Katmandu to Denver

The only real problems for this entire adventure was our return air flight. We left for the airport about 10 AM on Saturday. Air Indigo, our carrier from Katmandu to Delhi, wouldn't check our luggage through to our final destination, only to Delhi and said it would all be worked out in the transfer area of the airport. When we arrived in Delhi, we couldn't leave the transfer area until our bags had been transferred from Air Indigo to Air India. After about half an hour of waiting, members of our group started taking action. One called the regional director of OAT, who then got the Airport hotel manager involved. The Air India folks kept reporting that Air Indigo was ignoring their phone calls to transfer the luggage. Eventually the airport manager was called to help resolve the problem. After about two hours, they started writing down our information - name, passport, continuing air flights, final destination, and took our Delhi baggage claim checks. We ended up waiting 3 1/2 hours in this transfer area (with no water or food) before the baggage was transferred and we could get our boarding passes from Air India. Then Mary and one of our other tour members were randomly picked by TSA to get a special screening of their luggage, which took another hour. Finally about 7 PM, we made it to the airport hotel. Since we hadn't eaten since breakfast, our first concern was food and drink. We finally got to our hotel room at 9 PM before our 2 AM flight. So we managed to rest for about 2 1/2 hours before it was time to get up and find our departure gate. Happily, we were met by our baggage in Denver (and everyone else also got their baggage).

So how do you summarize this trip? It was everything I expected - an introduction to a different culture, interesting architecture, friendly people, and yes, it was an assault on the five senses. As you may be able detect from the length of my blog entries, I took more notes and learned more things than on any other trip we've been on. As others had told us, we did get tired of the food, there are just so many ways you can fix vegetables, chicken, and goat meat, but we were pleasantly surprised several times with some unique dishes, particularly in Nepal. I have to give full credit to our guides, both were quite informative, and Prashant really made an effort to ensure that we had alternative activities during our free (or rest) time, as well as engaging Indian people in conversation so we could better understand the real people. And there were lots of surprises. The biggest negative surprise was how extensive the air pollution was, even in the countryside, we couldn't escape it, and most of us ended up with a hacking cough. There were many positive surprises: the poverty wasn't any worse than other third world countries, the beauty of inlaid marble, the best prices on silk rugs we'd ever seen, our hotel outside of Ranthambhore, our very interesting host at the home-hosted dinner, and Katmandu was a complete surprise, it's contrast to India and the beauty of the mountains and countryside. My recommendation: don't do this trip as your first third world country visit, but also don't miss out on visiting this fascinating country.

If you would rather view a video than read a blog, there is a 30 minute video available on Youtube.

Bhaktapur

Pottery Square

We went off to Bhaktapur, the third of the UNESCO sites in the Katmandu valley. The city is known for its yogurt, ceramics, and agriculture. Here the women dress in a black and red sari called a Hakapersi. Once again we went to the Darbur Square (or Palace Square). The city was the capital of the Malla kingdom 700 years ago. Here we found multiple 17th century temples of the Indian and Chinese architectural styles, this time made of brick. Nearby was the 15th century stone temple with it "bell of barking dogs" since ringing it caused the dogs to bark. Over the palace is a golden gate, inside it was interesting to see how well the restoration had been done, the wooden doors were just as detailed, but one side had old wood and the other side, newer wood. Here we could take pictures of the royal bath with Naga snakes above and a water spout with a goats head emerging from a crocodiles mouth. (Other palaces had closed the bath to photography.)
We walked further to pottery square which is usually filled with drying pottery, but this time the pottery shared space for drying rice. Here, too, they were preparing for the festival of lights starting in five days and making a lot of closed pots with a slot, the local version of a piggy bank.
Our final stop was the tallest temple of Nepal, built in 1702. Up the five levels were wrestlers, elephants, lions, griffons, and goddesses - symbols of power different than we had seen elsewhere.
Then we headed up into the foothills going from 2500 feet to 6700 to get a view of the Himalaya mountains. The road was a little wider than one lane, but it was paved. We had to back up several times in order to find a spot where a bus or truck could pass our bus. At the top there were a lot of clouds hiding most of the range, but we did get a peek of Dorje Lakpa, a little over 21000 feet high.

