Where in the world is Georgia Ellen?

So here I am in Roadhouse Café, Kathmandu, a new favourite of mine – it’s just like cafes at home, with stupid price tags to match, but I’ve been feeling down and sorry for myself for the past week due to food poisoning I got in India and have hence been indulging myself with food at the moments I’ve felt able to eat. Speaking of indulgence, I’m currently chowing down on a ‘sizzling brownie’ – basically the most amazing walnut brownie ever served on a sizzling hot plate, with ice cream and chocolate sauce, spitting at you like Mongolian lamb. It’s fantastic. I’d been eyeing this on the menu for a few days now but hadn’t been game enough to let my tummy handle desserts. Being my last afternoon here for a while, I thought I’d give in – though the accompanying vanilla milkshake was probably a bit excessive and I can see myself with my head in a toilet bowl later this evening.

Moving on… due to the aforementioned illness I’ve found myself in the pits in the last week, and been highly uninspired by travelling in general, feeling that I was a bit over Asia and lacking the thirst for travel that I’d had when I have first arrived at other countries. I’m not sure what it is, but I’ve just been feeling glum – being physically sick seemed to make me homesick as I had a lot of time to sit around doing not too much except looking at Facebook and becoming nostalgic for Sydney life. I’ve particularly been missing my family, especially with Rachel’s exciting wedding plans and new puppy that I want to steal, and the familiarity of friends, bars, streets, life, plus now I’m completely solo again. It’s strange for me as I’ve always seen myself as quite independent, and had preferred travelling solo, but parting with Elena and the girls made me realise how comfortable and easy it can be travelling in pairs – though of course that comes with hassles too. ANYWAY, basically all this led me to be feeling rather ‘bleh’ and tired all the time, hence no posts for the last week. Luckily not much has happened in the last few days, but there are a few things to mention from earlier in the week.

On Sunday I had my orientation with the NVC organisation – which I must say was one of the most strange, hilarious and awkward things I’ve encountered. Manoj picked me up at around 11 in the morning and we got a taxi to their office, which was about a ten minute drive away. When I arrived, I was taken upstairs to meet Keshab –who must be one of the cutest and happiest people I’ve ever met. I’d been excited to meet him as he sounded so sweet from his emails, always ‘thanking me so much for my kind words’ and saying he couldn’t wait to meet me. It’s difficult to describe an encounter with people so genuinely kind like Manoj and Keshab – I’m sure that there are people with as beautiful souls in Sydney, but due to cultural differences we really express things in a different way. Keshab has already told me that he considers me a great friend, that he loves me and that he cares for me deeply – and I truly believe it’s very sincere. In another context it may be creepy, but there’s a warmness in the eyes of Manoj and Keshab that make it clear how passionate they are about helping people and how firm they are in their belief that their actions will continue to bring them true happiness. And I believe it too. However, with this cultural difference in action it can make me feel a little awkward as I’m not used to it – when they look at you, they really look into your eyes, whereas in Sydney if you’ve just met someone you’ll chat, smile, and look away. I constantly found myself trying to hold his stare and then pretending to be intently interested in the wall or the carpet, as I felt I didn’t have anything interesting to say. Funny little cultural differences.

When we went to Keshab’s office, he explained to me how he’d fractured his elbow falling down a ladder, and was hence wearing a cast, and then Manoj went downstairs to his own office while Keshab talked with me a bit and showed me videos on his computer of past volunteers also doing the orientation and talking about their experience. We then went downstairs for the ‘formal orientation’ – which was the real kicker. There were three of us in the room – Keshab, Manoj and I, and Manoj went to the podium with an enormous sign behind it saying ‘you are heartily welcomed to Nepal Volunteers Council’. He then began his speech as if he were addressing fifty new volunteers, took a photo of Keshab presenting me with a flower necklace and tikka (the red powder smushed onto an honoured guests forehead) and then requested that the president of the council come forward to do a speech. Keshab continued the theme of formality and reiterated how happy and excited they were for my arrival, and then I was invited to respond. I went to the podium and presented the best speech I could while they took photos, and then had a photo with each of them shaking their hand. It was really quite hilarious – especially considering it was just me there. We then had some tea, though I skipped on the donut as my stomach still wasn’t quite right, and we chatted for a while about various aspects of Nepalese and Australian life. They then arranged to get a taxi to get me back to the hotel, and we waited on the roof which had a great view of the city within the mountains. Keshab seemed nervous about me having to wait for the taxi, which I assured him was fine, but instead he insisted that we go by public bus instead so I didn’t have to wait.

The bus was more like a minivan-cum-autorickshaw which you pretty much hitch-hiked on and got off where you liked, paying the driver when you got off. We all piled into the van, and stopped regularly to let more people pile in too, and eventually got off in the centre of town, near the Queens Lake. Keshab then walked me into Thamel where we then went our separate ways and I stopped at a Thai restaurant to see how I went with my first meal in a while. By about five I was back at the hotel with my Pad See Ew back on its way up and I soon fell into bed.

The next morning I woke up very early and felt quite a bit better after vomiting my guts up the night before. I tried some pastry for breakfast (not an awesome idea), packed my bags, and stocked up on supplies for what I then-thought would be two to three weeks spent in a rural monastery (chocolate, noodles, toilet paper, etc). There had been some question as to whether we’d be going on Monday or not as apparently there were strikes going on around Nepal, but Manoj’s wide smile was there to greet me at my hotel door right on time at 11 again. We got in a taxi and he pointed out a few political buildings in Kathmandu, but pretty soon I fell asleep again, my body still exhausted from the illness it’s been enduring. About an hour and a half into the drive I woke up to some beautiful scenery as we drove through towns engulfed by green fields and mountains, and soon we were on our way up the extremely bumpy mountain past the occasional small house to Namo Buddha, where the monastery was situated.

