Travel Stories - DestinationOM.com - Custom Malas

India-Nepal-China-West Coast Canada

Residual Indian Story - Feces

April 10, 2006 6:03:44 PM
I was waiting for my boss at the coffee shop today and a friend walked by
and asked me how my trip was to India, another man overheard and told me of
a radio show he heard not long ago from the president of India talking about
the problem of human waste in India...astonished he asked me whether it was
true that people would "pee" and "poo" in public, all over the place...I
nonchalantly replied "Oh yeah, all over the place...just go when you gotta
go.
I told him that in the international airport of Delhi there are only two
washrooms! In towns people lack facilities so it seems only right they would
go outside...but when you are around train stations and heavy trafficked bus
stations there can be some terrible smells that you have to deal with...

Everyone says that India is an assault on the senses but this seemed to be
the first assault to mine...Taking trains so often in India I would find
myself rolling into towns or across the wheat fields in the early morning
gazing into the sun, feeling the warmth of the rays lighten the morning sky
and stand between the cars, opening one of the doors and feeling the wind in
my face...
Early in the morning too seemed to be when ENTIRE COMMUNITIES would dot the
fields, paths and wherever the urge arose...squatting...in broad day light,
if one was so curious the observing of the colour of the feces was all too
easy...each person squatting with a bottle a foot infront of them...used to
wash their left hand after the cleaning process has been completed :)
This event would be a laugh for me...coming in on trains to cities I would
often pick a field and guess how many "squatters" I may count...one field I
stopped at 15...these 15 were counted as follows: 1. the doers (actually in
the act) 2. the completers (doing their pants up or standing from the
squatting position) 3. and searchers (trying to find the ONE spot where NO
ONE ELSE has ever squatted berfore...like no mans land, waiting to stake
their claim)

All too often walking on the roadsides I was reminded to stick to the
pavement or very close to the side of the road to avoid "hitting" unforeseen
obstacles. When walking along paths in the fields you were sure to not
venture off...in Cambodia the problem is all to serious (land mines still
riddle the country landscape, left by the Khmer Rouge) but India was fear of
feces.

Porta-Potty's would not be a good idea either because of the amount of
people that would use them...in no time they would be full and lack of
service would have them abandoned.
"Peeing and Pooing" where one wishes to do so seems to be the way it all
works...obviously in some cities there are the rare facilities but still
more commonly then not they use whatever land is available :)

Hehehe
Until next time, use the facilities and be thankful you have them...along
with your plumbing, and your fridge and stove, and a warm house, an
electricity that does not shut off routinely. Be thankful that you are where
you are and that you have what you have.
Peace. Love light.

Back home

April 3, 2006 9:12:38 PM

This was a journey that lead me through China, India, and Nepal and back home safe and sound on Salt Spring Island. It is great to be home! It was time for me to return...there are many goals that I have for the future, one step at a time. With feet firmly planted for this market season, lots of new goods to work with and looking forward to meeting new people and travelling to other festivals and markets...change the scenery a bit this market season :) I am back online at home now and will be checking my emails on a daily basis and am able to regularly communicate again :) I hope you all enjoyed the trip as much as I did...I am looking forward to the next batch of travelling and new stories from abroad. Tentatively I am thinking of (possibly Korea and...) Southern China, Vietnam and North-Eastern India next :) we'll see. Love light.

just to say hi

What a journey this is!!!
I have to wait for six hours in Gorakpur for my train south.
LISTEN TO THIS TRIP!
Nepal:
1. Taxi to Bus stand at 6am
2. Bus from Pokhara to near Border at 7am
3. Bus from near border to border at 2pm
4. through borders
5. Cycle rikshaw to India bus at 215
6. Bus to Gorakpur arrive at 515
7. Train to Hajipur - 7 hours
8. rikshaw to other side of water to get another train - 30 minutes
9. Patna train to Gaya - 5 hours
10. cycle rikshaw to outskirts of town - 20 minutes
11. Auto rikshaw to Bodhgaya - 1.5 hours

AAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!
At least waiting this long in Gorakpur (where I am at the moment) means that
I can sleep on the train, I reserved the upper berth :) of second class NO
AIRCON! GOD when they use the aircon here it is reminiscent of the coldest
days of winter in Ontario!! picture eyes forming between your nose and upper
lip! Same as in Indonesia...when they use aircon, THEY USE AIRCON!!!

So I have three hours left now. I wrote the university to see if I could
extend my final by one month HAHA worth a try...if not, no worries...I just
have to buckle down and try to finish most of the assignment on the
plane(s).

Well I just wanted to say hi and give you an idea of the journey I am in for
HAHA!!
Wish me luck haha!!
I will be in Bodhgaya for a day or two then to Delhi by the 29th...then
April 1st at 430am! is my flight :)
love you guys.
I would love to see you both this summer. You can come as long as you guys
wish, just that I prefer that it is one at a time so that we can spend some
quality time together :)
hope you two are well and that I love you guys for your unwavering support
in my global pursuit of life itself and to allow me to form my life as I see
fit...thank you!!

back on Indian ground

EPIC is a term we rarely use when travelling but I wish to title this short
email as such.

Running out of time when you are travelling is inevitable and it happens to
all of us...the problem arises when you wish to stay longer at a place that
is of considerable distance from your departure point.

A brief list of modes of transport taken:
I was in central Nepal and it was pertinent at this point to GET MOVING
so...
taxi to stand - bus to border - clear both customs - cycle rikshaw to bus -
bus to Gorakpur - train to Hajipur (waiting 7 hours to take a 6 hour train)
- autorikshaw to other train station in Patna - train from Patna to Gaya
(waiting 3 hours to take train for 3 hours) - rikshaw to outskirts of Gaya -
autorikshaw to Bodhgaya...at this point around the 30 hour mark I slept
about 5 on the train, my last mode of transport is called an
autorikshaw...these vehicles have three wheels and are kind of like a
motorcyle but have a cab attached to it that sits (in India) about 12-15 or
more people but "seats" for about 6-8...with no seat I spent the last hour
of this journey on the roof rack. HAHA!

On the 28th I will be heading to Delhi and will more then likely be writing
a final email to close this chapter of the journey.
Through my travelling over the years I have been told to publish some of
these writings...I collected all my journals and emails over the last six
years and will do my best to start to put them together in a mish-mash of
stories as my journey has unfolded. It has nothing to do with money...I
think it would be interesting for me as well to compile the years of my
travelling. What do you all think? Want a copy? hehe.
Also, I will set up my internet website for the beads and other business, it
will be great to arrange all that I have collected and move on with the
business.
Keep in touch all. I hope you have enjoyed the last 2.5 months as much as I
have.
Love you all.

Nepal - Part 2

March 23, 2006 4:42:04 AM

I rented a motorcycle for the last two days and was able to drive all over the area and for hours out of the city into small villages high up in the mountains to see what daily life is like in Nepal...absolutely BEAUTIFUL women dressed in multi-colours have a more asian bone structure with dark skin and eyes of all colours...they smile at every chance and carry baskets on their backs that are woven bamboo and tie a rope to essential what is a headband and carry INCREDIBLE WEIGHT...often they can be seen carrying twigs and branches or foliage and greenery needed to feed their livestock. Everyone smiles here! A genuine heartfelt smile of respect and love...incredibly kind for all the right reasons :) (not for money), they peer at you from open doors, from high atop the hills and low in the valleys...and once eye contact is made their faces light up and they smile with a kind "Namaste". Pokhara (where I stay at a meditation centre) is called the "Gateway to the Himalayas"...people from all around the world come here to climb the AnnaPurna range of the Himalayas. Northern part of the city is in the valley...driving towards the Himalayas are like viewing a mirage...there are green mountains of varying heights up to about 2500m then there are the HIMALAYAS, some mountains peaking at 7500m! these look as though they are painted on canvas, adjusted through Photoshop to appear as though there are mountains beyond the green ones! Obviously to drive North from Pokhara is fairly limiting, one could drive for a couple hours but then you must skirt east or west along this massive range. There are few good roads outside of Pokhara except for the main ones leading south to India and east to Katmandu...the city of Pokhara is beautifully laid out and quite simple...the fear comes when one thinks of taking a "sideroad" by motorcycle...what is essentially a road that may have once been asphalted but now all that remains is the base of varying size rocks that fit their way to jossle you from side to side...similar to riding a bucking bronco (I can imagine) The drives around have been beautiful and have had their awe inspiring moments and touching one on one contact with locals that are just as curious of you as you are of their lifestyle and daily activities. The great accomplishment was FINDING A RUDRAKSHA tree, twice in one day, two different locations and I was able to find about 30 beads. This may not sound like much to some but these are the tears of Lord Shiva and an important bead for devotees of Shiva...you will see all of them wearing at least one mala of 54 or 108 beads around their necks used for both protection and reciting mantras. I was able to take several photos of the tree and study the leaves as well so that I am able to find them again in the wild...I was able to find some that had not left their cover yet and others that were still in their original berry form!! This is an exciting find in my search for beads and will help to bring even more power to the malas I will make with them :) I should be leaving Pokhara in the coming couple of days and will be leaving for SSI on the April 1st :) Hope all is well with everyone and I will see many of you soon :) "Find the light within and shine bright upon the world for a more enlightened tomorrow." - Brian McIntyre.

Nepal

Lumbini was a beautiful place to relax and meditate in the birthplace of an
influential man...a man that would come to change the way that people could
relate to the world, people pass through life making a difference and
setting examples to aim towards...Buddha, unlike Ghandi, Mother Teresa, and
Jesus sent a message of love and compassion to the world and a way to seek
union with God or the light within us...this journey unlike others has been
a transformative walk...a time in life when I am open to change and
accepting of what I am.
All of you on my travel log are here because at one point or another and
still to this day YOU MAKE A DIFFERENCE and have taught me in your own ways
what this world is and what we can do to be better people...each of you are
inspirational in your own way and I think of each and HAVE thought of each
of you at times during this travel...sending me love to you and all that I
can reach.

I write this email from Pokhara, 8 hours north by bus from Lumbini...
why? Well I stayed in Lumbini for a longer period of time because there was
an all vehicle ban on the roads...the battle for power occurs regularly in
Nepal between the King and the Maoist gorup (no relation to China except
that they wish to embody what Mao Zedong achieved a time ago in
China...China does not fund this movement.)
So I left the day the ban was lifted and decided to travel north because I
must return to Bodhgaya by the 26 or 27th...giving me somedays to see more
of Nepal.
So...

Pokhara...the entry point to the Hamalayan range, I stay at a meditation
centre overlooking a huge lake here, the Himalayan range can be seen in the
background and the mountains in the foreground pop through the surface of
the earth, rise to great heights, and inspire thoughts of nothing but the
vastness and beauty of what nature can produce.
I sit on the balcony of my little room and read books from the library of
the monastery, the meditation hall is lit by a skylight and the roof can be
accessed to enjoy the sun and the stars.

I will be here for at least a few more days as I have had a meeting with an
elder lama and plan to return to see him on the 24th...beyond this there are
many sights to see and I have rented a motorcycle for tomorrow to see the
surrounding countryside.
I am sure I will have more to write about Pokhara in the days to come.

This block of travelling will soon end. I will first go to Bodhgaya by the
27th and Delhi by the 29th...then my flight is on the 1st of April, when i
will gladly return to my home and friends on Salt Spring. This travelling
has been a moving experience and i am ready to return home to my home, work,
market, and beautiful family of friends :) I will see all you Saltspringers
soon :)

Love light.

The finishing of the epic Buddha's journey

March 11, 2006 9:50:12 PM

I now find my place in Lumbini, Nepal...at the point of birth...Buddha was born here in 623BC to a royal family called the Sakya clan. Siddharta's mother, Mayadevi  was on her way back from her husband's palace when she stopped for a bath in the water tank and gave birth...the pond still remains...close to a descendant of the Sal tree that she used to brace herself during birth. Siddharta's birth was usual not merely because he was born upright in his mother's rib cage, but because he was born with the ability to speak. Upon entering the world he said "I am the foremost of all the creatures to cross the riddle of the ocean of existence. I have come to the world to show the path of emancipation. This is my last birth and hereafter I will not be born again." Today the reminence of the temple and monastery remain...along with the original marker stone which signifies the EXACT location where Buddha was born! From Bodhgaya...I travelled first to: RAJGIR: The location of Vultures Peak and remain of a monastery where Buddha came to preach to the local population and meditate in the surrounding caves, he would live here for years to come. He was to say to disciples "...Yes, this is a place worthy of a mighty struggle. In truth monks, I sat down on the self-same spot still thinking: This is a place for a mighty struggle." The rock formations jut out off the flattened landscape as desert land, and flat terrain lay in sight of giant hills of rock and seem to be placed in the strangest formations...some HUGE stones, standing on the presipice of falling to the desert floor...The pagoda reached by a chairlift overlooks Vultures Peak...a place of great teaching. Buddha would stand high upon the rock and with passion and fervour he would speak to the crowds of his discoveries in his quest for freeing the world of suffering. NALANDA: 11 monasteries and 5 temples have been discovered and define the landscape of the present surroundings. Originally, reported by a Chinese traveller in the 6th century there were 108 MONASTERIES! and 108 TEMPLES! and encompassed some 10km by 5 kms...you can look over the walls that now enclose these discoveries and see over the landscape obvious remains of other monasteries and temples...funding was stopped and it was decided that excavation would be completed to save the neighbouring villages from being forced out. Buddha would come to visit this university and discuss with the teachers the essence of his knowledge...1300 teachers and over 3000 monks would live here...the first international - residential school in the world!! The main teachers being Sariputra, Nagarjuna, Padmasambava (the founder of Buddhism in Tibet) and scores of great masters that would later form the schools of Thervada, Ch'an, and Zen. Buddha was often known to debate with masters in the courtyards of these monasteries. The monasteries were all built the same, each being connected by an overhead bridge...each with 30-60 rooms...the entrance to the west would be flanked by images of the Buddha...in the centre a MASSIVE courtyard, on the outside the rooms, toilets and drainage to the east...in the courtyard lies a kitchen with fireplace for cooking during mealtimes and creating brass and copper castings during the remaining times of the day. On each side of the entrance were the teachers quarters...each with a seperate meditation chamber and an further room that stored the wealth of the monastery. KUSHINAGAR: 22 km from Kushinagar Buddha would eat mushrooms that would be his inevitable demise...he would fall victim to dysentry and fever and die here...three months prior in Rajgir he was known to say to his disciples that he would die in three months time and he wished to return close to his homeland...he must die in Kushinagar. The sadness of the place is palpable...the flowers are rumoured to not have a scent, others that were planted here have died...nature seems to be in eternal mourning. Buddha would say to Ananda (his dearest disciple and closest friend) "Be unto yourself your own lantern, O Ananda, and your own refuge. Seek no other refuge but yourself. Let the truth be your lantern and your refuge." HIS LAST WORDS "In truth I say to you, all that is created shall pass away. Continue the struggle on earth. Never falter." With love.

