So where was I? Oh yea, Kiriganga. Small place, 3500 meters high. Three guesthouses, one large mineral bath.
Michal and I stayed at a place called Lotus, which is a common guesthouse name around these parts. Am I repeating myself?
The day number thing just kind of evaporated on me. What day are we talking about? 30? 35?
Suffice it to say we were in Kiriganga for 8 days. Michal decided to continue on to Dharamshala before me without the motorcycle, so from this point on i was on my own.
The owner of the guesthouse we called "G", which is how indian men refer to each other sometimes. Its kind of like "sir", but at the beginning of my trip i thought this was a reference to the "G" in the US, which is short for "Gangster". But no connection. So we called out "G!" whenever we needed anything. The israelis love this: need something? just call out G! and someone is there with your mint tea, coffee, veg pakora, thali, or hashish.
The whole thing about india is thats its so cheap here and poor backpackers feel like Kings!
Our group in Kiriganga included some interesting characters: Australian couple: Ren and Jay. early 30's. The girl, Ren, is funny. They married 3 years ago. She likes to talk, he doesnt. Maybe thats why they get along. Ido: 22, ex-D9 commander. Smokes a lot, too much, likes to talk a lot about meaningless things, a little annoying sometimes but entertaining. Enjoys cold showers. Asher: this is the guy im traveling with at the moment. Ethiopian, 22, no army, managed dominoes pizza for a couple years. Plans to open his own store when he returns to israel. Loves playstation. Lashman: Indian, 41. Strange little man, has his own restaurant in Goa which he operates in the winter, and travels in the offseason. He led us to Tosh from Kiriganga.
It started raining a few days in Kiriganga, which delayed our departure but have us plently of reasons to stay and bathe and smoke and watch the hills and the sky.
After michal left asher decided he may like to buy a motorcycle and continue with me to Dharamshala, and leave Ido and Ainat, his traveling partners. I told him fine, being rather indifferent to traveling alone or with someone. I suppose for the longer rides its good to have a partner or two. Also traveling with someone saves money on lodging sometimes, as u share a room.
We left Kiriganga about a week ago, and headed for Tosh. Tosh is another outpost in Parvati Valley with no access to motor vehicles. This is all changing however, as a new road is currently being noisily constructed which will inevitably change the dynamic and attraction of the whole area. Tosh is only about an hours walk from varashani, and then a half our motorcycle trip.
In Tosh we stayed at Lashman's friend's closed guesthouse. not operating this season. I stayed with asher in the main room with the tandoori, and ido and ainat stayed in another room and that australians in another room. I borrowed High Fidelity by Nick Hornby from Ren and read it while in Tosh.
Monday, June 25, 2007
Thursday, June 21, 2007
Finally!!!
ok, so its been like 30 minutes since i started trying to log into this website.
first i used a computer that was all in chinese, or japanese. So anyways im finally on the internet in Kasol where im staying and im smoking a joint and its only 10:45 in the morning. Thats the way its done around here.
See, Parvati Valley is a series of small villages, some accessible by road, others only by foot. Kasol is the main stopping point for travelers, especially israeli travelers. Everything is in Hebrew. Everything. There is israeli food and some israeli music in Every restaurant and cafe. Some of the locals here, like in rishikish and Manali know hebrew quite well.
so ive been all around in the last few weeks. I think i got real sick right after i wrote last time. That was in Manali. I decided then to take my motorbike for a spin. It was morning and I took off towards New manali. But then i veered left and headed for RHOTANG PASS. Yes, its a very famous pass thats 4000 meters high! I road and road and road up and up and up on an increasingly fucked up road with big potholes across the entire roads, filled with mud and water and rocks and sand. It was cold and i was only wearing my fleece and jeans but no gloves. I kind of didnt plan for the adventure, but thats how it usually is with me.
I got near the top and saw a paragliding sight where the ride itself lasted all of 10 seconds, as they took off from one hill and landed quickly on the one right below it. I drank some chai and took a piss. Then i thought if i should continue the last 12 kilometers to RHOTANG PASS, and I decided Yes, after seeing a large group of Sikhs on motorcycles with barely nothing on but the scarf they cover their heads with and an old sweater. So I continued up and it was a bit hard to breath and very very cold. My fingers were numb due to the lack of gloves.
Well I finally reached the top and was amazed by the view but underwhelmed by the pass itself. Their are many indians wearing late 70s early 80s skiing alfits, you know, the full suit ensemble. They sell loads of them on the way up. I ate some over-roasted corn, just the way I like it. and then i saw what seemed like someone sitting on a chair that was a sled being pushed down the hill. Strange. But i didnt have time to watch, i was hungry, so i sat at a small dhaba and ordered two little potato burgers and a tomato cabbage something else stirfry something or another, and ate that while looking at the stunning snow covered himalayan cliffs all around me.
I rode down feeling nauseous. It was not a fun ride, I was freezing and I new i was going to be sick. I wasnt sick yet, however, and made it home safely. I then talked with a group living next door, three brits and a german, and then took a shower, and went to bed. I was sick for the next five days. Combination altitude sickness (i climbed 2000 meters from manali in 3 hours), and food poisoning (those fried potato burgers i bet).
During the days i was sick i talked a lot with the german guy next door, 24. He's a carpenter and lives in the Alps, and snowboards a lot.
