MISHO ON THE ROAD

Der Countown Läuft

2007-01-23T15:47:00.000+05:30

Finally my last blog on the road. I'm so ready to go. Tomorrow I'll head back to Switzerland and I can't wait for it. I just spent another 5 days here in Bangkok after I came back from the Island Koh Tao. I said good-bye to my Israeli friends Tomer and Haim and hello again to my Swiss friend Kubi whom I haven't seen for more than 15 months now. All the same back home he says and that I haven't changed at all:-)) Yes; 15 months exactly I have been away from home. An amazing experience, an amazing part of my life I will never forget. I think it will take time at home only to realize what I have gained through this trip. One essential thing I have learned is that travelling is amazing but still not what I would like to do permanently. Travelling is an EGO-thing. You act and perform only to your own benefits, you take with you what you like and I think, whether consciously or unconsciously, you ignore everything you don't really like. Travelling can be very superficial and I met poeple they didn't have their eyes or ears open to what was happening around them. However, living in Bangalore was definitely the most intense and most interesting part of my stay abroad. Living and working in another country is meeting the 'real' country and nothing else. Unfortunately, this is something lots of travellers who claim for seeing the 'real' country don't really get. Everyone who want's to see what a different culture is all about should live there for a while and get involved into the society in a way. Actually a simple insight but still something you don't really get when you only travel the world. Yes, and that's why I know India better than any other country (apart from Israel of course:-)) I've travelled so far. I think, I know now what it's all about in India to a certain degree, or better, to the degree I also wanted to know. And now it's over, and I'm glad about that. A new life will start in Switzerland with getting different perspectives, finding a job and settle for a while. And I'm looking forward to it.
So far, so good. I'll continue my blog, guess with working up my experiences abroad and trying hard to integrate again into the rule-addicted Swiss society. However, as soon as I'll get back I'm leaving for the Czech Republic to visit my long-time neglected father and family there. And for that the culture shock won't be too abrupt either, I guess.
Again, I say hello and good bye to all my friends of the road and everyone reading this blog in the great big world. I'm so happy that I met so many wonderful people on this long trip which is definitely the greatest thing ever and the best way to know and meet the world.
Take care and hope to see all of you soon again.
Mischo.

ready to dive...

2007-01-08T17:09:00.000+05:30

...so am I. Just booked a diving-course on Koh Tao. I'm in Bangkok right now. Arrived this morning from Chiang Mai. Now, I am a professional Thai-massagist. The course was cool, very realxing and my Teacher, Mr. Tee was really patient and considerate with me. But I'm done with massages for a few days now. I have further plans anyway. Tomorrow, finally, my last project starts. Heading down to Koh Tao and learn diving for 4 days. The weather there is sh*t right now, as I heard from my friends Haim and Tomer who are on the islands already. Pouring down like hell. Anyway, I'll do it, and I'll go through it!
Just had about the 1000th discussion about "India" and "why nobody likes the Israeli travellers" with and Israeli friend of course (the Israelis "love" India!! Why??? because Indians let them behave, the way they behave:-))). Definitely one of my main topics for discussions right now and will be when I'm back home. So get prepared Swiss. Well, India.... I think I still have to work up my mind with this incredibly intense experience of this incredibly intense country. And you make your 3rd year there, Anna, I can't believe it. "Hut ab!!" as I would say in German. I can't even believe myself that I spent an entire year there. Yes, and the Israelis. Here I am again, little Israel in Bangkok. Hebrew menus and signs all over and too loud Israeli street talk all over. No further comment. However, tomorrow challo Koh Tao! I hope the sun comes through sometimes and all the more for the las few days on the beach. Must get some taint before coming back to Switzerland in the middle of the freezing winter.
Sincerly,
mischo.

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2007

2007-01-01T15:48:00.000+05:30

I wish you all a very happy new year 2007. 2006 was an amazing year for me. I saw so many different places and met so many poeple which has broadened my horizon so much. I've learned a lot about the world and also about myself. It was a year of most precious experiences which I will never forget and with a great impact on my future.
However, I'm in Chiang Mai right now, the second biggest city of Thailand and its capital of the north. I arrived here about a week ago heading down from Laos. Tomorrow I'll start a massage course for about a week and continue later to the south for diving. I've got a big more than 3 weeks left until I finally return back home. I'm so much looking forward to that. Still, I like Thailand a lot and the longer I'm here the more I do. The Thais are so friendly and considerate! I met some funny street artists from the States and Italy and I hang around with them quite a lot. They have travelled through Europe and then all the way here to Asia on bycicles. They make up their livings only by what they earn in the street. Anyone can join them as long as you contribute to the performances in an artistic way. So, would be an option for me, wouldn't it??:-))) No, just kidding, home is calling for me and that's all I want right now. I'll update later again. I'm too tired from a long Silverster night.
happy new year all over the world!!!
mischo.

Chilling Out and Relaxing in Laos

2006-12-13T16:19:00.000+05:30

Just arrived yesterday in Luang Prabang, the capital of ther northern part of the country. Since I crossed the boarder from Thailand I've spent 4 days in Vientiane the capital and another 5 days in Vang Vieng, a backpacker's hang-out place a bit further north at a river. I did some tubing and a motorbike trip to the nearby caves. Very, very nice!! So yesterday me and my Israeli travelling companion Tomer took the tourist-bus to Luang Prabang. The town is situated on a long tongue of land at the confluence of the Mekong and Nam Khan river. Luang Prabang itself is very very nice or 'supernett' as I would describe it but not really stunning as the Lonely Planet guide book says! The Mekong is just a big brown stream and the city is less French-colonial as I expected. Though, the baguettes seem almost to belong to the national cuisine (even though only toursist eat them everywhere). You also get superbe coffee in many places. The place is very touristy and a bit overpriced in my opinion. Vang Vieng was 'very very nice' too and not mind-blowing as many travellers say. But I'm on the road for quite a long time, so maybe I got a bit used to mind-blowing sceneries and temple architecture. However, one thing everyone agrees on about Laos is: it's very very relaxing. People are relaxed and peaceful and I think almost everyone adobts this atmosphere to his state of mind to a certain degree. Laos is just an excellent chill-out place. So far I have not made up my mind yet of where to continue. I want to do some trekking or other nature-experience here and most probably head over to northern Thailand afterwards. Whatever. Right now its only today and tomorrow what counts.
keep you up-dated.
cheers.
m.

Bangkok, Bangkok

2006-12-04T11:44:00.000+05:30

yes, I'm in Bangkok for almost 10 days now. Recovering and acclimatization to the tropical climate again. But I'm ready to go now!! Next destination is Laos bordareing to Thailand in the North-East of the country. Laos is actually called Lao but the French colonizers added an "S" at the end of the name because....??? Well, they say for easyer spelling but probably rather to express their colonial status also in linguistic terms which was commom among colonizer and colonized at the time. However, Laos is supposed to be less touristy, more authentic, more backwards, poorer and more laid-back than Thailand. Though the cultural ties to the latter are supposed to be obvious everywhere. The country does not have a sea-cost but many rivers (e.g. the Mekong River) and lakes. So I'm curious for more adventure in the nature. Laos was also severly bombed by the Americans during the Vietnam war (more tons of bombs than then the entire amount of bombs thrown over Europe during WWII!! as the tourist-guide says!!))because the Vietkongs hided in the area to the Vietnam boarder. Tonight 7.00 pm. I'll catch the bus. I'm travelling with my latest companion Tomer, another Israeli (don't seem to get rid of them:-))) I don't know how cheap and easy to access an internet connection is over there so be prepared for only random contact to me and late update of my blog.
Bye.
Mischo.

