22 hours to Khajuraho!

After a night on a train and 5 hours on a local bus, I'm finally in the UNESCO World Heritage site of Khajuraho, the temples from 1100 AD with images of the Karma Sutra on the outside. To keep this PG, I'm not posting photos -- but you can always google. On the bus, I had the good fortune to meet Rakesh, a local guy who graduated University last year and now superintends his farm here. My travel agent in Delhi (crook) booked me 7 kilometers from the city center -- making it hard and expensive to get downtown. Argh. So Rakesh offered to chauffeur me on his motorbike. It was really fun! We had lunch, then I met his family and spent some cool time inside, and then in the late afternoon we toured some of the temples. They were really beautiful. Rakesh asked me why I thought there were erotic figures, and I answered that it must be a celebration of life -- enjoying life, and creating it. He said this isn't a bad answer, but that there is another reason too. When these were being built, the King of Khajuraho was fighting a neighboring king, and many people died on both sides. At the same time, his city was full of holy people -- they were only interested in worshipping at the temples, or going into the forests to be ascetics. Afraid that between war and devotion, there would soon be no subjects left to rule, the King placed erotic sculpture around the temple. When people completed their prayers, they'd walk around the temple, clockwise, for good luck. By putting these images up high, between images of earthly duty and heavenly delight, the King hoped to encourage them to see love as part of duty, worship and a good life. I guess it worked -- there are still people living here today!

PS -- if you heard about the small protests in Delhi, and the bombings in Jaipur, I'm safe -- and Kerri and I may cut Jaipur from our journey.

Buddha and Burning People

This morning it was a little cooler, probably somewhere in the 90s, to I headed to Sarnath, a town 10 kilometers from Varanasi where Buddha preached his first sermon after enlightenment, introducing his followers to Darmachakra, or the Wheel of Law. Now, you can see the ruins of the temple that was later built there, as well as a 6th century stupa, or short, round obelisk, commemorating Buddha’s presence there as a teacher. It was a really pretty place – all of these red-clay brick structures in ruins contrasted nicely with the green grass. People had put little squares of gold leaf on the images of Buddha and certain temples, so pieces of the buildings sparkled in the sun. I was marveling at the landscaping and wondering how they kept it so green in the heat, and so perfectly shorn – and then I saw two women, one in a yellow sari, one in red, using small scythes to perfectly trim the grass. It was crazy. I can’t believe that’s cheaper than buying a machine and mowing the lawn, but I guess it is. Their kids were wondering around the monuments, pestering me and other passers-by with their very helpful tour in broken English – ma’am, it’s a house. Very cheap house. Ma’am, look, it scares (I think they meant ‘stairs’). A family from a few miles away was picnicking there, and invited me to a glass of Pepsi. We exchanged some info about where we’re from, how many people are in my family, and then we ran out of vocabulary! I hid in the mall for the afternoon, enjoying the AC and checking out middle class Indians shopping and getting henna designs put on their hands. Then I went back down to the Ganges to check out the Ghat where they burn the dead – you put your beloved in a white shroud, and they build a pyre over them. The pyre burns for 3 hours, and then the ashes are washed to sea. The glow seemed lurid as I walked up in the dark, and I was a little nervous – but then I thought, hey, we cremate everyone in my family and put them to sea. It might have been nice to be there for the cremation together as a family. I tried to be as discreet as possible, but even in the dark I’m not that discreet, so I left quickly – wouldn’t want to disturb the grieving families.

Sorry, no pictures today – the camera pass was expensive at Sarnath, and it seemed wrong to take photos of the pyres (as I did yesterday – doh!).

Ganga-Devi

Wow! Okay, I will admit that I had some reservations about Varanasi yesterday morning. Oldest city = most winding, dirty streets I’ve seen since Cairo. Holy city = I can’t take part because I don’t really get it. 43C (110 Fahrenheit. In the shade.) = one parched, cranky girl. But I have wildly changed my opinion. Last night I went to the evening prayer on the central ghat, honoring Ganga Devi, or Devi as the spirit of the Ganges (I think. I'm a little weak on Hindu theology). It was beautiful. Five young men in gold colored tops and cream and red bottoms used different instruments to show worship, moving them in a 270 degree pattern, stopping the arc just right and left of their heads. Often in unison, the repetitive arcs were just beautiful – they held small lamps, ringing bells, and then progressed to holding these large oil lamps shaped like Christmas trees. I think you can see one glowing in the photo. After that, they swung cobra-headed oil lamps, and then large canisters with incense billowing out. The whole time, a man was intoning a religious song and the crowd clapped and sometimes sang along. Between prop changes, the men would throw flower petals out on the water. In the midst of all this, little kids (from as young as 3 to maybe 12, unfortunately) were running amidst the crowd selling leaves shaped into bowls, filled with flowers and a candle. You could buy them and float them out on the water. It was so beautiful. I really enjoyed it. I’ll have to look up more of what it was all about….

