GETTING THERE

To get there I had to take a train overnight to Chennai, stay there the entire day doing nothing and then an overnight bus to Hyderabad. Chennai was not my cup of tea, I remember having a great time there a few years ago when I came via Chennai to an AIESEC Indian National Conference in Mangalore. At that point I was taken around graciously to some lovely places. This time I was unlucky not to concide with any of my contacts in the city due to the short notice of my travel.

While waiting for my bus in a closeby train station (I was supposed to just catch my overnight bus from a landmark in a particular street rather that a bus station) all I wanted was a quiet place to sit and read. To my amusement I was kicked out twice from my chosen spots, once by a police woman that claimed the seat I was on was hers even though it had been empty for an hour and there was more than one seat in that section... I had to humbly leave (well I did protest a bit asking why she needed more than one seat). I was then kicked out of Ratna Cafe, a little simple coffee place and light snack place in Chennai Central Station. The staff would not allow me to quietely sit if I was not constantly munchin or drinking something even though the place was completely empty. They said they had to clean and could not do it with me onm a chair... I paid my chai and left to yet another chair inside the station until the time for my bus came about.

IN HYDERABAD

The bus ride was comfortable in a relatively modern sleeper bus. I met Venky at around 7am in a busy junction in Hyderabad where I was dropped, surrounded again by a maffia of rickshaw drivers that were waiting eagerly to see if my friend would fail to show up. Venky was there in an instant. However, to my astonishment he came in a scooter!!! As I am still recovering from my Goa scooter related foot wounds (see Goa section) and as I have a massive backpack and a rocksack, I was asking myself what I should do. For a moment I had forgotten that even after all this years Venky is a fully fleshed Indian and it should not have been a surprise when he suggested just to load all into the scooter (to be honest I have seen many Indians carrying up to 5 people in a motorcycle as well as unimaginable loads). I put the smaller bag on my back and the big one resting on the seat between Venky and I... off we went.

Venky and his Dad in front of a set of Hindu images at home

Hyderabad turns into a vibrant city by the lake at night

Venky in one of his long conversations with his girlfiend based in Netherlands

Last time I had properly catch up with Venky must have been about 8 years ago! I was glad to see that, even after going through some difficult times in the last few years, Venky will be very possibly be getting married later on this year. He also has a succesful business with the potential for phenomenal growth and working, as many other IT businesses in Hyderabad, with foreign and local clients. We had some good chats about each others future and offered some (I think useful) advice to each other.

Old Hyderabad

View of one of the palaces we visited

During the week I went with Venky to his business office (AZRI) and mostly spend time with a few personal projects and trying to fix my laptop. I have to say that I am still not really sure what Venky’s business is all about (sorry Venky, I know you tried) but it has to do with social marketing using web tools and programming (is better to check the website to be honest http://azrisolutions.com/). Our day was starting late morning with a great bowl of poridge and a cup of tea prepared by Venky’s dad (who is a renowed authority in India for rail station design experience) and finishing most times shortly after midnight with a dog cuddling session (see pic below).

Venky with his dogs he picked up from the street and saved

I felt a bit of a load as Venky was trying to help me as well as trying to run a business and organise passport and visa for a trip to Netherlands to see his girlfriend, without mentioning a miriad of other things. I was depending also on his help to fix my netbook. After an agonysing week bouncing from one place to another in the Dell network, a hardrive replacement and lots of support from Venky and his contacts, I was finally able to get my little netbook fully functioning again. Success!

As you would have expected the mode of transport during the week was Venky’s scooter!!! I am not going to lie and say it was the highlight of the week. Do not get me wrong, Venky is an experienced driver more than capable of dealing with the complexities of Indian driving. However, the Indian traffic chaos, mixed with Venky’s moments of intrepidity and overconfidence on the road made some moments a bit scary... e.g. ducking a truck mirror, saving ourselves from being squashed between an autorickshaw and a bus or filling to close to other bikers (i.e. my knees touching theirs). All of this was not helped by the fact that during the first few nights something a little bit important was missing from Venky’s scooter... the lights! Well, the bottomline is that I survived and learning some of the basics of Indian driving from the master also helped. For example, 1) there is just no right of way in India, is all about who gets there first (sometimes within small milimetrical distances) or who is less of a “chiken” to stop first, 2) the traffic lanes mean absolutely nothing, 3) you can drive in any direction in any side of the road, it does not matter, 4) people can hop on and off buses at any time (even when the bus is in movement or the doors are opening to the moving traffic, 5) no speed limit applies, just go as fast as you can (usually limited by congestion) and finally 5) wearing a helmet is not a must for motorcycle riders and driving with lights off at night is completely tolerated.

with Venky on his Scooter!

Gladly after some lobbying and the support from Mohan, now Venky’s bike has lights.

No seriously mate, thanks for the great times! (now off to Kerala again)

]]> Fri, 29 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMT http://www.blogabond.com/TripView.aspx?tripID=8222 http://www.blogabond.com/CommentView.aspx?commentID=110479 0 17.3752778 78.4744444 We just spent a few days in Mumbai and decided to relax from our very spiritual journey with some very mundane threats, including some great restaurants and of course watch some movies! The Three Idiots, a Bollywood blockbuster was the chosen one. Lasting three hours and even it was 95% in Hindi this movie was a pleassure to watch.

After watching the bollywood blockbuster "3 Idiots" (plus one more)

relaxing in Palolem (Goa)

Next stop was Kannur in Kerala. We actually stayed in a lovely home stay (Ezhara Beach House) in a secluded beach which included some delicious home cooked indian meals (lots of seafood!) and great hospitality from Hyacint. Check out www.ezharabeachhouse.com. If you just want a place to relax, have privacy to do Yoga right on the beach and not touristy at all in a beautiful part of Kerala then try this place! See pictures below which best describe the place.

After a beach Yoga session in front of Ezhara Beach House

Patricia gets bombarded by a band of kids in front of Ezhara Beach House

Coconut tree man!

Beautiful girls who were helping out her mother at Ezhara beach house

Textile factory we visited

Lazy days relaxing on the beach

On the way to our final destination we stopped for a day in Kochi and were received by George (we actually met George in Varanasi and he told us about the Ezhara Beach House (run by his wife Hyacint) and the beach cabin he has in Cherai Beach in Vypeen island. While waiting for the train connection in Kochi we visited the cabin and decided that it was a great place for Jose to stay for a few weeks while Patricia was doing her one month Yoga teachers training course in Madurai.

Enjoying the beach during a quick stop in Cherai Beach (Kochi)

With George (owner of the beach cabin in Cherai beach where Jose will stay while Patricia is in Madurai doing Yoga)

Back againh on the road

]]> Sat, 09 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMT http://www.blogabond.com/TripView.aspx?tripID=8222 http://www.blogabond.com/CommentView.aspx?commentID=110478 0 9.9333333 78.1166667

There were many Tibetan flags hanging in Bodhgaya, these are not allowed in Tibet or China, there are also many Tibetan refugees living here

We wanted to visit this place to see the three; however, it became of a special interest to go there when we found out that the Dalai Lama was going to be in town giving some teachings on the Path to Enlightenment.

We were lucky to be able to get train tickets to Gaya from where we could catch an auto rickshaw to go to Bodhgaya. As we arrived at 2.00 am to Gaya we decided to stay that night there. Next day, we went to Bodhgaya to try luck with the hotels. Everybody told us that it was going to be crazy as there would be no rooms any more and if there were, the prices would be astronomical. The first hotel we visited was fully booked. The second one had a room, claiming that it was the last one they had. The price was high but not as we had been suggested. So we decided to take it.

As soon as we had our accommodation sorted out, we went to register. We were well prepared with passports and photos. Then, it was the issue of where to sit and how to reserve a place. After a lengthy process we found out that we needed to mark the space where we wanted to sit (everyone would sit in the floor under a huge marquee). So, we bought soft mats (like everyone else), wrote our names and hoped that they will stay there until the right time (the teachings would start in two days). The following day we went to check if everything was fine with our spaces. There was a young Tibetan student (refugee in India) who explained to us that there had been a mistake and that area where we had our spaces had been originally reserved for more than 600 university students. After a lot of debate we agreed that we would keep our sits there and if they didn’t have enough space we would try to look for something else the following day.

Massive tent were Dalai Lama (meaning Ocean Lama) gave his 5 day teachings, the tent was big enough for about 5,000 people!

The next day the teachings were starting at 9.00 am. We decided to arrive early, at 6.00. We were quite surprised to find out that the queue for foreigners was minimal and soon enough we were at the gates for the security check. Jose Pablo was not allowed to enter because he had a camera and had to go back to the hotel (only 10 minutes away). When Patricia’s turn came up (because the queues for man and women are separate), she was not allow to enter because she had a mobile phone. When we came back, the queue for men was not that bad; however, the one for women had became extremely long and Patricia only managed to get in just before 9.00. The Dalai Lama arrived on time and went straight into the teachings. Soon after that, monks were running around giving away bread, sweet rice and butter tea.

Many monks from SE Asia, Tibet, Buthan, Mongolia and other places came to the teachings

The small town was really crowded (thousands of people came for the teachings); lots of Tibetans, Chinese and Westerners. Even Richard Gere was there! However, it was the number of monks in maroon and yellow robes that dominated the scene. Together with all the devotees, an ocean of Indian poor people and others with severed deformities entered the town every morning with their silver plates ready for the generosity of the visitors.

Temple built i the spot of Budda's enlightment

This is the bodi tree under which Siddhartha Gautama (Budda) achieved enlightment

Budda statue inside the temple

Bodhgaya was also extremely cold and the only warm places were the temporal tent restaurants where we ended up listening many of the teachings with our radio.
]]> Mon, 04 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMT http://www.blogabond.com/TripView.aspx?tripID=8222 http://www.blogabond.com/CommentView.aspx?commentID=110476 0 24.7833333 85 Varanasi is known as the City of Life and is one of the holiest places in India. It is also one of the oldest continuously inhabitated cities in the world, known formerly as Benares.

We arrived in Varanasi at 5.00 am and once again, were very lucky to find a kind rickshaw man that took us around town searching for a hotel. Our basic requirements are: a double bedroom, clean, with a bathroom and hot water, sufficient space to accommodate the two Yoga mats on the floor and obviously, a good price. After a few failed options and the rickshaw man knocking the doors trying to wake up the staff, he finally took us to a nice place close to the south gaths (steps leading to the river).

Bathers searching for enlightment at the banks of India's holiest river

Family of Hindu devotees taking water from the Ganges

Varanasi was extremely cold and fogy. You can especially feel it as the rooms have no heating. On our second day we took a rowing boat early in the morning. Even though we were fully wrapped, Patricia’s lips became all purple and we were shivering like chickens. However, the boat ride, which we shared with 3 Spanish girls and the humble boat man, was very mystical and deeply interesting. Even though it was so early and so cold, Indians were taking baths and completing ceremonies on the sacred Ganga River. Hindu pilgrims come here to wash away a lifetime of sins.

View of the Varanasi Ghats in the early hours of the morning

The main reason to visit Varanasi was to see the burning ghats, where the dead are brought to be cremated and their remainders are thrown into the river. The very poor people are burned in a big oven like building, the rich people at open air with expensive sandalwood and a whole range in between. These activities happen every day the entire day. Many old Indians move to Varanasi for their final years to make sure they are sent to the river. It is a particularly auspicious place to die since expiring here offers moksha (liberation from the cycle of birth and death).

Cremation Ghat: Hindus believe that if their body is cremated and then submerged into the river it will be blessed

We love this pic of our boatmand Shiva (the name of one of Hinduism main Gods) which resembles the lovely smiles we found in many indians

Fire ceremony (Ganga Arti) performed every evening on the banks of the river

Offerings to sacred Ganga (Ganges) that consist of a little bowl made of leaves, filled with flowers and candles in the middle

The old centre of Varanasi, around the ghats, is all very mystical. The narrow labyrinth oh alleys are just for pedestrians and at night there are almost no lights, so it can be a bit intimidating.

We enjoyed good food in Varanasi. In particular, the I:ba and the Dolphin restaurants.

We spent New Year here and decided to join the party at our small hotel. The owners prepared a nice simple Indian dinner and brought some musicians for our entertaining. One of them beautifully played the flute and another one played the sitar, a classical instrument from northern India which has 20 strings. Both were accompanied by the tabla, Indian drums. We also had a traditional kathak dance that is a sort of story telling. We had a good time and enjoyed with our Spanish and Chilean new friends watching the overly happy owners of the hotel dance the night away to the Indian tunes.

