Hubo mucha seguridad y chequeo en la frontera tibetana. No es permitido tener nada relacionado al decimocuarto Dalai Lama o estará en graves problemas. El ejército chino verifica todo. Tuvimos mucha suerte y decidieron ‘disque’ chequearnos revisando por encima sólo una de nuestras maletas y nada mas.

Después de decirle adiós a nuestro guía tibetano, nos dimos cuenta de inmediato lo diferente que es Nepal. Casi no hubo control de ningún tipo, todo fue muy relajado y entramos fácilmente a Nepal. Pronto encontramos a alguien que podría llevarnos a Katmandú (cerca de 4 horas por carro desde de la frontera) en un jeep 4wd compartido. El trato era esperar a otros 2-3 turistas y entonces el costo iba a ser casi 2,000 Rupees de Nepal (acerca de 20 libras esterlinas) para los dos. Después de 30 minutos de esperar nos dimos cuenta de que nuestro conductor parecía estar esperando a que alguien pasara y pidiera ser llevado a Katmandú… tratamos de influenciar el que fuera mas proactivo pero después de un rato nosotros fuimos los proactivos y fuimos pescados rápidamente por otro conductor que dijo tener a otras dos personas listas para salir. Tomamos todo nuestro equipaje y nos pasamos a l otro vehículo, sin embargo, las otras 2 personas ya se habían ido a un tercer vehículo. El juego continuó por aproximadamente una hora más hasta que encontramos a un pasajero nepalí y Jose ofreció un poco más dinero al conductor para que nos fuéramos. Después de que nuestra amenaza de irnos con el primer carro disponible, el conductor estuvo de acuerdo en irse con solo tres pasajeros. Encontramos a un muchacho chino en el camino y como un grupo feliz continuamos a Katmandú. El carro estaba equipado con buen estéreo y un sistema de video y rápidamente estábamos escuchando muchas melodías de India y pop de Nepal. El turista nepalí actuó como el DG mientras nosotros bromeamos desde atrás (a diferencia, aquí todos hablaban inglés! !!)… mientras nuestro conductor parecía estar de prisa en llegar (consiguió asustarnos un poco en los locos caminos nepalíes). Otro cambio grande fue la calidad de los caminos. Después de una entrada suave de Tíbet, Nepal fue absolutamente rudo con calles muy angostas y casi inexistentes. El tiempo también cambió y llovió mucho.

Kathmandu

Nuestro hotel, International Guest House (que recomendamos mucho), esta ubicado cercano a Thamel, una parte turística de la ciudad. Sólo unas pocas calles tienen nombres y las direcciones parecen estar más relacionadas a una sección de la ciudad que a las calles y a los números (y nosotros pensamos que no había un peor lugar que Costa Rica para la inexactitud de direcciones postales!). ¡Las primeras impresiones de Katmandú fueron duras ya que el desarrollo en zonas urbanas parece haber tenido poca plantación y los caminos están sobre-congestionados con millones de bicicletas, cochecillos, carros, autobuses (con personas que se sientan en los techos o cuelgan fuera la puerta) y los camiones están decorados con banderas de oración por todas partes en los parabrisas delanteros!!! De algún modo las cosas se mueven (a veces justo milímetros entre uno y otro) pero se mueven. Las aceras o los cruces peatonales son usualmente inexistentes y los peatones parecen mezclarse con los carros en las calles. Después de que unos pocos días (y momentos de susto) logramos entenderlo y nos dimos cuenta que aunque se necesita tener cuidado, es importante caminar con confianza y hacer lo que las personas nepalíes hacen: tomar un poco de espacio y dar un poco de espacio a otros.

En Thamel encontramos que la gente es realmente amistosa aunque como turistas uno es bombardeado con personas que tratan de venderle todo tipo de cosas: una escalada, bálsamo de tigre y un cuchillo de recuerdo o un DVD. ¡Desde los tiempos de hippie, la gente en Nepal ha aprendido a asociar extranjeros con el fumado de marihuana y a diario en Thamel nos ofrecían por lo menos 20 veces (de noche o de día) comprar "la hierba "!!!

Mientras estuvimos en Katmandú, nuestras prioridades fueron claras: relajarnos antes de la escalada y obtener la visa para India. Para la visa tuvimos que llegar a la embajada realmente temprano y seguir un interesante proceso de 3 secciones, la primera (enviar un télex a Inglaterra) fue completado antes que fuéramos a la escalada y orgullosamente conseguimos ser los primeros en la final llegando 3 horas antes de que la oficina abriera. Además de esto, no hicimos mucho más que dormir, comer y ver películas barata en DVD.

El tour y la escalada

Nuestro viaje con Intrepid (la empresa del tour) fue del 10 al 25 de Octubre. Incluyó la visita al Templo de Swayambhunath y a la Bodhnath Stupa en Katmandú, a Bhaktapur 'el pueblo de devotos'. Luego viajamos por bus a Pokara antes de comenzar la escalada por 10 días desde Pokara (827 mtrs) al Campo Base de Annapurna (4200 mtrs) y de vuelta a Pokara. Los días antes de la escalada pasaron tranquilamente y sin nada notorio, después de la sobredosis de templos en China y Tibet, pero sirvieron para prepararnos mentalmente y por supuesto para conocer a nuestros compañeros de viaje.

Fuimos siete personas: 2 australianas (Liana y Liz), 1 Kiwi (Cielle), 1 norteamericana (Abbie) y 1 alemán (Ralf) que resultó ser un grupo agradable y alegre. ¡Todos viajaban solos y eso nos hizo la única pareja! Durante el viaje tuvimos una líder/guía del grupo (Shyam) que manejó el equipo y permaneció con la persona mas lenta en la parte de atrás, 2 guías ayudantes: Surya (que iba caminando al frente) y el Raj (que corria adelante del grupo cada día para reservar alojamiento, ya que puede ser complicado conseguir en este tiempo del año). Nuestro porter (Raju) llevó una de nuestras mochilas con sacos de dormir y otras cosas, cargando cerca de 18 kg, mientras nosotros llevamos paquetes más pequeños de día con las chaquetas de lluvia, las cámaras, el agua y un poco de comida así como los palos de caminar. Caminamos en promedio acerca de 4 - 5 horas al día incluyendo paradas para descansar y almuerzo. Otros pocos días caminamos unas 7 horas.

La escalada fue algo que habíamos estado esperando desde que comenzamos nuestro viaje. Nunca habíamos hecho algo como esto en altitud ni por un tiempo tan largo y la única practica fue Emei Shan (sección de China). Viendo hacia atrá, la escalada fue estuvo muy bien…pudimos permanecer en su mayor parte al frente del grupo (quizá nos habíamos desafiado para probar que estábamos los suficientemente en forma), tuvimos un clima asombroso, ningún tobillo torcido, ningún problema de estomago, ningún mal de altura y solo unas pocas ampollas. La dormida en las Casas de Huéspedes estuvo bien y nos permitió comer bien, mantenernos limpios y lavar a mano. Jose mejoro su capacidad de utilizar los baños de cuclillas después de entrenar bastante en Mongolia y China. Hubo sólo una excepción… el Campo Base de Machhapuchhre estaba infestado de ratones y estuvo súper frío (Jose registró temperaturas abajo de 0 ° C las cuales destruyeron a nuestros diminutas bolsas de dormir que tienen un limite de 6 ° C (tuvimos que dormir con toda nuestra ropa puesta). Los ratones trataron de comer nuestras barras de poder (que tratamos de almacenar sin peligro al fondo de nuestra maleta) y corrían de una habitación a otra a través de las paredes de madera ultra delgadas que separaran los cuartos. Logramos despertar a algunos de nuestros compañeros de viaje con los gritos de Patricia mientras Jose utilizaba un palo de caminar para espantar a las bolas de piel gris ultra rápidas.

La escalada fue dura a veces, especialmente los días cuando caminamos más de 7 horas o cuando los senderos fueron muy empinados arriba o hacia abajo. Enfocarse demasiado en donde usted pone los pies y los palos es inevitables pero nos ayudamos uno al otro a fijarnos en las escenas más asombrosas de la vida cotidiana y paisajes natural que jamás hemos visto. ¡Pasamos aldeas pequeñas que crecen arroz y bambú, cruzaron muchos puentes colgantes (algunos de ellos viejos y espantosos) fuimos detenidos por el tránsito de cabras/asnos/ovejas y tuvimos que azotar a unos pocos búfalos para que se movieran de nuestro camino, vimos monos salvajes que llevan a sus pequeños guindando y a otros escaladores saludando en varios idiomas o con el "Namaste" usual y una sonrisa! ¡Paramos muchos veces para sacar fotografías de las montañas, los aldeanos y los animales, algunos de ellos asombrandos! De noche, matamos el rato con naipes (aprendimos unos pocos nuevos juegos y terminamos ganando a los locales – solo unas pocas veces) o charlando y tratando los platillos locales y el "menú de artículos extraños" (ver foto). Daal Bhaat (un plato nepalí con arroz, lentejas, papas, papadam y espinacas), sopa de papa, pastas, momos (dumplings) y arroz y tallarines fritos fueron algunos de nuestros platos favoritos para mantenernos fuertes durante la escalada. ¡Para hacerlo aun mejor, nuestros guías y los porters se nos juntaban algunos momentos para cantar y bailar melodías nepalíes que a final de cuentas todos terminamos uniéndonos!

