Holy Shit...

So some how I've survived India, not to mention a 36 hour journey, and made it to the Hindu holy city of Varanasi, where Shiva was born, where the Sacred Mother Ganges river flows and gives life to all and all that. This is quintessential India at its best (or worst, depends how you like it). The guide book says that this is an incredibly colorful place -- well I suppose by colorful they must have meant all the various shades of yellow to brown (and some green) of the thousands and thousands of piles of shit on the alleys and streets. You people won't even believe it if I just told you. I call it a lucky day if I don't step on one of these piles. But just my luck, as I was walking along the famed ghats where people ritually bathe in the polluted waters, where ashes of the cremated are scattered, where dead bodies (humans) are thrown in, where raw sewage is drained into ... just my luck as I was hopping over the piles of shits on the walkways, a flock of birds flies over head and shit on my shirt. Ha ha, you just have to laugh at it.

Varanasi is crowded and filthy. To give an idea how bad it is... every one ritually bathes in the water, some 60,000 a day; but, get this, the Ganges river is so polluted that it contains over 1.5 million fecal bacterial count per 100 ml. What is considered safe bathing water should have less than 500 count per 100 ml. And the DRINK from this and cook from this. It's a cespool of sceptic water and nothing can survive in it, there is NO dissolved oxygen! What's more, the alley ways to my "hotel" is lined with shit, and trash, and more shit. Just this morning as I was walking (hopping over shit) out, I saw this one old man with a bucket of urine and shit from the previous days collection from his entire home (it was a big bucket), he proceeded to dip his bare left hand in the bucket and gave it a few swirls to soften it up before pouring it down a crack in the alley way. He then rinsed his hand with a little bottle of water (from the river of course). And all of it flows straight back into the river. I think if you survive India, you can survive everywhere.

But despite this, the people are quite friendly... especially when they're trying to sell you somehing or trying to get you to buy hash. And who said India was conservative? Today I saw women topless bathing along the ghats. A couple of teenage boys asked me to take a photo of them in front of thousands of people... and as I clicked the shutter, one of them fully kissed the other on the cheek. Woh. You have to laugh.

Lastly, everyone thinks I'm Japanese and speaks to me in Japanese. For some strange reason, there is a ton of Japanese and Korean tourist here, but hardly any at all in other parts of India.

Anywho, I'll be going to Sarnath to see the excavated ruins of where Buddha preached at Deer Park. Then the day after I will hopefully catch a train to Bodhgaya to find the tree where the Buddha sat under and attained enlightenment. I will then be in the high Himalayas of Nepal within a few days.

Amritsar, India

Well, after 3 days audience with Ramesh Balsekar in Mumbai, I am in Amritsar, Punjab, India.  It's stunning to sit in silence and gaze at the famed Golden Temple of the Sikhs.  The entire main dome is plated with pure gold and sits in the center of a pool of water, i.e., pool of nectar.  The holy scripts are chanted continuously by holy men and broadcasted to the entire complex throughout the day.  It's one place that feels really spiritual. 

The last few days with Ramesh plus the ambience here has brought me a lot of peace.  It's just different when you don't have to deal with the daily monotonous routine of daily life.  Though conditions are rudimentary and travel difficult at times, there is plenty to keep one's cheer up.  The people are all genuinely so friendly... and especially if you're a caucasian woman, they all want to take photos with you.

Interestingly, today I also visited the war memorial in Amritsar in commemorance of the 1919 where british soldiers open fired on unarmed indian protesters, killiing over a thousand and wounding over 2000.  The irony of it is that I went there with another british girl I met, but all the local men wanted to take a photo with her - i mean, clearly the sign says the Brits massacred the Indians here! 

Well, I'm in northern india now.  It's cold and I don't have adequate clothing.  I'm heading to Dharamsala next to see the Daila Lama in exile and then taking a  LONG train to Varanasi, and then Bodhgaya, India before heading over by land to Nepal.  Which will be colder.  Wish me luck.  Happy new year all! And sorry, internet access is still rather spotty.

