Philadelphia
This report includes Live Journal entries written during our journey then amended a little bit upon return. Then we have added assessment comments in italics underneath various journal entries. The last section is a chart of all the bird species we saw.
Thursday, March 3rd, 2005
"This Time Next Week ...."
Well, it's just 4 days till we leave for India -- our trip of a lifetime. We're into the "...this time next week ...." phase. In fact, this time next week we'll have been in Kalimpong for a day or two already and on this day (a week from now) we'll be birding in and around Lava. And a week from tomorrow we'll take a day to make our way to Darjeeling, doing some birding. We'll set out in the early morning to Durpin Dara. From there you can get a breathtaking view of the confluence of the River Teesta and Rangeet with the Kanchenjunga range as the backdrop. We'll also visit the Durpin Goompa, one of the oldest Bhutanese Buddhist monasteries of Kalimpong. And we'll end up in Darjeeling, staying at the Orchid Lodge (check it out on the web -- fantastic!). The next morning will be a real highlight for me, though. We get up really early -- like 4am -- and make our way to the peak of Tiger Hill (about 8-9000 feet) and at dawn, if it's clear, we can see the Everest massif and even Mt. Everest itself. Can't wait!!
Yes, we're excited. But I think we're experiencing a whole basket of emotions about our impending trip -- excitement and anticipation ... anxiety about the pace and rigor .... some worry about getting sick ... trepidation about how we'll react --or at least how I'll react -- to the crush of crowds and the poverty and the dirt and the bugs and the heat and the dust and .... I could go on. And that's true not just of me, who's never been there before, but even somewhat of Chris, who lived there for awhile. Let's just say that what might've been easy to adjust to when you're 20 or 30 might be more challenging when you're 50+. But I'm sure that once we're into it, we're going to have an extraordinarily great time. And, of course, we get to see our daughter, Ellie, again and in such exotic circumstances!
So, a couple hectic days, yet, of last minute things and loose ends: finalizing the house/cat-sitter arrangements, getting some traveler's checks and trying to figure out how to drop photos onto this webjournal. I can't promise that last one, but I do hope to.
Saturday, March 5th, 2005
And Away We Go!
It's been a whirlwind of a last stateside day. House/Cat sitters have been briefed and the house has been made ready for them. Personal "bon voyages" have been said. One last "pre-flight" checklist of all the impedimenta of travel to malaria-ridden tropics: quick dry socks and undies, new "buzz off" shirts and pants (repellant woven right into the fabric -- great for mosquito-magnets like Jim!) and all the lotions and potions that we 50+ modern Americans would never travel without -- even a tiny, palm-sized hair dryer. But above all: mustn't forget to start the Malarone anti-malarial tablets tomorrow -- and every day thereafter. The price we pay just to see some Chestnut crowned Laughingthrushes, Golden Fulvettas and Black-throated Parrotbills. Oh, and Ellie, of course.
At any rate, it's been an exhausting day. And maybe that's a good way to get any vacation launched. It makes the getting away all the more welcome. Especially as we're flying round-trip business class! This is a good time to thank our good friends Julie and Jeffrey for the brilliant advice they gave. We were all set to cash in a zillion frequent flyer miles to get round trip coach tickets. Flying free would be nice, after all. But J & J had the wonderfully better idea of buying the cheapest coach tickets we could afford and using the miles for the upgrade instead. Brilliant!
So, thanks to you, J & J, and all our friends who've given us a nice send off. We'll toast you all in a day or so with cups of sweet lassi and masala chai -- the real thing.We look forward to staying in touch through your comments when we can get to a net cafe. Namaste! Jim & Chris
Friday, March 11th, 2005
"We're not in Kansas anymore, Toto!" -- We're not even in Mumbai
It might've been stepping out of Mumbai International into a dirt parking lot. Or maybe it was being ushered by footmen in Maharaja livery into our palatial hotel past the emaciated dog lapping up puddle-water just outside the gates. Or maybe it was the sounds -- the sounds -- of the honking horns of a million cars, lorries and motor-rickshaws, or the constant Bollywood disco music mingling with the melodies of sitars. But something -- no everything -- tells you you're way far from home.
We arrived at our Mumbai hotel, bleary-eyed around 2am and collapsed into a short but welcome sleep before what turned out to be a 13 hour touring day. Here are my highlights of Mumbai:
First and foremost, smiling people: the loquacious Puja, our guide, and her beautiful smile ... Uma, our driver and his laughing smile ... teenage Krisha and his pals at Elephanta who were thrilled to meet real Americans ... the Delhi family of 5 on the boat back from Elephanta who turned out to have lived in Detroit for 4 years ... the sadhu, nonchalanting his way past me on the street, his dusty body wearing nothing by a loin cloth, string-necklaces and prayer beads. Still, we're the curiosities here.
Next, the temples. I like them. I thought at first at how different it is from home -- temples everywhere. Now I think that maybe there's no more than we have churches, just more lively and engaged with Indians' everyday lives -- lives lived out in the open. We visited two on the very first day. The first was a Jain temple. The Jains hold all life so sacred that some wear a mask on their face so as not to even accidentally injest an insect or a microbe, and they might even sweep the street in front of them as they walk to avoid even accidentally stepping on a bug. I foolishly resented having to remove my shoes before entering because I didn't want to dirty my socks. Then I thought, "This is a Jain temple -- maybe the cleanest place on the planet!"