It was a really beautiful place, set right on top of a beautiful mountain. There was the main monastery, a truly majestic deep red building with gilted decoration, surrounded by less-impressive but beautiful buildings for the school, clinic, dining halls, residences and guesthouses. There was also a more fancy-looking guesthouse nearby, as what I hadn’t realised was that foreigners could also come here and stay to walk around, pray and relax by their own accord, rather than volunteer. As a result, there was a small café by the road which sold toilet paper, bottled water, chocolate etc – quite a relief.

When we arrived I hiked up the copious amounts of stairs, just about ready to pass out, to a small meeting point where we bumped into Brigitte – an older French woman who was the only other volunteer working there, who I was very excited to meet. We then found the principal too, and he sent me off with a monk to set up my room. It was a small, plain room with a desk and they put a bed in there for me, but it had beautiful views of the mountains. The main downfall was that construction was going on right outside the window, so I constantly had a source of Nepalese music playing off their phones, but still it was fine. Exhausted, I rested for an hour, playing FloodIt on my iPhone (it really got me through this sickness), until 2.30 when I was supposed to meet back for tea. My stomach still wasn’t ready for tea, but Brigitte was going for a walk and offered for me to join her, which I agreed to as I was really keen to see what was around. On my way to change my shoes I also met Maxim, a guy from Quebec (pretty cute actually) who was staying a few doors down from me.

I met Brigitte again and she showed me a bit around the monastery before we left – though as we were walking around the complex we passed a young monk, probably around 12, who I’m 90% sure tried to grab my butt. I didn’t say anything as I was more in shock that anything else – probably the most action I’ve had since I’ve been away was being groped by a prepubescent monk!

Brigitte took me on a beautiful walk, which highlighted some of the great scenery of the area, and I learnt that she was quite an interesting woman, just travelling to places she was interested in and staying for a few months, volunteering or working, and then moving on. She had a very peaceful and unique outlook on life, which I liked to think I could relate to – but I could already tell that I wasn’t going to fit in and enjoy the monastery as much as she seemed to be – she’s already been there a month and a half and is staying for three!

When we got back to the monastery I went back to my room, had some chocolate for dinner (I’m sure that was great for my current digestive issues) and feel asleep as soon as the workers stopped – probably around 4.30pm… Rock on…! Despite the relaxing surroundings, my sleep was far from peaceful and I kept waking up throughout the night. Something hadn’t quite felt right since arriving in Nepal, and I was feeling quite lonely and isolated – especially as there was no internet access and my phone wasn’t working. I was pretty sceptical about how I’d manage to get through two weeks (no surprise that I didn’t), but running through my head constantly was the reminder that I only had a limited amount of time in Nepal and at this monastery, and I really just had to grab it by the balls.

After a rough sleep I woke up at about five, still feeling pretty shitty, and played FloodIt until I reluctantly made my way to the dining hall to meet with Maxim and Brigitte. It was an enormous wood-panelled room lined with a few cabinets full of Buddhist statues. The floor was lined with long benches and lower benches beside them upon which hundreds of monkly butts were perched. I found my place with the other foreigners – hardly any of whom spoke to each other. For breakfast was beans, momo-type bread, and tea – I handled some beans which were actually pretty good, but still wasn’t really up for eating.

After breakfast I was off to go back to my room before meeting with Brigitte for class, and on my way stopped off at the squat toilet near my room to quickly relieve myself, and went to grab my room key from the window sill as I left – my finger slipped and hop, skip, jump – my key was down the squat toilet. All I could help thinking was that OF COURSE this would happen to me. I found Brigitte’s room, and she showed me where to find the principal, who soon informed me that there was no spare key and that we’d first try to fish out the key and otherwise we would break the door. The poor monk who had shown me to my room the day before (I think he must be the principal’s prized bitch or something) was called down, and entered the squat toilet with a rubber glove and a plastic bag, solemnly closing the door behind me. I was 95% certain it would not be discovered, as it is a heavy metal key and my understanding of squat toilets is that below the hole is simply a large deep pit, and I was beginning to feel terrible about the fact that they’d have to break the door down for me on my second day at their monastery. However, ten long minutes later, out came the proud young monk, worse for wear but with my shiny key in his hot little hand. Amazed, I gratefully took it (after it was thoroughly washed) and attached it to my wrist like an enormous Pandora charm – I can’t even begin to imagine the journey that key went on. And to be honest I never hope to know.

After the eventfulness of the morning, I quickly got ready in my room and then went to meet Brigitte and the Principal, who had offered to show us the exam hall before our class began, as the older monks were completing their final exams that week. The subjects they learn are English, Nepali, Tibetan, and Maths – no specific history/geography/science subjects, but one of the monk teachers suggested that parts of these are incorporated into the learning matter for the other courses. We took the ‘short cut’ to the exam hall which, when wearing havaianas like I was, could also be considered a death route, but lagging behind slightly I finally caught up and made it to the exam hall with them. We were shown the monks taking their exams, which was much less formal than our HSC – teachers walking in and out and chatting, but to be honest I felt a little awkward strolling through and didn’t really see the point of observing it. We then collected some resources Brigitte felt were needed for the class and made our way back up to the complex where our students were supposed to be waiting.

When we arrived the room was strangely quiet, and no students in sight – we were pretty late for class so I think they’d thought it was cancelled or something. So she just explained the classes to me and showed me some stuff, and then we had a break until 10, when the next class was supposed to arrive. This time three students showed up, very cute 10 (or so) year old monks named Tashi Lundhup, Pemba Tsering and Karma Tenzin. We did a few alphabet and word exercises, and I helped Brigitte make some worksheets, but mainly I just observed to get some ideas for my class the next day.

After class we had another break until lunch, where once again I really wasn’t up for eating, but I was encouraged by Maxim and Brigitte to have some rice. Man they eat a lot of rice – he must’ve tried to serve me eight portions worth, though I gave it all back and just ate one portion. Maxim then showed me a place where you could get wifi. It was on top of one of the guesthouses, where you had to stand on the corner of the roof and try. Thankfully I got a weak signal, and could email Keshab, asking if I would be able to just stay a week in the monastery and then volunteer at the orphanage – I really wasn’t enjoying my time there and wasn’t excited about it. I also spoke to Maxim a bit, who seems really cool, and he told me a bit about Europe adventures which I am now very excited about! Can’t wait to drink tap water and not carry toilet paper in my bag.

