Tea Time

I dragged myself off my beautiful guest house balcony this morning to venture farther up into Hill Country. My great driver, Anura, took it very easy over the hills unlike the madman who drove me around Rajasthan. I was actually able to relax and enjoy the unfolding spectacular scenery without fearing for my life. What a treat! We rode along the Kotmale River, the longest in SL, and passed countless waterfalls, banana trees, palms, rice fields and wildlife (water buffalo and the Kingfisher birds were my favorite).

We stopped for lunch at an amazing hillside hotel, The Ramboda Falls, where we ate on the veranda watching the monkey’s play in the trees with a backdrop of two wild waterfalls. As soon as I walked into the restaurant I saw a display of E&J Gallo Sierra Valley wine. Gallo is truly global because this adorable place is in the absolute middle of no-where!

The highlight of the day was reaching tea country. Tea is the #1 agricultural export for Sri Lanka thanks to the British. The vast tea plantations are gorgeous! Everywhere you look is covered with leafy green tea bushes and colorfully dressed women (Tamil’s from Southern India) who pick the buds for $2 a day. We stopped at the Labookellie Tea Factory and I took a tour with an adorable young woman who worked in the tasting room. It’s amazing that tea is picked, dried, crushed, fermented, sorted and packaged in 24 hours! The fascinating process reminded me of winemaking complete with 12 types of tea which are classified as low- medium- or high-grown. The visit finished with a lovely cup of tea in the garden tasting room overlooking the plantation. And, a few boxes of tea are a lot easier to carry than wine bottles!

We reached Nuwara Eliya, the highest hill town at over 6,000 feet, in the early evening. Anura told me that when Sri Lankans get a holiday they head for Nuwara Eliya because it’s always cool and relaxing. He wasn’t kidding—I had to wear three shirts and wrap up in a sarong to walk into town. It was a two blanket evening!

Kandyan Culture

Kandy Land

I flew into to Sri Lanka's capital, Colombo, at 7am. It took all of 10 minutes to negotiate a day rate for a car and driver ($35) and head off on the 3.5 hour journey to Hill Country.

Our first stop was the Pinnewala Elephant Orphanage, which houses 67 elephants that were abandoned. We arrived at feeding time and then walked around a muddy field to see them roaming. We even saw a one month old baby drinking milk from her Mom. I am crazy about elephants and this was a real treat!

The capital city of Hill Country, Kandy, is stunning. It's set on a lake and surrounded by lush green hills. It's always Spring in Kandy alternating between bright sunshine and rain all day. It feels tranquil and almost divine.

While Sri Lanka has many religions, Kandy is a Buddhist town. Sri Lanka's most sacred Buddhist relic is here in the Temple of the Tooth. You guessed it, a gorgeous temple was built to house one of Buddha's teeth, which was taken from his funeral fire back in 543 BC. The temple is magnificent. We waited for the evening "puja" or viewing time and filed passed to see an ornate gold casket which is thought to house the tooth. Locals and pilgrims come bearing flower pedals and the whole scene is lovely.

I also took in a quintessential Kandy experience, a Kandyan dance performance. The Kandyan dance which is fantastic with imaginative costumes, exotic moves and an exciting drum beat, is the national dance of Sri Lanka. But the highlight of the evening was the grand finale of fire walking! Those guys are hot!

Why Sri Lanka?

As most of you know, my itinerary came from a list of all the places I'd always wanted to see. Sri Lanka wasn't on it. My adventurous travel agent, Greg, added Sri Lanka. He raved about the island that has everything and, what the heck, it's on the way.

Sri Lanka is called India-lite and is apparently a favorite among travelers to this region. According to the Lonely Planet, Marco Polo thought Sri Lanka was the finest island of its size in the entire world. This I've got to see!

I've done some research now and Sri Lanka has a little bit of everything--beautiful beaches with great surfing and diving, cool Hill Country full of tea plantations, great wildlife including 3,500 elephants, and ancient cities with fascinating temples. I'm going to see how much I can fit into a week in paradise!