Dancer and musicians during New Years celebration

Taj view from hotel roof top

Postal picture

In front of Taj majal

Our first glimpse of the Taj Majal was from the roof top restaurant at our small hotel. It was a great impression, especially as we were not expecting to see it so closely from there.

No comments

Locals take pics with Patricia thinking she is a Bollywood actress

It was a love story that transformed into a sad story. The Mughal King Shah Jahan had had two wives and they hadn’t giving him kids. So he married a third one. She gave him 13 kids, so he was a very happy man. However, when she was giving birth to the 14th child, she passed away. The King was extremely sad and became very old over night. He decided to build the most beautiful mausoleum for her, the Taj Majal.

How romantic!!!!

The wall carvings of the Taj are of an amazing detail and walls are engraved with precious stones

It is said (although not official) that after its completion, the King wanted to build another identical mausoleum for himself, only in black. It was to be located across the Yamuna River and a white and black bridge would connect the two. Apparently, one of the sons of the King thought that the idea was crazy as the cost of building another Taj Majal would have been unbearable for the people, especially as the black onyx would need to be brought from Italy. Therefore, the son imprisoned his father and became the King. The old King was kept in the Agra Fort from where he could glimpse the magnificent Taj Majal. When he died, his son buried him next to the Queen inside the Taj Majal.

We also visited the Agra Fort, with palaces, temples and different halls and confirmed that it is possible to see the Taj Majal from there.

Agra Fort and two monkeys

Agra is a small town and in general uninspiring. We also got caught in the last night of a 10 day Muslim festival which had the centre of the town summoned in the loudest religious singing we have ever heard, accompanied by drums for more than 24 hours including an entire night.

Jose felt sorry for older ricksaw driver and decided to take over

Therefore, we were happy to move to the next city.
]]> Sat, 26 Dec 2009 00:00:00 GMT http://www.blogabond.com/TripView.aspx?tripID=8222 http://www.blogabond.com/CommentView.aspx?commentID=110473 0 23.9333333 77.55
View of lake Pichola from our little hotel Se dice que Udaipur es el pueblo más romántico en India. ¡Quizás tienen razón!

Cuando llegamos, tuvimos la suerte de que nuestro conductor de rickshaw nos llevó al otro lado del puente. Esto hizo una diferencia inmensa ya que ese es el lado calmado y pacífico de Udaipur.

Un pequeño restaurante casi oculto junto a nuestro hotel nos dio la atmósfera relajante y pacífica que buscábamos. Frente del lago Pichola, disfrutamos de las vistas del Palacio y las costas activas del lago. Cada día, las mujeres van a los ghats (pasos que aterrizan en el lago) para lavar ropa en la manera tradicional. Sin embargo, las vistas más cautivantes fueron de los elefantes que andan alrededor de las calles.

Nos gustó mucho la visita al Palacio, aparentemente el segundo más hermoso en India. Tiene decoraciones suntuosas. De allí, tomamos un bote a la Isla de Jagmandir. Lo que era antes un palacio que ocupa toda la isla, es actualmente un restaurante muy caro y un hermoso spa, todo rodeado de hermosos jardines.

Lake Palace

El templo de Ranakpur es probablemente el más hermoso que hemos visto. Ninguna de sus 1444 pilares de mármol blanco tiene el mismo diseño. Después de eso, fuimos al Fuerte de Kumbalgarth con sus paredes que van más allá de 36 km y tiene más de 300 templos. En la noche había un festival de baile y logramos ver unos pocos bailes tradicionales antes de nuestro retorno al hotel por 2 horas.

La noche antes de Navidad estuvimos en otro restaurante muy bonito a la orilla del Lago, disfrutando una vez más los curries de India y de nuestro postre predilecto Gulab Jamum.

Sitting in the Jagmandir Island (very posh place)

Udaipur is said to be the most romantic town in India. It might be right!
When we first arrived, we were lucky enough to be taken by our rickshaw driver to the other side of the bridge. This made a huge difference as that was the quiet and peaceful side of town.

Kumbalgarth Fort by night

An almost hidden small restaurant right next to our hotel gave us the relaxing and peaceful atmosphere we were looking for. Right in front of the lake Pichola, we enjoyed the views of the Palace and the active shores of the lake. Every day, women went to the ghats (steps landing on the lake) to wash cloth in the traditional way. However, elephants walking around the streets were the most captivating views.

Patricia in the middle of the amazingly detailed Ranakpur temple

We took a day trip to the Ranakpur temple of Jainism. This is a religion separated from Hinduism. They strictly believe in non-violence to any living creature. Some of the strongest believers would sweep the floor before them when walking in order to avoid killing any small insects and would wear a handkerchief over the mouth to avoid swallowing a mosquito. Mahatma Gandhi was a Jain follower.

Impressive dance show

The temple is probably the most beautiful we have ever seen. None of its 1444 white marble pillars has the same design. After that, we went to the Kumbalgarth Fort with its walls stretching over 36 km and more than 300 temples. There was a dancing festival that night and we managed to see a few traditional dances before our 2 hour journey back to our hotel.

We spent Christmas evening at another nice lakeshore restaurant, enjoying once more the Indian curries and our favourite dessert Gulab Jamum.

Christmas dinner by lake Pichola

]]> Sun, 20 Dec 2009 00:00:00 GMT http://www.blogabond.com/TripView.aspx?tripID=8222 http://www.blogabond.com/CommentView.aspx?commentID=110426 0 24.5833333 73.6833333 Hubo mucha seguridad y chequeo en la frontera tibetana. No es permitido tener nada relacionado al decimocuarto Dalai Lama o estará en graves problemas. El ejército chino verifica todo. Tuvimos mucha suerte y decidieron ‘disque’ chequearnos revisando por encima sólo una de nuestras maletas y nada mas.

Después de decirle adiós a nuestro guía tibetano, nos dimos cuenta de inmediato lo diferente que es Nepal. Casi no hubo control de ningún tipo, todo fue muy relajado y entramos fácilmente a Nepal. Pronto encontramos a alguien que podría llevarnos a Katmandú (cerca de 4 horas por carro desde de la frontera) en un jeep 4wd compartido. El trato era esperar a otros 2-3 turistas y entonces el costo iba a ser casi 2,000 Rupees de Nepal (acerca de 20 libras esterlinas) para los dos. Después de 30 minutos de esperar nos dimos cuenta de que nuestro conductor parecía estar esperando a que alguien pasara y pidiera ser llevado a Katmandú… tratamos de influenciar el que fuera mas proactivo pero después de un rato nosotros fuimos los proactivos y fuimos pescados rápidamente por otro conductor que dijo tener a otras dos personas listas para salir. Tomamos todo nuestro equipaje y nos pasamos a l otro vehículo, sin embargo, las otras 2 personas ya se habían ido a un tercer vehículo. El juego continuó por aproximadamente una hora más hasta que encontramos a un pasajero nepalí y Jose ofreció un poco más dinero al conductor para que nos fuéramos. Después de que nuestra amenaza de irnos con el primer carro disponible, el conductor estuvo de acuerdo en irse con solo tres pasajeros. Encontramos a un muchacho chino en el camino y como un grupo feliz continuamos a Katmandú. El carro estaba equipado con buen estéreo y un sistema de video y rápidamente estábamos escuchando muchas melodías de India y pop de Nepal. El turista nepalí actuó como el DG mientras nosotros bromeamos desde atrás (a diferencia, aquí todos hablaban inglés! !!)… mientras nuestro conductor parecía estar de prisa en llegar (consiguió asustarnos un poco en los locos caminos nepalíes). Otro cambio grande fue la calidad de los caminos. Después de una entrada suave de Tíbet, Nepal fue absolutamente rudo con calles muy angostas y casi inexistentes. El tiempo también cambió y llovió mucho.

Kathmandu

Nuestro hotel, International Guest House (que recomendamos mucho), esta ubicado cercano a Thamel, una parte turística de la ciudad. Sólo unas pocas calles tienen nombres y las direcciones parecen estar más relacionadas a una sección de la ciudad que a las calles y a los números (y nosotros pensamos que no había un peor lugar que Costa Rica para la inexactitud de direcciones postales!). ¡Las primeras impresiones de Katmandú fueron duras ya que el desarrollo en zonas urbanas parece haber tenido poca plantación y los caminos están sobre-congestionados con millones de bicicletas, cochecillos, carros, autobuses (con personas que se sientan en los techos o cuelgan fuera la puerta) y los camiones están decorados con banderas de oración por todas partes en los parabrisas delanteros!!! De algún modo las cosas se mueven (a veces justo milímetros entre uno y otro) pero se mueven. Las aceras o los cruces peatonales son usualmente inexistentes y los peatones parecen mezclarse con los carros en las calles. Después de que unos pocos días (y momentos de susto) logramos entenderlo y nos dimos cuenta que aunque se necesita tener cuidado, es importante caminar con confianza y hacer lo que las personas nepalíes hacen: tomar un poco de espacio y dar un poco de espacio a otros.

En Thamel encontramos que la gente es realmente amistosa aunque como turistas uno es bombardeado con personas que tratan de venderle todo tipo de cosas: una escalada, bálsamo de tigre y un cuchillo de recuerdo o un DVD. ¡Desde los tiempos de hippie, la gente en Nepal ha aprendido a asociar extranjeros con el fumado de marihuana y a diario en Thamel nos ofrecían por lo menos 20 veces (de noche o de día) comprar "la hierba "!!!

Mientras estuvimos en Katmandú, nuestras prioridades fueron claras: relajarnos antes de la escalada y obtener la visa para India. Para la visa tuvimos que llegar a la embajada realmente temprano y seguir un interesante proceso de 3 secciones, la primera (enviar un télex a Inglaterra) fue completado antes que fuéramos a la escalada y orgullosamente conseguimos ser los primeros en la final llegando 3 horas antes de que la oficina abriera. Además de esto, no hicimos mucho más que dormir, comer y ver películas barata en DVD.

El tour y la escalada

Nuestro viaje con Intrepid (la empresa del tour) fue del 10 al 25 de Octubre. Incluyó la visita al Templo de Swayambhunath y a la Bodhnath Stupa en Katmandú, a Bhaktapur 'el pueblo de devotos'. Luego viajamos por bus a Pokara antes de comenzar la escalada por 10 días desde Pokara (827 mtrs) al Campo Base de Annapurna (4200 mtrs) y de vuelta a Pokara. Los días antes de la escalada pasaron tranquilamente y sin nada notorio, después de la sobredosis de templos en China y Tibet, pero sirvieron para prepararnos mentalmente y por supuesto para conocer a nuestros compañeros de viaje.

Fuimos siete personas: 2 australianas (Liana y Liz), 1 Kiwi (Cielle), 1 norteamericana (Abbie) y 1 alemán (Ralf) que resultó ser un grupo agradable y alegre. ¡Todos viajaban solos y eso nos hizo la única pareja! Durante el viaje tuvimos una líder/guía del grupo (Shyam) que manejó el equipo y permaneció con la persona mas lenta en la parte de atrás, 2 guías ayudantes: Surya (que iba caminando al frente) y el Raj (que corria adelante del grupo cada día para reservar alojamiento, ya que puede ser complicado conseguir en este tiempo del año). Nuestro porter (Raju) llevó una de nuestras mochilas con sacos de dormir y otras cosas, cargando cerca de 18 kg, mientras nosotros llevamos paquetes más pequeños de día con las chaquetas de lluvia, las cámaras, el agua y un poco de comida así como los palos de caminar. Caminamos en promedio acerca de 4 - 5 horas al día incluyendo paradas para descansar y almuerzo. Otros pocos días caminamos unas 7 horas.

La escalada fue algo que habíamos estado esperando desde que comenzamos nuestro viaje. Nunca habíamos hecho algo como esto en altitud ni por un tiempo tan largo y la única practica fue Emei Shan (sección de China). Viendo hacia atrá, la escalada fue estuvo muy bien…pudimos permanecer en su mayor parte al frente del grupo (quizá nos habíamos desafiado para probar que estábamos los suficientemente en forma), tuvimos un clima asombroso, ningún tobillo torcido, ningún problema de estomago, ningún mal de altura y solo unas pocas ampollas. La dormida en las Casas de Huéspedes estuvo bien y nos permitió comer bien, mantenernos limpios y lavar a mano. Jose mejoro su capacidad de utilizar los baños de cuclillas después de entrenar bastante en Mongolia y China. Hubo sólo una excepción… el Campo Base de Machhapuchhre estaba infestado de ratones y estuvo súper frío (Jose registró temperaturas abajo de 0 ° C las cuales destruyeron a nuestros diminutas bolsas de dormir que tienen un limite de 6 ° C (tuvimos que dormir con toda nuestra ropa puesta). Los ratones trataron de comer nuestras barras de poder (que tratamos de almacenar sin peligro al fondo de nuestra maleta) y corrían de una habitación a otra a través de las paredes de madera ultra delgadas que separaran los cuartos. Logramos despertar a algunos de nuestros compañeros de viaje con los gritos de Patricia mientras Jose utilizaba un palo de caminar para espantar a las bolas de piel gris ultra rápidas.

