Aug 2008

We're "safe" and sound.

Delilah collapsed in London, I think just feeling so comfortable in a friends' house. She still has a fever and her first earache (yeow!)

We're moping around here. We got our car back today. We still don't have our dog. Apparently the woman craing for him likes him so much she wants to keep him a few more days.

Some photos:

Rickshaw in Delhi

Auto rickshaw. We called them velociraptors in Menali. (remember the movie Jurassic Park?) They were about head height for me and Miles, and just zooomed around, quite frightening us sometimes.

Running around le Corbusier's High Court in Chandigargh

Hindu pilgrims on side of road on last flat before we headed into mountians. I was intrigued: these folks had no bags with them, no bottles of water. They generally waved as they passed other Hindus with orange or red flags (as our driver had). This was near the landslide that happened a week before we arrived. Many, many bike riders, motorcycles riders, jam packed cars going on a pilgrimage.

Temple in Mandi

Books! En route between Mandi and Manali.

Roadside tea

With Hookum, our first driver from Delhi-Chandigargh-Mandi-Manali

We're back on western soil. Delilah is doing remarkably well considering she's been 3 weeks in unfamiliar lands. However she awoke at 5 last night (11 am India time) with a frog in her throat. We're keeping her warm. We'll see what that means for our hopes and aspirations for the day.

A note about the plane ride: they are not what they used to be. Virgin has this in-flight entertainment system with more than 60 choices on it. So Miles and I both watched 2-3 movies on the flight. Delilah was GLUED to the kids' channel. To walk up and down the aisles is to see 80-90% of the full flight with their own private TV's on. Whatever happened to reading?

Speaking of reading, Miles did photograph and will comment on bookstores. Perhaps more interesting than bowels...

What can I write about now? The experience of Varanansi was intense. It seemed so chaotic after being in `ladakh for a while, and being at the Taj Palace Hotel. From the airport we drove through rural roads, then into the city, and were dropped at a bank, a landmark. Someone met us and carried our bag (singular, at that point, we'd checked most of our luggage in Delhi) through the narrow "streets". Yes, they were sometimes 4 or 5 feet wide, yes, with garbage, yes, with cow patties, yes with bikes and motorcycles. After the winding and smelly lanes I began to see sun, and imagined we were getting close to the Ganges, and finally the view spilled open to the Ganges. I was so relieved to get out into the open I couldn't imagine at the time going back through the narrowness until we really needed to, upon our return to the airport.

Varanasi (where the Varuna and Asi Rivers flow into the Ganges) has a series of steps, or ghats into the water upon which Hindu devotees bathe themselves daily. Generally it's possible to walk the entire length of the city on the ghats, however, since we arrived just after monsoon, the water was very high. The ghats instead were discreet sets of stairs, and one could go from one to the other by boat, though we saw some young boys doing brave rock-climbing traverses on the vertical walls of buildings, sill to sill. Ornament to ornament.

Our first boat ride negotiations were lame, I was having a hard time trusting the natives. We paid more for the guest room that the internet advertised. We were having trouble trusting.

I was often tempted to make comparisons between regions, or between peoples we met. I'm uncomfortable with this; they verged on stereotypes. For instance, when we spilled into Ladakh, the land of the stupas, I felt more calm. I saw less instances of poverty, less garbage. Where we got back to more heavily Hindu population, life felt more chaotic and not as attractive (though all these areas had muslim population as well, we came into less contact with Muslims, I think). This was a little confusing and painful to me, since I practice yoga and feel affinity with some vedic teachings. I felt like: what, if anything, do `i have in contact with this? By the 2nd day in Varanasi I felt much more comfortable. We began to connect with people, we learned how to get around. By the end of a second day, we were chanting at the puja sites, and by the third day `i was making an offering (marigold blossoms strung together) to the Ganges.

We arrived into the heat today.Could be compared to Venice... there is a river.... but it's a stretch. I love the smell of cow dung in the morning.

The city is on the west side of the Ganges (pronouced Ganga) and across the wide, murky and holy waters lies green fields. The airport cab drove adeptly through chaos to an ATM, which was our meeting point for the guide who would take us through winding narrow streets to our guest house on the river. I was so eager to see the sunlight when we appraoched the banks. THe river just looks so much better for getting around than walking in the winding, wet, narrow, up and down pathways.

