My journey to India started on 11th Oct and ended on 8th Nov 2018. I hope you enjoy reading my account along with viewing the photographs and videos below.
A highpoint of my visit to India was my poetry reading at the Sahitya Akademi in Delhi. Link to invitation details and post on the event.
Namaste.
9th Oct 2018
I travel to India in the next few days and friends have asked me to keep them posted on my travels. Some people don't use Facebook, Twitter etc so I plan to add a few words here as I go.......
India has for many years held a special fascination for me. I could only contemplate a visit if I had at least a month. A chance conversation with a friend, Eva, in 2016 whom I hadn't seen for 40 years was the catalyst for me finally making the journey.
Further updates and photos are posted below:
Day 1 - Delhi
https://photos.app.goo.gl/Jboz8EhtpQE6y3WL9
My initial experience of Delhi was not as daunting as some people said it would be. I lived in Baghdad as a 22 year old so somehow as I left Delhi airport I felt very much at home.
I took a prepaid taxi to Lutyens Bungalow where we were to spend our first night. This is expensive by Indian standards but it is a lovely restful place, nice rooms with bathroom and there is an outdoor swimming pool.
On the way to Lutyens I saw families living by the motorway, a baby asleep in a hammock between lanes of traffic.
Cows, goats and dogs roam freely, somehow all survive the hectic traffic although on one of our later journeys we did see the inevitable dog hit by a car and in obvious agony.
Eva spent a number of years in India so I have been blessed having her as a traveling companion. My first purchase was an Indian dress by Anouki. It comes with pants, long dress slit at the sides and a large shawl. An extremely comfortable outfit for our trip.
Day 2, 3 and 4 - Darjeeling, West Bengal
https://photos.app.goo.gl/v47WFom6hdJi54S47
On our second day we got a taxi to the airport - our destination Bogdogra, from where we got a prepaid taxi to Darjeeling - about 3.5 hour journey uphill. The taxi driver was so good we took his number for our onward journey to Siliguri railway station a few days later. On our way up to Darjeeling we stopped off at Margaret's Yard as we were told it was a 'must see'. It was too European for our taste so we asked our driver to take us to a local tea house. The chai and surroundings were perfect for us.
In Darjeeling we stayed in a government / West Bengal Tourism hotel - Darjeeling Lodge. We got a room with doors out to the garden where we had a lovely view of Mt. Kanchenjunga peaking through the clouds. All others staying here were Indians from neighbouring states. As we were the unusual ones we were asked for selfies. This happened a number of times during our journey.
We ate local food for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Momo is a Tibetan speciality which we ate at the the Hot Stimulating Café. I wrote a short poem in their Visitors Book.
We walked around the town and hillsides, doing a tour of the Happy Valley Tea plantation and walking on pathways back to the market where I bought another Indian outfit. We met women out washing clothes and one young girl washing a carpet which took up the width of the path so we could scarcely pass without standing on it.
We stopped off to visit Lloyd Botanic Garden positioned on a hillside with a wide variety of plants and trees. They have a special collection of orchids but few in flower.
We came out of Lloyd Garden through Chandmari Gate which brought us into a market. It was chock full of people and stalls of all sorts. The old method of weighing with weights on one scale and produce in the other is still in use. Probably my favourite photo from the whole trip is of a woman stall owner shown above.
I met a young girl who is planning to become a doctor with her wish to help poor people. She was helping her parents carry wholesale quantities of food and other stuff for them to sell in their own shop an hour's walk away.
Darjeeling is a pleasant place and the people are friendly.
Day 5 to 8 - Bodh Gaya, Bihar
https://photos.app.goo.gl/KxbrpNgPBjX9uTH28
Durga Puja, a Hindu festival, took place over 4 days from 16th to 19th October. We witnessed the festivities during our journey through villages enroute from Darjeeling to Bodh Gaya. There were many delays due to heavy traffic and the onstreet music and parades. Each village had their own display of the Goddess Durga, one more spectacular than the next.
The drive downhill from Darjeeling has many bends, honking of horns as cars overtake each other avoiding cyclists and walkers by a matter of inches. As we approached Siliguri the traffic became crazy - almost continuous blowing of horns and tuk tuk were again visible on the roads, Darjeeling being too steep for them.
A friend had managed to book train tickets for us as we were unsuccessful even with the help of the ticket office in Delhi. Our preference was for a 1st class sleeper on the overnight train to Patna. What we got and were glad of it were two sleepers in a 3rd class AC coach. We ate thaly - menu of the day - at the train station. We were told that the platform number would be called out but it wasn't or we didn't hear it. We were helped by a train station staff member and a porter brought us and our bags to the correct part of the platform and placed our luggage under our seats.