Dorje Lakpa from our restaurant

On the way down, we got to do a little 'trekking' in farm country. we passed a number of farm houses with electricity and satellite dishes. The terraced fields of mustard seed were beautiful and the people friendly - kids greeting us and asking for candy.
In the evening we had a farewell dinner with traditional Nepalese food, the local liquor which flowed freely and yogurt for dessert as dancers gave us a sampling of the various regional dances.

Mt Everest

We rose early to take a 6:45 AM flight around the Himalaya mountains, but they couldn't get one of our turboprop jets running. After a couple of attempts, they brought us back to the terminal. We finally re-boarded the plane and took off about 8 AM. It was a gorgeous, clear day once we rose over the clouds in the Katmandu valley. We were able to see the entire range of mountains in Nepal from Langtang Lirung in the east to Nuptse, Mt. Everest, and Lhotse in the west. These major peaks all ranged from 20,000 to 29,000 feet in height. Particularly impressive were Melungtse, huge and alone, and Cho-oyu in a cluster of four peaks.

After breakfast, we walked through the village of Khokana, a farming community. Most of the town was engaged with the rice harvest - straw mats were laid everywhere, on the streets, the squares, and the roofs, to dry the rice in the sun. We also watched the crushing of mustard seed for oil. The first processing is done by hand, the second by machine. The fields were lain with rice straw - drying it out for use in mats and mattresses.

Drying Rice

We ate lunch just off the central square in the town of Patan, where our guide, Rajiv, was raised. Here we visited Patan Durbar Square - the palace of the local king (rebuilt in 1937-51) as well as a number of Hindu and Buddhist temples. Here one could clearly see the contrast between Pagoda (from China) and Shikawa (from India) architecture for the temples. We also visited the religious square of the palace indicated by buffalo intestine over the doorway. A short walk away was the 12th century Golden Temple of Patan, inside is a golden Buddha. Here the chief priest is a 12 year-old, who serves as priest for a month.

Patan Durbar Square

Finally, we visited Patan's Kumari, the living Goddess. (Yesterday, we had visited the home of the one in Katmandu. There are five of these girls throughout Nepal.) She lives in her own home and we were able to meet her. It is believed that energy leaves from your fingers and is absorbed by your head, so she applies a red Tilaka (dot) transferring energy from the goddess to us. This Kumari was chosen at age eight and is now ten years old.

Katmandu

Our day started with a visit to Katmandu's old city, home of the palace and many Hindu shrines. In the 18th century the first king to control all of Nepal built his palace here. The palace has been built over several centuries. Yesterday was election day in the states, so we're eagerly watching updates in the news and on smart phones to see who won.

We visited house of the living goddess, Kumari. This girl is selected from among the Buddhists, she must have no injury, be brave and thirty-two aspects of her body must be perfect. Of those who are deemed acceptable , the elders choose among the youngest. The current Kumari was selected at age 4 and is currently 7. She is removed from her family to live in this special house. Thirteen times a year, during religious festivals, she comes out into the city on a chariot. Upon reaching puberty, another will be selected.

Hindu Shirnes (with pigeons)

Surrounding the palace are many Hindu Shrines. As the people worship in the shrines, we observed them using all five senses: ringing a bell, offering food, use of red & yellow colors, incense, and touching the idol. Since Hindus are asked to worship before cooking, almost every home has a small shrine for worship. The shrine we visited was built from one tree in the 12th century. The name 'Katmandu' means 'wooden house' from this shrine. Besides the five idols in the shrine, there is stairs rising to a second floor with a pole next to it. Pregnant women who were pain should slide down the pole to remove their pain.
As we toured the palace we also heard the tale of the royal family. On June 1st, 2001, the crown prince, who was said to be on drugs and quite depressed, killed the entire family because his mother wouldn't allow him to marry his sweetheart. Others believe the uncle, who wasn't present, plotted to kill the rest of the royal family in order to become king. Of course, this story circulated widely. At the same time, the new kings son was a known murderer and gambler. So in 2006, there were huge protests for democracy. King Gyanendra
was removed of his powers in 2008 and a constitutional convention was elected. However, at this point, there is still no constitution.

