India.... for a little bit of romance.

The flight into Delhi really set the tone for our Indian adventure. The honey-trek was lacking your typical honeymoon treats and romance. So I organized a few treats and surprises for Nicky Boy.

After a quick stop-over in Delhi enjoying the luxury of the Imperial Hotel, we were driven to Jaipur via Amber.

Amber has an magnificent pink fort resting on a rocky mountain side where the Maharaja's of the 1500 used as a palace. It saw three generations of Maharaja's each extending the fort by building a more grander palace next to their predecessors. It offered an amazing insight to how the Maharaja's lived. They had a bedroom for the winter and summer months. His winter bedroom walls and ceiling is covered in tiny mirrors, so the candles heat would reflect around the room, therefore warming the whole room.

What we really found fascinating was the Maharaja's sex life. Maharaja Man Singh had 12 wives with many more concubines. Apparently, everyday Man Singh had to perform 12 acts of Karma Sutra. The first position (missionary) was always with his first wife, the Queen and always in the same room. From there Man Singh would move from room to room performing the sequence of Karma Sutra positions with his 11 other wives. If at any stage he forgot what act of Karma Sutra he was meant to be engaging in there was a painting above the entrance of the room to remind him!

In 1693, the last Maharaja of Amber mapped out Jaipur to replace Amber as the capital of Rajasthan. Jaipur's fort and palace is affectionately called the Pink City. Pink is associated with hospitality, so when the Prince of Wales visited in 1876, the old city was painted pink in his honor.

Jaipur is also know for it's great shopping, however, Nick strategically filled the day with sightseeing so I was unable to do some 'window shopping'.

As we never got to see a tiger in Nepal, we did a slight tiki tour to Ranthambore National Park. Which was Nick's first surprise. The real surprise was the hotel. Aman-i-khas' is made up of 10 luxury tents each having it's own Batman! Much to my disappointment batman is another term for butler. How cool would have it been to be served by Batman? It was pure luxury (and the only way I was going to get Nick into a tent!). We returned from dinner one night to find our tent completely covered in rose petals and candles. "Your going to get lucky" was Nicky Boy's response.

The following night we returned to this:

Looks like I was going to get lucky again! We did find the rose garden the following morning void of any roses.

To make the whole experience even more memorable was finally spotting a tiger. We were on our second drive heading back towards the hotel when we came across T24. A male tiger marking out his territory along the road. Tigers are much bigger in real life than TV!! Like Nepal the guides equipped themselves with a big stick for ultimate protection. With two large buses backed-up behind us (we were in a open jeep) we had nowhere to escape (except over the tiger) if he decided to pounce. Flash-backs of being chased by lions in South Africa came flooding back.

Once T24 had finished spraying his urine around the place and moved off the road, our guide then explained his colourful history. A couple of months before T24 had eaten a farmer who had wondered into the park. The guide also could tell that he hadn't eaten recently and when he bared his teeth he was warning us to not come any closer. I think there is a reason why I'm a allergic to cats!















Agra was stop number 3. Everyone tells you the Taj Mahal is amazing and it is. We hired a guide who was useless at providing its history but was a brilliant photographer.

It felt like our wedding day all over again, but without the alcohol.

Kharjuraho was Nick's other surprise. Once again I had booked us into another pretty flash hotel, who were more than keen to treat us like kings and queens. It could also be because we presume we were the only guests in the hotel.

Kharjuraho is famous for it's usual temples. The first temple was built in AD 950 with the remaining twenty odd temples being built over the next 100 years. Which is an incredible achievement considering Kharjuraho is in the middle of nowhere and each temple was erected after winning a battle. Each temple is fully decorated with these incredibly detailed and sophisticated sculptures. Some being very exotic. 

 

 We returned to our to room to find this:

 A private table set up outside by the pool for a lovely romantic dinner.  Reality is really going to hurt when we return to the cold UK.

Nepal

Our Nepalese driver insured us that we would go slow and drive safely, unlike the Chinese drivers who he described as manic in comparison to Nepalese drivers. Well, the bus driver with a bus load of passages (thankfully none on the roof) driving at a hundred miles an hour on the wrong side of the road around a blind corner was either Chinese or didn't get the memo! A few holy F's passed my lips. It's not worth repeating what Nick said. All this happened within the first hour of a 5 hour drive. Here is more proof that Nepalese drivers are no better.... A common sight on the roads.