Después de que 7 días llegamos finalmente el Campo Base de Annapurna (lo cual fue como un logro asombroso para nosotros) y nos quedamos allí un día. Pasamos el tiempo admirando las cordilleras increíbles cubiertas con nieve que nos rodeaban. ¡También utilizamos nuestros binoculares para seguir a unos pocos escaladores que parecían hormigas pequeñas a la distancia mientras trataban de alcanzar la cima de más de 7 o 8 mil metros!!! (No es realmente algo que tenemos en nuestra lista de cosas para hacer antes de morirnos).

El camino de vuelta, aunque tomo 3 días y estuvo pesado para las rodillas, se sintió dulce y pacífico. La ruta estuvo en algunas partes difícil y en su mayor parte relajado menos el "incidente de las AVISPAS". La historia fue así… algunos turistas rusos que iban quizá cerca de 5 min adelante de nuestro grupo tomaron unas fotos con flash de un nido de avispas. Estas se enfurecieron (no les gusta ser fotografiadas) y picaron de forma fea a la turistas. Podíamos oír unos gritos a lo lejos que no sabíamos si eran de dolor o alegría. De repente vimos a algunos turistas que corrian y trataban de quitarse las avistas de encima. Estos no eran los turistas rusos pero unos pocos holandeses que iban después de ellos. Unos pocos guías nepalíes también venían y parecieron picados y heridos. Nuestros guías fueron rápidos en responder y enviarnos corriendo hacia arriba a una Casa de Huéspedes que no estaba demasiado lejos (por suerte). Nuestro escape fue detenido por un rebaño de cabras que venían cuesta abajo (ver foto) y un río que cruzar Pero por último pudimos conseguir refugiarnos ilesos. No sabemos lo que sucedió a los turistas rusos ya que el sendero fue cerrado para un par de horas.

Últimos días en Katmandú

Después de que unas cuantas comidas celebratorias (y comer nuestro Daal Bhaat final con el grupo con la mano como los nepalíes lo hacen) y una camiseta bien merecida de Annapurna (regalo de nuestro guía), dejamos Pokara y viajamos por 7 en bus de vuelta a Katmandú y a Thamel. Estamos agradecidos que nuestra visa India nos la dieron por 6 meses; otros no fueron tan afortunados ya que el gobierno Indio esta cambiando las reglas de visas que se dan en Nepal.

Tuvimos la oportunidad de visitar la famosa Plaza Durbar y para ver a la Kumari (la diosa de 5 años de edad que es la reencarnación de la esposa de Siva) por una pequeña ventana. También tuvimos tiempo de deshacernos de la mayor parte de nuestro equipaje de invierno y otras cosas que no necesitaremos en India.

Vuelo a Nueva Delhi - India

La partida de Nepal fue un poco triste ya que estuvimos bastante tiempo allí y sentimos una combinación agradable de las montañas majestuosas y de la vida caótica de la ciudad. Comimos un último Daal Bhaat para celebrar nuestro tiempo allí la noche antes de irnos. Decidimos tomar atajos y volar de Katmandú a Delhi… estamos emocionados de empezar nuestro viaje por India que tomará unos cuantos meses. Nos dimos cuenta de que tomar un vuelo fue la mejor opción ya que las vistas de los Himalaya fueron espectaculares.

Namaste!

There was a lot of security and checking at the Tibetan border. You are not allowed to have anything related to the 14th Dalai Lama or you will be in serious problems. The Chinese military checks everything. We were very lucky and they decided just to kind of check the top of one of our bags and that was it.

After saying goodbye to our Tibetan guide we immediately realised how different Nepal was. The border control was too loose and relaxed, we entered Nepal easily. Soon we found someone to take us to Kathmandu (about 4 hours drive from the border) in a shared 4wd jeep. The deal was to wait for 2-3 other tourists and then the ride was going to be just about 2000 Nepali Rupees (about 20 GBP) for the two of us. After 30 min of waiting we realised that our driver seemed just to be waiting for someone to walk past and ask to be taken to Kathmandu… we tried to encourage some proactivity on him but after a while longer we were the ones becoming proactive and quickly were fished by another driver who claimed to be just missing two people to leave. We took all our stuff and moved to the other vehicle to find that 2 of the people that were there earlier had moved to a third vehicle and left. The gaming continued for about an hour longer until we found a Nepali passenger and Jose offered a bit more cash to the driver to get going. After our threat to leave with the first other car available, the driver agreed to get going with three passengers. We picked a Chinese guy on the way and as a happy bunch we continued to Kathmandu. The car was equipped with good stereo and a video system and quickly came lots of Indian and Nepali pop tunes. The Nepali guy acted as the DG as we cracked jokes from the back (everybody spoke English for a change!!!)… while our driver seemed to be on a rush to get there (which got us a bit scared in the crazy Nepali roads). Another big change was a quality of the roads. After a soft entrance from Tibet, Nepal was absolutely rough with very narrow and almost non-existent streets. The weather also changed and it rained a lot.

Kathmandu

Our hotel, the International Guest House (which we heavily recommend), was located close to Thamel, a touristic part of the city. Only a few streets have names and the addresses seem to be more related to a section of the city rather than streets and numbers (and we did not think there was a worst place than Costa Rica for the inaccuracy of postal addresses!). The first impressions of Kathmandu were crude, in particular urban development seemed to have had little planning and roads are over-congested with millions of bikes, rickshaws, cars, buses (with people sitting on roofs or hanging out the door) and trucks decorated with prayer flags all over the front windscreen!!! Somehow things move (sometimes just millimetres away from each other) but they move. Sidewalks or pedestrian crossings are many times inexistent and pedestrians seem just to mingle with the cars on the streets. After a few days (and scary moments) we got the hang of it and realised that, while you need to be careful, is important to move around with confidence and do what Nepali people do: take a bit of space and give a bit of space to others.

In Thamel we found people were really friendly although as a tourist you get bombarded with people trying to sell you all types of stuff, a trek, some tiger balm and a knife souvenir or DVDs. Since the hippie times, Nepali have learnt to associate foreigners with marihuana smoking and everyday in Thamel we would get at least 20 invitations (night or day) to buy “hash”!!!

While in Kathmandu, our priorities were clear: relax before our trek and get the Indian Visa. For the visa we had to arrive to the embassy really early and follow an interesting 3 leg process, the first of which (sending a telex to UK) was completed before we went trekking and proudly we got first to the queue 3 hours before it opened . In addition, we did not do much more than sleep, eat and watch cheap movie DVDs.

Tour and trek

Our Intrepid tour was from Oct 10th to 25th. It included the visit to Swayambhunath Temple and Bodhnath Stupa in Kathmandu, to Bhaktapur the 'town of devotees' and then a full day drive to Pokara before starting a solid 10 day trek from Pokara (827 m) to Annapurna Base Camp (4200 m) and back. The days before the trek went pretty unnoticeable after the site/ temple overdose in China and Tibet, but served to prepare ourselves mentally for the trek and of course to meet our fellow tour partners.

We were seven people: 2 Australians (Liana and Liz), 1 Kiwi (Cielle), 1 American (Abbie) and 1 German (Ralf) which resulted to be a nice and cheerful group. All of them were travelling on their own and that made us the only odd couple! For the trek part we had a group leader/guide (Shyam) who managed the team and stayed with the slowest walker in the back, 2 assistant guides: Surya (who led in the front) and Raj (who run ahead of the group every day to book accommodation which can be tricky to get at this busy time of the year). Our porter (Raju) carried one of our backpacks with sleeping bags, etc, weighting about 18 kg, while we carried smaller day packs with rain gear, cameras, water and a bit of food as well as trekking sticks. We were walking in average about 4 - 5 hours in a day in addition to stops for breaks and lunch. A few other days we walked some 7 hours.

