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 [View with PicLens] 1234567► I had connected with a fellow Moorpark-ian, Gene, who was now an ex-pat teaching at an international school in Delhi. In a “small world” encounter, he had been at Moorpark High the same time as me (though a year ahead), later he took a class on South Asian history [...]  [View with PicLens] 1234567► With my flight back to the states a day away I had finished my requisite Christmas shopping. Despite shopping 2 months before Christmas I had managed to get the holiday shopping experiences anyway, as I had unknowingly scheduled my flight on the Indian holiday of Diwali. In retrospect this [...] 10/30/2010 to 10/31/2010 | Himachal Pradesh , India  [View with PicLens] 12345► My final stop in the Chamba Valley, before I headed back to Delhi, was the regional capital of the same name. Set down in the valley its setting isn’t as impressive as Bharmour’s, but like Bharmour it has an array of impressive temples dating from the 10th to 19th [...] 10/27/2010 to 10/29/2010 | Himachal Pradesh , India  [View with PicLens] 1234► I had come to the Chamba Valley with the intention of trekking to Manimahesh Lake, a lake holy to Hindus set in the high Himalayas at 4,080 m (13,390 ft), and dominated by Manimahesh Kailash. I was hoping to add this Kailash to my Kailash collection, which now included the grand [...] 10/25/2010 to 10/26/2010 | Himachal Pradesh , India  [View with PicLens] 12345► After 3 years and 9 months to the day on the road in Asia, I had decided to return home to visit my family in California for a few months over Christmas. I cashed in my remaining frequent flyer miles, and booked my first international flight since I had [...]  [View with PicLens] 1234► Before the long journey back to Delhi, I stuck around in Shiyong to see the inauguration of a new community center built with the help of the Assam Rifles, unit of the Indian Army. Anxious to boost their image in the region the Assam Rifles had built the community [...]  [View with PicLens] 12345► After a bit of rest, and rice beer,* back in Shiyong, Phejin, her sister Bonglih, and I paid a visit to the nearby village of Chingphoi about 3 hours walk away. In Chingphoi we stayed with another relative of Phjin’s in their traditional bamboo built house. Perched out on [...]  [View with PicLens] 1234567► One of the reasons I had returned to Nagaland was to visit some of the more remote villages along the Nagaland-Myanmar (Burma) border. One of Phejin’s cousins had married a man from Shianghawamsa, a relatively remote village close to this northeastern border. We accompanied the cousin’s sister, still living [...]  [View with PicLens] 1234…678► I parted ways with Tam, Kip, and Jen hiding out in Shillong while I got a new Nagaland permit, before returning to for more explorations of Konyak country. It was my third/forth time in Nagaland, depending if you count my permit run to and from Shillong as a new [...]  [View with PicLens] 1234…789► Back in Delhi I arranged a Nagaland permit for Tam, Kip, and I as well as another of Phejin’s friends, Jen, a pointless bit of bureaucratic nonsense that would thankfully be abolished in 2011. I met up with my friends Tam and Kip on the excruciatingly long and inevitably [...] 8/30/2010 | India , Jammu & Kashmir  [View with PicLens] I spent a day in Jammu and that was about enough, after the cool climate of Ladakh and Kashmir the heat of Jammu was a shock to the system. My mood was not improved by the overpriced lodging in the city, and I spent longer than I would have liked [...] 8/27/2010 to 8/29/2010 | India , Jammu & Kashmir  [View with PicLens] 1234► With Tam and Kip’s departure by air that left me the sole guest remaining at the Tsavo Guesthouse. I was well looked after by Zangmo and Angchu but most of the restaurants and shops in Leh had closed early for the season due to the exodus of tourists following [...]  [View with PicLens] 1234…789► Tam and Kip had given up on a road exit from Ladakh and booked flights to Delhi. There departure date left them time for one last trip in Ladakh. We managed to hook up with a brother and sister from Britian and an Israeli girl to share a jeep [...]  [View with PicLens] 12► One of the reasons Tam and especially Kip had come to Ladakh was to do some trekking in the high mountains. The rains that brought such havoc on Leh had also washed away many trails and had swollen rivers to the point that they were impassable, not to mention [...]  [View with PicLens] 12► By the 14th of August the tourists in Leh had thinned out dramatically with most taking flights out town. The roads to Manali and Srinagar were still closed but the roads to some nearby villages especially to the south had opened and bus services had begun again. Having been [...]  [View with PicLens] 1234567► The day of the flash flood in Leh was supposed to be a day of celebration, it was the day that a young lama the 20th Bakula Rimpoche, Thupstan Ngwang Norbu would be brought from his birth place in the Nubra Valley to his monastery at Spituk (near Leh) [...]  [View with PicLens] 123456► I remember thinking these houses are not made for this kind of rain. The flat roofed traditional mud brick construction of many of the houses in arid Ladakh provides excellent insulation against the extremes of hot and cold but is less effective against the force of water. The rain [...]  [View with PicLens] 1234567► I first met Zangmo and Angchu when my Latvian friend Santa took me to one of the family style dinners held nightly at their Tsavo guesthouse when I was in Leh last year. I was impressed with the warm family atmosphere created by the Ladakhi couple in their guesthouse. [...] 7/24/2010 to 7/28/2010 | Himachal Pradesh , India  [View with PicLens] 12345► I’ve been through Manali often but I’ve never spent much time in the place. I’m usually on my way up to Ladakh or Spiti anxious to reach my destination. Malali has never really attracted me much though it’s a very popular destination for both Indian tourists and western backpackers. [...]  [View with PicLens] 123► By the time I finally left Nepal, 4 months after I had arrived, the subcontinent was in the midst of the monsoon. I have generally managed to avoid traveling much in the Indian monsoon. A time when city streets are flooded with overflowing sewage, cloths never dry, mold thrives, [...] 4/12/2010 to 7/20/2010 | Nepal  [View with PicLens] 123456► When Sarah left I moved out of Thamel (the tourist ghetto of Kathmandu) to visit my friend Kili in the “suburbs” of Kathmandu. Kili had a bad accident shortly after I had left Nepal last fall, leaving him paralyzed from the waste down. It was hard to see this [...] 4/9/2010 to 4/11/2010 | Nepal  [View with PicLens] 12345► I like Kathmandu. Its certainly one of the cities I enjoy most on the subcontinent. It’s got beautiful old buildings, Buddhist and Hindu temples, bustling markets, and upscale shopping malls. If you’re looking for other foreigners to swap stories over a few drinks there is no shortage of bars [...] 4/2/2010 to 4/8/2010 | Nepal  [View with PicLens] 1234567► Sarah had wanted to do some trekking in the Nepal Himalaya. Given the limited amount of time I decided to take her to Langtang, which in my opinion is one of the best short treks in Nepal. In at as little as three days from Kathmandu you can be [...] 3/29/2010 | India , Uttar Pradesh  [View with PicLens] 1234► With the exception of Delhi, which is “the Rome” of Northern India where all roads or in this case rail lines lead, Varanasi is the Indian city that I’ve been back to most often. Ironic since it took me until my third trip to India to finally visit this [...]  [View with PicLens] 1234► I smiled politely on the outside but I cringed beneath the facade of my face as a couple of my fellow train compartment companions struggled to close the heavy brass bracelet I had just been given around my wrist. Sarah looked on with amusement from the bench opposite me. [...] 3/23/2010 to 3/25/2010 | India , Uttarakhand  [View with PicLens] 1234567► (warning above galleries contain some nudity, not the good kind) I didn’t expect to return to Haridwar but having been thoroughly impressed by the atmosphere surrounding the Kumbh Mela. It was something I thought any visitor to India should see given the opportunity. So before working our way towards [...]  [View with PicLens] 12► I’ve passed through Delhi countless times during my past few years on the Indian subcontinent. Most of the time I use my stopovers as opportunities to fill up on nihari, kebabs, and Biryani in the maze of streets that surrounds the Jama Masjid in old Delhi. It’s kind of [...] 3/17/2010 | India , Uttarakhand  [View with PicLens] 1234…678► As I walked along side one of the channels of the Ganges that ran through the camps on the Eastern edge of Haridwar I noticed a small group of Sadhus gathered by the river. Some were chanting others just stood watching. I would find out after the small crowd [...] 3/17/2010 | India , Uttarakhand  [View with PicLens] 123456► A stream a Sadhus passed by me as I sat resting in the afternoon sun, immediately curious as to where all these holy men were headed, I jumped to my feet and followed. It turned out I had stumbled upon a lunch that was being put on for a [...] 3/16/2010 to 3/17/2010 | India , Uttarakhand  [View with PicLens] 1234…111213► The wide flood plain that harbors several channels of the Ganges on the eastern edge of Haridwar sprouts into a tent city during the Kumbh Mela. Temporary Ashrams, Naga Sadhu camps, and tented accommodation for pilgrims from various states cover the barren plains in a patchwork of canvas and [...] 3/16/2010 | India , Uttarakhand  [View with PicLens] 1234► Hari Ki Pauri is believed to be the point at which Ganges leaves the mountains and enterers the plains of India. It is the most revered site in Haridwar believed by Hindus to have been visited by both Siva and Vishnu. While this revered ghat was closed to all [...] 3/15/2010 | India , Uttarakhand  [View with PicLens] 1234…789► Until March 15, 2010 in Haridwar, despite having been to Varanasi and other sacred cities on the Ganga (Ganges) numerous times the extent of my contact with the river had been limited to washing my hands in the icy cold waters at Gomukh, the point at which the Ganges [...] 3/15/2010 | India , Uttarakhand  [View with PicLens] 123456► Somavati Amavasya occurs when a new moon falls on a Monday. On this auspiciousness day Hindus believe that a dip in a holy river will have especially good karmic results. During a Kumbh Mela this auspiciousness is amplified. The stream of Sadhus toward Hari Ki Pauri Ghat inching toward [...] 3/12/2010 to 3/15/2010 | India , Uttarakhand  [View with PicLens] 1234…121314► (warning nudity -not the good kind) Sadhus, Hindu holy men, are a fixture amidst the holy cities and temples of India. Normally wondering the road between holy sites or meditating in caves up in the Himalayas, once every 3-4 years they converge on the site of the Kumbh Mela. [...] 3/12/2010 to 3/15/2010 | India , Uttarakhand  [View with PicLens] 1234…789► As the Second Royal Bath (Somvati Amavasya – Dvitya Shahi Snan) approached, the banks of the holy Ganga(Ganges) at Haridwar steadily filled with pilgrims. In the mornings the pilgrims who had descended on Haridwar from across India would flock to the ghats, taking their morning bath in the holy [...] 3/12/2010 | India , Uttarakhand  [View with PicLens] 123456► From Nasik I would continue my festival hopping heading North via Delhi to the mother of all Indian festivals, the Kumbh Mela, which was taking place in Haridwar. Billed as the worlds largest religious gathering the Kumbh Mela is a bathing festival that rotates between 4 sites, Haridwar, Allahabad, [...] 3/5/2010 | India , Maharastra  [View with PicLens] 1234…141516► I put on my already color stained hole ridden shirt which I had worn for the Holi celebration in Hyderabad. I had saved this item that might ordinarily gone straight to the trash can for this particular day. I placed my camera inside my dry bag backpack securing the [...] 3/4/2010 | India , Maharastra  [View with PicLens] 12► It was the festival hump day in Nasik sandwiched between yesterday’s celebration of Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj birthday, and Rang Panchami the day that Maharastrans throw color for Holi. I decided to take the opportunity to visit the nearby city of Trimbakeshwar, a pilgrimage city worshiped as the source of [...] | India , Maharastra  [View with PicLens] 123456► As I arrived in Nasik (Nashik) it was apparent there was something going on. There were statues set up on nearly every street corner and music was blaring at a volume that surpassed the speakers’ ability to render an undistorted sound in typical the louder the better Indian esthetic. [...] 