Girlspy's (Or Spygirl's) Most Extraordinary 5 Week Journey Through India and Nepal-I Barely Scratched the Surface!
 

I have just returned from a most incredible and unforgettable 5 week journey through India and beautiful (but tense), Nepal (indeed, how can a journey to these two countries be anything BUT incredible, no?) The hammer and sickle of the Maoist party (elections in April) were everywhere in Nepal, alas.

My introduction to India started out on Jan. 30th in helly Delhi, and, except for the Imperial Hotel, which I loved for its Raj elegance, and the amazing Spice Route restaurant contained within, also the Sunday evening visit to the Sikh "gurdwara" (Sikh temple) which was altogether a very informative, as well as interesting experience, nothing seemed to make an impression on me here, the Jama Masjid mosque, the Red Fort, Chandi Chowk, nothing, nothing except the poverty and the horrendous conditions of the roads in Delhi, the tires that were being burned on the potholed street outside our hotel in Karol Bagh for warmth (just like in ancient times, this is how the vast majority of Indians stay warm when it is cold, by making a fire in the street, I observed). But I did like that big, red, crazy looking Hanuman temple up in Karol Bagh, with the tiger mouth entrance, and the lovely Shiva shrine also-but Delhi, Old and New, was just blah to me. (However, I must say, one can eat very very well in Delhi very cheaply- I found the food to be uniformly good). My thoughts on Delhi are that I will have to give it another try in the future.

I then met up with my Dutch traveling companions, and we proceeded to travel onward and outward by bus through the desert state of Rajasthan. After about 5 days of my journey, I got sick in Bikaner, which is a very lively desert city with an amazing fort, but the old part of the city, where you can actually see craftsmanship at work, without the tourists-(almost none here) the creation of the hand-made vegetable dyes with their brilliant color that are used to tint the beautiful saris and other Indian clothing, was quite interesting to me, as well as seeing camels everywhere here- they are, of course, a primary means of transport-along with the auto rickshaw, called, (just as in Thailand) a "tuk-tuk." My Dutch friends and I went on a crazy auto rickshaw drive here with a popular Indian rock song blaring and the driver dancing to the music as we careened along the narrow alleyways in the old city of Bikaner towards the historic Jain temple there-very fun and crazy! I ate a cardamom pod that was given to me in the spice market (don't do this) and, unlike my traveling companions who did not eat it, I promptly got sick with diarrhea for 3 days straight. The diarrhea was coupled with my other chest cold sickness-I had a 102 degree fever up along the Jaisalmer/Bikaner route-and I truly, FROZE TO DEATH FOR ALMOST TWO WEEKS IN INDIA. The bitter cold was the worst, they advised us, in 40 years! I constantly asked for space heaters, I did not expect minus 5 degrees at night!

Because it was so cold, and a number of us were sick, we canceled our planned overnight camel safari-no regrets on my part, particularly after I talked to this Australian woman who had come to India alone for a holiday, and was greatly underwhelmed. She had done the overnight safari, she said, and had been SO cold, that she dragged her blanket and bag to be close to the fire, and then the blanket caught on fire! To make matters worse, after stomping out the flame, and being unable to sleep the entire night in such cold, the guide charged her 500 rupees for the old blanket-eek! She was ready to leave India after that, and I can't blame her, only glad it wasn't me!

Before reaching Bikaner, however, we stayed for a night in the lovely and amazing Mukandgarh fort hotel, where I had a most romantic and really rather Arabian looking room in a castle turret, with four small stained glass windows and a large queen size bed on the floor (but no one to share it with!) replete with candles at the dressing table, and an outer seating area with colorful Rajasthani cushions and additional stained glass windows. That night, in the beautiful and elaborately painted dining area, we were entertained by Rajasthani singers and comedians-in the candlelight-as an outdoor fire burned to keep out the worst of the penetrating cold-that was quite the experience!

For a month my Dutch group and I (I being the only American) started off via bus to tour much of Rajasthan, then Agra, then Varanasi, and then, we went to a place that only God and the Dutch who booked us there could find - a maharajah's "resort" right on the India/Nepal border-a place so far out of the way, so absolutely stuck in time somewhere in the early 20th century-with, get this- TRIPLE TIGER HEADS above the fireplace mantle in the dining room, and THREE WHOLE tiger skins with fierce snarling heads on the walls in the parlour, and entrance ways, along with various armaments! Wow! One wonders where all the Indian tigers have gone? Here!, that's where! This maharajah of Shivpatinagar and his family must have greatly contributed to their demise! The freaking place looked like a taxidermy shop! (Unfortunately, the Mahajarah of S. was gone the night we were there, otherwise, we would have dined with him). And those pictures of the maharajah's family in the early 20's and 30's, my room with an 8 inch gecko scaling the wall-the beautiful grounds, a wrap around porch (with more dead animal heads hanging outside and in the parlour) with royal palms and roses in the garden even- a spooky place-and the village just outside the maharajah's property? Why, those villagers lived like they were back in the 12th century-no electricity, no running taps, certainly no toilets, only oil lamps which we saw them lighting as we approached the maharajah's property! Freaky!