The other temple was the very reason for our visiting Mumbai -- the ancient cave temple of Elephanta, immense, 12-chambered and carved out of -- or would it be into? -- solid rock. It takes an hour by boat to get there. This day being the feast of Shiva Ratri (the night time feast of Shiva) boats going to the island were stuffed to gunwales and we were swept to the cave-temple by a rising tide of thousands of worshipping and holidaying Hindus. The cave-chambers lead you to its two holy of holies: one, the shiva lingum, a small chamber holding the phallus symbol of Shiva's creation-power, lit by puja lamps, swathed in incense and bathed in milk offerings; the other, an immense statue of Lord Shiva, some 15-20 feet high, with worshipers clambering on and around it, annointing it and dressing it with marigolds! Church at home is never like this!
Sandwiched between these temple experiences were visits to Gandhi's home and the museum of antiquities. Profound experiences in their own right.The next morning were were off on a plane to Bagdogra and on a 4 hour ride by jeep to the hill station of Kalimpong (up where Nepal, Bhutan and Sikkim all come together). The drive starts through some of the lushest lowland tea gardens (plantations). The air is filled with a light smoke that took me back to Ireland's west country and the smell of burning peat -- a vegetal smell with a slight oiliness. I learned that here it's from the burning off of the grass thatch so that the ground will be ready for the monsoon-time sprouting. Then at breakneck speeds the driver zig-zags along roads teeming with cycles, cabs, bicycle rickshaws, cows, transport lorries, water buffalo and military vehicles, first through Siliguri (the black market capital of northeast India) and then finally climbs the 4500 feet to Kalimpong. After a few final turns, dips and climbs, we arrived at our lodging for the next few days, the Orchid Retreat, which could just be the Garden of Eden.
More on Kalimpong and our adventures here next time. Meanwhile, Chris and I are feeling well, though still a bit sleep deprived, and are having a marvelous time meeting new people who are becoming new friends. Plus, in the last two days we've added about 50 new birds to our life list. Could hardly be better! All the best, Jim
Comments in retrospect: We would have felt more secure in our arrival if we had known exactly how the first airport/ hotel pickup would work. We did feel a bit nervous while wearily waiting for baggage in Mumbai, because we noticed a few men with signs meeting some passengers inside, but none for us. We hoped that more cars would be outside waiting, and of course ours – clearly marked Le Meridien for James Walters – was right outside. After that we knew Wild World India was all for real and not just some internet mirage. Strange what you think after 24 hours flying! We really liked Le Meridien, both at the beginning and at the end. It was great to be so close to the hotel when we were very exhausted. And this hotel is very warm and friendly, with wonderful food and a very nice business center. Beautiful, comfortable rooms as well. The 13-hour first day tour was a bit much, but we enjoyed each and every part.
Saturday, March 12th, 2005
Kalimpong to Darjeeling -- Updated Entry
We have just arrived in the very high hill town of Darjeeling - 6800 feet - just at the base of the Himalayas. Kanchenzonga, the third highest peak in the world - seems just outside our hotel window. It is beyond awesome - there are no words grand enough to describe it. Still in Kalimpong, we got up at dawn to race up to the highest point in the area – to a place called Deolo-- to see the sun rise over the snow-capped Himalayan peaks. From where we were standing, we were looking in Bhutan, Sikkim and Nepal. Only pictures could possibly hope to describe the majesty. We were thinking how incredibly lucky to see both the Grand Canyon's depth and the Himalayan heights within one year.
Kalimpong itself is a large town spread out along, and clinging to, the steep sides of the northwest Bengal hills. It’s very obviously Buddhist, but has a surprising Catholic presence. (There's even a Jesuit novitiate. What's that about?) One of the first things you notice is the stream of crisply uniformed school kids making their long walks home downhill from the town -- uphill in the morning. West Bengal has one of the highest literacy rates in India. Kalimpong is a bit grimy but a fascinating little town with multiple Bhutanese monasteries (we had a long talk with the Lama, who invited us to tea, -- really to talk with Raj Basu) and Hindu temples. It is full of flowers - the garden capital of India and exporters to the world of orchids, cacti, palms and other beautiful plants. We were staying at the lovely Orchid Retreat, not only a lovely sloped garden but operated by the very wonderful Pradhan family, with two beautiful young daughters. The owner, Ganesh Pradhan, is one of the most urbane and charming Indian I have ever met; we and Raj enjoyed great conversations over dinner long into each evening we were there. He is a very well known Himalayan orchid expert.
We did a lot of birding right on the property, wandering up and down the terraces and through some of the nearby gardens, both the shacks and the lovely Bhutanese homes - all full of flowering primroses and amaryllis. We traveled most of the day yesterday out to forests, some virgin forests just full of birds. It was cloudy, so identifications were difficult, even for the experienced naturalist, the marvelous Raj Basu, who is our guide. But we have seen well over 50 new species, some in glorious colors. The plant life was just as interesting; we saw lots of orchids growing high up on the trees, and hiked over very rickety bridges. Glad Ellie wasn't with us - just don't ask, El!! You would have freaked. We hiked many hours during the day. One of the highlights was a visit to the very high village of Rishyap, where we had lunch in a tourist lodge. Our guide, Raj, runs a company that works to develop ecotourism and home hospitality in Indian villages. They support the villagers to build accommodations for tourists and to encourage interaction between visitors and villagers, each learning from the other while bringing income into the village.
