Thursday, February 28, 2008

Mongoose & Monkeys, Oh my!

So today we went to Buddha Park in Delhi

It has a lovely gold Buddha in the middle of a sprawling park. It was lovely with wild monkeys, mongoose, chipmunks (even in India I can call them right to me!), ducks, geese, parakeets, varied birds, dogs (one with the cutest puppies), and so on. It was great fun, I just wish I had some bananas for those cute monkeys.

Yesterday we went to the Taj Mahal. It was a long trip about 4 hours each way. The Taj is very very pretty with amazing inlay. We basically went to it and viewed the grounds with a guide who explained all the history. Then we took the long ride back. Due to our time limits we had hired a car which was very helpful.

We fly home in the morning and arrive around 5pm, Feb 29, 2008.

Sunday, February 24, 2008

Funny observations and Museums

so last night we were at dinner at this busy veg restaurant and it really started to fill up. All tables were full so waiting patrons just accumulated at the front watching for tables. then all of a sudden this eldery Indian woman jsut sat at our table while her friends hovered. We realized our dinner was over and we needed to give up the seats! :)

we have been to the following museums in port blair over the last 2 days; cellular jail, anthropological, and the saw mill.

the cellular jail was fascinating and documented the English occupation of the island and how they set up this huge jail, which according to the monument as quite cruel and house mostly freedom fighters and political prisoners. http://www.andamancellularjail.org/History.htm

The anthropological museum is small but had some interesting artifcats and re-creations of tribal homes. there are 2 Indigenous groups on the islands that have nearly no contact with the outside world and are protected by the government (although there are debates on how well). they are the Sentilese and the Jarawa.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jarawa_(Andaman_Islands)
http://www.survival-international.org/tribes/jarawa
http://www.survival-international.org/campaigns/uncontactedtribes/mostisolated
http://www.survival-international.org/campaigns/uncontactedtribes/justforfun


The chatham saw mill was quite interesting. It is a working saw mill and we saw workers in barefeet among the splinters and heavy machinery cutting timber! they have a small forest museum onsite that shows the different wood types.

we leave tomorrow for Delhi via a Chennai

Friday, February 22, 2008

Everyone and their dog, cat and goat are going to Delhi

Well that is how it would seem! We have contacted over 10 hotels and all are fully booked. We found one posh room at the Radisson so we are just taking it. It will be a nice respite for 3 nights before returning home. We are in Delhi Feb 26 and fly home Feb 29.

We finally sorted out our money problem. The hassles of money (finding ATM's that work on CDN cards) and travel times in India are a little tiring. we had to get money western unioned to us as no ATM's will work in Port Blair!!! Thank goodness for Jason's folks making the trek to western union!

We will spend the next few days seeing any sights in Port Blair such as the historic penal colony, museum etc.

Crustacean Crusade

Well we made it to Port Blair and are now doing the money chase again. I HATE India's ATM's. Our cards only work on 2 banks, neither of which are on this island. sigh.... we'll sort it though. Anyways, on to crabs...
Hermit Crabs
We have spent quite a bit of time observing the adorable little hermit crabs on beach 5 and 7 in Havelock. We spent a few hours collecting empty shells and lining them up where the crabs congregate. We even witnessed one switch from his shell to the new one (but he did switch back, a little roomy for his tastes). We then leave the empty shells and nearly all of them disapear within a short time (sheltered in areas away form tourists seeking shells). Quite fun!

The Crazy Crab Canadians
We made a bit of a reputation for ourselves on the island with the next adventure. It started one night when we were in the hut restaurant and these 2 crabs persistently escaped the bin they were held in 3 times! (They were to be dinner). Well we felt so bad we bought those 2, as they are locally caught, and released them into the ocean. I won't pretend it changed the world but it was a wonderful experience. I have always wanted to be able to release crabs but in landlocked Alberta it is not an option. We did the release quietly but word got around and people kept chatting with us about it over the coming days. Many travellers thought we were nuts and others shared stories of feeling bad for the crabs. But I did notice not one crab was purchased that night for dinner. The experience reminds me of one of my favorite touchstones (see below):

IT MATTERS TO THIS ONE - Anonymous
As I walked along the seashore, this young boy greeted me. He was tossing stranded starfish back to the deep blue sea. I said, "Tell me why you bother, why you waste your time this way. There's a million stranded starfish, does it matter anyway?"


