Nov 2006

From Amritsar, I took my first Indian train ride to the city of Jodhpur and the Indian state of Rajasthan. Two trains and 20 plus hours later, my friend and I arrived in Jodhpur or the Blue city. We rode in sleeper class on the train and we were the only foreignors in our car but it was a great time. After pushing our way to our seats/beds, we were surrounded by Indians who looked at us with inquisitive eyes. But after a couple hours of exchanging smiles and chatting in broken english we were buying each other milk tea or chai and sharing our food. We seemed to be the main attraction of every Indian who walked by. We even got them to play the game of "I spy" with us. At every stop, entreprepneurs would board the train and sell socks, snacks and of course, chai. They would walk by yelling, "Chai, Chai, Chai, Chai, Chaiiiiiiiiii." It was a fun train ride.

While we were in Jodhpur, my friend and I stayed in a cozy guesthouse aptly named Cosy Guesthouse. From the roof of our guesthouse, we got a beautiful view of the blue buildings of Jodhpur and the Jodhpur fort which is situated on a hill in the middle of the city. Our stay in Jodhpur was only two days but while we were there we visited the Jodhpur fort. Built on a hill overlooking the city, the fort offered a great defense against attacks in the old days and a panoramic view of the surrounding landscape. While exploring the fort, my friend and I caught a couple of guards throwing paper airplanes off the side of the fort. Their planes floated leisurely in the desert wind. (I tried my own paper airplane but it just took a nose dive straight down) We also visited a 600 year old Hindu temple located in the fort. Also, we bumped into some friends that we knew from Dharmasala. India is a large country but it is certainly a small world.

From Jodhpur, we met up with another friend on the train and four hours later we arrived in the dusty city of Jaisalmer. Jaisalmer is known as the Golden city and it too has a fort. Unlike Jodhpur, Jaisalmer's fort is really dilapidated because it is filled to the brim with guesthouses, restaurants, temples and shops. The main reason we went to Jaisalmer was to go on a camel trek into the Rajasthan desert. My friends and I booked a two-day trek because we were pre-warned about the uncomfortability of riding a camel (Two days later I had a pretty sore bum, buttock, etc, etc) Our group totaled six travellers (my two friends, myself, an another american, a french and an australian), a handful of guides/cooks and of course our transportation, a motley group of camels. My camel's name was Papu and he always seemed to be taking it easy and would occasionally trot to catch the rest of the group. I had many long talks with Papu about trying to keep up with the pack, although he was a good listener, he never seemed to follow my advice, oh well. The highlight of the trek was sleeping under the stars. It was a "starry" night and we saw nearly a dozen shooting star. It was a pretty cool experience.

An overnight bus ride away from Delhi is Mcleod Ganj or Upper Dharmasala. Dharmasala is situated in the Himalayans and is located in the Himachal Pradesh state but it feels like a whole new country. Mcleod Ganj is a tranquil town and it is the home to His Holiness, the Dalai Lama, and the Tibetan-in-Exile government. Mcleod is home to many Tibetan refugees and attracts throngs of foreign travelers volunteering for the Tibetan cause, doing yoga and meditations, studying Buddhism and just relaxing in the Himalayans. Mcleod is a place where you could easily stay for a prolonged period of time which I did. I stayed for almost a month and I enjoyed my time there. During my stay I hiked to the smaller towns just outside of Mcleod, played basketball with some local Tibetans, visited the Dalai Lama's temple, and did some volunteer work. Mcleod was a nice rest from the hurried lifestyle of Delhi.

From McLeod, with four other friends, I went to Amritsar. Amritsar is located in the Punjab state and it is home to the Golden Temple. The Golden Temple is the holiest temple of the Sikh religion. The bus station in Amritsar welcomed us back into the breakneck lifesytle of India. We were immediately pursued by rickshaw drivers and the accoustics in the bus station seemed to amplify every voice and sound. It felt like we were entering a riot.

My friends and I stayed in rooms that were attached to the Golden Temple. The Golden Temple is stunning. The temple offered free meals throughout the day. You could donate money or help wash the dishes. My friends and I helped wash dishes for an hour or so and the people smiled with joy. We heard that they served almost 30,000 people per day. Each day in the Golden Temple, the sacred Sikh book is processed out in the early morning and returned at night. One morning, my friend and I attended the procession of the sacred book. We huddled with the numerous Sikh pilgrims and watched the ceremony with curious eyes. It was a great experience. During our stay at the temple the Sikh's made us feel at home and welcomed us with open arms.

Just west of Amritsar is the Pakistan border. Each night, there is an elaborate border closing ceremony between India and Pakistan. Both sides of the border are lined with grandstands and when we attended the ceremony, the seats were filled to the brim. The border is closed for two or three hours and each country performs a slow, comical ceremony. On our side, an Indian emcee encourages the crowd to cheer for India - "go, India, go" It is reminscent of a high school pep rally. The throngs of Indians always seem to be on a brink of rioting but at the last minute they would settle down. The ceremony is a hilarious spectacle to watch.

Suggested Books:

Tibet

Non-fiction

Freedom in Exile - Dalai Lama
Fire in the Snow - Palden Gyatso,Tsering Shakya
Reincarnation: A Boy Lama - Vicki Mackenzie
Wrestling The Dragon - Gaby Naher