That afternoon I was too tired to really do anything so I just watched a bunch of movies and fell asleep…though peaceful slumber didn’t stay for long. Once again at about 9 I awoke, my stomach feeling very questionable, and I was sick the whole night again. Unfortunately the bathroom was a squat toilet up a dark path next to Maxim’s room – being ill isn’t fun at the best of times, let alone in a random monastery where you can’t contact any friends or have much privacy. The next morning I didn’t bother going to breakfast but rather decided that I wanted to go back to Kathmandu and endure the rest of the illness in the comfort of a hotel room, and Keshab arranged for Manoj to pick me up around 2pm. We then made the uncomfortable descent back to the city, which was even more bumpy than I remember, and soon enough I was back in my familiar hotel room at Visit Nepal Hotel, with the comforts of hot water and wifi, and surrounding restaurants that served Western food…not that I was planning to eat anything.

Since then, the past few days I’ve just been relaxing and watching movies, and eating at nice (safe!) restaurants, indulging in fancy salads and sandwiches. I have two particular favourites, Northfield Café and the Roadhouse Café, both of which are quite expensive (the latter exorbitantly so) but given I usually only eat one meal a day I don’t mind so much. In the past day or so I’ve begun to get my appetite back which is good, though my stomach is still not digesting food properly. Tomorrow Manoj will pick me up around 12 to go to the volunteer house, so for now I just plan to watch more movies and sort out travel ideas with the Lonely Planet I just bought at a second hand book store.

I’m excited to go to the house and have a bit more of a routine going, and I plan to do some sightseeing during the mornings that I’m there, as I understand that I only have to work in the late afternoons. Anyway, I guess all will be revealed once I’m actually in the house.

Until then, adios!

x

Today was a terrible day! But I am now glad to have endured it and be resting nicely in a hotel in Kathmandu, safe and sound. The last time I wrote was only this morning since Amritsar airport, but much happened since then.
1) I got to Amritsar airport at 7.30, paranoid about missing my check in. Turns out the Jet Airways office doesn’t open until 8am and you can’t enter the airport itself until you have their printout, so I had to wait outside on the curb until 8am when some staff arrived.
2) I felt ridiculously crap the whole plane ride, as I’m still in recovery from yesterdays unexpected bout of illness. I was absolutely exhausted both plane rides, which kind of sucked for the whole day as I was hoping to be bright and bubbly to greet Nepal.
3) When I arrived at Delhi, my plane had been slightly late, but I thought I had plenty of time until I realised it was 12.20pm as I was going through security – my plane departed at 12.50 and boarding closes 25 minutes before departure, i.e. at 12.25! Stressed, some girls in the queue kindly let me pass them, and after being groped during the personal screening, the baggage security (who certainly aren’t very proactive) stopped to search my bag for nail clippers, but it through again, and then let me go.
4) No one was really keen to help me find where to go, and I walked into the wrong passenger lounge, but finally arrived at the correct port – thank god my flight was delayed!
5) When I got on the plane, my seat was in row 14, so I went four rows back from 10 – only to discover that the planes don’t actually have a row 13 and I was in the wrong seat!
6) As I flew down to Kathmandu over the amazing mountains, seeing them peeping through the clouds, all seemed well, until I arrived at the terminal and realised I had to get my visa on arrival. Turns out they only take cash in foreign currencies – which I didn’t have – and then the ATM wasn’t working, so I couldn’t get any cash out. An Aussie guy in the line offered to front me but I was very reluctant to take his kind offer – the security held my passport and let me go downstairs to another ATM, then come back upstairs, through security again, and change those Nepalese Rupees to USD.
7) I then had to pay $100 for the 90 day visa, instead of the $40 for the 30 day visa, as I am staying 33 days. Turns out the penalty for overstaying is $30 plus $3 /day, which would make mine $79 instead of $100, but the guy said that obviously he can’t willingly let me overstay my visa. Thus I paid the hundred – so annoying!
8) When I arrived, ridiculously late, I hunted out my baggage and went to look for the NVC representative. I couldn’t see my name anywhere, nor did I have a phone number, and there was no internet access in the airport. I contacted mum, Rachel and Susi to search my emails, but just as I messaged them I found my representative!

At once, I was at ease. I was greeted by Manoj, who told me a lot about Nepal and the NVC organisation on our way to the hotel. Turns out he was a journalist and teacher, but then decided to work in the field of aid. He is clearly so passionate about his cause and what he’s doing, and it makes him so happy – I love it.

He settled me into the hotel and we spoke for a while, but I was absolutely pooped and smelt like crap so I was happy to be left in isolation when he left. I’ll be seeing him again tomorrow for orientation though.

The hotel is in Thamel, the main tourist district of Kathmandu, which really isn’t all too nice. I went for a walk around and it’s just another tourist district with shops that sell the exact same tie dyed clothes and incense. I wasn’t too motivated to go very far, and eventually ended up in a decent-looking restaurant. The food seems a bit pricier here than in India but the restaurants seem to be of higher quality too.

At dinner a man asked to come sit and eat with me; his name was Amal and he was from Afghanistan. One of his first questions to me was ‘have you ever met someone from Afghanistan?’. Interestingly, I really don’t think I had, but I’m sure glad I have now. He was in Nepal on a trip with an education program he’d been selected for by Rotary in Bangkok, which sounded really interesting, as he works in peace and conflict resolution in Afghanistan – I imagine it to be a very interesting place to work in such a field. We spoke a lot about our cultural differences, and he was shocked when I mentioned Australia’s 50% divorce rate, and amazed when I tried to explain my family tree to him – when I mentioned ‘step-brother’ he asked if that meant he was my adopted brother, haha. He was lovely, but I’m pooped and was ready to go.