The following is a list of some, but certainly not all, the cities, towns and villages I visited: Bikaner, Mukundgarh, another deserted town which name I can't remember filled with beautiful abandoned "havelis" (somewhat similar to Venetian palazzos-old frescoed Indian mansions, with beautiful 17th-18th century frescos in them-used by Bollywood occasionally for backdrop), Karni Mata (the infamous RAT TEMPLE of Bikaner-yep, they worship rats there-QUITE the experience to go there-I was thinking of bubonic plague and hanta virus the whole time I was there-no bare feet for me!), Jaisalmer, (lots of F-16 activity in the skies here, as it is very close to the border with Pakistan, but a magnificent living fort and lake area with lovely Jain temples), Jodhpur, Jaipur, Udaipur (LOVED Udaipur-met an Englishman who had recently resigned his directorate's job and was doing India on his own, like myself, and we spent a freezing evening drinking brandy under 3 outside heaters at the magical Fateh Prakash Palace in Udaipur-at the outside terrace bar, which looks out to the even more magical Lake Palace-very nice!-But oh, what happened after he took me to my taxi-(he was leaving the next morning) the taxi driver and the others standing about were ALL EYES when he gave me a brief kiss, so Mr. Taxi Man- (who extorted great sums of money from me since it was late at night, and no other transportation was about) bursts into my hotel to BLAB on me to the hotel manager, trying to make me out to be some foreign corrupt woman! I KNOW what he was saying, and I was ready to smack him! You remember what happened to Richard Gere and his Bollywood actress when he kissed HER in public, right?)

Meanwhile, we traveled on: Ranakpur (famous Jain temple), Fatehpur Sikri, Agra, then by 2nd class Indian sleeper to Varanasi- (a funny trip, that overnight train ride, but better than I expected, actually-what was astonishing were the pursers hired to take our suitcases from the bus, over a bridge, up the stairs and then down the steep stairs to the Agra train station platform, with NO LESS THAN TWO HEAVY SUITCASES/DUFFELS BALANCED ON THEIR HEADS! Yes! I kid you not! They would wrap a heavy rag on top of their turbans, set the suitcases on their heads, and they were off, never once letting one fall! These Indian men could NOT have weighed more than 120 pounds at most! It was just another jaw-dropping moment in India to observe this happening, as we walked along and beside them-(we tipped them well, I assure you!)

And Varanasi, what an astonishing place! The city was on a terrorist alert while we were there, troops were everywhere, since Varanasi has recently had killer bombs set off at the train station and at the civil court which killed dozens of people, however, on that magical evening on the Ganga, (was it just February 17th or so? It seems like I was there years ago!) on a perfect, almost full moon evening of our first day, where we set out 200 odd floating candles as we floated by boat on the Ganga at sunset, to be a party and witness to the incomparable evening ceremonies by the Hindu priests (at the beautiful "Agni Pooja" Worship of Fire) where a dedication is made to Lord Shiva, the Ganga and the universe, Shiva, who allegedly created the "ghat" or steps, (the famous Dhashashwamedh ghat) on which this extraordinary nightly ceremony takes place with much incense, fire, chanting and performing the blessings, our participation in the ceremony by chanting with the priests,with our candles drifting like beautiful runway lights on the water in the background, a symbol, our boat guide said, of washing away our sins and granting our wishes, but only if all the candles would be lit and would float-which we managed successfully to do! An absolutely magical night, a priceless, one of a kind experience that I will remember always! But the extraordinary burning ghats of Varanasi, the shell game that was attempted on us about blessings of the Ganga in order to extract money from us, those fake Sadhus (holy men) with their cell phones, "posing" for the tourists in order to get their 10 rupees and then, attacking some tourists when they didn't give any money, the other wild and wacky experiences I had in Varanasi-for example, the large cow comfortably laying right up next to the large counters in a clothing shop-a real store, not a stand-this you had to see- so that the cow could observe and pass judgment on your purchases- Oh, I laughed my ARSE off-UNFORGETTABLE! I cannot tell you all that I saw and did in Varanasi, I'm still going over those images in my head! Particularly what we saw and learned about the burning ghats! I also visited Sarnath, where Buddha gave his first sermon, and achieved nirvana under the bodhi tree (which you can see, covered with Tibetan prayer flags). There were groups of Buddhist nuns from Thailand who prostrated themselve before the great stupa at Bodnath-this is a very peaceful place to visit, very close, about 25 minutes or so, by auto-rickshaw from Varanasi.

Then from Varanasi onto the aforementioned Shivpatinagar (the god-forsaken (I mean REALLY godforsaken! place where, it seemed, all the poor tigers and other animals that are now all but disappeared in India met their fate!) just 30 km. from the Nepal border, to stay overnight, after 12 long hours on the bus through terrible pot-holed roads to reach this desolate place! (the food served here was very good though, but I preferred not to have those triple tiger heads staring down at me as I ate, so I drank a lot of beer, so as not to have it bother me!) Then tentatively and cautiously, we crossed the India/Nepal border by foot, (as I have said many times, my very favorite way to enter a country is by foot) and bicycle rickshaw (our Indian bus could only take us to the border-that was weird-particularly when the gateway to Nepal was covered with the red hammer and sickle. As we passed through the gateway, this obscene symbol of terrorist power, making us feel nervous, as there had been bombings and demonstrations going on through the Valley before our arrival, this symbol all over the gate and the fences leading through the border-and then having our suitcases follow us through the border by bicycle rickshaw-oh it was another priceless experience, that! Then on a Nepali bus to begin our magical trip through Nepal -the jaw-dropping scenery of the Kathmandu Valley, the Nepali roadside villages where we stopped to take a tea and a snack for 5 Nepali rupees (worth less than the Indian rupee) then on to the incomparable UNESCO heritage site of -Chitwan National Park, a lovely peaceful spot with wonderfully warm villagers.

