TravelStream™ news feed for member heatherandrew on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/heatherandrew en-us Copyright ©2009 TravelPod.com Tue, 30 Jun 2009 23:16:28 -0400 http://www.travelpod.com http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/heatherandrew/1/1244692800/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/heatherandrew/1/1244692800/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/heatherandrew/1/1244692800/tpod.html Tue, 30 Jun 2009 23:16:28 -0400 Studying Abroad in India

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Davis, California, United States

Well It has been about six months since we came back from India.  This time last year I was taking my last final in 100 degree weather in Davis and packing everything into storage.  Andrew and I still laugh about our huge argument about trying to shove the bicycle in storage propped up against the wall on one wheel.  We we obviously both really stressed out. Going to India was the chance of a lifetime, and I never regret doing it.  It was hard at times, sure, but the good times are the ones that I really remember.Sometimes I still wake up to nightmares about the begging children, getting our bag stolen, the bomb scares, the stares faces of men on the metro, or some of the other unpleasant experiences.  But when I wake up I try think about all of the great things: learning Hindi, skipping classes at Delhi University, getting Beef Kabobs in Chandni Chowk, Delhi,  boatride in Varanasi, elephant ride at Amber fort, dressing up in a bright purple sari and going to the Taj Mahal, seeing Mt. Everest, Lake Kacheperri, Sikkim Momo King, camel ride in Pushkar, or learning to play the sitar (and then breaking the world record).  We had some pretty amazing times.  We had a schedule departure of December 17th, but after the attacks on Mumbai things in Delhi got a bit scary.  There were a lot more police around and it seems like were experience something close to Marshall law.  Unexpectedly there would be a bomb deter squad on the metro, checking everybody's seats with a mirror and metal detector for bombs.  There would be troops running down the street.  And all the while the people who lived in Delhi that we had grown to trust were telling us "not to let the terrorists win and lock yourself inside" instead they encouraged us to go out to the markets and stay out in the streets... even as bombs continued to go off.  We were pretty startled when one of the bombs that found unexploded was on our everyday regular route to the Art History museum.  Instead of staying an extra week past finals we switched our flights to the day after finals were over and started packing.  We had a lot more stuff than I remembered, we had to buy an extra suitcase.  Good thing we packed light on the way there!  We gave our extra food and unwanted clothing to the man who we had paid to come clean our house.  He was one of the two decent men in India who we met who didn't try to rip us off or hurt us.  The other man was the guy who owned "the corner store" as we called it.  He owned a small hole in the wall on the corner of our block and sold icecream, soda, cookies, chips, yogurt, a small little convenience store. He was there everyday dawn till after dusk.  He would always give us correct change and even accept our larger bills.  He would always try to understand our broken Hindi.  On the last night I had an extra 100 Rs and I went to him to get a soda (we would be leaving to early in the morning for him to be open).  I purchased a sprite for the morning to calm my nerves and paid for the 20 Rs soda with 100Rs (2 dollars).  I told him to keep the change, in broken Hindi, I was not coming back to India, ever.  He wouldn't accept it.  He called me "baheen" (sister) and told me that I must keep the change.  I think that perhaps he thought it was corrupt to keep more than what I owed him.  He was a very religious man and always blessed the money you gave him and the change he gave you back.  I figure it was for religious reasons that he couldn't keep the money.  For some reason I like to think of him a lot, probably still standing in that shop selling sodas.We left India in a rush.  I felt sad and anxious.  It was hard to say good bye to our friends for the past six months.  At the airport we were laughing so hard to just stop from crying.Since being back it was hard in the beginning for me.  For Andrew, he said it was easy.  He said that he wanted to stay in America for a long time and has no interest in going abroad.  Of course a couple months ago I think he remembered his travel bug and started trying to plan our next trip.  India was a long trip and right now is a hard time to find a job for me, so I don't think we can afford another trip this summer.  But hopefully next summer we can travel again, I think we have both been bitten by the travel bug forever.PS I have found some extra photos that I never posted here of our neighborhood.  The last week I was feeling very sort of romantic about our neighborhood.  So when we went to go sell back our bike I took the video camera and strapped it to my waist with a scarf.  We have a video of us biking through our neighborhood in Delhi, to the university to drop of our final papers and then to Chandni Chowk to sell back our bikes that we had bought in June.  I'm not sure if many people are interested in seeing the video(there is an elephant walking through it!)  but I'm posting it here more for my own nostalgia. Maybe you will enjoy it.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/heatherandrew/1/1237415040/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/heatherandrew/1/1237415040/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/heatherandrew/1/1237415040/tpod.html Wed, 18 Mar 2009 20:18:02 -0400 Studying Abroad in India

