Pushkar (Rajasthan)

Nice little town built by Brahma - according to legend, that is - around a lake, it hosts one of the largest cattle fair in India. It is also one of the oldest cities in the country (dates unknown) and its nickname 'Tirth Raj' - the King of the Dhams (pilgrimage sites) - many devout hindus come here and perform rituals both in and out of the lake's sacred waters.

The atmosphere during the fair is pleasant and very relaxed. There's a great many camels, horses, cows and the like spread all over the arid, deserted plain that outstretches beyond Pushkar. I think there were more camels than any other cattle at the time I was there, and a lot of them were 'decorated' for lack of a better word. Multicoloured leash and harness and whatnots. Quite interesting.

There is also a couple of temples on top of the two hills overlooking the lake. I'm sorry I didn't get the names but one is definitely higher than the other and the view of the valley from the summit is stunning.

Near the end of the pictures, you'll see a magnificent, spotless white, blue-eyed horse. It was on offer for $150,000, but I could've gotten less I think. I need to do some research, but I'm quite sure those horses are endemic, i.e. you can't find them anywhere else in the world. I might be wrong and I am by no means a specialist of the equine world, but their build, ears and colours are really different from any other horse I have seen so far. if someone can light my lantern, I'll gladly welcome him or her.

Now for the pictures of Pushkar!

Editor's note: I really wish people would notice I refrained myself from any pun on the name of this charming little town where very few...mmmh...automobiles are to be seen.

Diwali fireworks in Amritsar

A écouter à fond ! Listen to it full blast!

Jodhpur (Rajasthan)

The blue city is here.

No jodhpurs to be seen - 'too expensive to make and out of fashion' was what I was told by a tailor.

The most beautiful and best preserved fort I have seen in India.

The indigo blue used in the whitewash was first used by the Brahmins (the highest caste) to differentiate their house and subsequent area where they lived from the rest. It also apparently served the purpose of keeping the mosquitoes at bay, of keeping the house cool and few other things. I think it's just beautiful and now everybody uses it - or so it seems to me.

Very old city where time has stopped, especially early in the morning. I had the impression of being catapulted back to the Middle-ages. Also, it's a really nice city to get lost in. Nice markets, nice people, nice skies, nice nights.

In a word, I loved Jodhpur.

Diwali in Amritsar

Celebrating Diwali, more or less the equivalent of Christmas and New Year's eve in one night, in Amritsar, the capital city of the state of Punjab, was a real treat. My friend Luv invited me in his family house and I tagged along at the different venues his family was going to. A thousand thanks to them!

Here are the pics.

Where the hell is Matt?

Do you remember this guy? Created quite a buzz a couple of years back - or was it more - must definitely be more. Anyhow, I happened to stumble on the video.

This guy is a happiness generator. It mightn't be the dancing the people notice first, it might be the energy this man is radiating - which they mistake for -well- dancing.

Read Matt's bio, it takes about a minute and a half, not thereby implying there's nothing in it, but that you must necessarily have time to read it. The video is really worth it, in fact it made my day. Enjoy!

Pokhara (Nepal)

Where is my mind?

J'ai complètement oublié de mettre les photos de cette jolie et paisible bourgade en ligne...bref, je répare le tort.

Je n'ai pu passer qu'une journée et demi là-bas, mais elle fut intense et calme à la fois. La promenade le long du lac est de toute beauté. Je n'y ai que marché, mais on peut y louer des bateaux à la journée ou tout simplement pour traverser et grimper la colline au sommet de laquelle se trouve un très beau stupa (japonais me semble-t-il).

En outre, la ville est d'une propreté épatante - sauf pas mal d'endroits du lac (voir la photo), mais le reste est pas mal du tout si l'on considère les standards népalais et il est agréable d'y flâner.