We were joined in our coach by a husband (on crutches), wife and nephew. They were bringing him to the hospital as a follow up visit following a previous operation. What a mammoth 10 hour journey to be repeated by them the following day. Each coach had six seats/sleepers, three either side of a window with two sleepers across the aisle. It was a bit of a challenge climbing into the top bunks especially for me as there was no ladder just thin rungs which were painful on bare feet. At times during the night my feet were hit as people opened the door. Reading or writing were not possible in such a confined space so we tried to sleep to the mantras from men going through the train selling drinks, food and other stuff.
We arrived about 3:30am to Patna and went to the ladies waiting room/toilets. We encountered not one smile from the women already there. A cold atmosphere indeed. We were to stay at the Mahayana in Bodh Gaya. The driver from the hotel met us and so we drove another 3+ hours through rural villages where everyone seemed to be up and working from very early in the morning. Homes were mainly mud huts, some with a cow tied up outside eating food from a basket. Women were working in the fields and men bringing produce to market. Later back in Delhi I was told that a large number of men from Bihar are working in other states as the poverty at home is so severe. They see their families only for a few weeks every year. No wonder the women we encountered earlier in Patna had no smiles to share.
Preparations for Durga Puja were being made in every village along the route. The road to Bodh Gaya is pretty poor. The driver rarely exceeded 40kph. It was obvious that foreigners were a rare sight. At times it felt a little unsafe. I would advise others traveling to Bodh Gaya to fly into Gaya instead of Patna.
Under a tree in Bodh Gaya is where we are told the Buddha got enlightenment. The tree is the centre piece to the main temple with many walkways and gardens for meditation - all beautifully maintained. Nearby is a Hindu temple which is in a state of disrepair. A local youth brought us on a tour and showed us a resident owl.
The local riverbed is dry. Bodh Gaya has the usual markets and a tradition of begging. There is a massive influx of foreigners at various times during the year as people go to study/meditate or work in the temples and schools.
One interesting observation is that there are a lot of electric tuk tuks and some driven by women which was great to see.
It gets dark early so we are rarely out after 6pm.
During our three days we visited numerous temples, ate thaly at local restaurants, had an Indian dress made up by a tailor within 24 hours and had a very pleasant few hours in a nearby park. Onwards to Dharamshala via Patna and Delhi.....
Day 9 to 12 - Dharamshala, Himachal Pradesh
https://photos.app.goo.gl/8beLCXufnu3XNCZQ8
On the morning of 20th October we got a taxi at 5am from Bodh Gaya and drove 3 hours via back roads to Patna airport for our flight to Delhi. The reason the driver went this way was that there was still the remnants of Durga Puja in the villages along the route of the main road in addition to heavy trucks which he wanted to avoid. The quality of the roads aren't too different just more narrow v wide.
We had some delay at Patna airport but eventually got our check-in completed. One good thing about Patna is the airport book shop. I found a copy of 'Nine Lives' by William Dalrymple - a brilliant book which I have read a number of times.
The staff at Delhi airport were extremely helpful. I had left the arrival area and later realised I had forgotten a bag. A security man kindly retrieved it for me. After this two hour flight we then travelled on a smaller Bombardier aircraft from Delhi to Dharamshala, a journey of approximately one hour. A taxi brought us uphill to McLeod Ganj where we stayed with a friend for four days.
After a good night's sleep and a healthy breakfast we did the chora, prayer/walking around the base of the hill on top of which the Dalai Lama resides. On our way we met two different types of monkey. One brown in colour and to be avoided as they can be quite fierce. The other, white and serene. At the end of the chora is the entrance to the residence and temple.
It was like a home coming for Eva as she met friends, colleagues and neighbours that she knew from living here previously.
We ate momo in a local Tibetan restaurant and later had tea in the On Hotel with a lovely view to the valley below and a family of eagles circling overhead.
During our stay we walked further uphill from McLeod Ganj and from here had a better view of the Himalayan mountain range. Lower downhill we met with the organisers of the Dharamshala Film Festival which would start on 1st November and visited a nunnery for Western Buddhist nuns. It was established 15 years ago by a Dutch Buddhist nun. It has a temple, guesthouse, and gardens providing food for the kitchen. The only way to the convent was by a walking path. The day was sunny and warm with local men and women working in the fields. Haystacks and stooks of corn visible from the path.
Day 13 - Rewalsar, Himachal Pradesh
https://photos.app.goo.gl/2XKqWFiKTxtdYYAFA
Eva's mum had spent time with Eva in India and they both had a particular fondness for Rewalsar. Eva, our friend Bia and myself made a pilgrimage to this place of worship for Hindu and Buddhist people. Like all places of pilgrimage one can make one's own spiritual journey irrespective of religion. We wrote the names of loved ones, dead and alive onto prayer flags and walked to the highest spot to attach them to a pole so that they created a wave of colour blowing in the wind. A little bit like holy wells in Ireland where people used to attach various items as an offering to have a special request fulfilled.
