Cairo

I arrived at length at Cairo, mother of cities and seat of Pharaoh the tyrant, boundless in multitude of buildings, peerless in beauty and splendor, the meeting-place of comer and goer, the halting-place of feeble and mighty, whose throngs surge as waves of sea.


-Ibn Battuta, 14th Century globetrotter





Flying into Cairo, I was surprised by the vast desert that surronded the huge city. It was a bit shocking to be back on the road again, after a week in England, but was thrilled to see Toriann waiting for me outside of customs. We made our way to a taxi and somehow picked the one taxi driver that had a bone to pick with the security gaurd. After we threw our luggage in trunk, the security gaurd was practically in the car beating on the our driver. The driver was not phased though and drove away, leaving the gaurd, yelling, in the dust. Welcome to Egypt. :)


Honestly, I was so nervous to travel into Egypt. After the hectic, always hasseling, invading your space, crazy traffic of India, I thought Egypt would be even worse. And then two days before we were supposed to arrive, there was the bombing in the tourist market. But, so far, and not to jinx anything, Egypt has been a pleasant surprise. The men can still be assertive and foward, you still feel as if you are always being ripped off and everyone has a shop or expedition that they insist you must visit, but overall, our experience in Cairo was safe, pleasant and incredibly rich with amazing experiences.


Our first full day in Cairo, we arranged a private driver to take us to the great pyramids of Giza. We were driven straight to the 'Office of horse and camel to pyramids trip', where we met Mahmoud, a friendly Egyptian man who after much haggeling led us onto the pyramid grounds on Moses and MickeyMouse, our camels for the day. We spent about 3 hours wandering the huge area that surronds the 9 pyramids. There are 3 main pyramids, built for 3 pharaohs from the 4th dynasty-Cheops, Chephren, and Mycerinus. The three were a son-grandson trio who ruled in the 26th century BCE. The surronding six smaller pyramids were built for the wives and children of the pharoahs, and all 9 of the pyramids contain its own funery complex. When one of the rulers died, the mummified body was brought across the Nile by boat and placed to rest in the scared center of the pyramid. After taking in the immenseness of the pyramids, we climbed off Moses and Mickey, and entered into the largest of the pyrmids. It was largely disapointing, way too hot and claustraphobic, and steep. The small tunnel down into the pyramid led you to a small room, and then another tunnel back up into another small room. The rooms were all empty and although it was cool to be inside, that was about it. Everything from the pyramids had been removed and was now in the Egypt museum.


Next we rode to the nearby Sphinx. The Sphinx was so much smaller than I imagined, even though it is 80 mt long and 22 mt high. He looks pretty friendly, even with his missing nose and ear (which are in the British museum). The identity of the Sphinx is still debated, but Egyptian folklore says that he is half-human, half-tiger who protects the pyramids from theives....however, if that is his purpose, he seems to have done a pretty average job.


After completing our tour of the pyramids, we realized that riding a camel was not the most comfortable thing in the world, and realized we were both sore and stiff. But, no time to rest, we headed off with our driver to our next destination-Saqqara.


Saqqara is the home of the famous Step Pyramid of Zoser I. Built in 2630 BCE, it is the worlds oldest funerary momument and the inspiration for the pyramids. It was designed by the innovative architect Imhotep, who was not satisfied with a simple rectaungular design, but instead went with a stacked, layered look. The pyramid seemed to be under a lot of construction and about half of it was blocked off. Toriann and I decided to hike around to the back to take a look though and once out of sight of the gaurds was invited into the blocked off area by a local 'guide' He rushed us past the fence and down the stairs into the base of the pyramid (which is certainly not open for visitors!!) He then led us to see the statue of King Zoser I, hidden from visitor as well by construction barricades and a large stone with a small peep hole. It was amazing to see, so happy to break the rules, which we normally never do :), and see another side of Saqqara.


After Saqqara, we made our way back to the pyramids for a late lunch and then another camel ride to the top of a sandy hill to watch the sunset over the pyramids. It was a bit painful to get back on the camel, but we mastered the crazy camel gallop. Mahmoud, our friendly host, provided us with tea, sheesha, and a marriage propousal for Toriann, including 17 camels, 2 horses and 2 kilos of fruits. It was tempting for T, but since he already had 3 wives, she decided to say no...(she would rather have the first wife position). juuust kidding.