Ode to India

What I'll miss most:
Bright colors
Spectacular sari's
Jingling of jewelry
The hysterical head-bobble
Maharaja's palaces
Unexpected beauty
Elephants
Bollywood movies and TV
Fascinating Hindu God's
Festivals
Endless bazaars
Cool old cars
Cows in charge

What I won't miss:
Public urination and worse
The smell
Poor children working/begging
The food
Hearing yes, when the answer is no
Wearing sleeves and pants
The service
Scarves for sale
Incense
Spices
The inability to form a line
Riding on the highway
Hearing "no problem" when there's a big one

Last Day in Bombay

I feel strangely at home here in Bombay. I traded up to a fab hotel, the Ascot Hotel (38 Garden Rd Colaba ascothotel@vsnl.com). My $60 a night room reminds me of my favorite place in Sonoma, the Hotel Healdsburg. The staff is like family, the street is lovely and convenient, and it's only two blocks to the water. I wish I could stay here longer and continue to explore my favorite Bombay.

I had a nice and relaxing last day. I visited the Prince of Wales Museum (photo above) which was really interesting. It was built to honor King George V's first visit to India in 1905, when he was still the Prince of Wales. The design is Indo-Saracenic which basically means many different Indian design techniques were combined including some Islamic influences. My favorite piece was a jewelry case carved out of ivory. The work was so intricate it looked like it was made of silk threads or fine lace. I haven't seen anything like that in a bazaar!

After a bit of culture, I visited a hip salon for a little pampering. I joined Bombay's jet set for a wonderful pedicure ($5) at Juice in Colaba. It is the perfect place for a little pick-me up!

Speaking of the jet set, I'm off at 3am tonight, or this morning, for Sri Lanka.

Boating in Bombay

Last night I went to Leopold's, the most popular restaurant for travelers in Bombay since 1871, to find a friend. In no time a nice British man asked to join me. Terry has just begun his third trip to India, this time it's five months in the South. He's retired and now works half the year and travels the other half. Now that's the life! We arranged to meet this morning to take a boat trip to Elephanta Island.

Terry and I bargained for a boat and took the 45 minute ride through the harbor over to the little island famous for rock-cut temples. I don't have any photos of the Gateway to India from the water, which was spectacular, because the Indians are paranoid about photos anywhere near military installations. The whole harbor is off limits to photos!

The temples on Elephanta Island are extremely elaborate carvings in caves. The carvings, which were probably done around 600 AD, are primarily of Shiva, a popular multi-armed or headed Hindu God. It was amazing to see what looked like ordinary caves from the outside explode with detail when you got inside!

We got back to Bombay before sunset so we headed over to have dinner on Marine Drive. Marine Drive is lined with old Art Deco buildings and is one of the most popular promenades in Bombay. It was great fun to watch the colorful men and women walking by. We found a little Italian cafe and had dinner watching the sunset over the Arabian Sea. It was a Bollywood ending to the day!

Mumbai or Miami?

As I flew out of serene Kerala to Mumbai, I braced for the worst of India in its largest city. What I found was an exciting tropical city which reminds me of the rougher areas in Miami. I love it here!

Like many Indian cities, Bombay was renamed in 1996. I have dutifully been using the new name, Mumbai, even though Bombay is infinitely cooler. Now that I have arrived, I can tell you that the Indians who live here call this Bombay. So, I've decided I can too!

Bombay is a fascinating mix of British culture and Indian craziness. There are gorgeous Victorian and Gothic buildings, public parks filled with Indians dressed in white playing cricket, and tea time is observed. There are also many shopping bazaars, insane drivers, and Bollywood movies everywhere. This would be a great combination alone, but add in the tropical island feel with plentiful palm trees and sea views in all directions and you have one fabulous city!

I am staying in the Colaba district, the island's southernmost area, which is near the harbor. Bombay's most important site, the Gateway of India, is right down the road. The Gateway was constructed to commemorate King George V's visit to India in 1911. However, it eventually symbolized a different kind of triumph as the last of the British troops marched through the arch and out of India in 1947. It must have been amazing to visit here in the heyday of the Raj (British rule).

I decided to have a truly Bombay experience and see a Bollywood movie on my first night in town. I had a ball at "Salaam Namaste," which was not in English but was very easy to follow. The audience was almost singing and dancing with the cast during the three hour show. This is definitely the fun part of India!