To get to Rewalsar from Dharamshala was a five hour drive including a stop for lunch. We left at 8am by taxi traveling through lots of villages, the usual cows on the roads, hay stacks on top of roofs. The roads were very narrow, hillsides collapsing onto the road. At one stage we had to wait for heavy machinery to move the rocks that had fallen so that we could continue our journey. We saw women collecting stones from a dry river bed - carrying the stones to a man building a wall further along the road. At various points on our journey we saw women carrying extremely heavy loads on their heads.
On our return journey to Delhi from Rewalsar we passed school children impeccably dressed waiting for their school buses. At one stage when our driver stopped to take a phone call a woman came out of a nearby house asking where we had come from and where we were headed. Then as she was talking two older generations of her family joined her and they invited us to eat with them. It was the kind of thing that my mother frequently did - invite travellers walking past her house to come in for tea. Unfortunately we had already eaten and we still had a long journey to go to Delhi so we regretfully had to decline.
We passed through some lovely countryside - hills, rivers, valleys and lakes. As in Bihar the people were up early and hard at work. Although there is a lot of rubbish visible the people are fastidious in their personal cleanliness.
We travelled through the states of Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana and Delhi. The key difference was the headgear, the turban, on the men as we travelled through the Punjab.
The police in Punjab stopped us and asked the driver for baksheesh. This is used to supplement their income. Somehow we were let through without having to pay. However there was no escaping the toll charges. There were at least six tolls on our journey some stops with 20 lanes. For most of the journey the max speed possible was 40kph on poor roads. New roads or sections of roads are being built.
Day 14 to 20 - Delhi- Part 2
https://photos.app.goo.gl/WDxEVaSPSzpy8UjF8
Eva and I had two further days in Delhi before she returned home to Holland. I stayed on at Lutyens Bungalow and enjoyed getting familiar with Lodi Park and Khan Market. I spent time in BahriSons bookshop and they shipped some books back home for me.
A highpoint of this extended visit to Delhi was my poetry reading at the Sahitya Akademi. Link to invitation details and post on the event.
On the last day of October I met with the writer Keki Karuwalla [photo above] at The Blue Door restaurant in Khan Market. I have popped into this place a few times and like the quietness and anonymity of it. It was good to meet with Keki after the reading on the previous evening. He kindly signed two of his books which will arrive at home before me.
Day 21 to 23 - Varanasi, Banaras, Kashi
https://photos.app.goo.gl/ZETfY5n6yZbmWZAN7
Anuj Bahri of Bahrisons Bookshop advised me that the book 'Banaras, City of Light' was one of the best books on Banaras. This city has many names Banaras, Benares, Varanasi and Kashi. It took a few days to get the book but it was delivered to my room the day before I was to fly to Varanasi.
The taxi driver from the airport at Varanasi described his home as 'the city that lives'. The population is approximately four million.
It is a hot city, hotter than Delhi. It takes about an hour and a half to get to my hotel which is at the Assi Ghat. The hotel can be reached via an opening from two laneways. One laneway contains a tea stall where an excellent cup of chai or lemon tea can be purchased for 10 rupees. The entrance is shared by visitors and locals who live in adjacent homes. The rear of the hotel looks onto a cow byre and backyards. It also contains a well where women draw fresh water by dropping a bucket and pulling up the filled bucket via a rope.
On my first evening there was a wonderful performance by a classical Indian dancer on a stage at the shorefront.
On my second day I take a stroll along the Ganges or Ganga as far as Harishchandra Ghat and weaving my way through narrow laneways where I encounter musicians practising in a temple and later professional musicians rehearsing for a forthcoming music festival. The instruments were tabla, sitar, flute and violin. Getting a little thirsty I stop at a stall for a lassi and take a welcome seat in the back of the shop. Lassi is a yogurt drink which is served sweet or salty and beautifully cold. It is refreshing on a hot day. At another stall I again take a seat to eat a samosa, hot and tasty.
Later on this All Souls Day I travel with a guide to visit Manikarnika Ghat, Vishwanath Temple, Nepali Temple and attend the evening Aarti ceremony.
Visiting the cremation area was an emotional experience, one that I am not yet able to put into words. An average of 200 cremations are carried out daily.
When we reached the cremation area my guide handed me back over to a cremation guide, Raj. He tells me he is one of 37 people who look after the families of the dead. He explained that families of the lowest caste system owns the cremation process. There are huge piles of wood stacked up behind the steps above the cremation area. The wood is weighed using huge scales and the amount of wood is determined by the weight of the corpse. The cost is based on the quantity of wood. Raj and his team go around the streets every morning and bring homeless people that are near death or unable to look after themselves to a hospice behind the cremation ghat. They are fed and looked after until they die. The next journey for them will be downhill. The Indian film Hotel Salvation gives some insight to a similar place. While walking through the lanes between the heaps of wood I saw my first mongoose.
