Jaipur Jai ho

According to wikipedia, "Jai ho" (the Hindi word popularized by the hit song by A R Rahman) means "Victory to You" or something in relation to victory. Our trip to Jaipur this past weekend was quite victorious. For our final weekend adventure, Kate and I headed to Jaipur for a 48 hour crash course in pink.

From Jaipur India June 2009

It's for good reason that Jaipur is known as the Pink City. The capital of Rajasthan state in India, the city was founded in 1727 by Maharaja Sawai Jai Singh II who apparently had quite an affinity for the color (which weathers over time to a more orange hue). Absolutely everything in the city is painted this way.

We left early at the pre-dawn hour of 3:30 AM. Kate insisted in traveling by train, and I had a great time acting like I knew what I was doing while we navigated the chaos of the Delhi train station. We were both too exhausted to thoroughly enjoy the passing scenery and the window was more translucent than transparent, but it was still fun.

A few highlights of the trip included:

Girisadan Home Stay - Captain Singh treated us like family. After an excellent recommendation for dinner, he treated us to Mango on Vanilla ice cream while we shared photos of his family's recent wedding.

From Jaipur India June 2009

A trip on Sunday to Amber fort - Riding an Elephant to the top of the fort was one of the experiences that really made me feel like "now I've done everything in India." With my impending return to the US next week, I feel quite accomplished in the places I've been, people I've met and memories I'll take home.

From Jaipur India June 2009

We stopped by Jantar Mantar - where I had a fantastic time thinking how clever I was while I matched Led Zeppelin lyrics in my head to the photos I took.

From Jaipur India June 2009

Albert Hall - A beautiful museum where I quickly found that I was a chief attraction. While taking photos of the exhibits, locals rushed to invade my personal bubble for a quick photo on their cell phone.

Leh

Pangong Lake Bound

The culmination of our trip began with a 6:45 AM departure from our hotel. We had risen early for the occasion, aided by some hot chai via room service, and left the hotel promptly to retrace our path East for about 40 KM before bearing North East through Chang La pass.

Within minutes, as we gained elevation, my body tensed. A few hundred feet above the fertile valley to the North West, I held on tightly and watched signs roll by indicating our elevation increase from 13,000 to 13,500 then 14,000 and beyond. The signs, which had seemed cute back in town, now carried a hint of realism that made me sweat.

"Better to be Mr. Late than Late Mr. - 13,594 feet" it read, and I agreed.

If it hadn't been for the astonishing beauty of the scene below, I might have been deterred, but looking up into the hills at what was to come, I could barely hide my excitement.

From Leh, India

At about 8:30 we arrived at base camp - 15,000 feet. Stopping to use the rest room, and get some Chai, Kate and I anticipated a quick break before continuing East on our journey to Pangong. An hour later, sitting along in the Jeep with snow falling outside, we began to wonder. Finally a large dump truck full of people arrived. I watched in awe as these people, exposed to the elements, were waved through the station and onwards up the meandering dirt road.

From Leh, India

Within 30 minutes, someone shouted something loudly in Hindi and all the drivers scrambled to their waiting vehicles and we were on our way again...

Monestaries in Leh

We visited two Monestaries on Friday. The first, called Thiksay Monestary, was massive.



The Monestary itself included a doctor's office, museum, restaurant, elementary school, dining hall and massive areas for prayer - not to mention accomodations built into he hillside which seemed to be able to accommodate hundreds.

On the roof, there were two small rooms. The first of which, a library contained many shelves of wrapped papers.


After a few minutes in the library, the beat of a drum and crash of symbols attracted me to the far Eastern most room. Inside, I ventured into a location clearly marked for Men only, to find a single Monk fully engulfed in an impassioned chant.

Taking a seat on the hardwood floor next to the window, I sat cross legged for a period of about 20 minutes in silence listening to the Monk sing his daily prayers.
Finally, as I re-emerged out onto the rooftop

I again paused to breathe in the moment before descending the ladder and meeting back up with Kate for our trip to Hemis Monestary.

Similar to Thiksay, Hemis was tucked high on a hilltop overlooking a crevasse created by thousands of years of snowmelt tricking through to the valley below. This time on the South side of the valley, looking East, Hemis was further away from town. To get there we traveled over a small bridge draped in prayer flags, up a meandering dirt road and into the lush green area made possible only due to the constant stream of water trickling from the snowcapped mountain tops above.

