All I have to say is that the Taj is so freaking awesome! There really aren't words. You walk through an entry way and there it is in all its glory. The night we were there we went to eat on the roof of a restaraunt with a great view. It was so beautiful to see it at sunrise.
It's funny looking back in my journal because I was able to eat eggs and toast, and I was so super excited. Little did I know what laid ahead.
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Sarnath
Where we started mother Teresa's ward for sick and dying Americans. All of us got sick in one way or another and were all in a dormitory room with only one bathroom.I was one of the ones who got sick the worst and barely left the room for a few days. I survived on bread, rice, oranges and chi for the week we were there. Even after we left I was still sick and have had a tough battle with India for a good part of my time here. We were in Sarnath in the middle of February and I'm only really seeing how much weight I've lost now. Sadly even my yoga pants are a bit too loose for me. But I might just gain in all back by the time I'm back in the states.
While there we met a wonderful man named Dr. Jain. He has started schools in the surrounding areas for the poor locals. Sadly the days that the group went to the school I was laying in bed. But I did get to talk to him and learn about his schools and it sounds like he is doing wonderful work.
Also for anyone who knows their Buddhist history, sarnath is where Buddha gave his first talk, and many temples were built there. We were able to see the ruins of those temples and go to a nearby museum with many of the artifacts from them.
Other fun note. On the day we went to the ruins I had thought that I could handle some sprite and plain potato chips, boy was I wrong. Puking lime green liquid in the ditch with countless Indians staring is quite the experience. One that I will hopefully never experience again, but who knows what will happen the next time I come to India.
While there we met a wonderful man named Dr. Jain. He has started schools in the surrounding areas for the poor locals. Sadly the days that the group went to the school I was laying in bed. But I did get to talk to him and learn about his schools and it sounds like he is doing wonderful work.
Also for anyone who knows their Buddhist history, sarnath is where Buddha gave his first talk, and many temples were built there. We were able to see the ruins of those temples and go to a nearby museum with many of the artifacts from them.
Other fun note. On the day we went to the ruins I had thought that I could handle some sprite and plain potato chips, boy was I wrong. Puking lime green liquid in the ditch with countless Indians staring is quite the experience. One that I will hopefully never experience again, but who knows what will happen the next time I come to India.
Sunday, March 7, 2010
Varanasi and Kolkata
We first flew into Kolkata. Wow how different India is from Thailand. Just crossing the street here is gambling with ones life. Oh my god, and the horns. Always blaring. They don't have side mirrors here so honking is how you let the person know where you are. In Kolkata we went to a temple and saw a lamb sacrificed. It was a very interesting and powerful thing to experience. It has been almost a month now since I saw it ( I have been crazy busy here in India with limited internet access) and I still feel strong emotions thinking about it.
It is interesting too because this is where we first experienced begging. We had no idea what was ahead for us in Varanasi. But I'm getting ahead of myself. That same day we went to the Victoria Memorial. It was so beautiful. Outside was great architecture and inside had so many fascinating things. Sadly we were only there for a short while. Some of the cool things they had were old weapons used from that time period and some lovely pictures of Hindu gods. Of course we saw many more of those in Varanasi.
When we arrived in Varanasi it was poring down rain. It made us feel right at home. It was interesting because while there were a few cows in Kolkata, they were not like in Varanasi. There there were cows everywhere you looked just chilling in the streets. One of the days we had an assignment to be a cow for the morning and meander around the streets and look around and not actually do anything. It was a really fun assignment and me and another girl just followed a few cows around and met a guy who had cows in the back of his house that he introduced us to.
The first night we were there was Shivaratri, which celebrates Shiva's marriage to Parvati. Originally the leaders were not going to let us go out because the men drink a drink that is a mixture of who knows what and they didn't want the women out in that environment. But we had enough men with us that they decided it would be okay for us to go out.It was such an amazing experience, but also a very crazy one. There was a large parade with painted elephants and lots of children dressed up as different Hindu gods and goddesses. Also there were lots of little bands marching and as soon as they would see that there was a large group of white people they would stop and show off until someone would come by and make them keep going. It got really crazy though when a group of people were there and dancing. There were so many people. The girls were surrounded by our guys and then a ton of Indian guys outside of them.
