Pennies for a Puja

We spent four days in Varanasi and it was a rather inspiring place, so this is not the last Varanasi blog post.



At night the river bank is crowded with people (mostly men because you don't see a lot of women out at night). There's singing and praying as the town puts the river to sleep for the evening.


Women and children sell small offerings to make a puja (a prayer) with. You're meant to give the river the offering.






The first full day Emily and I were in Varanasi it happened to be the same day as the Kite Festival.


There were hundereds of kites in the sky over Varanasi that day. Children and adults take part in the kite flying and cutting and running. We were lucky enough to meet Vishnu, a local shop owner who invited us up to his roof to take part in the festival.


It was great to see Varanasi from a roof top. To get away from the crowded, tourist-cramped labyrinth below, families who own shops in the city find refuge above. They eat, play and even sleep on their rooftops when the weather is right. Today especially, the whole city was out to watch the kites.


This is one of the little fellows we met on Vishnu's roof. He was wearing a Canadian tuxedo and ear muffs even though it had to be at least 25 degrees Celsius. He was quite the kite flyer, as was Vishnu. I wasn't too bad myself, either. Emily may have had a few problems, though.

Varanasi on the Ganga

From Delhi we headed West to Varanasi, one of the holiest cities for Hindus on the Ganga. Pilgrims swarm to the river bank to bath in holy water of the Ganges, they congregate in the evening for music and prayer during the evening ceremony, and they bring loved ones to die in the city and have their ashes spread along the river.

Varanasi was one of those cities where I could sit by the river for hours doing absolutely nothing and I was completely content. While we sat in the sun on the steps by the river, kids flew kits, travellers played music and pye dogs (stray dogs) wrestled one another. There was even a pick-up cricket game taking place on the river bank.

After a relaxing first day hanging out at near Pandey Ghat we woke up early the next morning for two Varanasi musts: a sunrise boat tour and early-morning yoga.


The boat tour was about an hour and cost each of us 100 Rupees, or about $2 CAD.




Our guide told us that lots of people think the Ganga is dirty and polluted, but he swore it wasn't. Nevermind the human remains that float down the river, the garbage on its shore and general lack of waste removal in all of India. But, it's their river and they can do whatever they'd like with it, I guess.






There were a ton of seagulls out in the morning. But, they weren't overly aggressive and didn't try to steal my french fries like they do in Vancouver.


Everything in the city, and pretty much the whole country, is painted some sort of brilliant colour. It's beautiful and even on dreary days the colours really put a positive touch on things.

Bang the Peace Gong

The majority of travellers of India agree on one thing: Delhi sucks. It's overcrowded, it's stinky, it's smoggy and it's loud. Emily and I stayed two nights and just one day in the city. We spent the whole day out and did what we could, but didn't go crazy with sight seeing. Old Delhi in the morning, Gandhi Smriti in the afternoon and a Bollywood film in the evening.



Sunrise in Delhi.



Check out those power lines. Emily's bun got tangled and them once and really, that's just an octopus waiting to catch fire.



If there's any place to find solace in Delhi it's at the Gandhi Smriti (meaning "that which is remembered"). Ghandi spent his last days living in a modest house in a government-type area of Delhi. A few months after moving in, Gandhi was assassinated. This memorial marks the spot where Gandhi fell.



Part of the Gandhi Smriti includes a museum and a peace gong. Everybody was lining up to bang the peace gong. But, you weren't actually allowed to bang it. Lame.


The entire Gandhi Smriti, including the museum was free. Emily and I expected to spend about a half hour throughout the memorial, but ended up being there two and a half hours. The museum was super interactive and the history lesson was far from dry. After spending the morning being jostled around Old Delhi, the Smriti was a welcome break from the crowds. Plus the real Gandhi was there! See!



We went to a cinema to watch the Bollywood film "Tees Mar Khan" then stopped for a fresh jalebi from the Jalebi Walla at Chandni Chowk in Old Delhi. Hot damn that jalebi was hot and fresh. The deep fried, orange batter tastes like a sweeter chewier donut.

Old Dilli

On our way from Munnar to Dehli, Emily and I made a quick stop in Nagpur to check out the grave site of Em's great-grand aunt, Sister Aimee. She had been a nun in Nagpur back in the early 1900's and it meant a lot to Em's grandma that we stop by to see if we could get a picture of it.
I was hoping the hunt for the grave would lead to some epic novel I could write and make a ton of money off, but it actually turned out to be quite easy to find. We had the help of the Sisters of Saint Joseph and, of course, God was on our side.



We flew into Delhi from Nagpur. We arrived late so my first experience of Delhi, pronounced Dilli by the locals, was from the backseat of a taxi. It wasn't until the next morning when we took the subway into Old Delhi that I really got a taste and smell of the city.




If you can't carry it on your head, you're not Indian.


If your uncle doesn't have a shop that you want me to go to, then you're not Indian.


If you don't cheat tourists out of hundereds of Rupees by pretending to not know English, then you're not Indian.


If you don't sell trinkets outside holy places, you're not Indian (actually, you're not human if you don't make money off spirituality).


If you don't sleep in the middle of squares, you're not a pye dog.


If you don't find the most practical, "non-progressive" way of doing things, you're not Indian.

Tigers and Tea

After those long luxurious days on the beach, we spent just two nights in Kochi before getting out of the busy Indian city life again. This time we headed into the mountains, toward tigers and tea.


Getting on a bus is probably the most common way to travel in Indian, especially between smaller towns without train stations. But, just because it's common doesn't mean it's easy, orderly or on schedule. We planned on leaving Kochi at 1 p.m. on a five-hour bus through the jungle to the Periyar Tiger Reserve in Thekkady. The bus was delayed until 2 p.m. Then it didn't come at all. Then we had to wait until 4 p.m. We did make it, though. We arrived at 11 p.m. to a very irritated guest house owner.



