Kathmandu It

Last weekend I took a trip up north to explore Nepal, and most specifically, the infamous capitol city of Kathmandu. What do you say about a destination that has been touted as a "hippy hangout" since the 1960's where many came in search of tranquility and nirvana? Or a central hub for trekkers and backpackers as they seek to set down their footprints on Mount Everest? One word: interesting.

I thought that India (specifically Bangalore) contains an abundance of dichotomies: old and new; immaculate and filthy; colorful and gray; ancient and modern--but Kathmandu was all of that and more. Don't get me wrong, I had a wonderful time, but Kathmandu felt more crowded than Bangalore and there was more pollution, more traffic, more condensed tourists areas, and more chaotic energies all around. It felt "primitive" to me and I could constantly feel energies of the past still lingering... like they were still holding onto something unrequited. I'm not sure how to describe it, but the energy just felt "darker". I'm convinced it was the city and its memories. Funny how I felt that way while if you head a few hours up the Himalayan mountains the realities of the modern world melt away as you breathe in the clean mountain air and escape the chaos. Therein lies another of the many dichotomies. Interesting.


I had a chance to travel around the city (not on foot this time, however... had to rent a car for the day--this is not a walking city, per se) and visited several of the famous Buddhist and Hindu temples. Of note, Swayambhunath Stupa (also known as the monkey temple, and you will realize that from my photo gallery), Boudhanath (which is home to one of the largest "Stupas"--the dome-- in the world), and Pashupati Temple (an ancient Hindu temple). I was able to walk around those areas and snap photos to my heart's content, so that was very nice. I also took a short trip down to the city of Patan, another home to ancient temples in the Lalitpur district. On the way back to my hotel in central Kathmandu, I took some time to visit the busy shopping district of Thamel where I picked up all sorts of souvenirs from Nepal and Tibet. Another extremely busy area, Thamel, like the whole city, is a cacophony of sounds, sights, and smells. Interesting.

Probably my favorite part of the trip was my hotel, the Kantipur Templehouse. The building was a stunning display of Nepalise and Asian architecture, the grounds were immaculately groomed and full of flowers, and the service was excellent the entire time. I took the opportunity each night to eat freshly-prepared foods in the hotel restaurant choosing from Nepalise, Chinese, and Thai cuisine--all delicious! My room was comfortable and spacious, though it took me a couple of days to understand why there would be power outages for hours at a time (we have many outages in India, but generator back-ups so the downtime is minimal), until I was told that the government deliberately cuts power for blocks of time every day to save energy. I eventually adjusted to it and actually enjoyed living my candlelight in the evenings. Interesting.

The weather was not very cooperative for taking a mountain flight up to see Everest and the upper Himalayas (it's off-season), but I got an eyeful of the snow-capped mountains on the flight out, so when you've seen mountains, you've pretty much seen mountains. They were as stunning and beautiful as ever. And I will, to this day, swear I saw what appeared to be Mount Everest (please don't take this dream away from me! :o) It was a wonderful sight to see. Wonderful, and interesting.

So overall, I had an "interesting" weekend! There were many things about Nepal that I loved; and many things that I found fascinating. I do know one thing, however--if I return there again I am bringing three things: a buddy, a backpack, and trekking gear. Everest Base Camp One is only a 12-day round trip journey and my instincts just say one thing about that: "bring it on!"

Now off on my last "big" trip next weekend--Thailand, Vietnam, and Cambodia--the homestretch of an amazing year. Stay tuned for stories and snaps!

Namaste.

Bannerghatta Safari

Another place I visited when my friend Tom was here in July was Bannerghatta National Park and wildlife preserve in southern Bangalore. The 25,000 acre park is home to panthers, lions, tigers and a large variety of birds, and offers several different safari packages to the interested tourist.

Tom and I decided to head down there for a day and found all sorts of interesting sights. We bought our tickets for the Lion & Tiger safari and decided to walk around the premises beforehand. Much to our surprise there were some elephants walking through the park and their guides were nice enough to stop and let us meet the elephants on their way! We also got to experience a wide variety of monkeys (and their crazy antics!) as we walked around the lake and circled the zoo area.

In the zoo were a variety of snakes, birds, and other animals. I was amazed at how clean the zoo looked (after hearing reports that the zoo was rather shabby) and the variety of exotic birds and other jungle animals was quite interesting. The safari was incredible--we saw male and female lions, both gold tigers and white tigers, and got to ride in a bus with a whole group of kids from a local school. It was a blast! My favorite part was seeing the white tigers...beautiful. In fact, we were so close to them that they were only an arm's reach away--amazing!

