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Dearest readers,

I have not posted here in a long time, but I have a request. My travels to Nepal deeply influenced my life. During the recent 7.8 magnitude earthquake this beautiful country has suffered greatly. Unfortunately, once the immediate pain subsides, many troubles remain. Although the neighborhood of Kathmandu I primarily lived in, Boudhanath, fared reasonably well, the monastery where I studied suffered serious structural damage. The full impact of the damage is unclear at this time, but even in the best case scenario, significant financial assistance will be required.

The International Buddhist Academy (IBA) specializes in connecting Westerners to the study of Buddhism. This is both a philosophical and spiritual pursuit. I realize with so many suffering in Nepal it can be difficult to decide where to place one’s heartfelt donations, but I know that assisting IBA is absolutely worth it. If you can find it in your heart to send even the smallest amount of support, I would deeply appreciate it.

You can make donations here: http://www.gofundme.com/ibarelief?fb_action_ids=10206759363285715&fb_action_types=og.shares&fb_ref=m_d_ty

Here are some images of the damages:

Damaged IBA Damaged IBA 3Damaged IBA 7 Damaged IBA 4 Damaged IBA 5  Damaged IBA 8 My heart is with all of those suffering in the wake of this devastating event. May we all find it in our heart to send our continued support.

Bangalore Shopping Etc.

In our travels in Bangalore, we spent some quality time shopping. I was in search of a good statue of Ganesha as a present for my father. In our search we found one store with a plethora of options. I thought it was pretty funny to see the full line up of Elephant Gods. If you want to learn more about Ganesha check this out 

Ganesh Statues

The many forms of Ganesha

We made a solid attempt to visit the main tourist attractions in Bangalore; however, we had less than total success. This is the Bangalore Palace. Upon our arrival there, a Western Woman came up to us and told us that we shouldn’t pay to go inside. She said that it wasn’t work the money they asked for. Our tuk tuk driver confirmed that there wasn’t much to see inside. The whole thing had a roadside America vibe to it. Instead of going in we grabbed a soda and just happened to stumble into a rehearsal of a British style bagpipe band. Overall it was an experience, but not one of exploring the insides of this place.

What was that I said? A tuk tuk? Yes, tuk tuks were our main mode of transportation in major cities throughout India. I happened to grab a really good shot of our Bangalore tuk tuk. Three wheels and thin metal sides. The most common vehicle for people to die in motor related accidents in Asia, the tuk tuk

Although we took a slightly unconventional spin to our sight seeing in Bangalore, I did walk away with some nice purchases from the city. Here is my first authentic Indian outfit.

Long time no see

Hey guys!

I’m sorry to report that I was unable to stay on top of this blog for my summer adventure. Despite my best intentions, the challenges with finding decent internet and the time to keep this baby rolling was more than I could manage. However, in an attempt to make up for these challenges, I hope to provide you with something of a retrospective recap of my adventures. I plan to, as time allows, give you something of a photo essay capturing the highlights of my India travels. I am hoping to post some of my favorite pictures from the trip with some accompanying explanation. I have returned to the States as of August 8th and will begin my senior year at the University of Arizona in just a few short weeks. I make no promises as to the frequency of the coming posts, but I do want to share some of the best parts of my experiences.

Keep a weather eye out my friends! There be adventures ahead!

One extremely long train ride and one more night in Delhi, we grabbed a plane and made our way to Bangalore. The airline we used is called Indigo (a word play on India-go). We almost didn’t make the plane on time, but fortunately we made it.

Once in Bangalore it was time to venture to our hotel. The hotel was recommended to us by some family members, but we weren’t entirely sure where it was located. Fortunately our Taxi driver knew the way.

The clean-er streets of Bangalore

On the drive from the airport to the hotel I started to feel really excited. The temperature in

Bangalore was much much cooler than Delhi. The roads seemed to be a bit better and things were generally cleaner. By the end of that car ride I was feeling pretty darn good about being in Bangalore.Bangalore is famous for being the technology capital of India. I felt quite at home coming from California. In general the majority of people in Bangalore seemed to be living more comfortably than some of the other places we visited. Yay prosperity.

Our hotel was located right next to a major shopping area. The street was dotted with KFC, Pizza Hut, an Adidas store, a Nike store, and a few local higher end stores. At the end of our street there was one massive government run cottage industries store. I saw “Cottage Industry” stores all over India. I’m not entirely sure why that term is used, but it basically means handicraft store. This one was full of tourists and had a wide range of items to choose from.

