tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-74562105719566469372024-02-19T07:38:37.183-08:00Eric Rockey's RTW TripMy travels around the world in 2008 and 2009Eric Rockeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16743780886788012535noreply@blogger.comBlogger66125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7456210571956646937.post-48496712494982206222009-11-12T23:47:00.000-08:002009-12-06T02:12:56.803-08:00Chandigarh<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3911879198/" title="Nek Chand's Rock Garden by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3446/3911879198_3a1dc152b2.jpg" width="500" height="332" alt="Nek Chand's Rock Garden" /></a><BR><br />After Srinagar, I flew to Jammu, and took the train to the modern city of Chandigarh. A little adventure on the train - couldn't book any seats so I ended up in a 2nd class chair car, sharing a long bench with about 5 other people on an overnight trip. Although uncomfortable and sleepless (I envy some Indians' ability to sleep in nearly any situation), this turned out to be one of the most incredible train rides I've had. You were forced to get to know the people around you, and everyone was so caring and bent over backwards to help each other. This young guy across from me, after putting up a little fuss for letting this poor old grandma share his extremely small sitting space, doted on her the entire trip. He would push others out of the way to give her room, and help hold her stuff. I made friends with a couple of Sikh military guys who were on some special forces in Jammu (also a heavy security area).<BR><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3911887496/" title="Chandigarh by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3464/3911887496_3fd6fd8f8c.jpg" width="500" height="332" alt="Chandigarh" /></a><br /><BR>Chandigarh is a very unusual Indian city. It was planned by the French architect Le Corbusier in the 1950s as a symbol of the new, post-Independence India and has many aspects of a modern, Western city. There are wide leafy avenues, a grid system, and a lot of malls. It's a strange juxtaposition to see what would look like any major arterial road in LA, lined with trees and grassy parking strips, with bicycle rickshaws and horse-draw carriages driving around.<BR><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3911103965/" title="Open Hand Sculpture - Le Corbusier by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3422/3911103965_1377e55a09.jpg" width="500" height="332" alt="Open Hand Sculpture - Le Corbusier" /></a><br /><BR>Le Corbusier not only designed the city, but also contributed sculptures and architected many of its major buildings. The signature piece by him is the "Open Hand" sculpture, meant to symbolize the new, open, non-corrupt Indian society (though honestly it looks like someone is saying "talk to the hand").<BR><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3911101041/" title="Ned Chand's Rock Garden by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2512/3911101041_224a7a2008.jpg" width="332" height="500" alt="Ned Chand's Rock Garden" /></a><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3911093373/" title="Nek Chand's Rock Garden by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2675/3911093373_5aca69f449.jpg" width="332" height="500" alt="Nek Chand's Rock Garden" /></a><br /><BR>Pretty much the only thing I did in Chandigarh besides go to malls was to check out Nek Chand's Rock Garden. Chand, who was a government official, surreptitiously created the garden in his spare time, starting in 1957 and using only garbage and industrial waste. The authorities discovered it in 1975 and it's become a big attraction since then. The garden is huge, and contains thousands and thousands of sculptures of people, animals, gods, and amorphous blobs of concrete and tile. Tori, this is another place I think you would love.Eric Rockeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16743780886788012535noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7456210571956646937.post-84282782383472963052009-11-12T20:28:00.000-08:002009-11-24T02:52:10.012-08:00Srinigar<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3906451704/" title="Srinagar by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2639/3906451704_bd6f72a561.jpg" width="500" height="332" alt="Srinagar" /></a><BR><br />After a 19-hour bus ride, I always ask myself, "where's the angry mob to harass me?" Srinagar did not disappoint. Located in the perma-problem area of Kashmir, Srinagar has had its economy hit pretty hard by the instability, with many tourists avoiding the place due to the potential for violence (though there haven't been any attacks on tourists since the early nineties). So the locals were, um, very eager for our business when we got there. In fact, they mobbed us. As our bus arrived at the parking lot, some of them grabbed the door handles and tried to actually get in the bus. Failing that, they ran alongside the vehicle as it moved forward and parked.<br /><br />The big draw in Srinagar is to get a houseboat out on Dal Lake. As we got off the bus, Erez and I found ourselves surrounded in a circle of aggressive touts trying to get us to go to their uncle's/brother's/cousin's houseboat. As you can imagine, after the long bus trip, we weren't exactly in peak condition for dealing with this. I think we kept our cool, and just said, "thanks but we are going to get a taxi and go look at houseboats ourselves," which did nothing, and lead to "please leave us alone". Eventually, the mob actually got angry with us for not engaging, and started yelling things like "Get out of Srinagar then!", which was a little creepy.<BR> <br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3905694873/" title="Our houseboat by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2448/3905694873_59d744d2d5.jpg" width="500" height="332" alt="Our houseboat" /></a><BR> <br />We finally made it to a taxi and of course, even he tried to get us to go see his father-in-law's houseboat! It was like in "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" when the fleeing characters finally find someone they think is still human, breath a sigh of relief, and then that person lets out the blood-curdling scream to alert the other aliens of their presence. FINE, we'll go see your father's/uncle's houseboat! So we rented a little water taxi to go see it and a few other choices, ending up taking another one.<BR> <br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3906487812/" title="Our houseboat by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3498/3906487812_b563ab50b9.jpg" width="500" height="332" alt="Our houseboat" /></a><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3905700999/" title="Our houseboat owner by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2464/3905700999_48469c9160.jpg" width="500" height="332" alt="Our houseboat owner" /></a><br /><BR>Our houseboat was sweet - kind of like an auntie's victorian drawing room on the water, and we had the whole thing to ourselves. After our warm welcome to town, we didn't really feel like going to the mainland for the rest of the trip. The man who ran it was friendly but sad, cooked us delicious meals, and evidently played a the best banjo in the area.<BR> <br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3905722695/" title="Vegetable Market by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2452/3905722695_4b0031541c.jpg" width="500" height="311" alt="Vegetable Market" /></a><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3905677509/" title="Srinagar by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2556/3905677509_e199893971.jpg" width="500" height="332" alt="Srinagar" /></a><BR><br />The lake is one endlessly unfolding photo opportunity, with floating markets, well-dressed ladies floating by, little boat stores pulling up to see if you need anything, and lots of channels in the reeds you can paddle through and get lost in. Erez and I spent quite a bit of time just doing that.<BR> <br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3905665337/" title="Srinagar by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2450/3905665337_f43baf4b78.jpg" width="500" height="332" alt="Srinagar" /></a><br /><BR>The people reminded me a bit of those in Cambodia - there is a heaviness to them you can see in their eyes, from living through a prolonged period of violence and loss. Though very friendly once you get past the aggressive sales pitch.<br /><br />After a couple of relaxing days, Erez took off to go to a Vipassana meditation retreat in Delhi, and I stayed on for a little while longer (shopping mostly), eventually flying to Jammu. The Srinagar airport was one of the most locked-down security zones I've ever been to. They search the entire car, inside and out, even underneath, before you are allowed to drive up. I was security scanned a two or three times in the airport itself.Eric Rockeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16743780886788012535noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7456210571956646937.post-45802095167047938792009-09-24T22:46:00.000-07:002009-11-12T23:18:03.987-08:00Leh and the Dalai LamaWow, it's been a long time since I've been able to blog! Been in some places where the internet was slow or non-existent. Here's a brief rundown of what I've been up to in the past few months:<BR><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3906262838/" title="Chorten near Shey Palace by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2447/3906262838_21a0b84a80.jpg" width="500" height="332" alt="Chorten near Shey Palace" /></a><BR><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Leh<br /></span><br />Leh itself reminded me a lot of Tibet - whitewashed buildings built into the sandstone hills, a huge and vibrant Buddhist culture, chortens and gompas surrounding the city. It was much more developed for tourism than I expected, with an entire section of the town devoted to rows of garden restaurants featuring all your favorite Thai and Italian dishes.<BR> <br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3895998912/" title="Leh by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2598/3895998912_545caca2a0.jpg" width="500" height="383" alt="Leh" /></a><br /><BR>The old market still had an atmosphere of a meeting place between cultures, and you could see native Ladakhis from all over the region mixing with Tibetans and Indians. I came during the Dalai Lama teachings, so many many people appeared to be making their annual trips to town to stock up on athletic shoes and other supplies (everybody seems to like Nike, even the monks).<BR><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3896411275/" title="Dalai Lama Teachings, Leh by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2533/3896411275_fc1194b8e7_b.jpg" width="1024" height="185" alt="Dalai Lama Teachings, Leh" /></a><br /><BR>For a traveler, Leh is mostly a base from which you can do excursions out into Ladakh. I can't picture staying very long in the town itself. I hurried to Leh to see the Dalai Lama at the nearby Tibetan refugee colony. This was one of the most amazing experiences of my trip. There were between 20,000 and 30,000 local Ladakhis and Tibetans at the large outdoor field, all in a peaceful and joyful atmosphere.<BR> <br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3896117540/" title="Dalai Lama Teachings, Leh by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3434/3896117540_f85bdfd363.jpg" width="500" height="370" alt="Dalai Lama Teachings, Leh" /></a><br /><BR>Native Buddhism was said to have disappeared in India before the Tibetans sought refuge here in the 1950's, but that's not really true for Ladakh (it wasn't really part of India until the 20th Century). It has had a thriving Tibetan-style Buddhist culture throughout. So for the Dalai Lama to show up here is like the Pope coming - it's the biggest event of the year. Entire extended families walked or climbed aboard seriously overstuffed buses to make it out to the 4 day teaching - every day was like a huge pilgrimage.<BR><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3895328799/" title="Dalai Lama Teachings, Leh by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3434/3895328799_9523c6d165.jpg" width="500" height="341" alt="Dalai Lama Teachings, Leh" /></a> <br /><BR>It was incredible to be able to sit in the Dalai Lama's presence for such a long period of time and hear him teach, but I found myself more amazed by the crowd I was surrounded by and the intense devotion that pervaded the place. I had some great meditations sitting on the lawn with them for hours, and met some cool Buddhists from around the world. I made friends with this guy from Israel, Erez, and we decided to do some excursions together when the teachings were over.<BR><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3905540581/" title="Erez on the road to Alchi Gompa by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2653/3905540581_3f8033ab1e.jpg" width="500" height="332" alt="Erez on the road to Alchi Gompa" /></a> <br /><BR>Renting bikes (and teaching Erez how to drive a motorcycle), we headed out on a series of three trips to see local monasteries, ruins and remote villages. The first day we went out to Shey Palace, an old home of the Ladakhi royal family and the incredible Tikse Monastery, me riding an Enfield for the first time (kinda like an Indian Harley - very butch).<BR> <br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3905489475/" title="Tikse Gompa by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3439/3905489475_86385a8476.jpg" width="500" height="280" alt="Tikse Gompa" /></a><br /><BR>One of the highlights of Ladakh is that the Buddhist monasteries and temples are so well-preserved, having avoided the upheavals of those in Tibet. Tikse had a wonderful atmosphere about it and we were tempted to come back and stay a night at the monastery.<BR> <br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3906324054/" title="On the road to Alchi Gompa by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2579/3906324054_f0b8cb94e6.jpg" width="372" height="500" alt="On the road to Alchi Gompa" /></a><br /><BR>Next up was Alchi, a very old Buddhist monastery and temple, with some of the oldest and best preserved Buddhist paintings in Asia. The place itself was a bit underwhelming, but the drive out and back was spectacular - going through enormous winding valleys and flat, barren plains.<BR><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3905572431/" title="Khardung La Pass by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2545/3905572431_48753f01c4.jpg" width="500" height="332" alt="Khardung La Pass" /></a><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3906398200/" title="Nubra Valley by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2495/3906398200_741c8e59f7.jpg" width="500" height="332" alt="Nubra Valley" /></a><br /><BR>Finally we drove over the highest motorable pass in the world (which evidently is up for debate) to Nubra Valley, a little oasis in the high altitude desert served by a couple of rivers. Erez and I had an excellent time driving the bikes (though his first gear decided to stop working at the big pass and he had to push it Flintstones-like with his feet to get going into 2nd).<BR> <br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3905645455/" title="Rockslide #2: Srinigar - Leh Highway by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2596/3905645455_4cf3b23bed.jpg" width="500" height="332" alt="Rockslide #2: Srinigar - Leh Highway" /></a><br /><BR>We continued to travel together out of Leh, on the 19-hour bus trip to Srinigar. People say the Manalai-Leh route is worse but I'd lay my money on this one. The roads wash out and are unpassable every winter and have this feeling of being barely patched together enough for the trucks and buses to get over them for the rest of the season. After hours of this (including another roadblocking landslide!) suddenly the scenary changes and we found ourselves in green, beautiful Kashmir. Lush and full of a surprising number of goats.<BR><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3906429444/" title="Waiting for the rockslide to clear by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3463/3906429444_e9f9c9b09f.jpg" width="500" height="338" alt="Waiting for the rockslide to clear" /></a>Eric Rockeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16743780886788012535noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7456210571956646937.post-90982943568787767182009-09-22T07:24:00.000-07:002009-09-22T08:30:12.526-07:00Manali - Leh Highway<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3895087387/" title="Manali - Leh Highway by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2457/3895087387_d13c2a69b4.jpg" width="500" height="332" alt="Manali - Leh Highway" /></a><BR><br />The highway between Manali and Leh is famously bad - a 20 hour slog on pavement that is almost impossible to maintain given the punishing elements. It's closed a good part of the year for this reason. The first three hours out of Manali going over the first pass lived up to the hype. The road was so full of potholes and big stones that it felt like an amusement park ride gone terribly wrong. Another 17 hours of that would have been pretty tough, but thankfully after we got over the pass the road improved considerably. I mean, it was still 20 hours in a jeep, but other than that...<BR><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3895079801/" title="Manali - Leh Highway by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2555/3895079801_78ea1b9232.jpg" width="500" height="332" alt="Manali - Leh Highway" /></a><br /><BR>And the scenery was truly unbelievable - some of the best I have seen on my entire trip. My pictures unfortunately don't do it justice as I missed some of the fantastic parts: huge fields of fairy chimneys carved out of the rock, and enormous ornate "palaces" that looked man-made but were far too large, being slowly revealed by sand eroding away from the stronger rock underneath. The colors of the different minerals and the scrub grass made mountain-sized designs that followed the melting paths of the snow. On other hills, different sedimentary layers had been pushed around by geographic forces, and forced into wave or even swirl patterns. This landscape was similar to the Mustang area of Nepal or the Tibetan Plateau, but with more beauty and diversity.