India otra vez/India again

Yes, here I am, back in India. I flew into Calcutta a few hours ago. First step, changing my Nepali rupees into Indian rupees- no, we don't change Nepali rupees here. Ok, no worries. Next step, find an ATM. No, there's no ATMs in the international terminal, you gotta walk 500metres to the Domestic terminal for one. Ok, no worries. Next step, get a prepaid taxi. No, you can't pay with credit card. Ok, no worries. I walk to the domestic terminal. I find an ATM. Surprinsingly enough, it works and gives me money. I want to book a prepaid taxi. The counter is closed from the "outside" side. Ok, no worries. I can't go inside, for passengers only. I insist- I just wanna pay for a taxi, and no, I'm not walking back to the International terminal for it! Ok, finally I'm allowed in. I ask how much. 235 rupees. I give him 500. He gives me 65 change. I look at him and wait. He turns around and starts talking to another guy. I say I gave him 500 and need more change. He continues to look away. I repeat I gave him 500. He opens his till. I tell him I can't believe he's trying to steal from people like that (although I can very easily believe it). He says angrily that he will give me my change now. I say yeah, but only cause I realised and asked for it! I call him pathetic, he smirks proudly. A guy shows me to my taxi without me asking for any help and gets angry when I don't wanna tip him. And off we go.
And that's all without even leaving the airport. Don't have the time or energy to tell everything that's happened since (hey, I've been in India for about 4 hours now!!), all I can say is: yes, there's no doubt about it, I'm definitely back in India!

Si, aca estoy, de vuelta en India. Llegue a Calcuta hace unas horas. Primer paso, cambiar mis rupias nepalesas a rupias indias- no, no cambiamos rupias nepalesas aca. Ok, no hay drama. Siguiente paso, encontrar un cajero automatico. No, no hay cajeros en la terminal internacional, tenes que caminar 500 metros hasta la terminal domestica para un cajero. Ok, no hay drama. Siguiente paso, conseguir un taxi y pagar por adelantado. No, no se puede pagar con tarjeta de credito. Ok, no hay drama. Camino a la terminal domestica. Encuentro el cajero. Milagrosamente, funciona y me da plata. Quiero pagar un atxi por adelantado. El mostrador esta cerrado del lado de "afuera" del aeropuerto. Ok, no hay drama. No me dejan entrar al aeropuerto, es para pasajeros solamente. Yo insisto- solo quiero pagar un taxi, y no, no voy a caminar de vuelta hasta la terminal internacional para eso! Ok, finalmente me dejan entrar. Pregunto cuanto cuesta. 235 rupias. Le doy 500. Me da 65 de vuelto. Lo miro y espero. Se da vuelta y empieza a hablar con otro tipo. Le digo que le di 500 y que encesito mas vuelto. Sigue mirando para otro lado. Repito que le di 500. Abre la caja registradora. Le digo que no puedo creer que trate de robarle a la gente de esa manera (aunque en realidad no me sorprende en lo mas minimo). Me dice enojado que ahora me va a dar mi vuelto. Yo le digo, si, pero solo porque me di cuenta y se lo pedi! Le digo que es patetico, y me sonrie orgulloso. Un tipo me muestra cual es mi taxi sin que yo le pida ayuda, y se enoja cuando no le quiero dar propina. Y partimos en el taxi.
Y todo eso sin siquiera haber salido del aeropuerto. No tengo el tiempo ni la energia para contar todo lo que paso desde ese momento (che, hace ya como 4 horas que estoy en India!), lo unico que puedo decir es: si, no hay duda, definitivamente estoy de vuelta en India!

Unsolved Mysteries/Misterios sin Resolver

So, emptying my day pack yesterday I found 4 weird objects that even after much thought and speculation Jane and I could not figure out what the fuck they are or how did they get into my bag. One of them is actually a little broken glass tube!! And just when I thought it was over, I found a fifth foreign object. Any ideas anyone?

Ayer vaciando mi mochila (la chiquita de dia) encontre 4 objetos extranios, y despues de mucho pensar y especular con Jane no pudimos entender que mierda son o como se metieron en mi mochila. Uno de ellos es un tubo de vidrio roto!! Y cuando pensaba que eso era todo, encontre un quinto objeto extranio. Ideas alguien???

More Kathmandu/ Mas Kathmandu

Last full day in Kathmandu, and in Nepal actually, cause I'm flying back to India tomorrow, going to Calcutta. So today I went to Pashupatinath- UNESCO site as well- temples, monasteries, stupas, the standard here.
I gotta write about the Food Court here! I can't believe I forgot! A couple of days ago for lunch we went to "Kathmandu's only food court"- it was a funny concept, cause there's like 5 or 6 restaurants, like in a food court, but you just sit down at a table and a waiter comes with a menu (which consists of the 5 or 6 different menus) and you order like that, like in a regular restaurant. So the food was DELICIOUS (from the Tibetan restaurant), the waiters were really nice, service was good, food was cheap. Enough said, we fell in love with the place and have had every lunch and dinner there since, and we are always excited with anticipation thinking what our next meal will be. So it's almost dinner time, yay! I'll go a Thai curry most likely, or maybe Pad Thai, we haven't ordered from the Thai restaurant yet.
So, it's the next day now, and yes, I had a great beef red curry last night. Almost lunch time now, it's my last meal before leaving Nepal... not sure what I'll order this time, big decision!
But that's not all about this wonderful food court, oh no! It also has the best views in town at nighttime. Which is to say, it has a view to the Bakery across the road. Fascinating view. Because this bakery has 50% off on everything after 9pm and it is an absolutely hilarious sight every night! Tourists just flock to this tiny bakery and pile up their trays with heaps of pastries. We don't get it. Even if it's half price, what do you want 10 or 12 pastries for?!?! It's very funny to watch, the early comers are the best, cause they arrive at about 8:50 and pick their pastries and then hang around the shop waiting for 9pm to come. And yes, Jane and I are aware that we are pathetic and we need to get a life of our own instead of staring at the bakery every night.

Ultimo dia entero en Kathmandu, y de hecho en Nepal, porque manania vuelo a India otra vez, a Calcutta. Hoy fui a Pashupatinath- tambien un sitio de la UNESCO- templos, monasterios, stupas, lo tipico aca.
Tengo que escribir sobre el patio de comidas aca! No puedo creer que me habia olvidado! Hace un par de dias para el almuerzo fuimos a "El unico patio de comidas de Kathmandu"- medio extranio, porque hay como 5 o 6 restaurantes, como en un patio de comidas, pero en vez de peidr la comida en el mostrador te sentas en una mesa y viene un mozo con menu (que consiste de los 5 o 6 menues diferentes) y pedis la comida asi, como en un restaurante normal. La comida fue DELICIOSA (del restaurante tibetano), los mozos buena onda, buena atencion, la comida barata. No hace falta decir mas, nos enamoramos del lugar y desde entonces comimos todos los almuerzos y cenas ahi, y nos la pasamos ansiosas anticipando y pensando que sera nuestra proxima comida. Cuando escribi la parte en ingles me estaba yendo a cenar, y estaba pensando pedir comida Thai. Y si, me comi un curry riquisimo, primera vez que probamos en restaurante Thai. Y ahora en un rato nos vamos a almorzar, mi ultima comida antes de irme de Nepal- no se que pedir, que decision!
Pero eso no es todo sobre este maravilloso patio de comidas, no no! Tambien tiene la mejor vista de la ciudad de noche. Lo que significa, que tiene vista a la Panaderia de enfrente. Facinante. Porque esta panaderia tiene 50% de descuento en todo a partir de las 9pm, y es un cago de la risa ver lo que pasa cada noche. Los turistas se avalanzan en esta panaderia de 2 por 2 y se llenan las bandejas con montones de facturas. No lo podemos entender. Aunque sea mitad de precio, para que queres 10 o 12 facturas por persona?!?! Es muy divertido observar, mis preferidos son los que llegan temprano, llegan tipo 8:50, eligen sus facturas y despues se quedan ahi paraditos esperando a que se hagan las 9pm. Y si, Jane y yo nos damos cuenta que somos pateticas y deberiamos conseguirnos una vida propia en vez de mirar la panaderia todas las noches.