And what happened while we were here in Chitwan? Well, some in our group encountered-A RHINO ATTACK! Yes, that's right! I didn't go, because I read my Lonely Planet beforehand, and maybe good ole' LP saved my life! My Dutch traveling companions however, took that ill-advised jungle walk, and then, heard the ground rumble and shake with 4-5 tons of angry rhino heading right towards them! I understand that some in the group froze, the others ran to climb a tree-including the inexperienced guide and our trusty Dutch coordinator-Piet, being one of them! Oh I laughed my arse off about that later, as if climbing some measly little tree 5 feet up would stop a 4-5 ton rhino! The women in the group, (I was told by each of them), just froze (except for D. who did some sort of forestry work back in Holland, she sort of set herself up as a shelter, watching the rhino to decide what to do! Luckily, very luckily it rushed past them at the last moment, hidden by some brush within a few feet of them, but remember, the rhino has poor eyesight, you are supposed to run zig-zag to confuse them! Whew! I was SURE glad I read the LP on not doing the jungle walks for f ear of exactly what happened to some of my group and their inexperienced guides! Later, safely on the back of an elephant, we saw many rhino up close and personal-down by the river, but also, back in the brush, laying down, chewing on some grass, and just observing us with their beady little eyes-they are a funny, prehistoric looking animal for sure, up close! I whispered to them as I saw them "please rhinos, please don't charge us, we just want to take some pictures and look at your scary prehistoric looking self, okay? Please don't charge us, 'cuz we'll never survive, as close as we are to you, we sure can't outrun you!"

We saw no tigers, thank god-I wasn't one who wanted to encounter a tiger in the wild, thank you very much! We also saw deer, of course but also, the rare and endangered Sun bear, crocodiles (two varieties, a cobra (yes, from a distance!) several water birds, and we ventured through jungle areas filled with a light blue flower that carpeted the ground with blue-with the river in the distance, the jungle birds and monkeys with their calls, it was just so lovely and peaceful, as we made our way by elephant (called "hathi" in Indian and Nepali) on our jungle visit in Chitwan. Later, in the village filled with the nicest people, we saw a Maoist-affiliated workers demonstration through the village demonstrating for higher wages for the hotel and tourist guide workers, and I had interesting discussions with the village people about what would happen to their lovely country come the elections in a few weeks, which I will be following now. They are to get rid of their 300 plus year old monarchy, as they believe, that the King is bad and corrupt, and that he had something to do with the massacre of the royal family back in 2001.

Going by elephant ride into the jungle was great, (the trip is not nearly so comfortable as an elephant ride in Thailand though, different seating-you use a "howdah" in India) but what was truly an unforgettable sight was going down to the river in the morning, taking breakfast at the edge of the water, listening to cool jazz music and watching the morning elephant bathing in the river! Oh no, folks, this was nothing like Thailand-much less touristy, more authentic-it was just another priceless experience, watching the elephants for more than an hour, being scrubbed with broken pieces of rock or pottery, alongside the Nepali women who were there taking a bath and washing their hair next to the elephants, AND doing their wash in the river (right next to where the elephants defecated, oh well, I didn't have any laundry done in Chitwan for this very reason!), truly an exceptional experience-Chitwan is a special place, and I say, Chitwan forever! (P.S. There is a picture somewhere I saw of Hillary and Chelsea doing what I did, an elephant ride in Chitwan! It seemed whereever I went in India or Nepal, I saw a picture of Hilary, or Bill, with Chelsea doing something!)

Then on to Pokhara, the trekking destination, we all loved it here as well, so comfortable and set up for the westerner, with the magnficent Annapurna backdrop. We ate at the Boomerang restaurant, which we enjoyed very much-where we drank Everest beer, and then went down to that beautiful lake with a Hindu temple in the middle-a lovely place, so completely different from our India! But nothing compared to the extraordinary Kathmandu-that was the bomb for me! I had always wanted to come here and IT DID NOT DISAPPOINT! Climbing all those steep steps straight up to the fantastic Swayambunath Buddhist temple my first morning there, with the eyes of Buddha painted on all four sides of the temple-signifying Buddha's compassion and unity all over the world-sharing the place at the summit with a huge Hindu temple there,- an extraordinary place-I had a lovely breakfast at the Cafe de Stupa as I exhaustedly reached the top before heading off to the temple-this bird's eye view of Kathmandu, with fresh squeezed mango and pomegranate juice, a vegetable omelet, toast and milky Nepali tea to get me on my way-perfect! On the way down, I got my fortune told by a Buddhist astrologer, talked with some Nepali-Americans there on a visit, who decried the changes to the beloved city of their childhood, yes, Swayambunath is a very special place indeed.