<BR><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3895044175/" title="Manali - Leh Highway by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3511/3895044175_f280d19b87.jpg" width="500" height="332" alt="Manali - Leh Highway" /></a><br /><BR>For most of the way, there were no villages at all to speak of. We stopped for meals in these little tent restaurants that had been set up on the side of the road - if you asked them where the bathroom was they just giggled and pointed to the hillside. The trip went by fine (a bit dusty perhaps - that swine flue mask the Tibetan lady gave me came in handy) until about the last hour, when some food in my stomach felt like it was planning to make an exit in any number of directions. Luckily right then a nice Belgian guy traded me his super comfy seat, and as I started to doze off my symptoms almost completely disappeared. Proving once again that most things are just in my head... <br /><BR><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3895054531/" title="Manali - Leh Highway by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2554/3895054531_59728bddd6.jpg" width="332" height="500" alt="Manali - Leh Highway" /></a>Eric Rockeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16743780886788012535noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7456210571956646937.post-47350764877878336932009-09-13T03:01:00.000-07:002009-09-20T06:39:36.569-07:00Manali<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3880505500/" title="Rockslide! by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2483/3880505500_426b59393f.jpg" alt="Rockslide!" height="332" width="500" /></a><br /><br />After Dharamsala I took a night bus to Manali. It's a bit of a crazy drive on a windy mountain road, and we were blocked in the middle of the night by a rockslide on the roadway. Looked liked we were going to be sleeping on the side of the road, but after about an hour and a half, enough drivers were fed up enough to start hauling the rocks away by hand. Then our driver accelerated and we drove (ye-haw Dukes of Hazzard-style) over the smaller pile of remaining rubble.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3880624768/" title="Manali by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2615/3880624768_c1fe1d5117.jpg" alt="Manali" height="500" width="332" /></a><br /><br />I only spent a couple of days there as I wanted to get up to Leh quickly to catch the Dalai Lama's teachings. Manali is a gorgeous area - lush, green, a few rivers flowing through, and lots of tucked away secluded guest houses. Mine was called the Rock Way and up on a cliff over one of the rivers, surrounded by gardens and fruit trees. You could totally hide out there for a week or two, reading and playing chess with the fiendishly good guest house manager. He would make a different fresh curry every night using stuff from his garden or wild mushrooms he found in the hills - delicious.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3879721217/" title="Manali by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2469/3879721217_c8f4ee21d6.jpg" alt="Manali" height="332" width="500" /></a><br /><br />Manali also has the dubious honor of being both a big Indian middle-class tourist / honeymoon destination and a hippie backpacker hangout. It's a strange combination...Eric Rockeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16743780886788012535noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7456210571956646937.post-39359467246478106472009-09-11T22:50:00.000-07:002009-09-13T00:00:13.591-07:00Leaving Dharamsala at last<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3791870751/" title="Naushad by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2507/3791870751_3046f0bb1d.jpg" alt="Naushad" width="500" height="376" /></a><br /><BR>I spent about 7 weeks total in Dharamsala, during which time I kind of settled in a made myself at home. I stayed out in the quiet nearby village of Dharamkot, moving around between a few guesthouses but ending up staying at Paul House, which was run by my friend Naushad. One of the best parts about my time there was getting to spend so much time hanging out with him - he's really an amazing guy, and very focused and mature for 22 years old. I had visited him earlier in March of this year and he was just beginning to get the guest house and restaurant in shape - he had a lot of ideas for what he wanted to do to make it an inviting place to stay. Coming back it was great to see his vision become a reality. <BR><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3703498887/" title="Fourth of July in Dharamkot by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3423/3703498887_597e2f5d6d.jpg" alt="Fourth of July in Dharamkot" width="500" height="332" /></a><br /><BR>Over course of the weeks I had a lot of different experiences. I took a couple weeks of Iyengar Yoga classes, some Indian cooking classes, and did a lot of hiking in the surrounding mountains. The monsoon was in the process of coming when I was there so it was always a crap shoot whether you were going to get dumped on. But my luck was surprisingly good and I was only caught outside a couple of times during the real deluges. On the Fourth of July there were some cool Americans at Paul House, Josh and Tristan, who happened to have a fireworks fetish, so we enjoyed some crazily powerful $2.50 rockets.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3884279400/" title="Me and Miss Kipa by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3449/3884279400_77e0b502ce_m.jpg" alt="Me and Miss Kipa" width="240" height="159" /></a><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3883487263/" title="Volunteering at ANEC by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3460/3883487263_e73f093eab_m.jpg" alt="Volunteering at ANEC" width="240" height="159" /></a><br /><br />Most of the time I was there I found myself kind of unexpectedly working full time. I started volunteering at the ANEC Organization and redoing their website took a lot of time (plus I didn't really know what I was doing for a while). I even had a daily commute down the mountain into Dharamsala proper; it was an amazing walk through the forest and the central Tibetan government-in-exile buildings. The people were wonderful down there and we had a Tibetan cook come in every day to make us these great lunches. They even threw me a going away lunch with homemade momos (including sweet paneer ones).<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3792604390/" title="Jamphel by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3597/3792604390_6a8a7d755b_m.jpg" alt="Jamphel" width="240" height="159" /></a><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3791796929/" title="Tsering by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3469/3791796929_a746acf53c_m.jpg" alt="Tsering" width="240" height="159" /></a><br /><br />When I wasn't down at ANEC, I was hurrying off to do a series of interviews with Tibetan refugees for a documentary project. As you may or may not know, in March 2008 there was one of the biggest series of protests in Tibet since 1959. It was brutally cracked down on by the Chinese. The stories of bravery and sacrifice I heard were inspiring and of course very sad.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3753817497/" title="Levinia by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3474/3753817497_d00cba7115_m.jpg" alt="Levinia" width="240" height="159" /></a><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3753820427/" title="Ross by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3447/3753820427_0189d1c821_m.jpg" alt="Ross" width="240" height="159" /></a><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3753809739/" title="Ilan by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2596/3753809739_f86b9a7b33_m.jpg" alt="Ilan" width="240" height="159" /></a><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3753806675/" title="Tristan by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3660/3753806675_879fac00e1_m.jpg" alt="Tristan" width="240" height="159" /></a><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3791811345/" title="Ilan by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3465/3791811345_8a1fc8bb96_m.jpg" alt="Ilan" width="240" height="159" /></a><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3753811593/" title="Leighton by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2666/3753811593_e61e632a43_m.jpg" alt="Leighton" width="240" height="159" /></a><br /><br />I met a ton of great people during my stay - Levinia and Ross, Josh and Tristan, the two Ilans, Leighton, Kimberly, Susie, and randomly ran into my friend Christian who I had met at a yoga retreat in Nepal. I stayed longer than pretty much everyone else (except this Australian guy who I think was running from the law - shades of Shantaram!). After my last interviews wrapped up, it was clearly time to go.Eric Rockeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16743780886788012535noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7456210571956646937.post-70796332009048680502009-08-02T03:51:00.000-07:002009-08-02T05:06:20.195-07:00What a good day looks like in India<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3753829747/" title="Ilan, Josh, Ross and Levinia by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3464/3753829747_54c9c6274e.jpg" width="500" height="332" alt="Ilan, Josh, Ross and Levinia" /></a><BR><br />A couple of weeks ago we had a total solar eclipse in these parts (not sure how much you could see it where you are). Turned out to be one of the best days I've had in India for a long time:<br /><br />A group of us (Josh, Ilan, Ross, Levinia and myself) wake up at 4:30 am in Dharamkot to hike up and see the eclipse. After some difficult pre-caffeine discussion, we decide the view would actually be worse up in the mountains as they were enclosed in clouds. Instead we head down past McLeod Ganj to try to get a clearer view out in the open. The monsoon had been coming to the area and we'd had a couple of weeks of intermittent rains. It was pretty cloudy, so our chances of seeing the eclipse appeared slim.<BR><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3753837467/" title="Ilan by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2655/3753837467_a484e914b7.jpg" width="500" height="332" alt="Ilan" /></a><br /><BR>We walk out the back road from McLeod and find a nice open part with very little around - basically in the middle of nowhere. A very closed-looking tea house is the only thing around. Still cloudy. We sit on a bench and wait for things to clear. One thing you can count on around here is the weather changing quickly. Suddenly out of the blue a taxi pulls up and this slightly drunk-looking Irishman jumps out. He offers to sell us some welder's glass to look at the eclipse, which is funny because I'd just been reading about that online and wishing I had some. Still very cloudy and no eclipse in sight, I optimistically plunked down 200 rupees (enough money for a very nice dinner) to get a piece. Everyone is looking at me like "I don't know, Eric".<BR> <br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3753832247/" title="Ross and Levinia by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2674/3753832247_eda0e97337.jpg" width="500" height="332" alt="Ross and Levinia" /></a><br /><BR>As the taxi pulled away, as if on cue the sky gets very dark and it started pouring in that monsoon-y way I've never seen before this trip. It rains so hard that umbrellas make little difference - you get soaked from the water splashing up from the ground. We look around and there is an abandoned half-finished building nearby that happens to have a great balcony on it. We hurry up there, interrupting the morning routines of the Indian construction workers who are sleeping there. They don't seem to mind at all. We hang out on the balcony to wait out the rain and take photos.<br /><br />After about a half hour the rain dies down but things are still overcast. Around that time an old man comes and opens the tea house. At this point we're pretty resigned that the eclipse is not happening, so we go down to see if we can get some tea and breakfast. The tea house is like a little wood cabin with huge stacks of egg crates as the only decoration. After a lot of back and forth with the owner, we realize that aloo paratha (like a thick potato naan) and plain omelettes are the only things on the menu ("scrambled eggs?", "no", "fried eggs?", "no", "masala omelette?", "no", etc). Takes a while but by the time they come they are some of the best food I've had in a long time. Doughy eggy goodness (plus having been up for almost 4 hours didn't hurt).<br /><br />We're happy sitting there eating, and forgetting all about the eclipse. Then one of us looks back out the window and says, "Hey, the sun's out!" We all look and the clouds have parted just enough to see the sun. No moon though, so we are wondering if we had missed the eclipse. Then I hold up the welders glass to the sun, and whoa, there it is! Like a magic trick. Not a total eclipse because I think we were a little late (and Dharamsala wasn't on the direct path anyway). But very cool to see.<BR><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3753841737/" title="Eclipse! by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2436/3753841737_7e60b9dbbe.jpg" width="500" height="332" alt="Eclipse!" /></a><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3753838809/" title="Eclipse! by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3233/3753838809_39fcd883be.jpg" width="500" height="332" alt="Eclipse!" /></a><br /><BR>The clouds stayed away for just long enough for us to go outside, take turns with the welder's glass, and get some photos through it as well. Then, just like that, they closed back up and the sun was gone. We felt extremely lucky for those few minutes!<BR><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3753843957/" title="Main Temple Kora by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2509/3753843957_53cda8f6de.jpg" width="500" height="332" alt="Main Temple Kora" /></a><br /><BR>After that we hiked up the back side of the Dalai Lama's temple, and walked along the kora, or religious path. It started to drizzle again and just as the rain was really letting loose, we came to a big rain shelter with a couple of small shrines in it. We stayed out of the rain with a bunch of Tibetans who had been walking the kora as well, and after about a half hour made it the rest of the way around.<BR><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3753847025/" title="Main Temple Kora (monsoon) by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2511/3753847025_372f932016.jpg" width="500" height="332" alt="Main Temple Kora (monsoon)" /></a><br /><BR>I spent the rest of the day getting a Tibetan massage (this guy really knows how to stretch out your back and neck and has helped my back pain go away), and then heading down to Dharamsala proper for my volunteering job down there. I'm working at <a href="http://www.anec.org.in">ANEC</a>, a non-profit which educates Tibetans on effective nonviolence resistance strategies. My main job is to redesign their website but since the power was out all afternoon, instead we had a great discussion on which strategies are appropriate for the Tibetan cause. <br /><br />Later that night I saw Josh and Ilan off as they took the bus to Manali. All of us had been staying in Dharamkot for many weeks, so it was a bit sad to see them go. But we were in good spirits anyway because of our day. So that's what an excellent day in India looks like. Things rarely go as you expect them to, but somehow you end up with many beautiful moments that you are thankful for.Eric Rockeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16743780886788012535noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7456210571956646937.post-67335313929221127872009-07-13T10:55:00.000-07:002009-07-13T11:01:27.992-07:00Dharamsala<p class="mobile-photo"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg50faR9DNyJX1SepCkCPXvOXFV_uihrDGqUXgEtrsulh1JdIfMpJT8H_6My59N0g5k1PwbzaFqx9x1NUDP4cC3P67BP2bwuk5tL57CPMr6urX1l37_g6w3nzSvrcjRdfIZJooP7XUrP2U/s1600-h/=%3Futf-8%3FB%3FSU1HMDAxMjYuanBn%3F=-787993"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg50faR9DNyJX1SepCkCPXvOXFV_uihrDGqUXgEtrsulh1JdIfMpJT8H_6My59N0g5k1PwbzaFqx9x1NUDP4cC3P67BP2bwuk5tL57CPMr6urX1l37_g6w3nzSvrcjRdfIZJooP7XUrP2U/s320/=%3Futf-8%3FB%3FSU1HMDAxMjYuanBn%3F=-787993" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5358006442522191538" /></a></p>Sent via BlackBerry from T-MobileEric Rockeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16743780886788012535noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7456210571956646937.post-36605330993854892282009-06-24T02:44:00.000-07:002009-07-09T06:36:35.915-07:00Quick trip to Europe<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3638131065/" title="Telc Village by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2473/3638131065_0636618b25.jpg" width="332" height="500" alt="Telc Village" /></a><BR><br />A couple of months ago I found a cheap ticket from Delhi to London, and decided to take a little detour from my Asia trip to visit some folks back in Europe. This turned out to be a bit of culture shock for me, for sure, and definitely a little more expensive than what I was accustomed to. Going into a coffee shop and paying more for a coffee as you'd pay for dinner over there takes a bit of getting used to.<BR><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3636368796/" title="Gay by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3409/3636368796_0aed1ce127.jpg" width="500" height="332" alt="Gay" /></a><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3635548729/" title="Hudson by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2434/3635548729_1a81367cff.jpg" width="500" height="332" alt="Hudson" /></a> <br /><BR>I started in London on May 22nd, staying with my friends Mark and Lee. Another couple of friends, Gay and Troy (and their cute kids Havana and Hudson), happened to be coming over to London to visit. I surprised them by showing up at their hotel one day (I thought Gay was going to pass out from the shock). The five of us had a fun week of just hanging out, walking around town, and having some good meals together. Besides that I spent a lot of time getting a new camera. On my Tibet trip almost everyone else had a digital SLR and I could see the difference between the pictures they were getting and the ones I was with my lowly pocket Lumix (which is a great camera). So after much research and shopping I ended up with a Nikon D90. I'm not on a huge materialist kick right now (carrying my possessions on my back most of the time) but I am in gadget love with it.<BR><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3638129463/" title="David and Simon by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3367/3638129463_c9165c0236.jpg" width="500" height="332" alt="David and Simon" /></a><br /><BR>After London, I flew to the Czech Republic to visit my friend David, who I had met on my Annapurna trek in Nepal. I spent a few days staying with his wonderful family in Humpolec, which is a small village about an hour outside of Prague. We went around and saw some of the local castles and villages. I was also able to go to a bachelor party out in the woods for a friend of his and experience some real Czech camping cuisine (it's a blur of sausages and beer at this point).<BR> <br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3640124711/" title="Holocaust Memorial by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2435/3640124711_1fa6bbdd6e.jpg" width="500" height="333" alt="Holocaust Memorial" /></a><br /><BR>I was surprised at how expensive trains are in Europe and how cheap it is to fly. Most of my jumps between places were by EasyJet for about $70, but I did find a reasonable train ticket from Prague to Berlin, my next destination. Really loved Berlin - it's a relatively inexpensive place for people to live right now, so there is a vibrant arts scene going on and lots of young people from across Europe. I wandered around looking at galleries, stopping at cafes, and going out quite a bit. Mark's friend Allesandro took my out one night to a hipster East Berlin gay bar that was huge amount of fun. The picture above is of the new Holocaust Memorial near the Brandenburger Tor.