La escalada fue dura a veces, especialmente los días cuando caminamos más de 7 horas o cuando los senderos fueron muy empinados arriba o hacia abajo. Enfocarse demasiado en donde usted pone los pies y los palos es inevitables pero nos ayudamos uno al otro a fijarnos en las escenas más asombrosas de la vida cotidiana y paisajes natural que jamás hemos visto. ¡Pasamos aldeas pequeñas que crecen arroz y bambú, cruzaron muchos puentes colgantes (algunos de ellos viejos y espantosos) fuimos detenidos por el tránsito de cabras/asnos/ovejas y tuvimos que azotar a unos pocos búfalos para que se movieran de nuestro camino, vimos monos salvajes que llevan a sus pequeños guindando y a otros escaladores saludando en varios idiomas o con el "Namaste" usual y una sonrisa! ¡Paramos muchos veces para sacar fotografías de las montañas, los aldeanos y los animales, algunos de ellos asombrandos! De noche, matamos el rato con naipes (aprendimos unos pocos nuevos juegos y terminamos ganando a los locales – solo unas pocas veces) o charlando y tratando los platillos locales y el "menú de artículos extraños" (ver foto). Daal Bhaat (un plato nepalí con arroz, lentejas, papas, papadam y espinacas), sopa de papa, pastas, momos (dumplings) y arroz y tallarines fritos fueron algunos de nuestros platos favoritos para mantenernos fuertes durante la escalada. ¡Para hacerlo aun mejor, nuestros guías y los porters se nos juntaban algunos momentos para cantar y bailar melodías nepalíes que a final de cuentas todos terminamos uniéndonos!

Después de que 7 días llegamos finalmente el Campo Base de Annapurna (lo cual fue como un logro asombroso para nosotros) y nos quedamos allí un día. Pasamos el tiempo admirando las cordilleras increíbles cubiertas con nieve que nos rodeaban. ¡También utilizamos nuestros binoculares para seguir a unos pocos escaladores que parecían hormigas pequeñas a la distancia mientras trataban de alcanzar la cima de más de 7 o 8 mil metros!!! (No es realmente algo que tenemos en nuestra lista de cosas para hacer antes de morirnos).

El camino de vuelta, aunque tomo 3 días y estuvo pesado para las rodillas, se sintió dulce y pacífico. La ruta estuvo en algunas partes difícil y en su mayor parte relajado menos el "incidente de las AVISPAS". La historia fue así… algunos turistas rusos que iban quizá cerca de 5 min adelante de nuestro grupo tomaron unas fotos con flash de un nido de avispas. Estas se enfurecieron (no les gusta ser fotografiadas) y picaron de forma fea a la turistas. Podíamos oír unos gritos a lo lejos que no sabíamos si eran de dolor o alegría. De repente vimos a algunos turistas que corrian y trataban de quitarse las avistas de encima. Estos no eran los turistas rusos pero unos pocos holandeses que iban después de ellos. Unos pocos guías nepalíes también venían y parecieron picados y heridos. Nuestros guías fueron rápidos en responder y enviarnos corriendo hacia arriba a una Casa de Huéspedes que no estaba demasiado lejos (por suerte). Nuestro escape fue detenido por un rebaño de cabras que venían cuesta abajo (ver foto) y un río que cruzar Pero por último pudimos conseguir refugiarnos ilesos. No sabemos lo que sucedió a los turistas rusos ya que el sendero fue cerrado para un par de horas.

Últimos días en Katmandú

Después de que unas cuantas comidas celebratorias (y comer nuestro Daal Bhaat final con el grupo con la mano como los nepalíes lo hacen) y una camiseta bien merecida de Annapurna (regalo de nuestro guía), dejamos Pokara y viajamos por 7 en bus de vuelta a Katmandú y a Thamel. Estamos agradecidos que nuestra visa India nos la dieron por 6 meses; otros no fueron tan afortunados ya que el gobierno Indio esta cambiando las reglas de visas que se dan en Nepal.

Tuvimos la oportunidad de visitar la famosa Plaza Durbar y para ver a la Kumari (la diosa de 5 años de edad que es la reencarnación de la esposa de Siva) por una pequeña ventana. También tuvimos tiempo de deshacernos de la mayor parte de nuestro equipaje de invierno y otras cosas que no necesitaremos en India.

Vuelo a Nueva Delhi - India

La partida de Nepal fue un poco triste ya que estuvimos bastante tiempo allí y sentimos una combinación agradable de las montañas majestuosas y de la vida caótica de la ciudad. Comimos un último Daal Bhaat para celebrar nuestro tiempo allí la noche antes de irnos. Decidimos tomar atajos y volar de Katmandú a Delhi… estamos emocionados de empezar nuestro viaje por India que tomará unos cuantos meses. Nos dimos cuenta de que tomar un vuelo fue la mejor opción ya que las vistas de los Himalaya fueron espectaculares.

Namaste!

There was a lot of security and checking at the Tibetan border. You are not allowed to have anything related to the 14th Dalai Lama or you will be in serious problems. The Chinese military checks everything. We were very lucky and they decided just to kind of check the top of one of our bags and that was it.

After saying goodbye to our Tibetan guide we immediately realised how different Nepal was. The border control was too loose and relaxed, we entered Nepal easily. Soon we found someone to take us to Kathmandu (about 4 hours drive from the border) in a shared 4wd jeep. The deal was to wait for 2-3 other tourists and then the ride was going to be just about 2000 Nepali Rupees (about 20 GBP) for the two of us. After 30 min of waiting we realised that our driver seemed just to be waiting for someone to walk past and ask to be taken to Kathmandu… we tried to encourage some proactivity on him but after a while longer we were the ones becoming proactive and quickly were fished by another driver who claimed to be just missing two people to leave. We took all our stuff and moved to the other vehicle to find that 2 of the people that were there earlier had moved to a third vehicle and left. The gaming continued for about an hour longer until we found a Nepali passenger and Jose offered a bit more cash to the driver to get going. After our threat to leave with the first other car available, the driver agreed to get going with three passengers. We picked a Chinese guy on the way and as a happy bunch we continued to Kathmandu. The car was equipped with good stereo and a video system and quickly came lots of Indian and Nepali pop tunes. The Nepali guy acted as the DG as we cracked jokes from the back (everybody spoke English for a change!!!)… while our driver seemed to be on a rush to get there (which got us a bit scared in the crazy Nepali roads). Another big change was a quality of the roads. After a soft entrance from Tibet, Nepal was absolutely rough with very narrow and almost non-existent streets. The weather also changed and it rained a lot.

Kathmandu

Our hotel, the International Guest House (which we heavily recommend), was located close to Thamel, a touristic part of the city. Only a few streets have names and the addresses seem to be more related to a section of the city rather than streets and numbers (and we did not think there was a worst place than Costa Rica for the inaccuracy of postal addresses!). The first impressions of Kathmandu were crude, in particular urban development seemed to have had little planning and roads are over-congested with millions of bikes, rickshaws, cars, buses (with people sitting on roofs or hanging out the door) and trucks decorated with prayer flags all over the front windscreen!!! Somehow things move (sometimes just millimetres away from each other) but they move. Sidewalks or pedestrian crossings are many times inexistent and pedestrians seem just to mingle with the cars on the streets. After a few days (and scary moments) we got the hang of it and realised that, while you need to be careful, is important to move around with confidence and do what Nepali people do: take a bit of space and give a bit of space to others.

In Thamel we found people were really friendly although as a tourist you get bombarded with people trying to sell you all types of stuff, a trek, some tiger balm and a knife souvenir or DVDs. Since the hippie times, Nepali have learnt to associate foreigners with marihuana smoking and everyday in Thamel we would get at least 20 invitations (night or day) to buy “hash”!!!

While in Kathmandu, our priorities were clear: relax before our trek and get the Indian Visa. For the visa we had to arrive to the embassy really early and follow an interesting 3 leg process, the first of which (sending a telex to UK) was completed before we went trekking and proudly we got first to the queue 3 hours before it opened . In addition, we did not do much more than sleep, eat and watch cheap movie DVDs.

Tour and trek

Our Intrepid tour was from Oct 10th to 25th. It included the visit to Swayambhunath Temple and Bodhnath Stupa in Kathmandu, to Bhaktapur the 'town of devotees' and then a full day drive to Pokara before starting a solid 10 day trek from Pokara (827 m) to Annapurna Base Camp (4200 m) and back. The days before the trek went pretty unnoticeable after the site/ temple overdose in China and Tibet, but served to prepare ourselves mentally for the trek and of course to meet our fellow tour partners.

We were seven people: 2 Australians (Liana and Liz), 1 Kiwi (Cielle), 1 American (Abbie) and 1 German (Ralf) which resulted to be a nice and cheerful group. All of them were travelling on their own and that made us the only odd couple! For the trek part we had a group leader/guide (Shyam) who managed the team and stayed with the slowest walker in the back, 2 assistant guides: Surya (who led in the front) and Raj (who run ahead of the group every day to book accommodation which can be tricky to get at this busy time of the year). Our porter (Raju) carried one of our backpacks with sleeping bags, etc, weighting about 18 kg, while we carried smaller day packs with rain gear, cameras, water and a bit of food as well as trekking sticks. We were walking in average about 4 - 5 hours in a day in addition to stops for breaks and lunch. A few other days we walked some 7 hours.

The trek was something that we had been looking forward to since we started our trip. We had never done something like this at some altitude or for such a long time and the only training we had was Emei Shan (China section). Looking back at it, the trek went really well for us…we were able to stay mostly towards the front of the group (maybe we had challenged ourselves to proof that we were fit enough), had an amazing weather, no ankles twisted, no upset tummies, no altitude sickness and just a few minor blisters. Sleeping arrangements in tea houses was good and allowed us to eat well, keep clean and hand wash our cloth. Jose even bottomed down the ability to use squatting toilets after enough training in Mongolia and China. There was only one exception… Machhapuchhre Base Camp which was infested by mice and too bloody cold (Jose registered temperatures below 0 ° C that night which shattered our tiny 6 ° C (limit) sleeping bags (we had to sleep with all our cloth on). The little animals tried to eat our power bars (which we tried to safely store at the bottom of our pack) and they moved from room to room through the tiny wooden walls that separated the rooms. We managed to wake a few of our trekking mates with Patricia’s screaming and while Jose used his walking pole to poke the fast moving balls of grey fur.

The trek was hard at times, especially days when we walked more than 7 hours or when the paths were very steep up or down. Focusing too much on where you were putting your feet and poles was inevitable but we helped each other to spot some of the most amazing daily life scenes and natural scenery we have ever seen in our lives. We passed little villages growing rice and bamboo, crossed many hanging bridges (some of them old and scary) were held by goat/donkey/sheep traffic and had to whip, a few buffalos out our path, we saw wild monkeys carrying their little ones and greeted fellow trekkers in a number of different languages or with the usual “Namaste” and a smile! Stopped many times to take pictures of the mountains, villagers and animals, some of them amazing! At night we killed time by playing cards (we learnt a few new games and finished beating the locals – just a few times) or chatting and trying local delicacies and the “strange items menu” (see the picture). Daal Bhaat (a Nepali Set with rice, lentils, potato, papadam and spinach), potato soup, pastas, momo (dumplings) and fried rice and noodles were some of our favourites to keep strong during the trek. To make all of this even better our guides and porters joined together a few evenings to sing and dance Nepali tunes which we all finished joining!

After 7 days we eventually got to the Annapurna Base Camp (felt like an amazing achievement to us) and stayed there one day and spend lots of time admiring up close the amazing snow covered mountain range that surrounded us. We also used our binoculars to spot a few hard core climbers which looked like little ants from the distance while they tried to reach the more the 7 to 8 thousand metre mountain tops!!! (not really something that we have in our list of things to do before we die).