Ka Ka Ka Ka Ka Ka Ka Ka Katmandu is Cr Cr Cr Cr Cr Crazy! After the peace and tranquility of Tibet the constant racket of cars, scooters, horns, tuk-tuks and tiger balm sellers we couldn't wait to get into our room and shut Katmandu out. Alas, food and curiosity dragged us out.

Nick was screaming for some western food, well anything but Yak, which lead us to the Lonely Planet recommendation called 'The Roadhouse'. Once we were seated we noticed we were surrounded by other westerners all dressed in the same knock-off Northface puffer jacket celebrating their trek or preparing for their trek. The clothes and conversation may have been slightly different, but it felt all to familiar. We could have been in any restaurant in the UK or NZ not Nepal. It was kinda disappointing after being isolated from Western culture for so long. The food was great, though!

Nick's man flu was peaking and I was refusing to except that I was feeling a bit run-down myself, which most likely didn't help with our first impression of Nepal. We soldiered on regardless making it to Bhaktapur, a Newari town semi void of traffic and tiger balm sellers. Unfortunately, some political party was using Bhaktapur square as a platform to spread their political message. Forcing us to venture deeper in the ancient city. This turned out to more ideal, we no longer had to deal with the crowds or the same annoying boy who seemed to refuse to understand that we didn't want a guide.

The Lonely Planet was no help at all in filling our brains with useful information on Bhaktapur architecture and the many Hindu and Buddhist religious sites and shrines. The Lonely Plant was thrown in favor for just wondering the quieter backstreets of the town observing the normal daily activities of it's residences.

We did strike it luck on day 2 at the town of Dakshinkdi. A Hindu blood sacrifice temple dedicated to Kai, Shiva's bloodthirsty incarnation. Every Tuesday and Saturday devoted Hindu's trek to the spooky open air temple to make an offering of a male un-castrated animal. In return Kai offers protection. Unknown to us it was Saturday, by the time we arrived the temple was already bathed in marigold flowers, butter lamps, coconuts and blood. We managed to get a prime position above the temple that allowed us to watch the sacrifices. First up was a chicken, not so bad, had seen it before. Next was a goat, ok, was a little horrified as it continued to twitch. Then we saw the nearly mature calf! It's legs were tied together and it was being dragged by it's hoofs to it's death. I really didn't need to see it's throat being cut but curiosity got the better of me. I soon wished I hadn't.


Still reeling at we had seen, we moved on to to Bodhnath. A small Buddhist town close to central Katmandu, where hundreds of exiled Tibetans and a few foreign monks call home. At it's heart is the worlds largest Stuppa. Unlike the Stuppas in Tibet, Bodhnath does not contain any mummified Dali Lamas, scriptures or relics, however it was built in AD 600 and no animal were harmed.

To finish the day we visited Nepal's most important Hindu temple, Pashupatinath. We arrived at the conclusion of the Bala Chaturdashi fair. By the amount of plastic bags, barley seeds and straw covering the entire complex it must be a popular fair. As we are un-Hindu's we were not allowed to enter Pashupatinath Temple or other Hindu temples within the complex. We had to be satisfied with glimpsing at Shiva bull, Nandi golden backside from the entrance.

We wondered pass the temple towards the river and smoke. The river is called the Bagmati River, a holy river like the Ganges in Varansi, India. The smoke was coming from large stone pillars along the river. And it was human bodies that was burning! We didn't know this when standing down wind to have a nosey, until a nice young man came over to explain that on paying 10000 rupees you can have your body cremated on this holy river. Moving on quickly while brushing the ashes of the dead off us we came across these guys.....

HOLY MEN, there is nothing holy about them. They lounge around the temple all day smoking weed and charging tourist for taking their photo. Apparently, one day a year everyone is allowed to smoke weed legally on the temple grounds. The young man said there is just as much western hippies as there are locals.

For a change in pace and in hope of seeing the majestic Bengal Tiger, we traveled south to Chitwan National Park. We spent 3 days and 2 night on an island in the jungle, traveling by foot, elephant and jeep searching for a tiger. We were unsuccessful. However, the rare one horn rhino and the shy Sloth Bear with a cub was spotted.

 There is a rhino among the the bush. We were on a elephant who was vibrating! Guessing he was scared or communicating to the rhino.

On the first walking tour, the guide took us deep into the jungle to explain the 'rules of encounter'. In his broken english, we think you stand completely still or hide behind a tree if being charged by a rhino. Standing in a circle making a lot of noise will hopefully scare a sloth bear off, while looking down and backing away will, maybe, stop a tiger from having you for lunch. If all this fails we had a 60 year old man with a bad hip (a result from being attacked by a rhino) and a big stick to defend himself and us. Perfect!

