LONG days journey into Paradise

We have finally arrived in Goa after a mere 53 hours of non-stop travel. I don't remember it being QUITE so long last time, but that's probably because we weren't re-routed as much or had so many long layovers. Flight delayed by 9 hours at LAX? Check. 9 hour layover in London? Check. Lost our baggage in Delhi? Check. Missed our flight to Goa? Check.
The only bright spot in the whole bit of traveling nonsense was the flight to Delhi from London. After dutifully passing the time for our 9 hour layover, we made it to our gate, sat down, and had our name called. Never a good sign. Went into the line and stood behind 2 couples begging and pleading to stay on the flight after being told there weren't enough seats. I thought, great. This is all we need now is to get bumped off this flight. I make it to the front of the line, hand over our boarding passes and he RIPS them up. Before I start to protest he has already printed me new ones. We made it onto the flight, YES! But, oh, we aren't sitting together. So I point out to him I would love to be able to sit next to Steve, if possible. He looks at me and points out that yes, we are sitting together.
"These seats are next to each other in Business Class".
"Business Class?", I ask.
"Yes we wanted to upgrade you", he says with all the nonchalance of a man offering me the seat next to him on a parkbench.
I walk back to Steve like the cat who got the canary. He is excited, but warns me not to get my hopes up. This airline will not be like newer, nicer planes we have seen, so Business Class might not be that great.
BUT IT WAS.
We got private pods (you know, the ones that recline to a flat sleeping bed?), Dom Perignon, hot towels, and meals prepared by a 2 star Michelin chef, and a 20 inch flatscreen tv.
This may not mean much to those of you who already travel in style and luxury, but I save my pennies for the travel, not the 'getting there', so seeing the inside of one of those pods was something I never expected to experience. At least not until I'm 60 and have money to burn (hopefully?). So this, for us, was beyond amazing. Best 9 hour flight I've ever had.

So, now all that is over and we have arrived in paradise. Gorgeous 80 degree days, cool ocean water, and a joyful reunion with our German friends Udo and Marco (as well as our Indian friend Luku).

This is where I am writing this blog. This has become our new office.
I am almost jealous of myself.

Trip to India #2

Starts tomorrow - stay tuned for more posts!!
This time Steve and I will be exploring the South of India - making our home base in Goa and taking trips to the Andaman Islands, Hampi, Kerala (another houseboat!) and Chennai.

Looking forward to the trip and can't wait to share more experiences with you!

Berlin - aka my surprise ending

From Berlin

As I started out on this adventure I could have hardly guessed what was in store for me, what I was going to experience, or how this journey would end. No traveler ever can guess, really, which is why we travel in the first place. The excitement of the unknown, the risk of showing up to village after city after town with no hotel booked, no real set plans of transport, are the real tangible things that make travelers travel. They are also the same things that make vacationers want to shit themselves with anxiety, but I digress.
Meeting some very special people on this trip not only shaped my life in a new and profound way, but it also altered my travel plans - and while I am very happy to have met new friends for life, I am a person of impulse and I was extremely excited to keep traveling as well.
Udo and Marco - my most amazing of hosts - showed me Berlin in a very beautiful and intimate way. It is doubtful that most of you will care about the intricacies of every personal account of living through Berlin's dark days that I heard while walking the streets of Berlin, but they were quite incredible to me, and Udo and Marco, know that I cherish them deeply.
If ever there was a walking history book that chronicled the atrocities of war, Berlin is that book. If you aren't staring at the Berlin wall, you are looking at the former Nazi headquarters.
But the most interesting thing about Berlin is that while you are engrossed in its loathsome history, you are inexplicably drawn to its current happiness. Buildings that were once guarding over Berlin as witnesses to some of the most heinous and unimaginable crimes are now cheery artist lofts with peace signs painted on the sides. The people I met were probably the coolest and nicest people in the world and am dying to get all of them to hop on a flight to come to LA. But again I digress...
Here are things I saw:

A clean, organized train. This may seem like nothing to the rest of the world, but after 2 months in India I went into complete shock. Nobody was pissing in the compartment? Oh, I HAVE a compartment! It's heated?! Nobody is walking up and down the aisles yelling "CHAI CHAI CHAI" at the top of their lungs? The stench of urine isn't filling the air?

From Berlin

Marco, who came to pick me up from the train station.

From Berlin

Oh my god, WINE???!! 2 months I have missed you, old friend.

From Berlin

Udo and Marco hanging in their (gorgeous) apartment. Marco is still making silly faces right as the camera goes off.

From Berlin

Our surprise present from a member of the Verhobenlassen family, Robert, who unfortunately wasn't able to make it from Munich to Berlin to see me. Robert is a professional bookbinder and these gifts were INCREDIBLE.

From Berlin

An old famous cemetery looking for Bertoldt Brecht's grave. We never found it, but we did get frostbite. Practically.

From Berlin

Hanging out with friends Steven and Reza.