The way back, although took 3 days and was heavy on the knees, felt sweet and peaceful. The route was in some parts different and mostly relaxed except for the “WASP incident”. The story goes like this… some Russian tourists who were walking maybe about 5 min ahead of our group took a few flash photos of a wasp nest. This infuriated the wasps (which do not like to be pictured) who came back to pinch the tourists badly. We could hear some shouting in the distance which we did not know if was of pain or joy. Suddenly we saw some tourists running, alerting us while trying to get rid of a few wasps. These were not the Russian tourists but a few Dutch that were after them. A few Nepali guides were also coming and looked bitten and hurt. Our guides were quick to respond and send us running uphill to a tea house which (luckily) was not too far away. Our escape was troubled though by a bunch of goats coming downhill and a river crossing (see pics). But finally we were able to get to shelter unharmed. We don’t know what happened to the Russian tourist as the path was closed for a couple of hours.

Last days in Kathmandu

After a few celebratory dinners (and eating our final Daal Bhaat by hand and Nepali people do) and drinks, and a well deserved Annapurna T-Shirt (gift from our guide), we left Pokara on a 7 hour bus journey back to Kathmandu and back to Thamel. We should be grateful that our Indian visa for 6 months was given to us as some other people were not that lucky and the Indian government is changing the rules of visas given in Nepal.

We had the chance to visit the famous Durbar Square and to see the Kumari (the living 5 year old goddess, reincarnation of Shiva’s wife) through a small window. We also had time to get rid of most of our winter cloth and other bits we will not need in India.

Flying to Delhi

Was a bit sad leaving Nepal as we had a great time there and felt we had a nice combination of the majestic mountains and the chaotic city life. We had a Daal Bhaat in celebration of our time there the night before leaving. We decided to cut corners and fly from Kathmandu to Delhi… really excited also to start our trip leg in India which will take a few months. We realized that taking a flight was the best option as we got the most spectacular view of the Himalayas.

NEPAL

Bodhnath Stupa

Bodhnath Stupa

Swayambhunath Templo / Temple

Los monos / monkeys: Swayambhunath Templo / Temple

La Plaza Durbar / Durbar Square

El Palacio de la Kumari Devi / Kumari Devi Palace

La Plaza Durbar / Durbar Square

Bhaktapur

Bhaktapur

Las calles de Bhaktapur / The streets of Bhaktapur

Terraces

Poon Hill

Mapa de Annapurna: llegamos hasta donde dice ABC / Map of Annapurna: we walked up to where it reads ABC

Platos extraños en el menu / Strange items on the menu

Jose subiendo la montaña / going up the mountain

Jose descansando / resting

Subiendo y subiendo / Going up and up

Vistas muy bellas / Beautiful views

Disfrutando del aire fresco / Enjoying the frest air

Cuando llegamos al Campo Base de Annapurna / When we arrived to the Annapurna Base Camp

6 am: Annapurna Base Camp

El dia en el Campo Base de Annpurna / the day at the Annapurna Base Camp

Corriendo de las avista y detenidos por las cabras / Running from the wasps and stopped by the goats

Patricia: en uno de los puentos colgantes / in one of the hanging bridges

Jose: en otro de los puentes colgantes / in other of the hanging bridges

Comiendo Daal Bhaat con la mano / Eating Daal Bhaat with our hand

El dia que llegamos de vuelta a Pokara / The day we arrived back in Pokara

Ultima cena del Grupo en Pokara / Last group dinner at Pokara

Disfrutando las calles de Thamel / Enjoying the streets in Thamel

Los registros de historia muestran que hace miles de años, los pandas eran entrenados para combates y fueron una ventaja valiosa en batallas. Actualmente, apenas se mueven para agarrar bambú para comer y el resto del tiempo lo pasan durmiendo. Son adorables.

La segunda y principal razón para venir a Chengdu fue la de recoger nuestro permiso y los boletos de tren para ir a Tíbet. Estamos muy agradecidos ya que hemos tenido mucha suerte: ¡Los conseguimos! Acabamos de enterarnos que Tíbet esta cerrado otra vez para permisos debido al 60 aniversario de la Independencia de China que será del 1 al 8 de octubre. Esperamos que todo salga bien entrando a Tíbet.

Hemos disfrutado mucho la comida. Los chinos tienen un dicho: China es el lugar para la comida pero Sichuan es el lugar para el sabor. ¡Y es muy picante! Hemos tratado algunos platos muy buenos como: pollo con maní, "tofú de mapo" y tallarines de carne de vaca, todos muy ricos pero realmente picantes. ¡También, nos encantaron los dumplings dulces (Tangyuan), deliciosos! Algunos de ellos con un relleno de maní.

Estamos un poco tristes de irnos de la parte principal China pero tenemos un sentimiento de que regresaremos.

Chengdu, or Perfect Metropolis, is the capital city of the Sichuan province.

There were two main reasons for coming here. The first one: to visit the giant pandas. We went to a Breeding Research Base where they have around 50 giant and red pandas. They also had some baby pandas; some were born last July and another one last August. Baby pandas are just like humans, completely dependable.

History records show that thousands of years ago, pandas used to be trained for fights and were a valuable asset in battles. Nowadays, they barely move to grasp bamboo for eating and the rest of the time they sleep. They are adorable.

The second main reason to come to Chengdu was to collect our permit and train tickets to Tibet. We are really grateful as we’ve been very lucky: We got them! We just found out that Tibet is closed again for permits due to the 60th anniversary of the Independence of China that will take place from the 1-8th of October. We hope everything goes well entering Tibet.

We have enjoyed a lot the food. The Chinese have a saying: China is the place for food but Sichuan is the place for flavour. And it is extremely spicy! We have tried some great dishes like: chicken with peanuts, ‘mapo tofu’ and beef noodles, all of them very nice but really hot. Also, we loved the sweet dumplings (Tangyuan), delicious! Some of them with a peanut filling.

We are a bit sad to be leaving main China but we have a feeling that we’ll come back. They are good climbers.

First favourite activity: to eat - Primera actividad favorita: comer

Second favourite activity: to sleep - Seguna actividad favorita: dormir

They are good climbers - Son buenos escaladores

We could see them eating for hours - Podríamos verlos comiendo por horas

Red panda - El pando rojo

One month old pandas - Pandas con un mes de nacidos

Pandas can be very sweet - Los pandas pueden ser muy dulces

Patricia - with a baby panda - con un panda bebé

We did a one day trip from Emei Shan to Leshan in order to see the ‘Grand Buddha’: at 71 m it’s the tallest Buddha in the world and it’s carved into a cliff. Amazing!

Going down the cliff - Bajando el acantilado

Touching the Buddha brings good luck - El tocar al Buda trae buena suerte

La comida fue una taza de arroz, repollo frito y una sopa de tomate y hojas. No nos importó… pensamos que eso era parte de la vida monástica… hasta que el monje y sus trabajadores se sentaran en la mesa junto a nosotros con algo que se pareció a un pequeño banquete.

Conocimos y vimos a muchas personas asombrosas por el camino: muchos peregrinos, inclusive monjes con las sonrisas más autenticas; personas muy deportivas que suben y bajan en un día, y personas que viven de llevar a otras personas en sillas en los hombros hacia arriba y hacia abajo de la montaña o llevando cantidades masivas de peso (alimentos y otros productos).

¡En términos generales, nos encantó el viaje y vimos algunas de las vistas naturales y rurales más hermosas de China que hemos experimentado hasta ahora! Recomendaríamos Emei Shan a cualquiera. Llegar a la cima fue realmente una experiencia que nos dio gran recompensa.

After Chongquin, we made our way straight to Emei, another of the sacred Buddhist mountains in the middle of China, in the Sichuan province. Our main purpose here was to hike up from a little town called Baugou (500 m) to Jinding or the ‘Golden Summit’ (3,077 m) and then make it back down in one piece.

It took us two days up and two relaxed days down, sleeping in monasteries. The whole thing was meant as part of our training for our Nepal hiking (or probably our only training before hiking the Himalayas). With the help of a good mental attitude… but also lots of sweets, 2 walking sticks and plenty of noodles, everything went as planned. However, little did we know that we would finish negotiating with monks our sleep and with monkeys our passage. The monkeys are hard but the monks were worst! One night we finished sleeping in the Yuxian Temple, which seemed to have just one monk and lots of servants. Our room was located right inside the main temple next to the main Buddha pagoda. We had to be good that night!

Dinner was a bowl of rice, fried cabbage and a tomato and leaves soup. We did no mind… we thought that was part of the Monastery life… until the monk and his workers sat on the table next to us with something that looked like a little banquet.

We met and saw lots of amazing people on the way: lots of pilgrims, including monks with the most genuine smiles; sports people hiking up and down in one day, people for whom carrying other people on chairs in their shoulders up and down the mountain or carrying massive amounts of weight (like food and other products) make their livelihood.

Overall, we loved the trip and saw some of the most beautiful sights of natural and rural China we have experienced so far! We would recommend Emei Shan to anyone. Getting to the top was really a rewording experience.

Starting our way up - Empezando nuestro camino hacia arriva

Enjoying the paths - Disfrutando los caminos

Going up and up - Subiendo y subiendo

Our breakfast - Nuestro desayuno

Our dinner - Nuestra cena

Carrying food and other products - Llevando comida y otros productos

Great views - Hermosas vistas

Monasteries - Monasterios

Carrying people - Cargando gente

The moment we reached the top - Cuando llegamos a la cima

The Golden Summit - The Cima Dorada

Once we reached down again - Cuando llegamos a abajo de nuevo

Dos de las principales razones para construir la Represa fueron para regular las aguas del río que ha causado miles de inundaciones y muertes y para facilitar el comercio. Sin embargo, el precio fue y es muy alto: pérdida de cientos de sitios arqueológicos, el desplazamiento de millones de personas y un costo ambiental inmenso y aun mas los costos ambientales potenciales.

Durante el paseo en barco, cruzamos algunos otros cañones, todos con hermosas vistas. También, hicimos varias visitas de día. Uno de ellos fue a la Ciudad de Fantasmas. Había algunas pruebas para ser permitidos en el cielo más alto. ¡Pensamos que las pasamos todas! También, había cosas que uno podía escoger, por ejemplo, cambiar el sexo en la próxima vida o si uno desea abundancia de salud o de dinero en esta vida. ¡Patricia escogió la salud y Jose el dinero, claro esta, esperando compartir todo!

También disfrutamos mucho la visita a los descendientes de los Bao. Ellos nos llevaron en barquitos tradicionales pequeños y cantaban canciones. En el pasado, los hombres iban desnudos porque la tela mojada les dañaba la piel y las mujeres tenían que llorar por 7 días continuos antes del día de su matrimonio, llorando por dejar a sus padres y la familia y por cualquier pena futura.

We took a lovely Chinese boat to cross the Yangzi River during 3 days, from Yichang to Chongquing. From the moment we arrived we were treated extremely well by all the staff and it was great to have all the meals sorted out. Also, our room was really nice with a big soft bed (usually they are extremely hard in China) and a balcony. There were shows every night and presentations on Chinese embroidery, bottle painting, pearls, tai Chi and many other things.

The main event was the Three Gorges Dam, which is considered to be China’s biggest engineering project since the construction of the Great Wall. We went to the observation deck and to the museum where it is explained how it was built. The section for big boats works a bit like the Panama Canal: closing sections and filling or removing water to match the next section. All the crossing takes only 4 hours. For smaller boats there is a lift.

Two of the main reasons to build the Three Gorges Dam were to regulate the waters that have caused thousands of floodings and deaths and to facilitate trading. However, it has come at a high price: lost of hundreds of archaeological sites, displacement of millions of people and a huge environmental cost and worst potential ones.

During the boat trip, we crossed some other Gorges, all of them showing beautiful views of the canyons and peaks. Also, we did several day tours. One of them was to the City of Ghosts. There were some tests in order to be allowed into the highest heaven. We think we passed them! Also, there were things that you could choose, like changing your sex for the next life or if you want abundance of health of money in this life. Patricia went for heath and Jose for the money, hoping to share everything of course!

We also enjoyed a lot visiting the Bao people. They were pulling our little traditional boats and singing along the way. In the past, men used to go naked because the wet cloth would damage their skin and a woman had to cry for 7 continuous days before her marriage day, crying for leaving her parents and family and for any future sorrow.

