Kentertainment

In setting up this blog a few months ago, we included links to some of our favorite blogs. I'm sorry to say that, until now, we've forgotten one: kentertainment.org. If you understand a third of what D.J. Ken is ranting about, you're a better man than me.

Dad posts to the blog

Well we've been here almost just over one week. The food has been excellent, it you like Indian food: all vegetarian. Prices of stuff are very cheap, and you can always do better. Deb and Dan have gotten good at negotiations. Our accommodations have been good: all had western toilets and showers. Some of the showers were better than others.

We stayed in Bundi for three nights. Very friendly city. We visited the place where Kipling wrote Kim. Its just outside the city on a small lake with lilly pads. I would like to buy it for a winter get-away. Also rent out rooms. We visited a temple where the Goldsmiths (related to the Goldbergs?) were having a three day fest. The Goldsmiths fabricate jewellery out of gold. Hmmm, maybe there is a relationship...Goldsmith, Goldstein not too far off. We stayed and watched the dancing which continued for many hours after we left. We were invited for dinner the next night. We went and everyone was interested in talking to the Americans. We were very popular.

Our next big city was Udepair. A very beautiful city on a lake. The hotels are located around one end of the lake. So we saw many Europeans (England, France and Germany), Canadians and a few Americans (USA). There is a castle on the lake and also on the mainland. We had our meals on roof tops overlooking the lake. I made our travel arrangements to the South and decided to pay with cash, since all establishments are required to charge 3% for using a credit card. I did not have enough cash, so the travel agent took me to the ATM on his motorcycle. My first motorcycle ride, ever! And I lived to tell about it.

On the way to Jodpur, we stopped about half way to vi st a magnificent temple and spend the night. I'd have to look up the spelling of the town. But I must report the funniest thing I saw or heard. We walking along a river/stream and several men were peeing into the water. Well, one gent (?) let out the biggest and longest fart. By the way, it is common for men to relieve themselves most anywhere and anytime.

Mom & Dad Arrive

Yes, we're here in India, not Indiana! Our flight is worth blogging. We left Buffalo late and were not allowed on our flight to Delhi, because they closed the doors. Continental Airlines put us up at Howard Johnson's near the Newark airport. The accommodations left something to be desired.

After 16+hrs in the air we finally touched down in Delhi at 8:30pm local time. I needed to go to the bathroom, which are called toilets in India. The urinals were built for someone like Michael Jordan. I decided to try the India toilet, just a hole in the ground. Hey gravity works great.

We waited for our luggage, but it was not on the carousel. I went to the baggage questions area and asked about our bags. I was told to speak to the guy with a grey coat and a turban. Yeah, right! Sharon spotted him and we asked. He said that our bags arrived the previous day, on the flight we "missed". Now for the fun part. We had to go to one window and were told to wait for a worker to help us. He took us to the "Baggage Questions" window where we filled out the form. Then off we ran to the original window, where the guy filled out two more forms. Now our helper person had three forms in his hands. He said he could now get our bags. 15-mins later he arrived with our bags. He also got bags for another family of 5 from Mexico who had also missed the flight. Now all 7 of us went to have the bags x-rayed. One person loaded them onto the machine, one person viewed our bags and another person put them back on the cart. Almost out of there! We had to go back to the original window where all the paper work was stamped. We then had to leave the paperwork with the last guy. Out of the airport at 10:00pm.

We were supposed to have a cab pick us up, but never found anyone holding a sign for us. When we left the airport we became familiar with the sights, sounds and smells of India. There is garbage everywhere! Motor vehicles beeped all the time. And, the smell of urine and burning garbage was prominent. The air was sweet and fragrant! We bought a prepaid cab fare for 250 rupees, about $6. After a 30-min drive, we arrived at the hotel. On our trip I discovered that everyone drives without rules. Nobody stops, they just beep and go. Cows and bigger vehicles have the right of way. Yes, we did see our first cows in the streets in Delhi.

We were tired and wanted to go to sleep. The problem with our room was the noise outside. Cars and auto-rickshaws beeping & dogs barking!But we were tired so we slept anyway!

After an Indian breakfast ranging from vegetables to sweets we were off to explore Delhi. It is a constant crush of rushing humanity! We wandered through streets full of stalls selling everything from wrapping paper to clothing & the stalls went on endlessly for what seemed to be miles. We saw a huge fort called the Red Fort & a famous mosque.