Our room is "super deluxe" in name only. There is an AC. We'll see if it works now. After napping we awoke to boys jumping 4 stories into the Ganges. Naked butts and all. Many seem happy to be photographed. We've been given the bacteria count for the river and probably won't even go near it with our feet. We then negotiated (badly?) for a ride to Asi Ghat (the ghats are the steps that extend into the river). I won't tell you what we saw floating in the river, suffice it to say that it cut through any illusions I harbored about a charming city. It got real fast. We did see a burial for someone without so much money: a body wrapped in orange cloth, and pushed off the prow of the boat about 100 feet out. No burning for that man.

Trusting the people who are helping us is such a factor here. Trusting the hotel, the guides. Our boatmen were 4 teenage boys, whom we will meet at 6 am for the famous dawn boat ride on the Ganges.

I'm thinking of my friend Lilia a great deal here, Shiva is particualrly special to her, and this is Shiva's birthplace.

Love, love, love

Dear family, friends. We reflect on the beautiful monasteries. It is the first thing that we did in Leh since we needed time to acclimatize. Our first driver from Manali and his helper (our translator) took us. He advised us in basic etiquette such as do not climb on the special walls that sculpt the landscape built up of of carved rocks that translate "Om Mane padme hum." In fact we would see thousands of these personal sculptures, cared and placed for good luck throughout the landscape.

We didn't know what to expect from the monasteries. I had imagined them, longed to see them, (for years) from the exterior. The insides had many rooms, connected by exterior courtyards and passageways. They generally had at least two really important spaces: a prayer hall and at least one space with a Buddha and a stupa. Some Buddhas were at least two stories tall, but the rooms in which they were placed could be quite tight. So a full frontal head on view was difficult to obtain. We were often at knee height, though we could go around the back, and sometimes to a second floor. Some monasteries let us shoot photos, though without flash. We learned that the photo of a buddha is an object of worship itself. Alchi (an 11th century monastery!) did not allow photos inside at all. Sacred scrolled sutras are rolled up and stacked in the dark recesses.

Monks gather in the prayer halls. We experienced many extraordinary things, and heard that many tourists go during puja, or prayer time (6 am or so). We didn't experience a puja this time.

The prayer halls were quite dim upon entering. One's eyes adjusts to see beautiful paintings on the walls. Most of the monasteries had some type of indirect light over the center of the space, and over "thrones" in which lamas sat. In their absence photos of the lamas (often the Dalai Lama) invoked their presence. The spaces were very centrally laid out, like mandalas themselves, with outer rooms similar to tiny chapels with more Buddhas and stupas. Every so often our guides would be particularly moves by a stupa or a Buddha, and prostrate themselves, or pray.

Paintings covers the walls. Sometimes they were quite difficult to see. I was particularly impressed with the paintings at Alchi: a repeat pattern of thousands of Buddhas about 5" high or so, and large ones with "tattooed legs" with special patterns themsleves. we saw a little area where restoration was experimented with: bright spots of color on the otherwise faded walls. I was reminded of the arguments about restoring the Sistine Chapel, or the Giotto chapel in Padua. The plaster was bubbling off the rock and adobe (11th century) walls, and the experiment only dealt with the surface.

Just before we arrived in Ladakh there was an unprecedented amount of rain in this high desert. As appreciated as rain usually is in the desert, it hurt some of the traditional adobe (like new mexico) construction. We passed upstream of a monastery that had been seriously damaged by the heavy rains. This also affects the homes of the monks or nuns.

I sketched a little. (Sketching is almost always allowed), and found a beautiful architectural study published in 1979 of many or the places we toured, and more.

Offerings of money (many nationalities), food, oil were offered to the Buddhas. Rectangular white silk scarves were thrown (off balconies) around extended arms. By the time we left Leh, Delilah had two white silk scarves honoring her beautiful and holy neck by two of our hosts. Our little Buddha. love, leah

[M.B.I know you've all been waiting and waiting so here, at long last, the Bowel report: Leah: somewhat irregular but otherwise perfectly fine. Delilah - rather....nice, I'd say, nothing to write home about. Mile: well, um, about four days ago, a couple of risky choices began to take their toll. However, I am feeling a little shy about getting too detailed, much as you all long for it. Suffice it to say: information withheld pending further analysis]

We arrived yesterday afternoon after about 35 hours traveling. Leh is truly a beautiful place, with snow capped peaks and green, cultivated valleys. I don't know how to write about the trip, because it was extraordinary on so many counts. Many people make the same trip we did, basically 2 days from Manali to Leh. Relatively speaking, we were doing it in style, because we hired our own jeep. Many tourists share jeeps, six to the jeep, and many Indians, tourists or otherwise, pack in much more densly than that. Buses make the trip. We were told that we must try our a 24 hour Indian bus for the sake of the experience. In general, that is not how we are traveling.