The trek was something that we had been looking forward to since we started our trip. We had never done something like this at some altitude or for such a long time and the only training we had was Emei Shan (China section). Looking back at it, the trek went really well for us…we were able to stay mostly towards the front of the group (maybe we had challenged ourselves to proof that we were fit enough), had an amazing weather, no ankles twisted, no upset tummies, no altitude sickness and just a few minor blisters. Sleeping arrangements in tea houses was good and allowed us to eat well, keep clean and hand wash our cloth. Jose even bottomed down the ability to use squatting toilets after enough training in Mongolia and China. There was only one exception… Machhapuchhre Base Camp which was infested by mice and too bloody cold (Jose registered temperatures below 0 ° C that night which shattered our tiny 6 ° C (limit) sleeping bags (we had to sleep with all our cloth on). The little animals tried to eat our power bars (which we tried to safely store at the bottom of our pack) and they moved from room to room through the tiny wooden walls that separated the rooms. We managed to wake a few of our trekking mates with Patricia’s screaming and while Jose used his walking pole to poke the fast moving balls of grey fur.

The trek was hard at times, especially days when we walked more than 7 hours or when the paths were very steep up or down. Focusing too much on where you were putting your feet and poles was inevitable but we helped each other to spot some of the most amazing daily life scenes and natural scenery we have ever seen in our lives. We passed little villages growing rice and bamboo, crossed many hanging bridges (some of them old and scary) were held by goat/donkey/sheep traffic and had to whip, a few buffalos out our path, we saw wild monkeys carrying their little ones and greeted fellow trekkers in a number of different languages or with the usual “Namaste” and a smile! Stopped many times to take pictures of the mountains, villagers and animals, some of them amazing! At night we killed time by playing cards (we learnt a few new games and finished beating the locals – just a few times) or chatting and trying local delicacies and the “strange items menu” (see the picture). Daal Bhaat (a Nepali Set with rice, lentils, potato, papadam and spinach), potato soup, pastas, momo (dumplings) and fried rice and noodles were some of our favourites to keep strong during the trek. To make all of this even better our guides and porters joined together a few evenings to sing and dance Nepali tunes which we all finished joining!

After 7 days we eventually got to the Annapurna Base Camp (felt like an amazing achievement to us) and stayed there one day and spend lots of time admiring up close the amazing snow covered mountain range that surrounded us. We also used our binoculars to spot a few hard core climbers which looked like little ants from the distance while they tried to reach the more the 7 to 8 thousand metre mountain tops!!! (not really something that we have in our list of things to do before we die).

The way back, although took 3 days and was heavy on the knees, felt sweet and peaceful. The route was in some parts different and mostly relaxed except for the “WASP incident”. The story goes like this… some Russian tourists who were walking maybe about 5 min ahead of our group took a few flash photos of a wasp nest. This infuriated the wasps (which do not like to be pictured) who came back to pinch the tourists badly. We could hear some shouting in the distance which we did not know if was of pain or joy. Suddenly we saw some tourists running, alerting us while trying to get rid of a few wasps. These were not the Russian tourists but a few Dutch that were after them. A few Nepali guides were also coming and looked bitten and hurt. Our guides were quick to respond and send us running uphill to a tea house which (luckily) was not too far away. Our escape was troubled though by a bunch of goats coming downhill and a river crossing (see pics). But finally we were able to get to shelter unharmed. We don’t know what happened to the Russian tourist as the path was closed for a couple of hours.

Last days in Kathmandu

After a few celebratory dinners (and eating our final Daal Bhaat by hand and Nepali people do) and drinks, and a well deserved Annapurna T-Shirt (gift from our guide), we left Pokara on a 7 hour bus journey back to Kathmandu and back to Thamel. We should be grateful that our Indian visa for 6 months was given to us as some other people were not that lucky and the Indian government is changing the rules of visas given in Nepal.

We had the chance to visit the famous Durbar Square and to see the Kumari (the living 5 year old goddess, reincarnation of Shiva’s wife) through a small window. We also had time to get rid of most of our winter cloth and other bits we will not need in India.

Flying to Delhi

Was a bit sad leaving Nepal as we had a great time there and felt we had a nice combination of the majestic mountains and the chaotic city life. We had a Daal Bhaat in celebration of our time there the night before leaving. We decided to cut corners and fly from Kathmandu to Delhi… really excited also to start our trip leg in India which will take a few months. We realized that taking a flight was the best option as we got the most spectacular view of the Himalayas.

NEPAL

Bodhnath Stupa

Bodhnath Stupa

Swayambhunath Templo / Temple

Los monos / monkeys: Swayambhunath Templo / Temple

La Plaza Durbar / Durbar Square

El Palacio de la Kumari Devi / Kumari Devi Palace

La Plaza Durbar / Durbar Square

Bhaktapur

Bhaktapur

Las calles de Bhaktapur / The streets of Bhaktapur

Terraces

Poon Hill

Mapa de Annapurna: llegamos hasta donde dice ABC / Map of Annapurna: we walked up to where it reads ABC

Platos extraños en el menu / Strange items on the menu

Jose subiendo la montaña / going up the mountain

Jose descansando / resting

Subiendo y subiendo / Going up and up

Vistas muy bellas / Beautiful views

Disfrutando del aire fresco / Enjoying the frest air

Cuando llegamos al Campo Base de Annapurna / When we arrived to the Annapurna Base Camp

6 am: Annapurna Base Camp

El dia en el Campo Base de Annpurna / the day at the Annapurna Base Camp

Corriendo de las avista y detenidos por las cabras / Running from the wasps and stopped by the goats

Patricia: en uno de los puentos colgantes / in one of the hanging bridges

Jose: en otro de los puentes colgantes / in other of the hanging bridges

Comiendo Daal Bhaat con la mano / Eating Daal Bhaat with our hand

El dia que llegamos de vuelta a Pokara / The day we arrived back in Pokara

Ultima cena del Grupo en Pokara / Last group dinner at Pokara

Disfrutando las calles de Thamel / Enjoying the streets in Thamel

El hermoso Ashram Parmarth Niketan (un lugar de retiro espiritual) fue nuestro hogar por 4 semanas. Entre yogis y yoginis de diferentes países y muchos monos juguetones que estaban preparados para robar las botellas de agua o cualquier cosa parecida a comida, Patricia terminó un curso para ser profesora de Yoga. Jose esperaba hacer un curso introductorio y relajado de Yoga por una semana, sin embargo, acabó por hacer uno intensivo de 2 semanas, seguido por 2 semanas de Yoga dos veces al día.

Durante este tiempo, aprendimos no sólo acerca de asanas (la parte de ejercicio que normalmente llamamos Yoga) pero también acerca de cantos védicos, pranayama (control de la respiración), meditación, técnicas de limpieza, ayurveda (la ciencia de la vida incluyendo dieta) y sobre la filosofía oriental. Tuvimos nuestras comidas a horas fijas en el Ashram; todos los alimentos fueron vegetarianos y bastante sencillos y comíamos en el comedor donde todos nos sentamos en el piso cruzados de piernas. Podemos decir con confianza que este ha sido el tiempo en nuestras vidas cuando nos hemos sentido más sanos y más en forma.

Nuestra rutina diaria incluyó despertarnos antes de las 5 de la mañana, para poder seguir los requisitos de limpieza que deben ser seguidos antes de hacer Yoga. La primera clase empezaba a las 6 am de un día completamente lleno hasta las 8,00 pm cuando teníamos una sesión de Yoga Nidra (Yoga durmiendo). A partir de las 9.00 pm se suponía que el Ashram tenía que estar en silencio.

Ganga Aarti tenía lugar todos los días por una hora al atardecer, sentándonos en frente del Ganga (el Río Sagrado Ganges) y la estatua de Shiva, rodeado por los Rishi Kumaris (huérfanos que han sido adoptados por el Ashram) y muchos peregrinos y turistas. Como Swamiji (el gurú del Ashram) lo describe, Ganga Aarti es una hora feliz para juntarse, orar a la Madre Ganga a través de hermosas mantras y tomar parte en una ceremonia donde enviamos todos nuestros pensamientos y acciones negativas al fuego y como las semillas son quemadas ya no pueden germinar otra vez.

También tuvimos el privilegio de sentarnos con Swamiji. El nos contó historias de su vida y nos dio algunos de sus enseñanzas. Una de ellas se refirió a que Yoga no es una religión pero es una antigua ciencia que lleva a la salud en el cuerpo, la paz en la mente, la alegría en el corazón y la liberación del alma. El se refirió a los mantras que cantábamos. Estas mantras son escritos en el idioma antiguo de sánscrito; sin embargo, cuando nosotros los cantamos, se las podemos ofrecer a cualquier Dios que deseamos, a final de cuentas es el mismo Dios, solo que usamos nombres diferentes. Swamiji siempre dice que si usted es un musulmán, sólo sea un mejor musulmán; si usted es un cristiano, sólo sea un mejor cristiano.