This village of Rishyap has a 180 degree panoramic view of the Himalayan peaks. Unfortunately, clouds were obscuring the high peaks this day, but we enjoyed the view of green mountains all around. We played with the owner's little son, Anand, about the same age as our neighbor Willie. Many of the villagers now have much better homes with small guest rooms, and the village was electrified just last year. The whole village knows and loves Raj, and greeted him and us very warmly. That has been the hallmark of our trip - meeting and talking with so many wonderful people. This morning we met a couple up on the high Deolo Lodge hill, he a Sherpa rock musician and she from a far northeastern area of India almost to Burma. They run a music school in Delhi. We talked for quite awhile, then we ran into them in this cafe later this afternoon in Darjeeling and had fun together again. We were exhausted by yesterday late afternoon, after a walk on the ancient mule path that led from India up to Tibet. After a lovely dinner of Momo and more conversation, we retired and got up once again in Paradise. We had to bid goodbye to the Orchid Retreat and begin the very hilly and interesting ride up to Darjeeling. So now we are in chilly Darjeeling for a few days in the Cedar Inn, and hope for a hot shower tonight! Tomorrow, up before dawn to race up to Tiger Hill, hoping to see Everest if it's clear. What an amazing adventure. Chris & Jim
Comments: We really did love the Orchid Lodge, and would recommend it for any nature lovers, or people lovers! The rooms are simple but very clean and nice, and the service and atmosphere are sublime. Ganesh and Honey Pradhan are just fabulous hosts. And you get to see lots of parakeets and the Verditer Flycatchers. We had a great time visiting Lama Kunzong of the Bhutanese Monastery. We know we were incidental to the meeting; it was karma that Raj and the Lama got together in their love of wildlife.
Tuesday, March 15th, 2005
From Darjeeling Back to Varanasi -- Tea, Mountains and Temples
It has been 24 years since I was last here, and it is amazing to be here. It's certainly a huge thrill to see Ellie here - she came strolling over to our beautiful hotel a short time after the long, crazy taxi ride here. She looks wonderful and is doing very, very well. She was wearing a dark blue punjabi top and white leggings, hair in a ponytail and tanned face. We're all together in the internet cafe right between her house and our great little hotel. The hotel Ganges View is right near the river with a lovely balcony that overlooks the river and the whole scene below - water buffalo, many carts selling snacks and candles, a dog and puppies, and the row of ghats (landings) stretching out on the left. It's hot but not real hot, and the evening has been cool and pretty comfortable, still a major change from the chilly northeast. We sat on the balcony watching a very dramatic puja to Mother Ganges (prayer) performance by three priests with candle lighted triangles and meditation music. Very theatrical.
We had a great time in Darjeeling, so good that we all thought we had one more day. I'll let Jim tell you more, but we got up at 4:30 to race up to Tiger Hill to see the sunrise on Kanchenzonga. There were literally hundreds of people there, having come in dozens of taxis - it was a whole flash mob that then disappeared as rapidly as it had materialized. We stuck around for awhile watching the birds and visiting a really interesting Shiva temple complex. It was really, really cold - in the 30's. Jim and I had every scrap of clothing on that we had, and we were okay. Most of the Indian tourists had on sandals! Go figure. It was magnificent - only the pictures can hope to describe the grandeur. A bit later in the day, Jim came down with a cold and has felt rather lousy since.
It was a long, windy, incredibly trafficky ride down the hill back to Bagdogra Airport, where we had to sadly bid adieu to our wonderful guide, naturalist, guru and now friend, Raj Basu. We flew first into Guwhati, Assam, which was a really neat surpise. Got good views of the Brahmaputra, which Raj had just been talking about. Then on to Delhi; as the plane reached its flying altitude, we could see the whole Himalaya spread out beside us, from Bhutan nearly to Kashmir, including Everest. It looked like it was suspended in the heavens, a breathtaking sight, a dream. Our night in Delhi was odd, because Jim felt crappy, and Delhi is so very crowded. I did have a lovely breakfast with Dipendra from Wild World India, after I convinced him to join me in Jim’s absence. But early this morning we flew to Varanasi and here we are in this amazing place, dusty and hot, full of cycle rickshaws, cows, pigs, holy men, tourists, and lots of birds, and of course, Ellie!!
Chris says it's my turn to add some comments about Darjeeling. When I was a kid, Darjeeling was the place -- or at least the name of the place -- that most symbolized the exotic and far away. Well, the real thing certainly lives up to that. You get there over some of the scariest roads through the loveliest of hills. The roads. Do you remember the "wild mouse" amusement ride. Well, the road to Darjeeling is like riding the wild mouse for 3-4 hours straight! Chris has mentioned our guide, Mr. Raj Basu, but this is my chance to give tribute to Anup, who has to be about the best driver in the world, and strong, too, because our jeep didn't have power steering. Anyway, from Kalimpong at about 3500 feet, you climb to Darjeeling at 7000 feet. As you climb higher you begin to see extensive hill-side tea gardens (plantations). This is the home of the famous, and so very delicious, Darjeeling teas. But to say hillsides is really a misnomer; they really grown more on cliff sides! The slope has to be at least 55-60 degrees! Pickers make their way through the low bushes -- I think they actually use the bushes themselves for some support -- and clip off just the top leaves. Backbreaking and, I think very scary, work. I'll never take a cup of tea for granted again.
Then, finally, you reach Darjeeling. This odd Victorian British hill town hacked into the side of hills just as steep. Very curious place. Exotic alright, but not very attractive. It's filled with hawkers and hippies, and is positively filthy. I mean all Indian towns and cities are grimy and dusty, but Darjeeling is really bad, all the worse for the tight streets. Built on those steep slopes, the town can't exactly have wide boulevards.