Boudhanath Stupa

We ate a superb Nepalese lunch at the Boudha Restaurant, where the main course was a soup with vegetables, chicken, and noodles with sides of spinach, dumplings, chicken, rice and noodles, plus a sweet yogurt dessert. This was just outside the Boudhanath Stupa - a key pilgrimage site for Buddhists, built in the 13th century surrounding it are many Buddhist monasteries, primarily built when many Tibetans left Tibet in 1959 after China took control. We were privileged to attend one with a sand mandala newly completed in the center and the monks chanting their prayers. At the end, they made quite a lot of noise with their horns, bells, and cymbals. The second monastery had a statue of the magical master who spread Buddhism to Tibet from India. As we watched - many people were walking around the stupa in a clockwise direction - spinning the prayer wheels and reciting their mantra 113 times on their beads (113 represents all people).

That evening we had a lecture from a Nepalese woman named Shismata who climbed Mt. Everest three times. She is a small, thin woman - one you wouldn't imagine to be a climber. Her first attempt was in 2004, a time when she would have been the first non-Sherpa Nepalese woman to have reached the summit.  She ended up 40 meters shy. Why? Her Sherpa didn't feel it was proper for a non-Sherpa Nepalese woman to summit. Instead of leading her up the trail, he followed her, certain she wouldn't make it. But when she was only 40 meters from the top, he held her back by the straps of her backpack and forced her to turn back. On returning to Katmandu, she kept quiet about what happened because she knew that offending the Sherpa would prevent her from ever trying again. In 2007, she was approached by two Sherpa who knew what had happened. In 2006, another Sherpa had left another Nepalese woman on the mountain to die with altitude sickness, while he reached the summit. She was rescued by two Americans. The Sherpa realized that they needed to change the reputation of their tribe. A party of ten Nepalese women was formed, eight of them climbing novices (but trained in climbing). The entire trip was two months long. Teams spend about 2 weeks to get to base camp, 6 weeks going up and down the mountains to the three higher camps bringing ropes and supplies as well as acclimating to the altitude. The final climb from base camp takes a week. All ten women managed to summit.

On the way to Nepal

We spent most of the day (six hours) traveling to Katmandu. We had to queue up multiple times: to get into the airport, to go to the ticket counter, to get our passports stamped to leave the country, to have our passports and visas checked as legal, at customs, at security screening, to exit the gate, and to enter the plane. As Mary (who had five body scans during this ordeal) said: 'You folks, have felt up my bodymore than my husband has'.
Upon landing, we immediately noticed the differences: streets are cleaner, more motorcycles (compared to scooters), less bicycles, women running shops, fewer people on the streets, schools (particularly those for languages and technology) everywhere. But the air pollution is still here and more people seem to wear masks in the streets to help filter the air. What I found most amazing was that they knew the date of the last snowfall in Katmandu, February 14th, 2003 when it snowed for about 20 minutes. Previously it hadn't snowed for 72 years.

Nepal's Flag (the only non-rectangle flag)

Our brief introduction to Nepal: 26 million people, 3 million live in the the Katmandu valley. Elevations from 60 meters to 8848m. with eight mountains over 8000 m. high. Because of the many valleys separated by mountains there are eighty ethnic groups and 75 dialects. Most people know three languages: their local dialect, Nepali, and Hindi (because they get many Indian TV stations). The next most common language is English. Religions: 80% Hindu, 10% Buddhist, and then 10% other. There really is no industry in Nepal. The government is in flux. Most people try to get government jobs because of the benefits, but many of the jobs are given as political favors. Sometime 3 different people will get appointed to the same job and may all get paid. There is no medical insurance, but both private and public health services exist.