En Rishikesh nos encontramos con bellas almas y nos honraron con su amistad. Compartimos una gama de nuevas experiencias como el oír los tambores todos los días a las 5 de la mañana, usar sólo ropa blanca, sentarnos en el piso los días enteros y tratar de aprendernos de memoria las mantras védicas.

En las escrituras, la liberación ha sido declarada como la recompensa de un baño en el Ganga o una revisión profunda del Bhagavad Gita (libro de enseñanzas espirituales). Aunque hemos estado estudiando el Gita, decidimos tomar la vía rápida y tomamos un baño en el Ganga. Estuvo muy frío, especialmente porque fue a las 6 am. ¡Pero quizá vamos a ocupar otros baño para poder lograr la liberación!

Visitamos el Maharishi Mahesh Yogui Ashram o también llamado el Beatles Ashram. Los Beatles y sus señoras visitaron el Ashram en 1968 y permanecieron allí para un par de meses durante los cuales escribieron muchas canciones. Sin embargo, ellos reclamaron que el Maharishi less había hecho demandas de dinero y que había tenido comportamientos impropios hacia los discípulos femeninos. Años más tarde, los Beatles se disculparon públicamente diciendo que los rumores fueron sin fundamento. Por estos o por otras razones que nosotros no conocemos, el Ashram fue abandonado en 1997. Aunque está en ruinas, las cúpulas de meditación están todavía en buena forma.

La principal calle del mercado está inundada con libros sobre meditación, yoga y espiritualidad, con música para apoyar su sendero espiritual, con agentes de viajes y cremas y medicinas de Ayurveda. ¡Ahora estamos bien armados para continuar nuestro viaje!

La pasamos muy bien en Rishikesh y nos gustaría regresar, quizás en Marzo para el Festival Internacional de Yoga…

After only one night in Delhi, a peaceful train ride and a hectic taxi, we arrived in Rishikesh, the Yoga Capital of the World or the Land of the Seers. The cows walk peacefully and can do anything they want (including stealing a hand of bananas that Jose Pablo was carrying) and leaving cow dung in every street. At night, elephants may block the main road so it’s better not to get sick at that time, otherwise you’ll need to be carried out in a motorcycle and cross the hanging bridge like that. Yoga classes and Ayurveda treatments are offered at every other door, meat and alcohol are seen as the enemies and sadhus (ascetics wearing orange robes) are in every corner, some of them on genuine spiritual journeys and some others dedicated to begging.

The beautiful Parmarth Niketan Ashram (a place of spiritual retreat) was our home for 4 weeks. Among yogis and yoginis from different countries and many playful monkeys ready to still your bottles of water or anything looking like food, Patricia finished a course to become a Yoga teacher. Jose was expecting to do a relaxing one week introductory yoga course but ended up doing a 2-week intensive, followed by 2 weeks of yoga twice a day.

During this time, we learned not only about asanas (the exercise part that we normally call Yoga) but also about vedic chanting, pranayama (breathing control), meditation, cleaning techniques, ayurveda (the science of life including diet) and eastern philosophy. We had our meals at fixed times at the Ashram; all the food was vegetarian and quite simple and we were eating at the dining hall where we all sit on the floor cross legged. We can say with confidence that this has been the time in our lives when we have felt the healthiest and fittest.

Our daily routine included waking up before 5 am, so that we could follow the cleaning requirements that must be met before doing Yoga. The first class would start at 6 am of a fully packed day until 8.00 pm when we would have a session on Yoga Nidra (sleeping Yoga). The Ashram then is supposed to be on silence after 9.00 pm.

Ganga Aarti happened every day for an hour at sunset sitting in front of the Ganga (the Holy Ganges River) and the statue of Shiva, surrounded by the Rishi Kumaris (orphans that have been adopted by the Ashram) and a large crowd of pilgrims and tourists. As Swamiji (the guru of the Ashram) describes it, Ganga Aarti is a happy hour to get together, pray to Mother Ganga through beautiful mantras and participate in a ceremony where we send all our negative thoughts and actions to the fire and as the seeds are burnt they won’t be able to germinate again.

We also had the privilege to sit with Swamiji. He told us stories of his life and gave us some of his teachings. One of them referred to yoga not being a religion but an ancient science which leads to health in the body, peace in the mind, joy in the heart and liberation of the soul. He referred to the mantras that we were singing. These mantras are written in the old Sanskrit language, however, when we sing them, we can offer them to any God we want, at the end of the day it is the same God, just different names. Swamiji always says that if you are a Muslim, just be a better Muslim; if you are a Christian, just be a better Christian.

We met beautiful souls there and were honoured with their friendship. We were all sharing a range of new experiences like hearing the drums ringing at 5 am every morning, wearing only white cloth, sitting on the floor the entire day and trying to learn the vedic mantras by heart.

In the scriptures, liberation has been declared to be the reward of a bath in the Ganga or a dive into the Bhagavad Gita (book of spiritual teachings). Even though we have been studying the Gita, we decided to take the fast track and had a bath in the Ganga. It was really cold, especially because it was at 6 am. But maybe we’ll still need another deep in order to achieve liberation!

We visited the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi Ashram or so called Beatles Ashram. The Beatles and their partners visited the Ashram in 1968 and stayed there for a couple of months during which they wrote many songs. However, they claimed that the Maharishi had made demands for money and had had improper behaviour towards female disciples. Years later, the Beatles publicly apologised saying that the rumours were unfounded. For these or for other reasons that we don’t know, the Ashram was abandoned in 1997. Even though it is in ruins, the meditation domes are still in good shape.

The main market street was inundated with books on meditation, yoga and spirituality, music to support your spiritual path, travel agents and Ayurvedic creams and medicines. We are now well armed to continue our journey!

We had a great time in Rishikesh and we are hoping to go back, maybe in March for the International Yoga Festival…

El Dios Mono y su discipulo / The Monkey God and his disciple

Beatles Ashram: cupula de meditacion / meditation dome

Patricia & Juhi: saliendo del Gages / coming out of the Ganges

Jose Pablo: sobreviviendo las aguas del Ganges / surviving the waters of the Ganges

Patricia con amigas de yoga / with yoga friends

Ganga Aarti

Ceremonia final del fuego / Final fire ceremony

Foto del grupo de Yoga / Yoga Group Photo

Patricia reciviendo certificado de profesora de Yoga otorgado por Swamiji (con la barba negra larga) / Patricia receiving Yoga teacher certificate given by Swamiji (the one with long black beard)

Con nuestras profesoras de Yoga (Mataji y Induji) / With our Yoga teachers (Mataji and Induji)

Terminamos quedándonos más de lo esperado (¡4 días!); la mayoría de los turistas vienen aquí solo un día o dos. Básicamente disfrutamos de nuestro tiempo haciendo Yoga, leyendo y relajándonos.

La ceremonia del borde fue como se esperaba, nada especial… soldados de India y Pakistán tratan de superarse los unos a los otros en una demostración de movimientos físicos cuidadosamente coreografiados. Ambos países parece que envían a sus soldados más altos y con mejores físicos a la frontera. Hay también un maestro de ceremonias asegurándose que los Pakistaníes escuchen a la multitud de India.

Lo más entretenido para nosotros fue una multitud que estaba calentándose antes de la ceremonia al ritmo de los últimos hits Punjabi que hicieron que muchos Indios no se pudieran resistir a bailar (aunque sólo a las mujeres les permitieron saltar de sus asientos a la calle y a los hombres los devolvieron rápidamente). Tratamos de pasar inadvertidos (José Pablo con una barba y Patricia con un chal) pero las cámaras y la ropa extraña siempre nos delatan. ¡Sin embargo, logramos sentarnos en el medio de la multitud India! A la mayoría de los extranjeros les pedían sentarse en una "sección especial" donde podían tener una mejor vista ¡pero menos atmósfera!

La pasamos muy bien en el Spa Svaasa que Ruchira, una amiga de José Pablo, nos sugirió. Su amigo desde la niñez, Ranjit, es dueño y maneja el hotel. Es una hermosa casa colonial, amigable con el ambiente, con facilidades modernas, habitaciones magníficas, gran servicio, realmente pacífico y la deliciosa comida es orgánica y preparada en estilo hogareño. ¿Qué más puede uno pedir? Estuvimos allí solo por el día pero le dimos buen uso al tiempo y tomamos algunos tratamientos de Ayurveda que estuvieron excelentes. Realmente recomendamos este lugar. El sitio web es: www.svaasa.com Muchas gracias a Ranjit por ser tan generoso y amable.