And then I visited Bodhnath-the Tibetan exile community just outside Kathmandu. LOVED BODHNATH-I watched for over an hour at the balcony of the brightly painted Tibetan monastery as the Tibetan community made their clockwise rounds around the Bodhnath temple turning those prayer wheels, the small prayer wheels and the gigantic wheels, socializing, clicking their prayer beads, young and old, with the red-robed monks (many western monks among them) all going around clockwise, ever clockwise, with the meditation tape "Om mani padme hum" playing in the background-it WAS a mesmerizing and most moving sight, and I soon joined them, making my clockwise circle. I tell you, I have a whole different perspective on the Tibetan exile community after Nepal-their energy at making a successful life outside their country, coupled with their deep cultural ties to their land and their faith is truly something to behold.

And of course, there is the magnificent UNESCO heritage site (oh, the UNESCO sites of Nepal-they truly all are SO fabulous, aren't they?) of Durbar Square in Kathmandu, with the incomparable figure of BHAIRAVA-the fearsome demon (or demonic incarnation of Shiva) slayer with a headdress of skeletons, stomping on a corpse-I could NOT take my eyes from this fearsome demon in all its priceless UNESCO glory-too wild-LOVED IT! (If you've not seen a picture of it, go here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/bhairava). It is said that you will die if you speak falsely before Bhairava, so for many years, the Supreme Court of Nepal was held here at this temple, in front of Bhairava! Yes! There is so much to see and experience here at Durbar Square, the beautiful Newari architecture, the Kumari goddess' temple, etc., and there are many good rooftop cafes along the square that one should avail themselves of in order to experience the scene, something I very much enjoyed doing. And then to visit Patan's Durbar Square-just 20 minutes away from Kathmandu, with possibly an even more magnificent UNESCO site of incomparable Hindu and Buddhist temples and buildings, I did not have enough time in Nepal to see everything-must, must go back!

P.S. Kathmandu has casinos-so I went to the Yak and Yeti to play slots, and immediately won $150.00 US-sweet! It paid for a couple of fancy meals in Kathmandu, but one of the best meals I had was at Nuovo Marco Polo, an Italian restaurant with a real live cute young Italian man who worked there, Francesco. He and I talked in Italian, and then, he wanted to take me out the next day, but I stood him up, as I had a limited time to see and do the things I wanted to do. Oh well, maybe next time!

As for India, SO MANY villages without a name we went through there!- And all of them fascinating, all the lovely fruits and vegetables for sale, us passing through, watching all the business of the village, all at once: one man shaving another with just a small mirror tacked up to a pole, a colorfully saried woman carrying bricks out in a field, one village had all these baskets filled with beautiful red peppers, and then all the Indian sweets for sale! I tried several that I was not already familiar with, given my sweet tooth, and there were many I had never tried which were delicious! Barfi, an Indian milk fudge, another hot milk dessert made with vermicelli pasta, delicious fried pastry in syrup called jalebis-of course gulabjamon-fried dough balls in rosewater syrup-kulfi, a pistachio ice cream-I ate them all! Everywhere I went I was a curiosity, it seemed; the children in the desert villages of Rajasthan would surround us, teeming around us, with no social boundaries, one group of girls simply ripped my bead bracelets right off my arms, and started pulling on my hair laughing-I had to move away quickly. What with all the children begging, begging, the men staring, forming a fascinated group around us as we were paying for fruit, and a couple of times, having a man actually grab my breast in a village-it was difficult and highly irritating but still exceptional in every way!

And then there was me, hanging out in ALL the former maharaja 5 star palace hotels I could find, and of course, staying in some of the funkiest PRESENT maharaja palaces (like in Jaipur-the maharajah of Bissau, at the Bissau Palace hotel-really like a museum, made into a 3 star hotel-an amazing place-complete with maharajah staring at us in the garden from his second floor balconies, where he and his wife live above the hotel rooms!)

As for my purchases, I'm very happy with what I bought! The beautiful jewelry I bought in Jaipur-two beautiful 18 karat gold rings-one with a lovely, large brilliant cut citrine, the other with a lovely star ruby with diamonds on each side-I like these a lot, and a very good price I got for both of them. (With a picture of Bill and Chelsea in the background of the jewelry store no less-they came to Jaipur sometime in the 90's and stayed at the Oberoi, but of course, the Rambagh Palace hotel, the former maharajah of Jaipur's residence, where I went to purchase my jewelry, is one of the loveliest places I have been anywhere,- I could have stayed there for days, I liked it that much. I had dinner with two older ladies from New York there, who were doing strictly 5 star all the way through their trip to India and Kathmandu and they advised it was worth every penny to do so, they were having a fabulous time!

