Lazy Days in Lipe

Not too much to report from Koh Lipe, it’s been one lazy day after another. Our friend Josh flew in from Hong Kong to spend the next couple of weeks with us. We spent some time at the beach and then lounged around in hammocks for sunset; with the moonless sky the stars were incredible last night. Matt and Josh signed up for an open-water scuba course so they’ll be on a boat for the next 4 days visiting various islands. I’m going to use that time to work on my tan and do some snorkeling. You only have to go 20 feet from the beach to see living coral and the most beautiful fish.

Well, that’s all for now. We hope you all have a happy and safe New Year!

Merry Christmas from Koh Lipe

We hope everyone had a great holiday. Christmas day for us was much the same as the day before. Everyday consists of waking up and getting breakfast and coffee. After breakfast we tend to relax on our porch and then walk down to the beach below to find some lounge chairs. In between sunbathing sessions we read or go snorkeling. In the afternoon, we venture into “town” which is just a path into the jungle with various shops, restaurants and bars along the way. We’ll eat some apple pancakes or fruit shakes and find a dinner spot (usually serving BBQ shrimp, steak, tuna, pork and chicken). Our vegetarian diet has slowly been replaced with a carnivorous one.

In the evenings we tend to find a nice beach bar to relax at. Most are outfitted with floor pillows, candles and hammocks where you can hear the waves of the ocean mixed with the music. Last night we caught a fire show at Karma Bar (just below our place). It was a great show with performers on rocks in the middle of the water, and dancing on either end of the beach, etc. It was one of the best shows we’ve seen. We've included a short video at the end of this blog post.

Well, this will be it for now. Merry Christmas everyone!

Paradise

We’ve arrived in paradise and it’s called Koh Lipe. This island is so beautiful, the sand is a fine white powder and crystal clear water. It’s surrounded by larger islands which are in a national park; we’re planning on kayaking to some of them soon. We have a great bungalow with an amazing view of the beach below. There are coral reefs all around the island which will be great for snorkeling. We’ll be spending the next couple of weeks on this island, celebrating Christmas and New Years Thai style.

Today we spent the morning at the beach and then walked around the island. It only takes 30 minutes to completely circle Koh Lipe. The island is mainly habited by sea gypsies; generations have lived here off the land and sea. The majority of the bungalows here are made from bamboo and wood rather than concrete which the more “developed” islands are scattered with. Most of the bars/restaurants on the beach are made from driftwood, giving one that deserted island sort of feeling. There is one bar on the beach next to our place where you can relax on large mats with candles in the sand.

Besides from the occasional crab startling on the beach there really isn’t much to complain about. Pictures give the best description of Koh Lipe…

Ton Sai Bay

After 5 nights in Krabi we decided to take a long tail boat to Ton Sai Bay. Krabi was great but very touristed, two words…McDonald’s Delivery. Ton Sai is only about 15 minutes away and a quiet little stretch of beach and bars. The place lights up at night with fireworks and fire shows. We have a cute little bungalow just a short walk from the beach. Unfortunately I came down with food poisoning on the second night, so the last couple of days were spent in bed. It was my mistake for eating chicken from a street vendor; it came medium-rare with a side of salmonella.

We took a 2 hour boat to Koh Lanta and we stayed in a beautiful resort right on the beach. It was a short stop in Koh Lanta as the next day we had an onward boat ticket to Koh Lipe; the southern most island in Thailand and just a couple of hours from the Malaysia border.

Krabi Thailand

We've finally arrived in Krabi! It is so nice here, I've never seen beaches this beautiful. Unfortunately Matthew became sick shortly after we arrived in Delhi, another case of dysentary... We're not sure if it happened after he shook the taxi driver's hand or the samosa that he ate along the way but he's been sick for the last 2 days. He started taking antibiotics again and is starting to feel better though.

We went to Ao Nang Beach our first day in Krabi. It's a beautiful stretch of beach where people sell you ice cold coconuts, offer massages ($5 for 1 hour), give you pineapple and drinks. It's a tough life in Thailand... :)

Today we plan to go to Railay Beach, which is a 20 min boat ride away. There you can rockclimb the limestone rocks in the water. If you fall, you just plunge into 85 degree water!