From Berlin

Nazi Headquarters

From Berlin

From Berlin

Russian monument to their soldiers lost in WW2. I hope that's right? There was a lot of sightseeing, so Udo, correct me if I'm wrong.

From Berlin

The Berlin Wall!!! This is called the East Side Gallery. After the wall came down, a part of it was kept standing and artists from all over the world were invited to come and paint a section. The work was incredibly thought-provoking and beautiful.

From Berlin

From Berlin

From Berlin

From Berlin

From Berlin

From Berlin

From Berlin

From Berlin

Checkpoint Charlie

From Berlin

Brandenburg Gate

From Berlin

These cobblestones run throughout the whole city to mark where the wall once stood.

From Berlin

An old watchtower that stood by the wall. Guards would shoot people who tried to cross from East to West.

From Berlin

Out to a nice dinner with a whole group of friends!

From Berlin

Here with new friends Peter and Nico. Both amazing flight attendants for Lufthansa, so I spent the night obsessing over their jobs (which I assure you, are pretty crazy!). Peter and Nico both made me laugh so hard I practically pissed myself.

From Berlin

Their friend Sandra performed a traditional Bavarian striptease. It was awesome!

From Berlin

The castle in Potsdam, about 30 minutes outside of Berlin

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Udo looking very pensive. This should be a watercolor painting, in my humble opinion.

From Berlin

And that about sums it up! I was not happy to leave, but I know I'll be back since I have family in Berlin now.

From Berlin

Kumbh Mela from a passive perspective

From Rishikesh

Well it's probably best to start with, what is Mela? Great question indeed. If you really want see the info go to Wikipedia, Kumbh Mela, as they have the facts about when, what, and how many (that last being the most impressive). But I can give you the quick run down from a passive perspective and you can do with it what you please.

So basically there are 4 sacred towns in India (well there are really more than that,. but these are the most, most, most holy) which host Pilgrims from all over the sub-continent for the religious festivals called Mela. Every six year they throw a really big Mela as the stars align in some way that makes the Ganges water have a little more umph than the average day. Every 12 years though is the biggest festival or Kumbh Mela and yep you guessed it, the next one occurs in 2010. I guess I can keep that in the present tense since Mela goes on from January to March. The destination for this years Mela is Haridwar.

Haridwar is located about 20km sounth of Rishikesh. If you read the last post you already know that we stayed in Rishikesh so it should seem like a no brainer that we would travel the 20km south to the holy city of Haridwar; it's actually the official city sponsored by the Ganges River as that is where it flows out of the Himalaya. Anyway, after finding more out about that festival and the fact that astrologer's had predicted the "first bath" for 2/12, we thought that traveling a small distance to see some 20 million religion crazed Hindi's dunk themselves in flowing pollution would be a wonderful sight. Duh!

So we tried to book transportation to the city early morning of the 12th. Unfortunately it turns out that there was no good transport there. The travel agent could not guarantee that he could get us there; which i gotta say was the most honest thing we had heard form a travel agent. He said there were taxis but because of the crowds we may have to walk 5-10km into the city. Only 10km? No problem. We'll pass.

Well we didn't pass technically because we did the next best thing, we went on the 13th. Still the same fervor but with less people!!! Sounds good to us. We were definitely stopped before the city by the Indian army and general crowd control personel.

(not our photo)

We walked about 1km to the main entrance and got our first taste of what full bathing ghats really looked like (sorry Varnassi). Everyone is scrambling for space and tries to find something to hold onto as to not get swept away by an fast moving river.

From Rishikesh

The pictures show some of the queue that ushers these pilgrims into the area (look like an American Fair Grounds) as well as the bridges over to the Western shore where all of the action is.

To break up the day, we walked about 1.5km south to a ropeway, also know as a Gondola or Cable Car.



This little slice of India amusement park which goes to the top of the facing hill to the Maya Devi Temple had a 3 hour line fopr tickets and then you could get in the real line to wait for the ride. Must be a big mela if they're drawing line like that. We were figuring out what to do about the line ( I got in it), when Stacey met the acquaintance of a wonderful Indian family who had already been queueing for a while and offered to by us two tickets so we wouldn't have to wait.

From Rishikesh

So I guess a little pause here to express gratitude for this and expand it to the bigger concept of just how nice your everyday Indian is. I don't know if it is specifically to foreigners or if they do this for everyone. But after a month of challenging my very American sensibilities of being suspicious of people's primary motives, I was finally able to just let these people in as they were doing for us. What kindness!



Not only did they purchase the tickets for us but they ushered us along the 2 hour line by pushing their way through the crowd and cutting the line as deep and far as possible so that we wouldn't have to wait. So maybe kindness for some turns into frustration for others...glad we were on the good end this day!

After a solid bit of walking and some urges to bathe myself in the river, Stacey new it was time to head back to Rishikesh for our final day of relaxing; included in the schedule was Ayervedic messages, yoga, and a beginner's meditations class!!! Looking forward to coming home but not to leaving India...