Left Manali and travelled to Kasol after five days, and that took one day. The ride was three hours or so, passing through a little town but nothing too crazy. In Kasol both michal and I still didnt feel 100% (michal also was sick at the time), so we took it easy. I had just finished The Joke by Kundera, so i read Elmore Leonard's Out of Sight, in one day cuz there is absolutely nothing for me to do in Kasol, and it was OK. I was unimpressed.
Anywho just sat at a cafe all day in Kasol, and the next day we left to Kalga. In Kalga there was A LOT of Chillum activity. A chillum is made of hardened clay, and its about five inches long and one inch wide with a hole like a doughnut in the middle, so its like a straw kind of. Anyway you smoke jaras in it, by mixing with tobacco. And you hold in cupped in your hand and dont put your lips on it and you just get major major rips. So In Kalga there was this huge group of italians and germans just smoking all day long. and when i say smoking, i mean there was a chillum constantly being packed and smoked, all the time. Sometimes I partook, but always in moderation, of course.
Kalga was chill, I spent the time reading the namesake by Jhumpa lahari. The views were stunning, obviously. We were about 2500 meters up. The climb there was steeep. Nothing much going on there, a few houses, some chickens, a little restaurant that is supplied with food by human porters who bring the food up on their backs. We visited Pulga one day, another village a little larger than Kalga, and were surprised by how filthy it was there. Some of the villages are cleaner than others.
We had heard about a village way up 3000 meters high called Kiriganga. One guy who works at the local bookstore, an israeli, told us he "spit blood" on the way up. Others echoed that sentiment. So we were hesitant, but decided to "go with it" or "lizrom im se" as it is said often among israelis here, except when it came to Kiriganga.
We left at six am, with a porter guide who carried michals bag, but not mine, since im a man and can carry my own bag. Of course we left the big bag in Kasol, and only had our two smaller bags with us. The climb was surprisingly short, three hours, and not so difficult. Of course there were areas we had to climb with all four limbs, we were happy when we reached Kiriganga without barely breaking a sweat. Im not sure what all the commotion is about.
Kiriganga was amazing. Simply the most beautiful place with a hot natural mineral bath up at the top from which you see the best views in 360 degrees. Every day we went both morning and evening, one time i went with asher and we stayed til 9pm, two hours after closing, ooooohhhhh. That was pretty awesome since it started to rain hard, and we were sitting just the two of us in a large hot sulphur bath. Oh and you get used to the smell.
Girls dont have it so good they have to use the adjacent enclosed room, and though they get the hot water, they dont get the stunning views.
Immediately on arrival we met a group of israelis at the guesthouse. This guesthouse, like a lot of places in these hill stations, are third world mini resorts for poor israeli backpackers. Theres a tent divided into room. The restaurant is also a tent with some aluminum and wood panelling. Inside there is a tandoori that is used at night to keep the place warm. Now i know why they call it tandoori chicken! And the seating is all on the floor with pillows and low tables so you can just chill and lounge about all day long. People even sleep there at night. The israelis were just chilling around the table at 10am smoking joints. This is how it is everywhere in parvati valley. Everywhere you go people are smoking chillums and joints, in the internet cafes, restaurants, trek shops, clothing stores, everywhere. Its a constant activitythat goes on round the clock, everybody constantly creating "ksessa" which is the mixture of jaras and tobacco. The jaras is like hash but is made differently, lots of people taking the marijuana leaves and rolling it in their hands until their hands are coated with the black jaras.
We sat with the israelis and we continued sitting there for the next seven days. Going thru a routine is nice. Wake up, 8. Mineral bath 9. Sit patio in sun, 11. Trip somewhere, everyday, to a little nook in the forest surrounding us. We'd buy some patotoes, onions, chocolate, make a fire near a river somewhere and eat and sit and smoke. For hours. Come back: 4. Sit on patio till 6. Mineral Bath 7. It gets cold up there and rained half the time, for the last few days. Teh first four days were gorgeous weather. Eat inside, talk chill, read whatever 10. More of that 11. Sleep. So you see Kiriganga is pretty nice if you want to reeelax.
On the first day of rain it was hardcore rain and my room got a little revenge from the god of rain, mashnavitu (im actually not sure if thats a god or not, i just made it up). My bed got soaked only, so i slept in the restaurant, near the tandoori. However i froze at night cause nobody kept putting wood in the tandoori!
Ive been sitting here for 1.5 hours, so now ive reached a point where i can no longer continue writing due to energy saving concerns. Please visit the next post in this blog when you find a quiet open moment in your day.
first i used a computer that was all in chinese, or japanese. So anyways im finally on the internet in Kasol where im staying and im smoking a joint and its only 10:45 in the morning. Thats the way its done around here.
See, Parvati Valley is a series of small villages, some accessible by road, others only by foot. Kasol is the main stopping point for travelers, especially israeli travelers. Everything is in Hebrew. Everything. There is israeli food and some israeli music in Every restaurant and cafe. Some of the locals here, like in rishikish and Manali know hebrew quite well.
so ive been all around in the last few weeks. I think i got real sick right after i wrote last time. That was in Manali. I decided then to take my motorbike for a spin. It was morning and I took off towards New manali. But then i veered left and headed for RHOTANG PASS. Yes, its a very famous pass thats 4000 meters high! I road and road and road up and up and up on an increasingly fucked up road with big potholes across the entire roads, filled with mud and water and rocks and sand. It was cold and i was only wearing my fleece and jeans but no gloves. I kind of didnt plan for the adventure, but thats how it usually is with me.