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Delhi, India

&nbsp;Well, obviously we have been home for a while now, we got home on December 5th. &nbsp; We left in such a hurry, that I didn't have time to finish up the last of our adventures in India. &nbsp; Don't worry I didn't forget! School here at Davis takes a lot more time up than I remembered. In India I didn't have to go to class so I didn't mind writing, now I have to write all the time; my brain is tired! Way back in August, if you can remember that far back, we went to Varanasi. &nbsp; It's a town on the Ganges that is considered holy because it is where the Buddha gave his first sermon at Deer Park and it's where the Holist Rivers in India converge into the biggest Ganges that empties into the Bay of Bengal. Anyways while we were there we went to a very touristy (but fun) place for dinner, where they had a guy playing the sitar accompanied by a man playing tabla. &nbsp; A sitar is a wooden instrument about 4 feet tall, with about 16 strings. &nbsp; One sits while playing it, and strums it, kind of like a guitar, but with a different pick on your index finger. &nbsp; Well, I was inspired to play it.&nbsp; I thought it would be the coolest thing if I came back from India knowing how to play a new instrument. Fast forward to November.&nbsp; We had just gotten back from our trek and we were back in Delhi celebrating Diwali (when we went to our friends' house for a party and were feed gross Indian sweets and I thought I was going to vomit). &nbsp; Well I got a little sick.&nbsp; My stomach was upset, I couldn't eat anything, I wasn't going to the bathroom. &nbsp; My stomach hurt so bad that I couldn't sleep.&nbsp; So on the third day, I went next door to the doctors and she said that I had food poisoning, and that I should pick up some antibiotics and some pain killers. &nbsp; So I went down the street to the pharmacy and picked up some medicine along with splurging on some juice (which was relatively expensive) and some chicken broth. &nbsp; It took me less than a half an hour to do all this. The best thing about it? It SO&nbsp;CHEAP.&nbsp; The doctor charged me 150 Rs for the appointment and 3 days worth of the medications (antibiotics, anti-nausea pills and painkillers) were only 80&nbsp;Rs.&nbsp; So total 230 Rs, about $4.75!&nbsp;It made me wonder how in a country where so many things were messed up it seems like their health care system seems to be so much more efficient. I didn't even have to make an appointment or get a prescription or wait for it to be filled! I just had to walk to the corner. Anyways, the point of this is that it kind of put me out of commission for about two weeks.&nbsp; I couldn't do much except lay in bed.&nbsp; I got pretty sick of this after awhile and I remembered our time in Varanasi, so then I picked up the quest to learn the sitar. I started with the guide book, which gave me the number of a music shop. &nbsp; I called about three before I got someone who spoke English and had sitars. &nbsp; He gave me a number of a directory which would tell me the listing of people who teach sitar. &nbsp; I called them and they gave me a list of about 11 music teachers. &nbsp; About half of them didn't pick up.&nbsp; A quarter was disconnected numbers. &nbsp; One was a daycare center.&nbsp; The second to last number picked up, and he was a sitar teacher. &nbsp; His name is Surjit, and he became my sitar teacher. Looking back at it, it was a great deal (although at the time I was fighting with myself), the experience I had was out of this world.&nbsp; The first lesson I had was around the first week of November. &nbsp; He charged $10 for a one hour lesson. He would drive to my apartment at around 8 o'clock and he loaned me an extra sitar to practice with. &nbsp; In the beginning I had about three lessons a day.&nbsp; I wrote this down in my journal about the first lesson: <i>"I&nbsp;had my first sitar lesson! It was so great, but also really hard.&nbsp; It's hard to push down the strings, they are really thick and hurt my fingers;&nbsp; it was so great to be learning something that I was actually interested in.&nbsp; The sitar has something like 15 strings, and they are at different levels, it's really complicated.&nbsp; But my teacher was just perfect.&nbsp; He and old Sikh man, and very serious about music.&nbsp; He kept telling me that I was very good at the sitar, and that he hopes that I&nbsp;like it, and want to keep playing.&nbsp; Even if he was exaggerating so that I would want to continue to take lessons I&nbsp;don't care.&nbsp; Amongst all the bad things in this country, if somebody wants to share a talent with me and make a living off of it, that's the least sin.&nbsp; By the way, he said he said he doesn't charge to teach music, but only for time and transportation and to eat, because to charge to teach music is a SIN.&nbsp; He was really great, and really professional.&nbsp; I finally found this guy, and I'm really pleased.&nbsp; We're going to have lessons twice a week until I leave in December.&nbsp; He said by the end of it I will be able to play a couple of pieces. I was also considering buying a sitar.&nbsp; I think it'd be such a cool souvenir, and then I&nbsp;could keep practicing when I get home.&nbsp; The lessons are $10 each (for one hour) and twice a week for the rest of the 6 weeks is $120.&nbsp; Which I think is a great deal to learn an instrument.&nbsp; A sitar, however, is quite expensive.&nbsp; He said off the top of his head it could be like $200.&nbsp; Plus I&nbsp;need a nice hard case so that I&nbsp;could take it home in.&nbsp; So now I have something that I want to do, but I feel guilty for spending the money.&nbsp; I mean I&nbsp;have it (sort of) but I&nbsp;just like my nice cushion so that when I get back to Davis I&nbsp;don't have to worry about money.&nbsp; I just really don't want to have to ask my parents for money (even though I probably will for groceries when I get back). I just have to tell myself that I will really regret it if I don't get one..." Obviously I was really excited, and I had good reason to be. After about the first week my teacher mentioned this organization called The Art of Living. &nbsp; It's an international organization (there is a branch in Santa Cruz) and its main focus is to teach people who to meditate and control stress. &nbsp; They were having a weeklong meditation retreat in Delhi (southern Delhi, technically a subtown called Noida), at the end of November.&nbsp; But to top it all off, on the Friday they were going to have a concert, a sitar concert. &nbsp; In fact, they were going to try to break the world record with the most number of sitarists in one concert. &nbsp; So they were actively recruiting people, and the only prerequisite to play in the concert was to be able to play the three songs that they were to play in the concert. &nbsp; Obviously, I was on a mission.&nbsp; All of November I spent playing sitar, hanging around Delhi, playing more sitar, and finishing up my papers for class. &nbsp; By the end of November, a man came to the house to hear my play and approve me for the concert, and he said I could. &nbsp; This then sent me on another quest; every person in the concert had to wear an all-white outfit.&nbsp; So I had to go to Old Delhi, get some fabric, then go to the tailor and describe an all-white outfit. &nbsp; I even picked out some gold ribbon to go along the cuffs and collar, all in Hindi might I add. The concert was on Friday November 21.&nbsp; So the whole week before that I had to go to rehearsal with my teacher and his other students. &nbsp; Well, of course I wasn't feeling that good that week.&nbsp; Andrew and I were at the end of our trip and the night before the first rehearsal we decided to splurge and order Dominos pizza.&nbsp; Well, there hadn't been much cheese in my diet, and that much cheese on the pizza didn't go down well. &nbsp; First I had to take the forty five minute metro to the southern end of Delhi to my teacher's house.&nbsp; By the end of that I really had to use the restroom. &nbsp; When I got there, they were having lunch so I politely slurped down some potatoes and rice. &nbsp; I still hadn't had a chance to use the restroom (I didn't want to ask where it was), when my teacher's sister, who was also his student, suggested that we practice before the rehearsal. &nbsp; So we went into the bedroom, it was only a one bedroom apartment with an attached bath, and sat on the floor and began to play.