When I got to my hotel I could hear a guitarist and singer at the bar across the road, and 9 Crimes and Blowers Daughter came on – I kid you not I thought that my luck had turned around and Damien Rice was doing a show across the road, perhaps on holiday. I debated whether to put pants on and go, and ended up deciding affirmatively, but to my dismay it was actually just two young, skinny, long-haired Nepalese musicians. Well, not dismay – they were really great. Actually they are – they just started playing Fire by Jimi Hendrix! They’ve been doing some really great covers. I was listening for a while but decided to come back to bed because I can hear it just as loudly from here haha.

Anyway, I’m gonna listen some more until they stop and I can sleep 
Goodnight

xx

I survived India!

I’m currently at Amritsar Airport (which is packed with Indians with British accents – perhaps Sikh’s visiting the Golden Temple?) waiting to board my flight to Kathmandu via Delhi, so unless anything goes horribly wrong in the next 2 and a half hours, I can safely say I conquered India. My experience has been…interesting, and definitely worthwhile. Towards the end I definitely began to experience some homesickness, and every day I continue to endure culture shock, but all in all it’s been a fabulous journey and I’ve learnt so much. It’s such a big country that I’m sure I’ll come back and explore more, as this place is nothing short of amazing. They don’t call it Incredible India for nothing!

My next stop is Nepal, where I will be volunteering again, this time teaching English in a monastery. I’ve been told that the monastery is in Kavre, which google maps shows to be about an hour and a half from Kathmandu, but I can’t find much else on the area, so I guess we’ll have to wait and see what that has in store. I also plan to go to Pokhara, possibly do a yoga and meditation retreat, maybe do a trek, and do a jungle safari in Chitwan. But, I haven’t really made any plans so I guess we’ll have to wait and see!

The past three days I had spent in Mcleod Gang (near Dharamsala) with Elena, which was amazing. I can’t believe we almost left it off our itinerary. It is an ENTIRELY different India in the Himalayan region.

Dharamsala is where the Dalai Lama was moved to when he became exiled from Tibet, and has since become a very popular destination to receive refugees who have fled Tibet. As such, the entire town is completely devoted to the cause of freeing Tibet, and everywhere you look there are signs, stickers, and paintings advocating it. There are a number of NGOs there too who work with refugees to help them learn English and skills to join the workforce. It is also very touristy, however all the tourists there are typically vegetarian dreadlock-clad hippie backpackers, who are all very friendly and chilled out, and interested in Tibetan culture. As you walk down the street there are probably about 30% Tibetan market-stallholders, 30% monks, 30% tourists and 10% Indians! It has a very unique vibe to anywhere else I’ve seen in India.

As we were driving up the mountains, both Elena and I could feel this vibe immediately. She looked very solemn and pensive, overwhelmed by the change, and I couldn’t keep the giddy smile off my face. We were both ridiculously glad to be here. For about a week before Elena had really felt she’d had enough of India, and I’d begun to feel the same a few days later (hence we indulged so much in Delhi!), but once we arrived to Dharamsala we both felt we could stay another month! Elena’s even considering coming back soon, and personally it’s made me very excited for Nepal.

When we arrived at about 10.30am, Titu took us to the Pink House, top rated guesthouse on TripAdvisor. It was a bit of a splurge at almost $7/night each, but it was for two of our last nights in India and Elena was keen for a bit of luxury. It had amazing views across the mountains and even hot water in the showers! Something I definitely haven’t experienced in a while. While we waited for our room we had some breakfast and met a lovely couple from LA, Michael and Malorie, who had just arrived also, and swapped Indian travel war stories. After we were settled, we decided to take a walk around town. It was quite cold and a bit rainy, but my spirits weren’t dampened as I actually quite miss the cold. A walk through the streets revealed many little bakeries and market stalls, and on virtually every wall or shop window were advertisements for activities going on around town, such as movie nights and discussions, run by local NGOs aimed at educating foreigners on the Tibetan situation. There were smiling people everywhere – a stark contrast from drab Amritsar. It was also an amazing feeling every time I looked up and realised I was enveloped by the overwhelming Himalayan Mountains all around me.

By lunch time we decided to go to a Japanese restaurant we’d heard about during our walk which had spectacular views of the mountains. We then continued our walk away from the town and discovered a path in some bushes, where a temple and monastery resided. Everywhere you looked the bushes or poles or shrines were covered in beautiful Tibetan prayer flags, and through them magnificent views of the cloudy sunset could be seen. It was the afternoon, and several monks and Tibetan Buddhists were walking there, as it was clearly a place of worship. I’m not sure how or why the practice exists, but there are cylinders lined against the walls and larger ones under shelters that the Buddhists walk past and turn. I think I’d also seen this in Myanmar. They also carried and twisted their rosaries (I find it interesting that Buddhists also call their female monks nuns and carry rosaries), and walked around and through poles muttering prayers. I don’t understand the practice at all but it was quite interesting to see. The path continued and we eventually got back to a place we’d been in the morning, so we made our way back to the hotel.

That evening we decided to go down to Oasis, a café run by the Tibet Hope Centre – one of the many NGOs I’d mentioned that are around town dedicated to the Tibetan cause. That evening they were doing a discussion on the issue, which was very enlightening. The guy who runs it (I forget his name) spoke a bit about their charity, which does all sorts of things, and then told us about the history of Tibet and the current situation there with China. He also highlighted the importance of awareness – I agree that the Free Tibet campaign has become somewhat unnoticed despite the fact that it’s a current and horrid issue. As such, I’m going to write a separate article dedicated to what I’ve learnt about Tibet since I’ve been here in Dharamsala. There are events like this on all over the town every night which are great, as the spreading of information is surprisingly powerful, and each of these tourists has a Facebook with hundreds of friends on it who they can then share the message with.

After the talk we were invited to ‘Dance meditation yoga’ or something at Oasis the next night – described to me as ‘letting your body move to the freeing music while you close your eyes then stopping and seeing what position you’re in’, but personally that sounds a bit too hippy for me and I outgrew musical statues a few years ago. Elena and I were pretty tired and decided to head back to the hotel and hang out on the roof for a while with chai and soup to heat us up, until the chilly weather got the best of me and I headed down to bed (in our delightfully comfy bed with lots of doonas!)

