Written on - 10/9/09 – 12/9/09 Politics…
As a result of Museveni taking away the Buganda king’s powers and privileges, the people of Buganda have been rioting for the past few days. The rioting started on the streets of Kampala and then moved else where. A few Peace Corps volunteers have been moved from their sites due to violence and killings. Even in Kyotera people were burning tires and shops were forced to close. This Saturday was the day when the Buganada king was supposed to have a ceremony which Museveni vetoed. While it was expected that the violence would increase that day as a result of the function not occurring, the violence and rioting actually died around that time. Still, more than a handful of people lost their lives as a result of this problematic situation.
India: Namaste (Hello, Goodbye – not to be mistaken as Shalom…the missing peace)
Words to describe India starting with the letter “I”: Intense, Intellectual, Icicle, Icky, Impressive, Important, Isolating (some words are better descriptions than others)
Flight info: Entebbe, Addis Ababa, Dubai (Wow!), Dehli
Dehli, Dubai, Addis Ababa (coming soon – fingers crossed), Entebbe
The Beginning:
First things first, I could not believe how excited I was to leave Uganda. Just being in the Entebbe airport put a huge smile on my face (sad I know…no comments necessary). Anyway, in the airport I met a nutrition major who was going back home to Canada after only 2 weeks in Uganda. In actuality she was supposed to stay a total of 3 months. It was interesting talking with her because her expectations of Uganda were incredibly high. It seemed she thought she was going to Europe as opposed to a third world African country. I realized after talking with her that I myself have very low expectations for most things (not people…sorry family/friends). If there is a place to relieve excrements, whether it be a pit or a silver toilet, I am quite satisfied. The meeting with this young woman surprised me because it made me realize that not everyone can do what we volunteers in Africa are doing. I always assumed that someone young, caring, and in the health field would feel automatically “at home” in such a situation because ultimately that is the life they will face in their field of work. You live and you learn.
Emirates – flight, staff, plane – WOW! Sleep, sleep, sleep…music listening…sleep, sleep, music listening/movie watching…sleep, sleep…music listening (Lady Ga-Ga: Intriguing)…landing = everything off. Arrived in Dehli early in the morning. Caught a bus to the New Dehli Station where the hotel Morgan and I decided to stay at (pre-planning) was located after exchanging money 47Rs = $1. After being dropped off by the bus I took a rickshaw to the hotel. Morgan had arrived that morning (3:30am or something crazy/tiring like that) and thus, was sleeping when I arrived. We had not seen each other in over 2 years (she moved to China – Nanjing - shortly after graduating from university), let alone traveled together in another country. This first meeting was crucial, easy and pleasant…very much like the rest of the trip. Besides for a few money issues, we both seemed to enjoy each other most of the time. I honestly cannot say that would happen with too many people I know and love.
Thank you Lonely Planet! If you do not know how much things cost you would be F** because the prices which some Indians try to sell their goods is hilarious. When we were buying our ticket from Dehli to New Jalpaiguri we were almost charged 1000Rs for a 400Rs ticket. Hells no! Sadly (or awesomely!) I have gotten cheaper and more assertive about costs and people cheating me since living in Uganda. I was not going to get screwed over in India. We purchased a 23:30 train ticket to New Jalpaiguri. That is right…we were not even in Dehli for 1 day!