Veranasi

In the morning we rose early to witness people arriving at the Ghats to bathe in the Ganges. Along the shore were umbrellas marking each priest who would offer prayers to Shiva. Chanil, the Hindu priest on our boat offered a prayer for the deceased and then we poured wheat flour, flowers and black sesame seeds into the river. Mary sat before him to receive a special prayer on her birthday after which he tried an orange string around her wrist (for which I forgot the meaning). As we went further down the river, we saw men washing clothes and more Ghats built by the Rajahs from other provinces of India. Pilgrims from the various provinces bathed in the river.

Bathing in the Ganges

We then left to go to the Mother India Temple inaugurated by Gandhi in 1937. Here was an immense relief map of the Indian subcontinent. Particularly impressive was the valleys of Kashmir and Nepal, surrounded by the Himalayas. Also obvious was the Khyber pass as one of the few passages through the mountains.
After breakfast, we went to a silk embroidery shop with both ancient and modern looms. Simpler patterns are encoded on two boards on the modern (100 years old) loom. Complicated patterns like human figures below, use the ancient loom with multiple patterns dictated by strings. There are over 50,000 looms in Varanasi, of which 300 are employed by the shop keeper we visited.

Embroidered figures

In the afternoon, we visited the Sarnath, where Buddha began his preaching. He was born in Nepal as a prince, but his father initially sheltered his son from the real world. However, Prince Sitar gave up royalty after observing the suffering of the people. He began traveling and meditating. While meditating under a tree, he realized that desire is the cause of all sorrow. His preaching was about abolishing castes, not worshiping idols, and non-violence. Like the Hindus, he also believed in re-incarnation until you reach heaven where there is no birth and re-birth. We visited the Buddhist temple here where the walls have murals depicting the birth, death and Buddha being tempted. Nearby the temple is a 3rd century stupa.

Buddhist temple at Sarnath

Finally we stopped at the Sarnath Archeological Museum which houses Hindu and Buddhist art. the most impressive piece was Ashkoa's Lion Capital, the National Emblem of India. (I recommend clicking the link to see the piece.) On top are four lions carved in a polished sandstone, a technique that we don't know how to replicate today. 
Our day ended with a lecture from a local philosophy professor about Varanasi and Hinduism. Some of this comments: "Varanasi looks like a careless city, but it is actually a care-free city because dieing here, near the Ganges, one can reach heaven." "People here are happy, even if impoverished." "Why so many beggars? Because tourists and pilgrims give them money. To eliminate poverty, we (government, NGO's) need to give them a job, health, and security." "The caste system is changing to an employer-employee caste in an industrial society. By growing mentally and philosophically, castes will disappear." Heavy stuff.

Kuajuraho Temples

Kandariya Temple at Kuajuraho

 Well, it was worth the difficult trip to see the temple complex here.  There used to be 85 temples at this location, today twelve have been restored. Each has a granite base with carved sandstone above. These temples were rediscovered in 1936, overgrown with forest. These temples are among the only ones in Northern Indian to survive destruction from the Muslims during their many empires. The major temples have five layers to them. The carvings are meant to be read left to right from darkness into the light. Gods are represented as human or animal with multiple hands or heads, people appear normally, and the nether world usually has snakes (actually they look like dragons) in the carving. On each temple we see various forms of Kama Sutra - making love to be closer to God. "How better to celebrate the perfection of God on earth than in the joy of sex." There are many voluptuous women - dancers, flute players, writers, etc. As the figures are making love in various positions or with animals, you see other figures turning away in disgust, peeking, or eagerly waiting their turn. These temples were amazing, reminding us of Angor Wat in Cambodia.