The next day we got up bright and early for some breakfast on the roof – the sun was out and the fogs had cleared, so there was a magnificent view of the snow-covered mountains that seemed almost close enough to touch. The day before we’d signed up for Tibetan language classes at Lha, another NGO for the Tibetan cause, which teaches massage, language and cooking courses. We went there at about 9 for an hour long class – man that’s a tough language! I can pretty much only remember ‘Tashi Delek’ now (hello/goodluck) but I’ll post my findings with my separate Tibetan post!

After class Elena and I split up and she went for a walk to search out the waterfalls we’d heard about, and also just because this is a great place to walk. Unfortunately I woke up with a really horribly sore ankle, I’m not sure why, but I was wearing the hiking boots Dutch Sasha had left me in Jaipur to try to keep my ankle straight, and I decided putting more strain on it wasn’t a good idea. So, instead I headed to Oasis again. Funnily, I saw a bunch of people we’d seen in Amritsar who shared out Pakistani border taxi – I guess we all do the same route.

At 11-12.30 a conversation class is run next door at Tibet Hope Centre (the group who run the café), where basically volunteers come to practice English with Tibetans who are trying to learn, allowing them greater job opportunities in the industries in Dharamsala or greater India – apparently some are even working globally now. Volunteers are welcome to drop-in, so I offered my time that morning and it was lots of fun. I was given a group of about four students, with vastly ranging skills in English, and each group was given a scenario that they then had to act out and be questioned on – unfortunately I think I picked the short straw by getting a scene involving aliens, meaning I had to explain what aliens were and then explain the fact that they were mythical – one of my students found that particularly difficult and I think she was beginning to fear the green flesh-eating creature from Mars I was describing to her. At the end of the class the various groups acted their scenes, and it was actually pretty funny. It’s great how there are activities like this foreigners can drop-in on and volunteer their time with. I know there are a few longer term volunteers, and you can work in the café there too (that’s their main source of financing the project), which I think is pretty cool.

After class Elena met me at the café and we went and got some lunch at a restaurant near our hotel, as it also offered beautiful views, where we tried our first momo! Momo is a traditional Tibetan food, and is like a dumpling type thing – we tried spinach and cheese which was pretty good, and then followed that by a walk to one of the many bakeries and bought the most amazing ‘chocolate rough cake’ ever – it was sort of like a cake mixed with an undercooked walnut brownie, which we devoured at a cute tea house across the street.

That afternoon I’d planned to go to a Tibetan cooking class to learn how to make momo and other fancy traditional treats, but I’d gotten my times wrong, and eventually decided to give up and just learn in Nepal instead. We rested at the hotel for a few hours before going for a walk just before sunset in search of the Dalai Lama’s monastery. Or at least I think it’s his – sneakily he’s off speaking in Honolulu I believe so I’ll have to let that slide for now.

We walked around the monastery for a while watching the sunset and people meditating or performing yoga – funnily it was more often Westerners than Tibetans. We also entered the shrine room itself (I’m not familiar with the formal name) and it turns out the Dalai Lama loves Nutella too..! At each of the cabinets containing statues of gods or images of the Dalai Lama there were offerings laid around it – typically a jar of Nutella, some biscuits, Mars bars, crackers, money, etc. We also saw some cute Tibetan children with their mothers at the monastery, and Elena tried to kick a ball to one of the little ones and instead knocked the ball right into his wee little head! It was pretty funny, and his mum mustn’t have minded too much as they offered us some delicious vanilla wafers!

After we’d had our fill of monastery we headed to another organisation down near Oasis café, who was doing a Tibetan pizza (strange spinachy-cheesiness, but nice) and movie night. We saw two films about the situation in Tibet, which was once again both enlightening and frightening. One film was by a British man who returned to Tibet to try to get the perspectives of local Tibetans and see what the situation was truly like. The second was by a Tibetan man who wanted to ask local Tibetans about how they felt about the Beijing Olympics and whether it was something to celebrate. Both risked their lives by doing so – the latter was arrested and hasn’t been seen since. As I mentioned earlier, I plan to write a specific article on Tibet, so I will put some facts from these films in there too.

After the film I grabbed ANOTHER piece of rough chocolate cake – delish, and headed to bed.

Yesterday morning Elena and I grabbed some breakfast on the roof, enjoying our last morning of sweeping mountain views, and then headed to the Tibetan museum, which is in the same complex as the monastery but had been closed at the time we went before. It was quite interesting and there was a lot to read about, and it was very striking to see images of those who had walked from Tibet all the way to Nepal, often suffering frostbite and malnutrition – if they survived at all. It also provided some information about Tibetan Buddhism, and a message from the Dalai Lama. There was a book at the end where many people had signed their names and wishes for Tibet, which was filled with some truly inspirational messages. I wrote a short message and we left shortly after.

We then went for our last walk through all the markets and shops, and picked up a Free Tibet t-shirt, some stickers, and prayer flags. I debated heavily whether to get a bag, but decided I needed to keep the money for when we go back to Amritsar – though I wish now that I had. I guess I can make one when I get back home – it’s all just about spreading awareness of the Tibetan cause wherever you can.

We stopped for lunch at a nice rooftop café, where people were playing instruments and chilling out. Elena and I got some juice and shared a plate of chicken momo. It took FOREVER, and we ended up having to rush the waiter… which later proved later to be a bad move. As we walked out of the restaurant we saw our driver, Titu, waiting for us, and we quickly grabbed our bags (it was NOT fun walking my billions of bags up that enormous flight of stairs) and jumped into the car, regretfully leaving the relaxing sanctuary of Dharamsala.

It wasn’t too long after that I had to stop – and up came the momo, all over the floor of some squat toilet at a petrol station. I had been feeling shocking, and felt a bit better once it all came up, but turns out that wasn’t the last of it. For the whole five hour journey home along the Pakistani border, I was stopping and puking out the side of the car. The annoying thing was, there wasn’t anything in my stomach, but it was like I was just having spasms in my throat and stomach. Titu was freaking out and wanted me to go to a hospital or something, but after assuring him I was fine I eventually ended up back in our hotel.