But what is does have is vistas. India's tallest mountain is Mt. Kanchenzonga, only about 800 feet shorter than Everest. Massive. Well, our hotel, perched at the heights of the town, was designed to give every room a full on view of the mountain. What a way to start your day, as you watch dawn light up this mountain so holy to the Sikkimese. But seeing Kanchenzonga wasn't my high point. We saw Everest! And not just from the plane, as Chris mentioned. The morning we got to the top of Tiger Hill was so clear -- unusually so for this time of the year -- that off in the distance the rising sun threw a spotlight on four the mountains of the Everst massif: Lhotse, Makalu, and Everest itself! For me this was a dream come true.
Truth is, the chance to see that was the very reason we were in Darjeeling, even knowing that it was a long shot. This was one of my life dreams. I was filled with emotion and stood transfixed for the longest time. I can't explain why, but it was important to me to see that mountain with my own two eyes, two feet planted firm on the ground. I had actually hoped to stand on Everest -- somewhere at the bottom, not the top. But political unrest in Nepal and my age conspire to make that unlikely. So, you might say that this was a 'settle for,' but I'll take it with gratitude.So, now we're in Varanasi. Stay tuned for our next installments. (By the way, we may not be able to include any photos because the connection speeds are very slow.)
Comments: Did you hear that the three of us thought we had yet another day in Darjeeling – until we realized otherwise on Sunday night? Perhaps we would have gone out into the countryside to do some serious birding on Sunday, rather than strolling around the town. But I guess we were tired of rushing about, and Jim wasn’t feeling so great, and we did want to see the town. So at this point, we didn’t maximize birding but had a lot of fun. As you know, we didn’t want exclusively birding; building up the biggest life list possible is not our thing. There was a huge blooming rhododendrun right below the Cedar Inn that was full of Sibias. And of course there was the flock of “finches” swirling around the garden of the Cedar Inn that Raj photographed the Monday we left – as you said, hard to identify!! The Cedar Inn was an amazingly anachronistic place, but what a view! We liked it once they got our hot water working. Our one wish is that we could have avoided the night in Delhi somehow. Perhaps we should have trained from NJP to Varanasi, then flown on to Agra? I know the flight schedules required this, but it was kind of tiring, and we really didn’t like the hotel in Delhi much – way too impersonal and formal for us. I know you tried to get us into another hotel. Of course, if we hadn’t gone to Delhi, I would have missed having breakfast with Dipen! And we wouldn’t have seen the Himalayas from the stratosphere. So good things almost always come. Dipen was very helpful in getting Jim to the pharmacy, too.
Friday, March 18th, 2005
Heat and dust -- Updated Entry
It has really gotten hot here in Varanasi - somewhere in the low 100's, and all the Dragons’ program kids are reeling as much as we are. Our hotel is beautiful, decorated with lots of interesting art, plants and sculptures. The balcony is beautiful, high up over the river, and our room (all decorated with peacocks) is right off this balcony. A great place to watch birds, too. We have breakfast on the balcony, and drinks late in the afternoon, but dinner has to be downstairs because of mosquitoes. We're just a couple of blocks from Ellie's program house - the internet cafe is just halfway between. We had dinner the first night with Ellie's host family - wonderful food cooked by Binno, the mom, in a very spare dining room, and they served us. Only her sister Mini sat down and talked with us. It's a very different style of entertaining. But she is a great cook. Ellie's windowless room is right next to the dining room. She has a bed and a metal cupboard to store clothes. She gets along really well with them, and they are obviously fond of her.
She and I went on a really fun silk shopping venture with Binno and Mini - to a dark little alleyway into a room covered in mattresses. The salesman was a very nice man with a greased pompadour and teeth reddened by betel nut from chewing pan. He flung out before us literally hundreds of scarves, starting with the most expensive gold and silk. Absolutely beautiful. Then he took Ellie and me on a tour of some of the weaving houses, where we watched old men weaving sarees by hand on large jacquard looms. This company also employs many embroiderers, who do beautiful hand work all over sarees. Some of the workers were children of the family (not sweatshops, but still..) Then back to the salesroom for tea and more displaying. Since we were with Binno, a regular customer, he couldn't overcharge me, but still she bargained him down more. I didn't have enough cash, so they said I could take my parcel and leave the money with Binno for pickup the next day! We rode back to their house on two cycle rickshaws. We had a lot of fun together talking and joking and looking over the beautiful fabrics. I know Ellie and I will always treasure this shopping trip.
