The End of Our Indian Sojourn

When Matt returned from the South and Kairee finished classes in Goa, we had one more week of traveling left. We caught a train for Mumbai the first night, traveling 12 hours and arriving late at night. The next morning, we gave ourselves a walking tour around Mumbai. Our outing took us to the Gateway to India and Taj Palace Hotel, the old yacht club, the Supreme Court, and the Oval Maiden, where scores of young men play cricket. It was a relaxing self-tour and we fell in love with Mumbai.

We had to hurry, though, for our train to Aurangabad that afternoon. We arrived at our destination late that night, then walked two miles along an unsafe road in pitch black. (We can be awfully stubborn when negotiating with taxis). Finally at our hotel, we had a warm meal in the restaurant as “Who Wants to Be A Crorepati (millionaire)?” played on the TV.

The next day we woke up early for a trip to Ellora, home to the largest monolithic structure in Asia, a massive Hindu temple. The caves were unspeakably beautiful, cut straight from the rocky landscape. The first caves were Hindu, but the site was later usurped by Buddhists, and finally Jains. Each carving was exquisite.

The next day, we took a trip to even older Buddhist caves from the 6th century BC. These Ajanta caves were equally as stunning, especially because their religious paintings were still on the walls.

 

 

That night, we arrived back in Aurangabad, packed our things, ate at a popular outdoor cafe, and headed to the train station. Our overnight train to Mumbai was a few hours late, so we sat on the train station floor, trying to get some shuteye while mice scurried across the floor looking for crumbs. The train was a welcome escape when it arrived, and we slept very well.

Back in Mumbai, we checked into a hotel with an ocean view (the lobby, of course; not our closet of a room). We left our bags and hurried to catch the first ferry for Elephanta Island, just an hour off the coast. Apparently, we were hungry for more caves. While the giant, three-headed Shiva statue was impressive, the rest of the island was sparse and couldn’t quite impress us, seasoned cave explorers that we’d become. Even so, the boat ride was relaxing and provided us another perspective of the city.

Our final days in Mumbai were simple. We looked for souvenirs and gifts, ate foods we still hadn’t tried, and ventured into neighborhoods we had yet to explore. The final evening, we traveled to Gandhi’s Mumbai residence and Chowpatty beach, where we devoured snacks, ice cream, and a delicious cherimoya smoothie.

And now, sitting in our rainy Berkeley apartment, we want to go back.

India… Continued… Continued

Matt traveled to Southern India, through Hampi, Bangalore, Chennai, Kanchipuram, Trichy, Madurai, Kanyakumari, Munnar, and Kochi. Here’s a month’s worth of travel condensed into a 5 minute blur:

India… Continued

Does anyone read this? We promised some final videos and here they come.

Below you’ll find Goa. It is a far from complete picture of our experiences there, especially Kairee’s. Life changing about sums it up.

Images from India

Forgive the delay, but below is video from our first week in India. Soon to come: video from Goa, Matt’s travels in the south, and our final week.

Life, Death, and India

Now, we attempt to defy India’s ineffability, and communicate the experiences of our past several weeks to you.  There are too many to tell, so let us share a few of the most memorable ones.

We flew from Seoul through Guangzhou, China and arrived late into Delhi. We went straight to an upscale Hilton (thank you Matt’s hotel points) for a night of recuperation after traveling for 24 hours. In the morning we were served coffee and curries before catching our flight to Varanasi.

Varanasi is one of Hinduisms most holy places. Hindus believe that dying in Varanasi liberates you from the cycle of rebirth.  It is among the oldest continually inhabited cities on the planet. A series of ghats, steps leading down to the river, run along the riverbank. Some are for bathing; some are for cremation. We stayed near Assi ghat, one of the largest on the southern side of town. We could see the river from our balcony.

The town itself is flooded with camera clicking foreigners like us. And where there are this many naïve tourists, there are just as many people trying to make a buck. You couldn’t step a few feet without being hassled, asked to see someone’s shop, or led to another hotel. Eventually, you begin to tune out all the jeering and calling.  The pollution was heavy, cows freely roamed the streets, monkeys jumped from roof to roof, dogs scurried along the byways, and colorful people were everywhere.

Although Varanasi was the most frustrating place we’ve been, it was also the most intensely vibrant.  At night, we watched a Hindu prayer ceremony, or puja, along the river. Heaps of yellow, orange, and pink flowers appeared. Priests raised fire along the river. Bells, drums, and hand organs played as people sang. An orange moon hung low over the horizon.

In the morning, we rented a boat along the Ganges to see the sunrise. We watched as people used the Ganges in a multitude of ways: as a kitchen sink, a bathroom sink, a bathtub, a coffin, a tourist destination, and a place to fish. We could not help but be overcome by the proximity of all these happenings along the river. It was disturbing and mesmerizing, grotesque and beautiful, all at once.

From Varanasi we took a surprisingly comfortable overnight train to Agra, home of the Taj Majal. Agra is only slightly less frustrating than Varanasi, as far as tourist hassling is concerned. But the payoff is extreme. Even though we have seen Taj Majal photography countless times in our lives, nothing compared to its awesome power in person. It is truly magnificent, an amazing monument, demonstrating humanity’s ability to create lasting beauty.

