Bangalore / Home sweet home!!

City Market, Bangalore


Flower Market, Bangalore. Scents and colors are so intense that you get dizzy walking around in the market.




Shredding coconut the Indian way


One of the many delicious dinners


u talkin to me??


Kannan & Mythili @ Karanji Park, Mysore


Maharaja's Palace, Mysore




Two nymphs and two demons


Kannan loving on an ox with beautifully decorated horns


A game called Chowka Bhaara (Four Eight), played with seashells as dice


Of course I won :))


Father & Daughter Pretty in Pink

*Pictures are taken by Lakshmi Jayaram (the pretty girl in the pics)


My next stop after Goa was the fastest growing city of the South, Bangalore. As a relatively new city it doesn't have much to offer to tourists but I had been looking very forward to this stop to see my friends Kannan, Mythili and their family. I met the Jayaram family while camping next to each other in Hawaii, and we had the opportunity to see each other many more times when I coincidentally moved to the same state they were living in. Seeing my friends whom I didn't think I would get to see again after both they and I moved back to our home countries permanently, was one of the nice surprises of life. In addition to the joy of seeing my friends the visit was a great opportunity for me to experience the Indian culture and lifestyle in its natural environment without the usual touristy distraction. During the two weeks I spent with them I had unique experiences ranging from family visits (they have a large family, I was constantly meeting cousins, nieces, nephews, uncles and aunts during Kannan's sister's house-warming party) to neighborhood’s social gatherings (every Sunday the neighborhood meets at a facility and organize various events. They were holding a badminton tournament the week I was there. My friend Kannan, who is officially 60 years old but has the soul of a 25 year old, made it to the semifinals), from temple visits (we took a trip to Mysore, which is couple of hours away from Bangalore, for a couple of days with the family. In Mysore, which is a peaceful and pleasant city with its 2000 year old temples, palaces and parks, we visited an ancient temple with the relatives we were staying with at 6:30 in the morning for the morning ceremony. I accompanied them with all the rituals (except for the Sanskrit prayers they were reciting) throughout the ceremony, of which I wouldn't be able to attend as a tourist anywhere else) to their domestic life (food is eaten on the floor by hand (right hand only, left hand is used for dishing up the food to your plate). You drink the water without touching your lips to the glass. Dirty plates after dinner are first rinsed through at a separate sink in the house, then brought into the kitchen sink to be washed. Nothing that touches the mouth goes directly into the kitchen sink since that's where they get the water they present to gods. There's a section in each house decorated with god pictures, figures and offerings where they perform their daily rituals and recite prayers. And the list goes on but impossible to write them all here) from their local games (you can see one such game in the pictures above. Did I mention I won! :)) to home cooking (Mythili was constantly in the kitchen preparing delicious dishes for me to have something different at every meal. My shyness and politeness disappeared after the first couple of days and I started gorging myself with the food. Few pounds I had lost during my journey were soon replaced in their place on my belly. I kept watching Mythili in the kitchen, hoping to learn some recipes but found it impossible to keep track of the endless variety of spices, veggies and grains she mixed in the dishes, so finally I gave up and decided I was better at eating the dishes than cooking them).
Another thing I was focusing on during my visit was learning more about Hinduism. Even though I had an idea about the daily rituals through many temple visits on my journey, I hadn't had much of a chance to learn about the philosophy of the religion. Kannan, being quite knowledgeable about his religion and eagerly learning more, patiently answered my numerous questions and gave me an introduction to the thought system, reasoning and progress of the religion.
Settling in comfortably it was hard leaving my house (as one of the household members I adopted their last name Jayaram in addition to the nickname "Prakash" I had been using in India. As Prakash Jayaram, I started pretending to be an Indian, but soon realized I had a long ways to go when I got busted by the security personnel at one of the museums while trying to sneak in with a cheaper local's entrance ticket instead of the much more expensive foreigner ticket :) ) after two weeks. Unwillingly I got on a train that would take me to Kerala, where I would be spending my last ten in India, and left these beautiful people behind with the hope of seeing them again someday.

Arambol Beach, GOA!

