So, this is sort of a summary of the latest traveling and sites visited.

We started the weekend before last, when me Mariam and Nina went to Agra to visit the Taj. My impression of the Taj was different from what I had expected, but the “wow” factor was nevertheless the same. It was smaller, way smaller than I had thought it to be, but way more detailed and ornamented, which sort of made up for it. The level of craftsmanship was really amazing, all the writings and decorations were inlaid in the marble, done to perfection, and naturally, in semi-precious stones.Some of the glowed brightly when shone on with a light. Truly amazing.

The weather was nice as well, a little foggy, but that tends to be the case over here, and it did clear up when the sun rose.

I did manage to do something rather stupid tho, I was on antibiotics at the time, and the evening we arrived, the day before we went to the Taj, I was looking for water in the hotel room to swallow the pill with. Finding nothing I decided to just take a swig of the tap water, not much at all, 2 tablespoons full. I guess I was thinking that it being a nice hotel, and finding no water bottles in the room, it would be fine. Boy, was I wrong.

One of the 4 pillars surrounding the monument. They are actually leaning away from the central monument by 5 inches from the vertical center line at the top.

All the markings are as previously mentioned semi-precious stones, the flowers in the middle are standing out from the base plate, imagine the work put in on each of these pieces just to carve out the base around the flowers. No wonder it took so long to make, and there is quite a few pieces like this one!

So.. I can now brag with having thrown up a world wonder, fancy that!

After the Taj we went to a bear sanctuary, sloth bears to be more specific. They use them for street performances, capturing them as cubs, killing the mother in the process, selling the gal bladder which is used for medicinal purposes in Asia, especially China. A dried gal bladder goes for about 50000$ on the international marketing according to a website. Sick.. Anyhow, the “dancing bears” are in general treated terribly, at capture for example, a glowing hot skewer is run through the nose and a rope is then run through the still fresh wound so as to be able to control them later on, this naturally damaging the bear permanently. Also, the canines are also pulled out without anesthetics often creating terrible infections, stuff like that. The people at the sanctuary seems to be doing great work for the bears tho, apart from giving them a place to live, treating them both mentally and physically, they have a program to get the bears off of the streets, offering an alternative line of work and no punishment for the bear-handlers. Really great to see. Was a little tough on the end tho, didn’t want to throw up in there so I had to hold it back, which 50 meters up the road ended in a little explosion on the roadside. I seriously HATE feeling sick.

This guy enjoying some sun.

The last excursion for the day was in the national park where we stayed the night, famous for it’s bird life. Getting a guided tour on cycle-rickshaws was a very nice way to end the day, I had at that point stopped throwing up, which was a nice change.

A green dove, according to the guide very unusual.

A famous bird in India, as well as a brand of beer. Think he looks funny with that oversized beak of his.

Take a closer look on this one, the guy (just assuming, seems logical) tried to get into the hole, but the lady, who’s beak you just can see in the opening, wouldn’t let him, he didn’t give up until she flew out and chased him away. Guys…

The next day we went to a place called Fathepur Sikri, a great fort built of sandstone, was even the capital for about 50 years if my memory serves me right. Beautiful place, wasn’t sick anymore but felt like, well, out of energy, weak even. I’m only saying this to explain my “hung-over-dressed” look.

A lot of the art had faded or been stolen, but some was left.

Again there was very beautiful detail work on every stone you passed by.

A pillar in a corner of one the larger rooms.

The head of what I think is an elephant decorating the end of an archway.

The mosque belonging to the complex.

We drove by this guy on the way home, just thought I’d show you how you load a truck in India, no wasting space here!

Next weekend, sunday to be precise, I went to the “Lotus Temple”, which actually has another name, but is built to look like a lotus. The website as well as the guidebook said it’d be open, so naturally it was closed, got a picture from the fence surrounding it tho, looks quite awesome so I felt I had to post it even if I wasn’t technically there.

