Was it worth it?

My journey north from Sarnath (the place where Buddha gave his first speech), was adventurous to say the least. I had my once-a-month spoiler in Sarnath – i stayed at the monastery guest house for twice the amount that i usually pay for accommodation, but with a good shower and clean. I left early in the morning by taxi and arrived at the train station with 2 hours to spare – my train was due in at 11am... when 12 o’clock arrived and they still hadn’t announced my train, i decided to go and investigate. That is when i discovered that it was running 3 hours late. 3 hours was not so bad when i compare it to the announcements they were making about other delays. So time passed and to cut a very long story short – my train was delayed by 14 hours and only arrived at 1.30am the following morning – so yes, that means that i was sleeping at the station until it arrived, in the heat... with mice running over me every now and then. The train ticket i had booked to Delhi was in 3AC, which means there were 3 bunk beds atop one another and the compartment had aircon – which is a really good thing considering it took 22hours to get there instead of the usual 16... so yes, that means i arrived in Delhi at 11.30pm – and no, i did not venture out at that time, instead i slept in the waiting room once again. This was a waiting room with a shower, so at 5.30am, after a few moments of sleep, i had a shower before heading to the bus station. I was expecting a bus in the eve, but there was one leaving in half an hour of me getting there, so i boarded and departed for Manali. The bus to Manali is meant to take about 12-14 hours but it took 18 due to an overturned truck, so i arrived at midnight. I was expecting everything to be closed, but was pleased to find things still open – so i managed to find an over-priced room with a resident rat. I was about to leave, but decided to show the rat the door – and it worked!!! The rat walked out of the room and left me in peace. I slept fitfully and woke up early the next morning to find out about busses to Leh. I was told i would have to catch a bus to Kelong (6 hours) and from there catch another bus to Leh (12hours) – it sounded easy enough. I waited for about 5 hours for the bus to Kelong, even though they kept saying it would arrive any moment... They were right in a way... LOL! This bus took 12hours to get to Kelong due to Landslides.... so i arrived at about 00.30am – the bus to Leh left at 4am, so after having something to eat, i decided it was pointless to get a room for such a short space of time, so the waiter kindly offered me the floor of the restaurant – which i accepted for the 3 hours of sleep which i had. I got up to see if there was space on the bus but there wasn’t, so there were a group of us that were all wanting to get there and not wait the 24hours till the next bus, so we hired a jeep – OUCH!! There were all men in the car, most of them smoked, and the journey took 24hours – did i mention there were 13 of us in the jeep?

one of the landslides...

We did not get far before we encountered our first landslide... all the people that were stuck, managed to fix the road by hand – enough so that we could get across the river/waterfall/landslide. We drove about 2 minutes until we encountered the next one. This one was a lot bigger and took a lot longer to fix – it required a digger – which the army fortunately had at hand, and they had the rebuild the road. Once a few cars were able to cross, the road disintegrated and they had to spend ages rebuilding it again... Once we were over the worst of the landslides, we had a flat tyre and had to get that sorted at the nearest village before moving on. By 8pm at night we were nowhere near our destination and our driver was having cold feet about continuing, but he did. We were now driving in convoy with another jeep as our driver appeared not to know the way, and the jeep we were in convoy with had 2 flat tyres while we were driving together and one prior to that – so 3 in one journey!! That of course meant that we stayed and helped change the tyre each time, and lent them a tyre on the third time. So our arrival time at our destination was 5.30am – a whole 24hours after departure!!

the views along the way...