J'y ai rencontré beaucoup de monde de Katmandou, notamment mon amie Natsuko. J'y ai nouvellement rencontré Rintsin (dont le prénom signifie "joyau"), la trentaine, tibétaine en exil qui vend des bijoux et autres sur le bord du lac, lorsqu'on laisse le centre-ville sur sa droite. Nous avons sympathisé, et le lendemain après-midi, elle m'a emmené dans son village. Je n'écrirai rien dessus. Je dirai simplement que ces exilés n'ont plus de carte d'identité, n'ont donc pas de droits et peu d'espoir de sortie. Voilà.

J'ai partagé un très bon moment avec Rintsin et sa famille. Ses soeurs et sa mère m'ont appris à cuisiner les "momos", des raviolis fourrés et cuits à la vapeur (voir les photos). Nous avons bien ri - surtout au vu de l'absence de dextérité dont j'ai fait preuve lors du pliage du momo - bu du thé tibétain pendant la cuisson, offert le premier momo au Dalai-Lama, mangé et ri encore. J'ai repris la route tôt le matin, un peu triste de devoir quitter cette famille simple et majestueuse à la fois, cette joie de vivre et de s'en sortir malgré tout.

Pokhara, c'est là.

McLeod Ganj...

...is where the Dalai-Lama actually resides, not in nearby Dharamsala. My guess is that it's only because the town is slightly bigger than McLeod Ganj that people retain the name, which means 'guest house' or something similar. Perhaps also because the name 'McLeod' was already taken by another divinity.

I haven't taken a lot of pictures of McLeod Ganj, and these are not very uplifting. This is too bad because it is a nice and quiet mountain village and the atmosphere very early in the morning, especially in the market on the main square (which is so small) is pleasant and soothing. No one is trying to sell you stuff, the food is very good, especially the Tibetan momos, and there are very nice walks around. I was so taken up by the teachings of the Dalai-Lama that I forgot to take my camera and when I did my mind was elsewhere. Sorry!

I'll do better next time. Enjoy anyway!

Tim Hetherington

Disappeared too soon like many, honoured like few, he was keen to portray man in extremity like no other.

This is a short video of Tim Hetherington on BBC.

I would remove the quotation marks, for he was undoubtedly a genius.

Kathmandu 08/10/11 evening

Missing out on love
Tonight, at the rebuke of darkness
Raised over an eyebrowlike mountain
 

Trek to Gomukh: At the Source of the great Gange

For those who are wondering and whom I can see frowning, a full two weeks had elapsed between the two treks. Plus Gomukh is in the Indian part of the Himalayas, not in Nepal which I had left two days before ending up in Gangotri. The town takes its name from the river which darts through it, with quite an impressive waterfall. 'Tri' might mean something like 'source' or 'spring', as I noticed a place called Yamunotri, which marks the location of the source of that other great Indian river, the Yamuna.

But I digress.

In order to see the actual site of the source, one needs to walk up to the glacier, near Gomukh, at a height nearing 4,000 meters and a distance of some 18 kilometers. The trek in itself isn't difficult at all and the path, though not clearly indicated, is easily recognisable, which must make the glacier one of the easiest accessible in the world.

I started out at the dot of 4 in the morning, making my way by moonlight (hence the very first pictures in the series, which I tried to make as clear as possible, but as I still don't own a tripod, they tend to be a little fuzzy). Some spots are a little adventurous, as rivers are to be crossed on fell tree-trunks and some bends bring you quite close to the edge. But overall it is very safe and immensely enjoyable. It took me a few hours to reach the glacier, and I spent a long time there, taking my lunch under the shade of the glacier (I noticed only upon leaving that a huge chunk of it was cracked - cf pictures - and could fall and crush anything under it anytime). I came back to Gangotri at around 2 in the afternoon - all in all a ten-hour trek, which isn't bad.

I really hope you will enjoy the pictures as much as I did taking them. I also had an amazing time gazing at the clouds up there, they were really beautiful. The silence was a real treat. Add a pinch of wild animals here and there and the fact that I came across four people on the way...you'll get a pretty good picture of how it went.

That's about it concerning this amazing trek, but because you're a bunch of nice people, I'm throwing a video of the mountains in the bargain! Enjoy.