While in Jaipur, you must visit, but not buy, at the famous Gem Palace store, (which, by the way, was NOT all that-but is more a destination to see, rather than a place where you would actually purchase such overpriced jewelry-much better deals elsewhere!) Also, Princess Di and Charles's photo was there-it seemed a lot of places we stayed, like in Jodhpur, for example, were places that Prince Charles and Diana had visited, because the owner of the hotel was a maharajah, or was important enough to be presented as royalty!). The lovely Nepali silver and lapis bracelets I bought, the Nepali turquoise bracelet and semi-precious stone jewelry in Nepal that I purchased for very little, the Rajput miniature paintings in Jaipur by a local artist, the beautiful bronze Hindu statuary that I bought in Patan, Patan, with its own magnficent UNESCO heritage site in its Durbar Square, a royal city which specializes in the making of the exquisite bronze Hindu deities with delicate 22 karat gold leaf faces-expensive, yes, but far less so than here in the US and in other parts of the world-and you wouldn't find this quality either! I have a beautiful Ganesh, and two other Hindu deities that are beautifully crafted with some hand painting on them-not like the mediocre stuff what you find here in such shops that sell Hindu bronze statuaries). The lovely primitive women's art I bought, showing scenes of Nepali village life, painted by women from the village cooperatives around Chitwan, the dozens of bangle bracelets I bought in Mumbai, the two saris in Varanasi, the hand-embroidered Indian shirts, my bhindi red dot between my eyes, my lovely silk and cotton scarves-oh yes, I did the Indian look REAL well, it came quite naturally to me, and I even received compliments (Indians asked me if I were English, noooo, I don't THINK so!)

Oh, and then, after I said good bye to my Dutch traveling companions, I went on Kingfisher airline (excellent airline-the CEO rather like a Richard Branson!) to Mumbai, a city with a gorgeous beach and marine drive-with a FABULOUS rooftop bar at the Intercontinental Hotel called Dome, with a priceless view of the "Queen's Necklace"-the entire waterfront view of Marine Drive and Chowpatty Beach in Mumbai visible (it is rather like the Skybar in Bangkok as an example, but a far less polluted atmosphere than in Bangkok). Plus going to eat at Leopold's Cafe was a real treat (since 1871 a traveler destination with excellent food and atmosphere, situated right in the middle of a market-I bought a Leopold's Cafe cup as a souvenir). I did the Bollywood scene by dining one night at the friendly Indigo Restaurant, with excellent but quite expensive continental cuisine, which is where tout Bollywood goes as well-highly recommended! Also, I spent time at the historic Taj Palace hotel on the waterfront, and went into their bookstore to find a whole row of Fodor's guides to India and Europe, where I proceeded to open the London 2008 guide, and there I saw, as my Spygirl incarnation, my advice on Brighton! That was funny. Yes, I REALLY enjoyed Mumbai, and would go back!

Sooo, this is but the briefest of summaries, just barely scratching the surface of my trip of trips-a true trip of a lifetime it was. If anyone has questions about hotels or restaurants I'm pretty sure I can help, because I hit up a LOT of places during my stay-and it was worth it to me to spend money there for a meal and drinks, believe me!

After leaving Mumbai, I headed out to Dubai, which I just returned from yesterday...but that's a trip report for another board...!

Thanks for a very positive contribution to this forum. It sounds like you had an amazing trip. Your enthusiasm really comes through and while I have visited some but not all of the places you visited, you have made me hungry for more. I hope others will read this with an open mind.

Thanks for your report. It's fun to read of travels to more off-the-tourist-path places. I, too, loved Nepal and have been yearning to return sometime soon.

I have to say, I too would have been repulsed by all the taxidermy at the Maharajah's hideaway ay the India/Nepal border.

Certainly a very different, but quite entertaining whirlwind of a report.

Anything to add about Dubai?

Thanks for a great report of what sounds like a fabulous and adventurous experience. Nice to hear from someone else who clearly fell in love with India (except for Delhi - and I was underwhelmed by Delhi too). After you met up with your Dutch friends, were you using a tour guide?

BTW - the Buddha achieved nirvana at Bodhgaya in Bihar province, not at Sarnath.

WELCOME BACK WE HAVE MISSED YOU SO MUCH!!!!

I HOPE THAT YOU ARE AWARE OF THE STATE DEPARTMENT WARNINGS OF ALL THOSE PLACES YOU VISITED....

What a fantasy filled journey, sounds like you lived the dreams of most people....thanks for sharing!

Aloha!

Hey Spygirl-what a magic trip! Great to read your post & all the best for your future travels. BTW we're on our way back to India & Nepal Mar 18 so will have a sake for you at Lotus in KTM. See ya!

Thank you for the report. It's timely, so no penalty. ONE WONDERS WHAT TYPE OF PERSON USES ALL CAPS.

Hi Everyone-thanks for your responses. I've just been unpacking, and forgot some of the things I purchased in Nepal which I'm very glad to find in my suitcase (when you're gone 6 weeks, you do tend to forget what is in there at the bottom...) One thing I forgot, was the wonderful shop in Sauraha (the village outside of Chitwan NP, where I bought the Nepalese women's cooperative paintings-called Mithila paintings of Nepali village life (much more expensive in Kathmandu, where you can also find them, as well as imitations of such paintings-always check the authenticity). The owner did an amazing job of keeping these rolled up paintings in perfect condition by rolling them with two bamboo sticks, then tightly wrapping newspaper around them; they were in perfect condition when unrolled! How ingenious! He had the best prices on necklaces, (as I found when I went into the other shops) so I asked him to hand-string a wood and bead necklace for me with a round pendant hand-carved with Tibetan Buddhist symbols, which he did there in the shop. I just took it out of my suitcase, and it looks great. I also bought wooden hand-carved Nepali keychains to give as little gifts. If ever you are in Chitwan (and you should definitely make a point of arranging a safari here if ever you are in Nepal) the shop is called "Happy House." It has uniquely Nepali gifts at the best prices in the village.