And he said, "It matters to this one. It deserves a chance to grow. It matters to this one, I can't save them all I know. But it matters to this one, I'll return it to the sea. It matters to this one, and it matters to me."

I walked into the classroom, The teacher greeted me. She was helping Johnny study, he was struggling I could see. I said, "Tell me why you bother, why waste your time this way. Johnny's only one of millions, does it matter anyway?"

And she said, "It matters to this one, he deserves a chance to grow. It matters to this one, I can't save them all I know. But it matters to this one, I'll help him be what he can be. It matters to this one, and it matters to me."

Monday, February 18, 2008

well, i guess i always wanted to be a vet...

what a day... Jason found a female dog on the beach that was injured and then he came and got me. I immediately realized she must have been recently spayed as her incision was open with part of her intestines hanging out, now covered in sand. It was a horrific site. She had a blue collar on so I held out hope that she had an owner. We ran up the beach to try and locate and owner and we could not.

So I talked with the owner of our resort and he called ahead to a vet in another town a short trip away. Jason got the dog by the collar and walked her up to the resort. From there I wrapped her in plastic and lifted her up (about 40lbs!) and me, her and Jason took an autorickshaw to the vet. It was a bumpy ride and she did well and didn't even try to bite. We got a lot of stares from locals who could see the dog on my lap as we raced through the roads.

The real adventure began when we got to the vet. It was very basic with no running water and only a rusty enamel table but he helped us right away. Ilifted her to the table. The vet tied her muzzle and then Jason and I assisted in the operation. We had to flip her on her side and hold her. That's when I realized there was no anestetic coming. We held her and I stroked her face while the vet cleaned out most of the sand with an antiseptic, pushed it all back in side and stitched her up. He gave her an antibiotic shot and some salve. The smell of blood was pretty bad and I had to change my bloodly clothes when i got back.

Now I was terrified of what we would do with her and had thoughts of her healing in our hut. Thankfully a local woman came rushing in looking for the dog. She explained that the dog was a stray that had been spayed due to the island being overpopulated and that she had her tied up until she healed but that she got away. Her spay was on the 10th so I don't know how her stitches just came out, unless it was perhaps a dog fight. Anyways this woman agreed to take care of her, adminster pain medication and the salve. We may try to visit the dog later. I am very thankful this lady showed up, the vet performed the surgery for free and that we were able to get the dog into the clinic in a autoricksaw.

"What do we live for, if not to make life less difficult for each other?" - George Eliot

Sunday, February 17, 2008

the great tuna roll

today i lost any shred of dignity as I was assisted to basically roll into the boat after a great snorkelling trip. Imagine a great big tuna being pulled aboard, but less pretty and less graceful. really it was not my fault. There was no ladder and I have no coordination. I am just glad I made it in rather than being towed 2 hours back ;) The snorkelling was amazing. Lots of coral, like big fan coral, lots of fish too. It was worth it to haul our gear (fins, masks and snorkels) most of the gear for rent here are well used and smaller sized. We will likely go to elephant beach tomorrow to snorkel.

Havelock is much more laid back than the cities. And there is much less poverty here. Perhaps this is due to the smaller number of people to land mass and the vegetation grows well too.

Friday, February 15, 2008

The invasion

Well my worst fears were realized last night when i spotted THREE GIANT cockroaches in our hut. And I mean HUGE! One in the bathroom, one in the garbage and one on the mosquito net on my BED!. So i had a rather unrestful sleep. It is amazing what fears you can overcome when there is A. no other accommodation available and B. the sneaky bugs are likely everywhere. Of course every time jason moved I had a little freak out thinking they were in the bed.

Today we snorkelled at the lagoon on beach #7. The bus back was only 5 rupees each (12cents) Jason got motion sickness from the snorkelling so hopefully he will soon be feeling better. (He is having a gravol nap right now). We may catch a boat to another island for tomorrow.

Wednesday, February 13, 2008

Giving hippies a bad name...

Well Havelock is gorgeous! we did finally sort out some accomadations at 'pristine resort' at about 40/night in these rustic gilligan island 2 story huts (whith shower, toilet, electricity). We were worried last night as we only got one night in an expensive place and everything here is cash. But we got it sorted now.

The entire place is full of wandering hippies. some very nice but some cheap and argumentative with locals, over what amounts to small change at home, which i think is terrible.