Earlier that day we had the joy of watching Ellie's kathak dance class with her teacher, the lovely Rupali-ji. I tied on the bells around my ankles as she did, and I tried out some of the fancy footwork, but could only manage the first few sets before it got to be way too much. Ellie is really doing well with all the graceful hand movements and the footwork and spins. Her teacher says she is a natural. She will perform at the end and has to write a paper about it. We've had several meals at the program house, and have enjoyed all the kids and staff. We invited Ellie's French friend Charlotte for a special birthday celebration at our hotel, bought her a beer (which she can only have on non-program functions) and had dinner in our hotel dining room. We had brought her a few gifts that Ellie suggested. She enjoyed having parents for her birthday! Yesterday, Jim and went with one of Bantu's friends, Ditou, a young graduate student, on a dawn tour. We began with a long boatride along the Ganges, then toured some notable temples and finally ended at Banaras Hindi University, my old haunt. It was amazing to see the Ladies Internation Hostel Annexe again - mostly unchanged except for a plastic awning in the front and more planned rose gardens. I could remember well all the people who used to populate the house when we were there. As soon as Ellie's dance teacher started calling out all the syllables that are the dance steps, I could remember all the mornings we were awakened by the practice of the two Indonesian Kathak dancers who lived with us. A Hoopoe flew by just as Jim was taking my picture in front of the hostel, one of the birds I really wanted to see! The university is even more of a serene contrast to the rest of the very choked and noisy city than it was then. Varanasi is so very crowed and commercialized now. Jim is definitely having a hard time here - and I know it would take much longer than a few days to come to terms with this holy city. Ellie is doing marvelously well here, with all the great support and structure her program provides. She is in good hands. I hate to leave her. We get on the overnight train to Agra later this afternoon. I'm just getting over a bout of tummy troubles, so I missed the wonderful tabla (drumming) concert last night at the program house. But I'm better today. Chris
Jim's additions: It's true that I'm having a hard time with Varanasi. It started from the minute we drove into the town from the airport. We arrived at mid-day and traffic is a nightmare! Imagine yourself stepping into a huge mall on the day after Thanksgiving, caught in the crush of people. Now, put all those people on wheels -- two wheels, three wheels, four and six wheels. Very disconcerting. This is a very intense place. The oldest continually inhabited city on earth, Varanasi stretches itself lengthwise along the Ganges. Indian mythology says that the river sprouted from Shiva's head and that he placed the city here as his earthly home. So, Hindus believe that dying here is a shortcut to enlightenment, releasing you from further rounds of death and rebirth. Unlike any other city in India, Varanasi, in its entirety, is one big temple containing probably thousands of individual temples -- and they're everywhere. One wakes up to the sounds of priests leading morning puja. Then around 4pm comes the amplified sounds of the Gita being read. (I'm told that down here less than half of the population is literate, unlike west Bengal.) But nothing is more intense than the nightly Puja to Ganga Mataji that Chris described above. So, virtually all day you're surrounded by the crowds and sounds of people offering puja to their various gods. It's all very beautiful, but very intense.
But my western eyes can't completely close out the dirt and the general dishevelment of this city and how filthy the river is. I think to myself that, surely if there was one city that would be kept in gleaming condition, it would be this one, the home, the embodiment, of Shiva -- one vast temple to his presence. But no.
Then, as Chris said, we took that early morning boat ride on the Ganges. I don't remember Chris mentioning how touristy this ritual is. There were dozens of boats ferrying scores of tourists just like us. Maybe it's another thing that was different when she was here the first time, but it makes for something unsavory now. The Ganges is the locals' place for puja, bathing, clothes washing and burial. All of these things are taking place 20-30 yards from me and my prying eyes. From the look of it, we tourists are as much a part of the morning landscape as everything else. Still, it doesn't feel quite right to me.
Two highlights of that morning on the river were the burning ghats. There used to be two of them with open burning, but now it's true only of Manikarnika ghat, the second one you reach. At the first one, the open burning has been replaced by an electric crematorium. An unsightly, industrial waste-burning-looking thing, it sits high on a platform about 25 feet above the river line. Looks just like some trash disposal site -- just what this city needs, actually. But as a substitute for the burning ghats, it strikes me totally lacking any sense of dignity. Given the choice of wood or electric, I'd prefer the former. Maybe it's all academic anyway, because it's not working.
In Varanasi I most feel the relentless sun, heat, dust, noise and crush. But once again, the real charm of India -- Varanasi being no exception -- is its smiling and generous people: from the Ganga View hotel's owner who opened his family home as a hotel for discerning tourists and to the city's artists who can be found working here; to Ditou, our guide, a marvelously English-fluent fellow who hopes either to go on to University or to be an airline steward; to the "can-do" Bantu Pandey, the Dragons' local man, and clearly the man to see if you need to find anyone or anything; to the two professors at BHU, especially Dr. Rathore, who befriended us on the train and had us make sure that Ellie knew that he was now her benefactor in India and that she could call on him for any need.
As I said, it's an intense place and it generates powerfully conflicting feelings in me. On our first day here in Varanasi, we were met by an adopted-son, a Swiss guy named Beat Niederer, and we talked about what it took for him to fall in love with Varanasi (he's lived here for the past 15 years.) When he asked how long we were going to be here and answered "just 4 days," he said, "Ah, I hoped perhaps 6 months." I think it would take something like that for me to penetrate the surface of this place and bring my very disparate feelings about Varanasi into some harmony.
Comments: You can certainly recommend the Ganges View to anyone visiting Varanasi – what a fabulous hotel. All its rooms have aircon. But there seem to be some interior rooms without windows. We’d strongly recommend the upper level rooms with both aircon and windows. And great for birders, too. There are lots of Kingfishers fishing from the trees at balcony level! Of course it was especially good for us to be very near our daughter. It was good that we had a ride from the airport and to the train station pre-arranged by you. It was especially great to have your representative get us onto the train; even I had forgotten how incredibly confusing and crazy the Varanasi rail station is. As you can see, we had plenty of support in Varanasi.