What I had forgotten though, was the organic Nepali that his family produced at its farm in one of the outlying villages of Chitwan. Folks, I just ate two spoonfuls of this, and the honey is TOO good to mix in tea, only to spread on pancakes or tea bread of some kind; it is quite possibly the best honey I've ever had!

Thursday: Yes, quite right. Buddha went to Sarnath to give his first sermon after achieving enlightement at Bodhgaya-the bodhi tree at Sarnath is allegedly a cutting of the original bodhi tree at Bodhgaya. You asked if we had a tour guide. Nope, never, that was not our style. We had a coordinator for the hotels and to plan a get-together to do something together, if we wanted to, like, for example our "experience" at Kutna Hora, the RAT temple, or, we got together one night in Jaipur to go to the much celebrated Raj Mandir cinema-THE Bollywood premiere cinema in India, where we saw a Bollywood movie. Other than that, and I think we got a gratis jungle walk in Chitwan in our package (the one where the rhino attacked) we did our own thing.

I want someone to ask me how much I paid for 32 days of separate hotel rooms in very nice 3 star hotels (I think we stayed in 12 separate hotels, with a couple of meals, a Jet Airways flight from Kathmandu to Delhi, our 2nd class sleeper to Varanasi, our bus trips, our porters for our bags. Go on. Ask me. You might fall out of your seats, like the two New York ladies did that I had dinner with at the Rambagh Palace Hotel.

Lyndie: You ARE ever the intrepid traveler! I do want to hear all about your return trip, particularly to Nepal-(do be careful, as you will be there right before the elections, and there has been quite a bit of civil unrest and sporadic bombings there).

I tell you, I want to go back to Nepal so much, I'm going to see if I can't swing it at the end of this year. I want to further explore Bhaktipur and Patan, particularly Patan, which has so many incredible 13-14th century temples, that you really need a couple of days here, minimum. I had breakfast in Patan at a nice rooftop cafe called the Cafe de Patan (I tried to do only rooftop in the Kathmandu area, for the most part) which was also a guesthouse.

And rhk-I was waiting for someone to say something about the TW to me! I want you to know, that I booked the trip before I was aware that there was an active TW in effect, after I found out that there was, I of course registered my trip with the State Dept., but I did more, I sent my whole travel itinerary to the Embassy in Kathmandu, and updated my travel as we moved through the border, because State had said it is not allowed to go in the area of Chitwan because of the problems with the Terai and the civil unrest there. We did not encounter any problems, however, we did have to change our itinerary and go to Pokhara first, because we initially could not go into Chitwan because of the fuel blockade and strikes going on. Once that ended, we proceeded on with our itinerary with no problems. But it was a little tense there for a couple of days, and I normally would not go to an area with a TW in effect, as I don't want to worry about a spontaneous bombing, about being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Nepal already has some 7 hours of electricity shut-down per day, the situation is not good there, and with the abolishment of the monarchy, expected in April, god only knows what is going to happen- I am so hoping that the country will not erupt again in civil war, but that is a distinct possibility.

P.S. Femi-I'll write something up about Dubai on the Africa/ME board. Initial assessment? Dubai is clearly NOT all that, and why people would go to Dubai to shop, is beyond me. Europeans can find their fantasy bargains right here in the US of A, although not quite as exotically as they can in Dubai (and Dubai ain't exactly what I would call exotic, either-but the Arabian Gulf is very very lovely-turquoise waters and lovely clean beaches-so that's one very fair point in its favor.

Case in point about so-called "bargains": I wanted to check on how much Dubai electronic stores were selling my Canon A570 for. I checked three discount electronics stores, including Radio Shack, and in the electronics "souk" (I use this term loosely-just some discount electronics shops). Here in the US, you can buy it for $136.00 on Amazon.com, yet the CHEAPEST price I found for the camera was $234.00, the most expensive $285.00. So much for the bargains, eh?

I actually found Abu Dhabi, and the Emirates Palace Hotel, the most expensive hotel ever built, I understand-at 3 billion US, to be peaceful, lovely, clean, no traffic problems, and quite wonderful, as a matter of fact. I had a wonderful Italian meal in the breezeway of the Emirates Hotel a complete "pranzo" for about US 100.00 including wine. With the elegant Arabian marble architecture it was quite atmospheric (the Prez stayed here this past Jan.). The Emirates beach is drop dead gorgeous, and there are lovely little marble pavilions dotted along its perfect sandy beach and turquoise waters.

While I was there last week, they had a fabulous art exhibit (7 rooms worth!) of the "Arts of Islam" going on, that I very much enjoyed, and bought an art poster for.

It might interest you to know that while Dubai is building "Dubailand" the largest amusement park in the world, Abu Dhabi is bringing BOTH the Guggenheim AND the Louvre to Abu Dhabi by 2012, in a Frank Gehry designed fabulous museum-there is a marked difference between the two UAE states, one developing as a high class cultural center, the other more family oriented, low-brow culture-the latter would be Dubai. And for Americans, let me say, whatever is your favorite chain restaurant, or favorite mall store, be it, Hallmark cards, or Applebee's or Subway, you'll find it right there in Dubai, no worries!

In my Dubai report, I will warn against the 3 star nightclubs-oops, I mean HOTELS MASQUERADING AS NIGHTCLUBS!