The next day we spent enjoying Cairo and the Egyptian museum. We had amazing coffee at one of Cairos famous coffee shops before spending a solid 3 or 4 hours in the museum. The museum is immense, one of the worlds greatest collection of artifacts, although the display is very average. According to Lonely Planet, the museum holds over 100k artifacts and if you spent 1 minute looking at each display, it would take you over nine months to work your way through the museum. Toriann and I loved the Tutankhaumans room and the jewelry rooms.


Our afternoon in Cairo was spent wondering around Islamic Cairo, visiting the Wikala mosques and the great bazaar of Khan al-Khalili.


Exhausted from walking so much of the city, we had a quick dinner at our favorite Fafafel place and headed to the train station for our overnight train to the south of Egypt-first stop Aswan.

Good-bye India

In a few short hours I will be leaving India and I am sad to have to say good bye to this beautiful country. India happens to be the longs place Heather and I have stayed in and we have both really enjoyed our time here. India is unlike any country we have visited so far on this trip and we hope that through each of our blogs we have given you a better insight to the culture, people and life here. Either way, if by chance you have an interest at all about India I highly recommend seeing the movie “Slumdog Millionaire” as well as seeing or reading the book “The City of Joy.”
While we were in Kolkata we had the time to go and see “Slumdog Millionaire” and really enjoyed it. Its about a young man who goes on the TV show 'Who Wants to be a Millionaire' and the story of his life unfolds through the questions he is asked. The movie takes place in Mumbai which happens to be where I am right now and about 55% of the people in Mumbai live in the slums. The movie is well directed and is absolutely wonderful. When it was over and time for us to leave Heather and I both felt that as we walked out of the theater we had actually just stepped into the movie. The movie gives a good visual to life as an Indian and plus I know its out in the theaters, so go and see it, I promise you will love it too.
I also recommend reading the book “The City of Joy” by, Dominique Lapierre. I'm currently only a few chapters in but I already feel as though I have a better sense of the peoples lives in Kolkata. As I have said before, Kolkata is one of my favorite places and while living on Sudder St. we were told by other backpackers to go and have a drink at the Farelan Hotel. Curious as to why, we learn that when the book was turned into a movie they filmed part of it at this hotel. Well of course we felt it honorary to be able to see where the movie was filmed and enjoy in a cold refreshment. So if you don't have the time to read the book see the movie, its supposed to be good. Plus, it has Patrick Swayze in it so if you are a fan of him you will for sure live it. Either way I hope you are enjoying the blogs and the next time you check we will be on a different continent, embracing new people, learning another religion, tasting different spices, and seeing ancient ruins.

