On Monday, Tuesday the 25^th and 26^th of February it was very difficult to concentrate on courses. This was because on the 27^th we packed our bags and caught a thirty hour train towards Darjeeling.  I was accompanied by Antoine, Charles and Chitrodeep.  We started our voyage by getting to know the people who had seats next to us in sleeper class.  They were both teachers so we took the opportunity to learn some Hindi.  We also played cards and chess, which became a common pass times of our vacation.

 

We arrived in New Jalpaiguri at around 8pm the next evening. We caught a jeep to Siliguri where we had a hotel booked.  In the morning we shared a jeep to Darjeeling which is where our adventure truly began.  Our first mission was to find out information about possible treks.  This was made easy by the outstandingly welcoming and helpful owner of Hotel Tranquility.  Having discovered all we needed to know we went to do the next most important thing which was to drink tea.  We also made some last minute purchases for our trek.

    

Trek Day 1:

The next morning we caught another jeep to Mane Bhanjang which is an hour and a half from Daarjeeling.  In Mane Bhanjang we found a guide for the four of us and set out on our hike.  The first three kilometers were straight up hill which woke up our calves and got our hearts pounding. After the tirring ascent we stoped to catch our breath at a boudhist monastery where the monks were playing cricket.

   

From there we trekked over barren hills for another 2.5 kilometers. Just as the fog was starting to set in we came to a small hut and hurried inside to a hot fire and a warm cup of tea.  Having warmed up we set out again for another 5.5 kilometers.

         

We reached the village of Tumling, a small village just on the other side of the Nepalese border,  at 4pm.  By this time the fog was so thick we could only see a few meters ahead of us.  But when the outlines of buildings appeared infront of us we went inside to find a family sitting around a hot stove.  We dumped our bags in the room that we would occupy for the night and went to sit by the fire. This is where we spent the rest of the evening playing cards and sipping tea. At 7:30pm we were presented with a delicious dinner which consisted of cheese, fried vegetables, soup, fried bread, dahl, rice, chapattis, egg curry, potatos and banana custard for desert.  After supper we sipped some more tea and went to bed.

Trek Day 2:

On our second day we were woken up at 5:30 am by Amaar our guide. It was time to get up to go see the sunrise. We trekked a little ways to a view point where we watch the red light turn pale as the sun rose into the sky. The morning light was reflected off of the Sleeping Buddha mountain range which rose majestically in the north.  We also could see Everest way off in the distance.

After the sun had risen we headed back to the wooden house to wait for breakfast. We sat on the steps outside which was the favorite sunning spot of some local dogs.

We left the village of Tumling at 8:30 am and enjoyed a nice down hill walk in the morning sun. Seven kilometers latter we made it to Gairi Bas where we stopped for our morning tea. The next two kilometers were up hill but we charge up fearlessly, then stopped for a break on a mossy patch in the shade.  We then had 5 more kilometers before our lunch stop in Kalpokhari where we enjoyed a delicious bowl of homemade vegetable chowmein.

After lunch we only had five kilometers to cover but these were the hardest of the entire trek. Nevertheless everyone made it to the top where we found he village of Sandakphu. For most people Sandakphu is the destination of the trek. This mean that the dormitory we stayed in was quite full and it was a bit challenging to find space around the fire. But I managed to find a spot close enough and for long enough to have a game of chess with Amaar our guide.

   

Trek Day 3:

Once again we woke up at 5:30am, but this time we were not greeted by sun. Antoine and I were still hopefull that we might see something so we rolled out of bed anyway.  After a stroll in the fog we came back to the dormitory to rouse the others who had taken the bad weather as an opportunity to sleep in.

 

We left Sandakphu at 8am.  It was cold and damp, with snow on the ground.  But gradualy as we started to move we started to warm up. We even through a few snowballs just to get the blood flowing.

That morning we did quite a few off road kilometers. We were greeted on the way by some yaks.

 

At lunch we stoped at a tiny hut whose occupants were just returning after spending the winter in a warmer more populated location. We hudled around the fire, drank tea and eat noodles.