From Rishikesh

Rishikesh

From Rishikesh

From Rishikesh

Here we are in what is arguable the most spiritually-minded cities in all of India. You are more likely to see a yoga or meditation center than you are to walk on a pile of cow shit, and let me tell you - in India that is really saying something.
As this is the last of our stops in India, we are excited to be in a place for a few days and to really get the flavor of the city and what makes it tick.
That being said, it has been a very different experience for us here! There are plenty of places to sit on cushions, chill, read a book, and look out onto the sacred Ganges (actually a shade of green here, as opposed to the retch-inducing brown in Varanasi).

From Rishikesh

However, it has a bit of a cult-ish feel with all the ashrams and their students. No offense to ashram-goers...I would genuinely enjoy that experience at some point in my life and I certainly think that this would have enhanced our stay in Rishikesh. But if you are not an ashram-goer, but merely a backpacker, you are looked at with disdain if you are looked at at all. After a month of travels we were shocked to land in a place where we couldn't get anyone to smile at us, let alone engage in conversation. There are also a TON of Americans here, and frankly in all my travels I think Americans are the least friendly of anyone. I will give the Rishikeshers the benefit of the doubt: Perhaps people here are so interested in delving into themselves via constant self-reflection that it's not that they are being rude by not smiling or talking - maybe they are just trying to 'center' themselves.


Anyway, the area itself is beautiful and Steve and I have had a wonderful time here - it's definitely the most alone time we've shared on this whole trip and it was quite romantic (as much as anywhere in India CAN be). And oh my goodness, there are monkeys here. A TON of them. I am obsessed with them and have taken 4000 pictures of them. They eat right out of your hand - I can't get enough.

From Rishikesh

We did take advantage of the city and took both yoga and meditation classes. The meditation class was quite amazing and our teacher was really something special.

We are also here during the largest spiritual festival in 12 years, the Kumbh Mela....but that is another post all together! (coming soon)

So I got that going for me....

From Amritsar and Dharamsala (McLeod Ganj)

Steve and I are now in McLeod Ganj, a small town in the Himalayas which for the past 50 years has been the home of the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan government in exile. Before I go into anything else, I will say it's f**king COLD HERE!!!

From Amritsar and Dharamsala (McLeod Ganj)

I will not go into the awful harrowing tale of the Tibetan people, as I am sure most of you now it well by now. I will say that despite the oppression these people have faced for so long, this town is one of the most happy and joyous we've come across.

From Amritsar and Dharamsala (McLeod Ganj)

We happened to arrive on a particularly cold day, and the next morning we woke up to snow - and lots of it! The locals told us that it was the first time they had snow in 3 years, so there was a lot of celebration. Young Tibetan men in the middle of the street were throwing snowballs at eachother (and us!) - and Steve even engaged in a snowball fight with 3 guys standing on a balcony (they kicked his ass).

From Amritsar and Dharamsala (McLeod Ganj)

From Amritsar and Dharamsala (McLeod Ganj)

We walked around and visited the Buddhist temple and the Tibetan museum.

From Amritsar and Dharamsala (McLeod Ganj)

From Amritsar and Dharamsala (McLeod Ganj)

But everything we have done on our trip has paled in comparison to the experiences we had in meeting one man: DK.

From Amritsar and Dharamsala (McLeod Ganj)

Steve started up a conversation with DK because he was working on a Mac while we were eating breakfast. One thing led to another, and as one Mac geek is always attracted to another, a long conversation ensued. DK has the most amazing and natural way of blending the tenets of technology into Buddhism, life, love, and a mixture of everything in between. We found out that DK is the Managing director of the Norbulingka Institute - the only Institute in the world that is dedicated to preserving Tibetan Culture. Please check out their website HERE. It is an incredible place.

From Amritsar and Dharamsala (McLeod Ganj)

From Amritsar and Dharamsala (McLeod Ganj)

Now, the reason this was all so special is that DK, as the managing director of the Institute, needs quite a bit of technical assistance. So, as his honored guests, we were escorted up to the Institute where we got a private tour. Then, of course, Steve went off to work as his new technical advisor! We saw their artisans at work creating original Thankgka paintings, brass statues of Buddha, and ornate wood carvings.

From Amritsar and Dharamsala (McLeod Ganj)

From Amritsar and Dharamsala (McLeod Ganj)

Oh, and no big deal, really...but we also saw His Holiness' bedroom when he stays at the Institute. Like I said, things you see everyday, right?

From Amritsar and Dharamsala (McLeod Ganj)

Then Steve went off about his merry way helping them to find systems to... what am I talking about? Why am I going to try and explain what he helped them do? I don't understand it, so let's just say he helped them with some really smart people stuff. When he finished and got them all situated, they said that the problem he fixed was one they had been working on for five years. Then Steve comes along and it's done in 2 hours. If the key to a happy and fulfilled life is all about being constantly impressed by your partner, then I am golden.

From Amritsar and Dharamsala (McLeod Ganj)