Bhutan

Well, we almost did not make it here. We were enjoying Kolkata and were ready to head for Bhutan, but there was this sticky problem that the Government of Bhutan, which is very picky about to whom it issues visas, had not actually issued the visas to our group, but they had let us book our flights.

We all finally agreed to head for the airport in Kolkata Tuesday morning at 5:30, try to get on the flight and sort it out when we landed. Well, it worked. We got on to the flight and once we were on the ground in Paro, Bhutan, the bureaucracy took about 20 minutes to get its act together, and here we are.

I should add that landing in Paro is a thrill. You come in over the mountains and swoop down to the runway, but, again, it worked.

We visited a monastery after arrival and got in lots of photos the young monks, who were only too glad to pose for the tourists. Our Flikr acounts show some of the images. By the way . . . you can get to the Flickr accounts at any time by clicking on the boxes below the photo of us at the top of this blog.

We spent our first night in a pleasant but somewhat basic tourist hotel. Our hot water was not working well, but food was good and we survived.

This is a very friendly country, as is India, with a population of about 625,000, roughly the size of Vermont. Its average altitude is 7500’ and it is quite mountainous. The roads tend to be very windy because of the terrain.

Today we hiked to the Tigers’ Nest, http://www.cs.unm.edu/~shapiro/BHUTAN/MIDSIZE/tigersnest.html

We were led to believe it was an easy hike – no need to take along our trekking poles. Not so. It was a three hour strenuous hike, particularly with our photographic gear. We should have had less photographic gear and more food and water. Three of the eleven in our group dropped out. Giules and I were in the group of three who made it to the monastery first. The only real frustration is that we were not allowed to photograph inside.

We started the hike at 8,000' and at the monastery we were at 10,240'.

You will see some of the images from today on our Flikr accounts. However, there are only just so many images of a monastery you really want to post.

The hike was great, ultimately, but the real hit of the day is the resort at which we are staying. The place we were supposed to stay for three nights was damaged in an earthquake two weeks ago, so we were rebooked into a five star resort nearby. Our room is about the size of our residence.

There is a problem with the booking for tomorrow night because of the festival that is in town and so we are getting only four rooms instead of nine tomorrow night. However, the women in the group would not dream of our leaving this place a minute sooner than necessary, so we will work it out.

Tomorrow, Thursday, is the first of three days of a festival here in Thimphu, the capital of Bhutan. We are off to it bright and early . . . .

You say Calcutta, I say Kolkata . . .

and here we are in one of the most vibrant and alive cities on the planet!

Kolkata (the new and official name) is a melange of everything you can think of - lights, food, colors, art, culture, gorgeous old buildings in various stages of dilapidation, decay or rebirth, parks, rivers, cows, goats, dogs, cats, monuments, markets, festivals (Durga Puja begins today to celebrate the goddess Durga, and is going on all night, every night this week!), tuk tuks, rickshaws, and people! Oh the people! 22 million of them!

If all you thought about when you thought of Calcutta was Mother Theresa and orphans with flies around their eyes, think again. Yes there is incredible poverty - most of the city is impoverished - but it is not an angry culture. It is welcoming and friendly and musical and vibrant.

We came in last night to the beginnings of the week long festival - strings of lights everywhere, music and singing, bands and performers on every block - young and old all out and about for the all night party. This morning we went to the flower market at sunrise - - the current of humanity, flowers and bees seemed to flow and take us along with it. We ended up at the edge of the river where, to the beat of many drums, men young and old bathe in the mornings. You can see some of the pics on my Flickr page http://www.flickr.com/photos/33339594@N06/sets/72157627660248443/ Jerry will post some soon. The men scrub themselves with soap and mud balls - the boys climb on top of each other in the water to make human pyramids and mug for the camera, the old men bathe to the side, some of them clasp their hands in their morning prayer. all wear sarongs or underwear. The women watch, laugh, do Hindu prayers and the whole shebang feels like a strange pool party.

This afternoon we explored a sprawling local market that spanned numerous streets and alleyways. We started out in the fish and poultry section - and by poultry I mean live chickens - - you pick it, they kill it . . . fortunately we did not see this happen. The vendors, hundreds and hundreds of them, sell everything from beauty supplies to string and rope to spices and vegetables of every imaginable kind. Photography was tricky in there given the darkness from the overhead tarps. Breathing was even trickier due to the 90's plus temperature and humidity and the many smells.