Saturday, March 19th, 2005
The Taj Mahal and Rajasthan
We have made our way to the birding hotspot of Bharatpur - Keolodeo National Park. We arrived this afternoon, and after a much needed shower, we took a really nice and easy stroll in the park with a naturalist. We saw lots of things in a short time, including a 3-foot-long monitor lizard, a jungle cat, and lots of beautiful birds. It is a lovely place, and the sun was low, with a cooling breeze. Our guest house here is lovely, hidden in a garden off the main dusty road. We'll do some more early morning birding here - the water birds - then head down to the tiger preserve south of here. Fortunately, I got up feeling much better. Leaving Varanasi was not easy - we had a lovely tea time with Ellie, later joined by Charlotte, in a very lovely shop called Open Hand, then we took our taxi to the train station. It was really hot in Varanasi yesterday! So we were all sweaty when we got on the train. It took the air conditioning quite a while to kick in, and even still it was clammy all night. I had never ridden 2nd class trains before - only 3rd class - so I thought it would be a bit more grand than it was. Two wonderful professors from Banaras Hindu University joined us in our set of four, so we had quite a bit of time to talk with them. Jim got a really good taste of Indian trains, including: extended arguments about seats, the porter carrying both of our suitcases together on the top of his head, heat, confusion, fun conversation and laughter, and really hard beds. We did actually manage to sleep some (after the extended arguments) although it got freezing cold on my top bunk by the time the night was over. We awoke with the fear that we had missed the Agra station, but it was just that the train was late. So we sat around feeing really grungy and hungry until we came to Agra and were met by a representative from our tour company. We were whisked to a very fancy hotel, looking and feeling like we had slept in our clothes and not bathed, where we had a lovely breakfast. Then we were met by a wonderful guide Munju, who led us through the Taj Mahal. In fact, the Taj is much better maintained than when I saw it in 1968 - the gardens and the pools are lovely, and there have been many repairs to the inlaid marble surface of the building. It is just as magnificent as one dreams. I know Jim was greatly impressed. Last time I had no camera (having dropped it in a river) so I had to make up for that. We spent quite a nice time sitting in the shade watching various Indian families have their photos taken on a bench in front of the Taj. I couldn't resist snapping some shots of them as well. We then proceeded to a marble inlay factory to see how the descendants of the 17th century Taj marble workers still produce similar artistry. Of course the idea is to sell us some, but it was amazing to see the craftsmanship. We declined the offer to look at carpets, said goodbye to Munju, and drove on to Rajasthan. The Birder's Inn is very nice, with beautiful Rajasthani cotton bedspread and curtains. We headed immediately to the showers, and really enjoyed being clean after being on the train all night. We had a delicious lunch, then went out to the park. Jim is napping now, before dinner. The sun is setting red and dusty, flocks of parakeets are flying around and squawking along with peacocks crying across the road, and we are looking forward to tomorrow's adventures - and sleeping in a real, stable bed tonight. Hard to leave Ellie, but we know it will go fast for her. We are ourselves looking forward to coming home now. It's been a lot of traveling around, for sure. Chris
Comments: Loved the Birders’ Inn! We so wish we had carved out a few more days to stay there and hang around Keolodeo . The guesthouse and the garden are just lovely It was so peaceful in the park, and we know that Goverdhan Singh could have helped us see another hundred birds if we had taken the time. Of course your presence there made it extra special. This was the one place we really underestimated in our schedule – of course, you tried to tell us! We also heard over and over again that Bharatpur was lacking in water and not at its peak, but having never seen it before, we thought it was wonderful. We also enjoyed sitting with the artist-in-residence there, and talking with the owner. Hope you can help this place to be known to birders all over the world, and to food-lovers as well, because we thought the food was great.
Journey's end Mar 23rd
We are resting this afternoon in a plush hotel in Mumbai - where this all started - awaiting a midnight departure for the airport, and on the long trip home. And we are ready to come home! This was a very ambitious itinerary, and even with all the supports build in by Wild World India, we're still weary of moving from place to place. We have certainly seen a lot of birds and wildlife, and lots of culture. We loved Bharatpur, a beautiful, calm park accessibly only by cycle-rickshaw. The driver/guides are Sikhs, actually adopted Sikhs, who were turned out of Pakistan at partition, settled in the park before it was a national park, then were allowed to have the sinecure for traversing the park. Some Sikh visitors were highly offended by the Sikh rickshaw-wallas, because it is usually a job for much lower caste men. Our second visit was to the more watery areas, where we saw Sarus cranes, spoonbills, herons and egrets, and antelope herds, and many many song birds. The naturalist, Goverdhan Singh, was an incredible spotter, and very quick to find birds in his telescope at great distances.
We loved the Birder's Inn there, and the food was some of the best of all we had. The visit was also greatly enhanced by the arrival of the Wild World India trio to visit us, only one of whom we had met in Delhi. After conversing with them by e-mail for many months, it was truly a joy to spend time with them: Vikram Singh, Dipendra Gurung from a village near Darjeeling (we had met him in Delhi) and Gaurav Jain. They had in tow a British family (Norfolk), (Rob and Gaurav were friends from a past trip), who had arrived in Delhi only to find their hotel was under renovation. They had made the mistake of booking only the second part of their trip through Wild World India (who are impeccable in their arrangements). Vikram actually took them into his own home (the mom was sick, the 4-year-old son exhausted from the journey). So it was a big party there, and wonderful to get to know all of them. Hated to leave there, but we were taken to the evening train, and road with mostly sleeping passengers on the sleeping coach. We were disembarking at 10:45, so we didn't pull down our berths. This was my only trip on 1st class, and the only differences seemed to be the sumptuousness of the curtains you can pull around the berths (ours didn't have any on the 2nd class, though others did) the generally more clean car, and the presence of a western style toilet with toilet paper. The Birders’ Inn had provided us with a wonderful packed lunch, which we enjoyed on the train.
