Coming down the mountain.

This brings me to Saturday 4/4...

We woke up before the sun today to make our descend from Darjeeling to catch a 20 hour train ride to Varanasi. When we boarded the train a security guy came up to us warning us to be VERY careful with ourselves and our belongings. This is the first time I can recall anyone warning us about safety and theft while we have been here. He told us not to sleep because our possessions were not safe and told us not to take any food other passengers offered us because it could be laced with drugs. Repeatedly he said "be careful, be careful."- So we were. Luckily nothing happened, but there was definitely a different vibe on the train this time around. A few men were attempting to get a little too close for comfort, and as soon as the realized we were not girls to be messed with (we have all perfected our stare downs), they backed off.


The train got us to Varanasi around 5 in the morning. Varanasi is believed to be one of the oldest living cities in the world. Which is kind of ironic because this is where they burn bodies and dump the ashes in the river, or for pregnant women or children they just get dumped right in. We got checked into our guest house just in time to take the sunrise boat tour on the Ganges River. Ghats lined the river with two of them there specifically for body burnings. It wasn't as morbid as I anticipated it would be. I noticed only men were present at the ceremony, and later we found out that women are not allowed to go because they are unable to control their grieving which would prevent the deceased's spirit from passing on in peace. I thought that was pretty interesting. The streets of Varanasi were like none other I've ever seen. At one point today we were riding in a bicycle drawn rickshaw amongst hundreds of bikes, motor bikes, motor vehicles, ox drawn carts and men riding elephants. If that weren't bizarre enough, there would be processions or men chanting, carrying bodies on stretchers, made of bamboo garnished with gaudy tinsel, down to the river for burning. I almost walked head first into one of these stretchers when I came around a corner in the tiny backstreets of the old district.



The streets were a little more chaotic than usual while we were there due to elections. You could barely walk down the pedestrian roads because they were so congested with voters and police. It took us a while to figure that out, but once we did it made the elbows in the stomach and the shoves a little more bearable. We were in Varanasi for nearly three full days, and unfortunately I was in bed with heatstroke for two of them. It was pretty miserable, but a doctor came to see me and loaded me with some goods to make me feel better. This being said, I didn't get to see the full potential of this holy city but I did get a taste. We were supposed to head down to Badhavgarh National Park before heading to Agra, but with me being sick, we missed our train and ran out of time. I was really excited about trying to find me some tigers but I guess that will just have to wait until my next visit to India.

A little story to share:

We were eating lunch at the rooftop restaurant of our guest house and a monkey crawled up and sat on the corner of the wall. He seemed unimpressed with what he saw and he left. Then another monkey came up and surveyed the scene before settling on the table next to us. He walked along the ledge and pounced on the table and snagged a brand new pack of cigarettes. He took off to the roof below us, opened the pack and put half of them in his mouth like he was going to smoke them, spit them out and proceeded to do that with every last cig. Not sure what he was expecting but it definitely was entertaining. The monkey's are pests here but without fail will give you a good laugh.

Wednesday the 8th, we arrived in Agra: home of the infamous Taj Mahal.

Calcutta-Darjeeling

Alright so I wasn't sure people were still reading this other than my parents, which might still be the case, but they say that "people" are wondering why I'm not writing...So I'm not sure who I am pleasing, but here goes...

Shortly after Caitlin got here we took off on a 30 hour train ride from Chennai to Calcutta. I was far more prepared for this train ride than I was the last one we took. We were greeted by a pack of rats hustling around the tracks below us when we were boarding and I didn't even flinch. Maybe I'm getting a little too used to things around here. Here is my one little story from the journey that I wrote in my journal on the train:

"As I'm sitting here now I finally pieced together a puzzle. There is a man and 2 women residing in the bunks next to us. Last night I saw him come to the bunk and kiss one girl goodnight. For the 1st part of the day his affection was to her with subtle glances and touches to the other one. This first caught my attention because its not that common to see displays of affection in public here. Then it really caught my attention when the recipient of the kisses switched to the other woman. There's a first time for everything! Oh wait, as I'm writing this, he has switched back. I think he has favorites."--- But by the end of the train ride, the puzzle has really been solved. Another older man shows up and turns out the woman number two was his mother!

Needless to say though, we did make it to Calcutta in one piece. It's fun having Cait here, she brings a freshness to the trip; things Rach and I overlook now are still new in Cait's eyes, so we have to stay on our toes. When we got off the train we were greeted by hundreds of the cutest little yellow taxis I have ever seen. It looked like a scene out of Dick Tracey. We thought that maybe that would just be at the train station, but no, it was the entire city. Calcutta has way more charm than I would have expected. Pleasantly surprised.

Calcutta was a whirlwind. We went to the flower markets (which I can't remember the name of), which was chaos to the fullest. There were stalls and stalls filled with strands of flowers, loose flowers, stemmed flowers...you get the point. Rickshaws were flying down the alleyways with deliveries; Rachel managed to hope on one of the bikes and pull us behind her in the wagon. It was pretty hard to avoid stares at that point. While in Calcutta we also visited Mother Teresa's Tomb. It was fascinating to read her story and see her personal belongings. My favorite part was seeing the last pair of shoes that she wore, you could see how much her toes and worn them down. It sounds silly I know, I just don't know how to describe it. If nothing else, it was amazing to read her story and read how much she helped people, and then walk out on the streets and see the very people she was trying to prevent from suffering. We have all heard how selfless this woman was, but to really see it firsthand is an experience I would not give back.