I travelled to Goa in what they call a sleeper bus. These buses don’t have any seats, but instead have little bunkers on each side of the aisle. Each little compartment sleeps two persons, so if you’re traveling alone as I am you end up sleeping with a stranger without much of a personal space. I was hoping to be placed next to a gorgeous Indian girl, but of course that wasn’t the case : ) Luckily though I shared a space with a nice older American gentleman with whom I ended up spending a lot of time hanging out with during my stay in Goa. My plan was to spend a couple of days in each beach along the coast but quickly changed my mind and decided to stay in Arambol beach for the whole period (one dollar a night hotel room (a mattress on the terrace actually) played a major role in my decision making naturally). Goa has such a relaxed atmosphere that you can spend your days doing nothing and not realize how fast days go by. My initial plan of staying for a few days turned into one week, then turned into ten days, when I decided I might end up spending a few months there if I didn’t move on. A brief summary of a day (or of everyday for that matter) would go as waking up to sun shining through palm trees and birds singing (I stayed on the rooftop of a hotel in open air), having a yummy breakfast of fresh tropical fruit with muesli, yoghurt, and honey, going to the beach for a morning swim, buying fresh fish from the fishermen while they unload the catch of the day from their nets on the beach, having a fish fiesta then a siesta, going for a afternoon swim, watching the sun set over the ocean, and listening to live music at one of the many jam sessions taking place throughout the beach. Alright, I think that’s enough to make you all jealous so I won’t even mention the dirt cheap drinks, backgammon parties, colorful interesting crowds of people (including drop dead gorgeous chicks), and scooter rides through other beaches and cities of Goa (which was hell a lot of fun riding, even though I had no previous experience and got close to minor accidents quite a few times but never got into one). Good times, good times…

Mumbai (Bombay)

Mumbai has been the most westernized city I’ve visited so far in India. It stands out from the rest of India with its British style buildings, wide roads, somewhat more organized traffic, and especially its residents. Seeing young Indian women dressed in fashionable western clothing and socializing with men in pubs was quite a different scene than what I had witnessed so far. Mumbai actually sits on a large area of landfill that integrated many small islands scattered around into one large island. I would have liked to spend some more time in the city to explore the different parts of it better but it was by far the most expensive city I’ve visited, so ended up staying for only a couple of days. Luckily I met a German guy on the train coming into Mumbai with whom we decided to share a room, so was able to keep the cost relatively down. Spent the first day visiting the usual sights, and the second day visiting the art galleries which was a nice change. After purchasing my bus ticket to Goa (trains are always my preferred means of transportation but they were all full) I could feel the excitement of laying on the sandy beaches building up within me.

Rajastan

Jodhpur Fort

Jodhpur Bride

Jain Temple in Jaisalmer Fort

View of Jaisalmer from the fort

Jaisalmer Fort

Scarry looking fish

Intricate carvings on facades of buildings in Jaisalmer

I arrived in Pushkar and checked into a hotel which I thought had a fun name: Milkman Guest House (I wouldn't take my wife there!!). Pushkar is a tiny village in central Rajastan, but an important one at the same time since it's one of the stops for Hindu pilgrims. It's also famous for its annual camel fair where country's biggest camel trading takes place. Unfortunately I missed this year's fair, but still had a pleasant stay in this calm and relaxed place. I rented the cheapest room in the hotel, which was a tent on the rooftop. Also on the rooftop were hammocks, cushions and other comfy seating areas, so I spent most of my time sitting, sleeping, eating, reading, chatting and watching the view at this cosy terrace. After getting recharged for a couple of days, I wen't to the "blue city" Jodhpur. Jodhpur was much larger than I had thought of it being. I was expecting another small village, but it actually was a mid-size city. It didn't have much charm, so I only spent a day sightseeing the usual tourist spots and left for Jaisalmer the next day. Jaisalmer was the most western point of India I would get to on my trip, close to the Pakistan border in the Thar desert. It's a beautiful town with spectacularly intracate carvings on the facades of the buildings. They worked on the stone as if they were crochetting on a piece of cloth. As beautiful as the city was, highly unpleasant encounters I had first with a drunken restaurant owner who tried to cheat me on the bill, then with the hotel owners who turned ugly and rude when I didn't go on their camel safari tour, ruinedthe days I stayed there. Udaipur was my last and turned out to be my mest stop in Rajastan. Discovered for its beauty by the wealthy, biggest luxury hotel chains of the world are opening five-star palace hotels year after year in this mesmerizing city by the Pichola Lake. I was glad to have visited it while it still kept its authentic charms and reasonably priced options. Although there're many historic buildings and other sights around the city, one doesn't really need to do much but enjoy the serene atmosphere. Watching the sunset over the lake surrounded by buildings reflecting the pinkish light and centuries of history off their walls is a rejuvenating experience.

Back to INDIA!! Agra & Jaipur

Well, you know what this is.