Lo más relevante de esta parte del viaje fue lo que aprendimos sobre los Sikhs y el Templo Dorado que es como su Meca. La mayoría de los Sikhs son esos tipos guapos Indios que llevan turbantes coloridos en sus cabezas y tienen barbas largas. Fue realmente interesante aprender del por qué de esas tradiciones. Sin querer aburrirles con una clase de religión en la cual no estamos calificados para darla bien, algunos hechos interesantes son: creen en un sólo Dios, en el laicismo (es decir uno no tiene que ser un sacerdote ni monje para lograr la iluminación o tener la vida eterna en el cielo), todos son iguales (es decir no hay diferencias entre las castas - India tiene una serie de niveles sociales fijos -, sexo, orígenes o religiones) y hay no cabeza religiosa suprema (después de 10 Gurús humanos ahora el Gurú es el libro santo que ellos dejaron).

La demostración más verdadera de Sikhismo para nosotros fue la cocina comunal que se encuentra en un lado del hermoso y pacífico Templo Dorado (cubierta dorada). ¡Le sirven hasta 60.000 personas al día, está abierta casi 24 horas, sirven alimentos higiénicos y sencillos a cualquiera y todo es gratis! Inclusive, sirven comida a turistas como nosotros. De hecho, comimos allí un par de veces pero la gente pobre puede ir allí todos los días si quiere. La operación corre en la manera más eficiente con voluntarios en su mayor parte Sikhs. Las porciones son generosas, la comida realmente sabrosa y el servicio increíblemente amable. Sin embargo, es realmente una experiencia de humildad. Uno encuentra a toda clase de personas allí y puede ofrecerse a lavar platos o pelar vegetales (nosotros preferimos dar un donativo). En general, comer en el restaurante comunal y sentarnos a mirar pacíficamente o meditar alrededor del Templo Dorado fueron definitivamente los puntos más relevantes del viaje a Amritsar.

After a bumpy overnight train ride inside our sleeping bags we arrived in Amritsar. We were drawn to Amritsar mainly because of 2 reasons: 1) the Golden Temple and 2) the border ceremony between India and Pakistan in Attari which is less than 1 hour away from Amritsar.

We finished staying for more than expected (4 days!); most tourists come here just for a day or two before heading back. We are basically enjoying our time of Yoga, reading and relaxing.

The border ceremony was as expected, nothing grand… India and Pakistan soldiers (they seem to send their taller best build soldiers to the border) try to outdo each other in a carefully choreographed demonstration of physical movements. There is also a crowd agitator to make sure that the Pakistanis hear the Indian side. Most fun was a crowd warming up with some of the latest Punjabi hits which made the Indian crowd could not resist dancing to (although only women were allowed to jump out of their sits into the street and men were quickly told to go back). We tried to go unnoticeable (Jose Pablo with a beard and Patricia with a shawl) but cameras and strange clothing always give us up. However, we managed to sit in the midst of the Indian crowd which most foreigners were told to sit in a “special section” from were they had a better view but less atmosphere!

We had a great time at the Svaasa Spa that Ruchira, Jose Pablo’s friend, suggested. His friend from childhood, Ranjit, owns and runs the place. It’s a beautiful colonial house, eco-friendly, with full modern facilities, gorgeous rooms, great service, really peaceful and the delicious food is organic and home-style. What else could you ask for? We were there just for the day but made good use of our time and took some Ayurveda treatments that were excellent. We really recommend it. This is the website: www.svaasa.com Thank you so much to Ranjit for being so generous and kind.

The great highlight of this part of the trip was learning more about the Sikhs and the Golden Temple which is like their Mecca. Most Sikhs are those handsome Indian fellas that go around wearing colourful head covers and have long beards. It was really amazing to learn more about the why of those traditions. Not to bore you with a religion class which we are not well qualified to give, but some interesting facts are: believing only in one God, secularism (i.e. one does not have to be a priest or monk to achieve enlightment or have eternal life in heaven), everybody is equal (i.e. no differences between casts, sex, origins or religions) and there is no supreme religious head (after 10 human Gurus now their Guru is the holy book that those left behind).

The truest demonstration of Sikhism for us was the communal kitchen found in one of the sides of the beautiful and peaceful Golden (plated) Temple. They serve up to 60,000 people per day; it is open almost 24 hours, serves simple hygienic food to anyone and it’s free! They even serve food to random tourists like us. In fact we ate there a couple of times but poor people can come there every day. The operation was running in the most efficient way with mostly Sikh volunteers. It was really a humbling experience although portions were generous, food really tasty and service incredibly kind. You meet all types of people there and can volunteer to wash dishes or peel vegetables (we preferred giving a donation). Overall having lunch in the communal eatery and then sitting peacefully to watch or meditate around the Golden Temple were definitely the highlights of the trip to Amritsar.

Todos tienen que taparse la cabeza, quitarse los zapatos y lavarse los pies / Everyone has to cover their head, remove the shoes and wash the feet

Templo Dorado: gente tomando un baño en el lago / people having a bath at the lake

Jose Pablo disfrutando la vista del Templo Dorado / Jose Pablo enjoying the view of the Golden Temple

Attari: Ceremonia en la frontera / Ceremony at the border

Vista de la frotera entre India y Pakistan / Vew of the border between India and Pakistan

Templo Dorado: vista en la noche / Golden Temple: night view

Nos quedamos en un pequeño hotel cercano a la Estación de Nueva Delhi en Paharganj alrededor del Principal Bazar. Aunque, el lugar es ideal para accesar el viejo Delhi y para estar cerca a la principal estación de tren, los hoteles pueden ser pequeñas celdas y los cuartos típicamente no tienen ventanas y si las tienen, ven hacia callejuelas sospechosas. Aquí nos dimos cuenta de un par de cosas: primero, que los tapones para los oídos son algunos de nuestros mejores amigos y segundo que de algún modo parece que TODOS los turistas son fumadores. Qué angustia si a uno no le gusta el humo y los restaurantes son como un calabozo. A partir de esto momento, los restaurantes ubicados en las azoteas abiertas, aunque hiciera frío, fueron los únicos que llamaron nuestra atención.

Visitamos el Fuerte Rojo construido en 1648 por el gran emperador Mughal Sha Jahan (quien construyó el Taj Majal). En este gran fuerte (rojo sólo en las paredes externas) se encuentra el palacio del emperador y el uno para la esposa principal, diferentes vestíbulos, una mezquita y los baños reales. También, hoy en día hay jardines agradables, pero no cabe duda que durante la cúspide de la dinastía este debe haber sido un lugar mágico con agua por todas partes a través de un sistema decorativo de canales. Principalmente disfrutamos del show nocturna de luz y sonido que nos dio un vistazo de la historia de la ciudad. Los Mughal, musulmanes que vinieron de Kabul (Afganistán), comenzaron su imperio en 1526 cubriendo casi toda India y trajeron un siglo de oro para las artes, la literatura y las construcciones.

Sin embargo, numerosas invasiones de por ejemplo otras tribus de Afganistán, de Persia y por último de los Ingleses, saquearon y robaron y la ciudad durante siglos. Esto nos dió una idea de todo el sufrimiento de esta gente y todas las veces que tuvieron que recuperarse habiendo quedado sin nada.

La próxima parada fue la Mezquita de Jama Masjid (Musulmán), la más grande en India que puede albergar hasta 25.000 personas. También fue construida por el emperador Sha Jahan. Tiene vistas de Delhi agradables desde la torre (llamada Minarete); sin embargo, no nos sentimos muy bien adentro. Por una parte, no se sintió como un lugar de culto espiritual y por otra, el personal que trabaja allí trata de sacarle a los visitantes la mayor cantidad de dinero que puedan poniendo precios ridículos fuera de la norma (por ejemplo para cuidar los zapatos por 10 segundos).

Inicialmente habíamos pensado no ir a la Tumba de Humayun, el segundo emperador Mughal, y resultó ser uno de nuestros edificios predilectos.

Nuestro lugar preferido fue definitivamente la Casa de Culto Bahai, también llamado el Templo de Loto. Es un templo moderno, creado en 1986 con la forma de la flor sagrada de loto. El interior del templo es muy sencillo e invita a toda persona (de cualquier religión) a meditar en silencio. Y eso fue exactamente lo que hicimos. Algunas de las creencias de los Bahai son: una religión mundial universal, sólo un Dios, que han habido diferentes profetas (como Moisés, Buda y Jesucristo), la igualdad entre hombres y mujeres y que cada persona tiene un alma inmortal. Ellos también creen que finalmente habrá un solo gobierno mundial.

También tuvimos un poco de tiempo social. Tuvimos una cena muy buena con Alex Luke, un colega de PwC de José Pablo y su novia. Ellos están en India por un año. Fuimos a un área agradable de la ciudad y disfrutamos de una comida india muy buena. También visitamos los papás de Ruchira (otra colega de PwC de José Pablo) y tuvimos una velada muy bonita con ellos. Nos ofrecieron una cena fantástica con toda clase de carnes deliciosas.

