Tomorrow I head to Bhutan for 5 days, Nov. 14-18. I don't know what my internet situation will be like, but I imagine it'll be sparse, as the Internet was only introduced in 1999. Catch you on the 19th!
Sunday, November 13, 2011
Saturday, November 12, 2011
I'm feeling rejuvenated in Kathmandu and I think it's the big city effect
I heard a great talk by Ethan Zuckerman at CHI 2011 which touched on the benefits of cities. He talked about how in Industrial Revolution England, people flocked to the cities even though life was terribly short (life expectancy something stupid like 28) and generally terrible. Why would they give up their country lives for the disease, starvation, and grinding industrial awfulness of the city? Because it kept them from being bored.
Yes, I'm back in a big city, and it is not boring! Not that I've been particularly bored staring at mountain lakes or the Himalayas. But there's so much more to do in a big city, stuff beyond the six sites that the Indian Tourism Board has declared are worth doing. There's enough to do that I can decide what I want to do and then go do it. People to meet. Places to go. Famous things to scoff at.
I only have had two days here, and today I am visiting the orphanage run by a fellow I met on Couchsurfing, so really kind of one day here.
Good things:
Bouda: the place where the stupa is. It's about 5km from the city center, but if I were to come here again, I'd stay there I think. It's Buddhist and kind of peaceful, and it has a nice european-feeling square.
Thamel: tourist central. It is easy when anything you need or want is 5 minutes away, tops. Also, there are good cafes/bars/places to hang out here. It might get old after a while, but I'm not here for a while.
Paknajol: where I'm staying, one street away from Thamel, in a pretty good place called the Nirvana Peace Home. Quiet and still central.
The food: Amazing Nepali and Tibetan everywhere you look. Still gonna post about Nepali food someday.
The weather: Right now it is 60's-70's and cloudy. I guess it never gets above 90ish or below 30ish.
People: the other travelers I've met have been cool. There are at least a few active Couchsurfers here. And I don't know many Nepali people in person, but based on my interactions with them, (gross generalization warning) I find them a bit more laid back and approachable than Indians.
Overall, I think this is the first place I've been that I could actually live.
Bad things:
Pollution: Some people wear face masks; that is disconcerting.
Disconnect: This is not how Nepal is. But that's not a problem with Kathmandu. Any big city is a world apart from the poor villages around.
Traffic: Okay fine, yes indeed we are in an Asian big city.
Yes, I'm back in a big city, and it is not boring! Not that I've been particularly bored staring at mountain lakes or the Himalayas. But there's so much more to do in a big city, stuff beyond the six sites that the Indian Tourism Board has declared are worth doing. There's enough to do that I can decide what I want to do and then go do it. People to meet. Places to go. Famous things to scoff at.
Durbar Square
Boudhnath Stupa
I only have had two days here, and today I am visiting the orphanage run by a fellow I met on Couchsurfing, so really kind of one day here.
Good things:
Bouda: the place where the stupa is. It's about 5km from the city center, but if I were to come here again, I'd stay there I think. It's Buddhist and kind of peaceful, and it has a nice european-feeling square.
Thamel: tourist central. It is easy when anything you need or want is 5 minutes away, tops. Also, there are good cafes/bars/places to hang out here. It might get old after a while, but I'm not here for a while.
Paknajol: where I'm staying, one street away from Thamel, in a pretty good place called the Nirvana Peace Home. Quiet and still central.
The food: Amazing Nepali and Tibetan everywhere you look. Still gonna post about Nepali food someday.
The weather: Right now it is 60's-70's and cloudy. I guess it never gets above 90ish or below 30ish.
People: the other travelers I've met have been cool. There are at least a few active Couchsurfers here. And I don't know many Nepali people in person, but based on my interactions with them, (gross generalization warning) I find them a bit more laid back and approachable than Indians.
Overall, I think this is the first place I've been that I could actually live.
Bad things:
Pollution: Some people wear face masks; that is disconcerting.
Disconnect: This is not how Nepal is. But that's not a problem with Kathmandu. Any big city is a world apart from the poor villages around.
Traffic: Okay fine, yes indeed we are in an Asian big city.
Pashupatinath, the holiest Hindu place in Nepal. They cremate bodies here, like in Varanasi.
"Garden of Dreams"- a nice garden with a $2 entry fee. (some of the tourist sites are rather expensive.)
Thamel
Asan Tole neighborhood. I heard Cat Stevens wrote "Kathmandu" around here somewhere. I imagine it has changed since his day.