   

After lunch we had a very enjoyable seven kilometers which were mainly flat. The weather also started to clear which lifted everyone`s spirits.

 

When we reached Phalut, where we would stay the night we went straight to the fire in the Kitchen. Here we found the Frenchmen and the English couple who we had met the day before. Dinner that night was again homemade rice and dahl. I have developed a strong liking for the dish and hope I will be able to replicate something of the sort on future treks in Canada.

Day 4:

Our guide did not wake us up at 5:30am due to limited visibility. But at 5:50 when the mist started to thin we heard a knock on our door summoning us to go see the mountains. We scrambled out of bed and along the 800m to the highest lookout point.  We were not disappointed. Right in front of us was the Sleeping Buddha mountain range whose magnificence can only be fully appreciated in person. Also further off in the west we got a clear look at Mount Everest. It was cold where we stood and there was frost on the ground but the cold mountain air was as refreshing as a cool water on a summers day.

At 8:30 am we began the journey back to Darjeeling. We started off along a ridge which overlooked a sun brushed valley, and then plunged into a thick bamboo forest.  This was one of my favorite parts of the trek as the bright green colours were so different to the forest on the west coast of Canada.  To add to the spirit of adventure we made walking sticks out bamboo polls and took all the side paths and shortcuts that we could.

    

We continued the decent for 15 kilometers, until we came to the river village of Gorkhey.  We wound our way through the agricultural terraces and colourful houses to find our English and French friends, who were sipping tea in the midday sun in our lunch spot.

After a big bowl of Chowmein we went of to explore the Ghorkey river.  I discarded my shoes and hoped from round rock to round rock.  I did go for one accidental swim but fortunately the sun was out to dry me off.

When we left Gorkhey it was 2:30pm. We climbed steadily up hill out of the river valley through a rhododendron forest.  This was a treat as we were often pleasantly surprised by bursts of colour as we rounded bends that reveal one or two rododendron trees which had started to bloom early.  We also took a break at which point we decided to start a chess game which we then had to continue while trekking, taking our mental and coordination skills to the limit.

That evening we once again met up with the Frenchmen and the English couple this time in the village of Raman. We spent  another jovial evening playing cards and chatting together over Tongba which is a local alcoholic drink which is brewed by pouring hot water over fermented grains.  After dinner we went outside to see the stars.

It was a clear night and the stars shone brightly in the sky, but just as magical were the lights of the houses scattered about the valley bellow which reflected the brilliance of the sky in their own friendly and cozy manner. We lay down on the grass and enjoyed our last evening out on the trek together.

Trek Day 5:

On our last day we did not get up to see the sunrise but I did get up with just enough time to walk around the colourfull village of Raman and enjoy it in the morning light.

The last 11 kilometers of our trek were down hill along a dirt road.  We passed by many houses and many people. We met villagers haling material up the mountain side on there back, and others sitting on the side of the road crushing stones. There were also kids in their uniforms on the way to school.

   

We made it to Rimbick at 11:30am and celebrated in a small restaurant with platefuls of momos.  We then caught a jeep back to Darjeeling. Our jeep was overflowing with people. We had about ten of us on the inside and three or four more on the outside.  It was a long way back to Darjeeling but we eventually got there in time for hot showers before our celebratory dinner at our favorite restaurant.

Darjeeling:

The last part of our mid semester break we spent in Darjeeling itself.  The stop in our itinerary was the Tibetan Refugee camp.  Even though it was a quiet day in the center, this was a fascinating place to visit. They had an excellent exhibit about how the camp was established and run. We also got to see some of the workshops where handicrafts are made. The crafts made at the center are sold in a display room where we made a few purchases.

In the afternoon we went to the botanical gardens and then wandered around the streets, popping in and out of shops as we felt like it.

Our last day in Darjeeling was spectacularly clear and as we headed to our usual breakfast spot we were greeted by Kanchenjunga looming over the city.  We took our time eating our breakfast in view of the mountain and then headed to the Darjeeling zoo.

