Thursday, June 9, 2011

Whirlwind with a Backpack and a Stanley!

Hello Everyone,

I am finally starting to  get back to blogging now that I am settled in at my new digs in Amata Nakorn.  However, before I blog about all of the fabulous things that have happened to me since I have been in Thailand, I wanted to get you updated with my backpacking trip around India and Nepal!  As some of you may have heard, I am once again hosting the fantastic Flat Stanley, only this time he has travelled all the way to Asia to see me!  Flat Stanley is a character from a children's book who gets flattened after a bookcase falls on top of him!  He finds that he is so flat he can fit perfectly inside an envelope. Thus, he decides to visit different people in all different places and send home pictures of himself with popular monuments.  This is very popular in many elementary school classes, as the kids read the book and then make their own Stanley to send to a friend or family member in a different state.  My niece Jordan did it about 3 years ago and I housed Stanley in Boston for a month.  My sister has decided to do it again and sent me Stanley when I was in India with directions to bring him along on all my travels.  The only bad thing was that he did not make it in time for the Taj Mahal trip so I told her that Michael would have to photo shop him into one of my pictures haha!  So, with Stanley in tow, I embarked on my crazy Asian backpacking adventure!

First of all, as all of you know me, I am sure you are all saying to yourselves, that Alyssa an Backpacking just don't go together; and you would be correct in thinking that! Upon leaving Jaipur I had a rather large rolling suitcase, plus my small rolling carry on, and my normal purse. However, my suitcase was quickly replaced with a large trekkers backpack once I realized just how sore your body could get from walking up and down the train station stairs with all of those things.  But I survived and, while it was exhausting, I had blast and would not be opposed to doing some backpacking throughout the southeastern peninsula of Asia later in the year!

First Stop, Mumbai:

This really was a beautiful city with all the possible modern necessities anyone could want!  The malls were crazy, the nightlife was fabulous, and the history was wonderful to learn about.  However, this city also showed the epitome of Indian life, as there were giant hotel adjacent to the largest Indian slums I have seen yet (imagine "Slum Dog Millionaire.")  All in all, it is probably the only city in India that I could live in long term!


This is Stanley and I in Front of the Mumbai Skyline.

Second Stop: The Backwaters

The next stop that we took was into the famed Backwaters of India.  The backwaters are a series of waterways throughout the central area of the state of Kerela, one of the two southern most states at the tip of the Indian Peninsula.  The al the waters meet at the town of Allepey, often called the Venice of the East. We travelled to this tiny town and hopped upon a houseboat.  On the boat, we travelled throughout the waters and spent the night docked in the middle of them, eating delicious food.  We got to see many facets of the Kerelan way of life, where the river dominates, the fishing industry strives, and there are some lazy days in these little tiny villages on the land strips that make the famed waterways.  It was a beautiful trip and I could see myself parking up next to a coconut palm and living the days away haha! 

BTW, it was during this part of the trip that Stanley took a dive into the water and had to be rescued by a Kerelan fisherman in a small canoe. Thank god he is a good swimmer lol!

 Drinking a coconut!

One of the canals within the backwaters!

Third Stop: Varkala

After traveling through the backwaters, we proceeded farther down the state of Kerela to a tiny little beach hub called Varkala.  Here, we spent 5 days on a beach holiday taking in the sun and some waves in the Arabian Sea.  It was extremely relaxing and the view was amazing.  The town is on a high cliff that over looks the Arabian Sea.  It has a small main road that boarders the cliff and a series of spots that have stairs going down to the beach.  I certainly enjoyed the time sitting on the beach and drinking a Pina Colada!

 View from the cliff

At the beach, in front of the Arabian Sea!

Forth Stop: New Delhi

Now, since my good friend Sarah lives in New Delhi, this was not my first trip.  However, this was my longest stay and I got to do a little more touristy things!  This is another one of my favorite places in Indian and the heart of the government and independence fight!



This is the India Gate in Delhi! One of the most famous landmarks in India.  It stands for all the people who died in the fight for independence from the British.



Fifth Stop: Varanasi

Our final stop in India, before crossing into Nepal, was the ancient city of Varanasi.  This is a very famous Hindu city as it signifies the crossover between life and death.  The city lies on the Ganges River.  Many Indians come here as a pilgrimage and to burn the bodies of their loved ones after they have died.  It was a very interesting place to see and portrayed the true facets of the Hindu Religion.  On all of my travels, I have not seen a more truly Indian place!

 The nightly Hindu Ceremony at the banks of the Ganges.

View of the Ganges during the day time.

Sixth Stop: Lumbini, Nepal

After leaving Varanasi, we spent about a day crossing into Nepal over land.  It was a beautiful journey that culminated in our first stop in Nepal, Lumbini.  This small town right over the boarder into the country is located in the Terrai and considered to be the birth place of Buddha  The Terai is the area of the Nepalese planes, that run across the Southern part of Nepal on the boarder of India.  It is a thin strip which produces a lot of grain products.  Once there, we parked ourselves for a night, experienced the first of many power outages in Nepal, and learned a ton of Buddhist history.

 A couple of Buddhist Monks.
Stanley sitting at the birth place of Buddha!


Seventh Stop: Pokhara, Nepal


Our next stop was Pokhara.  To get to this mountain town at the base of the Annapurna trek, we had to drive up and out of the Terai through some of the most breathtaking scenery I have ever seen.  The trip was a 9 hour bus ride that took us past many villages on the edges of the mountains and amazing views.  Once we got to Pokhara, we entered a heaven for backpackers coming to and from the treks into the Himalayas.  At the center of the town is large lake where you can rent Canoes and Kayaks.  Perhaps one of the best things about this town is the close proximity to the snow capped Himalayas.  It is possible to sit at a cafe lakeside and look at some of the tallest peaks of  the Himalayas looming over you! When I get back to Nepal this will definitely be a stop that I take for a bit longer!


 This is the view of Pokhara Lake at Sunset!
 Stanley and I after the hike up to the Peace Pagoda

The World Peace Pagoda.  It is a Buddhist Stupa that represents peace for al man kind!  At certain times of the day you can see the monks banging the drums and turning the prayer wheels!



Final Stop: Kathmandu


So, after 3 weeks of traveling and 7 different stops on the trip, my friends and I finally arrived in Kathmandu, our final destination.  Kathmandu is an absolutely beautiful city tucked into the valley of the highest mountains in the world.  While the city itself is rather developed, it still holds a charm of it's culture and people!  I absolutely fell in love with this place and could see myself spending a lot of time here! While in the city, I managed to do some serious sightseeing, look at a living goddess, and view the highest Mt. in the world after trekking to it (I wish, it was actually from a plane!)  By the end of the 10 days here, I had seen and embraced the Nepalese culture and said goodbye to some really good friends that I had made in India.
 The busy streets  of Kathmandu!
 Stanley and I in front of the most famous Buddhist Stupa's!
 Stanley and I before getting on the plane for the mountain flight!
 Attempting to take a picture with Stanley and the Mountains.  It didn't work so well!


View of Mt. Everest from the plane!


So there you have it, my fabulous backing adventure!  It certainly was amazing and I was sad at the end of it.  But there was no better place for it to finish then in Nepal and I am so happy to have been able to have the experience!

Hope you all enjoyed taking a little piece of the journey with me and stay tuned for a new blog post on Teacher Alyssa in Thailand, coming soon!!

Love and Miss you all,
Alyssa