Annapurna Circuit Trek

We (Emily, Kirstin and Sandhya)have reached Nepal!!
Spending the past 4 days in the town of Pokhara organizing everything for our trip, meeting incredible mountaineers, and talking with fellow trekkers, we spent longer than we expected to in civilization. Excitedly, we plan on heading out onto the trail the day after tomorrow, May 31st! We will follow the classic Annapurna Circuit trek in the counter-clockwise direction (which is better for the steepest and highest portion of the treck, Thorung Pass). The trek will take approximately 18 days. Some people can finish it in 10, some take longer if the visit chortens, high altitude Buddhist temples along the way and what not. We plan on taking 18-20 days. You can follow our route the map from Besisahar to Bhithani. The Annapurna Circuit Trek is supposedly the most popular trek in Nepal, well travelled and established. Tea Houses and lodges can be found in most areas every couple of hours- which is great for us to go light-weight trekking (no tents or food loads). For this reason we have not planned exactly what villages we will be staying at each night, since there are so many options and our tiredeness or energy will vary day to day.

Monsoon season is almost starting here in Nepal and there are daily afternoon rain showers (today even a little hail), but then it subsides and we can be out and hiking again. We're supplied with rain jackets, pack covers, plastic trash bags lining our packs, and umbrellas! (Yes, we were advised by one of the best mountaineers in the world, Don Bowie who recently came off an expedition on Annapurna I South, to trek with umbrellas like Mary Poppins would!)

More to come soon, hopefully!!!

Machhapuchare, Nepal

Although I did not take this photo of Machhapuchare, I did see it from our hotel terrace this morning before the clouds set in, obscuring the mountain into temporarly oblivion for the residents and visitors of Pokhara.

Three Lovely Ladies

After a wonderful 12 days working on the Navdanya farm, I took an overnight bus on Thursday from Dehradun to Delhi. Spending Friday relaxing with Bhai Ji A. Kumar and his wife Behen Ji (an elderly couple connected with GRAVIS who have been doing social work all there lives), I made full use of their wondeful hospitality: catching up on sleep, having some clothes washed, and eating mangoes.

Friday night Bhai Ji and I headed to the airport together through locked-up Delhi traffic to pick up Emily and Kirstin. Seeing each of them stroll out of Arrivals, looking expectantly for me, heavy bags slung over shoulders, my heart lept up! Oh my friends! My friends are finally here!

We grabbed eachother in bear hugs, kissed cheeks and stood astounded that we were all actually here in India together. We'll form a strong band of three lovely ladies.

Saturday, today, we spent the whole day being overloaded with all that is the city of Delhi! Emily was delighted, she said this was her day of "Monkeys and Mangoes", for she saw a baby monkey in the park and we bought fresh golden mangoes on the street. Being with two Indian newbies, I'm reminded of extradorinary things about India that I now take for granted.

It was Kirstin and Emily's first day in India- in crazy New Delhi for that matter- and they handled it with incredible grace. These ladies will be lovely to travel with. Kirstin's already picking up some Hindi phrases and bargaining with shopkeepers!

With the assistance of a very helpful ticket master we got our train tickets for tomorrow afternoon. We're heading from Delhi to Lucknow to Gorkhapur and then taking a bus into nepal to Pokhara. From Pokhara we will spend a day or two getting all of our gear and guiding organized.

As of now we're planning on doing the whole Annapurna Circuit, which is 20 days long and hikes in a loop around all of the annapurna mtns!!!!!! Very exciting stuff!

Oh I can't wait to get out of the cities of india and finally head into the highest mountains of the world. I just hope we can see them despite the clouds and potential rain!!

After Nepal we may head back to the Navdanya farm in Dehradun for a couple days.

Today, after searching all over Delhi we finally found the organic food shop owned by Navdanya in the area of Hauz Khas. The same seeds and grains that I had been threshing and planting on the farm were now here neatly bagged and labeled on the shelves. I eagerly told the Navdanya staff that I had just come from the farm in Dehradun and that the three of us planned on going back!
They likewise excitedly invited us to a dinner party that Navdanya is throwing on June 5 in celebration of the mango! Too bad, we'll probably miss it while we're in Nepal.