Main doors of the Dam - Compuertas principales de la Represa

View of the Three Gorges Dam: Vista de la Represa de la Tres Cañones

Doors opening - Puertas abriéndose

View of the gorges - Vista de los cañones

With the Captain - Con el Capitán

Tai Chi

Our boat - Nuestro barco

Chinese embroidery - Bordado chino

Traditional boats - Botes tradicionales

The Bao people - La gente Bao

Disfrutamos mucho el barrio musulmán. Las calles pequeñas están llenas de puestos que venden todo tipo de alimentos, ropa y recuerdos. Allí, probamos un plato llamado yángrou paomó: una sopa con trozos de pan, tallarines, oveja y caldo. ¡Muy rica! También compramos un huashenggao: un pastel delicioso de maní.

Fue muy interesante caminar alrededor del centro de la ciudad y ver todo tipo de tiendas modernas y delante de ellas personas muy sencillas tratando de vender desde hierbas hasta pequeños conejitos.

La principal razón para ir a Xi’an fue el visitar al Ejército de Guerreros de Terracota. Hay miles guerreros de tamaño real y caballos. Ningún soldado tiene la misma cara. Se cree que este ejército fue solicitado por Qin Shi Huang, el primer emperador de China, para acompañar su tumba porque él esperaba que su imperio continuara después de su muerte.

Xi’an is big, busy and nicely illuminated at night. Even the city wall looks pretty at night.

We went to the Tang Dynasty Performance, a high class show with dances, music and singing. It was good but a bit too expensive!

We enjoyed a lot the Muslim Quarter. The little streets are packed with people selling everything from food to cloth and souvenirs. There, we tried a dish called yángrou paomó: a soup with bread crumbs, noodles, mutton and broth. Very nice! We also got a huashenggao, a delicious peanut cake.

It was very interesting to walk around the city center and see all sorts of modern shops and in front of them very simple people trying to sell anything from herbs to little rabbits.

The main reason to go to Xi’an was to visit the Army of Terracota Warriors. There are thousands life size warriors and horses. Not two soldiers have the same face. It is believed that this army was requested by Qin Shi Huang, the first emperor of China, to accompany his tomb because he expected his rule to continue in death.

Tang Dinasty Show

Tang Dinasty Show

Xi'an: at night - de noche

Muslim Quarter - Barrio Musulmán

Terracota Warriors - Guerreros de Terracota

Para utilizar el día lluvioso decidimos tener algunos tratamientos chinos como masaje. Esta vez, Jose decidió probar la exfoliación de pies y reflexología (masaje de pies). Estuvo bien para él aunque no quedó impresionado. Patricia decidió tratar algo completamente nuevo y optó por los tratamientos de raspar y el de succión. Después de poner un lubricante, usaron peinillas de madera o de hueso para raspar la piel. La idea es que todas las toxinas salen a la superficie. Sin embargo, fue bastante doloroso y la piel se le puso a Patricia toda roja inmediatamente. El tratamiento de succión también fue doloroso. Se usan unas tazas de vidrio especiales a las cuales se les succiona el aire y por tanto la piel queda levantada. Después de 3 días, la espalda de Patricia todavía muestra los "beneficios" de estas técnicas.

Pingyao is a small town but really touristy (mainly Chinese tourists). As soon as we arrived the bicycle driver thought Patricia was Japanese!!!!

We hired some bikes and cycled through town for hours entering into the smaller of the streets and getting lost during a very rainy day. We were received by friendly smiling locals, inviting shopkeepers, and nasty encounters with barking dogs and noisy pigs. The menus included donkey and dog meat. We got to know a really nice little restaurant which we visited 2 times in a row trying some of the local delicacies such as pork buns and toffee banana. Everything was delicious and at an excellent price! (The old Ping Yao Welcome spring Restaurant, No 188 Nan da street). The hostel in which we stayed was in a lovely ancient courtyard with a massive stone bed! Also, very recommended: Harmony Guesthouse.

To make use of the rainy day we decided to have some Chinese treatments, like massage. This time, Jose decided to try the feed exfoliation and reflexology. It was ok for him although he was not very impressed. Patricia decided to try something completely new and took the Chinese scraping and cupping. After putting some sort of lubricant, wooden or bone combs were used to scrape the skin. The idea is that all the toxins rush to the surface. However, it was a bit painful and Patricia’s skin went all red immediately. The cupping followed and it was also a bit painful. Some special glass cups are used to suction the air and therefore the skin is lifted. After 3 days, Patricia’s back is still showing the ‘benefits’ of these techniques.

Harmony Guesthouse: Courtyard - Patio

Sone bed - Cama de piedra

Patricia: Cycling around the city wall - Andando en bici por la muralla de la ciudad

Jose: Cycling by the streets - Andando en bici por las calles

Scraping and cupping - Raspado y succión

Oficialmente probamos el desayuno chino: bollos de pan cocinados al vapor, pan frito, atol de arroz y verduras fritas.

Decidimos hacer una caminata; sin embargo, no hay mapas disponibles y senderos marcados. Algunos autobuses lo llevan a la cima de las montañas pero nosotros no quisimos hacer eso. Empezamos a caminar por el lado de un camino que lleva hacia uno de los picos. Después de acerca de 3 horas encontráramos algo parecía ser un caminito olvidado (ahora cubierto con pasto) y decidimos seguirlo. Después un poco más de 1 hora y de cruzar un pequeño río varias veces nos encontramos con un monasterio asombroso: luego descubrimos que era el Templo de Fenglin. Nos sentimos muy contentos de haber encontrado ese gran monasterio.

Había una entrada desde la montaña incluyendo 150 gradas hacia arriba. Sin embargo, la entrada ya no esta en uso y esta cerrada, así que tuvimos que saltar una pared pequeña y otros cuantos obstáculos. Dentro, las personas (los monjes) parecían asombrados de vernos y querían hablar con nosotros. Nos sentimos mal de no saber cómo decir nada. Estamos utilizando 3 formas de comunicación en: frases y mapas de la guía ‘Lonely Planet’, un folletito llamado ‘Señálelo' que tiene imágenes de casi todo y unas cuantas frases que Da escribió para nosotros. Pensamos que algunas personas se sienten decepcionadas cuando ven que es inútil tratar de hablar con nosotros. Algunos otros hablan aún más fuerte en caso de que el problema sea que somos un poco sordos… pero de nada sirve. ¡Sin embargo, las personas siempre nos dan una gran sonrisa!

Wutai Shan is one of the 5 sacred Buddhist mountains and supposed to be one of the most beautiful. It’s known as the ‘Five Terrace Mountain’ after the five main peaks. There are more than 50 temples and it’s a place for Buddhist pilgrimage. Along the streets, people have small Buddhist celebrations with music, songs and fire crackers.

Since we arrived we seem to be the attraction of the little town. We seem to be the only foreign tourists here and of course, the only ones that do not understand a word of Chinese. People stared at us a lot and a few smiled to say ‘halo’!

We officially tried the full Chinese breakfast: steamed buns, fried bread, rice porridge and stir-fried vegetables.

We went out hiking; however, there are no maps and no paths available. Some buses would take you to the top of the mountains but we did not want to do that. We started walking by the side of the road in the direction of one of the peaks. After about 3 hours of walking we found something that looked like a place where there used to be a trail (now covered with grass) and decided to follow it. After a bit more than 1 hour and crossing a small river a few times we found ourselves in front of an amazing monastery: later we discovered that is was the Fenglin Temple. We were really glad we found that big monastery.

There was an entrance from the mountain including 150 steps upwards. However, the entrance is not being used and it is closed, so we had to climb a little wall and a few other hurdles. Inside, people (the monks) seemed astonished to see us and wanted to talk with us. We felt bad not knowing how to say anything. We are using 3 ways of communication at present: phrases and maps from the Lonely Planet book guide, a ‘Point it’ booklet that has pictures of almost everything and a few phrases that Da wrote for us. We think people get disappointed when they see it is useless to try to talk to us. Some people even speak louder in case the problem is that we are a bit deaf… but no use. Nevertheless, people always give us a big smile!

Walking around the monasteries - Caminando por los monasterios

Small Buddhist celebrations - Pequeñas celebraciones budistas

When we first saw the Fenglin Temple - Cuando vimos el Templo Fenglin por primera vez

Steps going to the Fenglin Temple - Gradas que llevan al Templo Fenglin

Inside the Fenglin Temple - Dentro del Templo Fenglin

Para almorzar, nuestro guía nos llevó a un lugar donde nos dieron una sopa. Adentro tenía un tipo de jalea hecha de papas. En China algunas personas utilizan esta jalea durante el verano en vez de tallarines (noodles). Es bastante rica.

Después, fuimos al Monasterio Colgante Budista, que fue construido en el lado de un acantilado. Da un poco de miedo ver cómo todo el monasterio está apoyado en zancos largos y delgados. Aparentemente, fue construido para evitar las inundaciones que eran regulares y para evitar la persecución oficial del budismo en el siglo IX. La vista es muy bonita pero no creemos que querríamos pasar la noche en el monasterio.

Our friend Da helped us organising this trip to Datong in the Shanxi province. It worked out really well. As soon as we arrived to the train station, we were picked up by this local guy. He didn’t speak one word in English but, as it’s becoming the norm, we were able to communicate.

First, we went to the Yungang Grottoes (caves). The place has 45 caves containing around 51,000 ancient Buddhist carvings from the 5th-century. It’s impressive! The biggest Buddha statue measures 17 m high.

For lunch, our guide took us to a place where they gave us a soup. Inside it had some type of jelly made of potatoes. In China some people use this jelly during summer instead of noodles. It was quite nice.

Afterwards, we went to the Buddhist Hanging Monastery, which was built into the side of a cliff. It was a bit scary to see how the entire monastery is supported by long and thin stilts. Apparently, it was built in this way to avoid the regular floodings and to avoid the official persecution of Buddhism in the 9th century. Nice view but we don’t think we would like to stay the night at the monastery.

Yungang: carvings - tallados

Huge Buddhas - Budas inmensos

Buddha - 17 mtrs high - altura

Potatoe Noodles - Tallarines de papa

Hanging Monastery - Monasterio Colgante

View from the monastery - Vista desde el monasterio

Stilts supporting the monastery - Zancos sobre los que esta montado el monasterio

Detailed decoration - Decoraciones detalladas

Tan pronto como llegamos a Jaipur conocimos a un joven llamado Abdul. Hicimos lo mejor por tratar de deshacernos de él pero su persistencia y un libro llenos de recomendaciones de otros turistas nos convencieron de ir con él. Nos encontró un buen hotel y fue nuestro conductor de rickshaw/guía de turismo todo durante nuestra estancia allí. Aunque fue un poco más caro preferimos esta opción a tener que negociar un precio cada vez que queríamos ir a algún lugar.

El Gaitor Real, los mausoleos de la realeza, son un lugar pacífico y los monumentos tienen hermosos tallados.

El Palacio de la Ciudad es hermoso y en particular las puertas de uno de los patios que están hermosamente decoradas representando otoño, invierno, primavera y verano.

También visitamos al Gurú de Abdul. Entre muchas otras cosas le dijo a Patricia que tiene una energía muy bonita y curativa y que Kundalini Yoga sería un sendero perfecto para ella y para ayudar a otros. A José Pablo le dijo que Febrero de este año que viene será una marca importante en su vida.

Nuestra vista predilecta fue el fuerte-palacio de Amber. Es un lugar inmenso con muchos vestíbulos hermosamente decorados donde logramos imaginarnos realmente cómo fue la vida durante los tiempos cuando los Maharajas y las Maharanis (las esposas del Maharaja) vivían aquí. Aprendimos un poco sobre la última de las Maharanis que murió hace sólo unos pocos meses, Gayatri Devi, y compramos un libro acerca de su historia.

La pasamos muy bien con Denise y su esposo Ranjeed. Habíamos conocido a Denise en Rishikesh durante nuestro curso de Yoga. Fue excelente que logramos verlos y nos llevaron al mágico Chokhi Dhani. Es una aldea virtual Rajasthani con todo tipo de entretenimiento como bailarinas, magos, titiriteros y personas que comen fuego. Además, disfrutamos de un paseo en camello, tuvimos un masaje de cabeza, Patricia tuvo una mano pintada con alheña y disfrutamos de una fabulosa comida tradicional llamada Thali (comida en compartimientos generalmente con arroz, lentejas, curries de verduras o carne, encurtidos y a veces algo dulce). ¡DELICIOSO y por supuesto, picante!

El libro de Gayatri Devi ha sido muy revelador. Ofrece una ventana a toda la grandiosidad y la opulencia de India antes de la Independencia, cuando más de 600 estados tuvieron a su propio Maharaja gobernante. Ella se casó por elección (no fue un matrimonio arreglado) con el Maharaja de Jaipur y fue su tercera esposa.