The ride to Thekkady was the bumpiest, craziest, jungliest bus ride I've ever taken. I wrote a little in a journal along the way and the words are illegible because of the ups and downs and tight turns. Plus the speed. They love leaving late but getting there on time. Along the way we stopped at a few bus stands where men sell all sorts of food from hand carts. The food really does look good, but my foreigner stomach warned me against it.

The best part of arriving so late to a city is when you wake up to a magnificent view of meadow, bison grazing and all. The guest house we stayed in was the most beautiful place I've ever stayed. Birds were overhead, wild flowers were everywhere, hammocks were strung about. And most importantly, the place was clean and had hot water.



Our first day in Thekkady we lounged around the amazing guest house, made further travel arrangements and had our second ayurvedic massage in three days. We had to rest up for our jungle trek the next day.



For days before our trek Emily went on and on about preparing for leeches. So, to appease her, I wore long socks with my longest pants. I also wore a long plaid-shirt as well as a bright red baseball hat (very attractive). But, the leeches were prepared for me, it would seem. I was first to be suckled, but not the last.



The best part of the three hour trek was when we had to take off our shoes and sludge through mud that was ankle deep at some points. Of course, we did a thorough leech check at the end of it.

The point of the trek was to see some wildlife, but I didn't really expect to see anything. Especially in the middle of the day with a group of seven people, two of which were a 65-year-old British couple wearing khaki. We didn't see much on the walk but we did hear elephants. Everyone was super excited. Except our guide. The guide told me that the elephants had just given birth and had been especially aggressive with people the past couple days. It was imperative that we move very quickly through the next kilometer or two of our walk for own safety. But, he was very soft spoken and his English was a little . I was in times of stress. Apparently. So, as the guide and I made our way swiftly through the forest, the rest of the group, including the 65-year-old British couple wearing khaki, blundered behind us.



The next bus ride was the best ride I've been on in Indian. It was smooth, on time and it was only over-crowded to the point of people hanging out the doors for a short time. The scenery was beautiful, too: the tea plantations of Munnar.




A popular trend in the south is go ahead and use buildings that are only half built. For example, the hotel we stayed at in Munnar was five floors, each capable of having three to five rooms. But, there were only about four rooms in the whole place that were usable and the rest of the buidling sat as an empty shell. Just cement pillars. From the fifth floor, we had an amazing view of Munnar, though.



Can you spot Emily?



Can you spot Emily? Kidding. We were tired and lazy on our full day in Munnar so we took an autorickshaw tour through the hills. It was a beautiful day to sit back and take photos while being driven around tea plantations.



We were shown other things, such as Kerala's first dam, but we had no interest. Really, it was all about the tea.



Oh yes, and carrots. Emily needed carrots. She was in luck.

Twenty-four and so much more

I spent my 24 birthday in paradise. Or, I guess I should say on Paradise Beach. Just like every other year, it was better than the last. But this year, the days leading up to Jan 1st were more than a little different. This is just a quick tour of how we made our way from Mumbai to Kochi.



Mumbai is the most cosmopolitan city in India. I've been told it's a good place for travellers to start because it's so "Western" and not nearly as mad as Delhi. But, still it's a big city in India and it's pure crazy. There was no way I could capture the spirit of the city or the desperation of the slums in a single photograph, especially when I spent all of four hours there.



On our way south from Mumbai, Emily and I took one plane, a taxi, three buses and another taxi before we finally got to our first destination, Gokarna. Along the way it was stinkin' hot and we stopped for a refreshment in Magaon. Can you guess what Emily wanted?



After 13 hours of travel, we finally made it to Om Beach in Gokarna. Emily had been told that this was the place to be for New Year's Eve. It seemed, a lot of people had the same idea and there was nowhere to stay. Lucky for us, India people are extremely helpful and would never turn someone away. We ended up spending the next two nights on the patio of one of the restaurants on the beach.



And thank Ganesh, we had the hospitality of the restaurant owner. This could have been us.
Yes, that's a cow. They're everywhere here and they do whatever they damn well please because they're so holy. Some even wear necklaces.



Two months here and Emily already looks the part. We're looking for an India husband for her.



We took a boat to Paradise Beach, just 5 minutes north of Om Beach, on the 31st hoping we'd find a room to stay for the big night. But, of course there was no room at the inn. And, of course, we relied on the hospitality of another restaurant owner who let us sleep on the floor of his candy shop. The evening was nothing like the song suggests it would be, but it was still a great place to stay.



The sun was hot, the water was cool, there was music in the air and Emily was making a new friend.



Paradise Beach really was paradise. I don't even like beaches but I could see myself staying here for a long time. There were a number of people we talked to thatt had been on the beach for weeks or even months.



New Year's Eve festivities consisted of an intimate group of 30 and a ton of Indian Rum. We made some good friends that night. Emily and Natasha (from Austria) made sure I had a candle in a chocolate bar for my birthday. Everyone sang and hugged and I even got a midnight kiss from my best friend.



We left the beach and headed to Kochi, a big city in the southern state of Kerala. During the 12-hour train ride, some young men asked to take my picture. In the more rural parts of India young kids love taking pictures of foreigners and asking their "good name". I told these two they could have a picture of me if I could take one of them.



There are stray cats, dogs and cows everywhere in India. It was way too hot in Kochi for this cat.



I'm not exactly sure what these men are doing, but that's ginger they're sweeping. We were invited into a ginger plant to take photos while we walking around Kochi. It was free to look around and take photos the only catch was visiting the gift shop after. Emily has Catholic Guilt so she bought some ginger tea.