Ariving in Varanasi

after a 25hr train ride i stumbled out of the coach ready for Varanasi, i have heard stories, read up on it and was eager to see what this holy city was all about. by no means was this a food journey this was a cultural experience and one i was excited for. i walked down the tracks sticking out like a sore thumb, regardless of how hard i try to fit in, my scraggly beard, rapidly growing long hair and disheveled look is nothing new amongst backpackers, my 17kilo backpack is also pretty conspicuous. i was approached right away with a ridiculous offer of 400 rupees for a 15kilometer ride into the city center. the cheapest method would be to get back on a connecting train and transfer from there but after 25hrs on my last train i was happy with some fresh air and the wild streets of India.
rejecting my first offer and haggling on the second i was off to Varanasi for 120 rupees. in typical fashion as i approached my stop a random Indian jumped on to my rickshaw, exchanged words in Hindi with my driver. i was dropped off a kilometer shy of where i should have been dropped and i unloaded unknowing where i was heading. i picked my head up after slinging my slowly growing backpack across my shoulders to see the recently boarded Indian gentleman looking at me. Immediately he is my "best friend" wanting to know my name, where i am from, and the most important question "how long have you been in India." this question i have learned is a guide, on how bad you are about to be ripped off, i smiled, answered all the questions honestly except the last one, inflating the real date by a few months.
He smiled as he knew i had no clue where to go, i turned around to see my bastard rickshaw driver turn around and disappear, i looked back at my "friend" and he says "Shanti guest house right? i work there!" and he offers l to lead me to my hotel. quite typically the story would end here and i would allow him to lead me to my guest house or a completely different guest house all together with a similar name. At this point i would have walked passed many, sorted out the area while being led by a local and not being haggled by anyone else at which point i would pull the old "yeah..... i'm gunna go somewhere else" and slip out past him not to deal with the bullshit of a scam or what ever else they may want to sell, but NOT TODAY.
"Bullshit" i said "I highly doubt you work for Shanti Guest House," "why do you say that" he says with such a surprised tone in his voice, with out answering him i responded with a question for him. "what are you selling, where do you want me to go, and are we really heading towards Shanti Guest House?" "I just like to help tourists" he says, we are still briskly walking through the 80 degree heat and 90% humidity, weaving in between cars, scooters, bicycles, on coming pedestrians, peddle rickshaws, dogs, cows, farm animals and children selling post cards.
we squeezed into a back ally off the main road, it was wet, damp, smelling of urine, body odor, and cow shit mixed with a strangely pleasant aroma of fryed samosas, coal grilled flat breads, and Indian sweets. down the allies we walk, my eyes constantly fixed on 3 three things, first, my feet so i can attempt to avoid wet sticky piles of trash as well as the always pleasant pile of shit, Second, any potential hotels, guest houses, or hostels i'm passing just in case "my friend" leads me astray, and last the back of "my friends" head, for the ally was small but packed with early morning activity.
again, typically i would have allowed the conversation to end at "i like helping tourist" but today i felt like fighting a bit. "so whats your deal bro? everyone wants something, what are you after? there is no way you just like helping tourists, that is shit." he smiled "well i own a shop, will you come and see it after i take you to your hotel?" His voice started to fade the second his lips started to move, as he was talking into my deaf ear, my good ear facing the opposite direction i could bearly make out what he was saying. his voice was temporarily muted by aggressive beeping of a scooter horn which obnoxiously plowed through anybody and everybody standing in its way, this was followed by the beating of a drum and very loud chanting of a 20person procession which was headed straight for me.
"dead body" my "friend" tells me as a woman wrapped colored silk is carried on a bamboo stretcher, hoisted above my head and carried past me. "so where do you work" i said now that most of the noise and commotion has passed. "my shop! will you come see my shop after i take you to your guest house?" I smiled and laughed because i understood why he "just wanted to help tourists," commision on a sale. "Sure, was that so hard? i just wanted to know why you were leading me around." Again, typically i would have told him "NO," but after a long train ride i just wanted to get there, and by saying no i would have to find my own way my guesthouse or be at the mercy of where ever this guy wanted to drop me.
we kept walking as more noise was chasing me down the ally, more beating of drums and chanting, i stepped aside in this narrow 3 foot alleyway to allow another funeral procession pass me by. A few more allies, a flight of broken slate steps covered in trash, and i was there. I checked the name to make sure it was the one (which it was) i checked into my room, dropped my bag, and true to my word headed out to see "my friends"shop. A silk shop, what a surprise (that was extreme sarcasm), i looked at some items, bought nothing, smiled, thanked them for their time, and walked back to my guest house for a much needed shower.