By now I was exhausted and wanted to just carry on into the Nubra valley, but i first needed to arrange a permit as it is a restricted area. I decided to wait at the bus station and see what information i could gleen from other travellers. Luck was not on my side as one of the first people i met was a German guy, who at first didn’t understand my question and as a result was very defensive, and then when I was asking for directions and he realised i did not have a Lonely Planet guide for India – he proceeded to inform me in a condescending and frustrated manner that it is really important to have a clear mind and walked off in a huff. My reply was that a lack of a Lonely Planet guide did not imply an unclear mind. As i had been travelling for so many days without a good nights sleep, i was really tired and was on the verge of tears, but i sat there and breathed and waited for another tourist to arrive and asked her directions to the main area in Leh. What would have been more helpful is if i had just gone straight to a guest house and gone to sleep and woken up at 10am, but I was being driven by an energy that wanted me to do otherwise, so i walked up the hill, exhausted, hot and at high altitude, with all my lugguage looking for a place where i could get the permit. Strangely, taking the wrong road, led me right where i needed to be for the permit – but of course it was closed. So i walked back down the hill again, and managed to find a local guest house (not for tourists) and begged them to let me sleep for a few hours. I think i managed to lie down for one hour, and then the lady of the house was getting antsy at my being there so i left and went back up to the police station. I was then pointed to the right office around the corner and managed to arrange a permit for the following day – which meant that i had to spend the night in Leh. So once again i walked down the hill with all my lugguage and booked into the only guest house i could find. I was thinking i might get some sleep in the afternoon, but i had too much to do and my mind was in no state to rest – although it certainly needed it!!
During the day i bumped into Mary from the Netherlands (we had met on the 24hour landslide day) and we booked on the same bus to Nubra, at which point she said that i would stay with her during the teachings, as accommodation had been arranged for her. This was a godsend, as i had no clue where i was going to stay as i had not booked anything in advance.
The bus to Nubra valley started at 6am, and after dreaming of us being stuck in traffic, i am afraid to say that my dream came true! At the first army checkpost they were not letting any traffic through – they said due to a vehicle having gone down the cliff... After a long wait we finally were on our way, and what i thought was meant to be a 3 hour journey turned into a 10hour journey, as the bus we were on took us to the wrong village, despite us checking before buying the tickets – so when we arrived, we had to catch another bus to the correct village.

This was day one of HH Dalai Lama’s teachings in Sumur, so by the time we finally arrived there, the teachings were over. I was happy to have a bed to sleep in and a warm bucket of water with which to wash! The next morning I hitched a ride to the monastery and managed to get a seat right in front of the tourist section, which was less than 10m from where HH Dalai Lama was sitting giving teachings. After lunch, we were standing in the road and i realised that the people around us were getting ready for HH to arrive again, so we stayed to join them. And yes, i got to stand about 1m away from him. He did not see me on this occasion, but i was so happy with my photo that i didn’t mind. The afternoon teachings were debating and he was sitting in a different place, so i didn’t see him, but as he left he turned to my direction and bowed – and as i was only 1 of 2 people in that area – i think it is safe to say that he saw me.

Mary and I then went back to our guest house to pack and move to the next village for the next lot of teachings. Mary was invited to the school where she sponsors some children to attend the school, as well as raises money to help them improve the quality of the school – like getting wooden flooring for the hall and bedrooms so that it is not so cold in winter. The school had arranged a welcome party for her, and she invited me to join her. As i had nothing else to do (as it was a no-teachings day) i decided to join her and became her official photographer at the event.
It was really interesting to see the basic facilities that they have there – 8 children share a tiny room, which is kept very neat. The toilet is around the back of the dormitories and is of the long drop nature – only the hole at the top is really big, and the depth of the long drop is just not long enough... I was worried that i might fall through the hole, so i imagine that that might be a concern for the children as well. The children performed a welcome ceremony for Mary, and we were served tea and sweets. We found out that the Dalai Lama was invited to inaugurate the new school building which had been sponsored by a group of French people, and Mary was invited – and she invited me. The date was unknown and the school was nowhere near ready, so we went to help them clean up – i spent the afternoon cleaning the outside windows of the school.
The next day was also a day off, so after welcoming the Dalai Lama into town in the morning, i set off to do some walking. I got myself horribly lost, and was following only a cow path, but enjoyed myself nonetheless. I did not make it to the big river, as my path was obstructed by some sinking sand, but managed to find a spot next to a small river, and spent some time sitting there, enjoying the stillness.

