Kathman-duo.

From Rajasthan, India, we took a series of buses, trains, and taxis to our next destination--Kathmandu. India and Nepal share a few overland border crossings and you probably know by now that we don't like to fly. It took about 3 days to make the journey across the Gangetic plain. We watched the landscape change before our eyes. The dry desert of Rajasthan became the flat fertile plains of Northern India, then Nepal's southern jungle region of the Terai. Finally we wound our way up the steep Himalayan foothills to the Kathmandu Valley. The road we were on is one of the busiest "highways" in Nepal, yet it was still only two narrow lanes. We entered the valley at night, and could see all the traffic coming in and out as a beautiful chain of lights suspended in mid-air. Kathmandu has undergone dramatic changes in the last 10 years-- the most visible ones are more construction, pollution, and overpopulation. Now that the Maoists have declared a cease fire after a 10 year civil war, it is fairly safe for people to move throughout the country thus Kathmandu's population is once again on the rise. We came to Kathmandu to understand its 2000 year old history, to meet up with Max's friend Cody, and for Kara to reunite with her Nepali family who she lived with 8 years before.

Durbar Square, Kathmandu. Durbar literally means palace and there are many Durbars throughout the Kathmandu Valley. This Durbar Square is the center of the old city and was the seat of Nepali monarchy for many years. The square includes many ancient temples built in the Newari style as well as Victorian era government buildings. The Newar people are one of the largest ethnic groups in Nepal and known for their intricate wood carvings that adorn their temples and homes.

Durbar Square is the center of culture, tourism, and transportation. Though its officially declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site, business goes about as usual, with taxis and trucks competing with porters and tourists for space on the ancient flagstones. These shopfronts form the outer wall of the inner ancient palace.

Us in the square. We would often use this as a meeting point when we would split up for the day.

Durbar's tallest temple. We often would sit here and drink Nepali tea, chia, as we watched the human comedy unfold below us. Tons of tourists and Nepalis sit here daily, doing the same exact thing. Tourism is one of Nepal's biggest industries and it is no surprise that Durbar Square is also filled with touts trying to sell you anything and everything. From fake turquoise Tibetan necklaces to trekking guides, you can find almost anything you want--or don't want here. It was pleasant to find that Nepali touts are a lot less aggressive than most nationalities.

Until the King was dethroned a couple years ago during the Maoist revolution, the country was the last Hindu Kingdom in the world. Hindus still make up the majority of the population, but Buddhists form a large minority. Nepal is home to many Tibetan Buddhists as well as other ethnic groups that practice the religion. In Nepal, Buddhism and Hinduism co-exist naturally and peacefully. Many Buddhist stupas and temples include a Hindu temple within their sacred geography and vice-versa. Seen above is a Buddhist stupa adorned with Nepal's notorious Buddha eyes.

Street food. Here Kara samples some super delicious peanut/walnut/lentil mixture, topped with chopped onion, lemon, and chili. Most packaging for these delicacies is made from recycled newspaper expertly wrapped into a cone. If you don't want to eat with your hands, you are given a "spoon" made out of cigarette carton flaps or some other piece of cardboard. This young seller's stand will disassemble into two pieces: the base which he will carry under his arm, and the tray which he will balance on top of his head. Nepal is unique in that men as well as women carry objects on their heads.

The first day in Kathmandu, Kara called her Nepali host family, the Dhungels. She hadn't seen them since 2001, when she lived with them during her studies in Nepal. When she called, they immediately asked, "Are you coming for Daal-Baat?" (Daal-Baat is Nepal's national cuisine and is eaten by most Nepalis twice a day. It consists of a heaping portion of rice, lentil soup, a side of fried vegetables, and a tasting of pickled vegetables.) They are a wonderful family and it was so nice to be re-welcomed into their lives. Even though so much time had gone by, it felt as if Kara had never left. Pictured above is part of the family in their lovely Kathmandu home. Kara spent the night a couple of times there and caught up with them as Max and his friend Cody explored the valley alone to have some man time. Mamu's food was always so delicious and our conversations were warm and filled with laughter. Thank You, Dhungels for everything. We hope to see them again very soon.