As for the “every-day-life” I’m spending my time at the Naz Foundation, which is very great. Good and nice people, loads of kids and a couple of dogs. Actually I decided to stay an additional 2 weeks. This way I can attend to an event Mariam is organizing which is going to be very interesting. I won’t miss out on that much traveling neither, so it’s really a win-win, well, not the important stops on my journey at least. As it looks right now, it will be Varanasi the weekend before the event, after it’s Goa (kitesurfing ftw), Mysore and last but not least, Kerala.

I’m gonna stop here, this weekend it’s a holiday called “Holi” which means throwing paint on each other, so I think I’ll tackle any aditional topics after that, sensing that it might be some fun pictures after “Holi” to share.

Teh Vinc says:

Moo out..

I must say I’m very excited, first out early in the morning is the Taj, after that we will visit a bear sanctuary, after that we have some options and we will be ending the day, and, spend the night at a bird sanctuary (big protected park) about 50 km from Agra.

On monday we will explore the park with bicycles and boats, that’s the plan anyways.

The good thing is that both me and Nina are packing heavy (read cameras) so expect a big update monday/tuesday.

Now I have to get ready for dinner!

I had the pleasure of walking around in the schools surrounding with the headmistress, getting a tour of the area if you will, meet some of the families of the schools students, see how they live and so on, a very nice and interesting experience.

I only have a few days left at the school before it is time to move on to the Naz Foundation, my last organization here in India, I cannot believe how fast time passes by, three fifths of my time here has already passed. Five months feels like a rather sufficient time, tho, I must admit I am starting to feel a little homesick, I sure hope it passes, a nasty feeling, takes up way too much brain capacity!

Now, enough blabbing, some pictures from the time I have spent at the school.

Correcting math exercises.

What now looks to be a construction site just a while back was the area where all the classes were held, the only thing protecting them from weather and wind was a canvas raised over their heads.

Thats it for now, hope you like the pictures! I have a sneaky suspicion more will come within short..

-Vinc

My last post ended with a postcard picture of the Maldives, so it feels natural to start with the ones from our visit.

The view from our balcony, the whole house was over water, not bad at all, one could just take a swim right there if the current wasn’t too strong.

Me posing in front of the local lagoon on a cloudy day. It was about 50-50 when it came to whether it was sunny or cloudy, the sun was really intense, so a break from it now and then was only welcome.

Met some playful dolphins.

The snorkeling was awesome, and the diving too I was told.

My favorite of all the small fishes.

This one was a curious fella, wouldn’t leave the lens alone, not that I complained.

On the way back to the island from some snorkeling on a reef.

After the Maldives it was off to Neemrana, and old fort in Rajastan, we went for a small tour in the city below the fort on this camel-pulled cart.

From what I’ve understood women are well-known for their colorful and beautiful dresses in Rajastan, and I can’t but agree.

A woman carrying a water pot, not all the houses has running water, especially not in the “lower-caste” areas, so they have to walk to the local water tanks where they can get it for free.

Some kids playing on the road.

Back in the days, when the droughts were a big problem, they build this monster of a well, if I remember correctly it went 8 stories down, with a ninth above ground, sorry to say it was in a bad shape, but they have plans on restoring it. Beautiful piece of architecture.

The fort itself, where we celebrated new-year. Very beautiful place, great food too!

Two of the dancers that were the entertainment during the evening. All in all, a very different but great holiday.

So now I’ve just started at this new place, the “Informal Slum school in Tigri”, I have just been there for two days, and it has been two great days.

Forgive me but really have to sleep, I’m going back there tomorrow morning so I need to rest up.

I hope you all had a great holiday and start of the new year!

Vincent out.

And so I am to embark on this epic journey to a Christmas like none other I have ever had. A Christmas on one of the islands of the Maldives, sandy beaches and zero snow, and I have to say I’m terribly exited.

I’m not sure I’m gonna have access to internet during the stay, so it might be rather quiet here for a little over a week, so I say now to you all, MERRY CHRISTMAS! You know, just in case, pictures will come, be sure of that, just be patient.