Varanasi and Sarnath

We are having a great time in Varanasi. There are so many things to see and do that it is difficult to get bored here. We found our favorite restaurant with great thali’s and deserts, homemade apple pie with ice cream.

We changed hotels and our balcony is overlooking one of the burning Ghats. The hotel is in a great location if you are trying not to have a good night sleep. There is the constant beating of drums, animals making their noises and holy men singing till the wee hours in the morning. On the other hand we are a stones throw from the river and very close to the main Ghat that leads into many narrow streets filled with shops.

On the way to the hotel, Donna fell in sewage…again. She was trying to take a short cut and slipped and fell on her back. Luckily for her the backpack broke the fall. Her subconscious seems to direct her towards all the vile things one could fall into.

Two days ago, we took a sunrise boat ride down the Ganges River where you can see people starting their day: Men praying or taking a morning bath, women washing clothes and of course the constant cremations at the burning Ghats. We visited the main burning Ghat where there was a “hospice” which wasn’t more than an abandoned building with people close to death lying on the floors. For the most part, people in this building wait to die and beg for money to pay for their cremation. A cremation is rather expensive for lower caste Indians, about 50,000 Rupee or $1,250 for the wood. Five different types of wood are used for the cremation and more wood is needed for a larger body. Speaking of bodies, we noticed a woman lying on the ground close to the burning Ghat in front of our hotel. She must have passed away that day. Her body was still stiff and there was money around her that people left for her to have a proper burial. We were a little awestruck, so we walked by a few times to make sure what we encountered was true…and it was.

Yesterday we took a day trip to Sarnath, a small town about 10km away, to the site where Lord Buddha gave his first sermon after attaining enlightenment. Here in the Deer Park, he delivered his first sermon, or in religious language, set in motion the Wheel of Law (Maha-Dharmachakra Pravartan). The Emperor Ashoka (c 304 - 232 BC), who spread the Buddha's message of love and compassion throughout his vast empire, visited Sarnath around 234 BC, and erected a stupa here. Several Buddhist structures were raised at Sarnath between the 3rd century BC and the 11th century AD, and today it presents the most expansive ruins amongst places on the Buddhist trail. We explored all of the ruins around the temple. It’s an interesting site not only because of the history, but because visitors are allowed to walk/sit on the ruins. We’ve never been to such an ancient place without it being caged off with guards.

We are now down to our last day in India and looking forward to the beaches of Thailand. India has been a great experience, with memories that will last a lifetime. Pictures and words can’t completely describe the sights, sounds and smells here. I think for both of us, our favorite city would have to be McLeod Ganj with Varanasi a close second. We are going to miss the food; we’ve been living on dal, rice, aloo ghobi, paneer butter masala, palak paneer, papa dum with raita, chapatti, nan, paratha, etc. We’ve been on a pretty strict vegetarian diet with the exception of eggs in the morning. We’re looking forward to seafood dishes in Thailand and a change in spices. Donna is craving a Big Mac, which she can get in Krabi. We’ll miss the craziness of all of the animals everywhere: monkeys, cows, bulls, water buffalos, goats, sheep, camels, elephants, donkeys, horses, pigs and dogs, lots of dogs. We’ll also miss the people: guides with no hassle, relentless rickshaw drivers trying to take us to their brothers shop, holy men asking for donations, local children pointing us in the right direction when we were lost, sleazy beer shop owners trying to cheat us out of rupees, kamikaze drivers that somehow made us feel very safe, and the local business owners who would go out of there way to make sure we were having an enjoyable experience. All-in-all India was great and we’ll definitely be back to see more. It feels like we’ve only visited a fraction of the country in the last 2 1/2 months.

We fly to Delhi tomorrow, then to Bangkok on Wednesday with a short flight down to Krabi, where we’ll spend our first few nights. We’ll post next from Thailand.

Varanasi

We just relaxed our last day in Agra. We found a café which would hold our backpacks and we played cards, watched movies and talked with other travelers. Our train to Varanasi wasn’t due to leave until 11:30 pm so we had plenty of time to kill. We left for the train station at about 10pm and found our platform. Our train was delayed by one hour and by 12:30am we were ready to crash. We found our birth and settled in, it’s fairly comfortable; you have a small bed, sheets, pillow, etc. We were due to arrive in Varanasi at 12:30pm the next day as it was an 11 hour train. We woke up around 11am thinking we were almost there only to find out that we were still over 8 hours away from our destination (which ended up being over 12 hours once all was said and done). We arrived in Varanasi at 11pm exhausted and hungry; the total train ride being 23 hours. Thankfully our driver was there waiting to take us to our hotel but unfortunately no restaurants were open.