Competition!
Friday, November 11, 2011
David Headley and the Indian Government, you've cost me three days of my life
I want to be sure I can re-enter India after Bhutan. There's this "two-month rule" where if you exit India on a multiple-entry tourist visa, you have to wait 2 months to re-enter. Unless you're an actual tourist, in which case there's an exception, but I want to be sure.
3 PM yesterday: arrive in Kathmandu, go to Indian embassy, and I'm told it's closed. (Guru Nanak's birthday! 2% of India is Sikh. This would be like US embassies being closed on Rosh Hashanah. Whatever.)
9 AM: arrive at Indian embassy. It opens at 9:30; I am smart! ... The doors open at 8:30, and people have been lining up since 7. I am dumb.
9:15 AM: I find the right form to fill out. Needs some photocopies. I run outside to the photocopy business right there.
9:30 AM: I realize I need to take a number. The machine asks "tourist visa or transit?" Err, neither; re-entry permit. Tourist, I guess. "First visit, or have you already filled in the telex form?" Uh. I choose both. I receive numbers A48 and C37.
Notice the long time gap here. We have three queues: A, C, and F, and there is one person processing them all. This would be like 150 people showing up at a restaurant at once, and there's one waiter and one cook.
2:30 PM: C37 is called. I give him the forms and pay 900 rupees (y'know, because), and am told to return at 5 PM to pick up my passport.
5 PM: "Wait here, 15 minutes."
5:30 PM: I get my passport back, and yes, there is a stamp! "Permission is granted to re-enter India (single entry). Registration required within 14 days of arrival." Awesome. All my plans are not ruined!
Now, I wasn't actually so honked off by all this. All in all, I had a pleasant day: talked with some fellow travelers/waiters-in-line, read some of Shantaram, went to a lovely coffeeshop, and even got to explore some Kathmandu in between. But I'd like to adopt a honked-off tone for a minute to talk about terrorism.
The two-month-rule was instituted after American national David Headley did some bombs in Mumbai, after going to and from Pakistan frequently on his tourist visa. The bombs did terrible damage, to be sure! But look at this damage: I've spent at least 2 days researching and scouting around Nainital to make sure I'd be okay, and I lost today also. Three days. Plus however long it takes to register after I get back to India. How many tourists are affected by this rule? India has 5 million foreign tourists/year. Say 2% want to re-enter, so 100k re-entering tourists. Say that most are only half as anal/stupid as me, so they waste 2 days each. Indian Government, by instituting this rule, you've killed 200,000 person-days. That's ~550 person-years. ... Basically, you've wasted about seven tourists' lives. Add to that the administrative overhead, and it maybe doubles. So Headley and his goons killed 164 people, but you've added 14 more. This is not the way to fight terrorism.
Okay, that's all. Really, not a bad day. And I can sleep a little easier knowing I won't end up in Bhutan-India-border-limbo (and lose all my meeting-up-with-friends plans after Bhutan) in a week. Tomorrow, I'll go see some Kathmandu.
3 PM yesterday: arrive in Kathmandu, go to Indian embassy, and I'm told it's closed. (Guru Nanak's birthday! 2% of India is Sikh. This would be like US embassies being closed on Rosh Hashanah. Whatever.)
9 AM: arrive at Indian embassy. It opens at 9:30; I am smart! ... The doors open at 8:30, and people have been lining up since 7. I am dumb.
9:15 AM: I find the right form to fill out. Needs some photocopies. I run outside to the photocopy business right there.
9:30 AM: I realize I need to take a number. The machine asks "tourist visa or transit?" Err, neither; re-entry permit. Tourist, I guess. "First visit, or have you already filled in the telex form?" Uh. I choose both. I receive numbers A48 and C37.
Notice the long time gap here. We have three queues: A, C, and F, and there is one person processing them all. This would be like 150 people showing up at a restaurant at once, and there's one waiter and one cook.
2:30 PM: C37 is called. I give him the forms and pay 900 rupees (y'know, because), and am told to return at 5 PM to pick up my passport.
5 PM: "Wait here, 15 minutes."
5:30 PM: I get my passport back, and yes, there is a stamp! "Permission is granted to re-enter India (single entry). Registration required within 14 days of arrival." Awesome. All my plans are not ruined!
Now, I wasn't actually so honked off by all this. All in all, I had a pleasant day: talked with some fellow travelers/waiters-in-line, read some of Shantaram, went to a lovely coffeeshop, and even got to explore some Kathmandu in between. But I'd like to adopt a honked-off tone for a minute to talk about terrorism.