Raj went on to explain that the families clothe their dead in white with garlands of flowers. The dead are arranged on stretchers and brought to the Ganga to be dipped in the sacred water. The stretcher is then left on the steps while the body dries out we which takes about an hour or two. Neither match, lighter or any other fuel is used. Instead a light is taken from a fire that has been burning non stop for generations. Cremations take place outside and inside based on family preference. The heat inside is intense in the extreme. Raj asked me if I could get a smell but there was none. Women are not usually permitted to attend a cremation as it is believed that if someone cries the spirit is prevented from leaving the body. Presumably Hindi men don't cry.
It was difficult to continue my journey after this experience but my guide and I slowly walked away and went to visit Vishwanath temple which has a huge significance for Hindus.
The evening ended with the daily Aarti ceremony at Dashashwamadh Ghat. Aarti is a Hindu religious ceremony of worship. This consisted of seven young men, Hindu priests, dressed in golden yellow dhoti and kurta (typical dress of shirt and pants worn by Hindi men). They hold specific items including an oil lamp, an idol of the Goddess Ganges, flowers, incense sticks, a conch shell and a heavy brass lamp aloft in a slow dance like performance. There were thousands of people onshore and on boats enjoying the spectacle.
The following day I was extremely tired but had arranged to go out for a short trip with my tuk tuk driver/guide.
We spent a nice time at the university where it was quiet with a lovely temple with marble floors and lots of outdoor spaces at ground and first floor level.
We had chai at a stall served in a small clay pot. I noticed that my driver had put his in the rubbish bin. It turned out that these clay bowls were disposable!
In retrospect I don't know from where I got the energy but I wasbrou brought to a small family run shop where they prepare their own essential oils and spice combinations.
After this I was brought on a tour of weaving and print workshops which was extremely interesting. The workers doing it all by hand. The owner showed me a selection of finished work explaining that most of the work is for export. Yes I did select a few small pieces to brighten up winter in Ireland.
On the last morning in Varanasi I took a boat ride at 5:30am before sunrise. At Assi Ghat the morning ritual of Aarti was being performed. Similar to the evening one at
Dashashwamadh Ghat but smaller and less of an audience.
Being up before sunrise is always special irrespective of location. It was the dark before the light, the calm of the river at the start that I enjoyed most of all. My young boatman rowed northwards on a predetermined destination. The river became busy with boats of all shapes, rowing and motorboats filled with spectators. We stopped at Manikarnika Ghat and as we turned to head back another small boat came up alongside us. The other boat man gave me a basket of flowers and candle and told me to put it in the river as an offering. Off guard I obediently did so and was then promptly charged an exorbitant (in local terms). I gave him the money but told him he had bad karma. Like water off a duck's back.
Our rowing boat was towed back to Assi Ghat. I was quite happy with this as at that stage I just wanted to get back as I was heading to the airport after breakfast.
I had a migraine on my journey to the airport and for a while afterwards but thankfully it cleared.
Last few days in Delhi
https://photos.app.goo.gl/4S44wShY9DPybimJA
After landing at Delhi airport I decided I would do my bit for helping to reduce pollution by using the metro to go back to Lutyens Bungalow. I bought my card and met a young Indian woman who works with Bank of Scotland. She helped ease my way as I needed to change lines at New Delhi. Preparing to get our next connection we positioned ourselves on the platform where the carriage for women would stop. (The train from the airport doesn't have a separate coach for women.) When the train arrived and the doors opened there was a number of young men in the coach. It turned out they were not aware it was a women only coach. The other passengers including my co-traveller informed them and they immediately moved carriages.
On the train I felt quite weak. At my destination station I got a tuk tuk the last mile.
When I arrived back I realised that I was seriously exhausted. Aftrt a good night's sleep I recovered. Next day I read about the dangerously high levels of pollution in Delhi. My lungs were already feeling the effects and from then on I try to take more care.
I was invited to dinner at the home of the well respected writer Sudeep Sen. I met a number of his friends including two top class Indian classical musicians, Saskia Rao de Haas - cellist and her husband Sitar player Shubhendra Rao who was a pupil of Ravi Shankar. I also met Sudeep's partner as well as the writer Sukrita Paul Kumar. Sukrita and I spent some additional time together the following evening. Brian McElduff, the Irish ambassador was there and I went the following day to visit him and another colleague at the Irish Embassy. Brian tells me that I will be in his memoir as the first person he has met who has come to Delhi and not visited the Taj Mahal. He was however impressed by my travels allowing me to see a side of India from which he and other diplomats are protected.
My final day in Delhi was quiet and spent mainly alone allowing me some precious space in what has been a fully charged journey.
I ate alone served by the few remaining staff that would not make it home for Diwali. Like Christmas there are those that can afford to celebrate and others that can't wait for it to be over as they have nothing to celebrate. I sit in my room listening to the continuous sounds of fire crackers and think of the wildlife, pets and the additional pollution spreading over this city.
Traffic was light this morning as I traveled to the airport. There is no escaping the pollution even inside the building. I enjoy my final sweet lassi before my flight.
Tonight I will be reunited with my best friend, my love of more than 30 years - John Philip Murray.