Holy Hot!

So, after a long journey by train, I am in Varanasi, one of the oldest cities in the world and one of the holiest in India. This is where Hindus come to wash in the Ganges, removing sin and hopefully pulling them out of the cycle of life-death-rebirth. It is particularly good to die here, apparently, so people who are ill and dying often come here; others bring their dead relatives and make offerings at the riverside, cremating their relatives on a pyre. I am not sure if that is what this image is – it’s not at the main cremation ghat, but it sure looks like a pyre to me! No, I didn’t see any bodies! At least, not yet. They are all brought in shrouds, anyway. (Ghat = steps leading down to the river, it seems. At the top of the steps are temples, places for meditation, shops and hotels. You can see the colorful ghats lining the river in this photo.)

The other thing I can tell you about Varanasi is that it is HOLY HOT! 43 Celsius today! Yours truly was wandering through the bazaar and the steps in front of the ghats, much to the amazement of the Indians, who were sure that 1.) I MUST have a group of other Americans with me somewhere, hiding, because Americans/Europeans always come in groups; 2.) that I would SURELY die walking in the heat, and that I should stop immediately and sit in the shade with them (friendly overture) or buy a cold drink in their shop (less friendly overture). You can tell that it’s super-hot from this photo – see the cows? They’re smart – hiding in the water. The goats were all curled up in the shade under the vendors’ tables. And the smart (and now holy!) people were in the water. I would love to join them, but since the Ganges serves as water source, sewer and cemetery here, I think I have to skip it. (WHO says the e. coli in this water is hundreds of thousands of particles per million more than it should be to swim!)

PS – on the train last night, something happened to my camera and the screen shattered. It doesn’t have a viewfinder, just that LCD screen, so please pardon the off-center shots – I just point, shoot and hope!

Pretty Colors

I am overwhelmed by how beautiful the Indian women are -- their saris look like flowers blooming in the streets and shops. Today at Mass, I was the only non-Indian woman there, and most of the women wore saris or salwar khameez (spelling?), a long tunic over baggy pants. The colors of all the saris were amazing! As they paraded in, it totally distracted me from a nearby cricket game I was watching. Gauzy yellow ones, ivory silks with red bands at the edge, pink linen with embroidery on the sleeves and coordinating linen stripes beneath, translucent blue ones, Tuscan-colored olive and red ones..... too beautiful! I wish I could wear one! Also, those little half-tops they wear underneath leave the stomach bare, so I bet they're more cool and comfortable than my lame attempts to keep my shoulders and knees covered!

Also at Church, there was a nicely kept garden with orange and purple flowers blooming. It was very pretty, but the most impressive part of the garden was the cheeky, preachy signs -- "we take from the earth, and to earth we will return;" "say NO to plastic bags!" "care for every child;" and my personal favorite, "when you chop, it cries and dies; when you plant, it gives and lives." wow. rough. the signs were every five feet around the garden in Sacred Heart Cathedral -- the rest were ecologically or children's rights oriented. Great messages! Interesting that they are all in English and there are so many!

Delhi, Varanasi, Khajuraho, Oh boy!

So, last night I finally reached Delhi at 11 PM, after meeting some nice friends on the plane, finding the hotel driver, and sorting out baggage and customs. Unfortunately, the combination of jet lag, a noisy fan, and staying in a $12 hotel with windows that slammed open, etc. = no sleep until 5 AM. Boo. That's ALWAYS a bad start to a day in a new city. I woke up on the hour, but finally got dressed and ready at 10. At this point, my hotel owner demanded payment for a missed taxi the day before, since I had emailed but not called about the changed time (argh). Brushing off the annoyances at the hotel, I went to the train station to book my tickets and Kerri's for the whole trip -- only to find that I can't book her tickets without her passport (argh). So I turned to art, and spent the afternoon at the National Museum. They have a phenominal collection of Mughal miniatures and also an excellent selection of bronzes. It was so beautiful. I was so impressed by the lithe, supple figures, in such elegant and yet convincing motion -- compared to what Europeans were doing in the 8th - 11th centuries, it is so radically different. I'm afraid I have no photos, but I have a nice book I can show you sometime from the Met's last exhibit on the art of India.