Next morning we took a luxury train to Agra.The sights from the window were daunting. Village after village of people living in conditions most of us have not seen in the US.
Agra was amazing! The Taj Mahal was amazingly beautiful & our favorite sight of it was at sunrise. yes, we were there at 6:30 after hiring a guy to trek us across the river in his boat which was pushed by a pole.

Next was my only unpleasant experience thus far in India. The sleeper train to Bundi- my own personal view of Hell on Wheels! I couldn't sleep due to noise, lights, smoking & best of all the gagging stench of urine.And I had to pee so bad that I finally forced myself to go in the stinky room & use the hole in the floor! A really fun night that I will never forget!
The people in Bundi are extremely friendly, have parades & funky temples everywhere(300) & we bought some nice Art. Last night we saw a festival the Goldsmiths were having with dancing & singing & we are invited back for dinner tonight. Bernie thinks we must be related!

The saris are sooo beautiful, the food great, the sight unbelievable & we are having a great time with Deb & Dan & hopefully haven't driven them too crazy yet. More next time!
Bernie & Sharon

Taj-alicious

**This entry is co-authored by Deb and Mom.

The Taj Mahal clearly deserves to be on the list of wonders of the world. The thing is freakin' spectacular.

After a hectic day in Delhi shopping the markets and sightseeing we caught a luxury train to Agra (Dan and I were trying to ease my mom and dad into India) to see the most famous mausaleum in the world.

For those of you who don't know the history of the Taj, Shah Jahan built it when his beloved wife died giving birth to their 14th child. They are both buried inside and much about the way the Taj was built is taken from the Koran to look like heaven. I loved the building enough that I asked Dan for one for my birthday -- he said when I pop out child number 14 he'll consider it. I'm already looking for my interior decorator.

The white marble is intricatly inlaid with gems. The whole thing took 21 years to build with 20,000 men working round the clock

The photo above was taken at sunrise across the river from where we were staying. To get there we hired a random dude at the side of the river who completely gauged us for a lift in his tiny boat. The whole ride took 5 minutes. Dan tried to bargain him down a bit but as the dude said "only 1 boat, only 1 boat" -- it's tough to negotiate when there is no competition.

The local people like to do crazy photos with the Taj so we had to join the fun.....here's one of Dan (tee hee)

The Parents Have Landed

After a one day delay due to fog in Newark (but who doesn't love 24 hours in the loveliest part of the Garden State?!), Sharon and Frugal Bernie - a.k.a. my parents - arrived in Delhi.

They survived day one of sightseeing and Delhi markets. We're heading to Agra tomorrow to see the Taj Mahal so we'll update from there.

And stay tuned for some possible guest blogging...........

Busy, Busy, Busy

Lots of you have inquired "so what exactly do you do all day?"

Well, here in Varanasi we have been super busy. Not just avoiding cow poop either...we've got a schedule.

We've been getting up every day to watch the sun rise a bit before 6am. It's the best time of day to wander around, watch all the crazy stuff happening on the river and drink chai. This morning we took a boat ride and saw both a cow and pig carcass. (gross) There is also great light here, beautiful old buildings, tons of cool colors, sights and sounds. There are temples everywhere and people doing pujas (prayers and offerings) with flowers, fire and tons of music. Hindus believe that if you die in Varanasi you won't be reborn again, so lots of people come here to die and be liberated from reincarnation.

Here's the kind of cool stuff you see on the river....fascinating. Note...he's wearing a little man thong, so you don't have to shield your eyes.

At 9am we had our first cooking class of the day. Dan and I have been taking cooking classes from 2 different women here in their homes. Now, I'm not saying that I'm now a fabulous chef or anything, but we're having fun. So far, we've learned to make samosas, palak paneer, alu gobi, alu subsie, vegetable curry, parathas, rice pudding and several chutneys.

Here is the lunch we made today -- pretty good huh?!?!??!



Noon- 3pm -- Cooking class number 2.

4pm- 6pm -- On a far too full stomach, roll into our yoga class. We found this hilarious teacher here named Sunil Kumar and we've been taking private lessons. The dude is on crack. He's into laughing yoga. I mean look at him...he's nuts!



Yesterday, there was a mosquito biting me during class. I was trying to kill it while holding my yoga pose. Sunil came over to help and said:

"Some Buddists believe that it is wrong to kill any living creature. I don't. Plus, if it is killed here in Varanasi it will be liberated from the cycle of life." Followed by hysterical laughter.

