moving on

i left mussoorie with anchal, josh, and zoe in a rented car - a 7 hour drive from mussoorie to delhi. i'm not sure why we took a car instead of a train...a train would probably be safer, much cheaper, and much more comfortable, but anyway we arrived at anchal's father's friend's house in noida, right outside delhi. this was certainly the most wealthy indian residence i had ever been in. honestly, i don't really feel like writing all this right now, i just feel like i need an update on this thing, so i could probably do it more justice at another time, but suffice to say it was a house that would have certainly impressed people even if it was in the united states. it seemed to be all professionally decorated inside, with fish swimming in artificial ponds, subtle lighting, a sunken living area made of stone...plus all the meals that were prepared for us were some of the best i've had. one incredible misfortune to befall me while i was there was the loss of theft of my camera...not sure if it was stolen but i'm 99% sure i didn't remove it from the side pocket of my pack...but i also was not the one to move the pack from the car to the house. suddenly it was just not there. i have to call them to see if it turned up but at this point i'm not overly optimistic. so no pictures on here until i either recover it or get a new one. actually, i'm not as unfortunate as zoe, who got bitten pretty bad on her face by one of the 6 dogs in the place. the dog looked innocent enough but apparently you cannot put your face close to his. she'll recover and probably not even have a mark, but right now it looks like a chunk of her lip got taken out.

one night, we went to an indian wedding, my first one, which was quite nice. it wasn't really as crazy as i thought it would be - i had heard about loud music and drunken dancing, both of which were conspicuously absent, but it was nice. i had on a long orange kurta that inam had made me while in mussoorie, but i think for my friend rachna's brother's wedding i want something a bit nicer. the food was good, the atmosphere was nice, and anchal's father invited me to meet them while they're on their trek to everest in nepal. i may try to do that after rachna's brother's wedding.

the morning after was election day in delhi, and everyone in the house seemed to be worried about getting out on the roads after early morning, so josh and i left at 7:00am - he went to pahar ganj, the slimy backpacker's mecca i've already spoken of, and i went to meet my friend rachna - an indian living in the united states and one of my best friends, who i've known for the past 6 years. anchal and zoe left for kathmandu with anchal's dad.

meeting with rachna was really strange - it was a little odd to see her in her own country. i think we were both feeling a little disoriented - her because it was her first day back in india in a while, and me because i was suddenly estranged from my laid-back life in mussoorie. her parents are really nice and gave me my own room in their apartment, which is where i stayed last night. this is wedding season, and last night we went to yet another wedding. this one seemed slightly more lively, but i still saw no dancing. the food again was amazing. i asked rachna how much she thought events like that cost, and she said that it can easily be $250,000. i did type that correctly, and this is india, so you can imagine how amazed i was by that. given, this is an upper class wedding, but still.

actually, i'm right outside the taj mahal right now. rachna and her family have to prepare for the wedding and i thought it would be best if i left them alone for a bit so they don't feel that they have to take care of a guest in addition to their other responsibilities right now.

i honestly just don't think i'm a sightseeing type tourist. i always fail to meet the expectations of excitment for these tourists destinations. the golden temple, the taj mahal...these are impressive structures, but they're just buildings. i'm neither a historian or an architect - i can appreciate how pretty they look, but what are the characteristics of these huge tourists places? throngs of people, confused westerners, high prices, and always, the suffocating presence of sprawling commercialism and aggressive salesmen that surrounds the gates of whatever you're going to see. you always have to break through a thick layer of this to get to these places.

maybe my definition of tourist destination simply differs from most people. i'm not really that into things like the taj mahal and the lal qilal, but i like playing the guitar in a bar in mussoorie, or looking at the night sky from our balcony, or connecting uniquely with other travelers in mcleod ganj. these are the experiences that are unique to me, that i'll remember most. and there was no entrance fee. my advice to the first time indian traveler would be don't worry about the big tourists spots - go out, get lost, don't stick to your itinerary, always leave the door of opportunity open, keep the positivity up, don't resist anything pulling you away from the cities and towards the stuff that's not even in your guidebook. eventually you'll find yourself having an adventure more fulfilling than you could have imagined before you left. i actually voluntarily left my rough guide to india book at the house in mussoorie. those books, lonely planet and rough guide, are just overgrown directories of restaurants and hotels. you can find those yourself, you don't need to carry around an encyclopedia with you. the most valuable traveler's tool is a sense of humor about yourself and others. even the armies of rickshaw wallas that tourists are so often intimdated by have a sense of humor. i had to wrangle my rickshaw driver down from 1000 rupees to 300 rupees, but we were both laughing the whole way through - plus i'm currently trying to convince him to let me drive his rickshaw and pick up tourists for comic effect, a prospect he just might find hilarious enough to embrace.

