Paragliding in Pokhara

Nov 30

Yep! So awesome!!!

There is video and more pics to come - but that was awesome!

Just before take off. 

Getting ready - sooo many people!  

Barauli to Pokhara and a sunrise

Good morning. 

Good morning - turns out the camera was tilted...

Nov 29 and Nov 30 morning 

The trip from Barauli to Pokhara is short on distanc, but high on bumps and construction. 

Interesting signs - anyone else curious as to why the falling rocks are so rounded - that doesn’t really make sense. Mind you the slope angle is pretty accurate. 

There are a lot of these foot bridges that connect one side of the valley with the other. 

Reflections from our lunch spot. 

The lake at Pokhara - can’t remember the name of it...

We arrived late in the afternoon (4:30 ish) and had some time to wander a bit before visiting an organization called SASANE that helps women to get away from human trafficking. They run a number of programs - the one we visited runs a mo-mo cooking class (mo-mo’s are a Nepali specialty - a kind of dumpling) for travellers, and is in part sponsored by the tour company that is running this trip (G-Adventures). 

So my post didn’t load last night, so here is the morning update - saw another sunrise. Tone for breakfast now. There was a. It of mishap walking down from the sunrise, the rolled ankle rolled again - and then I rolled on the ground for a bit - kind of crappy - thank goodness it wasn’t at the Peace Pagoda. 

Fishtail

Pano shot. Terraces on terraces - very meta. 

Buddha’s birthplace to basking in the sun in Barauli

Nov 28

After arriving in Nepal and sampling some local beer in Butwal, we headed to Lumbini (Buddha’s birthplace) and then continued onto Chitwan National Park near the Mahabharat Range in the Narayna river valley. We are staying at community stay village. Where the village is geared for tourists that want to visit Chitwan and have a positive (slightly less terrible) impact on the locals. Tourism is an important industry in Nepal, the 2015 earthquake significantly reduced the number of visitors to Nepal, and thus impacted the economy. So although Barauli was not damaged directly by the earthquake the lack of visitors was devastating. It is a nice place and is well-appointed. Fairly reliable electricity and internet. Filtered water and really nice HUTS that are owned by people in the village. Hot water is hot or miss, but it was like that in India too. 

This morning we did a 4x4 tour of parts of Chitwan and saw 6 one-horned rhinos (including two moms each with a baby). The best picture opportunity came with a lone male - we called him Ckevin (the c is silent). 

Ckevin - the one-horned rhino. 

Another rhino - way in the distance in the water. 

There is a stork in the tree. 

There is a deer in there somewhere - spotted deer you can see through the bushes - you can maybe see an antler. 

Kumari is our ‘room number’. This is the hut we have for two nights (two people per hut - it is bigger than some of our hotel rooms we’ve had, it has more power sockets, and is quite comfortable. 

Another safari shot. 

Proof I am allowed in Nepal. 

Where I am blue dot and star in the lower middle), where I was (Lumbini is the star on the bottom left, the town Butwal is where we slept on the 26th, the red dot near my current location is where we spotted the rhinos, deer, mongoose, peacocks, lots of other birds, and someone thought they saw a crocodile, the green line shows where we are headed tomorrow morning (Pokhara). The K for Kathmandu is just showing up on the right hand side. 

So long India, hello Nepal

Nov 26

Today was a long travel day - met at 4:15 am to go to the train station- train from near Varanasi to Gorakhpur, then we got on a different bus - that probably was nice and comfortable when it was new, which might have been in a previous century- or the roads are just that bad. Turns out Gorakhpur railway station has the longest platform in the world over 1.3km, we walked most of it, twice... and it was warm. We stopped for lunch in Purandurpur, then made our way to the Indian/Nepali border. We needed to get a stamp to leave India and then we lined up for our Nepali visas. There was a bit of an election rally or some kind going on in India at the border- this made the walk from Indian immigration to Nepali immigration seem like we were salmon swimming upstream- but instead of a stream it is a parade. We start tomorrow by visiting the birthplace of Buddha, then we travel to the Tharu community where will be staying for two nights in Chitwan National Park. Not sure about the wifi there... but there’s a chance we might see some wildlife on our 4x4 safari. 

Longest train platform. 

Walking toward Nepal. 

Welcome to Nepal. 

Indian visa departure stamp. 