I got near the top and saw a paragliding sight where the ride itself lasted all of 10 seconds, as they took off from one hill and landed quickly on the one right below it. I drank some chai and took a piss. Then i thought if i should continue the last 12 kilometers to RHOTANG PASS, and I decided Yes, after seeing a large group of Sikhs on motorcycles with barely nothing on but the scarf they cover their heads with and an old sweater. So I continued up and it was a bit hard to breath and very very cold. My fingers were numb due to the lack of gloves.
Well I finally reached the top and was amazed by the view but underwhelmed by the pass itself. Their are many indians wearing late 70s early 80s skiing alfits, you know, the full suit ensemble. They sell loads of them on the way up. I ate some over-roasted corn, just the way I like it. and then i saw what seemed like someone sitting on a chair that was a sled being pushed down the hill. Strange. But i didnt have time to watch, i was hungry, so i sat at a small dhaba and ordered two little potato burgers and a tomato cabbage something else stirfry something or another, and ate that while looking at the stunning snow covered himalayan cliffs all around me.
I rode down feeling nauseous. It was not a fun ride, I was freezing and I new i was going to be sick. I wasnt sick yet, however, and made it home safely. I then talked with a group living next door, three brits and a german, and then took a shower, and went to bed. I was sick for the next five days. Combination altitude sickness (i climbed 2000 meters from manali in 3 hours), and food poisoning (those fried potato burgers i bet).
During the days i was sick i talked a lot with the german guy next door, 24. He's a carpenter and lives in the Alps, and snowboards a lot.
Left Manali and travelled to Kasol after five days, and that took one day. The ride was three hours or so, passing through a little town but nothing too crazy. In Kasol both michal and I still didnt feel 100% (michal also was sick at the time), so we took it easy. I had just finished The Joke by Kundera, so i read Elmore Leonard's Out of Sight, in one day cuz there is absolutely nothing for me to do in Kasol, and it was OK. I was unimpressed.
Anywho just sat at a cafe all day in Kasol, and the next day we left to Kalga. In Kalga there was A LOT of Chillum activity. A chillum is made of hardened clay, and its about five inches long and one inch wide with a hole like a doughnut in the middle, so its like a straw kind of. Anyway you smoke jaras in it, by mixing with tobacco. And you hold in cupped in your hand and dont put your lips on it and you just get major major rips. So In Kalga there was this huge group of italians and germans just smoking all day long. and when i say smoking, i mean there was a chillum constantly being packed and smoked, all the time. Sometimes I partook, but always in moderation, of course.
Kalga was chill, I spent the time reading the namesake by Jhumpa lahari. The views were stunning, obviously. We were about 2500 meters up. The climb there was steeep. Nothing much going on there, a few houses, some chickens, a little restaurant that is supplied with food by human porters who bring the food up on their backs. We visited Pulga one day, another village a little larger than Kalga, and were surprised by how filthy it was there. Some of the villages are cleaner than others.
We had heard about a village way up 3000 meters high called Kiriganga. One guy who works at the local bookstore, an israeli, told us he "spit blood" on the way up. Others echoed that sentiment. So we were hesitant, but decided to "go with it" or "lizrom im se" as it is said often among israelis here, except when it came to Kiriganga.
We left at six am, with a porter guide who carried michals bag, but not mine, since im a man and can carry my own bag. Of course we left the big bag in Kasol, and only had our two smaller bags with us. The climb was surprisingly short, three hours, and not so difficult. Of course there were areas we had to climb with all four limbs, we were happy when we reached Kiriganga without barely breaking a sweat. Im not sure what all the commotion is about.
Kiriganga was amazing. Simply the most beautiful place with a hot natural mineral bath up at the top from which you see the best views in 360 degrees. Every day we went both morning and evening, one time i went with asher and we stayed til 9pm, two hours after closing, ooooohhhhh. That was pretty awesome since it started to rain hard, and we were sitting just the two of us in a large hot sulphur bath. Oh and you get used to the smell.
Girls dont have it so good they have to use the adjacent enclosed room, and though they get the hot water, they dont get the stunning views.
Immediately on arrival we met a group of israelis at the guesthouse. This guesthouse, like a lot of places in these hill stations, are third world mini resorts for poor israeli backpackers. Theres a tent divided into room. The restaurant is also a tent with some aluminum and wood panelling. Inside there is a tandoori that is used at night to keep the place warm. Now i know why they call it tandoori chicken! And the seating is all on the floor with pillows and low tables so you can just chill and lounge about all day long. People even sleep there at night. The israelis were just chilling around the table at 10am smoking joints. This is how it is everywhere in parvati valley. Everywhere you go people are smoking chillums and joints, in the internet cafes, restaurants, trek shops, clothing stores, everywhere. Its a constant activitythat goes on round the clock, everybody constantly creating "ksessa" which is the mixture of jaras and tobacco. The jaras is like hash but is made differently, lots of people taking the marijuana leaves and rolling it in their hands until their hands are coated with the black jaras.
