We’re back! On the blog that is. We’ve travelled to India, Nepal, and now we’re back in Thailand. We spent 9 days travelling to 4 different cities in India and we spent 9 days travelling to 2 cities in Nepal. Our experience in India was intense, overwhelming, and eye-opening. Our time in Nepal was relaxing, relieving, and filled with natural beauty. It’s difficult to know how to write about all that we saw and experienced in two such unique countries but I will give it a try.
India:
Whew. Where do I start? Well, LJ and I travelled to 4 different cities in Northern India: New Delhi, Jaipur, Agra, and Varanasi; each city had isn’t own charm but all were uniquely Indian. Our first couple of days slapped our sweet-Midwestern selves’ right in the face. We were hassled, lied to, scammed, glared at, and we encountered relentless child begging. Each tuk-tuk ride felt like a game a Russian roulette and the disproportionate amount of men in the street never felt comforting. The sheer amount of people walking and shouting in the road is enough to make your head spin. We quickly learned that the only way to walk in the streets was with your fists clenched, glaring at the ground. If someone tried to talk to us LJ would be as mean as he could be and say, “No thank you” and I would quickly bark, “no!” and look at them like I was mentally deranged. It worked like a charm. Once we started to get the hang of being a tourists in India, we could see what the country had to offer. When we stopped licking our wounds we saw a beauty that was so unique, something we’d never experienced quite before.
India has such an amazing history and gained national independence from the British in 1947. The architecture, food, and prevalence of well-spoken English speaks to the long history of British influence that pervades Indian culture. Although the British have had such an influence on the culture, it’s astounding how intact the culture of India is. Some of my favorite parts of India were the fashion and the food. The beautiful women of India walk around in traditional dress, which includes bright colors and amazing fabrics that drape around their bodies in the most alluring of ways. While looking as beautiful as Indian princesses, they would go about their day and accomplish things with such grace and ease. I saw women carrying bricks and bowls of concrete on their heads while working construction; I saw women caring for 10+ children while picking wheat from the fields; I saw a pregnant women herding groups of goats while carrying a baby on her chest. The women fascinated me. Partly because I knew our worlds were so different and partly because I was curious about a life so uniquely Indian.
The food was mouthwatering. It was so mouthwatering that some nights I would eat two, full dinners. The spices, the potatoes, the vegetables, the masala tea, and most importantly the naan. It all works together to make the most beautiful plate of food that brings a huge smile to my face….and the tea is for LJ. Each night, dinner was our happy place; where we would unwind from the stimulation-overload that is India and word-vomit all of our thoughts and feelings from what we saw during the day. We would talk about the holy cows that Hindus believe is a reincarnation of Vishnu; we would talk of the 15 year old girl who was covered in dirt with a baby on her hip, pounding on our car window for money; we would talk about the dead bodies we saw in the streets of Varanasi; we would talk about the consequences of overpopulation and poverty; we would talk about corruption and how scary it is not to be able to trust the police; but most importantly we talked about what India taught us about ourselves. We joke that we learned more about ourselves than we did about India because the country challenged us in a way we never knew it could. India made us fight, India made him angry, India made me cry though the streets, and India made us question how we handle conflict and the unknown. The experience was full of difficult-to-swallow thoughts, feelings, and emotions but it also helped us appreciate the places we’ve been and the places we’re going to. If you were to ask us now, we’d both say that we’re so grateful to have had the experience to see a place so unique but we’re even happier now that it’s over.
Nepal:
After having an overwhelming and intense experience in India, entering Nepal was like stepping onto a puffy cloud with cookies and milk. There was an absence of people crowding the streets, car horns, and the oppressive heat was nowhere to be found. Although it was different, we were surprised how similar Nepal felt to India at times; women dressed the same, cows in the street, and an overall dust and dirt clouded the air. Although Nepal is believed to be the birthplace of Siddhartha Gautama (i.e. Buddha), 80% of the population identifies as Hindu which is a similar percentage as India. The same religious aura fills time and space: pictures of Hindu gods artistically drawn on buildings, married women painting a red streak down the middle of their head, and the ever-bizarre worshipping of cows (which is believed to be the reincarnation of a major god, Vishnu). Despite the similarities, Nepal had a new a different vibe to it that LJ and I loved. It was relaxed, quite, and people everywhere were in awe at the natural beauty.