We woke up and took a nice walk along the Ganges River today; Varanasi is a very colorful place. Along the river there are herds of water buffalo, children selling flowers for puja, boats and holy men. There are ghats, burning and bathing, all along the river and they really are a site to see. For someone who hasn’t witnessed a burning ghat, or conducted a cremation, it can be a shock. Wealthier families cremate their loved ones with wood close to the river and lower castes cremate via electricity above the river. The body is set atop a pile of burning wood about 4 feet in height and burned until the majority of the body is in ash and the remnants are brought into the river. One can see the process first hand and it’s an enlightening experience. There are three major burning ghats, one which operates all day and two that hold ceremonies in the evening around 6:30pm. People during the evening ceremony light candles in bowls with flowers and push them into the river for prayer. Keep in mind this is up stream, so whatever remains slawly makes its way down the river to the washing and bathing ghats…What’s truly amazing is that the Ganges river is one of the most heavily polluted in the world; however, most parasites like cholera only live for minutes in the water but for weeks in normal drinking water. Matt’s going for a swim tomorrow with the locals…

Varanasi is one of the oldest living cities in the world, a city which, since it is both an exalted place of pilgrimage and an idealize centre of faith, has been likened to Jerusalem and Mecca.According to the historians, the city was founded some ten centuries before the birth of Christ. The city is mentioned in Holy Scriptures like 'Vamana Purana', Buddhist texts and in the epic 'Mahabharata'.Mark Twain,the English author and literature,who was enthralled by the legend and sanctity of Banaras,once wrote:"Banaras is older than history,older than tradition,older even than legend and looks twice as old as all of them put together."This is a great place to spend our last week in India.

Fatehpur Sikri

We went to Fatehpur Sikri, a ghost town about 40km south of Agra. The main area of the town was really busy with people constantly hasseling us to be our tour guide, rickshaw drivers, children begging, and people selling postcards. Though once we went behind the main monument to the ruins it was extremely quiet. We seemed to be the only people back there with only a few locals walking by.

This town was built by the Mughal Emperor, Akbar. He had planned this city as his capital but shortage of water compelled him to abandon the city. After this within 20 years, the capital of Mughals was shifted to Lahore. Fatehpur Sikri was built during 1571 and 1585. Today this ghost city has a population of about 30,000. This deserted city has retained many of the old structures and is one of the finest examples of Mughal architecture. Fatehpur Sikri Mosque is said to be a copy of the mosque in Mecca and has designs, derived from the Persian & Hindu architecture.

The Taj Mahal and Agra Fort

We made it out at sunrise to see the Taj Mahal; the most extravagant monument ever built for love. The Taj was built by Emperor Shah Jahan as a memorial to his wife, who died giving birth to their 14th child in 1631. Her death left the Emperor so heartbroken that his hair is said to have turned grey overnight. Construction of the Taj was started that same year and was completed in 1653. It’s absolutely beautiful.

Afterward, we had some breakfast and took a rickshaw to the Baby Taj and then to the Agra Fort. The ride between places was almost more interesting than the sites themselves. We traveled over a small bridge which was packed with taxis, rickshaws, motorbikes, men pushing vegetable carts and bulls carrying goods. Traffic was held up at one point by an elephant just hanging out in the street.

We are taking a side trip to Fatehpur Sikri tomorrow, about 40km south of Agra. It is mainly a ghost town; it used to be used to be the Mughal Empire’s capital between 1571 and 1585, during the reign of Akbar.

Naggar to Chandigarh to Agra

Our days in Naggar were a bit boring. The town is extremely small and since it is off-season, only a few places were open (one small store and two restaurants). I think we may have been the only tourists there. We played many, many games of cards and dominos, ordered room service and watched terrible b-movies (most channels are in Hindi with only about 3 channels in English). Matt enjoyed Old Monk Rum and hot water; a traditional liquor from North India and only 100 Rs per bottle or 2.50 US, until our hot water heater broke :). Then Matt enjoyed just Old Monk Rum.