Tonight we dined on local Bengalese food - Jerry loved all of it but I am staying on the vegetarian plan for now. Still some lovely flavors. We also learned that we may not have visa clearance to enter Bhutan tomorrow as planned. Our guide and group leader is working on the problem (we are still not sure what that problem is) and as of now we are planning to head to the airport, cross our fingers and try to get on the plane....

Stay tuned - we may be writing from Kolkata again tomorrow night.

The Taj Mahal Days

Saturday and Sunday Oct 1 and 2 – the Taj Mahal days

We decided these two days were both best wrapped up, for the most part, into one entry – about the Taj Mahal for the most part.

I offered to build Giules a Taj Mahal (I never specified the scale). All she had to do was bear me 14 children in 19 years as did the wife of the king who built the Taj Mahal for the mother of his 14 children. No deal. Probably best for both of us.

It’s about a six hour drive from Delhi to Agra, the industrial city that has an interesting fort, the Taj Mahal and not a great deal else (although it has a population of 3 million – not a large city by India’s standards).

The drive is an exercise in viewing the Indian state of driving. The congestion and horn beeping was worst coming out of Delhi and passing through some of the suburbs. Dead stop, horns honking, every imaginable type of vehicle on the road.

Although we were on a divided highway for the most part, it was not unusual for drivers to be coming at us in our lane, usually on the shoulder. At no point did we see a police officer. The most we saw were a few traffic control officers in the stands at a few intersections coming out of Delhi. Otherwise, it is chaos that somehow works.

Horn beeping is almost constant as drivers tell each other where they are and ask others to move. In fact, the back of many vehicles, trucks especially, have painted on them “horn please.” No please is needed. Horns sound constanly.

Oh yes, and lanes mean nothing. Three vehicles driving abreast in two lanes is a frequent sight.

Anyway, on to the Taj Mahal.

We visited the Taj twice, to catch the evening Sunday on Saturday and the morning sun on Sunday (up at 5 a.m.). Even at that, it was crowded.

It is what it purports to be, one of the most beautiful buildings in the world, accentuated by the beautiful evening and morning light. It was well worth the journey.

Of course we then had to drive back to Delhi to catch our flight to Kolkata (the revised name from the old Colonial name of Calcutta) at 6 pm. Ok Giules, take it from here . . . .

A Day Without Giules

Friday Sept. 29 - Delhi.

This was not to be Giules’s day. Today was the day that the great Indian food laid her low. Rather than go out and shoot photos today, she stayed at the hotel, skipping lunch, ending up by the pool reading and having a hot stone massage. Not a single photo today.

I on the other hand shot 874 images over five hours in Old Delhi.

Our guide and I started out in the train station, through which 1.1 million people a day pass. I was getting some good images until security came along and said, no more photos – the result of the terrorist bombings in India. We tried an appeal to the stationmaster, but to no avail.

However, the teeming streets of Old Delhi again beckoned. We head out through the streets near the train station, which are pandemonium with train users, freight on hand carts and being towed by bicycles, as well as small taxis, rickshaws, cattle pulling wagons - you name it.

There were many great photo opportunities on the street and then we headed to the spice market—shop after shop after shop of spices. Many colors, textures, people, but when we went upstairs in one of the blocks to the wholesalers, we met out match – so many spices in the air that we began to cough a bit. Some chai tea helped but the breathing problems did not go away until we went back to the crowded streets.

I never thought I’d be over spiced without putting it on my food. Today was such a day.

Massages at the hotel, catching up on photo editing and writing, dinner at the hotel and then off to sleep.

Off by car on Saturday to Agra, the home of the Taj Mahal.

Photo postings from the day are at Jerry's flickr page. http://www.flickr.com/photos/jfon24/sets/72157627657291275/.

BYO Head scarf

Thursday, 9/29. Our first full day in Delhi.

Breakfast in the hotel was a feast of Indian goodies - - we had the option of eating from the Japanese buffet, the British buffet, the Chinese buffet or the Indian buffet - and guess where we went? We had a choice of southern and northern dishes and enjoyed them both - - different and delicious. By the end of the meal we were ready for a nap, but our guide was ready to take us out for our first day on the town!