The train moved. We stayed on top sleepers. Incredibly hot and suffocating, but helped with the sleep which we needed and got since we were on the train for over 30 hours. Unfortunately Morgan’s clock was off since coming from the US and so she had a difficult time sleeping and waking at “reasonable” times in India. Uganda fortunately was only 2 hours behind India so I almost could not even tell I was on a different continent :P. The train stopped at our stop in New Jalpaiguri incredibly early in the morning, around 4:30am. From there we took a Jeep (big in India, especially in the mountainous areas) to Darjeeling. While in the vehicle all of the woman received prayers and a string bracelet from a random man on the street of course for a generous gift of rupees. The ride was uneventful but beautiful. Darjeeling is on a hill/high elevation/mountains. It was sort of scary going up this very windy and steep hill in the Jeep. After arriving in Darjeeling we found a random hotel with a view. We were even able to negotiate and lesson the price from 600Rs to 500Rs total. We then went to a travel agency to set up our trek. 6 day 5 night trek on the border of Nepal/India. The rest of the day we had free to do whatever. We walked around the bazaar, I bought underwear, we drank tea, ate food (Wow! Flavors…I forgot I had taste buds while in Uganda), and discussed the rest of our trip plans. Morgan wanted to stay in Varanasi (next stop) the rest of the time where she could relax, do yoga and meditate, while I wanted to go to Agra (west of Varanasi) to see the Taj Mahal. We decided that we would split up a few days before the end of our trip.
The Middle: The Trek Begins…and ends, eventually:
Woke up early in the morning and met up with our guide for the next 6 days, Pema. He kept talking about how the first day would be difficult and how it would determine our abilities/pace for the next few days. As a result, I was quite nervous about being able to handle the beginning day. We drove to where we would begin our trek. There was a great deal of rain and fog. Overall, the trek was not too difficult. It was just very steep at certain points. We walked for a bit and then stopped for tea (this is basically the pattern for the next few days). The trek was beautiful…all of the days, even though for the most part it was rainy, cold and wet (webele nyo mama wange for bringing my jacket and jaja wange for purchasing it). Trek Itinerary:
Mana Bhanjang – Tumling
Tumling – Sandakphu = altitude 3636m
Sandakphu – Sandakphu = rained in
Sandakphu – Phalut
Phalut – Rimbik = 35km making up for being rained in
Day 4 included one of the reasons why I was in India…to see the mountains, in particular, Everest. We woke up early that morning, around 5am in order to get a view of Khangchndzonga (spelling questionable...each time I spell the name it will be slightly different – one of them is probably correct) and Everest from the hill near our lodge. However, the cloud coverage was too great so we went back down for breakfast. It seemed that things were clearing by the end of breakfast so I decided to go up the hill, myself, again to see if I could see the view. When I first got to the top the clouds were still heavy, but all of a sudden I saw a few snowy peaks of Khangdendzoga (3rd highest mountain in the world, highest in India). The view was one of the most amazing things I have ever seen in my life! I also viewed Everest and its surrounding mountains in Nepal. I called all the others from below who were skeptical about the possibility of seeing anything to come and see the magnificent view. Unfortunately, when they arrived to the top, Khagchendzoga was covered by clouds again, but at least they got a pretty good view of Everest. After that “high,” we trekked ourselves to our final destination, mainly through woods. This part of the trek was very different than all of the other rocky days. Our final destination was Rimbik, where we were able to take a hot shower (such luxuries)! Luckily, we were not mauled by a bear or leopard before the arrival.
The End: not of life, but rather the trip…end sounds so final – The Finale…even worse
We took another long train ride (14hrs + 7hrs late) to the Mughal Surai Junction in order to go to Varanasi. While on the train we talked about what type of hotel we wanted to stay in when we arrived. I wanted the cheap/in the city hotel, while Morgan wanted the more “upscale” ($8), outside of the city hotel. We went for the one which Morgan wanted because she was staying in Varanasi the rest of the time she was in India, while I would be leaving for Agra in 3 days.
Varanasi in a nut shell: crazy rickshaw (motor and bicycle) drivers
Yoga/meditation
Religious rituals/Ghats (Ganges River – lotus 10Rs long life)
Silk/incense
Ramagan Fort (history, Maharaja)
Sarnath (Place of the Buddha’s first speech)
People connections (until reality sets in)
Random Hebrew (Chabad)
Goodbyes - Until we meet again (probably in China)…goodbye, for now, to Morgan. We had a great time together.
I “lived it up” and took an air-conditioned sleeper car to Agra at 6am in the morning. When I arrived in Agra I took a rickshaw (driver Vickey – who would be my driver/tour guide the rest of the day) to my hotel. The hotel had an amazing view of the Taj from the top. I went to the Taj Mahal first and found a guide.