Silk to sunsets - last night in India

Nov 25 - second part

This morning we visited a silk-weaving cooperative and fair trade shop (silk weaving has some dark circles). Varanasi is known as the place for silk-weaving - so much so there is a trade name on Banarasi Saris - it is a big deal, and it is incredible how it is made.

First you start with the design- which is then punched into cardboard cards. 

Then they can make the thread. 

Here the design cards are all strung together and fed into the loom which, then weaves the fabric (silk in this case). 

Another angle. 

Close up. 

An example of a final product. This duvet cover took over 4 months to make and I think it was something like 40000 rupees - it is one of a kind, and it is made with the highest quality silk. Don’t get any ideas, this is not anyone’s Christmas present. 

After lunch a few of us got henna ‘tattoos’ (Mehndi - usually something done to mark a rite of passage or celebration - in our case I think we are celebrating a good time in India). 

My attempt at an arm’s length photo.

Group photo. 

Just after sunset - traffic kept us from getting there in time for the actual sunset. 

And we watched the daily ceremony to celebrate Ganga. It was pretty incredible there are about a dozen ceremonies happening roughly at the same time and are all slightly different. Kind of crazy, but also kind of cool that everyone just goes with it. 

Tomorrow we meet at 4:15am and start our journey for Nepal - which might take about 14 hours... it includes a bus, a train, a bus, the border, and another bus. 

Sunrise on the Ganga (Ganges)

Nov 25

Good morning from Varanasi. 

Sunrise boat tour on the Ganga, past all the ghats (steps into a body of water) along the river. 

Yesterday - or rather in the evening on the 23 we left Orccha via taxis to the train station in Jhansi (might have misspelled that earlier), where we were catching an over night train to Varanasi. Most of us slept a bit on the train, but when we woke up and expected to be more than half-way there it became apparent that there was a delay. There was a derailment ahead of us on the tracks (at one of the stations), there were a number of injuries and several people were killed. So although we were delayed over 8 hours, at least we were safe. 

View from the train crossing a river. 

One of our strongholds on the train. 

Walking down to the river this morning. 

Sunrise (well about half an hour afterward), there is quite a bit of haze and so we didn’t actually witness the sun coming up over the horizon. 

Ghats and buildings along the river. This evening we go for a sunset cruise, this time going downstream (we went upstream this morning). Later this morning we are going to the silk making district - Varanasi is famous for its high quality silks. Due to the delay yesterday, we don’t have as much time in Varanasi as planned. This afternoon some people are going to get henna designs on their skin, some people are going to wander around (that would be me - maybe I will find some postcards and stamps). We start early tomorrow - meeting at 4:30 am - and we head to Nepal. Whoa - so last day in India (sort of - I spend some time in the Delhi airport on my way back home in December). 

Cooking class, paper making, and river rafting!

Nov 23

Beautiful day in Orccha. 

It was a bit of a lazy start to the day, but we needed the rest. Some of us went to a cooking class where we learned several dishes and made ourselves lunch - well st least helped. Then we went to a paper-making operation, where cotton is being recycled and made into paper. It is an NGO-funded group (TARA - Technology Action for Rural Advancement) that helps to provide sustainable and meaningful employment for people. Then a few of us went rafting on the Betwa River - it was an easy course - just 3 sets of rapids over 3 km. 

Where our beds were. 

Betwa River view from the hotel. 

Our cooking instructor (Ranji) and me

The lunch - I made the amazing guava chutney. 

Paper making. 

No pics of the river rafting, I didn’t bring my camera - it would have gotten soaked! 

Agra to Jhansi to Orccha

Nov 22

Today is a travel day - Train from Agra to Jhansi, and then auto rickshaws (all of us plus our stuff and our group is not packing light...) to Orccha. 

Today’s route, first the train. 

Then auto rickshaws (tuk-tuks). 

Train station in Agra, tidy based on my limited experience of Indian public transit. We are in second class A/C (air conditioning). I am not sure what first class looks like - I think it is an entirely different train. It is way faster than driving though - when we do move- but we seem to stay in stations for a long time. 

View from the train. 

Orccha Resort. 

Orccha Chhatris (cenotaphs) of the Bundela rulers - this is the backdrop of our hotel. We are sleeping in ‘tents’ - really buildings with a canvas roof. They are lovely - actually better then the place we stayed in in Agra. 

On our way to the palace, in the end it was only used one night. 

Inside the palace. 

Looking out over the ruins. 

The largest Hindu temple in central India.