While there we saw many religions events going on along the Ganges like funerals and recently married couples going down. The water is so crazy to look at. The brown is a color I have never seen in water before. There is so much garbage going into it and so many people bathing and drinking it as well.
Walking along the Ghats, the steps around the Ganges, is an experience in itself. You see so many different types of people, tourists, locals, people making pilgrimages, and the many many trying to sell you something. Evey other step you here a hello and boat boat. Walking around Varanasi, I even met a guy who tried to sell me a goat. It was a cute goat and I told him that I couldn't, I didn't have a way to take it home, but he didn't listen just offered me better prices.
Another new and interesting experience is seeing monkeys all over the city climbing telephone wires and on rooftops. Also there are goats everywhere and they, like the cows have the coolest coloring.
Varanasi is an interesting place where I met some cool people and saw some lovely temples and structures, but it was also a very sad place because there are so many beggars and people that are trying to make their way through life, many of which are children. Also the dogs there were just so sad looking. Many had mange or some other disease and were starving. That was really hard to look at.
Overall though it was a fun place to explore and meet people.
It is interesting too because this is where we first experienced begging. We had no idea what was ahead for us in Varanasi. But I'm getting ahead of myself. That same day we went to the Victoria Memorial. It was so beautiful. Outside was great architecture and inside had so many fascinating things. Sadly we were only there for a short while. Some of the cool things they had were old weapons used from that time period and some lovely pictures of Hindu gods. Of course we saw many more of those in Varanasi.
When we arrived in Varanasi it was poring down rain. It made us feel right at home. It was interesting because while there were a few cows in Kolkata, they were not like in Varanasi. There there were cows everywhere you looked just chilling in the streets. One of the days we had an assignment to be a cow for the morning and meander around the streets and look around and not actually do anything. It was a really fun assignment and me and another girl just followed a few cows around and met a guy who had cows in the back of his house that he introduced us to.
The first night we were there was Shivaratri, which celebrates Shiva's marriage to Parvati. Originally the leaders were not going to let us go out because the men drink a drink that is a mixture of who knows what and they didn't want the women out in that environment. But we had enough men with us that they decided it would be okay for us to go out.It was such an amazing experience, but also a very crazy one. There was a large parade with painted elephants and lots of children dressed up as different Hindu gods and goddesses. Also there were lots of little bands marching and as soon as they would see that there was a large group of white people they would stop and show off until someone would come by and make them keep going. It got really crazy though when a group of people were there and dancing. There were so many people. The girls were surrounded by our guys and then a ton of Indian guys outside of them.
While there we saw many religions events going on along the Ganges like funerals and recently married couples going down. The water is so crazy to look at. The brown is a color I have never seen in water before. There is so much garbage going into it and so many people bathing and drinking it as well.
Walking along the Ghats, the steps around the Ganges, is an experience in itself. You see so many different types of people, tourists, locals, people making pilgrimages, and the many many trying to sell you something. Evey other step you here a hello and boat boat. Walking around Varanasi, I even met a guy who tried to sell me a goat. It was a cute goat and I told him that I couldn't, I didn't have a way to take it home, but he didn't listen just offered me better prices.
Another new and interesting experience is seeing monkeys all over the city climbing telephone wires and on rooftops. Also there are goats everywhere and they, like the cows have the coolest coloring.
Varanasi is an interesting place where I met some cool people and saw some lovely temples and structures, but it was also a very sad place because there are so many beggars and people that are trying to make their way through life, many of which are children. Also the dogs there were just so sad looking. Many had mange or some other disease and were starving. That was really hard to look at.
Overall though it was a fun place to explore and meet people.
Friday, February 5, 2010
Mae Sot and E Wi Jo
Hi I'm in Mae Sot, and just got back from a little Karen village called E Wi Jo that took a couple hour truck ride and a a good bit of it was on dirt roads through the jungle and a couple rivers. It was so beautiful, there were mountains all around us, some of which were in Burma, it was strange to realize just how close we are to Burma. While in E Wi Jo, we worked to build a micro hydro project to bring electricity to the school, church and temple in the town. To build it we worked with a few other groups, one of which was a group of Burmese Refugese.
One of the nights in the village we got to sit down with them and learn more about the situation there. We had to do a good bit of translating though, it went from English to Thai, Thai to Karen, and Karen to Burmese. Then it went back. Even though it took a while, we all learned a lot from them.