India2009 Email

Wow, i never thought i would be returning to India. Exactly one year to date I landed back in the country that i began this crazy journey in. As my plane took off flying out of Sri Lanka north bound for Chennai, I closed my eyes to think about about my last Indian experience, the heat, humidity, poverty, and millions of people swarming the streets in Mumbai, the tropical monsoon i was engulfed in, in Goa, the extreme pushiness and haggling that went on in Agra, the baffling train travel that at one point led me to a locked door and an armed guard asking me to take my seat when clearly i had to wait for the train to stop to exit and move around the locked door to find my assigned car, i smiled when thinking about how impressionable i was at the time. Fresh out of New York, fresh out of the USA blazing a trail as fresh and new as the ancient countries i was visiting.
With my eyes still closed i thought a bit harder, overall remembering the confusion, the heat, the immense pollution, and the light, the light which was experienced in Delhi, staying with a friend, being led by my hand, and spoon fed India in tolerable doses. I opened my eyes and smiled again because i knew no matter what i experienced this time around i would always have Delhi and a friend to smile and laugh with about all the stupid things i may have stepped in while slowly meandering back to his home a year from the last time we met.

Less impressionable, a bit more weathered, and most of all ready for what i was getting into i stepped off the plane in India September 4th 2009 in Chennai, a new city, in a new part of India. I was heading to a chef's house, i had a meeting with a food journalist, as well as a tv/radio food personality, i had a restaurant opening/food tasting to go to, this was India far removed from what most people experience. I walk out of the Airport a bit cocky blowing past barking autorickshaw drivers offering ludicrous prices to the fresh meat that stumbled off the planes, bursting with perspiration the second they hit the humid Indian air. I walked straight for the local train, purchased my 5rupee ticket (10 cents) and was off to meet my contact.
Chennai was brilliant and the contacts that i had acquired made my time there as special and amazing as you would have expected it to be, meeting locals in the food industry, picking fellow chefs brains on local food and technique was something i was starved for and only teased with my last trip to India.

Chennai, Darjeeling, Sikkim, Varanasi, and Delhi were the cities and states that i visited this time around. My experiences all positive as i wandered the small but LOUD streets of Darjeeling high up in the tea country in the foothills of the Himalayas, heading farther north to the kingdom of Sikkim where a separate visa and stamp is needed (although it still remains part of India), a 25hr train to Varinasi a few days of wondering this mystical pilgrimage sight followed by one last 15hr train and a travel weary 8am hello to my good friends the Soni's as i returned a year from when i said good bye last.

After re-reading first email i posted on India I take nothing back. India is still a place of extremes, but for me my second time around was handled with much greater ease. Avoiding Mumbai and it's chaos is trend i think i will continue, wearing shoes and not flip flops to safe guard my feet from the leavings of many/any living creatures is another trend i particularly like, eating a huge plate of rice or a ton of bread before a long journey to assure no unnecessary visits to a bumpy, loud, wet, and smelly 50mph sleeper train squat toilet is NOT a trend, but a way of life.

My stronger, harsher feelings towards India have faded with time, my tolerance for this still confusing but mostly peaceful culture has increased but i attribute this only to the miles i have covered and the overly accepting life style i have forced my self to live. India for a new comer is no cup of tea, hearing stories of people leaving as quickly as they have arrived is not uncommon and doing India alone is even harder. A huge country filled with so many extremes in both geography of the land and sea to the people, cities, towns, and villages they live in. A country one must see first hand and will never understand by reading about it or seeing it on tv.

India 2009

Chennai: Landing back in Chennai and India after being away for a year was a nice treat. it was nice because unlike the last time, this time i knew what to expect. Chennai is definitely not a tourist city which is not to say that it is boring, but there is No major draw like Agra and the Taj Mahal, simply a city to live in and spending a week there was fantastic. My host whom i stayed with the Entire time writes online food journals and runs a small restaurant just few blocks from his home. Sharing the common ground for the love of food is was a pleasure to have stayed with Ramki, learning a bit more about Indian cuisine just by hearing him talk was fantastic, cruising on the back of his motorcycle to south Asia's largest fruit and vegetable market was also a fantastic experience.

While in Chennai I was also blessed with getting the opportunity to tag along with a food journalist for The Hindu, news paper. Going to a pre-opening Food Tasting at a new restaurant was a fantastic experience, talking to that chef one on one helped me understand cooking style a bit more. Getting the opportunity to cook and learn in a home setting with another Food Journalist from the Hindu was wonderful because it takes the stress away from being in an actual restaurant. Lastly, Shonali (my Hindu new paper friend) set me up with Chef Damu a Indian TV and Radio personality who runs two different cooking talk shows, an honor in it's self to have a one on one with him for a few hours. Chennai, not a tourist city, but a city this tourist really enjoyed.