Buddha and the path

March 6, 2006 8:59:27 AM

I knew this leg of the trip would be far different than the first half which was touring the north-eastern region of India and into the forefront of Shiva's city...I sensed that Buddha's path would be of great importance to me, for 11 years I have practiced and read more on Buddhism as time went on...always feeling a closeness to him in my heart...since the arrival in Varanasi (Shiva's city) it has been a daily flow of joyful tears and an internal unfolding...a time when silence envelops you in a richness of warmth, colour, and light...an overwhelming sense of love and compassion can be felt through every avenue and dirt trail, every tree and waterway that Buddha was known to frequent. I went to the cave called Mahakala the other day, where Buddha would spend six years of his life deteriorating to only skin and bones...and would later descend the mountain to a town where a woman named Sujata would feed him, down the road he would collect a bail of Kusa grass from a local farmer and would journey on to Bodhgaya and obtain enlightenment. My days in Bodhgaya are filled with spending most of the day in Mahabodhi Temple...inclined to sit in various places throughout this holy sight, under different trees where Buddha sat and parts of the temple grounds where he paced back and forth contemplating the Four Noble Truths, the pond where he sat...imagining in all these locations of a man, in a desperate search to find a solution to human suffering...one can only begin to imagine the internal struggles that he must have been going through...you are constantly drawn to tears in places all around the temple complex, there is a powerful energy here...prayers, monks, and seekers colour the sounds and sights of the temple...Buddha is proud to look upon the seekers in life...we all try to be good people and everyone has their own reality...but one thing is certain...with love, compassion, and a sense of dignity for humanity we can all make this world a better place. OM MANI PADME HUNG. (The jewel is within you.)

Bodhgaya and the cave

March 4, 2006 1:36:09 AM

Bodhgaya is an interesting place, everything centres around the Mahabodhi Temple...the location where Buddha obtained enlightenment, an offspring of the original tree still stands today...an off-shoot was cut from an original in Sri Lanka and brought back here when the last tree died in the early 1900s. The temple is impressive and a towering stupa of over 50m defines this town...the gardens surrounding the complex are dotted with smaller stupas built by devotees from various countries...around the temple worshippers walk barefoot on marble and circumbabulate in a clockwise fashion, many with malas in their right hand reciting mantras as they continue in their meditative walk...the Bodhi tree also known as The Root Tree of Knowledge is enclosed by a sandstone fence, beneath the tree is a diamond throne which protects which is believed to be the very sandstone tablet that Buddha sat on...he would sit here for seven days straight before achieving nirvana and the answer to the entire understanding of human suffering and realizing all his previous lives, understanding the cosmos and communicating with other realms...for 49 days he would sit under a different tree for a period of 7 days, each tree would give him different insights and feelings...He would go to Sarnath from here and find his first 5 disciples. The prayers reverberate from every spot in the complex, millenia of prayers can be heard in the walls, flowers, trees, and ground...there is a sense of overwhelming awe...you enter the complex in a sort of hyper-reality and sensitivity, everything is more intimate and people are together for one reason...to understand this life we live in and overcome the burdens that are unnecessary...when you sit in the temple you can imagine the Buddha sitting next to you in his sublime state...the world is a happier place here... then as he would have it planned...AS SOON AS YOU LEAVE THE COMPLEX...BAM!!! Indian reality and the perpectual struggle of BIHAR state, the poorest state on this subcontinent...the lack of education and industry have been their downfall, in addition to their state being divided, with the wealthier southern part taking on a new state name and reaping the royalties of their riches...leaving Bihar to struggle. Buddha warned the people of Bihar to be weary of feud, flood, and fire...of which, feud is an everyday occurence in this region...bandits stroll the countryside to steal riches from vehicles on the roads and they are not afraid to hold entire villages ransom!! It only seems right that the region where Buddha travelled the most would be one of the poorest in a monetary sense...I feel that these people may have more then money, they most likely have the spirit and soul that Buddha graced upon this area...it opens your eyes to the struggles of the world and a need to find some sort of equilibrium...in time I believe we will find a balance of justice...we must for the sake of humanity...time will tell, we can only do our best to make a difference. There is a cave near Bodhgaya where Buddha spent six years meditating and waasting away in his search for the end to human suffering...plagued by his lack of answers he fast and periods during these six years would eat one grain of rice...he would later write..."In truth, O Aggivessana, if I thought " I will touch my spine", it was the skin of my belly I also took hold of...I was so wasted away with fasting that the skin of my belly cleaved to my spine. Realizing this was not the way he left the mountain cave for a village close by where he took food from a woman called Sujata (the name of the village today)...in these fields he would conceive the idea of the Middle Way. Spending a couple of hours in the cave today you could only imagine the mental struggles that he was going through in his mission to SAVE HUMANITY!! ... skin and bones are replicated in a golden statue of Buddha during this period in his life, sure to be one of the few statues of Buddha one will ever see in a skeletal form! I take all of you in my heart through my travels and every tear that is shed is for a greater happiness for all...with love and compassion...know you are all close to me...with love.

Observations

February 28, 2006 3:12:36 AM

The main streets are buzzing with action, people going all which ways...people sitting down asking for change, hawkers selling their wares, rickshaws trying to get another passenger, scooters fighting through the masses...the shops consume the sidewalks leaving the road for walking as the only option...in the evenings the streets are rammed with people...a wave of humanity with each individual having a mission of their own...music blasting, people yelling, talking, rickshaws jingling their bells to alert walkers ahead of the apparent danger behind them... I was talking with a traveller the other night and in our attempt to explain what Asia is all about I told her that I love Asia because the chaos in the public forum is the direct manifestation of the chaotic mind...for one to relax in this environment you must relax your mind and find an equilibrium. In the west, noise retrictions, traffic rules, to do and not to do signs everywhere, a stucture for a being that must find itself within this form...in the West, all is quiet in the streets as the chaos is internalize in the mind...I believe this is why so many people find an unusual peace in their Asian travelling experiences. I am often called saddhu or baba by many here which has created an interesting experience for me...Shiva devotees and I are instantly drawn to eachother in a beautiful play of facial gestures, smiles, eyes that agree, and hands folded between the eyes and a greeting of Namaste ("I see the divine within you.")...there is an overwhelming peace that we share in this understanding...without words we sit together...today I shared my meal with a saddhu who talked for a half an hour continously, knowing the whole time that he was talking about our connection and he showed me pictures of his guru...in a way i desired to speak his language but in another I looked at him and felt a connection that was not necessary to express in words...he was I and I was him. I leave some places as though I have entered another realm...I spend an hour writing and looking at emails and then upon leaving this little vortex I step out into INDIA! BAM! HERE! NOW! dodging cow paddies and every obstacles in a poetic ballet, a dance as you move forward...I have often felt blessed that I am not large in size and am quite flexible, because riding free transport boats, being on buses where the seats are only inches apart (okay, maybe a foot :) and travelling on the top berth of second class sleepers has you dreaming of having a Inspector Gadget body where you could shorten your torso like an acordion...just to have the ability to sit up straight :)

Mahashivaratri - The great night of Shiva

February 27, 2006 5:14:33 AM

Mahashivaratri - The great night of Shiva...fell on the 26th of February this year. This is a festival where from midnight to noon on the ay of the 26th the locals walked in a circular fashion along the Ganga ghats (bathing steps) and shore to the end and out to the surrounding villages and back to the other end of the ghats...in bare feet!! chanting mantras and singing hymns to Lord Shiva...the crowds were HUGE as the start of the walk reflects the eagerness, passion, and devotion for Shiva and by ten in the morning the walkers are bruised and battered limping for the duration, some in more pain then others but all with intense faith and diligence in what they are doing...this twelve hour walk is believed to bring the walker luck for the duration of the year...and inevitable clarity of mind through such an arduous journey. WHY? Mahashivaratri - The great night of Shiva - this festival is attributed to several stories in Hindu mythology but one of the more popular stories traces the origin of this festival to the churning of the Ocean of Milk by devas (gods) and asuras (demons). It is said that when both gods and demons were churning the Ocean of Milk to obtain amrita (water of immortal life), they came across many unusual substances, including the deadly poison Kalakuta. As soon as they touched the poison, it exploded into poisonous fumes that threatened to envelope the entire universe into darkness...fearful the gods asked for help from the Holy Trinity (Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva)...Shiva was the only one that could help, raising his trident he condensed the fumes and  to save creation swallowed the poison...leaving a dark blue mark on his throat. SYMBOLISM? Churning of the Ocean of Milk signifies human activity in the world. The amrita symbolizes happiness and poison represents human greed and selfishness. Shiva symbolizes the atman (self), the spiritual essence of an individual. Worship of Shiva denotes meditation and contemplation by an individual on his or her own self...symbolizing the worship of the atman within :) When the individual attains self-knowledge, he or she can live in the world without being affected by craving, anger, greed, attachment, pride, jealousy, and egoism...the seven enemies of the soul. Hence, this festival has  great importance to all Hindus, especially Varanasi...as Shiva proclaimed himself that he would embrace and protect those that live here. Today the walkers stroll the alleys of Varanasi with a limp of honour...a justice has been served for them...with love and affection this was the day of Shiva :)

Buddhas Path

Buddha was born a Brahmin prince in what was India at the time and now is
into Nepal by one hour. His objection of to his father having him live
within the walls of their empire was enough for him to flee on horse back
out of the city (leaving a wife and child) to seek nirvana and end the
suffering of cyclical existence...he achieved this in Bohdgaya and taught
his first sermon in Sarnath.

The journey to present:
Allahabad...the confluence of the Yamuna and Ganges rivers brings me to the
next step of the journey...
KOSAMBI: 64 km southwest of Allahabad is a village set on the banks of the
Yamuna river and in the time of Buddha it was a bustling trading port where
one of the local merchants built a wall encompassing the town and built
several monasteries...Buddha spent seperate periods of time here teaching
the local monks of their errors in accepting his teachings but not embracing
them in their daily actions...monks began to feud over a scuffle (one of the
monks had used the latrine and washed his hands but did not replace the
water with clean water) and the monks seperated into different
monasteries...the town was disgusted with the feud and started treated the
monks like outcasts...as time went on and Buddha left to more peaceful
grounds he returned again to bring peace to the monks.
Ashoka was the former prime minister of India and embraced Buddhas message,
erecting over 1300 pillars throughout India in a sign of the love of
Buddhism as a teaching.
What remains of Kosambi now?
I arrive to a one street town and the local police man saw me walking
towards the hills (that I felt were the remains of where Buddha lived) and
all he could say was "Why?" with this perplexed look on his face HAHA!!! I
just smiled and continued to walk SOMEWHERE HAHA!! as I walked over the
first hill a woman farmer cutting grass with a machette pointed to the
horizon telling me to go that way...across the rolling hills of wheat and
peas, tall grasses and valleys, was a temples roof top...I figured i would
head there and see what to do next...minutes later a man approaches and
takes me there with his limited English...I explain to him that I have no
food and no where to sleep HAHA!! he brings me to the temple and am welcomed
by the caretaker of the temple...we spend the day walking through the
village...a maze of mud huts, peering into the room with no furniture and
the main grinding wheel being the focal point of the house, where wheat is
shaken from the stocks and ground in a stone bowl to a powder to be made
into flat bread (called chipati).

I walked through this poor and dilapidated village and tried to imagine the
granduer that was here during the time of the Buddha...the village
inhabitants of his time would later die of a plague and woud never restore
its former glory...I wonder what he thinks of this town now.

VARANASI

The holiest of holy cities for Hindus, the abode of Shiva and the home of
the funeral pyres that burn 24 hours a day consuming 70-100 bodies in one
location and another 20ish at another location...every Hindu wishes to leave
this world in the manner of cremation on the Ganga in Varanasi.
FACTS: It takes roughly 300kg of wood to burn a body in three hours, each
body is wrapped in white cloth, with golden saris adorning the body on a
bamboo built stretcher...each body is paraded through the streets on the
same path to the pyre. The body rests one hour is then "dunked" in the Ganga
one last time before being set on the pyre. The eldest son will shave his
head, dress in white, will circle the body on the pyre five times
(representing the five senses) in a clockwise manner with grass that is
lit...he will then place the flames at the foot of the body and then will
remove himself from the area for the duration of the cremation...when the
body is burned he will return and through water on the ashes three times,
the last with his back turned and over his right shoulder, walking away and
not looking at the ashes again...the remaining ashes and remainder is thrown
into the Ganga from shore. Five bodies will not be burned: ones with:
leprocy, children under ten, pregnant women, and two I cannot remember and
do not want to misinform.

The alleys of Varanasi...within a mile or so of the Ganga is JAMMED WITH
HOUSES of all sizes, it is a maze of indescribable proportions. Shops,
people, cows, rikshaws, scooters and bicycles roam the narrow
alleyways...most no wider then two men standing shoulder to shoulder...I am
in an internet cafe that is probably 5 feet wide HAHA!! This is an assault
on any navigational skills I EVER HAD HAHA!!! It is brilliant
though...impossible to photograph with alleys turning this way and that but
I will do my best.

SARNATH
an hour by bicycle rik-shaw from Varanasi is the very location where over
2500 years ago the Buddha set the Wheel of Teaching in motion (the teaching
of the Eightfold Path and the Four Noble Truths)...he would consecrate five
monks this day and create what is known as Buddhism today.
What is believed to be the EXACT location is represented by a stupa 34m tall
(that remains...originally it was believed to be 100m)...dates from AD540
and below ground foundations date to AD200. The remains of an entire
monatery complex and main stupas and schools remain...the mediation chamber
built for Buddha remains...all in ruins but still visible.
The vibrations here are enough to bring tears to the eyes of many, the
beginning of liberation for many was first taught here.

Life has its purpose and we all have our beliefs, what is undeniable is that
when we all achieve union with this eternal truth and reality we will all
reach the same point...we will all again greet eachother at the top of this
mountain :) Believe what you believe and lets try to make a difference in
this life...affect others with love, compassion, and a sense of duty for a
better place.

Love to all.