                                                           

We walked to the nearby Agra fort. A stunning, enormous sandstone wall encloses a massive compound, complete with military and religious buildings inside. Shah Jahan, of the Taj Majal, transformed the fort from a military building to a palace during his reign, adding impressive white marble lattices, steps, tombs, columns, and domes. Not far from the fort, we took an auto rickshaw to the Itimad-ud-daulah, also known as the “Baby Taj”. There were far less people and it was oh-so-relaxing. The building’s marble with multi-colored pattern stone inlays was intricate and hypnotic. We took to calling it “stone quilting”.

From Agra we took a train to Delhi. Delhi is a mass of people, under a perpetual brown and grey cloud. Even under all the pollution, it has some beautiful gems hidden away. Sadly, we had scheduled to be there on Monday when a few impressive places are closed, like the Red Fort and the Baha’i Lotus Temple. We did however, manage to see Humayun’s Tomb, another red sandstone and marble colossus, this time surrounded by peaceful gardens. Green parrots flew among the trees. Also in the city, we walked to India’s largest mosque, the Jama Masjid, which can hold a mind boggling 25,000 people.

Perhaps the most beautiful part of our trip yet, however, was the Hazrat-nizamuddin-dargah. The tomb of a sufi priest and an attached mosque, it is hidden in a maze of alleyways we couldn’t have navigated without assistance. Once there, we heard the calls to prayer echoing over the marble floors. People brought expensive cloths and flowers to lay on the tomb. A man approached us and after conversing, led us to another sufi tomb, this one quiet and secluded. He asked that we meditate, and then read the engraved poetry on the walls. We returned to the Nizamuddin as the sun was setting and calls to prayer again echoed through the narrow alleys.

And now we are two. Kairee resides in more-beautiful-than-a-postcard Goa, sweating and stretching in the name of yoga and Matt is a real wanderer of India’s south, growing his beard long and becoming the color of olive pits.

The video is coming soon, delayed due to technical difficulties.

Culture and Cuisine

Our days in Korea are numbered. While we should have been packing, cleaning and making last minute preparations, we instead ventured to Andong, a traditional Korean folk village. When our Korean coteachers offered to drive us for one more Korean experience, we couldn’t turn them down. And maybe we’re procrastinating a little. A couple hours north of Changwon, the small community is home to a cluster of traditional houses, quaint narrow pathways, and beautifully tiered rice fields. The residents have preserved many of their Confucian and shamanist roots.

Our present and previous co-teachers introduced us to Hahwe, ordered us Korean candies and mackerel, and made sure we had audio guides for the stroll through town. They take good care of us. Sadly, it was the last time we’ll see Maria and Donna for God knows how long. The comfortable fall weather created a perfect atmosphere for our final day together.

We didn’t just travel to a touristy folk village, however. We also had a touristy evening meal. Back in Changwon, Matt convinced everyone to have a delicacy he’s been craving ever since witnessing it on YouTube, pre-Korea. For $5 each, we ordered a writhing, sucking, sticking, slimy plate of “live” octopus. After removing it from the tank and drained of ink, it is chopped into bite sized pieces. Like a chicken with its head cut off, it refuses to accept death even after dismemberment. It was quite an experience that we’ve documented for you below.

Festina Lente – Make Haste Slowly

The hour approaches… or something epic like that. We’re leaving in 20 days. We haven’t posted in the last few weeks for various reasons. First of all, our video camera was deemed beyond repair. Without video, our lives seem so silent, not properly communicable. However, we have plans to purchase a new one for future subcontinental documentation purposes.

Secondly, our friend Allison flew in from Thailand for a few days and we showed her the ins and outs of our life here. We went for a long walk in Busan, ate something that resembled eel still writhing on the plate, stayed up far too late, showed her our favorite restaurants, and walked the paths through the Junnam wetlands still growing lotus flowers.

After that was our Chuseok vacation (sort of a Korean Thanksgiving), which we spent catching up with old coworkers, hiking with the Song family, and contracting terrible colds. We also invited our friend Grace (second from left) who went to Matt’s high school and also studied global economics at UC Santa Cruz. She coincidentally teaches in the neighboring city.

Last and most importantly, we have been going through Indian visa hell. The week we were supposed to send our passports to the embassy, they officially changed the entire visa process, complicating our lives and making it look as though we would not be traveling to India at all. It’s a boring bureaucratic tale so we’ll spare you the details. Suffice it to say we’ve made numerous phone calls, spent more money than we intended, and have been on the verge of nervous breakdowns the past month. Yet all’s well that ends well. Today our passports returned to us. We  are now Indian visa wielding tourists and are excited to have our lives back on some sort of strange track. On October 13th, we’re flying to New Delhi. On November 22nd, we’ll fly out of Mumbai with a long layover in London. That gets us into Chicago just in time for an Edwards-Pyles Thanksgiving reunion. WordPress won’t let us show you the map of our world travels here. So, if you’re interested in a more interactive map, tap here. Click on the pins for detailed info.

We’ll be posting more often as we head out of Korea and into India. See you soon!