This was my first time visiting a zoo in fifteen years and it was really very spectacular. We saw red pandas, an Asian black bear, Himalayan wolfs, leopards, tigers and many other  creatures.  Of course there is a slightly sad side to any zoo as many of these majestic animals are kept behind bars. But is was a privileged to marvel at the majestic creatures none the less.

Adjacent to the zoo was the Himalayan Mountain Institute where we spent a couple of hours perusing through the exhibits about various Himalayan expeditions.  We also took the opportunity to plan our next trip, which will be to climb Aconcagua in Argentina, maybe in five years’ time.

Finally it was time to say good bye to Darjeeling we had a late lunch and one more cup of tea, before catching a jeep to Siliguri. We stayed the night and then the next day caught our train back to Delhi. We traveled home in 3AC which was delightfully quiet (although admittedly less eventful) compared to our standard mode of transit in sleeper class.

Home again:

Back in Delhi things are starting to heat up, both literally with regards to the weather, and academically with our second set of minor exams just over a week away.  But it is nice to know that after two and a half months at IIT returning to campus feels a bit like coming home.  It is reassuring to get that same welcoming feeling that anticipates the many conversations that have and will be shared with friends throughout the week.

It has been a while since I last posted.  Since then I have been on two weekend trips, and spent a relaxing weekend on campus.  I have also enjoyed plenty of other fun encounters with my Indian and foreigner friends on campus and around Delhi during the weeks.

Extra Curriculars:

For the past two weeks I have had lots of fun practicing with the IIT girls basketball team.  They are currently preparing for an inter university tournament which will take place on the IIT campus next week.  Unfortunately I won’t be able to play with them because I will be exploring Darjeeling and Sikim for our mid semester break. But none the less I have enjoyed dusting off some old moves and making some new friends at practice.

I have also been participating in some other less sporty extracurricular clubs.  In particular the literature club has welcomed me with open arms.  In January I enthusiastically joined in their Parliamentary Debate practices and in February I represented Kailash Hostel in the word games competition.  Last night from 8pm to 2am I was in the Student Activity Center participating in the Lit Quiz.  This amounted to hours of literary challenges such as Pictionary, Writing Haikus, Charades, Taboo ect.  The answers to all of these games were clues which related to famous authors or books. The goal of the evening was to guess the books or authors that the clues connected to.  In the end having a Canadian on the team paid off as one of the solutions involved Margaret Atwood and A Hand Maid’s Tail.

Dance is another very popular activity here at IIT, and although I have not taken part in the competition I have enjoyed watching the Kailash girls practice their routine and compete in the inter hostel dance competition.  The standard of dance and the enthusiasm and support from all the hostels was very impressive.

Amritsar:

Since I last wrote I have also had a few chances to leave campus and explore more of India.  The first of these was on Feb 8^th when we travelled to Amritsar.  The focus of our visit was the Golden Temple and we spent lots of time there.  We saw it at sunrise, sunset, in the morning and afternoon and at night.  These frequent visits were made possible by the location of our accommodation.  We stayed the free dormitories built to accommodate all the pilgrims who come to visit the temple.  It was very crowed and as the rooms filled up people started claiming space to sleep in the courtyard. Fortunately they had a block of rooms reserved for foreigners where we were able to stay the night and meet lots of other travelers like ourselves.

 

The Golden temple was very beautiful but it was more than its physical beauty that made it one of my Indian highlights so far.  It has an incredibly welcoming spirit that invites all people of all faiths and religion to visit and share with them.  The people at the temple were open and friendly and happy to chat.  They even gave us food.

   

Every day from early in the morning to late at night thousands of people eat at the Golden temple.  We joined the hungry visitors sitting in orderly rows on the floor in a large room to eat dahl,  aloo ghobi and keer, all of which had been prepared by volunteers.  After eating we returned our plates and then joined about 150 other people who were washing dishes.  We spent about an hour scrubbing plates before heading to the Wagah Border for the border closing ceremony.