The village was so amazing. The location was the furthest away from a city that I have ever been. It was so beautiful though and there was the loveliest stream that reminded me of my childhood and spending all day exploring the streams around my house. These were a little cooler though because there were real waterfalls, vines and jungle everywhere. Also about a 20-30 minute walk through the jungle was a large river that we would hike down to and swim in. It was really fun too because many of the children would be down there swimming and playing as well.
Now we are in Mae Sot and in less than a week I will be in India. I'm eating as much cow and ice cream as I can since I won't be able to get them in India, or at least not ones that I know are okay to eat.
One of the nights in the village we got to sit down with them and learn more about the situation there. We had to do a good bit of translating though, it went from English to Thai, Thai to Karen, and Karen to Burmese. Then it went back. Even though it took a while, we all learned a lot from them.
The village was so amazing. The location was the furthest away from a city that I have ever been. It was so beautiful though and there was the loveliest stream that reminded me of my childhood and spending all day exploring the streams around my house. These were a little cooler though because there were real waterfalls, vines and jungle everywhere. Also about a 20-30 minute walk through the jungle was a large river that we would hike down to and swim in. It was really fun too because many of the children would be down there swimming and playing as well.
Now we are in Mae Sot and in less than a week I will be in India. I'm eating as much cow and ice cream as I can since I won't be able to get them in India, or at least not ones that I know are okay to eat.
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Chaing Mai
We made it up to Chaing Mai fine, it is one of the most amazing cities. So full of life and excitement. The people here as so wonderful as well. We were only here for a few days and then went up to Chaing Dao. There was a beautiful monestary in the mountains. We went up one morning to see the sunrise, sadly there were too many clounds to see much. But the view was still amazing. While up there we also went to an aids/hiv childrens orphanage, they were all so cute! and we got to play with them for hours. Me and a few others hiked up into the hills to a bat cave. To get there we had to go up a steep hill, up a few old wooden ladders. But it was worth it. There were no tour guids, it was just us and we could explore as much as we wanted to. We saw some spiders that were bigger than our hands. In the back of the cave there was a shrine with many buddha statues. There were also many bats flying around, which was fun. Then we came back to Chaing Mai, it feels so nice being here, the city is so fun. Now we are about to head up to a Karen village for a little over a week and help bring them elecricity. It should be fun, and then soon after that we will be heading to India.
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Bangkok
Hi, I made it to Thailand fine. We stayed at the Shanti Lodge, one of the most beautiful places ever. In true Molly fashion, I slipped and fell down the stairs the first day. The food there was super tasty and then we headed out to the Grand Palace. Hopefully I will put pics up later, I forgot my camera at the hotel when I went to the internet cafe. It is so cool here, the walls are covered in Disney posters, I feel right at home. Later that day I got my first Thai Massage. It was the most relaxing thing ever. I wish I could have a personal Thai Masseuse for finals week, it would be heavenly. After that a few of us went to the street market, where I learned that a ping pong show is not a table tennis match, thankfully I didn't learn this the hard way. Also there I learned about lady boys and even saw a shirt that said " sorry guys, I'm a lady boy".
The next day we caught the train north to Bong Phatt Tat and the Erawan National Park. The colors were so beautiful there. We went to some caves and waterfalls. In the caves, I saw lots of bats, a few bugs and a snake. At the waterfalls there were 7 levels. At one I got to stand under and it was like the most wonderful shower. At another they were like waterslides. The top waterfall was the most beautiful and where there were the least amount of people. Me and a few others climbed up them. The water was very rich with calcium and so it built up on the rocks and made it easy to climb.
Today we caugt a bus back down to Bangkok and then we are catching the night train up to Chiang Mai and arrive at about 1pm tomorrow.
The next day we caught the train north to Bong Phatt Tat and the Erawan National Park. The colors were so beautiful there. We went to some caves and waterfalls. In the caves, I saw lots of bats, a few bugs and a snake. At the waterfalls there were 7 levels. At one I got to stand under and it was like the most wonderful shower. At another they were like waterslides. The top waterfall was the most beautiful and where there were the least amount of people. Me and a few others climbed up them. The water was very rich with calcium and so it built up on the rocks and made it easy to climb.
Today we caugt a bus back down to Bangkok and then we are catching the night train up to Chiang Mai and arrive at about 1pm tomorrow.
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