After visiting the small outlet store, we took a rickshaw to another part of the city, Dilli Hat, to eat lunch at the Navdanya organic cafe. Knowing the whole story of the food I was eating, where it had come from, who had grown it, why the seed varities were being preserved, etc. made the whole dining experience come to life for me.

I eagerly open the final section of my travels in India and Nepal with two amazing friends.
In general, there have been four distinct episodes of my time here:

1. Travelling with Dad to South India for 3 weeks
2. Volunteering with GRAVIS in Rajasthan for 3 months
3. Travelling by myself to Dehradun for 2 weeks
4. Adventuring with Kirstin and Emily into Nepal for 1 month

I have soaring hopes for the coming month!

E I E I O

Monday
Picking basketfuls of okra (lady fingers or "bindi" in Hindi) this morning, I was excited to see them cooked up for lunch! We also made chai with milk 5 minutes fresh!
Lots of work to be done today, which was good because it was overcast and cloudy. Weeding, turning up the earthen beds, trans-planting more tomatoes and eggplant, watering, and doing some basic yard work all made for a very fun day.

Having Prem ji, our cook yell, "Sandhya!" in his funny, toothless voice out the kitchen window at me is hilarious. We all played tag and other silly games in the evening and sprawled in the grass when we were too exhausted to continue.

I've been in India for exactly 4 months now.

Sunday
Morning.
So far today I've made use of my Wilderness First Responder and First Aid skills twice today. Last night our cook, Prem ji (a different Prem ji from the one written about in an earlier post) got bitten in the leg by a dog! Pulling up his pant leg to show us the wound, I decided to check it out. As I cleaned it out with soap and water at first I just thought that all of the red was dried blood. But when I realized it didn't look like blood, I asked what it was. Red chili, was the response. Ouch! If it doesn't hurt enough from a dog biting you then just stop the bleeding and kill all the skin cells in the area by burning it with red chili!
Actually it did seem to be an effective blood stopper and antiseptic. Still, I cleaned it all out, dressed the wound, which wasn't too large but very deep, and recommended that he go to the doctor for a rabies shot. He did.

Just a few hours later Sunil, a good friend to laugh and make jokes with here at the farm, came running across the fields, yelling his typical
"Ooo-La-La!" I thought he was just having fun, but as he should me his pinky finger, with the nail and some of the finger sliced through I saw he wasn't joking around. Cleaned out that wound and dressed it too, should be okay I think.

Spent the rest of the morning transplanting tomatoe plants from the nursery out into the big world of the garden. Planting them in three terraced layers so the water would fill the first layer, spill into the second and then the third when we cut the dirt divider. Hooray for water and gravity!

Working with a fellow named Jai Singh all morning we also planted bean seeds, cucumber, melon and quite a few others that I didn't know. The seeds had been soaking overnight to loosen them up a bit. I've realized farming is all about being as efficient in your actions as possible. Do you have to cross one hand in front of you a lot? Or set your tool down everytime to put a seedling in the ground? Is there a better way to do it? I have been revelling in these small considerations, trying to act deliberately and efficiently. Everything can be considered yoga. Training the mind, breath and body. It's kind of like "Karate Kid": wax on, wax off mantra.

Evening
In the evening time everyone from the farm walked to one of our fellow worker's homes a couple miles away to celebrate the marking of one week since his son's birth. I didn't actually get to see the baby, but sitting outside with everyone in plastic chairs and chatting reminded me so much of a barbeque! Of course we ate rice, dal and curry rather than veggie burgers, but I guess that's not so different from my upbringing in Santa Barbara anyways with our communal Indian potlucks!
The rain started pouring down during dinner, lightening and everything and the electricity kept cutting out. Thankfully we hitched a ride back to the farm on tractor- ten people squeezed in on all sides- singing songs and hollering out into the night. I yelled "Yee Haw!" as we bounced along.

