Oh, The Places You'll Go!: January 2023

Hoping you all had a wonderful holiday season! Full of family and friends and too much food. I’ve never spent the holidays with just one person that I knew, and it’s only the second Christmas I’ve spent without any of my family present so it was definitely an interesting one for me. I will say that Davis and I both felt a bit homesick around the holidays this year, missing our family and friends and all the wonderful desserts that our moms make!

We went to Jaipur a few days before Christmas to stay with my Hindi teacher and hopefully spend the holidays with her and her family, but things did not go quite as we had thought that they might.

On our long drive to Jaipur, we stopped for the night in Neemrana. We had pre-booked a hotel because we assumed we’d be tired from a long day on the motorcycle and not want to worry about trying to find a place to stay, and this was true, however when we arrived, we were told that they didn’t accept foreigners so we were sent away. They told us of one hotel in town that accepted foreigners, right next to the fort that the town is famous for, so of course it was more than we had been hoping to spend but exhausted from the day, we agreed.

We went for a little walk from the hotel and the view of the fort at night was actually very beautiful. They were having some kind of concert that night though, so it was pretty loud.

The next day we drove the last few hours to Jaipur. We found my teachers house and she was there and showed us around. She wasn’t having us stay at her main home, she was having us stay at her second home where she has a small nursery business. Basically she put two small beds on opposite walls of her office there and told us that was where we were staying. There was no privacy whatsoever, as this was a working office that they used during the day. I’m not trying to be ungrateful, but we were not very happy here. If she was letting us stay as a kindness to a friend, that may have been one thing, but she charged us double what we would pay anywhere else for a better accommodation.

We made plans to leave, although I felt bad about it. We stayed there for two nights, but not very comfortably. We ended up leaving on the 23rd, we had planned to have dinner with her and her family that night, but she got sick and cancelled and we ended up not seeing her again for the rest of our stay in Jaipur.

Davis and I spent hours looking at hotels/airbnbs/hostels/guesthouses/homestays online. Everything was either extremely expensive, or extremely sketch. There wasn’t a whole lot of in-between. We thought we found a place and so we packed up all our things and went to check it out. It was definitely more in the sketch category so we opted not to stay there, but we saw there was a hotel next door, and tired from all the searching we had been doing, we agreed to stay there. It felt pretty gross to me and was not exactly where I wanted to spend Christmas, so we went out for the day and looked again for somewhere, maybe just a bit nicer, to spend Christmas at. We found a place called Blessings and hoped it would end our search and we could stay there until we left Jaipur. So on Christmas Eve, we packed our bags and the motorcycle once again and headed across town to Blessings. It ended up being a lovely place to stay and we were so relieved. Jaipur was throwing us for a loop.

Outside of the shelter madness, there had been a lot to explore in Jaipur, the pink city. The day after we arrived, we started our sightseeing tourist extravaganza. We bought a ticket that got us in to 8 sites in three days. It was definitely too much to do in one day so we spread them into two days. The sights were the Hawa Mahal Palace which means palace of the wind, Sheesh Mahal, Amber Palace and Fort, Jantar Mantar, Albert Hall museum, a tower, and two gardens. The palaces were beautiful, and the gardens were peaceful, but probably our favorite were the forts. The Amber Fort was such an awesome place! There were so many rooms and hallways, it was easy to get lost. We got separated from one another and had to text each other to find a spot to meetup because it was so confusing! It was really neat, and beautiful in the late afternoon and evening when all the lights came on and there was a great reflection on the little lake out front.

Amber Fort

Step Well

Hawa Mahal

Albert Hall Museum

On the evening of Christmas Eve, we went to Chokhi Dhani, which is like a little mock reenactment village of Rajasthan in the old days.

It was so much fun! It felt like the Indian version of a renaissance festival. When you walked in, they gave you a kulhad (clay mug) of a hot drink that presumably was consumed during this time period. The drink was salty, and tasted similar to gravy. I was not a big fan but Davis seemed to enjoy it.