City of Jaipur through the small windows of Hava Mahal

Hava Mahal

Thirsty monkey

A game of cricket

Central Museum, Jaipur

It took me two days to get from Pokhara to Agra. As the next step in my adaptation process I started eating the food by hand during my trip. Even the brothy, soup-like food are eaten by hand, either by dipping bread or mixing it with rice. It's fun and helps to connect with the locals easier. I arrived in Agra around noon and spared the rest of the day for resting after the tiring ride. Walking to my hotel I was constantly getting harassed by the rickshaw drivers as usual. Rickshaw drivers, who do not accept no as an answer, have a habit of lying about everything, whether it's about the distance, price, or hotels. Having gotten a certain degree of immunisation to their lies and harassment, I naturally didn't believe them for a second when they were saying "Taj Mahal and Agra Fort are free, take a ride with me". Later I found out from the people I met at the hotel that maybe for the first time in their lives they were telling the truth. I got there on one of the two days in the year Taj Mahal, having an entrance fee of $17 (almost my two day budget), opens its doors to the visitors for free. By the time I found out it was already dark and Taj Mahal had closed its doors. Next day was a Friday, which is the only day of the week Taj Mahal is closed. Therefor it was certain that I wouldn't be going into Taj Mahal since I wasn't going to be spending more than two days in Agra which didn't have anything interesting except for Taj Mahal and Agra Fort, and also the high entrance fee I was reluctant to pay. We decided with the half German half Turkish guy I met at the hotel to spend the day just walking the streets of the city. It hadn't been long after we started walking that we stopped at a shop to get some water and started chatting with a guy around the age of 55-600 who was fluent in English. By the end of our chat about Indian philosophy, Hinduism, and his adventures living in Chicago, the sun was slowly setting. We decided we should at least take a look from a distance to Taj Mahal, and said our farewells. It was more precious having a sincere and enjoyable talk than seeing a monument or building in this country where anyone having any communication with you is trying to sell you something. Next day I arrived in the last one of the so called Golden Triangle cities of Delhi, Agra, and Jaipur, which are attracting the most tourists coming into India, hence the title. I had a chance to take advantage of the website couchsurfing.org, which I hadn't been able to utilize before as I never knew when I would be arriving at my next destination and didn't always have the internet connection. I was hosted by a person who replied to my last minute request posted on the site. Unfortunately, it wasn't quite a satisfactory first experience I had through using this site, which is supposed to be built upon values such as hospitality, cultural exchange and good will. Most of our conversation evolved around him trying to convince me to go shopping (so that he could get his commission), so I was displeased and retired to my room early in the evening. I left the house, where I had planned on staying for two nights, first thing in the morning, and checked into a hotel. It's not possible for me to say anything bad about him since he opened his house, shared his food and never left his polite manner, but expecting to make money just contradicted the whole concept of the site. After sightseeing in Jaipur during the day I finished off the evening with a delicious meat dish. There's a large Muslim community living in Jaipur in addition to Hindus, Jains, and Sheiks. Although delicious, it sometimes got boring eating only vegetarian dishes since most devotees of other religions in India are vegetarians. It was a nice change having some meat with my Muslim brothers : ) At last I've completed the bigger cities of the north and now heading to the smaller settlements of the Thar desert.

Pokhara, NEPAL

World Peace Stupa

Phewa Tal (the lake) and the Himalayas

Harvest time in Pokhara

Pokhara is an outdoors center with its living quarters spread out around a lake surrounded by mountains (much like Lake Tahoe), trekking trips you can take in Himalayas for ten, twenty, thirty days, and other opportunities it offers such as paragliding and rafting. It's been infested with tourists for many years and still keeps its popularity so it's highly commercialised. Especially the lakeside, where the most hotels are located, is no different than a small European village. With prices twice or thrice higher than the rest of Nepal and India, one should come here for the purpose of outdoors tourism and not cultural visits. As a result I spent the two days here with outdoors activities as much as possible (yes, the city boy can hike). First day I went out of the city by a bike I rented. After touring the streets of the old city, where locals live, I went to the so called "bat cave". Although not too interesting with hundreds of small black bats living on the ceiling of the cave, the possibility of them waking up and attacking you any moment gives a little excitement. After bicycling around the lake for a while, I decided to return the bike due to my butt getting damn soar from the uncomfortable seat and the noises the old bike was making, and spent the rest of the day reading my book at a restaurant. Second day was spent hiking the mountains around the lake and enjoying the breath taking views. My body, not being used to hiking, got really tired but a little nap by the lake took care of it. I again spent the rest of the day resting in the city. I'm ready to hassle with my Indian brothers again after resting for two days in the peaceful atmosphere of Pokhara. I will be starting my long trip to Agra tomorrow.

Kathmandu Valley, NEPAL

Stairs going up to monkey temple

turning wheels (can someone tell me the name of these)

locals reading the newspaper posted on the wall

Kathmandu Durbar Square

Eye to eye with Buddha

Bhaktapur

Must have been the harvest time for a certain type of grain, the city was full of these

Happy to be out of school :)

Himalayas!!!