Reminisce of the days in Borneo

February 21, 2006 3:59:48 AM

I do this at times in my travels...take myself off the track and explore where my heart wants to take me...I am in Allahabad, the point where the great Ganga (Ganges) meets the Yamuna River and the mythical Saraswati River is said to flow underground and also meet at this point...This is where Kumbh Mela is held every 12 years and the Magh Mela is held yearly...I missed the yearly celebration by three weeks but the remence of the event was clearly visible, so of the temporary shelters still stand (canvas outlays that look like you would picture a refuge camp) and spans the entire bed of the Ganges clear across the other side that is connected by temporary pon-toon bridges...the other side has temples, restaurants, and shelter with ashrams and celebrations, like an entire city and then is dismantled (I missed that) but plan to return here for the Kumbh Mela in January. I missed the Mela but not the celebrations that happen every Tuesday and Saturday at the Hanuman temple...crowds of 30-40 each surround a person carrying a flag pole of some thirty feet in height (supported by four people with ropes...live music is played with drums and chimes as people dance their way to the temple and have the flag touch the lying emanation of Hanuman (a rare site to see Hanuman reclining, if you were able to see through all the flowers offered to him) the bells ringing to signal your arrival, chanting aloud of mantra and hymns devoted to HAnuman and the tears of the devotees as the descend into the crypt where Hanuman lies... To bathe in this part of the Ganga is a warmer tempature then the north and a cloudy colour because of the sandy soil in this region...the shores of the Ganga at this time is like a desert but come the monsoon season the water will rise to the height of the Hanuman temple and will reach the feet of Hanuman before it receeds. Reminisce of the days in Borneo b/c not many foreigners come here and I feel like I did in Borneo, that I stepped into a secret doorway that reveals another part of a giant house I have lived in for years...I travel (my house) and feel that every door I open sends that much more light into the central courtyard of my life, journeys like this are bound to reveal skylights and secret passages that are bound to reveal greater parts of a house I am only now learning who the builder was :) People are astonished to see foreigners out of the loop and you immediately know you are off the track when you arrive and at least a set of eyes in every shops looks at you as though you may be the first alien sighting HAHAHA!!! I am just starting the journey that I came here to do, a book called "In the Footsteps of Buddha"...tomorrow I will head south west to a village called Kosami where the Buddha spent a lot of time preaching to a colony of monks, that started to fued and seperate...he warned them of this error and in time the entire population of the village died of a pandemic. The remains of the town are still there...I hear there is a buddhist monk who has built a temple there...I will ask to stay the night and head to Chitrakut soon to see the town where it is said that Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva were "born" here and taken on their incarnations (this is the Hindu Trinity) (creator, preserver, destroyer). The journey off the track will continue until my arrival in Varanasi (soon enough)

Indian eyes

February 17, 2006 2:21:51 AM

In the search for God we come across places and events in our lives that grab at the core of our being...you feel as though you have stepped into another dimension at times walking near the Ganga (they called the Ganges the Ganga)...the reflections of the water tell of times past where saddhus and devotees walked great distances to bathe along the stretch of white sandy beaches...large rocks pertrude from the sands and break the vision of a bleak desert...the water up here is CRYSTAL CLEAR. Standing from the walking bridge above the water, people feed MASSIVE FISH!!! bread...from this height they look like catfish but I can't be sure. Everyday the time slips by in my ever present state of mind, I sit in reflection and time melts...I think of all of you in your space and time and send my blessings, time passes, I bathe in the Ganges and bottle the water to bring back as gifts to my Hindu devotees. Saddhus dressed in faded orange cloth from head to toe walk by me in my orange cotton fisherman pants and our eyes meet...a story is told in that second, one that Hindus have been a part of for more than 8500 years! The Sanatana Dharma was the name of Hinduism then, this religion adopts and absorbs facets of all philosophies and religions and their belief is reflected in their eyes...a power that sends a shockwave to the core of your heart...they know where they are going and who will be there when they get there...I have always read various religions and have found my closest connections to both Hindu and Buddhist, what Buddhism lacks is the sense of God...it is something that is not pondered...yet the eternal ultimate reality is (a parellel in the two religions)...but eyes like the saddhus and yogis here are unlike those I have ever seen before...a window to the pure light of their souls, there is a blatant honesty there...a real, true, sense of what this world is. I feel like everyone is my friend here HAHA I must wave to everyother person as I walk up and down the Ganga. From the ashram to Lakshman Jula to Rishikesh...some saddhus walk with canes and wear the years of practice on their face, others walk with turban like cloth enwrapped in their dreads...rudraksha malas adorning their bodies, the tears of Lord Shiva and the protector of health, knowledge and harmful sins...others wear Tulsi malas (the wearer must not lie, drink,  or smoke). The weather has been impeccable!! The sun warms the mornings and afternoons and the evenings and nights are pleasantly cool. SUNSET CELEBRATIONS: Every evening a ceremony is held on the Ganga and flower offerings are given to the Ganga in the belief that prayers are answered and that the loved ones that have died will receive the message of the love that continues for them on earth. Rishikesh has an ashram that performs this ceremony with singers and young saddhus chanting that is somewhat touristy but in Haridwar (the truly sacred pilgrimage for Hindus...the real beginning of the Ganga) is where it is more real (About 1.5 hours away by rik-shaw)...I went last night and I estimate 3000-4000 people were there...both watching and part of the ceremony. The feeling of being present on the Ganga in a ceremony that has so much collective energy of prayer was enough for all to tear. Know that you were all sitting with me, viewing the scenes from my eyes and that you were all in my prayers...know that you have touched the Ganga as I have. Love you all. Not sure when I will leave, it could be a few more days yet...there is no reason to leave when you fit so well into the surroundings.

Rishikesh

February 13, 2006 10:29:59 PM

The start of the Ganges...this is where the Ganges streams clean :) and I have been able to wash in it upon my arrival and will daily until my departure. This is the typical India in my mind...prior to this I had been in the major city of Delhi (business), Amiritsar (Punjab state of Sikkism) and McLeod Ganj (Little Tibet)...actually I have to correct myself with misinformation that I wrote all before, the population is not 3000 tibetans but 43000!!!...my guidebook is old and the population has increased all throughout the valley (that population is of the entire area that is called Dharamsala)...NOW Rishikesh...where Saddhus and devotees walk the shores of the Ganges, where people line the walkways asking for change, where devotees dressed in the colours of orange and yellow offer marijuana to you as you pass (we are all warned of people posing as saddhus and may not be the friendliest people, thankfully for me I do not smoke so the temptation to join is not there), cows walking the street (they are not killed because they are believed to be the sign of nurturing and fertility...the bull is the most revered because he was the vehicle of SHIVA). ... Rishikesh... The town is divided by the Ganges and joined by walking bridge, taxis and buses drop you off on the far side and you walk across...the view from the centre of the bridge south are ashrams (hindu temples with accomodation) dotted on both sides with steps built on either side throughout allowing you to walk to the waters edge and bathe...the north side is sparcely populated with sandy beach on one side and cliffs on the other. The water is surprisingly POWERFUL here with rapids and white crested water. They all say that India is an assault on the senses...I can imagine that this is only the beginning to what Varanasi will feel like...cow dung is the biggest obstacle to walking at night haha!! the people are incredibly kind and say RAM RAM as a hello in the morning and NAMASTE as a hello later in the day. RAM RAM is a prayer to RAMA...the key to the story Ramayana (I would love to explain the Ramayana but it would take ages HAHA) and Namaste literally means "I see the divine within you." I have found my local hangout...a coffee cart that has found its permanent place with tarps above and walled on three sides by other existing buildings. It seems to me that he pushed the cart this far and said THAT IS ENOUGH HERE IS OK HAHA!!! It looks right on to the Ganges...the family is great and the chai is 3 ruppees a cup :) 6 cents :)...I hung out with the family until about 930 last night. I instantly felt at home and connected when I arrived here...the Ganges is of EXTREME importance to Hindus and you can feel the collective energy with everyones prayers reverberating from ashram to ashram and over the waters through the valleys. It is nice to see crystal clear Ganges before my arrival in Varanasi :) hehe I will keep in touch. Glad to write. Hope all is well.

Never ask directions from either Indians or Tibetans.

February 10, 2006 7:47:35 PM

Never ask directions from either Indians or Tibetans...reason being: Indians will give you directions which include elaborate hand waving and directional adjustments with their hands, while telling you how long it will take you and the approximate distance, to which you learn about thirty minutes later that they had no clue!! haha!! Tibetans on the other hand will tell you where to go and how long it will take you but the path may simply be descending down the side of a mountain with no clear path...your directions being "just over there and down!"...you realize after two hours that their ETA of one hour was possibly for a Tibetan porter in his prime!! I met a Korean guy in Amritsar and again here so we decided to share a room, we travelled from McLeod Ganj to Dharakot and Triund (recommended by Kristy, thank you :) The trip was up the entire way from 1817m (McLeod Ganj) to 2600m at Triund...it was remarkable that you would walk for ten minutes and look down to realize that your are ascending at such a rapid pace. We arrived to the base of a Himalayan range that towered the horizon (even though our elevation was near 2600m)...snow was an obstacle while hiking parts of the trail...on the walk there were two coffee shops :) and in Triund a basic accomodation similar to a rangers station. The clouds passed by and changed forms as they hit the range of mountains before us, the silence was palable and you had the sense that you were only a step away from flying along with the eagles that soared the thermals...with your back to the range you could survey the entire region of this vast area of mountains, valleys, and rice fields...dotted plantations across the mountains make you wonder HOW they decided to live THERE! The descent was targeted for Bhagsu...this would create a circle route back to the hotel...we were told, just follow the ridge to that mountain over there and go down, easy, maybe 1.5 hours HAHA!! what was not told to us was that ALL these mountains are dotted with abandoned villages and a tributary of paths that are mind boggling, they go EVERYWHERE...after reaccessing our paths, we found that we were on another mountain further from our destination...with several corrections we arrived at our destination in 3.5 hours HAHA!! Maybe next time I will try using a map and not my nose HAHA!!

From one holy place to the next

February 9, 2006 2:59:05 AM

Just the other day I arrived in Amritsar (the holiest city in the Punjab state and for the Sikh religion)...I stayed at the pilgrims site for free and was also able to get food for free. The soup kitchen was well organized off the side of the complex called the GOLDEN TEMPLE...here you walk towards a building that looks similar to a factory...a vast space with only the support columns and mats for you to walk on...designated laneways :) where people that PRACTICALLY volunteer (get paid $2 for 12 hours of work) pace up and down the lanes filling your metal plate (picture steel formed prison plates :) hehe) as they walk by...you can eat to your hearts content...the menu? "flat bread and green curry sauce stuff haha!" Anyways the temple... I arrive to the gates opposite the temple where the pilgrims accomodation is...across the street (not   10 paces) is the beginning of the marble entrance...YOU MUST ENTER BAREFOOT and with HEAD COVERED...they gave me silk to cover my head...as you walk the length of the entrance...covered in marble...maybe 30 feet wide by 150 feet long to the entrance...before you enter the complex you walk through a stream of water (you have to do this to wash your feet before entering) and walk four paces through it. The view the entire time walking towards the temple is BREATHE TAKING...a temple rumoured to have used 1300kg of PURE GOLD to cover the roof of the central temple, the entire complex is marble! the LAKE that the temple sits in must be nearly a 700 feet wide and 200 feet deep...I counted 1100 of my steps to walk around once (so that is a better idea...maybe no so wide) The temple is only accessible on one side by a walkway that leads to the temple in the middle. Reflections of Malaysia passed through my mind as I recorded the sounds of the chanting in Punjabi...the temple is open 24 hours...I spent most of 1 and a half days in the temple :) People dressed in traditional outfits would strip down to their underwear and dunk themselves into the man made lake around the temple, I watched one elder take off what must have been 10-15 pieces of clothing!! from a blanket to their traditional sword. ... From the Golden Temple I now sit in McLeod Ganj...the home of more then 3000 Tibetans and the home of His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Just like his speech in Toronto, his home and temple are modest and sensible...what is necessary and no more. The village here lies at around 2000metres with the Himalayans as the backdrop of the town (and fortunate for me, also the accomodation I chose...and am in BEAD HEAVEN AS WELL!! :) The area where I am has a central bus circle from where streets stem from it, each one leading off to another town or the Adminstrative offices of Tibet and numerous trails! The streets are close together and shops along with street sellers are EVERYWHERE...but buying here is a much more relaxed approach to the often nagging and persistent hawkers of Delhi. Here they simply put out their wares and you are free to choose. Although I have done little prospecting, the stores I have been to have the same prices. I prefer the night time here...people shuffle around with little sound and the walls seem to reverberate with the prayers of all that walk the streets during the day with their malas (buddhist rosaries) reciting mantras...everywhere you look the Tibet monks can be seen walking the streets and the elderly Tibetans clutching their malas in stride. The Dalai Lama is not here at the moment ( I missed him while he was in Delhi because I only found out after I left that he was there :( and he is now in Varanasi but I will not be there until a couple weeks from now). I must be going, but if you have any questions just ask...I think I covered the experience :) I will most likely be here for a week and will write a second part on McLeod Ganj and surrounding areas. Hope you are all well. Love and peace to all, you are all in my prayers as I do my recitations.

Ask three times and pay once

February 5, 2006 4:23:55 AM

Ah yes...the tourist mecca of Delhi (Paharjahg) this region is the area where most backpackers will find themselves while trying to get out on the next train to ANYWHERE!! but I have been blessed to meet people prior to my arrival and stay and experience a nicer part of Delhi...not the terrible stories associated with hawkers and people trying to sell you everything under the sun...but of a peaceful community where you pay the local price (25cents an hour for e-mail as well as lunch at the local stalls)...the area is called Vasant Vihar which is the the southwest of Delhi (close to the domestic airport and all the embassies (Nancy you will enjoy yourself here). I address market prices in this email. There are the opportunistic one time sellers and the people that sell here and want to be here twenty years from now. (My rule in all of Asia is ASK THREE TIMES - in three different places!) So...I went looking for beads...and knew straight away who was con and who was decent...the best price is the one who sells the same to locals as they do to tourist. I found that guy :) in a mass of other in a shop not far from city centre. Another time I went to buy "fishermen pants" that are popular in Thailand...I asked the first guy (expensive) second shop (a little less) third shop (half the price of the first)...the price is not relative so it is hard to fathom but understanding the relative nature of the market you can see that asking three times to three different stores (EVEN NEXT DOOR TO EACH OTHER!!!) will result in half the price of the guy down the road!!! Even for my Indian friends here it is a struggle everytime we hire a rik-shaw (a motorcycle taxi on three wheels)...we have been told DOUBLE the price or even TRIPLE the price that we have already paid to get to the location we are at. India reminds me a great deal of Indonesia and when I arrived in India I knew that I had been here more then a few times (you can sense it in travel...for instance, I know that I can survive and live in countries like China and Korea...but I never sensed that I was there before...India and Indonesia have been home to me before :) Delhi is dotted with historical monument (like the India Gate) that was built to represent all fallen soldiers of India (originally built to represent the ones lost in WWII but now represent all that have lost their lives for Indian independance)...there is the Red Fort that was built in 1638 by a decendant of Chingis Khan to represent the power and rule of the Mongol Hoards (a permimetre of 2.4km the wall stands 90 feet tall and encompasses a city within the walls that housed government and emperial family)... The markets here are teaming with opportunistic sellers, the one time deals, and the rik-shaws wanting to take everything you got! haha...that is the life in countries where tourism is relatively high and the exchange is also high...the relative cost is pennies but it is principle in the end...the fair will survive and rise slow over time remaining until the end...the abusers will make money now, rise fast and crash even faster. An equilibrium in an economy that deals in pennies is hard...but I see China rising in my generation and being the world power for my children and India will rise to Chinese level in the lives of my grandchildren...I can sense it...Canada and the West have valid fears in our longevity as a nation of prosperity...we really have something to be concerned about... we will soon realize that wealth of monies is not the answer but the wealth of character is what defines a nation...in time I believe that the philosophies of the nations will converge and we will see that ENOUGH money is ENOUGH and that happiness is beyond our monetary worth...a world where we can all hold hands and embrace an equilibrium of success. Sound utopian to you? not to me. love, peace, and happiness to all. From Delhi...off to the Golden Temple in Punjab. Bye for now.

Delhi

February 3, 2006 6:36:03 AM

so I have arrived in Delhi...my flight was delayed three hours so my friend came and met me about 30 minutes after I arrived and we took a rik-shaw back to his place...an average apartment that you would expect to find...with two rooms, a kitchen and bath. It is in Southern New Delhi called Vasan Vihar. It is a nice area with one of the larger shopping complexes in Delhi called Priya...I am here at the moment waiting to go see a Bollywood film at 1030pm about the region of India called the Punjab where I am headed to after here. I will head to Chandigar after Delhi then the Golden Temple where I have a friend to meet there as well...on my way to Dharamsala where the Dalia Lama resides. I figure I will be hanging around here for a few days...I have plans to meet a few friends in Delhi here so I will have reason to hang around a bit. I have a few markets to go to where beads proliferate :) And with Indian friends I am sure to get a better deal :) I will write soon, there are a lot of internet cafes in Delhi...but I am unclear about the Northern region...so as I travel the writing may be sparce. Hope all is well.