Saturday
Morning.
Sifting barley grain with a flat, circular, wire mesh sifter, I shake it round and round in tight circles. After bing harvested a couple weeks ago and threshed within the past few days, now we're finishing the process so it can be stored and used. As I shake my sifter, small rocks and chaffe fall to the floor and onto my crossed legs. The big barley stays in the sifter, but since it's heavy it settles to the bottom. Lightweight sticks of straw and burs ride their way to the top and I flick them out briskly. As the sifter moves round and round, my eyes see only the dark extraneous straw and burs as they start to conglomerate, riding on top of the wave of moving grain. Pausing for a second, I cast them out, and then pour the grain into a waiting "shaker". I'm not sure what the "shaker" is actually called, but its a woven basket with one open side to shake out more of the burs, etc. Bija Devi has been waiting with her shaker ready and now starts to shake the grain in an expert motion. Bija has been working at Bija Vidyapeeth since its conception, and is a master of all things relating to seeds. Her name: Bija "seed" and Devi "goddess" is not just a nickname, it's her true name, and supposedly her true calling as well. After she shakes out most of the rest it and dumps the grain down into a pile, a couple people still sift through it by hand plucking out small stones and burs. Once they're done we lay the seed out to dry. I'm not sure how many varieties of barley Navdanya/ Bija Vidyapeeth grew this year, but many more than the 7 or so varieties we're sifting this morning. Some of the grain varieties we keep separate, but some of them we mix as well.

In the afternoon Diana and I take the most painful bus ride of my life (because my knees are slammed into the metal seat in front of me, and when I think the bus must be too full to physically contain any more passengers they just kept piling in) to go have lunch at one of our fellow worker's houses. His wife cooks such a deliciously scrumptious meal, that it is definitely worth the bus ride. We spend the afternoon with them. Everything here they grow themselves, they said, except for salt and tea. Looking at this young man with his neatly combed hair and tight jeans and his wife in her bright pink and sparkly outfit, you might not guess that they are, really, the true face of sustainability. It's not those of the folk who drive their cars to Whole Foods wearing their carharts and flannel (yes, I've done it before too). Think about it.

Friday
Went into town. The city of Dehradun is the most religiously and culturally diverse area of India that I've seen, and I was really quite surprised! I have also not spent much time in big cities like Mumbai or Delhi, but up here in the north just seems to be a confluence of people. I saw Sikhs, Muslims, Hindus, and Nepalis (who are probably Buddhist) all on the rickshaw ride into town. Punjab is to the south, explaining the Sikhs. The Muslim nation of Pakistan is to the west. Nepal is to the east, and Hindus are of course all throughout India. Turbans, skull caps, red dots, and Asianic features distinguish the different groups to me, and seeing everyone mingling is wonderful.

Thursday
Plucked peppermint leaves to dry and make into a powder for medicinal use.
Worked on an article about water for Wheels of Change.
Gathered small, green unripe mangoes from the orchard ground. Led by a hunched-backed, wiry old man to the tree that was dropping the most fruit. The mangoes are for making into a special drink. Peeled and deseeded manoes.

Wednesday
Finished planting the rows of hibiscus in the morning.
Harvested onions from field. Cut off the green tops to be used in the kitchen for chutney. Set them out for drying.
Plucked bunches and bunches of neem leaves for drying and making into local medicine.
Chopped okra for dinner.
Enjoyed delicious fried pakoras with chai.

Tuesday evening
Planted hibiscus with the very helpful assistance of a nine year old girl.

Surfing the Soil

This morning was spent digging furrows across the land. In the afternoon we'll transplant hibiscus seedlings into the new furrows.

Yesterday, my first full day at Dr Vandana Shiva's farm near Dehra Dun, I helped plow a field behind two Indian bulls. Jai Singh, a field worker, helped me direct the plow and keep the bulls going in as straight a line as possible. It was as difficult as it sounds, and I'm in admiration of the people who've been doing it all of their lives that make it look effortless. Still, there's a lot of yelling and whacking the bulls with a stick involved, which Jai Singh mostly did, to keep the plow going.