Mahatma Ghandi Road- Bangalore

Going down Muhatma Ghandi Road (one of the major roads in Bangalore and very close to our hotel) we discovered a grocery store. I was quite pleased to discover some Diet Dr. Pepper and Diet A&W Rootbeer. If you know much about my life in the states, I drink diet soda a lot. I was quite happy to get  a bit of it again here. I got Sonam to try the rootbeer, a first time experience for him, and he did not enjoy it at all.

The next day we adventured to some of the sights in Bangalore.

Dhera Doon

One very long overnight bus ride and we found ourselves in Dhera Doon. We passed some really impoverished areas on the way into town. It’s so strange to see the very wealthy people living in such close proximity to those who are less fortunate. We passed this extremely  fancy garden area which turned out to be one of the major academies for the military in the area. Right outside its wall were some individuals who couldn’t even afford proper clothing. Strange and sad juxtaposition. Needless to say this was not the best first impression of Dhera Doon. But, we found a decent hotel and headed off to see the sights.

Our not-taxi

Our first stop was to Sakya College. Our hotel was not very centrally located so finding a car to take us into town proved a bit challenging. We ended up taking this old man’s billboard car (I’m not sure what exactly to call it). I ended up sitting altogether too close to this man and Sonam as we squished inside.

Sakya College looked pretty locked up. Its summer holiday now, so there are only a few monks here and there. We wandered around to the back entrance and made our way inside. We went inside the main complex and visited with some of the monks there. This is one of the major Monastic education centers for the Sakya lineage of Tibetan Buddhism. It is also where Sonam received his BA and MA. The campus is relatively large and beautiful. It was very quiet during our visit which I imagine is not typical when class is in session. It looked like a very nice place to study. We were allowed to visit the main shrine room and make use of the canteen.

After Sakya College, we headed over to the home of the leader of the Sakya lineage. His palace

Sakya College

(I think that is the right word to use) was quite large. We wandered past the small herd of cows and found our way to the dinning room. There we were invited to eat lunch and have a relaxing chat. As it turns out the man we came to see was out of town. Although we didn’t get to see him, it was very nice to spend some time eating and relaxing with some very friendly people.

And so ended my visit to Dhera Doon.

Dalai Lama Palace

We took a long bus ride over night to Dharmasala from Delhi. We grabed our bus in Manju ka tilla, the Tibetan neighborhood in Delhi we were staying. The bus company is called Ama which means mother in Tibetan. The bus ride started with a free bottle of water and a cool hand towel.

Sleeping on a bus in India, even a nice tourist bus, is not that easy. Sonam is really good at sleeping in any form of transportation, but I do not have his skills. The final leg of the journey was really windy. I was definitely awake for that part. By the time we got to Dharamasala, we were up in the mountains, so it was much cooler.

We got out of the bus and walked over to the central chowk. It was early morning and there were mostly a few people from the bus wandering around. We headed over to a hotel  Sonam knew of. Unfortunately it was some holiday for the neighboring schools, so finding a room proved somewhat challenging. We wandered around trying maybe three or four places. I was basically following Sonam without really knowing what we were doing. Finally I started to ask why we were wandering around in circles. Another foreigner overheard our conversation and offered some help. We headed over to her hotel where there were still a few available rooms. Once I made it to my room I was ready for a rest.

Dalai Lama Palace

A few hours later and we were off to the Dalai Lama’s Palace. After trying to go into the palace through the wrong door, we found our way to the main entrance.  After security checked to make sure we didn’t have any matches, we found our way to the courtyard. When the Dalai Lama gives teachings, all the attendees sit in this courtyard as His Holiness sits on his big throne speaking into a microphone. As some children ran around playing, we took our shoes off and headed upstairs to see the main place of worship.

There were many large statues of different Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. Most of the statues there were built to replicate those found in the Dalai Lama’s palace in Lhasa. At the feet of all of these statues there were many offerings including, Cadbury chocolate, Digestives, choco cakes (similar to American Moon Pies) and of course small piles of rupees. Of course I still want to know what ultimately happens to these offerings. I imagine the food goes somewhere after it has officially been. In the main temple there were also some monks working diligently on a sand Mandala. I thought it was pretty cool to see real monks working on a sand manadala in the Dalai Lama’s Palace.

