Agra, India

Taj Mahal Agra, India

Yes, they're doing maintenance work in the background. I don't think anything could have detracted from the experience of seeing and touching the Taj Mahal. Equally stunning was Agra Fort, just a few kilometers from the Taj Mahal.

There isn't much else to say -- I just booked my train ticket to Haridwar/Rishikesh, where I will finally practice Yoga along the Ganges River. (On a related note: I walked by "Don't Pass Me By: Travel Agency" yesterday. It sounded familiar - when I looked up, I saw that it was adjacent to the Ringo Guesthouse.)

place filler

I am in Delhi, India.


Cows. Everywhere. I know there were cows in Kathmandu .. but today, I was waiting on the stoop of my Hotel for a few minutes because a cow was standing around, enjoying the space.

Also -- leaving Nepal was fun. The airport was surrounded by officers wielding rifles, queues were separated by sex, several full body searches were performed .. and I also had the best airplane food: palak paneer with rice and chapatti, and a delicious golden ladooo.

"I Like Birds" (but I don't think they like me)
Durbar Square Kathmandu, Nepal


Holy guy!
Durbar Square Kathmandu, Nepal

Never Ending Peace And Love ...

Nepalis are BIG on acronyms. That and really corny sayings:

No Money, No Honey!
No hug? No love!
No wife, No Life!

and so on.

Yesterday, I toured the city with Sitram .. Since Ram had already taken me to the buddhist temple overlooking the Kathmandu Valley, Sitram and I visited several other temples and palace squares (durbar). It really feels as if I'm in a dream sequence, monkeys on telephone wires.. dogs freely roaming the streets, cows grazing on the side of the road .. on sidewalks .. rickety buses careening down narrow alleyways .. and all the colors! Neon green, yellow and pink, gold and silver, brown skin, light skin, black skin .. Buddhist mantra music wafting through the air, Nepali folk music chanted by locals -- Complete sensory overload.

We had lunch at a Newari restaurant in Patan (just outside Kathmandu). Bara (egg with lentil), Tibetan momos, and a disgusting barley beer from a barrel. I don't think i can stomach any more momos .. I've eaten them every day since I arrived in Lhasa .. and now in Nepal. They just like potstickers, but the ones in Lhasa were usually filled with Yak meat (mutton/goat-like).

After hearing from several people that if I wasn't wearing a bright yellow "tourist" backpack and toting a camera, I'd pass for a Nepali woman .. Sitram and I went to a fabric shop to buy me an outfit for 800 rupees (just over US$10). Then, he took me to a tailor where I was measured. Lastly, he helped me buy "lady shoes" since I've been wearing my hiking boots from Tibet. When I asked him if he'd ever helped a tourist do something like this, he replied "No, but it's good practice for my future wife!" Haha. Tonight, I'm going to attend the biggest Women's festival in Nepal at a local temple wearing my outfit. I'm so excited!

Today, my driver took me up into the mountains, Nagarkot, where there are supposed to be views of the Himalayas. Since its monsoon season, it was raining all morning and fog covered the mountain side. I hung out at a local internet cafe (slowest connection) and started chatting with the guy running the place. After my lunch of dal bhat (my right hand is permanently stained yellow from lentils), I went in search of my driver. Internet cafe guy offered to help me find him ON HIS MOTORBIKE!!!! It was fantastic! I climbed onto the back of his bike and we sped along the mountain roads in the rain.

I'm now in Bhaktapur, about 20km outside of Kathmandu. I should be walking around and taking pics .. but I'm a little tired and my feet are blistered. I purchased another pair of "lady shoes" from a local cobbler for around US$2.

Alright, signing out! I need to find a computer to upload pics from Lhasa. I've visited so many buddhist stupas here in Nepal, and learned more about Tibetan Buddhism than when I was in Tibet.

I feel like I've left my heart in Tibet :(

(OH! I just remembered something really funny about Beijing! Every man, woman and child knows John Denver's "Take Me Home, Country Road". It's like the national anthem - next to anything by the Backstreet Boys. Someone was telling me that while he was in Inner Mongolia, he was at a bar and when "Take Me Home" came on, everyone there started singing along.)

Sera Monastery Lhasa, Tibet
"Charmaine" is a difficult name to pronounce, so I've been given alternate names that sound like my real name to ease the confusion and mouth-garble.

In Chinese, my name is "Xia Ming", pronounced "siyah-ming". Its literal translation is "bright summer" and the characters are:

夏明

The second character with the two ladders means "bright", separately they translate as 'sun' and 'moon'.