&nbsp; He actually had the same laptop that I do, so that was kind of weird. Things got a lot weirder after that though. &nbsp; First, my teacher said that we were playing well, and that he was going to take a shower. &nbsp; So while his sister (and his mother for that matter) and I were sitting in the bedroom, be began to take off his turban. &nbsp; For some reason, this really freaked me out.&nbsp; Imagine seeing somebody every day, and they always wear something. &nbsp; Then you see them take it off. It's weird.&nbsp; Then, we took off his shirt. Don't forget, we're all sitting in this room, and he's being really nonchalant about it too, like it was no problem that he's taking off his clothes.&nbsp; Maybe it's because he considered me family, but I just thought it was too funny, so I just concentrated on playing.&nbsp; He would even correct us while undressing, telling us we were playing to fast or slow. &nbsp; It was just hilarious, I had to do everything to stare at my music and not look up or else I'd burst into laughter, which would have been even more awkward. &nbsp; So then finally he was down to his boxers, and he went into the bathroom and took a shower. &nbsp; He had mentioned before that he only takes cold showers, for religious reasons. &nbsp; Well it must have been really cold, because he was yelping and coughing and snorting and making all kinds of weird noises. &nbsp; Of course, nobody seemed to think twice about it. I was too embarrassed to try to use his bathroom after that. &nbsp; Finally, after another forty five minutes in the car to the actual rehearsal, I got to a port-a-potty, which was actually a lot cleaner than the ones in the U.S.&nbsp; It became increasingly apparent to me that the people in India who can afford to play sitar obviously have money. &nbsp; So that meant that everything at the rehearsals was really nice. &nbsp; They fed us lunch and dinner (I didn't have to pay anything. &nbsp; In fact, they paid me to play in the concert! 500 Rs!)&nbsp; Everything was super clean and everybody was super nice. That doesn't mean that they are organized. &nbsp; What was supposed to be an hour long rehearsal, turned into a four hour long rehearsal. &nbsp; All I remember is that I left the house that morning at 9 am and didn't get back until 11 pm. &nbsp; It was horrible.&nbsp; All while making embarrassing runs to the porta-potty.&nbsp; The next day I had to get up and do it all over again. &nbsp; For some reason my stomach still wasn't doing to good, it must have been all that sterile food from the day before. &nbsp; Either way, but the time I got to his house I had to use the bathroom, like immediately. &nbsp; So I gave in and asked him to use it.&nbsp; The bathroom door didn't really shut all the way, you just kind of closed it and there was a gap between the door frame and the door. &nbsp; And the bathroom was all white tiles, and it was a small little box of a room. &nbsp; What I am trying to convey is that it echoed, a lot.&nbsp; So while I'm sitting in the bathroom, sick, you know where I'm going with this. &nbsp; The family could hear everything. I know they could.&nbsp; I almost couldn't help myself from laughing right then and there because it was too embarrassing it was funny. Almost like a Seinfeld episode, but in India. It was just too funny. &nbsp; So then I came out of the bathroom, expecting them to ignore it. But instead, they were all looking at me concerned.&nbsp; "Is everything okay?" &nbsp; I almost died of laughter.&nbsp; They were genuinely concerned though, so I just said "Yes, I'm okay but my stomach is upset." They obviously thought differently.&nbsp; They fed me bananas and curd (which is supposed to help your stomach) and we went to the pharmacy to get something. &nbsp; A was fine within the hour.&nbsp; For the rest of the time I kept eating bananas and curd, with muesli, which would have to be the one food thing that I really miss from India. &nbsp; I'm sure if I looked hard enough I could find it here, but I haven't really tried it yet.&nbsp; Curd is like a really sour version of plain yogurt, which families in India usually make every morning and they have it with every meal. &nbsp; The sister thought it was funny that we buy yogurt from the store "in little boxes" as she put it. I got through that rehearsal, and another student's family took me home. &nbsp; They were really nice.&nbsp; They all had snacks, like sodas and waters and this cool fried potato thing that I didn't catch the name of but was really good. &nbsp; I felt bad that I didn't have anything to share.&nbsp; In the car ride home, I felt the most like I was at home that I probably did in all of India. &nbsp; It was a typical middle class family, mom, dad, kids, kids' friends. &nbsp; They were all joking.&nbsp; The little girl had a balloon that she was banging against the chair and annoying the Dad.&nbsp; I felt like the one thing that we didn't get out of India was the middle class experience, but that was because they are so cut off from the rest of India that it is hard to make that connection. &nbsp; The next day was the rehearsal. &nbsp; I had to leave earlier in the morning (feeling fine). &nbsp; I had told the rest of the Californians that I was in this concert and about six said that they would like to come and watch (it was free). &nbsp; So they rented a taxi and set a meeting time.&nbsp; Well, apparently world got out that I was going to break a world record that night and about twenty five of our group showed up. &nbsp; They quickly called the cab company and rented a minibus instead of a van. &nbsp; I was really surprised to see everybody at the gate and they all came in, and got little VIP passes. &nbsp; It seems like everybody had a good time.&nbsp; We played a song, and then of course they had to bog it down with a bunch of meditation stuff, which was funny. &nbsp; Everybody had to put their arms over their heads and say ommmmm and peace and stuff. &nbsp; Unfortunately they did the whole presentation in Hindi, so we couldn't really understand it. &nbsp; But eventually they got back to the music and we finished out songs. &nbsp; We took the bus back home and Andrew informed me that he had been throwing up all day. This was the first time he threw up in India, actually, and it was so close to the end. &nbsp; He said it was because we had been apart for the past two days, and he gets sick if we aren't together all the time. &nbsp; I guess that's sweet? Afterwards about 12 of my closest friends and I decided to go out to dinner at one of our favorite places Momo King. &nbsp; It was a lot of fun and everybody was really impressed with the concert, and everybody thought my all white outfit was a crack up. &nbsp; They said I should wear it on the plain home and say now that I've been to India I'm enlightened and I only wear white all the time (I didn't... but it would have been funny). &nbsp; Later that week I got a certificate saying that I participated in the event, and that I helped break the world record. &nbsp; Of course they didn't know how to spell Heather so instead they put Haider, which cracked me up. &nbsp; Hopefully the next Guiness Book of World Records will have the event in it, I'll probably buy the book if it does, and you know to show the future grandkids that I broke a world record. PS.&nbsp; I did end up buying a sitar, and I'm really glad I did. &nbsp; My sister gave me the money for it for Christmas, because she said that if I didn't I'd regret it (and then she wouldn't have to figure out what to buy me). &nbsp; Right now the sitar is in the living room, right next to the TV. &nbsp; I don't play it everyday like I used to but I still remember how, and I have pulled it out a couple of times. &nbsp; I like the memories more than anything else.&nbsp; Plus its GORGEOUS and just looking at it is nice.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/heatherandrew/1/1226058360/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/heatherandrew/1/1226058360/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/heatherandrew/1/1226058360/tpod.html Sun, 23 Nov 2008 06:51:49 -0500 Studying Abroad in India