After turning up the earth, small black beetles who had been dozing underground buzzed all about, angry at the disruption.

Fitting a flat, heavy plank behind the bulls and removing the plow, we flattened the plowed field by surfing it. Rather than a surfboard or a snowboard that points forward, this long plank you ride horizontally. Standing on the plank your weight squashes the furrows back down as you ride along behind the bulls. You've got to keep your balance by bending your knees and rocking back and forth between your toes and heels. Jai Singh did it alone at first, then I hopped on and we stood side by side (I kept throwing both of our balances off), then I tried it alone which actually made it easier to stay steady. Then, when I came hurtling forward off the plank, Jai Singh took the bulls back under control. But, while I was riding it was really a unique experience, coasting across the land at a clipping pace.

Afterwards we moved on to the next task: threshing the wheat that had been harvested last week. Most of the wheat is threshed by small machine, but since some of the seed must be saved for next year we did some of it by hand because it does not damage the seeds as much. Squating on the ground we whack the bushels with sturdy bamboo sticks, grains of wheat flying up into the air. Once all the wheat has been unclasped from its casing, we sweep the grains up from the concrete patio and bag them in sacks.

My hands are blistered, my feet caked in dirt, and I couldn't be happier to be here.

Vandana Shiva's farm, Bija Vidyapeeth is part of her organization Navdanya. Navdanya has been working to save hundreds of varieties of traditional seeds across India, protesting the growth of multinational corporate agriculture which is enslaving millions of Indian farmers to using genetically modified seeds, packaged fertilizer, dangerous pesticides and increased amounts of water. Navdanya is working with farmers to show that traditional seeds can get just as much output for lower cost, natural input, and the methods don't deplete the land and pollute the air and water.

I've seen Dr Shiva speak several times at environmental conferences in the States and along with some fellow Colorado College students managed to bring her to our college this past October. It's hard to believe that now I'm actually here at her farm.

Two other long term volunteers are here currently, Dennis from Belgium and Diana from Switzerland. They're both about my age. Everyone else is from different parts of India, and such a happy, joking crew that I felt part of the family and included within the first hour of my arrival. Every meeting is a Hindi lesson and a laugh.

All the food that we cook and eat was grown right here on the farm. The wheat flour in our chapatis, the rice, beans, lentils, vegetables, spices, milk, everything!

I walk along the pathways smelling jasmine, onion and peppermint.

The weather is incredibely cool compared to Rajasthan, plants are green and water flows in abundance. It's a pretty idyllic setting to work and live. I was planning on staying a week, but I'll probably end up half a week longer.

Hi all!
I've had an exciting last few days! Here are four new blogs for you. If you have time, you might want to start with the blog titled: Spare Tires. If your short on time, skim Goodbye GRAVIS (for now) and Delhi and Ganga Maa.
Sorry to hit you all at once.
More stories to come soon, so keep checking back.
Also, Joey and I (Joey has been doing all of the work) have been creating a new idea. Check it out at http://www.wheelsofchange.net

You can become part of the movement!

Ganga Maa

The town of Haridwar, in the northern state of Uttarakand, is one of the most sacred among Hindus. It is one of the first towns to greet the Ganges River, or Ganga Maa (mother), as its called here, as it forms from three main rivers pouring out of glaciers and snow melt of the Himalayas. Unlike the muddy, corpse-filled Ganga of Varanasi (which I haven't visited yet, and thus cannot make first hand comparison) the Ganga here is still blue and apparently clean.

Arriving in Haridwar on Friday afternoon and staying until Sunday morning, I resided in an ashram nearby the river. And elderly woman, friends with Gravis, welcomed me into the ashram. Another old woman's late husband was the swami here at Sarvodaya Satsang Ashram.