Darjeeling: to reach Darjeeling you first must go to NJP or to Sunali which lies roughly 4hrs south by massive 10 seater toyota SUV's that look specifically designed for this exact purpose, of moving people with a fair amount of gear high in the Himalayas. The ride was interesting, switchback bumpy roads so littered with potholes you may as well consider it gravel and not paved at all, sheer drop offs which plummet 100s of feet straight to the valley floor, and the most reassuring part is the width of the road, in many places only as wide as one vehicle. my favorite part is seeing which one must back up and look for a place to pull over as two passing vehicles hug the side of the cliff and inch by each other.

The City its self is a touristy location which was highly developed by he British many years back, but has been thus "Indian-onized" with houses built on top of houses, sewers backing up, streets getting more and more narrow, tea plantation quality plummeting, and far too much noise and air pollution. Roaring, diesel, engines blowing past you spitting out black clouds from their exhaust pipes and the shrill of the horn piercing your ears and brain as suv after suv passes is something i will not miss. the surrounding beauty was on the other hand quite fantastic. Catching a glimpse of Everest one more time (off in the distance) during a Darjeeling Sun Rise was a beautiful sight, i get a funny feeling in my stomach upon seeing Everest, the mysticism of seeing the highest point on earth overtakes me with awe. Snow covered peaks jutting up over your head while neatly stacked tea plants speckle the landscape below you, Darjeeling was not all that bad.

Sikkim: Can be considered its own country in my eyes, a very "green" Indian state in both color but also in thinking. Mountains, hills, rice terraces, rolling glacial rivers which holds the 3rd highest peak in the world. A strong stance against plastic has been taken in Sikkim and road checks upon entering the state are fairly active in policing potentially harmful materials from entering into their relatively pristine and isolated portion of India. you will not find piles of garbage here, in fact garbage cans are quite easy to find happily painted with one simple note, "please use me." I spent a couple of lazy days here, driving around through the hills and taking short walks, this was a truly unique and beautiful state.

Varanasi: Can be a bit overwhelming as a first timer to India, with narrow streets that only humans, farm animals, push bikes, and motorcycles can fit down, you are safely removed from aggravating rickshaw drivers but over taken by a new nuisance of boat-men (who take you out on the Ganges) along with the usual suspects of shop keepers, silk dealers, and children who try to sell you literally anything. Pushing this nonsense aside it is a unique place, a pilgrimage sight to bath and cleanse your soul in the overly polluted Ganges river (which amazingly has no affect as i have seen on those who bath there). A boat ride out on the river is a touristy thing to do but the beauty of sunrise and the chance to see 1000's of devoted Hindus bathing this early in the morning is a must in my opionion.

Being a Holy place of cleansing it is also the main location to bring your dead, cremating them in public at mainly two "Ghats" which are docks on the side of the River Ganges. with fire burning 24hrs a day it is a experience that will stick with me for a while. Rarely is the experience a sad one, as Hindu's believe that this will release their loved ones soul into the next life, and the Ganges a life line to millions is THE place to be set free.

oh yeah, i also had a flash to a loction i have never been, Spain. i heard loud noise and turned around to see 4 huge cows being led by monstorouse bull with horns pointed straight for me. i stepped aside into shop fronts door step and laughed as i watched this chaos unfold. i glanced around to judge the reaction on the surrounding onlookers faces, nothing... just another day in varanasi.

Delhi: My final chance to drink in a little bit more of Indian food and culture, spending 4 days with Kerrun and his Mother in Delhi was again fantastic, relaxing in the comfort of their home, getting a much needed haircut and shave and preparing for the next leg of my trip. It was great to see them and reminisce with Kerrun about familiar grounds of Westchester New York and the foods we both miss and love from home..... mmmm, my mind wanders just typing that, with visions of NY delhi sandwiches dancing in my head, i'm happy to suppress that comfort of home for just a little bit longer.

India on round 2 was a much more comprehensible country one i enjoyed a bit more than expected.

Sri Lanka Email

I landed in Colombo and took local transport (buses) towards my guest house, the buss was empty to start, my 35lbs back pack sitting on my lap, my camera bag on top of that, it's still cool because it's the morning but as the sun creeps higher and the bus begins to fill the temperature starts to go up, and now i'm sweating. An hour and half of semi confusing travel and bus hoping, and i finally find my guest house right off Galle road which is a major hub in Colombo. Excited to see a bit of the city i walk around briefly in a bit of disappointment, and i don't know what i was expecting after nearly 30 years of militia bombing and aggression.

