TravelStream™ news feed for member aanthony on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/aanthony en-us Copyright ©2009 TravelPod.com Wed, 25 Jul 2007 01:34:53 -0400 http://www.travelpod.com http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/aanthony/eap_india_07-08/1183206360/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/aanthony/eap_india_07-08/1183206360/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/aanthony/eap_india_07-08/1183206360/tpod.html Wed, 25 Jul 2007 01:34:53 -0400 A semester abroad in India

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Rishikesh, India

Ohhh man, best weekend trip ever!! Me and Jaimini went by ourselves to Rishikesh and Haridwar this weekend. First, we had to find a way to get to Rishikesh, and a lot of other groups were taking taxis to the city, so we talked to the guy and asked him how much it would be for the cab ride, and they told us it would be 1200 rupees each way, which was a ridiculously hiked up price, so we were really pissed and we called our director to see if he could somehow arrange something, but the guy wouldn't budge so we just decided to just do it since we really wanted to go see the two cities.
The taxi ride was awesome because it was just me and Jaimini so we had tons of room to stretch out and no annoying people to bug us during the ride. We stopped for some chai on the way (best chai we had the whole trip- really milky and spicy) and the drive was beautiful. Our driver told us that the forest we were driving through was known to be dangerous because tigers could attack at night and elephants could knock over trees or just walk in the middle of the road. We didn't see anything though...just a few monkeys. But dude the ride was amazing.
So we checked into the Bandari Swiss Cottage at Rishikesh and the first thing we did was drop our bags and go up to the roof and see the view. OH MY GOD, so amazing!! We were astounded and were like ok definitely just sitting up here and chilling. So we saw the sun setting and it was just beautiful seeing the huge mountains with the Ganga (Ganges River) flowing through dotted with the lights of temples and hotels, and in the background we could hear the faint sounds of the songs at the temples, but of course the sound was also interspersed with the traffic and honking on the street nearby. But, even with the road sounds, it was sooo cool. Then, coolest part, we got to see the moon rise, my first ever. The moon itself was beautiful and huge and bright, but then add to that the huge mountains it's rising above and the stars in the sky, oh man amazing. So, we sat there for like three hours, ate some dinner, then went to sleep.

We set the alarm for 4:30 AM so we could see the sunrise, but it went off and we both just looked at each other and said uhh no and went back to sleep. When we woke up for real, it was around 9:30 and Jaimini really wanted to take a shower, but there wasn't any soap, so we just went out in our American clothes to get some soap. So we start walking and quickly realize there's no place nearby that sells soap, so we caught a rickshaw and Jaimini told him to go to the bridge figuring we'd see a store on the way. We see a store and we're like dude stop and he wouldn't cuz his fare would be lower, so we ended up going to the bridge in our American clothes and having tons of people staring at us. We got some soap and went to a little bakery for some breakfast. So cool, it was like right on top of the Ganga and next to the bridge. Then, we figured we'd go back, but none of the rickshaws would go the way we wanted to go so we just started walking back waiting for a rickshaw to pass. So we were walking and saw a Hindu temple and Jaimini was like dude let's go in, so we did.
We ended up staying there for three hours. We saw the mundir, then saw a ghat going down to the river, so we went down and just chilled there next to the river for like three hours. It was so pretty. The river was really cool and clean and there was a breeze blowing(which apparently rarely happens so we were lucky it wasn't burning hot). Jaimini went all the way in after a while, but I just went up to my knees cuz I was wearing these pants that wouldn't dry. It was pretty cool just sitting there relaxing and looking out at the river. After that, we decided that Rishikesh had definitely been a good time, and we were ready to go to Haridwar. We took the bus to Haridwar, which was totally awesome. We got a perfect view of the countryside, it wasn't crowded, and we got to listen to old Hindi music during the ride. And that's not even the best part- it only cost us 20 rupees!! So we finally got to Haridwar, found out it was pretty expensive for hotels so just went to the one that our rickshaw driver took us to. 500 rupees for the night, and it wasn't even in a really good location. So, we were kinda bummed cuz the hotel in Rishikesh had only been 250 and we had an AMAZING view. But, eh, we just needed a place to sleep, so we checked in (after this whole hassle with the guy because we didn't have our passports and he wouldn't let us stay, but we called our director and he worked everything out, thank god!) and went straight out to the river to see the aarti prayer that happened everyday at sunset. That was pretty intense man. We sat there for about an hour in a crowd of a bunch of people, and we were sweaty and there were lots of flies, but it finally started and it was fine. It was kind of weird for me cuz I didn't really know what was going on, but it was still cool seeing all the people that were there. After, people had these little offerings that float on the river and we got to move up and put our feet in the river. It was pretty chill, there were a lot of people just relaxing and having a good time taking a bath in the river. But, there were some crazy old ladies. This one lady was splashing herself so vigorously that another younger lady went up to her and was like little slower please haha I had to turn so she wouldn't see me laughing right in her face. Yeah, so pretty chill, but definitely waay more crowded than Rishikesh. The next day we went back to the river and chilled by the river for like an hour, but it was really really hot and there were so many more people around. Plus, Jaimini accidentally dropped her camera in the river and it wasn't working so that totally sucked. We definitely liked Rishikesh better than Haridwar, but it was still cool to see how many people were there and everything that went on. It was also better cuz we were both wearing Indian clothes so people didn't really hassle us that much and we could just walk around in the middle of everyone and experience what everything was like.
Over all, a pretty awesome two days. The next day Jaimini took her camera out and it was working perfectly fine. Guess it got blessed in the Ganga haha ....we were kinda relieved to be back to the calm of Musoorie after Haridwar but Rishikesh was definitely worth everything.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/aanthony/eap_india_07-08/1182338280/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/aanthony/eap_india_07-08/1182338280/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/aanthony/eap_india_07-08/1182338280/tpod.html Mon, 09 Jul 2007 06:15:23 -0400 A semester abroad in India

