Hi all,
I'm losing track of the days/dates, which is a sign of how India takes over your mind. I think today is Sunday, which means that yesterday we left Rewalsar on a 6 hour bus trip to Chandigahr, south of Rewalsar and on the way bck to Delhi. However, in India you can just about count on doubling every estimated trip time and true to the equation, the trip from Rewalsar took 12 hours. It didn't help that the bus driver thought he remembered a "short cut" that turned out to be a single lane road, with potholes the size of houses and an endless stream of diesel lorries (trucks for those of you non-Brits) kicking up dust that filmed over everything in and out of the bus. The worst part was that the single lane road was bordered by drop offs of 500 - 1,000 ft, with no shoulder and of course no parachute. It is truly miraculous to watch these drivers maneuver around each other trying not to catch their tires on the soft sand edge or scrape the inner edge of rock on the other side. I prefer to close my eyes and imagine the green rolling hills of Wisonsin. The lorries are another story. Each one is painted in brilliant oranges, reds, blues and yellows with diamond and paisley designs. A statue of the goddess Shiva or another Hindu god is usually mounted on the roof of the lorry, right above the windshield and the windshields are painted around the edges to make them look like eyes. They are a little creepy looking at night. Most cars/trucks run on diesel fuel and the air pollution is insane here.
Rewalsar was cold at night but sunny and warm during the day. We climbed a mountain path to some meditation caves where we sat in silence for about 20 minutes in front of a 12 ft., gilt statue of a Buddist monk. It was an amazing experience to meditate in caves where Buddist monastics have prayed and meditated for the past one thousand or so years. The floors were marble, the walls rock and the altar was lit with Christmas lights that blinked and twinkled. An interesting juxtaposition. The Tibetan people mostly inhabit Rewalsar and have these dark, smooth, long faces with high cheekbones and dark, almond shaped eyes. They are a most beautiful people, quiet, kind and surprisingly cheerful given that they have little heat, no running water and no t.v.'s! I couldn't help but take many pictures of wrinkled elders and sweet children. Little ones are never unattended, an adult or older sibling nearby. The smallest ones are passed from hip to hip and seem comfortable with their many 'mothers' and 'fathers'. It is a truly village that is raising its children.
We left Rewalsar at 11 am and arrived in Chandigarh at about 11 pm after stopping a few times to eat and use the Indian toilets ( euphemism for hole in the ground). We have all become very cavalier about using these primitive potties and have learned to pack a roll of toilet paper in our carry on luggage. It's a rare outhouse that has toilet paper or running water. We awoke this morning, took taxis to the airport and flew to Delhi and shock of shocks - the plane left on time, was clean, had t.p. in the bathrooms and was heated. Wowza! In Delhi we helped Marty get his ticket/boarding pass and said our sad farewells at about 4pm for our short hop to Jaipur in Rajasthan. Rajasthan is on the edge of the Rajasthani desert and the people here dress with more sparkles and bangles than you'd think possible. Our agenda for the next few days is to see the Palace, some museums, a Jains temple and of course, ride an elephant. Elephants are used as work animals here and can be seen on construction sites and road building projects. We're told that there are monkeys here too, a prospect that I'm not wild about. My last day in Rewalsar was memorable for 2 monkey ambushes, or so it felt to me. They were chasing each other making some pretty mad sounds and surprised me by jumping up a wall a foot from where I was walking. This was the closest I came to having a heart attack.
Donna
I'm losing track of the days/dates, which is a sign of how India takes over your mind. I think today is Sunday, which means that yesterday we left Rewalsar on a 6 hour bus trip to Chandigahr, south of Rewalsar and on the way bck to Delhi. However, in India you can just about count on doubling every estimated trip time and true to the equation, the trip from Rewalsar took 12 hours. It didn't help that the bus driver thought he remembered a "short cut" that turned out to be a single lane road, with potholes the size of houses and an endless stream of diesel lorries (trucks for those of you non-Brits) kicking up dust that filmed over everything in and out of the bus. The worst part was that the single lane road was bordered by drop offs of 500 - 1,000 ft, with no shoulder and of course no parachute. It is truly miraculous to watch these drivers maneuver around each other trying not to catch their tires on the soft sand edge or scrape the inner edge of rock on the other side. I prefer to close my eyes and imagine the green rolling hills of Wisonsin. The lorries are another story. Each one is painted in brilliant oranges, reds, blues and yellows with diamond and paisley designs. A statue of the goddess Shiva or another Hindu god is usually mounted on the roof of the lorry, right above the windshield and the windshields are painted around the edges to make them look like eyes. They are a little creepy looking at night. Most cars/trucks run on diesel fuel and the air pollution is insane here.
Rewalsar was cold at night but sunny and warm during the day. We climbed a mountain path to some meditation caves where we sat in silence for about 20 minutes in front of a 12 ft., gilt statue of a Buddist monk. It was an amazing experience to meditate in caves where Buddist monastics have prayed and meditated for the past one thousand or so years. The floors were marble, the walls rock and the altar was lit with Christmas lights that blinked and twinkled. An interesting juxtaposition. The Tibetan people mostly inhabit Rewalsar and have these dark, smooth, long faces with high cheekbones and dark, almond shaped eyes. They are a most beautiful people, quiet, kind and surprisingly cheerful given that they have little heat, no running water and no t.v.'s! I couldn't help but take many pictures of wrinkled elders and sweet children. Little ones are never unattended, an adult or older sibling nearby. The smallest ones are passed from hip to hip and seem comfortable with their many 'mothers' and 'fathers'. It is a truly village that is raising its children.
We left Rewalsar at 11 am and arrived in Chandigarh at about 11 pm after stopping a few times to eat and use the Indian toilets ( euphemism for hole in the ground). We have all become very cavalier about using these primitive potties and have learned to pack a roll of toilet paper in our carry on luggage. It's a rare outhouse that has toilet paper or running water. We awoke this morning, took taxis to the airport and flew to Delhi and shock of shocks - the plane left on time, was clean, had t.p. in the bathrooms and was heated. Wowza! In Delhi we helped Marty get his ticket/boarding pass and said our sad farewells at about 4pm for our short hop to Jaipur in Rajasthan. Rajasthan is on the edge of the Rajasthani desert and the people here dress with more sparkles and bangles than you'd think possible. Our agenda for the next few days is to see the Palace, some museums, a Jains temple and of course, ride an elephant. Elephants are used as work animals here and can be seen on construction sites and road building projects. We're told that there are monkeys here too, a prospect that I'm not wild about. My last day in Rewalsar was memorable for 2 monkey ambushes, or so it felt to me. They were chasing each other making some pretty mad sounds and surprised me by jumping up a wall a foot from where I was walking. This was the closest I came to having a heart attack.
Donna
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