2/28/2010 to 3/1/2010 | Andhra pradesh , India  [View with PicLens] 123► I had decided to stick around Hyderabad for Holi, while not the most exuberant place to celebrate Holi, I would get a chance to attend the Indian School of Business (ISB)’s Holi party with my friend Sunny. It was being held the day before Holi since classes were being [...] 2/27/2010 | Andhra pradesh , India  [View with PicLens] 1234…101112► The following morning I returned to the Charminar area for the procession I had been told about the night before. More and more people flooded in to the area opposite the Jamma Masjid on the street leading North to the Charminar. Some colored there faces with green sparkling paint, [...] 2/26/2010 | Andhra pradesh , India  [View with PicLens] 1234► We went down to the Charminar, the iconic center of Hyderabad’s Islamic old city center, on the eve of Malid un Nabi the day Muslims celebrate the birthday of the prophet Mohammad. It was a festive atmosphere as people stood along the streets waving flags and dancing, while others [...] 2/21/2010 to 3/2/2010 | Andhra pradesh , India  [View with PicLens] 12345► In Hyderabad I stayed with my Taiwanese friend Sunny at her student accommodation on the campus of the Indian School of Business. The school sits on the outskirts of Hyderabad in the midst of the sprawling campuses of multinational companies such as Microsoft. The Indian School of Business is [...]  [View with PicLens] 123► Somnathpur is home to the 13th century star-shaped Keshava Temple built by the Hoysala dynasty. These masters of sculpture also built the larger more famous temples at Halebid and Belur, which I visited in 1994 and 2008. I made an effort to visit this temple in part on behalf [...]  [View with PicLens] 123456► I somewhat reluctantly accompanied Sunny to the other major Tibetan exile settlement in Karnataka, Bylakuppe, near Mysore. When we were able to secure overnight train seats that made it more palatable to me at least compared with taking the state run bus overnight. We met up with Sunny’s classmate [...]  [View with PicLens] 1234► While the most well known Tibetan exile settlement is near the northern Indian city of Dharmsala home to the Tibetan government in exile actually the largest concentration of Tibetan exiles in India is in the south Indian State of Karnataka. It is in Karnataka where the great monastic universities [...]  [View with PicLens] 1234567► For weeks leading up to this day the massive wood cart parked at the end of Car Street in Gokarna had slowly metamorphosed into its present ornate configuration. Teams of laborers had constructed an elaborate canopy on the massive wood wheeled platform decorated with splendor fitting enough for the [...]  [View with PicLens] 1234…111213► With the arrival of Shivarati pilgrims poured into the sleepy sea side town of Gokarna. In addition to these pilgrims who blanketed the town beach in lingams out of sand and waited in lines that wound around the town for a chance to enter the temple on this auspicious [...]  [View with PicLens] 12► I left Agonda in a relative hurry as the landlords of the place Mohan and Carol were staying in suddenly began giving them a hard time about me being there, so I hopped on a train down to my favorite mainland beach in India, Gokarna. The beaches surrounding this [...]  [View with PicLens] 1234…101112► It was not a bad life sleeping on the roof under the stars falling asleep to the sounds of crashing waves, and waking to the sun shining through the surrounding coconut palm trees. A morning swim, a bit of website work for my friend Mohan, maybe an afternoon walk [...]  [View with PicLens] I typed in my PNR number again not wanting to believe what the computer monitor had just showed me. Same result waiting list #1 unconfirmed. My train to Goa was leaving in a little over an hour, the chart had been made there was no chance I would move up [...] | ||||
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