We started out bright on day 1 through a beautiful "alpine" valley, with 5 waterfalls in view at one point. The road was blocked an hour out of Manali. We waited for 5, count em, 5 hours for the road to be cleared from a mudslide the night before. We were quite fresh at this point, and met many people at the (almost ubiquitous) roadside chai/ potato chip and food stands that dot this "touristic route," even in the most remote places. One Israeli woman said she had been waiting since 10 pm the night before for the road to be cleared, so we got some perspective on our situation and could only be grateful. When the bull dozer finally arrived NO ONE of the hundreds waiting CHEERED. My mother, cheerleader extradordinaire, would've been appalled. Don't worry mom, we clapped, and bowed (buddhist style bow).

What was so surprizing was that the mudslide that caused the 5 hour delay looked piddling compared to the many other road blockages that we encourtered, most've which were plowed right through by the 4 wheel drives, not so 4 wheel drives, decorated lorries STINKING up the roadsm buses, motorcycles and BICYCLES. Yes, we saw people biking over the Himalayas. THe switchbacks must make it concieveablem and there are approximatly as many downs as ups, BUT THE MUD. AND THE FUMES. How do they do it?

When the road is described in travel book as as the 2nd highest navigalbe pass in the world (17+ thou, higher than Mt. Blanc!) the writer failed to explain that the road is largely under construction. We had another hour-long stop for a bridge to be repaied, and another shorter stop for some earth (mud) to be moved. The road "surface" goes from macadam to MUD without rhyme or reason. Sometimes the good rood is near the top of a pass, and sometimes the dirt and rocks were at the top of the pass.

The most interesting parts to Delilah were that we were going to the sky and that she could touch the clouds.

I must say something about the widths (varying) and the drop-offs (undeniable). I initially felt the most anxiety about these "qualities", however it's amazing what one can get used to. There were soem momets when I was so grateful that no traffic was coming from the opposite direction because the road was so narrow, when somehow a vehicle would show up coming the opposite direction and the passing would be quite uneventful. The drivers were extraordinary.

Note the use of the word drivers, plural. Half way through our (billed as) brand new vehicle broke a major part of the steering assembly (this particular car part didn't translate easily from Tibetan). What was extraordinary is that within 5 minutes on THIS REMOTE ROAD, an empty jeep going to Leh appeared, and our driver and helper knew them! WIthin less than 10 minutes (not really enough time to be a drama) our luggage was tranferred, the new driver was paid, and we were on our way to Leh. Our parting words to driver and helper #1 were, "see you in Leh" (a city). And we did! Miraculously, as we were shopping, one of the drivers spotted MIles's (handsome) mug, and returned my camera. (That would've been a big bummer).

Tomorrw: to monasteries.

Love and stuff,

Leah, Miles and Delilah

Miles: will detail bowel report in next posting.

Hello everyone! We miss you. Delilah is missing her friends.

I write from one of the many travel agencies in Manali/Old Manali/ Vasheest. We will lkeave at 6 in the morning by jeep to Leh in Ladakh, going over at least 3 passes, one of which is extremely high. I asked the booking agent how we can make the trip safe, and he said, "pray." The good news is that I've been doing that a great deal already. I am assured that the drivers have at least 15 years experience, and that they are all mountain people, familiar with the roads here.

We are meeting many people from europe, had breakfast with a young woman from Belgium fresh from Dharamsala. She said the Olympic protests are very active there. There is one silent protest here, with 50 or so tibetans (mostly women) with black bands around their mouths, and signage about political prisoners in China. Miles, I think, feels some pangs of regrets that Dharmsala is not on our itinerary.

Manali is green and lush, with apples, mangoes, many kinds of flowers, and, yes, cannabis growing wild along the road. Smells, as we were told, are strong.

We now know that a monsoon does not necessarily mean it rains all the time, but rains can be quite heavy. As we drove from Delhi we saw most people without rain protection on the road, not to mention without shoes. Can be heartbreaking. We took a bicycle rickshaw in Delhi and I felt so guilty on a slight upshill that I jumped out, which may in fact have made it more difficult for the seemingly ancient driver.