Kathmandu

We've been in Kathmandu for a couple of days now. I love it. It's lively, it's fun, it's interesting, there's heaps to do. There's temples and stupas everywhere. You are just walking in the middle of town, and in amongst the shops, the markets, the chaos there's little temples, old buildings, shrines. I like the contrast. But you can't see Mt Everest from town (which ignorant me thought you could).
The first day we wondered around town and ended up in Durbar Square. We didn't really see anything there, cause first thing we did when we got there was go for lunch, and at the restaurant we met an English couple and decided to share a taxi with them up to Swoyambhunath. So off we went, Monkey Temple, Buddhist Monastery, big stupa. We then walked downhill back to town.
Day 2 and 3 I spent it exploring on my own, cause Jane is having a bit of chilling out and a lot of shopping time:) Went out to Patan yesterday and to Bhaktapur today. Beautiful architecture, UNESCO squares with temples and old buildings. And hey, I'm so proud of myself! I made it back today by public transport and then a 20 minute walk without getting lost once, without taking one single wrong turn once and without asking for directions once. I rock! And, while I was in Bhaktapur talking to a local a mouse walked past, about 30cms away from my feet and I did not scream or cry, I rock again! But I do have to confess that for the rest of my conversation with the local I just nodded my head speechless and have absolutely no idea what he said, I couldn't concentrate.

Hace un par de dias que estamos en Kathmandu. Me encanta. Tiene vida, es divertida, es interesante, hay un monton de cosas para hacer. Hay templos y stupas en todos lados. Vas caminando por el medio del centro de la ciudad, y entremedio de los negocios y los mercados y el caos, hay templos chiquitos, edificios antiguos, altares. Me gusta el contraste. Pero no se ve el Everest desde la ciudad (que yo ignoratemente pense que se podia).
El primer dia salimso a caminar por la ciudad y terminamos en la plaza Durbar. No vimos nada ahi, porque lo primero que hicimos al llegar fue ir a almorzar, y en el restaurante conocimos una pareja inglesa y decidimos compartir un taxi con ellos para subir a Swoyambhunath. Asi que hicimos eso- el templo de los monos, el monastreio budista, una stupa grande. Y despues caminamos montania abajo de vuelta a la ciudad.
El segundo y tercer dia me los pase explorando sola, porque Jane decidio relajarse un poco, uy hacer mucho shopping:) Ayer fui a Patan y hoy a Bhaktapur. Arquitectura lindisima, plazas UNESCO con templos y edificios antiguos. Y estoy tan orgullosa de mi misma! Hoy volvi en tarsnporte publico y despues 20 minutos de caminata sin perderme una sola vez, sin doblar en una esquina equivocada una vez, y sin pedir indicaciones una sola vez. Soy una genia! Y mientras estaba en Bahktapur hablando con un local, un raton paso corriendo, como a 30cms de mis pies, y no llore ni grite. Soy una genia otra vez! Pero debo confesar que por el resto de la conversacion lo unico que hice fue asentir con la cabeza porque no podia ni hablar y no tengo idea de que decia el tipo porque ni podia escuchar lo que me decia.

Tokkah

Who is Tokkah?? He/she is now a follower as well... curiosity is killing me. Any information in regards to this matter will be greatly appreciated. Generous reward will be offered.

Quien es Tokkah?? El/ella ahora es un/a seguidor/a... me mata la curiosidad. Cualquier informacion con respecto a este asunto sera apreciada. Una generosa recompensa sera ofrecida.

Chitwan National Park/Parque Nacional Chitwan

We got from Pokhara a 3 days/2 nights package to Chitwan National Park. Or rather, to the outskirts of it. For some reason that we could not fully comprehend the government has stopped the permits inside the NP, so all the hotels there are now closed. So basically what they offer to tourists as a NP package is really a "stay on the other side of the river" package, and look at the minor animals. But that's ok, we were aware of this before going, but decided to do it anyway cause it was really cheap, and to then have a look once there about getting a jeep for the day for a game drive inside the NP. We didn't end up doing the game drive though- was too expensive and didn't seem worth it- the only animal worth trying to see is the bengal tiger, and chances are so small it's such a long shot...
So... 3 days 2 nights package. HA! It was hilarious, all these pseudo activities, to see all this pseudo animals (no offense, sorry). So when we arrived we started with the bird watching, canoe ride, and jungle walk. Oh yeah, we got 3 activities in 1, all done in the space of 2 or 3 hours, that's how efficient they were! So basically the bird watching was our 3 minutes walk along the river bank, from the hotel to where the canoe was. The guy did point at a few birds along the way, so I guess it counts. The canoe trip was ok, we went down the river a bit and then we got off on the other bank of the river, where our jungle walk began. Uhm... we really just walked some metres inland from the river for an hour or two. We did see a deer in the distance (or part of its head actually), rhino footprints, elephant poo, and some big red bugs (got photographic proof of the latter). So it was a huge success!
At night we went to watch the Thura Cultural Programme in the village hall (please note how they ran out of space and couldn't fit the "E" in programme on the wall painting. It was great- some nice dancing/fire juggling/drumming and some hillarious hilalrious bits... I'll try to upload the videos, we'll see if it works. We even got a power blackout in the middle of it, how lucky are we!
The next day we went to the Elephant Breeding Centre- that was cool, touching baby elephants and seeing other small elephant flighting/playing with each other. They were really rough! After that we had the Cultural Village Visit- which meant we got off the jeep 3 mins before getting back to the hotel, we looked at 2 houses (with paintings on the wall, traditional thing here), and then we walked along the dirt road back to the hotel. The highlight of the day was the elephant bath. That was heaps of fun, they brought an elephant to the front of the hotel in the river, and we took turns getting on it, while the elephant soaked us wet blowing water from the trunk. Really cute. After that, to the elephant ride. Yes, definitely elephant day. It was a bit disappointing, cause it was 4 people per elephant, sitting on a wooden chair. But hey, we saw deers and 2 rhinos!
So that was our encounter with wildlife- the next day (day 3 of the tour) we just caught a bus in the morning towards Kathmandu, and we arrived late in the afternoon. I have to say, if this whole package tour hadn't been so cheap I could have said it was a rip off.

En Pokhara nos compramos un paquete de 3 dias/2noches para ir al Parque Nacional Chitwan. O mejor dicho, a las afueras del PN. Por algun motivo que no logramos entender bien, el gobierno cancelo los permisos dentro del PN, asi que todos los hoteles de adentro estan cerrados ahora. Asi que basicamente lo que ahora le ofrecen a los turistas como un paquete al PN es en realidad un paquete "quedense del otro lado del rio casi en el PN", y miren los animales de segunda. Pero todo bien, porque nosotras sabiamos como venia la mano al momento de comprar el paquete, pero decidimos hacerlo igualmente porque era tan barato, y asi al llegar ahi podiamos tratar de organizar un jeep para hacer safari dentro del PN por el dia. Al final no hicimos el safari en jeep- era muy caro y no valia la pena- el iunico animal que valia la pena tratar de ver era el tigre de bengala, y las chances de verlo son tan minimas que era medio al pedo.
Asi que paquete de 3 dias/2 noches. HA! Nos cagamos de la risa, con las seudo-actividades, para ver los seudo-animales (sin animos de ofender a los pobres seudo-animales). Cuando llegamos hicimos la caminata por la jungla, el paseo en canoa, y el avistaje de aves. Si si, nos toco 3 actividades en 1, todo en el espacio de 2 o 3 horas, tan eficientes que son! Asi que basicamente el avistaje de aves consistio en nuestra caminata de 3 minutos por la orilla del rio, desde el hotel hasta donde estaba la canoa. El tipo senialo un par de aves en el camino, asi que supongo que cuenta. El paseo en canoa estuvo bien, fuimos un rato por el rio y nos bajamos del otro lado, donde comenzo nuestra caminata por la jungla. Eh... en realidad solo caminamos algunos metros alejados del rio, por 1 o 2 horas. Pero vimos un ciervo a la distancia (o parte de la cabeza en realidad), huellas de rinoceronte, caca de elefante, y unos insectos rojos grandes (tengo prueba fotografica de estos bichos). Asi que fue todo un exito!
A la noche fuimos a ver un show, en el salon principal del pueblo, era el programa cultural Thura (y no les alcanzo el lugar en la pared para pintar la "E" de programme). Buenisimo- un poco de danza, juegos con fuego, tambores, y unas partes muy muy graciosas... voy a tratar de poner videos aca, pero vamos a ver si lo logro hacer funcionar. Hasta tuvimos un corte de luz en la mitad del show, que afortunadas!
Al dia siguiente fuimos a un centro donde tienen elefantes- estuvo excelente, tocando bebes elefantes y vimos a otros elefantes chiquitos peleando/jugando. Eran bien brutos! Despues de eso tuvimos la visita al Pueblo Cultural- que en otras palabras significa que nos bajamos del jeep 3 minutos antes de llegar al hotel, miramos 2 casas con pinturas en las paredes (cosa tipica aca), y despues caminamos por la calle de tierra de vuelta al hotel. Lo mejor del dia fue el banio con el elefante. Eso fue muy divertido, trajeron un elefante enfrente del hotel, en el rio, y por turnos nos subimos, mientras el elefante nos empapaba tirandonos agua con la trompa. Un amor. Despues de eso, el paseo en elefante. Si, definitivamente fue el dia de los elefantes. El paseo fue un poco defraudante, porque eramos 4 personas por elefante, sentados en una silla de madera. Pero che, vimos ciervos y 2 rinocerontes!
Asi que ese fue nuestro encuentro con los animales salvajes- el dia siguiente (el dia 3 del tour) lo unico que hicimos fue tomarnos un omnibus a la manana hacia Kathmandu, y llegamos tarde a la tarde. Debo decir, si no fuera porque este tour fue tan barato podria decir que fue un afano.