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Pushkar, India

For the weekend Andrew and I with nine other friends headed out on a Friday to Pushkar, and the largest mammal fair in the world.&nbsp; That's right, the annual Pushkar camel festival.&nbsp; They have a website here.&nbsp; They estimate that 25,000 camels are traded each year.&nbsp; Pushkar is a small town in the state of Rajasthan, a short bus ride from Ajmer.&nbsp; We headed out on the relatively expensive Shatabdi Express Train, which is a fancy seated car train in which they feed you and serve you chai.&nbsp; It's quite comfortable.&nbsp; It also completes the journey a couple hours faster than all of the other trains, which means we left at about 8 am and arrived in Ajmer by one in the afternoon.&nbsp; From the train station we took rickshaws to the bus stand, 2 km away.&nbsp; Then we got into a bus (of course, first we had to switch buses about 3 times because people kept telling us conflicting information), and took the hour drive up over a mountain range to Pushkar.&nbsp; We got into Pushkar and immediately went to our hotel, the Diamond, and dropped off our stuff.&nbsp; Pushkar is a rather small town, centered around a small lake in the middle of the Rajasthani desert.&nbsp; Pushkar is considered a holy town, because the lake is actually an eye of a goddess who fell to earth, so it is a completely vegetarian town and is completely dry.&nbsp; Although "special" hash drinks and food are readily available at any of its many rooftop cafes.&nbsp; Some cafes also serve eggs (which are considered non-veg in Indian society).&nbsp; For the most part we were surrounded by other tourists, mostly European and Israeli.&nbsp; Like Manali, many of the signs were written in Hindi, English, and Hebrew.&nbsp; We went to a small rooftop café (which served beer, listed on the menu under the codename special cold drink).&nbsp; The cafés are very relaxing, with lots of pillows, wind chimes, and a great view of the sunset of the lake and the desert.&nbsp; At these cafes it's impossible to eat a meal in under an hour.&nbsp; For some reason it just takes a lot longer.&nbsp; The service is slow and the seats are comfy.&nbsp; So if the conversation is good it usually took us at least 2 hours to eat a meal.&nbsp; The sun finally went down and we decided to wander around the town.&nbsp; We finally ended up at stage for the camel fair.&nbsp; It was surprisingly similar to a county fair back home.&nbsp; It was a large all white stage, decorated with ribbon in the back, and all lit up in too bright white light.&nbsp; I reminded me of the Alameda County Fairs in which I used to perform tap dances and watch magicians. &nbsp; I became surprising nostalgic for home and my parents.&nbsp; The show was obviously going to be late so Andrew, Summer, and Eric and I decided to walk around awhile before the show started.&nbsp; I decided I wanted an ice cream cone and the guy said 10 Rs, an appropriate price.&nbsp; Then two of my friends each wanted some, and when we paid him he refused to give us change.&nbsp; He changed his price to 30 Rs, obviously outrageous, and refused to give us our change.&nbsp; For some reason I had had enough, I wasn't going to get ripped off by this stupid ice cream seller. We started to raise our voices in Hindi, which always gets attention.&nbsp; Finally I saw two police men walk buy and called them over (they also didn't speak any English).&nbsp; We explained to him that this man was trying to rip us off.&nbsp; By then we probably had a crowd of 15-20 people.&nbsp; Now, I didn't quite care about the extra money that he was charging us, about a US Dollar extra, but it was the principle, and it is kind of fun being able to negotiate in Hindi.&nbsp; A man standing behind Eric asked what was going on and apparently knew some English.&nbsp; He said that they were all gathered there because this ice cream man always tries to rip everybody off and they hated him too-they were there to support us.&nbsp; It was apparent that when the crowd started yelling with the police at the ice cream man that he was going to give in.&nbsp; He gave us the appropriate change and we happily ate our ice cream cones and walked up and down the street.&nbsp; Later we passed him again and I think out of the corner of my eye I saw him smile-but that would be unusual for and Indian man so who knows.&nbsp; We watched the show which consisted of school age girls dancing traditional Indian dances.&nbsp; It reminded me even more of the fairs back home, complete with technical difficulties and speakers at a volume too high for them to handle so they crackle.&nbsp; After the show we ate dinner at another rooftop café.&nbsp; Many of them try to imitate "continental food" such as nachos, which is an appreciated break from Indian food.&nbsp; But they are all hit or miss, mostly miss.&nbsp; We got back to the hotel, where there were people sitting in the courtyard drinking tea, although it was already past midnight. We woke up around nine and got ready to go out exploring on Saturday morning.&nbsp; First of course, we had to go to a café, this one called Babu's, I believe.&nbsp; They served a breakfast of curd with Muesli (a granola mix) and fruit.&nbsp; I usually stay away (curd just does not sound appetizing) but for some reason I was adventurous and now I can't get enough, I've had it almost every day for breakfast since coming back from Pushkar.&nbsp; By noon we were out and walking around the town.&nbsp; We went back to the Camel Festival and it was quite different in the daytime, a lot more dusty and bright.&nbsp; We saw horse dancing, and camel dancing, both were incredibly cruel to the animals and we quickly decided we didn't want to stay around for too long.&nbsp; But then we looked behind the stadium-at the REAL camel fair.&nbsp; It was like a different world. Behind the stadium was nothing.&nbsp; Well, besides desert and hundreds and thousands of camels.&nbsp; They were literally as far as you could see.&nbsp; Here there was no electricity or running water.&nbsp; Just haggard windblown Indian men huddled under blankets hung for shade watching over their camels.&nbsp; Some camels were shaven and decorated to lure in buyers.&nbsp; We walked and walked and finally got to a sand dune where we could see just how far the camels went on for.&nbsp; It was pretty impressive.&nbsp; At the watering hole we trying talking to some of the camel sellers, but they didn't speak English or Hindi so we never figured out how much a camel costs.&nbsp; Nobody seemed to care that we were walking around, there weren't any people selling ice cream or dancing camels.&nbsp; It was a completely different fair than what was happening 800 meters away.&nbsp; It was easy to infer that this part of the fair is very similar to the fair that was probably held on these sand dunes hundreds of year ago.&nbsp; That these men would have gathered at night for dances and festivals, and that part of the fair has evolved into the white painted stage back in the stadium.&nbsp; But this part of the fair was very startling bare and these men were obviously all business. We quickly grew hot and tired and started to walk back towards the town to do some shopping.&nbsp; Andrew and I were on the hunt for deals for presents back home, but unfortunately because of the fair all of the prices were inflated.&nbsp; Demand was obviously high enough that the sellers did not bargain at all, which was frustrating.&nbsp; I did end up picking up some pretty cool little things here and there though.&nbsp; Andrew had seen these ottomans which are patchwork embroidered and are basically oversized pillows when we were in Jaipur.&nbsp; We didn't have time to pick them up then, but he's been talking about them ever since but we couldn't find them.&nbsp; Apparently they are a Rajasthani specialty because we found them in Pushkar, and got two oversized ottomans/pillows for 800 Rs, about $16 (don't worry they aren't stuffed, so they'll fit in the suitcase).&nbsp; We all met up at a café for a quick bit to eat (about an hour long), and then decided to check out the gigantic ferris wheels next to the stadium.&nbsp; Okay, really they were normal American sized, but in the middle of the desert, they looked huge.&nbsp; We boarded for 15 Rs, and road around in circles.&nbsp; It went surprisingly more quick than I expected and it was a lot of fun and gave us an opportunity to see Pushkar from above.&nbsp; Next we went on a spinning tea cups-like ride, and then a swinging ship.&nbsp; The ship was actually my favorite, like a giant swing, and everybody always has fun on a giant swing. When we tired of the rides we went to Bird Eye Café for a dinner.&nbsp; There we saw another group of University of California EAP students so we took over the back half of the restaurant with about 20 of us and sat until they kicked us out of the restaurant around midnight.&nbsp; Our hotel was nice.&nbsp; It was a small room with shared bathrooms. In the morning the bathroom actually had a warm shower!&nbsp; Although it wasn't really necessary in the desert. It was all pretty clean and with a helpful staff who stayed up late until all guests had arrived to lock the gate.&nbsp; They also had a small restaurant but we mostly only ordered chai in the mornings while waiting for everybody to wake up. Sunday was our last day in Pushkar, so we woke at nine and went back to Bird Eye for breakfast.&nbsp; I was determined to ride a camel.&nbsp; So after breakfast Andrew and I split off to go find a camel and ride it around the stadium.&nbsp; They charged us 100 Rs (about $2) for about a 5 minute ride, both of us were on one camel.&nbsp; It was a good deal to me.&nbsp; Summer showed up as we were riding the camel (she had went to pick up a bedspread first) so we got some pictures of us on the camel.&nbsp; It was a lot of fun actually, although kind of scary.&nbsp; When a camel gets up it lifts its back legs then its front, and a camels legs are about five feet tall.&nbsp; So while the camel is transitioning and its back legs are straight and front legs still bent on the ground, you're at about a 45 degree angle and it fells like you're about to topple off the front.&nbsp; Summer and some of our other friends had gone on a camel trek a week before, three days and two nights on a camel in the desert.&nbsp; Andrew and I had considered going but I had food poisoning so we didn't.&nbsp; I'm glad we didn't.&nbsp; A camel is not comfortable by any comparison, its really shaky and unstable feeling.&nbsp; Plus a camel is a lot wider than a horse and straddling it your legs are pushed quite far apart and it's uncomfortable.&nbsp; The short ride was enough for us. Then we walked around some more.&nbsp; Pushkar is nice for walking.&nbsp; The streets and the lake are surprisingly clean.&nbsp; Although we didn't go near the lake to avoid being accosted by sadhus offering pujas.&nbsp; Mostly we walked around unbothered.&nbsp; It was obvsiouly a town geared toward tourism and tried to make it as touist friendly as possible. I found a cool notebook made of camel leather that I plan to use as a scrapbook when I get home (so soon!).&nbsp; It was time to start heading back to Ajmer, so we met back at the hotel around 2 and took the bus back to the train station to catch our 3:55 train.&nbsp; We arrived back in Delhi around 11 pm, just in time to catch the last metro train back to our neighborhoods.&nbsp; Overall it was a pretty relaxing weekend and I enjoyed Pushkar a lot.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/heatherandrew/1/1224659340/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/heatherandrew/1/1224659340/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/heatherandrew/1/1224659340/tpod.html Sat, 22 Nov 2008 03:10:17 -0500 Studying Abroad in India