Ya hemos empezado a saber como manejarnos aquí. Esto incluye el negociar con los auto-rickshaws, nuestra principal forma de transporte. También, ya tenemos algunos platos preferidos, como el postre Gulab Jamuns, bolas de masa fritas y sumergidas en un sirope con sabor a rosas. Fue también aquí en Delhi que comimos el mejor dhal (lentejas) que hemos probado hasta ahora.

También nos hemos dado cuenta de que realmente queremos estar más tiempo aquí en India; por lo tanto nos quedaremos aquí hasta el final de nuestro viaje. Por supuesto, esto significa postergar nuestro viaje al Sur Este de Asia. Pensamos que esto tiene mucho sentido, este país es tan grande y diverso y hay tanto que ver. Así que estamos muy felices con nuestra decisión.

Ahhh… New Delhi…well it’s India’s capital with almost 13 million people and it is absolutely chaotic, crowded and polluted! This, coupled with our windowless hotel room did not do much for our well being! Having said that, with all the hassle, New Delhi is a must see for its nightlife, its glamour showing the vestiges of lost empires and… well yes, to see what a big Indian city looks like.

We stayed at a small hotel close to the New Delhi Train Station at Paharganj around the Main Bazaar. Although, ideal for accessing old Delhi and being close to the main train station, hotels can be small cells and the rooms typically have no windows or if they have, they look at a dodgy pathway. Here we realised about a couple of things: first, that the earplugs were some of our best friends and second, that somehow it seems that All the tourist are smokers. What an agony if you don’t enjoy the smoke and the restaurants are a bit like a dungeon. From here onwards, roof top restaurants, even though it was cold, were the only ones appealing to us.

We visited the Red Fort constructed in 1648 by the great Mughal emperor Shah Jahan (who constructed the Taj Majal). In this big fort (red only in the external walls) you find the palace of the emperor and the one for the chief wife, different halls, a mosque and the royal baths. Also, there are nice gardens today, but there’s no doubt that during the peak of the dynasty it should have been a magical place with water running everywhere through a decorative canal system. We mainly enjoyed the evening light and sound show that gave us a glimpse on the history of the city. The Mughal, Muslims coming from Kabul (Afghanistan), started their empire in 1526 covering almost the entire India and bringing a golden age of arts, literature and constructions.

However, numeral invasions for example from other tribes from Afghanistan, from Persia and finally from the British sacked and looted the city for centuries. This gave us an idea of all the suffering of this people and all the times that they had to recover from having been left with nothing.

The next stop was the Jama Masjid Mosque (Muslim), the largest one in India being able to hold up to 25,000 people. It was also constructed by the emperor Shah Jahan. There were nice views of Delhi from the tower (called Minaret); however, we didn’t feel very well inside. In the one hand, it didn’t feel like a place of spiritual worship and in the other hand, the staff working there was trying to get as much money from people as they could charging ridiculous prices outside of the norm (e.g. just to take care of your shoes for 10 seconds).

We almost didn’t go to the Humayun’s Tumb, the second Mughal emperor, and it ended up being one of our favourite buildings.

Our favourite place was definitely the Bahai House of Worship, also called the Lotus Temple. It’s a modern temple, created in 1986 shaped like the sacred lotus flower. The inside of the temple is very simple and invites every one (of all faiths) to meditate in silence. And that was exactly what we did. Some of the believes of the Bahai faith are: a universal world religion, only one God, that there have been different prophets (like Moses, Buddha and Jesus Christ), equality between men and women and that every person has an immortal soul. They also believe that there will eventually be a single world government.

We also had a bit of social time. We had a nice dinner with Alex Luke, Jose’s PwC colleague and his girlfriend. They are staying in India for one year. We went to a nice area of the city and enjoyed a good Indian dinner. We also visited Ruchira’s (another of Jose’s PwC colleagues) parents and we had a lovely evening with them. They offered us a fantastic dinner, all types of meat all delicious.

By now, we are starting to get to know our way around. This includes negotiating with the auto rickshaws, our main way of travelling around. Also, we have a few favourite dishes, like the dessert Gulab Jamuns, deep fried balls of dough soaked in rose-flavoured syrup. It was also here in Delhi that we had the best dhal (lentils) we’ve tried so far.

We have also realised that we really want to stay longer here in India; therefore we will be here until the rest of our trip. Of course, this means postponing our trip to South East Asia. We think it makes sense, this country is so big and diverse and there’s so much to see. So, we are very happy with our decision.

La Tumba de Humayun / Humayuns Tomb

El Fuerte Rojo / The Red Fort

Jama Masjid Mesquita / Mosque

Dentro del Fuerte Rojo / Inside the Red Fort

La Mesquita Jama Masjid desde fuera / View of the Jama Masjid Mosque from the outside

Lotus Temple

Atardecer en el Templo de Lotus / Sunset at the Lotus Temple

La ciudad vieja es llamada la "Ciudad Rosada" porque en 1876, el Maharaja gobernante ordenó pintar toda la ciudad de rosado, un color asociado con la hospitalidad, para dar la bienvenida al Príncipe de Gales (luego el Rey Eduardo VII) y desde entonces la tradición ha sido mantenida. La ciudad vieja está absolutamente congestionada y los principales bazares están ubicados aquí.

Tan pronto como llegamos a Jaipur conocimos a un joven llamado Abdul. Hicimos lo mejor por tratar de deshacernos de él pero su persistencia y un libro llenos de recomendaciones de otros turistas nos convencieron de ir con él. Nos encontró un buen hotel y fue nuestro conductor de rickshaw/guía de turismo todo durante nuestra estancia allí. Aunque fue un poco más caro preferimos esta opción a tener que negociar un precio cada vez que queríamos ir a algún lugar.

El Gaitor Real, los mausoleos de la realeza, son un lugar pacífico y los monumentos tienen hermosos tallados.

El Palacio de la Ciudad es hermoso y en particular las puertas de uno de los patios que están hermosamente decoradas representando otoño, invierno, primavera y verano.

También visitamos al Gurú de Abdul. Entre muchas otras cosas le dijo a Patricia que tiene una energía muy bonita y curativa y que Kundalini Yoga sería un sendero perfecto para ella y para ayudar a otros. A José Pablo le dijo que Febrero de este año que viene será una marca importante en su vida.

Nuestra vista predilecta fue el fuerte-palacio de Amber. Es un lugar inmenso con muchos vestíbulos hermosamente decorados donde logramos imaginarnos realmente cómo fue la vida durante los tiempos cuando los Maharajas y las Maharanis (las esposas del Maharaja) vivían aquí. Aprendimos un poco sobre la última de las Maharanis que murió hace sólo unos pocos meses, Gayatri Devi, y compramos un libro acerca de su historia.

La pasamos muy bien con Denise y su esposo Ranjeed. Habíamos conocido a Denise en Rishikesh durante nuestro curso de Yoga. Fue excelente que logramos verlos y nos llevaron al mágico Chokhi Dhani. Es una aldea virtual Rajasthani con todo tipo de entretenimiento como bailarinas, magos, titiriteros y personas que comen fuego. Además, disfrutamos de un paseo en camello, tuvimos un masaje de cabeza, Patricia tuvo una mano pintada con alheña y disfrutamos de una fabulosa comida tradicional llamada Thali (comida en compartimientos generalmente con arroz, lentejas, curries de verduras o carne, encurtidos y a veces algo dulce). ¡DELICIOSO y por supuesto, picante!

El libro de Gayatri Devi ha sido muy revelador. Ofrece una ventana a toda la grandiosidad y la opulencia de India antes de la Independencia, cuando más de 600 estados tuvieron a su propio Maharaja gobernante. Ella se casó por elección (no fue un matrimonio arreglado) con el Maharaja de Jaipur y fue su tercera esposa.

Cuando la Independencia llegó en 1947, la división de India se basó en la religión (Hindú vs. Musulmán) en India, Pakistán Occidental y Pakistán Oriental (hoy Bangladés) trajo caos en seguida con la pérdida de muchas vidas.

Desde su punto de vista y en resumen, el Partido del Congreso que había dirigido la Independencia fue elegido (no hubo oposición). El joven país decidió remover todos los poderes de los Maharajas y para dárselos al nuevo gobierno republicano. Sin embargo, la corrupción y el poder fueron dos de las principales fuerzas que manejaron el proceso y los puestos gubernamentales fueron dados a los seguidores del partido y no a quienes tendían las habilidades para hacer el trabajo. En un asunto de unos pocos años, el estado del dominio público se comenzó a desplomar. Uno no puede olvidarse que India es una democracia muy joven queriendo manejar un país grande y una población aun más grande.