Mascota III/Mascot III

Ok, time for an update on the mascot situation. So my current mascot was a painting on cloth which I got from Sebastien (my French-born, USA-raised couchsurfing host in Hong Kong). I forgot to do the swap just before leaving India as planned, so I swapped it last night, only 2 days after arival in Nepal- I reckon it's still valid. I swapped it with one of the guys working at the hotel where we are staying. He loved my mascots concept and the swapping ceremony. He gave me a.... whatever it's called, he couldn't remember the name of it either. I now refer to it as "the thing". It was handmade by his grandmother. When he told me this, I refused to accept it, but he said it's nothing special, no sentimental value, and that she makes heaps of them. So all good. He said it's a seat, made of rattan and the decorations are actually lolly wraps, how cool is that! I love my new mascot. But with Jane we've discovered it is so much more than a seat. We counted about 15 uses for it- seat, hat, umbrella, basket for carrying fruit on your head, to use it to cover your mouth when yawning, spare tyre, frisbee... I've forgotten the rest, but you get the idea. I love my new mascot, it's so cool. Although I do have to carry it in my hand all day cause it doesn't fit in my daypack. I can see this whole mascot swapping situation turning into something like that story of the guy who started with a red paper clip and swapped it until he got a house. I really wouldn't like that to happen, how on earth am I gonna carry a house around while I travel?
For those of your who wanna check it out, this is the red paper clip to house website:
http://oneredpaperclip.blogspot.com

Ok, ultimas noticias sobre mi mascota. Mi ultima mascota era una pintura en tela que me dio Sebastien (mi host de couchsurfing en Hong Kong, nacido en Francia, criado en USA). Me olvide de hacer el canje justo antes de irme de India, como era el plan, asi que lo cambie anoche, solo 2 dias despues de haber llegado a Nepal- asi que me parece que es valido, no? Hice el canje con uno de los tipos que trabaja en el hotel en el que nos estamos quedando. Le encanto mi idea de las mascotas y la ceremonia del canje. Me dio un... como sea que se llame, el tampoco se podia acordar del nombre. Yo lo llamo "la cosa". Fue hecho a mano por su abuela. Cuando me dijo eso, me negue a aceptarlo, pero me dijo que no es nada especial, que no tiene valor sentimental, y que la abuela hace montones de "cosas". Asi que todo bien. Me dijo que es un asiento, hecho de rattan y que las decoraciones son envoltorios de caramelos, una masa! Me encanta mi nueva mascota. Pero con Jane descubrimos que es mucho mas que un asiento. Contamoes como 15 usos que tiene- asiento, sombrero, paraguas, canasta para llevar fruta en la cabeza, para taparte la boca al bostezar, rueda de auxilio, frisbee... no me acuerdo el resto, pero mas o menos se hacen una idea. Me encanta mi nueva mascota, esta buenisima! Aunque la tengo que llevar en la mano todo el dia porque no entra en mi mochila de dia. Ya me veo que este asunto de canje de mascotas va a terminar siendo como esa historia del tipo que empezo con un clip rojo y lo cambio hasta que le dieron una casa. No me gustaria que pase eso, porque como mierda transporto una casa mientras viajo??
Y para los que esten interesados, esta es la website del tipo que paso del clip rojo a una casa:
http://oneredpaperclip.blogspot.com

Relax en/in Pokhara

Three chilled days in Pokhara. It's a cute town. Very touristic. Lots of trekking options from here. Lots of shops selling trekking stuff. A lake. Mountains. Vey high mountains with snowy peaks. Beautiful. Relaxed. Laid back. People are friendly. Temperature's nice. Warm but not hot. Light jumper at night.
The first day we spent it walking around town, looking at shops, pottering around. I bought a rain cover for my backpack and a silk sheet/liner- finally!
The next day we woke up at 4:40am (aaargh) and went up to Sorangkot mountain to see sunrise (Pokhara is 8,000 metres above sea level, Sorangkot 15,000 metres).. It was worth it. Stunning view. And we had a clear day so we could see all the mountains with their showy peaks. After a late morning nap we head back into town and I went paragliding. It was awesome! Take off from Sorangkot, and we went up to over 20,000 metres. So peaceful, beautiful views! The guy that went with me has the Guinness World Record of the highest altitude ever reached paragliding (7,720 metres, in Pakistan).
Today we went to the World Peace Stupa (or Pagoda?? some signs said Stupa, others Pagoda... looked like a Stupa to me!). It was beautiful, it had images representing the 4 places and events most meaningful for Buddhism- the front one represents Sarnath, where Buddha gave his first speech (we were there last week, in India). We then went on to the Tibetan refugee camp (which was really just a town with some tibetan people living in it- handicrafts, shops, markets... uhm... the Monastery was nice). And then on to Devi's Falls and to a cave. Uhm... yeah... can I say they were crap? The falls wasn't very impressive at all, and my favourite bit was the empty plastic coke bottle which was floating in it, and stuck in between rocks so it didn't look like it was gonna be washed away any time soon. The cave- it was a damp, dirty, humid, smelled bad, with water dripping down evrywhere... it was a cave. No stalactites, no stalagmites... it did have a sculpture of a cow though! With a man sitting by it guarding it... no pictures of the cow allowed! But it was very funny. The rest of the day we spent it back in town, had an awesome lunch in a restaurant with lake views and then relaxed there for a couple of hours- hammock, sun, ipod, mango smoothie... no complaints at all.
Pictures of day 3 to follow. I haven't got them on the computer yet.

Tres dias de relajo en Pokhara. Es un pueblito divino. Muy turistico. Muchas opciones de trekking desde aca. Muchos negocios vendiendo equipo para trekking. Un lago. Montanias. Montanias muy altas con picos nevados. Hermoso. Relajado. La gente re amigable. La temperatura agradable. Calorcito pero no calor. Un sweater finito a la noche.
El primer dia lo pasamos caminando por el pueblo, mirando negocios, boludeando. Me compre un protector de lluvia para mi mochila y una sabana/protector de bolsa de dormir de seda- finalmente!
Al dia siguiente nos despertamos a las 4:40am (aaaaargh) y fuimos a la montania Sorangkot a ver el amanecer. Pokhara esta a 8.000 metros sobre el nivel del mar, Sorangkot a 15.000. Valio la pena. Vista alucinante. Y nos toco un dia despejado asi que pudimos ver todas las montanias con sus picos nevados. Despues de una siestita a la manana mas tarde, volvimos al pueblo y yo fui a hacer parapente. Espectacular! Despegamos de Sorangkot, y subimos hasta mas de 20.000 metros. Una paz, vistas increibles! El tipo con el que hice parapente tiene el Record Guinness del Mundo de la altura mas alta jamas alcanzada en parapente (7.720 metros, en Pakistan).
Hoy fuimos a la Stupa de la Paz Mundial (O Pagoda?? Algunos carteles decian Stupa, otros Pagoda... a mi me parecio que era una Stupa!). Lindisima, tenia imagenes representando los 4 lugares y eventos mas significativos del Budismo- el principal, al frente, representa Sarnath, el pueblo donde Buda dio su primer sermon (estuvimos ahi la semana pasada, en India). Despues fuimos a un Campamento de Refugiados Tibetanos (que en realidad solo era un pueblo donde vivien algunos tibetanos- negocios, artesanias, mercados... uhm... el monasterio es lindo). Y despues fuimos a las Cataratas de Devi y a una cueva. Uhm...si... puedo decir que eran una cagada? Las cataratas nada wow, mi cosa preferida fue la botella de coca de plastico vacia flotando en el agua, atascada entre las rocas asi que no creo que el agua se la fuera a llevar a ningun lado. La cueva- humeda, sucia, con mal olor, con agua goteando por todos lados... una cueva. Sin estalactictas ni estalagmitas. Aunque tenia una estatua de una vaca! Con un tipo sentado al lado vigilando, y no permitian fotos de la vaca! Muy gracioso. Pasamos el resto del dia de vuelta en el pueblo, comimos un almuerzo riquisimo en un restaurante con vista al lago y despues nos relajamos ahi por un par de horas- hamaca paraguaya, sol, ipod, licuado de mango... no me puedo quejar.
Las fotos del dia 3 las agrego despues, no las tengo todavia en la computadora.

