Baylor Walkabout India 2009 - travel blog

Tourists

Sun, 29 Mar 2009 14:20:11 -0400

When you are two hours away from a World Heritage site and one of the seven wonders of the world, you have to go. Today we were tourists. We woke the students at 6:00 AM to let them know that we were going to be touring Delhi by train. Only after two hours on a train and a short bus ride to the Taj Mahal did they realize a tour of Delhi was not on the agenda.

With our local guide (required by the government), obligatory shopping (also required by the government), and an endless battle with all that could possibly carry a price tag, there were moments when we yearned for the peaceful waters of the Rangit river in Sikkim.

That being said, the Taj Mahal (the building) is truly spectacular. Our tour also included a visit to the ancient palace of Akbar at Fatahpur Sikri.

Sunrise in Varanasi - sunset in Delhi

Sat, 28 Mar 2009 09:11:43 -0400

Once again, several students awoke early in the morning to take in the sunrise over the Ganges, only this time we walked the ghats instead of boarding a boat, offering us the opportunity to move among the crescendo of action as the sun rose. We rejected approximately 617 offers from eager boatmen as we worked our way up the river to a quiet sitting place.

After watching a spectacular sunrise, we sat at a rooftop restaurant and had tea until the sun grew hot, and then we meandered back to the hotel through the narrow labyrinth of the city, where Lee Thurman’s outstretched arms could touch both walls and everyone looks for a doorway when a line of hulking buffalo turn the corner.

In keeping with our rhythm of ‘explore, eat, rest, repeat,’ we had breakfast and gathered for a task quite foreign to Walkabout: shopping. As the females of the group searched for the perfect sari, the males of the group sat, waited, and reminisced about hours spent fidgeting in the aisles of the fabric store as we waited for our mothers.

By noon, it was time to leave Varanasi, so we made our way through the chaos of bicycle and motorized rickshaws, dauntless pedestrians, and enigmatic traffic patterns to the airport for a flight to Delhi.

Upon arriving in Delhi, Elin remarked that the traffic, which seemed like complete chaos upon our arrival two weeks ago, now seemed almost civilized. Ten inches between two vehicles moving at high speed is a luxury compared to the perpetual near-misses of the rest of our journey. While our return to Delhi seems to wind the trip down, tomorrow we will attempt to pack in one more ‘experience of a lifetime’ before we depart on Monday.

Sunrise on the Ganges

Fri, 27 Mar 2009 23:07:59 -0400

It may not be possible to get further away from the insulated gates of Baylor than Varanasi. Each moment evokes the realization that there is nothing familiar here. It is in these times that we are thankful for parents who embrace genuine adventure. These days are wonderfully uncomfortable.

We pulled ourselves out of bed before dawn and took a boat out on the river for sunrise. To see the ghats come alive just before sunrise is a festival of sight and sound. The distinct pitter patter of the Indian drums, the wavering chants from the temples we passed, and the ubiquitous smell of incense all marked the coming of a new day.

After our morning on the river, we explored the ghats and then went to Sarnath, just outside Varanasi, where the Buddha gave his first sermon.

All day and all night on a train

Thu, 26 Mar 2009 06:20:12 -0400

Trains in India are a wonderful test of patience. Our original train was to depart NJP station in Siliguri at 6:30 PM. At 10:00 PM we realized it was time to switch to a train that might actually depart before dawn - great to have our friend Lalit with us to haggle with the station agent to make the switch. We boarded the train at 10:30 PM and are still watching India go by in the window at 4:15 PM .....the next day........ India time:)

After running through the narrow streets of Varanasi to get to our hotel, we are finally able to slow down our pace and relax. It has been an interesting and very Indian experience getting from Darjeeling to Varanasi in just thirty hours.

Darjeeling

Wed, 25 Mar 2009 06:16:08 -0400

We were up at 4:15 AM to drive up to Tiger Hill to see the sunrise on Kanchenjunga. Clouds kept us from seeing the mountain, but not the circus of Indian tourists clicking away at the sun with their cell phone cameras. The tea and coffee were very good.

We made a short stop at Happy Valley tea plantation and then began the first leg of our journey out of the Himalaya and into the plains. After a sixteen hour train ride, we should be in Varanasi by tomorrow afternoon.