Just to brag a bit, this is where we are going.

But I do need some help, see, I am to prepare a meal for my fellow co-workers in a few days, and I just can’t figure out a dish that really represents Sweden.

See, the tricky thing is, it sort of has to be vegetarian, so if you have any ideas, any at all! I’d be most grateful.

The view of Ganges and the Himalayan foothills from the beach just beneath our lodgings, it’s not fake or manipulated in any way, not even cropped, the water really has that color.

We went rafting, my first time, it was very nice. A good combination between stunning nature, calmly floating down the stream in a relaxing way and adrenaline rushes when hitting the rapids. In the picture, me and my cousin Nina after some splashy-splashy.

A lot of monkeys around the lodging, mostly I’m showing you this because this WAS actually one of those few moments in life when you CAN use the phrase “la singe est sur la branche” and I sooo did.

We also went to central Rishikesh one evening to check out a this religious ritual, it took place in front of this statue of Bhagwan Shankar

This fire appeared to be the center of the whole ritual, and they kept throwing stuff into it as you can see, we didn’t really find out that much about the event itself from the guide, but it was interesting to watch and listen nevertheless.

That’s all for now.

There was a running-competition among the students in the colony, they were to run to me ..

.. tag ..

.. and run back.

I’ve tried some new food, this time my stomach was spared, and the food was tasty!

Visited the Gandhi memorial museum, walked down the path of his last walk and read many interesting things.

And tonight, at a “Braj” exhibition, a religious dance of unknown origin, nonetheless spectacular.

The whole area surrounding the hospital and the wards was used for crops, this, just one of many.

The kitchen where the food for all the patients were prepared, I think they were making lunch when I visited, sure smelled like it.

The OR of the hospital. Every now and then, government doctors drop by and works for free, they get some tax-reductions and the people get free treatment, a win win it would seem. They hadn’t been there for a while tho, the dengue-fever has an outbreak right now so that’s where the attention goes, or so I was told.

To make the post slightly more cheerful I’m putting up two pics from my photo shoot with some kids in the colony.

We visited in the daytime, I thought it to be rather crowded but understood it is nothing compared to the evening when the place wakes up. After walking trough some very narrow alleys I thought would end up in the most shady places imaginable we came to this mini-plaza with yarn everywhere, any kind known to me and all in bright screaming colors, was actually hard to find stuff that had mellow colors or simply undyed, but thinking of how people dress, I suppose the colorful stuff is what goes.

Anyhow, it was a nice adventure going to this market in Old Delhi (we live in New) it took what felt to be about an hour with a three-wheeler, that would be a sort of motorized rickshaw, and I snapped a few pictures on the way, both are from the Old Delhi section of town, would’ve loved to get some pictures of the market but I couldn’t find the opportunity to pull up the camera, everything is in motion, it’s like the whole place has a life of it’s own. Next time I will come better prepared, but for now these will have to do.

Getting closer to New Delhi there are more “green” areas, most of them behind walls or fences.

A traveling family trying to cross the road.

But then would he have been able to feel it, he probably never have gotten burnt in the first place.

So, a blessing in disguise? I suppose not..

This is where all the work is done, the gentleman in the front is my teacher as well as the guy who usually runs the bandaging unit, Mr. Sahu, or that’s at least what his name sounds like, I haven’t had the chance of seeing it spelled out yet.

I was lucky enough to have one of the two who’s running the Village of Hope stopping by during my shift and she was kind enough to take my picture when I’m redressing a foot.

.. I’d tell you about my visit to the slums-school in Tigri, one of the largest slums on this earth. I’d tell you about the wonderful trip we made to Amritsa this weekend, about the change of guards and their peculiar way of doing this. I’d tell you about the magnificent Sri Harmandar Sahib, the golden temple, and all the interesting things I learned about the Sikh religion. I’d tell you about the awful-looking tea-shop that had the best samosas ever. I’d tell you all about this and a lot more ..

.. but ..