Gunsmoke, fireworks, and prayer.

Last night I headed out to the Jade Buddha temple for ceremony...the goal is
to be first in line to pray to the buddha...I left at 10pm thinking nothing
of it and arrived there to find 1000s! of people...and people hawking
tickets...I liken it to the World Series in baseball, it was intense with
people lining up, hawkers selling the entry tickets (listed at 888Y or
$140cdn) for 1500Y or $210!! I was not keen on being in there first so I
bought a ticket from a hawker for 150Y or $22cdn ... the listed price being
100Y...this entry was for 1:30am, then there were entries for 3:30 and
5:30am!!
I walked around the blocks to watch the fireworks...
It was AMAZING...I have never seen so many fireworks in my life!!!!! They
sell boxes of fireworks ranging from 4L milk jug size to OIL BARREL SIZE!!!
These things were just placed where the buyer wished to light them off...
I would assume that looking at one building that had roughly 50 boxes!! That
the building must pool there money together...the combination of fireworks
in all directions was enough to dazzle even the mild mannered...the
explosions were SO LARGE that the fireworks were actually bouncing off
adjacent buildings...I hope everyone had their windows closed HAHA!!
After listening to fireworks the last 4 days the climax was at midnight last
night (actually from 10 - 1 HAHA) where the streets were littered with
debree of fallen fireworks...and the gunsmoke was so thick you couldn't see
down the end of the road...the noise was so deafening that cars driving by
had to flash their lights as opposed to honking at walkers on the road...
I will never look at fireworks the same again HAHA!!

1:30 dawns and I enter in with my ticket to get incense for prayer rituals
and weave into the temple to find A MASS OF PEOPLE!!! INSANE!! people trying
to light their incense for prayer and find a place to stand to do it... then
toss the remains in the incense pyre ... as you approach the first "prayer
pew" you JAM together with bodies linking as one mass of humanity and you
wait to get your turn, customs are being exercised all around (the touching
of the altars, the balancing of coins on the stands which buddha and the
deities sit, the tossing of coins into the pagoda, the touching of the gong,
and fountain) ... it was an emotional experience to a depth I have not felt
in a temple before ... A MASS that is there for all the same reasons, a time
where we are all one...a time where time itself stops and you enter a space
that is timeless, a space that is consumed in smoke of the incense, the
reverberation of peoples vocal prayers, the ebb and flow of the mass as they
circumbobulate the altars...at the end of the mass stand an exit to another
room...leading to the dinner hall, you pay 20Y ($3cdn) for a meal that is
meant to bless you for the following year (a soup made of noodles and
mushrooms, along with beans and a type of prune)...I exited the temple like
a vacuum...it felt as though I had now stepped into a different world...the
intensity of the temple to an unusual silence you will seldom hear in
Shanghai.

what else to say but that I hope you all have a prosperous and healthy
fulfilling year to come and know that with my experiences shall you gain a
little insight into what the world is at large.

January 29, 2006 12:18:43 AM

just getting it now

January 26, 2006 2:12:34 AM

I have started to pick up the language a bit, being able to hello, goodbye, how much, and do you speak english...those are usually the ground work for learning. I have talked to some foreigners that live here and asked them about the difficulties in the language and the major one is that the characters have no way of telling you how they are pronounced (tone, pitch) so even if you know what the character is your meaning may be wrong when it is said...the other is that 3-4000 characters are needed to read a newspaper and its said that 3000 are needed for everyday use. The way they have managed to get around this on a computer keyboard is through pin-yin...a form of typing using the english keyboard (by typing a letter you are given a list of characters to choose from and you press the corresponding number to enter that character...so in essence the number pad is just as important as the letter keys). Life is good here, it takes me a while to adapt but I could see spending a year here...the most difficult part is that there are few people that speak ANY english...not even the comprehension of yes and no...so learning the language would be the utmost of importance...at least in Korea I got on alright from the start, there was always SOMEONE that spoke English. The beauty here is unexplainable really...such grandeur and palatial (for the tourist spots I have been to)...I can only say that the rural parts outside of the city that I have seen on passing trains is quite rough and dilapidated...life is rough for rural people, I spoke to one girl that volunteer teaching for six months and said that the kids she taught (1000 kids) had no desks...only a piece of wood on sticks, chalkboards were not in all rooms, no technology (no tv, computers, etc), and some kids only go home twice a year because there village is too far from school...a change from what I have seen in "Chinese tourist China"...you can almost become detached to the thought that there are people out there struggling when you see cities that are lit up with neon and selling Ferrari's and name brand clothes. A funny observation or two: - There seems to be a KFC at almost EVERY OTHER corner!! I asked a Chinese guy about this on the train and he said that they like it because it is fast, good, and no service...just food...shite! I don't know what he talks about as service HAHA the little "diners" I have been to serve and leave with little more then a grunt HAHA!! - Traffic seems to flow in a snake like fashion, I learned very quickly that regardless of the size of vehicle in your path you just have to commit to your direction...the littlest second guess and the snake bites hehe...same with walking...I gave another traveller a tip while walking, if he needs to go somewhere fast pretend he is looking at his phone or watch and everyone will walk around him HAHA!! he tried it and it works...it seems that the only time they will go toe to toe is if they can see you HAHA!! - English is not the universal language...with 1/6th the world population it is not really necessary for the Chinese to learn another language, their market is big enough here for them to survive. - Each bus has a schedule of designated stops that are listed on each bus, typically stopping at 12 - 15 stops a round...this driver will drive this route in circles while the driver on the other side of the road (driving the same route bus) will do the same...the weirdest one yet was that I can take the Y2 (tourist bus) around the inside lane of the lake or cross the road and take the Y1 and it takes the outside lane of the lake...the funniest thing about the tourist bus is that it has a girl in the front (in uniform) telling (in Chinese) the highlights of the locations and tells passengers what stops are next...I THINK she says in there somewhere "next stop is..." but she says it so fast mixed in with Chinese that I can't be sure if I am just hearing things HAHA!!! I actually hit my saturation point of temples today WOW! that tells me that I have seen a lot HAHA!! in some of these temples there have been over 30m (90 foot) buddhas in bronze, in camphor wood, and covered in gold !!! WOW! I have seen a temple where there are 250 arhats (deciples of buddha) in a hall...each casting different with a different characteristic, and is over 6 feet in height and 3 wide!! I have seen carvings in mountain sides dating back to 1100...temples originally built in 350! The history here is palpable when you get into the country side...they seem to have done there best of tearing it out of the cities...the temples seem to sit in cities as a time in the past when there was a heart, now they feel cold and monument/museum like. Unfortunately all the temples have no heating anywhere and more concrete then you would wish to shake a stick at...the monks in many of the temples seem distracted or not happy...a different feel from monks I have seen in other countries...I wish they had cushions to just sit and appreciate the temples inside but the only ever have "pew-type" cushions for prostrating 3 times in front of the images of the buddha and disciples...3 times...To seek refuge in The Buddha (Teacher) , The Dharma (teachings), and the Sangha (the family of devotees) Well I am off to Shanghai, "temple fulfilled :)" If there is anything you guys are curious about out there, just ask...I will answer the best I can and search out the facts the best I can...note all this writing is purely my own persective, this is the way my eyes and heart see what I see...my eyes are but just one way of viewing what is out there...hope you are all enjoying these emails as much as I enjoy writing them. Be safe and well in your world.

Imagine

January 23, 2006 5:35:17 AM

Imagine 1/6th of the population of the world on the move! Imagine a train station that has easily over 10,000 people just sitting around...waiting for their train...it was crazy getting a ticket today...surprised to get to Hanzhou and will tour around tomorrow. I will be in the city for five days...then back to Shanghai for New Years. The whole country is moving right now because during this most important holiday people will travel back to their hometowns to celebrate (chu-suk in Korea is a similar affair)...it is amazing to imagine what it must be like to photograph from the sky and see the mass of humanity around bus and train stations. Getting a ticket is a serious deal and while I was there they were selling tickets for the next day to some locations because they were already sold out...luckily there is roughly a train every hour going here and back...but that doesn't mean that they are not full! wow! The experience of China so far has been one of sheer amazement at the technology (seems that all the new products come out here and when they reach maturity then they are "cutting edge" in the West...nothing better then having a market of customers that demand so much for such a low cost, I imagine that the sheer volume makes profits good here as well)...amazed at the trafficing of human bodies; there are barracades here and there and management of huge crowds is done in such a way that crowds move smoothly and quickly, you leave out of the back of the bus (even though the back is full of people and you practically have to climb over people...and you are only two feet away from the front door HAHA!)...amazed at the price of things here, the amount of things I have never seen before, beads beads and more beads :) ... amazed at how there isn't an accident every minute that I walk the streets ... amazed with the shortness of many here, that can't seem to be bothered to help ... amazed that more people here don't speak English ... amazed everyday that I catch a glimpse of myself in the mirror HAHA, you get so used to being surrounded by everyone that looks similar and you imagine yourself the same. The touring around has been fun, I would have to come back for some years to get a grasp of the language and see more...the written language intrigues me and maybe some day I will try to work on it. For now I have a Lake to walk around and temples to visit , along with more bead shopping :) I apologize for just sending a group email for everyone but this is the easiest way to stay in touch with everyone at the same time :) if you don't want these emails then just tell me and I can remove you :) no worries. Hope all is well in your worlds...be good, have fun, and see you all in time :)

Shanghai - the city that doesn't allow me to sleep

January 21, 2006 5:26:13 PM

You could party 24 hours a day here...I moved to a different hostel after Suzhou where I pay less and have more fun :) free internet, and free billiards table :) I think most of you know that billiards happens to be one of my favorite sports and I can hold my own quite well so there have been games for beers...or just staying up until the wee hours to chat. Yesterday was great, one of the guys here and I went off to the French Concession and toured the area...french colonial style buildings...and went to the birthplace of the Chinese Communist Party along with where the first congress was held...VERY interesting...I bought some great coins to commemorate my tour :) We were running rather late and decided to cab back...the fare is $2cdn for the first 3km and then about .40c every km after...on the drive was INSANE...he managed to drive at speeds through four lanes of traffic and get us through in what felt like no time, at one point he seemed impatient at a red light and started to GUN IT down the opposite lane...as the light turned green, scooters started advancing and he JERKED back into the lane WOW! within millimetres several times...exilirating! Well I am nursing last nights condition hehe...I will keep in touch. I will most likely head to Hangzhou tomorrow, if I can manage to get a ticket and fight my way through the crowds...getting a ticket here can be quite challenging...one room you line for ticket (15 counters) and another you head to this huge hall...the fight will surely be entertaining. I will keep in touch. Hope all is well in your world.

Rain, temples, canals, and more rain!

January 19, 2006 5:01:58 PM

This rain has been endless and being the wise one that I am never thought to have an umbrella with me, so I bought one yesterday...the other problem was that as soon as I went outside my running shoes would be saturated :( so I went and bought new boots, quite stylish black sudo-leather that has a lining inside...slipped them on, PERFECT $12...within one hour of walking in them the "leather" started to seperate from the sole and I am once in the same position HAHA!!! GEEZ!! Wet feet...BUT WARM! HAHA! I will be heading back to Shanghai today because the other stops I want to see are day trips and I should secure a spot for the next week in Shanghai...considering the new year is approaching quickly. All this rain has not stopped me from seeing the sites! I have walked so much that I no longer need a map HAHA!! that has to tell everyone that knows me that I have walked A LOT! haha!! The streets are beautiful here! tree lined, seperate lanes for bikes and scooters...the traffic here is unlike I have EVER SEEN! each set of lights has a seconds counter for both the green side and the red side...NOTE: GREEN MAN means NOTHING FOR PEDESTRIANS...if anything it tells you that you have a better chance of survival if you TRY now! HAHA!! IT is CRAZY, how to explain? picture chaotic order...light turns green, you have people walking, crisscrossing, horns, trucks, bicycles, scooters...and most of the time they don't hit eachother...although I have seen some heated arguments where they just stopped in the middle of the street to give the other person a piece of their mind. Other times I am walking on a sidewalk and a sense of tranquility comes over me as I see a park to my right, as I gravitate towards it...I hear "AAAHHHHH...WWWWWAAAAHHHH" as some guy in a scooter cuts between me and the garden bed to get through the gate first WOW! that was close!! The sites around the city have been beautiful...HUGE beautfully sculped bridges...some appear as humpbacks over the divide to accomodate the large boats that pass through. There is a gate at one end of the city that still stands as a reminder of what this city must have been like 1000 years ago when it was surrounded by a moat and a huge wall that could be surveyed from above. This happens to be the largest man made moat in the world...employing 100,000+ enslaved labourers to build it a millenium ago. Canals and bridges pop out of nowhere...they are everywhere...with many boats docked beside their houses. The rebuilding here is still going on, it is common for cities of late to be demolished and rebuilt to cater to Chinese tourism...Renmin Lu (the main road) is finished and they are working on the tributaries. I have to say though, that their style of building and development is quite beautiful...still retaining the tiled roof and stucco exterior. I haven't been able to enter all the places that I have wanted to see either because of the rain or the sheer expense...the average cost to enter anything is $5-9cdn...that adds up quickly...I found some great beads at the Temple of Mystery last night and am hoping to find the suppliers with some help from friends in Shanghai. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND...if anyone wants to come to China to buy a Mandarin Phrasebook!!! Although they speak Cantonese here the written language is the same, just the pronunciation and addition nuances are what make the language difficult to learn. Luckily for me there are restaurants that advertise in Korean so I have been able to order my food this way...speaking Korean to the waiter. There have been a few restaurants that speak english but they are quite rare.

Gucci, Prada, Massa-ji?

Walking along the mall streets of Shanghai is an experience that is hard to
articulate...every other person near a store front appears within inches of
your face saying "you need gucci bad? watch? massage?" "you need girl,
room?" and then women walking up to you and wanting to talk, within seconds
asking to go for a drink together (this should be beside the definition of
"sketchy" in the Oxford dictionary).
Anyways...these street malls are INCREDIBLE...neon lights greet every corner
and the buzz of shoppers, buyers, and sellers is contagious...you lose track
of time itself.

Today I woke up early and took the subway off to the train station...these
stations are cool because you purchase a (flimsy plastic) card for your
trip, swipe it upon entry to the underground rail and when you arrive you
enter it into a slot in the turnstile...now the coolest thing is that at the
platform, it shows you DOWN TO THE SECOND when the next TWO trains are
coming...and yes it is accurate to the second!!
Got to the rail station and you could have swore that a riot had broken out
in some kind of chaotic order...gates restrict you from entering anywhere
you should not...you naturally funnel to the 12 ticket booths and scramble
for your guide book that has your destination written in Chinese, get your
ticket and follow the herd through to the guards checking that you have a
valid ticket THEN YOU CAN ENTER THE TRAIN STATION! find your hall number
(there were 9 halls housing 4 entrances for trains...I was 8-4)...find your
spot and wait, doesn't matter if you are front of the waiting line,there is
sure to be twenty people infront of you when it is time to get your train!
Train comes, we are called, we herd once again through bars that can be no
wider then an average westerner and check for your ticket again...you get
down to your train and they check your ticket before you board...train
travelled 147km/h for about 45 minutes to where I am now...Suzhou...then
they check your ticket again before you leave the destination station...GOD!
I can only IMAGINE what it would be like if you lost your ticket midway
through the journey! HAHA!!