I look forward to bringing him with me on any future trip to India!
A highpoint of my visit to India was my poetry reading at the Sahitya Akademi in Delhi. Link to invitation details and post on the event.
Namaste.
9th Oct 2018
I travel to India in the next few days and friends have asked me to keep them posted on my travels. Some people don't use Facebook, Twitter etc so I plan to add a few words here as I go.......
India has for many years held a special fascination for me. I could only contemplate a visit if I had at least a month. A chance conversation with a friend, Eva, in 2016 whom I hadn't seen for 40 years was the catalyst for me finally making the journey.
Further updates and photos are posted below:
Day 1 - Delhi
https://photos.app.goo.gl/Jboz8EhtpQE6y3WL9
My initial experience of Delhi was not as daunting as some people said it would be. I lived in Baghdad as a 22 year old so somehow as I left Delhi airport I felt very much at home.
I took a prepaid taxi to Lutyens Bungalow where we were to spend our first night. This is expensive by Indian standards but it is a lovely restful place, nice rooms with bathroom and there is an outdoor swimming pool.
On the way to Lutyens I saw families living by the motorway, a baby asleep in a hammock between lanes of traffic.
Cows, goats and dogs roam freely, somehow all survive the hectic traffic although on one of our later journeys we did see the inevitable dog hit by a car and in obvious agony.
Eva spent a number of years in India so I have been blessed having her as a traveling companion. My first purchase was an Indian dress by Anouki. It comes with pants, long dress slit at the sides and a large shawl. An extremely comfortable outfit for our trip.
Day 2, 3 and 4 - Darjeeling, West Bengal
https://photos.app.goo.gl/v47WFom6hdJi54S47
On our second day we got a taxi to the airport - our destination Bogdogra, from where we got a prepaid taxi to Darjeeling - about 3.5 hour journey uphill. The taxi driver was so good we took his number for our onward journey to Siliguri railway station a few days later. On our way up to Darjeeling we stopped off at Margaret's Yard as we were told it was a 'must see'. It was too European for our taste so we asked our driver to take us to a local tea house. The chai and surroundings were perfect for us.
In Darjeeling we stayed in a government / West Bengal Tourism hotel - Darjeeling Lodge. We got a room with doors out to the garden where we had a lovely view of Mt. Kanchenjunga peaking through the clouds. All others staying here were Indians from neighbouring states. As we were the unusual ones we were asked for selfies. This happened a number of times during our journey.
We ate local food for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Momo is a Tibetan speciality which we ate at the the Hot Stimulating Café. I wrote a short poem in their Visitors Book.
We walked around the town and hillsides, doing a tour of the Happy Valley Tea plantation and walking on pathways back to the market where I bought another Indian outfit. We met women out washing clothes and one young girl washing a carpet which took up the width of the path so we could scarcely pass without standing on it.
We stopped off to visit Lloyd Botanic Garden positioned on a hillside with a wide variety of plants and trees. They have a special collection of orchids but few in flower.
We came out of Lloyd Garden through Chandmari Gate which brought us into a market. It was chock full of people and stalls of all sorts. The old method of weighing with weights on one scale and produce in the other is still in use. Probably my favourite photo from the whole trip is of a woman stall owner shown above.
I met a young girl who is planning to become a doctor with her wish to help poor people. She was helping her parents carry wholesale quantities of food and other stuff for them to sell in their own shop an hour's walk away.
Darjeeling is a pleasant place and the people are friendly.
Day 5 to 8 - Bodh Gaya, Bihar
https://photos.app.goo.gl/KxbrpNgPBjX9uTH28
Durga Puja, a Hindu festival, took place over 4 days from 16th to 19th October. We witnessed the festivities during our journey through villages enroute from Darjeeling to Bodh Gaya. There were many delays due to heavy traffic and the onstreet music and parades. Each village had their own display of the Goddess Durga, one more spectacular than the next.
The drive downhill from Darjeeling has many bends, honking of horns as cars overtake each other avoiding cyclists and walkers by a matter of inches. As we approached Siliguri the traffic became crazy - almost continuous blowing of horns and tuk tuk were again visible on the roads, Darjeeling being too steep for them.
A friend had managed to book train tickets for us as we were unsuccessful even with the help of the ticket office in Delhi. Our preference was for a 1st class sleeper on the overnight train to Patna. What we got and were glad of it were two sleepers in a 3rd class AC coach. We ate thaly - menu of the day - at the train station. We were told that the platform number would be called out but it wasn't or we didn't hear it. We were helped by a train station staff member and a porter brought us and our bags to the correct part of the platform and placed our luggage under our seats.
We were joined in our coach by a husband (on crutches), wife and nephew. They were bringing him to the hospital as a follow up visit following a previous operation. What a mammoth 10 hour journey to be repeated by them the following day. Each coach had six seats/sleepers, three either side of a window with two sleepers across the aisle. It was a bit of a challenge climbing into the top bunks especially for me as there was no ladder just thin rungs which were painful on bare feet. At times during the night my feet were hit as people opened the door. Reading or writing were not possible in such a confined space so we tried to sleep to the mantras from men going through the train selling drinks, food and other stuff.