I’d remembered that yesterday was the anniversary of the Amritsar massacre, which coincided with a harvest festival (I forget the specific name of it) so there were even more people on the streets heading to the Golden Temple, and some fireworks too, but I didn’t have enough energy to participate in much of the festivity.

Elena went to get some dinner and I fell asleep, woken next to the sound of her leaving for her 4.30am train. It’s so strange not to be travelling with her anymore after six weeks side-by-side, but her having left in the midst of my slumber meant that the goodbye was quite easy. I thought I’d like the idea of travelling alone again, but Elena and I are very compatible travel partners and I’m going to miss her lots. Plus I’m jealous of her getting to meet up with Dutch Sasha again and spend a few days in a luxury hotel above the mall in Delhi!

Anyway, I got up pretty early this morning and organised a rickshaw to the airport. I must say it’s one of the strangest airports ever…I got there but wasn’t allowed in until 8am because I had to get my ticket printed from an office which was outside the airport. So I waited on the curb of a rather quiet airport and eventually made my way in, went through some strange security, and am now just waiting for my plane to board. I’m still completely exhausted, and don’t want to arrive to Nepal like this, so I’m downing some coffee and Snickers – thankfully my stomach is feeling fine for now.

Anyway – I guess I’ll speak to you from Nepal!

Adios
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Bonjour

As I’m writing to you I’m surrounded by an India I am very much not used to – it’s cold, wet, green and quiet! We decided after a day in Amritsar that we didn’t want to stay long at all, and thanks to Elena’s amazingly kind father, we’re now making our way up to Dharamsala/Mcleod Ganj in the Himalayan region with private driver (ooh la la) Tuti – though he does not measure up to G-Singh or Zakir in any measure of charisma. We’ve still got two hours or so to go but the contrast in landscape is truly amazing. I feel like I could be driving through the countryside anywhere in the world, especially as we left in the dark of the night at 5am, and woke up in the car surrounded by fog and greenery. I kept trying to trick myself into thinking I could be driving somewhere near the mountains in Sydney, and then contrasted that with the thought that we’re moving along in a little car parallel to the border of Pakistan. Crazy!

Also – I realised yesterday that this is the furthest north I’ve ever been in the world. Completely crazy for Spanish-born Elena to comprehend considering India is very south for her. I find these funny little thoughts very entertaining.

Anyway, back to where we left off on Monday! When we arrived in Amritsar it was well past midnight. True to reputation, our train was about three and a half hours late, stopping randomly for an hour about five minutes before the station. We’d met a man on the train, who we’ll just call Mr Singh (it’s a pretty safe bet, especially in Punjab as it’s an incredibly common Sikh name).Due to their religion, the nature of Sikh people is to be very hospitable, and simply on the train we learnt this was very true. Even at midnight, Mr Singh called his brother to make sure there could be accommodation, called a guesthouse for us, told us about accommodation in the Golden Temple, and offered to arrange a taxi for us.

When we arrived at the station all five of us got into a rickshaw – they’re much bigger out here – with our luggage on top, and made our way to the Golden Temple. The temple offers free or cheap accommodation to pilgrims (representative of their hospitality), so we went to see if there would be anything available at about 1am. As we drove through town it was completely dead and kind of eerie, until we got to the temple where people were coming and going. Sasha and Lian went to have a look at the dormitories that were available for free, but they said the ones they saw were feral and disgusting and so we went to look for a guesthouse. We met some Americans later who were staying in the temple and they described it quite differently so I think perhaps the girls saw the wrong part or something.

Anyway, the driver took us to a hotel we’d seen a street back, and as we were negotiating prices about four young guys ran past trying to hassle us, but one said that he had a hotel. Sasha was amazingly angry and there was a bit of an altercation (after we left the police were involved trying to get rid of the guys) but we just ended up sharing a room in Lucky Hotel. It’s nice and clean, a bit pricier than we’re used to, but because we all squashed in and I slept on the floor we got the room for about 200Rs each ($4).

We hadn’t got to sleep until about 2am, so the next morning I had my longest sleep in in India and woke up at about 9.30. The floor mattress had been surprisingly comfortable. As we left to get breakfast around the corner, I discovered how insanely different Amritsar is during the day; as we were right near the Golden Temple it was very busy, with people and rickshaws everywhere – though cars aren’t allowed in that area during the main hours of the day as it’s quite a tight squeeze. It’s also quite different to the rest of India that I’ve seen as well in the sense of dress. Women wear the traditional Punjabi suits, which is like a kurta, loose pants and a scarf, and being a predominantly Sikh area, most of the men have turbans and long beards, so the streets becoming filled with brightly coloured turbans bobbing up and down as the men cycle along on the rickshaws.

We got some breakfast (first time I’ve had muesli in so long, yum!) but Elsbeth was feeling really sick so she went back to the hotel while the four of us went to search for the bus station. Our walk to the bus station confirmed the fact that what everyone said about Amritsar is true – four days is way too long to be here. It is not a pretty city at all, and people very rarely smile back at you, which surprised me a lot given the amazing kindness I’d received from Sikh people during my travels. At the bus station the girls asked about cheap buses to Dharamsala, and we asked about any place we could go away from Amritsar, the main contenders being Dharamsala and Chandigarh, a city that apparently looks ‘just like Paris’ and is the cleanest city in India. Of course as you already know, we decided upon Dharamsala and due to Elena’s fathers kind generosity we’re on our way up there right now!

After we sorted out the driver stuff with a guy from the hotel we went to visit the Goden Temple, the main attraction of Amritsar. The temple is the epitome of Sikh worship, and people travel from all over the globe! We met a family who had been living in England and Kenya who came for a trip here. It’s an enormous complex of white buildings, with a large pool/lake and the Golden Temple situated in the middle of it. We walked around for a long time, taking photos of things and people – proud parents love thrusting their children upon us for a photo (and I love it too – kids always make good photos). People bathe in the pool, similar to the Ganges, as well as people taking their children like a sort of christening ceremony. Outside there is a big hall where you can get a meal for free, and many volunteers sitting around chopping vegetables and washing dishes.