Respite in Mumbai, India

Well, after a peaceful stint in Udaipur, I have parted with Yung. She's flown back to the working world. Udaipur was actually peaceful and calming, it's still dirty but not anywhere close to Delhi. We stayed at a decent hotel with a lake view and enjoyed a quiet Christmas. Yesterday we did a mad dash to Ranakpur to see the brilliant Jain temple - it's by far the best temple I've seen in India so far.

After a 21 hour bus ride that included two flat tires, I'm in Mumbai now. Hoping to see Ramesh Balsekar tomorrow and listen to his philosophy lecture.

Jaipur, the Pink City

Well, we're in Jaipur, Rahjastan. It's suppose to be beautiful here, which I'm not sure who said that, but it's rather debatable. Other than a few glimpses of green fields on the drive here, Jaipur is pretty much like the rest of India. The outer city of Jaipur itself has a few recognizable stores, but other than this, it's pretty much standard India; by which I mean filthy. I can assess this first hand because today we walked a full 3.5 miles or so to get up close and personal with the city. Like all places here, it's extremely crowded, dusty and polluted with trash strewn everywhere you look. The air is not quite as bad as Delhi or Agra, but still worst than anything you've experienced.

The important lesson I suppose is that seeing the living conditions of a vast majority of people from various places around the world makes you rather appreciate what you have. The discrepancies of wealth and welfare around the world are of an unimaginable scale unless you've witnessed it first hand. Even so, there is only so much one can stomach of the countless destitute and indigent children clamoring to me for money and food.

There is also a bit of reverse racism here it seems. Today we went to the train station to try for tickets to Udaipur tomorrow. There is a specific quota set aside for foreign tourists. Three Irish people before us got tickets for 706 rupees total with no hassles. Then this elderly British couple of Indian descent and their nephew tried to purchase tickets as well but were demanded proof of foreign passports and then quoted a ridiculous price three times more. When it was our turn, we were told that the foreign tourist quota were full and that we can try the emergency quote for 800 rupees for two people - this is to the exact same destination on the exact same train and class seats as the Irish. The Indian guy and I agree that it's impossible for India to move ahead when it treats it's own people badly while kissing the ass of the British who colonized them centuries ago.

India ... land of a thousand adjectives (good and bad)

Well... no updates in about a week as I've been traveling quickly through areas with spotty internet access. I made a quick dash from Nanning, China to Guilin, and then took a long night bust to Shenzhen before crossing the border to Hong Kong.  In all only a quick 4.5 days in southern China.  I flew from HK to Delhi to meet up with Yung again.  We are currently I'm in Jaipur, India.

is a shock of sots on the senses - and that's an understatement. Wow, what a contrast to China.  The Serbian professors I met were wrogn when they said that India was 20 years behind China, it's seems more like 50 years.  Seriously, how can a nation with technology to build a nuke not be able to outfit a single public toilet - people urinate and defecate on the streets here, along with all sorts of animals doing the same on the streets.  The air is sooooooooooooooooo bad that you can hardly breath; in fact, after the first day in Delhi, my nose was snorting out thick black soot.  This is no joke.  It's filthy here.

However, I was warned that you'd hate India at first and then fall in love with it.  At this point I'm leaning much closer to the former.  We couldn't even stand Delhi after walking one day in the old city area and through the Bazaar.  At the very first chance we took a drive to Agra with this Belgian doctor we met to see the Taj Mahal.  Again, Agra itself is filthy as well... even for a city with such a marvel of a world cultural heritage, it doesn't escape you that the stark, squalid conditions of the people.  For a nation with so much history, cultural, and spirituality, some very basic things are still lacking. 