Beautiful Nepal

2006-11-17T11:41:00.000+05:30

Long time now see. I'm in Bangkok now and back to civilisation. I was for more than five weeks in Nepal and I've seen quite a bit in the meanwhile. After my intial week in its capital Kathmandu I decided spontanweously to do a riverrafting trip near Pokhara, the second-biggest city in Nepal. So, my three Israeli friends Dima, Ravit, Galia and myself took the bus to Pokhara from where the rafting trip started. Unfortunately I caught another food-poisoning which made me quite suffer during the rafting. But apart from my physical problems the trip was great. Well, the overwhelming Israeli majority on the trip was sometimes annoying as well: Hebrew, Hebrew, Hebrew and no other language got really on my nerves (and so it does still now:-)).
However, coming back I explored Pokhara and its sourroundings a bit by doing daily hikes and journeys. Pokhara is situated at the shore of a beautiful lake surrounded with fertile hills and mountains. The city itself is nothing special, the tourist area at the lakeside just a gathering of guesthouses and shops selling trekking gear (especially fake-northface stuff!!). Well, I took advantage of the cheap prices and bought some nice NORTHFACE items. After a couple of days I went off with Dima to do the Annapurna Sanctuary trek. Trekking in Nepal is overpriced, I can tell you, and the trekking industry is well established and organized. So forget taking your backpack and gear and start in a random village heading to the mountains. First you have to obtain an expensive permit at a travel agency for the particular area where you want to trek. Fruthermore, a new rule obliges the trekkers to hire a porter for the entire period of the trekkingtime. And on top of that, which is the worst, in case you went to a Maoist infiltered (or 'governed' as they call it themselves) area you have to pay to them a 'tourist fee' as well; an icredible amount of 100 Rupees a day (around 1.3 USD). This is a rip-off in a country where the monthly avarage income is around 2000 Reupees. However, we started the trek and already the second day we passed a checkpost of these primitive bastards. At the shabby hut next to the path a big sign welcomed us saying: "The People's Republic of Nepal welcomes you!" ( I have corrected the wrong spelling!!). A guy with a slimy smile invited us to the hut where we were supposed to pay the so called "tourist-tax". I informed him harshly that I would not enter the hut of a terrorist and all the less support them with money. So he called his boss or whatever this figure was supposed to be, a pathetic Rambo in Army-trousers and shirt. This figure asked me again and less friendly than the other monkey, to pay the tax. Again I informed him harshly that I would not pay nothing. He told me that I could not continue the trek then. I told him that I can do whatever I want to do and went on walking. They yelled at me in the back but ignored them. When I looked back I saw that Dima my trekking-companion and the porter were still talking to the 'brave' Moistist. Since my porter was carrying my rucksack I could not walk ahead without him. So I went back. The Rambo was yelling at the porter now who pleaded me that we should pay the fee or we could not continue our trek. Furiously I told him that we would go back then and he would lose his daily salary as well. And so we did. We went back the the previous village and stayed there for a night in a shabby basic guesthouse without electricity (at least it was for free!!). When I calmed down I argued with Dima on how we should proceed. Going back or continueing and paying the fee. It was not possible to ignore the Maoists with the porter. So we decided to continue and pay the minimal amount possible. And so we did. However, the trek was beautiful but a bit too touristy!! You won't trek for more than two hours without passing tourist settlements and hamlets full of guesthouses and restaurants serving Mexican food and wood-oven Pizza. The nature was stunning though. The trek medium-hard with some exhausting steep passages. The third day we reached the Annapurna basecamp surrounded by various 7000-8000 m high mountains of the Annapurna massive. Stunning!! After descending about to mid-way we turned West following another trekking-trail to Poon Hill from where, though of lower altitude, the views were most stunning over the Annapurna massive and the Dhaulagiri-massive. The contrast betweent the lower hill-areas with green and fertile vegetation and the 8000 m snow-peaked mountains are just amazing. And I'm glad I did it!! After the trek I chilled out a few days in Pokhara with my travelling-batch. We decided to go to the Chitwan National Park together, doing a jungle trip and watch some animals. It was mediocre, I must say. Again, hyper-touristy, the jungle just a forest, though we saw some crocodiles in the river, some rhinos from the back of an elephant, some deers, wild pigs and a flying peakock. After this trip we headed back to Kahtmandu awaiting my flight to Thailand and going for a short stop-over trip to Nagarkot, a beatiful chilled-out hill-station in the middle of wome pine-woods.
From Kathmandu I finally said good-bye to my friends had had travelled with for more than a month and headed to Bangkok where I am now at the moment.
The post gets too long so I'll continue later and give you the latest news about being 'BACK TO CIVILIZATION'!!
Tschuess.
Mischo.

Good Bye India - Welcome to Nepal

2006-10-21T13:04:00.000+05:30

Finally I left India!!!! Challo Pakistan, I can just say. One year I have spent in this country and I think I saw a lot. I tried hard to understand the Indian macro and micro cosmos and I think I got to know quite a bit by now. Working and living in this country was the basic to see India with a lot of its aspects, travelling rounded up my understanding. Under the line I can say the following: it was an amazing experience and I don't regret a single moment I have spent in this country BUT I definitely did not fall in love with it. I hate it and I like it but I don't love it. There is too much I cannot share with the values and the culture in this country. I think I have learned a lot about a different culture and also developed my own personality. This was my goal and intention before I came to Asia and this is what I have gained now. However, I have left the country and I am glad about it.
One year I am away from home and I have moments when I really miss Zurich and my life there. I feel that after this big trip time has come to go back and settle for a while, again something I have found out only here. However, the trip continues!! I am in Kathmandu right now, the capital of Nepal on an altitude of around 1400 m/a/s. The wheather is sh**t. Raining, clowdy and quite cold. I have to get used to this wheather change after more than a month in the tropical and subtropical zone of Rajasthan, Delhi and Varanasi, my last destinations in India. Maja returned back to Switzerland after we visited together Pushkar, Jodhpur (as mentioned in my last post!), Jaisalmer - where I did an amazing camel safari trip -, Udaipur at the Lake Pichola (one of the quietest cities I have seen in India!) and finally Jaipur (horrible city!) before we went back to Delhi. On the same day when we arrived Maja took the flight back to Zurich and I stayed another two days at the comfortable 'upper-class-apartment' of our new 'friend' Upendra or also called Mr. President (as he claims one to be:-)) However, on the 11th October I headed to Varanasi, one of the holiest places of the Hinduism Religion. It is located at the holy Ganges river. The place is, as so many or let's say almost every Indian city, a big mess, horribly dirty, full of cows, street dogs and other vermins. But the place is one of the only ones I have seen in India where there are some different energies. There is something mystic around this place. The Hindus believe that if they will be cremated in Varanasi they can outbreak the cyclus of rebirth and get directly to the Nirvana. Furthermore a bath in the holy river whashes away your sins so it also serves a method to purify yourself. The city is spread along one side of the Ganges shore and countless ghats serve as places where people whash and bathe. But again, the river is just a horrible polluted brown cloake. The Indians don't seem to care like everywhere in the country. They bathe next to the water buffalos in the middle of downstreaming rubbish. Some of the ghats are calles 'burning ghats' where 24 hours a day dead bodies enwrapped in red-golden 'death-sheets' are burnt on piles of wood. The corpses are carried on bamboo stretchers by Untouchables (the lowest caste within the Hindu hierarchy!) down to the river. The Untouchables continuously chant a prayer in doing so, dip the corpses in the water of the river and finally put the body on the piles of wood before one of the relatives lights the fire. The 'fire-ghats' are overcrowded with poeple (only males of course!) and bodies are carried down to the place continuously. The pyres are located anywhere on the ghat, chaotically arranged and the burnig processes in different stages. Some of the bodies don't really burn so you just see shrivelled and sore corpses sometimes lying in strange positions in the glowing wooden branches. People and animals are crowding the place which is - again - horribly dirty, full of rubbish, wooden branches and ashes. When the corpses don't burn, the Untouchables rearrange them with long sticks place them on a hotter spot in the pyre, smash the bones, the skulls and in consequence expose parts like the brain or other limbs and organs which are not burnt yet. I must admit, the first time I saw it, I was just shocked and also disgusted. The entire ceremony is held - to my western eyes - without any dignity, something which I missed so often in India. On top of that, when you go and watch this spectacle from a spot at the ghat which is supposed to be reserved for non-Hindu visitors, you are - again like everywhere in India - penetrated by Indians who claim not to beg (because this is a holy place!) but try to get money from you, telling you made-up stories about poor poeple you would support to buy the very expensive wood for the pyres or to support hospices where old poeple come stay in order to wait to die. When you refuse to give money they become rude and tell you to leave. Even on this 'most holy place' where people are cremated, the Indians just try to rip you off, to cheat you, simply try to get the piss out off you. For me it seems just the way I have experienced India countless times. To me it lacks the dignity, the culture, the respect for anything. So finally I have ended my trip at the place where the Hindu Indians want to die. Varanasi, a grotesque, a macabre and still mystic place.
On the last day befor my visa expired - who would have thought me to stay that long:-)) - I took the bus to the Nepali boarder. In the touris bus I mingled up with some funny poeple from Poland and Israel who also were on their way to Kathmandu. After a too long travel of 12 hours we finally arrived at the boarder point at Sunauli. It looked like a boarder point in the middle age in Europe. There was no electricity at all. Some random Indians, not even dressed in uniforms (which usually is so important in India) were seated at tables, smoking, eating their Chapatti, chatting and doing nothing. This place, the 'Immigration Office', was only lit by two candles. We had - of course - to fill in another useless form and I finally got the Emmigration Stamp! We walked further to the Nepali boarder. The place looked like anywhere in India, full of poeple, lingering around, stables with food for sale, playing children; in short, just a big chaos. On the Nepali side we moved into a shabby and dirty guesthouse where we stayed one night. The next day we were supposed to leave in the morning but as soon as we installed ourselves in the local bus we were in formed that the bus would not leave because the Maoists had declared a strike for the entire day. Consequently we had to stay another night in this horrible place we were so eager to leave. Lucky us, the group of us were a real good batch and we kind of enjoyed staying there together in this horrible place. It had the slight feeling of a scout camp. 6 of us shared a big room and we enjoyed the cheap beer and good food in the next-door restaurant. The next morning we finally left to Kathmandu and here I am still. Nepal is definitely better than India. I have approached one step further back into civilisation. Kathmandu is very touristy which I appreciate. The city has good shops, bars, clubs, restaurants where excellent steaks are served, you get cheap alcohol and toiletpaper. In spite of the overwhelming poverty, poeple and country are cleaner and more organised. The waiters in the restaurants can read and write, they can remember two things at once, you don't have to repeat yourself 5 times for every request, and you don't have to wait for hours to get your food. There's less hassles in the streets. The Nepalis understand the word 'NO' as no and don't penetrate you continuously. The place is more or less the same expensive like India but you get more quality for everything. After one year India you really appreciate such things and I am glad I am here. I'm planning to do a alternative trek in the Himalaya with an Israeli travelling-comrade. Well, welcome to Nepal, I can just say.
Cheers.
m.

