap this up as the internet cafe I'm in here is about to close up. But basically I just cruised around Bangkok for two days, which is a really cool city, very modern and fairly clean and orderly (definitely compared to India), then hopped on a plane to Delhi, northern India, on Wednesday. Delhi was really crazy as usual, I just saw one fort yesterday and then was ready to get the heck out of there. So then I hopped a train yesterday up here. Rishikesh is just a little village on the Ganges, with an area across from the main part of town that's only accessible by two walking bridges, so there are no cars, and it's very quiet, mellow and relaxing. I'm planning to hang out here for a while, until whenever I get bored basically, then I'm thinking of heading a little farther north, just to get a little more sense of the Himalaya, without getting too far up into the snow. Well I should leave it there, so take care all and stay warm; oh yeah and Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays. Not sure what I'll be doing exactly but it will probably involve several cups of hot chocolate at least, and who knows maybe I'll happen upon something genuinely Christmassy around here.

hopping on a bus...

(originally written December 3rd)

I'm hopping on a bus from Pai to Mae Hong Son in a little while today. Mae Hong Son is another little mountain town basically west and then a little south (3-4 hours on the bus), so getting pretty close to the Burmese border. It's known as the Switzerland of Thailand, supposed to be a lot of hills around there and nice scenery. Basically I'm headed back to Bangkok from here but with a little bit of a roundabout route, as I have about 10 days left. Pai has been great, really a mellow, easygoing place although it's way too touristy. But I can see why, as it's in a beautiful, pleasant valley, with lots to do in town (row after row of shops, restaurants, guest houses, little bars, massage shops, bookshops, etc.) and lots of activities to do in the area in general. But things are done in a pretty cool way, it's not tacky touristy and there's no big hotels or anything, it's all just wooden or bamboo huts or little concrete guest houses that blend together pretty well and fit into the small town vibe.

So basically I spent one day here bicycling all over the valley, including a big ride uphill to a waterfall, and then I spent yesterday hiking to another waterfall, which I didn't make it to because it was a little longer hike than I'd expected, my legs were already sore and besides you know already pretty much what a waterfall looks lik. Then the other two days I just hiked to one nearby temple with a good view of the valley, and spent the afternoon hanging out at a swimming pool at one of the resorts. Also I ran into one of the guys that I hung out with by the river for the Loy Krathong festival. Well I should run as the bus leaves in about a half hour. Looking forward to the bus ride, it was fairly scenic getting here, but I think this one will be even more so, maybe even Switzerland-like, we'll see.