<BR><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3650071224/" title="Gwendolyn, Jordi and Ivar by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3645/3650071224_33b3d95720.jpg" width="500" height="332" alt="Gwendolyn, Jordi and Ivar" /></a><br /><BR>Next up was Amsterdam, where my friend Jordi and my meditation teacher Mark both live. I stayed for a night with Jordi at her brother's girlfriend, Gwendolyne's apartment, right on the Amstel River.<BR> <br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3650063262/" title="My home in Amsterdam by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2424/3650063262_94720421a7.jpg" width="500" height="332" alt="My home in Amsterdam" /></a><br /><BR>Then Jordi set me up with the coolest place to stay so far on my trip: a shipping container that her brother Ivar was renting but not staying in. Amsterdam has a major housing shortage right now, so these containers are used as temporary housing for students. They stack a bunch of the containers up on top of each other and add some basic scafolding to get around on them. The insides are like little IKEA showrooms, with full kitchens and bathrooms. My neighbors were the Hells Angels, who evidently have been heavily involved in some shady dealings in Amsterdam's red light district.<BR> <br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3650065620/" title="Amsterdam by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2277/3650065620_3ed385ba3e.jpg" width="500" height="332" alt="Amsterdam" /></a><br /><BR>Amsterdam is one of the easiest cities to get around I've ever been in. As long as you don't try to drive - there are very few parking places anywhere in the city and it costs like 5 Euros an hour to park. It's the ideal place to ride a bike though - completely flat and compact. You can basically get across the city on a bike in less than 1/2 hour. I rented a bike and felt an incredible sense of freedom.<BR> <br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3649254787/" title="Jordi by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3016/3649254787_4f362e21fe.jpg" width="500" height="332" alt="Jordi" /></a><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3650062180/" title="Mark by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3358/3650062180_97407c57ca.jpg" width="500" height="332" alt="Mark" /></a><br /><BR>I was able to spend a lot of time with both Jordi and Mark. Jordi and I cooked a big Indian dinner for about 14 people (that took about 2 days) and Mark had a special meditation and teaching session on night when I was in town. <BR> <br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3650069414/" title="Paris by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3626/3650069414_36247290fa.jpg" width="500" height="332" alt="Paris" /></a><br /><BR>The last weekend I was there, Jordi and her friends took me down to Paris for an impromptu road trip. Lots of quality wandering around and I was able to charge up on steak tartare and roast duck before returning to my vegetarian ways in India.<br /><br />My last couple of days were spent chilling out at my friends Shannon and Richard's house in Egham, back in England. I also met up in London with my friend Pete from the Tibet trip. Refilled on ear plugs, moisturizers and shampoo, I was ready for Asia again. Thanks to everyone for the hospitality in Europe!Eric Rockeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16743780886788012535noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7456210571956646937.post-52177015139503339702009-06-14T04:42:00.000-07:002009-06-18T10:00:05.995-07:00Lhasa<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3569375135/" title="Potala Palace by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3623/3569375135_3807c87c46.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Potala Palace" /></a><BR><br />After Gyanze, the next day we drove for about 5 hours into Lhasa itself. I had heard reports that Lhasa was disappointing and that much of the culture was gone, but I found it a rich and fascinating place. It was easy to get off the main drag a bit, duck into a Tibetan tea house, and have a real encounter with Tibetans. I made a couple Tibetan friends this way, which really opened up the city for me.<br /><br />The official tour lasted for two more days in Lhasa, and was packed seeing the major sights of the city. The first day we went to the iconic Potala Palace, which looms above the city and is the universal symbol of Lhasa. It used to be the residence of the Dalai Lama, but obviously that's not an option anymore, so it has been turned into a sort of museum. Though definitely not a living religious place, the riches and history contained inside are pretty amazing. There is just room after room of Buddha statues, huge and ornate tombs of previous Dalai Lamas, libraries of ancient Buddhist scriptures, and the preserved living quarters of the Dalai Lama.<BR><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3569349871/" title="Jokhang Temple by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3328/3569349871_120174c004.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Jokhang Temple" /></a><br /><BR>Next up was the Jokhang Temple. This is the spiritual heart of the city. Although the interior had been mostly destroyed by the Cultural Revolution and was rebuilt basically new, it is still immensely important to the Tibetan people.<BR><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3569347045/" title="Prostrating in front of Jokhang Temple by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3315/3569347045_b5936fef65.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Prostrating in front of Jokhang Temple" /></a><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3569378951/" title="Lhasa by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3328/3569378951_bd497da2a5.jpg" width="388" height="500" alt="Lhasa" /></a><br /><BR>There was always a group of people performing prostrations on the pavement in front of the temple, and the central kora around the temple was constantly full of devout Tibetans swinging their prayer wheels. The people watching was just out of this world - Tibetans from all of the different regions, each with their unique traditional clothes: Kham, Ando, and others. I found myself returning again and again to this area to soak up the atmosphere (and eat some great mo-mos).<BR> <br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3569360501/" title="Debating monks, Sera Monastery by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2474/3569360501_ba7b1ccc8d.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Debating monks, Sera Monastery" /></a><br /><BR>The final day of the tour we went to the two major monasteries near Lhasa: Drepung and Sera. These were largely rebuilt after the Cultural Revolution as well, so it was less interesting to me to see the temples themselves. We were able to see the debating monks at Sera, who were much more animated and exciting to watch than those at the earlier monastery in Shigatse.<BR> <br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3569364127/" title="Nighclubs are a little more elaborate by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2458/3569364127_956c69f3b5_m.jpg" width="240" height="180" alt="Nighclubs are a little more elaborate" /></a><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3570178142/" title="Art and friends by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3328/3570178142_e116f5daa8_m.jpg" width="240" height="180" alt="Art and friends" /></a><br /><BR>The last night of the tour, a bunch of us went clubbing to celebrate our friend Art's birthday. Going out in Lhasa was like nothing I've ever seen - though I think it was more of a Chinese experience than a Tibetan one. The first place we went had a huge stage where professional performers would come out and sing karaoke songs to us (my group went wild when this Chinese guy sang the 4 Non-Blondes song, "What's Going On", and "La Isla Bonita"). The karaoke was interspersed with large dance numbers featuring a ton of people in ethnic costumes, and also Chinese line-dancing where the audience came up on stage. We all went up to dance to one number and the police evidently came in and surrounded the stage - don't know what that was about. <br /><br />The next place was more of a proper dance club, complete with stripper poles, rapping Chinese girls, and a ladyboy dancer behind the dj. I found myself dancing with a good-looking, extremely tall Chinese guy (as tall as me, how refreshing!) though he was too hyper of a dancer and I had to step off. At the end of the night there was a tent set up outside the club where you could have anything you imagined fried up: pork, chicken, liver, yak (of course), cauliflower, corn, etc. A little (deep-fried) slice of heaven.<BR> <br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3569370487/" title="My friend Pon Tsok by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3644/3569370487_c98e6e1325.jpg" width="375" height="500" alt="My friend Pon Tsok" /></a><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3569372019/" title="Mmm, tsampa by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3581/3569372019_119d38c487.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Mmm, tsampa" /></a><br /><BR>After the tour ended and I slept off my hangover, I spent the next few days on my own exploring the city. I made friends with a super-nice guy, Pon Tsok, who made Tibetan tapestries. I would go and visit him every morning in his shop and he would practice his English on me while feeding me tsampa and pouring me an ungodly amount of tea. To eat tasmpa, you start with barley flour and add a little yak butter tea to it. Then you work it with your fingers into a ball of dough and put it in your mouth. Not bad, though messy for the clumbsy Western fingers. Pon Tsok invited me to his English class one night, which was fun. I had other students passing me notes asking me to define what penquins and dolphins were (not sure if my drawing of a penguin helped - I think they thought it was a duck). After class a bunch of them took me out to dinner to practice more English.<BR> <br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3570198172/" title="My lunch with the Lama by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3367/3570198172_34a770edeb.jpg" width="375" height="500" alt="My lunch with the Lama" /></a><br /><BR>One my final day before I took off, I took a taxi out to the Ganden Monastery, about an hour outside of town. My taxi driver stopped off at a store to buy some juice and fruit, which seemed like a bit of a strange time to do some grocery shopping. Turns out that he's friends with the head lama at the monastery, and brought the food up to him as an offering. He led me into the lama's private apartment and I was able to have an audience with him for over 2 hours! This was the most amazing experience of the trip. The lama didn't speak much English, but we were able to communicate fairly well with gestures and a few words. He was very curious about life in America, and had such a joyful presence that I enjoyed simply being around him. His assistant cooked a delcious meal of stirfried vegetables and tofu, which I shared with the lama, the assistant and my taxi driver.<BR> <br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3569388523/" title="Ganden Monastery Ruins by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3627/3569388523_f4d28b5dec.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Ganden Monastery Ruins" /></a><br /><BR>Afterwards, I walked around the monastery, which though much has been rebuilt, still shows the ruins of buildings that had been destroyed by the Chinese. Very sobering to see this reminder of what happened across the country to nearly all of the monasteries.<BR><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3569339161/" title="Everywhere by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3364/3569339161_f4550b3a64.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Everywhere" /></a><br /><BR>I was reminded throughout my trip, but especially in Lhasa, that this was a country under occupation. Many small groups of Chinese soldiers marched around the city center making their presence known - you would run into them every few minutes. I talked to a number of monks and other folks during the tour, and was frequently made aware of the threat of speaking out against the Chinese government, even among friends. One monk at a monastery knew no English but was quite good at pantomime. He mimed a monk talking too much, and then being led off in handcuffs. Other folks I talked to in a restaurant pointed at the ceiling and made the "shhhh" sign - there were microphones everywhere. I was told that the police had a habit of suddenly showing up and carting someone off if they talked about the Dalai Lama or the current political situation.<br /><br />Another monk pointed at numerous places around a monastery, make a flattening motion with his hand indicating buildings being destroyed, and say one word: "Mao". Someone else told me of the visa system for monks: I was wondering why so few monks were living at the recently renovated monasteries, and it turns out it is because you need to be granted a "monastery visa" by the Chinese government. So the number of monks is strictly controlled, as is their make-up. We heard stories of informant monks who were planted by the Chinese inside of the monasteries.<br /><br />All the while that the Tibetans communicated these stories of terrible destruction and repression to us, their eyes gleamed with good humor and happiness. Such was the contrast I saw over and over, where Tibetans would bear witness to the awful things that had happened to their country, but endure their hardship with pride and grace.<br /><br />On the flight back to Kathmandu I randomly ran into two Austrian guys who had rescued me when I fell ill on the trail of the Helambu Trek in Nepal. A cool coincidence and good to catch up. We flew over the Himalayas and had a close, clear view of Mt. Everest as a conclusion to the trip.<BR><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3569393123/" title="Mt. Everest! by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3377/3569393123_0bc2ef421c.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Mt. Everest!" /></a>Eric Rockeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16743780886788012535noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7456210571956646937.post-36949203296334622722009-06-08T03:56:00.000-07:002009-06-14T05:41:22.304-07:00On the road to Lhasa<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3569288099/" title="Tibet by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3332/3569288099_7dfdf28167.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Tibet" /></a><BR><br />Tibet only recently opened after being closed to tourists due to the one-year anniversary of the unrest that occurred there last spring. When the ban was lifted, in typical fashion, China issued a press release saying that visitors had never been barred from entering the area in the first place! Things are pretty locked down right now and the only way to gain entry is to go on an organized tour. I booked the standard 8-day overland tour from Kathmandu, and was able to extend my stay for a few days afterwards in Lhasa. The trip had a great mix of people, most of whom were backpackers who would never of their own free will go on an organized tour.<br /><br />We started early in the morning from Kathmandu and reached the border after about 4 hours driving along a windy mountain road. It took about a half hour to get through the Nepal side, and another 3 hours on the Chinese side. The swine flu scare had just hit and there was a hastily set up health checkpoint where we all had to get our temperature taken (and answer some questions about our health: were we "snivelling"? How about "psychotic"?). I was surprised by how disorganized it all was - I was expecting some kind of severe efficiency. <br /><br />In a strange, welcome-to-Tibet moment, while it had been sunny when we went into the border crossing building, we came out into torrential rain. Our tour guide hurriedly divided us 4-at-a-time into Land Cruisers, which are the standard form of transportation in this area of the world. Evidently the roads used to be really bad around there but other than the first half day they turned out to be nice and new. China is investing a lot in infrastructure, at least on the route from Nepal. After some road construction delays, we pulled into a basic hotel in a truck stop of a town late at night.<BR> <br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3569286107/" title="Tibet by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3369/3569286107_56706d4c0f.jpg" width="500" height="282" alt="Tibet" /></a><br /><BR>The next morning, after a breakfast of omelettes and Tibetan bread, we set out. The goal for that day was to make it to the small town of Lhatse. We climbed for a couple of hours through the mountains, crossed the very high (5,400m) Lalung-La pass, and found ourselves on the Tibetan Plateau. The scenery was unbelievable - flat barren plains for miles around, and mountains in all directions in the distance. The sky was enormous.<BR> <br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3570100814/" title="Tibet by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3603/3570100814_8e6fa88087.jpg" width="333" height="500" alt="Tibet" /></a><br /><BR>We stopped for lunch in a small village, and had our first real encounters with Tibetan culture. The people were extremely friendly, though shy and not terribly fond of having their picture taken. The women wore colorful patterned skirts and generally frumpy sweaters and jackets. The men dressed ruggedly in dark greys and purples, and had a bit of a cowboy look with wide-brimmed hats and boots. Horses and ox-drawn carts were common, as were enormous tractor-pulled flat beds.<BR> <br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3570103116/" title="Lhatse by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3582/3570103116_bcd5040aa6.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Lhatse" /></a><br /><BR>At lunchtime, we made the decision to continue on past Lhatse to spend the night in Shigatse, which was originally supposed to be our stop for the third night. This was great news, as I'd heard reports about how gross the hotel in Lhatse was supposed to be. Along the way, the Himalayas were in the distance, and were even able to see Mt. Everest (looked pretty small from there). After a brief stop in Lhatse to check it out, we continued on. It was in Lhatse where I noticed the strange effect my height had on people up there. The difference between my height and the average Tibetan´s was even greater than in India and Nepal. I attracted a giggling crowd of kids who couldn't stop pointing at me. This would become a bit ridiculous by the time I got to Lhasa! Nearly everyone would look at me, smile and chuckle, and often comment to me about how big I was. It was a good ice breaker if nothing else.