Going with the Flow in Kerala

The big thing to do in Kerala is explore the coastline's many canals, lakes and lagoons on what's called a "backwater cruise." I took a wonderfully relaxing all day boat ride yesterday from Kollam to Alappuzha.

About 25 of us floated along the Kerala waterways for eight hours with brief stops for lunch and afternoon tea. We watched men fishing from boats and casting from the banks, women doing laundry, children cheering and waving, and boys jumping from palm trees. We saw temples, houses of all kinds, rice patties, coconut farms, fabulous tropical flowers and millions of beautiful palm trees.

I met a scientist from Sweden, Anna, and a backpacker from London, Ali, and we shared travel stories and laughed a great deal on our backwater journey. Ali, who has my utmost respect for traveling in India for four months, confessed that he has "gone Indian" and given up toilet paper. Anna took full credit for the lovely weather because she went to a Hindu temple before we left and crushed a coconut to ensure a sunny and dry day. We basically lounged in and out of the sun, soaking up the laid back lifestyle all day.

Carefree in Kerala

I'm now a world away from the inspiring beauty and astounding filth of northern India. I flew into the coastal region of Kerala and was thrilled to see palm trees and big waves. A driver was waiting with one of the funny white "India Ambassador" cars to take me to the tiny village of Varkala.

Varkala is a simple village paradise. High cliffs overlook the rough surf beach. There are beach huts, tiny hotels, seaside restaurants displaying the catch of the day, and shops to browse. Varkala's a temple town. My driver proudly announced that he was born right next to the temple and that the great temple has its own elephant. Unfortunately, non-Hindus aren't allowed to go in the Janardhana Temple, so I've only walked the grounds.

I've been taking it easy and planning the last part of my journey here. I have breakfast by the Indian Ocean watching the waves, walk along the beach and then retreat to read in the middle of the day. It's hot and oppressively humid. I come out again for the spectacular sunsets and dinner alfresco.

I met three interesting German women (an interpreter, teacher and airline employee) on my first night and they left this morning for a backwater tour. It's been nice to relax in Varkala, and I'm now ready to head to the backwater myself tomorrow!

Turning South

Reality check, after 14 days in India my body has staged a little revolt. Indian food is my biggest challenge on this world tour. As my old roommate James will tell you, I can't even stand the smell of Indian food -- he'd have to open the windows and take out the trash if he ate Indian in our apt.

After eating Tandoori Chicken & Naan (the only two Indian dishes I can bare), and Imodium for two weeks, the Delhi Belly turned into a scary fever the night of my birthday. Thank God I was in a great hotel. The hotel sent a doctor and blood tech to my room in the morning. I was nervous about malaria and the two hour hand-delivered blood report was a huge relief.

I'm taking CIPRO and heading south to Kerala on India's coast to relax...

Good OLD Varanasi

Varanasi is one the oldest living cities on earth with over 2,000 years of history. It’s also perhaps the holiest city in India. Life here centers around the Ganges River, which draws pilgrims who bathe in the water to purify their soul. It’s considered an honor to be born or die in Varanasi, so celebrating my birthday here must mean that I will have a great year!

My birthday officially began on an overnight train from Agra. I was traveling with two cute Dutch girls, Corina and Jorise, who are cousins. We left the great unwashed masses and bribed our way into the first class cabin ($20 for all three of us). After a marvelous sunrise we arrived in Varanasi to my awaiting car. We spent the afternoon walking around the old city down to the river, which was an amazing experience. We first watched a herd of cattle taking a purifying bath right next to a dozen men taking their bath in the muddy water.

Next, we found one of the two burning ghats on the Ganges, the Harishchandra Ghat. We watched as the family members of the deceased, wearing all white, soaked the colorfully covered body in the Ganges and then built a log pile, adding the body in the middle. One person walked around the body five times lighting the logs with branches. Family members were sitting around, but no one was upset. Sometimes it takes a family a long time to raise the money for the funeral wood ($35), and in any case cremation by the Ganges is a great honor. After three hours the ashes of the body are spread in the river.

We also saw a body covered with colored silk and garland put on a boat, rowed out to the middle and sunk. Apparently there are 6 types of dead who do not need to be cremated because they are already pure like babies, pregnant women, lepers, those bitten by a Cobra… The Hindu religion is full of color and ceremony!