Cuando la Independencia llegó en 1947, la división de India se basó en la religión (Hindú vs. Musulmán) en India, Pakistán Occidental y Pakistán Oriental (hoy Bangladés) trajo caos en seguida con la pérdida de muchas vidas.

Desde su punto de vista y en resumen, el Partido del Congreso que había dirigido la Independencia fue elegido (no hubo oposición). El joven país decidió remover todos los poderes de los Maharajas y para dárselos al nuevo gobierno republicano. Sin embargo, la corrupción y el poder fueron dos de las principales fuerzas que manejaron el proceso y los puestos gubernamentales fueron dados a los seguidores del partido y no a quienes tendían las habilidades para hacer el trabajo. En un asunto de unos pocos años, el estado del dominio público se comenzó a desplomar. Uno no puede olvidarse que India es una democracia muy joven queriendo manejar un país grande y una población aun más grande.

Por supuesto, esto representa el punto de vista de una persona que apoyó el sistema de Maharaja. Muchas otras personas tuvieron puntos de vista muy fuertes acerca de su abuso del poder y el feudalismo.

Jaipur, the capital of Rajasthan, was our entry-point to this land of Kings (Maharajas).

The old city is called the ‘Pink City’ because back in 1876, the ruling Maharaja had the entire place painted in pink, a colour associated with hospitality, to welcome the Prince of Wales (later King Edward VII) and since then the tradition has been maintained. This old city is absolutely crowded and the main bazaars are located here.

We were very lucky to find a guy called Abdul as soon as we reached Jaipur. We tried our best to brush him away but his persistence and a book full of recommendations from other tourists won us over. He found a good hotel for us and was our rickshaw driver / tour guide all during our stay there. Even though a bit more expensive we preferred this option to having to negotiate a rate every time we wanted to go somewhere.

The Royal Gaitor, cenotaphs, is a peaceful place and the monuments have beautiful carving.

The City Palace is beautiful in particular the gates of one of the courtyards that are beautifully decorated representing autumn, winter, spring and summer.

We also visited Abdul’s Guru. Among many other things he told Patricia that she has a beautiful and healing energy and that Kundalini Yoga would be a perfect path for her and to support others. To Jose Pablo, he told him that February this coming year would be an important mark in his life.

Our favourite sight was the fort-palace of Amber. It is a huge place with many beautifully decorated halls where we could really imagine how life was like during the old years when the Maharajas and Maharanis (the wives of the King) were living here. We also got to know about the last of the Maharanis that passed away only a few months ago, Gayatri Devi, and got a book about her story.

We had a fantastic time with Denise and her husband Ranjeed. We met Denise back in Rishikesh during our Yoga course. It was great that we managed to meet her and they took us to the magical Chokhi Dhani. It’s a virtual Rajasthani village with all sorts of entertainment like dancers, magicians, puppeteers and fire eaters. Besides, we enjoyed a ride in a camel, had a head massage, Patricia had a hand painted with henna and we all enjoyed a fabulous traditional dinner called Thali (compartmentalised meals usually with rice, lentils, vegetable or meat curries, pickle and sometimes something sweet). DELICIOUS and of course, spicy!

The book from Gayatri Devi has been very revealing. It offers a window to all the grandeur and opulence of India before Independence, when more than 600 states had their own ruling Maharaja. She married by choice (not an arranged marriage) the Maharaja of Jaipur and became his third wife.

When the Independence came in 1947, the partition of India based on religion (Hindu vs. Muslim) into main India, West Pakistan and East Pakistan (today Bangladesh) brought chaos straight away with the loss of many lives.

From her point of view and in a nutshell, the Congress Party that had led the Independence got elected (having no opposition). The young country decided to remove all the powers from the Maharajas and to give them to the new republican government. However, corruption and power were two of the main forces driving the process and the government posts where given to those supporting the party and not to those that would have the skills to do the job. In a matter of a few years, the state of the public realm started to collapse. One cannot forget that India is a very young democracy aiming to manage a large country and an even larger population.

Of course, this represents the point of view of a person that supported the Maharaja system. Many other people had strong views about their abuse of power and feudal system.

El Fuerte Amber / The Amber Fort

Royal Gaitors: Mausoleos de la realeza / Royal cenotaphs

Dentro del Palacio de la Ciudad: asi es como se ve la Ciudad Rosada / Inside the City Palace: this is how the Pink City looks like

El Palacio del Lago: usado en los veranos cuando las temperaturas llegan a más de 40° C / The Lake Palace: used during the summers when the temperature reaches more than 40° C

El Vestíbulo de la Victoria dentro del Fuerte Amber con incrustados de espejo / The Hall of Victory inside the Amber Fort with inlaid mirrors

Patricia dominando las cobras (o al menos parecen) con la flauta / Patricia dominating the cobras (or at least they look like) with the flute

Denise & Ranjeed

Cena en Chokhi Dhani: los platos están hechos de hojas de banano / Dinner at Chokhi Dhani: the plates are made of banana leaves.

El Hawa Mahal: construido para que las damas de la realeza pudieran observar la ciudad sin ellas ser vistas / The Hawa Mahal: constructed to enable the ladies of the royal household to watch the city without being seen.

Autorickshaw: Patricia & Abdul

Visitamos el Fuerte Rojo construido en 1648 por el gran emperador Mughal Sha Jahan (quien construyó el Taj Majal). En este gran fuerte (rojo sólo en las paredes externas) se encuentra el palacio del emperador y el uno para la esposa principal, diferentes vestíbulos, una mezquita y los baños reales. También, hoy en día hay jardines agradables, pero no cabe duda que durante la cúspide de la dinastía este debe haber sido un lugar mágico con agua por todas partes a través de un sistema decorativo de canales. Principalmente disfrutamos del show nocturna de luz y sonido que nos dio un vistazo de la historia de la ciudad. Los Mughal, musulmanes que vinieron de Kabul (Afganistán), comenzaron su imperio en 1526 cubriendo casi toda India y trajeron un siglo de oro para las artes, la literatura y las construcciones.

Sin embargo, numerosas invasiones de por ejemplo otras tribus de Afganistán, de Persia y por último de los Ingleses, saquearon y robaron y la ciudad durante siglos. Esto nos dió una idea de todo el sufrimiento de esta gente y todas las veces que tuvieron que recuperarse habiendo quedado sin nada.

La próxima parada fue la Mezquita de Jama Masjid (Musulmán), la más grande en India que puede albergar hasta 25.000 personas. También fue construida por el emperador Sha Jahan. Tiene vistas de Delhi agradables desde la torre (llamada Minarete); sin embargo, no nos sentimos muy bien adentro. Por una parte, no se sintió como un lugar de culto espiritual y por otra, el personal que trabaja allí trata de sacarle a los visitantes la mayor cantidad de dinero que puedan poniendo precios ridículos fuera de la norma (por ejemplo para cuidar los zapatos por 10 segundos).

Inicialmente habíamos pensado no ir a la Tumba de Humayun, el segundo emperador Mughal, y resultó ser uno de nuestros edificios predilectos.

Nuestro lugar preferido fue definitivamente la Casa de Culto Bahai, también llamado el Templo de Loto. Es un templo moderno, creado en 1986 con la forma de la flor sagrada de loto. El interior del templo es muy sencillo e invita a toda persona (de cualquier religión) a meditar en silencio. Y eso fue exactamente lo que hicimos. Algunas de las creencias de los Bahai son: una religión mundial universal, sólo un Dios, que han habido diferentes profetas (como Moisés, Buda y Jesucristo), la igualdad entre hombres y mujeres y que cada persona tiene un alma inmortal. Ellos también creen que finalmente habrá un solo gobierno mundial.

También tuvimos un poco de tiempo social. Tuvimos una cena muy buena con Alex Luke, un colega de PwC de José Pablo y su novia. Ellos están en India por un año. Fuimos a un área agradable de la ciudad y disfrutamos de una comida india muy buena. También visitamos los papás de Ruchira (otra colega de PwC de José Pablo) y tuvimos una velada muy bonita con ellos. Nos ofrecieron una cena fantástica con toda clase de carnes deliciosas.

Ya hemos empezado a saber como manejarnos aquí. Esto incluye el negociar con los auto-rickshaws, nuestra principal forma de transporte. También, ya tenemos algunos platos preferidos, como el postre Gulab Jamuns, bolas de masa fritas y sumergidas en un sirope con sabor a rosas. Fue también aquí en Delhi que comimos el mejor dhal (lentejas) que hemos probado hasta ahora.

También nos hemos dado cuenta de que realmente queremos estar más tiempo aquí en India; por lo tanto nos quedaremos aquí hasta el final de nuestro viaje. Por supuesto, esto significa postergar nuestro viaje al Sur Este de Asia. Pensamos que esto tiene mucho sentido, este país es tan grande y diverso y hay tanto que ver. Así que estamos muy felices con nuestra decisión.

Ahhh… New Delhi…well it’s India’s capital with almost 13 million people and it is absolutely chaotic, crowded and polluted! This, coupled with our windowless hotel room did not do much for our well being! Having said that, with all the hassle, New Delhi is a must see for its nightlife, its glamour showing the vestiges of lost empires and… well yes, to see what a big Indian city looks like.

We stayed at a small hotel close to the New Delhi Train Station at Paharganj around the Main Bazaar. Although, ideal for accessing old Delhi and being close to the main train station, hotels can be small cells and the rooms typically have no windows or if they have, they look at a dodgy pathway. Here we realised about a couple of things: first, that the earplugs were some of our best friends and second, that somehow it seems that All the tourist are smokers. What an agony if you don’t enjoy the smoke and the restaurants are a bit like a dungeon. From here onwards, roof top restaurants, even though it was cold, were the only ones appealing to us.

We visited the Red Fort constructed in 1648 by the great Mughal emperor Shah Jahan (who constructed the Taj Majal). In this big fort (red only in the external walls) you find the palace of the emperor and the one for the chief wife, different halls, a mosque and the royal baths. Also, there are nice gardens today, but there’s no doubt that during the peak of the dynasty it should have been a magical place with water running everywhere through a decorative canal system. We mainly enjoyed the evening light and sound show that gave us a glimpse on the history of the city. The Mughal, Muslims coming from Kabul (Afghanistan), started their empire in 1526 covering almost the entire India and bringing a golden age of arts, literature and constructions.

However, numeral invasions for example from other tribes from Afghanistan, from Persia and finally from the British sacked and looted the city for centuries. This gave us an idea of all the suffering of this people and all the times that they had to recover from having been left with nothing.

The next stop was the Jama Masjid Mosque (Muslim), the largest one in India being able to hold up to 25,000 people. It was also constructed by the emperor Shah Jahan. There were nice views of Delhi from the tower (called Minaret); however, we didn’t feel very well inside. In the one hand, it didn’t feel like a place of spiritual worship and in the other hand, the staff working there was trying to get as much money from people as they could charging ridiculous prices outside of the norm (e.g. just to take care of your shoes for 10 seconds).

We almost didn’t go to the Humayun’s Tumb, the second Mughal emperor, and it ended up being one of our favourite buildings.

Our favourite place was definitely the Bahai House of Worship, also called the Lotus Temple. It’s a modern temple, created in 1986 shaped like the sacred lotus flower. The inside of the temple is very simple and invites every one (of all faiths) to meditate in silence. And that was exactly what we did. Some of the believes of the Bahai faith are: a universal world religion, only one God, that there have been different prophets (like Moses, Buddha and Jesus Christ), equality between men and women and that every person has an immortal soul. They also believe that there will eventually be a single world government.

We also had a bit of social time. We had a nice dinner with Alex Luke, Jose’s PwC colleague and his girlfriend. They are staying in India for one year. We went to a nice area of the city and enjoyed a good Indian dinner. We also visited Ruchira’s (another of Jose’s PwC colleagues) parents and we had a lovely evening with them. They offered us a fantastic dinner, all types of meat all delicious.

By now, we are starting to get to know our way around. This includes negotiating with the auto rickshaws, our main way of travelling around. Also, we have a few favourite dishes, like the dessert Gulab Jamuns, deep fried balls of dough soaked in rose-flavoured syrup. It was also here in Delhi that we had the best dhal (lentils) we’ve tried so far.

We have also realised that we really want to stay longer here in India; therefore we will be here until the rest of our trip. Of course, this means postponing our trip to South East Asia. We think it makes sense, this country is so big and diverse and there’s so much to see. So, we are very happy with our decision.