Hemis was again an incredibly picturesque setting where after exploring the innards of the structure and ascending to the rooftop for a panoramic photo, we retired to a picnic table where we laborously caught our breath (from climbing so many steps) before enjoying a cold Thumbs Up cola with our packed lunch from the Hotel Lasermo.

From Leh, India

From Leh, India

Shey Palace

On Friday, Kate and I woke up around 8 for our day of sightseeing through the monestaries to the East of the town of Leh. Though my neck was slightly stiff from the hard pillow and lumpy bed, my excitement for the day's adventure made it easy to rise.

Our first stop was Shey palace. Again situated high on a hilltop above a valley and looking East, this was another truly breathtaking location.

From Leh, India

In the same way that we'd learned on our first day, we explored the palace taking time to spin the prayer wheels and enjoy the view.

From Leh, India

After circumnavigating the roof, a Monk emerged from a small wooden door to show us into the prayer room centered on a massive 30-foot Buddha. I took a few pictures of the Buddha, and him before we headed on our way.

From Leh, India

Sightseeing In Leh

The first stops on our tour of Leh were relatively close by. In the center of town, Kate and I had quickly ascended a hilltop trail to find ourselves looking out over the rest of the valley. Hundreds of strands of Tibetan Buddhist prayer flags were draped from the corner of the building, across the valley to the other side of town spanning a distance of a few hundred feet. As the afternoon breeze whipped north up the valley, the flags stood at attention, perpendicular to the ground below.

Upon returning to town, our driver took us to Leh palace, which standing prominently above the city was a monument to at least a few hundred years of history in our present locale.

We entered the palace, which was deserted. I was shocked by the lack of security, tour guides and general freedom with which we were given to explore. As we walked further into the depths of the massive building, the 6-foot ceilings and lack of daylight gave off the impression of descending into an archeological dig straight out of the Discovery Channel.

We climbed staircases, explored dead ends, and studied the town below from tiny open-air windows. Finally arriving on the roof of the building, I took photos which I fully expected would never do the moment justice.

As we left, we passed a Monk (the first human encounter we'd seen in over an hour) who pointed us towards the door and donation station. On our way back to the car, we purchased tickets from the now-manned ticket booth for about $2 a piece.

We then proceeded to another location, higher and further West where we could watch the sun set called Shantistupa.

Kate and I again spent the better half of an hour pacing the large platform in front of the massive white monument, chatting and making funny poses (I did handstands until I attracted the attention of the local authorities who didn't appreciate my lack of reverence for the sanctity of the monument).

As the sun set, and we got chilly, we headed into the hilltop restaurant for tea and french fries before meeting our driver, heading back to the hotel and enjoying a quiet dinner.

Arriving Leh

When you arrive in Leh, you descend rapidly along the north side of the city passing within only a few hundred feet of rocky desert peaks below. I could literally feel the updrafts lifting the plane as we passed each peak in succession.

After banking hard to the south and aligning East, we descended rapidly and touched down. The plane threw powered down its engines lifted its flaps and applied brakes with force. As we taxied down the remainder of the short alpine runway and turned abruptly to the North before coming to a stop in a fenced in area surrounded by barbed wire and military barracks, the familiar Kingfisher red stairway rolled towards the forward door of the plane. As I stepped out, I joked to Kate than I was jumping out of a plane at 11,000 feet. As we descended the stairs, the hairs on my arms stood on end for the first time in months.

It was brisk, the air was thin and the backdrop was breathtaking. The peaks we'd flown over during our descent now towered over us in a 360 degree panorama the likes of which I'd never experienced. With Tibetan prayer flags flapping in the wind, we made our way towards the bus which carried us to the terminal.

We registered with the local immigration officers and signed a sheet of paper indicating that we didn't have any of the H1N1 flu symptoms before proceeding out the terminal to our waiting cab.

A short 5 KM from the airport we'd arrived at the Hotel Lasermo www.lasermo.in. As we walked in, traditional sashes were placed around my neck, the luggage was taken by the bell hop and I was escorted directly to the dining hall for tea and an omelet. Kate and I sat, "took rest" and acclimated to the altitude for the better half of the morning before returning for lunch and heading out for a walk into town.

Thursday afternoon I purchased a new wool hat, wandered the town and took pictures documenting the tiny city situated in an absolutely breathtaking backdrop.