We had a fun birthday dinner of continental food in a garden restaurant, and then Corina and Jorise came back to my room for some cake. I splurged on a great hotel, the Clarks Hotel, which is the oldest in Varanasi. The staff is divine! They upgraded me to a suite and sent up a beautiful cake.

I believe it was auspicious to start a new year in old Varanasi.

The Magnificent Taj Mahal

Visiting the Taj Mahal has been my dream for as long as I can remember, and it was even more beautiful than I could have imagined. This monument to love created by Emperor Shah Jahan as a mausoleum for his second wife, Mumtaz Mahal. Mumtaz died in 1631 in childbirth with the Emperor's 14th child! The mausoleum took over 20,000 people 22 years to build. It was a labor of love for the Emperor and has stood the test of time in both magnificent design and flawless construction. It's amazing to see a building from 1653 that looks so new and perfect in all respects. The white marble takes on the changing color of the sky and constantly looks different.

My first visit was at sunrise. Seeing the Taj Mahal literally took my breath away. I beat most of the tourists and had a unobstructed, magnificent view! There is just something about the building that sums up all that is great about love and sacrifice in one place. Although the simple gardens and water reflecting pools are lovely and the symmetry of the large red sandstone gates and outer buildings are wonderful, it's the almost translucent white marble building that captures all the attention. The design of domes and arches creates the feeling that the monument is floating toward heaven. The marble carving and inlay work also give the impression that the building is made of fine lace--even close up. It's both massive and light and airy at once.

I give great credit to India for halting development around the Taj Mahal, its greatest tourist attraction. Walking around the marble platform and seeing the river flow by peacefully and trees in all directions adds to the special "other worldly" feeling. Also, the majority of the visitors is overwhelmingly colorfully dressed Indians, which just adds an exclamation point on the spectacle.

I went back again to see the Taj at sunset, then went to the other side of the river to see a different view today. I literally spent hours looking at this monument and just can't get enough. I believe it's the most beautiful building ever created by man!

Jumpin' Jaipur

The PR color coding of Rajasthan cities continues... I am now in the Pink City of Jaipur. The old section of town is indeed made of pink sandstone. And, like the other cities in Rajasthan, there is a great palace complex and a fabulous fort to see here. The Pink City Palace complex is well preserved and the royal family still lives there. In addition to the great royal clothing and textiles museum, my favorite part was the Hall of Private Audience, which is a very public pavilion full of columns in the center of the complex. On display were two massive silver jars, the largest in the world according to Guinness BR, which a Maharaja used to take Ganges River water with him to England. He didn't trust the English water. How ironic!

The most beautiful fort/palace is just north of Jaipur in Amber. The Amber Fort, constructed in the late 1500's, sits on a lake and has a picturesque view of the old wall protecting the Maharaja's palace. I even watched the elephants taking a bath in the lake! The palace is amazing with 12 apartments for the queens (they weren't allowed to enter each others apt) and a secret passage to each from the Maharaja's chambers.

The historical sites are wonderful in Jaipur, but travelers come here to shop. This city is one huge bazaar. I did a little shopping for my parents, but I quickly lost the will to fight the madness. If possible, Jaipur is even more chaotic than Delhi. It's hard to describe the scene, but I'll try. Take Manhattan traffic when the President is in town, add large trees and makeshift temples randomly to the lanes, replace every fourth car with a cow, mix in camels pulling bulging carts and elephants piled high with goods, turn taxi's into bike and auto-rickshaws, give every pedestrian a motorbike, take away all traffic signals, pavement, and policemen, and add the phrase "horn please" to every bumper.

I was thrilled to board my first train in India bound for Agra. I had a plush sleeping compartment with a/c and nice people. I was much more comfortable on the 6 hour journey than the hundreds of people piled on the roof of the train! The rules are very, very different in India.

Pilgrimage to Pushkar

At first I was just praying that I would reach the holy city of Pushkar alive. Abid resembled the Hindu God with many arms as he weaved through six hours of country side at lightening speed. The best thing about Pushkar is that it's a pedestrian town!