I was also given the chance to bath a elephant. That was what I was lead to believe....

It was so nice to chill out in the sun with a few beers listening to the peacefulness of the jungle.

The highlight of Nepal was leaving! Somehow we had managed to get first class plane tickets. As we settled into seats with the free Kingfisher beers the plane flew at the same attitude as the Himalayas. What a magical sight, seeing the days last rays of sun illuminate the famous snowcapped peaks.

  

TIBET.....the search for enlightment

Tibet is known as the roof of the world. And so it is! Lhasa sits at 3600m above sea level, we were struggling for air. But before we get into that, the train trip from Beijing first.

It was long and our excitement about spending the next 11 days in Tibet didn't help to pass the time either. What broke our attention away from our impending adventure was the passing landscape. Central China's mountainous farmlands gave way to stunning lakes and snow capped mountains of the Tibetan plateau. Rumors were circulating about the actual time the train was arriving in Lhasa. We had heard 9pm, while the guard said it was 730pm. Needless to say we were a bit unprepared when we arrived at 6:10pm.

Oxygen was pumped into the each cabin once the train began it's climb, providing us with a false self confidence about our adjustment to high altitude. The 5 minute walk from the train to our tour guides car, left us panting like dogs on a hot summers day. Climbing the 3 flights of stairs to our room was going to be a grueling challenge. Unless, we stopped at each flight of stairs with a beer to acclimatise!!!

Tibet, what an amazing place. Within a couple of hours we knew we were going to enjoy our time here. Everyone is so friendly and colourful. You can't walk down the street without someone saying hello to you. Most just laughed when we replied Tashi Dele (hello in Tibetan) back. We also had to get use to being a novelty. It is very common for locals to stop what they are doing and just stare at you not matter what you are doing. It can be quite flattering, in a strange way.

At this time of year, the end of the harvest, Lhasa is alive with pilgrims from all over Tibet, who are here to pay their respects to Buddha in one or all of Lhasa's many monasteries. For the poorer pilgrims this is usually a once in a life time event. The result is a wonderful mixture of traditional culture and dress and ancient building with a city on the brink of Chinese modernism.
We could have spent hours capturing the many faces of the Tibetan people but as many believe that the camera can take a part of your soul it was very rare to come across someone who would look into the camera.

Tibet is littered with hundreds of monasteries, thankfully the Chinese Government rebuilt many after the Cultural Revaluation ended in 1966. Chairman Mao and the Red Guards barley left any of Tibet's history standing. This is clearly seen in small villages, where tourism is low. All that remains of a once thriving monastery and home to hundreds of monks is a vague brink outline of what use to be.
Our trip involved visiting 6 monasteries, I was a little bit worried we may get a little......bored. To both our surprise we didn't. Thanks mostly to our guide Kangdol. She was brilliant! We always walked away amazed at what we just saw and learnt.
The most brilliant monastery we saw was in fact a temple, as no monks lived inside. It is the Potela Palace. Built in the 7th century on Red Hill in Lhasa, the Potela Palace was not only the home of the present and past Dali Lamas but was also Tibet's government building. In the 17th century the 5th Dali Lama united Tibet and therefore became it's spiritual and political leader.
Once we conquered the stairs to the entrance of the Palace we saw the present Dali Lamas pray room, meditation room and bedroom. Amazing! It was so odd and wrong to think that as tourist was can move around freely in his home while he can not after being exiled to India in 1959. To top of our tour in the Potela Palace, we vised the 5th Dali Lamas stuppa or tomb as we would call it. Standing at 12.5m tall, weighing in at 3721kg of gold and covered in over 1000 precious stone it put all other stuppas to shame. Inside is the Dali Lamas mummified body in the meditation position.

Buddhism is not a easy religion to get your head around. I think we quite often tested our guides patience with our sometimes stupid and repetitive questions. One aspect we did struggle with was Tibetan funeral procedures. Followers can either have a sky or water burial performed for dead family members. At it's core, both burials involve a Sharman taking the body to a scared place, where he goes about chopping the flesh up and grounding down the bones with barley seeds. For a sky burial the body is feed to the vultures while in a water burial the body is feed tot he fish. If the whole body is not consumed, then it is a sign that that person had bad karma. It is also why Tibetans don't eat fish! We visited one water burial site.

We like to engage ourselves in culture rather than just always being an observer. Tibet was no exception. Due to suffering from the Man Flu (yes it is the worst kind! ) Nick was snorting and spitting like the best of them. While I quite often joined the locals in peeing on the side of the road (it was much nicer than using the toilets). All modesty went out the window when deciding what direction to point my bare backside. Towards the road always resulted in a good laugh!

