Delhi: Something Old and Something New

Warnings and stories prepared us for an insanely chaotic, smelly, polluted and crammed capital city. While it was crowded and very smelly at times, it was not the unbearable hell that we had been told about. A day didn’t go by that we didn’t say to ourselves: “it really doesn’t smell that bad here” (which we have to say, goes for the whole country). Yes, the wind does bring you some bursts of ‘perfume’ here and there but over all if you hold your breath just before the puddles on the ground, it’s all good. :) ** 

** NOTE; we have talked at length about the lack of intense smell here and we hypothesise that it is because we are visiting in the winter months and the 50 degree summer heat probably intensifies what we have been smelling by 1000 times.

Harumanji Temple - Delhi

 We investigated Delhi on foot which led us through a lot of interesting and treacherous ground (if you know what we mean …). Delhi is a massive city so please note that our tour was mainly limited to the cores of new and old Delhi. Delhi is divided into many small neighbourhoods with the neighbourhoods in New Delhi visibly emptier and wider than the narrow crammed streets of the walled Old Delhi. Each neighbourhood in New Delhi seems to be subdivided into zones by letter of the alphabet with each house number tied to this letter of the alphabet rather than having street names which are reserved for the main arteries of the city. So, each address has the name of the neighbourhood and then the building number, i.e. G19 Karol Bagh is building 19 in zone G in Karol Bagh. Sounds easy and organized enough but try finding G19 in any given neighbourhood as no one (local and cabbies alike) seems to now where the zones are.



a quiet spot for a vendor at the park

We first explored New Delhi, organized by the British with wide streets, roundabouts, parks and large buildings. The core of New Delhi is said to be the circle of Connaught Place and the business and residential streets surrounding it. At Connaught Place we came across a large circular park built above a shopping centre that was filled with people lounging and standing around the shopping mall’s air ducts and eating from the multitude of street vendors. We definitely took the opportunity to lounge next to the recycled air and sample the tasty street fare. To the south of Connaught Place is Ranjpath, a boulevard connecting the India Gate memorial at its eastern end with the residence of the Indian president (called Rashtrapati Bhavan) and the parliament buildings at its western end. 

streets of Old Delhi

Old Delhi, which was the old walled city of Shahjahanabad, sits to the left of the Red Fort (Lal Qila). The densely crowded, narrow and run down old town is a stark contrast to the spacious streets and majestic buildings of New Delhi. Walking into the old town toward the Red Fort you walk through congested and dirty roads, past squats next to (or more like on) gas stations and down the crazy and overcrowded main shopping bazaar known as Chandni Chowk. Compared to the outside streets, the Red Fort is a peaceful area of gardens and large pavilions. Highlighting more of Delhi’s Muslim history is the Jama Masjid near the Red Fort which is the largest mosque in India and has a courtyard that can hold 25,000 people.

While in Delhi we also made a brief visit to the suburbs in the south with their large condominiums and western companies such as E&Y, Dell and Microsoft opening up office space left, right and centre. We also made sure to experience for ourselves the metro system in Delhi. For the true experience we went during afternoon rush hour. The stations were fairly modern with large clean platforms and a token payment system. They also had the highest security we have ever seen at a metro station: each person has to walk through a metal detector, put their belongings through an x-ray machine like you would see at an airport and walk by dozens of heavily armed police officers before using their token. The metro cars were absolutely rammed and thankfully for S had a less cramped ‘Women and Disabled Only’ car at the front of the train.



Taj Mahal entering from the main gate

 Roughly a three hour train ride from Delhi you will find one of the great wonders of the world: the Taj Mahal. We opted for a day trip to Agra rather than spend the night there and we’re glad we did this - though we didn’t have time to visit the other sites of and around Agra (the Agra Fort and Fatehpur Sitri, a red sandstone abandoned city) we were glad not to have to spend a night as Agra is quite a dump. The first amazing thing about the Taj Mahal is the price tag to get in and not so much how much it cost us to get in but the price differential between foreigners and Indian nationals. While we each paid 750 IRP (Indian Rupees, roughly $16.50 Canadian) to get in, each Indian national pays a measly 20 IRP (0.44 cents Canadian). However we have to say that this isn’t the first time this has happened on our trip as in Nepal nationals always enter all sites for free, people from India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka pay a nominal fee and foreigners pay similar entry fees as noted for the Taj Mahal. I guess we better start getting used to the tourist tax :) . Anyway, I’m sure you’re all waiting to hear about the Taj Mahal so let us get back on track.