We sat with the israelis and we continued sitting there for the next seven days. Going thru a routine is nice. Wake up, 8. Mineral bath 9. Sit patio in sun, 11. Trip somewhere, everyday, to a little nook in the forest surrounding us. We'd buy some patotoes, onions, chocolate, make a fire near a river somewhere and eat and sit and smoke. For hours. Come back: 4. Sit on patio till 6. Mineral Bath 7. It gets cold up there and rained half the time, for the last few days. Teh first four days were gorgeous weather. Eat inside, talk chill, read whatever 10. More of that 11. Sleep. So you see Kiriganga is pretty nice if you want to reeelax.
On the first day of rain it was hardcore rain and my room got a little revenge from the god of rain, mashnavitu (im actually not sure if thats a god or not, i just made it up). My bed got soaked only, so i slept in the restaurant, near the tandoori. However i froze at night cause nobody kept putting wood in the tandoori!
Ive been sitting here for 1.5 hours, so now ive reached a point where i can no longer continue writing due to energy saving concerns. Please visit the next post in this blog when you find a quiet open moment in your day.
Kasol
Last tiime i wrote in the blog i was in Manali, with Michal. I was healthy, and I think i had recently completed a small trek, near the river. Now, two weeks later, or more, im in Kasol, living la vida loca, in the mountains. Im also healthy.
Yes ive been ill communicado, unreachable, relying mostly on roosters for the daily news. Ive known little of the world for the past two weeks, only the tweeting of the birds and the mooing of the cows.
Ok so i cant really write at the moment, just wanted to update a bit. I will fill in alllll the details of the past two weeks in a couple days. Now we just got back to Kasol, a main embarking point, from Kiriganga, Kalga, Pulga and Tosh, all little villages that are inaccessible to cars and motorcycles. You reach them by walking, yes, the good ol' fashion way. Kiriganga is waaaaaay up in the mountains and theres is a big ass hot mineral bath. From here I take off to Dharamsala with asher my new riding partner who bought a motorcycle less than ten minutes ago. He just showed up, super excited. He bought a 1994 bullet enfield for $550. Its black, and most of the parts are new.
So we're takiing off for a celebration spin.
Alllllright, well theres more to come.
Yes ive been ill communicado, unreachable, relying mostly on roosters for the daily news. Ive known little of the world for the past two weeks, only the tweeting of the birds and the mooing of the cows.
Ok so i cant really write at the moment, just wanted to update a bit. I will fill in alllll the details of the past two weeks in a couple days. Now we just got back to Kasol, a main embarking point, from Kiriganga, Kalga, Pulga and Tosh, all little villages that are inaccessible to cars and motorcycles. You reach them by walking, yes, the good ol' fashion way. Kiriganga is waaaaaay up in the mountains and theres is a big ass hot mineral bath. From here I take off to Dharamsala with asher my new riding partner who bought a motorcycle less than ten minutes ago. He just showed up, super excited. He bought a 1994 bullet enfield for $550. Its black, and most of the parts are new.
So we're takiing off for a celebration spin.
Alllllright, well theres more to come.
Sunday, June 3, 2007
still in manali
Day 24
Did absolutely nothing. Started reading Wuthering Heights and tehn realized that i had absolutely no desire to read this while in India. It seems out of place, even wrong to read about victorian high morals in high-strung England while lounging about the himalayas with wild Indian people. We thought about visiting Vashisht, the site of a big temple and hot springs nearby, but then decided not to when it started raining.
Day 25
michal went to a jewelery workshop and made two rings. I meanwhile went to down to the New Manali market and visited a bookstore adn bought VS Naipaul's India: A million mutinies Now. Its really really good. I also spent an hour there drinking chai and talking with the owner about Indian life and politics. Turns out also that Salman Rushdies Satanic Verses is banned in India. He also carried a wide selection of books by Osho, an Indian spritual guru who i started reading and is rather interesting. He's kind of like an new age atheistic theist. He's also dead. And supposedly at his peek he had a commune in Oregon with 365 rolls royces, one for evry day of the week. Spent the day and evening reading and also rod eto Vashist by myself.
more of: Reading, lounging, getting sunburnt, motorcycle riding, tibetan food, friends, cafe, meeting interesting people, austrians, swiss, french, and a hell of a lot of Israelis. Saw the Full Monty at night in the cafe: Dylan's Cafe, the local hip spot.
Day 27
Today! Yes we got off our arses and did our first big TREK! We left at 10am and headed up towards Manu temple and through the mountains to Solang. 12 Kilometers through the hilly jungle. Michal felt sick early on an tried to puke, but we got thru the rough spots and continued on past a pair of old fogies collecting bark samples from really old trees. We made it to a street and walked thru a midieval like village with too many flies and too few people. Lots of underage workers but hey they all seemed happy. Women who are 40 who look 80, quite a common occurence around these parts. But again, a smile no everyone's faces. We got lost a bit but then got directions from an ancient shepard to Solong Valley. They have gigantic plastic balls you sit in an tehn they roll it down the hill. We ate potato burgers in the rain and caught a bus back to town. We slept a bit and ate soup. now we're here. oh we also ate something called Hello to the Queen, which is basically a chocolate chip cookie banana split sundae: delicious. Its cold here now and we're planning departure in two days.
Did absolutely nothing. Started reading Wuthering Heights and tehn realized that i had absolutely no desire to read this while in India. It seems out of place, even wrong to read about victorian high morals in high-strung England while lounging about the himalayas with wild Indian people. We thought about visiting Vashisht, the site of a big temple and hot springs nearby, but then decided not to when it started raining.