I fell in love with this little holy hamlet on the water. The Pushkar Palace Hotel right on the lake was the nicest hotel I've had in India. There is a peacefulness around Pushkar that extends from the great Brahmin temple to the little shops and cafes that cling to the edge of the holy lake. Closing the day at the Sunset Cafe was my favorite time. However, the no alcohol, meat or eggs rule in town seems a bit harsh.

I've had enough pasta in pretty Pushkar, so it's time to take my life in my hands and head off to Jaipur...

The Romance of Udaipur

If you close your eyes and picture an exotic 16th century kingdom on a silver lake surrounded by mountains ruled by a powerful Maharana with extravagant tastes, many beautiful wives and hundreds of concubines--that's Udaipur. This place is a romance novel waiting to happen!

I watched the morning come to life from a boat on Lake Pichola. We saw the women washing clothes creating a spectacular riot of color. We cruised by the exclusive Lake Palace Hotel island. The Lake Palace Hotel was formerly the royal Summer Palace, and is where I'll stay on my next visit to Udaipur. We also stopped at Jagmandir Island which was once the Maharana's pleasure palace.

I spent the afternoon at the City Palace complex, which is the largest in Rajasthan. I learned that a Maharana is more powerful than a Maharaja, and that the current Mewar royal family is reportedly the oldest ruling dynasty in the world, with 76 generations of power. Over 22 Maharana have built and added to the City Palace. I even got to see the current Maharani (Queen) leaving the palace in a full on parade. She was in a huge white British car, proceeded by colorful men on horseback. Now that's traveling in style!

Picturing Udaipur

Evening in Udaipur

The fairy tale ending in Udaipur started with drinks at sunset place in the City Palace complex with two fun Scottish girls, Sally and Stephanie, we met on the road a few days ago. Their driver was having car trouble so we gave them a lift to Jodhpur. I've met them for dinner each night since. We had cocktails and watched the sunset on all the palaces of Udaipur.

Then, I took a boat over for a magical diner at the Lake Palace Hotel. The hotel is certainly fit for a Maharana and I felt very at home there! After dinner I was given a great tour of the hotel island by the manager. I wanted to send for my bags and never leave!

The Road to Udaipur

I had originally planned to fly down to Udaipur, but I was talked into going with the driver instead. Of course, this was before I knew that Abid has a death wish. So, off I went for another five hour white-knuckle drive through the countryside.

It was great fun to see the small villages and life outside of India's cities. The wonders never cease. The first thing I saw leaving Jodhpur was a huge tree in the middle of the left lane on a four-lane highway. No warning, just a large tree. Abid explained that the "Neem" tree is special to Hindu's (apparently it helps with chicken pox) and you aren't allowed to cut them down. So, I guess they just paved around it when they expanded the road. Speaking of roads, I was shocked to see women in brightly colored sari's working on road crews. No joke, they were spreading tar and swinging pick axes in pink and yellow dresses! Talk about being over dressed! Abid explained that women in the country work harder than the men.

The country side just got more and more colorful. I think Ringling Brothers got the idea for the circus from the trucks in India. Trucks say "Goods Carriers" on the front and are a riot of color and art. There is fringe hanging, tassels flying, beads swinging... And they are piled a mile high with goods. The buses look similar but say "Public Carriers" and are stuffed with people inside and then more sit on the luggage rack on top. Of course they are all brightly dressed and add to the decor! If you add in the impromptu Hindu temple processions with God's in pick-up trucks followed by dancers, it's a bit like Mardi Gras on the country roads.

We stopped at Ranakpur, one of the largest Jain Temples in India (photo above). This special Hindu temple dates back to 1439 and has well over a thousand differently carved pillars. It's easy to see why it took over fifty years to build!

From Ranakpur we headed over the mountain range that surrounds Udaipur. I told Abid that I get very car sick on the curving roads, which he took to mean the faster he climbed the mountains the better. He honked constantly to make sure that any wildlife in the sanctuary could run before we saw, or hit it. By passing on blind curves and running over anything in our path, we made it to Udaipur in record time. As we entered Udaipur I noticed that we stopped (something we NEVER do) and saw a red light. It was the first stop light I have seen in 15 hours of driving in Rajasthan!

On the Road Again