Built by Emperor Jahan for his 3rd wife…his first 2 wives could not produce children, the 3rd had 13 (the other two wives are buried in small structures around the Taj)
Beauty by numbers: 93˚ angles of the pillars in case of a natural disaster, the will not fall on the main structure (tomb)
22 steps to the tomb and took 22 years to build
Symmetry is key (fountains, grassy areas etc)
The day of seeing EVERYTHING in Agra: Akban’s Mausoleum (greatest Mughal
emperor)
Agra Fort (built by Akbar and additions by grandson,
Shah Jahan)
Tomb of Afzal Khan (poet and high official)
Baby Taj Mahal (Tomb of Mizra Ghiyas)
Stone shop (shop stop a must, in order not to be
overcharged for anything, mainly taxi rides) – met man who works in Brooklyn with the Jewish community, makes beautiful Pesach items and Mezuzahs
Diwali, the festival of lights and wealth was occurring over the next 3 days. As a result, that night there were fireworks and lots of bright and colorful lights.
The next day I took a train from Agra to Dehli. As soon as I arrived (of course late) I got a motor-rickshaw to the Bahai Temple. Incredible! The temple is in the shape of the lotus flower, on a very large compound like the others I have seen (Israel – Haifa, Uganda – Kampala, Illinois – Chicago (suburb)….I have now seen 4 out of the 7! One on each continent). I find the faith fascinating, being a combination of all religions, so I bought a book called “All Things Made New,” which is an introduction to the religion. Not that I am searching for new direction in my life, but rather the Bahai faith is a long time interest…as with many other things. After taking an auto-rickshaw to 2 stores (crazy driver wanted a gift for Diwali – I on the other hand did not want to buy a carpet, so I had the store owners (at least from the first store) talk with the driver). I made it out alive…and finally the driver took me to the Main Bazaar, where I wanted to go from the beginning of our “journey.” The Main Bazaar is a place to get anything and everything at pretty cheap prices. Surprisingly, the place catered to Israelis. There was Hebrew everywhere (spoken/written) in addition to many Indian sellers speaking the language (one man started speaking Hebrew to me thinking I was Israeli…some day). After purchasing a few things, I decided to head to the airport. As a result of Diwali, I was basically blackmailed to pay more in order to avoid stopping at 2 shops on the way to the airport (not much…but still, I knew what the cost should be). Overall, I enjoyed my time in India. However, I was incredibly happy to return “home” to Uganda to start afresh with the work I was doing. The beauty of the people, sites, behaviors is nothing like that of India.
Full circle: Back at Kiwanga. Fun times in K-town. I am presently trying to connect with organizations around the area (like last year, crazy I can say (type) that…I know people and organizations!).
Joy: Right before a baby receives an injection. Just hear me out before you judge!...It is fascinating. Before an injection a baby (infant size/like) is quiet and content, especially in Uganda. Babies here are rock solid unlike wimpy babies of the US and else where. Anyway, you give the baby an injection, usually in the right thigh area and it cries. But rather than a ridiculous uncontrollable wailing, this baby will look at you like you are a traitor, like you deceived her/him and questions this deception with a look of shock and horror because its comfortable life is now being threatened by this brief shock of pain. Even the cries give away the baby’s shock. It is delayed…like WT%$$#@!~!@#$%^&*() and then “waaa”!!!! (all different), like “why is this happening to me? What did I do to deserve this?” Still, the average cry is probably 2-4 wails and then over. Ugandan baby’s are tough suckers. Maybe you have to be there. Anyway, I enjoy this process immensely.
Future: Always in questions…plans are a rocking and swaying (sometimes swinging). They involve a boat and some duct tape. Don’t ask. If you do, remember, you have been warned.
Purple dragon (you know who, if not, again, do not ask) :P.
Next up - visit from Brian. Tentative plans (always changing): Kenya (Nairobi, Mombasa), Rafting, Bungee Jumping. More to come...