Sivananda Yoga Ashram

A few months before leaving on this great adventure I read a book called “Eat Pray Love” by, Elizabeth Gilbert. Elizabeth travels to three countries Italy, Indonesia, and India and while she was in India she stayed at an ashram. For the past several years I have had an interest in yoga but was to intimidated to take a class because I knew nothing and so I thought what better way to learn yoga but spending a week or more at an ashram. Her visit to the ashram really inspired me to visit a yoga ashram while I was in India. Before coming I had briefly looked into a few and even while I was traveling I had the idea in the back of my head but nothing really stood out to me nor did it seem to fit in to our plans. Well the week we were in Kolkata, I meet this woman named Kelly who told me of her travel plans and she mentioned she was headed down to Kerala to spend a few weeks at a Sivananda Yoga Ashram. Kelly and I talked and I mentioned I was interested but had no yoga experience but am very eager to learn. Well from the people she had meet who had been there in the past said this place is great for beginners and is not as intense as most ashrams. After our talk I went to the internet and looked at the website and was sold. Roughly two weeks from when I meet Kelly I surprised her with an email telling her I was coming and would see her in two days time.
I have just finished my week here and am very sad to be leaving so soon, yet I know many great experiences are yet to come in new places. While I was here my days were packed in a relaxing way. We got up every morning at 5:30 am and headed down to satsang which was meditation, chanting, and a talk. After Morning satsang we all gathered outside for chai tea, which warmed our tummy's and gave us a burst of energy for yoga class which was from 8-10am. By now most of us are very hungry which was good because brunch was served. The meals are always vegetarian and on most days it was good but every two days the meal was not so great. After brunch we were called to do our karma yoga, mine was cleaning my dorms bathroom. I worked with two other woman who also had dormitory bathrooms and our little team worked very hard and efficiently. Fortunate for me one of the other women volunteered to clean the toilets so I either swept or mopped which is better because, I hate cleaning toilets. Once our karma yoga was finished we had a bit of free time to sleep, take a dip in the lake, visit the internet, or lounge on the lawn. At around 1:30 we all gathered to enjoy in some tea and snack before heading to lecture. Lecture was interesting and boring all together but once lecture was over we headed to afternoon yoga class. By now its 6pm and we are drained from yoga class and eager to eat our second meal for the day. Dinner was always a let dawn because it was never as big as lunch which I suppose is good However, in all honesty most of us spent our after dinner free time at the health hut indulging in tasty fruit milkshake, fruit salad, or anything else they had on the menu. Now that our tummy's were full from dinner and our added snack we all gathered for evening satsung which lasted from 8-10pm. By the time satsung was over all of us walked back to our bedrooms anxious sleep and prepare ourselves to repeat it all the very next day.
During my time at the ashram I have learned and experienced a lot. During satsung we were asked to sit cross legged for 20 minutes and meditate. Well I have learned that it is very hard to sit still for that long. I last about 2-5 minutes before I can no longer sit still and need to move and change position. . . very frustrating. We also sang chants that are written in Sanskrit which is hard to read most of the time but has a very catchy melody and has a way of sticking in your head. Randomly throughout the day I caught myself as well as others chanting or humming away and not even realizing it. “Om Namah Sivaaya, Om Namah Sivaaya, Om Namah Sivaaya, Om Namah Sivaaya” At meal time, I learned to only eat with my right fingers which made me feel like a child again. I however focused on mastering how to best clean my plate to make it look like food had never been served on it. In comparison to my first day I felt as though I improved day by day, give me another week or so I for sure would have masted the Indian way of eating. Those are just some of the things I learned, but the most important thing I learned and will forever take with me are the yoga posses. There are several and I have yet to master them all but have learned the techniques and with a little practice I will hopefully improve. I suppose with anything the more you practice the better you get, so maybe someday I will be able to sit silently without moving for 20 minutes or more.
While I was at the ashram I was fortunate enough to go to the grand opening of the Sivananda Yoga center they had built in Trivandrum. Trivandrum is the main city outside of where I was staying and all of us students were invited. We were asked to dress in traditional clothing and well I was super excited because this meant I could put on my sari. Unsure as to how to actually put it on I asked one of the local women who was working at the ashram to please help me. Well of course word got around and with in a matter of time I had all the local women in my room helping me put on this sari. One woman said it was a wedding sari and to be honest I did feel like a bride with all the women around me helping me get dressed, but gladly I am not and instead went to the grand opening. One perk to all the women helping me is I learned how to put the sari on so next time I will be able to do it myself.
The grand opening was tones of fun and one of the most exciting things was that the King or should I say Maharajah of Kerala came to inaugurate the building. Sadly or more disappointingly he did not stay for the whole festival but we manged to continue on and enjoy the evening. We sat and chanted a bit before we indulged ourselves in a traditional Indian meal. After dinner we took a look around the building, chatted with people and then were called back inside for evening satsung. This satsung was shorter and quite different because a band came to play. The band was amazing, their were three of them and they each played a different type of old instrument, one being a sitar...i think. The evening was so much fun and most everyone dressed in traditional clothing and looked amazing. I just kept saying what fortunate timing it was to be here and to be invited to take part in this grand opening. I believe this Sivananda yoga center will due a lot for the people of Trivandrum as well as all Sivananda followers.
Over all, my week at the ashram was great and I would recommend to anyone interested in yoga to go and spend some time in an ashram because I think it offers a different feeling then what one might get at home from their yoga class. I'm so glad I meet Kelly and she told me about this place because if it wasn't for her I'm not sure I would have made it to an ashram during my time here in India. Its amazing how things work out. Om Santih Santih Santih (Om Peace Peace Peace)

