The Simple Life

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Hups, back in Delhi. The past week was absolutely wonderful and just what I needed. 7 days in a very natural environment, living amongst locals, and time to set my mind free from all the worries of Srinagar. Since there are not many distractions around here except for the weather and the stories people tell, I got time to enjoy the wonderful natural area of the Himalayan foothills, and find some peace.

The first few days, I was alone with the lady who manages the place temporarily. I enjoyed the solitude actually, after all the stress of organizing everything back in Belgium, and then delayed flights and then the Srinagar story. Everyday here is basically the same, so you forget all about time or the outside world. You learn to "live in the moment" as they say here. Yesterday or tomorrow are not relevant, because every day is the same anyway. And did I mention that the environment was absolutely gorgeous? No traffic in a very wide circle. No horns, no cars, no polluted air, no pushy travel agents.

But all good things come to an end, I had to get back to Delhi to pick up my friend Gaelle. The way back to Haldwani was quite an adventure on itself. It had started to rain the day before, and it hadn't stopped since. So the roads were blocked due to falling rocks and peaces of the road just being washed away. So Donna Elaine (a Canadian woman) and I walked up to the road (porter boys carrying our bags) and on to the next chai shop to get a ride with the next jeep. We were soaked by the time we got to the chai shop, and then it took another 4hours before a jeep arrived. My feet were wet and cold and my lips were turning blue. Donna Elaine started to panick when she noticed. Then in the middle of our ride, a fresh road block had formed, so the jeep had to stop and turn around. We took our bags to the other side of the rocks that had filled the road, and got another jeep on the other side. That one drove very slowly, I think that - for Indian standards - he must be paranoid. Or else, the jeep (it was an extremely crappy peace of junk that looked like a jeep) couldn't handle speeds of more than 30km/hr. Even the motor rikshaws went faster than us. Aside from almost slipping down the mountain and hitting the bottom of the vehicle (you *DO* start repeating mantra's at this point, doesn't matter if you believe them or not), we got down to Haldwani safely. Once down, Donna Elaine and I could laugh again, but in the jeep... really, I did get nervous and I don't think I was alone.

So she took a room and I could use her bathroom to have a shower before taking the night train to Delhi. And here I am again... the noise, the horns, the poverty, the dirt, the pollution, the rikshaw people constantly coming up to you... it almost feels familiar! I am getting the hang of it. Just behave very uninterested, and don't get involved with people who want to "help" with this and that. Now that that works, it is fun to be walking around here. There is some little thing to trigger frustration all the time, but you can forget about that just as easily. And the weather is not as muggy anymore as it was 2 weeks ago.

Found a good place to have breakfast and/or lunch. Bought an unused 2005 version of the Lonely Planet. It weighs too much, but if it bothers me too much, I'll just sell it for 50 INR to someone else. The original price was 500 INR, I got it down to 240. For those with experience on negotiating prices in India: should I have gotten it further down? It's hard to know sometimes how far I should stretch it.

Went to the Lotus Temple this afternoon. Interesting architecture. Didn't take pictures, because I can never take better pics than the ones already in books and on the internet.

Looking forward to picking up Gaelle tonight. It'll be quite a different world for her, too :-P
And tomorrow we'll have to start planning the next few weeks.

(btw, thanks for all the nice messages, it's fun to read them all, eventhough I don't always have time to answer)

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Photos

Spider in my room
I know mosquito nets are for mosquito's ... but was I happy it also protects one from spiders like this!

The Ganges after 1 day monsoon rain
I had waited till the last day to take pictures, and then it rained... so sorry for not having sunny pics. However, I loved to see the power of the river and the beauty of that when the rain came.

The Ganges after 1 day monsoon rain
On the way back to Haldwani

And back in Delhi....
Why do they need traffic police anyway? There are no rules here. The vehicle with the loudest horn wins.

Modern India
One of the computers in the internet cafe.

Comments

[Anne-Marie]

Hey
Blij je terug te lezen en te weten dat je een zalige "natuur"week achter de rug hebt. Vind het ook fijn dat je de komende weken een compagnon hebt om verder te reizen, alleen-zijn is wel eens welkom maar gezelschap is dat ook. Ben al benieuwd wat jullie plannen worden. Take care en tot volgende keer.

[Donna Elaine]

yes, it was a wild ride...
hey girl !!! just wanted to check in and say that you were not exaggerating the monsoon adventure. It was fun to read that and relive it. I have to rest today from it because it really did take a lot out of me. I think I was hopped up on pure adrenalin at the time, but this afternoon I just crashed realizing that the tire of the jeep clunked as we narrowly missed going down the mountain side. I wish I had taken a picture of the lovely shade of purplish blue your lips turned. Yes, that's when I started to panic. My shoes are starting to stink today from being soaked walking through so many water streams. maybe see you in Delhi? love Donna Elaine

[Christian]

stronger every day!
You're getting stronger every single day, Sabrina. At least in mind and spirit. May I hope in your body as well? Take care!

[anonymous]

ik bewonder nog steeds je moed dat je dit allemaal aandurft,had ik maar een tiende van wat jij bezit.ik ga niet verder dan me terugtrekken in een klooster in nederland maar k dank dat jij door de tijd dat je er bent je werkelijke ik zal tegen kome.Geniet van alles wat je meemaakt,vooral van je innerlijke rust ( hoewel die soms zoek is door het hectische daar); kus

[roel]

leuk
Hoi, Ben es komen piepen naar de site. Leuk gedaan. Ik zie dat je ginder het goed hebt. Fijn. Nu nog een fototje van sas hé ! groetjes en tot lezen...