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New Delhi, India


We were staying at the YWCA International Guest House in Delhi the first week we got there to get oriented with the city, and we had random appointments and things we had to get finished like going to the police office to get registered or to go apartment hunting, but everything else was free time. So, a few days into the week, for some reason I woke up really early, which is definetly a first haha. I looked at my clock, and it said 4:30 AM....and I was sick of just laying in bed so I just got up and went outside in the little sitting area and sat there for an hour or two just watching the sky getting lighter. When there was enough light out to see by, I got up out of the chair to the gate. As I was walking to the gate, another girl in the program, Nayana, was also awake and wanting to go for a walk, and then the guy in charge dropped by to open the lock on the gate for us. We'd heard a lot of people telling us about the Sikh temple that was nearby so we decided to go looking for it. We walked down the street (Nayana kinda knew where it was so we weren't really wandering around aimlessly) and found the temple. There was this really nice lady at the front of the gate to the temple that motioned for us to follow her, and she showed us where to put our shoes to get a coin and then how to wash our feet before going on the marble steps leading to the temple, and then finally where to get a head scarf then just told us to go on in.
So, we went in and there was an altar in the middle with two guys sitting in the middle playing instruments and singing. You were supposed to go up to the altar and either bow down and touch the floor of the altar or just bow your head and give praise. Then, we figured this out after we'd already sat down and watched everyone else, you were supposed to go around to each side of the altar thingy and do the same thing. But, we just went around and sat down and listened to the guys singing. This was seriously my favorite thing ever. We just sat there for an hour listening to these guys singing songs to their god and it was amazing because they had awesome voices and were really good at the instruments. It just seemed like the perfect way to worship your god. No complicated rituals or recitations or sermons. You can just come in and listen and pray and stay for as long as you want. There aren't any restrictions or any certain way that you have to do everything, it's all just up to your own personal wishes on how long or in which way you want to praise God.
So after we'd sat there for about an hour we got up and got this offering that everyone gets when you get out of the temple, I don't know what it's called, but it was kinda sweet and oily. Then, right next to the temple there's this huge awesome rectangle pool that we walked all the way around, and it was the perfect time, cuz the sun was just rising and it was so beautiful seeing the sun rise and it's reflection in the pool. And, inside the pool there were tons and tons of fish. It was so weird, apparently someone just brought some one day and they repopulated and people just kept bringing different kinds. Like, there were catfish and some japanese fish that someone had brought when they visitied. But, it was pretty cool seeing all the fishies and you could feed them some of the offering that you got. It was crazy, they were like piling on top of each other trying to get some of the food, but still awesome to see them all swimming around with their weird whiskers sticking out. Here's a picture of them.
But, I seriously like loved that temple. I was so at peace just sitting there and listening to these guys pouring their hearts out in song. So, for the rest of the days that we were there, that was how I started my morning, and let me say it was the absolute perfect way to start your day. . Just sitting there and listening to these guys singing and just having your own personal meditation....awesome!! This couldn't have come at a more perfect time. I've kinda been struggling with the whole idea of religion and God, but this helped to just get back to the basics and see how sometimes your religion can genuinely help you to relax and just strive to be a better person.
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