In Nepali, my name is "Sarmila" (Mero nam Sarmila-ho) meaning "bright, smiling, happy".

And lastly! Today, I was meditating at a Buddhist center where I read books on hatha yoga (the school of yoga that I practice within). I learned that "Hatha" means "The Science of Will" and broken down, ha means 'sun' while tha means 'moon'. Together, it also means 'bright' - in practicing Hatha, you create a bright mind and capable body.

What an interesting connection!

(I've also forgotten to mention that I've been told that I look Nepali -- more specifically, ethnic Mongolian. In China, I was told I looked Singaporean, Chinese, "ethnic minority", and a host of others)

Day ??

I am really feeling the effects of altitude sickness. Cannot sleep through the night, resting heart rate very high (in the middle of the night), headaches (not enough o2), nosebleeds .. etc.

Have had the best last 3 days .. on Monday, set out for whitewater rafting. Threw myself out of the raft because I wanted to float around in the current, was yanked off my raft and onto another .. then climbed on to a kayaker's back who then capsized .. tumbled around before I grabbed on to the kayaker, rescued by my raft soon after. Very cold, but a great experience. Ate lunch alongside the river before heading out to our campsite. Nestled in a valley, beside a stream .. couldn't believe how beautiful it was. Hiked up to a hotspring and scar(r)ed a few Tibetans .. don't know how many diseases I might've picked up but it was fun. I think my sanitation standards have declined preciptously since I arrived here in China. I see faecal matter and instead of cringing, think "hey, good spot". Anyway. Played cards until bedtime, then stood outside and stargazed.. I've never seen stars so clearly, or so bright.

In the morning, we borrowed horses from nearby Tibetans and trekked through the valley alongside the river to a lookout point. Saw several ruins, homes, yaks.. cows .. wild horses .. I wish I could describe this in more detail but my brain is fried. My horse's name was balthazar and we FLEW!! I learned how to encourage her to go fast and we ran at some points.

Ah okay, about to head out to dinner with friends before my flight to nepal tomorrow morning. Today was spent at the highest lake in the world, Nam Tso. It was SO COLD. Chilled with tibetans for lunch, had noodle soup .. stayed in a tent with no running water or toilets .. mmmmm. yes. bye.

recovery

I wrote a post earlier but was logged off before I could save. Hm.

I left off on my first day in lhasa -- after lunch, we walked to Jokhang Temple and circumambulated along with monks and other pilgrims while perusing the stalls that line the the square. To circumambulate the temple or any other edifice here is to perform the Kora -- its done upon arrival, prior to entering any temple. Really one of the most moving sights .. men and women with pocket-deep wrinkles, prayer wheel in one hand and a small sack in the other .. circling over and over before dropping to their knees and and prostrating for hours on end.

One of the people in our group, a german guy that has seen more in his 21 years than most people 3x his age, began negotiating at a pharmacy for medicines -- we were all feeling week, slightly dizzy, stomachs uneasy. The first day in Lhasa was difficult, breathing heavily and contemplating every step I took. We were able to pick up a few medicines before walking over to the Potala Palace for some picture taking. Dinner was at a homey Tibetan-French fusion restaurant, Naga. Nothing extraordinary .. a lot of Yak meat ..

Yesterday, was spent acclimatising .. slow, contemplative steps .. frequent stops .. and more sightseeing. We were much more energized than the day prior and were able to take a minibus to the Sera Monastery where we did the Kora and took pictures of the monastery and the views of the Plateau. We also overheard monks Debating, part of their education. It sounded like a soundclip off the NYSE floor, and I could picture robes spinning in flurries, hands flying left and right, monks encircling others engaged in heated debate.

Afterward, I bought my air ticket :\\\ to Kathmandu. SO expensive. I wish I could have taken the overland route to Kathmandu but my extended stay in Beijing really cramped the rest of my travel schedule. Dinner was at a tibetan/nepal restaurant near our hostel .. I've been having difficulty sleeping for the past few days so I decided to have some alcohol to calm my nerves and help me sleep. Didn't work and I was up all night

Today ----------aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!! Woke up early to secure a place in line @ the ticket area for Potala Palace. I'll add a picture later on to give you an idea of just how immense the palace is. 13 stories high, the former residence of past Dalai Lamas. After 2 hours of waiting, we gave up and went in search of food and a new place to stay. More food and walking later.. I realize I'm not going into much detail on the minutiae of my day but here's the best part of all:

I'm going WHITEWATER RAFTING, HORSEBACK RIDING ANNNNND TREKKING starting on Monday! I booked it with one of the guys so we'll be heading out early on the day after tomorrow to go rafting somewhere out there .. tent out in the wilderness of the tibetan plateau, go horseback riding to another location, then begin our trek on the final day. Its short and just enough adventure before i make my way into Kathmandu. I bought hiking shoes today and will buy maybe .. hopefully nothing tomorrow. This is SO exciting!