wish you would step back from that ledge, my friend

well, the show at the swanky JP hotel here in mussoorie has been canceled, disappointingly, so i won't be able to perform as part of shiva music group. however, last night we had a party in our place for our friend josh's birthday. our friend kelly came over and we ended up playing probably 20 or 30 songs from the 90s in a row. i was kinda bummed that noone in the house was really into the music of the 90s, but kelly is all about it. so now me, her, and rishi might get together to play at a bar around here, just for fun. the hardest part is choosing between all the different songs of the 90s - we're talking third eye blind, eve 6, jewel, oasis, everlast, fastball, live, ace of base, pearl jam, savage garden, madonna, foo fighters, green day, sara mclaughlan...all the goodies.

haven't done pictures in a while...here are some views from around here:

motorcycle

to elaborate on my last entry - i spent forever trying to get a motorcycle here in mussoorie, but it's difficult to find one. there's no dealers so you have to buy from a private person. all the ones i looked at were really expensive for a really crappy bike. then inam, the tailor, offerred to let me use one of his bikes, for free, until i left. inam knows everyone and has been nothing but an all-around good guy to me since i arrived. for some reason i like to refer to him as the kingpin of the mussoorie tailoring underworld. anyway, it took a while to get it because inam first wanted me to have this other bike, which was getting repaired, but it never did get repaired for some reason. so i have this old red and black yamaha. it's been a learning curve the past couple days figuring it out. yesterday i just went around and around the chukker (hindi for "circle"), a pretty scenic drive from chardukkan, where i do my hindi lessons (and where i am now), and my house...just a big loop. today i was brave enough to go down to mullingar, which pitted me against some seriously steep roads...much harder going up than down. actually today i messed up a bit...i had stalled going uphill, i started it back up, put it in first, and must have hit the accelerator too hard, because the bike went right out from under me, and suddenly i was standing up, spooked and desperately trying to control a now vertically oriented motorcycle by the handlebars. i haven't hit the main bazaar yet...that will be the real test. i feel pretty good about riding now. it's just nice to cruise around these winding roads, totally free, the wind in your face, looking out over the valley, the mountains, sometimes even getting a view of the biggies, the snow capped monoliths like nanda devi, out in the distance...

'd love to pick another one up in a different part of india, maybe goa...not sure where i'll settle next but i think settling down for a while is the key to successful and fulfilling travel.

let's see - anything else? the weather is getting really sporadic. it's warm enough now, but last night it actually snowed. we put a ridiculous amount of wood in the bacari (stove), and it was so warm inside we actually slept without blankets on for a while.

i'm happy i get to see my friend rachna in a week and go to her brother's wedding, but i'm sad i have to leave. i would like more time here. i wish i knew more hindi than i'll know when i leave...part of the problem is how little i meet with rani, my teacher, another part is how seldomly i study when i'm not with her. mey karab vidiharti hun. sigh...

namaste,
andrew

I HAVE A MOTORCYCLE WOOOOOO

(see title)

lineage

when my friend bound e-mailed me recently, uncertain about whether she could complete the trail, i suddenly recalled a passage inspired in me by way of adverse conditions, which i relayed to her:



the thru-hiker is a master of adaptation, fierce as campfire embers,
malleable as earth in a stream, cold but emotional, so vulnerable,
impervious to the elements...they breath air, allowing sunshine to
reveal, darkness to obscure...they are ghosts, wraiths, and living, breathing beings....

they are so difficult to provoke, to anger, yet in battle they are formidable, terrifying, they exhibit olympian strength...i cannot tell you how gentle they are...they are first among friends to animals and innocents...they are indescribably peaceful...possessing an unnerving calm that fails to shudder during cold, strives toward pose during inhuman heat...

they are biology's exhibition of spirituality, they convert oxygen into carbon, sugar into energy...in moments of emotion they cry without embarrassment, when they are happy they are absolutely hysterical, inconsolable, a product of wilderness, indistinguishable from the world around them - the earth, the trees...

they are figures recorded far more permanently than any footnote, any textbook, they leave an entire anthology in the branches they bend, the rivers they lessen, the depressions of their footsteps, even rock yields to them, yet they accept the system that covers their passing as they embrace their place in this world, a single thread...a shadow could create more impact than they...they are infallibly human, but they are sad at times, they long impossibly to become the be the entire scene of the sun setting behind the ridgeline, to merge with this wonder...

they are stewards, rangers, sentinels...they assert themselves even in their absence, in the tread of everyone in their footsteps, in those of who they follow as well, the proudest lineage, a race without nationality, standing taller than the himalayas, causing light to illuminate the morning, and casting shadows at night, way over the ridges and valleys, after the last ember is gone out, the last mile is walked, the smoke permeates the shelters, the new generation sleeps, absolutely in awe, in dream...

shiva music group

so, the latest, to sum up, is that i'm living in the hill station of musoorie, in the state of uttaranchal, for about a month with 3 roommates - anchal from india, marcos from brazil, and zoe from america - in alphabetical order.

to occupy myself i play guitar, sing, and take hindi lessons for 2 hours every weekday.

