bangkok

after all the chilling out in beautiful beaches, it was time to get to know more of the culture of thailand. so, we did a lot of touristic things, went to various museums, temples, markets and parks, eat out in different places, tried to fill our days with a lot of activities. we did see so much in just a few days. and we didn't only walk around in the huge city, but used boats, skytrain, taxis and tuk-tuks...

they just love their king in thailand!

eating yummy food at a market

one of the many temples

buddhas

x-mas and full moon at ton sai

instead of white and cold x-mas, we celebrated the full moon and darkest day of the year in bikinies, had dinner, went kayaking and for a picnic to a small sweet island. we got stuck in the beautiful paradise of ton sai longer than we planned.... climbing was so much fun, and people there great!

thailand, ton sai

sunset at the beach
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ton sai: beautiful beaches, lovely atmosphere, great people, and best of all: amazing rocks and great rock climbing!

thailand

heh, before i write about nepal, i quickly update my whereabouts. it seems quite a long time ago that we were in nepal, even if it's less than a week ago we sat around a warming fire in a bar in otherwise pretty chilly kathmandu.

well, on thursday we left to varanasi, i finished my work there and we jumped on a train to kolkata, and changed our flight in the airport...and flew the same day we arrived, a few hours flight (jet airways is THE BEST company i ever flew with...but later the admiring details) and we were in warm bangkok, went to the trainstation, took leftover seats for a train more south...3rd class sitting overnight, took a ferry in the morning... and now, now we have been in this small paradise for two days. hot, beaches, palms, friendly people, nice bungalow, delicious delicious food, sun, quietness, going around on my rented scooter on good roads. ocean everywhere. quietness. calmness. what a change! a little holiday within the travelling. and we'll be jumping from island to island for a while. before going up north and getting to know thailand more. (more than these wonerful touristic beaches where we mostly think about where to eat next and which bikinies to wear...)
hugs to all, hope your x-mas preparations are bringing you joy!

Kathmandu, Nepal

Now i'm in kathmandu, have been here since 25th nov. Tiina got typhoid and giardia, so i game here. now she's getting better, and can be up walking for almost 3 hours a day. slowly slowly.

Nepal is beautiful, so beautiful and calm. and clean. and open. and i can see mountains all around this city, and tops of Himalaya behind them.

i will write more later... there is so much to write! it's been a positive surprise this place.

...so, later.
here i am sweating in an island in thailand. and nepal seems so far away, memories are starting to melt together...
highlights in kathmandu:
the friendly people
relaxed atmosphere
clean air
good roads
beautiful temples and prayer flags around everywhere
doing a documentary with wonderful street children in the old town area
going out with a new york times travel journalist
eating beef (delicious steaks)
going to movies
stitching hindi text on a napkin in a candle light in our hotel room next to sick tiina, waiting for the electricity to come back so we can enjoy the luxury of our hotelroom's tv after a loooong time

...quite difficult to recall all the things. time goes by so quickly, and within a few days one can do so much -and nothing.

Varanasi -a powerful city

So, long time spent in Varanasi, Holy holy city by the Holiest River Ganga.

It is amazing how things happen shanti shanti (peace, with time, slowly), but life is full and hectic. Something that is possible only in India.
So much to write, but then, what should i tell you? about the nightly Puja by the river? the dirtiness of the holy water, what all flows on it, addition to tens of boats and hundreds of candles? the strangeness and fascination of burning ghats, the burning of dead bodies to ensure their final escape of the circle of life...? or would you rather hear about the many romantic evenings spent in the various rooftop restaurants looking over to the other side of the river, enjoying fantastic meals and candle light...? Or maybe you want to read about the numerous fireworks during diwali? About the wonderful people i met there during my weeks, most of them after Tiina had gone to Nepal.. or, maybe about the tens of marriage proposals i got? :)

The city of Varanasi is Powerful. when i arrived i did not like it at all, but made myself to give it a chance. day after day i started to like it more, understand it more and love it more. that city has so much energy, so much inexplainable power. It is strong, peaceful, hectic... it has some mystery, long history. a huge amount of souls, and something holy in the middle of all the bursting material and shanti-hectic life.