Exterior figures on temple

We flew to Varanasi in the afternoon, a city with a written history that is 4000 years old. Also known as Goshi - the city of light or learning. This is where the god Shiva lived, so it is the most important holy city on the Ganges, the holiest river. People come here late in life, hopefully to die here and be cremated on the shores of the Ganges. In the evening, we rode a rickshaw and then walked through the crowds to one of the major cremation sites. Bodies are first shrouded in white, then covered with a gold shroud. The body is dipped in the water before being placed on a funeral pyre. Afterwards, the major celebrant (usually the eldest son) with shaved head and wearing white robes throws the ashes into the river. We saw several pyres as well as the eternal embers in the temple from which the pyres are lit.
We were accompanied by a Hindu priest who recited the mantras to thank god as we put our prayer lamps in the river. Finally we heard the conch horns calling us to Aarti, the sacred light ceremony. There were seven priest on a raised platform above the river. This is the ceremony they performed:

• purify with incense in four directions.
• invoke the god with incense
• swing a pyramid of lamps while chanting
• remove the lamps
• use a large circular lamp with a new chant
• pacify the god by waving a peacock fan 
• put the gods back to sleep

It was impressive with the huge crowds on shore and in boats surrounding the ceremony. Then we walked and rode again through the large crowds to get back to our hotel. With the steps up the bank, the crowds, and trying to get into and out of the rickshaw, this was quite an adventure for Mary. 

Journey to Khajuraho

Four lane highway challenges

Today was an arduous day of traveling. We left the hotel at 7AM to catch an 8AM train from Agra to Jhansi. The train was about 10 minutes late and we found our seats (reserved in an air-conditioned car) which was like any other train I've taken. The 2 hour and 40 minute train ride took almost 4 hours because the electric engine had problems. We were on the last third of the journey, when the train stopped, started again, stopped ....this went on for 4-5 times with one stop of almost 1/2 an hour as they tried to fix the engine - I guess this was our adventure part of our overseas adventure travel.

Blow your horn to pass

We then started a five hour bus trip from Jhani to Khajuraho. This is only about one hundred miles, but as Mary described it: this is a 1 1/2 lane road. For a truck and our bus to pass, one usually had to have two wheels on the shoulder or we could pass in the center between two scooters on either side. Most of the road was heavily pot holed - so that's why we averaged 20 mph. Of course, looking back on all our bus travel, this was about our average speed, even on four lane roads. Every road has pedestrians, carts pulled by people, horses or camels, cows, bicycles, rickshaws, tut-tuts, cars and trucks, plus the typical chaos of small cities.
We arrived at the Radisson Jass hotel at about 6 PM. We're now in central India, the smog decreased significantly and the land has lots of trees and hills. On many hills we see either forts or Hindu shrines. All of this effort to see the temples built in the 9th-10th centuries by the Chandela dynasty.

Agra Fort

Agra Fort

Today is the festival of Karvn Chauth, when women fast from sunrise to moonrise for a long life for their husband.
The Fort of Agra was built between 1556-70 by Akbar on what had been a brick mud fort. Most of the fort is built from sandstone. Even though the king was Muslim, most of the decoration and architecture is Hindu. The newest section of the fort is made of marble. Here is where Shah Johan was placed under house arrest for eight years by one of his sons, who took over out of fear that all their wealth would be spent on the Taj Mahal. From the fort, the Taj Mahal is visible (if the smog wasn't as bad as it was today). The palace area was similar to what we've seen: multiple gardens with the most beautiful near the Hall of Private Audience and a simpler one outside the Hall of Public Audience.
After seeing the inlaid marble at both the Taj Mahal and the Fort we went to a shop where they still practice this ancient art. They use Makrana marble, the non-porous marble which is translucent. From this they cut out the pattern .25 mm deep and then fill this with semi-precious stone. A typical flower takes 8-10 hours to create.