Por supuesto, esto representa el punto de vista de una persona que apoyó el sistema de Maharaja. Muchas otras personas tuvieron puntos de vista muy fuertes acerca de su abuso del poder y el feudalismo.

Jaipur, the capital of Rajasthan, was our entry-point to this land of Kings (Maharajas).

The old city is called the ‘Pink City’ because back in 1876, the ruling Maharaja had the entire place painted in pink, a colour associated with hospitality, to welcome the Prince of Wales (later King Edward VII) and since then the tradition has been maintained. This old city is absolutely crowded and the main bazaars are located here.

We were very lucky to find a guy called Abdul as soon as we reached Jaipur. We tried our best to brush him away but his persistence and a book full of recommendations from other tourists won us over. He found a good hotel for us and was our rickshaw driver / tour guide all during our stay there. Even though a bit more expensive we preferred this option to having to negotiate a rate every time we wanted to go somewhere.

The Royal Gaitor, cenotaphs, is a peaceful place and the monuments have beautiful carving.

The City Palace is beautiful in particular the gates of one of the courtyards that are beautifully decorated representing autumn, winter, spring and summer.

We also visited Abdul’s Guru. Among many other things he told Patricia that she has a beautiful and healing energy and that Kundalini Yoga would be a perfect path for her and to support others. To Jose Pablo, he told him that February this coming year would be an important mark in his life.

Our favourite sight was the fort-palace of Amber. It is a huge place with many beautifully decorated halls where we could really imagine how life was like during the old years when the Maharajas and Maharanis (the wives of the King) were living here. We also got to know about the last of the Maharanis that passed away only a few months ago, Gayatri Devi, and got a book about her story.

We had a fantastic time with Denise and her husband Ranjeed. We met Denise back in Rishikesh during our Yoga course. It was great that we managed to meet her and they took us to the magical Chokhi Dhani. It’s a virtual Rajasthani village with all sorts of entertainment like dancers, magicians, puppeteers and fire eaters. Besides, we enjoyed a ride in a camel, had a head massage, Patricia had a hand painted with henna and we all enjoyed a fabulous traditional dinner called Thali (compartmentalised meals usually with rice, lentils, vegetable or meat curries, pickle and sometimes something sweet). DELICIOUS and of course, spicy!

The book from Gayatri Devi has been very revealing. It offers a window to all the grandeur and opulence of India before Independence, when more than 600 states had their own ruling Maharaja. She married by choice (not an arranged marriage) the Maharaja of Jaipur and became his third wife.

When the Independence came in 1947, the partition of India based on religion (Hindu vs. Muslim) into main India, West Pakistan and East Pakistan (today Bangladesh) brought chaos straight away with the loss of many lives.

From her point of view and in a nutshell, the Congress Party that had led the Independence got elected (having no opposition). The young country decided to remove all the powers from the Maharajas and to give them to the new republican government. However, corruption and power were two of the main forces driving the process and the government posts where given to those supporting the party and not to those that would have the skills to do the job. In a matter of a few years, the state of the public realm started to collapse. One cannot forget that India is a very young democracy aiming to manage a large country and an even larger population.

Of course, this represents the point of view of a person that supported the Maharaja system. Many other people had strong views about their abuse of power and feudal system.

El Fuerte Amber / The Amber Fort

Royal Gaitors: Mausoleos de la realeza / Royal cenotaphs

Dentro del Palacio de la Ciudad: asi es como se ve la Ciudad Rosada / Inside the City Palace: this is how the Pink City looks like

El Palacio del Lago: usado en los veranos cuando las temperaturas llegan a más de 40° C / The Lake Palace: used during the summers when the temperature reaches more than 40° C

El Vestíbulo de la Victoria dentro del Fuerte Amber con incrustados de espejo / The Hall of Victory inside the Amber Fort with inlaid mirrors

Patricia dominando las cobras (o al menos parecen) con la flauta / Patricia dominating the cobras (or at least they look like) with the flute

Denise & Ranjeed

Cena en Chokhi Dhani: los platos están hechos de hojas de banano / Dinner at Chokhi Dhani: the plates are made of banana leaves.

El Hawa Mahal: construido para que las damas de la realeza pudieran observar la ciudad sin ellas ser vistas / The Hawa Mahal: constructed to enable the ladies of the royal household to watch the city without being seen.

Autorickshaw: Patricia & Abdul

View of lake Pichola from our little hotel

Cuando llegamos, tuvimos la suerte de que nuestro conductor de rickshaw nos llevó al otro lado del puente. Esto hizo una diferencia inmensa ya que ese es el lado calmado y pacífico de Udaipur.

Un pequeño restaurante casi oculto junto a nuestro hotel nos dio la atmósfera relajante y pacífica que buscábamos. Frente del lago Pichola, disfrutamos de las vistas del Palacio y las costas activas del lago. Cada día, las mujeres van a los ghats (pasos que aterrizan en el lago) para lavar ropa en la manera tradicional. Sin embargo, las vistas más cautivantes fueron de los elefantes que andan alrededor de las calles.

Nos gustó mucho la visita al Palacio, aparentemente el segundo más hermoso en India. Tiene decoraciones suntuosas. De allí, tomamos un bote a la Isla de Jagmandir. Lo que era antes un palacio que ocupa toda la isla, es actualmente un restaurante muy caro y un hermoso spa, todo rodeado de hermosos jardines.

Lake Palace

El templo de Ranakpur es probablemente el más hermoso que hemos visto. Ninguna de sus 1444 pilares de mármol blanco tiene el mismo diseño. Después de eso, fuimos al Fuerte de Kumbalgarth con sus paredes que van más allá de 36 km y tiene más de 300 templos. En la noche había un festival de baile y logramos ver unos pocos bailes tradicionales antes de nuestro retorno al hotel por 2 horas.

La noche antes de Navidad estuvimos en otro restaurante muy bonito a la orilla del Lago, disfrutando una vez más los curries de India y de nuestro postre predilecto Gulab Jamum.

Sitting in the Jagmandir Island (very posh place)

Udaipur is said to be the most romantic town in India. It might be right!
When we first arrived, we were lucky enough to be taken by our rickshaw driver to the other side of the bridge. This made a huge difference as that was the quiet and peaceful side of town.

Kumbalgarth Fort by night

An almost hidden small restaurant right next to our hotel gave us the relaxing and peaceful atmosphere we were looking for. Right in front of the lake Pichola, we enjoyed the views of the Palace and the active shores of the lake. Every day, women went to the ghats (steps landing on the lake) to wash cloth in the traditional way. However, elephants walking around the streets were the most captivating views.

Patricia in the middle of the amazingly detailed Ranakpur temple

We took a day trip to the Ranakpur temple of Jainism. This is a religion separated from Hinduism. They strictly believe in non-violence to any living creature. Some of the strongest believers would sweep the floor before them when walking in order to avoid killing any small insects and would wear a handkerchief over the mouth to avoid swallowing a mosquito. Mahatma Gandhi was a Jain follower.

Impressive dance show

The temple is probably the most beautiful we have ever seen. None of its 1444 white marble pillars has the same design. After that, we went to the Kumbalgarth Fort with its walls stretching over 36 km and more than 300 temples. There was a dancing festival that night and we managed to see a few traditional dances before our 2 hour journey back to our hotel.

We spent Christmas evening at another nice lakeshore restaurant, enjoying once more the Indian curries and our favourite dessert Gulab Jamum.

Christmas dinner by lake Pichola

written by  patryandjose on December 20, 2009 from Udaipur, India
from the travel blog: Resumen de dónde estamos y para dónde vamos? - Summary of where we are and where are we going to?
Send a Compliment

---

comment on this...

Taj view from hotel roof top

Postal picture

In front of Taj majal

Our first glimpse of the Taj Majal was from the roof top restaurant at our small hotel. It was a great impression, especially as we were not expecting to see it so closely from there.

No comments

Locals take pics with Patricia thinking she is a Bollywood actress

It was a love story that transformed into a sad story. The Mughal King Shah Jahan had had two wives and they hadn’t giving him kids. So he married a third one. She gave him 13 kids, so he was a very happy man. However, when she was giving birth to the 14th child, she passed away. The King was extremely sad and became very old over night. He decided to build the most beautiful mausoleum for her, the Taj Majal.

How romantic!!!!

The wall carvings of the Taj are of an amazing detail and walls are engraved with precious stones

It is said (although not official) that after its completion, the King wanted to build another identical mausoleum for himself, only in black. It was to be located across the Yamuna River and a white and black bridge would connect the two. Apparently, one of the sons of the King thought that the idea was crazy as the cost of building another Taj Majal would have been unbearable for the people, especially as the black onyx would need to be brought from Italy. Therefore, the son imprisoned his father and became the King. The old King was kept in the Agra Fort from where he could glimpse the magnificent Taj Majal. When he died, his son buried him next to the Queen inside the Taj Majal.