Varanasi -volunteering

I was volunteering in a school for street children (see more on http://en.learn-for-life.org/ ) . i was teaching the kids some english and math there, and helping the teachers in their work. i was entitled to teach the teachers a little and also joined in the planning of the curriculum etc. I really really enjoyed it!
I enjoyed filling my mornings and early afternoons with little tasks that felt important. Teaching, planning next day's lessons, discussing with teachers, making weekly plans and going through the new teaching material and making notes for the teachers how to use them in their teaching... i also liked helping the big boss with his paperwork by playing his secretary (mainly because the big boss was such great company).

While working i once again realized how little I can do, and how unimportant i am in the big world. i don't know if anyone was able to actually learn from me, but i learnt so much myself. working changes bits of me, i grow a tiny little bit. mostly through frustration and disappointments and when things seem to be too difficult and too hard. i need to learn to be more humble. and that things take time. and that one cannot know all. and one makes mistakes all the time. it all takes a lot of energy, and many times i felt like giving up. But the people, they are amazing, they always have something new to give, something that brings light in the frustration, that teach me the importance of shanti. The children are wonderful and surprising, many of them are so talented, and have a talent to live. they have an eagerness to learn, and to hold on to things they find important. even if i suck as a teacher and especially in the disciplinary area, the children were a joy to teach (most of the times). they are all socially very gifted.

well, i feel that i gave up a little at the end anyway: I did not finish my work there because Tiina got sick (typhoid and Giardia) in Nepal, and i rushed there (here, i'm in Kathmandu now..). She is better now and out of the hospital, but whether i go back to varanasi any time soon is something time will show. i wish to go. but life will show.

Varanasi - People

What makes a city so special? Varanasi has a the longest history as a city in the whole world. it has been constantly inhabited for hundreds and hundreds of years. It still is in a constant move. You can see centuries old buildings and temples, very old sewage system, open drains.... in the old part of the city close to the ghats the streets are extremely narrow, which keeps them cool under the boiling sun. Only bicycles and motorbikes can go in with the pedestrians. Cyclerikshas and autorikshas drop you close to small entrances along the bigger roads. The city is growing and developing. The city council is planning to make Varanasi the world capital! (well, we're all entitled to our dreams...) there are fancy cinemas, shopping malls with escalators and glass doors, posh cars and huge houses for single families.

But that's not what make a city, or any place, special. It's all those people there. And what makes the place close to my heart are those people i met and shared some time with. So many fascinating souls and individuals!
We had great conversations daily with an old norweigian man, who had an adorable smile and a long gray ponytail. he'd lived in india some 30 years back, and had been traveling everywhere, so you can imagine that he had so many fantastic stories to tell. not only that, he also had a lot of up-to-date opinions on different political situations in the world.
My new friend, a funny pretty lady from venezuela (who was so in love) had the most beautiful laugh, and she made me giggle when i was feeling down..
Anand, a shopkeeper, took me for rides on his motorbike, and for lunches in different places. he was always helping out (with mobile phone problems, train tickets...) and he gave me lovely presents and nice discount on my clothes EVEN if i turned his marriage proposal down.
The german bakery, that was supporting the learn-for-life society, had a bunch of young Nepali men working as waiters etc. the boys were great, fun and lovely, and in the beginning of my stay they made me fell very welcomed and at home.
a gorgeus spanish guy was (unknowingly) teaching me how to be good, by his own behavior and deeds. he was a very interesting and fascinating person, a very lovable human being.
Ok, i should make a looong list of people there, the hazelnut-eyed israeli dude, yoga-souled flatmate, other sweet shopkeepers...but i save you for now. i'm sure you understand that they all made a difference and brought meaning to the specialty of that city.

But but but, bare one more minute: the biggest and greatest difference make the people who themselves have long history in the city, right? I -for gods know what reason- met one of the strangest families ever. the family's constant drama and happenings make my family seem dull. I lived on the top floor of their home in a guest house... it took days for me to figure out the relationships in that household, and even then i hadn't learnt it all. it was a big building where three brothers and their (extended) families were living pretty closely. Oh the drama and colourful history! the stories kept me entertained for hours when i was waiting for my belated train with one of the members of the family. the stories include love, forced marriages, poisoning attempts, losing a a great great fortune, amazingly strong family ties and loyalty, betraying, forgiving, death, lost souls, acceptance...but what i found the most intriguing was the strong feeling of love, various kinds, but so very strong. oh, what a family, what special wonderful people.

that makes a city more special.
and i miss it already.