After the safari, I introduced Tom to a drink of fresh coconut juice and a bite of the "meat" inside of it--I think he realized just how different it really is from the processed output we are accustomed to in the U.S.--but I love it! Plus fresh coconut juice is good for the body. Check the online photo gallery for more snaps.

All-in-all the trip to Bannerghatta was well worth the noise and hassle of traffic--a short ride for an amazing adventure, and all just a quick trip on the other side of Bangalore. Even though there might not be lions and tigers, you might be surprised about the things that are just outside of your backyard, I know I was!

Peace.

Safari So Good

This past weekend a group consisting of 10 of our Target expats decided to take a weekend trip to Kabini Park, a wildlife preserve in Southern India. Since earlier this past winter Paul had been to Banipur--another park next door--and really enjoyed the visit, he took the task of putting together a group trip to the same vicinity this spring.

Since nearly all of us are living in the same apartment building at Zen Gardens, we took Friday off, met-up outside the building early Friday morning, packed up the van/bus (whatever it was), and started our journey. The six-hour road trip was typical for India--bounces, bumps, twists and turns (not to mention the plethora of animals, cars, motorcycles, rickshaws, people, and various debris on the roads... oh yeah, and India has speed bumps on the highways... yeah... that's a whole other blog entry... I digress :o)

ANYHOO, after singing along to Paul's iPod tunes and lots of snacks, we finally arrived in Kabini, took Jeeps (mighty fast ones!) to the boats, which took us to the resort cabins where we stayed for the weekend. Between the 10 of us we shared 3 cottages--it was just like going to camp! While the days consisted of several "safari" outings (Jeep safari, two boat safaris, and one trekking safari on-foot), the nights were spent playing cards, telling stories, and lots of laughter... in fact, the weekend was filled with laughter from the very start. Yeah!

During the safari outings we saw everything from wild elephants to baboons, peacocks, spotted deer, cows, wild boars, a crocodile, several types of birds, and then the "usual" assortment of cattle, goats, chickens--you know-- the animals that hang out on the street outside our apartment? Yeah, they were there as well... ya just can't completely escape the feeling of home in India--not even in the jungle! Check the online gallery album for more snaps.

All-in-all, the weekend was absolutely fantastic. Yes, the safaris were interesting and we had some interesting guides along the way, like Oopy ("Shhhh! Silent safari! Dancing peacock! Shhhhh... elephant! Oh wait, let me answer my mobile phone...), but the best part of the weekend was the fellowship. We all had time to just hang out with one another--time for stories, jokes, games, and just plain relaxing. It was wonderful.

BIG thanks to Paul for helping to organize a fantastic "Memorial Day Weekend" trip (although India doesn't celebrate Memorial Day and we had to work on Monday...) I am sure we will all remember this fantastic time for years to come. It was, indeed a safari so good--or, in the unforgettable words of Oopy every time we'd see another elephant, "Success!!"

Rockin the Taj

One of the highlights of any travel to India is, of course, visiting one of the original "7 Wonders of the World", the Taj Mahal--a mausoleum in Agra, India (a few hours out of Delhi), that was built by Emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his favorite wife, Mumtaz Mahal. The Taj is considered the finest example of Mughal architecture, a style that combines elements from Persian, Turkish, Indian, and Islamic architectural styles. In one word, the Taj Mahal is AMAZING.

Luckily, I had traveling companions on this fun-filled and eventful weekend, Jenn and Doron, two of my teammates from the Minneapolis Headquarters of Target. Jenn & Doron were here for the past two weeks conducting some rockin' merchandise training for our Target India team members and they were an hit! Well, YEAH--if you knew Jenn and Doron you'd be nodding your head (just go ahead and nod with me... okay... there ya go :o) So as soon and Jenn and Doron knew they were coming to India for two weeks, they asked me if I wanted to go up to Agra to see the Taj. What else could I say but, "Absotootly!"

We flew up to Delhi on Friday night, stayed at the wonderful Shrangri-La Hotel, and then took a 4-hour road trip (each way) to Agra on Saturday to see the Taj. The road trip was a journey in itself starring monkeys, camels, elephants, donkeys, chickens--you name it (check out the slide show). On the way out of Delhi I'd never experienced such extreme conditions, especially the air quality--oh my--in some areas it felt like dusk the entire time. Be thankful for your clean air, clean water... it is not so clean in other parts of the world (this picture is the sun rising in the morning... and that's not fog--quite a difference even from Bangalore)

So the whole experience was amazing--I can't even begin to explain it. Check out the slideshow and let me know what you think--post a comment! Don't be shy.

Okay, so now that the vacation's over--back to work. Thanks Jenn & Doron--you guys totally rock! What a great traveling team we make... hope you made it back home to the Winter Wonderland safe and sound.

Namaste.

My favorite shot.. check out the water from the fountain!