Day 25
michal went to a jewelery workshop and made two rings. I meanwhile went to down to the New Manali market and visited a bookstore adn bought VS Naipaul's India: A million mutinies Now. Its really really good. I also spent an hour there drinking chai and talking with the owner about Indian life and politics. Turns out also that Salman Rushdies Satanic Verses is banned in India. He also carried a wide selection of books by Osho, an Indian spritual guru who i started reading and is rather interesting. He's kind of like an new age atheistic theist. He's also dead. And supposedly at his peek he had a commune in Oregon with 365 rolls royces, one for evry day of the week. Spent the day and evening reading and also rod eto Vashist by myself.
more of: Reading, lounging, getting sunburnt, motorcycle riding, tibetan food, friends, cafe, meeting interesting people, austrians, swiss, french, and a hell of a lot of Israelis. Saw the Full Monty at night in the cafe: Dylan's Cafe, the local hip spot.
Day 27
Today! Yes we got off our arses and did our first big TREK! We left at 10am and headed up towards Manu temple and through the mountains to Solang. 12 Kilometers through the hilly jungle. Michal felt sick early on an tried to puke, but we got thru the rough spots and continued on past a pair of old fogies collecting bark samples from really old trees. We made it to a street and walked thru a midieval like village with too many flies and too few people. Lots of underage workers but hey they all seemed happy. Women who are 40 who look 80, quite a common occurence around these parts. But again, a smile no everyone's faces. We got lost a bit but then got directions from an ancient shepard to Solong Valley. They have gigantic plastic balls you sit in an tehn they roll it down the hill. We ate potato burgers in the rain and caught a bus back to town. We slept a bit and ate soup. now we're here. oh we also ate something called Hello to the Queen, which is basically a chocolate chip cookie banana split sundae: delicious. Its cold here now and we're planning departure in two days.
Thursday, May 31, 2007
S&P Record!!!
Day 23
So in other news my index which tracks the S&P hit record highs!!!
But back in India we also hit record highs climbing to new heights today in Manali during a 6 hour trek through rocky terrain on the banks of a rushing river.
In India it takes mega long to get food at a restaurant, like last night we waited one and a half hours for our food. Oh well. And theres nobody to complain to because its just a group of prepubescent boys running the joint.
So in other news my index which tracks the S&P hit record highs!!!
But back in India we also hit record highs climbing to new heights today in Manali during a 6 hour trek through rocky terrain on the banks of a rushing river.
In India it takes mega long to get food at a restaurant, like last night we waited one and a half hours for our food. Oh well. And theres nobody to complain to because its just a group of prepubescent boys running the joint.
Wednesday, May 30, 2007
Manali
Day 22
There must be same mistake on the number of days because I arrived in India on May 8 and today is May 30, which means that today is day 22. So this is Day 22, a little backwards time travel.
To make a long story short, we left Tattapani yesterday again at five in the morning. It was cold, but the weather quickly rose as we descended into a valley full of small farm villages with simple minded folks wearing bandanas. We took a wrong turn early and rode 30 kilometers up a hilly road full of annoying potholes, only to have to come back down the same potmarked road half an hour later.
The rest of the ride was enjoyable, gorgeous weather and idyllic scenery. We stopped a few times for chai and fried eggs and reached Manali before evening. We took a room at the Krishna Guesthouse for 200 rups, and theres even a hot shower! Manali is divided into an Old and a New city, and we're in the old which is much higher up and less crowded than the Old. There are tons and tons of Israelis here, Israeli food, signs in Hebrew, crocks, dreadlocks and hashish, all marks of Israel.
Last night we ate Tibetan food which is basically Chinese food but not quite as good and a hell of lot more spicy. It was cold at night and I snuck two woolen blankets from the uninhabited adjoining room to supplement our own.
In the morning we drank Chai, Michal got her legs waxed, and I finished Midnights Children, which was really damned good. I then traded it a the local cafe for Arudhati Roy's A God of Small Things, which I read for the past couple hours in a small cozy nook I found for myself in the mountains away from all the tourists and vendors. I read Indian literature against the backdrop of the Himalayas: very cool.
A man approached me who owns a guesthouse nearby and we talked for a while. His name is Chaan and he runs Chaan's Guesthouse. He charges Indians more though I couldnt get him to explain why.
There is the sound of someone trying to learn Stairway To Heaven on guitar coming from somewhere above me now.
Tomorrow we're going to hike for 12 kilometers, but today we're taking it easy. I cruised around a bit on the motorcycle, though the traffic around Manali makes this unenjoyable.
Theres a lot of adventure sports around this town like: rafting, mountaineering, fly fishing, rapling, paragliding, skiing (yes even in summer) and cycling. I think I may take a mountaineering course later on, after Michal leaves, but thats just a random sort of thought that will probably not stick as I have never ever been interested in mountaineering, and I may even have a fear of heights.
There must be same mistake on the number of days because I arrived in India on May 8 and today is May 30, which means that today is day 22. So this is Day 22, a little backwards time travel.
To make a long story short, we left Tattapani yesterday again at five in the morning. It was cold, but the weather quickly rose as we descended into a valley full of small farm villages with simple minded folks wearing bandanas. We took a wrong turn early and rode 30 kilometers up a hilly road full of annoying potholes, only to have to come back down the same potmarked road half an hour later.