Rajasthan and a Funny Wedding

2006-09-25T14:12:00.000+05:30

I'm in the middle of Rajasthan, in Jodhpur, known as the Blue City. Maja from Zurich arrived in Delhi about a week ago where I picked her up and now we are travelling together. Delhi was quite interesting and funny. With my couchsurfing-friend Deb we went to a very un-Indian modern and highly sophisticated cultural center called Indian Habitat Center where we visited an exhibition of an Indian experimental photographer. The 'scene' there was chic and looked cosmopolitan:-) we even met the artist and he -of course!- felt very honoured to have 'guests' from Europe (the privilege of white skin and western origin in this country - well... at least one privilege in contrast to being ripped off and cheated everywhere!!!). However, we suddenly were approached by an Indian who talked Swiss-German. We couldn't believe it. He was married to a Swiss woman and lived there for a while. So her learned the language. He has two kids in CH and goes there every now and then doing some 'business' as he says. He invited us to join a party at his place after the exhibition so we happily accepted his invitation. His place was 'de luxe' as expected. He proudly showed us around in his marble-floored roof-top apartment and served us the best Whiskey, Swiss Cheese, Italian Pasta (really Italian!!!), Salad with Olive Oil and Balsamico (things I'm dying for here in India!!!). However, it was worth to go there for the food at least:-)
The next day we headed to Pushkar, a popular traveller's hang-out about 6 hours from Delhi. The surrounding is already desert-like but also reminded me on mediterranean regions. The place was very nice and very Hippie-touristy with a lot of shops, German bakeries and chilling restaurants. We rented a motorbike and went on a short trip to the beautiful surrounding area. In a small village finally our motorbike got some problems wo we had to stop. We decided to take a short break when suddenly a car with some westerners passed by and stopped about 50 meters before us. They entered the door to a house so we thought it might be a restaurant or something like that. One western woman was dressed up in a sari and she was greeted by a lot of Indians inside the house. The whole thing revealed to be a wedding between this western -woman and an Indian. I asked where she's from and she said she's form the CZECH REPUBLIC!!! I couldn't believe it. When I started to talk to her in Czech she was very amazed and happy that she could talk in her mother tongue at this very important day (none of her relatives and neither her friends were there) so we were almost forced to join the wedding. An Indian wedding ceremony lasts several days with the last one as the most important one. We arrived at the second last one which I was actually quite happy about since I know how long-lasting and (almost) boring these wedding ceremonies can be. However, after having been invited to several Indian weddings in Bangalore and still not having joined a single one, this was the great opportunty; a Indian-Rajasthani wedding with a Czech bride. Fantastic!! However, the wedding turned out slightly tragic since Lenka (the bride) was in a very, very, very bad mood at the last and so important day; she refused to get dressed up properly, wearing the traditional jewellery and then she finally fainted when she was supposed to march out of the temple after the religious ceremony. Her new husband had to carry her home where she went to sleep and did not turn up anymore until the party was over. Yes, things happen:-) Yesterday we went ahead to Jodhpur where we are right now. The place is - or better- could be a jewel in India. The old city is interspersed with blue oriental buildings full of carvings and paintings. But the city is a mess! Definitely one of the dirtiest, if not the dirtiest place I have seen so far in India (and everyone who's been here knows how dirty India is!!!) The second malus-point are the poeple: hassles everywhere. Poeple penetrate you every ten meters trying to sell you every sh.. possible. And if you ignore them they can be rude and naughty; something I've never seen anywhere else in India. All the more, the cows are aggressive!! I was attacked by one twice today!! The first time of such an unpleasant confrontation with this animal after almost a year in this country of the holy cow. However, since I'm quite into architecture, the beauty of the architctural style compensates a lot. But poor Maja!!! So far she's mor suffering than enjoying. Yesterday she went ill (standard here as well, of course) and stays at the guest-house right now. She goes through the classic India-adjustment phase. Well, I know what she feels like and I try my best to cheer her up and cure her as soon as possible again.
So far so good. Next destination will be Jaisalmer, close to the Pakistani boarder with lots of camel-safaris. So more adventures are about to come.
cheers.
m i s c h o

Back to "India"

2006-09-19T10:55:00.000+05:30

After almost 3 months in the Himalaya I am finally "back to India" again. Yesterday I arrived in Delhi and it's hot and humid, I am constantly sweaty and oily and my face starts to turn into a pizza. However, a week a ago I was still in Dharamsala - where I wrote my last post - where I attended some excellent Yoga courses. Furthermore, I visited Gyamay, the Tibetan refugee child my parents support. He lives in a SOS children's village close to Bir, around 50 km from Dharamsala (which takes 3 hours by bus - this is standard in India!!!). The visit was really touching and very interesting. It gave me an insight not only into Tibetan exile community life but it also gave me an idea what it means to support a child and therefore have a direct positive impact on the future and perspectives of a another human being. I was definitely very impressed by the dynamics and the organization of the village and the institution. Gyamay's carer Niyma granted me excellent hospitability and was almost sad to leave tha place again. However, back to Dharmasal I packed my things and left the day after. The place is nice for trekking, doing courses in Yoga, meditation, cooking etc. but it's alsways raining which can become quite annoying. The dry season starts only in October. So yesterday I stopped over in Amritsar, the capital of the state of Punjab where the Sikhs come from (the non Hindu-turban Indians!). And after 3 months break (verschnaufpause!!), suddenly, it felt like India again. The main attraction of Amritsar is its Golden Tempel, the holiest site of the Sikh-religion and I must say it really was spectacular. The scene is very exciting; white marble floors and buildings the holy pond and in the middle of it, on a tiny island the ornated, golden main-temple-building, shiny and sparkling in the sun. Moreover the hundreds of Sikh pilgrims, most of them wearing orange or blue turbans gives another colorfoul contrast to the picture. Another exciting part of my visit was the overnight stay in the pilgrims dormitory quarter within the temple complex. There are special rooms for foreigners, guarded by some turbaned bulldoggy Sikhs for that no 'locals' will enter this seperated area. the rooms are shabby and dull, full of mice and cockroaches, but there was this certain exciting atmosphere in the air and there are people staying from all over the world, all sharing and sleeping in one big room; so I kind of enjoyed it. Yesterday night I arrived in Delhi. I am staying at a couchsurfing-accomodation. I'm a bit in the outskirts but it's ok for now. Maja from Switzerland will arrive tonight at the airport and then we will plan our trip, presumably to Rajasthan.
So for now,
cheers.