Suzhou is BEAUTIFUL!!! It is China's garden city and still has some of the
original 17 canals, with the moat remaining around the exterior of the
city...although the rain has been near terrential all day I managed to walk
a lot down the main street and duck into some alleys...eventually finding my
hotel for the night (my own room with heating and tv for $16cdn) When I got
in the room the lady cranked the heat to 28C (86F) so I can only imagine
that the isolation is non-existent and the window are half-pane glass HAHA!!
something just a grade level higher then cling wrap HAHA!!!

The food is great in this region and far better then the meals I had in
Beijing...a little on the pricey side to travel around here, but always
worth it!
I bought a beer at the local shop for under a dollar (600ml) and the same
one cost twice as much in the hostel I was at in Shanghai and 6 times that
in the bar so I am sure I will be a shop drinker haha!!

I have found some great bead shops here and have spoken to a shop that is
Tibetan...one of the girls speaks good English and I am sure to get some
great things before I leave (definitely some yak bone :)

Well off for now...have to rush and get my pedi-cab back to the hotel...I
have had enough of walking in the rain for today!!
Hope all is well out there...bye for now.

Home at last...thank god almighty I am in Shanghai at last :)

Flying into Shanghai after a twleve and a half hour flight...we came in low
across the urban sprawl...but there was a sense of a little more tranquility
then your average sprawl...buildings of two and three stories tall with most
having red roofs...dotted throughout are rice fields in their winter state
resembling ice rinks (not cold enough to freeze today...but makes me think
that Chinese might find a use for these rice fields in the winter and one
day give the Canadian Olympic team a run for their money HAHA).
I met a guy on the plane experiencing his first flight out of North America
(heading to Australia in six days for an exchange program)...it was neat to
see his excitement when we got into the city...the buzz reverberating off
the buildings in "The Bund" and area that was built by British Colonialist
during last century...the architecture is European (with another area of the
city called the French Concession, dominated by the French during a time of
European trade with the east and the British and French battle for supremacy
in trade...not surprising the area of the time dedicated to the Chinese was
quite small in size...and I will have to talk later of the  difference in
architecture).

Arriving at the airport (Pudong) we took the Magnetic Rail (the only one of
its kind in the world, built by the Germans, and to this day they have not
been able to interest other countries in the purchase of these trains...the
cost to establish the infrastructure is the burden...but the cost advantage
is reaped in time). I am about to tell you HOW FAST THIS THING GOES, and for
all the sceptics I HAVE PICTURES OF THE SPEED...it is posted in each
car)...we reached top speed of 431km/h!!! I AM NOT LYING!! WOW!! It took us
no longer then 5 minutes to travel the 30 kms! WOW!!!

So on I go with my day here at the hostel, in the Bund :)

I will report back with the happenings of the days...may the buzz and
vibrations of Asia reach all out there :) Stay well.

Snow falls on Suburbia

November 25, 2005 8:54:16 AM

The first of many snowfalls to come fell upon Suburbia in the last couple of nights...YUCK!!! I often wonder (generally when I come back to visit) why people settled this vast land...I guess the offer of free land to all that would farm it (giving a certain amount of yield to the government over a period of time...at which the land would be handed over to the farmer) was enough to entice the "rebels" of the "old world" to make the voayage. When the first snow falls every year I sit back and ponder what it must have been like when the immigrants came to this land...the "new world", the emoitons that must have run through their veins and the promise of vast land...a people that wanted to start new...they must have come to this new world with an idea for change...banishing the old ways, imagining that they could make this place different. The fear that many must have had...arriving in Halifax, going down the Saint Lawrence...who knew where they were going? many of them pennyless or few pennies to their name. The Indians of the land must have wondered too...why these people were here, where they came from, what would happen to the land, when they would leave for other places. I am proud to be Canadian but WHY do we have to be in such a COLD CLIMATE!! WHY SNOW? Why was I not born in the tropics HAHA!! I do appreciate the sacrifices my forefathers made but could we not have asked the Russians during the Cold War to turn up the heat on their weather machines and send all that bad weather south! The polar ice caps are melting and the poles will shift in time but it will not be soon enough :) for by this time...I will be in some other form or shape and Canada will be a tropical country. BUT...for now...I am cold, wet, and fear that the snow will only melt through the openings of my boots and soak my toes through :(

Aboriginal Festival

Over the past weekend I spent Saturday at the Skydome (recently renamed "The
Rogers Centre) for the 12th annual Aboriginal Festival. A celebration of the
arts, music, culture, and language of our people...our First Nations...the
people that were here long before the "settlers of the west."

It was a beautiful day of listening to throat singers (traditionally played
to pass the time away, a competition where two people stand holding each
others arms...facing each other, with only a foot or less seperating them
...the goal of the game is to look into the opponents eyes and throat sing,
trying to match the others rhythm...a battle of vocals...when one looses the
rhythm, they lose the game...each time ending in laughter that they have
been caught)
The GRAND ENTRY came...where the elders came out dressed in all battalions
and represented all military organizations...from the RCMP to the Two
Spirits...after they entered holding our nations flag and others...the
eldest dancers came in, followed by the women, then the children...some of
the dancers were called "Fancy Dancers"...dressed in peacock style
outfits...the head dress matching the size of "the tail"...bells were ladden
across costumes, the rhythmic sound of the drums played and the undertone
was a constant shuffle of metal as the bells rattled.
There were roughly 18 drums, surrounded by anywhere from 4 people to more
than a dozen...each was asked to play a specific song for the
dancers...after the grand entry came the dance competitions...fancy dancers,
men and boys of all ages (each asked to dance based on age), and women of
all ages, dancers right down to below 8!
This was followed by a drum competition...each group was asked to play a
specific song and each was judged by a panel of 4 men, I was curious to know
WHAT EXACTLY the criteria was...but left my curiousity out of conversation
with either drummer or judge, instead I enjoyed just being a part of the
sounds.
INTENSE...is only one word that could remotely describe the feeling I had,
standing only a foot behind one of the drummers and only a few feet away
from the drum (The drum may have been around 4 feet wide, a sat on the
ground...or on a stand...it would jump from side to side as the drummers
POUNDED the skin). I stood there being vibrated to the core, the songs were
almost haunting...you could only imagine what it would have been like before
the "people of the West" came. A time that only books and some elders can
truly talk about...but with time I truly believe (after going to this
festival) that their culture will survive and that it won't simply be a
"tourist show" but will be part of the landscape of their culture...it
seemed to me that this has not all been lost, but in a period of revival.
Drum on.

wind chill factor

December 12, 2005 5:17:20 AM

Area tempature: -13C and with the windchill factor -24C! Is this fair? Yes for those who are wondering...the world does not stop in this region at such ridiculous tempatures, people armour themselves with layers as the wind off Lake Ontario threatens to cut with its knife edge winds...threatens to dig through any amount of layers. Sure there is some nastalgia attached to this hurtful cold...dressing up in snow gear at recess and rushing out to see who could get to the fresh snow first and land a perfect snow angel...but this nastalgia dies as you look at the cold from a heated house and walk outside to the needles of cold. I can only imagine what it must have been like to keep a fire burning when hydro was not available...I can almost see waking up in the morning and the bed clothes are frozen solid in form to the person sleeping with them...waking up, the person beneath the frozen blankets pushes them onto the floor with a thud! Now... I can confortably complain on the windchill factor from heated surroundings, with a hint of guilt but without a bundle of clothes protecting me from the elements. Hope all is well with everyone...I can see some of you sitting in an internet cafe in Thailand or India as you read this and laughing, haha! that's okay...see you soon :)

Well it is that time of year

December 23, 2005 8:29:04 AM

The feeding commercial frenzy as people gather in big box stores to consume copious amounts of merchandise. This time of the year I have to be careful not to be consumed is this part of the holiday. What I DO look forward to at this time of year though is the family getting together, seeing my family all smile together, decorate the tree, and hope that it snows on Christmas morning (the only time you will catch Brian McIntyre wishing for snow!). To all a good holiday, may your days be merry and bright and may all your Christmas' be white :) (with exception to my friends in Asia and Africa haha) may you find a white sand beach and pour ice cubes down your back for the semblance of a chill :) Merry Christmas all. And Happy New Year.

The foothills of the Rockies

November 12, 2005 8:31:57 AM

I am now in a small town called Radium where there are Hot Springs, the entrance to the Kootenay National Park. After spending a couple days in Nelson the drive to Cranbrook was a mixture of low lying dry roads and high altitude snow covered lanes...the giant firs were the resting grounds for large clumps of snow, more then fifty feet in the air the snow made all attempts to remain. The backdrop of this region are great hills and mountains that are capped with snow...the tree line fades and the snows begin. The drive from Cranbrook to here in Radium was breathtaking...the mountains begin to become ragged as the Rocky range appears. Small towns like Fairmont are SURROUNDED is GREAT mountains that dwarf the inhabitants, beautiful Kootenay lake feeds the tributaries before Nelson right through Radium. Looking out the cafe window here across the street the mountains seem to be painted as a backdrop above the horizon. The size seems ungodly in appearance...but they must be real, I can SEE them HAHA!!! During the fall and winter the wildlife come down from the mountains to feed for the winter...last night while driving we came across HUGE Elk, and beautiful bucks...the sheep are grazing in town now and Large Horn Rams are apparently around quite often. Doing a hike this morning before sunrise...I walked along a path that skirts the crest of a mountain here...awed by the view, I wasn't looking where I was going...as I turned back to the path I almost bumped right into A DEER! Just standing there HAHA!!! Geez I could have poked him!! I was skirting a national park campground that is closed for the season so they are surely used to many people being around but that was quite a shock HAHA!! It's like he was waiting for me to say good morning... So I did. Until next time. Off to Lake Louise today or tomorrow.

travel plans

November 9, 2005 2:09:31 PM

I bought a ticket after some deliberation with the Greyhound guy here in Nelson (got here at 6am this morning)...I bought an open ticket to take me to: Cranbrook - Radium - Banff - Calgary...for $100 NOT BAD!!! I can take the bus whenever I want and go at my own pace...so the ticket is paid for and I have to be in Calgary at 6pm Monday. I stayed in Grand Forks for the day to finish painting the gallery...I have my stuff showing there for a craft fair that runs a month and a half. We have talked about plans to get a community of artists going in the north where I can buy a house on property starting at $4500...it is out of the way but I would love to help in a community where I can afford to do so...even if I just did the fair there for the summer and let someone live there for free when I am not around I would feel like I am giving back a bit...I could have a house paid off in a year and still have my place on Salt Spring. I have been thinking about property for the last few years and I can pull this off!!! I will keep in touch. Have to go back to a store here and arrange consignment for my beads...one more store hopefully...my goal is twelve stores by next season :) love you guys...keep in touch.

As the Greyhound Wheel turns...

November 8, 2005 12:45:49 AM

I arrive in Vancouver via Salt Spring Air...I figure the best way to leave the island has to be flying from downtown Salt Spring (if there is such a place) to downtown Vancouver...the first part of the flight takes me to Vancouver airport where I sit in the seat behind the co-pilots enviously positioned in a place where I can see out the window ... but not all is right ... drop people off at the airport and much to my satisfaction I now become the co-pilot ... flying into Vancouver, skirting the treetops of Stanley Park, I had a moment of "Hey, I could do this...I could be a pilot HAHAHA!!" I was anxious to meet a friend of mine in town and got to the hostel rather quickly to rest before our meeting...we hung out the rest of the evening...when told that my plans were to go to Nelson, she said that her sisters boyfriend lives in a town called Grand Forks (looking on the map it puts me 3 hours or so west of Nelson)...we called Paul that night and he said that I was welcomed to stay there...so after 11 hours on a Greyhound and a night of socializing I sit at Paul's place...figuring I will stay around tomorrow and help him paint a new studio, make some contacts to sell some beads and see what happens. It is a nice little town, I am sure to have fun. Hope all is well...must be heading towards Calgary in the coming days...bye for now.

April 10, 2006 6:03:44 PM
I was waiting for my boss at the coffee shop today and a friend walked by
and asked me how my trip was to India, another man overheard and told me of
a radio show he heard not long ago from the president of India talking about
the problem of human waste in India...astonished he asked me whether it was
true that people would "pee" and "poo" in public, all over the place...I
nonchalantly replied "Oh yeah, all over the place...just go when you gotta
go.
I told him that in the international airport of Delhi there are only two
washrooms! In towns people lack facilities so it seems only right they would
go outside...but when you are around train stations and heavy trafficked bus
stations there can be some terrible smells that you have to deal with...

Everyone says that India is an assault on the senses but this seemed to be
the first assault to mine...Taking trains so often in India I would find
myself rolling into towns or across the wheat fields in the early morning
gazing into the sun, feeling the warmth of the rays lighten the morning sky
and stand between the cars, opening one of the doors and feeling the wind in
my face...
Early in the morning too seemed to be when ENTIRE COMMUNITIES would dot the
fields, paths and wherever the urge arose...squatting...in broad day light,
if one was so curious the observing of the colour of the feces was all too
easy...each person squatting with a bottle a foot infront of them...used to
wash their left hand after the cleaning process has been completed :)
This event would be a laugh for me...coming in on trains to cities I would
often pick a field and guess how many "squatters" I may count...one field I
stopped at 15...these 15 were counted as follows: 1. the doers (actually in
the act) 2. the completers (doing their pants up or standing from the
squatting position) 3. and searchers (trying to find the ONE spot where NO
ONE ELSE has ever squatted berfore...like no mans land, waiting to stake
their claim)

All too often walking on the roadsides I was reminded to stick to the
pavement or very close to the side of the road to avoid "hitting" unforeseen
obstacles. When walking along paths in the fields you were sure to not
venture off...in Cambodia the problem is all to serious (land mines still
riddle the country landscape, left by the Khmer Rouge) but India was fear of
feces.

Porta-Potty's would not be a good idea either because of the amount of
people that would use them...in no time they would be full and lack of
service would have them abandoned.
"Peeing and Pooing" where one wishes to do so seems to be the way it all
works...obviously in some cities there are the rare facilities but still
more commonly then not they use whatever land is available :)

Hehehe
Until next time, use the facilities and be thankful you have them...along
with your plumbing, and your fridge and stove, and a warm house, an
electricity that does not shut off routinely. Be thankful that you are where
you are and that you have what you have.
Peace. Love light.

April 3, 2006 9:12:38 PM

This was a journey that lead me through China, India, and Nepal and back home safe and sound on Salt Spring Island. It is great to be home! It was time for me to return...there are many goals that I have for the future, one step at a time. With feet firmly planted for this market season, lots of new goods to work with and looking forward to meeting new people and travelling to other festivals and markets...change the scenery a bit this market season :) I am back online at home now and will be checking my emails on a daily basis and am able to regularly communicate again :) I hope you all enjoyed the trip as much as I did...I am looking forward to the next batch of travelling and new stories from abroad. Tentatively I am thinking of (possibly Korea and...) Southern China, Vietnam and North-Eastern India next :) we'll see. Love light.

What a journey this is!!!
I have to wait for six hours in Gorakpur for my train south.
LISTEN TO THIS TRIP!
Nepal:
1. Taxi to Bus stand at 6am
2. Bus from Pokhara to near Border at 7am
3. Bus from near border to border at 2pm
4. through borders
5. Cycle rikshaw to India bus at 215
6. Bus to Gorakpur arrive at 515
7. Train to Hajipur - 7 hours
8. rikshaw to other side of water to get another train - 30 minutes
9. Patna train to Gaya - 5 hours
10. cycle rikshaw to outskirts of town - 20 minutes
11. Auto rikshaw to Bodhgaya - 1.5 hours

AAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!
At least waiting this long in Gorakpur (where I am at the moment) means that
I can sleep on the train, I reserved the upper berth :) of second class NO
AIRCON! GOD when they use the aircon here it is reminiscent of the coldest
days of winter in Ontario!! picture eyes forming between your nose and upper
lip! Same as in Indonesia...when they use aircon, THEY USE AIRCON!!!

