Varkala Vacation

Bombay Bits

By choice, we were only in Bombay for a day, and being a Sunday there was not all that much to do.

We did swing by the main train station though so that i could take a photo.
Why would i want to take a photo of the main train station "Victoria Terminus" you ask?

Since i was a little girl, i have been told a tale from my mum that goes something like this...

The architectural plans for Flinders Street Railway Station (in Melbourne - where i am from) were designed in England by the same architects for the Victoria Terminus in Bombay. The plans were accidentally switched before they were sent by ship which is why we ended up with an Indian looking station and why Bombay ended up with a British looking station (we are a colony remember!)

I admit it is fairly easy to believe this tale in that the station in Melbourne does look very east Indian and unlike any of our other colonial style buildings..... and when you see the one in Bombay....

So... being no closer to the truth, i did a little research thanks to google.....
http://www.walkingmelbourne.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=427&sid=142dac6513564115790437c590a2d8a1

So it appears that the stations were in fact designed by different architects... sorry mum i preferred your version!! but for trivial reasons have included the pic and the link.

Being another Indian city, of course there are cows walking around amongst the madness.
Remember this is a city of 16.4 million people!!!

Udaipur Delights

Our next destination in Rajasthan was the lovely city of Udaipur. Udaipur , otherwise known as 'the Venice of the east' is most famous for its short role in the James Bond movie 'Octpussy' but also boasts another famous lake, Lake Picchola.

Here is the view across the lake, with the City Palace behind. Udaipur was prettier to look a than Pushkar and is said to be a very romantic city with all its palaces, temples and roof top restaurants.








As we had also done in Pushkar, we enjoyed people watching and perusing all the shops.

A Rajasthani Snake charmer doing his thing.

Admittedly though, the snake was not all that charmed and didn't really get its dancing shoes on or hips swinging as much as we had hoped.

A decorated Indian Elephant.

From Udaipur, we made our way by rickshaw to the top of a distant mountain, in time to see the sunset from the Monsoon Palace (a neglected 19th century Palace).

Here is a shot of some of the palace to show the Rajasthani style architecture.

Another great thing which we did whilst in Udaipur was attend our very own private cooking class. This also meant that we got to select the menu and then of course, to eat it!!

The class began with a schpiel about Indian Spices used in everyday cooking which we found interesting and educational.... a delight for the senses.

Here is an Indian Spice box typically found in the home. Starting from the top in red and then heading clockwise we have... chilli powder, cumin, salt, black pepper, tumeric, garam masala and coriander seeds in the middle.

First up on our agenda was Vegetable Pakoras.

I have included the pics in a step by step process.... to get your mouth watering and to give a play by play in photo format.

Anyone wanting a recipe..... leave me a comment or better yet... wait til i get home and can give it to you then.

So... Step 1. Add ingredients into bowl.

Mix until a paste like consistency












(Missing a pic....) Make paste into small ball shaped pieces.

Deep fry in oil until golden brown

Drain and serve hot












Eat and enjoy!

And some more pics from the class........ ones we prepared earlier

Daal

Palak Paneer. Spinach with cheese.
MY FAVOURITE INDIAN DISH!!!!!!!!

Malai Kofta

So all in all, we had a great time in the class but felt completely stuffed by the end of it. We also made rice, an indian dessert that was super super sickly sweet as well as chapati and paratha breads.

Pieces of Pushkar

So, after a long overnight trip from Haridwar (near Rishikesh), we arrived into Pushkar, once again before the sun had come up. We quickly found our pre-booked accommodation ("Lake View" right on the edge of Pushkar Lake) and then headed out for a walk around the town in search of some breakfast.

We found THE best chai shop and were onto our second when i took this photo of a sadhu, unaware of my lens at this early hour. The chai was delicious! Mixed by the mother of the chai shop owner and justified why the only drink for sale was in fact Chai (Chai is indian spiced tea found all over india, which is probably also drunk more by indians, than even water).

Chai sipping was a great way to start the day and afterwards i was in a picture snapping mood with my camera. Maybe because i hadn't actually taken all that many photos in Rishikesh or maybe because there was something in the chai? No actually i think it's because we were now in Rajasthan, one of India's most colourful states, which is a feast for the eyes.

Did i take this picture becaUSe i was so hungry after the overnight trip or was it becasue this was my most delicious muesli in months? The latter is true though i was also hungry by now. Notice the fresh pomegranate too? I sure did! Rarely found in Northern India, especially in your breakfast. I was impressed!






Here is a view of the Pushkar lake in the early afternoon. Like the Ganges, this lake is holy. Pushkar (like Varanasi) is a vegetarian, alcohol free town. Makes for a quiet new year's location for 2008 in fact.