After we were done visiting the temple we got a quick bite to eat and then went to the hotel to wait for a car to take us to the Wagah Border – another of the main attractions in Amritsar. The Wagah Border is the crossing where India meets Pakistan at Lahore, and every evening they have a ceremony to close the border – which I must say is one of the strangest and most wonderful things I’ve seen in India. More than a hundred people go to the border playing music, singing, dancing and cheering, as some sort of patriotic act. The Pakistani side attempts to do the same but the sheer amount of Indians there means that there’s no comparison in the competition of whose ceremony is louder or more exciting. When we arrived we showed our passports to security and were directed to the foreigners section, where I was instantly amazed. People in grandstands were shouting and cheering and waving Indian flags, and below many women were dancing excitedly. I went over to take some photos of them and was instantly grabbed and twirled, every Indian woman seeming to want to dance with me. There was also a conga line! It was hilarious and embarrassing and I loved it. Then Jai Ho came on! That’s when things really got mental.

After the music stopped and I was able to catch my breath, the ceremony was about to begin. At first, a very tall man dressed in all white was running around cheering the crowd – it was as if we were at a sports match or something and he was the host. He’d chase people around and bounce up and down with his microphone, leading the cheers which all the Indians in the crowd mimicked in the direction of Pakistan. It wasn’t rude or provocative cheering but rather like friendly banter. Then Indian soldiers came out, about two women and a bunch of men, doing funny high kicks and salutes up and down the main path towards Pakistan. After a bit of this the gate actually opened, and you could see the Pakistani soldiers dressed all in black doing a similar ritual. The flags then crossed and were lowered, and the gate closed and locked again.

After the ceremony was done we made our way back out to our death trap of a van, which had been an hour late to pick us up and was taking its time to take us back – the speedo was broken and stuck on 4km/h the whole way home! Elena and I grabbed a bite to eat and got to bed pretty early as we knew we’d be leaving in the wee hours of the morning.

At about 2am Amritsar revealed its eerie side again, as a storm began with violent lightning, then causing power to go out and an electric wire to spark flames. All five of us ran to the window and you could see people marching up and down the streets to and from the Golden Temple making strange noises. It’s hard to describe but it is just a bit of an eerie town at night. Very weird.

Anyway, I got an hour or two more sleep and then here we are! Next stop: Dharamsala. By the looks of the greenery and drop in temperature so far, I really cannot wait.
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Namaste!

I’m currently on the train from New Delhi to Amritsar, absolutely freezing my tatas off! I’m travelling in AC 3-Tier for the first time which is similar to sleeper but with air condition – far too much air conditioning actually! Oh well, I guess I should relish it for the moment as it’s always way too hot outside.

I must say – I loved Delhi! And I want to go back…though I spent far far too much money. The past few days have made me a bit homesick – I think having met Sonia and Saachi, which reminded me of life in Sydney with my mum, as well as the fact that Elena and my other friends are going home soon, is making me think about life back home too. Regardless, I know I don’t want to be in Sydney, and I should definitely be cherishing my time in India, but I’ve just been in a bit of a funk in general and thus have been indulging myself in some retail therapy. Retail therapy in India is actually quite a cost-effective way of stress release if you’re shopping in the markets as everything is SO CHEAP and there’s so much great stuff, but we also spent quite a bit of time in the mall – a recent craze in India. I didn’t buy anything at the malls because that is seriously expensive, but I did indulge in Western food which ended up costing me a fortune. Still, I’m so glad I did.

SATURDAY
On Saturday morning the girls and I all decided we wanted to go to Rajghat, the Mahatma Ghandi memorial. We’d tried to go with Sonia the day before but it was closed for Good Friday (btw, Happy Easter everybody!) so we found it this morning. The memorial to Mahatma is quite small and decorated in bright yellow flowers and incense, surrounded by manicured lawns and paths that people can walk through to pay their respects. However this small memorial is set within enormous gardens, very similar to the Royal Botanic Gardens, with lots of flowers and a small lake and beautiful manicured lawns (though security guards with rifles may come up to you if you do not walk on the path!) We walked around these gardens for an hour or two, visiting the various memorial sites all around which were dedicated to the many significant members of the Ghandi family, including Indira herself. It was so nice to see some green – I can’t even begin to explain. I’m not even a nature person at home at all, but I’m really looking forward to seeing some nature in Nepal. Elena and I sat at one point for some rest and a woman with a child came up to us for a photo, which was fine – then suddenly we were surrounded by literally 10-20 people, all taking photos of us or getting in line to have one with us. It was pretty funny, though Elena got over it pretty quickly.

After a lengthy walk we went in search for the Mahatma Ghandi museum. It was tucked away and quite difficult to find, which is surprising considering how much work you can tell was put into it. The museum was AMAZINGLY extensive. I read everything in one room, thinking he must be assassinated soon – then realised there were another four rooms to go until the end of the story! This guy seriously did a lot. We must have spent an hour or so there, and I didn’t even finish. Eventually we gave up and Elsbeth, Sasha and I decided to go in search for Dilli Haat, which Sonia had told me about.

Dilli Haat was this craft market time thing which is supposed to exhibits things from every state in India. I was keen to see it – however our driver was clearly a major losty and had no idea, dropping us at entirely the wrong markets. I bought some bindis and henna, and the shopkeeper gave me some free earrings, but they were pretty crappy, so we decided to go to the mall.

Oh god I’m in love.