After moving from city to city in India, we decided to only spend time in two places in Nepal: Kathmandu and Pokhara. Kathmandu feels like a big city, with a population of 1 million there are people running around and stores and shops everywhere. It is definitely not your average big city though, seeing as it is home to 7 World Heritage sights. Unfortunately, we didn’t spend that much time in Kathmandu but we did see the famous Boudhanath Stupa. It was built in the 14th century and it is the holiest Tibetan Buddhist temple outside of Tibet. Today it remains an important place for pilgrimage and meditation for both Tibetans and Nepalese people and while visiting it you could feel its importance. There were old and young, praying and worshiping. Monks circling the monument in peace, meditation, and reverence for the history and culture that encompasses their faith and beliefs.
We spent the rest of our time exploring the beautiful grounds of Nepal. It quickly became an active vacation, filled with kayaking, hiking, rafting, trekking, and biking. LJ and I took 2 days out of our stay to take a small trek to the Australian Base Camp, which was about 30 km from where we were staying. We had no idea what we were getting into and we did it without a guide, because we apparently deemed ourselves savvy enough to trek foreign lands on our own. We hiked from village to village and for hours at a time we would climb up, up, up. It was kind of like being on a Stairmaster at level 10 with no end in sight. The temperature was about 65 degrees and we dripping with sweat and our legs were shaky. Our shaky legs finally got us to the base camp where we stayed for the night. The air was damp and clouds would roll through our camp in such an eerie way. All of a sudden you could barely see what was in front of you; we were so high up. We woke up at sunrise to hopefully catch a glimpse of the Annapurna range of the Himalayas. Although the clouds came through by 5:45am, we were able to catch a breathtaking sight. Unlike the days before where we saw the mountain range, this time they felt so close it was like you could reach out and touch them. These massive mountain peaks with the early morning sun making the snow caps glisten and sparkle. We sat there in silence, knowing that this was one of the most beautiful things we’d ever seen and the experience intensified because we knew it wouldn’t last. Within minutes the clouds came rolling in and the mountain peaks were covered. Being in Nepal felt like a surreal experience at times. The beauty of the Himalayas can leave you staring, starry-eyed and breathless. It reminds you that nature connects us all and to feel its beauty is rejuvenating.
LJ and I flew out of Kathmandu 12 hours before the 7.9 magnitude earthquake hit. When we read the news, we were in such disbelief. We had that look on our faces as if someone told us the sky is actually purple and not blue. We couldn’t believe it. We kept saying to each other, “but we were just there…”, “Oh god, I hope [insert name] is okay”, “Remember that man who helped us, I hope he is alive…”. Just 24 hours before, we were whitewater rafting at the epicenter of the earthquake. We stopped for lunch in a village at the epicenter, we ate sandwiches and LJ was playing with a baby goat. To be so close to a tragedy of epic proportions has given us an indescribable feeling. We feel so lucky that it makes us feel a bit sick to our stomachs. As we continue to read the news and watch the death toll rise, we feel a sadness for the people of Nepal and the country as a whole. So much of their economy depends on tourism and it will be a long road to recovery. Our time there was so amazing and I can’t speak more highly of the people, the culture, and the natural beauty. The memories we made there will always be with me and as the country continues to rebuild itself I can only hope the people of Nepal keep faith in their awe-inspiring, gut-wrenchingly beautiful country.
Peace & Exploration 
OMG! So very happy to hear you are safe. You have been in our thoughts and we are anxious to hear all about your travels when you get home. Say “hi” to mom and dad from John and I. Have a great time–Loved the baby goat (bring him home in your pocket!)