Andaman Islands

Our relaxing and free of horn honking week on the Andaman Islands (AI) was amazing and such a treat. Going to the AI was not part of our original India plan, but things rarely happen according to plan. After spending a week in the freezing cold of Darjeeling, we were easily persuaded by some fellow travelers to visit the AI where warm weather, beautiful white sand beaches, blue water, and diving would await. Although a few weeks had passed since we left the cold and we were very much enjoying our time volunteering at the Mother House, we were still super excited.
Our flight landed us in Port Blair so we quickly headed to the ferry dock to catch the ferry to Havelock Island were we spent our week. Havelock is a little island that consist of seven beaches, or should i say six because beach six doesn't seem to exist. As we debarked from the ferry we were handed a flyer by the owner of Eco Villa promoting his hostel. Since we had read about it and the price was right we decided to settle down on beach number 2 at the lovely Eco Villa. Tired and exhausted from our travels, we enjoyed a nice dinner sitting under coconut trees at our hostel and just stared out on to the water and watched the moons reflection ripple on the water.
Refreshed and eager to dive, we headed to Dive India to book our Advance Open Water course as well as a day of fun diving. Our AOW consisted of five dives: navigation, deep, photography, naturalist and night dive plus a little book reading. Since a standard trip usually consist of two dives in one boat trip we were able to complete our course in two days. Viskos, our dive instructor was super nice and such a great teacher. He is from Goa originally but has lived on Havelock for the past three years and really enjoys being on instructor and working wit his students. Our course went smoothly and we both enjoyed it tremendously because we had a focus and purpose for our dives. For each of the dives we were able to photograph what we saw and learn how best to capture life underwater. Viskos also told us about different species of fish for example, it is most common to see angel fishes travel in two because they mate for life. During our night dive we focused on the micro living things. It is a bit scary not being able to see your surroundings but the night dive offers such a different outlook to the underwater world, we saw several fish sleeping, bio luminescences, basket star fish and much more. All together we saw grouper, school of barracuda, lion fish, shrimp, snapper, an electric clam, crocodile fish and so much more. At a few of the dive spots we visited it felt as though we were in a movie, like the movie Finding Nemo. The coral just covered the bottom for miles and there are just so many fish swimming around living their life. It is just such an experience to be able to breath underwater and watch them all live in their natural habitat. Our diving days were the best.
When we were not diving we were most often relaxing on the beach and hanging out with our Danish friends Mikael, Adam and Heidi. One afternoon the boys went out fishing and Mikael the lucky one he was caught a fish. The fish was massive and as kind as the guys were they invited us over to there hostels restaurant to enjoy in a lovely dinner. One of the chefs cooked up the fish as well as some side dishes, mushroom rice, tomato and cucumber salad, and garlic cooked vegetables. Turns out the dinner is one of the best dinners we have had on our trip. The food was delicious and there was so much of it we ended up sharing it with all the cooks. It was so nice to be sitting among friends enjoying this wonderful meal and all eating together at the same time. Thank you Mikael for catching the fish.
Our week on the island flew by and although we decided to skip Nepal so that we could come here we are so very glad we did. The weather suited us and our clothing much better. Of all the countries we have traveled to we both agree that India is definitely a country we will come back too. And although we have yet to visit Nepal we know for sure we will either visit when the weather is warmer or when we have more suitable cold weather clothing. We are young and our travel addiction has only gotten worse. . . who knows if we will ever return home?

Life on Sudder street.