Delhi is full of sights, sounds, people, crowds, colors, and amazing food. We set out with our guide to walk throughout the streets of Old Delhi. Every alley, no mater how small, was teeming with people, cars, rickshaws, tuk tuks, motor bikes, bicycles and vendors and shops of all kinds. And each street had a theme. We wandered streets of vendors of wedding products, car parts, coins, silver and jewelry, and, of course, food of all kinds. With the help of our guide, Sanjeev, who chose wisely, we even sampled a few tidbits! Of course, the people are the most interesting part of the street life - school children mug for our cameras and the men work constantly in the stores or transporting things. There are even men who will clean your ears on the street, for a small price. They almost had me going for the clean white q-tips, but then I thought better of it. There are very few women out and about - our guide says they are at home or at work, but not this kind of work. We saw a few other tourists being toted about in rickshaws but how can they take pictures?? On foot, Jerry and I found this area to be a photographer's paradise!

Our morning included a visit to a Sikh temple. We had to fight our way through a thicket of enthusiastic folks in yellow hats championing Cardiac Health and Awareness Day and getting people to sign up for free cardiac screenings. Passing on that opportunity, we found ourselves in a small lobby of the temple along with the doctors who were doing the screenings. We left our shoes, donned our head scarves and walked outside (oh yes) in bare feet (ugh) to enter the temple through a stream of holy water. We walked through the holy water, still out on the street, where others were kneeling. Some were touching the water to their heads, others were taking sips (more ugh, but perhaps one builds up immunities?).
The inside of the temple was fascinating, with a prayer area and a huge cooking complex and dormitory for visitors, pilgrims or anyone who needs a place to stay. It is an interesting religion about which I knew very little except that they don't cut their hair and wear turbans... We know a great deal more now - they seek (pun intended) to devote themselves to caring for, feeding and housing all in need - but if you come to eat or stay, you must also take part in the work and wash your own dish. It was all very egalitarian, including the fact that women are considered equal to men. Pretty impressive for an ancient religion, but despite the best efforts of our guide, I decided not to convert. Jerry did not even consider it as he refuses to let his hair grow long enough to fill the mandatory turban.

We lunched at a local restaurant. I cannot do justice to the amazing food we have had here. The flavors are varied and intense, the spices are fragrant and every meal brings a new surprise (even the offerings we ate as we left the Sikh temple). By surprise, I mean GOOD surprises - delicate deserts, interesting vegetables we have never seen before. After lunch we visited Gandhi's house and place of assassination - a museum of tranquility amidst the crowded streets. Lots of info there. You already know a lot of it - no need to give a history lesson here. Our guide was a true Gandhi fan and tried tirelessly to get us to visit more Gandhi sites, but this was plenty.

We had dinner with Abhi, our guide for the photo trip we will be begin on Monday, and his lovely girlfriend, Sikha. They took us to a modern and upscale Indian restaurant after inquiring whether we wanted Japanese, Italian or some other cuisine. We are here but for a few days, so when in India... you get the picture (and it's a delicious picture).

Travel to India

Who would have thought that traveling in a full coach cabin with 270 of your nearest and dearest most recent friends, surrounded by children under four for 14 hours could be such fun. Well, it wasn’t, in part because the children cried (moaned might be a better way to put it) for much of the trip. However, with the help of ear plugs it was fine. The children were just reacting to being jammed into a small space the same way everyone else was.

There were several families consisting of a young mother, three young children and grandmother, all trying to keep it together. The older children must have been in school because it was only the little ones on the flight – and lots.

Continental has you shut the shades after take off (8:30 p.m.) so that as you over Northern Europe four hours after take off you can continue to sleep or at least relax. It works well and keeps everyone a little more calm. Great on demand movie selection and the Kindle made the time pass reasonably rapidly.

We arrived about 45 minutes early into Delhi and its new airport. This one is a modern, top quality airport, which contrasts sharply with the old airport that was every developing world and inadequate.

Whatever the issues about flying over, we cannot be heard to complain. We each got 4-5 hours of sleep and traveled 7500 miles in just a few hours.

Our hotel is fully adequate for our purposes, a business hotel run by a Dubai company with great Indian cuisine. We enjoy the Indian cuisine any chance we get, skipping over the English, Continental and Chinese offerings. We are very popular with the Indian chefs who oversee the breakfast buffet because we inquire about the Indian foods. They are happy to help us make choices amongst the delicious Indian options.

A few of Jerry’s first day photos are up at http://www.flickr.com/photos/jfon24/sets/72157627657291275/.

Giules’s photos can be found at http://www.flickr.com/photos/33339594@N06/sets/72157627660248443/

The good news is that we are posting a smaller number of photos each than we did on the last trip.

Getting Ready for the Next Adventure!

India and Bhutan, here we come! Stay tuned for details and photos!

-Jerry and Giules