7pm - Random astrological reading done by a guy named Guru-ji. Not much on the mark.
He said:

• I have stomach problems -- nope
• I'm a writer -- nope
• 10 years ago I had a major problem -- nope
• When I'm 38 years old I'll be really fast -- cool
  
  
  Dan was going to get a reading too. After hearing mine, he faked a stomach illness and we left.
  
  We leave tomorrow evening on the train to Delhi to meet up with my mom and dad -- so stay tuned for tales of Sharon and Frugal Bernie in India!

Varanasi

First off, I just posted some photos and comments from Mamallapuram -- they're dated 10/3/07 and you'll find them below the post about Mukti. (Sorry, I'm having some blogger technical difficulties today.)


We're in Varanasi. Here's a photo of sunrise over the Ganges:


We arrived here after a 6-hour jeep ride and a 19-hour train ride out of the Himalayas. We're now back in "real" India (after spending about 2 weeks in a place that was a fascinating mix of Nepal and Tibet).


Anyway, here are some new experiences we've had here in Varanasi. This is from today alone, and it's only 1:30 p.m.:

1. A dog urinated on Dan's leg.


2. We watched a public cremation.


3. As the fire from a previous cremation was being extinguished nearby, ashes flew all over us. Meaning that we were covered with a dead person's ashes.


4. We learned to cook stuffed paratha (a pan-cooked bread stuffed with potatoes) and a kind of fried dough filled with potatoes.


5. We watched an old sadhu (a holy man who wanders around in orange robes) defecating on the sidewalk.

Varanasi is really great, but incredibly filthy. I mean really, really, really dirty. You know I have low standards for cleanliness, but this place is nasty. All manner of cow, goat, monkey, dog, and human excrement lines the streets (along with all kinds of garbage).

Then there's the Ganges. It's so heavily polluted that the water is septic. This if from our guidebook: "Samples from the river show the water has 1.5 million fecal coliform bacteria per 100 ml of water. In water that is safe for bathing this figure should be less than 500." We're not even talking about drinking here -- we're just talking about water that's safe to dip your toe in.

The river is holy, though, so people are diving right in, splashing around, dunking themselves under, and, yes, drinking it.

We, on the other hand, are glad to have brought along our wide array of antibacterial products.

Mukti Rules!

Sorry for being out of touch for a few days, but after searching for a week, we've finally found a place with both internet access and electricity at the same time. Unfortunately, the computer we're using was built in 1845, so I apologize if this post doesn't have all the fancy web links and photos that you, our loyal readers, have come to expect.

We're in Sikkim -- http://encarta.msn.com/map_701516543/Sikkim.html -- a tiny nubbin of India wedged between Nepal, China (Tibet), and Bhutan. We're in the Himalayas, and we look out every morning to the third-highest mountain in the world (a mere 800 feet shy of Everest).

We came here from the south -- we flew from Chennai to Kolkatta (Calcutta), then on to Bagdogra, followed by a 3-hour jeep ride to the town of Darjeeling (land o' tea). Oh, and the 3-hour jeep ride? It was a total of about 50 miles. For those of you on O'ahu, it was just like the road up Tantalus (winding, steep, and with uncleared landslides). But only one lane. For three hours.

Darjeeling was a wonderful change from the south, since in Darjeeling it's very cool (highs of around 75 degrees, lows around 50). Our first stop? "The Buzz," a restaurant/bar where we saw the legendary rock band "Mukti" from Gangtok. They opened with "Take it Easy" by The Eagles and closed with -- wait for it -- "Sweet Child Of Mine" by GnR. Best cover band in the Himalayas -- ever.

After four days of relishing in the cool mountain air and drinking tea by the gallon, we traveled another 6 hours by jeep (down the mountain, up the mountain, down the mountain, up the mountain) to Pelling, Sikkim. We had to get a special permit to come up here, and we had to promise not to try to sneak into China or Nepal. You can get millet beer in a wooden barrel (tastes like sake) and whiskey in a bottle shaped like a dagger.

After a few days of lounging around our fancy hotel ($10/night), ordering room service and watching cable TV (too bad we missed the ending of "John Tucker Must Die"), we headed north with two other Mukti fans (these German girls we met at the concert in Darjeeling a few days before). The first day we hiked for almost 8 hours to a small town by a lake, and the second day we hiked another 6 hours to a small town by another lake. Each hike involved several hours of steep downhill followed by several hours back up. We've met a bunch of people doing 9-day hikes up to 5,000 meters -- we've made it through 2 days and we want to cut off our legs. Tomorrow, we may return to Pelling -- depends on whether the landslide over the road has been cleared -- since all of our clean clothes are there. Or we may continue to sit around here and smell like yaks.