We arrived about 3:30am to Patna and went to the ladies waiting room/toilets. We encountered not one smile from the women already there. A cold atmosphere indeed. We were to stay at the Mahayana in Bodh Gaya. The driver from the hotel met us and so we drove another 3+ hours through rural villages where everyone seemed to be up and working from very early in the morning. Homes were mainly mud huts, some with a cow tied up outside eating food from a basket. Women were working in the fields and men bringing produce to market. Later back in Delhi I was told that a large number of men from Bihar are working in other states as the poverty at home is so severe. They see their families only for a few weeks every year. No wonder the women we encountered earlier in Patna had no smiles to share.
Preparations for Durga Puja were being made in every village along the route. The road to Bodh Gaya is pretty poor. The driver rarely exceeded 40kph. It was obvious that foreigners were a rare sight. At times it felt a little unsafe. I would advise others traveling to Bodh Gaya to fly into Gaya instead of Patna.
Under a tree in Bodh Gaya is where we are told the Buddha got enlightenment. The tree is the centre piece to the main temple with many walkways and gardens for meditation - all beautifully maintained. Nearby is a Hindu temple which is in a state of disrepair. A local youth brought us on a tour and showed us a resident owl.
The local riverbed is dry. Bodh Gaya has the usual markets and a tradition of begging. There is a massive influx of foreigners at various times during the year as people go to study/meditate or work in the temples and schools.
One interesting observation is that there are a lot of electric tuk tuks and some driven by women which was great to see.
It gets dark early so we are rarely out after 6pm.
During our three days we visited numerous temples, ate thaly at local restaurants, had an Indian dress made up by a tailor within 24 hours and had a very pleasant few hours in a nearby park. Onwards to Dharamshala via Patna and Delhi.....
Day 9 to 12 - Dharamshala, Himachal Pradesh
https://photos.app.goo.gl/8beLCXufnu3XNCZQ8
On the morning of 20th October we got a taxi at 5am from Bodh Gaya and drove 3 hours via back roads to Patna airport for our flight to Delhi. The reason the driver went this way was that there was still the remnants of Durga Puja in the villages along the route of the main road in addition to heavy trucks which he wanted to avoid. The quality of the roads aren't too different just more narrow v wide.
We had some delay at Patna airport but eventually got our check-in completed. One good thing about Patna is the airport book shop. I found a copy of 'Nine Lives' by William Dalrymple - a brilliant book which I have read a number of times.
The staff at Delhi airport were extremely helpful. I had left the arrival area and later realised I had forgotten a bag. A security man kindly retrieved it for me. After this two hour flight we then travelled on a smaller Bombardier aircraft from Delhi to Dharamshala, a journey of approximately one hour. A taxi brought us uphill to McLeod Ganj where we stayed with a friend for four days.
After a good night's sleep and a healthy breakfast we did the chora, prayer/walking around the base of the hill on top of which the Dalai Lama resides. On our way we met two different types of monkey. One brown in colour and to be avoided as they can be quite fierce. The other, white and serene. At the end of the chora is the entrance to the residence and temple.
It was like a home coming for Eva as she met friends, colleagues and neighbours that she knew from living here previously.
We ate momo in a local Tibetan restaurant and later had tea in the On Hotel with a lovely view to the valley below and a family of eagles circling overhead.
During our stay we walked further uphill from McLeod Ganj and from here had a better view of the Himalayan mountain range. Lower downhill we met with the organisers of the Dharamshala Film Festival which would start on 1st November and visited a nunnery for Western Buddhist nuns. It was established 15 years ago by a Dutch Buddhist nun. It has a temple, guesthouse, and gardens providing food for the kitchen. The only way to the convent was by a walking path. The day was sunny and warm with local men and women working in the fields. Haystacks and stooks of corn visible from the path.
Day 13 - Rewalsar, Himachal Pradesh
https://photos.app.goo.gl/2XKqWFiKTxtdYYAFA
Eva's mum had spent time with Eva in India and they both had a particular fondness for Rewalsar. Eva, our friend Bia and myself made a pilgrimage to this place of worship for Hindu and Buddhist people. Like all places of pilgrimage one can make one's own spiritual journey irrespective of religion. We wrote the names of loved ones, dead and alive onto prayer flags and walked to the highest spot to attach them to a pole so that they created a wave of colour blowing in the wind. A little bit like holy wells in Ireland where people used to attach various items as an offering to have a special request fulfilled.
To get to Rewalsar from Dharamshala was a five hour drive including a stop for lunch. We left at 8am by taxi traveling through lots of villages, the usual cows on the roads, hay stacks on top of roofs. The roads were very narrow, hillsides collapsing onto the road. At one stage we had to wait for heavy machinery to move the rocks that had fallen so that we could continue our journey. We saw women collecting stones from a dry river bed - carrying the stones to a man building a wall further along the road. At various points on our journey we saw women carrying extremely heavy loads on their heads.