Bollywood Movies

I love going to movies in India, it’s such an experience! The movies a re almost 3h long, and have an interval in the middle. And many of the theatres are amazing, have A/C and the most comfortable chairs ever. The movies are often very entertaining, have music, dancing, singing, fighting, lots of drama…

Here are my favorites:

• Laaga Chunari Mein Daag
  
• http://www.yashrajfilms.com/microsites/lcmd/lcmd.html
• Om Shanti Om
• Chakde India
• Jab we met

Not so good:

• Bhool Bhulaiya
• Saawariya
• Dhol (really bad)

I recommend you to watch one or two bollywood films, they are so much fun!

Varanasi animals...

From my diary in Varanasi:
This morning, like so many previous mornings, i woke up to the sound of monkeys tapping my window. Sometimes the monkeys fight and make such horrible noise in the middle of the night when the city is theirs while people sleep. A few days back we had to postpone english lessons i was suppose to give because the monkeys had invaded our classroom. But from far away or behind a window the monkeys are sweet and a joy to look at.
We also have a regular evening guest at the German Bakery: a holy cow. She has realized that the delicious left-overs are thrown away in the late evening, so she stands guard by the door with her beautiful horns.
Around almost each corner one can see new born puppies, that are quite unlikely to survive more than a month in the city. But varanasi is a good place to die, if the body is put in the holy river then one is free from the circle of life and gets into heaven. lucky puppies!
One can often see buffaloes enjoying their baths in river Ganga, or marching slowly in the streets towards the water. Mice are living in almost every restaurant and kitchen. They are sweet and tiny and fast. Did you know that the god Ganesh also had a mouse?

month already

a full month has already passed since we came to India. many ups, some downs, life stars getting a certain rythm. one gets used to the surroundings so quickly. all the hundreds of temples and havelis and palaces lose their fascinating newness and exoticness and blend into the normal sights.
What would streets even be without slow and noisy rickshaws? or groups of kids in school uniforms walking up and down the street in the oddest hours? or cows eating on the streets, touring amongst bikes, scooters and motorbikes carrying too many people at once. what is a long distance? and what means "super deluxe" bus? 14h, 22h, 10h, 6h, bumby roads, bottom aching from all the jumps and head sore from trying to lie still in the sleepers bus overnight. food seems expensive in the various rooftop restaurants attached to hotels -90 rupies (1,8e) for rice and mutton curry! such a rip off! what, this double room with own bathroom costs 250r (less than 5e)??? bahut zyada -faaar too costly. And what's the idea with fixed prices? shoudn't a shopkeeper decide how much each item costs in relation to the buyer?

enjoying india, should start working soon, maybe in a few days. today is the time for taj mahal and pretty parks, a nice book and a cup of masala chai.

Pushkar

Pushkar is a small hippie-city surrounded by mountains, and in the middle of it is a holy lake. Around the lake are many temples. And a huge amount of holy men waiting to get your money… We stayed only a few nights. It was quite relaxing... The best in the place was to lay and read in the lovely rooftop of our quest house. Tiina did a lot of sight-seeing, walked in the early morning to some temple on top of a hill, and she visited many other temples. I felt I had seen enough temples for a while, and needed a rest from all the sights. Oh, the luxury of doing nothing!

Udaipur

The Lake City, Udaipur, was so beautiful!
Octopussy, a James Bond movie, was filmed there in the Lake Place (a huge palace in the middle of the main lake). So, each night most of the hotels were showing the movie in their rooftop restaurants. I managed to skip it each time.
Days were hot and nicely slow, but there were still many things to do. I loved reading a book on the rooftops and just doing nothing. Well, not exactly nothing...time passed quickly on different small things like taking cooking classes, going horse riding in the surrounding villages, watching sunset from various pretty points ...having massage, watching a dance show...and museums, motorcycling, eating really good food, hanging around with some swedish blokes or indian guys...


Tiina's birthday was also celebrated... in the evening we ate yammie chocolate cake on our rooftop in candlelight.. and on the real birthday we pampered ourselves with massage and waxing (not real pampering that one), and of course eating delicious food.