The Wagah Border is about 20km from Amritsar and is the only road border crossing between  India and Pakistan.  Every evening at sunset there is a ceremony which involves a lot of shouting and stamping of feet. Crowds gather from on both sides of the border to cheer on their respective guards as they lower the flags.  It is quite funny and I am not sure what to think of it but I joined in the shouting and cheering none the less.  Afterwards I walked up to the gate and peered into Pakistan which was one of those surreal moments that reminds me that I am on the other side of the world from home.

   

The next day we saw some other sites in Amritsar including the Jallianwala Bagh Memorial, which was set up to commemorate the massacre of Indians during a peaceful protest during the British colonial rule.  We also visited a Hindu temple which seemed more like a fun house.  We were ushered through windy corridors lined with sparkly mirrors arranged at funny angles and walls covered in colourful paintings.  At points we had to crawl through tunnels, at other parts we walked along an artificial stream and climbed over barriers.  At the end of our obstacle course we were presented with leys of flowers which we chose to donate back to the temple at a shrine outside.

    

That evening we took the sleeper train back to Delhi, and arrived back on campus in time for our morning classes.

Nature and Astronomy Trip:

My other recent trip was to Jim Colbert national park with the fifty other IIT students organized by the Nature and Astronomy club.  This was an interesting experience as the weather and roads conspired against us such that it seems as though almost everything that could go wrong did.  But despite all of the unexpected delays and detours everyone remained in remarkably good spirits.  The majority of the trip was spent singing, playing games, learning hindi and making friends, which isn’t such a bad way to spend a weekend.

There are many other things I would love to write about and share with everyone back home. But now I must go catch my train to Darjeeling 🙂

 

Thursday: Twelve hour train ride

On Thursday January the 24th we packed our bags and took them with us to our Sociology of India class which most of the exchange students are taking.  After class we went straight to the train station.  A number of small delays meant that we were running behind. We had to catch a rickshaw from the metro station to the train station. There were no autos available so we split into pairs and took bicycle rickshaws. Charles and I did not choose our driver wisely and ended up with an elderly gentleman who was significantly slower than the other riders.  Our slow progression through the busy street was overwhelmingly frustrating.  When we finally got to the station we jumped out of the vehicle and raced to our platform.  We found our seats just as the train started to move.

The trip to Udaipur was a 12 hour train ride. This was my first overnight train journey. Since there were 6 of us in the group we took up a whole birth in sleeper class.  At first we played cards and once again made friends with some local commuters who joined our game.  After the commuters got off we climbed into our bunks and turned off the light.

Sleeping on a train was not that bad. Admittedly it was a bit cold, and I decided I would wear an extra layer on the return trip, and I was woken up a couple times by various noises and commotions.    But the rocking of the train and the rhythmic click of the tracks lulled me back to sleep, such that I woke up reasonably refreshed as the train approached the Udaipur station the next morning.

  

 

Friday:

Our first stop in Udaipur was our hotel’s rooftop restaurant to eat breakfast and plan our day.

    

With our tummies full we followed the winding narrow streets to the Jagdish Temple.  After the temple we visited the city palace where we got a guide who taught us all about the history of the Mewar Maharana who have lived there since the sixteenth century.

  

After our tour  of the palace, we headed back into the streets and eventually made our way to sunset point, which is an incredible look out over the city. We chose not to take the gondola which was a fortunate decision. We left the main path behind and climbed some old ramparts which looked out over the city.  We made it to the top in time for a spectacular Rajasthani sunset.

   

In the evening we went to a Dahora dance performance in Bagore Ke Haveli, a house built in the 15^th century, with 108 rooms and gracious courtyards.  There were many forms of dance, but the performance came to a climax with a dancer balancing 11 pots on her head as she turned about to the music.

 

 

Saturday: Kumbhalgarh Fort and Ranakpur Temple

After much discussion we decided to take a car 80km through winding roads to visit Kumbalgarh Fort and Ranakpur temple.  There were seven of us on the trip Antoine, Benoit, Charles, Daniel, Jacques and I from IIT were joined by Hannah a German girl who we had met the previous day.