We promised ourselves we would make it back to Kolkata after leaving early to run the rickshaw race! I am so, so glad we did the rickshaw race, but also so glad we made it back to Kolkata as our week there was one of my favorite weeks so far of our trip. I kept thinking during our time in India, I really love India, but I dont think I like being a tourist here. Our week in Kolkata gave us the chance to settle in a bit, volunteer at the Mother Theresa homes, and see India from another viewpoint.
Working at the Mother Theresa homes was incredible in itself. To be a part of what Mother Theresa started was humbling and inspiring. To be a part of a community that was there to serve from all over the world- serving, in the simplest of ways, laundry, washing, hugging, painting nails, massaging, and yet feeling inspired by those simple tasks and feeling as if you are following in the footsteps of someone who loved beyond all barriers. The home that I worked at was for people that simply could no longer care for themselves and had no where to go. The building was new, open and light and surrounded by gardens. The resident women were not beautiful by physical standards, several with severe deformities, eyes removed, burned, heads shaved to keep away lice, etc. Some were grumpy with the volunteers, some really excited to sit and chat in their native language or have their nails painted, but either way I wish I could have heard each and everyone of these ladies stories. Where they had come from, what they had lived through, seen, heard, experienced, and how they had found their way to Prem Don.
Every morning at the Mother house, mass was held at 6am, followed by breakfast for the volunteers at 7. The breakfast was bread, bananas and chai. It was so cool because there are 6 or 7 places that the volunteers are sent, so breakfast was a time for everyone to see each other, hear how peoples days were, etc. After breakfast, we said a prayer, sang a song, the gate opened and we were released to travel to our different locations. I walked each day with Janet, a wonderful women from the UK who had come to Kolkata on her own to volunteer for the month. Janet and I always had the nicest chats while navigating the crazy streets of Kolkata to Prem Don. I loved meeting Janet and several other of the volunteers who inspired me with their willingness to come to India to serve. The volunteers were so diverse, from all over the world, all had a different reason for coming, some staying a day, some staying for 6 months. But no matter where they were from or how long they were there, everyone I met at PD was so amazing.

While I worked at PD, Toriann worked across town at another mother house-

I, Toriann spent my week at Shishu Bhavan were I worked with handicapped children. As expected the first day was hard and intense but as the week porgressed it became easier and even more rewarding then I imagened. Every morning I would come in and say hello to all the children as they sat in there chairs waiting for breakfast. I spent my week mostly working with Bobeta one of the most beautifl girls ever. She has cerebral palsy and is unable to walk, crawl or talk, never the less, we really bonded. Her eyes would widen and she would get a big smile on her face every morning when I would come in and say hello. During my days I would feed Bobeta, change her dipper, do some exercises and just sit by the window so she could look out into the world. Feeding time was always difficult with her but I managed to get the food down after a few songs and some tickling. If she was distracted or laughing the food went down but otherwise she would be feisty and just spit the food out and make a big mess...oh the joys of children :) Exercise time was very therapeutic for her, she would relax her muscles as I stretched her legs and her arms. Although she can not walk, sit up or crawl she loved being in those postions. With much help I would walk her to the window so she could stair out into the world, or I would cross her legs and we would sing "patty cake" and other kids songs as she sat up. Bobeta really loved "patty cake" as well as loved being tickled, she would just start laughing uncontrolably. I love listening and watching children laugh it is just the most innocent thing ever. Working with Bobeta and spending the week at Shishu Bhavan has definitely touched my hart and opend my eyes to working with handicapped children...wow is it hard work. As hard as it was the experince cannot even be compared and I cannot wait to return someday soon.

( sorry dont know what happend) dder street. The street was filled with people you recognized from breakfast or from where you were volunteering. I loved it, it was like living in the dorms again, you always were running into people you knew, having a chai with someone you volunteer with, joining a group of people at Fresh and Juicy for some naan. It made the whole volunteer community even stronger and already I am missing life on Sudder street!