<BR><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3570105986/" title="Yaks by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2451/3570105986_8fe774f5c7.jpg" width="500" height="309" alt="Yaks" /></a><br /><BR>The rest of the day was a long drive through the plateau. We went through another mountain pass, and passed some nicely done-up yaks who were plowing a field. Our hotel in Shigatse was pretty plush - double rooms with a Western style bathroom complete with a bathtub. After dinner in a nearby restaurant, I called it a night, though evidently some others on the tour found a crazy karaoke nightclub. Shigatse was the first place where you could really see the extent of Chinese influence in Tibet. Tibet's second-largest city, it boasts a large, modern Chinese section of town, as well as a Tibetan old town. This pattern was repeated in the other cities we visited as well. The wealth on display in the Chinese area (huge stores full of motorbikes, appliances, etc) was in stark contrast to the modest means of most Tibetans we ran into. Many of the Tibetans had a weathered look about them, as if they had been through a lot of hardship, though almost universally the Tibetans had a cheerful attitude about them.<BR><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3569295093/" title="Tashilhunpo Monastery by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3646/3569295093_7acb24cfaa.jpg" width="375" height="500" alt="Tashilhunpo Monastery" /></a><br /><BR>The next morning we visited the amazing Tashi Lhunpo Monastery, traditional home of the Panchen Lama. Monasteries in Tibet are bittersweet experiences, as many of them had been partially or completely destroyed by the Chinese during the excesses of the Cultural Revolution in the 1960s. Some had even been shelled by the Red Army, either during the initial takeover of Tibet in 1959 or later. In an ironic turn of events, Tibet has developed into a significant tourist draw for Chinese, and the reconstruction of the monasteries has been receiving quite a bit of funding. Many of the temples in the monasteries we visited were re-creations of the originals, including rebuilt Buddha statues and wall paintings. The main temple at Tashilhumpo, fortunately, had escaped destruction and we were able to view it as living and intact. Large bowls containing yak butter lamps illuminated an enormous Buddha overhead, as monks seated in one corner continuously chanted Buddhist prayers aloud.<BR> <br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3570113664/" title="Tashilhunpo Monastery by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3179/3570113664_2777dba362.jpg" width="375" height="500" alt="Tashilhunpo Monastery" /></a><br /><BR>We wandered through this and other temples at the monastery, before stumbling upon a courtyard where young monks were practicing their knowledge of Buddhist scriptures by debating. Some of the arguments would get pretty lively, and be emphasized by loud claps of hands followed by a pointed hand gesture as one of the monks asked or answered a key question. Towards the end of the debate session, monks appeared dressed in the yellow robes and large plumed hats of the Gelugpa Buddhist sect. Afterwards, we were lucky to be allowed to sit in the back of a gathering hall as the monks had their lunchtime meal of tsampa (barley flour dough with yak butter tea) and prayers. One monk was designated as the entertainment for the session, and would pace back and forth making jokes and comments, punctuated by more claps and pointing. We had a strong suspicion that many of the jokes (in Tibetan) were directed towards us, but still felt very priviledged to be able to watch this.<BR><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3570117338/" title="Shigatse by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3631/3570117338_4a73f681e7.jpg" width="375" height="500" alt="Shigatse" /></a><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3569303653/" title="Shigatse by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2441/3569303653_11f7cf7284.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Shigatse" /></a><br /><BR>In the afternoon, the tour group split up, and I ended up having a great time checking out the area with Brit Pete Barlett. We completed the kora, or holy walking path, around the monastery and up into the hills, accompanied by an endless stream of local Tibetans. Also checked out the Tibetan old town, with its many white-washed houses and ornate wood-carved windows.<br /><br />That night I had dinner with Raffaela from Italy, who was determined to try as many local specialities as possible - nearly all of which involved yak. It's hard to overstate how much yak is eaten up in Tibet. Luckily it's not that bad. Fairly close to beef unless you get some of the tougher parts. Raffaela ordered yak lung, and I ordered the rather pedestrian grilled yak. The waiter placed a dish in front of me, so I assumed it was my meal. After eating about a third of it, my grilled yak meal actually arrived and we realized I'd been tucking in to a big plate of lung! Kind of fatty, but otherwise pretty good. <br /><br />On the grand scale of all things yak, yak cheeseburgers were the big winner, followed by yak steak, yak sizzler, and yak curry. At the other end of the spectrum would be yak butter tea, which is a staple drank often by most Tibetans. Salty, fatty and hard to describe, it doesn't taste at all like tea. The closest I can come is that it's like drinking a potato chip. I learned that if you finished a cup to be polite, Tibetan hospitality would ensure that your cup was quickly refilled again. So I had to avoid my natural tendency to clean my plate and empty my cup in order to avoid yak butter tea overload.<BR><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3570119394/" title="Gyantse Fortress by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3327/3570119394_1dc81a95c6.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Gyantse Fortress" /></a><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3570142652/" title="Palcho Monastery by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3589/3570142652_7b9dde5168.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Palcho Monastery" /></a><br /><BR>The next day we were off to the town of Gyanze, home of the Palcho Monastery. It seemed much less lively than the Tashi Lunpo Monastery, though I did get into a fight with a monk who wanted to make me pay twice to photograph inside the temple. Highlights were a cool, creepy room devoted to some of the darker Tantric deities, and the enormous Khumbum stupa. This is the largest stupa in Tibet - a nine story structure with over 70 different rooms full of paintings and sculptures of deities. It was pretty mind-boggling and beautiful. On top was a huge pair of Buddha eyes looking out on the nearby fortress.<BR><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3570144498/" title="On top of the Kumbum by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3662/3570144498_6016927116.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="On top of the Kumbum" /></a>Eric Rockeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16743780886788012535noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7456210571956646937.post-33132115050193758802009-05-01T04:38:00.000-07:002009-05-21T05:21:08.591-07:00Annapurna Circuit Trek: Dal Bhat, Apple Pie, and deep-fried Mars bars (oh, yeah, and the Himalayas)<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3486593202/" title="Upper Manang Trail by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3571/3486593202_475a5317a6.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Upper Manang Trail" /></a><BR><br />I spent almost a week in Kathmandu, in-between sight seeing, getting ready for my trek. I made trip after trip to the tourist ghetto of Thamel, searching for size 14 hiking boots (suprise success!), haggled endlessly over North Fake clothing, discovered secret sources of trail mix, and on the back burner discussed possible Tibet treks with travel agents. Finally, my pack full of much warmer clothing, I was ready.<BR> <br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3486554018/" title="Kumar, my porter/guide by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3357/3486554018_179d74b9dd_m.jpg" width="180" height="240" alt="Kumar, my porter/guide" /></a><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3485766553/" title="Upper Manang Trail by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3627/3485766553_3c2bfbf631_m.jpg" width="180" height="240" alt="Upper Manang Trail" /></a><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3486614008/" title="Manang by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3088/3486614008_a77b848065_m.jpg" width="180" height="240" alt="Manang" /></a><br /><BR>A couple of days before I was heading out, though, my intestines staged a revolt. Amy and I had an abortive trip to the medieval village of Bhaktapur thanks to my stomach, and the day before I left it wasn't much better. So, weak on antibiotics, I decided to get a porter/guide. Kumar came with me from Kathmandu, on the recommendation of my Tibet travel agent. He was quiet but nice, and full of stories about the mountains (some of which he swore me to secrecy).<BR><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3485699109/" title="Annapurna Circuit Trek by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3576/3485699109_c1141ef316.jpg" width="500" height="282" alt="Annapurna Circuit Trek" /></a><BR><br />We start the Annapurna Circuit in Besisar, about 5 hours bus ride from Kathmandu. A sub-tropical climate, we are surrounded by banana and other leafy trees, and low, green hills. Terrace farming is everywhere, growing corn, barley and winter wheat. Also stone houses, goats and the ever-present Marsyangdi River, which we will follow all the way up to the Thorong La pass. It is eerily quiet, though, and we meet only one or two other trekkers the entire day of hiking.<BR><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3485720573/" title="Annapurna Circuit Trek by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3616/3485720573_e80f03d9c5.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Annapurna Circuit Trek" /></a><br /><BR>Over the next few days, we fall into a pattern of getting up early, enjoying the relative cool of the first few hours, and stopping occasionally for tea along the way at the numerous tea houses. I realize how much I enjoy Kumar's quiet friendliness - he is quick to point out mountains, plant species and saucy mountain rumors but leaves me to myself for good chunks of the time. I spend a lot of this time being quiet and walking meditatively, which soon has me in pretty blissful state (I think it's hard not to feel this way with so much beauty around you).<BR> <br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3511593005/" title="Rockslide Area by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3611/3511593005_fba567c1a2.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Rockslide Area" /></a><br /><BR>The landscape gradually change from the lush green of the lowlands to more scattered trees and rocky cliffs. A large number of landslides mar the hills along the way, caused by deforestation and also construction of a new road. The road is a bit of a tragedy for the area, as it will continue to the district capital of Manang, which is three-fourths of the way to the Thorung Phedi Pass. It addition to the ugliness it is causing, many people I talk to along the way fear that it will ruin the business of the many tea houses along the lower part of the trek. <br /><br />Kumar and I occasionally pass directly underneath the road workers, perched on tiny outcroppings above sheer stone dropoffs. They are chisling out big chunks of rock and dropping them below (the trail was littered with them). Kumar would call out for them to pause while we walked underneath but the pounding continued. We instinctively duck our heads, hope for the best, and hurry on our way. Around this time I have my first experience with the apple pie that is famous on this trek. This one looks like a homemade version of a Hostess apple pie, but is delicious.<BR><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3485715357/" title="Annapurna Circuit Trek by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3539/3485715357_3a38d4b94a.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Annapurna Circuit Trek" /></a><br /><BR>After the barren rockslide area, the land again changes into a temperate forest, with deciduous, pine and rhododendron trees, gooseberries, and orchids. The Annapurna area is home to the world's largest rhododendron forest, as well as a couple of the world's tallest peaks (Annapurna and Dhaulagiri), the world's deepest gorge, and a bunch of other things that Kumar told me and I forgot. <BR><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3486542180/" title="Annapurna Circuit Trek by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3601/3486542180_57be80ff8f.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Annapurna Circuit Trek" /></a><br /><BR>We also pass many trains of donkeys as they carried supplies up to the villages. The "leader" donkeys of some trains had special harnesses and headdresses indicating their seniority. Kumar tells me that the donkeys are frequently angry at having to carry such heavy loads and had been known to nudge a hapless trekker off a cliff if they weren't careful. They seem nice enough to me but I don't push it.<br /><br />Trekking business is way down due to the financial crisis, and we continue to be the only guests at our tea houses at night for the first few days. Gradually as we got to some of the larger villages closer to the pass, other trekkers start to show up. It becomes much more social, as you see the same people again and again as they arrive at the next village for the night. I meet great people from America, Germany, the Czech Republic and England, plus some hot Brazilian surfers.<BR><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3486520778/" title="Annapurna Circuit Trek by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3300/3486520778_d65e969316.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Annapurna Circuit Trek" /></a><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3486572002/" title="Pisang by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3411/3486572002_480fcca9b0.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Pisang" /></a><br /><BR>The people in these small mountain villages are friendly, with everyone saying "Namaste" to you as you passed. The villages themselves are a mix of completely traditional living based on farming, alongside more wealthy tea house owners catering to tourists. The kids are open and friendly, grabbing your hand and walking with you for a while, only occasionally asking for a "one school pen, one rupee, one bon-bon" ("Bon-bon"? I wonder who taught them such a bad habit? Hmm, French trekkers?).<BR> <br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3485709541/" title="Annapurna Circuit Trek by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3657/3485709541_556e44d34f.jpg" width="500" height="282" alt="Annapurna Circuit Trek" /></a><br /><BR>Although Nepal itself is primarily Hindu, Buddhism was the dominent religion in this area, with prayer flags, chortens, monasteries, and prayer stones at nearly every village.<BR> <br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3486563000/" title="Annapurna III by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3587/3486563000_59257ce488.jpg" width="500" height="282" alt="Annapurna III" /></a><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3511600825/" title="Upper Pisang by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3338/3511600825_d0d7257072.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Upper Pisang" /></a><br /><BR>Making our way to the traditional village of Pisang, the landscape again changes to be more deserty as the altitude rose. The pine trees grow shorter and juniper bushes started to dominate. Himalayan mountains (including Annapurna II, III and IV) dominated the skyline. The villages around here are quite old, and built in the traditional style of closely fitted stones with wood roofs. Hundreds of stones lined the top of the roofs, protecting them from the high winds. It starts to get colder and night and guests and porters alike huddle around the wood fire stoves in the dining rooms of the tea houses.<BR><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3486587660/" title="Upper Manang Trail by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3342/3486587660_25b6884848_m.jpg" width="240" height="180" alt="Upper Manang Trail" /></a><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3485782301/" title="Upper Manang Trail by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3326/3485782301_99c20fb1a2_m.jpg" width="240" height="180" alt="Upper Manang Trail" /></a><br /><BR>The most beautiful day of the trek is the journey along the Upper Manang Trail connecting Pisang to Manag. This trail starts with a 2 hour steep ascent, and then follows a small path hugging the sheer mountain face for hours of incredible views. <BR><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3485801341/" title="Manang by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3567/3485801341_77705b8399.jpg" width="500" height="293" alt="Manang" /></a><br /><BR>Manang is the "big city" of this area, with standalone restaurants, internet cafes, bakeries and places to buy that last piece of warm clothing if you forgot something. The internet is as expensive as a costly overseas phone call. It's customary to stop for an extra day in Manang to acclimatize to the altitude, and to attend a free mountain sickness class to put the fear of God into you about climbing the pass.<BR><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3485824627/" title="Manang by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3539/3485824627_07845027b9.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Manang" /></a><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3511606373/" title="Yak! by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3395/3511606373_52bc283ecd.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Yak!" /></a><br /><BR>The landscape past Manang becomes even more barren, with only juniper bushes competing with the striking browns and tans of the dry hills. We saw blue sheep today way down below by the river (quite rare) and our first Yak! Yaks are huge, and kinda ornery. Kumar and I were walking back to our hotel after dark and a male yak made a lot of threatening noises toward us like he was going to charge - scary! Much more of a threat than the donkey menace Kumar had described to me. Yak butter, cheese and yogurt are everywhere. Not bad, but not that tasty either.<BR><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3512453526/" title="Thorong La Base Camp by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3359/3512453526_9633b33b5c.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Thorong La Base Camp" /></a><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3485834107/" title="Altitude Sickness Evacuation - Thorong Base Camp by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3589/3485834107_30cba1da0d.