What i did see is the most heavily protected city that i have ever encountered. Men with AK-47, Uzzies, and Rocket Launchers sitting in bunkers at nearly every other major intersection, Armed Guards walking nearly every street and standing guard at most traffic lights. It was a definitely a scene out of a movie, but the best part was giving them a smile as you walk towards them because the big tough men who can end your life in a second with a semi automatic weapon in their hands nearly melt, responding with huge goofy grins as you pass them by.... priceless.

I rushed to the north to see the Rock fortrouse of Sigiryia which was a very impressing structure built on top of an enormous rock sitting in dryer plains of the north. Not being a huge History buff i dismissed the other ancient cities and caves which date back some years and headed straight for kandy, a beautiful mountain town. it was here that i discovered what i truly found special about Sri Lanka. The people are just so unbelievably kind, expressing my interest in food to one of the guest house owners, i was then helping cook a traditional Sri Lankan meal of String Hoppers, Chicken Curry, and Sambal, and potatos. Smashing chillies, toasting spices, frying off chicken only to stew it some more, squeezing citrus out of the orangey flavored limes into a freshly scraped coconut sambol was a pretty unique experience, doing it with old women in the traditional way was even better.

I found this to be the trend among the mountain towns i visited, each guest house, each restaurant being ever so willing to let me into their kitchen to cook and learn. In Ella i found my self with red beetroot stained hands cutting up the vegetable to make a curry (beet curry sounds gross i know, but it's pretty freakin' good). I look up from the cutting board to see a costumer walking through the kitchen, mutter something in Sri Lankan and wander away baffled by my presence in the kitchen. Twenty minutes later i return to see him eating the dish i was just preparing, again a unique experience.

Wondering the mountains, riding on unbelievably overcrowded trains and climbing up one of the tallest peaks in Tea country was a great time, i could have taken my time and spent way more than 10 days slowly wondering around in different towns, but i wanted to do some beach time before anxiety levels rise and the reality of India is upon me. 4 days soakin' up the sun (and rain) in Unawatuna was more than enough for me, visiting fishing villages, seeing the iconic stilt fisherman of Sri Lanka, buying freshly caught tuna from the market and bringing it to a local restaurant to be cooked was all part some great days I had down in the south.

One more overcrowded train back to Colombo, and i treated my self to a nice meal at the Hilton at one of their prized restaurants who serves up Sri Lankan Cuisine with the freshest ingredients, i happened to mention to the chef as he strolled by that I too work in the kitchen and from that point on the food never stoped coming. It was a delicious way to celebrate One Year On the Road, what a trip it's been.

Sri Lanka

Colombo: Although it's the capital with nearly 2 million people living there, it was not really the eppicenter of Sri Lankan Cusine i was hoping to see. I imagined it more like Bangkok with food spewing out of every allyway and onto the streets, not so much. Infact it was a bit difficult to find the good local eats, the main street Galle Rd. which was apparently the Center piece of Colombo was not all that impressive, granted I only gave it two days, but on my next trip to Sri Lanka will consider skiping it all together and head straight to the Mountains. I did how ever have one overly plesent experience where on my last night in Sri Lanka i treated my self to an all you can eat Sri Lanka feast at the Hilton which was fantastic. I happened to mention to the a chef who was assisting customers with Selecting Sea Food that I too cooked for a living and from that point on the Food did not stop. Plates began building up at my table and my stomach began to expand to a point where i thought i was going to pop. Curries, grilled fresh sea food, assorted pickels, grilled bread, fryed bread, salads, ritas, hoppers, and finally desert, Colombo didn't impress me but the Hilton was a fine way to end my trip in Sri Lanka.

Sigaria: the Rock Fortouse build ontop of a monsterouse rock in the center of the country, surrounded by plains. It rises straight out of the ground and climbing to the top proved to be a bit tougher than expected (probably more due to the fact that i'm out of shape). It was an impressive piece of acrchitecture to be seen, impressive because it is absolutly baffeling on how people got rocks and stones up to the top of this monstrouse rock. better yet, how the hell did they get up with out metal stair bolted into the side of the cliff. it was a long days drive going from colombo to Sigarya and then back to Kandy. NOt much to do there but climb the rock, but a good experience none the less.