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Delhi, India

Again, updating has slowed down, we're just too busy!&nbsp; But hopefully I can fill you in on what's keeping us for the past couple weeks. October here is similar to our November/December season back home.&nbsp; As I mentioned before all the houses put lights up and there are sales in all the shops.&nbsp; The first half of October is the puja season (when we had our two week vacation).&nbsp; Then for the week of October 28 there is a festival called Diwali, or the festival of lights.&nbsp; This means that any person who doesn't have lights up on their house yet will put them up and that all of the stores also decorate their doors and walls.&nbsp; For Diwali we were invited over to a friend's house for a party and fireworks.&nbsp; We took a rickshaw over and on the way we picked up some hot food off the street (jalebi and pakora).&nbsp; Everybody was out on the streets, fireworks were going off everywhere.&nbsp; Before I get further let me remind you that we are in Delhi, the national capital.&nbsp; It is densely populated, with houses and people everywhere.&nbsp; All of the power lines are also above ground.&nbsp; It creates a somewhat claustrophobic feeling with so many people and tall buildings and power lines.&nbsp; Add to the mix fireworks and it becomes a situation like war.&nbsp; You constantly have to be on the look out for kids running, because that means you should probably also run, they just lit a firework.&nbsp; So we made it to our friend's house (while picking up some of our own fireworks).&nbsp; My roommate is Hindu and so she set us straight with the proper rituals.&nbsp; We lit small candles and put one in every room of the house, also all of the lights in the house are supposed to be on.&nbsp; After eating, we went downstairs to the street to light off some fireworks.&nbsp; We were having fun with our small crackers and sparklers.&nbsp; Some of us were even more adventurous with some bigger ones.&nbsp; Then the neighbors came out.&nbsp; They had legitimate fireworks, like huge ones, that go up in the sky and make different shapes, colors, sounds.&nbsp; And they just set them off in front of their crowded house!&nbsp; I hid behind a car across the street most of the time.&nbsp; But you couldn't look away.&nbsp; It wasn't a busy street, but there would still be traffic, and there would be times that a motorcycle would be screaming down the street, narrowly dodge the ALREADY lit firework, and pass it right before it went off.&nbsp; It was really terrifying.&nbsp; Then the neighbors invited us over to watch them perform a puja, or offering to the Gods.&nbsp; So about 12 of us go over into their house and they feed us cashews and walnuts.&nbsp; Then they lit all their candles and sing songs.&nbsp; It had such a strong feeling of Christmas.&nbsp; All the kids had come back from school, and they were all dressed in their best clothes.&nbsp; It was such a fun atmosphere.&nbsp; Their house was completely decorated; they even had a wall of cards from other family members wishing them a Happy Diwali.&nbsp; It was really nice to see this side of India that is easy to forget as you dodge the men peeing in the roads, cow shit, and stray dogs.&nbsp; Then they started to feed us more snacks, and more, and more.&nbsp; And remember we had already eaten!&nbsp; This would also be an appropriate time to address the differences between American and Indian sweets (which are many).&nbsp; American sweets you know about.&nbsp; But Indian sweets have a ton more sugar on them, everything is in a sugar sauce, coated in sugar.&nbsp; Exaple of Gulab Jamin which is balls of sugar and bread, fried, then coated with sugar, then put in a sauce of sugary syrup.&nbsp; They also had different tastes as what is appropriate to go with sugar, like curd and cheese.&nbsp; A favorite sweet of Indians is called Barfi (no joke), which is sweetened cheese with a layer of sugar on top (also, no joke).&nbsp; It's rather disgusting.&nbsp; So while the walnuts and cashews were fine, I can not handle more than one tiny taste of Barfi-or any other Indian sweet.&nbsp; But obviously it would have been incredibly rude not to eat it.&nbsp; They would walk around and hand it to us and wait for us to put it in our mouth before moving onto the next person.&nbsp; By the 5th round of this I felt like I was going to passout.&nbsp; Finally they came around with this sort of buttery sugar and masala crepe.&nbsp; I lost it.&nbsp; I put it in my mouth and my gag reflexes started in, I waited for our host to move on and quickly spit it out in to my napkin in my hand.&nbsp;&nbsp; My roommate sitting next to me thought it was hilarious.&nbsp; Then the next round was a sort of cake, which I thought would be safe.&nbsp; But, of course in India nothing is as it seems.&nbsp; I put the cake in my mouth and immediately this sour liquid that was soaked up in the cake filled my mouth.&nbsp; Two strikes in a row and I was feeling pretty culturally insensitive. Thank God they didn't see me when I started to mildly dry heave in the corner as my gag reflexes just wouldn't give up.&nbsp; The last round was again cashews, which I was grateful for.&nbsp; But apparently, Andrew had had enough, and he said that he really didn't need anymore, thanks though.&nbsp; The guy said to take some, Andrew said he was full.&nbsp; The guy cracked the cashew, put it in his palm, and hand fed Andrew.&nbsp; I almost died it was too funny. Then he had to smile and say "mmmmm thanks!"&nbsp; Finally, we left, no without saying "Thank you, everything was delicious" about 340 times.&nbsp; Then we went outside and put off more fireworks.&nbsp; Then a line of three drummers came by and started a beat and singing.&nbsp; Everybody had a lot of fun dancing with them in the street (only after paying them, of course) and setting off fireworks.&nbsp; All the neighbors were out in the streets; the street had some impressively big fireworks (stuff that you DEFINITELY need a permit for in the States).&nbsp; Eventually we decided to leave, and on our way home we were constantly dodging fireworks.&nbsp; I've never been in a war situation, and never hope to, but I can only imagine that this was exactly what it feels like.&nbsp; I was seriously afraid for body/limb at many points on the way home.&nbsp; Of course, we did see a car that looked like it had some fireworks gone off inside of it.&nbsp; It looked like no one was hurt, but there was also no fire crew in site.&nbsp; Obviously somebody had mishandled a firework, the car burned until it went out and then was just sitting in the middle of the road.&nbsp; It must have been one hot of a fire. My camera was out of batteries but it looked something like this.&nbsp; I was so grateful to get home in one piece.&nbsp; Of course, we couldn't get to bed until 3 am when people finally stopped setting off fireworks in the back alley behind our apartment.&nbsp;
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/heatherandrew/1/1229421240/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/heatherandrew/1/1229421240/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/heatherandrew/1/1229421240/tpod.html Wed, 12 Nov 2008 03:18:45 -0500 Studying Abroad in India

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Siliguri, West Bengal, India