The next day was the inauguration of the Maitreya statue which the inhabitants of the valley had built, but only VIP’s were allowed to attend the ceremony, and so the masses were allocated a space in the sun where HH was due to arrive at 12ish from the statue. So we waited in the sun for many hours for his arrival from the statue. When he did arrive and gave a talk it was in Tibetan and there was no English translation, so we didn’t get to understand what he was saying.
The next morning i set my alarm for 5am so that i could do my practice, but Mary was awake and said that a car was collecting us at 5.30 to take us to the statue as His Holiness had to conclude his inauguration and said that everyone should be allowed up. I thought she was sleep talking initially, but then realised that she was awake. The car was too full, so i offered to walk up. Along the way i bumped into a couple from Cape Town in South Africa – what are the chances! – and i told them about the ceremony, so they decided to go up as well. There were only a hand full of westerners there, and at first they wouldn’t let us in – so it looked like we were going to get to meet him when he arrived – but when they realised this, they let us in...
After the puja, the two from SA and I hitched a ride on the back of a truck that was carrying the drums and drummers that announce the arrival of the Dalai Lama, so we knew we were heading in the right direction. The tourist section was very full but i managed to squeeze myself in near the back. By lunchtime though more than half the people had left as it was really hot and there was no shade, so i managed a seat in front again. This time the tourist section was further away, so i was probably about 10m from HHDL. At the end of the day he announced that he would like to meet with all the westerners after the teachings the following day – great excitement!!
I arrived early the following morning to get a good seat, though the cameramen were obstructing my view, but at least i could hear the translation! We were told to get ourselves organised by continent as this was how we would meet the Dalai Lama, and so my two SA friends and I were very excited as we were the only people from the whole of Africa!!! Can you imagine that! When it came to meet him though, we all had to sit/stand/kneel around and area and he came out and started talking to us. He spoke of many things, like materialism, equality, religion, and the Tibet issue. When it came to having the photo, chaos ensued. No one was taking charge and so it was like a bit of a free for all. I was a bit concerned that the poor guy was being mobbed, but he managed to escape afterwards.

can you spot me in this pic?

He got straight in his car and headed straight for Lamdon School to do the Inauguration. But Mary had not arranged transport and finding a taxi proved to be very difficult. Finally we found a helpful guy who dropped us off, but we had already missed half of the event. Mary just managed to shake his hand as he was leaving, and as i was not a sponsor, i did not feel it was my place to move forward to meet him, so i stayed back instead.
The whole week felt like a bit of a whirlwind, feeling very chaotic at times and yet spacious as well.

The essence of the teachings were about the importance of understanding emptiness and cultivating compassion, as well as other things which i won’t go into here...

The Nubra valley is absolutely beautiful, and would encourage anyone who has the opportunity to make it here to do it! Winter might not be so pleasant, as it gets quite snowy here – and also the roads are closed most of winter – so try for summer, but be prepared for a long journey getting there!

Conclusion : Hell yeah!!!!!

Pickpockets, guardian angels, bandh, white rabbits and travelling on the cheap...

My Bangladesh angels

Well, I left Sikkim and headed into Darjeeling – the journey is only about 50km in total, but it takes two jeeps and about 5 hours to get there!!  The road is very narrow, bumpy and windy-windy. From Darjeeling i wanted to head straight from there to Bodhgaya, but i had to catch another jeep to Siliguri and get a bus from there. So I left Darjeeling early in the hope of catching an early bus to Putna – but the busses only left at 5.30pm so i spent the day hanging out in Siliguri, which proved to be interesting.  The ATM machine took my details and then didn’t give me the money, and then the people inside the bank were completely unhelpful (except for the nice guy whose department it wasn’t) – so that resulted in me making an emergency phone call to my bank to see if any transaction had taken place – fortunately not!!!

After spending the day waiting for the bus, it was finally departure time. As we were driving though, there were strange noises and so they kept stopping the bus to check the tyres and at one point even took the two back tyres off on the one side to check them.  This means that we were running late, so our scheduled arrival time of 5.30am was not going to be.  After many annoying pee breaks that were only suitable to the men on the bus, we were stopped at 6am as a murder had just taken place along the roadside, and we had to now wait for the police, ambulance etc. This took two and a half hours and during that time we lost most of the passengers on the bus, as they took alternative transport and headed back the way we came to go another way.  I decided to stay on the bus with some other people who were soon destined to become my guardian angels. So once there police had arrived and sorted things out, we left two and a half hours later – only to be stopped 20mins down the road in a strike (bandh). There were people blocking the road, and after about half an hour of waiting i decided to go chat with the police to see how long this was going to take as i was needing the toilet. He was very friendly and accommodating and allowed my buss to pass through the throng of people.  At this point i thought it was so cool, that being a tourist we were allowed through, but my glee was soon squashed when the bus stopped at a nearby shop – this was when i learned that we had only got through that crowd so that i could go to the toilet, and that we were not going to go further until the other vehicles were allowed through.  So when the other trucks came passed, we quickly joined them, only to be stopped 10 minutes down the road in another road block.  This carried on all day. Lots of waiting and a bit of driving inbetween. It was only at the last road block that fear arose.  Until then the demonstrators had been pretty calm, but now there were a lot of young boys – ranging in age from 8 to 16 who were enjoying taking up the opportunity to be destructive and aggressive.  I tried relating to the kids who i saw along the way, by greeting them and trying to chat with them – so there was some humanity in the space – but mostly their responses were condescending with an aggressive undertone.  I realised that i would make a lousy photojournalist, as i stayed well clear of the protestors (except the point where i asked the police to go to the toilet), as i did not want to provide them with an audience, which might encourage them to act out even more.