The rest of the ride was enjoyable, gorgeous weather and idyllic scenery. We stopped a few times for chai and fried eggs and reached Manali before evening. We took a room at the Krishna Guesthouse for 200 rups, and theres even a hot shower! Manali is divided into an Old and a New city, and we're in the old which is much higher up and less crowded than the Old. There are tons and tons of Israelis here, Israeli food, signs in Hebrew, crocks, dreadlocks and hashish, all marks of Israel.
Last night we ate Tibetan food which is basically Chinese food but not quite as good and a hell of lot more spicy. It was cold at night and I snuck two woolen blankets from the uninhabited adjoining room to supplement our own.
In the morning we drank Chai, Michal got her legs waxed, and I finished Midnights Children, which was really damned good. I then traded it a the local cafe for Arudhati Roy's A God of Small Things, which I read for the past couple hours in a small cozy nook I found for myself in the mountains away from all the tourists and vendors. I read Indian literature against the backdrop of the Himalayas: very cool.
A man approached me who owns a guesthouse nearby and we talked for a while. His name is Chaan and he runs Chaan's Guesthouse. He charges Indians more though I couldnt get him to explain why.
There is the sound of someone trying to learn Stairway To Heaven on guitar coming from somewhere above me now.
Tomorrow we're going to hike for 12 kilometers, but today we're taking it easy. I cruised around a bit on the motorcycle, though the traffic around Manali makes this unenjoyable.
Theres a lot of adventure sports around this town like: rafting, mountaineering, fly fishing, rapling, paragliding, skiing (yes even in summer) and cycling. I think I may take a mountaineering course later on, after Michal leaves, but thats just a random sort of thought that will probably not stick as I have never ever been interested in mountaineering, and I may even have a fear of heights.
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
Mussorie
We arrived in Manali a few hours ago after a 12 hour ride through the hills, so I'm a little fatigued. But i'm committed to updating my blog, as I havent written for nearly five days and my memory of crucial events may start fading.
Day 18
Woke up and did the usual: eat, brush teeth, shower, watch the same indian servers who waited on us last night at 11pm wait on us again today at 9am. These people never stop working. Indians work round the clock, even the more professional high paid ones. In guesthouses that we stay in the staff normally sleeps on the floor in the kitchen or tables in the restaurant and start working when they wake up, and finish working when they go to sleep. The same people who serve the food also buytheingrediants, cook the food, set the table, clean the place, make the beds, do the laundry, fix electrical problems, unplug toilets, drive taxis, build buildings, do taxes, create promotions, and lets not forget - water the plants.
At 12pm we left because we had a short ride to complete, only about five hours. The ride to Mussorie took us through Dehra Dune, where we stopped to exchange travelers checks. The city is a mess, but one standout feature is the prevalance of police - they are everywhere. These cops where brown c. 1930 era uniforms and carry leather batons, and are remnants of the british empire. They are summarily disregarded and not taken seriously at all, and it is generally known that most policeman have no higher than a fourth grade education. In fact if you've complete more than four grades you are disqualified from the law enforcement occupation.
Besides police, it was very hot. We finally foudn the Bank of Punjab, and I waited outside while Michal exchanged money. A few beggar kids came up to me and pestered me for cash, when teh owner of the store i was standing in front of came out and seriously smacked the kids on the head...hard. I wasnt bothered anymore...simple. Michal came out half an hour later, complaining that the teller would simply not stop asking her irrelevant questions like: what do you do? where do you study? do you like india? are you married? who is that boy you are with? When I went in I was met with the same line of questioning but responded with questions of my own which completely confused the Punjabi teller. Speaking of Punjabs, they are SiK, and these people dont ever cut their hair, but rather tie it round and round their heads and then wrap it all up with scarfs and netting. This is straightup disgusting!
Left Dehra Dune and arrived in Mussorie. Its up a winding hill about 30 minutes from Dehra Dune, and the road their is paved surprisingly well. We've noticed that tourist destinations (with the exception of pilgrimage distinations like rishikish) have great roads, unlike most of the others weve used in india, which are lots of gravel with potholes and large fissures. Mussorie is a tourist trap for rich indians. Its really high up and has lots of hotels and amusement features like pony rides, video game arcades, cotton candy, and other things that are everything but typically indian. We were here for two days. There is a nice road called The Mall which is nice to stroll on with other indian honeymooners, and you can eat corn on the cob and chilly popcorn. We ate Dolsa at a restaurant owned by a Sik man, a place called Madras Cafe, and we spoke to him for a while. Knowing we were Israeli, he said: "yes, we just need to get rid of those people..." and we were confused and he said: "you know i was just watching al jazeera and you know what they did?" and we were still confused and a little worried: finally it became apparent that he dislikes muslims. Apparently some palestinians fired a rocket into Israel, and this infuriated the Sik man. He says in India he loves all the people, but the Muslims are just trouble. This sentiment has been echoed by other indians ive spoken to.
Continued reading Salman Rushdie's Midnights Children, and its great to read foreign books in the country where the story takes place.
We did some other stuff, went to see somel lame waterfall, and generally though mussorie an unimpressive tourist trap for wealthy indians. I drank my first indian beer here.
Day 20
Influenced by the Australian round-the-world couple we left Mussorie at 5am. Riding in the morning is the best idea ever: no traffic, no heat, see the sunrise, get to destination early before dark.
The bike is riding a million times better, did i mention? new air filter, cleaned carburator, new back brakes.