Rats III/Ratas III

Just the day after I wrote my last rat update, I saw more rats, in Varanasi. How many?- 2 or 3. My last day in India, and I was going so well! 2 confirmed sightings, 1 dubious one. Jane insists this last one was not a rat, as it was too big and had a fluffy tail. I still got my doubts... yuk.

Al dia siguiente de escribir mi ultimo post sobre ratas, vi mas, en Varanasi. Cuantas? 2 o 3. Mi ultimo dia en India, y eso que iba tan bien!! 2 confirmadas, la terera dudosa. Jane insiste que esta ultima no fue una rata, porque era muy grande y tenia cola peluda. Yo todavia tengo mis dudas... que asco!

Trip to Nepal/ Viaje a Nepal

Nepal, Nepal... what a change after India! It is so relaxed, laid back, people are so friendly. We've been in Pokhara for a couple of days now, taking it easy and enjoying the peace and quiet for a bit. The trip from India to Nepal wasn't too bad. Maybe because I had had several people telling me how long and crap it was, it wasn't as bad as expected. It took 1 train and 3 buses, but we made it from Varanasi to Pokhara in under 24 hours, so all good. We did have a bit of an issue with the money collecting guy on the last bus though. To start with, he lied to some Czech guys about how much the trip would cost, but that got sorted out and they paid the promised price. And then when it was my turn to pay he said he had no change, and that he would give me my change later. He played dumb, so after everyone had paid I went up to him and asked for my change. He said he had no change, despite having a shitload of bills in his hand and said "change later, later, wait, patience". So I waited. Until we got off the bus 2 and a half hours later. And that's when I asked for my change again and he said he did not owe me any change, that he never said that etc etc. And man, did I go off! I started swearing and yelling, calling him a fucking cunt (excuse the language), fucking liar, thief, etc etc. He got back on the bus and told the driver to start driving. So I ran next to the bus, holding onto it with one hand while hitting it with the other for about 100 metres, all the time swearing at him while he gave me a little smirk. Until I said I would report him to the police. So he asked the driver to stop and gave me my change. God, was I pissed off, it was almost a full 80 cents that he owed me you know! And I turned around to see the other 5 tourists (Jane, the Czech couple, and 2 Finnish guys) surrounded by about 20 locals, with a lot of yelling and arguing going on. So I joined in, for the customary battle amongst touts to see which taxi we would take, to which hotel, and just how much they would rip us off this time. And a lot of locals doing the touching us and our bags and not understanding the concept of personal space. It's all so much fun:) But apart from that one initial situation on arrival, we have only met lovely and extra friendly people here in Nepal.

Nepal, Nepal... que diferente a India! Es muy relajado, buena onda, la gente re amigable. Estamos en Pokhara hace un par de dias, disfrutando de la paz y tranquilidad. El viaje de India a Nepal no fue grave. Tal vez porque varias personas me habian dicho que era tan malo y largo, no me parecio tan terrible. Nos tuvimos que tomar 1 tren y 3 buses, pero llegamos de Varanasi a Pokhara en menos de 24 horas, asi que todo bien. Aunque tuvimos un pequenio problemita con el tipo que juntaba la plata en el ultimo bus. Al principio le mintio a una pareja checa sobre cuanto costaba el bus, pero lo solucionaron y terminaron pagando el precio prometido. Y despues cuando me toco pagar a mi me dijo que no tenia cambio, y que me daba el cambio mas tarde. Se hizo el boludo, asi que cuando todos terminaron de pagar le fui a pedir mi cambio al frente. Me dijo que no tenia cambio, a pesar de tener un manojo enorme de billetes en la mano y me dijo que "cambio despues, despues, espera, paciencia". Asi que espere. Hasta que nos bajamos del bus 2 horas y media mas tarde. Y cuando me pedi el cambio de nuevo ahi me dice que no me debia nada de plata, que nuna me dijo que me tenia que dar cambio. Y me saque! Empece a gritar y a insultarlo, diciendole los peores insultos en ingles (ver seccion en ingles para mas detalles) y diceinedole que era un mentiroso y ladron. El tipo se subio de nuevo al bus y le dijo al conductor que empiece a manejar. Asi que yo me puse a correr al lado del bus, sosteniendome de la puerta con una mano y golpeando el colectivo con la otra como 100 metros, todo el tiempo gritandole al tipo mientras me miraba con una sonrisita guachita. Hasta que dije que lo iba a denunciar a la policia. Y ahi le dijo al conductor que frene el colectivo y me dio mi cambio. Que bronca que tenia, eran como 80 centavos de dolar que me tenia que devolver, no es joda! Y cuando me doy vuelta veo a los otros 5 turistas (Jane, la pareja Checa y 2 tipos de Finlandia) rodeados por mas o menos 20 turistas, y mucho griterio y discusiones. Asi que me les uni, para la pelea de costumbre para ver que taxi nos tomamos, a que hotel, y por cuanta guita nos van a cagar esta vez. Y los locales tocandonos y tocando nuestras mochilas y no entendiendo la nocion de espacio personal. Muy divertido:) Pero aparte de esa situacion al llegar, toda la gente que conocimos en Nepal es super amigable y tienen la mejor onda.

Holy City Take 2/ La Ciudad Sagrada Toma 2

Bueno, vamos de nuevo. Que decia? Varanasi es la Ciudad Sagrada de India, construida a orillas del Rio Ganges (Madre Ganga le dicen aca). Pero nuestro primer dia no lo pasamos en Varanasi, sino que nos fuimos a un pueblo a 10kms de distacias, Sarnath. Es una de las 4 ciudades sagradas del Budismo (las otras 3 estan en Nepal si me acuerdo bien...?). Fuimos al lugar donde Buda dio su primer sermon, y al arbol que crecio de una rama que sacaron del mismisimo arbol bajo el cual Buda tuvo su Iluminacion. Pense mucho en Linda (una companiera del trabajo, fiel seguidora del Budismo). Muy emotivo. Fuimos a varios templos budistas de distintos origenes- chino, tibetano, japones. Fuimos a un templo Jain donde nos explicaron sobre la religion y nos mostraron fotos. Parte de la creencia de los Jainistas es que las ropas impiden alcanzar el Nirvana, asi que los gurues mas grosos y ortodoxos andan siempre completamente desnudos. Vimos fotos de los gurues en sus visitas oficiales a distintos lugares, y hasta una foto de un guru reunido con el Dalai Lama, desnudo y abanicandolo. Otra cosa que no creen es en matar ningun tipo de organismo vivo, incluyendo insectos o bacterias- por eso no se banian, para no matar bacterias, y caminan barriendo su paso con un abanico con plumas de pavo real, para no pisar ningun insecto.
A la noche, ya de vuelta en Varanasi fuimos a ver una ceremonia en una de las Ghats (las escalinatas que dan al Ganges). Hacen esta ceremonia todas las noches, para purificar la Madre Ganga, y hacen ofrendas.
Al dia siguiente nos despertamos tempranito, tempranito, y fuimos a hacer un paseo en bote por el Ganges al amanecer. Impresionante, a lo largo de las Ghats mirando... mirando la vida diaria y privada de los Indios, expuesta en publico. Que en el Ganges se banian, se enjabonan, se lavan los dientes, lavan las ropas, hacen ofrendas, rezan, se purifican, tiran basura, nadan los bufalos, y queman a sus muertos. Hay 2 Ghats donde se hacen las cremaciones, y pasamos un buen rato mirando cuerpos quemandose, como preparan los cuerpos y los afeitan, y las ceremonias mojandolos en las aguas de la Madre Ganga. Muy impresionante. Despues me fui a encontrar con Folata- un amigo del colegio que esta viviendo en Varanasi hace como 7 anios. Pasamos el dia en su casa, charlando y recordando viejas epocas, y diciendo "que loco!" las vueltas de la vida.
El ultimo dia en Varanasi fuimos a ver unos cuantos templos, y despues todo el dia fue caminar y caminar a lo largo del Ganges. Y mirar y mirar a la gente, y de nuevo a las Ghats de cremaciones. A la noche vimos a una familia de 3 tipos y 2 chicos haciendo la ceremonia de purificacion. Lo mismo que hacen a gran escala con multitudes que vimos hace un par de noches, esa misma ceremonia es hecha por mucha gente mas, en pequenias ceremonias privadas. Nos sentamos a mirar, y nos invitaron a participar y comer con ellos las ofrendas. Un honor. De ahi, ya de noche, me fui a visitarlo a Folata un rato a la casa, y despues nos tomamos un tren tipo 11:30pm, camino a Nepal.