still on the road

2006-09-10T18:22:00.000+05:30

It's time for a new post after such a long time of absence. One of the reasons for my lat update were the very high charges for the use of the internet in Leh. However, what have I done the last few weeks??? After the Vipassana course I went on a 5-days homestay-trek from Spituk to Chilling, climbing a 4800m pass, with two guys from the Vipassana course, South-African Korver and Swedish Nadim. Jorrit headed down south, finally, after being my travelling-buddy for more than a month. Well, I'm used to saying goodbye in the meanwhile. However, the homestay trek was gorgeous. We trekked around 5 to 6 hours a day and stayed in little settlements in the mountains with private families. It gave me a very interesting insight into Ladakhi life. The trek was just perfect, not too hard and not too easy. On the trek we met Austrian Karlo and English Bec with whom we trekked the last two days until we reached our final target, Chilling. After returning to flooded Leh -it had rained for days like never before in the Ladakh- Karlo, Bec and me decided to do a meditation week-end retreat in Stok, close to Leh. But after spending the first night there in damp-wet tents the retreat was cancelled because Stok was going to be flooded as well - the rain had not stopped yet. However, we had to spend the following 4 or 5 days with doing dayly trips to the neighbouring villages, visiting countless gompas and doing small hikes. Bigger treks and other trips were impossible because of the floods which blocked various important connecting roads within the Ladakh. The following week the wheather calmed down a bit and we decided to do a motorbike tour to the Nubra Valley which is the most northern part of India, very close to the Pakistani and Chinese boarder. Well, about 30 km off the boarder line is military area and not accessible for tourists. However, I had never ridden a big motorbike before and it was quite a challenge because the road led over the highest motorable pass in the world, the Kardung La which is 5800 m/a/s. After a short introduction on riding a motorbike we - Bec, Karlo, Texan Mark and QQ (Quebecan Marc) and myself- headed up north. The road up to the pass was definitely a challenge because the road is very often not paved and partly washed away by streams or landslides. But we did it!! On the pass it started snowing and hailing. So we stopped at the first settlement down to the Nubra valley because we were all soaked and freezing. So we arrived in Kardung. The place consists of not more than 10 houses and some shabby tents the roadworkers use as their accomodation. And there was only ONE guesthouse which does not even deserve to be called so. The building seemed to have been under construction sometimes but in the meanwhile was abandoned. The ceilings were all leaking and the matresses were soaked. There was no restaurant but only a shabby tea stall where Maggi noodles were the only dish they sold. However, we survived and headed further to Diskit, the administrative center of the Nubra Valley. The ride became very nice and the valley revealed its famous sand-dunes. The views were stunning. The landscape is a mixture between snow-paeked-mountains, the Sahara desert and a green fertile belt of green vegetation with an icy stream flowing through. We also viewed some wild Camels living up there in this isolated valley. Alltogether we spent one week in Nubra and then returned back to Leh. The damages of the floods were still not repaired yet and there was only electricity every 2nd day for 3 hours in the evening between 8 and 11 pm. Indian efficiency:-) But after this long trip I felt that I was done with the Ladakh. It was time to continue my trip soon. Before leaving I still wanted to see the two salt-water lakes Tso Moriri and Tso Kar close to the Chinese boarder so Bec, Karlo and myself joined a Spanish couple renting a jeep and going on a 3 days trip to see these lakes. Tso Moriri was nice but not really mind-blowing but Tso Kar was stunning. Unfortunately the wheather was quite bad again. Back to Leh I decided to join Bec in going via Kashmere to Dharamsala and Mc Leod Ganj. Finally I left Leh and headed east. We stayed overnight in Lamayuru -another Gompa- and headed further to Kargil at the boarder from the region of Ladakh to the region of Kashmere. And again we got stucked because some landslides had blocked the road to Srinagar, the capital of Kashmere. So we had to spend three nights in Kargil, a quite poor but kind of exotic place in the Ladakh. The population is already muslim and ethnically and culturally they belong to the region of Baltistan which is now split up between Pakistan and India. Lots of local families have relatives in Pakistan. It already felt like Central Asia there and not like the Ladakh or India. However, the third night the bus finally left and we went on towards Srinagar. We arrived in the morning. Srinagar was not the way I have imagined it at all. From the media I figured up a quite negative picture of this region. Kashmere is more developped than most of the regions I have seen in India so far. Whether this is due to governemental support or the flow of money from exiled Kashmeris I cannot say. However, it does not really feel like India and the cultural ties to central Asia and the Persian roots of the population are obvious. The climate is comparable to the most southern part of Switzerland, the Ticino. The wheather is mild with a lot of sunny days, though not hot and the land is very fertile.
Bec and me did the traditional tourist attraction, we rented a houseboat. Houseboats were formerly introduced by the British colonialists and ever since exist and are rented out to tourists. Our houseboat was just great and since there are only few tourists right now in Kashmere, the prices were almost ridiculous. So we enjoyed a british-upper-class-sophisticated-colonial holiday on this gorgeous boat. after 5 days we eventually decided to leave. But again, we got stucked because the road to Jammu was closed because of landslides and floods. However, I was not too sad to stay since our accomodation was more than comfortable. After another four nights the bus finally left and we headed via Jammu to Dharamsala and Mc Leod Ganj where I am now. The place is nice, very Tibetan (biggest refugee community in India because the Dalai Lama lives here!!) but permanently enwrapped in a cloud. The monsoon has not left yet so the place is veeeery wet. However, that's the update for the las few weeks and I'll upload pics as soon as possible.
Cheers.
M.

Vipassana

2006-07-26T18:59:00.000+05:30

10 days Meditation. 10 days holding the noble silence. It was definitely a unique experience and it was a lot of suffering. basic conditions, no running water, no electricity, maintaining a dayly program from 4.30 am. till 9.30 pm. learning meditiation and not changing your position for hours... it was hard-core, I can tell you. To get used to the basic conditions was the easyest, maintaining the strict discipline was a bit more difficult, the physical pain of the hourly-long sitting in the same position was already quite a task. The tiredness and the hunger - we got only two meals and a snack a day - was hard to sustain. But the biggest challenge was definitely the confrontation with your own mind. The experiences varied widely but for most of us students it was a confrontation with your inner self, with memories, problems, complexes, plans, whishes, dreams, just with anything stored in your mind, consciously or subconsciously, positive or negative, just everything popped up, appeared, disappeared again. My mood changed up and down. I suffered and enjoyed moments of cheerfullness. The tiredness was overwhelming very often and I could not really concentrate on the meditation technique but instead my mind was full of pictures, memories, problems, dreams, it was a purification of mind and soul. It really was. But it was not a complete purification, no, just a first step on learning how to become balanced and on how to improve your living quality. I can recommend it to everyone.
We were a student group of about 30 persons, about 5 of them left earlier. the age of the poeple ranged from 20 to 64 and they came from places like Switzerland (biggest group, how amazing - we overrode the Israelis), Israel, Germany, Italy, France, Sweden, South-Africa, England, Australia, Holland and Finland. So mainly western-european but a wide range of different ages.
Still, we could not talk to each other anyway. The first word I uttered after the noble silence was broken??? I was really insecure and was thinking who I should talk to, what I should say... well, suddenly Jorrit my travelling companion stood besides me and started talking to me and I just laughed and laughed. Well, this has also something to do with the common humour Jorrit and me developped after weeks and week of travelling together. It happened very often during the ten days that I looked at his face and almost broke out into laughter because the whole situation just seemed so absurd to me. All these people around me with suffering faces, over-tired and starving, everyone tortured with his inner turmoile. Everyone, including me -excluding Jorrit- suffered like hell. But there were outbursts of overwhelming joy and cheerfullness and I was just happy with everything. For me, the tiredness and the hunger was worst. Apart from that I could handle it and I will definitely continue this technique and try to become harmonic:-)
So, harmony to you all.
Cheers.
Misho.