La Tumba de Humayun / Humayuns Tomb

El Fuerte Rojo / The Red Fort

Jama Masjid Mesquita / Mosque

Dentro del Fuerte Rojo / Inside the Red Fort

La Mesquita Jama Masjid desde fuera / View of the Jama Masjid Mosque from the outside

Lotus Temple

Atardecer en el Templo de Lotus / Sunset at the Lotus Temple

La ceremonia del borde fue como se esperaba, nada especial… soldados de India y Pakistán tratan de superarse los unos a los otros en una demostración de movimientos físicos cuidadosamente coreografiados. Ambos países parece que envían a sus soldados más altos y con mejores físicos a la frontera. Hay también un maestro de ceremonias asegurándose que los Pakistaníes escuchen a la multitud de India.

Lo más entretenido para nosotros fue una multitud que estaba calentándose antes de la ceremonia al ritmo de los últimos hits Punjabi que hicieron que muchos Indios no se pudieran resistir a bailar (aunque sólo a las mujeres les permitieron saltar de sus asientos a la calle y a los hombres los devolvieron rápidamente). Tratamos de pasar inadvertidos (José Pablo con una barba y Patricia con un chal) pero las cámaras y la ropa extraña siempre nos delatan. ¡Sin embargo, logramos sentarnos en el medio de la multitud India! A la mayoría de los extranjeros les pedían sentarse en una "sección especial" donde podían tener una mejor vista ¡pero menos atmósfera!

La pasamos muy bien en el Spa Svaasa que Ruchira, una amiga de José Pablo, nos sugirió. Su amigo desde la niñez, Ranjit, es dueño y maneja el hotel. Es una hermosa casa colonial, amigable con el ambiente, con facilidades modernas, habitaciones magníficas, gran servicio, realmente pacífico y la deliciosa comida es orgánica y preparada en estilo hogareño. ¿Qué más puede uno pedir? Estuvimos allí solo por el día pero le dimos buen uso al tiempo y tomamos algunos tratamientos de Ayurveda que estuvieron excelentes. Realmente recomendamos este lugar. El sitio web es: www.svaasa.com Muchas gracias a Ranjit por ser tan generoso y amable.

Lo más relevante de esta parte del viaje fue lo que aprendimos sobre los Sikhs y el Templo Dorado que es como su Meca. La mayoría de los Sikhs son esos tipos guapos Indios que llevan turbantes coloridos en sus cabezas y tienen barbas largas. Fue realmente interesante aprender del por qué de esas tradiciones. Sin querer aburrirles con una clase de religión en la cual no estamos calificados para darla bien, algunos hechos interesantes son: creen en un sólo Dios, en el laicismo (es decir uno no tiene que ser un sacerdote ni monje para lograr la iluminación o tener la vida eterna en el cielo), todos son iguales (es decir no hay diferencias entre las castas - India tiene una serie de niveles sociales fijos -, sexo, orígenes o religiones) y hay no cabeza religiosa suprema (después de 10 Gurús humanos ahora el Gurú es el libro santo que ellos dejaron).

La demostración más verdadera de Sikhismo para nosotros fue la cocina comunal que se encuentra en un lado del hermoso y pacífico Templo Dorado (cubierta dorada). ¡Le sirven hasta 60.000 personas al día, está abierta casi 24 horas, sirven alimentos higiénicos y sencillos a cualquiera y todo es gratis! Inclusive, sirven comida a turistas como nosotros. De hecho, comimos allí un par de veces pero la gente pobre puede ir allí todos los días si quiere. La operación corre en la manera más eficiente con voluntarios en su mayor parte Sikhs. Las porciones son generosas, la comida realmente sabrosa y el servicio increíblemente amable. Sin embargo, es realmente una experiencia de humildad. Uno encuentra a toda clase de personas allí y puede ofrecerse a lavar platos o pelar vegetales (nosotros preferimos dar un donativo). En general, comer en el restaurante comunal y sentarnos a mirar pacíficamente o meditar alrededor del Templo Dorado fueron definitivamente los puntos más relevantes del viaje a Amritsar.

After a bumpy overnight train ride inside our sleeping bags we arrived in Amritsar. We were drawn to Amritsar mainly because of 2 reasons: 1) the Golden Temple and 2) the border ceremony between India and Pakistan in Attari which is less than 1 hour away from Amritsar.

We finished staying for more than expected (4 days!); most tourists come here just for a day or two before heading back. We are basically enjoying our time of Yoga, reading and relaxing.

The border ceremony was as expected, nothing grand… India and Pakistan soldiers (they seem to send their taller best build soldiers to the border) try to outdo each other in a carefully choreographed demonstration of physical movements. There is also a crowd agitator to make sure that the Pakistanis hear the Indian side. Most fun was a crowd warming up with some of the latest Punjabi hits which made the Indian crowd could not resist dancing to (although only women were allowed to jump out of their sits into the street and men were quickly told to go back). We tried to go unnoticeable (Jose Pablo with a beard and Patricia with a shawl) but cameras and strange clothing always give us up. However, we managed to sit in the midst of the Indian crowd which most foreigners were told to sit in a “special section” from were they had a better view but less atmosphere!

We had a great time at the Svaasa Spa that Ruchira, Jose Pablo’s friend, suggested. His friend from childhood, Ranjit, owns and runs the place. It’s a beautiful colonial house, eco-friendly, with full modern facilities, gorgeous rooms, great service, really peaceful and the delicious food is organic and home-style. What else could you ask for? We were there just for the day but made good use of our time and took some Ayurveda treatments that were excellent. We really recommend it. This is the website: www.svaasa.com Thank you so much to Ranjit for being so generous and kind.

The great highlight of this part of the trip was learning more about the Sikhs and the Golden Temple which is like their Mecca. Most Sikhs are those handsome Indian fellas that go around wearing colourful head covers and have long beards. It was really amazing to learn more about the why of those traditions. Not to bore you with a religion class which we are not well qualified to give, but some interesting facts are: believing only in one God, secularism (i.e. one does not have to be a priest or monk to achieve enlightment or have eternal life in heaven), everybody is equal (i.e. no differences between casts, sex, origins or religions) and there is no supreme religious head (after 10 human Gurus now their Guru is the holy book that those left behind).

The truest demonstration of Sikhism for us was the communal kitchen found in one of the sides of the beautiful and peaceful Golden (plated) Temple. They serve up to 60,000 people per day; it is open almost 24 hours, serves simple hygienic food to anyone and it’s free! They even serve food to random tourists like us. In fact we ate there a couple of times but poor people can come there every day. The operation was running in the most efficient way with mostly Sikh volunteers. It was really a humbling experience although portions were generous, food really tasty and service incredibly kind. You meet all types of people there and can volunteer to wash dishes or peel vegetables (we preferred giving a donation). Overall having lunch in the communal eatery and then sitting peacefully to watch or meditate around the Golden Temple were definitely the highlights of the trip to Amritsar.

Todos tienen que taparse la cabeza, quitarse los zapatos y lavarse los pies / Everyone has to cover their head, remove the shoes and wash the feet

Templo Dorado: gente tomando un baño en el lago / people having a bath at the lake

Jose Pablo disfrutando la vista del Templo Dorado / Jose Pablo enjoying the view of the Golden Temple

Attari: Ceremonia en la frontera / Ceremony at the border

Vista de la frotera entre India y Pakistan / Vew of the border between India and Pakistan

Templo Dorado: vista en la noche / Golden Temple: night view

Durante este tiempo, aprendimos no sólo acerca de asanas (la parte de ejercicio que normalmente llamamos Yoga) pero también acerca de cantos védicos, pranayama (control de la respiración), meditación, técnicas de limpieza, ayurveda (la ciencia de la vida incluyendo dieta) y sobre la filosofía oriental. Tuvimos nuestras comidas a horas fijas en el Ashram; todos los alimentos fueron vegetarianos y bastante sencillos y comíamos en el comedor donde todos nos sentamos en el piso cruzados de piernas. Podemos decir con confianza que este ha sido el tiempo en nuestras vidas cuando nos hemos sentido más sanos y más en forma.

Nuestra rutina diaria incluyó despertarnos antes de las 5 de la mañana, para poder seguir los requisitos de limpieza que deben ser seguidos antes de hacer Yoga. La primera clase empezaba a las 6 am de un día completamente lleno hasta las 8,00 pm cuando teníamos una sesión de Yoga Nidra (Yoga durmiendo). A partir de las 9.00 pm se suponía que el Ashram tenía que estar en silencio.

Ganga Aarti tenía lugar todos los días por una hora al atardecer, sentándonos en frente del Ganga (el Río Sagrado Ganges) y la estatua de Shiva, rodeado por los Rishi Kumaris (huérfanos que han sido adoptados por el Ashram) y muchos peregrinos y turistas. Como Swamiji (el gurú del Ashram) lo describe, Ganga Aarti es una hora feliz para juntarse, orar a la Madre Ganga a través de hermosas mantras y tomar parte en una ceremonia donde enviamos todos nuestros pensamientos y acciones negativas al fuego y como las semillas son quemadas ya no pueden germinar otra vez.

También tuvimos el privilegio de sentarnos con Swamiji. El nos contó historias de su vida y nos dio algunos de sus enseñanzas. Una de ellas se refirió a que Yoga no es una religión pero es una antigua ciencia que lleva a la salud en el cuerpo, la paz en la mente, la alegría en el corazón y la liberación del alma. El se refirió a los mantras que cantábamos. Estas mantras son escritos en el idioma antiguo de sánscrito; sin embargo, cuando nosotros los cantamos, se las podemos ofrecer a cualquier Dios que deseamos, a final de cuentas es el mismo Dios, solo que usamos nombres diferentes. Swamiji siempre dice que si usted es un musulmán, sólo sea un mejor musulmán; si usted es un cristiano, sólo sea un mejor cristiano.

En Rishikesh nos encontramos con bellas almas y nos honraron con su amistad. Compartimos una gama de nuevas experiencias como el oír los tambores todos los días a las 5 de la mañana, usar sólo ropa blanca, sentarnos en el piso los días enteros y tratar de aprendernos de memoria las mantras védicas.

En las escrituras, la liberación ha sido declarada como la recompensa de un baño en el Ganga o una revisión profunda del Bhagavad Gita (libro de enseñanzas espirituales). Aunque hemos estado estudiando el Gita, decidimos tomar la vía rápida y tomamos un baño en el Ganga. Estuvo muy frío, especialmente porque fue a las 6 am. ¡Pero quizá vamos a ocupar otros baño para poder lograr la liberación!

Visitamos el Maharishi Mahesh Yogui Ashram o también llamado el Beatles Ashram. Los Beatles y sus señoras visitaron el Ashram en 1968 y permanecieron allí para un par de meses durante los cuales escribieron muchas canciones. Sin embargo, ellos reclamaron que el Maharishi less había hecho demandas de dinero y que había tenido comportamientos impropios hacia los discípulos femeninos. Años más tarde, los Beatles se disculparon públicamente diciendo que los rumores fueron sin fundamento. Por estos o por otras razones que nosotros no conocemos, el Ashram fue abandonado en 1997. Aunque está en ruinas, las cúpulas de meditación están todavía en buena forma.

La principal calle del mercado está inundada con libros sobre meditación, yoga y espiritualidad, con música para apoyar su sendero espiritual, con agentes de viajes y cremas y medicinas de Ayurveda. ¡Ahora estamos bien armados para continuar nuestro viaje!

La pasamos muy bien en Rishikesh y nos gustaría regresar, quizás en Marzo para el Festival Internacional de Yoga…

After only one night in Delhi, a peaceful train ride and a hectic taxi, we arrived in Rishikesh, the Yoga Capital of the World or the Land of the Seers. The cows walk peacefully and can do anything they want (including stealing a hand of bananas that Jose Pablo was carrying) and leaving cow dung in every street. At night, elephants may block the main road so it’s better not to get sick at that time, otherwise you’ll need to be carried out in a motorcycle and cross the hanging bridge like that. Yoga classes and Ayurveda treatments are offered at every other door, meat and alcohol are seen as the enemies and sadhus (ascetics wearing orange robes) are in every corner, some of them on genuine spiritual journeys and some others dedicated to begging.

The beautiful Parmarth Niketan Ashram (a place of spiritual retreat) was our home for 4 weeks. Among yogis and yoginis from different countries and many playful monkeys ready to still your bottles of water or anything looking like food, Patricia finished a course to become a Yoga teacher. Jose was expecting to do a relaxing one week introductory yoga course but ended up doing a 2-week intensive, followed by 2 weeks of yoga twice a day.