In any case... the Taj was magnificent when we visited it first in the evening from across the river, and then the next day before sunrise to catch first light.  The thick fog (or was it the severe pollution?) floated over the grounds leaving the Taj seemingly floating in the air.  It was simply majestic.  After that, we drove out of the city to the old Moghul capital of Fatepur Sikri and then visited a mosque as well.  There is soemthing enchanting about this land that is indescribable. I'm not even sure what it is yet.  Despite the less than desirable conditions, the people we've met have been very friendly and endearing.  I don't think I'll forget the sounds of muslim prayers at 5am (note: India is still predominately Hindu, and it seems that the muslims are looked down upon... guess you can't escape social division no matter where you go.)

That's all for now. 

East is West and West is East

Today, in my mad dash to see the region, I took a bus tour to Yangshuo and the Li River to see the famed karst and pastoral landscapes. It is land of a thousand limestone karsts and fuel for the imagination. The truly picturesque scenery demands a much longer stay and a professional camera. Alas, my stay is brief and camera only sufficient... add to that that winter is not the best time to visit this region. But despite the chilly weather, it was very enjoyable; though, numerous times I desperately wanted the bus to stop during the road as we passed countless pastoral scenes worthy of a thousand pictures.

Beautiful river landscape ... to bad the weather was not all that permitting.

How many poets and painters has this scene inspired?

Upon returning to Guilin city (they call it a town in China, with 600,000 people it's considered small by Chinese standards) at night and walked the street near my hostel. It's thoroughly almost a clone of Third Street Promenade in Santa Monica, CA. It's all about the brand names now in China; the younger generation is more afluent, chic, and want to show it accordingly. However, in a scene of utter contradiction... I found my self standing next to a buddhist monk in the middle of this street; only thing is, this monk was Belgian-American and lily white. I took the opportunity to chat with him, and after a while he invited me to dinner as well, joined by some of this Chinese friends. As we sat, he drew the curious eye of many passers-by who just stopped to gaze at this strange scene.

So there you have the modern world, the Chinese are busy trying to be more Western, but many in the west come to China and Asia seeking something that the West can't offer. A South-African man in Hoi An said that it was the "soul" that he came to find and love in Asia most. There is only so much that the capitalist-materialistic world can offer. It's evident that we only seek to find what we don't have.

Better have the cash.

Ode to Cathay

So without much fanfare I crossed into China this morning by bus and made my way to Nanning (near my ancestral village).  I had planned to visit that as well, but given the recent snags in Vietnam that squandered much of my time, I'll have to hold off until later.  After arriving in Nanning, I rushed around in a taxi looking for a bank that would accept my bank card to withdraw money - things don't quite work as smoothly as you'd think.  Finally by evening, I boarded a bus immediately bound for Guilin, famed for its landscapes immortalized by generations of painters and poets alike.  Upon arriving in Guilin late at night, the pretty girl sitting next to me on the bus offered to call her friend to give me a ride to my hotel ($5 a night dorm bed). I have enough time to see nearby Yangshuo, Longshen and Guilin before taking a bus to Shenzhen on the night of the 16th and arriving on the 17th to head to HK just in time to fly out to India.  Rush, rush, rush.

 

My first impressions of China are by far positive; especially compared to Vietnam.  Just crossing the border at "Friendship Gate" was a surprise - for one, the mystical foggy mountain landscape so much depicted in Chinese paintings immediately show forth.  There are actually real expressways rather than mere dirt roads. Even in Nanning and Guilin, China seems thoroughly modern.  Perhaps the two Serbian professors I met in Halong Bay were right in their regard of China now as a first-rate world superpower.  I'm sure there are many part of China still developing, but the consensus of many is that, already, China is poised to lead the next century.

 

There is much to be seen yet.  After India I'll round back into China and spend a good 6 weeks or so touring temples and sacred moutains.

 

Lastly, sorry for not posting any photos - it seems that some sites like the one I'm using to host this blog is censored.  I'm only able to post via email.