In most cities, and most definitely in all the holy cities, there are of course Holy cows! The funny thing is, is that it becomes quite normal to see cows amongst all the madness of Indian daily life. They are not scared of people at all, nor shy and in fact most are quite friendly cows indeed. Some of them are very beautiful (not just the decorated ones!!!) with gorgeous long eye lashes and it's easy to see why they are so liked by the Indians. Of course it's not so nice to step in their less than holy excrement, which i'm sure everyone ever having visited India has done at some point (myself and Dorothee included!) in their travels.









The state of Rajasthan is very dusty (lots of it is desert in fact) and where you have dust and desert you usually find camels. Pushkar is no exception and they don't have as much freedom as the cows do. Some are used for camel safaris (which i do recommend, having one before, but for after Mongolia we had had enough of camels rides for one trip) and others for carrying goods around.




Indian kids going for a ride on a camel.


















A common sight all over India are gatherings of men all standing round (the women are hidden and are mostly working in the home) doing nothing . And here is proof. These men are very good at trying to look busy, in fact they have made it into an art form, which clearly these few haven't mastered yet.

To be a bit more serious, i have been extremely moved by the differing of opportunity between the sexes in India. I have read a book whilst here entitled "May you be the mother of 100 sons" which has given me even more insight into hardships of women in India. Actually the title is what Indian women say to the bride on her wedding day, knowing that the life of a women is an extremely difficult one.

As a woman travelling here, it is frustrating to see no women working in restaurants or hotels or shops, which is where many found to be working in the west. In fact the visible working force, seen by the western tourist, is typically only men. There is so much i have to say on this topic but noticeably (it is hard to ignore) the women are rarely seen (which is especially true in the north of india and admittedly so, less in the south) in daily life!

I recommend the book and shall leave this particular discussion for another time but frustration is a very soft term, for how it has made me feel throughout the trip here in India though i say simultaneously that is still is a magical, special unmissable country to visit.

Here is an example of the colour found in Rajasthan. These powder pillars are used for tikkas, seen on the Indian women's foreheads. We did in fact one day, see a cow feasting on a pillar of yellow powder. I guess they must also be very delicious because she was loving the powder delicacy, flashing her yellowed tongue with cheeky delight.

More commonly, the tikka powder pillars are seen in orange and red as seen here below




















Gorgeous sunset in Puskar...


Dusk is a time at which the kids here (as in Varanasi) are out and about on roof tops flying their kites high in the sky, competing with the birds and each other. (pic below)




















Another view of the rooftops of Puskhar where activity is always happening.











Some typical Rajasthani colour filled shots.........

Maharishi Mahesh of Rishikesh

The original Ashram of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi (where the Beatles stayed in the late 60's and apparently wrote much of their White Album) was abandoned in 1997 and now is found surrounded consumed by forest.

For some added trivia, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi is in his 90's now and lives in Vlodrop in the Netherlands! He is the founder and developer of Transcendental Meditation (TM).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maharishi_Mahesh_Yogi

Actually entry into the ashram is not permitted but nobody was around (to stop us) when we went to visit and thus we worked with the 'ignorance is bliss' rule. Though honestly... we were not that ignorant but were feeling, lets just say.... confident and adventurous.

What we found was jaw dropping stuff. An huge area of abandoned egg shaped domes where the ashramites meditated. The constructions had fabulous sound acoustics for making a vibrate- through-your-entire-system magnificent Om Sound.







The abandoned egg shaped domes were used for Transcendental Meditation at The Ashram
















Walking amongst the domes we couldn't help but think that the lyrics from the song 'I am the Walrus'......
"I am the eggman, they are the eggmen. I am the walrus, goo goo g'joob" were inspired by the ashram in Rishikesh (as well as some stuff they might have been smoking with Maharishi back in the 60's!!!). I mean at this stage in his career John Lennon thought he was a walrus and/or an eggman?

A view of the mountains around Rishikesh which is located at the base of the Himalayas.






















































Besides the Ashram though, Riskikesh is famous for being the yoga capital of the world, and... practice Yoga we did!
Mornings and afternoons working on our sun salutations and bridges as well as enjoy a Christmas day banquet (with overloaded tummies to match) with some new be-friended Australian girlfriends.

I was so blissed out with the yoga (at the Raj Palace with Surrinder Singh for anyone heading to Rishikesh) that i really didn't carry my camera all that much with me at the mouth (clean end) of the Ganges river, and as such don't really have that many photos to share on the blog. Luckily though the memories are well ingrained into my memory.