&nbsp;Sunday October 12 Day #113 Andrew woke up lazy, but I wanted to go out.&nbsp; So I looked up a small monastery near Pelling, about 45 minutes walk away.&nbsp; I asked the hotel manager if it was close, and she said it was a nice walk.&nbsp; So I headed out.&nbsp; It turned out to be a pleasant walk, there was actually a soccer field on the trail with kids playing and strangely enough a helipad.&nbsp; The road split and I asked a man walking by which way to the monastery and he said "always take the rough road".&nbsp; It sounded like some sort of proverb, but as the road split three more times I always took the rough road and it turned out to be good advice as it was the path to the monastery.&nbsp; Most of the walk was level but the monastery is at the top of a big hill that there are switchbacks up.&nbsp; As I was walking up there were lots of other families walking up, it was nice to see a different sort of Indian tourist than what I find in Delhi or the other big cities.&nbsp; At the top I found that the monastery was actually closed, but I walked around the grounds which were full of prayer flags and stupas and small houses.&nbsp; Eventually a monk came out and unlocked the gate to the monastery and let us all in.&nbsp; The monk was about 16 years old and as I walked around he followed me and described what all of the paintings meant and what he did at the monastery.&nbsp; He said that usually there are more monks but they were on holiday in Kolkatta.&nbsp; He said that he has lived his whole life in the monastery in the school learning about Buddhism, art, music and math.&nbsp; I walked around with him for a bit and he showed me the building where he slept.&nbsp; He said that sometimes tourists come and stay in the guest house for free, I thought that was pretty cool.&nbsp; I told Andrew that I'd be back from lunch so I headed back down the hill.&nbsp; Of course, Andrew was still asleep, but I woke him up and we went out to lunch.&nbsp; The sun felt really nice and the weather was perfect, it felt like California.&nbsp; We walked around some more, but there isn't much so we ended up going to bed early. Monday October 13 Day #114 We woke up early again and took a taxi back down to Silliguri.&nbsp; We shared the taxi with a Swedesh couple who was here on vacation.&nbsp; It was a lot of fun to talk to them about their experiences in India, they were having trouble not knowing any Hindi, and thought that some mannerisms of Indian men were funny.&nbsp; Whenever an Indian man asked them where they were from and they said Sweden, the Indian man would respond "Oh, a beautiful country."&nbsp; They figured it was a standard response whenever the Indian men didn't know where the country was or anything about it.&nbsp; I thought that was pretty funny, because coming from America our standard response it "The best country in the world!"&nbsp; We talked to them about how it is to live in Sweden and found out that the cost of living seemed about the same.&nbsp; They were training to be nurses, and we surprised about how much nurses make in America.&nbsp; I told them they should visit sometime.&nbsp; He said he has some family in Southern California and that they were planning on visiting sometime after they got the money together. We arrive in Silliguri and parted, they had to catch a train to Kolkatta.&nbsp; We checked back into the hotel that we stayed at before, but this time on the second floor and it was a lot nicer.&nbsp; We had dinner and lunch at Crazy Khanna again and had some icecream for dessert.&nbsp; There is something weird about Silliguri and I'm not quite sure how to explain it. First of all, it's all men, everywhere.&nbsp; And rickshaw drivers, everywhere.&nbsp; It's also pretty dirty. It's just not that pleasant, although we were near the train station so that could be affecting our impression.&nbsp; We stayed pretty near our hotel and stayed up watching TV. Tuesday October 14 Day #115 We woke up around 9 am, had some breakfast, and took a share rickshaw to the train station.&nbsp; We got on our train and slept and read most of the way with no great mishap (unlike the fire on the way there). The airconditioning worked the whole time which we were thankful for, and we were pretty relaxed the whole time.&nbsp; We got back on Wednesday in the evening and were glad to be back in Delhi were at least we can make an attempt at the language and we have our own apartment.&nbsp;
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/heatherandrew/1/1223628780/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/heatherandrew/1/1223628780/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/heatherandrew/1/1223628780/tpod.html Wed, 12 Nov 2008 03:18:00 -0500 Studying Abroad in India

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Khecheopalri Lake, Sikkim, India

Friday October 10 Day #111 We woke up at around 8 and packed some day packs for our hike to Kacheperri Lake.&nbsp; We left most of our luggage at the hotel, and had a small breakfast of porridge and eggs.&nbsp; Kacheperri Lake is a high altitude lake about 20 km from Pelling.&nbsp; It is sacred to both Buddhists and Hindus, so the small lake is surrounded by monasteries and a small temple. There is a small trail that takes you most of the way, and then you have to walk along the road.&nbsp; We walked down the road to where the trail started and headed out.&nbsp; It was a lot of fun to just walk through the woods.&nbsp; The first part of the trail was on the shaded part of the hill, so it was wet and slippery and quite steep.&nbsp; But eventually it leveled off and was a lot easier.&nbsp; There were a lot of little streams that had to be cross on small foot bridges that mainly were logs placed over rocks.&nbsp; It was by no means isolated.&nbsp; Off of the trail there were many small farmers' huts and fields of corn and grains.&nbsp; It was pretty cool to see such a different way of life.&nbsp; We asked people for directions when the trail split, but unfortunately most people were speak Nepalese and so we weren't able to talk to them in Hindi or English.&nbsp; Sometimes there were little kids who asked us for chocolate, which I thought was a funny thing to ask for out in the middle of nowhere, but we didn't have any.&nbsp; Finally we reached to the bottom of the valley, crossed a large river, and started to head up hill.&nbsp; We met up with the road, which was easier to walk on but not as much fun.&nbsp; It was pretty tiring by the end, especially when jeeps would pass on the road and kick up the dust.&nbsp; Around 4 pm we finally got to the lake.&nbsp; It was really swampy so unfortunately there wasn't any place to put our feet in.&nbsp; There were also signs warning of crocodiles which I thought was odd.&nbsp; The lake was small but beautiful, lined with Buddhist flags and crystal clear. There were lots of fish jumping.&nbsp; It was an interesting clash, with the Buddhist architecture, but then there were other tourists who were giving puja in the lake.&nbsp; The two religions kind of seemed to easily coexist.&nbsp; We walked back about 1 km and found a family guest house.&nbsp; It was a larger house with a husband, wife, and son living in it.&nbsp; They also had a dog, a puppy, chickens, two goats, and a cow.&nbsp; In the back there was a garden and a small corn field.&nbsp; Our room was small but clean, with a clean shared bathroom at the end of the hall.&nbsp; Rooms were 150 Rs a night.&nbsp; We put our stuff down and went back towards the lake to have some Maggi noodles and tea.&nbsp; There were some men in the restaurant drinking beer and playing cards, although I couldn't figure out what game they were playing.&nbsp; Everybody seemed really relaxed.&nbsp; We went back and took a nap.&nbsp; We could hear the mother and son in the garden trying to round up the goats and the cow, with the puppy following them around barking.&nbsp; At night there was no electricity, so Andrew and I had nothing to do except lay down and stare at the ceiling at talking.&nbsp; It was really peaceful.&nbsp; The boy came up and asked us what time we wanted dinner and we said around 6.&nbsp; At 6 he came back up and said it was ready.&nbsp; So we went down stairs and he lit some candles for us.&nbsp; We had egg curry, crispy potatoes, and fried rice.&nbsp; It was obvious that everything on our plate was either from their garden or someplace near by.&nbsp; It was really cool to see that this sort of sustenance living still existed and seemed to serve this small town fine.&nbsp; They boy served us and when we asked for the ketchup he looked really embarrassed and said he was really sorry he just forgot.&nbsp; It was really cute.&nbsp; Then a bunch of fireflies came out and while we were eating Andrew and I tried to count as many as we could.&nbsp; We then went back to our room and quickly fell asleep.&nbsp; Saturday October 11 Day #112 We woke up the next morning at 5 am to have a breakfast of potatoes and eggs.&nbsp; Our jeep came at 6 am and took us back to Pelling and Hotel Garuda (50 Rs).&nbsp; This time the jeep was not crowded because we were going the opposite way of traffic and it was so early in the morning.&nbsp; We had some lunch and spent the day reading in restaurants and walking around the small town of Pelling.&nbsp; Pelling is West of Gangtok, and closer to the border with Nepal.&nbsp; It is not much of a town, just one street with about seven hotels, the tourist office, a post office, a couple of shops, and some restaurants.&nbsp; We talked to some of the other tourists but mostly spent the day relaxing.&nbsp;
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/heatherandrew/1/1223542260/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/heatherandrew/1/1223542260/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/heatherandrew/1/1223542260/tpod.html Wed, 12 Nov 2008 03:17:14 -0500 Studying Abroad in India