During this time, we learned not only about asanas (the exercise part that we normally call Yoga) but also about vedic chanting, pranayama (breathing control), meditation, cleaning techniques, ayurveda (the science of life including diet) and eastern philosophy. We had our meals at fixed times at the Ashram; all the food was vegetarian and quite simple and we were eating at the dining hall where we all sit on the floor cross legged. We can say with confidence that this has been the time in our lives when we have felt the healthiest and fittest.

Our daily routine included waking up before 5 am, so that we could follow the cleaning requirements that must be met before doing Yoga. The first class would start at 6 am of a fully packed day until 8.00 pm when we would have a session on Yoga Nidra (sleeping Yoga). The Ashram then is supposed to be on silence after 9.00 pm.

Ganga Aarti happened every day for an hour at sunset sitting in front of the Ganga (the Holy Ganges River) and the statue of Shiva, surrounded by the Rishi Kumaris (orphans that have been adopted by the Ashram) and a large crowd of pilgrims and tourists. As Swamiji (the guru of the Ashram) describes it, Ganga Aarti is a happy hour to get together, pray to Mother Ganga through beautiful mantras and participate in a ceremony where we send all our negative thoughts and actions to the fire and as the seeds are burnt they won’t be able to germinate again.

We also had the privilege to sit with Swamiji. He told us stories of his life and gave us some of his teachings. One of them referred to yoga not being a religion but an ancient science which leads to health in the body, peace in the mind, joy in the heart and liberation of the soul. He referred to the mantras that we were singing. These mantras are written in the old Sanskrit language, however, when we sing them, we can offer them to any God we want, at the end of the day it is the same God, just different names. Swamiji always says that if you are a Muslim, just be a better Muslim; if you are a Christian, just be a better Christian.

We met beautiful souls there and were honoured with their friendship. We were all sharing a range of new experiences like hearing the drums ringing at 5 am every morning, wearing only white cloth, sitting on the floor the entire day and trying to learn the vedic mantras by heart.

In the scriptures, liberation has been declared to be the reward of a bath in the Ganga or a dive into the Bhagavad Gita (book of spiritual teachings). Even though we have been studying the Gita, we decided to take the fast track and had a bath in the Ganga. It was really cold, especially because it was at 6 am. But maybe we’ll still need another deep in order to achieve liberation!

We visited the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi Ashram or so called Beatles Ashram. The Beatles and their partners visited the Ashram in 1968 and stayed there for a couple of months during which they wrote many songs. However, they claimed that the Maharishi had made demands for money and had had improper behaviour towards female disciples. Years later, the Beatles publicly apologised saying that the rumours were unfounded. For these or for other reasons that we don’t know, the Ashram was abandoned in 1997. Even though it is in ruins, the meditation domes are still in good shape.

The main market street was inundated with books on meditation, yoga and spirituality, music to support your spiritual path, travel agents and Ayurvedic creams and medicines. We are now well armed to continue our journey!

We had a great time in Rishikesh and we are hoping to go back, maybe in March for the International Yoga Festival…

El Dios Mono y su discipulo / The Monkey God and his disciple

Beatles Ashram: cupula de meditacion / meditation dome

Patricia & Juhi: saliendo del Gages / coming out of the Ganges

Jose Pablo: sobreviviendo las aguas del Ganges / surviving the waters of the Ganges

Patricia con amigas de yoga / with yoga friends

Ganga Aarti

Ceremonia final del fuego / Final fire ceremony

Foto del grupo de Yoga / Yoga Group Photo

Patricia reciviendo certificado de profesora de Yoga otorgado por Swamiji (con la barba negra larga) / Patricia receiving Yoga teacher certificate given by Swamiji (the one with long black beard)

Con nuestras profesoras de Yoga (Mataji y Induji) / With our Yoga teachers (Mataji and Induji)

Debido a las festividades, que prohibió el flujo de vehículos dentro o fuera de Lhasa, y al fuerte mal estomacal de Patricia, tuvimos que cambiar un poco nuestros planes. Aun así, terminamos haciendo la mayor parte de lo que queríamos.

Lhasa es más moderno y más callado de lo que esperábamos. Nos encanto la oscuridad y el frío de las mañanas con el resto del día muy soleado y con cielos azules, muchas flores por todas partes y personas muy amables.

Los peregrinos tibetanos vienen de las áreas rurales a visitar todos los monasterios en Lhasa. Su viaje a la capital les puede tomar hasta 1 año ya que caminan y hacen postraciones (reverencias al Buda yendo a las rodillas y luego hacia el piso) a través de su viaje. Una vez que llegan a Lhasa visitan todos los monasterios por aproximadamente 3-4 meses. Su fervor es impresionante y puede sentirse realmente en la atmósfera.

Visitamos una cantidad masiva de monasterios en Lhasa y otros lugares, a la extensión de conseguir una sobredosis. Algunos de ellos fueron el Templo de Jokhang (el principal templo de Tíbet y el más sagrado), y los Monansterios Deprung, Sera y Samye. Generalmente están llenos con peregrinos y turistas, tienen un olor intenso a incienso y mantequilla de yak (utilizado en vez de velas) y a veces hay que atravesar escaleras muy angostas y empinadas. Fue muy interesante observar los debates que tienen los monjes cada tarde en los patios con el propósito de mejorar su sabiduría. Nuestro guía se aseguró de que aprendiéramos tanto como fuera posible acerca de las estatuas e inclusive reconocer los diferentes protectores, reyes, los Budas del 'pasado, presente y el futuro' y muchos otros unos como los Budas de la Sabiduría, la Compasión y la Energía. ¡Al final nos estaba probando!

El Palacio de Potala es verdaderamente impresionante. Era la casa del gobierno tibetano y la residencia de invierno de los Dalai Lamas hasta 1950, cuándo China invadió Tíbet. Debido a rumores de un complot chino para raptar al Dalai Lama (Océano de Sabiduría), él huyó a India en 1959 y desde entonces ha estado en el exilio.

China ha cambiado mucho a Tíbet. Han traído cantidades importantes de inversión social y económica que parecen estar manteniendo a algunas personas felices y la prohibición de poseer cualquier imagen o literatura relacionadas al decimocuarto Dalai Lama ayudan a hacer que otros se olviden.

Los Tibetanos saben que el Dalai Lama morirá pronto y cómo el nuevo Dalai Lama será encontrado está en duda. Lo que es seguro es que los Chinos harán todo lo posible por influir esa decisión.

La comida estuvo muy bien aunque no tan variada como en la parte principal China. Los mejores platos fueron los Momos (bolas rellenas) con verduras, queso o carne de yak. De hecho, comimos mucha carne de yak, que estuvo muy sabrosa, pero probablemente la fuente de sufrimiento para el estómago de Patricia. ¡Sin embargo, la presencia China estuvo fácilmente disponible y un médico chino muy amable le salvó la vida!

Lo que mas disfrutamos del viaje fueron las conversaciones con nuestro guía local acerca de todo, desde budismo y el Dalai Lama hasta el impacto de China en Tíbet.

Tíbet es uno de los lugares más hermosos que hemos visto en nuestras vidas. Ver las montañas majestuosas reflejadas en lagos azul-turquesa fuer probablemente lo que más nos ha gustado.

Fuimos al Campo Base de Everest. Pensamos que el campamento iba a ser algo realmente especial pero no hay mucho allí, sólo una colina pequeña cubierta por banderas de oración y piedras para mirar la cumbre y mucha protección por el ejército Chino. Tuvimos suerte de ver la puesta del sol el día que llegamos; sin embargo, el día que escalamos estuvo muy nublado.

Después del Campo Base continuamos con nuestro conductor y el guía en un Land Cruiser a la frontera con Nepal. El viaje en si mismo estuvo emocionante y hubo vistas asombrosas de cascadas al ir descendiendo de los 5.300 mtrs. a 2.000 mtrs.

El viaje nos dio mucho tiempo de reflexionar y un momento para emocionarnos por cruzar a un país nuevo… Nepal.

El Lama de Dalai no puede volver, no puede regresar a casa, a su gente, a su país. Si recuerda esto, por favor haga una oración para él esta noche.

We just spent 11 interesting days in Tibet, the rooftop of the world. Our trip was almost cancelled due to the Chinese National Day Celebration and the 60th Anniversary of the Communist Party.

After a 48 hour journey in the highest rail road in the world (more than 5,000 m) including oxygen masks, we arrived safely and without altitude complications in Lhasa to receive beautiful white scarves as a welcoming gift (traditional in Tibet) and to find heavy Chinese military presence due to the Celebration.

Due to the festivities, which prohibited the flow of vehicles in or out of Lhasa, and Patricia’s very upset stomach, we had to change a bit our plans. Still, we finished doing most of what we wanted.

Lhasa was more modern and quieter than what we expected. We loved the dark and cold early mornings with the rest of the day being very sunny and with blue skies, many flowers everywhere and very kind people.

Tibetan pilgrims come from the rural areas to visit all monasteries in Lhasa. Their journey to the capital can take them up to 1 year as they walk and do prostrations (reverences to the Buddha going to their knees and down to the floor) throughout their journey. Once they get to Lhasa they visit all the monasteries for about 3-4 months. Their fervour is impressive and you can really feel it in the atmosphere.

We visited a massive amount of monasteries in Lhasa and other places, to the extent of getting an overdose. Some of them were the Jokhang Temple (Tibet’s first and most holy), the Deprung, Sera and Samye Monasteries. They are usually packed with pilgrims and tourists, have an intense smell to incense and yak butter (used instead of candles) and sometimes you have to go through very narrow and steep stairs. It was very interesting to observe the debates that monks have every afternoon in the courtyards for several ours to improve their wisdom. Our guide made sure that we learned as much as possible about the statues, including recognizing the different protectors, the kings, the ‘past, present and future’ Buddhas and a large number of other ones such as a the Wisdom, Compassion and Energy Buddhas. At the end he was even testing us!

The Potala Palace is certainly impressive. It used to be the seat of the Tibetan government and the winter residence of the Dalai Lamas until 1950, when China invaded Tibet. Amid rumours of a Chinese plot to kidnap the Dalai Lama (Ocean of Wisdom), he fled to India in 1959 and since then he has been in exile.

The Chinese are changing Tibet a lot. Important amounts of social and economic investment seem to be keeping some people happy and the banning of any pictures and literature related to the 14th Dalai Lama are helping to make others forget.

Tibetans know that the Dalai Lama will die sometime soon and how the new one will be found is in question. What is for sure is that the Chinese will do all they can to influence it.

Food was tasty although not as much variety as with ‘Chinese food’. The highlights were the Momos (dumplings) with vegetables, cheese or yak meat. In fact, we had a lot of yak meat, which was very tasty, but probably the source of suffering for Patricia’s stomach. However, the Chinese presence was readily available and a kind Chinese doctor saved her life!

The highlight of the trip was having conversations with our local guide about everything from Buddhism and the Dalai Lama to China’s impact on Tibet.

Tibet is one of the most beautiful places we’ve ever seen in our lives. Viewing the majestic mountains mirrored in blue-turquoise lakes was probably the most enjoyable thing we have done.

We went to the Everest Base Camp. We thought the camp was going to be something really special but there’s not much there, just a little hill covered by prayer flags and rocks to watch the summit from and heavily guarded by the Chinese military. We were lucky to see the pick on the day we arrived; however, on the day we climbed it was too cloudy.

After Base Camp we continued with our driver and guide in a Land Cruiser all the way to the border with Nepal. The journey itself was exciting filled with amazing views of waterfalls as we descended from 5,300 m to 2,000 m.

The journey gave us lots of reflection time and a moment to get excited about crossing to a new country… Nepal.

The Dalai Lama cannot go back, cannot go home to his people, to his country. If you remember this, please put a prayer for him tonight.

Vista desde el tren / View from the train : Chengdu - Lhasa

Peregrinos / Pilgrims: Jokhang Temple

Bolitas fritas y carne de Yak / Dumplings and Yak meet

Uno te los protectores de los Templos / One of the protectors of the Temples

El Nuevo Palacio de Verana / New Summer Palace

Los monjes debatiendo / The monk debating

El Buda Presente / The Present Budha

Gente Tibetana / Tibetan people

El Palacio de Potala / Potala Palace

Jose & Himalayas

Jose con ropas tradicionales y montado en un yak / Jose with traditional cloth and riding a yak

Yaks

Yamdrok-Tso Lago / Lake

Patricia & Mt. Everest

Mt. Everest!

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