Darjeeling

I'm spending most of the time wandering around that little town. All the main streets are parallel, connected with stairs and steep lanes. The weather is chilly at morning, comfortable at daytime, and becomes cold afternoon and freezing at night. Carrying that heavy bag with me is starting to pay off, at last, all that thermal clothing really does a good job. The sky is very foggy, so not much is seen from above the hills of the city, of course not the snowpeaks.
Today, I went to the opposite side of the town. On the way there's a big combined Buddhist-Hindu temple, which gave the name to the town ("Dorje" is Tibetan for enlightment, "Lingam" is a symbol of Shiva). This was really beatiful and special - thousands of prayer flags surrounding Hindu buildings. People inside are repeating texts from scriptures, and ring the bells that hang from the gates each time they come in and out.



The park around is a really nice place, too. Lots of monkeys...
Tea plantations down the hill can be seen from the street. The town is famous for its tea, there are lots of shops offering different tastes and blends. The classic one was good for me :)



The zoo isn't very big, but very it's very clean and the animals look well-treated. (Although that jackal going from side to side in his cage seemed like he has more interesting things to do, but what the hell...)
Red panda:



In the end of the zoo, there's a Himalayan Mountering Institute, lots of material and exibits concerning the mountain climbing and Everest expeditions.
Yesterday, I booked a flight ticket for Nepal. Tomorrow I should go back to Siliguri and get on bus to the border, a town named Kakabitta. If everything goes well, I'll spend the night there and fly to Kathmandu the next day. I really don't have much information about Nepal, some stuff from the I-net... but as I've discovered, guidebooks don't help as much as local people and other tourists. Challo Nepal... :)

Nice !

Just saw a solar eclipse in Darjeeling :) Was it all over the world?
Also, I heard there were elections in Israel. What's going on?
Did the good guys win?
...
Anyway, today I've left Sikkim and came to Darjeeling, a pretty crowded place,
but tourist-friendly. Big market, lots of hotels and restaurants. Very European kind
of buildings, probably English. Very cold ...
...
first three weeks: http://www.flickr.com/photos/lenchik

Tashiding, Sikkim

Sikkim is a beatiful little state, lying in mountains covered with forestes, that hide ancient monasteries, quiet lakes, small villages, hot springs and steep trails. The weather in the mountains is unpredictable, in the morning there's often sun, the sky is clear and the Himalaya can be seen.














In the afternoon it can suddenly change and become very rainy. The people that live here are different: many Nepali, some Tibetan-like, called Lepcha and Bhutia, all very friendly and calm, probably because of the mountains :)





















Travelling around is most comfortable by shared jeeps, walking allows to see beatiful views of mountains, rivers and waterfalls, but carrying a heavy bag really diverts the attention from the landscapes to the unpleasant body sensations.
Stopping from time to time is a big relief and after the breath and heart beat become lighter, the views around astonish with wild tranquility and peace.
India invests a lot in the infrastructure of the state - most of the roads are in good shape, hotels are being build in villages, and probably in a few years these isolated places will see many more tourists.
I am travelling around Sikkim for a week with a Dannish guy, named Per, whom I've met in Gangtok, the capital of the state, day after arriving from Varanasi. We moved by jeep to Pelling and stayed there for two days, went to the nearby Pemayangtse monastery and the ruins of Rabdentse, Sikkim's ancient capital. From Pelling we went by foot down the hill and up again, total 20 km, to the Khecheopari lake, which is believed to have magic powers. It was raining when we arrived, and there was no electricity. We stayed overnight in a little room nearby the lake. Next morning the weather became better, we walked to Yuksom, the distance was shorter, but the trail much steeper, so we didn't believe when we actually reached the place. Yuksom is a really nice place. There's a little lake, perfect for meditation and watching the snowpeaks. One of the village's sights is a coronation throne, made of stone, with three seats. It's located in a middle of a garden with gigantic trees, probably hundreds of years old. The other is the Dubdi monastery, the oldest in Sikkim, high above the village. There are so many colors inside the monasteries, not a single part of the wall remains unpainted or uncovered by miniaturistic paintings of lamas, demons, animals, saints, and scenes from the scriptures. Metal statues of Buddha and Tibetan lamas watch from behing the glass.
From Yuksom we took a jeep to Tashiding, a tiny and friendly village, and now we are here, resting from trekking. Many good places for vipassana here, too :)
bolenat...