Another great part of returning to Kolkata was we had the honor of going to an Indian wedding. We met a large group of rowdy British (and Canadian) men having a bachelor party at a nearby hotel. They invited us along for the party to an Indian dance club and provided us with a very entertaining evening-including sweater vests, police chases, dance offs, etc. Colin, the groom(UK) and Shirley (Philadelphia) planned their wedding in the home town of Shirleys grandparents-Kolkata. Colin and Shirley were kind enough to invite Toriann, myself and two other friend, Gered and Sara (Denmark) to the wedding. We got invited at about 9:30pm the night before the wedding, and Toriann and I knew we had to find Saris to wear the next day. Lucky enough, in India, there is always a guy with a shop and it didnt take long to find a man with a wholesale sari shop who sold us 2 beautiful saris.
The next day, after working at the Mother house, we started getting dressed for the wedding, realizing we had no idea how to put them on. The sari is one long piece of fabric, but put on correctly, they look amazing. The women who worked at our guest house, Shanti, was kind enough to come up and dress us, but she was puzzled by the fact that we were missing half the sari. You are supposed to get a simple skirt to wear underneath the actual sari, but we had not had time so had just planned on wearing shorts. Shanti was unimpressed with our idea and kept saying 'this will not work' and we said 'it has to work!' She ended up totally pulling it off and made us feel so beautiful!
The wedding was a traditional Bengali-Hindu wedding, with a few western modifications. The bride was beautiful in a red and gold sari with gold jewelry and hair pieces, and the groom was decked out, wearing a tall, white hat with two balls hanging down the sides and a long red robe. The wedding was held on the rooftop of the beautiful Taj Bengal hotel. The groom rode onto the hotel grounds on a white horse, proceded by a marching band. After some dancing, the wedding party (besides the horse) moved to the roof to begin the wedding ceramony. The wedding ceremony, in a traditional Hindi wedding, can take up to 4 hours, including the moment where the bride is revealed to the groom for the first time. Shirley and Colin skipped parts of it, but still completed many of the rituals, guided by a Hindi holy man, including walking around a small fire 7 times.
After the ceremony, Colin and Shirley were officially married, the party really got started. There were Bengali dancers that came and performed to get the dancing going-full on Bollywood style. The Indians are amazing dancers and we had a great time dancing in our saris under the stars. After dancing up an appetite, we enjoyed the amazing food and drink while getting to know some of the friends of the bride and groom. I am so grateful to Colin and Shirley for extending the invitation and being so generous!!
Overall, our week in Kolkata was so good. I would have liked to stay for longer, but next up Andaman islands!

Into the heart.

Today we watched the sunset from the monkey temple, guarded by dozens of monkeys and surrounded by the desert city of Jaipur. Two days ago we were awe struck by the Taj Mahal, one of the most beautiful buildings we have ever seen. The day before that we watched bodies being burned and put into the very holy Ganges river.

Traveling in India is by far the most challenging that we have encountered. Every moment is sensory overload, the sights, sounds, smells surround you and overtake what your thoughts, feelings and heart in every experience. The colors are stunning. The architecture is exquisite. The people are warm. The poverty is heart breaking. Cows are everywhere. And although each day in India continues to be a mental and emotional challenge, it is as much rewarding as it is challenging.

After leaving Darjeeling, we headed into the heart of India, the Golden Triangle. We took an overnight train to Varanasi, meant to leave at 5pm, actually left at midnight and arrived to Varanasi 9 hours late.

Varanasi is a complex system of narrow allyways. In order to get anywhere you, twist and turn throughout the areas behind the ghats. The alley ways are filled with colorful shops, food and chair stands that fill the air with yummy aromas that almost make it so you cant smell the cow, dog, goat and human waste that is everywhere.

We visited the Marikarnika Ghat first, one of two of the burning ghats. It is one of the most holy ghats for Hindus, as it is the final stop of the popular panchathirthi pilgrimage. The ghat is also just next to the primary cremation grounds, where bodies are burned, day and night, to be prepared to be placed into the river and sent on to the afterlife. Bodies are paraded down to the river, covered and adorned in flowers and gold coverings. The family prepares for the ceremony by the men shaving their head and the women painting their nails. After getting permission from the local government to burn their family member, the family purchases the wood to build the fire from the 'eternal flame'. The body is then dipped in the river and cremated. The ashes are then thrown into the river. Any Hindu can be cremated at the river, if the family has money to purchase the wood. The only exceptions are holy men, pregnant women, babies and animals. They are not burned but their bodies are tied to rocks and thrown directly into the river because they are already pure. Lepers and people bitten by snakes are also not burned.

We watched parts of cremations from a hospice overlooking the ghat and were told about the rituals by a 'government volunteer'. He was extremely knowledgeable about it all and we appreciated him filling us in, but afterwards he told me he would not take my donation as there was a 'minimum donation'. oooooookkkk. And then he invited us to come into his silk shop. So it goes in India, everyone has a shop or a friends shop.