Kandy: a semi lively mountain town which is the center of the Hill country, The Town Center is clearly "lake Kandy," guest houses, homes, all sparcly scattered in the surrounding hills with the majority of the town sitting on the east west side of the lake. My guest house Lake Bungallow, perched on a hill, overlooking the lake and town was a great place to relax and take in this more palatable city. Unlike Colombo, Kady was easy to navagate, cooler in climate, and more relaxed. The owners of my guest house were extremely kind and again upon mentioning that i love to cook they were overly happy to take me into their kitchen and show me how to make some local cusine. String Hoppers, Chicken Curry, Milk Rice, Dahl, Potato Curry and a spicy Coconut Sambal was on the menu and it was fantastic to crank out a meal like this with a couple of old women doing the way they have for years.

Adams Peak and the Surrounding Areas: About 4hours south of Kandy on a crouded bus was the city of Hatton, the approach to Hatton was unreal, somthing out of a fictiouse magaizine advertising fantacy proporties. the homes were modest, straight out of colonial times, but the landscape was somthing i have never seen before. the hills were covered in Tea plants and this was just the begining. the drive from Hatton to Adams peak was even more impressive, the Tea filled hills were absolutel beautiful, and to say that they were delacatly placed would be an understatement. the hills were litteraly carved into perfectly cylidrical shapes, with tea plants spirling around them was a sight to be seen. the Mountains and Resivour with waterfalls spewing into the valley didn't make the view all that Ugly at all, infact it was a breath taking. Even if you are not going to climb adams peak, at least get you self out to Dolhousie for the bus ride and sights alone, really an unbelievably beautiful part of the world.
Adams peak it's self was incased in clouds and i was privlaged to see what the inside of a cloud looks like first hand. not too impressive, but the 2hr hike would have been well worth the view if the clouds parted. i would do it again in a heartbeat.

Train Travel: all though my first trip on the train brought nothing but back pain and minimal view or obstructed views with 5 to 6 children jamming their heads out the window drinking in the sights, i wouldn't say that you should neglect this mode of transportation. infact even with the backpain and long cramped hours it was semi enjoyable in a wierd way. I unfortuantly have been traveling during "school holiday" and all the kids are out thus jammin' up the busses and trains, which have been a cramped nightmare from time to time.
My suggestion would be find the starting point of the train and really for most tourists there are only 4 major points you will use (colombo, Matara, Kandy, and Badula), so get to one of those stations and book a second class ticket and plop your self in a window seat and enjoy the views (long distance, no more than 400rp or $4usd), when i finaly got a seat, i absolutly loved the train.

Haputale: A small mountain town which is about 25min. from the Lipton Tea Factory set up in the 1800's by Sir Thomas Lipton. a 2 hour hike to the top of the mountain was another rigourouse hike which left me with the view of the inside of a cloud, but at least i did the assent in day light unlike adams peak which i began hiking at 2:30am in order to catch a non exisistant sunrise. The climb up through the tea plantations was the highlight of Haputale, the 23 person, 800lbs of vegtables, and a vomitting baby packed in a 12 person minivan on my way back from the plantation took a distant second place to wondering th rough the green tea filled hills.

Ella: Touristy is a wierd way, a nothing town in the middle of know where, all there is to do is hike "little adams peak" which i did and came no where near the stress and exauhtion of climbing it's much larger brother. the views where great since i saw nothing at Adams peak, i spent 3 days here doing... well... nothing. i cooked for a full day with my guest house owner learning some new sri lankan dishes and talking food, for me, this made Ella a amazing place to stay, chill, relaxing, cooler in climate, good tea and coffe, and overly friendly people.

Tangalla: a very quite beach town in the southern part of the island. this area got hit HARD by the Tsunami of 04' and was litterally destroyed, almost everything on the coast was whipped out. even to this day what has been rebuilt looks as it could have been there through out the disastar because the glits and glam that some places put on for tourists just didn't exist. i'm not one who needs ANYTHING fancy, but to me the town was a bit depressing. One night in my damp, mildewy, over priced guest house and i was OUT. on the up side, beautiful beach with NO ONE on it, very quite, but as a solo traveler a bit too quite.

Unawatuna: A touristy area for sure, one that i may not be visiting if it was peak season, but with prices down, tourists at a minimum, and locals all about, the town has a pretty nice vibe to it, i spent 5 days here, between the beach, cooking with a local restaurant, buying fish at a local market and cooking it, cruising around to see the iconic "stilt fisherman"of sri lanka in Koggala, and renting a scooter for the day, i had enough to do to keep myself occupied.

Overall i really loved Sri Lanka, if i had to say there was one thing that would bring me back, it's the people and rawness of the country. Still minimaly effected by tourism and true to it's culture, the people there were overly plesant to talk to and share a cup of tea with.

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