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Pelling, Sikkim, India

Thursday October 9 Day #110 We woke up at 6 am to catch the 7 am taxi (170Rs each).&nbsp; They obviously weren't kidding about the taxi being booked.&nbsp; Even at such an early time the taxi stand was packed with people yelling for a taxi to Pelling, most looked really frustrated and we were glad that we had our tickets the day before.&nbsp; The taxi was packed full, at one point we had 18 people crammed in there (two were kids).&nbsp; The kid sitting on his mom's lap next to me would fall asleep and collapse onto my lap.&nbsp; Although it was kind of cute, it became annoying towards the end of the 5 hour jeep ride.&nbsp; Finally I put my small backpack on my lap and leaned forward to try to sleep.&nbsp; Andrew and I both joke that after the 36 hour train ride to Silliguri and all of these share jeeps, the plane ride home will be a snap. We got to Pelling at 12:30 pm and checked into the Hotel Garuda (300 Rs a night for their best room).&nbsp; It was clean but the toilet had to be jiggled in order to work.&nbsp; We ate lunch at the café in the hotel, decent food, slightly overpriced, and slow service.&nbsp; But they'll bill your meal to your room which was convenient for us.&nbsp; They had excellent Tibetan bread, which is a warm kind of thick flat bread that's excellent with soup.&nbsp; We went up to the tourist office, which was one man in a bare room, behind a desk.&nbsp; We asked if we could get a taxi back from Kachepperi Lake if we walked there tomorrow and he said it would all work out.&nbsp; We also booked a taxi for back to Silliguri for Monday.&nbsp; The vacation almost over, but we were still having a lot of fun.&nbsp; It was tiring (and expensive) and in some strange way we missed the comforts of our apartment in Delhi. We called it our "base camp", Andrew said it's not his home, but it's still comforting somehow.&nbsp; I thought that at this point "home" could be three places: Delhi, Livermore, or Davis.&nbsp; It's like we're the opposite of homeless, we have too many homes!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/heatherandrew/1/1223283060/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/heatherandrew/1/1223283060/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/heatherandrew/1/1223283060/tpod.html Wed, 12 Nov 2008 03:16:35 -0500 Studying Abroad in India

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Gangtok, Sikkim, India

Monday October 6 Day 107 We got up at 6 am and grabbed some pastries and headed down to the Chowk Bazaar taxi stand.&nbsp; We signed up for the 7:30 am share taxi out to Gangtok, the capital of Sikkim (125 Rs).&nbsp; Share taxis are something that we would soon get used to.&nbsp; There are taxi stands dotted around all of West Bengal and Sikkim.&nbsp; They usually are two guys sitting behind a table with a bunch of slips of paper.&nbsp; You go up to them and tell them where you want to go, then they say how much and what time, you pay, and then wait.&nbsp; The share jeep is a large jeep where they basically cram as many people as they can into the jeep, three people in the front seat, four in the middle, and four in the back.&nbsp; On our way to Gangtok it was mostly just three of us in the back seat, so that was nice.&nbsp; But along the way people jump in and out, but it wasn't too bad.&nbsp; At the border we jumped out and got a permit no problem.&nbsp; Probably the first bureaucratic thing in India that took less than 10 minutes.&nbsp; We just had to sign and get a stamp on our passport that lasts for 15 days.&nbsp; By about noon we arrived in Gangtok.&nbsp; We went to the Travel Lodge, which was recommended by Lonely Planet, but it was full.&nbsp; Then we walked across the street to another place which was slightly nicer looking.&nbsp; I asked if they had any rooms available, and they said they did.&nbsp; Andrew then noticed the price board behind the desk and noticed that they started at 1200 Rs a night and so we started walking out.&nbsp; But then the man shouted and asked us how much we wanted to pay.&nbsp; I said 400 rs, he laughed and said not possible, so we kept walking.&nbsp; Then he laughed again and shouted again, Okay, Okay 400 Rs.&nbsp; So we got a really nice room for 400 Rs!&nbsp; It had a nice big TV, hot (bucket) showers, and really clean sheets.&nbsp; Andrew was tired so he took a nap, bt I went out to walk around. Little did I know that I would stumble upon MG Marg, I was so impressed!&nbsp; It was a cobble stone street blocked off from traffic, lined with gardens, streetlamps, and fountains!&nbsp; I walked around and was taken aback by how clean and friendly everybody was.&nbsp; I could have been in Tahoe.&nbsp; There were families wrapped up in scarves and crystal clear sky, and trashcans!&nbsp; I went into a place called Baker's Café, which had Chicken Burgers which came with chips, it might have just been that I was hungry but it tasted so good! Only 55 Rs (1$).&nbsp; I then walked some more, the sun was hot and every once in awhile the buildings would break and I could see the clouds farther below on the mountain.&nbsp; It felt like I was walking around in heaven.&nbsp; I was really enjoying myself so I went back to get Andrew from the hotel.&nbsp; We went out and had dinner, Andrew was also really impressed. We found a nice restaurant that was across the street from a cinema with a large square infront of it.&nbsp; It was currently being used as a makeshift shrine and music center for the puja season.&nbsp; The waiter in the restaurant was really friendly and laughed when I couldn't even finish my chilli beef because there was so much food (a rarity in India).&nbsp;&nbsp; We walked around some more and got some softys and came back to the hotel to watch some HBO.Tuesday October 7 Day #108 In the morning we woke up lazily, watched some TV and went out for a walk along the ridge.&nbsp; We stumbled upon a flower show which according to lonely planet is famous for orchids and in the spring has an orchid show.&nbsp; I paid the 10 Rs entrance fee and walked around the small flower show, it was kind of like being at the county fair.&nbsp; We treated ourselves at dinner at the Tangerine Restaurant.&nbsp; It was really nicely flavored, that obviously had some care while being cooked.&nbsp; We had a chicken dish and some garlic naan (250 Rs/9$).&nbsp; The restaurant was candle lit and had cloth napkins, very classy.&nbsp; Andrew said it weirded him out. Wednesday October 8 Day #109 Again we were lazy and walked around.&nbsp; There wasn't much to do in Gangtok, just lots of walked up hills with gardens and water fountains and great mountain views, and that was okay with us.&nbsp; We decided to leave the next day to go to some smaller towns around Sikkim.&nbsp; We went to the taxi stand to see what time they left and found out that there were only two spots left! So we booked them ahead of time.&nbsp; I tried to take a hot shower, but it was cold, which was slightly disappointing.&nbsp; The puja at this time was in full swing and there were many women walking around with beautiful saris and suits on, it was a lot of fun to just go down to MG Marg and people watch and eat softies.&nbsp; All of the shops were decked out in lights and it felt oddly like Christmas, which made us both a bit homesick and glad that we'll be back for Christmas in December.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/heatherandrew/1/1223023740/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/heatherandrew/1/1223023740/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/heatherandrew/1/1223023740/tpod.html Wed, 12 Nov 2008 03:14:12 -0500 Studying Abroad in India

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Darjeeling, West Bengal, India