3 old ladies, about 6 preteen brahmin boys who are learning the art of priesthood, as well as a few adult male staff, and the frequent wandering sadhus in their orange robes make for an interesting dyanmic at the ashram.

One boy, Devi Lal, was assigned the task of taking the American girl around Haridwar yesterday and showing her all of the temples. The Hindu temples were garish, neon things, reminding me more of theme parks than holy sites. Giant plaster statues brightly painted were set in theatrical backdrops. One statue's arm moved up an down with sword in hand, slicing his opponent. Krishna's boat filled with gopals rocked back and forth in a jerky ocean. Dropati spun around and around as her magically endless sari was unravelled by an evil man as her husband gambled even her away in the infamous game of dice in the Mahabharat epic. I would have thought Hinduism to be a sensationalist, gruesome, over-the-top religion from the depictions in these temples had I not lnown some of the deeper significance of some of the stories.

Devi lal and I crawled into mock stone caves and walked through mock tunnels where water flowed and saw the faces of gods "carved" into the sides.

After I don't know how many of the same type of theme-park-temples where I payed for our entrance fee, prasad (sacred puffed rice or rock candy given by the priests), to continue through to the next cave or sanctum, and finally to pick up our sandals at the entrance, I'd had enough of Hindu Disneyland for awhile and we headed back to the ashram.

What did feel special to me about Haridwar was seeing the Ganga maa for the first time and bathing in her. Of course, for modesty I wore full clothes to swim out into the water, but even so, letting the water wash over me was something special. Perhaps its just that I've been in parched Rajasthan for months and haven't been swimming since the beaches of Santa Barbara (I'm pretty sure), or maybe there really is something different about the Ganga. Sending a little leaf bowl filled with flowers and a butter candle down the Ganga as I stood on her banks is something that I've felt I must do before I left India.

Delhi

Waking up on the train in the morning as we pulled into Delhi, I was hit by the full blunt of India as for the first time all over again. Dozens of men performing their morning defecation by the side of the tracks. Slums and shacks squashing humanity up close and personal to views from the train. People washing, cooking, defecating, eating all in open view and side by side.
At the Old Delhi train station three large monekys scamper down the tracks as if they were narrow branches. One mother has a baby grasping onto her back, the other has one claspes to her stomach, the third moneky, an adolescent, travels on his own.

After a bit of confusion, I end up finding exactly the right train to take me north, and hop on. I fall asleep and one of my bags is stolen. I've really got to be more careful, I'm going lock up all of my bags with a chanin whenever I travel on train again. I was relieved that this small bag only had books in it, and actually happy to have karma decide for me how to lighten my load of things, which has grown since travelling in january. But then I realized the bag also had some precious letters and photos in it and I became terribley bummed. Oh well, se la vi, there's nothing I can do. Maybe the thief will learn some english from my double dictionary. And until I find another lonely planet guidebook, I'll need to learn what it's like to travel without the international backpacker's "bible".

So much for my high ideals, I didn't end up paying for my ticket for this train. I also think I might need to start being a little lax about my commitment to speaking the truth. I think I've been telling to many strangers about myself and what I'm doing in india. I might start telling people I'm married. In a faux identity that I developed in my head today, I'm a 25 year old Australian school teacher (married) who's travelling to India for a month for holidays. Which ever town I'm travelling to next is where I'm meeting up with my husband. I haven't tried it out yet, and think I may be caught fibbing when its discovered during the conversation that I don't know anything about Australian-Indian cricket matches or players.

