Manali to Leh

After heat and dust in Delhi and beautiful but rainy Manali we made our way up to Leh, in North-Western India, just four hundred something kilometers away from Kashmir, where I was last summer, but incredibly different. The way to Leh is an adventure itself, most people take a minibus or a jeep from Manali, if everything goes well the journey takes less than a day and gets you through spectacular mountain sceneries, first the green foothills around Manali, then, as you go up vegetation becomes scarce and eventually the roads lead through an eerie high altitude ice desert, frozen lakes, snow capped mountains, mud/snow slides partially blocking the way. This route is definitely out of this world, I could have never even imagined a place like Ladakh. At the same time it wasn't easy to get here. I got bad altitude sickness at night, when we stayed in tents to get a couple of hours sleep, all joints in my body were acheing, I couldnt sleep, breething hurt my lungs. Fortunately this stop over at roughly 4200 meters was followed by us going downhill, it is amazing how much difference 200 meters in altitude make!

Leh, the capital of Ladakh is yet another very different India. But that seems to be the standard reaction whenever you go somewhere new in this incredibly diverse country. Ladakh has a high Buddhist presence, you see gompas (temples) everywhere and prayer flags are not just put up for decorative purposes. Now, in summer, it's very pleasant, but temperatures drop to -30 degrees in winter. During these months the region is virtually cut off the rest of the world, hard to imagine now! Still, the conditions are extreme. At one point during the journey my right was facing the glaring sun sweating, while my left was in the shade with goosebumps. I wonder if the many workers who try to keep the road free from ice and landslides ever get used to this feeling... After sunrise, our driver had just woken us up and told us that a mudslide was blocking the road. We had to navigate our way around it to get to the bus that was waiting for us on the other side. The bit of road you see here could be considered "good" compared to other bits...
What looks like a nice little hike was actually pretty exhausting. While the constant stream of travellers had formed some kind of path the detour turned out to be more climbing than walking.

Within half an hour the hill was packed with people selling snacks to waiting travellers or offering their help (or rather their horses') to carry luggage up to road.On the road again! Tristan grinning painfully after we had boarded the bus. In the background one of the many stunning waterfalls, sometimes we had to drive through ankle-deep water!
Stunning view at about 3000 meters. Apart from the uncertainties about the road quality the journey was simply amazing. Our fellow Indian traveller didn't even bother to appreciate the view out of his window, after a while tiredness gets you and even the wildest scenery doesn't get you anymore.

"Next Filling Station 365 km ahead" You won't believe it but we saw people on bicycles on the very same road!

The promised prayer flags. If you look at the mountain in the background, you see that its much lighter, dustier than the ones earlier. The massive variety in - what felt like climate zones - was typical for the trip, a nice example is the next picture.Some village on the way, the mountains around this oasis are grey/brownish, but for some reason the settlement is surrounded by lush greenery! Who wouldn't want to live there (were it not for its remoteness?)Time for a chai (and a group hug!)

As we made our way up and down, up and down the mountains the landscape changed within hours. Here one of the long (and cold) bits we compared to Mordor, an extreme contrast between the black rocks and the white snow!

One of my favourite parts of the journey. A frozen lake, between 4000 and 5000 meters high. Here breathing was difficult, none of us spoke when we didn't have to. But the pains were worth it, just for moments like this!

The highest pass of the trip. 5680 meters if I remember correctly. The side of the road was full with little heaps of stones, Buddhists (or just the mountain people in this part of South Asia?) put them there after successfully crossing it.
The day after our arrival in Leh. After 14 hours of sleep I felt nearly normal, just a bit short of breadth but after a while we all got acclimatised and ventured on the first expedition, to a monastery on the mountain that dominates the old part of town.

Mussoorie 2 - The Trek

On our second week end Thomasso, Adam, Lauren and 2x Anna decided to go on a trek to Nagtipah - snake mountain. Brave and adventurous as we are we decided against taking a guide and got lost after 30 minutes. Who would know that what looked like a riverbed was actually the path that led straight up to the top? We took the hard way, through the forest and across stony terrain but eventually found a nice place to camp at. Here some impressions.

The valley we passed by jeep on the way to the mountain.
Adam, sunbathing. Thomasso, carrying one of the tents.
... and then it got steep. But a great view from up there!
We found a deserted rice field where we put up our tents. These guys had some fields further up, but slept in a hut down the hill. We had a nice conversation in Hinglish and they helped us to find wood and lit the fire with one (!) match.
The next morning. I think we all felt much dirtier than we look like.
Devalsari, the village on the foot of the mountain where we took a jeep back to Mussoorie.
Aaaaand I got another chance to sit on the rooftop. Great experience, good pictures!
My roommate Thomasso and me.

Mussoorie

For the past 2 weeks I've been here in Mussorie, studying Hindi at the Landoor Language School. Many student from Europe and America come here to learn Hindi, Urdu, Punjabi or Sanskrit, it's a very international atmosphere. The town itself is in the mountains, on about 2200 meters, during the day it gets quite hot and at night a bit chilly. This part of India is simply beautiful, being surrounded by hills for the first time in my life a learn to appreciate it a lot. But see for yourself.

This is the view I get every morning when walking up the steep path that leads from my house (I stay with an Indian family) to school.

I then go around the corner and - when the weather is clear - see this. The white peaks are the Himalayas.

A painting on a rock, just off a path close to school. I thought first it was an Indian goddess but it turned out to be from Hawaii. How it got there - no clue ;-)
Sunset over Mussoorie, seen five minutes away from my house. And it's like that every evening!
Finishing with one of these pictures that symbolise India for me - where else would you get a shop that specialises in dry cleaning and video repair?