So I have three hours left now. I wrote the university to see if I could
extend my final by one month HAHA worth a try...if not, no worries...I just
have to buckle down and try to finish most of the assignment on the
plane(s).

Well I just wanted to say hi and give you an idea of the journey I am in for
HAHA!!
Wish me luck haha!!
I will be in Bodhgaya for a day or two then to Delhi by the 29th...then
April 1st at 430am! is my flight :)
love you guys.
I would love to see you both this summer. You can come as long as you guys
wish, just that I prefer that it is one at a time so that we can spend some
quality time together :)
hope you two are well and that I love you guys for your unwavering support
in my global pursuit of life itself and to allow me to form my life as I see
fit...thank you!!

EPIC is a term we rarely use when travelling but I wish to title this short
email as such.

Running out of time when you are travelling is inevitable and it happens to
all of us...the problem arises when you wish to stay longer at a place that
is of considerable distance from your departure point.

A brief list of modes of transport taken:
I was in central Nepal and it was pertinent at this point to GET MOVING
so...
taxi to stand - bus to border - clear both customs - cycle rikshaw to bus -
bus to Gorakpur - train to Hajipur (waiting 7 hours to take a 6 hour train)
- autorikshaw to other train station in Patna - train from Patna to Gaya
(waiting 3 hours to take train for 3 hours) - rikshaw to outskirts of Gaya -
autorikshaw to Bodhgaya...at this point around the 30 hour mark I slept
about 5 on the train, my last mode of transport is called an
autorikshaw...these vehicles have three wheels and are kind of like a
motorcyle but have a cab attached to it that sits (in India) about 12-15 or
more people but "seats" for about 6-8...with no seat I spent the last hour
of this journey on the roof rack. HAHA!

On the 28th I will be heading to Delhi and will more then likely be writing
a final email to close this chapter of the journey.
Through my travelling over the years I have been told to publish some of
these writings...I collected all my journals and emails over the last six
years and will do my best to start to put them together in a mish-mash of
stories as my journey has unfolded. It has nothing to do with money...I
think it would be interesting for me as well to compile the years of my
travelling. What do you all think? Want a copy? hehe.
Also, I will set up my internet website for the beads and other business, it
will be great to arrange all that I have collected and move on with the
business.
Keep in touch all. I hope you have enjoyed the last 2.5 months as much as I
have.
Love you all.

March 23, 2006 4:42:04 AM

I rented a motorcycle for the last two days and was able to drive all over the area and for hours out of the city into small villages high up in the mountains to see what daily life is like in Nepal...absolutely BEAUTIFUL women dressed in multi-colours have a more asian bone structure with dark skin and eyes of all colours...they smile at every chance and carry baskets on their backs that are woven bamboo and tie a rope to essential what is a headband and carry INCREDIBLE WEIGHT...often they can be seen carrying twigs and branches or foliage and greenery needed to feed their livestock. Everyone smiles here! A genuine heartfelt smile of respect and love...incredibly kind for all the right reasons :) (not for money), they peer at you from open doors, from high atop the hills and low in the valleys...and once eye contact is made their faces light up and they smile with a kind "Namaste". Pokhara (where I stay at a meditation centre) is called the "Gateway to the Himalayas"...people from all around the world come here to climb the AnnaPurna range of the Himalayas. Northern part of the city is in the valley...driving towards the Himalayas are like viewing a mirage...there are green mountains of varying heights up to about 2500m then there are the HIMALAYAS, some mountains peaking at 7500m! these look as though they are painted on canvas, adjusted through Photoshop to appear as though there are mountains beyond the green ones! Obviously to drive North from Pokhara is fairly limiting, one could drive for a couple hours but then you must skirt east or west along this massive range. There are few good roads outside of Pokhara except for the main ones leading south to India and east to Katmandu...the city of Pokhara is beautifully laid out and quite simple...the fear comes when one thinks of taking a "sideroad" by motorcycle...what is essentially a road that may have once been asphalted but now all that remains is the base of varying size rocks that fit their way to jossle you from side to side...similar to riding a bucking bronco (I can imagine) The drives around have been beautiful and have had their awe inspiring moments and touching one on one contact with locals that are just as curious of you as you are of their lifestyle and daily activities. The great accomplishment was FINDING A RUDRAKSHA tree, twice in one day, two different locations and I was able to find about 30 beads. This may not sound like much to some but these are the tears of Lord Shiva and an important bead for devotees of Shiva...you will see all of them wearing at least one mala of 54 or 108 beads around their necks used for both protection and reciting mantras. I was able to take several photos of the tree and study the leaves as well so that I am able to find them again in the wild...I was able to find some that had not left their cover yet and others that were still in their original berry form!! This is an exciting find in my search for beads and will help to bring even more power to the malas I will make with them :) I should be leaving Pokhara in the coming couple of days and will be leaving for SSI on the April 1st :) Hope all is well with everyone and I will see many of you soon :) "Find the light within and shine bright upon the world for a more enlightened tomorrow." - Brian McIntyre.

Lumbini was a beautiful place to relax and meditate in the birthplace of an
influential man...a man that would come to change the way that people could
relate to the world, people pass through life making a difference and
setting examples to aim towards...Buddha, unlike Ghandi, Mother Teresa, and
Jesus sent a message of love and compassion to the world and a way to seek
union with God or the light within us...this journey unlike others has been
a transformative walk...a time in life when I am open to change and
accepting of what I am.
All of you on my travel log are here because at one point or another and
still to this day YOU MAKE A DIFFERENCE and have taught me in your own ways
what this world is and what we can do to be better people...each of you are
inspirational in your own way and I think of each and HAVE thought of each
of you at times during this travel...sending me love to you and all that I
can reach.

I write this email from Pokhara, 8 hours north by bus from Lumbini...
why? Well I stayed in Lumbini for a longer period of time because there was
an all vehicle ban on the roads...the battle for power occurs regularly in
Nepal between the King and the Maoist gorup (no relation to China except
that they wish to embody what Mao Zedong achieved a time ago in
China...China does not fund this movement.)
So I left the day the ban was lifted and decided to travel north because I
must return to Bodhgaya by the 26 or 27th...giving me somedays to see more
of Nepal.
So...

Pokhara...the entry point to the Hamalayan range, I stay at a meditation
centre overlooking a huge lake here, the Himalayan range can be seen in the
background and the mountains in the foreground pop through the surface of
the earth, rise to great heights, and inspire thoughts of nothing but the
vastness and beauty of what nature can produce.
I sit on the balcony of my little room and read books from the library of
the monastery, the meditation hall is lit by a skylight and the roof can be
accessed to enjoy the sun and the stars.

I will be here for at least a few more days as I have had a meeting with an
elder lama and plan to return to see him on the 24th...beyond this there are
many sights to see and I have rented a motorcycle for tomorrow to see the
surrounding countryside.
I am sure I will have more to write about Pokhara in the days to come.

This block of travelling will soon end. I will first go to Bodhgaya by the
27th and Delhi by the 29th...then my flight is on the 1st of April, when i
will gladly return to my home and friends on Salt Spring. This travelling
has been a moving experience and i am ready to return home to my home, work,
market, and beautiful family of friends :) I will see all you Saltspringers
soon :)

Love light.

March 11, 2006 9:50:12 PM

I now find my place in Lumbini, Nepal...at the point of birth...Buddha was born here in 623BC to a royal family called the Sakya clan. Siddharta's mother, Mayadevi  was on her way back from her husband's palace when she stopped for a bath in the water tank and gave birth...the pond still remains...close to a descendant of the Sal tree that she used to brace herself during birth. Siddharta's birth was usual not merely because he was born upright in his mother's rib cage, but because he was born with the ability to speak. Upon entering the world he said "I am the foremost of all the creatures to cross the riddle of the ocean of existence. I have come to the world to show the path of emancipation. This is my last birth and hereafter I will not be born again." Today the reminence of the temple and monastery remain...along with the original marker stone which signifies the EXACT location where Buddha was born! From Bodhgaya...I travelled first to: RAJGIR: The location of Vultures Peak and remain of a monastery where Buddha came to preach to the local population and meditate in the surrounding caves, he would live here for years to come. He was to say to disciples "...Yes, this is a place worthy of a mighty struggle. In truth monks, I sat down on the self-same spot still thinking: This is a place for a mighty struggle." The rock formations jut out off the flattened landscape as desert land, and flat terrain lay in sight of giant hills of rock and seem to be placed in the strangest formations...some HUGE stones, standing on the presipice of falling to the desert floor...The pagoda reached by a chairlift overlooks Vultures Peak...a place of great teaching. Buddha would stand high upon the rock and with passion and fervour he would speak to the crowds of his discoveries in his quest for freeing the world of suffering. NALANDA: 11 monasteries and 5 temples have been discovered and define the landscape of the present surroundings. Originally, reported by a Chinese traveller in the 6th century there were 108 MONASTERIES! and 108 TEMPLES! and encompassed some 10km by 5 kms...you can look over the walls that now enclose these discoveries and see over the landscape obvious remains of other monasteries and temples...funding was stopped and it was decided that excavation would be completed to save the neighbouring villages from being forced out. Buddha would come to visit this university and discuss with the teachers the essence of his knowledge...1300 teachers and over 3000 monks would live here...the first international - residential school in the world!! The main teachers being Sariputra, Nagarjuna, Padmasambava (the founder of Buddhism in Tibet) and scores of great masters that would later form the schools of Thervada, Ch'an, and Zen. Buddha was often known to debate with masters in the courtyards of these monasteries. The monasteries were all built the same, each being connected by an overhead bridge...each with 30-60 rooms...the entrance to the west would be flanked by images of the Buddha...in the centre a MASSIVE courtyard, on the outside the rooms, toilets and drainage to the east...in the courtyard lies a kitchen with fireplace for cooking during mealtimes and creating brass and copper castings during the remaining times of the day. On each side of the entrance were the teachers quarters...each with a seperate meditation chamber and an further room that stored the wealth of the monastery. KUSHINAGAR: 22 km from Kushinagar Buddha would eat mushrooms that would be his inevitable demise...he would fall victim to dysentry and fever and die here...three months prior in Rajgir he was known to say to his disciples that he would die in three months time and he wished to return close to his homeland...he must die in Kushinagar. The sadness of the place is palpable...the flowers are rumoured to not have a scent, others that were planted here have died...nature seems to be in eternal mourning. Buddha would say to Ananda (his dearest disciple and closest friend) "Be unto yourself your own lantern, O Ananda, and your own refuge. Seek no other refuge but yourself. Let the truth be your lantern and your refuge." HIS LAST WORDS "In truth I say to you, all that is created shall pass away. Continue the struggle on earth. Never falter." With love.

March 6, 2006 8:59:27 AM

I knew this leg of the trip would be far different than the first half which was touring the north-eastern region of India and into the forefront of Shiva's city...I sensed that Buddha's path would be of great importance to me, for 11 years I have practiced and read more on Buddhism as time went on...always feeling a closeness to him in my heart...since the arrival in Varanasi (Shiva's city) it has been a daily flow of joyful tears and an internal unfolding...a time when silence envelops you in a richness of warmth, colour, and light...an overwhelming sense of love and compassion can be felt through every avenue and dirt trail, every tree and waterway that Buddha was known to frequent. I went to the cave called Mahakala the other day, where Buddha would spend six years of his life deteriorating to only skin and bones...and would later descend the mountain to a town where a woman named Sujata would feed him, down the road he would collect a bail of Kusa grass from a local farmer and would journey on to Bodhgaya and obtain enlightenment. My days in Bodhgaya are filled with spending most of the day in Mahabodhi Temple...inclined to sit in various places throughout this holy sight, under different trees where Buddha sat and parts of the temple grounds where he paced back and forth contemplating the Four Noble Truths, the pond where he sat...imagining in all these locations of a man, in a desperate search to find a solution to human suffering...one can only begin to imagine the internal struggles that he must have been going through...you are constantly drawn to tears in places all around the temple complex, there is a powerful energy here...prayers, monks, and seekers colour the sounds and sights of the temple...Buddha is proud to look upon the seekers in life...we all try to be good people and everyone has their own reality...but one thing is certain...with love, compassion, and a sense of dignity for humanity we can all make this world a better place. OM MANI PADME HUNG. (The jewel is within you.)

March 4, 2006 1:36:09 AM

Bodhgaya is an interesting place, everything centres around the Mahabodhi Temple...the location where Buddha obtained enlightenment, an offspring of the original tree still stands today...an off-shoot was cut from an original in Sri Lanka and brought back here when the last tree died in the early 1900s. The temple is impressive and a towering stupa of over 50m defines this town...the gardens surrounding the complex are dotted with smaller stupas built by devotees from various countries...around the temple worshippers walk barefoot on marble and circumbabulate in a clockwise fashion, many with malas in their right hand reciting mantras as they continue in their meditative walk...the Bodhi tree also known as The Root Tree of Knowledge is enclosed by a sandstone fence, beneath the tree is a diamond throne which protects which is believed to be the very sandstone tablet that Buddha sat on...he would sit here for seven days straight before achieving nirvana and the answer to the entire understanding of human suffering and realizing all his previous lives, understanding the cosmos and communicating with other realms...for 49 days he would sit under a different tree for a period of 7 days, each tree would give him different insights and feelings...He would go to Sarnath from here and find his first 5 disciples. The prayers reverberate from every spot in the complex, millenia of prayers can be heard in the walls, flowers, trees, and ground...there is a sense of overwhelming awe...you enter the complex in a sort of hyper-reality and sensitivity, everything is more intimate and people are together for one reason...to understand this life we live in and overcome the burdens that are unnecessary...when you sit in the temple you can imagine the Buddha sitting next to you in his sublime state...the world is a happier place here... then as he would have it planned...AS SOON AS YOU LEAVE THE COMPLEX...BAM!!! Indian reality and the perpectual struggle of BIHAR state, the poorest state on this subcontinent...the lack of education and industry have been their downfall, in addition to their state being divided, with the wealthier southern part taking on a new state name and reaping the royalties of their riches...leaving Bihar to struggle. Buddha warned the people of Bihar to be weary of feud, flood, and fire...of which, feud is an everyday occurence in this region...bandits stroll the countryside to steal riches from vehicles on the roads and they are not afraid to hold entire villages ransom!! It only seems right that the region where Buddha travelled the most would be one of the poorest in a monetary sense...I feel that these people may have more then money, they most likely have the spirit and soul that Buddha graced upon this area...it opens your eyes to the struggles of the world and a need to find some sort of equilibrium...in time I believe we will find a balance of justice...we must for the sake of humanity...time will tell, we can only do our best to make a difference. There is a cave near Bodhgaya where Buddha spent six years meditating and waasting away in his search for the end to human suffering...plagued by his lack of answers he fast and periods during these six years would eat one grain of rice...he would later write..."In truth, O Aggivessana, if I thought " I will touch my spine", it was the skin of my belly I also took hold of...I was so wasted away with fasting that the skin of my belly cleaved to my spine. Realizing this was not the way he left the mountain cave for a village close by where he took food from a woman called Sujata (the name of the village today)...in these fields he would conceive the idea of the Middle Way. Spending a couple of hours in the cave today you could only imagine the mental struggles that he was going through in his mission to SAVE HUMANITY!! ... skin and bones are replicated in a golden statue of Buddha during this period in his life, sure to be one of the few statues of Buddha one will ever see in a skeletal form! I take all of you in my heart through my travels and every tear that is shed is for a greater happiness for all...with love and compassion...know you are all close to me...with love.