Last day of kayaking

Tue, 24 Mar 2009 10:20:02 -0400

The students said goodbye to their homestay families this morning and took the long winding drive back down the mountain to the Rangit river. After a good final day on the water, we took off the river in a dust storm, said goodbye to our friend Gyalpo, and drove up to the old British hill station of Darjeeling.

From Gyatso:

Today the 24th of March,2009 has been the best day of my life in Kayaking . With greater confidence and being the 2nd day of paddling - I pulled the skirt only once. I am very proud of being part of Baylor’s walkoutabout program on the Rangit and thanks every one for saving my life. The opportunity is what makes the difference . The rafting was great with chik, nge, and sum.

Big water on the Teesta River

Mon, 23 Mar 2009 10:02:20 -0400

We woke this morning to clear skies and an excellent view of Kanchenjunga. As the dawn comes very early here, everyone had a day’s worth of stories to tell by the time we congregated at nine o’clock to head to the river. On the ride to the river, students described their various experiences in their homestays, from hiking to a monastery early in the morning to an hour-long conversation over salt tea that is sipped only out of a sense of duty. It seems that twelve hours provided a wealth of time for cultural exchange, and each experience was rich and unique.

When we got to the river, we encountered the usual crowd of spectators: the women in their brilliantly colored saris crouching at a distance, the men studying our unusual equipment, and the more intrepid children sitting on the kayaks and climbing on the raft.

Once we got on the river, students encountered the biggest water we will see on the trip. The rapids were long, racing wave trains that ended in deep blue pools. Those who were in kayaks got to see the raft go first, and as the sixteen-foot rubber “hippo” was tossed to an fro, a nine-foot kayak suddenly seemed abysmally small. The students rose to the occasion, however, and enjoyed a challenging and exhilarating day.

Afterward, as we wound our way back to Gangtok, spider webs of lighting flicked across the sky, and as soon as we were out of the cars, the skies opened up and the power went down. The students split for their homestays, excited to see what another evening would bring.

Monks, machine guns, and hugs

Sun, 22 Mar 2009 12:19:36 -0400

Rumtek:

Today began with some time for students to wander around Gangtok before visiting Rumtek Gompa. “Gompa” is the Tibetan word for monastery. Rumtek is home to the Karmapa Lama, head of the Kagyu sect of Tibetan Buddhism and likely the next global spokesperson for Tibet when the present Dalai Lama dies. The young 17th Karmapa escaped from Tibet in 2000 and lives in Dharamsala, India. Because Sikkim is on a politically sensitive border with Tibet, tensions between India and China have kept the Karmapa from returning to Rumtek. Religion makes Rumtek a place of compassion and spiritual learning. Politics makes it a place guarded by Indian soldiers. The mixture of monks and machine guns makes for an interesting day. Tibetan friends provided an opportunity for students to talk with one of the monks and tour the monastery.

Happiness Home:

The Sikkim Happiness Home is the brainchild of our friend Kelsang Phuntsok and the dZi Foundation. The dZi Foundation was created to aid Himalayan people in need. Kelsang worked with dZi to create an orphanage for girls at risk in Gangtok, the Sikkim Happiness Home. It took less than a minute for this unique group of Baylor students to have kids in their arms and smiles on their faces.

High water and Gyatso’s debut

Sat, 21 Mar 2009 23:51:33 -0400

We got an early start today and left our home at the hotel in Naya Bazaar. Higher water provided some big rapids, big eyes, and a chance to teach one of our Tibetan friends the joys of getting uncomfortable. After paddling, we ventured north to the capital city of Gangtok.

From Newton:

Yet another magnificent day on what us paddlers call the Lower Rangit River. After a short ride to the put-in, I realized we would have an extra special guest in one of our kayaks today - Gyatso. In addition to Kelsang and Gyatso both make this trip run as smoothly as possible. Tim showed him the basics of paddling and he picked it up quickly. The first couple of rapids were a bit of a challenge, but after that he was paddling like a pro. I have never seen anyone pick up kayaking as fast as he did. After a long day of paddling, we headed up to Gangtok, where Kelsang and Gyatso both live. The whole city is built on a slope and on clear days you can see the world’s third highest mountain, Kanchenjunga. We then ate at a tasty pizza place for dinner. There was a local Tibetan band playing Beatles and Clapton music while old folks hit the dance floor to show us their latest moves. What a sight!