Challo

Today leaving Varanasi, going north-east, town called Siliguri, from which it's possible to get to Sikkim state and also to Nepal and Bhutan. I'm quite bored here, so it's a good timing.

Rooftop

Chilling out in Varanasi.



There's not much to do actually, but it's a good place to relax. Staying close to the Ganges, wake up early, watch the river, people taking shower or burn bodies.



Then, take a walk on the streets of old city... It's becoming hot, so it's good just sit at rooftop or somewhere cool.

At afternoon, the sky is full of kites. They seem to be everywhere, sometimes fighting with each other or just stay high in the air.



Also, plenty of monkeys on the roofs. There are really families of them there. Sometimes they come very near, also want to have good time, some coconuts :) Yesterday these two took a pair of pants from the roof with them.



At 18:30 starts the pooja, everyday ceremony. Its purpose is to make the river stay in its borders and not come into the city. There are 6 brahmin men, who make it with incense, candles, fire, bells, and every night a lot of people come to watch this.



Also, many many tourists here... But it's much easier than Mumbai, people are different. Lots of Hebrew signs, and some Indians speak Hebrew as well.
Holi is to start today evening, and tomorrow it's colour time :)

bolenat sapkesat... :)

Varanasi

Our trip to Ajaigar and Kalinjar ended unexpectedly. The day we left Khajuraho on a motorcycle was really cloudy, and it seemed like rain was about to begin. We reached the Kan river, put the motorcycle on a boat, and went to the other side. That was fun :) Than it began raining, we stopped in a village where Govinda's (my Indian friend) relatives live. The people in this village have never seen tourists, so after I took out my camera, the whole village gathered around. For them, taking a photo is a big (and expensive) event, and developing it takes much time, so they were very excited seeing the result right after shooting. The Indian hospitality is really amazing, in many houses people asked us to stop, sit, drink chai and so on. We spent the night in the village, hoping the rain would stop in morning... but it didn't, it only became stronger. This is really bad for farming there, people are very dependant of the weather. We decided to go back, because climbing the mountains in this weather was impossible. Riding the motorcycle in rain in rural roads was not a pleasant experience, but a few times we just stopped in villages, asked people to sit by the fire, get some heat. In these moments it really became obvious how little a man really needs... Sitting by the fire is really great :) We returned in evening to Khajuraho, and the day after took a bus to Satna, from where there's a train to Varanasi. It's really great travelling with Indian people. After arriving to train station, we went to eat dinner, so they just went into some place, that doesn't look like a restaurant at all, no sign or anything, but the service was really fast, and the food was delicious. The train left at 21:00 (a hour late), so we arrived at Varanasi in 6:30, went to a really nice guest house, nearby the Ganges. Varanasi is a big city, one of the most holy places to the Hindu religion. The Holi festival is going to take place here in the 14th of March, meanwhile we'll travel around the ghats. There are also supposed to be many Israelis here, so I should expect many talks of the kind "where were you in the army."
Now I'm taking some rest from the trip, took a shower and did yoga on the rooftop, later we'll take a walk on the ghats.
Have a happy Purim and take care!

Ram ram!