On our return journey to Delhi from Rewalsar we passed school children impeccably dressed waiting for their school buses. At one stage when our driver stopped to take a phone call a woman came out of a nearby house asking where we had come from and where we were headed. Then as she was talking two older generations of her family joined her and they invited us to eat with them. It was the kind of thing that my mother frequently did - invite travellers walking past her house to come in for tea. Unfortunately we had already eaten and we still had a long journey to go to Delhi so we regretfully had to decline.
We passed through some lovely countryside - hills, rivers, valleys and lakes. As in Bihar the people were up early and hard at work. Although there is a lot of rubbish visible the people are fastidious in their personal cleanliness.
We travelled through the states of Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana and Delhi. The key difference was the headgear, the turban, on the men as we travelled through the Punjab.
The police in Punjab stopped us and asked the driver for baksheesh. This is used to supplement their income. Somehow we were let through without having to pay. However there was no escaping the toll charges. There were at least six tolls on our journey some stops with 20 lanes. For most of the journey the max speed possible was 40kph on poor roads. New roads or sections of roads are being built.
Day 14 to 20 - Delhi- Part 2
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| Kiki Karuwalla |
https://photos.app.goo.gl/WDxEVaSPSzpy8UjF8
Eva and I had two further days in Delhi before she returned home to Holland. I stayed on at Lutyens Bungalow and enjoyed getting familiar with Lodi Park and Khan Market. I spent time in BahriSons bookshop and they shipped some books back home for me.
A highpoint of this extended visit to Delhi was my poetry reading at the Sahitya Akademi. Link to invitation details and post on the event.
On the last day of October I met with the writer Keki Karuwalla [photo above] at The Blue Door restaurant in Khan Market. I have popped into this place a few times and like the quietness and anonymity of it. It was good to meet with Keki after the reading on the previous evening. He kindly signed two of his books which will arrive at home before me.
Day 21 to 23 - Varanasi, Banaras, Kashi
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| The different faces of Kashi |
https://photos.app.goo.gl/ZETfY5n6yZbmWZAN7
Anuj Bahri of Bahrisons Bookshop advised me that the book 'Banaras, City of Light' was one of the best books on Banaras. This city has many names Banaras, Benares, Varanasi and Kashi. It took a few days to get the book but it was delivered to my room the day before I was to fly to Varanasi.
The taxi driver from the airport at Varanasi described his home as 'the city that lives'. The population is approximately four million.
It is a hot city, hotter than Delhi. It takes about an hour and a half to get to my hotel which is at the Assi Ghat. The hotel can be reached via an opening from two laneways. One laneway contains a tea stall where an excellent cup of chai or lemon tea can be purchased for 10 rupees. The entrance is shared by visitors and locals who live in adjacent homes. The rear of the hotel looks onto a cow byre and backyards. It also contains a well where women draw fresh water by dropping a bucket and pulling up the filled bucket via a rope.
On my first evening there was a wonderful performance by a classical Indian dancer on a stage at the shorefront.
On my second day I take a stroll along the Ganges or Ganga as far as Harishchandra Ghat and weaving my way through narrow laneways where I encounter musicians practising in a temple and later professional musicians rehearsing for a forthcoming music festival. The instruments were tabla, sitar, flute and violin. Getting a little thirsty I stop at a stall for a lassi and take a welcome seat in the back of the shop. Lassi is a yogurt drink which is served sweet or salty and beautifully cold. It is refreshing on a hot day. At another stall I again take a seat to eat a samosa, hot and tasty.
Later on this All Souls Day I travel with a guide to visit Manikarnika Ghat, Vishwanath Temple, Nepali Temple and attend the evening Aarti ceremony.
Visiting the cremation area was an emotional experience, one that I am not yet able to put into words. An average of 200 cremations are carried out daily.
When we reached the cremation area my guide handed me back over to a cremation guide, Raj. He tells me he is one of 37 people who look after the families of the dead. He explained that families of the lowest caste system owns the cremation process. There are huge piles of wood stacked up behind the steps above the cremation area. The wood is weighed using huge scales and the amount of wood is determined by the weight of the corpse. The cost is based on the quantity of wood. Raj and his team go around the streets every morning and bring homeless people that are near death or unable to look after themselves to a hospice behind the cremation ghat. They are fed and looked after until they die. The next journey for them will be downhill. The Indian film Hotel Salvation gives some insight to a similar place. While walking through the lanes between the heaps of wood I saw my first mongoose.