We are on #5 beach and will take the government bus to #7 beach to explore tomorrow. We are getting ready to go snorkelling today :)

Tuesday, February 12, 2008

"This is, because that is"

I spent the day contemplating and reading my new wonderful book "Interbeing: Fourteen Guidelines for Engaged Buddhism" by Thich Nhat Hanh.

The rich are rich because the poor are poor. Now it is not completely as simple as that, but in order to have that $10 t-shirt someone must be paid a meager wage. In order for me to be a social worker someone must be suffering. This is not to say that the rich or middle class are bad and the poor are good, or vice versa. It is also not to say that those with means purposely restrict those with out, (although some certainly do). It is simply to acknowledge that in order to have wealth someone/something pays; low salaries, environmental destruction etc.

And through this I believe we have a responsibility to reduce our negative footprint as much as possible. I think we can begin to accomplish this through being thankful, making informed decisions, and compassionate actions. How we consume, how we earn, how we invest, our words, our actions can all be helpful or hurtful.

"Suffering can have a therapeutic power. It can help us open our eyes. Awareness of suffering encourages us to search for its case, to find out what is going on within us and in society. But we have to be careful. Too much suffering can destroy our capacity to love. We have to know our limits, to stay in touch with things that are dreadful in life and also things that are wonderful." ("Interbeing" - Thich Nhat Hanh)

Monday, February 11, 2008

Both the best and the worst

India is a country of contrast from great beauty to great suffering.

Today began with a lovely breakfast buffet. Then we went to the Kalighat, Hindu, temple http://www.indiantemples.com/Bengal/kalighat.html And today happens to be a festival "Saraswati Puja" http://www.bangalinet.com/saraswatipuja.htm so the temple was PACKED! I some how ended up on a tour junket where we were whisked through all of the things one is supposed to do at the temple. It was rather expensive in the end but it was the only way we would have actually made it through with out waiting hours in line. The guide was excited to tell me that he thinks I will soon have a son. Man did I ever stay away from that fertility cactus he showed me at the temple!!! He was also eager to show us the goat sacrifice which we quickly avoided. (However I did see some ones that had already been sacrificed in a side alley).

After this we went to New Market, which is a 7 block shopping district founded by the British in the 1800's. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Market,_Calcutta We wandered around for a while and looked at the various shops; household items, fabric, souvenirs, and so on. I went to the pharmacy and picked up some antiseptic antihistamine creme for my WICKED mosquito bites. Seriously they are viscous biters. I now wear shoes and repellent.

We came back to the hotel and had a light dinner and then went for our spa treatments. The treatment was 2 hours with a salt scrub and massage and was lovely (and reasonably priced). It was so relaxing.

All around you see the vast economic divide among the very rich Indians and the very poor. The contrast of opulent saris and people in tattered clothing. I suppose this divide exists in Canada but here it is much wider.

In contrast to lovely food, friendly people, rich culture and amazing architecture we also witnessed much on the other side. We saw dogs eating the severed head of another dog (whom I just hope was killed in a car accident - we have only seen people being very kind to the dogs), sweet puppies - chewing on a dead piglet in the garbage heap, elderly women and mothers with infants begging for rupees and children digging through the miles of garbage piles to pull out bits of plastic. The level of poverty continues to break my heart.

"Let us rise up and be thankful, for if we didn't learn a lot today, at least we learned a little, and if we didn't learn a little, at least we didn't get sick, and if we got sick, at least we didn't die; so, let us all be thankful." - Buddha

Sunday, February 10, 2008

I have found heaven

...& it is the Kolkata Hyatt Hotel.

We arrived here today after taking a sleeper train that left at 4:30am. The train was quite good with 2 sleeper bunks in a private room, and breakfast for the 7 hour trip to Kolkata.

We decided to have a nice hotel here to celebrate my birthday. The Hyatt is AMAZING! Gorgeous rooms, lovely amenities, pool, spa etc. We plan to stay 3 nights here and then go to the Andaman islands. (We are cutting our Darjleeing as it is proving too time consuming to get to.) http://kolkata.regency.hyatt.com/hyatt/hotels/index.jsp

We went for this amazing gourmet Italian lunch that had an antipasto buffett (1/2 vegetarian!), then you are served like 7 different hot dishes in small portions (ours were all veg) and then you top it off with a dessert and cheese buffet. I will be full for a week. The vegetarian options in India are just wonderful. We have each booked 2 hour spa treatments for tommorow night.