beautiful ladakh

2006-07-11T11:51:00.000+05:30

after more than 10 days retrieving from the rest of the world I finally arrived in Leh in the region of Ladakh, one of the most beautiful places I've ever been to in India. The scenery is a mixture of the desert of Negev in Israel and the Sierra Nevada in Spain with the only difference that the valley is surrounded by high peaks of snow-overed mountains in the background which makes it a stunning contrast. Before I came here to this wonderful place I spent a week in the SPITI and the PIN valley in Himachal Pradesh, two isolated valleys close to the Tibetan boarder. The local population belongs ethnically to the Tibetan culture so it doesn's really feel like India anymore. The same is the case here in Ladakh. Spiti and Pin valley were a good preparation of getting used to the altitude of around 4000 m. The alleys are all vast and poor of vegetation but the colours of the rocks, the shapes and features are just amazing and differ from valley to valley. The Spiti and Pin valley have just been discovered as a tourist destination so there is a lot of construction going on but the atmosphere of being in the middle of nowhere still persists. In the Pin valley we stayed in Mudh, the last village in the valley where we stayed under absolutely basic conditions. It was a pure adventure. The second day we visited a GOMPA where a festival was held dedicated to the birthday of the Dalai Lamah. Again, the cultural ties to Tibet were obvious in the dances and the chanting of the monks. It was just amazing.
I am still travelling with Dutch Jorrit and we just left our Israeli companions when we left Spiti Valley for heading up to Ladakh. On the way here we met another Dutch and a Swede whom we are now exploring the town of Leh with. Yesterday I have signed up for a meditations course called Vipassana which will take place in a little village about 50 km from here out in the middle of nowhere. During 10 days we will be isolated from the outer world, live under basic conditions with no running water and no electricity, getting up every day at 4.00 am. doing meditation for 12 hours, having only 3 meals a day and holding the so called NOBLE SILENCE. This means that I will not be allowed to speak for 10 days. Everyone who knows how talkative I am can imagine how hard this will be for me. But it will be definitely a challenge and I am looking forward to it.
The internet here is horribly expensive so I make it short now. So think of me between the 15th and the 25th July when I will be absorbed from any civilization and purify my brain and soul.
Spiritual wishes.
mischo.

First impressions of the Himalaya

2006-06-28T14:43:00.000+05:30

And finally Himalaya. Already a week I am lingering around in the lower Himalaya area. The trip from LONAVALA was quite exhausting and very long: With the public bus to Mumbai; horrible suburban train ride to the airport; in the airplane I met Dutch Jorrit who spontaneously decided to join me travelling to the North; in Delhi we took the night train to Kalka meeting my Russian friend Anna Libkhen with her Russian friend Ellen and 3 Austrian guys; arriving in Kalka at 5.00 am and changing to a bus to go up to Shimla (capital of the State of Himachal Pradesh); arriving there at 8.30 am.; Breakfast ; then spontaneous decision to continue our trip on the same day to Naggar in the Kullu Valley with a hired jeep; finally arrived in this nice little village after 36h ouf travelling. In Naggar we stayed 3 nights recovering from this very exhausting trip and getting used to the altitude of 2000 meters above sea level. The scenery is beautiful here and reminds me a lot on some areas in the Swiss mountains. Even though we are on 2000 meters, we are still in the lower areas of the Himalaya but we can see the snow covered peaks of some higher mountains already. Poeple are nicer here than in the south and it is slightly more organized and cleaner (though only slightly!!). Tibet and Nepal are close which is visible in the a lot of the customs here. Though still mainly hinduistic, buddhism is sensible much more than in the south; the culture is 'quiter' and less chaotic; the traditional clothes look more Tibetan; the architecture is 'wooden-mountain-rural'! The physical appereances of the local population is on avarage already quite 'Asian-looking'. I must say, I appreciate poeple here more than in the South of India and I am eager and curious to go still further up.
However, after three nights we moved further up to VASHISHT which is just 2 km away from the very touristic place MANALI. Anna Libhken and her gang rushed further already, up to Leh, whereas Jorrit and myself decided to move on in a lower pace and enjoy this lovely littel valley a bit longer. We are here 3 nights already, doing some hiking, breathing in the atmosphere of this mountaineous-rural-indian scenery, being cheered by the Hippie-israeli-scene here (you are definitely an outsider when you don't wear either dread-locks, Batik-clothes or red-dyed hair; being stoned from dusk till dawn is standard of course!!!) . Anyway, the groove here is 'shanti', the official language Hebrew and Humus and Fallafel are standard-meals in every restaurant. I must say, I have arrived in another world here. Traveller's groove and feeling; suddenly India can be also nice at once. But it's definitely not India, that's the point. This is a traveller's bubble of fake Indian spirituality and real hedonism. Anyway, I must say, why not??? for a certain time it can be certainly relaxing. But in the long run, definitely not my thing. So we are in Vashist right now, Jorrit and me, and we met some nice young Israeli girls whom we intend to travel with, more concretely, to go to the SPITI valley for a few days which ethically belongs to Tibet and which is on an altitude over 3000 meters above sealevel. Sounds exciting.
Vashisht itself is a mixture between Hippie-resort and rural Himachalian mountain-farmer village with a hot well. This well is really nice since there is public bath in the center of the village fed with hot water by this well (or better; a small basin) where all the local Indians take their dayly (or rather weekly) bath in public; women haver their own bath which is seperated and protected by walls against lecherous male looks. Every night at 11.30 pm the water is changed so also westerners dare to enjoy the pleasures of this relieving public Indian spa. Yes, finally travelling and - as I said - another world which I so eagerly waited for.
Cheers.
Misho.

LONAVLA

2006-06-19T18:56:00.000+05:30

where the hell is that??? long time not updated, I know, but right now I'm just a bit rushing around and the internet connections are not always available or not efficient (wie alles hier in Indien). ok, right now I am am Arsch der Welt in a little town between Mumbai and Pune. Actually I don't really know why I am here... I wanted to escape from the heats of Mumbai until I have my flight on Wednesday, so I went to Pune where I heard there is a pop-ashram with a guru who thinks that meditation, luxury and sex are ways on how to find harmony, your inner self and -least but not last - unison with the cosmos. Imagine how many followers he has:-) Well, the place is called OSHO MEDITATION RESORT. There is a small bookshop where he sells expensive books, you can also go on a short guided tour (which I could not because I left Pune after only one horrible night in a horrible guest-house). Anyway, there were a lot of poeple walking around in white and maroon robes, looking (I must admit) quite relaxed and satisfied (in contrast to some poeple in Auroville (which is not really an Ashram, but something similar). Well, maybe it was only a superficial impression or maybe these poeple have really found what they were looking for in life. The guesthouses were all very expensive and the one where I spent last night was one of the worse ones I have seen so far in India (and believe me, there are a lot of worse and worst accomodations here in this country).
now, just a short update since my last post; after pondicherry I went to Chidambaram, a small very ugly, filthy, typical southern Indian town with a huge temple (dedicated to Shiva; and quite impressive); then Trichy where I only saw the ROCK TEMPLE and not the biggest temple in the south of India; Trichy has a surprisingly efficient bus-service; then KODAIKANAL, a beautiful hill-station where I met Abbi; spent 4 days there and did some trekking; the longest one was 22 km downhill through the forest with an overpaid guide who introduced us some jungle-flora (first time I've seen an Avocado Tree, Coffee Tree and Cardamon Tree...!!). Well after this track which was rounded up with a horrible bus ride back to KODAI (3 hours standing in a jampacked bus; yes exactly like the pics in tv-documentaries on India! poeple squeezing in and out the bus-door at the same time; poeple fainting in the bus; poeple throwing-up in and out the bus-window.... experience India!!! that's the way India is, yep. ) Trekking in KODAIKANAL. I couldn't walk the next two days:-) Well, the place itself is beautiful, not the town though, just nature, the surroundings (it's on 2100 meters above sealevel). It's better than Ooty which was very nice too; then back to B'lore, watching Switzerland-France on my last night there (0-0, noed schlaecht; hopp schwiiz). then, finally I left Bangalore forever - or never say never -... felt a bit melanchonlic, I must admit, but not because of the city, just because of the experiences I made, simply the life I had there; then Mumbai with Nina; the first real city I've seen in India; at least the center was urban!! - alles von den Englaendern gebaut. also nicht wirklich indisch - we did some sight-seeing, visited some very good restaurants and went out one night, which was interesting; schicki-micki Indian szenis; top gestylte chicas und chicos die mit ihren stoeckelschuhen und markenkleidern ueber die auf dem gehsteig pennenden bettler steigen vor dem club; echt dekadent und wieder mal soooo bezeichnend fuer die hiesige mentalitaet; then Pune as mentioned above. I must say, Pune is definitely better than Bangalore. There is something which gives it a certain charactere. The town is very green and the infrastructure not that bad; Now, Lonavla.... close to here are rock-cut caves which are among the oldest and finest examples of Early Buddhist rock temple art in India (as Lonely Planet says!!) I'll visit them tomorrow. Wednesday flight to Delhi and then start-up heading north to the Himalaya.
Bis zum naechsten, hopp schwiiz
und gruss daheim. vermiss zueri maengisch scho chli.
Cheeers.
mi scho.