We rode to Shimla, a long long long 12 hour ride. Winding roads through the hills, beautiful majestic vistas as usual, great weather, until we reached Shimla, started raining. Shimla is another indian hip tourist spot, where all the indians go on holiday around this time of year to escape the heat in the own miserable cities. Its apparently an Indian holiday...although almost every day is an indian holiday as, did you know? there are 180 official indian holidays. We tought about staying in Shimla, but wisely made the decision to pass thru and continue one more hour to the next city called Tatapanni. Shima is 1700 meters and the road to Tatapanni goes down down down through some of the worst roads we've seen, to about 600 meters. There is a river and a bridge, and a few stores and houses. On the river is a hotel called Spring View, great review in Lonely Planet.
Day 21
We stayed in Tatapanni for three whole days. One of the loveliest spots we've been, and a pleasant unexpected surprise. The river bed has natural sulphur hot springs which the hotel uses in its hot spring baths. On our first day in T.P. we rode the Shiva's cave, but instead of going to the cave itself, we took a different hike that led as to a river and some small waterfulls. While michal sunbathed i explored the various waterfalls, played with some local kids, and though general things like: WOW this is heavenly!! I could stay here forever...until the clouds came and it started raining again. In this town the first half of the day is blue skies and perfect temps, and the second half is thunderstorms andlighting. I like that.
After the falls soaking in sulphur water. Supposedly this is good for you? I have dry skin so I hope it helps and makes me soft and silky.
Day 22
Rode to the town nearby adn explored. There was a march that we learned later was a protest by the lowest caste to gain more respect by the local government. We drank chai and ate the typical indian sweets: rice cakes, deep fried honey sticks, and sugared bread thing. Not great by itself, but with chai - perfectemente.
Back at the pad we struck up a conversation with a couple indians from Chandigarh, about our age, graphic designer and computer software programmer who work for American companies outsourcing to india. These were rather modern men, but it seems that Indians, and ill stereotype here, are relatively naive. They often dont see outside their little indian box, and know little about the outside world. They are also very conservative. Even the most progressive indians think that marriages should be arranged, that women should be fully covered, that drugs are bad always and always without question no matter what even one puff. Moreover it seems that indians are overwhelmingly religious, with widespread belief in reincarnation. This belief goes a very long way in explaining india's slow progress on social fronts, i.e. its adherence to the caste system. That is, poor slum dwellers were bad bad bad in their last life and now they have to be beggars and eat trash and be good thru it all so that they can be reborn as something better than a beggar.
The whole system sounds absurd and astonishing, and when Im speaking with what seem like serious educated indians it is shocking that they believe in this bullcrap. While faith in a god or gods generally sounds insane to me, the indian beliefs have widespread ramifications for indias poor population. Instead of trying to get education and leave a life of poverty, poor indians dont try to improve their situation. Its a tragedy if you ask me. I know there are probably indians who dont fit this stereotype, but Ive spoken to at least nine different indians who all strike me as believing in the same antiquated ideas despite having university educations.
At night we ate dinner with a 25 year old indian veterinarian we met at the hotel and he had the same notions that i speak of above. He says he wants a girlfriend who is sexy for sex (which he has never had) but that his marriage is another matter that he will have his parents arrange, and that this women must be loyal and educated, and also a good cook. He is part of the warrior caste, and must marry within his caste.
More hot sulphur baths at night with a japanese couple who spoke no english but painted me in watercolors.
Day 23
Woke up this morning again at five am. Im so tired ill relate this fantastic day in my next post. Suffice it to say we're in Manali, and we can see the himalayas from our guesthouse room. Awesome!
Day 18
Woke up and did the usual: eat, brush teeth, shower, watch the same indian servers who waited on us last night at 11pm wait on us again today at 9am. These people never stop working. Indians work round the clock, even the more professional high paid ones. In guesthouses that we stay in the staff normally sleeps on the floor in the kitchen or tables in the restaurant and start working when they wake up, and finish working when they go to sleep. The same people who serve the food also buytheingrediants, cook the food, set the table, clean the place, make the beds, do the laundry, fix electrical problems, unplug toilets, drive taxis, build buildings, do taxes, create promotions, and lets not forget - water the plants.
At 12pm we left because we had a short ride to complete, only about five hours. The ride to Mussorie took us through Dehra Dune, where we stopped to exchange travelers checks. The city is a mess, but one standout feature is the prevalance of police - they are everywhere. These cops where brown c. 1930 era uniforms and carry leather batons, and are remnants of the british empire. They are summarily disregarded and not taken seriously at all, and it is generally known that most policeman have no higher than a fourth grade education. In fact if you've complete more than four grades you are disqualified from the law enforcement occupation.
Besides police, it was very hot. We finally foudn the Bank of Punjab, and I waited outside while Michal exchanged money. A few beggar kids came up to me and pestered me for cash, when teh owner of the store i was standing in front of came out and seriously smacked the kids on the head...hard. I wasnt bothered anymore...simple. Michal came out half an hour later, complaining that the teller would simply not stop asking her irrelevant questions like: what do you do? where do you study? do you like india? are you married? who is that boy you are with? When I went in I was met with the same line of questioning but responded with questions of my own which completely confused the Punjabi teller. Speaking of Punjabs, they are SiK, and these people dont ever cut their hair, but rather tie it round and round their heads and then wrap it all up with scarfs and netting. This is straightup disgusting!