There were fun things to do everywhere you looked, from camel rides, to lots of dancing, to wax figures and magic tricks. Although we opted out of camel rides, we did go on a little boat ride and shot a bow and arrow. The food is a big part of the event; when you enter, you pay for admission based on which type of meal you want to receive. We went for the standard cheapest version because even that looked like a lot of food. We had opted for the Rajasthani Thali. The food was fantastic! Well, most of it anyway. And there was certainly no shortage. Sitting on the floor on a cushion with a small table with a big plate and bowls made out of leaves on it, the waiters would come around to each person with one or two items and plop it on each plate. There were several kinds of curries, dal, and even a few different kinds of roti, plus a few very interesting desserts. I think we agreed that the saag was our favorite. We left with very full, happy bellies. It was such a wonderful evening walking around and seeing the different dances, and even joining in on one or two, and just experiencing the magic of this place, finally a moment when we weren’t stressed about anything.

Although I was trying not to have expectations, I did think that our time in Jaipur would go a little differently than it did, primarily because of my Hindi teacher. I thought we’d have something of a Christmas gathering, but instead, we just had each other. Not to say that’s a bad thing, just to say, Christmas was a little less eventful than it has been in the past, but we just spent time with one another, not doing anything major. Drinking mimosas with breakfast, going to the park and walking around, watching Charley Brown’s Christmas, and eating cake.

We were trying to find somewhere nice to eat dinner, we drove around and around, trying to find places that Google talked about but then didn’t actually exist and trying to get through traffic that was moving slower than molasses in January. Eventually we passed a restaurant that was several stories up with lots of lights and overlooked the city and it was getting late and we weren’t finding anything, so we decided to stop there. It was called The Socialite, and they were bumping loud club music the whole time we were there. Our Christmas feast consisted of caesar salad (which I thought was much better than it is in the states), some pasta and pizza. It was all really good! Very non traditional Christmas, but still pretty good Italian food!

Back at Blessings, we tried to watch A Christmas Story, but it was already pretty late and we both fell asleep pretty early on.

The day after Christmas was a Honda shop party! In a sense, I suppose.. Someone had pointed out the other day that one of the rims on the bike was bent, so Davis had the tire pressure checked and it was really low. He needed a new tire. But not wanting to deal with it on Christmas, the day after we went to the Honda shop. We figured it wouldn’t be too quick, but we also didn’t think it would take as long as it did.. We played chess, played cards, walked around and ate what few snacks I had in my backpack, and 5 hours after arriving, the bike was ready. What a day! Spent in the Honda shop waiting room.

The next morning, we packed up and got the heck out of Jaipur. We had a long drive once again, but this time we hadn’t booked anywhere. We were just going to go as far as we could and find somewhere there, but this is a bit easier said than done. We got pretty tired around Muzzaffarnagar, so we found a hotel and went in. They said we could stay there, so relieved, we headed out to the bike to get our stuff, but while we were outside a man who worked there brought out our helmets and told us that in fact we couldn’t stay there after all and we needed to go elsewhere, presumably because we’re foreigners. They gave us the name of another hotel, so we went there, and imagine that, the same thing happened. Tired and a little frustrated, we listened to the hotel recommendation that this guy told us and we called first, they said of course they accepted the likes of us and so we went to the galaxy tower hotel. It was more expensive than we’d have liked, but we started finding that more expensive hotels accepted foreigners, while others were more hit or miss. The whole 'we aren’t accepted because we’re foreigners’ thing, had started to become quite the theme for us.