Kumari Devi Ghar, literally house of the Kumari Devi. She is a pre-pubescent girl who is the living incarnation of the Goddess Kumari, worshiped by Buddhists and Hindus alike. Since the reign of the Goddess lasts only until her first menstruation, the process of selecting the next Kumari Devi happens fairly frequently. The process is very elaborate. The Kumari Devi must have all required 32 physical attributes of perfection, including the correct eye color, teeth shape, and vocal tone. She also must go through a series of tests. The most notorious involves a session where the potential Devi is placed into a dark room with decapitated buffalo heads, demon-like dancers, and ghoulish voices chanting at her. She must stay calm and collected to prove she is the courageous Goddess. We were honored and excited to see her in person. Tourists and Nepalis alike can go to her house, located in Kathmandu's Durbar Square during allocated times in the day. Sometimes, if you are lucky, the Living Goddess will come out to be seen in a Hindu process that is called darshan, or the "viewing of the God." There is some controversy surrounding the Devi's life as many view her as an innocent girl whose childhood is taken away from her. While living in the Kumari Ghar, the Goddess is not allowed to play with friends and is fairly isolated from her family. She lives with Brahmin Priests who monitor her moves. After her term as the Kumari Devi, many of them find it hard to live a normal life.

Nice light on Newari carvings.

Kathmandu is an awesome place to shop if you have the patience. Here is one of its major beaded necklace markets. Every married woman owns/wears at least one, even if it remains hidden under their clothing. They come in a dazzling range in color and in size. Kara learned that most of the beads in this market are imported from the Czech Republic...bizarre!

Max sits in one of these necklace stalls, looking for the perfect gift for his mother.

Kathmandu's crowded and narrow streets are a nightmare for a driver of any vehicle, including one's own feet. Auto-rickshaws were banned a couple years ago as part of an on-going clean up effort of Kathmandu's ever graying skies. The city is completely ringed by mountains--the pollution made by the valley's increasingly motorized population has no place to escape. Many residents have taken to wearing face masks even for walking around the city. We wore them for several days ourselves.

Traditional Nepali clothing sets are showcased outside of this shop. Max picked one up for his little niece Violetta.

Hindu women walk by a statue of Laxmi, the Goddess of Wealth. If you keep your eyes open, you will see devotional sites like this throughout the entire city. People make offerings and bless themselves several times a day, sometimes not even dismounting their motorcycles to do it. Religion is as much a part of life as washing the dishes or buying fuel in this country.

After a week of exploring Nepal's cultural and political capital, we headed Southwest for Pokhara, its tourism and adventure sport mecca. From here we would begin the last adventure of our trip: trekking through the Nepali Himalaya.

Catch up with us in the mountains next time,

Kara and Max

Octopussy and More: Udaipur

Udaipur, affectionately referred to as the "Venice of the East," is another royal city in Rajasthan. The city borders a series of man made lakes, each with several island palaces. The desert oasis has long been a playground for the rich and powerful Rajput class who trace their linage back to over 1000 years. We came to Udaipur around the time of a couple of very important and confusing Hindu holidays, Durga Puja and Diwali. In this season of festivals, the ceremonies blend together and the whole city exists in a state of colorful and spiritual excitement. Incidentally the James Bond movie, "Octopussy," was filmed here and is shown nightly at most tourist guesthouses, restaurants, and rooftop bars. Somehow in all the excitement we managed to miss the screening each night.

This island palace was built by Maharana Jagat Singh II in 1746. Originally used as a exclusive pleasure palace by royalty, it is now owned by the elite Taj Group of hotels. Standard suite goes for about 20,000 rupees. Our simple guesthouse on shore was 200 rupees. It is possible to take a boat tour and to visit the palace itself for a tour.

View of Udaipur from The City Palace, a must see. The royal cities of Rajasthan each have a colorful nickname based on the dominant pigment of their historic centers. Jaipur, the pink city; Jodhpur, the blue city; Udaipur, the white city. The spectacular City Palace sets the tone with its larger than life white fortress walls. It was originally built in the 1500s and has seen many additions and restorations, making it the largest royal complex in Rajasthan.

Inside the palace a guard sits quietly overlooking one of many enclosed courtyards.

The blend of Mughal and Indo architecture is seen throughout the City Palace and the whole city of Udaipur. Here are purdah windows, marble lattice veils that hid the women of the court from the gaze of men.

One of the newer courtyards, dating from the 19th century.

Throughout the City Palace tour, we saw these signs for the Ganesh Gallery. We love Ganesh, he removes obstacles! Naturally we were interested in seeing the "largest collection of Ganesh images in the world." We walked for hours through the palace, only to find that the gallery was closed.

Max is a caged animal. Here is a cage for the trapping and transportation of tigers. The tigers were caught in the wild and then brought to royal gaming enclosures where hunting parties would shoot at the cornered animals from the safety of their 2-story hunting platforms. A very manly activity.