The two-month-rule was instituted after American national David Headley did some bombs in Mumbai, after going to and from Pakistan frequently on his tourist visa. The bombs did terrible damage, to be sure! But look at this damage: I've spent at least 2 days researching and scouting around Nainital to make sure I'd be okay, and I lost today also. Three days. Plus however long it takes to register after I get back to India. How many tourists are affected by this rule? India has 5 million foreign tourists/year. Say 2% want to re-enter, so 100k re-entering tourists. Say that most are only half as anal/stupid as me, so they waste 2 days each. Indian Government, by instituting this rule, you've killed 200,000 person-days. That's ~550 person-years. ... Basically, you've wasted about seven tourists' lives. Add to that the administrative overhead, and it maybe doubles. So Headley and his goons killed 164 people, but you've added 14 more. This is not the way to fight terrorism.
Okay, that's all. Really, not a bad day. And I can sleep a little easier knowing I won't end up in Bhutan-India-border-limbo (and lose all my meeting-up-with-friends plans after Bhutan) in a week. Tomorrow, I'll go see some Kathmandu.
Thursday, November 10, 2011
Beats a Pokhara in the eye
Pokhara's a fine town. It's all tourism, but that's still fine. I think it's mostly fine because the kind of tourists that go there are the ones who trek around the Annapurna circuit, so they're largely nice enough folks. I met a few single serving friends, folks I'd talk to at dinner or something, but nobody I hung out with over a couple days. I think part of that was because my guesthouse was not the most social place. (someone needs to figure out a way you can tell "how friendly" a guesthouse is, how much people hang around there. how much it's solo travelers or folks looking to meet up vs. couples/families/people who don't need any friends right now. and "go there and look at all of the guesthouses" is not an answer.)
I ate some great food. Pokhara's Lakeside is a little like Bangkok's Khao San Road: tons of tourism, insane little world apart from its enclosing country, and I want to eat everything. (and Thamel in Kathmandu is even more so.) As I've said, the Nepali coffee is good. There are two separate coffee shops that say "a proper coffee shop"; they are both great. And Nepali food is great, although that deserves another post.
I spent some time planning and some time sightseeing. I really need to remember that general sightseeing saps me fast. I can hit up maybe two, three "general interest" things in a city before I stop caring.
But anyway, I went to Devi's Falls, which is a kinda neat waterfall surrounded by way too many tacky souvenir shops.
I went to the Mountaineering Museum, which is not a very good museum. Some gear from great mountaineers, and a lot of dusty posters with too many words. Nevertheless, I love a good list, so I liked looking at lists of the tallest mountains and different ethnic groups, both inside Nepal and outside Nepal in other mountainous regions.
One ethnic group: the Pun Magar. Beej and Julie, I barely resisted emailing this to you.
No, I cannot!
Finally, and most spectacularly, I did that trip up to Sarangkot, where I didn't see any mountains, but I also went up to the World Peace Pagoda/Shanti Stupa, where I did see some mountains.
The pointiest one is Machapuchhare. I like that one.
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
I won't say "burned out" but at least feeling a little toasty.
I think the best evidence that I'm burning out is that I'm losing my sense of humor. I made a wrong turn on my bike today, ending up through poor Pokhara neighborhoods, and I didn't notice anything around me, just wondered "when can I get back to tourist haven Lakeside?" My sandal broke on the way, and I cursed. Kids bother me. I bought a snack from a street vendor and a kid just walked up and held out his hand. Nobody (beggar or shopkeeper) takes no for an answer; you have to hardcore shun. And I find this all depressing, not whimsical or even tolerable. I just want to hide all day in a German Bakery with a cup of Nepali organic coffee and copious wi-fi. (these are all ubiquitous here.)
I'm not catastrophizing, though. Most likely I am just a bit burned out, and even when I'm "resting", I'm getting up at 5 AM to see a sunrise or trucking it to some place I don't even care about, so I'm not recharging anything. I've still got a few days in Kathmandu to try actually taking it easy; perhaps that will help.
If I were to catastrophize, I might wonder why my ventures are less frequently to random unexplored places, and more frequently to whatever tourist attraction I read about. Why I'm not even tough enough to subject myself to the rigors of a guided trek. Why, to put it most succinctly, why I am not Henry Rollins. But this would be foolish, like a beginning piano student wondering why he's not Mozart. I am where I am, continually learning, and that is fine.