Tommorow we plan on spending the day exploring the city. With the change in plans I am now researching sites to visit.

Friday, February 8, 2008

Misquitos 1, Capri 0

I have the WORST misquito bites on my feet. They woke me up in the middle of the night. Thankfully I am taking my malaria medication and am now using repellent.

Last night we spent some time at the main temple which was all lit up with little lights. Very beautiful.

I am really enjoying the Indian food, which I was unsure about. I have been eating a lot of 'masala dosa' and naan. We always go to the same restaurant here and it has the filthiest kitchen ever but with so many people in and out the food stays hot and is excellent, and super super cheap.

We have bought a few things; some prayer flags, singing bowl, anklets which the guy had to make bigger and then was shocked he had to make the left one even bigger on account of the size difference since i broke it, a book and 2 cd's.

I did find some high protein bisquits that I fed to a sick dog. they are friendly here but mostly eat from the garbage and since there is not a lot of meat I am not really sure what they eat!

I met the CUTEST baby who hitched a ride with her mom on our auto rickshaw yesterday. So sweet.

We are not sure of the plan today but we leave at 3:30AM to catch a train in Gaya.

on the move

We have booked a train from Gaya to Kolkata (Calcutta) for Sunday early morning. We take a taxi to Gaya. The from there we will spend one night in Kolkata and fly towards Darjleeing.

Today we went to the Mahakala Cave where there is a small cave carved out of the mountain with an ascetic Buddha statue in it. Buddha spent 6 years meditating is this tiny cave. http://www.interzone.com/~cheung/World/India/Mahakala.html There were tons of cute wild monkeys which I fed bisquits (i could not resist and it gave some money to the man selling them). We will have some cute photos. Then we had milk tea with some lovely monks who also shared with the 2 cats.

I have been trying to find a local charity but there seems to be much debate on whether or not they are honest. It is so difficult to find a way to make a tiny difference here. I suppose paying fair prices for food, goods and hotel helps somewhat but I am still searching for another way.

Thursday, February 7, 2008

sorting out travel plans

Jason is taking the lead on sorting out our travel plans and is currently at a travel agency. We may not make it up to Darjaleeing as it is quite the adventure to get there and then to the Andaman Islands and back to Delhi in our time frame. So by tonight I should know more about our plans.

emergency adverted

After a dodgy autorickshaw ride into Gaya and 5 bank machine attempts we found one that worked. Thank goodness or we would not have money for our hotel etc.

We went to several temples today and one of the loveliest was the Thai one. There was a beautiful sight of some nuns and monks meditating. One of the nuns had a small dog with her in the temple who was quietly at her side thuroughout the meditation. Very sweet.

We've met some nice people and had some illuminating converstations on Buddhism, poverty etc.

Wednesday, February 6, 2008

always a classy lass

Well it began last night when i tripped walking home and i fell completely flat on my face like a giant tree. Of course it was in front of tons of locals. As I hit the ground all I could think was please please please no cow poop. Thankfully i hit the one flat, dry and reasonably clean peice of land in India. It was a miracle really. I have a few bruises but I am ok.

Then this morning I puked my face off at the side of the road. Very classy. Several nice locals were worried about me. I think the culprit was taking my malaria medication and thyroid on an empty stomach. And of course it happened one bite into breakfast so i ran out of the restaurant and down to the garbage pile to puke in front of some bewildered dogs. Then of course I had to bury it to prevent the inevitable. I do wish there was some sort of dog food I could buy in this place.

we have hit a little snag as the 2 ATM's do not work with our cards so we are off today to try and find away to get money so we are not stranded! We will probably spend 2 more nights here and then up to Darjleeng i think.

For today I am recovering at the internet cafe at this moment which is only 75 cents an hour. We plan to see the rest of the temples in Bodhgaya today and perhaps a day tour to some Buddhist caves tomorrow.

I don't think we will be able to move on until Monday due to the trains and planes. Jason is attempting to book a plane from gaya to kolkata and then we'll try for a train to Darjleeing

Things are really cheap here. Like today breakfast with 2 meals, 1 side, a milk coffee, a litre of bottled water and a coke (for my upset tummy) was $5CDN

a most beautiful sight...