Kumbalgarh Fort was incredible.  I did not know places like this existed outside of books.  It is a fortress surrounded by 36km of wall which encloses over 360 temples.  This combined with the mountainous desert countryside made for incredible views.  You could stand at the top of one of the towers of the main foundation and envision defending the fort from a formidable army.  In historical fact there were many attacks on the fortress but it was only ever captured once for a brief period of two days.

       

Ranakpur temple was also worth the drive.  It was calm quiet and cool.  The temple is one of the largest Jain temples in the world.  It is built out of white marble and with over 1444 pillars.  Amongst these pillars is one pillar which was purposefully built at a crooked angle to signify humanity’s inability to be perfect.

      

 

Sunday: Udaipur

We spent our last day in Udaipur doing nothing specific.  We had a leisurely breakfast, wandered through the town to the northern lake, took a rickshaw back to the tourist. In the afternoon we walked along the meandering streets, did some shopping and eat some street food.  Our final destination was a lakeside restaurant with some delicious food and a beautiful sunny view.

Friday:

On Friday afternoon at 2pm I made my way across campus to the boys hostel.  It was a beautiful sunny afternoon and one of the first warm ones since my arrival in Delhi.  I was full of excitement and ready for adventure.  It was the beginning of a long weekend (Monday would be a holiday) and Antoine, Benoit, Charles, Daniel, Jacques and I had planned a trip to Haridwar and Rishikesh.

I met up with the boys and we took the metro to the train station. We found our platform and checked the list of passengers who were lucky enough to have a designated seat.  We were not on the list.  This did not mean that we weren’t allowed on the train, however we would have to stand for the entire 4 hour journey.  It was therefore with trepidation that we climbed on board not knowing how crowded it would be or how long we would be standing if the train got delayed.  In the end it was not so bad.  Yes we were squished into a tiny corner right next to the odorous toilet, but we managed to pass the time by playing chess (and chess2.0) and chatting with other hapless travelers who were sharing our space.

The crowded train.

Chess.

Squished into a corner

We arrived in Haridwar at 8pm. We went straight to our ashram ate some food (provided with the room) and planned our activities for the next day.

 

Saturday:

We left the ashram around 10am after a filling breakfast with warm chai.  We took a rickshaw to the tourist info center and then walked to the base of a gondola which took us 600m up a steep cliff face to a temple built into a hillside.

On the way up

In the gondola

The inside of the temple was very plain and consisted mainly of undecorated cement walls. We passed by many shrines and had dots painted on our forehead.  It seemed odd that so many people traveled long distances and hiked up the steep hill (only a few took the gondola) just to visit a few small shrines in an empty cement building, but perhaps we are seeing things from the wrong perspective.  Either way the view from the top was rather nice, and we found a vendor selling Jalebis so all was fine.  We latter saw the temple from bellow which was more impressive.

The temple from bellow

From the bottom of the lift we walked to the bank of the Ganga River.  Every year thousands of devoted pilgrims make the trek along the Ganga River, stopping in many holy cities. Haridwar is one of those cities. All along the river there are ghats built into the bank.  The pilgrims go down to the river and submerge themselves in the water. We did not fully enter into the ritual, but we did dip our hands into the flowing water.

Touching the water

The ghats of the Ganga, appear very empty compared to the months of pilgrimage (May – November)

The whole group from left to right: Jacques, Charles, Claire, Daniel, Antoine, Benoit.

Next we caught a one hour bus to Rishikesh where we found lodging for the night in another ashram on the bank of the Ganga.

Sunday:

We woke up early in the morning (8am) to attend the ashram’s yoga lesson. It was cold and windy but we managed to pull ourselves out of bed and then slowly wake up as the class progressed.

After a big breakfast we set out on a hike to a waterfall.  We did not have a map and the directions provided were vague.  We walked for about half an hour along the main road leading away from our village.

The road goes ever on and on….

Antoine is not in the photo because he is taking it. He takes very good pictures with a very nice camera. Thank you!!!!!!!

We eventually came across the cluster of vendors described in the guide book that marked the trail head.  We started hiking and the dirt road turned into a path which followed an enchanting river.