The Taj Mahal is said to be the most extravagant monument built for love - it was built by Emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his second wife whose death in childbirth left him devastated and heartbroken for life. The mausoleum took 23 years and 20,000 workers to complete and some of the craftsmen later lost their hands or thumbs so that the beauty of the Taj could never be duplicated. What makes this a truly Shakespearian tale is that Emperor Shah Jahan was disposed by his son, Aurangzeb, soon after the Taj was complete and spent the rest of his life imprisoned in Agra Fort across the river from the Taj Mahal looking at his wife’s final resting place.



the Taj Mahal up close and personal

 The most impressive thing about the Taj Mahal is walking through one of the three gates and having your first look at the beaming Taj. The large white marble structure sits at the end of a long watercourse on a raised marble platform framed by two twin red sandstone buildings, with the western one being a mosque and the eastern one simply there for symmetry (as it can’t be used as a mosque as it faces in the wrong direction). It really is quite something to see, such a beautiful and impressive monument. However, we have to admit that the Taj loses some of its impressiveness the closer you get to it … which might explain why all of the pictures of it are always from a distance at the gates. Don’t get us wrong, the building is beautiful with its simple carved detail into the marble but after a walk around and an hour or longer wait to get inside you are let down by its simplicity. There was nothing inside but a circular room with a tomb. It is a mausoleum so I don’t know what we were expecting but we were left a little disappointed - go us over westernized individuals. Having said all that, it is most definitely a place you must visit and worth the price of admission!!
　　
The rest of our pictures of Delhi and the Taj Mahal are HERE (password: taj).



rock stars for a day - we posed for many pictures with children at the Taj

 

India Gate Monument

 

Chandni Chowk, Old Delhi

Delhi's Red Fort, home of a Mughal Empror for a short period

India: Starting on the Holy Ganges

 After much anticipation and some trepidation we were finally ready to set foot on Indian soil. Crossing the border from Nepal into India on foot was quite an experience. It is an open border so it looks like any Nepali or Indian city main road with loads of people walking and the only way you know you’re at a border crossing is by the fact that there is a large wooden arched sign welcoming you to India. We walked into India and were looking everywhere for immigration to be told that it was 500 meters down the road to the left. It ended up being a small shack we almost missed had it not been for some French tourists with their big packs out front. To top off the informal entry into India the guy at the office helping us fill out our forms and guiding us to the bus also tried to sell us drugs just a few steps away from the “immigration office”. Too funny.



almost across the border into India



That was just the beginning in ‘all business India’ where they sell as much as they possibly can. A good example of this was our bus ride. We scored the first seats right by the door so we had the perfect vantage point. The bus ride started off as it would have in Nepal with our bags on the roof and a guy hanging out the door looking for passengers. The only difference being that the people in India weren’t as friendly and the town was much more crowded, dirty and therefore polluted but at least the roads were paved so there wasn’t all the dust that Nepal had. But twenty minutes into the bus ride we saw the way things were done in India. The man hanging out the door did just what he was supposed to, he sold and sold and rammed that bus full of men, women and children. And we mean full. At one point, we commented ‘that’s it, there is no way one more person could possibly be crammed in here’ as M had three people partly sitting on him, there were people hanging out the door and a few women with infants and children were squatting on the ground in the aisle with people standing and practically sitting on them. Absolutely unbelievable chaos. Then the bus pulled over and the guy talked seven more people into getting on the bus. Astonishing.

The train we had to take was much more comfortable and we finally arrived in mystical Varanasi. In the past it was known as Kashi (Shiva city) or Benares (what the locals still call it) but is now internationally known as Varanasi, which means the city between the rivers Varuna and Assi. It claims to be one of the oldest living cities in the world and Mark Twain once said: “Benares is older than history, older than tradition, older even than legend, and looks twice as old as all of them put together”. 



Varanasi, India

 Varanasi sits on the western bank of the Ganges which is considered the holiest of all rivers by Hindus and is worshiped as the goddess Ganga in Hinduism. Many Hindus believe that life is not complete without taking a bath in the river Ganges. Not surprisingly Varanasi is one of the most important pilgrimage sights in India with a nightly Hindu prayer at the main ghat, Dasaswamedh Ghat. There is so much life to see and experience walking along the river from ghat to ghat with over 100 ghats in Varanasi. Not much is private here as everything happens along the ghats; most are for bathing, others for washing laundry and two of them are used for cremating the dead. All life unfolds along these ghats (including men urinating along the walls and we even saw a few performing the other bodily function) and it’s unlike anything you’ll see anywhere else in the world.



a large laundry ghat next door to our hotel

 While all the ghats have a unique charm to them the two types of ghats that stood out the most for us were the laundry ghats and the burning ghats. You know you’re near a laundry ghat when you hear the sound of wet laundry being rhythmically beaten against a slab of rock along the shore. We learnt that 90% of the hotels and guesthouses in the area do their laundry at the ghats in addition to the rest of the city - now that’s a lot of laundry every day.