So today we went to several temples. We went to the main temple which has the sacred Bodhi Tree underwhich Buddha gained enlightenment (it is actually a descendant of the original tree from a sapling that was saved after the original was cute down). http://www.Mahabodhi.com/

At the site of othe Bodhi tree, as a I was circling the main temple, I came accross two lovely moments. The first was a monk moving an ant out of the way while he was also circling the temple. The second brought tears to my eyes as it was so emotional and beautiful. A monk was standing near the Bodhi tree holding a royal purple humming bird. When I asked if the bird was injured or a pet he replied neither that the bird merely wanted to sit there. It is hard to explain but it was so lovely.

These moments contrast the heart breaking poverty here. So many children, elderly, disabled people and dogs living in difficult circumstances. We plan to donate to one of the local charities but I wish there was more I could do.

Other observations; the food is very very good. at the airport we had McDonald's and even it was good! (Huge veg section and no beef at all! - but there was fish and chicken). I have been eating a mix of western and Indian cuisine. No mater where we have travelled it seems that westerners inspire banana pancakes.

We bought a Tibetan Singing Bowl (Which i am sure I paid too much for but much cheaper than at home and I figure since I support "fair trade" I should also do it while travelling). I am terrible at bargaining too, at least overseas. Jason says I get cheaper as a trip wears on so we'll see. I also bought a great book by my fave Buddhist author Thich Nhatt Hahn on engaged Buddhism. http://www.plumvillage.org/

I also bought a punjabi suit in a lovely dark red/burgandy that reminds me of the color of monk's robes but more ornate. It will be nice to wear as I find it hot (of course the locals have toques on!) However, I don't think anything I do will combat the staring. I look a little odd here. http://www.utsavsarees.com/pages/punjabisuits.htm

In other news we switched hotels. The one we had promised soft beds and they are like a board with a sheet. If it was at least cheap I could forgive it but it was the 2nd most expensive here. We switched to a hotel called Siddartha Vihar which is cheaper and costs $20.00 a night. It has it's own bathroom and shower and the beds are still as hard a rock.


PS Excuse any typos.... the spell check does not seem to work!

Tuesday, February 5, 2008

we made it to Bodhgaya

Ah.... It began with a flight from Delhi, then a train ride to Gaya (34 rupees each less than one dollar) and then an autorickshaw (tuk tuk) to Bodhgaya. The train was cramped and very hot. I spent a lot of time chatting with some of the local men. The one was rather surprised at my height and thought it was funny that people stared at me. Our seats were built for 8 but 13 crammed in.

We are just settling in and will soon be looking for food. Tommorow we will start to explore the temples and the giant Buddha. The air is hard to breath here. Our hotel is the high end one for the area but still relatively cheap. we may check out another one tommorow. Our current hotel http://www.sujatahotel.com/

Electricity has been intermitant here :)

Monday, February 4, 2008

Poo on the shoe

So the shoe is Jason's and the poo... who knows? We were walking in Delhi (made it here this morning) and Jason ventures into a park and soon spies a shoe shiner coming over and he knew... the old poo on the shoe scam. You see one guy squirts poo on your shoe while his accomplice shortly after points it out and of course comes to your rescue with his poo on the shoe removal kit. And really, what are you going to do? walk around with poo? it is the perfect scam and cost Jason 200 rupees or $5CDN (from 350).

Delhi is crazy busy. Lots of friendly people chatting you up trying to convince you of a tour, shopping, hotel that this is closed or that etc as people get commission if they bring you in. You can't fault them too much as there is a lot of poverty here.

The weather is very nice and not too hot. Our hotel is the 'best one star in Delhi' http://www.hotel55.com/ Cheap and basic. We had a nice dinner there. The BEST naan bread and some good spicy stuff. Not sure what it was but it was good and vegetarian

Anyways we decided to get out of Delhi to relax in Bodhgaya so we booked a flight for tommorow morning to Patna and then we will catch a train. http://www.buddhanet.net/e-learning/buddhistworld/bodgaya.htm

Saturday, February 2, 2008

Off to India

Our plane departs tonight at 8:45 pm. We stop in London and then on to Delhi. We have not for sure settled where we are staying. We may stay in Delhi for one or 2 nights or we may catch a plane out. Our itinerary will likely be: 

Bodhgaya  This is where Buddha gained enlightenment under the Bodhi tree (a descendant of this tree is still there) 

Darjeeling (where you can view Mount Everest) 

Andaman Islands (for snorkelling!)

And back to Delhi for some city time and to see the Taj Mahal (a few hours from Delhi)