Delhi and Rishikesh

Back to India again! As you might know I'm in beautiful Mussoorie at the moment but here are some pictures from Delhi and Rishikesh. On my first day, in the blazing sun of Delhi, Rashtrapati Bhavan, where the president of India lives (?) and works, one of those gazillion pictures of "old" and "new" India in one.

As a hard working student of South Asia I could not miss Teen Murthi Bhavan, where Nehru used to live. A HUGE mansion as you can see, very quite with a nice and lush garden. There was a little exhibition with quotes and pictures and you could see the rooms, furniture and books looked like they were originals ... You could see that his family had money and Nehru's Western influences, at the same time I found it quite down to earth, considering his powers and influence. A very interesting visit.
Nehru's study. Unfortunately you couldnt enter the room, they were sealed off, you had to look through windows.
And a puppeteer in Delhi, on my last evening there before hitting the road to Mussoorie. I had an interesting discussion with him after the show, he's been around the world, especially in Europe, on invitation of the Augsburger Puppenkiste. (Here a link for the non-Germans)

Flags on a temple roof, on the way to Rishikesh.

Rishikesh. Friends from the language school chilling on a rock in the Ganges. The water was surprisingly cold, we had a few nice dips (dual use: cool down and be forgiven your sins) and enjoyed the afternoon here.

Taj Mahal & Kashmir

Challo!

I've made my way up North, at the moment I am residing on a houseboat on Srinagar's Dal Lake - one of the most beautiful places I've ever been to. Kashmir is so different from the rest of India, a vast Muslim majority, balanced climate, mountains overlooking you wherever you are. And the tea ... Green tea with cardamon, saffron and cinnamon - what more can you say?

There's so much to say, many adventures, good and bad experiences - but overall I'm really enjoying my time here. Okay: Some impressions from the past days.

Taj Mahal... maybe one of the most photographed buildings in the world. For a reason! I was a bit sceptical about going there, but it was on our way from Varanasi to Delhi and was definitely worth the visit. We spend about 3 hours there and it's of a beauty that I've never seen in a building before. As you can see I was happy!

Some detail shots of the Taj. Even though the builder (Shah Jahan, father of Aurganzeb for the history junkies reading this) was a Muslim he respected the other main religions of his time (Hinduism and Sikhism) very much. See how the flower forms an 'Om' sign?

Beautiful Arabic calligraphy on the outside of the Taj. It looks like it's painted on the marble but in fact they cut out small pieces of it and replace them with black stones. When looking at this magnificent architecture I thought "How could anyone ever speak of European superiority, completely dismissing Indian culture and science. Is there anything comparable in Europe?"

In one of the side-buildings. It's a bit blured and there could be some work done on the colors, but not now ;-)

Approaching Srinagar from Delhi. See the mountains, the landscape... Simply amazing.

A couple of minutes before touch-down. Green, green, green - wherever you're looking!



Dal Lake, Srinagar. This is where we're staying, this is our view everyday. A magic combination of water and mountains. Never seen anything like that before!

India 2

This is a bus in Kolkatta. I did some experiments with my camera and that's one of the best, trying to portray the crazy and medium-dangerous driving skills of bus drivers in India...


Peter with hat in Darjeeling. Yes, it was cold. Bloody cold. I wore Jeans, raincoat, shawl and hat. And actually I miss it a bit ...

One of the few but stunning moments of fine weather in Darjeeling. Even though we could not see Mount Everest on the horizon (as one apparently can if one does not happen to be surrounded by rainclouds) we had great views sometimes.


A temple in Darjeeling, nice, colourful prayer flags everywhere.

Sunset in Varanasi, taken before going for dinner just now.

India 1

Yoyo,

after I've been facebooking/skyping/emailing with some of you I thought it might be time for some pictures from my India trip. During the last month I travelled from Visakhapatnam to Konark, Puri, Kolkatta, Darjeeling and Varanasi (where I'm at the moment). Here are just some impressions, too much is happening and everyday is full of stories and those moments that make travelling so worth while.

This is Anna. She was volunteering with Balamitra during the last year and is a cool girl. She managed to dress mostly in Indian clothes for the past year, something we did not achieve when we were here!

As I told some of you the school grew massively. Most of the children in this picture are new. It took them some time to get used to us, but after a while they were as active and open with us as the old children.

A couple of nights before we left we had a little function, the children singing songs, playing drums and dancing. It was one of those beautiful nights that take your heart. Coming back for 2 weeks made me feel like I never left Vizag...

O.k. and off we go on our journey. Fabian, Ina and me enjoying the 'sex-o-yogic' art of the sun temple in Konark. A quote from our guide is enough to describe the situation: 'This is an optimistic couple, one man, two wives".

The Gang on the bus to Puri where we spent a day at the beach before taking the train to Kolkatta.

Sudder St. Kolkatta. Taken in the heart of the tourist ghetto and still you have some of these pictures that are just wonderful, don't you think? Oh and what's special about it: I haven't seen much street art in India - and this piece actually looks quite good...

A drum-maker in Kolkatta. Even though it was after sunset it was still blazing hot, hence he works without a shirt on. I was sitting there for five minutes, watching his work, how concentrated he moved his knife and hammer to tighten the leather.

At the street barber in Kolkatta. Unfortunately I had just shaved so I could not take part in this session. But (!) I promise after writing these posts I will go to the barber next door which looks at least as good as these fellows.