We were watching a Hindi news channel and noticed that they were showing a map of India with bombs flashing, one being in Varanasi; our last destination in India. We were concerned but had no access to English newspapers so we were going to have to wait until we could get access to the internet.
After three nights in Naggar we hired a driver take us to Chandigarh, about a 9 hour drive south. Unfortunately, the hotel we booked didn’t retain our reservation and they were completely booked. The hotel manager was nice enough to call around and find us another hotel though.
We left Chandigarh at 6:30am the next morning for the train station and after 13 hours arrived in Agra. The train ride was long, we were in a birth with a Sikh and his wife, a man and his wife from south India and a man from Chandigarh. They were all very nice but the man from Chandigarh kept lifting his leg and passing gas (towards me). He could have at least aimed at the aisle… There were so many sites along the way, women working in fields, small towns with tea stalls, boys playing cricket, children climbing trees and beautiful natural scenery. The only sad thing to see was the amount of garbage everywhere, there wasn’t one site not covered.

We arrived in Agra and hired a taxi to take us to our hotel. We’re staying at the “Shanti Lodge” and let me tell you, its shanty alright. We changed rooms though and now we have a large room with a great view of the Taj Mahal. We explored the Taj Ganj area of Agra today; winding colorful streets through markets with so much going on all around you. It’s completely overwhelming, different from the peace and quiet of the mountains. People are constantly asking if we need a rickshaw, something to eat, look in their shops, etc. We’re walking down the street constantly saying no. I wish we had t-shirts that said “No, I don’t need a rickshaw” on the front and “No, I don’t want to buy anything” on the back.

Anyway, we are back at the hotel relaxing now and getting some chai, we’re planning on going to the Taj Mahal at sunrise tomorrow which should be great for pictures. We’ll be here until December 2nd, then taking a train on to Varanasi. We finally read on CNN that three bombs detonated simultaneously in three holy cities; one being Varanasi where 9 people were killed. The court and government buildings were the targets so we aren’t too concerned about safety when we go there.

Happy Thanksgiving from Naggar

We walked around Manali the last couple of days trying to figure out our travel plans. We visited the train booking office and found out that the only train (with availability) going to Agra would be leaving on November 26 from Chandigarh (about 200km away). This was much earlier than we originally planned, so we looked into other travel options (the cost of a driver, a flight from the closer town of Shimla, or a train to Delhi with a driver/bus to Agra). The upcoming train seemed to be the easiest and cheapest route so we booked the rail ticket that morning, and also booked our ongoing rail ticket to Varanasi for December 2. It’s hard to believe our travels in India are almost finished, with only a few weeks left before we leave for Thailand.

Since we only had a few days left in Himanchal Pradesh, we decided to leave Vashisht that morning. We went back to our hotel, packed our bags, took a rickshaw to Manali and then booked a driver to take us to Naggar that afternoon. Surprisingly, it all worked out well considering we didn’t have a hotel in Naggar and had no idea where we were going. We found a nice hotel right next door to Naggar castle and we spent the rest of the afternoon walking around this small town and exploring the castle. We’ll be spending a few nights here, then having a driver take us to Chandigarh the night before our train departs for Agra and the Taj Mahal.

Goodbye McLeod Ganj, Hello Manali

After almost three weeks in McLeod Ganj, it was time to say goodbye. Our last week was fun, we met some friends from Ireland and had some late nights drinking with Yonten. Alex and Blonit had planned to leave McLeod on Monday, November 12th but every day would come and go and they were still here, and every night we were celebrating their next day departure. We didn’t believe they would ever leave until we actually saw them to their car and it pulled away almost a week later.

We went to the TCV on Saturday to bring the kids their winter coats and sneakers. Everything we picked out fit with the exception of one pair of shoes which can be exchanged. They all seemed really happy.