Left Dehra Dune and arrived in Mussorie. Its up a winding hill about 30 minutes from Dehra Dune, and the road their is paved surprisingly well. We've noticed that tourist destinations (with the exception of pilgrimage distinations like rishikish) have great roads, unlike most of the others weve used in india, which are lots of gravel with potholes and large fissures. Mussorie is a tourist trap for rich indians. Its really high up and has lots of hotels and amusement features like pony rides, video game arcades, cotton candy, and other things that are everything but typically indian. We were here for two days. There is a nice road called The Mall which is nice to stroll on with other indian honeymooners, and you can eat corn on the cob and chilly popcorn. We ate Dolsa at a restaurant owned by a Sik man, a place called Madras Cafe, and we spoke to him for a while. Knowing we were Israeli, he said: "yes, we just need to get rid of those people..." and we were confused and he said: "you know i was just watching al jazeera and you know what they did?" and we were still confused and a little worried: finally it became apparent that he dislikes muslims. Apparently some palestinians fired a rocket into Israel, and this infuriated the Sik man. He says in India he loves all the people, but the Muslims are just trouble. This sentiment has been echoed by other indians ive spoken to.
Continued reading Salman Rushdie's Midnights Children, and its great to read foreign books in the country where the story takes place.
We did some other stuff, went to see somel lame waterfall, and generally though mussorie an unimpressive tourist trap for wealthy indians. I drank my first indian beer here.
Day 20
Influenced by the Australian round-the-world couple we left Mussorie at 5am. Riding in the morning is the best idea ever: no traffic, no heat, see the sunrise, get to destination early before dark.
The bike is riding a million times better, did i mention? new air filter, cleaned carburator, new back brakes.
We rode to Shimla, a long long long 12 hour ride. Winding roads through the hills, beautiful majestic vistas as usual, great weather, until we reached Shimla, started raining. Shimla is another indian hip tourist spot, where all the indians go on holiday around this time of year to escape the heat in the own miserable cities. Its apparently an Indian holiday...although almost every day is an indian holiday as, did you know? there are 180 official indian holidays. We tought about staying in Shimla, but wisely made the decision to pass thru and continue one more hour to the next city called Tatapanni. Shima is 1700 meters and the road to Tatapanni goes down down down through some of the worst roads we've seen, to about 600 meters. There is a river and a bridge, and a few stores and houses. On the river is a hotel called Spring View, great review in Lonely Planet.
Day 21
We stayed in Tatapanni for three whole days. One of the loveliest spots we've been, and a pleasant unexpected surprise. The river bed has natural sulphur hot springs which the hotel uses in its hot spring baths. On our first day in T.P. we rode the Shiva's cave, but instead of going to the cave itself, we took a different hike that led as to a river and some small waterfulls. While michal sunbathed i explored the various waterfalls, played with some local kids, and though general things like: WOW this is heavenly!! I could stay here forever...until the clouds came and it started raining again. In this town the first half of the day is blue skies and perfect temps, and the second half is thunderstorms andlighting. I like that.
After the falls soaking in sulphur water. Supposedly this is good for you? I have dry skin so I hope it helps and makes me soft and silky.
Day 22
Rode to the town nearby adn explored. There was a march that we learned later was a protest by the lowest caste to gain more respect by the local government. We drank chai and ate the typical indian sweets: rice cakes, deep fried honey sticks, and sugared bread thing. Not great by itself, but with chai - perfectemente.
Back at the pad we struck up a conversation with a couple indians from Chandigarh, about our age, graphic designer and computer software programmer who work for American companies outsourcing to india. These were rather modern men, but it seems that Indians, and ill stereotype here, are relatively naive. They often dont see outside their little indian box, and know little about the outside world. They are also very conservative. Even the most progressive indians think that marriages should be arranged, that women should be fully covered, that drugs are bad always and always without question no matter what even one puff. Moreover it seems that indians are overwhelmingly religious, with widespread belief in reincarnation. This belief goes a very long way in explaining india's slow progress on social fronts, i.e. its adherence to the caste system. That is, poor slum dwellers were bad bad bad in their last life and now they have to be beggars and eat trash and be good thru it all so that they can be reborn as something better than a beggar.
The whole system sounds absurd and astonishing, and when Im speaking with what seem like serious educated indians it is shocking that they believe in this bullcrap. While faith in a god or gods generally sounds insane to me, the indian beliefs have widespread ramifications for indias poor population. Instead of trying to get education and leave a life of poverty, poor indians dont try to improve their situation. Its a tragedy if you ask me. I know there are probably indians who dont fit this stereotype, but Ive spoken to at least nine different indians who all strike me as believing in the same antiquated ideas despite having university educations.
At night we ate dinner with a 25 year old indian veterinarian we met at the hotel and he had the same notions that i speak of above. He says he wants a girlfriend who is sexy for sex (which he has never had) but that his marriage is another matter that he will have his parents arrange, and that this women must be loyal and educated, and also a good cook. He is part of the warrior caste, and must marry within his caste.
More hot sulphur baths at night with a japanese couple who spoke no english but painted me in watercolors.
Day 23
Woke up this morning again at five am. Im so tired ill relate this fantastic day in my next post. Suffice it to say we're in Manali, and we can see the himalayas from our guesthouse room. Awesome!
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