Back to India: I forgot to add, that when coming back from the Amber Fort in Jaipur, while in my auto-rickshaw, I stopped to take a picture of one of the elephants with a load of brush on his back that was heading back into town. After I took the pictures (all told, I took over 1,000 pictures in India and Nepal-I never had ANY problem getting the perfect shot!) I gave the elephant a 10 rupee note in his trunk to give to his mahout, which he promptly swung up to him. As I was going around the elephant to go back to my rickshaw, I looked at its eye, and THE ELEPHANT WINKED AT ME! I just stared in astonishment, and thought, did that elephant really wink at me? Then I looked up at the mahout, who was smiling at me, and said, "he wink at you!" I just started laughing, because it was so absurd, improbable and spontaneous! Ah yes, just another incredible snapshot moment in India!

Ok...I will bite: How much did you pay for the 32 nights at your hotels? Did you book these yourself? Were you on any kind of organized tour?

Thank you for the report..it's been years since I traveled in India and Nepal, but reading about your travels prompted me to think about returning one of these days!

I am in the middle of a new book set mostly in Nepal; you might want to check it out: "High Crimes: The Fate of Everest in an Age of Greed."

wow! great trip. always wanted to go to india. maybe in the next two years. thanks for the report.

Thanks for the wonderful trip report, I really enjoyed it.

Thanks for the feedback everyone, glad you liked my summary! Ok, Ek, you want to know the cost (minus driver and porter tips)? The grand total was $1200 EURO. Pretty darn good price, yes? However, I went with the Dutch, and the Dutch, my friends, ARE the most penny-pitching people on earth-as they themselves freely admit!

But back to India, I keep thinking about those ghats in Varanasi, and the crematory ghats in particular...shall I tell about the picture one of my fellow Dutch travelers took and just sent to me? Ummmm. maybe not! Let's just say, it was a dog with a bone...but a particular bone, a human bone....

Pretty great deal! Good work! So was this any kind of organized tour?

If, by organized tour, you mean is it a set itinerary of cities and countries with the hotels and transportation thrown in, then yes, it is organized in that sense, but nothing more than that. There was a tour coordinator, who tended to the administrative matters, meaning getting our rooms, giving hand-outs about what we could see and do and certain recommended restaurants (but we all had our respective guidebooks, didn't we?) and, like I said, we would organize things amongst ourselves, or, not, as the case may be-that's why I liked it-I loved the itinerary, it went everywhere I wanted to go, yet, there was no tour, except, for Delhi, which wasn't a tour, we had a bus to take us around to the sites, we then got out at the Red Fort, and took a bicycle rickshaw through Chandni Chowk-if we wanted to pick up a tour guide on our own at individual sites, that was entirely up to us. There were a number of singles, but mostly couples, and we all got on quite well. We also did decide to collectively get on bicycle rickshaws and take an inside initial tour on foot of the narrow alleyways, hiddle little temples and the crematory ghats and washing ghats in Varanasi with a tour guide as well, however, we could have also chosen not to, entirely up to the individual. It was really just about perfect for me.

I can't take tour guides, frankly-they drive me batty-I don't care how good they are, just give me a good guide book and let me go off on my own, pick me up, drop me off, take me there, give me a reasonably nice hotel, and then, leave me alone to do my own thing!

That is more or less what I meant..I know you did not go on a tour with a large tour company.. Glad you enjoyed!

How did you get in touch with your fellow tour goers..did you know them before the trip??

Thanks, Ek. Yes, I did know one of the Dutch couples, the youngest couple, which is how I found out about this trip. I was a bit of a novelty, though, seeing as I was the only American, however, I've been around the Dutch off and on for years and years, and since I spoke German, I could communicate that way, when I was so inclined, which was very infrequently that I felt so inclined! (they would tease me sometimes-and I was getting pretty good at comprehending what was said in Dutch).

The Dutch, obviously, had to speak English in these countries, so when they wanted to speak Dutch, which was most of the time amongst themselves, that was no problem with me. I've been with Europeans of all sorts, in school and out, since I was a teenager, so I fully understood their need to speak their native language amongst themselves. We all got along quite well-the key is, as always, to compromise on certain matters. I knew, as I always know, that they would judge me as an American through their preconceived notions, and so I saw it as my job to bust through those negative generalizations, which I think I did, as we all agreed, at our farewell dinner in Delhi, that we had experienced something quite extraordinary on this trip. I was only amazed by how MUCH the Dutch eat-I'll never say another word about Americans and their eating habits again! It was an enormous amount of food!

What was a surprise in our many long bus treks across the huge state of Rajasthan were the places we would stop to eat during the day, a lot of them great lunch buffets set up in these beautiful oasis settings with unique dishes of that area. These roadside tourist restaurants are known as "dhabas" and they are as much a part of the remarkable scene in India as anything else! I remember a few hours out of Delhi this wonderful buffet he had, and for dessert there was a type of sweet called "barfi" that was made from carrots, brown sugar, milk and butter, cooked, cooled, and then cut into squares, it was delicious. By the way, carrots in India are red, not orange, I don't know why. We would see stands and stands of these red carrots, along with cabbage and cauliflower, the staples of the Indian veg. diet, in the many villages we traversed along the way. When you ask for a green salad in India you will ALWAYS get one thing: cucumbers, tomatoes and onions, sometimes those red carrots added in as well-never lettuce of any kind. Once I regained my appetite after my sickness, I would have one of these salads at every meal. And I never got sick from the food in India, no matter how many different places I ate-only that one time in Bikaner, because on invitation from a spice merchant in the Spice Market I swallowed a cardamom pod, which tasted horrible on the way down, and stayed horrible for the next three days. But I DID buy some saffron at a very low price-like US 5.00 for a small tin.