Dancing girl

Had fun in the festival! Before all the Dandia-dancing I went to the temple praying for luck and happiness and prosperity from Durga. I spent a nice afternoon with Salu's family (though my hindi conversation skills don't take me far in the discussions with elder women...so more like quiet nodding and smiling) In the evening I had a lot of attention dressed up.. and so much fun dancing! today is another bustrip, this time to Udaipur the "lake city".

Jodhpur

After another day spent in a hot hot bus, we arrived to Jodhpur where the fort is even greater than in Jaisalmer!

The city is blue, the houses the color of early morning sky.

Last night we went to celebrate Durga Puja, a 9-day long festival for the hoor of the hindu goddesses. Thinking we would dance a little and admire the beautiful colours of indian girls' dresses adn dancing. Well... we ended up being special guests, danced in a competition, sat with the judges in a well-light stage while hundreds of people were staring towards us. I got to speak in the mic for the audience and had a lovely big cup -price and flowers around my neck. There were pictures taken to the newspaper of Tiina and I dancing. Today we shall have lunch with the main organizer's family and we are to be dressed up in national costumes for tonights final show..

Jaisalmer

Greetings from Jaisalmer, the Golden City. In the middle of the city in this desert in the north-west of India, close to Pakistan border, a huge old fort rises. It looks like a giant sand-castle.

Last night was a perfect escape from our hectic traveling and noisy cities. We slept under a wonderfully star-filled sky in the sand dunes, after riding camels through the hot desert. And we had such great company. Three young german guys and our guides made the experience even more fun. We were jumping in the dunes when it was pitch dark, running races, eating good camping food. And just lying on the sand and watching a beautiful sunset. Ahh. And the camels were nice, mine was called Rocket, and he could go quite fast, almost faster than our guide’s camel!
Oh, all those nice people we’ve met during these two weeks! I got an insight to the educational system here by talking to a nice family from Calcutta on a train. And had a driver and a car with a nice finnish couple for a day in delhi –for free… : ) In the train to Jaisalmer (20h) we shared the bed-area with a really friendly couple from England. And a cute gay-guy from Belgium, who looked like 30 but was almost 50 (said thanks to all the moisturizes and herbal creams)...and many other... tomorrow off to Jodhpur.

Delhi

Greetings from Delhi! it's been really hot here!

...we've seen so many places here in this hassle of a huge city. and it's again time to go...this time to the desert in the north-west of india.

the lotus temple in delhi

Mumbai and stardom are behind us now. Had a wonderful time, but hopefully there’s more still ahead. Only week’s gone by…We’ve been spending time in Pune, the city I used to live as a kid and where I was teaching a few years back. Has been so great seeing all the old friends again! We’re staying at our old family friends, this lovely couple, who are the funniest people ever. The morning doesn’t pass without laughter, and there is a smile on my face when I fall asleep in the quiet room with only the fan in the ceiling and crickets outside the open window playing their nightly serenade in the background. Such a difference from the extremely noisy Mumbai. Ahh, to be able to sleep!

I gave a some drama lessons in the morning at the old school for the same kids I used to teach. We had a great time face painting and practicing and videotaping our show!

I also loved seeing my friend from the last time I was here, and her kids…the youngest one still a tiny tiny baby (so gorgeous, so eatable!).

Tomorrow we’ll leave for Delhi…

mumbai - a bollywood star

:) seems like the last 3 days that we've been here have been so full, that it's amazing it's only wednesday!
we have earned some money being in a big bollywod film, so i don't feel so bad spending money on touristic things so much now. last night went in the film-shooting, we were playing in a diwali scene, and met the big big star (ahh) too. a great way to meet people, and talk to some young people from mumbai. tomorrow the whole day goes in making a tv-ad. i was asked to anchor the ad, but i suppose i'll end up sitting in the audience or something... well, it's a hard way to stardom! behind the camera
:)

Mumbai

people, people, people, and more people. it's amazing how many human beings can be in one place.
i will write more someday, now quickly telling that the trip has started and all is really well. i'm really excited to be here, to listen to the various languages around me, smell new smells, see so many new people. we are tourists for the time here in mumbai, and then we shall not spend this much. loving the hot and humid air.
hugs, e