We arrived at the very interesting Ranthambore Bagh guesthouse around 11:00 PM and were shown to our tent. It was a great tent, large, and completely lined with beautiful yellow block printed Rajastani cotton. There was a bathroom tent attached, also with a cement floor, complete with shower and hot water some of the time. Quite comfortable; they light mosquito coils at night, so we were not bothered. We had a lovely cup of tea to calm down, then slept until we were awakened at 6:00 AM to meet our jeep for the first of two safaris we took that day. We rushed to get ready, but the power went out and we had not sorted out clothes the night before. But we joined a Swiss couple already in the jeep. We rode out at breakneck speed to pick up an older British couple at a brand new, extravagant hotel that looked as if it had been built by Donald Trump in Atlantic City. We later discovered that it was a copy of the architecture of Jaipur. Immediately upon entering the ancient park gate (all originally a fortified area) we saw the first of dozens of troops of langur monkeys that live there, along with thousands of wild peafowl, antelope, deer (small Spotted and large Sambar), wild boars, mongoose, and millions of birds. It's a rough ride, but an amazing area of jungles, banyan trees, some very desert-like with large cacti. It was great to be in the real thing - not Great Adventure! It was also very, very dusty; we were completely coated in dust when we returned four hours later for a quick shower and breakfast, to be followed by lunch one hour later to prepare for the afternoon safari.
Wednesday, March 23rd, 2005
Mumbai goodbye -- Up Early... Out Quick! -- Updated Entry
Ranthambore - our afternoon safari was even dustier and bouncier, and on neither did we see any tigers, though we saw plenty of tiger footprints in the dust. We were not nearly as tiger-centric as most people were, because we just loved being with the parakeets and treepies. At one point, treepies (big, red and black magpies) were eating cookies out of our hands. And love those langur monkeys. Why don't we have any non-human primates in the US?? Back to our tent for another shower, then a beautiful dinner outside in the garden by candlelight, with a little Rajastani music/dancing group. By then, the British family, Rob, Sarah and Rowan had arrived, so we had a nice time together there.
Again we were up before dawn to be driven to Jaipur. We had no idea, from our itinerary on paper, of the hard travel between Ranthambore and Jaipur. It's a harrowing 3+hours where you're constantly looking at something coming at you that can kill you. The one road is mostly one lane - with traffic coming in two directions - or completely unpaved in stretches. Traffic consists of camel carts mostly loaded with huge bags of chilis for market, the occasional elephant, big Tata trucks, cars, comical farm vehicles that are really just motors mounted on axles pulling wagons, actual tractors, and vast flocks of goats and camels. This did not make for speed. Our driver was not nearly as skilled as young Anup up in the northeast, so we really wondered if we would survive. Seatbelts - no!!! We were also not prepared for the beauty of the countryside, all fields of guava, tomatoes and hay. And the graceful Rajastani women carrying large water jugs or giant baskets on their heads - with their colorful scarves. I wanted to photograph every group. A very charming state. It looks a lot like the American southwest in some parts - red rock and soil, dry river beds. Imagine what the Dakota Badlands would be like if they were in Sedona. It's one of the areas that provided the red rock that seems to have built half of India's buildings.
I got out of the car to take a picture of a huge herd of camels moving from the road into a field, and I was accosted by one of the camel drivers demanding money. I jumped back in the care very quickly indeed.
We made it in one jolted piece to our fabulous hotel in Jaipur - a converted Maharaja's palace with extensive gardens. Our guide, Ajit Singh Chauhan, was already waiting for us for the afternoon's tour. Turns out that he is of the Rajput royal class descendant of the last Hindu Raja before the Mughals took over and has fond memories of being in our hotel when it actually was a palace. In fact, he worked for a brief time as the Maharajah's comptroller. One got the feeling that this was going to be a uniquely informative tour, and it was. Jaipur is very beautiful, with a great deal of Indo-Persian architecture from the long line of Maharajas. Most of it is now owned by the government, but I saw the current Maharaja leaving the palace he still occupies. We rode an elephant up the long hill to the Amber Palace - a 16th century series of palaces and forts. Ajit also took us to the City Museum, where there is a marvelous though poorly preserved collection of Maharajah's items from the 16th century on. We also visited the amazingly modernistic observatory built by Jai Singh - the largest sundial anywhere. There was a wonderful shopping area of craftsmen supported by the Maharjah - could have bought out the place if I had time. But we were getting tired. Jim has been fighting his cold and cough for more than a week, and I have bit of a cold now, too. We came back to the hotel and had a lovely beer and dinner outside in the gardens. We have been very lucky to hit a brief stretch of spectacular weather in Rajasthan - clear and cool (80's) because of a big storm that blew through. I should have been much, much hotter. This morning we were supposed to be up at 5:15 to prepare for an early flight to Mumbai, but we overslept and had about two minutes to get packed up and out. But the food is quite good on both Indian Airways and Jet Airways, so we had a nice breakfast. So here we are, doing nothing much for a few hours, preparing to come home. We have missed everyone, and have loved all the comments you have made. Thanks for that. Somehow, we'll have to review all we've done and get some perspective on it. But clearly, the extraordinary people we have met have made the trip. We have been so fortunate in that regard.
Jim's additions: From Kalimpong to Jaipur there have been two sure-fire friendship builders. The first, Chris' having lived in Varanasi and "coming home" for a visit. The second, and even more powerful, Ellie's being in Varanasi right now. At every turn, once learned, people wanted us to know -- and to tell her -- that they were available to her for any assistance she might need -- anything, anytime.So, our travels came to an end that evening in Jaipur as we had a drink and light supper in the cool evening of the Palace gardens. A perfect final memory of Jaipur and our diverse India adventure. Unfortunately, our last memory will really be of the next morning's mad dash to the airport, having overslept by a full hour. Well, that's been our way all along: up early and out quick!