Another thing you will find traveling throughout India is that you will always be able to get Chinese food, and the Indians do Chinese food VERY well, particularly vegetable chow mein. If, like me, you don't eat meat, you'll find that while on the road, you resort to eating a lot of vegetable chow mein, which is both good and filling.

While on the road, we had to have snacks, well, the Dutch did, more than I-those folks ate CONSTANTLY, it seemed! We would pick up snacks for the road after our buffet or la carte lunch meal, but before our afternoon tea/coffee break. I normally don't eat Lay's potato chips, but here in India, I just got a craving for chips, and I had a choice: either "Spanish Tomato Tango" (an excellent tangy tomato flavor, btw, why CAN'T Lay's sell that flavor here in the US, pray?) And the other was "SPICY MASALA"- that was equally good, but a little too spicy for my Dutch friends. The other snack food I indulged in was McVitie's oat digestive biscuits, all of which we could pick up at the "dhabas" along the way. These are quite good-like a very good wholemeal oatmeal cookie. Those items and coca-cola, regular, and Coke light (I was the ONLY one in my group to drink Coke Light, thank you very much, and I got kidded about it, also!) would take us through our long bus rides through Northeast India.

I want to say something though, about this memorable meal that I had at the Rambagh Palace hotel in Jaipur, which to me is just a wonderful place to stay, if you can swing it at US 500.00 a night-this is the former maharajah's palace in Jaipur, and the grounds and service are impeccable-it has a perfect bird's eye view of the Nahargarh Fort, which is floodlit at night, from the back porticos of its terrace "Rajput Room" restaurant.

This is where I had dinner with the two ladies from NYC, and all of us agreed our meals were excellent. There is a fish called "bekhti" -it is a freshwater fish from Kolkata, and it was recommended to me by the waiter. It was one of the most perfectly grilled fish I'd had since Italy-like a sea bass, very delicate taste-perfectly seasoned and delicious. While we were dining out in the gardens, with the fort lit in the distance, there was a cultural dance going on, and on the portico, if you wished, there was an astrologer, dressed in a suit, who would tell your fortune at a desk set up there for that purpose.

For a wine we chose the Indian wine Sula, Sauvignon Blanc. Delicious and highly recommended, but it is rather expensive, at around $US10-14 glass, depending on where you drink it-(I believe it was a bit more at the Agra Amervilas Resort). If you are going to drink something other than Kingfisher beer, then I advise drinking this wine, and this varietal only, the other Sula white did not compare, but the Sauvignon Blanc was uniformly good.

When you get to Nepal there is a much greater variety of European wine available and at a lower cost than in India, don't know why. There is also a far greater variety of western and continental restaurants to choose from as well, and I found the food in Kathmandu and Pokhara to be uniformly acceptable to good. Nepali cuisine is quite similar to Indian, but not nearly as memorable. I don't think anyone was really eating Nepali, I know I wasn't, once we left Chitwan (and there only once, the night before we left there was a Nepali buffet followed by an entertaining Nepali cultural stick dance performed by the men down by the Rapti river at night-very entertaining as we all joined in the dancing).

The rooftop or terrace restaurants and coffee bars are all over Kathmandu, particularly in hopping Thamel, which has most anything you want in terms of shopping and eating, bars and nightlife. I think the Kathmandu coffee bars are particularly good-no Starbucks or other coffee chains here that I could see, thank you, just their homegrown varieties. These coffee bar/restaurants, also the German bakeries, are great for breakfast and other meals as well. One morning in Kathmandu, I had a hankering for pancakes and maple syrup, so I went to a terrace coffee bar on Tridevi Marg, one of the main drags in Thamel, a road that has many excellent bars and restaurants, and it was just what I ordered, unlike in other places in Europe where I have tried to order pancakes and syrup, and it just hasn't come out quite right, including American restaurants in London!

Besides the Italian restaurant Nuovo Marco Polo I referenced above, another very good and informal Italian restaurant in Thamel is called FIRE AND ICE, most noted to be the favorite restaurant of the former Crown Prince Dipendra and his Indian girlfriend, before he massacred his entire family and himself in 2001 when they reportedly opposed his marriage to his Indian/Nepali girlfriend of royal heritage. I asked a shopkeeper about this, and he confirmed that it was in fact the Crown Prince's hangout. I had an excellent veg. pizza and some good Italian Chianti here. It was on the expensive side, but the cooking was authentic and good.

This is great information. Thanks. I cannot believe the Rambagh Palace costs $500 a night. I think it cost $20 when I stayed there on my first trip to India; I hate to admit when that was! I suspect (!) things have changed a lot since then!! I do remember the wonderful Chinese food back then, but you have also given us great details on food in general. Again, what was tour company or agent that put this trip together? I am asking because after reading your report I just may have to get back there one of these days!