Time for postcards. Hope everyone is well. :)

update!

long overdue update but i am in lhasa, tibet.

before i forget what i've done over the past 3 or 4 days..

15 august
qingcheng shan - azure mountain
getting there and back was probably more of an adventure than actually ascending the mountain itself. it's considered the birthplace of china's only indigenous religion, daoism. blah blah very textbook sounding right now, but it was so nice to get away from the City .. the traffic, the pollution, the dust and construction, etc. getting to the bus station took almost half the morning because the first bus i took was wrong. by the time i got onto the right bus, i was so tired that i fell asleep. i slept through til the end of the line and had to backtrack for another half hour. by the time i made it to the bus station, it was almost noon.

on the way back, i took the same bus that took me there. instead of returning to the original station, we were dropped off in the middle of nowhere. given that everything is in chinese characters and my directions were in pinyin (the romanized system of writing chinese), i did my best to figure out the direction that i needed to go. i'm able to recognize symbols for north, south, east, and west -- and street names here indicate the direction in which the street runs. I hopped on a bus and travelled for another hour until i was kicked off in the dark. I wandered .. and wandered .. until i decided to cab it. i spent more time in transit than on the mountain itself.

16 august
panda reserve/people's park/teahouse/massage and sichuan hot pot

pandas. no more. no less. but red pandas, brian! thank you for telling me that they are what are better known as firefoxes! as in the awesome browser that trumps all others. pandas were cute and furry, had a chance to see a 10 day old panda in an incubator.

wrote postcards in people's park at a teahouse overlooking an 'artificial' lake.

met a friend who taught in beijing but lives in chengdu. we chatted over chilled soy milk then headed over to a massage parlor for an hour long pinch and slap fest. i'll admit that i've had a fair share of massages here in asia .. a few in beijing including a facial. afterward, he and another teacher treated me to The dish of the sichuan region: Hotpot! there are raw meats, innards and the like .. veggies and other unidentifiable edibles skewered on sticks which you load on to a tray - then, you dip them in to a hot oil and water pot at the center of your table, often flavored with various spices and chillies. it was excellent.

also! a stroke of luck -- once i made it back to my hostel, i was given gifts by my chinese bunkmates who were kind enough to give me good luck charms for my travels. they were so loud that they woke the girl in the last bunk. we got to talking and it turned out that she lives in lhasa tibet. she gave me tips on where to stay -hadn't booked accomodations- and what to do upon arrival. Phew!

17 august
Lhasa, Tibet

i'd been worried about altitude sickness for a while now and started taking my medication two days before my departure. my flight into tibet was just under two hours and provided some of the most breathtaking views of the region. there were photographers climbing over me to get a good shot of the mountains. e all began to wonder just Where the plane would land as there didn't seem to be any flat areas in sight. upon arrival, i felt my body tingling and i wasn't sure if it was from the excitement or being at elevation .. blood was rushing to my head, fingertips and heels. i hopped on the first bus to lhasa .. once we deboarded, i caught sight of another foreigner flipping through his guidebook -- i grabbed him and told him to follow me (we were dropped off in an area where locals prey on 'fresh' tourists). we walked down the main boulevard here and there were so many incredible sights. women in casual but typical tibetan dress (a stylized Mao suit), vendors selling potatoes (carbs!) and yak meat slabs hanging from hooks and displayed on makeshift wooden counters on storefronts. i bought potato chips sprinkled with paprika-like spice for a kuai - 'bout 15 cents - and searched for the first hostel i could find.

okay!! i'm getting kicked off the internet. but i do want to say that i've made a few friends so we've been getting around together - it has made navigating the city much more easy and a lot of fun.

bye!

transportation

I thought it was just beijing, but I'm told my views apply to .. just about all of China.

China is a country of suggestions. If you haggled hard enough, you could probably bargain down your groceries at at the supermarket. Nothing is set in stone. I believe traffic laws were enacted in other parts of the world because of what transpires in here. Honking is gratuitous. Lane lines are rarely stayed within. And forget about seating capacity 'limits' on buses and trains. The other day, I was crushed up against the windshield of a passenger bus -- if one thing is certain, any vehicular accident in China will lead to fatality.