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Altitude Sickness Evacuation - Thorong Base Camp" /></a><br /><BR>Finally we reach the Thorung La base camp. The land at this point has become almost completely bare, and you can really feel the altitude as you climb. Even the smallest physical activity leaves you panting. Evidence of people falling ill with altitude sickness is frequent - helicopters flying overhead once or twice a day (I watched a German woman being airlifted out of base camp) and donkeys with zonked-out looking trekkers slung across their backs heading down the mountain. Kumar and I complete the hardest climb of the trek, from base camp to high camp. You have to go very slowly to help your body acclimatize as you make the steep ascent.<BR><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3485837701/" title="Thorong La High Camp by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3323/3485837701_591c8e8eb0.jpg" width="500" height="282" alt="Thorong La High Camp" /></a><br /><BR>Thorung High Camp is where most people will base their pass attempt from. Starting up there instead of the lower base camp shaves two hours or so from an already long climbing day. At the camp we huddle in the dining room for hours with all of the other trekkers we've met along the way. There is only one tea house up there, it's a monopoly, and it knows it. Everything is twice as expensive as before. The food's actually pretty good, but the Dal Bhat was evidently tainted (three people who ate it fell ill with food poisening, including myself a day later). At the high altitude, it's difficult to sleep, and I am up much of the night. I have a little bit of an altitude headache, and drink water like mad to stay hydrated.<BR> <br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3486658040/" title="5am, start of pass attempt by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3626/3486658040_ff0f21e72c.jpg" width="500" height="282" alt="5am, start of pass attempt" /></a><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3485840761/" title="View from High Camp by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3319/3485840761_921b399d6e.jpg" width="500" height="282" alt="View from High Camp" /></a><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3486668362/" title="On top of Thorong Pass by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3611/3486668362_2ccc455f19.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="On top of Thorong Pass" /></a><br /><BR>Next morning at 5am we start our ascent. The wind picks up on the pass after about 10am, so you want to be over by about that time. The hike up to the pass is long but kind of spooky and cool in the dark. After an expensive cup of tea and some celebratory pictures at the top, Kumar and I start the long journey down to Muktinath. The descent is actually tougher than going up - an endless steep rocky path, very hard on the feet and knees.<BR><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3485866099/" title="Over Thorong Pass by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3544/3485866099_810b3569ca.jpg" width="500" height="282" alt="Over Thorong Pass" /></a><br /><BR>After the pass we find ourselves in the Mustang region of Nepal. Mustang used to be an independent kingdom and has a heavy Tibetan influence. The high mountain desert landscape consists of enormous rock formations and there is almost no vegetation - a very different kind of beauty from the greenery and snowy peaks of the other side.<BR> <br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3486686830/" title="Muktinath by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3551/3486686830_eef1e929cf_m.jpg" width="180" height="240" alt="Muktinath" /></a><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3485877255/" title="Mustang Landscape by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3574/3485877255_ac84a2522c_m.jpg" width="180" height="240" alt="Mustang Landscape" /></a><br /><BR>Muktinath itself is also a change from the villages we have been used to before. An important Hindu pilgramage site, I'm startled by the mass of people, honking trucks and other signs of "civilization". Kumar takes me to an important temple where Hindus from Nepal and India come to wash away their sins, following the example of Lord Krishna (at this point I've been hiking for hours and am just thinking about lunch).<BR><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3485883469/" title="Kagbeni and Mustang by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3647/3485883469_657647a43b.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Kagbeni and Mustang" /></a><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3485888931/" title="Typical house near Marpha by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3416/3485888931_57a6572366.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Typical house near Marpha" /></a><br /><BR>The days after crossing the pass are a bit anti-climatic, and I find myself wondering if I am done with the trek - many people are either taking buses down at this point or flying out from nearby Jomsom. Most of the friends I'd met and been hanging out with disperse, either taking these quicker journeys down the mouuntain or stopping at different villages than I was. My attitude doesn't improve the next day as we slog from Muktinath for seven hours to the cute little village of Marpha, through the dusty wind tunnel of the Kali Gandaki River Valley (note to future trekkers: jeep this part).<BR><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3486741904/" title="Towards Gorepani by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3591/3486741904_84a54c68ed.jpg" width="500" height="282" alt="Towards Gorepani" /></a><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3486763308/" title="Annapurna Circuit Trek by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3610/3486763308_f4e68e2e6a.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Annapurna Circuit Trek" /></a><br /><BR>Gradually the surroundings become more lush and less windy as we descend further and vegetation starts to reappear. Pine trees first, followed by rhododendrons, leafy trees, and green terraced fields. I'm happy to have continued - as we arrive in Tatopani by some coincidence many of the trekkers I'd met along the way end up at the same tea house for the night. We have a soak in a *hot* hot springs pool near the river - sweet!<BR><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3486749436/" title="On top of Pune Hill by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3380/3486749436_816099001a.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="On top of Pune Hill" /></a><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3485937723/" title="Dhaulagiri view from Pune Hill by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3605/3485937723_822e2f9138.jpg" width="500" height="282" alt="Dhaulagiri view from Pune Hill" /></a><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3486745774/" title="On top of Pune Hill by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3563/3486745774_aa3e852b20.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="On top of Pune Hill" /></a> <BR><br />Finally we make it to the last stop on the trek, Gorepani. A solid day of climbing stone steps to get there, Gorepani is perched on a hill between the massive mountains of Dhaulagiri and Annapurna I. One final night hanging out with the trekker gang (staying up drinking rum tea with the Czechs, finally giving in and trying the Mars Bar roll on the menu - not bad), followed by an early morning hike up to the top of Pune Hill for the sunrise. The final views of the Himalayas are the best of the trek. After that, we spend the day descending down stone steps to reach the end point of the trek. 17 days and many miles after starting, Kumar and I arrive at Birethanti and catch a bus to Pokhara.<BR><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3486768858/" title="Annapurna Circuit Trek by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3649/3486768858_48f859f97d.jpg" width="375" height="500" alt="Annapurna Circuit Trek" /></a>Eric Rockeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16743780886788012535noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7456210571956646937.post-20490875195331812042009-04-25T23:39:00.000-07:002009-05-08T09:55:14.929-07:00Kathmandu<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3409036816/" title="At the Water Line by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3548/3409036816_073ae21dff.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="At the Water Line" /></a><BR><br />Kathmandu was not at all what I expected it to be. The consistent story I heard from other travelers was that it was a crowded, busy, polluted big city. When I arrived, the traffic didn't seem *that* bad and I found the old, city center area to be nice and walkable. Then I found out that it was just because of a petro strike! Evidently gas hadn't been trucked into the city for about a week, so the cars and pollution were way down. Lucky for me (not the city!) the strike lasted most of the time I was in town :).<BR> <br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3409067286/" title="Maoist March by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3560/3409067286_a71eb1d5e9_m.jpg" width="240" height="180" alt="Maoist March" /></a><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3408254289/" title="Maoist March by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3607/3408254289_9c92f0c037_m.jpg" width="240" height="180" alt="Maoist March" /></a><br /><BR>The 16-hour power outages that I faced on arrival also made things interesting. The city basically shut down after about 8pm. The Maoists are in power now here in a coalition government (after democratic elections) and the combination of drought and mismanagement have left the country with a severe shortage of power generating capacity. People are not happy, with this and with the fact that many economic reforms have not occurred as the government had promised. There were marches, strikes and protests every day that I was there. It was confusing to know who was protesting. Many times they were Communists, and I kept thinking "what are they protesting? Aren't they in power?". But evidently it is often the 18 <span style="font-style:italic;">other</span> Communist parties in the country that are complaining about not sharing the Maoists success (plus the Maoists marching occasionally to show their strength). It doesn't feel dangerous here for tourists, and after the first few days of protests, my reaction when running into one was "Communists *again*?". (Update: having the Prime Minister resign earlier this week didn't exactly ease the tensions, either)<BR><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3409001804/" title="Thamel by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3313/3409001804_4f6892aae2_m.jpg" width="180" height="240" alt="Thamel" /></a><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3409052766/" title="Kathmandu by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3361/3409052766_cf60395df9_m.jpg" width="180" height="240" alt="Kathmandu" /></a><br /><br /><BR>Trekking is the big reason many tourists come to Nepal, and the Thamel tourist district in town resembles nothing if not a gigantic REI store. You can get anything here related to hiking and outdoor activities. Some of it might even be real! Nepal is famous for selling locally-made rip-offs of outdoor clothing company wares, especially The North Face. My Isreali friend Arial likes to call them "The North Fakes". The funny thing is they are pretty well made. I had a very warm North Fake "super down" vest, sleeping bag and fuzzy cap that did me well on my trek. You start looking at the logos on the clothes, to see how close they are to the real thing, as if that's some indication of quality ("The font is a little off on that one" or "The real North Face wouldn't use such a big type face there"). The clothing rip-offs make for some interesting shifts in what brands represent over here. For instance, Dolche and Gabanna is so ubiquitous on the t-shirts, caps and cute little jackets of Nepali youth that it is more like The Gap than haute couture.<BR><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3409182046/" title="Nick - Patan by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3621/3409182046_af1d519993_m.jpg" width="240" height="180" alt="Nick - Patan" /></a><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3409212912/" title="Patan by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3131/3409212912_284755fbe8_m.jpg" width="240" height="180" alt="Patan" /></a><BR><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3409187740/" title="Patan by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3377/3409187740_30fd58aee4_m.jpg" width="240" height="180" alt="Patan" /></a><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3409209396/" title="Osho Commune by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3639/3409209396_80e2ca0ba2_m.jpg" width="240" height="180" alt="Osho Commune" /></a><br /><BR>In addition to my friend Jordi, I had the good fortune of having a couple of friends living in Kathmandu that I could stay with and see different aspects of the city. My friend Nick, who I met in Mexico last year, is staying in Kathmandu studying on a scholarship. We had a great time going to an Osho Commune up in the hills outside of town for a weekend. Unlike the high-end spa setting of the Osho Ashram that I avoided in Pune, this place had a much more down-to-earth feel. The commune offered a full-day's schedule of meditations that ran the gamut from an hour of continuous dancing to Osho's famous "Dynamic Meditation". Dynamic Meditation involves breathing as deep and as hard as you can for 10 minutes, primal screaming for 10 minutes, then jumping up and down chanting the Sufi matra "Hoo! Hoo!" for 10 minutes before collapsing into 15 minutes of meditation. Osho's idea with this was to get your body as tense and exhausted as possible before going into meditation so that you would have no thoughts at all to disturb your peace. It strangely works - after that routine my mind would be eerily silent, and those thoughts that I did have would be faint and quiet. It seemed like a lot of work to get to that state though! A fun weekend, but not really my thing...<BR><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3408281747/" title="Derber Square - Patan by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3361/3408281747_7cbe38f2d4.jpg" width="500" height="282" alt="Derber Square - Patan" /></a><br /><BR>Nick lived in the historic town of Patan, above a well-off Nepali family who had kind of adopted him and invited him down for dinner often. The parents were a kick and two of the sons were famous Nepali musicians. We made jackfruit curry one night and brought it down to share with them (note to future curry makers: jackfruit is nasty to work with. It gives off some sort of white latex goo that sticks to everything when you cut it). I loved the family, the mother especially. She didn't speak a word of English but was one of the funniest people I've ever met. She would ply me with the potent local Nepali wine, raxi, fill my plate with a ridiculous amount of food to eat, and then make fun of me.<BR><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3409225402/" title="Amy and me in Bodnath by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3390/3409225402_6ba7cf2c3a_m.jpg" width="180" height="240" alt="Amy and me in Bodnath" /></a><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3408412837/" title="Bodnath by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3340/3408412837_feb5a3eeb2_m.jpg" width="180" height="240" alt="Bodnath" /></a><br /><BR>After staying with Nick, I moved back to central Kathmandu to stay with Amy Paro, sister of my good friend Erika. Amy and her husband Adam work for USAID in the US Embassy in Kathmandu and were wonderful hosts. They have a sweet house near the embassy with internet access, lots of power thanks to a generator, and all the amenities. This was a good break from my backpacker lifestyle. They were also trekking pros and hooked me up with some essential supplies for my trek.Eric Rockeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16743780886788012535noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7456210571956646937.post-21105233513198123072009-04-25T02:37:00.000-07:002009-05-08T09:51:51.301-07:00Dharamsala and on to NepalSorry for the delay in posting - I've been up in Nepal for a few weeks and the power situation has been a challenge (when I first arrived, the power was *off* for 16 hours a day). Just got back from trekking too, which as you can imagine is not an oasis of internet connectivity. With that...<BR><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3346698656/" title="On the toy train towards Dharamsala by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3300/3346698656_3ecb7a50fc_m.jpg" width="240" height="180" alt="On the toy train towards Dharamsala" /></a><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3345862241/" title="Jordi on the toy train towards Dharamsala by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3406/3345862241_941caa11b7_m.jpg" width="240" height="180" alt="Jordi on the toy train towards Dharamsala" /></a><br /><BR>(Feb. 28th) After Amritsar, Jordi and I made our way to Dharamsala to attend a Buddhist meditation retreat. Normally you take a train to this town called Pathankot, and then a 4 hour bus ride through the mountains. But we had made friends with this nice guy from Austin, Quentin, who was also attending the retreat and had his heart set on the taking the toy train (a small-gauge train that goes most of the way up the mountain). The ride was beautiful, but packed with people and long. Jordi and I had unwittingly created a barrier with our packs so people couldn't crowd us, and sat there playing with a cute baby that the woman next to us had. But poor Quentin was squished in a corner - I think at some point he had a man sitting on his lap.<BR> <br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3408765656/" title="Tushita Meditation Center by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3588/3408765656_9929a903a2.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Tushita Meditation Center" /></a><br /><BR>After some hassle getting a taxi for the rest of the way, involving a very drunk Indian intent on telling us the true secret of meditation, we arrived in Dharamsala the night before our course began. We had signed up for the "Introduction to Buddhism" course at the <a href="http://www.tushita.info/">Tushita Meditation Center</a>. The class turned out to be a great overview of Tibetan Buddhism, and best of all, prepared us for a public teaching by the His Holiness the Dalai Lama to be given the day after the course was over. <br /><br />Going to the teaching and being in the presence of the Dalai Lama was a big highlight of my trip (much better than seeing him pass in a jeep like I did the last time I was in Dharamsala!). The ceremony around the DL's entrance was incredible. Two enormous 10 foot-long horns were blown, a procession of elder monks filed in, and then the Dalai Lama arrived with an enormous yellow plumed helmet on. Next the chant master started singing, remarkably close to the noise of the horns - a very low chord-like sound like a human didgeridoo. Then we all tuned in our little handheld radios to hear the English translation of the Dalai Lama speaking. The teaching was a fairly technical explanation of the Buddhist understanding of emptiness, which would have been completely mystifying before the class. The inherent emptiness of existence was my favorite part of the Buddhist teachings (really!) so both Jordi and I went in for a second course focused on that topic. Altogether we spent about 3 weeks up at Tushita - with excellent teachers both times. I don't think Tibetan Buddhism is exactly my path, but there is a lot about it that I admire and can see the truth in.