Before we left, Sonam and I walked into the room for offering butter lamps. There were three nuns tending to the lamps. It was terribly hot in the room and everything was black from all the fire. We paid a few rupees and made our own butter lamp offering.

From there we made our way over to the museum to learn more about Tibet in exile. Naturally the exhibit started off discussing human rights and the devastation Tibet has suffered in recent history. Throughout the museum there were images of known individuals who sacrificed themselves for Tibet. Some of them were monks who killed themselves for the cause, some were individuals who mysteriously disappeared after speaking out. The museum was very successful in making the whole conflict much more personal. The museum culminated in a documentary about the history of the conflict and what has been happening recently. It was a lot to wrap your head around.

After our visit to the Dalai Lama’s palace we headed back to the hotel and decided to spend the rest of the day discussing philosophy and doing some work on my research project. The following day we continued this work.

Taj Mahal Part 2

We woke up early and headed off to the long awaited Taj Mahal. Our taxi driver took us to the front gate and we proceeded down the parkway. We passed rikshaws, horse and carriages, and even  a few camel and carriages. In the surrounding park monkeys were playing and the sun seemed to be shining a little brighter for our visit.

We found our way to the front gate of Taj and tried to navigate purchasing tickets. There are always two lines, sometimes more. Normally the foreigner line has almost no people and then the Indian local line is jam packed with human bodies uncomfortably close to each other. Well, it would be uncomfortable for me anyways. Sonam is always game to take on the local line, but I went straight over to the foreigner queue. 750 Rupees later and I was holding the premier tourist ticket. This includes a bottle of water, shoe covers (for once inside the Taj Mahal proper), and a government approved guide. Much to Sonam’s dismay he too had to buy a foreigner ticket, although his was only for being from Nepal which meant it cost less than mine.

In our travels I always carry my little backpack which includes my handy little Toshiba laptop. Unfortunately, laptops are not allowed in the complex, so I had to leave it in the lockers. Although I was not too comfortable with that, I didn’t really have a choice and I figured the security here at the Taj Mahal is probably as good as any tourist place I could visit in the country.

After going through some security, a metal detector and a brief pat down, we began our tour. Our guide was very nice and he explained a lot about the history and construction of the building. He spoke English well although I imagine he was a little too fast for Sonam to understand everything and I occasionally had to think about what he was trying to say. I’m a little less than fluent in the Indian accent at this point in my journey.

We wandered around the courtyard prior to the main complex. Our guide explained that the entire complex is built to be perfectly symmetrical. If the door of all the main buildings were open one could look straight down and see clear through. Finally we entered the main complex and there it was, The Taj Mahal in all her glory. The rest is best described through our photos:

A view of one of the mosque next to the Taj itself

 

Our first view of the Taj Mahal from the courtyard

A classic seat for a photo.

Taj Mahal Part 1

Getting some gas as we travel onward to Agra

After a day of rest in Delhi and a quick visit to one of the fanciest malls in the city, Rajiv Chowk- Connaught Place, we were off to Agra. Sonam helped get a taxi driver to take us on the 5 hour journey to Agra. There was a bit of drama because we were promised one taxi driver and we ended up with another guy in a different car by our departure time. In any event, we hit to the road to Agra around 6 in the morning.

The taxi did have decent Air Conditioning; however, the driver was not a fan of using it. The early part of the morning didn’t really require AC, although it would have been appreciated, but by the time we approached our destination the AC was definitely needed. The driver turned it on for some time, and then turned it off, and back on and so forth. The drive was long but the road wasn’t too bad. Some parts of the road were up to Western standards, but before long it was back to big pot holes and the occasional cow.

We stopped at one store to get a drink along the way. The food looked sketchy there, so we ended up with an Miranda Orange Soda.

Finally we approached Agra and stopped at our first tourist destination. Sikandra is the tomb of one of the famous Moughal emperor, Akbar. There was a large garden area and the architecture was very reminiscent of that found at the Taj Mahal. The taxi driver took us there without really explaining what it was or even the name of the place. We managed to figure out some of the basics without a guide. We walked around the complex. There were absolutely no informational signs anywhere. We mostly took in the sights and later on checked out the guidebook for more information. The place was beautiful, but after the drive and the heat, I was pretty exhausted.