Also, on highway roads, people constantly pass over the double-yellow. This is common everywhere. However, it is done WHENEVER possible and often on a whim. If a car is stopped or going too slow, they will switch into the opposing traffic lane. Problems arise when there is a legitimate reason why a car is stopped or going too slow -- eventually there is complete gridlock where cars have NO WHERE to go because they are facing every direction with no outlet for movement.

I think China is the place to fulfill every illicit dream you've ever had. Everything is very stream of conscious, there is an interesting flow about daily life here that probably wouldn't work anywhere else. I should point out that although the traffic is very scary and any car you get into is sure to leave you clinging to the edge of your seat, accidents aren't too common. I believe people here are more in-tune with one another than they are in-to themselves. People seem to have acutely heightened senses, so .. it just works.

Qingcheng Shan - Azure Mountain

1. Getting lost on bus 55 (never fall asleep!)
2. Dicos
3. Bus Station confusion
4. Maniacal and temperamental bus driver
5. Thank god for counting on one hand
6. Exhaustive walking and climbing on mountain
7. Peeled cucumber snack - disgusting
8. Laozi on bull
9. Rushing back to bus just in time
10. Bus dropping off in the middle of no where
11. Taking another bus to the middle of nowhere
12. Succumbing to comfort of Taxi
13. Worst food yet - mapo doufu at hostel

Chengdu, China

I'm in Chengdu, China. It's in the southwestern province of Sichuan which borders the region of Tibet. I took care of most of my plans for the next few days, so I am booked for Lhasa, Tibet on the 17th of August. I'm also planning to see pandas tomorrow morning and perhaps just wander around the city today.

I don't have much to say. It is hard to describe concrete jungles in a flattering light, although I have a feeling that Chengdu is much different from Beijing. Things are laid back - people are sleeping in the parks, playing cards and chess throughout the day and are probably not as .. industrious .. as those in Beijing.

ALSO, yesterday, while in search of Mapo Doufu (tofu) .. I gave up early since I had to catch the bus to a Sichuan Opera. I wandered into the busiest restaurant and pointed to the cheapest plate on the menu. I'm not sure what I ate, actually, but there was meat, cucumber, and rice. It didn't taste like beef, chicken, goat/lamb, or pork. I sat there for a good 25 minutes, chewing, and I could not identify it. I thought about bringing someone that can read Chinese into the restaurant .. but I have a feeling I should just have memories of 'mystery meat'.

Day ... ? - Teaching In Beijing

I'm teaching English at a summer camp in Beijing. While writing my last entry and yapping to the guy next to me, I was approached by someone asking if I'd like to teach English for $1200 US. I questioned whether his deal was legit - but decided to trust the man and my intuition.

I hopped in a cab with him and was taken to a nice hotel in Northwest Beijing. There I was met with other foreigners in a hotel room, all being prepped for teaching the next day. It was shady up until I started talking to the other teachers, where I learned that this summer camp is supposed to be affiliated with one of the top universities in China.

So I am being taken care of -- a nice hotel for 10 days, all meals and transportation taken care of. I teach for about 8 hours a day, 60 students (in two classes0 and am chauffeured in a shuttle to and from the school. Today is my day off (PAID!) and I am exploring and eating whatever I can until tomorrow.

Some fun points:

1. My students have to make up English names for themselves. One kid is "Barry Smith", another is "Jay-Z".

2. Yesterday, we watched a video on Chinatown, S.F.. I went a little overboard and started lecturing the kids on Chinese immigration in the U.S. Watched another video about Antartica, so I went off on global warming and pollution (esp. here in beijing); finally, on American High schools, I talked about the Obesity epidemic among American school-age children.

3. We also watched a video on the BBC. The children asked, "what is the difference between our news and BBC?

"Well, your media is controlled by the government. You know what they want you to know"

I'll probably get into a lot of trouble for that ...

I have also discouraged EVERY student in my class from ever wanting to go to the U.S.

Day 7 - A day in Nepal and the Lama Temple

After breakfast, I bumped into another backpacker who I thought I'd seen the last of a few days ago. He invited me out to Peking duck but I didn't get the note in time, and by then he had checked out of the room. He's also Filipino and from the U.S. -- I guess I'm sort of the quadruple whammy in the backpacking world - I'm a solo female Asian-PacIslander traveller from the U.S. Many people that I've met can't get over the fact that I'm alone, but a few have actually pointed out that its rare to see an Asian woman travelling under these conditions.

We rented bikes and rode down to the Embassy area -- he's going into Pakistan in about a month while I'm headed to Nepal in a few weeks, so we both needed to apply for visas. I chuckled as we parted,

"Have fun in Nepal!"
Good Luck in Pakistan!