Then there are the burning ghats which are such a strange and eerie place to visit. There are bodies being burnt (cremated) at the two ghats from sunrise to sundown every day. Understandably no pictures are allowed so we will do our best to relate everything that we have learned. First of all, there are no women at the burning ghats at all as the fellow told us that women are too emotional so they stay at home. We were also told that this was for their own good so as to make sure that a woman doesn’t throw herself on her husband’s burning body. Sure, like the women used to do that willingly. As a side note, women used to have to burn themselves with their husband and this ritual was not abolished in India until about 50 years ago. Naturally a woman’s life is not worth a penny without her husband.



wood for sale (mango is cheaper than sandalwood)

So a little about the cremation process. The dead bodies are handled by outcasts known as doms and are carried through the old city to the Ganges on a bamboo stretcher covered in cloth. There are huge piles of firewood stacked along the top of the ghat and the wood necessary for the burning weighed so the price of the cremation can be calculated. Once at the river’s edge, the bodies are washed and covered in white cloth and then a coloured sari depending on who you are: married women in her red wedding sari, married men in a gold sari and everyone else in a white sari. A male member of the family is to light the fire but before he can do this, he must shave his head then bathe in the Ganges and wear all white. Before the body is lit it is sprinkled with sandalwood, incense snf clarified butter. The body is then surround by wood and set on fire next to the Ganges - the distance from the river depends on your caste with the lower castes closer to the water. The fire usually burns 3-4 hours and then the body is doused with water, after which the ashes are poured into the river. Following this funeral, the men return home to the women. None of the immediate family members of the deceased are allowed to leave the house or work for 15 days following the funeral and cannot eat cooked food. The man that was in charge of burning the body cannot shave for the 15 days, must continue to wear white and cannot sleep with or share a bed with a woman. Once the 15 days are over the final ritual is for the male members of the family to come back to the holy Ganges to give a puja (a sacred practice of Hindus to either worship, pray to or show respect to their deities).



the small burning ghat with a laundry ghat next to it

 The last bit of information on the cremations we will give you is that not everyone gets cremated. The following people get their bodies thrown into the water weighed down by a big rock: (i) holy people, (ii) babies under 6 months, (iii) pregnant women, (iv) people who have died of snake bites and (v) lepers. The reasons are as follows: (i) a holy person is a pure person who gets everything they need from God and does not need a body for their next life; (ii) a baby of less than 6 months is also considered a pure life; (iii) likewise a pregnant women is considered to be pure as she is caring a pure life inside her; (iv) as a cobra snake saved Shiva’s life by sucking poison out of his body (except his face, which is why you sometimes see it blue), a person who has died of a snake bite is considered to be pure; and lastly (v), the reason we were told for lepers is because their previous life was full of bad karma so they paid for it in this life and thus have paid for their sins.



view of the temple we visited from the river

We noticed a few things in Varanasi, first of all, similar to Morocco, there were mostly men everywhere (working, sitting, talking, bathing or just lying around) and the few women we did see that were not working were walking with a purpose. Compared to Nepal we also noticed many more cows and dogs roaming the streets and catching rays along the ghats J . The increase in the bovine and canine population (and all the human urine) made walking the narrow streets of Varanasi a difficult task. We weren’t sure we’d have a chance to see anything around us as we were so concentrated at avoiding all the booby traps. One thing we did get a chance to see while walking around the old town was the inside of a very important Hindu temple and we got to experience our first puja. This Hindu temple has a lingam that came about naturally (that is, not man made) and our guide said it represents the legs of Vishnu - the head is at Mt. Kalish and the front and back at Pashupatinath (near Kathmandu). It was very cool to be allowed inside such a sacred temple where most non-Hindu’s are not allowed, unfortunately, some were not happy with our presence and others tried to use the situation to their advantage (i.e. donations).

We have to admit that at first we were a little hesitant to go to Varanasi as there was a bombing at the main ghat a week before our scheduled arrival with one dead and 27 injured. However, we were blown away by this city, which has been one of the highlights of our trip and so glad we went. This is definitely a city not to be missed in your travels in India and we would recommend spending a little extra money to have a room overlooking the ghats for the spectacular people watching and sunrise and sunset views.

Find more pictures of this beautiful city HERE (password: holy).



our room with a great view at Sita Guest House



river salesmen at sunrise

northern ghats, Varanasi

morning bathing



sunrise boat ride



they hounded us to take their picture

Happy Serbian New Year!!!