<BR> <br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3346702966/" title="Tibetan Uprising 50th Anniversary by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3579/3346702966_98ecbb4d4d_m.jpg" width="240" height="180" alt="Tibetan Uprising 50th Anniversary" /></a><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3345871619/" title="Tibetan Uprising 50th Anniversary by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3301/3345871619_8ce8b4a8db_m.jpg" width="240" height="180" alt="Tibetan Uprising 50th Anniversary" /></a><br /><BR>We were also in Dharamsala at the time of the 50th anniversary of the Tibetan uprising against China in Tibet. Candlelit vigils up to the Dalai Lama's temple were held every night, which were moving and sad to watch. Though at the vigil I saw, they had these guys from an autonomous region in Italy offering to give China some advice on how to have a peaceful and successful autonomous region (note to Italy: don't wait up for that call from China). After the violent protests in Tibet during last year's anniversary, things were very subdued this year.<BR> <br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3408796780/" title="Mart the Shutterbug - Jalandhar by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3342/3408796780_2400741049.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Mart the Shutterbug - Jalandhar" /></a><br /><BR>After Tushita, Jordi, myself, and this other Dutch guy Mart that we had met at the courses traveled to the India/Nepal border. Taxied down the windy mountain roads to Jalandhar (sorry Jordi!), and then took an overnight train to the border town of Gorakhpur. It was fun traveling with Mart because he was new to India and everything was fresh, exciting and photo-worthy to him.<BR><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3408089603/" title="Myanmar's Temple - Lumbini by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3585/3408089603_94557eca43_m.jpg" width="240" height="180" alt="Myanmar's Temple - Lumbini" /></a><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3407994605/" title="Looking at the Buddha's Birthplace by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3337/3407994605_0101ccd16d_m.jpg" width="240" height="180" alt="Looking at the Buddha's Birthplace" /></a><BR><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3408006383/" title="Buddha's Birthplace by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3306/3408006383_c1e3d513b6_m.jpg" width="180" height="240" alt="Buddha's Birthplace" /></a><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3408910116/" title="Lumbini by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3336/3408910116_34e681b6d6_m.jpg" width="180" height="240" alt="Lumbini" /></a><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3408113717/" title="Lumbini by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3395/3408113717_5c5e40fe49_m.jpg" width="180" height="240" alt="Lumbini" /></a><br /><BR>First stop in Nepal, right across the border, was the weird, relatively newly created destination of Lumbini. The historical birthplace of the Buddha, there wasn't much there except a small village until some years ago when planning began on a series of stupas and gompas in the area. Now there are many monuments from Buddhist countries around the world (China, Japan, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam, Korea, etc). Interestingly, the most beautiful building was from that powerhouse of Buddhism, Germany (though Myanmar's golden stupa is a close second). My favorite moment was going to see the exact location where Buddha was born, and having this guy in front of me not even get off his cell phone while he was looking at it.Eric Rockeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16743780886788012535noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7456210571956646937.post-609550949859785002009-03-13T03:57:00.000-07:002009-03-13T04:45:14.062-07:00Amritsar<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3346695686/" title="Golden Temple - Amritsar by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3403/3346695686_5604aaf548.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Golden Temple - Amritsar" /></a><BR><br />The final leg of my whistle-stop tour up to Dharamsala was Amritsar, in the state of Punjab, close to the Pakistan border. I met up my friend Jordi there (while I took about 2 weeks to make it north, being the super trooper that she was, it took her one 50-hour train ride). The main (some would say only) attraction of Amritsar is the Golden Temple, which is the center of the Sikh religion.<BR><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3345853159/" title="Golden Temple - Amritsar by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3408/3345853159_b2f6275c6c_m.jpg" width="240" height="180" alt="Golden Temple - Amritsar" /></a><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3346692474/" title="Golden Temple - Amritsar by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3632/3346692474_e0a292dd8e_m.jpg" width="240" height="180" alt="Golden Temple - Amritsar" /></a><BR><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3345859389/" title="Golden Temple - Amritsar by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3359/3345859389_8805133933_m.jpg" width="240" height="180" alt="Golden Temple - Amritsar" /></a><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3346696758/" title="Golden Temple - Amritsar by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3315/3346696758_844874300e_m.jpg" width="240" height="180" alt="Golden Temple - Amritsar" /></a><br /><BR>We were both amazed at how peaceful, clean and quiet the temple was. It's enormous, with a wide white marble walkways surrounding a water tank containing the actual temple. Tons people are pouring in and out at any given time, and the line to get into the temple itself is always huge. But everyone seems calm and happy. There is a 24-hour free canteen that anyone can eat at, and no beggars are around the temple at all. It felt like the Sikhs took care of each other very well, and were also welcoming to visitors. Everyone regardless of religion was able to go inside the temple (as long as you cover your head and wash your feet!). It *is* spectacular - literally covered in gold (100 kg) on the outside and opulent on the inside as well, with more gold, crystal chandeliers, and intricate marblework. And definitely a living place of worship, with continual readings from the Sikh holy book all day and people filling every nook and cranny sitting and meditating.Eric Rockeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16743780886788012535noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7456210571956646937.post-32479445831024952212009-03-13T00:52:00.000-07:002009-03-13T01:16:37.956-07:00Orchha<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3346674410/" title="Orchha by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3548/3346674410_0767ea6be4_m.jpg" width="240" height="180" alt="Orchha" /></a><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3345840111/" title="Orchha by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3315/3345840111_533fc348a8_m.jpg" width="240" height="180" alt="Orchha" /></a><BR><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3345837297/" title="Orchha by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3392/3345837297_7c8e1288ba_m.jpg" width="180" height="240" alt="Orchha" /></a><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3345844559/" title="Orchha by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3590/3345844559_dc8c7ed74b_m.jpg" width="180" height="240" alt="Orchha" /></a><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3346673338/" title="Orchha by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3340/3346673338_897fec1d69_m.jpg" width="180" height="240" alt="Orchha" /></a><br /><BR>Continuing north, I took another night train to the village of Orchha, which is the site of a large number of palaces, temples and cenotaphs (tombs for kings). These were built between the 15th and 17th centuries and have a combination of Hindu and Muslim architecture due to invasions and power changing hands back and forth.<BR><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3345834039/" title="Shivratri celebration - Orchha by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3599/3345834039_589f8ffc03_m.jpg" width="240" height="180" alt="Shivratri celebration - Orchha" /></a><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3346671428/" title="Orchha by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3555/3346671428_df188084d3_m.jpg" width="240" height="180" alt="Orchha" /></a><br /><BR>I happened to be in town during the important holiday of Shivratri, dedicated to the god Shiva. There was an enormous parade (for the size of the town) featuring men with flowing white beards on horses, women dressed up like dieties, young guys throwing paint at you and kids dancing wildly to techno music. And lots of people carrying what appeared to be large floor lamps powered by these scary looking generators (they resembled large sewing machines).<BR><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3346679124/" title="The farmer's kitchen - Orchha by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3541/3346679124_5fdc07a9c5_m.jpg" width="240" height="180" alt="The farmer's kitchen - Orchha" /></a><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3345849429/" title="Chris and Lisa at the farmer's for dinner - Orchha by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3352/3345849429_4437651e1a_m.jpg" width="240" height="180" alt="Chris and Lisa at the farmer's for dinner - Orchha" /></a><br /><BR>I didn't run into a lot of tourists in Orchha, so I was surprised to see Chris and Lisa, some lovely people from England that I met in Hampi. They had just made friends with this local farmer who invites people over to his fields to cook them dinner. I had a super rustic meal with them out there which was a lot of fun. Fortunately they were out of the 35 rupee (about 75 cents) bags of wine that they had the night before. Evidently hangover central...Eric Rockeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16743780886788012535noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7456210571956646937.post-17682943297041728022009-03-12T01:06:00.000-07:002009-03-13T00:51:50.254-07:00Ellora and Ajanta Caves<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3308982170/" title="Ellora Caves by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3664/3308982170_c33684d1b4_m.jpg" width="240" height="180" alt="Ellora Caves" /></a><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3308143805/" title="Ellora Caves by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3322/3308143805_b44e0271c8_m.jpg" width="240" height="180" alt="Ellora Caves" /></a><BR><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3308979612/" title="Ellora Caves by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3309/3308979612_06df4fe346_m.jpg" width="240" height="180" alt="Ellora Caves" /></a><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3308975472/" title="Ellora Caves by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3644/3308975472_ba8ea091de_m.jpg" width="240" height="180" alt="Ellora Caves" /></a><BR><br />Next up were the Ellora and Ajanta Caves. These are a series of Buddhist, Jain and Hindu caves that were carved completely out of the sheer stone faces of cliffs in the Indian state of Maharashtra, near Mumbai.<BR> <br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3308988190/" title="I, I, I, I'm Stayin' Alive! - Ellora Caves by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3622/3308988190_079201dfa8_m.jpg" width="180" height="240" alt="I, I, I, I'm Stayin' Alive! - Ellora Caves" /></a><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3308149463/" title="Ellora Caves by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3627/3308149463_09f255f72a_m.jpg" width="180" height="240" alt="Ellora Caves" /></a><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3308177083/" title="Ellora Caves by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3483/3308177083_cc49b396b8_m.jpg" width="180" height="240" alt="Ellora Caves" /></a><br /><BR>The Elora Caves were created between the 5th and 10th Centuries, and reflect the shifting of religions in the area over time. The Buddhist caves came earlier, in the 5th to 7th centuries, and then the Hindu ones were created later, as Hinduism resurged and largely wiped out Buddhism in India. These caves were used as monasteries to live and worship in, and the craftsmanship is incredible. All of the statues, columns, etc were carved directly out of the rocky cliffs.<BR><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3309009014/" title="Ellora Caves by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3372/3309009014_59709c86d4_m.jpg" width="240" height="180" alt="Ellora Caves" /></a><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3308171645/" title="Ellora Caves by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3347/3308171645_1818ab70b8_m.jpg" width="240" height="180" alt="Ellora Caves" /></a><BR><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3308156117/" title="Ellora Caves by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3427/3308156117_661ff2218c_m.jpg" width="240" height="180" alt="Ellora Caves" /></a><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3308161267/" title="Dancing Shiva - Ellora Caves by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3585/3308161267_db840d97fc_m.jpg" width="240" height="180" alt="Dancing Shiva - Ellora Caves" /></a><br /><BR>All of the caves are pretty awe-inspiring to imagine how they were created, but the main Hindu temple, called Kailasanatha Temple, is just out of control. It looks similar to other Hindu temples around the country, but it and everything inside of it is carved out of a single piece of rock. It's difficult to get your mind around how the carvers could plan and execute such a feat.<BR><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3308203513/" title="Ajanta Caves by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3309/3308203513_f661e7f210_m.jpg" width="240" height="180" alt="Ajanta Caves" /></a><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3308228719/" title="Ajanta Caves by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3349/3308228719_f054e751f2_m.jpg" width="240" height="180" alt="Ajanta Caves" /></a><BR><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3308207091/" title="Ajanta Caves by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3433/3308207091_08db105b73_m.jpg" width="240" height="180" alt="Ajanta Caves" /></a><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3308204805/" title="Ajanta Caves by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3028/3308204805_0cf0cfba7b_m.jpg" width="240" height="180" alt="Ajanta Caves" /></a><br /><BR>The Ajanta caves were a bit further north and are famous for having paintings on the walls and ceilings that have survived since ancient times. Some of the earlier caves are dated back to the 2nd Century BC.<BR><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3308206491/" title="Ajanta Caves by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3338/3308206491_27b531d0b7_m.jpg" width="180" height="240" alt="Ajanta Caves" /></a><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3308209791/" title="Ajanta Caves by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3604/3308209791_b4d6433236_m.jpg" width="180" height="240" alt="Ajanta Caves" /></a>Eric Rockeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16743780886788012535noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7456210571956646937.post-45674267386488550272009-03-12T00:35:00.001-07:002009-03-12T01:05:42.750-07:00Pune<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3308129043/" title="Pune by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3495/3308129043_2f6055876a_m.jpg" width="240" height="180" alt="Pune" /></a><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3308131475/" title="Pune by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3377/3308131475_a0e843b381_m.jpg" width="240" height="180" alt="Pune" /></a><br /><BR>From Hampi I wanted to find a place that was a reasonable train distance away, and a night train took me to Pune, home of the world-famous Osho Ashram (that's the Bhagwan Shree Rashneesh for those who remember him in Oregon). This wasn't really on my list of places I was excited about but it turned out to be my favorite larger Indian city so far. It was clean, had nice architecture and good food due to all the ashram attendees. I stopped by the ashram but didn't go in - it cost $30 a day and they seemed really into primal screaming and dancing. Instead I had another unexpected and surreal experience.<BR><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3308954342/" title="Pune by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3525/3308954342_fe5610e903.jpg" width="375" height="500" alt="Pune" /></a><br /><BR>I was walking by this building and saw what I thought was a political poster on the wall. You see them everywhere in India, a big picture of the main guy in a white robe, and then a bunch of smaller mugshots of the other people in the party. But when I looked at the mugshoots, I was like, "That's funny, it's all these beefy shirtless guys holding sceptres". Just then, about 10 heads popped around the corner of the door and invited me inside. Turns out I was standing in front of the practice gym for an Indian wrestling club!<BR> <br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3308947734/" title="Pune by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3534/3308947734_7d7a07daa8_m.jpg" width="240" height="180" alt="Pune" /></a><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3308952022/" title="Pune by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3310/3308952022_ac957dc0ff_m.jpg" width="240" height="180" alt="Pune" /></a><br /><BR>They were very excited to have a guest and proceeded to show off for me for over an hour - doing endless pushups and burpees, as well as lots of practice rounds that got pretty violent. Indian wrestling evidently takes place in a pit whose floor is full of crumbled red clay. When someone loses a round, they take fistfuls of the clay and throw it on themselves and the other wrestler. After a while everyone starts to look completely red, like Hellboy or something. Very unexpected and fun experience!Eric Rockeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16743780886788012535noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7456210571956646937.post-28648666724914122512009-03-11T03:54:00.000-07:002009-03-12T00:47:31.128-07:00Back to India, Hampi<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3296768093/" title="Tom's Backyard - TIru by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3538/3296768093_048e21010b.