Ok, here we go again. What was I saying...? Varanasi is India's Holy City, built along the banks of the River Ganges (they call it Mother Ganga here). But we didn't spend our first day in Varanasi; instead we went to a town 10kms away, Sarnath. Sarnath is 1 of the 4 sacred cities for Buddhism (the other 3 are in Nepal if I remember correctly...?). We went to the spot where Buddha made his first speech, and to a tree which grew up from a branch taken from THE tree under which Buddha achieved Enlightment. I thought a lot about Linda (colleague from work, follower of Buddhism). It was very moving. We went to several Buddhist temples from different origins- chinese, tibetan, japanese. We also went to a Jain temple where they explained us about the religion and showed us photos. Part of the Jainism beliefs is that clothing is an obstacle to achieving Nirvana, so the most orthodox gurus are always completely naked. We saw pictures of the gurus during their official visits and even a photo of a Jainist guru, completely naked, fanning the Dalai Lama. Another of their beliefs is about not killing any kind of alive being, including insects or bacteria- so they never bathe or shower, not to kill bacteria, and they walk sweeping their path with a fan made of peacock feathers, not to kill any insects.
At night, back in Varanasi, we went to watch a ceremony (Puja) at one of the Ghats (the steps leading down to the Ganges). This ceremony is done every night, to purify Mother Ganga, and they make offerings.
The next day we had an early, early start, and went for a boat ride along the Ganges at sunrise. Incredible, along the Ghats, watching... watching the daily and private lives of Indians, exposed in public. In the Ganges they bathe, they wash themselves, they clean their teeth, do their laundry, make offerings, pray, purify themselves, throw their rubbish, buffalos swim, and they burn the dead. There's 2 Ghats where the cremations take place, and we spend some time watching the bodies burn, and how they prepared the bodies and shaved them, and the ceremonies soaking the bodies in Mother Ganga. What a sight... I then went to meet up with Folata- a friend from school who's been living in Varanasi for about 7 years. We spent the day at his place, chatting and reminiscing old times, and saying "how crazy!" life is and how our lives have turned out.
The last day in Varanasi we went and had a look at some temples, and then spent all day walking and walking along the Ganges. And watching and watching people, and again to the crematory Ghats. At night we watched a family, 3 men and 2 kids, doing the purification ceremony. The same ceremony which is done on a big scale for the crowds is also done by many many more people, in small and private ceremonies. We sat down to watch, and we were invited by them to take part and eat the offerings with them. It was such an honour. After that, and night time already, I went and visited Folata again, and we then got a train at about 11:30pm, towards Nepal.

Rats II/Ratas II

Just a brief update. Haven't seen any more rats since my one and only in Jodhpur train station, big YAY! But I did see a mouse yesterday on a rooftop, yuck, but not quite as bad. But Jane's told me she had been seeing plenty of rats on the first 10 days we were in India, basically daily. I must have been looking the right direction cause I didn't notice them, or I am so bloody scared of them that I've just been repressing their sight. Whichever, I'm happy.

Ultimas noticias. No vi ninguna rata mas desde que vi mi una y unica rata en Jodhpur en la estacion de tren, gran yuppie!!! Pero vi un raton ayer, en una terraza, un asco, pero no tan malo como una rata. Pero Jane me dijo que durante los primeros 10 dias que estuvimos en India ella vio un monton de ratas, basicamente todos ls dias. Debo haber estado mirando en la direccion correcta porque yo no las vo. O es que les tengo tanto panico que directamente reprimo cuando veo una. Sea lo que sea, estoy contenta.

Holy City/ La Ciudad Sagrada

IT SUCKS!! Not the Holy City, the fact that I was just halfway through my post, and there was a power outage so I lost everything I had written. Don't have the energy to rewrite now, the Holy City story's gonna have to wait.

QUE MIERDA!! No la Ciudad Sagrada, sino el hecho de que estaba por la mitad de escribir el post y se corto la luz, asi que perdi todo lo que habia escrito. No tengo pilas para escribir todo de nuevo ahora, asi que la historia de la Ciudad Sagrada va a tener que esperar.

Khajuraho to/a Varanasi

Last day in Khajuraho. We were catching a 2pm bus to Satna connecting with a 7:30pm train to Varanasi. The 2pm bus was cancelled. They told us this at 1:40, next bus leaving at 3pm. Too late to catch a shared taxi, they had all left by then. We stressed out a bit about whether we would miss our train connection. 3pm bus arrived at 3:30. Off we went. Got to Satna at 7pm, with plenty of time to catch our train, all cool. 7:30pm train arrived at 8:40pm. No need to worry, it's India after all.

Ultimo dia en Khajuraho. Nos ibamos a tomar un omnibus a las 2 pm hasta Satna, conectando con un tren a las 7:30pm hacia Varanasi. El omnibus de las 2 pm lo cancelaron. Nos avisaron de esto a la 1:40pm, el proximo salia a las 3pm. Demasiado tarde para poder tomarnos un taxi compartido, ya se habian ido todos. Nos estresamos un poco pensando que ibamos a perder nuestra conexion de tren. El omnibus de las 3pm llego a las 3:30pm. Y partimos en camino. Llegamos a Satna a las 7pm, con tiempo de sobra para tomarnos el tren, todo bien. El tren de las 7:30 llego a las 8:40pm. No hay de que preocuparse, despues de todo es India.

Italian Restaurant/Restaurante Italiano

What can I say? Style, swish, true posh! We were very impressed. We had waiters pulling back our chairs when we arrived. The paper napkins were neatly folded and arranged into a glass. The plastic chairs had fabric covers on them. We had cushions to sit on. We got a candle. We got a little metal tray to put upside down on top of our drinks so the bugs wouldn't get into them. What more can you ask for? Food was delicious. And obscenely expensive. By Indian standards. Best restaurant we've been to in India. But we never saw the Italian chef and Dutch supervisor.

Que puedo decir? Clase, nivel, elegancia! Muy impresionadas. Los mozos nos movieron las sillas para atras para ayudarnos a sentarnos. Las servilletas de papel estaban dobladitas prolijas y acomodadas en un vaso. Las sillas de plastico tenian fundas de tela. Teniamos almohadones para sentarnos. Teniamos vela en la mesa. Nos dieron una bandejita de metal para poder poner dada vuelta encima de nuestros vasos para que no se nos llenen de bichos. Que mas se puede pedir? La comida deliciosa. Y exorbitantemente cara. Segun parametros indios. El emjor restaurante al que fuimos en India. Pero nunca vimos al chef italiano y al supervisor holandes.

Khajuraho

We got in at about 7:30m. After the customaru dodging of touts and rickshaw drivers we got ourselves into a hotel in the main drag and had some dinner. The rooftop restaurant was empy when we arrived. 2 minutes later, and until the moment we left, Indian men pottered around, chatted with us, pottered around some more. They were nice, we had some pleasant talks, but we did not get one minute alone.
Today we went to see the Khajuraho temples- the whole reason why we came here. They are famous for their carvings with Kama Sutra images. They were cool. There's 3 groups of them- the Western ones were amazing (the only ones you gotta pay to get into), the Eastern and Southern ones not a big deal.
We then bought our bus and train tickets combo to leave for Varanasi tomorrow arvo. And the plan for tonight is dinner at an Italian restaurant. There's lots of Italian restaurants here for some reason. Weird. Our pick is the one advertising "Italian Chef and Dutch Supervisor"- we'll see how we go.

Llegamos tipo 7:30pm. Despues de esquivar conductores de rickshaws y tipos tratando de convencerte de ir a su hotel, como de costumbre, conseguimos un hotel en la calle principal y fuimos a cenar. El restaurante en la terraza estaba vacio cuando llegamos. A los 2 minutos, y hasta que nos fuimos tuvimos tipos Indios dando vueltas charlandonos, dando mas vueltas. Todo bien, buena onda, pero no tuvimos ni un minuto a solas ni en silencio.
Hoy fuimos a ver los templos de Khajuraho- la razon por la cual vinimos aca. Son famosos por las imagenes del Kama Sutra. Hay 3 grupos de templos- los del oeste espectaculares (son los unicos para los que hay que pagar entrada), los del este y los del sur la verdad no gran cosa.
Despues nos compramos nuestros boletos de tren y omnibus para irnos manana a la tarde para Varanasi. Y el plan esta noche es cena en un restaurante italiano. Hay muchos restaurantes italianos aca por algun motivo. Muy raro. Vamos a ir al que tiene un cartel diciendo: "Chef Italiano. Supervisor Holandes". Ya veremos que onda...