Unrelatedly, a couple of my favorite travel bloggers are in Iran. Here's why they decided to go there. It's a lot like my reasoning, actually.
I'm not catastrophizing, though. Most likely I am just a bit burned out, and even when I'm "resting", I'm getting up at 5 AM to see a sunrise or trucking it to some place I don't even care about, so I'm not recharging anything. I've still got a few days in Kathmandu to try actually taking it easy; perhaps that will help.
If I were to catastrophize, I might wonder why my ventures are less frequently to random unexplored places, and more frequently to whatever tourist attraction I read about. Why I'm not even tough enough to subject myself to the rigors of a guided trek. Why, to put it most succinctly, why I am not Henry Rollins. But this would be foolish, like a beginning piano student wondering why he's not Mozart. I am where I am, continually learning, and that is fine.
Unrelatedly, a couple of my favorite travel bloggers are in Iran. Here's why they decided to go there. It's a lot like my reasoning, actually.
Searching for inspiration in West Bengal
I'm in Nepal now, in a few days I'll be in Bhutan, and then I'll arrive in India again on November 19, at the Phuentsholing/Jaigaon border. I've got about a month before my next planned trip, on Dec 11 to Jaipur; I want to spend some time around Delhi to meet up with some friends. Which still leaves me with a couple weeks free. Well, first I'll go to Darjeeling, because I'm almost sick of mountain resort towns but not quite yet, and I like tea.
So what to do for about a week and a half? I imagine West Bengal is full of wonders, I know it's full of delicious tea and fish, but nothing's sticking out in my mind, and Atlas Obscura, travel blogs, and even Lonely Planet shows few obvious choices. Some options I can gather:
1. chill out in the hill stations around Darjeeling for a couple weeks. Meh. As I said, I'm almost sick of mountain resort towns. (tough life, right?)
2. do a trek around Darjeeling. Looks like I could do some good trekking in 4 or 6 days. This assumes that I could find some gear; particularly shoes, a sleeping bag, and another layer.
3. go up to Sikkim. I think this is not ideal because it is colder, farther (it looks small on the map, but it's mountainous so travel is slow), and it'd require more planning. Plus that September earthquake- I guess major roads are open but I don't really know the situation.
4. motor it back to Delhi. Surprisingly, I could get an overnight train from New Jalpaiguri to Delhi, no problem. But it's not often you're in West Bengal, and I'd like to explore somewhere new.
5. go somewhere between Darjeeling and Delhi. But where? I've been to Bodh Gaya, Varanasi, and Agra, done the tourist thing there, and don't feel an urge to go back.
6. go south of Kolkata. To... a beach? I don't like beaches.
7. go some places between Darjeeling and Kolkata. But where? Santiniketan is the only cool place I know, and I hate to be a white guy going "meh", but meh.
8. head down to Kolkata (Calcutta). I've been there before and not loved it, but I had only one day and no research about the city. Looks like Couchsurfing is relatively active there. And they have the Great Banyan nearby, and something called "Science City." Yes.
Actually, maybe the best is #2 + #8. A week visiting/trekking around Darjeeling, and a weekish in Calcutta, meeting some folks and digging a little deeper into a fascinating city. Thanks for helping me decide, blog! (of course, I am open to other suggestions, if you have them.)
So, approximate dates for the rest of my India travels:
Darjeeling Nov 19-26
Kolkata Nov 26-Dec 3
Delhi Dec 3-11
Jaipur Dec 11-14
Jaipur-Bangalore Train Dec 14-16 (41 hours, indeed!)
Bangalore Dec 16-19
Coimbatore Dec 20
Kerala Dec 21-Jan 2
So what to do for about a week and a half? I imagine West Bengal is full of wonders, I know it's full of delicious tea and fish, but nothing's sticking out in my mind, and Atlas Obscura, travel blogs, and even Lonely Planet shows few obvious choices. Some options I can gather:
1. chill out in the hill stations around Darjeeling for a couple weeks. Meh. As I said, I'm almost sick of mountain resort towns. (tough life, right?)
2. do a trek around Darjeeling. Looks like I could do some good trekking in 4 or 6 days. This assumes that I could find some gear; particularly shoes, a sleeping bag, and another layer.
3. go up to Sikkim. I think this is not ideal because it is colder, farther (it looks small on the map, but it's mountainous so travel is slow), and it'd require more planning. Plus that September earthquake- I guess major roads are open but I don't really know the situation.