February 28, 2006 3:12:36 AM

The main streets are buzzing with action, people going all which ways...people sitting down asking for change, hawkers selling their wares, rickshaws trying to get another passenger, scooters fighting through the masses...the shops consume the sidewalks leaving the road for walking as the only option...in the evenings the streets are rammed with people...a wave of humanity with each individual having a mission of their own...music blasting, people yelling, talking, rickshaws jingling their bells to alert walkers ahead of the apparent danger behind them... I was talking with a traveller the other night and in our attempt to explain what Asia is all about I told her that I love Asia because the chaos in the public forum is the direct manifestation of the chaotic mind...for one to relax in this environment you must relax your mind and find an equilibrium. In the west, noise retrictions, traffic rules, to do and not to do signs everywhere, a stucture for a being that must find itself within this form...in the West, all is quiet in the streets as the chaos is internalize in the mind...I believe this is why so many people find an unusual peace in their Asian travelling experiences. I am often called saddhu or baba by many here which has created an interesting experience for me...Shiva devotees and I are instantly drawn to eachother in a beautiful play of facial gestures, smiles, eyes that agree, and hands folded between the eyes and a greeting of Namaste ("I see the divine within you.")...there is an overwhelming peace that we share in this understanding...without words we sit together...today I shared my meal with a saddhu who talked for a half an hour continously, knowing the whole time that he was talking about our connection and he showed me pictures of his guru...in a way i desired to speak his language but in another I looked at him and felt a connection that was not necessary to express in words...he was I and I was him. I leave some places as though I have entered another realm...I spend an hour writing and looking at emails and then upon leaving this little vortex I step out into INDIA! BAM! HERE! NOW! dodging cow paddies and every obstacles in a poetic ballet, a dance as you move forward...I have often felt blessed that I am not large in size and am quite flexible, because riding free transport boats, being on buses where the seats are only inches apart (okay, maybe a foot :) and travelling on the top berth of second class sleepers has you dreaming of having a Inspector Gadget body where you could shorten your torso like an acordion...just to have the ability to sit up straight :)

February 27, 2006 5:14:33 AM

Mahashivaratri - The great night of Shiva...fell on the 26th of February this year. This is a festival where from midnight to noon on the ay of the 26th the locals walked in a circular fashion along the Ganga ghats (bathing steps) and shore to the end and out to the surrounding villages and back to the other end of the ghats...in bare feet!! chanting mantras and singing hymns to Lord Shiva...the crowds were HUGE as the start of the walk reflects the eagerness, passion, and devotion for Shiva and by ten in the morning the walkers are bruised and battered limping for the duration, some in more pain then others but all with intense faith and diligence in what they are doing...this twelve hour walk is believed to bring the walker luck for the duration of the year...and inevitable clarity of mind through such an arduous journey. WHY? Mahashivaratri - The great night of Shiva - this festival is attributed to several stories in Hindu mythology but one of the more popular stories traces the origin of this festival to the churning of the Ocean of Milk by devas (gods) and asuras (demons). It is said that when both gods and demons were churning the Ocean of Milk to obtain amrita (water of immortal life), they came across many unusual substances, including the deadly poison Kalakuta. As soon as they touched the poison, it exploded into poisonous fumes that threatened to envelope the entire universe into darkness...fearful the gods asked for help from the Holy Trinity (Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva)...Shiva was the only one that could help, raising his trident he condensed the fumes and  to save creation swallowed the poison...leaving a dark blue mark on his throat. SYMBOLISM? Churning of the Ocean of Milk signifies human activity in the world. The amrita symbolizes happiness and poison represents human greed and selfishness. Shiva symbolizes the atman (self), the spiritual essence of an individual. Worship of Shiva denotes meditation and contemplation by an individual on his or her own self...symbolizing the worship of the atman within :) When the individual attains self-knowledge, he or she can live in the world without being affected by craving, anger, greed, attachment, pride, jealousy, and egoism...the seven enemies of the soul. Hence, this festival has  great importance to all Hindus, especially Varanasi...as Shiva proclaimed himself that he would embrace and protect those that live here. Today the walkers stroll the alleys of Varanasi with a limp of honour...a justice has been served for them...with love and affection this was the day of Shiva :)

Buddha was born a Brahmin prince in what was India at the time and now is
into Nepal by one hour. His objection of to his father having him live
within the walls of their empire was enough for him to flee on horse back
out of the city (leaving a wife and child) to seek nirvana and end the
suffering of cyclical existence...he achieved this in Bohdgaya and taught
his first sermon in Sarnath.

The journey to present:
Allahabad...the confluence of the Yamuna and Ganges rivers brings me to the
next step of the journey...
KOSAMBI: 64 km southwest of Allahabad is a village set on the banks of the
Yamuna river and in the time of Buddha it was a bustling trading port where
one of the local merchants built a wall encompassing the town and built
several monasteries...Buddha spent seperate periods of time here teaching
the local monks of their errors in accepting his teachings but not embracing
them in their daily actions...monks began to feud over a scuffle (one of the
monks had used the latrine and washed his hands but did not replace the
water with clean water) and the monks seperated into different
monasteries...the town was disgusted with the feud and started treated the
monks like outcasts...as time went on and Buddha left to more peaceful
grounds he returned again to bring peace to the monks.
Ashoka was the former prime minister of India and embraced Buddhas message,
erecting over 1300 pillars throughout India in a sign of the love of
Buddhism as a teaching.
What remains of Kosambi now?
I arrive to a one street town and the local police man saw me walking
towards the hills (that I felt were the remains of where Buddha lived) and
all he could say was "Why?" with this perplexed look on his face HAHA!!! I
just smiled and continued to walk SOMEWHERE HAHA!! as I walked over the
first hill a woman farmer cutting grass with a machette pointed to the
horizon telling me to go that way...across the rolling hills of wheat and
peas, tall grasses and valleys, was a temples roof top...I figured i would
head there and see what to do next...minutes later a man approaches and
takes me there with his limited English...I explain to him that I have no
food and no where to sleep HAHA!! he brings me to the temple and am welcomed
by the caretaker of the temple...we spend the day walking through the
village...a maze of mud huts, peering into the room with no furniture and
the main grinding wheel being the focal point of the house, where wheat is
shaken from the stocks and ground in a stone bowl to a powder to be made
into flat bread (called chipati).

I walked through this poor and dilapidated village and tried to imagine the
granduer that was here during the time of the Buddha...the village
inhabitants of his time would later die of a plague and woud never restore
its former glory...I wonder what he thinks of this town now.

VARANASI

The holiest of holy cities for Hindus, the abode of Shiva and the home of
the funeral pyres that burn 24 hours a day consuming 70-100 bodies in one
location and another 20ish at another location...every Hindu wishes to leave
this world in the manner of cremation on the Ganga in Varanasi.
FACTS: It takes roughly 300kg of wood to burn a body in three hours, each
body is wrapped in white cloth, with golden saris adorning the body on a
bamboo built stretcher...each body is paraded through the streets on the
same path to the pyre. The body rests one hour is then "dunked" in the Ganga
one last time before being set on the pyre. The eldest son will shave his
head, dress in white, will circle the body on the pyre five times
(representing the five senses) in a clockwise manner with grass that is
lit...he will then place the flames at the foot of the body and then will
remove himself from the area for the duration of the cremation...when the
body is burned he will return and through water on the ashes three times,
the last with his back turned and over his right shoulder, walking away and
not looking at the ashes again...the remaining ashes and remainder is thrown
into the Ganga from shore. Five bodies will not be burned: ones with:
leprocy, children under ten, pregnant women, and two I cannot remember and
do not want to misinform.

The alleys of Varanasi...within a mile or so of the Ganga is JAMMED WITH
HOUSES of all sizes, it is a maze of indescribable proportions. Shops,
people, cows, rikshaws, scooters and bicycles roam the narrow
alleyways...most no wider then two men standing shoulder to shoulder...I am
in an internet cafe that is probably 5 feet wide HAHA!! This is an assault
on any navigational skills I EVER HAD HAHA!!! It is brilliant
though...impossible to photograph with alleys turning this way and that but
I will do my best.

SARNATH
an hour by bicycle rik-shaw from Varanasi is the very location where over
2500 years ago the Buddha set the Wheel of Teaching in motion (the teaching
of the Eightfold Path and the Four Noble Truths)...he would consecrate five
monks this day and create what is known as Buddhism today.
What is believed to be the EXACT location is represented by a stupa 34m tall
(that remains...originally it was believed to be 100m)...dates from AD540
and below ground foundations date to AD200. The remains of an entire
monatery complex and main stupas and schools remain...the mediation chamber
built for Buddha remains...all in ruins but still visible.
The vibrations here are enough to bring tears to the eyes of many, the
beginning of liberation for many was first taught here.

Life has its purpose and we all have our beliefs, what is undeniable is that
when we all achieve union with this eternal truth and reality we will all
reach the same point...we will all again greet eachother at the top of this
mountain :) Believe what you believe and lets try to make a difference in
this life...affect others with love, compassion, and a sense of duty for a
better place.

Love to all.

February 21, 2006 3:59:48 AM

I do this at times in my travels...take myself off the track and explore where my heart wants to take me...I am in Allahabad, the point where the great Ganga (Ganges) meets the Yamuna River and the mythical Saraswati River is said to flow underground and also meet at this point...This is where Kumbh Mela is held every 12 years and the Magh Mela is held yearly...I missed the yearly celebration by three weeks but the remence of the event was clearly visible, so of the temporary shelters still stand (canvas outlays that look like you would picture a refuge camp) and spans the entire bed of the Ganges clear across the other side that is connected by temporary pon-toon bridges...the other side has temples, restaurants, and shelter with ashrams and celebrations, like an entire city and then is dismantled (I missed that) but plan to return here for the Kumbh Mela in January. I missed the Mela but not the celebrations that happen every Tuesday and Saturday at the Hanuman temple...crowds of 30-40 each surround a person carrying a flag pole of some thirty feet in height (supported by four people with ropes...live music is played with drums and chimes as people dance their way to the temple and have the flag touch the lying emanation of Hanuman (a rare site to see Hanuman reclining, if you were able to see through all the flowers offered to him) the bells ringing to signal your arrival, chanting aloud of mantra and hymns devoted to HAnuman and the tears of the devotees as the descend into the crypt where Hanuman lies... To bathe in this part of the Ganga is a warmer tempature then the north and a cloudy colour because of the sandy soil in this region...the shores of the Ganga at this time is like a desert but come the monsoon season the water will rise to the height of the Hanuman temple and will reach the feet of Hanuman before it receeds. Reminisce of the days in Borneo b/c not many foreigners come here and I feel like I did in Borneo, that I stepped into a secret doorway that reveals another part of a giant house I have lived in for years...I travel (my house) and feel that every door I open sends that much more light into the central courtyard of my life, journeys like this are bound to reveal skylights and secret passages that are bound to reveal greater parts of a house I am only now learning who the builder was :) People are astonished to see foreigners out of the loop and you immediately know you are off the track when you arrive and at least a set of eyes in every shops looks at you as though you may be the first alien sighting HAHAHA!!! I am just starting the journey that I came here to do, a book called "In the Footsteps of Buddha"...tomorrow I will head south west to a village called Kosami where the Buddha spent a lot of time preaching to a colony of monks, that started to fued and seperate...he warned them of this error and in time the entire population of the village died of a pandemic. The remains of the town are still there...I hear there is a buddhist monk who has built a temple there...I will ask to stay the night and head to Chitrakut soon to see the town where it is said that Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva were "born" here and taken on their incarnations (this is the Hindu Trinity) (creator, preserver, destroyer). The journey off the track will continue until my arrival in Varanasi (soon enough)

February 17, 2006 2:21:51 AM

In the search for God we come across places and events in our lives that grab at the core of our being...you feel as though you have stepped into another dimension at times walking near the Ganga (they called the Ganges the Ganga)...the reflections of the water tell of times past where saddhus and devotees walked great distances to bathe along the stretch of white sandy beaches...large rocks pertrude from the sands and break the vision of a bleak desert...the water up here is CRYSTAL CLEAR. Standing from the walking bridge above the water, people feed MASSIVE FISH!!! bread...from this height they look like catfish but I can't be sure. Everyday the time slips by in my ever present state of mind, I sit in reflection and time melts...I think of all of you in your space and time and send my blessings, time passes, I bathe in the Ganges and bottle the water to bring back as gifts to my Hindu devotees. Saddhus dressed in faded orange cloth from head to toe walk by me in my orange cotton fisherman pants and our eyes meet...a story is told in that second, one that Hindus have been a part of for more than 8500 years! The Sanatana Dharma was the name of Hinduism then, this religion adopts and absorbs facets of all philosophies and religions and their belief is reflected in their eyes...a power that sends a shockwave to the core of your heart...they know where they are going and who will be there when they get there...I have always read various religions and have found my closest connections to both Hindu and Buddhist, what Buddhism lacks is the sense of God...it is something that is not pondered...yet the eternal ultimate reality is (a parellel in the two religions)...but eyes like the saddhus and yogis here are unlike those I have ever seen before...a window to the pure light of their souls, there is a blatant honesty there...a real, true, sense of what this world is. I feel like everyone is my friend here HAHA I must wave to everyother person as I walk up and down the Ganga. From the ashram to Lakshman Jula to Rishikesh...some saddhus walk with canes and wear the years of practice on their face, others walk with turban like cloth enwrapped in their dreads...rudraksha malas adorning their bodies, the tears of Lord Shiva and the protector of health, knowledge and harmful sins...others wear Tulsi malas (the wearer must not lie, drink,  or smoke). The weather has been impeccable!! The sun warms the mornings and afternoons and the evenings and nights are pleasantly cool. SUNSET CELEBRATIONS: Every evening a ceremony is held on the Ganga and flower offerings are given to the Ganga in the belief that prayers are answered and that the loved ones that have died will receive the message of the love that continues for them on earth. Rishikesh has an ashram that performs this ceremony with singers and young saddhus chanting that is somewhat touristy but in Haridwar (the truly sacred pilgrimage for Hindus...the real beginning of the Ganga) is where it is more real (About 1.5 hours away by rik-shaw)...I went last night and I estimate 3000-4000 people were there...both watching and part of the ceremony. The feeling of being present on the Ganga in a ceremony that has so much collective energy of prayer was enough for all to tear. Know that you were all sitting with me, viewing the scenes from my eyes and that you were all in my prayers...know that you have touched the Ganga as I have. Love you all. Not sure when I will leave, it could be a few more days yet...there is no reason to leave when you fit so well into the surroundings.