Translucent Marble

After this shop, we went to the garden opposite the Taj Mahal to see the view - the smog was still thick, primarily smoke from kilns, burning fields and nearby cremations. Smog has been a problem on most of this trip. I was surprised that when we left the cities we didn't leave the smog. It has persisted throughout most of this section of India. Almost all of us have a raspy throat from the air.
Then we went to a South Indian Restaurant, Dasaprakash, for one of the best meals of the trip. What was nice is that they explained what sauces we should use with each of the eight dishes we sampled. We learned the major differences between Northern and Southern Indian cuisine.
                        North                              South

• Spices   cumin                              mustard seed
• Oil         mustard                          coconut
• Bread    wheat                             rice
• Meat     chicken/goat                   seafood

In the afternoon, we went to a market serving middle income folks. The sounds and sights continue to amaze us - somehow it works here. 

A little color at the market place

              

Taj Mahal

Step well

Just outside our camp we stopped to see the Chand Baori step well - what's that? This is a structure built into the ground. It is square perhaps 200 feet on a side and about 100 feet deep with water at the bottom. Originally fed from an aquifer, today the bottom is just rain water. It provided a source of water all year long. On one side are rooms, the nearby water acted as a natural air conditioner, keeping them cool. The other three sides are a series of steps to provide support for the walls and provide access to the water. Seeing it generated a "Wow" from all of us. This was built in the 8th or 9th century. Nearby we watched a potter with his hand-turned wheel making primarily single use items: tea cups, candle holders for the upcoming festival of lights, and incense holders.  

Topic: Early Indian History. The original Indus civilization began in 3300 BC and stretched from the Indus to Ganges river, but this civilization disappeared after a flood. About 1000 BC, the Aryans arrived from the North and about this time is when Hindu philosophy came about with its caste system and animal sacrifices. In the 5th century BC, Buddhism and Jainism started to counter some of the evils of the caste system. In 326 BC Alexander the Great made it to Northwest India, but his army was tired and stopped their conquering there. In 272 BC, Ashoka the Great created the first Indian empire. He converted from Hinduism to Buddhism, creating many monuments preaching about non-violence. The Huns invaded in the 3rd Century AD, but only stone statues remain from their civilization. After Ashoka, the next five hundred years had India split up into many kingdoms. The next great dynasty was the Guptan Dynasty which went from 320-550 AD. This was a time of peace, when great advances were made in math, science, and literature. Kalidasa, the Shakespeare of India wrote his plays and poems during this period. Beginning in the 6th century AD, there have been regular invasions by Muslim armies, destroying Hindu and Buddhist temples, since they were considered sacrilegious. From 1206 AD, thirty five Muslim Sultans ruled from Delhi. Most these rulers would impose a head-tax on any non-Moslems, but they did allow the people to remain Hindu. From 1526 to 1550, Babur, a descendent of Genghis Khan and Turkey's Timur, became the founder of the Mughal Empire which ruled India for two centuries. The third emperor, Akbar 'the great' was the high point (1556-1605). He encouraged religious tolerance by removing the head-tax. Shah Jahan, his grandson was the ultimate spender. He built the Taj Mahal as a tomb for his wife, who died in childbirth. It took 20,000 artisans, and twenty-two years to built this tomb.

Taj Mahal

About 2:30, we arrived at the Taj Mahal. The grounds are in perfect symmetry.  We entered through one of the forecourts used for visitors, then through the main gate, said to separate earth from paradise. And there it was the classic view with reflecting pools you have seen so many times. The Taj Mahal is on the north side of the complex, next to the river. Thus it always has sun light shining upon it as viewed from the entrance. Internally made of brick, the entire facade is non-porous white marble. Carved into the stone are many flowers and patterns laid with semi-precious stones. The ornamentation is repeats itself throughout the monument, carved exactly the same. On both sides of the central tomb are sandstone buildings used as a mosque and a shelter. The symmetry is only broken by Shah Jahan's tomb next to his wife's and one pillar which was not fully carved because "only God is perfect". It was easy to appreciate the absolute beauty of this monument.

Detail of the walls