Three days in one

Fri, 20 Mar 2009 11:21:01 -0400

Today started with a 6:00 AM trial run of the upper Rangit while the students slept. Breakfast was at 9:00, then paddling, Hindu temple, lunch, more paddling, Tibetan monastery, hot springs, dinner, and a welcome bed.

From Elin:

This truly was, as Lee so perfectly called it, “the greatest day ever.”
We woke to another beautiful India morning and after our first glass of tea christened the day, we split up into two shifts for paddling (sadly, the river was too low today for Hippo to make it). Newton, Kate, Audrey and Alex took the morning shift and set off to paddle a shorter distance than yesterday. Audrey says this day of paddling, “was funny because they saw so many people on the side of the river taking pictures of them paddling down the river, probably thinking of how crazy they looked in their multicolored boats.” All around, I think everyone thoroughly enjoyed their second day on the river.
After waving goodbye to our friends, Natalie, Ellie, Lee and I set off with Ashlee and two of our Tibetan friends to check out the enchantingly colorful Hindu temple that we saw from the river yesterday. The temple was all we had hoped for. We were able to walk throughout the temple and take pictures of the many colorful murals of Hindu gods and goddesses painted lovingly on the walls. For a temple devoted to the worship of Durga, the goddess of war, it was ironically serene. Speaking with our Tibetan friends, they told us that 90% of the population of Jorthang (the town we are in) worship in the Hindu temple, while the remaining people worship in the Buddhist monastery, but the religions coexist peacefully:).
Leaving the temple, we met the cutest little girl walking alone. Ellie’s warm introduction put a bright smile on her face. Already happy with meeting one new friend, we were thrilled when Lee serendipitously introduced himself to a boy playing guitar on his doorstep and asked to play with him. This awesome happening lead to the boy inviting us all into his home for the morning. We sat in his living room while his mother made us tea (the tea turned out to be amazing...Ellie claimed it was “the best we’ve had in India,” and I wholeheartedly agree), and all sang off-key to Lee’s rendition of Outkast’s “Hey Ya” and our new friend’s strumming of his favorite Christian song, “Above All.” We were all surprised when our friend and his family joined with us in singing as Lee played Bob Dylan’s “Knocking on Heaven’s Door.” After our singing, our friend’s sister Marian taught Natalie, Ellie and I how to do laundry in a bucket. We also learned that even moms in India have kitchen complexes; our friends’ mother was “shy” when we came into their kitchen, embarrassed by even the thought that strangers might see her kitchen in even a minor state of disarray. Our time with the family was, as Lee said, “the India experience we’ve been hoping for.” This absolutely amazing morning was topped off with a laughter-filled run through the rain back to our hotel to meet our friends as they came back from their morning on the river.
After a fabulous lunch of mystery soup and rice, those of us who spent the morning in town hopped into the wet kayaks and the morning paddlers set off to take their turn adventuring to the Temple. The other group’s trip took a detour just as ours did, but theirs took them to a muddy soccer field on the side of the road. An hour of kicking up mud just as often as they kicked Natalie’s tiny ball with the local boys had our friends still smiling when we returned. The water level had dropped by about five feet by the time we got onto the river, so our trip was a lot of scooting off of rocks, but even that was fun. Everything is fun in India. A few hours of paddling and waving to more people on the banks ended with a righteous swim by Natalie that fortuitously happened in front of two young boys on the bank with their androgynous parent figure. One of the boys hijacked Natalie’s empty boat and paddled around for about twenty minutes. I’m pretty sure that by the end of his short time splashing around in the water, he was better than I am. I was lucky enough to ferry our paddler’s brother around in my lap, his smiles lighting up my day as we went in a small circle, me blessing the calmness of the low water levels for the first time that day. Before we left, Newton was called back over to the brothers and their parent to bring them across the river one more time.

Low water and high spirits

Thu, 19 Mar 2009 11:40:11 -0400

We have been looking forward to this day for three years - Walkabout’s first day of kayaking with students in India! Even though south Sikkim is experiencing its worst drought in ten years, the Rangit river provided enough excitement to wake us up from two days of sitting in planes and jeeps.

From Audrey:

As we have waited for months to paddle in India, the boaters waited a little more along the bank of the Rangit as the raft was prepared for the day. We were the spectators of the people around us, while we were also the object of curiosity. We made friends with the kids across the river by making whistling noises and skipping rocks.
Our trip down the river was filled with the same sort of inquisitive interactions with people.