We also visited the Agra Fort, with palaces, temples and different halls and confirmed that it is possible to see the Taj Majal from there.

Agra Fort and two monkeys

Agra is a small town and in general uninspiring. We also got caught in the last night of a 10 day Muslim festival which had the centre of the town summoned in the loudest religious singing we have ever heard, accompanied by drums for more than 24 hours including an entire night.

Jose felt sorry for older ricksaw driver and decided to take over

Therefore, we were happy to move to the next city.

written by  patryandjose on December 26, 2009 from Agra, India
from the travel blog: Resumen de dónde estamos y para dónde vamos? - Summary of where we are and where are we going to?
Send a Compliment

---

comment on this...

Varanasi is known as the City of Life and is one of the holiest places in India. It is also one of the oldest continuously inhabitated cities in the world, known formerly as Benares.

We arrived in Varanasi at 5.00 am and once again, were very lucky to find a kind rickshaw man that took us around town searching for a hotel. Our basic requirements are: a double bedroom, clean, with a bathroom and hot water, sufficient space to accommodate the two Yoga mats on the floor and obviously, a good price. After a few failed options and the rickshaw man knocking the doors trying to wake up the staff, he finally took us to a nice place close to the south gaths (steps leading to the river).

Bathers searching for enlightment at the banks of India's holiest river

Family of Hindu devotees taking water from the Ganges

Varanasi was extremely cold and fogy. You can especially feel it as the rooms have no heating. On our second day we took a rowing boat early in the morning. Even though we were fully wrapped, Patricia’s lips became all purple and we were shivering like chickens. However, the boat ride, which we shared with 3 Spanish girls and the humble boat man, was very mystical and deeply interesting. Even though it was so early and so cold, Indians were taking baths and completing ceremonies on the sacred Ganga River. Hindu pilgrims come here to wash away a lifetime of sins.

View of the Varanasi Ghats in the early hours of the morning

The main reason to visit Varanasi was to see the burning ghats, where the dead are brought to be cremated and their remainders are thrown into the river. The very poor people are burned in a big oven like building, the rich people at open air with expensive sandalwood and a whole range in between. These activities happen every day the entire day. Many old Indians move to Varanasi for their final years to make sure they are sent to the river. It is a particularly auspicious place to die since expiring here offers moksha (liberation from the cycle of birth and death).

Cremation Ghat: Hindus believe that if their body is cremated and then submerged into the river it will be blessed

We love this pic of our boatmand Shiva (the name of one of Hinduism main Gods) which resembles the lovely smiles we found in many indians

Fire ceremony (Ganga Arti) performed every evening on the banks of the river

Offerings to sacred Ganga (Ganges) that consist of a little bowl made of leaves, filled with flowers and candles in the middle

The old centre of Varanasi, around the ghats, is all very mystical. The narrow labyrinth oh alleys are just for pedestrians and at night there are almost no lights, so it can be a bit intimidating.

We enjoyed good food in Varanasi. In particular, the I:ba and the Dolphin restaurants.

We spent New Year here and decided to join the party at our small hotel. The owners prepared a nice simple Indian dinner and brought some musicians for our entertaining. One of them beautifully played the flute and another one played the sitar, a classical instrument from northern India which has 20 strings. Both were accompanied by the tabla, Indian drums. We also had a traditional kathak dance that is a sort of story telling. We had a good time and enjoyed with our Spanish and Chilean new friends watching the overly happy owners of the hotel dance the night away to the Indian tunes.

Dancer and musicians during New Years celebration

There were many Tibetan flags hanging in Bodhgaya, these are not allowed in Tibet or China, there are also many Tibetan refugees living here

We wanted to visit this place to see the three; however, it became of a special interest to go there when we found out that the Dalai Lama was going to be in town giving some teachings on the Path to Enlightenment.

We were lucky to be able to get train tickets to Gaya from where we could catch an auto rickshaw to go to Bodhgaya. As we arrived at 2.00 am to Gaya we decided to stay that night there. Next day, we went to Bodhgaya to try luck with the hotels. Everybody told us that it was going to be crazy as there would be no rooms any more and if there were, the prices would be astronomical. The first hotel we visited was fully booked. The second one had a room, claiming that it was the last one they had. The price was high but not as we had been suggested. So we decided to take it.

As soon as we had our accommodation sorted out, we went to register. We were well prepared with passports and photos. Then, it was the issue of where to sit and how to reserve a place. After a lengthy process we found out that we needed to mark the space where we wanted to sit (everyone would sit in the floor under a huge marquee). So, we bought soft mats (like everyone else), wrote our names and hoped that they will stay there until the right time (the teachings would start in two days). The following day we went to check if everything was fine with our spaces. There was a young Tibetan student (refugee in India) who explained to us that there had been a mistake and that area where we had our spaces had been originally reserved for more than 600 university students. After a lot of debate we agreed that we would keep our sits there and if they didn’t have enough space we would try to look for something else the following day.

Massive tent were Dalai Lama (meaning Ocean Lama) gave his 5 day teachings, the tent was big enough for about 5,000 people!

The next day the teachings were starting at 9.00 am. We decided to arrive early, at 6.00. We were quite surprised to find out that the queue for foreigners was minimal and soon enough we were at the gates for the security check. Jose Pablo was not allowed to enter because he had a camera and had to go back to the hotel (only 10 minutes away). When Patricia’s turn came up (because the queues for man and women are separate), she was not allow to enter because she had a mobile phone. When we came back, the queue for men was not that bad; however, the one for women had became extremely long and Patricia only managed to get in just before 9.00. The Dalai Lama arrived on time and went straight into the teachings. Soon after that, monks were running around giving away bread, sweet rice and butter tea.

Many monks from SE Asia, Tibet, Buthan, Mongolia and other places came to the teachings

The small town was really crowded (thousands of people came for the teachings); lots of Tibetans, Chinese and Westerners. Even Richard Gere was there! However, it was the number of monks in maroon and yellow robes that dominated the scene. Together with all the devotees, an ocean of Indian poor people and others with severed deformities entered the town every morning with their silver plates ready for the generosity of the visitors.

Temple built i the spot of Budda's enlightment

This is the bodi tree under which Siddhartha Gautama (Budda) achieved enlightment

Budda statue inside the temple

Bodhgaya was also extremely cold and the only warm places were the temporal tent restaurants where we ended up listening many of the teachings with our radio.

written by  patryandjose on January 4, 2010 from Gaya, India
from the travel blog: Resumen de dónde estamos y para dónde vamos? - Summary of where we are and where are we going to?
Send a Compliment

---

comment on this...

We just spent a few days in Mumbai and decided to relax from our very spiritual journey with some very mundane threats, including some great restaurants and of course watch some movies! The Three Idiots, a Bollywood blockbuster was the chosen one. Lasting three hours and even it was 95% in Hindi this movie was a pleassure to watch.

After watching the bollywood blockbuster "3 Idiots" (plus one more)

relaxing in Palolem (Goa)

Next stop was Kannur in Kerala. We actually stayed in a lovely home stay (Ezhara Beach House) in a secluded beach which included some delicious home cooked indian meals (lots of seafood!) and great hospitality from Hyacint. Check out www.ezharabeachhouse.com. If you just want a place to relax, have privacy to do Yoga right on the beach and not touristy at all in a beautiful part of Kerala then try this place! See pictures below which best describe the place.

After a beach Yoga session in front of Ezhara Beach House

Patricia gets bombarded by a band of kids in front of Ezhara Beach House

Coconut tree man!

Beautiful girls who were helping out her mother at Ezhara beach house

Textile factory we visited

Lazy days relaxing on the beach

On the way to our final destination we stopped for a day in Kochi and were received by George (we actually met George in Varanasi and he told us about the Ezhara Beach House (run by his wife Hyacint) and the beach cabin he has in Cherai Beach in Vypeen island. While waiting for the train connection in Kochi we visited the cabin and decided that it was a great place for Jose to stay for a few weeks while Patricia was doing her one month Yoga teachers training course in Madurai.

Enjoying the beach during a quick stop in Cherai Beach (Kochi)

With George (owner of the beach cabin in Cherai beach where Jose will stay while Patricia is in Madurai doing Yoga)

Back againh on the road

written by  patryandjose on January 9, 2010 from Madurai, India
from the travel blog: Resumen de dónde estamos y para dónde vamos? - Summary of where we are and where are we going to?
Send a Compliment

---

comment on this...