Raj went on to explain that the families clothe their dead in white with garlands of flowers. The dead are arranged on stretchers and brought to the Ganga to be dipped in the sacred water. The stretcher is then left on the steps while the body dries out we which takes about an hour or two. Neither match, lighter or any other fuel is used. Instead a light is taken from a fire that has been burning non stop for generations. Cremations take place outside and inside based on family preference. The heat inside is intense in the extreme. Raj asked me if I could get a smell but there was none. Women are not usually permitted to attend a cremation as it is believed that if someone cries the spirit is prevented from leaving the body. Presumably Hindi men don't cry.
It was difficult to continue my journey after this experience but my guide and I slowly walked away and went to visit Vishwanath temple which has a huge significance for Hindus.
The evening ended with the daily Aarti ceremony at Dashashwamadh Ghat. Aarti is a Hindu religious ceremony of worship. This consisted of seven young men, Hindu priests, dressed in golden yellow dhoti and kurta (typical dress of shirt and pants worn by Hindi men). They hold specific items including an oil lamp, an idol of the Goddess Ganges, flowers, incense sticks, a conch shell and a heavy brass lamp aloft in a slow dance like performance. There were thousands of people onshore and on boats enjoying the spectacle.
The following day I was extremely tired but had arranged to go out for a short trip with my tuk tuk driver/guide.
We spent a nice time at the university where it was quiet with a lovely temple with marble floors and lots of outdoor spaces at ground and first floor level.
We had chai at a stall served in a small clay pot. I noticed that my driver had put his in the rubbish bin. It turned out that these clay bowls were disposable!
In retrospect I don't know from where I got the energy but I wasbrou brought to a small family run shop where they prepare their own essential oils and spice combinations.
After this I was brought on a tour of weaving and print workshops which was extremely interesting. The workers doing it all by hand. The owner showed me a selection of finished work explaining that most of the work is for export. Yes I did select a few small pieces to brighten up winter in Ireland.
On the last morning in Varanasi I took a boat ride at 5:30am before sunrise. At Assi Ghat the morning ritual of Aarti was being performed. Similar to the evening one atDashashwamadh Ghat but smaller and less of an audience.
Being up before sunrise is always special irrespective of location. It was the dark before the light, the calm of the river at the start that I enjoyed most of all. My young boatman rowed northwards on a predetermined destination. The river became busy with boats of all shapes, rowing and motorboats filled with spectators. We stopped at Manikarnika Ghat and as we turned to head back another small boat came up alongside us. The other boat man gave me a basket of flowers and candle and told me to put it in the river as an offering. Off guard I obediently did so and was then promptly charged an exorbitant (in local terms). I gave him the money but told him he had bad karma. Like water off a duck's back.
Our rowing boat was towed back to Assi Ghat. I was quite happy with this as at that stage I just wanted to get back as I was heading to the airport after breakfast.
I had a migraine on my journey to the airport and for a while afterwards but thankfully it cleared.
Last few days in Delhi
https://photos.app.goo.gl/4S44wShY9DPybimJA
After landing at Delhi airport I decided I would do my bit for helping to reduce pollution by using the metro to go back to Lutyens Bungalow. I bought my card and met a young Indian woman who works with Bank of Scotland. She helped ease my way as I needed to change lines at New Delhi. Preparing to get our next connection we positioned ourselves on the platform where the carriage for women would stop. (The train from the airport doesn't have a separate coach for women.) When the train arrived and the doors opened there was a number of young men in the coach. It turned out they were not aware it was a women only coach. The other passengers including my co-traveller informed them and they immediately moved carriages.
On the train I felt quite weak. At my destination station I got a tuk tuk the last mile.
When I arrived back I realised that I was seriously exhausted. Aftrt a good night's sleep I recovered. Next day I read about the dangerously high levels of pollution in Delhi. My lungs were already feeling the effects and from then on I try to take more care.
I was invited to dinner at the home of the well respected writer Sudeep Sen. I met a number of his friends including two top class Indian classical musicians, Saskia Rao de Haas - cellist and her husband Sitar player Shubhendra Rao who was a pupil of Ravi Shankar. I also met Sudeep's partner as well as the writer Sukrita Paul Kumar. Sukrita and I spent some additional time together the following evening. Brian McElduff, the Irish ambassador was there and I went the following day to visit him and another colleague at the Irish Embassy. Brian tells me that I will be in his memoir as the first person he has met who has come to Delhi and not visited the Taj Mahal. He was however impressed by my travels allowing me to see a side of India from which he and other diplomats are protected.
My final day in Delhi was quiet and spent mainly alone allowing me some precious space in what has been a fully charged journey.
I ate alone served by the few remaining staff that would not make it home for Diwali. Like Christmas there are those that can afford to celebrate and others that can't wait for it to be over as they have nothing to celebrate. I sit in my room listening to the continuous sounds of fire crackers and think of the wildlife, pets and the additional pollution spreading over this city.
Traffic was light this morning as I traveled to the airport. There is no escaping the pollution even inside the building. I enjoy my final sweet lassi before my flight.
Tonight I will be reunited with my best friend, my love of more than 30 years - John Philip Murray.
I look forward to bringing him with me on any future trip to India!
