Ahmedabad

Only in India would there be a city of several million that you had never heard of. But over the Diwali break I has headed to one of those. Ahmedabad. A city it took three people about 10 tries to teach me how to pronounce correctly on the bus out to the plane. A city that is home to some extraordinary wood and stone carving.  When you wander through the old poles (ethnic/religious neighborhoods) of the city it is easy to spot the old houses as they are covered in carvings. Sometimes just geometric designs, flowers and such but just as often images of dragons, lions, peacocks, horses and gryphons. The detail was amazing and meant I had a hard time keeping my eyes on where I was walking as all I wanted to do was keep looking up. At certain corners you would find a birdhouse standing proud, structures built to allow the residents to leave food and water for the birds in an area where trees were not all that common. And yes, I did see some residents pouring water into bowls when we took an early morning walking tour. But the most spectacular sight of all was the stone carvings. The trees of life which could be found as adornment on the Jami  Masjid mosque and the absolutely stunning carved windows of the Sidi Saiyyed mosque. I could have stood in awe for an hour just appreciating the design and work that had gone into those. Really made it worth the journey to Ahmedabad even if it that wasn't the purpose of our trip (that will have to come in another post though).  

Colorful Pushkar

Along with the camel fair, Pushkar also brings in a load of pilgrims on a religious journey the same week for Kartik Purnima. The city is home to one of the few temples dedicated to Lord Brahma (I think only four other temples in India are dedicated to Brahma) and the main attraction of the city any other time of the year is that temple and the 52 ghats that encircle a holy lake believed to have been born from the tears of Lord Shiva.

So, while the camels were definitely the draw for me to go to Pushkar, I found the streets to be a whirling, chaotic collection of color. Families were visiting for the chance to combine a shopping trip with a religious pilgrimage with a livestock exchange. I was happy to sit on a street corner and snap picture after picture, trying to capture the many faces of Pushkar. There were the women with their brightly colored saris, so bright sometimes they almost hurt the eye. The vendors settling down onto the roadside, spreading their wares out on blankets to sell. Did you see that man go by? His forehead is all painted! And that one just set down a big pot on a stand, I wonder what he is selling? Ahh...she has quite the large nose ring! That girl is posing (at least it sure looks that way!). While the others are clearly busy shopping. Hmmm...the food is almost as bright as the clothes, sometimes I wish I felt a bit more adventurous in terms of trying the street food. There is so much color I hardly know what to focus on.

Camel Fair

The camel dancing was just one of the many sights that awaited me as I made my way to Pushkar  for the annual camel fair, the oldest continual animal fair in the world. Along with the dancing there were camels "dressed up" with patterns shaved in their fur, flowers on their noses, necklaces and garlands looped around their necks and at times dyed tuft of fur at the top of their humps. Those were clearly the fancy camels. The ones meant to pull tourists around in a cart or give them a ride on their back. If you made it to the back of the fair grounds, that is where you could find the serious camel traders. Close to 50,000 camels I would guess, scattered across the desert hillside. When I climbed up on a wall I couldn't believe just how many had converged on Pushkar for the five day festival. There were camels everywhere! Standing and sitting in groups, outside of their owner's tents. Waiting impatiently as a buyer pulled open its mouth to check the teeth. Smacking its jaws as it ate from a pile of feed. Nuzzling a baby camel by its side. Bowing spit bubbles and drooling on unsuspecting tourists that wandered too close.  These are the sights of the Pushkar camel fair that will forever be imprinted on my mind. 

Christmas in Italy

Stained glass window on the walls of the duomo in Siracusa

How do you sum up three weeks of travel around a country that included 8 cities? After spending two days sorting through pictures I'm not at all sure I'm up to writing anything extensive; so I thought I'd share some of my highlights from our time in Italy.

• The brightly colored houses on the island of Burano outside of Venice
• Riding the funicular part of the way up the mountain around Trento to Sardagna and the spectacular view of the Dolomites from that vantage point
• Some of the unusual nativity scenes scattered around Assisi
• Discovering my favorite church window in Italy is still the rose window of San Rufino in Assisi...from the outside
• The bridge of angels leading across the river to Castel San'Angelo in the Vatican
• The pure cheesiness of visiting Juliet's house and tomb in Verona
• The absolutely spectacular golden mosaic behind the altar in the Church of Maria in Trastevere, Rome
• Relaxing among the historical building and sea front on Ortygia Island in Siracusa, Sicily
• Even more cheesiness at the Boca della Verita  on the wall of Santa Maria in Cosmedin in Rome where legend has it that if you tell a lie with your hand in its mouth it will bite your hand off
• Hearing the church bells ring through the clear clean air
• Watching mom enjoy gelato almost every afternoon
• The overwhelming size of the Colosseum sandwiched in the middle of Rome
• Not having to spend Christmas alone this year and having my mom for company

Mom and I in the Arena in Verona

Camel Dancing

Have you ever seen a camel dance? Seen it prance around an arena, high stepping in time to the drum beats? Watched it balance on smaller and smaller boxes until its feet no longer could fit on the top? Questioned why its trainer would slip his body underneath a front hoof, is that a sign of being well trained or just insane? Seen a camel taken down to its knees and then walked around in a circle? Gotten distracted by the flower wobbly on top of a camel's nose as it poked it up in the air as if to say "I know you are not as good as me, after all I am a dancing camel."