After filling out my application, I rode my bike southwest toward Tian'an'men for a douzhi shop in the area. I rode .. and rode .. and rode. In circles it seemed. For reason, I thought I was riding in search of doughnuts, because douzhi just sounds like doughnuts. And that would be so convenient because I would love to eat many many doughnuts right now. But then, I realized, "no, they are not catering to westerners" and upon scrutinizing the article text, douzhi is actually some sort of fermented bean soup. Still sounded good to me.

Well, I got lost again. And this time, I'm absolutely positive that I actually found the shop I was looking for after all the time I spent lost except I was told in broken english that I was at the wrong restaurant and that I needed to go further west. The restaurant I was looking for is a Chinese Muslim establishment, marked by arabic lettering. They are NOT common. And the place that I stumbled upon just happened to be exactly where the guide told me it would be, except the street address was incorrect (VERY common).

I settled for a fast food joint in a busy shopping area (ARGHHHHHHHHHHHH!) but I think it was a Japanese chain since it was some sort of meat curry over rice with potatos and a seaweed soup.

After riding back to my lodging, I was met with some very bad news - the agency that I'd commissioned to purchase my rail tickets had not yet done so and tickets to (Chengdu) are sold out. I made a last minute decision to fly there which will be double the price of Rail. So much for my 28 hour train ride! I was really looking forward to it.

**

The Lama temple --


MORE ON THIS LATER!!

Day 6 - The Summer Palace, etc

You might be under the impression that while I'm here in these foreign lands, I probably do not speak the language, know anyone, will always be lost and .. alone. Quite the contrary!

1. I am fluent in pointing
2. Ever hear the saying, "If you've shaken one hand .. " (or 7? I don't recall. But by some permutation, I've shaken everyone's hand). We're all old friends.
3. You have to get lost to be found.
4. Every time someone runs into me, I make a connection that is never lost. I used to say "Dui bu chi" (excuse me/sorry!) anytime I thought I was inconveniencing someone. Then I realized that everyone is out for themselves and the only reason you'd have to say Excuse Me to someone is if you're standing over their cold, lifeless body.

***


I woke up to a sunny, clear blue sky today. I'm told that Beijing has about 5 days of blue skies a year. Like London, with 100x the humidity. I decided to make my way to the Summer Palace; north-west of the city, it is situated around the Kunming Lake and was the summer getaway for the Royal Family when the Forbidden City heat became unbearable.

Again, I boarded a bus on which I was required to tell them my destination. And again, I replied with a shrug. I really don't know where I'm going most of the time, don't people get on buses and decide where they want to go later?? To be honest, I couldn't pronounce Summer Palace in Chinese ..

Once there and through the gates, I noticed that the palace was undergoing a lot of renovations in preparation for the Olympics. They are re-painting EVERY temple in this city with the same patterns, its really a shame. A new friend of mine, who is an Architecture student, also mentioned that they aren't taking care to preserve the old structures, but are rebuilding them instead.

I then made the mistake of walking around the entire lake, at least 3 mi/5k around. I think I'm becoming weaker and weaker as the days go by; first the unbearable Great Wall, now difficulty walking 3 miles?? I think its the heat - its only 90 deg, but the humidity makes it around 105.

I don't have much else to say about the Summer Palace. Its a nice scenic destination, and you shouldn't go in the middle of summer because -- guess what -- after a while, all pagodas begin to look alike (it really takes about 2 to get a good idea). Also, if you are told something will take a day to "really appreciate" - heed this advice as a warning. Appreciation is something like .. "now that I've seen it once, I will never come here again". I'm kiiiiiding. But you know what I'm getting at.

Not knowing how to get back, I got on the first bus that passed me by because it was way too hot to stand on the corner. This time, I was armed with the one word I can pronounce correctly -- Xizhimen! I don't think that meant anything. But 45 minutes later, I was dropped off on an unpaved dirt alleyway, next to a watermelon stand. You know how you're supposed to just start running once you jump off a moving train (my brother would know); I apply this saying to just about everything, "just keep moving". So I started walking. And walking. And then I came to a dead end .. but there was a hole in the fence, so I kept walking.

Eventually I made it back to my hostel; from there the Beijing Opera. I don't know if I was still irritable from from all the walking .. but I couldn't sit through more than 30 minutes (10 minutes and I was ready to burst) before walking out. I later learned that it was geared toward foreigners, with lots of acrobatics vs. subdued themes and tolerable singing @ a more reputable Beijing theatre. Oh well.