Our last day, we went for breakfast to Oogo’s one last time. We’re going to miss the food there!! It was sad to say goodbye to Yonten and we tried to convince him to come to Manali with us. He may join us in a few days. Yonten gave us two Tibetan shawls and each a white scarf (it is traditional for Tibetan’s to give white scarves for good luck) and saw us to our car. To our surprise we had the same driver as we had on the way to Dharamsala, the one we had the accident with. The drive to Manali was 9 hours with the road winding around mountains. It was a nauseating ride, the road was at times only big enough for one car and winding around shear cliffs, added to it were the fumes from the cars and Vinot, our driver, constantly spitting out the window. At one point, we had to maneuver around over 100 goats and sheep in the road. I’m thankful we decided not to take the bus…
Our guest house is nice, and the views from the balcony are amazing. We are staying in a small town called Vashisht, just outside of Manali, with hot springs and treks nearby. Today we had a relaxing day but tomorrow morning we plan on going to the communal baths and then taking a hike up to a waterfall nearby. The next day we plan on taking a longer, 13 km trek in the mountains. This town is really quaint and since it is off-season, there aren’t many travelers. Manali, (alt. 1,950 m or 6,398 ft) is in the Beas River valley and is an important hill station in the Himalayan mountains of Himachal Pradesh, India. It's in a valley which is surrounded by mountain peaks of 20,000 feet. The population in Manali is less than 30,000.

Update from McLeod Ganj

We've been having a great time here in McLeod Ganj. Originally, we had planned to stay one week at most but after 10 days, we're still not ready to leave. We've met some friends, both travelers and locals (this is an easy town to sink into). We went out the other night to a restaurant called Carpe Diem where live music is played and there is an open mic night. There were two Nepalese guys playing songs from Coldplay, Pink Floyd, etc. There is a monastery across the street and I can't tell you how funny it was to see monks dancing in the window to “We don't need no education; We don't need no thought control”. :)
We've been going to the HEC School in the evenings to speak English with local Tibetan refugees. We've met such interesting people, all with unique stories and backgrounds. One woman spoke about her trek to McLeod Ganj, a group of 42 which split into two groups when half of them refused to leave a sick woman behind because the weather was turning bad. The group that went ahead all made it to Katmandu safely, while those who stayed didn't fair too well. She explained that the snow was coming in so quickly that their footsteps would disappear immediately and unfortunately 2 children fell in the snow and were completely covered, they were never able to find them... By the time they arrived in Nepal, 6 others had perished along the way and many more had lost legs/fingers due to extreme temperatures. We continue to be truly amazed by the stories of the people who live here.

I've started my Reiki course and we've both started classes on meditation. It's been a great experience so far. We've met a friend Etienne who runs our favorite restaurant, Oogo's. The last couple of nights we've been drinking beers with him and playing card games. Etienne is also a Tibetan refugee; he escaped from Tibet because he would have been killed by the Chinese government for putting up political messages. He told us he would go out late at night to put up “Free Tibet" posters and Tibetan flags. He said he plans on going back when Tibet is free; explaining that if he went back now he would surely be killed.

Etienne is a good man, today he took us to the TCV (Tibetan Children's Village), which houses about 4,000 children (most who don't have any living family members). The children here are so incredibly sweet; we brought them candy and had lunch with them. Matt and Etienne played some hoops as well. During the two month holiday, 8 of the children from the TCV (six of them pictured here) stay with Etienne. Their faces light up when they see him, he bought them all lunch and then gave each child 50 rupees before leaving for books and pens. We are going shopping with him on Monday to buy some winter clothes for them. If anyone would like to donate to the TCV, information is here.

On Friday we attended a teaching from His Holiness, the Dalai Lama. This was truly an experience of a lifetime. He gave a 3 hour teaching on “The Three Principal Paths”, during which bread and butter tea (milk, melted butter and salt) was served by the monks. The best part was when he walked through the monastery within only a few feet from us, clasped his hands and smiled at us directly (we both had goose bumps and teary eyes). We never thought we would ever have the chance to see such a great man, and we were lucky enough to also receive a teaching from him.
The Hindi festival, Diwali, was celebrated the same evening with candles and butter lamps being lit (to symbolize prosperity) and kids setting off fireworks in the streets (to ward off evil spirits). We lit some off ourselves and had a great evening at Oogo's.
Tonight we will be going out with Etienne and a couple from Ireland to Excite (a local dance club down the street from our guest house). We are posting some pictures from our day at the TCV and with our friend Etienne.

Last but not least, some recipes for Donna's Uncle Bill for Momo's :)