Pondicherry moncheri...

2006-06-05T13:08:00.000+05:30

...definitely a place worth to see. the old-city with a french mediterranean flair, untypically Indian (kind of) clean and organized, good restaurants all around... it was a great and relaxing week-end in spite of the almost unbearing heat. We were a bunch of people coming here (about 15 all together) and stayed in some reed-cottages at the beach of AUROVILLE. Very hippie-indian-travelling-like and definitely very charming. Now everyone left apart of myself and I am exploring the old city with my roller bike and try to get in to this travelling-freedom-feeling. Well, yesterday it felt kind of strange all of a sudden to be totally alone after being surrounded by so many poeple all the time, all the more because it is low-season here and in this small reed-cottage resort I was and am the only-lonely guest:-)well, the resort is owned and led by an Ukrainian mid-aged lady who seems to enjoy a more easy-going and confortable way of life here at the Bay of Bengal, worshipping THE MOTHER (like almost everyone here) and avoiding the beach in front of the resort (because of the STARING, STARING, STARING... of the male local visitors here; no further comment!!!).Now I must introduce you to THE MOTHER (I just visited her tomb before here in the city; she died 1973); THE icon of Pondicherry and founder of AUROVILLE, the community who lives here nearby, trying collectively to become in unison with the cosmos. Yesterday we went there for a visit; I must say, their credo is interesting and remarkable. unfortunately, it is not really possible to get in contact with the people living there. Only the visitor center, a documentery on a screen and some exhibitions reveal the philosophy and the living-style of the community. I imagined something like an Israelian Kibbutz, but it was different. The area where the people live is huge, and is covered with a planted forest. every kilometre on the road appears another house or community building behind the trees. And the standard is definitely 'Western'. Everything is clean and organized und trotz den vielen einheimischen Touristen keine Abfallberge am Wegrand. The place seems to be a Western Enclave and reminded me more on a better-class-resort than on a kibbutz. It was interesting to see it. Unfortunately the MATRIMANDIR = the soul of the community = a giant golden golfball in the center of the area is under construction and therefore not open to the public. well, we could see it from the outside (located in the middle of artificial island) and took a few pictures. The MATRIMANDIR contains a huge cristal which has the function of an altar or somehting like that. The inhabitants of AUROVILLE visit this building for the sake of meditation. They appereantly don't worship anything there in contrast to the tomb of THE MOTHER and SRI AUROBINDO (her Indian Guru Companion - also in the tomb!!!); here, the visitors (I saw only Indians) fall on their knees and pray silently: SILENTLY!!!! this way of praying is definitely imported from France, where THE MOTHER comes from (even though she is of Egyptian-Turkish origin; well she claimed to be not from this planet anyway). Yes, Pondicherry moncheri; AUROVILLE; THE MOTHER; THE MATRIMANDIR; SRI AUROBINDO.... interesting to see and watch and observe. I think I'll stay another day and then try to get to the mountains again to flee the terrible humid heat here. Still, Pondicherry is a highlight in the South of India.
Au revoir.
Mi scho.

After work

2006-05-31T13:06:00.000+05:30

sorry, sorry for not updating. Well, I have finished my traineeship and the last day was not really satisfactory. I had an argue with my boss on the reference letter I was supposed to write myself (how absurd). Well, the discussion ended up very emotionally, my boss shouting at me and losing his temper. It shows again how different working culture in India is from the West; never question authorities!!! However, I am in the midst of my preperations for travelling. I will remain for another 10 days in the south. on the 14th I'll fly to Mumbai and a week later to Delhi to head off for the Himalaya. I am pretty glad to leave Bangalore even though I'm sad to leave many new friends behind. The social life was definitely wonderful here. But I never really liked the city. So, this friday I'll head for Pondicherry, a former French colony-enclave. I also want to visit the Ashram of Auroville there which is a community, founded in the sixties. The international community of Auroville (60% non-Indians from countries all over the world) share an Ideology which is a mix between a communistic and spiritual credo. I imagine something like a spiritual Israeli Kibbutz. I'll see. After Pondicherry and Auroville I want to go to the mountains (Whestern Ghats) again. I have not made up my mind yet where exactly I want to go. I have only one week left then, and the mountain area is huge. Next weekend I plan to go to Madikeri in the region of Coorgh. The population there is suppose to be descendents of Persians who fled the islamic invasion a few hundred years ago. One of my collegues at my work was from the region and she definitely seemed different to me than a classic southern-Indian. She also seemed proud of that:-) Anyway, after Coorgh I will come back to B'lore again for one or two nights and then fly to Mumbai. Exciting it sounds, yeah. But travel-preparation can be very exhausting too.
Otherwise.... the monsoon has started in the south-west, the weather here in B'lore is cloudy and cool (around 25 degrees). Very comfortable for a tropical region like here. Pondicherry will be around 40 degrees and horribly humid so I enjoy my last days here or at least the climated....
Cheers.
mi scho.

Two more weeks...

2006-05-12T16:16:00.000+05:30

Two more weeks with Pharmarc and I'll be off. Off for an experience of freedom:-) Soon afterwards my big travel-period starts. How exciting. To be honest, I cannot really make myself an idea what it will be like to be 'on the road'. I got so used to Bangalore, in spite of all the things I don't like here... anyway, I guess and hope it's gonna be another very interesting period. I will see India again from a different perspective I guess. Probably a more superficial one. However, I want to concentrate on all the things which are quite unique here: trekking in the Himalaya, doing meditation and yoga in an Ashram or wherever; I would love to cross the boarder to Tibet. Well, there's a lot to do and I want to enjoy the time without commitments and constraints as good as possible... how exciting.

Hyderabad

2006-05-10T15:55:00.000+05:30

Was in Hyderabad last week-end, the capital of the state of Andhra Pradesh. Since some of my trainee-friends used to work there for some time they are still in contact with the Hyderabadian trainees. Well, the latter organized a party last week-end which I took as an opportunity to join a big group of about 14 people from Bangalore to visit this not really touristic city. Hyderabad has a sizeable percentage of Muslim population which is definitely visible in the streets where a lot of women wear tchadors. The picture of the city is characterized by many mosques. Poeple there are less familiar with westerners and therefore the typical Indian 'staring' is more intense than e.g. in Bangalore. But still, poeple there seemed to me more curious than eager to rip you off or sell you everything every 5 meters which is more common at touristic places. Anyway, what astonished me most was the very intact and well-done infrastructure in the center which gave the city a hint of an 'urban' character -something I really miss in Bangalore-. All the more did the well maintained roads surprise me because my trainee friends knowing Hyderabad told me that the city is far worse than Bangalore regarding rubbish and infrastructure. But; well-built roads, no cows, hardly any rubbish bunches and street-dogs. The reason for this: Sonja Gandhi honoured the city with a short official visit about 4 months ago. Thus, the entire center was renovated, cleanded and made-up within 2 months. Wow, und das in Indien, wo doch immer alles sooooo mega langsam geht. Sie koennen, eben doch... wenn sie nur wollen:-) However, the only sight-seeing I did was visiting Hyderabad's principal landmark Charminar mosque, which we did not enter because - once again- white-skinned people were supposed to pay 100 Rupees whereas for Indians it was only 5. Poeple who visited it told me that besided a nice-looking ceiling there was nothing else to see inside anyway. Well, after lingering around in the old city we went to our guest-house where we definitely needed a nap (night-train sleep is never really recreative). In the evening the party started. Well, it was interesting to meet a few new poeple... sonst halt, wie immer trainee-parties... next day we decided to visit the Golconda Fort which was in the outskirts of the city. I was terribly tired and not in the best mood. All the more our seats for our return train-trip were not confirmed. So we were not even sure whether we would be able to sit not to mention to sleep on the way back. The fort was really huge and quite impressive with a very nice view on the entire city of Hyderabad. The wheather was extremely hot and made my condition even worse but it was nice to see the fort, still. When we arrived at the train station, suddenly our seats were confirmed which was a big relief. I even slept quite well because I was definitely almost 'delapidated' (I know, not proper English; it's an insider:-)) after this week-end. Well, I must say, it was nice to see another big city which is said to be competing with Bangalore. Cyberabad with the nice roads, no cows, street-dogs und kein abfall auf den strassen:-)
cheers.