Police barricade in the back

Maoist protesters

I wasn't sure about whether to come to Nepal or not, but just the gorgeous scenery I enjoyed during the car ride coming into Kathmandu was a good enough reason itself. I reached Kathmandu after a tiring 30 hour long train and car ride from Varanasi. The lush green mountains welcome you about an hour of drive into Nepal and accompany you all along the way. It was a pleasant ride despite taking much longer than it was supposed to, due to waiting for a customer who forgot his bag at the terminal, car having a minor breakdown, waiting at numerous army and police checkpoints and getting the luggage searched (they don't bother with tourists' luggage, just the locals!). I went hotel hunting after arriving in Kathmandu, and had to settle at a hotel which I thought was expensive at 4 dollars a night since I hadn't done any research and didn't have any guidebooks or maps with me(later found out it was an average price and Nepal was little more expensive than India). This has been my first hotel room with it's own bathroom and hot water since starting my journey. The attitudes and helpful manners of the hotel employees I came across while looking for a hotel gave the first hints of Nepali being more polite than Indians. This impression was confirmed the next day walking around in the city. We sat down with the receptionist that night and created an itinerary for my travels in Nepal. He lent a lonely planet guidebook and maps to me, which saved me at least ten bucks.
Next day I started sightseeing from the so called Monkey Temple. Its original name is different, but came to be known by this name among tourists due to the large groups of monkeys living around the temple. It's possible to get a view of the whole city from this temple that sits on top of a high hill. Unfortunately Kathmandu, a much larger city than I had thought, is having the same serious air pollution problems as the other big cities I have visited on my journey. Many Nepalese wear masks on the streets to be protected from the pollution and constant dust that fills the air. It's unavoidable for people living in cities like Tahran, Delhi, and Kathmandu to have respiratory problems I guess. Streets are much cleaner in Nepal compared to India, and people politer. My dense body hair must be very unusual and interesting for Nepalese, because I keep noticing people staring at my arms (only uncovered part) and laughing. There's nothing I can do but laugh with them. A guy sitting next to me in the bus was showing his two year old daughter the fur on her coat and my arms, and telling her something, I think he was telling her not to be afraid, that I wasn't a werewolf or something :)
After visiting Kathmandu's Durbar Square, which is filled with antique structures featuring magnificent architecture, I went to Boudhanath, a holy place for buddhists. I came across familiar scenes here as I had in many other temples. Buddhists circling around the stupa, monks singing prayers, piles of food consisting of packages of chips, cookies and other food donated by people as an offering to Buddha, and people praying and donating money to nothing but a pile of rocks. It's sad to see Buddhism, which doesn't have a god or prophet and is only supposed to be a philosophical teaching of how one should lead his life to become a better person, turned into a paganistic practice as all other religions are.

On my second day in Kathmandu valley I went out of the city to a small mountain-top village called Nagarkot. It's a popular spot as it's possible to watch the sun rising and setting over Himalayas from this location. It was all cloudy and rainy when I got there, so had to start looking for a hotel without enjoying the view. Electricity was out in the village so there was nothing for me to do but reading my book at candlelight at the restaurant of the hotel.
I woke up the next morning at sunrise to blue skies and a spectacular view of the Himalayas. Giant mountains rising above green valleys and white clouds were mesmerising. After enjoying the view for a while I hit the road before the sun rose any higher. A 20 km (13 miles) downhill hike was waiting for me from this mountain top village, where I had taken a bus coming up to. I had the chance to pass through many Nepali villages along the way of this long but pleasant hike (more of a walk). The villagers, not being to used to tourists, were much more sincere and naive. All the towns were surrounded by fields, and it was mostly Nepali women working in these fields. Since Nepal is all mountainous and doesn't have many plains, people cultivate the hills by forming steps and steps of green fields, that look like gardens of Babylon. These steps covering the hills from top to bottom present a nice wave-like feel.
The interest Nepalese have been showing to the hair on my arms, although not bothering at the beginning, has become little disturbing. Unmistakably every single person I walk by on the streets lock their eyes on my arms and we pass each other smiling. I think they would be shocked and pass if they were to see the hair on my chest and legs too :) I now have a better understanding of how women must feel getting stares on their bodies all the time instead of their faces.
I found myself in the middle of protests by Maoists (communists), that had been taking place for the last two days, when I was trying to reach my hotel back in the city. Although crowded, it was quiet and calm. People were walking in a single file through a barricade with a large number of police presence in the direction I was headed to. Trusting the high security measures taken and the calmness of the crowd, I got in the line to pass through the barricade. It had only been a minute or two when all of a sudden people turned around and started running and yelling. Naturally, I turned around and started running as well, and climbed on top of a wall to get out of the crowd. After relieving the first shock of the event on the wall I noticed people smiling while running away. I think Nepalese were used to this kind o attraction and found it amusing. After things calmed down I went up to the police barricade again, thinking they would let me pass by being a tourist, but was turned down. So I ended up taking a detour to reach my hotel. My visit to Kathmandu was concluded with this exciting day, and I got on a bus to Pokhara in western Nepal the next morning.