We got a rickshaw to Saket, which is a complex with FIVE shopping malls. That’s right – five. And one in construction. Many of them even have the same stores, but I guess they’ve gone a bit mall-crazy lately. Regardless, I LOVED it. It was a complete Western haven. Everybody in there was clearly loaded, no one really stared at us too much, and they were all dressed in Western clothes (though probably more conservative than all the booty-short-clad 12 year olds you see strutting around Miranda Westfield these days). They even had a Hard Rock Café! Sasha loves Hard Rock and Elsbeth had never been, so we decided to have lunch there – regardless of how pricey it was. I think I’m going to try to visit all the Hard Rocks at cities I go to. I don’t even love it that much generally (only I do now because I miss Western food) so I probably won’t be as attracted to it in Europe, but I still think it’s a funny little thing to do.

We walked around and relished the air conditioned haven for a while, looking at Zara and Forever New and Lush and various chain stores I’ve missed. Eventually we regretfully returned home to our suddenly very sad-looking hotel room, stopping on the way to look at some cute little jewellery stores in the bazaar.

When we got back Elena was hanging out at the hotel, and I could tell she was feeling pretty homesick, so I decided it was time I tried to get us drunk in Delhi. I’d seen a bar in the street that had cheap beer, so we went there – and man it has never tasted so sweet. We’d had it once in Jaisalmer but for some reason this was much better, maybe because it was adorned with the taste of freedom to do what we like, which we hadn’t really had while living in the volunteer house. I then decided to take the plunge and return to my regular order – “A shot of vodka – the cheapest one you have. Cheap cheap”. When it came to our table I stared at it for a while, a bit apprehensive as it’s been so long. Eventually, I manned up and downed it – so much better than I remember! That was followed by another three or four – which can’t be helped when they’re less than $1 each. Elena and I certainly weren’t drunk but we agreed it was so fun to have that buzz back – I can’t wait to visit her in Barcelona!

While we were at the bar we hadn’t spoken to many people as it was mainly full Indian men who stared at us like meat as we walked to the bathroom, but I could see Elena giggling at a couple behind me – which is when we met David and Depinder. David is a 50-something life-loving painter from San Francisco, and Depinder is a Sikh law student from Delhi. We spoke with them about all sorts of things for a long time, but left some time before 11 – the street was completely dead and Depinder said it’s pretty late, which makes me think nightlife must be quite a bit different in India. I haven’t been much of a partier all this trip – even in South East Asia which is like a young Australian’s party paradise, but I just have not been in the mood. Still, it was really nice for a bit of a change – and I’m excited to go check out Europe!

SUNDAY
On Sunday morning we were all a bit worried as we had plans to meet up with Lian, who was getting the bus from Udaipur and didn’t have a phone. After a while of trying to decide what to do to find her, we chose to go get some breakfast and by some stroke of luck she was downstairs at the hotel reception!

After breakfast the other girls decided to go visit India Gate and Lotus Temple, but Elena and I were both pretty homesick so another trip to the mall was on the agenda for us! Some may view it as a bit of a waste of time in Delhi, but we’d already seen so many forts and to be honest I’ve found it so interesting to see a completely different socio-economic group of Indians – plus I like the indulgence! We got lunch once again at Hard Rock Café…sooo good, and then went to the Haagendaas Ice Cream shop for Brownie Sundae indulgence. There was WiFi there too, which meant I could Skype mum – but I got teary for the first time on this trip! My adorable little cousins Jessica and James were there and I think I’ve been a bit emotional, but anyway - up and on. I think now I’m probably going to come home for Christmas so I can earn some more money with the baubles, and then I’ll head to Vancouver!

In the evening Elena and I went shopping in the bazaar and we saw David painting in the street, being a regular cool cat as he is. Later that night when we were chilling in our room Depinder also called and visited our hotel – but we really weren’t up for going out and Elena was very sick (…) so we told him we couldn’t come party. He then told me that he’d got some information for us for Amritsar – which he’d typed and printed (adorable!!) and then left the note at our hotel reception with some medication for Elena’s stomach! He also sent her a get well message! It was the most hilarious awkward/funny situation and we can’t stop laughing about it but it’s so sweet!

[b]MONDAY[b]
This morning Elena and I went to get breakfast at a buffet place we’d seen – it was actually pretty good and we met a man from LA who looks exactly like Dumbledore!

We then packed everything up and went to give Elena’s stuff to Sonia, who was taking care of it for her while in Amritsar. While we were waiting we found a dog behind us with an enormous litter of puppies – I’m talking fresh from the oven babies. They were soooo cute! We then got in a rickshaw to take us to Old Delhi, just to check it out, but as I’d suspected it was pretty much closed on Mondays (all the markets and stuff), so we just drove through it to check it out. We stopped by a tourist office so check out options for Amritsar – we’re thinking of spending a night or two in Dharamsala or Chandigarh or something, but we’re just going to see what’s available tomorrow when we arrive. Our driver then told us about some markets but when we got there it was plain to see it was just some commission touristy shops, not a real bazaar, so we just went back home. I bought some dresses and tops that I’d seen, completing my retail therapy for Delhi (I think I’m up to one skirt, two tops, three dresses, three leather handbags, seven pairs of earrings and six necklaces – all for somewhere around $70). I hadn’t really planned to buy anything while travelling – especially because I have to carry it all around, but these markets were way too good and I can offload it to mum in Abu Dhabi soon!

We then checked out, got some takeaway sandwiches and made our way to the train station. New Delhi train station is a lot easier to navigate than other stations we’ve been at, but man it’s busy. There are people everywhere, and our train was an hour delayed so we were waiting around for a while. Whenever I’m at train stations I’m always continuously faced with a moral dilemma – giving to beggars. As a general rule I very rarely do it, especially not kids, as I don’t think it’s a productive way to help them by encouraging the practice of begging and I doubt the money really goes to them, however at the train station and in the streets there are often men crawling around on the floor with disabled or amputated limbs. I don’t know if they’ve been injured or born this way (though it’s so common that it makes me think it may be a practice – like the Slumdog Millionaire scene where the child is blinded) but it always makes me question my rule of no-giving. These men seem more helpless to me than the children begging, and there’s no way they’d be able to get work anywhere else in India. Sometimes I’d give, sometimes not, but regardless it’s always heartbreaking.

Anyway, so my laptop is going to die very soon and that’s all I’ve got for now.
Adios!
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