To all of our fiends and family that celebrated New Years on the 13th of January we wish you a Happy New Year full of health, love and prosperity. 

Srecna Srpska Nova Godina!!!

Love S&M 

Goa, India

Food in our 4th Moon

Of course we must finish off our Nepal posts with a little on the eating we did (here it finally is Stro!). There are four types of foods to be found in Nepal: Nepali, Tibetan, Indian and Chinese. There are restaurants that are strictly Nepali or Tibetan while others offer all four cuisines as well as continental which consists of pizza and spaghetti Bolognese. Most Hindi Nepalese are vegetarians, some by choice and others out of necessity. In the Kathmandu Valley, however, the Newars are big meat eaters with buff (water buffalo) the meat of choice as cows are sacred and never eaten.
 

daal bhaat tarkari with a carrot and daichon salad and a papad

The STAPLE in Nepal, and we mean eaten three times a day staple, is daal bhaat or daal bhaat tarkari (daal bhaat is lentil soup and rice and tarkari is curried vegetables). The daal bhaat (tarkari) is served on a large metal plate with raised edges. There is a large pile of rice on the bottom half of the plate and there are one or more bowls along the top to house the daal, tarkari or anything else that may be served such as hot sauce or achar (pickled vegetables, we think). To eat daal bhaat the local way you pour the soupy daal onto the rice and mix it into balls with your fingers. If you have tarkari add a pinch of the curried vegetables and shovel it into your mouth with your right hand. We were always offered a fork and gladly used it. As they eat with their hand, there is a sink by the dining tables for everyone to wash up before and after their meals (and they need it after, as their hand is covered in sauce and food … no no no, wait, not food, as they lick that all up). Sometimes you get offered a salad, which means carrots and daichon (a white root). A cool thing at local restaurants is that while you’re eating someone goes around offering you second helpings of all the ingredients at no extra cost. A very cheap and tasty way to dine.

You can wash down your daal bhaat with a beer - either local home brew or your store bought beer. The Nepali beers are Everest and Nepali Ice and most popular foreign beers available are Tuborg and San Miguel (both brewed under licence in Nepal). All the beers are only available in a 655 ml bottles J rather than the smaller bottles we‘re used to at home. Here’s a useless piece of information: Everest beer had a special addition bottle out while we were there dedicated to the Sherpa who climbed Everest nine times. He had seven brothers and they have each climbed Everest at least once, or so the label says. Fascinating, we know. 

The local home brew is called tongba which is made by pouring boiling water into a metal (or wooden) pot full of fermented millet and is sipped through straw made of same material. This brew tastes like warm watered down saki and it is kind of sour but surprisingly drinkable the more you sip on it J . Speaking of watered down saki, we also sampled the local wine (moonshine) which is made from rice and the locals call it raksi. Raksi is a cloudy drink almost passable for water and tastes between a watered down rakija and saki. Not the greatest but drinkable and does the job J J … our guide got pretty tipsy after a few of them. The raksi is stored in various containers; we had the pleasure of getting served out of a spare gas container as well as a small plastic bucket commonly found in bathrooms around Nepal. *disclaimer, no we do not have a drinking problem*



sukuti on the bottom, wet buff on top and a side of hot chilly sauce

So we spent an evening at a local ‘bar’ J with a local store owner (possibly wino). The bar looked like any other local hole in the wall except that there were lots of people from what we could tell getting shit faced in the back. At one point a man walked in through the front entrance with a tree on his shoulder, we kid you not, and walked to the back with it. When he walked out, he was treeless and much more wasted, yelled something and gave us high fives.  At the local ‘bars’ there are no menus and your choices are few but delicious. Alcohol wise you can have beer, local beer or wine or Captain’s Choice Whiskey (the label has an airplane captain on it smiling while holding up a bottle of whiskey). With respect to food there is always vegetable chow mein, wet buff or sukuti. Sukuti is dried meat which can be served on its own or with soya beans, onion, garlic and green chilli. Buff meat is pretty tough to chew, especially when dried (sukuti), so the wet buff dish is pleasant change with its juicy buff meat cooked in a chilli sauce along with tomatoes, onions, chillies and ketchup. Both are delicious but as mentioned the wet buff is a nice break for your teeth.



steaming our momo's

 Our guide also took us to a few good places to sample local fare. On our first hike he took us to a place on the mountain side with probably some of the best momo’s we had in Nepal and the best bean salad ever!! Momo’s, which are Tibetan, are dumplings that can be steamed or fried (steamed are way better, hands down) and are usually filled with buff. They seem to have become a favourite snack with traveller‘s - so popular that Coke has ads with momo’s.