Goodbye GRAVIS (for now)

The sand's starting to get hot under my feet here in Rajasthan, both literally and figuratively. With my projects for GRAVIS done and not enough time to start a new one, and the office feeling full, I decided to depart a couple weeks early. I've been anxious to travel, is pretty much what it comes down to, to see more of India before heading up to Nepal.
On monday I decided that I would be leaving GRAVIS on thursday. I thought the time would pass slowly, for there wasn't much work to do, but the time flew past and I felt rushed and anxious on the last day, barely able to get to the train station on time with all the last minute preparations. Saying goodbye to all of my friends at GRAVIS did not seem real, I think I will just need to come back in the next couple years. Prakash ji (my boss) sang me a little poem song about leaving on my last meeting with him. The office staff had a party for me with samosas and sweets, and Anurag ji, Indrani ji, Rahul ji, Prem ji and Steph ji all came to the train station to see me off. I stored my bags away on board and sat by the window as my friends stood tensely on the platform, anticipating another staff member, Varun ji, to make it to the train in time to give me a pair of jodhpuri jhoti (beautifully decorated sandals). Despite his rush, he didn't make it in time, so as the train rolled out of the station my anxious friends and I waved to eachother as the rain started to come down in inconsistent splashes.

I left with a feeling of incompleteness, perhaps I should have waited to fully "complete the cycle" as my dad told me before he left... But is there any use in drawing out a cycle if one feels unproductive? I think perhaps it's better just to stop while you're ahead.

I am so grateful for this opportunity to work with GRAVIS and become part of the community! Rajendra ji, Shailendra ji, Prakash ji, Shashi ji, Abdul ji, accounting staff and all the field staff- thank you! You will remain in my heart always.

Spare Tires

After a month of living by myself at GRAVIS, I was overjoyed to welcome a new volunteer, Stephanie, into the organization and our room. Stephanie is the definition of a world citizen: half Peruvian and half American, she spent years living in Singapore, Dubai, and Texas. It seems as though she's been pretty much everywhere in the world. She'll be volunteering with GRAVIS for two months and then starting a year long fellowship in St Louis, where she also studied sociology. In just the first two days of her arrival we explored two awesome parks in Jodhpur that I had been wanting to visit. Scouting out the park on the clifftop, we wound our way through tight side street neighborhoods until finding the road that led to the top. We gazed down onto the blue painted buildings of Jodhpur at twilight. since it was getting later and we didn't really want to walk back down the long way we had come and go all the way around the main roads at the base of the cliff, we wondered if ther might be a shortcut. Walking to the end of the penninsula that made the top of the cliff, we saw something. Were those steps carved into the rocky gully going down the side of the cliff? They sure looked like it! And it wasn't too steep! If we took off our sandals for better traction we could scamper down just as well as mountain goats and pop out right behind a temple from where I could find our way home. So we did!

All the GRAVIS staff got a kick out of Stephanie's name, for in Hindi, "step ni" means spare tire! We joked that Ruchi, my friend always and fellow volunteer until last month, had left, so Stephanie would be her replacement! She'll be my replacement too, soon enough. No, she was so many unique skills and characteristics that she will make a wondeful volunteer, and upgrade not just a spare.

We've been waking up in the air conditioned library (we've moved our bed rolls in here because its the only place with AC and its too damn hot to sleep in the room) at 6 am. By 6:30 we're out the door and jogging through CAZRI (Central Arid Zone Regional Institute). It's the only decent time to get some exercise because now even the evenings are sweltering. I've been here in rajasthan so long I've seen the seasons change! I've also been trying to train a bit for the Himalayas, when Kirstin and Emily come over here, but its been a little difficult here in the desert lowlands.

Good thing Steph arrived with some workout videos! After jogging, we switch on some Power Pilates and Yoga for some ultimate core training! Never thought I'd enjoy them, but videos are professional, sincere, and man! You can feel the workout!

We've been having fun bouncing around Jodhpur together. For once I feel like the guide in india, answering a million questions and getting us from place to place.

Steph- I apologize for not sticking around longer and getting you on your feet! I relied on Ruchi for the full 2 months and more that she was here and she never seemed to tire of translating and answering my questions. She's incredibley patient.
Not long after Steph arrived came Kali, from Birmingham, Alabama. A really sweet girl, she'll be volunteering for 4 months, and boy she's picked a hot time to come, and then monsoons too! Happy birthday Kali!

All GRAVIS's volunteers are spares, I guess, but in this organization we never feel like it.