busbyfreyblog: December 2007

Tuk Tuk to the Train for One Hour

As we've now passed the midpoint on our journey through various (if not always carefully) selected areas of Southern Asia, the desire to travel has been numbed by long hours spent in transit: pushy agents and overzealous touts accosting you like pollution as despicable children tug at your sleeve for money... along with the everyday risks of the road (no traffic laws, no child seats). It comes to mind that its actually the holidays back there. You make a few phone calls to family--which makes the homesick worse. The question rises to the surface: have we reached burnout or is this just normal travel fatigue? And yea, its difficult to travel with a lone four year old.

Backpack Backpack!

At the Train Station in Haridwar

So there we were in Northern India--a country of endless travel opportunities. Although we had found respite in the peaceful surroundings of Rishikesh, it was time to move on. Winter was coming early to the Himalayas and it was raining on us in the foothills. You may recall that Amaya had DEMANDED an immediate return to the beaches of Thailand!

Another Long Roadtrip in the Life of Amaya

So we returned to Delhi and found a cheap hotel at midnight. We decided that we "just had to" see the Taj Mahal before leaving India. Unable to secure a return train ticket we missed an early morning departure; so we payed a small fortune to a race-car driver from Agra. We were whisked at high speeds through crowded bumper to bumper to cart, cow, or camel traffic more than four hours in order to make it to the Taj gate before closing... Was it worth it? After all we had seen so many monuments, temples and architectural wonders...

But then, there it was: The Taj Mahal! Built to symbolize LOVE! Unbelievable: Composition. Balance. Grandeur. Beauty. Tragedy. History... okay photos don't do it--you've got to see it to believe it. It took our breath away.

Amaya makes a few false starts in the gardens.

Dusk on the Taj

Unfortunately for the viewers at home, our funk (and the hour spent in line) meant we missed sunset and the quality photographic lighting that you've come to expect from busbyfreyblog... HA. You could feel the light fade off the incredible marble.

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Want to hear a long irrational rant? You may want to take our advice and never EVER fly on Royal Nepal Airlines. Although they set us up pretty good when they cancelled our flight for 3 days in Bangkok last summer, we still think they suck. We should have been tipped off when the BBC reported that they had sacrificed goats to deal with technical problems last August. We spent days dealing with them over a very simple itinerary. So I'll skip the full tale of woe and just mention that instead of simply flying straight from Bombay to Bangkok, we were forced to return to Kathmandu for a 36 hour layover; new visas, new currency, hotel, taxis, departure taxes, long lines etc etc & c.

Amaya Gets Pushy after Five hours of Waiting

We woke up to CNN reporting that fog had delayed most morning flights out of Delhi; our evening departure time came and went. We had no information on what was going on. We finally met an Indian couple with the same tickets and suddenly followed them, cutting in front on long lines, rushing down corridors, and onto the jet which took off moments later. Kathmandu was unrecognizable when we arrived. All the trekkers were gone and the place seemed empty. We woke up to read in the local paper that Royal Nepal Airlines had cancelled all of their flights for the next two weeks. Their office was closed for a holiday. There was a side article about the King "borrowing" one of the company's two Boeings on a "jont to Africa" and still owing some 46 million Nepalese Rupees for the trip... We later figured that the odd food service from our flight was making us sick.

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Okay, back to the lonleyplanet approved hype about travel. We had already done so much. Amaya was still enjoying herself thanks to good ol' fashioned sweet related bribery. So it is said, there are Up and Downs to travel. Amazing things happen in the middle too.

From the window: Mt. Everest is the tall dark triangular peak on the left; its hiding behind the Lhotse-Nuptse massif; Makalu is the taller peak to the right.

We took off from Kathmandu on a cold clear frosty morning (the perfect kind for climbing!) and what do ya know but the Top of the World--The Third Pole--Sagamartha, aka Chomolungma aka EVEREST was just outside of our window.

I could make out Mera, a smaller summit on the far left which I had to myself one April afternoon as storm clouds moved in and blocked the Makalu to Everest view... memories. I thought about all of those days we had just spent wondering through so many ecological niches of the subcontinent... the lush rice paddys, the 4000 foot waterfalls, 15 grand of near vertical ice, and then dragging Amaya up to near 18,0000 feet after a snowstorm. We had had a nice taste of Southern Nepal and Northern India too: elephants, camels, sandunes, sunsets to yoga on the Ganges and so many ghats and religous pilgrams. We had now come full circle...

Back in our Bangkok Hideout

And we still have three months for... anything, like: me to perfect the beachbum-dad image; learn to cook thai; backpack Laos, wats in Cambodia, trains in Viet Nam... who knows?

Things might get delayed as we head for the beach, so if we don't get to you before: MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR!

as always, thanks for tuning in... hope to hear from you soon.

We are in Rishikesh---at the point where the sacred Ganges River emerges from the Himalayas and flows out over the plains of northern India. Rishikesh translates as "One who has Conquered their senses" ...and there is definitely a multitude of meditation and yoga classes; numerous ashrams abound. As ever, we are preoccupied with all things Amaya and cannot be bothered to delve too deeply into the study of various Hindu philosophies... or the full on ayurvedic lifestyle (although some yoga and massages were in order).

Shiva Temple

Trayambakeshwar Temple and River Ganges

Hmm

A day hike to some waterfalls...

Okay, besides all the cultural stuff and Rishikesh being known as the "yoga center of the world," I really wanted to take advantage of Rishikesh as "the gateway to the Indian Himalayas." I had investigated several trekking ops--and ever eager to check out Nanda Devi and other monumental peaks, I could almost taste it. However, we've been deterred. The driving sounded ugly and I feared an early winter at altitude ...with the kid. Perhaps its the season, or just travel burnout, but Amaya quickly vetoed any suggestion of more trekking in cold wind (after 2 months in Nepal). She has demanded an immediate return to Thailand's warm beach fronts for a kinder, softer holiday. So we are making arrangements along these lines.

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Oh yea, we recently had the opportunity to attend a traditional Hindu wedding with about 2,000 other guests. Although it was difficult to interpret what was going on by western standards; we were treated to an amazing feast of epic proportions...