After Varanasi, we took the overnight train to Agra. Agra is known for being a city full of swindlers and poverty, but it is the home of the Taj Mahal. On the train we met Sam (Australia), who offered us a lift with his private driver he had booked. The driver picked us up from the train station and after bribing the 'taxi union', we went to parking lot close to the Taj Mahal. You can only drive so close to the Taj, in order to keep the pollution down, and then you must take either an electric car, a horse or camel driven carriage. We opted for the cheap and cheerful electric car and pulled up to the door of the Taj. After a quick security check, apparently security has gotten a lot stricter after the Mumbai shootings, we were on the compound. Our guide was super informative and told us about each unique, always symmetrical parts of the compound. After viewing the outside sections, we crossed through an Aladdin shaped arch and were awe struck at the immediate beauty of the building. It only continued to get more beautiful as we got closer. It is not in fact white, but an intricate designs of marble stones with floral patterns throughout. There is also Arabic scripts from the Koran up and down the entry ways. The Taj is surrounded by four white pillars, all built at 100 degree angle away from the Taj, just in case they were ever to fall. Inside, the tombs themselves are off limit, but you can visit replicas that are kept in a beautiful, ornate marble room.

The story of the Taj Mahal just adds to its beauty and mystery. It was built for the favorite wife of Shah Jahan, the Mughal emporer in 1632. When he received the news that she had died, he decided to bury her in a tomb of timeless beauty, a "tear that would hang on the cheek of time". The building of the Taj was completed in 1653 with 20,000 imported Persian artists and workers working non-stop on the construction.

After an amazing, but much too fast visit at the Taj Mahal, we were on our way again (with our borrowed private driver) to Jaipur. Jaipur is in the desert state of Rajasthan, so the scenery changed to desert towns filled with camel pulled carts, turbaned men and more women in brightly colored sarees! Jaipur is known as the 'pink city', after being painted pink in the 19th century for Prince Alberts visit. The city is no longer actually very pink, but the name remains. The city is divided into several sections and was a lot larger than we were expecting! We had a hard time getting around our preferred style...walking. Streets in India are even less pedestrian friendly than southeast Asia, and not only do you have to avoid cars, you have the constant ring of rickshaw drivers following you trying to convince you wherever you are going is too far and you should get in with them. In the end, we often did just because it was more annoying to try and ignore them while trying not to get lost. Our first evening we visited the American embassy, good ol McDs, just to say we have been there in India. The menu is totally different, they serve McVeg and the Maharaja Mac. No beef at these McDonalds.

We spent our day in Jaipur with Dave and Sam (USA), guys we had met while buying train tickets. Hah, that was an adventure in itself. We still have not quite perfected that part of traveling in India either and by the time we bought 2 tickets, we had gone through the line 5 times. :) But, I think we made the ticket guy laugh. Anyways, with Dave and Sam guiding with their lonely planet, we did a walking tour through the craziness of the pink city. We walked through amazing bazaars, filled with fruits, veggies, spices, silk, tie dyed sarees, gems and jewels. It was beautiful and made me want to bedazzle myself in Indian clothes and gems. But no time, after passing through the bazaars, we visited the City Palace and museum, the Jantar Mantar Observatory, and the Hawa Mahal (the Palace of Winds). We missed the famous Amber fort, but instead decided to climb up to the Galta, the Monkey Temple. The temple is set on a cliff, overlooking Jaipur. The walk up is not bad, you just have to be careful of the aggressive monkeys, who will find any food on you, even in your bag. And while you are walking defensively through the monkeys, you have to watch out for cows meandering down the path...those cows don't move for anybody. But, if you make it to the top, the view is breathtaking, a dusky sunset littered with kites being flown by children atop their rooftops of colorful houses.

It is in these moments that I hope to remember and take with me from India, remembering the beauty that is unlike any other in the world. The moments where all the aches and pains and annoyances of traveling disappear in being in a place so different, so foreign that it makes you reflect on how big the world is and how lucky we are to get the chance to experience this corner called India.

Photos of India....

India

We want Gorkhaland!

We arrived to Darjeeling after parting ways with Brendan and John. It was super sad to say goodbye and completely unsatisfactory not making it to the end of the race! But the time had come for us to move on and move up (3000 meters up!) to the mountainous town of Darjeeling. The drive up was steep, we climbed up from 150 mt to 3000 mts in a mere 80 kilometers! We arrived at the jeep drop off and climbed up to the top of town to our hotel, Tower View. It was cheap and cheerful, in other wards, a freezing, cement room with friendly owners and a hot shower. It could be worse, right? Yes, as the sun went down, so did the temperature. We managed to find a warm pub for the evening, but as we headed back to our room, we realized we did not have nearly enough warm clothes to stay long in Darjeeling...especially when we realized our room was no warmer than outside! We bundled under blankets and into our sleeping bags, but still neither of us slept much that night.