We spent the next three days relaxing in Darjeeling, which turned out to be a really nice vacation in the relaxing sense of the word.&nbsp; Friday October 3 I woke up early and couldn't get back to sleep, so I decided to go out for a walk.&nbsp; Although all the shops weren't open at 6 am, there were a surprising amount of people out. I even saw a couple of joggers, which are pretty unusual in India.&nbsp; The hotel we stayed in was pretty gross and moldy at around 8 am when all the shops began to open I found a new hotel, New Mall Glory, which had a western toilet, clean bathroom, and a TV, for 50 Rs less (250 Rs) so I decided that we would switch for the rest of our stay.&nbsp; I went back to the old hotel and everybody was up and packed.&nbsp; We switched hotels and went to breakfast at Glenary's.&nbsp; We then went got a taxi to the zoo for 80 Rs each.&nbsp; The zoo was nice.&nbsp; They had leopards and tigers, the zoo are advertised to have the largest cages and nicest care of their animals in India.&nbsp; It was considerably modern although it was a bit depressing to see the animals caged up.&nbsp; They also had a collection of Red Pandas, which was neat to see.&nbsp; They had a large open atrium full of trees so you had to look hard to find them, which was like a game of eye spy.&nbsp; They also had an exhibition of climbers of Mt. Everest, including some of the gear that they used back during the first attempts.&nbsp; Needless to say it was all pretty archaic and I can't imagine using some of the tools displayed to climb Mt. Everest.&nbsp; We then went back to the town and had lunch then Will and Eric headed out to catch their train to Kolkatta.&nbsp; Andrew, Giana, and I decided to walk around and found Big Bazaar, a very odd new mall placed in the middle of this small mountain town.&nbsp; It had a large cinemas, coffee house, and chocolate store.&nbsp; It was completely empty.&nbsp; I don't know who would come to Darjeeling and sit in a movie theaters, but somehow they were still open.&nbsp; We then continued walking and found Chowk Bazaar which was a little bit more what we were looking for with small winding streets full of street vendors.&nbsp; Unfortunately the market was full of Chinese imports, all crappy made knockoffs.&nbsp; Andrew did find a man selling the traditional Gorkha knives and decided to buy two.&nbsp; What he is going to do with a 16 in blade I don't know...&nbsp; Although we didn't buy much, it was still fun to walk around and watch the people.&nbsp; Most of the vendors were all really nice and would talk to us even if we weren't buying.&nbsp; We had dinner at Fiesta, an oddly shaped brightly painted restaurant, but the service didn't match the friendly décor.&nbsp; We had a decent meal, nothing spectacular, then went back to the hotel to watch some TV. Saturday October 4 We woke up, had breakfast, and decided to try to find the Foreigner's Registration Office to get permits to get into Sikkim, the state directly north of Darjeeling which is in the state of West Bengal.&nbsp; Sikkim borders Nepal to the West, China to the North, and China (Tibet) and Bhutan to the East.&nbsp; Needless to say it can at times be quite a hot spot of India wedged in there.&nbsp; About 15 years ago there was a lot of unrest, but now things have calmed down.&nbsp; After walking in a big circle we finally found it and got a paper filled out which needs to be stamped by the District Magistrate.&nbsp; So then we walked 20 minutes down the hill to find out that it was closed... until Monday.&nbsp; There was a number on the door for the office at the border and they said we could just get a permit at the border.&nbsp; Typical Indian Bureaucracy.&nbsp; Although it was a small risk to go to the border without a permit and try to get one there, there weren't very many other options.&nbsp; There were also a group of French students studying abroad in Orrisa who were also on vacation.&nbsp; They were leaving on Tuesday to go to Sikkim.&nbsp; We talked to them for a while, I strangely find myself using my French a lot more than I thought I would coming to India.&nbsp; For some reason there are many French people who come to vacation in India, so it's kind of fun being able to pull out my rusty French.&nbsp; They said that they hadn't learned any Hindi, even after being in India for 3 months, and that they really regret not having something like that in their program.&nbsp; It was really hard for them to communicate with people, even simple things like bargaining.&nbsp; It made me really thankful for our program in Mussoorie and the language school; it's really useful while living here.&nbsp; We parted ways at their hotel and we found a little place across the street from our hotel which served beef.&nbsp; That actually was pretty common in Darjeeling and later, Sikkim.&nbsp; Because these states are mostly not Hindu, there many beef markets.&nbsp; We had some beef chowmein cooked by an older Tibetan couple who were caked in sweat and looked like they had been in that kitchen their entire lives.&nbsp; They were really friendly, but the place was pretty dirty and Andrew and I had upset stomachs after.&nbsp; We then went back to Goodricke Tea Shoppe and sat with a pot of tea while reading for homework.&nbsp; Then I realized that I had planned on going to the Tibetan Refugee camp and that it would probably be closed the next day, Sunday.&nbsp; So I grabbed a taxi for 150 Rs up the hill to the Refugee Camp.&nbsp; I was really glad that I did.&nbsp; The camp has an orphanage and a place to care for the elderly.&nbsp; There were kids outside playing basketball in the courtyard.&nbsp; Surrounding them are the workshops.&nbsp; The Tibetans raise money to support themselves by selling their own handicrafts, like weaving, knitting, woodcarvings, jewelry making, and carpet weaving.&nbsp; It was really amazing to go into the workshops and see all of these people crafting away.&nbsp; It was just like the Craft Center in Davis!&nbsp; I asked some of the older women knitting if they liked it here, and they said yes, this was now their home.&nbsp; She said she worked from 9-5 with breaks and a lunch, and they had Sundays and Mondays off.&nbsp; I then went into their shop where their sell their handicrafts and all the money goes back into the camp. I bought a cute wool blue jacket that is lined with the traditional Tibetan print (450 Rs/9$ US) and a natural color knitted wool scarf (130 Rs/5$ US).&nbsp; I was interested in buying an area rug but they were 300$ and had a waiting list until June, but they were really beautiful.&nbsp; I went back to Goodricke to find Andrew still studying.&nbsp; I bought some tea to take back home.&nbsp; You buy them by the oz. and the price varies depending on the quality of tea.&nbsp; Tea is broken down into first flush, second flush, and broken tea leaves.&nbsp; I bought of different levels for presents, and some for myself.&nbsp; I ended up with 16 250 oz bags for 1020 Rs which is about 40$.&nbsp; We ended the day by having dinner with Giana and walking around into more shops. Sunday October 5 Giana left at 6 am to catch a train back to Delhi.&nbsp; From there she went down to Southern India.&nbsp; Andrew and I spend the day lounging, watching TV, shopping, and drinking Tea.&nbsp; It rained most of the afternoon so we sat in Goodricke for a good while.&nbsp; We did some last minute shopping for souvenirs and gifts for people back home.&nbsp; There was an older lady who came into the shop every afternoon and by this time she recognized us and said hello.&nbsp; She noted that staying an extra three days in Darjeeling drinking tea, shopping, and catching up on homework is not a bad way to spend a vacation.&nbsp; I agree.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/heatherandrew/1/1222937280/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/heatherandrew/1/1222937280/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/heatherandrew/1/1222937280/tpod.html Tue, 11 Nov 2008 23:04:13 -0500 Studying Abroad in India

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Darjeeling, West Bengal, India

We all woke up and had couple errands to do after checking into the hotel: internet, ATM etc...&nbsp; Eric and Will had a train out to Kolkatta the next day, so they at least wanted to do some tea tasting while in Darjeeling. &nbsp; We headed down to Goodricke Tea Shoppe, which has multiple tea plantations around Darjeeling. &nbsp; We ordered 5 cups at 20 Rs each of different teas suggested by the man working there. &nbsp; We then passed them around to taste them and each of us picked a favorite and finished off that cup. &nbsp; It was fun to try something that none of us have any expertise in, and just guessing which one we like better. &nbsp; On the table they had a map of Darjeeling and where each type of tea was grown, so it was fun to see where the tea you were drinking came from. &nbsp; Of course the one that Andrew chose as his favorite the man told us had won some award like "The Best Tea in the World" or something, so now not only is he a natural born trekker but also a natural tea connoisseur... it just never ends. We then walked up and down the main strip in Darjeeling-Nehru Rd. &nbsp; It started to rain and get dark so we slipped inside Park Restaurant for dinner, which had Thai food (something that is strangely lacking in India).&nbsp; Andrew and I split a pretty decently priced cashew nut chicken (about 120 Rs). &nbsp; We then went back to Glenary's Bakery for dessert. &nbsp; It was 40 Rs for an ice cream brownie sundae (which is less than a dollar). &nbsp; So the boys all got that.&nbsp; I had an amazing warm chocolate chip muffin for only 12 Rs!&nbsp; We got back to the hotel and found out that we had HBO, but only Adam Sandler's "Click" was on. &nbsp; But somehow we all sat through it, then quickly feel asleep, exhausted.
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