The next day we made it back to Srinagar. Home sweet home. I had a package waiting for me when we arrived, it was a Christmas present from my brother, Blake. I was so excited to open it, and even more excited to see Toothless staring back at me when I opened the box. Thanks, Block!!! <3

We switched out our bags a bit and prepped them for trekking, leaving behind most of our clothes and bringing our backpacking gear. The next morning we started the drive. It was very beautiful but the road was pretty terrible, full of landslides, potholes, loose gravel, dust, and one lane with oncoming traffic. We made a stop in Rudrayprayag for a quick minute to walk a little and see the confluence, and then continued on to Gopeshwar. We got there in the early afternoon and it felt very cold out. We were gaining elevation and it’s nearly impossible to find somewhere with heat, plus I get so chilled on the bike, that I’m freezing for the next half an hour or so once we get off. Humans and cows alike crowd around little outdoor fires that they make on the side of the street.

In Gopeshwar, we decided to divide and conquer, each going to talk to different hotels and hope someone would accept us. No dice, and back to the drawing board. We looked on Google maps and found a pretty expensive place and assumed they’d take us, but I also found a smaller, much more affordable guesthouse, so we decided to check that out first just in case, and to our great surprise and excitement, they let us stay, no problem! I felt so relieved looking at the expansive view from the balcony. I’ve never been rejected when I’m trying to stay somewhere ever, so being rejected over and over again when we’re tired from time on the bike and just want somewhere to toss our bags and our heads, had been a bit brutal. That evening we ate veg thali, visited a temple that was over 1,000 years old and marveled at the view of the distant lights from our guesthouse.

The following day we had found a hike to do that was about half an hour from town. The weather was sunny and not too hot and we hiked to the Anusuya temple and Atri Muni cave and waterfall. According to Strava, the hike was quite a bit longer than it said on AllTrails (not that that is anything new), and it was pretty steep! Felt good to get out on the trail after so many days spent primarily on the motorcycle. At the end of the hike, there is a waterfall with a frigid pool below it. Next to the waterfall, there’s a small cave, and a man living inside. He was a real, true caveman. It was pretty neat to see him there just chilling. We marveled at the life he must lead.

We stayed another night in Gopeshwar and headed to Chopta on New Years Eve. The drive was gorgeous!! We were really starting to get up there into the Himalayan foothills and see some mountains. You could see giant Himalayan peaks towering in the distance. We went up the sketchiest lookout tower we had ever seen. The platforms were just a single layer of tin roofing, of which there were many holes and dents from people stepping through it. We opted to remain on the stairs and admire the view from that slightly less precarious position.

Chopta is called Little Switzerland, for reasons that I am still very unsure of. Chopta consists of about 6 shacks serving food, a few Indian toilets down on the side of the hill of which one has a small tent around it deeming it the women's bathroom, and hundreds of cars parked along the side of the road leaving not enough room for two way traffic to pass by so there are constant traffic jams and incessant horns blaring.

We grabbed a late lunch and started packing the bag for the trek. We made a handful of our signature pb&j roti and headed for the trail up Chandrshilla just after 2pm. A little ways up, we reached a guard stand at 2:20 and found out that we had missed our window for admission by 20 minutes. The last people up are at 2pm each day, little did we know. So, slightly defeated, we turned around. Davis had really wanted to camp on the top of a mountain for the last day of the year, and now it looked like that wouldn’t happen.

Back at the motorcycle, we decided to head to Sari, to hike to Deoria Tal and come back for the mountain the next day. We were planning to go to this lake on the 2nd, but we were needing a change of plans. We loaded the bike back up and drove 30 minutes to Sari, although we weren’t sure if there’d be another guard there to stop us when we got there, but we decided to try anyway.

In Sari, we tentatively unpacked the bike again. Davis carried our big pack with gear and I carried a small one with all our food. It was getting to be late afternoon, so we weren’t looking to dilly dally any longer. There were several other people heading up the trail so we took this as a good sign. The conditions were wonderful! It was slightly cool but sunny, and the views of the surrounding hills were green and golden.

The trail consisted of quite a few switchbacks till we got to the top of the hill and then we hiked just a ways further and bam!