One of our staples while in Nepal when we could get our hands on it was Tibetan soup. This simply delicious soup is called thenthuk or thukpa, depending on the type of noodle used (either thin and long or flat and rectangular). All the food is made from scratch when it is ordered, and we mean from scratch … they make the noodles and the momo dough and then prepare, (stuff) and cook. While frequenting the Tibetan restaurants, we also sampled Tibetan bread which, like momo’s, comes either steamed or fried. Again, we are in favour of the steamed variety. Our second staple in Nepal was tea with every meal, which came in pretty handy in the chilly evenings. They had such a large variety of teas including delicious fresh lemon and/or ginger and/or honey tea. We miss both the Tibetan soups and all those wonderful teas so much!!

Overall we would say that Nepali food was good but got boring fairly quickly. On the other hand, we really enjoyed Tibetan food and could eat it again and again.



a  nice Chinese and Nepali buffet we had after our first hike

  

making momo's (we hear ash is a healthy addition)



Thukpa - Tibetan soup

 

yummy bean salad




a delicious street snack of mixed nuts, chilli, oil, tomatoes and dried noodles

 

fried Tibetan bread



the local wine, raksi, being made

 

steamed Tibetan bread and veggies

 

M with his 'special edition' Everst beer



momo's in a chilly and tomato sauce



Oh Coke

 

Nepal: Buddha's Birth Place



Buddha inside Chinese Monastery

Our last stop on our Nepal tour was Lumbini, a very small town close to the Indian border. Lumbini’s only draw is the fact that in 563BC Siddhartha Gautama, a.k.a. Buddha, was born there. As such, it is a pilgrimage sight for Buddhist from all over the world.

The exact spot of Buddha’s birth was by a lake under a Bodhi tree which is now marked by the Maya Devi temple. This temple is set in the middle of a large 4km by 2.5km park known as Lumbini Development Zone, which was designed by Japanese architect Kenzo Tange in the late 1970’s. It is a work in progress as it is in need of funding. At the moment, there is a dry canal that separates the Development Zone into two Monastic zones: the West Monastic Zone, which houses Buddhist communities from the Mahayana Buddhist sect and the East Monastic Zone, which houses Buddhist communities from the Theravada sect. Each sect has its own interpretation of Buddhism and can be distinguished by the colour of the robes worn. The Mahayana school wears maroon robes and the Theravada school is recognizable by its saffron coloured robes and is common in South East Asia and Sri Lanka.

Royal Thai Buddhist Monastery

Within the Development Zone Buddhist communities from around the world have built or are building monasteries, with the German Monastery in the West Monastic Zone (called the Great Drigung Kagyud Lotus Stupa) being the most colourful and ornate one we saw and the Thai style monastery or wat, called the Royal Thai Buddhist Monastery, in the East Monastic Zone, being the most beautiful and impressive being built all in white marble. When finished, the Development Zone will be comprised of landscaped lakes and monasteries constructed by Buddhist communities from around the world with a vision for the sacred garden to be entirely surrounded by water and only navigable by boat.

M all sexy on his bike

Outside of walking or biking around the peaceful Development Zone, there is really nothing else to do in Lumbini. The Lumibini Bazaar, which sits outside the Development Zone and houses a restaurant and a few guesthouses is nothing but an intersection where the buses drop everyone off. We have to say that around Lumbini was the dustiest and smoggiest area we have been to in Nepal and the only place we chose to ride with our luggage on top of the bus. Go figure. Needless to say it was a very dusty, dirty and bumpy ride. 　

For more pictures, as always, click HERE (password: buddha). 
 

ruins from 2 - 5 AD of stupas and monasteries with Maya Devi Temple in the background

prayer flags

Mahayana monks

German Monastery

riding the bus to the Indian border



Мир Божији, Христос се роди! (Merry Christmas)

To all of our family and friends celebrating Christmas today we wish you a Merry Christmas and safe holidays with a traditional Serbian saying

HRISTOS SE RODI!

S&M

2011: Bring it On :)

HAPPY NEW YEAR to EVERYONE and a big welcome to 2011.  We hope everyone has had a wonderful start to the new year and we wish you all a very happy and healthy year ahead! 

So far it has been a great start for us and looking back at 2010 we have so much to be thankful for.   From our wonderful family and great friends, to our love and our wedding in July (where so many came from far and wide to celebrate with us), to now this life altering experience where we have been to 4 continents, 11 countries and 34 cities in 121 days.   

Here's to an adventurous 2011!

S&M
Udaipur, India