Scenes from Yuksom

So how do I rest and relax after a week of trekking in the Himalayas? Go on another 4 day one in northern Sikkim... be back in a few.

Yuksom was the entrance and exit village on the Khangchendzonga Trek, but there was plenty to see and photograph. People were friendly, and on more than one occassion, they thought I was local. The kids in the village were probably the most fun to take photographs of though.





These mini-monks nearby were supposed to be studying and working, but they all quit what they were doing for the sake of entertaining the tourists. They were great, complete hams for the camera.







Nearby was this sign...


so instead of giving treats, the mini-monks all really wanted to see themselves in the digital camera. I don't think I've ever been around a group of kids so eager to have their photos taken before!

Holy Holi!

Just crawled back in from the Himalayas, and I'm a bit too exhausted to blog photos quite yet. It was a blast, cold, but a fun adventure (of the do-it-yourself variety), and I'll post photos soon I promise. Until then, enjoy these photos of Holi.

Holi is a colorful Hindu festival to celebrate the coming of Spring by throwing colored water or powder on your friends, your family, strangers, and especially foreigners. As you can imagine, with all this fun going on, the festival isn't just restricted to just Hindus. Even Buddhist Sikkim participated in the festivities! And it's not just for kids either, I've seen grown men "Holi" one another in more or less in a gang style beatdown. Apparently, some skip the colored water and go straight for the buckets of tar...



Foreigner gets "Holi'd"

Gangtok, Sikkim

I've made it to Sikkim, a northern Indian state bordered by Nepal, Tibet and Bhutan. Plenty of (very tall) mountains here, so of course it's time to dust off the hiking boots and go for a trek! Looking forward to some much needed wide open space. In India, it seems like there are so many people that you're never quite alone, but I'm pretty sure there aren't going to be many where we're heading. After reading Into Thin Air and visiting the Himalayan Mountaineering Institute, you can't come all this way to the base of the Himalayas and not go for a trek! At the highest point, we'll be about 16,000 feet high, over 3 miles above sea level on the Khangchendzonga trek similar to this one. So no updates for about 2 weeks.

And yes, I'm not soloing it, it'll be with an organized tour group with tents, cooks, yaks, guides, and of course porters. And it's not too dangerous, no where as daring as drinking Tsonga beer, made by adding hot water to fermenting millet (tastes like sake).

More scenes from Darjeeling

So most of my time in Darjeeling has looked like this... grey and cold.


But it started to clear up a bit late yesterday afternoon.



I figured that I might as well take a chance and try and catch sunrise. I missed the taxis at 4am to go to Tiger Hill, a popular touristy lookout point, but luckily I found my own.

The shots are of the Darjeeling valley below Mt. Kanchenjunga of the Himalayas, the third highest peak in the world. Wow. I've never realized how many shades of blue there are before.

Valley


Mt. Kanchenjunga sunrise in black and white






A perfect backdrop to early morning conversations.

Scenes from Darjeeling

Well, I thought it would be a nice change of pace getting out of the heat of Calcutta and southern India, and into the serene mountain towns. Freezing in the icy Darjeeling rain at an elevation of over 7000 feet wasn't exactly what I had in mind! I think I should have brought warmer clothing. I did buy some Adidas sweatpants knockoffs (for a steep price of $2.50), but the pockets are only as deep as my knuckles, and the inseam is cut waaaaay too high. Oh well, I just won't go out in public with them on, I look like an old man with the pants pulled too high if you get my drift. Anyways, here are some scenes from Darjeeling...

Darjeeling is a hilly mountain town that was once used as a base for climbing expeditions into the Himalayas, including Everest. It's now famous for it's tea plantations and a stop off point for further treks into Sikkim. It's also yet another one of the places that doesn't "feel" like India. Of course, I've been saying that for the past couple of weeks, so I suppose all the preconceived notions of how India is supposed to be don't always hold true. There are many Chinese, Tibetans, Nepalese, and Sherpa Indians around here, so that means I can finally eat some noodles!





Coolies carrying a load around town. At first, I couldn't figure out why all these workers had short ropes. I figured that there couldn't be that big of a demand to clean windows or repel down mountainsides, but they actually haul heavy loads all throughout town.


Newspaper clipping outside chicken seller stand.


Smiling chicken salesboy


Central market


Wheeling a shovel


This was actually one of the few shots that I took while in Calcutta. My camera battery died, so I don't have many photos from there.