Vibrant Varanasi

So.... we arrived into Varanasi after a killer bus ride from Pokhara to Sunauli at the Nepal/India Border, then onto Gorakphur by local bus and then by night train, leaving us to arrive at 5.30 am into Varanasi Train Station. This early arrival allowed us to soak up the city (and our first real morning in India), whilst it was reasonably still. Actually Varanasi is never totally still with its temple bells chiming and ceremonies abound at all hours. But we had arrived before sunrise giving us a perfect opportunity to see the city awaken to all its glory.

Sunrise over the Ganges

Wow!!! there is just so much to say about Varanasi that i don't even know how to begin. It's claim to fame is the holiest city in India.

It is where there are nearly 100 ghats leading into the Holy River Ganges. The most famous of these being the burning ghats, of which there are 2, where up to 300 cremations take place per day 365 days a year.

Varanasi is a holy city in Hinduism, being one of the most sacred pilgrimage places for Hindus (more than 1,000,000 pilgrims visit each year) who believe that bathing in Ganga ( Ganges)remits sins. For Hindus, Varanasi is the holiest place to be cremated (with remains being tossed into the river afterwards) ensuring the release of a person's soul from the cycle of its re-incarnation.

It was obvious that we were in India now.... which amongst so much more, means holy cows walking around all over the place, having full reign (though they do that in Nepal too) in all the tiny alleyways of Varanasi.

So we began our day watching the sunrise with a little walk along the ghats up to the burning ghat where we witnessed cremations at varying stages of burning. We were given a private informative "tour" if you can call it that, about the traditions and particulars of the cremation ceremonies by a guide who easily spotted us amongst all the men. Women mourning their their families are not allowed to attend the burning ceremonies apparently because they "cry too much". We learnt all about the ceremonies, all about the sandalwood (100kg is required for each body) and its related costs. Sandalwood is used to cover up the smell of the burning corpse and is brought in by boats from down the river daily. The burning ghat is privately owned and its extremely expensive to be cremated there and even more so if you are a foreigner.

It is hard to describe in words the feeling of walking around the burning bodies whilst the cremations were taking place, amongst the male family members carrying out their own ceremonies. Trying to not look like a tourist and give our full respect (tis impossible to not look like a tourist though when you are obviously white and female) i had the same feeling wash over me as i had my last time in Varanasi when i was there in 2000.

This is a city which represents the place between life and death. Yes its true that bodies to be cremated here usually arrive already lifeless, having been brought here from all over India, but there is a heavy feeling that this is where the actual movement onto and into another world/realm takes place. In my opinion anyway.

But there is oh so much more to Varanasi than burning bodies and reincarnation, for which the city is most famous. At the ghats, along the river, the activity present in a normal day is endless.

Indian kids flying kites high in the sky competing against each other to get their kite the highest, people washing themselves and their clothes, others performing puja cleansing ceremonies in the water, sadhus meditating amongst the madness, families (and tourists) taking boat trips up and down the ganges, tourist snapping pictures and thinking about their next meal at the german bakery**, cows and goats searching for snacks, some even dressed up for the occasion*.

A trip to Varanasi, i beleive, is a must on everyone's itinerary coming to India. The city gives more insight into the Indian culture than any other city and is almost indescribable simply because there is just so much going on. Like every other Indian city you have your standard rickshaw drivers quoting extortionate prices to tourists and typical street markets, but Varanasi is also famous for it's silk factories and silk shops in which Do and i managed to buy ourselves a gorgeous scarf each. Or was it 2 each? :)

A Sadhu meditating at the Main Ghat. Sadhus are holy men who have renounced everything (family and possessions) and usually travel from city to city, living through donation only, carrying each a stick and tin can to collect their donations in. They are often bearded with dreadlocks piled high atop their heads. Also, it is said that, criminals on the run often pass themselves off as Sadhus to hide from the authorities.

* I wasn't joking when i said the goats were dressed up. We weren't sure if this is a cruel joke or an attempt to help keep these goats warm from the misty cold mornings, but none-the-less it is an extremely funny sight seeing goats walking along the ghats in woolly cardigans and jumpers.

Typical scence down by the river. People washing their clothes and leaving them out to dry.

Another sadhu meditating amongst it all

Clothes left to dry in the sun, amongst them the colourful saris that indian women wear.

The locals taking in the magic of the Ganga

A scene taken from downstream looking upstream. Typical scene with boats on the water, smoky ambience coming from you know where.

Gorgeous sunset on the Ganga

Boat trip












Young indian boy out on the river












Market vendors in the back streets of Varanasi
















** We ate at the German bakery at least once a day and thus, we highly recommend it! Mmmmmmmmmmmmm. Seems as if there is a greman bakery in every town in india, not many germans but yummy food none-the-less!