Hampi, zum zweiten

2006-05-04T12:50:00.000+05:30

Yep, I was in Hampi again. Definitely one of the best places here in the south and a MUST for every South-India traveller. Since it was a long week-end with the 1st May on Monday, every Bus and every train was packed full and no seat available on any public transport system leaving Bangalore. Thus, a group of German girls rented a car and a driver and invited anyone to join them untill the car would be full. Well, I had been to Hampi before but I would always go there again because the place is simply awesome. 3.00 am we left Bangalore and started the very shaky and terribly uncomfortable road trip (das indische Strassennetz ist natuerlich genauso katastrophal wie die Infrastruktur in den Staedten). To fall asleep in the bus was simply a matter of impossibility. Exhausted and overtired we arrived in Hampi at noon. After lodging in at Hampi-tradition 'Shanthi Guesthouse' we headed directly to Hampi-tradition 'Mango Tree Restaurant' in order to relax, recover and refresh. The sun was burning above the protecting Mango Tree, the air was flickering, insects were flying around our transpiring bodies, the view was inspiring and the river below looked seducing for a refreshing bath. So, some of us decided to look for a bathing-suitable spot between the reeds, rocks and rice fields to jump into the fresh water; and we found one. I must say, it was just....wonderful. The place was so untypical silent and peaceful; the river, the bizarre, round-cut rocks, the rice fields, just everything makes this place so special and almost corny. The next day we rented some bikes and drove around for some sight-seeing. Well, we didn't enter the highlight sights, the Vittala Temple and the Elephant stables since they cost 250 Rupees for foreigners. Indians pay merely 10 Rupees. Even though I am officially registered in this country and pay taxes, thus not supposed to pay the foreigner rate, they refused entrance for the Indian rate simply because I am WHITE. I was - once again - so upset after the discussion with the collector that I decided not to pay any entrance in this country anymore whenever I have to pay more than 20 times more than an Indian. It' s not only the amount of money but also the poor conditions of the sights which are almost never the price worth because they are neither well maintained nor are interesting background informations provided. Anyway, instead, we climbed up a rocky hill right next to the Vittala Temple from where we had an amazing view on the entire temple complex and also on the breath-taking surroundings. In the evening againg climbing, but this time on another hill with a temple on the top (like on so many hills around there) from where we wanted to watch the sun-set. Well, the sky was a bit cloudy and therefore not really mind-blowing. The third day, after break-fast (guess where... at Mango Tree of course!!!) some of us lingered upstream the Tungabhadra River, wandering through reed, jumping over rocks and stones, crossing small side channels of the river.... It was just awesome. Pure nature and SILENCE. Yes, Hampi pure, a great relief from chaotic and polluted Bangalore! In late afternoon, much too early, we had to head back home with our uncomfortabel bus and our only-Cannada-speaking, illiterate van-driver (he could not even read the side boards showing the way). Anyway, we arrived B'lore savely, relaxed and with regained strength to challange once againg with enthusiasm tha Bangalorian pace of life...
in diesem sinne,
auf ein naechstes!!!

Pooja

2006-04-10T16:07:00.000+05:30

A Pooja is generally a Hindu Prayer. It is worship to the Deities of the Hindu Religion in the form of prayer, offerings and sarcrifices. In India with its very religious population Poojas are very important. Well, interesting enough, we had a Pooja here in my new office space. Religious as the Indians are, everything (wether buildings, poeple or geographical spots) is blessed regularly in order to pray for good luck in the futer. Since the company is extending rapidly, two new office spaces are rented now and I have moved into one of them. Consequently, a Pooja was held for these new offices in order to ask the deities for continuous success and prosperity in the future. So, one day when I arrived, a young men in a traditional dress of a priest was preparing an altar on a table in one of the office rooms. He put statues of Hindu deities on the table and coverd them with flowers and colours. The rooms were filled with the odours of incences. Then suddenly everyone removed his shoes and went to this particular room. The priest started to pray. A prayer consists of a monotonuous, continuous reciting of Sanskrit verses (which nobody understands!!). Meanwhile he poured a liquid (I guess coconutwater or something like that) over the altar and fluttered around the incences in order to disperse the odour all around the place. Then he distributed rice corns and petals to every one. I must say I felt a bit out of place. Still I tried as good as possible to adapt to the local customs and follow the procedure and concentrate with the same serious concentration like my collegues on what was going on. Then, the priest walked around with the liquid and poured a few drops on every desk and computer in the office and he did the same with every person standing around in his or her socks. Finally, after holding the rice and petals in our hands for about 15 minutes and listening to the not understandable Sanskrit verses, one by one spread the these ingredients over the altar while praying and whishing whatever and again, being blessed by the priest. Again, I felt a bit out of place. But it was a nice and interesting experience. I find it remarkable that the Pooja was followed not only by my Hindu collegues but also by my Christian and Muslim collegues. Again, this incident represents the dynamic coexistence of the three religions (at least here in the south) I can and could observe very often. Thus, a toast on the Southern-Indian religious tolerance:-)

Cultural Gap

2006-04-03T14:18:00.000+05:30

ohooo, I just realized that our CNN documentary evoked a vivid discussion on the comment forum of the page. An Indian who calls himself DT, annoyed by some, no by only one statement made in the report (that there is rubbish in the streets), called us foreign losers who do not respect the space (whatever he means with that????) of our neighbours. He further comments that if he was our neighbour he would get us arrested for disturbing peace because, as he says, peace in India is more important than cleanliness. Well, I don't really want get too deep into this discussion since I don't want to be insultive to anyone but I cannot deny myself the following statement: I come from a country which is not only cleaner but also more peaceful than India! Anyway, let's leave this as a side comment. I would rather focus on the cultural gap which is the cause for Mr. DT's irritation if not to say confusion on our 'condescending appreciations'. So, let me explain: In India it is common to tell your addressee always only what he wants to hear (or at least what you think that he wants to hear). Consequently, an Indian always expects you to tell him what he wants to hear. As a result, the only thing you are allowed to say when you meet a random Indian is: I love India!!! Well, talking about the 'uncleanliness' as Mr. DT would call it, might be all the more a very sensitive subject because of the following reason: 'Clean' is a relative definition and highly dependent on cultural understanding. 'Clean' is defined and perceived differently in Switzerland than it is in Egypt, Namibia or in Japan. Therefore, when defining a hygienical standard in a different country you need to do this within the dimension of comparison. Thus, defining a place in India as 'unclean' in front of a random Indian is not only offending him because he wants you to say 'I love India' but also because on a probablility for 99% he has never been outside of India - if at all outside of his state, city or village- and hence will lack the cultural understanding of what 'clean' means for a non-Indian. In other words, with a probability of 99% Mr. DT has never been outside of India and consequently, does not know that there are cities in the world where there are no garbage bunches all over the place with cows eating it and that poeple from these 'cleaner' places will perceive a city like Bangalore as 'unclean'. Furthermore, does Mr. DT not understand that in some other places of the world people tend to tell each other rather what they think and not what their adressee wants to hear. So Mr. DT has been irritated twice and hence the verbal loss of his highly propagated Indian 'peacefulness' becomes more comprehensible. But for the moment, enough of 'cultural-understanding-explanations'. But, in order to remain 'peaceful' with my 'peaceful' Indian surroundings I prefer not to proclaim my blog-address to every 'random Indian' as you might understand now after this detailed analysis of a further aspect of the Indian cosmos.....