Comments: Ranthambore is a beautiful place, but the tourism use of the park needs the kind of changes that Poona (not sure how she spells her name) suggested to us, and I know you are all well aware of. Because we were not tiger-obsessed (but tiger-interested), we found all the rushing around in the park to be kind of crazy. And it was too much for us to take two safaris in one day. Our morning guide was interested and pretty knowledgeable about birds and all the other wildlife, but our afternoon guide couldn’t care less about anything but tigers-tigers-tigers. We also saw very little wildlife on the afternoon safari, though maybe that had more to do with the route. (Actually, in the afternoon some other people did spot some tigers briefly at a distance; we didn’t) We did see some spectacular vistas, though. It is a beautiful place, and we loved seeing all the large mammals and primates. I noticed on the Ranthambore Bagh bulletin board that there may have been dedicated birding tours, so perhaps it might have been better for us to take one of those as well as one safari. It was very nice to be in jeeps as opposed to the larger trucks, so thanks for making those reservations. We also loved the Bagh. Unfortunately, we didn’t get to meet Vikram’s brother, but Poona was wonderful and gracious to us. The hotel is very beautiful, the tent was charming and comfortable, and the outdoor dinner with music was romantic and fun. Fun to hang out with Rob, Sarah and Rowan too – fortunately Sarah was feeling so much better by then.
For your clients that you are sending to Ranthambore, and also for Ranthambore Bagh, a very good addition would be a take-along guide booklet or pamphlet of pictures and text about the common birds, mammals and trees that one will see in the park, as well as a map and history of the park. This would overcome the problem of guides who don’t know birds well, and might help begin to focus everyone on all the other riches that the park has to offer besides tigers. Also, I wish Ranthambore Bagh had sent us out at dawn with at least some hard-boiled eggs. It was a very long time until breakfast, and we were rushed through our tea by a driver/guide who picked us up even earlier than scheduled. Actually, this was something of a problem throughout the trip – the “up early & out quick without breakfast” pace. Before I caught the cold, doing that wasn’t so bad. But since I was never really able to get over the cold, and as it settled into bronchitis, that pace was really hard on me. I really should’ve discussed this with the proprietors at Birders’ Inn and with Poona; they might’ve accommodated me. But as it was, it sort of wore me out and I ended up spending some evenings in bed instead of with friends, for example with you all at Birder’s Inn . In retrospect, I probably should’ve gone to a doctor as Dipendra suggested, because, as it turned out, I needed antibiotics, not just cough medicine. We could have easily done that in Varanasi as well, because they have doctors available all the time. But I’m happy to say that it didn’t keep from doing anything, or going anywhere, that was planned. Just put a bit of a damper on my experience.
A final word of recognition: Our guide in Jaipur, Mr. Ajit Singh Chauan, was another superb person. Very professional, very personable, very deep and detailed knowledge of Jaipur’s history and of its wondrous places. I don’t know whether you particularly chose him as our guide, or whether it was something more random. But I suggest that you might team up with him as your associate in Jaipur. FYI, he runs a business of his own called “Rajasthan Fair and Festival Tours.” It might be a good strategic complement to WWIndia.
Friday, March 25th, 2005
Home
The final entry on this trip - home again. The plane trip was long and mostly sleepless for me, unfortunately, so I arrived home with little or no sleep for 30 hours. Jim had many hours of sleep, but is still tired. Turns out that he has bronchitis that's affected just about every area of his lungs. We have no idea what time of day it is. After a last, wonderful Indian dinner at the hotel in Mumbai, I swore I was still not tired of Indian food. But on the planes, I picked the non-Indian choices, and Jim and Lissie are about to go out for a hamburger. It was strange to leave the hotel at midnight for a 2:20 AM flight out, but there were tons of people at the airport because lots of the European flights leave at that time. We had quite a long layover in DeGaulle in Paris, but knitting and studying the French chocolate and pastries made it go fairly quickly. Lissie met us at home; it was great to see her - for about an hour before I crashed. Now it's sorting out things, looking at photos, feeling amazed that this all actually happened. Great to see Ellie's last posting that she is already worrying about leaving her host family's home in a month; the thing she was most worried about turned out to be her favorite feature! How often that is the case. Very nice to be able to drink water right out of the faucet - how many things we take for granted every day.
Comments: You all did a fabulous job putting together our trip. Every connection worked wonderfully well, and we had an excellent mix of birding/wildlife and culture and hanging out talking to people. We really had extraordinary guides – every one! Being with Raj Basu was an unexpected and tremendous gift –still don’t know just why or how that happened, but must stem from some magic. He facilitated so many meaningful connections (and wants us to return as his guests). Your joining us in Bharatpur was also remarkable; you can’t imagine how special it was to meet you in person after all the e-mails, and you are all so great.
In retrospect, I guess it might have been useful to develop our trip in the other direction, that is, build the trip around the Indian airline schedules first, then fill in the details. Maybe that would have resolved the extra-flight-to-Delhi glitch, maybe not. We had so many other constraints to work with – high season in Darjeeling starting right after our visit there, impending hot weather on the plains, Ellie’s group being away from Varanasi the week leading up to the 14th, the end of the season at Bharatpur, our need to return to the US for Easter, etc. So maybe it would have turned out the same anyway. And who wouldn’t fly to Delhi for breakfast with Dipen!
We could not imagine having had the rich experiences we did without your expert assistance. It was your choice of people and places that gave us such entrée into Indian culture as well as the enjoyment of unique wildlife and wild settings. In addition, we were spared the anxiety of making connections in very unfamiliar places. We would heartily recommend you to anyone wanting a uniquely customized adventure in India, and we extend ourselves as references in any way that would be useful to you.
Images: Jim Walters & Chris Kenty
No comments:
Post a Comment