That is just one of the unusual things you can see if you ever make it to the Pushkar Camel Fair.

The Beatles' Ashram

While we were in Rishikesh the friends I was traveling with discovered that it was on the outskirts of this town where all the Beatles spent some time in 1968. The four of them spent a varying amount of time, ranging from a few weeks to three months. The place they stayed is most often referred to by tourists as the Beatles' ashram, but was really the ashram of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi whom they were following as a meditation guru. The first day we were in Rishikesh we decided that we wanted to go for a walk and that the now abandoned ashram would be a good destination. Of course that was when we were told it was maybe a 45 minute walk from the hotel. I'm not sure who it was walking, but nearly two hours later we almost ready to turn around to go back. We agreed on 5 more minutes as we headed down some more rundown roads, and were soon off pavement. Just as we were about to give in we saw a sign for a cafe claiming they were the last stop before the Beatles' ashram, and an arrow pointing the way. With a bit more energy to our step we continued on the last 500 meters and found ourselves crossing a dry stream bed then walking into what was clearly not an abandoned ashram. There were chickens, cows, monkeys and plenty of orange clad sadhus in the courtyard among the pink tinged houses. Hmmm...not quite what we were expecting but for lack of a better plan we wandered in and down to the Ganges for a bit of peaceful reflection. Still, this didn't seem like the overgrown, up in the hill side ashram we had read about.

That evening once we had returned to the hotel for the night we looked it up on line. Seems we didn't quite make it to the ashram. Oh, we were in the right place, we were just at the bottom outside the entry rather than up in the ashram itself. So, the last day it was decided to make another attempt. I wasn't sure I wanted to walk back, but when we agreed to take a tuktuk to the closer foot bridge across the Ganges, cutting the walk down to 20 minutes, I decided it would be worth it just to get out and move around. Well it was worth it for a lot more than just that. We headed back to the pink building, walked around on the creek bed, and stood at the locked gate until a man hobbled down with his cane to let us in. Of course even though it is technically not a tourist site we still had to pay to get him to open up for us. After some discussion the ladies decided they wanted to take him up on the offer of a guide and so the money was handed over. Of course, we were then left alone to wander the grounds at our leisure. After taking a few pictures of the interesting entrance we headed up and then up some more. We rounded a corner and there off to the right, almost overtaken with vegetation were some beehive shaped, stone encrusted huts(?). I had stepped into a different world. One that was a bit rundown, a bit overgrown, yet still had a aura of its past activities. We wandered past larger buildings whose insides were now havens for plants and large spider webs with large spiders riding them. Passed a small temple to Shiva. Found the old auditorium which had been transformed into an informal art gallery, with large paintings decorating the walls and entryways that captivated my imagination. Saw a balconied multilayer building whose lines spoke of an earlier grace.  Spoke with a one legged gardener who attempted to combat the encroaching growth with just his machete. Found a other cluster of beehive shaped dwellings, including one proudly bearing the number 9. Left feeling as if we had had a successful excursion our last day in Rishikesh.

American snapshot: Arches National Park

I walk down the middle of a canyon. On one side the rock glows in a reddish orange, highlighting spectacular rock formations. On the other side the stone faces rests in darkness waiting its time to shine, when the sun will highlight its fins and spires. Even without the arches that make this National Park unique it is a landscape which encourages wonder, awe and appreciation...and I've only made it a couple of miles into the park; stopping to walk Park Avenue in the early morning when it is still cool thanks to the overnight rain which left puddles along my way to reflect the clear blue sky and the tops of the rock formation. Mom is waiting for me at the end of my stroll ready to drive on to the next major rock formation after happily pointing out the sheep rock formation and the three gossips to me.

Balanced rock holds its own mystery. How long will that rock remain perched on top of its pillar? Just what geological phenomenon is responsible for this precarious formation? As I walk around the base gazing up at the top it becomes even more incomprehensible that this heavy stone remains on its stand. How much longer can it possibly remain Balanced Rock instead of tumbled rock?

Most of the rest of the park is dedicated to the arches which earned it it's name. There are the two windows, visible together only from select points, double arch which unfolds its unique form from a collapsed vault as you get closer. Delicate arch sits high up and far away on a hill yet is still able to personify the contrast of delicate strength. Landscape Arch lost much of its thickness in 1995 when a chunk fell down, causing everyone to wonder as they walk by if today might be the day that it ceases to be an arch. Sand dune arch is nearly impossible to view as the wind whips up the sand that gives its name, causing me to steal a glimpse and a photo before turning to walk back with my eyes closed most of the way; all so that I won't feel like I missed something when we leave.

The last day we meet a ranger for our guided walk into the Fiery Furnace, thankful by the end that we managed to get the last two tickets available during the time we are visiting. After walking through the cracks that cause the formation of fins, taking breaks in spots where a glimpse over your shoulder reveals a surprise arch, and learning about the fragile biological soil crust which allows plants to eeck out a living it is hard to imagine coming into the park without experiencing this introduction to the fascinating stone world of Arches, although I must admit that even a drive through the main road of the park would expose you to the exceptional scenery which made Arches National Park my favorite park of the summer.