Our last point of interest in our tour was Mt Everest. For me it wasn't as awe-inspiring as I thought it would be, maybe because it was bitterly cold and blowing a sandy gale. I can't say the same for Nick who just about used up a memory card capturing Mt Everest in very position possible.

We are now in Kodari, a hillside town on the Tibet / Nepal boarder, which is strangely in the middle of the mountains. Tomorrow we leave Kangdol and our driver behind and cross the boarder for Kathmandu. We loved our time here and this blog could have easily been 5 x times as long explaining to you all the aspects of the Tibetan culture that has amazed us. We may not have found enlightment, but we were often light-headed and giddy due to the high altitude mountain passes we went through to get here. And maybe sometimes due to the Lhasa beer. But we think that being light-headed is just as good.

Beijing......as planned.

We boarded the tran-seiberian train at Ulan Baatar heading for Beijing. A 36hr train journey through the Gobi Desert and the mountain range of Northern China. We figured the best approach would be to watch the Gobi and Mongolia slip away in the dinning car with a few beers.

It was a great plan until we were asked to leave, quite some time later as we were at the Chinese boarder.

We found ourselves a wee bit tipsy and absolutely busting for the toilet. As you may imagine - well do go there!! - the toilets are pretty basic. All waste is simply dropped on to the tracks, so the toilets are closed at stations. As the Chinese and Immigration did their thing I paced the corridors whilst jammy Nick, after much gesticulating, was given a large empty Coke bottle, true class!

After reliving himself the train guard very nicely disposed of the bottle for him. Thankfully the boarder formalities didn't take too long and we were moving again. It was at that moment we realized that our Chinese room/cabin mate was missing. We were sharing a cabin with two others and after our passports had been taken away to be processed he simply packed up his bag and did a runner, we never saw him again.

Not only did we loss our Chinese cabin mate, but we also lost the trains wheels (or as nick likes to call them, bogeys). Interestingly, the train track size is different between Mongoliaand China. Instead of simply changing trains, we were asked to stay onboard while a massive 8 post hydraulic lift raised each carriage individually in order to replace the Mongolian wheels for Chinese bogeys.

 I was too busy to witness these events...

We awoke the next morning a bit fluffy around the edges as the train snaked it's way through the mountain ranges and along some river.

Our first task in Beijing was to check out the Forbidden City. Built in 1406 it was theImperial Palace during the Ming and Qing Dynasties. Home to 24 Emperors until 1911. A truly amazing place with 8707 rooms and countless temples and gateways. We have no doubt that new emperors were left very frustrated trying to find his concubines.

The Emperors also had a summer palace, strangely enough called the Summer Palace. We found it to be more impressive and beautiful as the large grounds contained a massive lake and gardens.

South of the Forbidden City is the Temple of Heaven. Again it was built during the Ming and Qing dynasties for Emperors to perform their seasonally religious duties. Nowadays, apart from being a major tourist hotspot, The Temple of Heaven is also used by retired Chinese folk as a area to participate in all form of activities, weird and wonderful. We saw rows of ballroom dancing, line of line dancers, young want-to-be pop singer singing to their adoring grandma fans and old boys spinning around and around a parallel bar! 

Next on the agenda was Mitianyu, the less touristy part of the Great Wall of China. Though the path to the entrance was jammed packed with stalls selling all forms of tack. It did however, lack the bus loads of tourists. How to describe the Great Wall? It is a mind blowing structure built under great intentions (to prevent Chaggis Khan from ransackingbeijing) but completely useless.

The wall isn't one complete structure that stretches from east to west but made up of several sections with large gaps in-between. Which is of course how Chaggis Khan invaded Beijing. The Mitianyu section of the wall winds it way across very ruggered terrain, which made the walk along the wall quite challenging. We got some amazing photo's through the haze of Beijing's pollution.

Not being a massive fan of Chinese food to begin with, Nick and I were over it. No matter how pretty the pictures of sea cucumbers and shark fin soup looked, they still did not look eatable.

The exception was Pure Lotus Vegetarian. A flashy modern restaurant run by funky monks. Everything about the place was so damn cool. From the metre long menu's, to the e-collected serving dishes to your fruit being served in a bowl of dry ice. The only downside was no alcohol was served.

It's now back on the train for the 3 days trip to Lhasa, Tibet. Beijing most certainly opened our eyes to Chinese culture and way of life, however we are very much looking forward to less crowds, cleaner air and hopefully less spitting.