It's a long way to Khajuraho.../ Un largo camino a Khajuraho

We got up at 6am to watch the Taj at sunrise. Jane did better than I, cause she stayed up after that, I just went up to the rooftop, took one look at the Taj, uttered "Oh, yeah", and went back to bed. But hey, at least I got up for it! We then caught a train in the morning, followed by a bus in the afternoon, to get to Khajuraho. So we spent most of the day traveling. The train wasn't bad, only about 3-4 hours. But the bus was bumpy, bumpy, bumpy. And slow. It took over 5 hours to do 170kms... that's Indian roads (and Indian transport) for you. Not much to tell about the day since we spent it traveling basically. Unless I tell about the stop we made cause someone wanted to buy a packet of smokes. Or about the other stop we made cause someone wanted to pee (although we had just departed 5minutes before from our last 30 minutes stop- I guess he didn't feel like peeing 5 minutes before, but then when he had to go, he just HAD to go). Or about the other stop cause a woman wanted to pee, and she just got off the bus squatted right next to it on the side of the road and peed, in full view of everyone on the bus (maybe that's why they wear the long saris?). Or about that other toilet we went to, where a woman just proceeded to squat and pee in the general toilet area (where the basins would be if there were any), as apparently she could not be bothered walking into one of the little toilet (latrine) cubicles. But hey, it's not all about toilets and peeing only. There was also that guy throwing up through the window on the bus. Although to be honest I was asleep when it happened so I didn't see it, Jane told me about it. So yeah, maybe after all my stories are all about toilets and peeing only.

Nos despertamos a las 6am para ver el Taj al amanecer. Jane se quedo despierta despues de eso, pero yo solo logre subir a la terraza, mire el Taj, dije "Ah, si", y me volvi a la cama. Pero bueno aunque sea hice el esfuerzo de levantarme! Despues nos tomamos un tren a la manana, seguido de un omnibus a la tarde, para ir a Khajuraho. Asi que nos pasamos la mayoria del dia viajando. El tren estuvo bien, solo 3-4 horas. Pero el bondi con muchos pozos, se movia mal. Y lento. Tardamos mas de 5 horas en hacer 170kms- asi son las rutas y el transporte en India. Asi que no hay mucho para contar sobre el dia ya que nos la pasamos viajando basicamente. A no ser que cuente sobre la parada que hicimos porque alguien se queria comprar un paquete de cigarrillos. O sobre la otra parada que hicimos porque alguien queria haer pis, a pesar de que hace solo 5 minutos habiamos terminado una parada de 30 minutos (se ve que no tenia ganas de hacer pis 5 minutos antes el tipo, pero despues cuando le dieron ganas, le dieron ganas). O sobre la otra parada porque una mina queria haer pis, y se bajo del bondi, se agacho y se puso a hacer pis justo al lado del bondi, a plena vista de todos los pasajeros (tal vez por eso las mujeres usan esas saris largas?). O sobre ese banio al que fuimos, en el cual una mujer se agacho y se puso a hacer pis en la zona general del banio (donde estarian los lavamanos si hubiera habido lavamanos), porque por lo visto le dio fiaca caminar hasta los cubiculos con banios (letrinas). Pero che, no se trata solo de banios y hacer pis. Tambien estaba el tipo que se puso a vomitar por la ventana del omnibus. Aunque para ser sincera yo estaba durminedo cuando paso, asi que no lo vi, Jane me conto sobre eso. Asi que si, al fin y al cabo tal vez si que se trata de banios y hacer pis solo.

Agra

Agra-The Taj: they are almost synonnymous, aren't they? I'm sure lots of people would be outraged about this, but for a damn tourist like me of course they are. So yeah, we spent the day in the Taj. What can I say- beautiful, stunning. Not much happening inside the building to be honest, it's the mausoleum with both coffins and not much else. But the outside is impressive. Lots and lots of pictures. Lots of and lots of looking at it. And then went to the Agra fort- massive, and more views of the Taj, from a distance. Then back to the hotel, we hang out at the roftoop for sunset, until it was dark and the Taj was out of sight again.
Just as I am typying this, another float is going past in the street. Another wedding I am told, just 5mins after the first one.

Agra- El Taj- son casi sinonimos, no? Estoy segura que mucha gente estaria furiosa si me escucha, pero para una turista boba como yo obvio que son sinonimos. Y si, pasamos el dia en el Taj. Que puedo decir- hermoso, impactante. El edificio por dentro no es gran cosa para ser honesta, solo es el mausoleo con los 2 ataudes y no mucho mas. Pero por fuera es impresionante. Fotos y mas fotos. Mirar y mirar el edificio. Y despues fuimos al fuerte de Agra- gigante, y mas vistas del Teaj, desde la distancia. Despues volvimos al hotel, y estuvimos en la terraza para ver el atardecer, hasta que oscurecio y el Taj no se podia ver mas de nuevo.
Y mientras escribia en ingles, otra carroza paso por la calle. Otro casamiento me dijo el tipo de aca, 5 minutos despues del primero.

El resto de Delhi/ The rest of Delhi

So I was saying Delhi is huge. Yep. We spent the next day going around in a rickshaw seeing more sights. We went to the Lotus Temple- I loved it, shaped as a lotus (doh!), with pools around, and it's a non-denominational temple. We then went down south to Qutab Minar- a mosque in ruins, with a cool minaret/tower. First building we see in ruins in India- we've seen lots of badly maintained and unrenovated buildings, but this is the first time we see something in ruins. After that, we went to the Gandhi Museum- wow! Pleasantly surprising! It was so modern, high-tech (or at least for me...) and interactive, it was amazing. I was impressed!! It was where he spent his last days, and also where he got assessinated, so footsteps mark all the way to the place where he was shot. The next day we had just one more thing we wanted to do in Delhi before leaving- Indira Gandhi's memorial: we also saw the place where she got killed.
We then hang out at a rooftop restaurant (they are everywhere here in India) for a couple of hours, and caught a train to Agra. We arrived late at night, almost 11pm, checked into a hotel with Taj Mahal views- cheap as, but unfortunately the Taj is not lit up at night so it took us some time to even be able to make it out in the night. And off to bed.
Note- just as I was translating this into Spanish, a procession went past in the street, a wedding. Loud music, a float, horses, people danicng in the street!

Como decia, Delhi es inmensa. El dia siguiente nos la pasamos en un rickshaw dando vueltas y viendo mas cosas. Fuimos al Templo del Lotus (impresionante, en forma de Lotus CUA!), con piletas alrededor, es un tenplo no-denominacional (asi se dice? cuando no pertence a ninguna religion en particular, es un templo general). Despues fuimos al sur, a Qutab Minar- una mezquita en ruinas, con una torre/minaret muy buena. Es el primer edificio en ruinas que vemos en India, vimos muchos edificios mal mantenidos y no renovados/conservados, pero esta es la primera vez que vemos algo en ruinas. Despues de ahi fuimos al Museo de Gandhi- wow! Me sorprendio mucho, para bien! Era re moderno, re tecnologico (al menos para mi...) e interactivo, increible. Es donde Gandhi paso sus ultimos dias, y tambien donde fue asesinado, asi que hay huellas que marcan sus ultimos pasos hasta el lugar donde fue asesinado.
HA! Al margen! Recien acaba de pasar una procesion por la calle, un casamiento. Musica a full, una carroza, caballos, gente bailando en las calles.
Bueno, volviendo al tema Delhi. Al dia siguiente nos quedaba una cosa mas que queriamos hacer antes de irnos: fuimos al Memorial de Indira Gandhi: tambien vimos el lugar donde la mataron a ella. Despues pasamos un par de horas en un restaurante en una terraza (estan por todos lados aca en India), y nos tomamos un tren a Agra. Llegamos tarde de noche, casi 11pm. nos buscamos un hotel con vista al Taj Mahal- re barato, pero como el Taj no esta iluminado de noche tardamos un buen rato hasta que lo pudimos ver. Y a dormir.