One man asked me “Why we were rafting on the river?”. I was surprised; I didn’t even think he could speak English. While I floated by, I quickly responded that it was good water because I could not offer him a detailed explanation. Another interaction I had with a group was when a man motioned for me to flip over and roll. I sadly motioned to him no because I didn’t want to risk swallowing any water. Probably by the end of the trip I will just flip over and show a group a roll because I think it would be nice to show them a roll.
As our day came to an end, we all loved sharing our tales from the day, and we looked forward to cups of tea and playing some games of spades. I am a new connoisseur because of two days ago I tried the black tea and fell in love. I was surprised, because before the trip I tried to make myself like tea but it didn’t work. Now, I look forward to every chance we have tea, which there will be plenty of in the coming weeks.

From Ashlee:

Yesterday was one to go down in the books for me. It was truly a day of adventure. We met our battle-scarred, 16 foot raft, who we have affectionately named “Hippo”. Tim joked to me after our breakfast, that we only had two paddles and two wooden oars. I laughed and thought he was joking. He wasn’t. Surprise! When we got to the put in, Elin, Ellie, and I helped Gyatso, Kelsang, and Raju unload Hippo and all that came with her. I laughed out loud at the hand made wooden foot pump that took us 45 minutes and several exhausted calves to inflate Hippo with. As we were almost
finished pumping up the floor, when I heard a sudden whoosh sound and saw the floor rapidly deflating. Ellie came to the rescue with duct tape, and we patched poor Hippo up as well as we could. After a quick trip talk, preparing everyone for what to expect with the raft, we looked to river to see that the first rapid had to offer: Shallow rocks. We decided that a packed out raft was not going to make it over those rocks, so we all swam across the river above the rapid, while Hippo and Raju floated through the shallows, so we could begin our trip. It’s always an exciting day when you get to start out swimming!
The rest of the day was an absolute blast, filled with laughter from all aboard, singing from Gyatso and Kelsang, and lots of water (in our boat, the floating bath tub). We waved at all the people staring from the banks and bounced through the rapids like a pinball in our raft. At the end of the day, my face ached from all the smiling and my heart was thankful for sharing a great day with all my friends.

What day is it?

Wed, 18 Mar 2009 00:19:03 -0400

From Natalie:
“It’s Wednesday... right?” Elin asks as we reenter the airport this morning in Delhi. A pause follows -- the question requires some genuine meditation.
Two hours in an Excursion to Atlanta, one and a half hours in a plane to Newark, and finally a whopping fourteen hours to Delhi. We left the United States at 8:50 on a Monday night and arrived in India at 8:20 PM Tuesday. The time warp left Tim Laramore with about four hours worth of a birthday, the first one he had spent without ever seeing daylight. The day was significant to us all, not just because Tim was another year older or because it was St. Patrick’s day. We got our first glimpse of India.
Lalit, one of Tim William’s contacts here, escorted us out of the airport and into the hazy Delhi night. Piling into a microbus of sorts, we jumped straight from the curbside into the chaos of the Indian streets. Lanes are more of a suggestion than a guideline, and the constant chorus of horns are encouraged by the elaborately decorated backs of trucks proclaiming “HORNS PLEASE!” Two small boys approached our windows, coaxing us to buy flowers from them. As we drove away, without making a purchase, the eldest flipped us an unfriendly finger.
We stayed in a hotel run by Tibetan friends. A map of Tibet and photos of the Dalai Lama greeted us as we entered. After a night of (attempted) sleep, a fabulous breakfast, and another thrilling drive, here we at the airport again, ready for day 2 (... I think?) of travel.

Off to Bagdogra by plane and then four hours in a jeep to Sikkim - we should be on the banks of the Rangit river by sundown!

Oh, and HAPPY BIRTHDAY TIM L.!!!!

pre-India Tellico kayaking

Sat, 21 Feb 2009 13:29:33 -0500

Twenty two days until we are on a plane to India. While we will not be paddling off 12’ waterfalls in Sikkim, this trip to Tellico was a good chance to embrace some discomfort and have some fun. Kayaking in Sikkim will be 40 degrees warmer - Tellico was cold!

link to pictures

link to video

pre-India Chattooga kayaking

Sun, 1 Feb 2009 13:12:11 -0500

Two perfect winter days of paddling! This trip was an opportunity to polish kayaking skills on a river that will be similar to one of the rivers we will do in India....... minus the naked Nepali kids running down the bank.

link to pictures