But there is a reason for us to move on: Mukti. They're from Gangtok, about 90 km from here. We wanted to know when they might be playing, and we were trying to figure out how to get this information. At our hotel last night there was a guy from Gangtok who was getting ready to lead a group of Israelis on a 4-day trek. We said, "Hey, have you ever heard of a band called Mukti?" And of course, he said, "Yes, my friend is the guitarist." He called his friend -- apparently, they'll play whenever they have an audience. So Deb, the Germans, and I are planning to go to Gangtok in a day or two (just as soon as we get our t-shirts -- saying "Mukti 4ever" -- finished).

We'll post our beautiful photos soon. In the meantime, for anyone who cares, our cell phone number is as follows (sorry, meant to post this ages ago): 00919846947753.

Carvings and Culture

Continuing with our catch up from the South. Here are a few shots from Mamallapuram. This town has crazy stone carvings. There are whole temples carved out of one rock. It's also where Dan got scratched by the monkey (a tiny scratch that is totally healed I might add).

This is a "Shiva Lingum" (a representation of the god Shiva's penis).

Some carvings:

A full-scale carving of an elephant (carved out of one rock):


This is me pushing "Krishna's Butter Ball" up the hill. I've been working out a lot on this trip. Also, please note my tres cool lime green pants.


I also want to add a few interesting Indian cultural phenomenon that we've noticed.

1) Hangin' out with whitey

For some odd reason, Indian tourists like to take our picture. Most of the time they want to be in the photo with us. Now these are not people that we have gotten to know in some way....just random tourists who come up and say "photo please." One theory is that they get to go home and say to their friends "look how cool it was where we were! there were even white people." But we've also been told that Indians like to talk to foreigners to prove that they're able to speak English well.

That doesn't mean, however, that it's not really weird for us. This girl was so excited about having her picture taken with me that, immediately before Dan snapped the photo, she kissed me on the cheek (that's why I'm laughing so hard).

This dude ... shit if I know.


2) Man Love

Here in India, it is completely taboo for men and women to touch in public. No holding hands and definitely no PDA. And I have to admit, I'm clearly used to the American male culture of homophobia -- the empty seat between men at the movies, confusing urinal ettiquette and clearly, CLEARLY, no touching aside from a hearty handshake or perhaps a slap on the back.

Indian men....they are all over one another! Walking hand in hand, with arms draped around one another, frolicking in the sea, laying and sitting in each other's laps -- it's some serious man-on-man action.

Homosexuality, however, is illegal.

3) Spitting, urinating, and snot rockets.

It's considered very rude here to blow your nose into a handkerchief. Launching all manner of mucus out your nose onto the ground, however, is perfectly appropriate, as is any kind of hacking, spitting, and ground-shaking throat cleansing needed to loosen up your phlegm.

Public urination (for men only) is also totally appropriate. Anywhere. At any time.

Here in Varanasi, male public defecation is also totally legit.

Full Moon Walk

Dan and I have now left South India, but I want to finish up a few hanging blog posts. I thought I'd fill you in on our "Full Moon Temple Walk" even though it was more than a week ago (sorry, we've been too busy having fun to blog).

So....a few hours from Aruroville is a mountain, where legend has it, Shiva appeared as fire (or something like that.) Each month, on the full moon, thousands of Hindu pilgrams show up from all over the place to walk 14k around the mountain and do pujas (offerings) at tons of tiny temples along the way. Most of the temples have Shiva Lingams...basically translated as "Shiva's Penis." You can picture the whole phalic nature of things. Each temple has huge fires burning in front.

The walk was fabulous! We did it in about 5 and a half hours and Dan and I were the only people wearing shoes. It was like a huge parade with music, fried food, weird and wonderful swamis and fortune tellers.

Here's a few of the swamis. These three were playing music and singing Hare Krishna mantras.


It's kind of dark, but you can see the number of people and one of the fires. Note, that I'm the only white person around.



This was one of many "Robot Fortune Teller" machines....Sadly, we couldn't find one in English.
Here's another weird swami. He was my favorite...he'd hold people's hands, chant and his eyes would rolll back in his head.

Towards the end of the walk, people were literally laying on the street taking naps. At the full moon in December they take a 100 foot wick, soak it in butter, hang it at the top of the mountain and light the thing on fire....we're thinking of going back just to see that! I met a guy who travels about 4 hours (each way) by bus every month to do the walk....crazy!