We stopped to play poohsticks (if you don’t know what that is read Winnie the Pooh)

We lost the trail.

We found the lost home of the elves

We went wading in the stream

We found a waterfall

We found some goats

We met a dog

And then we came to the most amazing part of the trek. Three hours after we left the main road, we crested the hill and peered into the quaintest of villages. The late afternoon sun shone down on about six huts sprinkled throughout the hidden valley.  And although there were not many huts the number of clothes on the washing line indicated that they were well populated. Each house was surrounded by terraces which were filled with crops.  Monkeys hopped through the fields and dogs were sent to chase them back to the trees.   As it was getting late, we did not go down into the village and although I was sad not to continue some things might be best left to the imagination.

 

Monday:

On Sunday evening we caught a cab back to Haridwar where we stayed the night in preparation for our 8:45am train the next morning.  At the train station and checked the list of passengers, and were happy to see we were on the list and were given seats for the return journey.  On board we settled our accounts, read books, planned our next trip,  and played more chess.

Antoine and Charles challenged each other. As they played an Indian family three boys and two girls between the ages of 14 and 19 looked on with interest.  We asked them if they knew how to play and the boys responded with keen enthusiasm. The three boys then challenged Charles to a game of chess while the girls and I played an Indian version of snakes and ladders.

IIT Delhi

It has been two weeks since I arrived on the campus of The Indian Institute of Technology in Delhi, and it has taken almost as long for me to chose my courses.  However they are now finalized and it feels good to have a regular schedule.  I am particularly looking forward to my “Quantum Mechanics and It’s Applications” course. The prof is very interesting and engaging, although he occasionally switches into Hindi which makes parts of the lecture harder to follow.

Outside of school I have been making friends quickly. Everyone has been very welcoming, whether it be in the mess hall, or at volley ball or at western music band practice.  There are just so many Indian names and faces floating around in my head that there is no possible way to remember them all.

I am also making friends with the other exchange students which is of particular importance when it comes to traveling. So far I have gone on two weekend trips. The first was to Jaipur and the second was to Haridwar and Rishikesh.  These were two very different adventures, as one was to the capital of Rajasthan, one of Indias most animated states, and the other was to the world capital of yoga.  But I will write more about them later. Right now I have lots of studying to catch up on.

Only the Begining

Philip (my older brother) and I arrived in India on Dec 19^th 2012.  We spent two and a half days in the incredible city of Bombay before journeying south to the province of Kerala.

In Kerala we started by visiting Munnar, a hill station surrounded by rolling hills carpeted with tea plantions.  It is a four hour drive from Kochi to Munnar and then another four hours too Alappuzha, where we boarded a house boat for a two day tour of the Kerala back waters and rice fields.

We left the house boat on the morning of the 26^th and caught a bus too Varkala, a popular beach resort for backpackers.  The town is perched on high cliffs which over look the Indian ocean.  There are also plenty of beaches for swimming.

Two days later we caught the train to Kochi where we had a few hours before flying to Delhi. We had just enough time to walk around Fort Cochin, see the fishnets the Dutch cemetery and a few other local sights.

Here are a few of the many highlights of our trip.

The Haji Ali mosque is situated at the end of a long seawall which at high tide is covered by the sea, rendering the mosque an Island. On Friday the 21st we joined the 40,000 pilgrims visiting the mosque.

This is the incredible view from our hotel balcony on Marine Drive in Bombay. I could have happily have spent the whole afternoon just watching the passersby.

Mid-morning activity at Cross Maidan Park in South Bombay.

The pool at the Oberoi hotel, where mom and dad used to hang out.

Looking out over the valeys of tea plantations that soround the town of Munnar.

At the end of our 2km trek through a national park.

Visiting with a local doctor who showed us around a medicinal herb and spice garden.

We celebrated Christmas on this house boat.

Morning view from the house boat.

Driving the boat.

Kerela rice fields.

One of the smaller canals.

Phoning home on Christmas day

Relaxing on the beach in Varkala.

Relaxing in a restaurant in Varkala.