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Tom's Backyard - TIru" /></a><BR><br />I've been so busy these past weeks that I've gotten a bit behind in the blogging. I've actually been back in India since Jan. 26th! I spent a little over 2 weeks back in Tiru, going to a spiritual intensive from my teacher Mark, and then another week catching up on things and waiting for my debit card to get mailed from the States. I stayed with another student of Mark's, Tom, who had a great house next to a rice paddy out in the country a bit. Other than the quick trip through SE Asia with Cindy, I'd been in this area for almost 3 months now and was ready to see some more. Moving on from Tiru, I made my way north, with the goal of making it to Dharamsala as the south of India started to heat up. It was already getting into the high 80s by the time I took off. I wanted to travel by land the entire length of the country to get a feel for it, as I had flown down last November.<BR><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3296798219/" title="Hampi by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3655/3296798219_3a5abc49e4_m.jpg" width="180" height="240" alt="Hampi" /></a><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3296801023/" title="Hampi by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3451/3296801023_d9dceda91b_m.jpg" width="180" height="240" alt="Hampi" /></a><BR><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3297597830/" title="Hampi by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3020/3297597830_632b095453_m.jpg" width="240" height="180" alt="Hampi" /></a><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3297642744/" title="Hampi by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3645/3297642744_3fc08581f4_m.jpg" width="240" height="180" alt="Hampi" /></a><BR><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3296813595/" title="Hampi by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3489/3296813595_d8d922b8cc_m.jpg" width="240" height="180" alt="Hampi" /></a><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3296834683/" title="Nicole - Hampi by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3465/3296834683_09c35bec11_m.jpg" width="240" height="180" alt="Nicole - Hampi" /></a><br /><BR>On Feb. 16th, I took a 5 hour bus to Bangalore, and then immediately a train to Hampi, which is in the Indian state of Karnataka. Hampi is one of those places in India where you go to and then end up staying longer than you thought. I planned on being there for a couple of days and finally drug myself out of there after a week or so. It's a bit like India's Angkor Wat, with a huge number of old Hindu temples constructed in the 14th and 15th centuries, spread out over a large area. But it's also just a pleasant place to hang out for a while - a big backpacker destination. The landscape is a wild combination of huge boulders, rivers, along with rice paddies and palm trees. With a practically infinite supply of rocks, Hampi is the bouldering capital of India, which means that there were these people walking around with enormous mattresses strapped to their backs. There is an idealic area across the river from town (you have to ride a little boat to get out there) full of cheap guesthouses and restaurants. I stayed in this little paradise across a tiny path in the middle of a rice paddy (I only fell in once) called Manju's.<BR> <br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3297577208/" title="Most Excellent Host Manju - Hampi by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3076/3297577208_fd6739d47e_m.jpg" width="180" height="240" alt="Most Excellent Host Manju - Hampi" /></a><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3296816007/" title="River Ferry - Hampi by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3210/3296816007_cbdec24af2_m.jpg" width="180" height="240" alt="River Ferry - Hampi" /></a><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3297653588/" title="Hanuman Temple - Hampi by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3606/3297653588_99f24b1e8b_m.jpg" width="180" height="240" alt="Hanuman Temple - Hampi" /></a><br /><BR>Manju, the owner, was one of those everyday saints that you just loved the minute you met him. He had little mud bungalows with thatch roofs, and a big gazebo restaurant where you could just hang out all day. The people there were wonderful, and I met some folks that I would run into later on in my trip. I rented a motorbike to go tour some of the local villages and a nearby reservoir, ended up taking a wrong turn, and found myself on this Indian highway with enormous trucks on all sides of me - kind of like a final exam for Indian driving. On the way back to town, I gave this Indian guy a ride to his house, and he invited me in for a drink of water. His entire family gathered around me and sat and watched me for about 10 minutes - very sweet and curious, and then it was time for them to get back to work and me to be my way. On the final day I went to the famous Hanuman temple up on a hilltop, supposedly his birthplace, and appropriately full of monkeys. Sunsets on the hills were a big event every day, with many people making the pilgrimage up for the amazing views.Eric Rockeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16743780886788012535noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7456210571956646937.post-34043406351277538712009-02-16T05:34:00.000-08:002009-02-25T01:48:56.042-08:00Luang Prabang<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3260220908/" title="Luang Prabang, Laos by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3383/3260220908_3e39b40834_m.jpg" width="240" height="180" alt="Luang Prabang, Laos" /></a><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3259391211/" title="Luang Prabang, Laos by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3338/3259391211_4150d25807_m.jpg" width="240" height="180" alt="Luang Prabang, Laos" /></a><BR><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3259382601/" title="Luang Prabang, Laos by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3313/3259382601_06639954fc_m.jpg" width="240" height="180" alt="Luang Prabang, Laos" /></a><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3261967575/" title="Luang Prabang, Laos by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3395/3261967575_1764216a18_m.jpg" width="240" height="180" alt="Luang Prabang, Laos" /></a><BR><br />A 6-hour bus ride north took me to Luang Prabang, which is a cute little town on the river with a lot of colonial architecture. Like Vang Vieng, it has been pretty much overtaken by tourism. But it is still pleasant with lovely just-so restaurants and guesthouses. Kind of like the Napa Valley of Laos (without the wineries). My ATM card had been cancelled due to some security fraud issue, so I was almost out of Lao Kip by this time in my trip. The only place that would take my credit card was the plush Ancient Luang Prabang hotel. Alas...<BR><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3261971009/" title="Luang Prabang, Laos by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3377/3261971009_cd830f34a3_m.jpg" width="180" height="240" alt="Luang Prabang, Laos" /></a><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3260196370/" title="Luang Prabang, Laos by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3343/3260196370_09364f95d2_m.jpg" width="180" height="240" alt="Luang Prabang, Laos" /></a><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3259349737/" title="Luang Prabang, Laos by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3445/3259349737_aa8417b47a_m.jpg" width="180" height="240" alt="Luang Prabang, Laos" /></a>Eric Rockeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16743780886788012535noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7456210571956646937.post-75579560177324173862009-02-14T04:54:00.001-08:002009-02-21T06:40:55.301-08:00Vang Vieng<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3259337725/" title="Vang Vieng, Laos by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3341/3259337725_ccc6d9256f.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Vang Vieng, Laos" /></a><BR><br />Next I took a bus north to Vang Vieng, which a few years ago was a sleepy river village. Now it's backpacker central, with tons of drunken 20-something kids floating on innertubes between bars on the river. The town has been completely taken over by tourism, with restaurants, thumping techno dance clubs, internet shops and some sketch massage parlors vying for attention.<BR> <br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3257115587/" title="Vang Vieng, Laos by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3335/3257115587_b1c93fe307_m.jpg" width="180" height="240" alt="Vang Vieng, Laos" /></a><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3260172728/" title="Vang Vieng, Laos by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3350/3260172728_7bd1eec5f5_m.jpg" width="180" height="240" alt="Vang Vieng, Laos" /></a><br /><BR>The area around my bungalow down by the river, though, was beautiful and serene. Surrounded by mountains, rivers and rice paddies, the scenery is still worth going to see. And it seems like every nearby village has discovered a cave in the mountains that they tout as a must-see destination.<BR> <br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3294722712/" title="Vang Vieng - Laos by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3617/3294722712_78e8c338b8_m.jpg" width="240" height="180" alt="Vang Vieng - Laos" /></a><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3257955252/" title="Buddha Cave - Vang Vieng, Laos by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3355/3257955252_198ffe1073_m.jpg" width="240" height="180" alt="Buddha Cave - Vang Vieng, Laos" /></a><BR><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3257128721/" title="Vang Vieng Countryside by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3105/3257128721_829dd635b8_m.jpg" width="240" height="180" alt="Vang Vieng Countryside" /></a><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3293894433/" title="Vang Vieng - Laos by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3456/3293894433_c47f6b18c3_m.jpg" width="240" height="180" alt="Vang Vieng - Laos" /></a><br /><BR>I went to see a cave with a Buddha shrine inside of it (complete with a slightly lame "Blue Lagoon" out front), and met intrepid Scottish white-water rafting tour guide Amon there. We ended up taking a motorbike tour through the jungle countryside, getting lost for a couple of hours looking for the road back to town. The minute you get out in the country you can really get a feel for the level of poverty that exists in Laos, hidden from view in the tourist-oriented cities. The countryside was just amazing though. The mountains just shoot straight out of the ground and the scenery alternates between browned-out dry rice paddies and lush jungle.Eric Rockeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16743780886788012535noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7456210571956646937.post-41846618384395668172009-02-07T01:36:00.000-08:002009-02-14T05:23:20.840-08:00Vientiane<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3257883406/" title="Pha That Luang - Vientiane, Laos by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3322/3257883406_f6c76eba3a.jpg" width="375" height="500" alt="Pha That Luang - Vientiane, Laos" /></a><br /><BR>I took a couple of weeks off posting, so now I'm catching up with my Laos trip (which happened in late January). After Hanoi, I had about a week to spend in South East Asia before heading back to India for a spiritual retreat. I really wanted to get to Laos, even for that limited amount of time. You hear a lot about Laos when you are traveling - how it's not very touristy (false), how it's pretty but there's nothing much to do (false) and how it's changing fast (true!). Laos was great and I enjoyed my time there, but it was surprisingly well developed for tourism. It takes a bit of time and effort to get out of the tourist bubble. I'm hoping to be able to go back and do so later this year. BTW, did you know Laos was still communist? I didn't!<BR><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3257871700/" title="Vientiane, Laos by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3460/3257871700_93420c97d1_m.jpg" width="240" height="180" alt="Vientiane, Laos" /></a><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3257892312/" title="Vientiane, Laos by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3479/3257892312_16959abe7d_m.jpg" width="240" height="180" alt="Vientiane, Laos" /></a><BR><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3257066569/" title="Vientiane, Laos by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3353/3257066569_2b07cb3efe_m.jpg" width="240" height="180" alt="Vientiane, Laos" /></a><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3257112665/" title="Laos by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3388/3257112665_c718d661e9_m.jpg" width="240" height="180" alt="Laos" /></a><BR><br /><BR>I flew into its capital, Vientiane, and was struck first by how clean and modern it was. The streets were wide, clean and tree-lined. Underground sewers! Grocery stores! But not much traffic or crowding. Vientiane is probably the laziest capital city I've ever been to, but pleasant nonetheless. Though it did feel like there was not a lot to focus on there as far as a city center. It has a lot of guesthouses and tourist restaurants, but Vientiane is big enough to not feel completely taken over by tourism, as were Vang Vieng and Luang Prabang. <br /><br />I spent a bit of time sightseeing, a lot of time eating, and also got an incredible massage from a clinic of blind masseuses. Lao massage is all about applying lots of pressure to pressure points, and at one point my masseuse had me screaming as he stood on a special spot on my thigh.<BR> <br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3257877614/" title="Pha That Luang - Vientiane, Laos by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3529/3257877614_409cd9fc17_m.jpg" width="240" height="180" alt="Pha That Luang - Vientiane, Laos" /></a><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3257060891/" title="Pha That Luang - Vientiane, Laos by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3490/3257060891_c5f5807d99_m.jpg" width="240" height="180" alt="Pha That Luang - Vientiane, Laos" /></a><br /><BR>The main attraction in town is the Golden Stupa, or Pha That Luang. This is the most important temple in Laos and is blindingly gold in the sunlight.<BR><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3257908590/" title="Buddha Park - Vientiane, Laos by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3434/3257908590_18059068da_m.jpg" width="240" height="180" alt="Buddha Park - Vientiane, Laos" /></a><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3257083163/" title="Buddha Park - Vientiane, Laos by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3464/3257083163_7d94cc12f3_m.jpg" width="240" height="180" alt="Buddha Park - Vientiane, Laos" /></a><BR><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3257938892/" title="Buddha Park - Vientiane, Laos by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3120/3257938892_f9de3b7b75_m.jpg" width="180" height="240" alt="Buddha Park - Vientiane, Laos" /></a><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3257091939/" title="Buddha Park - Vientiane, Laos by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3532/3257091939_9a743c3d47_m.jpg" width="180" height="240" alt="Buddha Park - Vientiane, Laos" /></a><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3257087743/" title="Buddha Park - Vientiane, Laos by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3429/3257087743_e18ae00932_m.jpg" width="180" height="240" alt="Buddha Park - Vientiane, Laos" /></a><br /><BR>By far the most interesting and bizarre sight is the Buddha Park, about 25 km outside of town. I rented a motorbike and drove out there on my last day before my bus left. Built in 1958 by a priest who attempted to integrate Hinduism with Buddhism, it contains over 200 statues from both religions (and some strange demons). Tori, I think you would have liked this park!<br /><br />The food is similar to Thai food, with an emphasis on curries, and there are a number of dishes that both countries seem to lay claim to (like green papaya salad and laap, raw marinated meet like ceviche). I couldn't get enough papaya salad, but even my fondness for steak tartare couldn't get me to try laap in its pure, raw form. My stomach was just feeling healthy after weeks of problems, so I didn't really feel like pushing the envelope. The Laotians also have tons of sticky rice, which I love. I went down and ate at a seafood shack by the Mekong River, where I met the very drunk but very funny Richard, an economics professor teaching in Shanghai. I asked him how he thought the economic downturn would affect China and he said "Oh, definitely, they might only grow at 7% this year." Jerk.Eric Rockeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16743780886788012535noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7456210571956646937.post-52347723634909468602009-01-22T20:59:00.000-08:002009-01-23T03:06:56.941-08:00Ha Long Bay<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3201332307/" title="Halong Bay by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3304/3201332307_cd1c15c98e.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Halong Bay" /></a><br /><BR>After a few days in Hanoi, Cindy and I took a bus out to Ha Long Bay for a 3 day boat tour. This was our last destination together and it blew away our expectations. Ha Long Bay is an enormous body of water containing over 1,900 islands. These islands shoot straight out of the water, barely any with beaches or walkable access, and no land inhabitants. The beauty is on a different scale than most places I've been - it reminded me of seeing the enormous glaciers in Alaska. <BR><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3202369984/" title="Halong Bay by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3370/3202369984_878426b5b1_m.jpg" width="240" height="180" alt="Halong Bay" /></a><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3202118840/" title="Halong Bay by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3471/3202118840_5aeb3206bf_m.jpg" width="240" height="180" alt="Halong Bay" /></a><BR><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3201321925/" title="Cindy - Halong Bay by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3446/3201321925_9dbd57801b_m.jpg" width="240" height="180" alt="Cindy - Halong Bay" /></a><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3201276903/" title="Our tour guide - Halong Bay by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3413/3201276903_cdd2dfd140_m.jpg" width="240" height="180" alt="Our tour guide - Halong Bay" /></a><br /><BR>Thanks to a recommendation from Steve McAdoo, we found ourselves on a great boat, with only about 6 other passengers, and wonderful tour guides, food, and cabins. This is a huge business in Vietnam - the harbor where we took off must of had over 50 "junks" for touring the bay.