After the Museum, I walked to the President's house and the Parliament buildings.. Here's a view of folks walking by the Ministry of Defense, a mirror image of Parliament across the street. It was a lovely walk, if hot. The buildings were designed under the British, but reflect Indian architecture -- so you end up with odd capitals on the columns, with elephants surmounted by Victorian cherubs holding garlands of flowers. What a mix!

After this, I wanted to go to the National Tourist Office to sort out a trip to Bombay/Mumbai, Udaipur and Johdpur. Somehow, I ended up at a private travel agent's office. (Somehow = my tuk-tuk driver (a sort of rickshaw, but with a motorcycle in the front) took me to a travel agent, claimed that it was the government of India office, and then probably collected a commission.) And, being VERY tired at this point, I didn't really notice that until late in the transaction. So my hotel budget has been raised to $20 a night, and I am headed to Varanasi (where all the religious come to bathe in the Ganges) and Khajuraho (where there is a famous shrine). I think this will be fun, and I am probably no longer cut out for $10 hotels that I can't actually sleep in anyway, so my cheap little heart is slowly getting over it. And I'm happy to have an actual plan -- the other route I wanted isn't connected by rail, and I'm not sure I wanted to see Udaipur enough to spend 15 hours on a bus!!!

I was feeling pretty stupid and down on myself after the travel agent's (although in the end it's probably better). But then I walked through Delhi's central park. It had just rained, and the air was cool and clean, and lots of Indian students and young couples were wandering around enjoying the breeze. It put a lot in perspective. I am really looking forward to the next few weeks. And right now, I'm really looking forward to dinner!

Molto Milano!

Wow! So it wasn’t a boring travel day, punctuated by sampling hundreds of perfume and calculating the relative cost of Bombay Sapphire in NYC versus European airports! After stopping at the internet café to let my hotel in Delhi know that I’d be late, I brought a pizza to the piazza in front of the Duomo. (I bet if I knew more about Italian politics, this pizza box would be very funny.) The Duomo is so pretty! It looks like a wedding cake, with all those pink and white spires! Inside, it’s very dark, with huge pillars supporting a vaulted roof decorated with swirling arabesques. The contrast between outside and inside is startling at first. (At the Duomo, I also picked up Jesus’ business card – the card is posted in a very prominent spot, next to a beautiful altar with Mary and the Christ Child, surrounded by offertory candles. In the midst of this scene that fits in the 1300s as well as it does today, there is a huge display saying ‘all about Jesus – http://www.jesus1.it – this contrast also struck me as funny.) After the Duomo, I caught a gelato (yum!!!) and then walked to the fort – it was a lovely day, in the 80s, I think, and it was a perfect way to wind down the afternoon.

Unfortunately, when I got to the airport we were STILL delayed. It seems that, in the face of salary restructuring and an effort to sell the airline, the labor contracts have been cut for most Alitalia staff, so they are… STRIKING! The last time I flew Alitalia, I got an extra 4 days in Rome this way. So I’m in a hotel 50 minutes from the airport with a number of other disgruntled passengers (well, I’m not disgruntled – happy to see Milan!) and watching German talk shows on ZDF. Hopefully, tomorrow we really WILL leave Milan, and I will get on to India….

I love flight delays!

I thought that I would have nothing interesting to report today, except that Alitalia serves good gnocchi and you get a great view of the snow covered Alps peeking through the clouds on the way to Milan. But then they delayed my flight by 10 hours due to a strike yesterday in Rome. I love the Italians! So I took a train downtown, picked up a cappucino, and am on my way to see the Duomo and the lovely fort. With perhaps a sidestop for some gelato. Yum. Too bad that you need an advance reservation to see Leonardo's Last Supper.

If you have to be stuck somewhere, this is definitely the place! Hopefully, my hotel in India will understand...

Welcome!

Thanks for checking out Kate's Great Escape, my blog that helps friends and family keep up, comment and laugh along on my travels this summer. Inspired by the fun I had reading and posting to a friend's blog, FetalAttraction, this is my contribution to help you procrastinate at work or school for a few minutes a day! I hope to post daily or every other day, and to include photos whenever I find high-speed internet access. I leave from New York on May 23, so check back for updates from May 24 - September 10.