.. today sort of trumps it all. Not a special day in any sense except that it was my first day at the Village of Hope, and my first day redressing leper-wounds. Normally there is only one guy doing this, he divides his time between two stations within the community redressing all the wounds of the people still suffering from the leper stigma. See, the disease itself is long gone, but, the people who has been cured still has to live with the damage done to their bodies, their feeling is gone and so they hurt their themselves all the time without noticing it. And to some, yet to me, unexplained reason, people with leper-stigma seems to be healing slower, so the wounds seldom heal, often leading to amputation in the end.  Anyhow, as I arrive at the “dressing room” (2.5×3 m and three walls) I get an apron, latex gloves and a mask, he signals me to sit down next to him and watch. It might be worth mentioning that this guy doesn’t speak english, his vocabulary consists in large of “good morning”, “cut”, “bandage”, “name” and “country”. But he gets his point through. He is suffering from what seems to be a rather far gone arthritis and it’s amazing to watch him work. Imagine my surprise when he asks me to take his place after 20 minutes or so, I had thought i’d spend at least the first day watching, I answered “no thanks, i’d like to watch some more” and 10 minutes later he gets up from his seat and looks at me with his hand pointing at it, and feeling like I don’t have a choice, what can I do but to take his seat and get to it. Time flies when your having fun people say, well, i can’t say it was fun, but I found it interesting and really got into it, contrary to what i earlier had feared, that i would hesitate to touch or work with the wounds, it came very easily. Even a near amputation, or even amputation thinking back on it, of a part of a hand having gone way to long without care or redressing (the smell was not that of a rose-garden, so to speak) didn’t bother me. Thinking back of it does, but at that moment, I was only fascinated. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not morbid, enjoying this in a twisted way, but more felt like this is what I want to do in my life, fixing people, just couldn’t think of a better word to use. So for me, this was a very, very good day.

Sort of a long post again, i realize this, but bare with me. I don’t feel comfortable enough to pull up the camera yet in the Village of Hope, so here’s a few from the weekend.

It’s a “tourist” touch on them that i don’t feel for too much, but its truly a sight, Sri Harmandar Sahib, definitely worth a visit if you are in the vicinity.

Pic 1: Everyone had to have something to cover their head with, so a shawl had to sub as a turban for the visit.

Pic 2: We first visited the temple late at the evening, a marvelous sight since they, for the upcoming holiday celebrating Guru Nanak, had clad all the buildings with lights of different colors. An amazing sight.

Pic 3: Second visit was during the day, it was very interesting seeing the difference, what was impressive was that it was so equally impressive during daylight, without the thousand and thousands of lamps.

Let’s have at it then! So what can I say about New Delhi after only 12 hours? Well, 2 things, first was the smell, as I walked out of the airport I went back 10 years in my mind, that sweet/burnt smell, just like Africa. Second is that New Delhi is a city of contrasts. I live in something of the high-end part of Delhi, sort of a gated community, private guards and staff in the house, personal driver and the whole shabang! And just 8 hours after arriving and a metro-ride which was both tragic and fascinating I was standing in the slum, or almost slum, it used to be anyways. The Village of Hope, now a community of 4000, run by the HOPE Foundation which in 10 years has transformed this area where the outcasts of the society, lepers, was residing and living in utter poverty to a very nice place, proper houses, plumbing, electricity, bandaging stations for lepers and a lot of outreach programs which helps people to an education or with starting their own small-time business.

I went off on sidetrack there, what I mean with contrasts is the extreme differences, the dirty rich and utterly poor, the nice facade and the people behind it who suffers. This is so different from home, the span on which this is experienced in Sweden is so incredibly much smaller than here. The Metro-ride was an extremely good way of experiencing this, but I’ll save that story for another post.

Tomorrow I will visit the slum-school where I will spend time at after Christmas, and on Monday work starts at the leper center in the Village of Hope. Oh, and I’m going on a small trip out of town this weekend to see that India is more then just New Delhi.

Stay tuned!