<BR><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3201294275/" title="Halong Bay by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3263/3201294275_261e77598b_m.jpg" width="240" height="180" alt="Halong Bay" /></a><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3202146420/" title="Halong Bay by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3098/3202146420_9c357b1c14_m.jpg" width="240" height="180" alt="Halong Bay" /></a><br /><BR>We didn't know what the actual tour was going to be like and pictured just cruising around among the islands for a couple of days and getting shown floating gift shops or something. The first day out, we spent a few hours chugging out to what turned out to be the main tourist area of the bay. First stop was an enormous cave, complete with theme-colored lighting, that was truly spectacular (it didn't hurt that this was also our first encounter with Oreos on the trip).<BR> <br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3201483069/" title="Halong Bay by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3255/3201483069_28c308cf88_m.jpg" width="240" height="180" alt="Halong Bay" /></a><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3201344417/" title="Cindy and Me - Halong Bay by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3081/3201344417_461072cd7a_m.jpg" width="240" height="180" alt="Cindy and Me - Halong Bay" /></a><BR><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3202338544/" title="Halong Bay by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3408/3202338544_2224735b2a_m.jpg" width="240" height="180" alt="Halong Bay" /></a><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3202335156/" title="Halong Bay by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3337/3202335156_9d0f0220e9_m.jpg" width="240" height="180" alt="Halong Bay" /></a><br /><BR>Across the harbor from the cave is one of the few islands that you could actually walk on, with a man-made beach and a pagoda on top that you could climb to. The views from the top were I think the highlight of the trip for me - 360 degrees of gorgeous. Of course where there are tourists, there are hawkers, and here they followed us around in rowboats (we started calling them the "Oreo Ladies"). We dropped anchor at a nearby cove for the night, ate a fantastic dinner and turned in early (after trying some squid fishing off the back of the boat).<BR> <br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3202284442/" title="Halong Bay by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3485/3202284442_8aa2ed60e6_m.jpg" width="240" height="180" alt="Halong Bay" /></a><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3201473285/" title="The Scary Cave - Halong Bay by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3472/3201473285_b41258156f_m.jpg" width="240" height="180" alt="The Scary Cave - Halong Bay" /></a><BR><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3201454833/" title="Halong Bay by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3410/3201454833_2a9dd72423_m.jpg" width="240" height="180" alt="Halong Bay" /></a><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3202350028/" title="Cindy - Halong Bay by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3473/3202350028_70dd8c8202_m.jpg" width="240" height="180" alt="Cindy - Halong Bay" /></a><BR><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3202364594/" title="Halong Bay by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3503/3202364594_016eb6e640_m.jpg" width="180" height="240" alt="Halong Bay" /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3201511573/" title="Halong Bay by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3409/3201511573_3a2aa73b6d_m.jpg" width="180" height="240" alt="Halong Bay" /></a></a><br /><BR>The next day was completely different. We went a couple more hours into the bay, leaving the other tour boats behind, and took of on kayaks for a few hours. Nearby was the largest floating village in the bay, and a number of aquatic caves. The caves ranges from simple passageways to one called the "scary cave" that was something straight out of Scooby Doo - long, windy and at points almost a low as the kayak. I was getting to the limits of how much I could scruntch my body down towards the end of that cave. On the other side of the caves were often completely enclosed lagoons - it was so amazing to be inside of them, usually the only people there, with no sounds of the outside world.<BR><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3219290881/" title="Cha Ca La Vong Restaurant - Hanoi by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3363/3219290881_ca4a339559_m.jpg" width="240" height="180" alt="Cha Ca La Vong Restaurant - Hanoi" /></a><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3220148730/" title="The Stuff - Cha Ca La Vong Restaurant by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3105/3220148730_0f25f09e83_m.jpg" width="240" height="180" alt="The Stuff - Cha Ca La Vong Restaurant" /></a><BR><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3202104494/" title="Hanoi by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3130/3202104494_595689d66f_m.jpg" width="240" height="180" alt="Hanoi" /></a><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3220136376/" title="Cindy saying goodbye - Hanoi by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3408/3220136376_fa206f619e_m.jpg" width="240" height="180" alt="Cindy saying goodbye - Hanoi" /></a><br /><BR>The last day we went for one last kayak to another lagoon, and then cruised slowly back to the harbor. Feeling completely satisfied with our Ha Long experience, we headed back to Hanoi for one last night before Cindy headed back to Bangkok, and I went on to Laos. We had one of the best meals that night at this Hanoi institution called Cha Ca La Vong. This place only serves one meal and has been doing it for almost 100 years. It's fish fried in oil at your table with basil, scallions, chilies and peanuts. Served over noodles with a stinky fish sauce. The whole thing together is unbelievably tasty! (I had to go back for seconds the next day for lunch before I flew out.) Cindy and I said good bye, sad to see her go after so many adventures of the past few weeks!Eric Rockeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16743780886788012535noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7456210571956646937.post-61054415052603131392009-01-21T22:17:00.000-08:002009-01-21T23:39:58.226-08:00HanoiAfter our great night hanging out with Cambodian breakdancers and a sobering morning learning about the Khmer Rouge regime, Cindy and I bid fairwell to Phnom Penh. We took a flight to Hanoi, which was a shock to the system on a number of levels. We had strange mojo with the taxi driver from the airport, our hotel didn't have enough rooms for us, and it was cold - much colder than we expected. Evidentally central heating is an Imperialist concept because our hotel was actually colder inside than out.<BR><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3201214283/" title="Hanoi by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3346/3201214283_da639655f6_m.jpg" width="240" height="180" alt="Hanoi" /></a><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3201953504/" title="Hanoi by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3440/3201953504_bf5b0f353d_m.jpg" width="240" height="180" alt="Hanoi" /></a><BR><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3201136851/" title="Hanoi by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3372/3201136851_52626bf8b7_m.jpg" width="180" height="240" alt="Hanoi" /></a><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3201089993/" title="Hanoi by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3392/3201089993_a2de62b632_m.jpg" width="180" height="240" alt="Hanoi" /></a><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3201114477/" title="Cindy - Hanoi by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3355/3201114477_d7f4111020_m.jpg" width="180" height="240" alt="Cindy - Hanoi" /></a><br /><BR>The city itself is very crowded and chaotic. Vietnam has about 10 times as many people as Cambodia and it shows. For traffic lovers, it's a bonanza. There are so many motorcycles whizzing by at any given time that just crossing the street is a major accomplishment. After a while you learn to just start walking and keep going.<br /><br />I had such a fond impression of the southern Vienamese from an earlier trip ten years ago, remembering them to be some of the loveliest people I'd ever met. So I was pretty shocked by those in Hanoi. A crass commercialism, combined with a seeming lack of social skills, made them seem obnoxious and annoying. The vendors on the street wouldn't smile at you, but just yell: "You buy from me?! You buy from me?!" The worst were the pineapple ladies, who would follow you around relentlessly, putting their balancing pole on your shoulders and trying to get you to pay for a photo op. And everyone in the city with a motorbike (all 3 million or so), had gotten the same idea that they could be an impromptu taxi for tourists. Which is awfully convenient and the best way to get around, but overwhelming when you have literally the entire city yelling "Motorbike?! Motorbike?!" at you.<BR><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3201988394/" title="Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum - Hanoi by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3313/3201988394_8999ae5618_m.jpg" width="240" height="180" alt="Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum - Hanoi" /></a><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3202018762/" title="Hanoi by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3372/3202018762_5910d3ab85_m.jpg" width="240" height="180" alt="Hanoi" /></a><BR><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3202067608/" title="Hanoi by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3340/3202067608_7d90d75043_m.jpg" width="240" height="180" alt="Hanoi" /></a><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3201130901/" title="Hanoi by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3098/3201130901_94e9950f4f_m.jpg" width="240" height="180" alt="Hanoi" /></a><br /><BR>These were our first impressions, and of course after a we became acclimatized and bought some more appropriate clothing, we um...warmed up to the city. Hanoi is quite beautiful and walkable, with a compact, largely preserved old town core, many picturesque lakes, great restaurants and amenities. The residents have a certain kind of big city, Communist chic going on. Women wear high heels and drive motorbikes, with their fur-lined jackets and face masks. I found a sweet, excellent tailor to get some suits made, a friend of a friend of Cindy's ran an alternative movie house where we saw a great documentary on Saigon, and our hotel did have its chilly charms (mainly delicious pho for breakfast and the internet in every room). The cinema owner gave us directions for an awesome walking tour: we ended up going to see Ho Chi Minh's mausoleum (from the outside, it was closed), the lake where John McCain was shot down (he's actually very popular in Vietnam and was a favorite here for the election), and on a fairly posh island of apartment buildings on the lake, a cockfighting ring (okay not awesome but interesting). Aside from it being pretty awful, the location was so weird - it was as if someone had decided cockfighting would be a good addition to the Kirkland waterfront back in Seattle.Eric Rockeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16743780886788012535noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7456210571956646937.post-45282948165257788822009-01-16T19:04:00.001-08:002009-01-16T19:53:51.165-08:00Phnom Penh<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3187257695/" title="Boddhi Tree Guesthouse - Phnom Penh by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3368/3187257695_71f6e1fb63_m.jpg" width="240" height="180" alt="Boddhi Tree Guesthouse - Phnom Penh" /></a><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3187273509/" title="Phnom Penh by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3302/3187273509_e60e530ea8_m.jpg" width="240" height="180" alt="Phnom Penh" /></a><BR><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3188249304/" title="Phnom Penh by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3322/3188249304_c00170edc9_m.jpg" width="240" height="180" alt="Phnom Penh" /></a><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3187450627/" title="Phnom Penh by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3092/3187450627_59933ed94a_m.jpg" width="240" height="180" alt="Phnom Penh" /></a><BR>After four days, we finally tore ourselves away from lush Kep and made our way back to Phnom Penh. We found the city to be quite charming - bustling but not too chaotic, tourist savvy but not too in-your-face, and offering great food. Our hotel, the Boddhi Tree, was a converted colonial mansion and super pleasant. We had about a day and a half here, having stayed longer in Kep, and could have easily stayed longer.<BR><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3187306833/" title="Phnom Penh by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3264/3187306833_7bc918cb06.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Phnom Penh" /></a><br /><BR>We had an wonderful and unexected experience at Wat Ounalom, which is the traditional home of the head of Cambodian Buddhism. It was here that the Patriarch of Buddhism at the time was taken away and murdered by the Khmer Rouge. We were looking around the grounds when an old man gestured for us to follow him, and he led us into the central stupa of the temple. He said it was as old as Angkor Wat, and the stones had a similar character. The man blessed us with some holy water and then we all three fell into meditation for a few minutes - the energy in the stupa was quite intense!<BR><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3188207032/" title="Phnom Penh by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3400/3188207032_0ec490cf5e_m.jpg" width="240" height="180" alt="Phnom Penh" /></a><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3188201014/" title="Phnom Penh by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3331/3188201014_735189fcdf_m.jpg" width="240" height="180" alt="Phnom Penh" /></a><BR><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3187321503/" title="Phnom Penh by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3116/3187321503_a99318120e_m.jpg" width="240" height="180" alt="Phnom Penh" /></a><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3188220168/" title="Phnom Penh by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3090/3188220168_6c757de629_m.jpg" width="240" height="180" alt="Phnom Penh" /></a> <br /><BR>The majority of the sights in the city are concentrated around the river, with the royal palace, Silver Pagoda, and the main tourist area situated there. We spent an afternoon touring the palace/Pagoda complex, which is quite large and full of examples of those swoopy Cambodia rooftops. One of the more unusual buildings is the Napolean III Pavilion that Napolean had built for Empress Eugenie near the Suez Canal. She then proceeded (after a fight?) to ship it to Phnom Penh as a gift to the king.<BR> <br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3188342536/" title="Inside Tiny Toons Studio - Phnom Penh by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3461/3188342536_12f568b780_m.jpg" width="240" height="180" alt="Inside Tiny Toons Studio - Phnom Penh" /></a><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3188330022/" title="KK, founder of Tiny Toons - Phnom Penh by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3500/3188330022_153d62915b_m.jpg" width="240" height="180" alt="KK, founder of Tiny Toons - Phnom Penh" /></a><br /><BR>At night, with a bit of detective work, we tracked down Tiny Toones Combodia, which is a breakdancing school for at risk kids. Kay Kay, the founder of the school, is such a great guy with a huge passion for helping kids. He is a former gang member and breakdancer in Long Beach, CA, who got into some trouble and was deported to Cambodia. Through his programs he has reached over 3,000 kids, and now has a few touring dance troupes that perform all over the world. Kay Kay welcomed us into his studio and his home, and then took us out for a night on the town at a local club where his kids were performing. We were all treated like royalty at the club, with waiters constantly refilling our cokes, and Kay Kay being presented with an enormous bottle of Johnny Walker Red. Cindy and I had a great time watching the local Cambodians strike a pose, and are determined to help Kay Kay with his non-profit in some concrete way (we've got a few ideas). <br /><br />The next day, we dove into the horrific history of the Khmer Rouge, going to see the nearby S-21 prison and taking a journey out to the Killing Fields. Not going to try to rehash what happened back then, but suffice to say that the experience was extremely sad and sobering (Cindy brought an excellent book on this period called <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Stay-Alive-Son-Pin-Yathay/dp/0671663941">"Stay Alive, My Son", by Pin Yathay</a>, that we both read. I'd recommend that for a first-hand account of the tragedy). Estimates range from 1.5 million to 3 million people that were killed by Pol Pot's murderous regime. One thing we learned was that many more people died from the ineptitude of the regime to provide adequate food or medical aid to the people than from executions. However, it is still thought that at least 500,000 people were killed directly by the Khmer Rouge.<BR><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3187512805/" title="Toulsleng Genocide Museum ("S21") - Phnom Penh by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3089/3187512805_a3ec7129b3_m.jpg" width="240" height="180" alt="Toulsleng Genocide Museum ("S21") - Phnom Penh" /></a><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91627957@N00/3188405770/" title="Killing Fields Mass Burial Pits - Phnom Penh by Eric Rockey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3520/3188405770_f0404986bb_m.jpg" width="240" height="180" alt="Killing Fields Mass Burial Pits - Phnom Penh" /></a><br /><BR>S-21 was the prison inside of Phnom Penh where enemies of the state were tortured and frequently forced to write fake confessions implicating family members in crimes so they could also be arrested. Nearly all of the residents of this prison were eventually sent to the Killing Fields outside of Phnom Penh for execution. The Killing Fields was particularly disturbing, with its contrast of a peaceful, natural surrounding and the presence of numerous mass graves. The sole monument is stark and powerful: a glass tower full of skulls of the victims. Many of the senior Khmer Rouge leaders have never been brought to justice (though there are some trials going on in Cambodia now), leaving a sense of lack of resolution to this genocidal period.Eric Rockeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16743780886788012535noreply@blogger.com0