As we mentioned before, there were a lot of festivities going on during this holiday season. You may have to enlarge this picture (just click on it, did you know that?) to see what's really happening. Throughout the week, toddlers to old men were setting off cheap fireworks throughout the city. It produced exclamations, equally fearful and delighted. During Durga Puja, temple groups, families, and pretty much just random bands of people bring out their Durga Goddess statute or image and process her to the lake for a ritual cleansing. Although one is never very far from the lake in any part of Udaipur, these processions last all day long, winding through the myriad of twisting alleyways. Each goddess makes a stop at the Jagdish Mandir, to the left of the square above. Seen above: stick dancers hold their instruments amidst the smoke of newly exploded fireworks, sari-clad women huddle and cover their ears as above them, a tractor bearing the Durga Goddess blasts devotional music to the full capacity of its generator.

Stick dancing troops fill the streets.

No procession is complete without a woman balancing multiple water jugs on her head, usually topped with burning cow dung or incense.

View from the "Monsoon Palace," built on a hill overlooking Udaipur. Udaipur's main lake, Pichola is seen on the right. In order to save money, we walked 1.5 up the hill during scorching midday heat. When will we ever learn?

Night performance. This performing arts organization puts on a "Traditional Rajasthani Folk Art" sampler every night. The crowd pleaser was this woman who not only balanced 10 water jugs on her head, but danced on broken glass and stood on a pair of cups with her bare feet.

Burning Man. India style. The Ravana burnings, seen above, come at the end of the Hindu festival of Dusherra. Ravana is the ultimate villain of Hinduism, specifically because of his actions in the epic mythological tale, the Ramayana. His effigy is burned every year on the anniversary of his defeat by Rama. The Ramayana, and this burning in particular signifies the triumph of good over evil. Most cities in Northern India construct several massive Ravana structures, pack them with fireworks and set them alight. Families and individuals also make their own smaller versions, which they burn in the street. When we had asked in town if anything interesting was happening that night, we were told by many people, "oh nothing special." Later we stumbled upon this open air stadium, packed with thousands of people watching a 40-foot bonfire exploding with fireworks.

When we were leaving the Ravana burnings, Kara was feeling particularly friendly and wanted to practice her Hindi. She struck up a report with this Indian mother, seen center, and was promptly invited to come to her house for dinner. We ended up hanging out with this family for a good four hours into the night. Two of those hours were filled with the newly married couple's wedding DVD(s). While Kara was upstairs being gently ridiculed for her lack of Indian culinary skills, Max was downstairs watching TV with the men. The sitcom they were watching featured a random white girl who had been invited to stay with the Indian family. This family were really fun and if we could manage to find our way back to their house we would stop by for dinner again.

Our last day in Udaipur was spent wandering around the cenotaphs. Cenotaphs are like mausoleums, except since Hindus cremate their dead they contain no bodies. Above are cenotaphs in honor of generations of Udaipur's rulers. They are all unique and expertly carved.

Even on our miniscule budget, we were able to enjoy ourselves in this city of kings.

Next time we'll try to see Octopussy.

With Love,

Kara and Max

Rajasthan. The Land of Kings. And Also Really Spicy Food. And Also Really Bad Heat.

Jaipur, "The Pink City." After surviving the landslides in the north, we made a quick pit stop in Delhi to dry our clothes before moving on to Rajasthan. When most travelers think of India, the images that come to mind are largely Rajasthani: turbans, colorful sarees, and Indo-Mughal architecture. Like much of India, it is a land in transition--where camels walk through traffic along with SUVs; turban-clad farmers sport cell phones; and ancient musical traditions are mixed with hip hop beats. Rajasthan is also the driest state in India, home of the great Thar desert. Chilies are more readily available than water. Jaipur is the capital of the state and is home to some of the most conservative Hindu population in the country. Lastly, it was here in Jaipur where Kara spent a semester studying Hindi and classical music in 2004. She still feels it is her Indian home away from home and was excited to be back.

Hawa Mahal, or Wind Palace. It is the most iconic building in Rajasthan and sits inside the old city walls. Jaipur is called the pink city because the entire old city was painted pink, in honor of the visit of the Prince of Wales in 1853. It remains pink to this day.

Just a couple of days after we arrived to Jaipur, we met up with Kara's old Hindi teacher, Arvind, and his wife, Shweta. Shweta had an exam to take in Ajmer, a couple hours away. Arvind suggested dropping us off at Pushkar, a Hindu pilgrimage site, along the way. We had a very pleasant drive with them and it was fun catching up with Arvind after so many years. The ride was much better in a car-- a luxury that we have rarely afforded.