New Delhi- Nueva Delhi

Yes, Delhi is definitely huge. And full of dust and smog. I'm coughing my lungs out here. But it's also the cleanest place I've seen in India so far. Not so much rubbish around. Not so smelly. It's still India of course, but not so full on... or maybe we are just getting used to it by now.
So, next day was New Delhi- Humayun Tomb (massive, hundreds of people buried there- I guess the widow when she built it didn't want his dead husband to be lonely), Tibet House (tiny museum, took us 15mins and we pottered around quite a bit) and then we went to Connaught Place.
Now, Connaught Place is the centre, the CBD, the happening area. So we first decided to chill out in a park for a bit. HA! Within our first 3 minutes of attempted chilling out we had already had men offering to sell us chips (1 even dared do it while we were both visibly eating 1 packet of chips each!), popcorn, fairy floss, chai, some wooden birds hanging from a string all tied to each other (so handy to carry around!) , shoe polish (even though I has sneakers on and Jane had sandals), shoe repair, and the best, ear cleaning. This ear cleaning is a very interesting concept. When they get a customer, they proceed to insert a long metal stick, to which they attach a bit of cotton at the end, in their customer's ear. And so they clean and clean. We saw this a couple of times being done, first time was on the front steps of the Mosque yesterday. We had a fine example here in the park at Connaught Place. There was this guy sitting in the park, holding his rice meal bowl which he has just purchased from another vendor, while he was having his ears cleaned. And he was a good cleaner! After getting the metal stick out of his customer's ear, he would clean it on his own hand, and then show his hand with the wax to his customer as proof of what a good job he had done. While the guy had his rice meal in his hand. And while we were eating our chips 2 metres away. And while another 10 Indians sat staring at us, cause us eating our chips are much more interesting than what was going on with the other guy of course. Oh, and he did get his shoes polished as well.
After this we just walked around Connaught Place- fancy shops, expensive labels, it felt like a different world, except for the street vendors and beggars everywhere. We went into a very very fancy bar and had a ridiculously ovepriced cocktail. But hey, it was happy hour, so we got 2 for 1, so we ended up paying the rip off price of $5 each for our cocktail.

Si, Delhi es definitivamente enorme. Y llena de polvo y smog. No paro de toser aca. Pero tambien es el lugar mas limpio que vi en India por ahora. No tanta basura en las calles. No tanto olor. Sigue siendo India, obviamente, pero no tan a full... o tal vez ya nos estamos acostumbrando.
Asi que el dia siguiente, Nueva Delhi- La Tumba de Humayun (gigante, cientos de personas enterradas ahi- se ve que la viuda cuando lo construyo no queria que su ex marido se sintiera solo), la Casa de Tibet (museo minimo, lo vimos en 15 minutos y eso que boludeamos), y despues fuimos a Connaught Place.
Connaught Place es el centro, el microcentro, la zona in. Primero decidimos relajarnos en un parque un rato. JA! En los 3 primeros minutos de nuestro intento de relajarnos ya habiamos tenido tipos intentando vendernos papas fritas (1 hasta trato de vendernos cuando Jane y yo estabamos muy claramente comiendo un paquete de papas fritas cada una ya!), pochoclo, fairy floss (como se decia en castellano esto??), chai (te), unos pajaritos de madera atados con hilos todos unidos unos con otros (re practico para llevar!), lustrado de zapatos (aunque yo tenia puestas zapatillas y Jane sandalias), arreglo de zapatos, y lo mej or- limpieza de oidos. Este tema de la limpieza de oidos es un concepto muy interesante. Cuando tienen un cliente, le meten en la oreja un palo de metal largo con un pedacito de algodon que le agregan en la punta. Y asi limpian y limpian. Ya vimos esto un par de veces antes, la primera vez fue en la escalinata principal de la Mezquita ayer. Y tuvimos una buena demostracion aca en el parque en Connaught Place. Habia un tipo sentado en el parque, y sosteniendo en sus manos un bowl con comida con arroz que acababa de comprar de un vendedor ambulante, mientras le limpiaban los oidos. Y era un buen limpiador! Despues de sacar el palo de metal del oido de su cliente, el limpiador pasaba el palo por su mano, y despues le mostraba al cliente, la prueba de la cera que le habia sacado y que buen trabajo estaba haciendo. Mientras el tipo tenia su bowl de comida en la mano. Y mientras nosotras comiamos nuestra papas fritas a 2 metros de distancia. Y mientras otros 10 indios estaban sentados mirandonos fijo a nosotras, porque nosotras comiendo nuestras papas fritas somos mucho mas interesante que lo que estaba pasando con el otro tipo obviamente. Ah, y tambien se lustro los zapatos.
Despues de esto, caminamos por Connaught Place- negocios caros, marcas internacionales, parecia otro mundo, excepto por los vendedores ambulantes y la gente pidiendo limosnas en la calle. Entramos en un bar muy muy paquete y tomamos cocktails ridiculamente caros. Por suerte era Happy Hour, asi que daban 2 por 1, asi que terminamos pagando el precio ridiculamente caro de $10 por cada cocktail.

Delhi

Delhi, Delhi, Delhi.... what can I say? It's bloody huge! I don't know if Mumbai is bigger than Delhi in reality or not, but it didn't impress me as much. Delhi just spreads out endlessly....! We are staying in this funny area cause there's heaps of backpackers around, hotels and restaurants galore. So it feels a bit strange to see so many whities (maybe... 1 in 15). But you walk 2 blocks out of it, and you are back into real India. Delhi has the Old Delhi part, the New Delhi part and.... the rest. Today we went to Old Delhi- the Red Fort (they certainly love their forts here), the biggest Mosque in India, the bazaars, and Gandhi's memorial and museum. After we finished our sightseeing and wanted to get a rickshaw back to the hotel we decided to have a different approach to India- counterattack. People are constantly staring at us, saying hello, waving, offering us things. So we just sat on the side of the road, and with our biggest smiles, really over the top happy, we spent over half an hour saying "HELLO!" "HELLO!" and profusely waving to every bus, truck, car, bike, rickshaw and pedestrian that went past us. They were certainly shocked. Some gave us a smile or a little wave or hello back... but majority stared perplexed or looked away. Only one of the many guys selling stuff dared to approach us to try and sell us something, and I just grabbed Jane's Lonely Planet book and insistently tried to sell it to him- lowering the price, and saying all their typical phrases they say such as "Very, very good price", "First customer of the day, special price just for you". It seemed to work, cause he initially tried to talk over the top of me offering us his own goodies but gave up when I counterattacked with my own product and he ended up walking away with me insisting after him "Very good buy, very good book!" as he escaped from the crazy reversed westerners.

Delhi, Delhi, que puedo decir...? Es inmensa!! No se si Mumbai es mas grande que Delhi en realidad, pero no me impresiono tanto. Delhi se extiende sin fin...! Nos estamos quedando en una zona que es medio raro, porque esta lleno de mochileros, restaurantes y hoteles. Asi que es medio raro ver a tantos occidentales (tal vez 1 en 15). Pero caminas 2 cuadras, y estas de nuevo en la verdadera India. Delhi tiene la parte de Vieja Delhi, Nueva Delhi, y el resto. Hoy fuimos a la Vieja Delhi- el Fuerte Rojo (y si, les encantan los fuertes aca), la Mezquita mas grande de India, los bazares, y el museo y memorial de Ghandi. Despues de nuestro dia de turismo y cuando nos queriamos tomar un rickshaw de vuelta al hotel decidimos probar una nueva tactica- el contraataque. La gente constantemente nos esta mirando fijo, saludandonos, diciendonos hola, tratando de vendernos cosas. Asi que simplemente nos sentamos en el costado de la calle, y con nuestras sonrisas mas grandes, exageradamente felices, pasamos la siguiente media hora gritando "HOLA!" "HOLA!" y saludando con la mano a cuanto omnibus, camion, auto, bicicleta, rickshaw o peaton que pasaba. Los indios shockeados. Algunos nos devolvian una sonrisa o un holda o saludo chiquito, pero la mayoria nos miraba anonadado o miraba para otro lado. Solo uno de los varios vendedores ambulantes se atrevio a acercarsenos a tratar de vendernos algo, asi que yo agarre el libro Lonely Planet de Jane y insistentemente empece a tratar de venderelo a el- banajando el precio mas y mas y diciendo todas las tipicas frases que dicen ellos cuando te tratan de vender algo: "Muy, muy buen precio", y "Sos mi primer cliente del dia, precio especial solo para vos" (porque la primera venta del dia trae buena suerte). Parece que funciono, porque en un pincipio trato de hablar por encima mio y de ofrecernos sus propios productos, pero se dio por vencido cuando yo insisti con mi propio producto, y termino alejandose mientras yo le insistia "Muy buena compra, muy buen libro", escapandose de las occidentales convertidas en indias.

Golden Temple Again/ Golden Temple de nuevo

Checked out from the hotel. Bought train tickets. Had lunch. Spend some time on the internet. Had a very nice ice cream. And then we went back to the Golden Temple. We are just so in love with this place. So far it's been my favourite thing in India (Hoff- The Taj Mahal is coming, in just a few more days, don't worry). So again, we walked around, sat around watching it, pottered around the whole place, queued up again to get into it, and stayed there until nighttime. And that was it. Not a very eventful day, just enjoying the Golden Temple for the last time. We got a train to Delhi, leaving at 9:30pm, and we arrived the next morning at about 7am.