Our sleep remains inconsistent, with all of us taking a 3 hour nap yesteday, and me waking before 5 this morning. I was told that one needs 1 day to adjust to every hour time difference.

Miles finally did some book business today, with some gorgeous handmade diaries. We toured one of le Corbusier's buildings in Chandigargh: the High Court. Extremely exciting for me, like a giant playground, and very majestic with the giant colored columns, sculptural concrete, see-through spaces.

Delilah says, "I miss you very much, I'll see you soon. After I get back I'll see you for sure." Animals seen: yaks, horses, monkeys, an elephant, cows, lots of them, all over the road, snakes in baskets, and lots of dogs. Every time we see a blond dog we all say, "Cooby!"

[Miles' ENTRY: extreme poverty, pestilence, mud, heat, slugs & monsoons: what a wonderous vacation!]
[part 2: brightly saried wone riding side saddle on the backs of motorbikes, excellent food, a constant atmosphere of devotion, lush wild life, the people playing and laughing despite their circumstances]

[Delilah says: I saw a dog and she followed us through a long park and I named her Jewelry and I wanted to keep her because we couldnt keep her in the hotel or fly her. Another dog today and he jumped up on us so much and I waas scared of course. ]

Love, and we're dreaming of you,

Love to our parents, we're safe and healthy!

Leah, Miles and Delilah

Miles playing ball with Cooby

Miles and I walked Cooby to the park at the end of Grand St. together to say goodbye. It is a beautiful day and the cute twins, Izzy and Ozzie were there. Delilah really likes them. It's unusual for us to all walk together as a family, but oh, so special. Of course we wonder at what points Cooby knows what is going on. I used to indicate to him a few days before leaving that something is up, but I have learned that can create anxiety. We were told by one of his dog boarding places that he's getting more anxious during his stays than when he was younger (he's 6 1/2).

So this time, remembering that dogs live in the moment and can't tell time, I didn't really say goodbye until the moment I said goodbye, with him in the back of the car. MIles is driving him up to Phonecia to board with a wonderful woman in the country. Her name is Marilyn Manning. She has a paradise with a lovely garden and water features, and two houses. She manages the dogs between the garden and the two houses, dividing them up depending on who's coming or going. We sent along a pillowcase that we hope smells a little like us, for his comfort. Miles will remind Marilyn of some of his vocabulary.

Leah saying goodbye to Cooby

Delilah Leah and Miles go to India

Day 1 Tuesday August 5
Fly NY-LONDON Virgin Flight #26
LONDON-DELHI Virgin Flight #300

Day 2 Wednesday, August 6th
Arrive Delhi
Hotel: The Oberoi Maidens
011 91 1123975464
gm@maidensHotel.com

Day 3 Thursday, August 7th
Leave Delhi
Namaste tours, contacts: Lu Ann and Jawahar
011 911902-252104
Hotel in Chandigarh

Day 4 Friday August 8th
Leave Cahndigarh Arrive Mandi

Day 5 Saturday August 9th
Leave Mandi arrive Manali
Hotel: Negi's Mayflower Hotel Manali

Day 6 Sunday August 10th
Manali

Day 7 Monday August 11
Manali

Day 8 Tuesday August 12
Leave Manali arrive Keylong

Day 9 Wednesday August 13th
Leave Keylong arrive Leh

Day 10 Thursday August 14th –
Day 17 Thursday August 21
Leh
Goba Guest House
ph# 011 91 1982 253670
mob# 011 91 9419179688

Day 18 Friday August 22
Fly Leh-Delhi Deccan flight #786
Hotel: unknown

Day 19 Saturday August 23
Delhi

Day 20 Sunday August 24
fly Delhi-Varanasi Jet Air flight 723
Hotel: SITA GUEST HOUSE
011 91 542 245 0061
SitaGuestHouse@yahoo.com

Day 21 Monday August 25th
Varanasi

Day 22 Tuesday August 26th
fly Varanasi –Delhi Spicejet flight# 119
Hotel:

Day 23 Wednesday August 27th
fly Delhi- London Virgin flight #301
The Geary Hoetink Residence
011 44 771 3063049

Day 24 Thursday, August 28
London

Day 25 Friday August 29
London

Day 26 Saturday August 30
fly London-New York Continental #29
Home!

Tuesday September 2
School starts!