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Ben
James
Lavinia
TansyWelcome, guest
Tue 18th November 2008
The journey to India
Namaste from the north of India!
After two and half months traveling by road and rail (not forgetting one ferry crossing!) we have finally arrived in our destination. The journey here has been an adventure in itself. Since last blogging we have traveled through China, Tibet, Nepal and yesterday crossed the border into India on a horse and cart, the most common way to cross from Mahendranagar to Bambasa it seems. It would be impossible to tell all that has happened since I last wrote so hopefully my highlights will do?!
Tibet
Tibet is the most beautiful place I have ever seen and tragically the most troubled too. The beauty of Tibet is overwhelming, the never ending skies and mountain views and constant intense sunshine is amazing. The tragedy of Tibet is the landscape is marked by the Chinese occupation. Chinese soldiers are everywhere in the capital Lhasa, but they patrol the Tibetan side of the city in greater numbers. People are forbidden to take pictures of the soldiers and so it is difficult to prove the occupation is happening, but it is. Hearing the stories of Tibetans who were brave enough to speak to us was powerful and very moving. Many had suffered due to the Chinese authorities. Tibetans are not allowed to leave Tibet, are not given the same educational opportunities, as they are not allowed to learn English or be educated in Tibetan, instead they are taught in Chinese if they can afford an education at all. The Chinese government are trying to rid Tibet of its culture. However, the Tibetans I met were amazingly determined, strong and un-hateful despite their situation. I think what I felt more than anything is the need to tell people what is happening there so it is not forgotten.
Nepal
Upon arrival in Kathmandu I was overwhelmed by the chaos of the streets especially in the tourist and hippy haven of Thamil were we stayed. However, Thamil does not give a full picture of Kathmandu and Kathmandu does not give a full picture of Nepal. As we left Katmandu for Pokhara my image of Nepal changed and I started to feel more relaxed and at home than I had felt anywhere else on this journey. Pokhara was a chilled out, yet still touristy destination, situated next to a huge beautiful lake and surrounded by the Himalayas. In Pokhara we stayed with a family who had two spare rooms, we found these rooms after trailing around in what became apparent was high season, and being turned away from every guesthouse in the city! It all worked out very well, as it was very reasonable to stay with a family and we got to know the children we were staying with. Our rooms were very close to the lake and so we hired a boat a few times and rowed out into the middle of the lake and swam in the water. The pace of life was slow and so it took some effort to pack up and move on. We decided after a brilliant two days rafting down the Seti river to head West towards Mahendranagar, where Mel and Steve (Tansy's friends from Leicester, who have now become friends to us all), are teaching. On the way to the West of Nepal we stopped at Bardia National park. Here we went on a guided walk around the jungle with an amazing guide called Sittaram. After only twenty minutes in the park he had picked up a fresh Elephant trail and led us through dense bush (where we had to constantly pick leaches off ourselves!) until we found two sleeping wild elephants. It was amazing. An hour later we stumbled across a wild Rhino, which was actually a little too close for my liking! It only became apparent how lucky we had been when we stopped for lunch in a watch tower and were joined by lots of other tourists who had seen nothing. We spent the rest of the day looking for Tigers but none appeared. The next day we traveled West on the roof of a bus to Mahendranagar. Mel and Steve welcomed us into their home and so it soon felt like our home too. It was a relief to stop as constantly being on the move is much more tiring than I imagined. I had an amazing week with Mel and Steve, we did a lot of cooking which was very exciting after being without a kitchen for so long. We wandered around the local villages, met with locals who welcomed us and were also very intrigued by us as Mahendranagar is so far West it is not common for tourists to stop there. I was sad to leave but the road called (well, actually... our Nepalese visa ran out!) and so after two and a half months traveling by road and rail yesterday we arrived in the place we were destined for when we set off on the 1st of September...India!
India
It feels like I am still at the beginning of the journey in many ways, as although we have traveled a long way and it definitely feels like I am very far from home, the Indian adventure is just beginning. Tomorrow we leave for Vadana Shiva's farm (an Indian eco-feminist) were we will spend a few days and then we hope to work on some organic farms through WWOOF India which stands for World-Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms. I think it will be a great way to experience India, and hopefully I can learn some skills which will help me to live a more sustainable life when I return home.
by Lavinia - get rss
name an crossley
Happy New Year to you all - hope all is going well down on the farm. We - me , Martin , your dad , Lorraine etc all been laid low by nasty flu bugs which was a bit of a poor start to the NYr .Keep us posted on progress and location - Xmas pix were great .