When we arrived at Pushkar, we were shocked to find that the holy lake, Pushkar's main "attraction" was empty. Due to unusually severe droughts in Rajasthan over the last 5 years, the lake had dried up into a field of dirt. This brought an interesting and different feeling to the town as one of the main reasons that most pilgrims come here is to make puja and take holy dips in the lake. The local municipalities have taken this opportunity to dredge the lake of silt in order to make the lake deeper when the water finally returns. They have also constructed many more holy tanks around the perimeter of the lake which ensures that Hindus have holy water in which to pray. There's not much to do in the town except look out to the "lake" and walk around the ghats. It has become a mecca for stoner travelers and long term India lovers over the years, leading to an influx of hash and other drugs. The local police are cracking down on this in an attempt to enforce the strict religious regulations that govern the town. Signs throughout the small city proclaim the edict against meat, smoking of any kind, drinking alcohol, and promiscuous behavior and dress.

Pushkar is also home to the only Brahma temple in the world. Brahma is the creator of the universe in Hinduism. One would think that he would have more than one temple dedicated solely to him in the world, but this one is it. Photos are not allowed inside the temple so we have put a photo of some nice monkeys instead.

Walking up to the Gayatri temple to get a view of the surrounding area. We only stayed in Pushkar for a couple of days before returning to Jaipur for the next week. Kara wasn't allowed to walk around because of her sprained ankle so she was annoyed and ready to go.

Amber Fort, Jaipur. Rajasthan means "land of the Rajputs" who were the rulers of feudal Rajasthan. The Rajputs were notorious for their bravery on the battlefield as well as their stubborn independence. The state was divided for centuries among rival clans with shifting alliances. Each Rajput dynasty claimed capitals in different sections of Rajasthan, none complete without their own massive forts. Jaipur was founded in 1727 by Maharaja Jai Singh II, with his capital initially standing at Amber, shown here, just 11 kilometers from Jaipur.

Rajput architecture is a beautiful blend of Mughal and Hindu classical styles. Seen here is a very Islamic looking Ganesh.

Looking out to the city from the fort.

Marble screens decorate the courtyards and serve as ventilation. The mosaic pattern is directly borrowed from Muslim architecture.

View of the ancient capital.

The food in Rajasthan is some of the best in India. It is spicy, it is interesting, and it is bountiful. Here Max chows down on a "thali" which is a selection of many different dishes. The bread in the middle, called chappati, is used to scoop and dip into the various mushy substances. Oh yeah, you eat with your hand in India. But only the right.

Bangles everywhere. Indian women love these thin colorful bracelets, and none more than Rajastanis. At the bangle market you can find a huge variety of colors, styles and sizes. Max found some tiny ones for his 16 month old niece. The bangles pictured above are made of metal and are the cheapest. Glass and ceramic bangles are more expensive.

Kara gets fitted up. These bangles were tightly fitted and required the shop keeper's special twisting technique.

Raj Mandir- the palatial movie house of Jaipur. People come from miles around to catch a flick here. Infact, the crowds were so thick, there was almost a riot in the ticket line. The theater employs some pretty intense security guards who shoved, hit, and whistled the masses into an orderly line.

Kara was able to join the special ladies line, which was much shorter but only slightly less rowdy than the men's.

The street food in India is incredibly varied, ubiquitous, filthy, cheap, and delicious. Jaipur is no exception. Here a small Rajasthani poses next to a giant basket of plate sized rice crackers.

The Jaipur Observatory. Maharaja Jai Singh II was an avid astronomer among other things. He dedicated a large section of his palace to an out door observatory. The instruments use shadows and sight lines to map the stars as well as tell time and season, and most of them still function to this day. The observatory looks like a giant modern art sculpture garden. Ironically, it is only open during the day time, but since many of the instruments are dedicated to tracking our closest star, the sun, there are plenty of opportunities to watch the instruments in action.

This piece of scientific equipment is both beautiful and functional. It is the largest sundial in the world and can tell time to the accuracy of two seconds.

City Palace, Jaipur. A series of spacious courtyards and regal halls. The royal family still lives here after many hundreds of years.

Max stands next to a statue of Vishnu with his wife Parvati and his consort, Garuda. Max loves Garuda, the eagle friend of Vishnu, a god he also likes.

Turbans everywhere. This one was just lying around the City Palace. Kara wondered what happened to its head.

Polo! In India. Who would have thought? The City Palace Museum claims that the game of polo was actually an Indian invention played by the likes of the ancient Mughal emperor Akbar. Whoever invented it, its still an elitist sport played and watched by the rich of the city. We showed up at the polo match and were given V.I.P. seating, just because we were tourists.

Polo is actually really fun to watch and seems like a difficult sport to master.

Kara and Max say goodbye to Arvind and Shweta. We just found out that Shweta gave birth to a healthy baby boy about 2 months after we left. Congrats you guys!

After a week of sweating profusely we were ready for more. So we headed west, further into the desert to see more of Rajasthan.
Kara and Max