Last Stop--Delhi (Again)

I left Darjeeling early, and it was lucky I did. The car started having some troubles an hour out of town, and needed over an hour of repair. A steep short cut down the mountain helped gain some of the lost time back, and I managed to catch my flight to Delhi.

There is so much to see in Delhi, that I ended up spending about six days there. I had been pretty lucky staying healthy up to that point, but I lost two days to a rough stomach. I spent those days in my hotel room, though I did get to watch "Kull the Conqueror" and "Undercover Brother". Still, I was able to see things like the Lotus Temple--a Baha'i House of Worship. The Baha'i religion emphasizes the concept that all religions are manifestations of the same divine being. The temple itself is a marvel of engineering and innovative techniques were developped to build the 27 petals which make up the stucture.

Although it is not immediately visible, Humayun's Tomb and the Taj Mahal are remarkable similar. Although they are proportioned differently, the symmetry and basic structure are nearly identical. It is said that Humayun's tomb, built in 1565, was the inspiration for other subsequent monuments, including the Taj Mahal. In contrast to the Taj, Humayun's Tomb was built by a wife for her late husband, a Mughal Emperor. The Taj was completed in 1631, and was built by a Mughal Emperor for his late wife.

Delhi was the final stop in my 8 weeks in India. In the early hours of Ferbruary 22, 2010, I flew out of India on my way to Canada. The next day, I attended my nephew's second birthday, and for the first time met my week old nephew, Peter, and my month old neice, Emma. India was a once in a lifetime trip, and I managed to see and learn a lot. The best part of any trip, however, is the people. I was very fortunate to travel with the people I did, and to meet the people I did.

The Beat Goes On--Darjeeling

I had made a New Year's resolution. In 2010, I was not going to swear more than once per week. Well, by February I was well into my quota for October. Most of my allotment was used in traffic.

After a four hour delay in my flight from Gaya, and a three hour delay in my connecting flight from Kolkata, I was two hours into a car ride up to Darjeeling. I was going to ride on the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway--a world heritage steam train over 100 years old, affectionately referred to as a "toy train" due to it's small size. It was one of the main reasons for going to Darjeeling. Well, fourteen hours into the trip to Darjeeling, with an hour to go, the driver's phone began to ring. It was my travel agent phoning to say that the train would not be running on the one day I had in Darjeeling. My allotment for December vanished.

My morning in Darjeeling started at 4:00am, despite my arrival late the night before. It was the coldest weather I'd met with in India, and it was still dark, but I put on as many layers as I could and headed out to meet my driver. We took the short drive out of town to Tiger Hill, and I made my way with a hundred other tourists up to a medium sized building on the top of the hill. Finding an open spot on the deck, I watched the sun rise. It was a clear day and the sun slowly lit the clouds below us, and Mount Kanchendzonga behind us. It was a beautiful sight to see.

As the crowds began to leave, I asked one of the staff members which mountain was Everest. I had heard that on a clear day you could see it. He pointed out the window to a tiny grouping of three mountains. Everest was the middle one, and I was now able to cross an item off my list of 30 Things to Do in My 30's--I had seen Everest with my own eyes.

From there, I went to see Darjeeling's War Memorial, a monastery, Zoo, Tea Garden, and Art Gallery. Another highlight was seeing the Himalayan Mountaineering Institute, which displays gear used in the first ascent of Everest.

Darjeeling was an unexpected treat, and I was lucky to have missed my train.

The Beat Goes On--Bodh Gaya

Bodh Gaya is the home of the Mahabodi Temple, which marks the site where the Buddha attained enlightenment. A very informative media centre near the temple gave a great history of the area, Buddhism, and the temple itself. The tree under which the Buddha sat has long since died. However, while it was still living, sapplings from the tree were taken and planted elsewhere. When the original tree died, a sappling from one of these trees was returned to the temple and planted there.

Many countries have set up monestaries near the Mahabodi Temple including Japan. The Japanese monestary houses a 25 metre tall statue of the Buddha which is a large tourist draw.