As we drove into Agra proper we decided to visit a restaurant and take a rest. The restaurant had very good AC which I was quite grateful for. We decided it was a good time to eat lunch and it turned out to be a very good decision. The food was delicious and we finally got the rest we needed.

After this refreshing break we ventured onward to the Agra Fort. This massive complex built by Akbar from 1565 and 1573 is heavily fortified and served for much of the royal business of the empire. A massive moat surrounded the whole of the fort which was once filled with water from the Yamuna river and was home to many crocodiles. This is also where Shah Jahan, the man who built the Taj Mahal for his beloved wife, was imprisoned. He was locked up in one of the towers of the complex and was permitted to worship in his own private mosque.

In our exploration of the massive Agra Fort we were discovered by two individuals. At first I thought they wanted me to take a picture of the two of them, they looked to be a happy couple, but it turns out they wanted to take a picture with me. Sonam and I stood next to each of them in turn as they took the photo. I was really confused by this. I felt like I had become a celebrity and I didn’t know it. After puzzling for some time about why they wanted me and Sonam to pose for the picture, I decided no harm could come from it. Sonam suggested that they could have been tourists from a more rural part of India and they were excited to see some people who looked very different.

We took a bunch of pictures and caught our first glimpse of the Taj Mahal. After so much exploring, it was time to take a rest. We headed off to our hotel and decided to call it a night. The Taj Mahal would have to wait until morning.

Flight to India

My flight from LAX to Amsterdam was relatively smooth. I had a small issue getting to the right terminal at LAX, as always. It was a DELTA flight but it was actually operated by KLM which has its terminal on the other side of the airport. In any event, I arrived with enough time that it wasn’t too serious an issue.

When I got to Amsterdam I had a few hours to kill. I wandered around and discovered the airport is more like a mall. There were huge stores and a big area to hang out in. I didn’t explore the whole area, but I wandered around for a while. I bought a soda and enjoyed some free wifi for a bit.

The gates at Amsterdam are different than I am used to. I’m not sure how secuity works at the front of the airport, since i was just transfering, but at the gate proper I had to go through way more than in the states. There were two full body scanners and two xray machines for the bags. I can only imagine how much money it must have cost to get that many high tech machines for every gate. I spread my legs and put my hands in the air as the full body scanner swiped past me.

Once on the plane everything seemed to be going well. The service at KLM is very nice. But, before I was too settled, there I heard a strange noise. A man in the back of the plane, part of my compartment but still relatively far from me, was yelling. It didn’t sound like very terrified yelling, but it was definitely unhappy. This continued on for quite some time and virtually everyone in the surrounding area stood up to see what was happening. It was so distant to me that at first I thought someone was outside the plane and yelling. When I realized it was in the plane, I thought that perhaps this was a mentally ill individual with an aversion to flying. However, when I saw three official looking individuals restraining the screaming man I suspected something else was happening.

Some of the crew members tried to tell us that the man was accompanied and there was nothing to worry about. Eventually the captain came over the PA system and explained that this individual was being deported back to India and he was being escorted by 5 officers from the Dutch police. I overheard one of the crew members explaining that this is a common tactic for individuals being depoted. They try to make a comotion prior to take off in some fleeting attempt to stay on the ground longer. Fortunately, once the airplane took off, the comotion stopped and things went back to normal.

Upon my arrival in Delhi it took much longer than it should have to go through customs. One official seemed to have a problem with his computer which obviously required all three other officials who were working my station to go have an elaborate conversation about it. But, eventually I made it through.

I found my bags and made my way outside. There I found my welcome party complete with a beautiful bouquet of flowers. One long taxi ride later and I found myself in Manju Ta Killa to spending my first night in Delhi.

It’s off to Neverland!

Wearing my pack as I get SUPER EXCITED!

 

 

My bag is officially packed, I am checked into my flight, and I am so excited I’m about to bounce off the walls!

When I checked in to my flight, they gave me the weather forecast for Delhi. I saw 87F and thought, “That’s only Tucson bad” but then I realized that other number, which I first dismissed as the Celsius equivalent was actually the high: 111 degrees Fahrenheit! Time for melt-your-face- off heat! But I’m going in assuming this trip is going to be full of hideous heat and probably more than a few bugs. So, Bring it on!

Sonam has safely arrived in Delhi and is now awaiting my arrival. I will fly from LAX to Amsterdam in the Netherlands. 3 hour layover and I’m headed for Delhi! Let’s get this party started 😀