The lake known for its incredible reflections greeted us with inverted images of blue sky, clouds, trees and mountains. Reflections are one of my favorite things, and this lake did not disappoint.

If the sky was the earth,

and the earth was the sky,

if I were to dive in,

would I fly?

There was a guard station and they called us over and had us buy tickets, but luckily the ticket would be good for our admission to Chandrashilla the next day. We walked around the lake, marveling at all the aspects and angles. There was a less sketchy watchtower at the top of a small hill here that we climbed and it offered some spectacular views of the distant Himalayan peaks just as they were soaking in their last rays of sunlight for the evening.

We headed into the trees to try to find somewhere to camp. We walked and walked but as the light was nearly gone, we decided our best option was a big hole that looked like a grave. The hole was lined with stone and just big enough for the two of us, so we ate some pb&j roti and our New Years Eve treats, Oreo’s and Oreo Cadbury chocolate, and finagled our way into our claustrophobic cocoon. We had tried this sleeping arrangement at the guesthouse to see if we could make it work, but we weren’t wearing all of our jackets then, and just that addition made our situation go from cozy to constricting. Picture this. One bivy sack with one sleeping bag inside, with one jungle bag inside of that, with one sleeping bag liner inside of that. Now imagine two people inside of all of that. Any movement from either party had to be a democratic decision. Needless to say, sleep was rough.

In the morning on the first of the year, I woke up early. I was ready to not be crammed in a sleeping bag nesting doll situation any longer. Davis offered to pack up camp after he got some solo bag time so I went to the lake when the light was just appearing and I sat there and thought about the previous year and the one I have before me. 2023. I didn’t have the slightest inkling that I’d be at Deoria Tal in Sari, India for the first of the year, so who knows where I’ll be by the time the next year rolls around.

The lake and the sky were so peaceful and calm, I loved watching the light change and grow brighter as the minutes passed. And what a special treat to get to watch this happen in the sky, and on the water. Awhile later, Davis came by and we headed down the trail to the bike. We grabbed a quick breakfast of our classic aloo parantha and dahi, and drove back to “Little Switzerland”. The town of Chopta, if you can call it a town, was not at all ready for the rush of tourists that it had started receiving. The road was narrow, the infrastructure was not in place, and the whole area was chaos.

Again, we started up the hill. We passed the swarm of people by the guard/ ticket line, glad that our tickets worked for this as well. The trail was pretty steep and we just kept on climbing a very well-made path. We were surprised to see so many people on this hike. It is extremely popular but it also isn’t super short or super easy. It was pretty steep and we were booking it. It was chilly out and pretty cloudy, so you couldn’t see any of the peaks that were hidden just behind a thin veil of white. The summit was cold but we relished the frigid mountain air, and were so happy to get to summit any peak on the first of the year; we even got to see a little dusting of snow up there.

After we descended, we headed for a town that was a couple hours from Srinagar in the loop that we were making and the following day we got back to the guesthouse and started to get into a bit of a slower pace for awhile. Davis has been working on his masters project and learning Hindi and I’ve been writing, working for Beacon Guidebooks, and volunteering for Ecologists without Borders. I just passed my two month mark of being here in India and I think he just passed 5 months. Being fairly newly dating presents its own challenges, even if we weren't living together in a foreign country, so add in all the extra fun and confusion that comes with that and you've got yourself a heckuva a grand ol' time. So far things are going well for us even though we have definitely faced quite a few challenges together already, we're just happy to be here together.

Just this weekend we went to a small village where Davis had been put in touch with a farmer there. He very graciously showed us around his farm and village and it was a really neat opportunity to be there and see what very rural life is like in India. One of the things that I just can’t stop thinking about, is while walking around the village, we walked passed a man who was hand-making gravel. Meaning he was taking bigger rocks and crushing them with a hammer until they were gravel size pieces. Oh, the tedium! I can’t imagine spending time doing this, and I am so so grateful that I don’t have to.