Robertson House on CNN India

2006-03-29T11:28:00.000+05:30

Thanks for your replies on my last post. By the way, if you want to make your comments public, press the link 'comment' on the end of every post, and write a comment on what I wrote. That makes a blog a blog and even more interesting to read. Make it 'interactive' - to express it in an up-to-date-jargon. übrigens könnt Ihr auch auf deutsch oder schwiizertüütsch schreiben. Nebo píšte český. Anyway. I will stick to English to make it understand for everyone around the globe.
Ok, before I will go on with telling you boring diary-stories on narrating what I am doing during a regular working day from morning till evening I will go ahead with my 'analysis' on the Indian culture. So far, you have a slight view on the city of Bangalore and I can tell you one first episode now which is linked to the city and which is so representative on what the Indians are like and the way they see (or want to see) this city. Last week, imagine, CNN India came to our house to shoot a documentary on how foreign people live in Banglalore. Oh, for all of you who don't know yet, I live in a big house with about 12-14 other people of all different kind of nationalities, really 'multi-cultural', meega multi-kulti:-). However, the CNN-team arrived with their equipment, light, cameras and started professional-faced and with determined countenances to investigate the house to figure out on what and what not to film. Finally they installed their cameras and kindly asked, a bit less determined, who of us would volunteer for an interview. Simon, our Chinese-'American' joined up first. Now, the Inteviewer, a typical 'new-Indian-generation-modern-acting' young women started, in a typical Indian cosy-nice voice to ask more and less stupid questions like: What do you like best in Bangalore? What is your favourite Indian dish? Do you like Indian music? Do you know any Indian words? (Indian -for those who don't know- does not exist as such, there is 'Hindi' as the official language and 'Cannada', as the Bangalorian local language). Well, Simon primarily focused on his enterprise here and his ambition to take advantage of the Indian economic boom, which he said, he missed in China. However, Dutch Harryet and Philippina Geena went ahead with documtenting their experiences here at their work and with the Indian culture, also mentioning differences which did not always put Indian and Bangalore into the best light, of course. However, on he request of the majority of the community I (being noted for my 'radical' views on India, Indians, Bangalore.... whatever) joined up for being interviewed and , slightly nervous, already making up and formulating sentences in my mind which would neutralize my views and opinions to a moderate level - to make it bearable also for an Indian cognition -. But even though I was prepared, the first question already confronted me and also the interviewer with the bitter reality: what do you like in Bangalore??? Well,........??????????????? and I started a studid explanation of why I decided to come to India at all, digressing subtly from the real answer to the question for not having to alienate the interviewer with saying: NOTHING, Bangalore is just a accumulation of rubbish, a rotten sh..hole!!! Well I didn't say so but my answer was as vacant as the question. However, the interviewer was a bit irritated with my unclear answer and went on asking me random dreary questions like the ones quoted above. In addition, Dutch Eelco and primarily Mexican David was interviewed and even portrayed on how he cooks his dinner and with whom he shares his room.
Two days later the documentary was screened on CNN Indian under the program AN EYE ON BANGALORE or something like that... the outcome of the program was exactly the way I expected: COSMOPOLITAN BANGALORE: fancy, trendy, INTERNATIONAL; so many nationalities living under one roof; we like indian dishes (the Indian culture is highly focused on meals: have you had you lunch = how are you etc...) we can say words in Indian languages; we like Indian music; we all LOVE INDIA because there is always 'life in the streets' with the 'piles of rubbish in the streets and the cows eating it'; India is developing so fast and there is so much???? in Bangalore.
However, that's exactly the way the Indians want us to see India. As in the documentary all the negative statements were cut, in reality, most of the Indians simply ignore them.
By the way, the Interview with me was cut down to two words I uttered: Salaam Namaste (which is a Hindi Pop-Song).
but have a look youself: the online version of the documentary on CNN India; Robertson house on tv:
http://www.ibnlive.com/article.php?id=7365&section_id=3

'who is who' on the pic on the right (sorry,there's too many poeple on the one on top):

back from left:

Patrick (Ireland); Simon (HongKong); Geena (Philippines) Rocco(Holland); Eelco (Holland); Deniz (Turkey)

front from left:

Yamini (Singapore); David (Mexico); Harryet (Holland); Myself

5 months India: a review: Dirty Bangalore

2006-03-28T15:28:00.000+05:30

Today, March, 28, exactly, I have been 5 months to India. What can I say about the country? What can I say about my stay here? What can I say about what impact this stay had on me so far?
I try hard to remain as objective as possible in my descriptions and views. But I must admit, remaining objective when talking about India can be hard, since the country with all its aspects is rather intense, if not to say 'hard-core'.
My first impression was quite the same as I expected. I had not only read a lot on the country in advance but I had also been overwhelmed by descriptions, stories and experiences of all my friends who have been to India, whether due to travelling or working. Thus, initially I did not have this so-called 'culture shock' as many claimed to have had after their first confrontation with an Indian environment: unimaginable poverty, overwhelming dirt, breath-taking colors, unbearable stench and exotic scents side by side; in short, a country of contrasts wherever you look. Well, that's about the way India is. But to be honest, the negative listing above is more overwhelming than the positive, expecially in the beginning. The image of pollution and filth in every corner of the city going along with stench of rot and excrements is definitely more present than seductive odours and beautiful colours.
Bangalore, the merging IT metropole, is said to be the 'Silicon Valley' of India. Considering the remarkable numbers of investment and economic growth during the last 10 years this might be true. But the city is neither 'Silicon' nor 'Valley'. So don't imagine a dynamic, prospering, cosmopolitan city in the middle of Asia like Singapore, Shanghai, Hong Kong or Seoul; Bangalore like every other city in India is -as I call it- a million settlement. Apart from the city's disgusting pollution and dirt, the infrastructure is so lousy that any European mediaeval city could compete with it. The roads are in a desasterous condition, proper sidewalks hardly any exist, bunches of rubbish are everywhere, attracting (and feeding) millions of flies, cows, rats and street dogs. There is no sanitary system but only ditches along the shabby roads, sometimes coverd with flagstones, but always filled with rubbish. So, during the monsoon times with its heavy rains, the city is flooded regularly.
Bangalore does not have a real center but only 'main streets' where the main commercial life takes place. These streets (called MG Road, Brigade Road, Commercial Street...) are considered as the 'center' and many Indians claim them to be 'progressive' and 'cosmopolitan'. Most of the western tourist linger around here, but also the new generation of the hip and 'western-trendy' Indians, dressed up in the latest fashion hang out in the most popular Indian cafe chains like 'Coffee Day' and 'Barista'. Well, for an Indian who has never been outside of India (that means almost every Indian!) this might be impressive and cosmopolitan. But for western eyes there are always some essential aspects of the scene which always remind you that you are in a third-world country. Apart from the fact that even these streets can never compete with a regular commercial street in any developed city, the place is always crowded with ragged little kids, shabby teen-age-mothers, old men or women and cribbles begging for money; all in all a contrast, so typical for India as a whole.
For myself I can say; I did not fall in love with the city at all. I can accept a lousy infrastructure but I could not and I still cannot get used to the dirt and the pollution which has - as many naive westerner might think - less to do with the poverty than with the Indian mentality. Considering the billions of dollars invested into the IT sector during the last few years, generating to the city immense amounts of taxes, the poor development of the picture of Bangalore is astonishing. The public transportation system is insufficient and crappy, traffic is chaotic and during rush-hours it can take hours to cover only short distances. One reason for this disasterous condition of the infrastructure might be the corruption of the public authorities (as claimed by most of the locals here) but one further essential reason I can observe is the complete ignorance of the majority of the Indians of their environmental problems. Indians, wherever they go, pollute their environment without respect for nature nor have they any sense for social responsibility. So whether the street in front of their house is washed away, their places are invaded by bugs, their rivers, bonds and lakes are just filthy cloacas, the avarage Indian simply doesn't care; it is the way it is. I must say, the longer I am here, the more I am bothered by this particular aspect of the Indian mentality and hence, makes living here for me less convenient.
Well, this short initial review might be staggering, but don't worry, of course there are many other aspects which make my stay here a great experience. But for this I need some more space and time...
Cheers.
mi-scho.

check-it-out

2006-03-27T16:37:00.001+05:30

Here we go. My blog. Since I will quit my trainee ship here in India soon and in addition be travelling around in Asia as long as possible, it's time to install a blog and share my experiences, adventures and thinkings with the public. Well, I hope the page will fufill the general requirements and you all and myself enjoy.....