Our few days in Calcutta went very quickly and before we knew it we were on yet another overnight train up to Darjeeling. When we got off the train we had to catch a jeep to complete the remaining 3 hours of the journey. The drive was spectacular! The distance traveled was only 40 km, but the winding road up into the mountains, coupled with the horrible traffics it was easy to see why it took so long. The roads aren't really made for 2 way traffic let alone vehicles. Darjeeling was so majestic, set above the clouds yet at the base of a mountain. Unfortunately a view of the Himalayas was non-existent, but you could definitely feel the elevation; that and the temperature dropped about 40 degrees. I don't think I have ever been, or will ever again be, high above the clouds and still at the base of a mountain. Pretty amazing. But our lack of view of Everest and those other tall mountains, didn't ruin our trip up north. We did go "white-water rafting"-- which consisted of a man in jeans teaching two others how to row a boat while we just sat there and went over some rapids. If you go to Darjeeling, I would recommend that you skip this little adventure. The highlight for me though, was going to the Tibetan Self Help Refuge Center where we got to play some full court basketball and meet people who are personally affected by all of the turmoil. (And I know you are probably wondering, so I'll just answer you now...yes I've still got skills on the court!)...well kinda. Oh, and one more piece about Darjeeling before I sign off. Just to prove what a small world it is, we went into this TINY bar for a night cap and Caitlin ran into a guy she knows from Seattle. What are the odds?

Alright, I think that's it for now. I realize that my posts are starting to sound more like emails than anything else, but its crunch time on catching up on this thing before I leave for Africa. So bare with me. I also have no clue on the dates of these events, but this was all roughly 2 weeks ago...wowzers.

What I did for a week while I wasn't blogging.

I was doing pretty well with documenting my whereabouts and my doings for the first part of the trip, but now I've just gotten lazy. So, a lot has happened over the last two weeks and I've probably forgotten about half of it, but I'll do my best to recap.

Once we left Mettupallayam we took an overnight bus ride from hell to Pondicherry, an old French colony. It was definitely a step away from the India we had been experiencing the last few weeks. It is set right on the Ocean, with a promenade everyone steps out to at night wearing there best clothes. You can tell it is the place to see and be seen for new couples and teenagers. We stayed at an Ashrum while we were there and vowed not to do it again. With a dress code and a curfew there eyes watched your every move very closely. Vegar had gotten some food poisoning and they were convinced he was a drunk American who had no respect...now we all know the reputation Americans have! On the 24th, we headed just 10km outside of Pondicherry to this place called "Auroville." I'd write much more about it now, but I'm realizing I have about 2 weeks of catching up to do and you would probably find it just as interesting to check out the website. www.auroville.org. In a nutshell it is "an experiment in international living where people could live in peace and progressive harmony above all creeds, politics and nationalities." Enough said.

We had our palms read again by some drunk crazy man living on the streets. Nothing paired up with my other reading I had previously except for a couple of things which came from reading my numbers...like my lucky stone, lucky days, and lucky numbers. He did have us write everything down though so I'll enlighten you all to what he said about my future.
-2003-2008 not good, wasting money. (Dad you are probably disappointed right now since that basically covers my collegiate career).
-June 2009 is better change, living in another country. Maybe Canada City...who knew there was such place.
(FYI I'm taking his words right out of his mouth, my English isn't that bad)
-Father is hard working (don't know why that is relevant about my future but I'll include it).
-July 15, 2010 permanent job (mark your calenders).
-Age 27 get married, happy, 2 sons (don't hold your breath).
-April 15, 2009 All problems solved, success (I'll keep you posted).
-Age 39 "You make more money."
-Marriage a man starting with M, possibly Michael. (uh-oh!)

Alright, that's all I've got for you. Oh and yellow sapphires and ruby's are my stones in case you ever want to buy me a gift :)

So, after Pondicherry, Rachel and I headed further north to Mammallapuram, a 7th century port city; filled with rock cut cave temples and monolithic chariots. The architecture here was pretty amazing. We rented a scooter and would be driving through dirt and filth before coming face to face with these enormous sculptures settled in the greenest of parks. If I would've written this about 2 weeks ago I'm sure I would've had a lot more to say but unfortunately that isn't the case. We did, however, get even better skilled at eating with our hands! It just makes life so much easier and way less dishes.
We were offered to be in a Tamil movie that would be shot in Mysore, for Rs 1000 a day with everything paid for. But, we decided we would hold out and see if we could do that in Bollywood. Would've made an excellent story...woulda, coulda, shoulda.

This brings me to Friday, 27 March.

I splurged on a pair of custom fit leather sandals, $6. That was the excitement for the morning until CAITLIN ARRIVED!!! We had arranged for a car to pick her up at the airport in Chennai and deliver her to our doorstep. Worked like a charm. Thanks to Uncle Gary and dad, her trip and flights from the states went smoothly. That was the excitement for today, we just caught up and wandered down the not so fondly smelling beach.