The last road block with the young kids (there were some adult men, but they were really just allowing the kids to get all hot under the collar and not doing much themselves), they were putting big cement blocks in the road so that vehicles couldn’t pass, and as more people started joining the party, the mob mentality was gaining momentum, and i watched as one young lad went to pick up some rocks and started hitting a vehicle with them who was trying to get through.  I saw one kid trying to push a car over – luckily no one joined him on that occasion. By now our driver had locked us inside the bus, and when i did manage to unlock it to go to the toilet, i just didn’t feel comfortable enough to go around the back of the buildings to pee, so i got back on board the bus.  The police were pretty ineffectual with this lot, so it was here where i started asking for some rain.  And it came – torrential amounts – thus causing all these protestors to run for shelter... YAY!! For me and all the other people trying to get through. So my bus driver put foot on the pedal and we drove all the way to our destination and arrived there 24hours after our departure time – that’s a whole extra 12 hours on the bus.  During all the time of waiting, we did not stop for meals, but managed to find a shop where we could stock up on water and biscuits – so it was biscuits for breakfast lunch and dinner!!! Lemon Maaza, Monaco’s (salty bix) and chocolate bourbons.  Arriving in Patna, I was presented with a huge array of buses and potential destinations.  Thankfully one of the guys from the bus said he was going to Ghaya, so i decided to follow him and his group.  I thought we were going to catch a bus, but no, we arrived at the train station.  I immediately got into the queue to buy a ticket, not knowing when the next train was, and then we all headed to the wrong platform.  I was getting used to their chaotic way of existence, and trying not to get caught up in it.  After a few hours wait on the platform – now 7pm, the train approached, as did many little Oliver Twists. There were a group of kids who just were around me the whole time and i was very aware of them, so when one started trying to unzip my moonbag I shouted at him to stop.  He did not go away though, and kept walking past me - even as i was getting on the train.  I realised that they use the chaos to their advantage. While waiting for the train, i had many people stop and ask me where i was from and where i was going, and offers to sit next to them – sometimes quite persistent offers – but i decided to stick with my group of friends from the bus.  There were 10 of them in total, all from Bangladesh and all Hare Krishna.

It was really interesting that when they first got on the bus in Siliguri, and they were doing their chaotic thing of trying to decide who sits where, i notice my mind make assumptions and have prejudices.  But after our ordeal of the 24hour bus journey, and them taking me under their wing for the journey to Bodhgaya, that changed.  I realised this group of 10 people were actually my guardian angels – and when we arrived at Gaya at 11pm, and i then discovered that Bodhgaya was some way away and that there is a possibility that every place would be closed by the time i got there – they picked me up as i was walking, and i went with them to where they were staying.

...follow the white rabbit...

This was a most interesting place. It was a really old building with a Hindu family living there with their parents and 4 young children. They had no running water and the wash area was a room that was used for spitting, washing dishes, bathing – you name it, it gets done there!  The toilet consisted of an open area within the confines of the building – possibly 10m by 10m. No lights, no hole in the ground – just the back yard... After a long while of the chaos of where everyone was going to sleep, i found myself a spot on the ground, and made myself as comfy as possible.  I had noticed before i went to bed the mosquitos and the big black ants, but i just went to sleep anyway and woke up 5 hours later, to see a white rabbit was also in residence.

My friends appeared later all shaven and with their Hare Krishna gear on – to the point that i didn’t recognise them, so i didn’t really get a chance to say good bye properly – although i had said good bye and thank you a couple of times the night before.

My leaving was a little more tricky as i was left there with this family, who seemed to not want to let me go for some or other reason.  I was taken on a tour of the Vishnu temple, and was offered some ceremony for my ancestors who had passed.  After much declining on my part, i was finally able to leave, and took an auto rickshaw to Bodhgaya, arriving 48 hours after having left Darjeeling...

a bodhi leaf from the bodhi tree

Graduation...