Nos fuimos del hotel. Compramos tickets de tren. Almorzamos. Fuimos a internet. Comimos un helado muy rico. Y despues fuimos de nuevo al Golden Temple. Estamos fascinadas con este templo. Hasta ahora fue mi cosa preferida en India (Mariano- Ya se viene el Taj Mahal, en solo unos pocos dias mas, no te preocupes). Asi que de nuevo, caminaos, nos sentamos a mirar el templo, dimos vueltas, de nuevo hicimos la cola para entrar, y nos quedamos hasta la noche. Y eso fue todo. No hicimos demasiado, solo disfrutamos el Golden Temple por ultima vez. Nos tomamos un tren a Delhi, salio a las 9:30pm y llegamos el dia siguiente tipo 7am.

Amritsar

We made it to Amritsar the next day at about 4:30pm, checked into an unfriendly hotel and went next door to the "hospital". Now... the hospital. Uhm... It had a sign saying it was some sort of trauma centre. It had a reception counter with no person behind it. It had 2 women sitting around who told us to knock on a door. This room had 2 guys chatting who claimed to be Drs. The Dr who saw me had lots of questions for me after I described my symptoms- "Which country are you from?", "How long are you gonna be in India for?", "When did you arrive in Amritsar?", and some more of these clinical questions required for a diagnosis. So after this we get a jar which what looked to me like apricot jam, and I saw it had a thermometer in it- good, that's progress, but I'm not putting that in my mouth, so under my arm it went. High fever- 39.5 or 103 for the Farenheit people. After much difficulty the 2 Drs managed to take my blood pressure- very low they said. And after some more chit chatting and the Dr guaranteeing me it is not malaria, I managed to get the diagnosis as being "Food. Poor hygiene". So I got 2 injections on my bum (disposable syringes, but after used they went on the floor on the little pile of rubbish there) and he gave me 5 different types of meds to take over the next 3 days. So off I went, with a painful bum, to eat some rice, take my meds, and have a delusion filled night (as I was told by Jane the next day) during which I sweated all the fever out.
So next day we were ready to explore. We checked out of the hotel and checked into another hotel, closer to the centre. We went into the Golden Temple (has 750 kgs of gold)- amazing, impressive, it was worth the long train trip, sick and all! In the afternoon we went to the India- Pakistan border (Wagah) where every afternoon they have a ceremony when they close the border for the night. Funny, funny, hilarious, great experience. You get the music going on both sides, both countries trying to outdo each other, pumping up the music, yelling louder, making more noise, cheering more than the other. We were on the India side of course- our MC would say something to which we had to reply and yell back, and I decided after much effort that our part went like this" Ehhh, Ehhhhh, Middlesburgh, Middlesburgh, One Two, One Two, One Two"- I never knew Indians had so much love for this part of England, but there you go, I was yelling it too. At some point they got about 20 people from the crowd to come down and dance, just to show Pakistanis how much fun we are having here in the Indian side. And then the soldiers were walking very very fast to the gate and back, exaggeratedly moving their arms back and forth, and doing these really high kicks almost kicking their own foreheads. But it all ended nicely, they had a 2 seconds official and exaggerated handshake, lowered the flags, and the gates were shut.
We went back to the Golden Temple at night to see it lit up- beautiful. An indian guy and about 4 of his friends approached me and we had the following highly interesting conversation: ID:"Hello". Me:"Hello". IG:"Where are you from?" Me:"Argentina". IG: Just gives me a blank look. Me: "In South America, do you know South America?". IG: "Yes", and another blank look. Me: "Do you know Brazil?" (I know, I know, I'm sorry, I had to use some sort of reference point...). IG: "No.". Me: "Do you know any country in South America?". IG: "Yes." Me: "Which country do you know in South America?". IG: Talking in Hindi to the guy next to him, who talks to his other mate, who talks to the other, and after some discussion amongst themselves the IG looks at me and announces: "Jamaica". Enough said, have a nice evening IG, goodbye.
We walked around. And when I tried to leave the hotel at midnight to find an internet cafe I found out we had a curfew from 11pm to 9am... uhm, yeah, they forgot to mention that during check in.

LLegamos a Amritsar el dia siguiente tipo 4:30 pm, fuimos a un hotel poco amigable, y despues al "hospital". Uhm... El hospital... Habia un cartel diciendo que era un centro para traumas. Habia un mostrador de recepcion sin nadie en el mostrador. Habia 2 mujeres sentadas que nos dijeron que golpeemos una puerta. Habia 2 hombres charlando en este cuarto que dijeron ser medicos. El medico que me vio me hizo muchas preguntas despues de que le describi mis sintomas: "De que pais sos?" "Cuanto tiempo vas a estar en India?" "Hace cuanto llegaron a Amritsar?", y mas de estas preguntas clinicas tan necesarias para un buen diagnostico. Entonces nos trajeron un frasco de vidrio con lo que parecia ser mermelada de durazno adentro, y vi que tenia un termometro adentro (bien, bien, esto es un adelanto), pero ni en pedo me pongo eso en la boca, asi que me lo puse bajo el brazo. Alta fiebre- 39.5, o 103 para la gente Farenheit. Despues de muchos problemas, finalmente los medicos lograron tomarme la presion sanguinea- muy baja me dijeron. Y despues de charlar un poco mas y el medico me aseguro que no es malaria, logre que me diera como diagnostico: "Comida. Mala Higiene". Asi que me dio 2 injecciones en la cola (jeringas descartables, pero despues de usarlas fueron directo al piso, con la pilita de basura que ya habia ahi), y me dio 5 remedios diferentes que tengo que tomar durante los proximos 3 dias. Asi que eso fue, me fui del hospital, con el culo dolorido, a comer arroz, tomar mis pastillitas, y a pasar una noche delirando de fiebre hablando sin sentido (como me conto Jane al dia siguiente), durante la cual transpire toda la fiebre.
Asi que al dia siguiente estabamos listas para explorar otra vez. Nos fuimos de ese hotel, y nos fuimos a otro hotel, mas cerca del centro. Fuimos al Golden Temple (el Templo de Oro- tiene 750 kgs de oro)- increible, imponente, valio la pena el tren de 20 horas y 1/2, enferma y todo.
A la tarde fuimos a la frontera de India y Pakistan (Wagah), donde todas la tardes tienen una ceremonia cuando cierran la frontera durante la noche. Muy gracioso, muy divertido, una gran experiencia. Tienen musica en los 2 lados en cada pais, compitiendo tratando de tener la musica mas fuerte, subiendo el volumen, las multitudes de los 2 lados gritando y alentando, tratando de hacer mas ruido que el otro pais. Nosotras estabamos obviamente del lado de India- nuestro maestro de ceremonias nos daba indicaciones de que gritar y responderle, y yo decidi despues de mucho esfuerzo tratando de entender que lo que decian era: "Ehhhhh, Ehhhhh, Middlesburgh, Middlesburgh, One Two, One Two" (Middlesburgh es el nombre de una ciudad en Inglaterra, y One Two significa Uno Dos)- nunca me hubiera imaginado que los indios tuvieran tanto amor por esa ciudad en Inglaterra... pero bueno, yo tambien lo gritaba si es asi! En un momento hicieron que tipo 20 personas del publico bajaran y se pusieran a bailar, solo para demostrarles a los Pakistanes que divertido que es estar en India. Y despues los soldados caminaban muy muy rapido hasta los portones ida y vuelta, moviendo exageradamente los brazos mientras caminaban, y haciendo unas patadas bien altas, que casi se golpeaban las frentes cuando pateaban. Pero tood termino muy bien y amigable, se dieron la mano oficial y exageradamente por 2 segundos, bajaron las banderas, y cerraron los portones.
Volvimos al Golden Temple para verlo de noche- lindisimo. Un tipo indio se me acerca con 4 de sus amigos y tuvimos esta conversacion muy interesante. TI: "Hola". Yo: "Hola". TI: "De que pais sos?". Yo: "Argentina". TI: me mira con cara de nada. Yo: "En Sudamerica, conoces Sudamerica?" TI: "Si", y otra mirada de nada. Yo: "Conoces Brasil?" (Ya se, ya se, perdon, pero tenia que tratar de usar ALGO como referencia). TI: "No". Yo: "Conoces algun pais en Sudamerica?". TI: "Si". Yo" Que pais conoces en Sudamerica?" TI: empieza a hablar en indio con uno de sus amigos, que habla en indio con el otro que tiene al lado, que habla con el siguiente, y despues de debatir un rato entre todos el tipo indio me mira y la respuesta: "Jamaica". Suficiente, todo dicho, que pases una buena noche tipo indio, chau.
Caminamos por ahi. Y cuando trate de salir del hotel tipo 12 de la noche para usar internet, me entere que el hotel esta cerrado de 11pm a 9am y nos podemos salir ni entrar.... uhm... se les olvido avisarnos cuando llegamos.