however, there have been some pretty exciting developments. for example, yesterday i went for a walk just to get out of the house and move around. after eating at my favorite restaurant, kalsang's, i realized there was an indian guy keeping pace with me, right beside me, who i didn't know. as soon as we made eye contact he introduced himself and said he had seen me carrying around my guitar. it turns out he's a musician who heads up a band called the "shiva music group." he wants me to be in the band. actually, one of the reasons i'm even writing this entry is that i need to kill some time before i meet with him here in the sister's bazaar (my specific neighborhood) meeting place of chartakkan for the first time. so now i'm in an indian band and we're playing a show, apparently, on the 24th of november.

after we exchanged information and said goodbye, i took off for the direction of him, but soon ran into vikas, who had attended a party we had at our house a few days ago. he was on his motorcycle and asked me if i was doing anything - i said no, he said to hop on. riding a motorcycle on the narrow, rolling, winding streets of musoorie is totally exhilirating...i love just feeling the cool air whip past me, rounding a bend to discover an illuminated panorama of the lights of the dehradun valley, from a position far above in the hills, deftly navigating obstacles...it's a real ride. i've pretty much decided to buy a cheap motorcycle while i'm here because it's just too much fun. anyway, vikas and i went back to his house, downed a bottle of whiskey with his roommates, and i ambled home at around 1:00am, not drunk but wary of waking my roommates at that hour to open the door...luckily they were fine with it. actually, anchal and zoe are younger than me and not yet at the age where behavior like this is considered juvenile, so i'm able to comfortably act irresponsibly.

mussoorie

leaving rishikesh and getting to dehra dun, then to mussoorie, was extremely easy. i just walked to the bus station, the most disorganized bus station i've seen yet, and ran around to all the different buses, asking if they were going to dehra dun, and finally jumped on a moving bus that was. it was only a 30 rupee trip, and when i arrived at dehra dun i was able to take a nice taxi, not a rickshaw, with a few other people all the way to mussoorie for just 50 rupees.

both musoorie and dehra dun are strikingly different than the india i've experienced so far. i didn't get to spend even 15 minutes in dehra dun, but from what i saw from the bus, it's a combination of both clean and modern that i've never seen here before. mussorie is even better. it's a "hill station," a victorian-style hamlet in the himalayas, here in the northern state of uttaranchal, obviously a relatively undisturbed reflection of the british raj. it's just amazing here. i went for a scenic walk - alone - for the first time since arriving in india. i actually had time to myself, while still being in a city, and walking along streets that were wooded on one side, with a view of snow-capped mountains on the other side. from time to time i came upon a gazebo with a telescope where an old man was selling chai for 5 rupees a cup. looking through the telescope, i saw a picturesque, rustic village, bereft of electricity, with red chillies drying on the roofs of the inhabitants. i am determined to walk there and explore. but as of yet i haven't made it. musoorie doesn't seem to have many western tourists, but it does attract many indian tourists...well-off indian families arrive by the carload from delhi, to "the mall" - the main strip of musoorie. fun, festive, modern, and clean, but a bit tacky and the appreciation of it is short lived. more interesting is just strolling around mussoorie. for example, i woke up on my first morning here and walked to a tibetan village, past a huge school of uniformed tibetan children who were all singing in chorus, and up a hill plastered in prayer flags, with what i believe is a "gompa," like a shrine of shorts, on top. i came down, went back to the mall, and started up the other direction, towards what i had heard was an excellent hindi school. i thought it might be fun to spend a week or so learning hindi here. it took a long time to walk there - to the village of landour, all the way to the top of this hill (i kept getting encouraged by the locals to keep walking when i thought that i must be there by now). just before i reached the school i met a girl named simone from switzerland, and we talked a bit about the school and india and the like.

i walked right past the school, still not knowing where it was, and asked a passing indian girl, who seemed surprised that i didn't know it was right in front of us. we ended up talking for a bit, and she, "anchal," asked me if i needed a place to stay, and i said i did. i couldn't have asked for a better situation. here's what happened. i am now roommates, or "flatmates," with anchal, zoe (an american studying hindi), and marcus (a brazilian). they're all really fun, awesome kids. they connected me with a conversational hindi teacher, who i am supposed to meet for 2 hours a day, for however long i want to stay here, which might be a while. i can't believe i've gone from being a lonely, solo traveler to actually having an apartment in india with some really good new friends, feeling extremely welcomed and enjoying the atmosphere of this incredibly relaxing, idyllic himalayan village. this is what i loved about the trail, and what i expected to love about traveling abroad. the unpredictability of it all. just don't try to control your trip and these things will come to you. i'm at a loss for what to say, really, i'm just in awe of it all. i'm having such a great time, and i'm still looking forward, maybe even more now, to seeing all the other corners of this country.

a fun story - last night we ushered the largest spider i've ever seen outside the house. it was absolutely gigantic, and we were all doubled over laughing, stealing glances at this colossal thing and retreating back into the other room, freaked out. but zoe was braver than any of us and got it into a bucket and took it safely down the street.

i've got my first hindi lesson in 45 minutes - namaste.