4. motor it back to Delhi. Surprisingly, I could get an overnight train from New Jalpaiguri to Delhi, no problem. But it's not often you're in West Bengal, and I'd like to explore somewhere new.
5. go somewhere between Darjeeling and Delhi. But where? I've been to Bodh Gaya, Varanasi, and Agra, done the tourist thing there, and don't feel an urge to go back.
6. go south of Kolkata. To... a beach? I don't like beaches.
7. go some places between Darjeeling and Kolkata. But where? Santiniketan is the only cool place I know, and I hate to be a white guy going "meh", but meh.
8. head down to Kolkata (Calcutta). I've been there before and not loved it, but I had only one day and no research about the city. Looks like Couchsurfing is relatively active there. And they have the Great Banyan nearby, and something called "Science City." Yes.
Actually, maybe the best is #2 + #8. A week visiting/trekking around Darjeeling, and a weekish in Calcutta, meeting some folks and digging a little deeper into a fascinating city. Thanks for helping me decide, blog! (of course, I am open to other suggestions, if you have them.)
So, approximate dates for the rest of my India travels:
Darjeeling Nov 19-26
Kolkata Nov 26-Dec 3
Delhi Dec 3-11
Jaipur Dec 11-14
Jaipur-Bangalore Train Dec 14-16 (41 hours, indeed!)
Bangalore Dec 16-19
Coimbatore Dec 20
Kerala Dec 21-Jan 2
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
Mountain Bikers, could you explain this sport to me?
I was feeling a little low on testosterone, so I decided let's do something tough! Mountain biking! Now there is a manly thing to do.
Start at Lakeside, climb up to Sarangkot, ride over a dirt and rocky road to Naudanda, then back along the main paved road to Lakeside. 12 miles each way. And I had a pretty good Trek mountain bike (rented for the princely sum of $12). No problem.
And it was no problem! Well, the climb to Sarangkot was difficult. I don't remember a hill that I've had to get off my bike and catch my breath more than once. This one, maybe five times. It ascends about 800 meters, or 2500 feet, in a couple miles. And it wasn't even clear to see any views at the top!
But otherwise, no problem. Well, okay the road from Sarangkot to about Kasikot was difficult, mostly because I'm not used to mountain biking, and here's where I'm curious to know what real mountain bikers think. I mean, the trail was half rocks, from baseball to breadloaf sized, and half puddles. You just plow through, right? And that's part of the thrill, because you're going over rocks? That's fun enough, I guess, but I kept worrying I'd hit one at the wrong angle, or a puddle would be deeper than expected. I'm not in it for adrenaline; I kinda just want to ride bikes in the woods.
But, y'know, no injuries, and I even got into the rock stomping a bit, so no problem! Well, except when there was a problem.
Road construction + heavy rains = walking my bike most of the way from Kasikot to Naudanda. A small child was also going to Naudanda. He walked along with me, and sometime he had to wait for me to catch up.
But from Naudanda, there really was no problem. The ride back was a dream: 12 miles, all nicely paved, and all downhill.
Overall, nice views, good weather, and dang it felt good to be on two wheels again. Plus, 100% more tough. I kind of like this mountain biking thing. If you want to ride bikes in the woods sometime, let me know!
Start at Lakeside, climb up to Sarangkot, ride over a dirt and rocky road to Naudanda, then back along the main paved road to Lakeside. 12 miles each way. And I had a pretty good Trek mountain bike (rented for the princely sum of $12). No problem.
And it was no problem! Well, the climb to Sarangkot was difficult. I don't remember a hill that I've had to get off my bike and catch my breath more than once. This one, maybe five times. It ascends about 800 meters, or 2500 feet, in a couple miles. And it wasn't even clear to see any views at the top!
But otherwise, no problem. Well, okay the road from Sarangkot to about Kasikot was difficult, mostly because I'm not used to mountain biking, and here's where I'm curious to know what real mountain bikers think. I mean, the trail was half rocks, from baseball to breadloaf sized, and half puddles. You just plow through, right? And that's part of the thrill, because you're going over rocks? That's fun enough, I guess, but I kept worrying I'd hit one at the wrong angle, or a puddle would be deeper than expected. I'm not in it for adrenaline; I kinda just want to ride bikes in the woods.
But from Naudanda, there really was no problem. The ride back was a dream: 12 miles, all nicely paved, and all downhill.
Overall, nice views, good weather, and dang it felt good to be on two wheels again. Plus, 100% more tough. I kind of like this mountain biking thing. If you want to ride bikes in the woods sometime, let me know!
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