Temple Porn in Puri

Hah, I bet that title got everyones attention. So while I was in Puri, I went on a daytrip to the neighboring city of Konark, home of the Sun Temple. Built in 1278, it has 24 10-foot wide wheels, representing the hours in a day, and 7 horses "pull" the temple, representing days of the week. The inside of the temple is actually entirely filled with stone and pillars to keep it from collapsing on itself.

And of course, as you can guess from the title, it's filled with erotic engravings. They seem so out of place with conservative India, where handholding between men and women is considered taboo and where some political groups were going to try and force couples making out in the park to get married. Scenes in the temple were thought to possibly instruct Indian males in a male oriented temple, err... what to do.

Taking an afternoon stroll to the Sun Temple.


Dancing Hall in front of the main Sun Temple


Sun dial and guide.


Sun Temple backside




You know, I met many female travellers in India with stories about dirty old men in India, and after being shown around by my guide for an hour and a half, I can see what they're talking about. I'm not opposed to a little nudity in art, but I really didn't need a guide to point out every little explicit detail over and over again. My tour went something like this...

Perverted Indian Guide (PIG): (mumbling in Hindglish- not quite Hindi or English) Guide 40 years. Sun Temple...something something something, Konark in Orissa.

Me: (nodding my head even though I understood every 4th word or so)

PIG: (starts waving umbrella around wildly, nearly knocks some passerbys off the temple, and starts to giggle) Orissan women... something something something... breasts (cups his own for emphasis)... Take Orissan men!

Me: Yes, I know. The sculptures with breasts are women. I figured that out on my own, but thanks for pointing that out to me (once again, my western sarcasm is not understood).

PIG: (head bobbles for a split second, then starts getting really excited now). Man bottom... 2 women! (begins making gestures and motions with his hands that I haven't seen since the boy's gym lockeroom in 8th grade PE class)... Like Orissan women! (then insists on me taking photos of the sculptures).

Me: Uh-huh. (trying to plead innocence with the 2 female tourists walking by giving me dirty looks to let them know that I didn't hire my guide for the temple porn tour).

Ugh. I suppose if I'm going to be shown temple porn, it might as well be from an "expert".

"Guide" pointing out early temple porn.


Blogspot and new Flickr policies won't allow R-rated photos, so here's a PG-13 version of the sculptures.


And here's the official sign describing the temple sculptures, I don't think I could write more flowerly prose even if I tried.

Scenes from Puri

Puri, located on the eastern shore of India, was a laid back nap-inspiring town. Just a nice place to unwind for a bit before another 20+ hour train ride further north. I've never seen so many napping cycle-rickshaw drivers and dogs before. Here are some scenes...





The town square had a lot of hustle and bustle to it.




And of course, what would a coastal town be without shots from the beach.

Chai, chai, chai!!!

So I told the travel agent in Hampi that I wanted to travel across the country to India's east coast and eventually up north on my ways to the mountains. In all, about a 1500km journey. I asked him if I could break it up with several stops along the way. Unfortunately, I think something got lost in the translation, which is how I ended up on 35 hour train journey. Oh sure there were plenty of stops, for about an hour here, 12 hours there. Yep, I got bored, which is why you're looking at photos taken from inside the train.

I actually prefer traveling by train through India. Despite all the dust, noise, and that the train can smell like feet at times, it's easy to meet people and you can move about. And of course, it's a great way to see the countryside.

I usually take the sleeper class, the benches and the ride are usually comfortable enough (unless you happen to get the side bunk, which really sucks when you're 5'8 and the space is meant for someone closer to 5'6- it's not like I found that out during most of my 35 hour train trip or anything).


There are usually vendors passing through non-stop barking out their wares like peanut sellers at baseball games. They have everything you can ever possibly want- peanuts, popcorn, samosas, toys, and of course chai.






There are also a lot of beggars coming through the trains too including the Hijara, a Hindu caste made up of eunuchs and transgenders- basically men in the most elaborate saris you've ever seen. The seem to harass the Indian men and grope them until they pay them money, but thankfully they leave foreigners alone (although I've been cussed out by one for not paying them)!

More scenes from Hampi!

I think Hampi has been my favorite place in India to photograph people so far. Everyone seems to be happy, and they seem to be more camera friendly than other regions.





Little girl, selling dye (used for the Bindi or dot on the forehead of Hindus) for the Shivarati festival.


Marketstall sellers and their friends-


I like taking photos of the Hero bikes for some reason.