We got up early and headed out down the hill into town feeling slightly groggy, grumpy and still cold. However, when we turned the corner, the street opened up and we were stopped in our tracks by the view. The mountains, the Himalayans, are grandeur, nothing like them, stunning. While not Everest, you can get a clear view of the third highest mountain in the world, Kanchenjunga. It definitely made the cold, sleepless night worth it.
We spent the next few days in Darjeeling enjoying not only the mountains but also the unique culture of Darjeeling.
A few highlights were-

• -Tibetan Refuge Center. The refuge center was established by Tibetans who fled to India in 1959. The center continues to support the Tibetan population with weaving factories that are open to the public. It was super interesting to learn about the history and current events regarding Tibet and see how they have maintained their culture, language, and religion while living in India and Nepal. While we were at the center, we also found their nursery where we ended up staying for a while just playing with the little ones! They were so cute, so bundled up in their jumpers and blankets they could hardly move!

• -Tiger Hill, a viewpoint where everyone goes to watch the sunrise over the mountains. We didnt get to see Everest, but it was still the Himalayas in all their splendor, if you could see them over all the Indian tourists! It was super crowded! We participated in lots of 'group pictures' with local tourists, some must have had at least 50 pictures with us and our group in them.

• -Happy Valley Tea Estate. Darjeeling is known for their tea plantations and this is one of the largest in the area. Although it was off season for picking and the plantation was closed for the day, we ran into a man that had worked there his whole life and gave us a private tour. He took us through the process of picking, processing, and brewing the tea leaves. We then sat in his living room with him and his father sampling the tea. It was cool to sit in his home and get to chat with him a bit about his life.

• -Observatory Hill. A place where you can enjoy the view and experience the temple of Mahakala, some manifestation of Shiva. This temple is sacred to both Hindus and Buddhists. The place is supposedly protected by the multitude of prayer flags and the army of monkeys that make their home there. The multicolored prayer flags make it incredibly beautiful and surreal, especially with the mountains hanging in the ski behind them. The monkeys, not so beautiful, and keep you on your toes as they are known to be aggressive!

• -The Lloyd Botanical Gardens

• -Cinnamon Coffee, Momos, Tibetan bread and soup, Joeys pub

We got to enjoy so many things in Darjeeling, as we ended up being there for 6 nights! That is 4 nights longer than we intended to stay. But, we learned that traveling in India is more difficult than anywhere else! The trains have been booked, up to a week ahead, so we have had to do some planning in advance. When we figured that out, we ended up buying a ticket to a city close to Varanasi, our next destination, but later found out that city was the capital of the most dangerous district in India. It made me super nervous that we would have to get off there and find a local train to Varanasi. But, in some way we were protected and never made it on that train because Ghorkaland called a strike in Darjeeling. That meant that everything that had anything to do with tourists shut down. The first night of the strike, we managed to find a very small restaurant that was feeding tourists and it turned out to be super fun! Everyone said the strike would still be on the next day, but that we could go to the police and they would get us to the train station (which was back in Siliguri).

The next morning, we got up early, rang our travel agent, went to the police station, the traffic police, all of who said it was possible to get out but they couldn't help us. We ran around town for 3 hours trying desperately not to miss our train, but in the end we were told you had to have permission from the political party who called the strike to be escorted out. We do know people who made it out that day, but it took them all day and they were stopped the whole way down to Siliguri by road blocks put up by the strike.

The Ghorkaland area is part of the large district of West Bengal, even though Ghorkaland is distinctly different in culture, language, dress and beliefs. Most of the inhabitants are originally Nepali or Tibetan. Since 1968, the Gorkha National Liberation Front's has maintained a semi autonomous government within West Bengal, but tension persists between the two governing parties and even today, well, last week, they are well known to call badhs (strikes).
It was very impressive to see how united the people became during the strike. And although inconvenient, the people remained friendly and helpful, making sure we didnt starve! The owner of our hotel served us homemade soup the second day because there were no restaurants open anywhere. It was cool to be a part of their history and their fight for freedom. Just another example of TII, this is india.