This is just a quick note to say that i have officially graduated and am now officially a Psychotherapist!!! Yay!! In honour of this occasion i am having dinner for one - dhal baat and coca cola... lol!! We will have to hold the big celebrations for when i get back ;-)

Rumtek, Sikkim

Rumtek is most famous for it’s monastery which is the official seat of the Karmapa.  Unfortunately the current Karmapa has not been able to reside here due to a court case where another person is claiming to be the Karmapa – so neither of them or their retinue are allowed here.  The place is also under armed protection by the Indian police – firstly because the items that are housed here are very valuable and there is the court case over them; and secondly because it was found to be on a list of targets by a group of terrorists.

My stay here was nothing but peaceful though.  I stayed in a ‘hotel’ just at the entrance of the monastery, and managed to spend two weeks here just doing my practice (prostrations and mantras).  The old Rumtek monastery is a 10 minute walk away from the new one and is where the Karmapa stayed when he fled Tibet during the Chinese occupation.  It is a tiny gompa (temple), but a very powerful place.

The new monastery where i am staying is home to over 300 monks, ranging in age from very young to very old (i don’t know exact ages.. lol!) The young monks go to regular school up until class 5, and then they decide on their future in or out of the monastery.

While i was here it happened to be the Karmapas birthday, and although he was not here, they had a small celebration in his honour.  They hung special curtains in his honour and the school children came and did a little concert with traditional Tibetan, Nepali and Indian dances – as well as some singing (microphone lessons would have been helpful!!).  When it came to singing happy birthday, they proceeded to sing it about 5 times... and they still wanted to go on, but thankfully the older kids stopped them.

It has also been the world cup football while here, and every evening the monks come and watch the games on the little tv at the hotel – what a lively occasion!!  We all choose a side at random and then shout for that team as if our lives depended on it... LOL!

I cant quite explain how beautiful it is here... it is rainy season, so there are always clouds about, and often times rainbows to go with that. The clouds are not always above, but sometimes below, which is such a strange feeling to be up in the clouds – literally! And i see all of this from my bedroom window...

Check back in a few days for some pics... internet is too slow and i am impatient ... lol!

Gangtok, Sikkim

Gangtok is supposedly part of India, but it is not like the rest of India, so it feels like i am in a very different – more civilised and less chaotic – place. When i first arrived i didn’t spend any time in Gangtok, but just took a bus straight to Rumtek, but have been back to Gangtok a couple of times to do internet stuff and tourist stuff. One of the touristy things that i did was go to the Himalayan Zoological park. They boast that you can see these amazing animals in a semi-natural habitat, and when i bought my ticket to go in the woman behind the counter reiterated that the animals were not kept in cages, as well as the park being 2.5km long. So, as i was walking in versus driving like others, I entered with a bit of trepidation, not knowing whether i could expect a black bear to come out from behind the trees. When i reached the sign saying Black bears, i was feeling a bit more relaxed thinking that they were probably in some form of enclosure and not just roaming freely. The enclosure has a six foot concrete wall around it and is not as big as i would have imagined. I could see the two bears and the one was displaying neurotic behaviour – and although i am not an animal behaviourist, it was easy to determine the behaviour as neurotic. It kept poking its head out of its hut, then going back and continuing in that manner. When it did come out, it would only walk a few paces before returning back. The other bear was sitting in the bushes munching away.

Next was the barking dear – never saw or heard any...
Then, after a long walk with no animal enclosures i arrived at a small area which had many. This was where i met Julie – she is a common leopard. I sat with her for a while and was sooo tempted to put my fingers through the fence to stroke her fur, i had to keep reminding myself that this was a leopard and not just a pretty big cat. When the woman at the ticket counter said they were not in cages, she didn’t quite specify what her definition of cage was. This was a caged enclosure with one leopard – I felt sad for Julie, as well as the other animals that i was to come across.
The otter enclosure was home to lots of mosquito lavae and that is about all...
The red pandas (the national animal of Sikkim), were sad looking creatures also displaying neurotic behaviour. Their enclosure was like a giant swimming pool with not water, and with some trees and plants inside.
Then there were some civet enclosures – I am not sure what these animals actually are, but theirs was definitely a caged enclosure!!

Then the snow leopard! Yes they, had a snow leopard in a enclosure – it was sleeping the whole time i was there so i only got to see its back... See if you can spot the leopard in the photo...
Lastly were the Tibetan Wolves, they had 3 of these white wolves in an enclosure.
Although i am grateful for having the opportunity to see these animals, i am also torn with the sadness that they are kept in such conditions. I don’t know, i was expecting them to look happy with their lives, and to have a nice home – I suppose that would make me feel better about going to see them... but i was disappointed.

Uploading pics is taking an age, so will do so at my next stop in a few days... soz