Good morning :) Everything is good here. Two days ago, there was a blast in Varanasi, very lucky of me to delay the trip there. Here all is quiet, we're travelling around the villages, planning to go to Ajaigar and Kalingar, it's about 40 km from here, places where the maharajas lived in the mountains... Two days ago I've met an amazing man, his name is Rajendra, he's a master of wood carving. Hi sits in his shop, with his little son, working all day, making beatiful sculptures from avoni tree roots. The wood is very hard, it's a very dilligent work, each piece takes about 5 days to make, so he said. He works just like his father and grandfather did, although now he can sell his masterpieces to tourists and rich Indian people. In the old days, this art was used to religious ceremonies and dancing. We've also been to his house... Very nice man, quiet, smile's always shining on his face :)
Anyhow, still don't know about that Varanasi trip... Prefer to stay where it's quiet, although it's becoming really hot :) See you later!

Khajuraho

Namaste :) Took me some time to return to the net... I'm staying in Khajuraho, now for the fifth day. Khajuraho is a quiet village, pretty isolated, but it has one of India's main attractions - the erotic temples, so it's a very touristic place. The buses with groups come at morning, people go to see the temples (they have some really wicked stuff, wait for the pictures to be uploaded :), and leave afternoon. I felt like doing this also, stay for maybe one day, maybe two days, and leave to Varanasi... but then it hit me.. I'm not here to learn history and shoot pics (not only, anyway). I came to see the life around, learn the way people live, enjoy beatiful landscapes! I've met some really great Indian people, who show me places around. We come to these villages, where people don't see tourists at all, so it's a big event, but I just sit there and understand, that I am just like them, maybe different in color and language, but we share the same basic things... and village people know how to enjoy simple life, bathing in river, watching sunrises and sunsets, live in the nature... Being in these places really took me back to my childhood, when I was riding a bike in the forest, and there was just this enourmous big world, and me, a tiny part of it..
Anyway, no pictures yet... just got them all burnt on cd, just wait... meanwhile, I'm wandering around, drinking chai, eating chapatis, talking with nice people :) Tomorrow, I plan to leave this place and go to a village not far away, to which my Indian friend invited me, and from there, we'll head for Varanasi. I love India :)

Orchha

Yesterday was kind of a weird day. I was supposed to get on this really fast express train that should have got me to Jhansi, near Orchha, but it was late, and I got by mistake on an Indian passengers' train. This was because Indian way to say 'yes or no'. I'm used that 'yes' is knodding the head, 'no' is turning the head from side to side, but in India they have this light shaking of the head, which can mean 'yes', 'no', 'beatiful', 'get the hell out of here' and so on. They have also the same word for hello/good bye, tomorrow/yesterday, so go figure what they mean. Anyway, this train was really crawling and I had no idea where it was going. Luckily there was a guy speaking English, so he explained to me I should change trains in a station named Bina. So I did, and in the next train I got on, I had no seat reserved, so my destiny was travelling in the Indian style, between wagons. It was lovely, except of the smell. So, I saw some of India's countryside, and the whole journey to Orchha took about 8 hours. A guy named Vitesh sitting nearby, really got it shorter for me. He was really interested in how are things in Israel, and told me some things about the Indian ways. Indians, especially educated, really treat foreigners with respect, and do their best to make it easier for them. Eventually I got to Orchha at evening, booked a really great room in a hotel. It's like a palace, although the price is funny, and it's really in Western style (toilets, bathrooms, etc.). I shouldn't get used to this luxury though, it will spoil me.

Orchha is a really nice village, full of temples and palaces. Although it's a tourist spot, people don't make bad use of this fact. I got up early this morning, watched the sunrise over the big palace, called Jehangir Mahal, and then went to see all the interesting sights. The palaces and temples are from 16th century, some of them have very beatiful ceiling paintings. It's amazing that although there's really a lot of dust and garbage around (and probably was back than), all these places are very well preserved. The market in the village is full of life, there are stands selling flowers and sweets for people who come to the Ram Raja temple, optimistic beggars in orange clothing, that are willing to be photographed for a small charge and so on.
Today I'm going to stay here and find out about ways getting to Khajuraho, tomorrow.