February 13, 2006 10:29:59 PM

The start of the Ganges...this is where the Ganges streams clean :) and I have been able to wash in it upon my arrival and will daily until my departure. This is the typical India in my mind...prior to this I had been in the major city of Delhi (business), Amiritsar (Punjab state of Sikkism) and McLeod Ganj (Little Tibet)...actually I have to correct myself with misinformation that I wrote all before, the population is not 3000 tibetans but 43000!!!...my guidebook is old and the population has increased all throughout the valley (that population is of the entire area that is called Dharamsala)...NOW Rishikesh...where Saddhus and devotees walk the shores of the Ganges, where people line the walkways asking for change, where devotees dressed in the colours of orange and yellow offer marijuana to you as you pass (we are all warned of people posing as saddhus and may not be the friendliest people, thankfully for me I do not smoke so the temptation to join is not there), cows walking the street (they are not killed because they are believed to be the sign of nurturing and fertility...the bull is the most revered because he was the vehicle of SHIVA). ... Rishikesh... The town is divided by the Ganges and joined by walking bridge, taxis and buses drop you off on the far side and you walk across...the view from the centre of the bridge south are ashrams (hindu temples with accomodation) dotted on both sides with steps built on either side throughout allowing you to walk to the waters edge and bathe...the north side is sparcely populated with sandy beach on one side and cliffs on the other. The water is surprisingly POWERFUL here with rapids and white crested water. They all say that India is an assault on the senses...I can imagine that this is only the beginning to what Varanasi will feel like...cow dung is the biggest obstacle to walking at night haha!! the people are incredibly kind and say RAM RAM as a hello in the morning and NAMASTE as a hello later in the day. RAM RAM is a prayer to RAMA...the key to the story Ramayana (I would love to explain the Ramayana but it would take ages HAHA) and Namaste literally means "I see the divine within you." I have found my local hangout...a coffee cart that has found its permanent place with tarps above and walled on three sides by other existing buildings. It seems to me that he pushed the cart this far and said THAT IS ENOUGH HERE IS OK HAHA!!! It looks right on to the Ganges...the family is great and the chai is 3 ruppees a cup :) 6 cents :)...I hung out with the family until about 930 last night. I instantly felt at home and connected when I arrived here...the Ganges is of EXTREME importance to Hindus and you can feel the collective energy with everyones prayers reverberating from ashram to ashram and over the waters through the valleys. It is nice to see crystal clear Ganges before my arrival in Varanasi :) hehe I will keep in touch. Glad to write. Hope all is well.

February 10, 2006 7:47:35 PM

Never ask directions from either Indians or Tibetans...reason being: Indians will give you directions which include elaborate hand waving and directional adjustments with their hands, while telling you how long it will take you and the approximate distance, to which you learn about thirty minutes later that they had no clue!! haha!! Tibetans on the other hand will tell you where to go and how long it will take you but the path may simply be descending down the side of a mountain with no clear path...your directions being "just over there and down!"...you realize after two hours that their ETA of one hour was possibly for a Tibetan porter in his prime!! I met a Korean guy in Amritsar and again here so we decided to share a room, we travelled from McLeod Ganj to Dharakot and Triund (recommended by Kristy, thank you :) The trip was up the entire way from 1817m (McLeod Ganj) to 2600m at Triund...it was remarkable that you would walk for ten minutes and look down to realize that your are ascending at such a rapid pace. We arrived to the base of a Himalayan range that towered the horizon (even though our elevation was near 2600m)...snow was an obstacle while hiking parts of the trail...on the walk there were two coffee shops :) and in Triund a basic accomodation similar to a rangers station. The clouds passed by and changed forms as they hit the range of mountains before us, the silence was palable and you had the sense that you were only a step away from flying along with the eagles that soared the thermals...with your back to the range you could survey the entire region of this vast area of mountains, valleys, and rice fields...dotted plantations across the mountains make you wonder HOW they decided to live THERE! The descent was targeted for Bhagsu...this would create a circle route back to the hotel...we were told, just follow the ridge to that mountain over there and go down, easy, maybe 1.5 hours HAHA!! what was not told to us was that ALL these mountains are dotted with abandoned villages and a tributary of paths that are mind boggling, they go EVERYWHERE...after reaccessing our paths, we found that we were on another mountain further from our destination...with several corrections we arrived at our destination in 3.5 hours HAHA!! Maybe next time I will try using a map and not my nose HAHA!!

February 9, 2006 2:59:05 AM

Just the other day I arrived in Amritsar (the holiest city in the Punjab state and for the Sikh religion)...I stayed at the pilgrims site for free and was also able to get food for free. The soup kitchen was well organized off the side of the complex called the GOLDEN TEMPLE...here you walk towards a building that looks similar to a factory...a vast space with only the support columns and mats for you to walk on...designated laneways :) where people that PRACTICALLY volunteer (get paid $2 for 12 hours of work) pace up and down the lanes filling your metal plate (picture steel formed prison plates :) hehe) as they walk by...you can eat to your hearts content...the menu? "flat bread and green curry sauce stuff haha!" Anyways the temple... I arrive to the gates opposite the temple where the pilgrims accomodation is...across the street (not   10 paces) is the beginning of the marble entrance...YOU MUST ENTER BAREFOOT and with HEAD COVERED...they gave me silk to cover my head...as you walk the length of the entrance...covered in marble...maybe 30 feet wide by 150 feet long to the entrance...before you enter the complex you walk through a stream of water (you have to do this to wash your feet before entering) and walk four paces through it. The view the entire time walking towards the temple is BREATHE TAKING...a temple rumoured to have used 1300kg of PURE GOLD to cover the roof of the central temple, the entire complex is marble! the LAKE that the temple sits in must be nearly a 700 feet wide and 200 feet deep...I counted 1100 of my steps to walk around once (so that is a better idea...maybe no so wide) The temple is only accessible on one side by a walkway that leads to the temple in the middle. Reflections of Malaysia passed through my mind as I recorded the sounds of the chanting in Punjabi...the temple is open 24 hours...I spent most of 1 and a half days in the temple :) People dressed in traditional outfits would strip down to their underwear and dunk themselves into the man made lake around the temple, I watched one elder take off what must have been 10-15 pieces of clothing!! from a blanket to their traditional sword. ... From the Golden Temple I now sit in McLeod Ganj...the home of more then 3000 Tibetans and the home of His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Just like his speech in Toronto, his home and temple are modest and sensible...what is necessary and no more. The village here lies at around 2000metres with the Himalayans as the backdrop of the town (and fortunate for me, also the accomodation I chose...and am in BEAD HEAVEN AS WELL!! :) The area where I am has a central bus circle from where streets stem from it, each one leading off to another town or the Adminstrative offices of Tibet and numerous trails! The streets are close together and shops along with street sellers are EVERYWHERE...but buying here is a much more relaxed approach to the often nagging and persistent hawkers of Delhi. Here they simply put out their wares and you are free to choose. Although I have done little prospecting, the stores I have been to have the same prices. I prefer the night time here...people shuffle around with little sound and the walls seem to reverberate with the prayers of all that walk the streets during the day with their malas (buddhist rosaries) reciting mantras...everywhere you look the Tibet monks can be seen walking the streets and the elderly Tibetans clutching their malas in stride. The Dalai Lama is not here at the moment ( I missed him while he was in Delhi because I only found out after I left that he was there :( and he is now in Varanasi but I will not be there until a couple weeks from now). I must be going, but if you have any questions just ask...I think I covered the experience :) I will most likely be here for a week and will write a second part on McLeod Ganj and surrounding areas. Hope you are all well. Love and peace to all, you are all in my prayers as I do my recitations.

February 5, 2006 4:23:55 AM

Ah yes...the tourist mecca of Delhi (Paharjahg) this region is the area where most backpackers will find themselves while trying to get out on the next train to ANYWHERE!! but I have been blessed to meet people prior to my arrival and stay and experience a nicer part of Delhi...not the terrible stories associated with hawkers and people trying to sell you everything under the sun...but of a peaceful community where you pay the local price (25cents an hour for e-mail as well as lunch at the local stalls)...the area is called Vasant Vihar which is the the southwest of Delhi (close to the domestic airport and all the embassies (Nancy you will enjoy yourself here). I address market prices in this email. There are the opportunistic one time sellers and the people that sell here and want to be here twenty years from now. (My rule in all of Asia is ASK THREE TIMES - in three different places!) So...I went looking for beads...and knew straight away who was con and who was decent...the best price is the one who sells the same to locals as they do to tourist. I found that guy :) in a mass of other in a shop not far from city centre. Another time I went to buy "fishermen pants" that are popular in Thailand...I asked the first guy (expensive) second shop (a little less) third shop (half the price of the first)...the price is not relative so it is hard to fathom but understanding the relative nature of the market you can see that asking three times to three different stores (EVEN NEXT DOOR TO EACH OTHER!!!) will result in half the price of the guy down the road!!! Even for my Indian friends here it is a struggle everytime we hire a rik-shaw (a motorcycle taxi on three wheels)...we have been told DOUBLE the price or even TRIPLE the price that we have already paid to get to the location we are at. India reminds me a great deal of Indonesia and when I arrived in India I knew that I had been here more then a few times (you can sense it in travel...for instance, I know that I can survive and live in countries like China and Korea...but I never sensed that I was there before...India and Indonesia have been home to me before :) Delhi is dotted with historical monument (like the India Gate) that was built to represent all fallen soldiers of India (originally built to represent the ones lost in WWII but now represent all that have lost their lives for Indian independance)...there is the Red Fort that was built in 1638 by a decendant of Chingis Khan to represent the power and rule of the Mongol Hoards (a permimetre of 2.4km the wall stands 90 feet tall and encompasses a city within the walls that housed government and emperial family)... The markets here are teaming with opportunistic sellers, the one time deals, and the rik-shaws wanting to take everything you got! haha...that is the life in countries where tourism is relatively high and the exchange is also high...the relative cost is pennies but it is principle in the end...the fair will survive and rise slow over time remaining until the end...the abusers will make money now, rise fast and crash even faster. An equilibrium in an economy that deals in pennies is hard...but I see China rising in my generation and being the world power for my children and India will rise to Chinese level in the lives of my grandchildren...I can sense it...Canada and the West have valid fears in our longevity as a nation of prosperity...we really have something to be concerned about... we will soon realize that wealth of monies is not the answer but the wealth of character is what defines a nation...in time I believe that the philosophies of the nations will converge and we will see that ENOUGH money is ENOUGH and that happiness is beyond our monetary worth...a world where we can all hold hands and embrace an equilibrium of success. Sound utopian to you? not to me. love, peace, and happiness to all. From Delhi...off to the Golden Temple in Punjab. Bye for now.

February 3, 2006 6:36:03 AM

so I have arrived in Delhi...my flight was delayed three hours so my friend came and met me about 30 minutes after I arrived and we took a rik-shaw back to his place...an average apartment that you would expect to find...with two rooms, a kitchen and bath. It is in Southern New Delhi called Vasan Vihar. It is a nice area with one of the larger shopping complexes in Delhi called Priya...I am here at the moment waiting to go see a Bollywood film at 1030pm about the region of India called the Punjab where I am headed to after here. I will head to Chandigar after Delhi then the Golden Temple where I have a friend to meet there as well...on my way to Dharamsala where the Dalia Lama resides. I figure I will be hanging around here for a few days...I have plans to meet a few friends in Delhi here so I will have reason to hang around a bit. I have a few markets to go to where beads proliferate :) And with Indian friends I am sure to get a better deal :) I will write soon, there are a lot of internet cafes in Delhi...but I am unclear about the Northern region...so as I travel the writing may be sparce. Hope all is well.

January 29, 2006 12:18:43 AM

January 26, 2006 2:12:34 AM

I have started to pick up the language a bit, being able to hello, goodbye, how much, and do you speak english...those are usually the ground work for learning. I have talked to some foreigners that live here and asked them about the difficulties in the language and the major one is that the characters have no way of telling you how they are pronounced (tone, pitch) so even if you know what the character is your meaning may be wrong when it is said...the other is that 3-4000 characters are needed to read a newspaper and its said that 3000 are needed for everyday use. The way they have managed to get around this on a computer keyboard is through pin-yin...a form of typing using the english keyboard (by typing a letter you are given a list of characters to choose from and you press the corresponding number to enter that character...so in essence the number pad is just as important as the letter keys). Life is good here, it takes me a while to adapt but I could see spending a year here...the most difficult part is that there are few people that speak ANY english...not even the comprehension of yes and no...so learning the language would be the utmost of importance...at least in Korea I got on alright from the start, there was always SOMEONE that spoke English. The beauty here is unexplainable really...such grandeur and palatial (for the tourist spots I have been to)...I can only say that the rural parts outside of the city that I have seen on passing trains is quite rough and dilapidated...life is rough for rural people, I spoke to one girl that volunteer teaching for six months and said that the kids she taught (1000 kids) had no desks...only a piece of wood on sticks, chalkboards were not in all rooms, no technology (no tv, computers, etc), and some kids only go home twice a year because there village is too far from school...a change from what I have seen in "Chinese tourist China"...you can almost become detached to the thought that there are people out there struggling when you see cities that are lit up with neon and selling Ferrari's and name brand clothes. A funny observation or two: - There seems to be a KFC at almost EVERY OTHER corner!! I asked a Chinese guy about this on the train and he said that they like it because it is fast, good, and no service...just food...shite! I don't know what he talks about as service HAHA the little "diners" I have been to serve and leave with little more then a grunt HAHA!! - Traffic seems to flow in a snake like fashion, I learned very quickly that regardless of the size of vehicle in your path you just have to commit to your direction...the littlest second guess and the snake bites hehe...same with walking...I gave another traveller a tip while walking, if he needs to go somewhere fast pretend he is looking at his phone or watch and everyone will walk around him HAHA!! he tried it and it works...it seems that the only time they will go toe to toe is if they can see you HAHA!! - English is not the universal language...with 1/6th the world population it is not really necessary for the Chinese to learn another language, their market is big enough here for them to survive. - Each bus has a schedule of designated stops that are listed on each bus, typically stopping at 12 - 15 stops a round...this driver will drive this route in circles while the driver on the other side of the road (driving the same route bus) will do the same...the weirdest one yet was that I can take the Y2 (tourist bus) around the inside lane of the lake or cross the road and take the Y1 and it takes the outside lane of the lake...the funniest thing about the tourist bus is that it has a girl in the front (in uniform) telling (in Chinese) the highlights of the locations and tells passengers what stops are next...I THINK she says in there somewhere "next stop is..." but she says it so fast mixed in with Chinese that I can't be sure if I am just hearing things HAHA!!! I actually hit my saturation point of temples today WOW! that tells me that I have seen a lot HAHA!! in some of these temples there have been over 30m (90 foot) buddhas in bronze, in camphor wood, and covered in gold !!! WOW! I have seen a temple where there are 250 arhats (deciples of buddha) in a hall...each casting different with a different characteristic, and is over 6 feet in height and 3 wide!! I have seen carvings in mountain sides dating back to 1100...temples originally built in 350! The history here is palpable when you get into the country side...they seem to have done there best of tearing it out of the cities...the temples seem to sit in cities as a time in the past when there was a heart, now they feel cold and monument/museum like. Unfortunately all the temples have no heating anywhere and more concrete then you would wish to shake a stick at...the monks in many of the temples seem distracted or not happy...a different feel from monks I have seen in other countries...I wish they had cushions to just sit and appreciate the temples inside but the only ever have "pew-type" cushions for prostrating 3 times in front of the images of the buddha and disciples...3 times...To seek refuge in The Buddha (Teacher) , The Dharma (teachings), and the Sangha (the family of devotees) Well I am off to Shanghai, "temple fulfilled :)" If there is anything you guys are curious about out there, just ask...I will answer the best I can and search out the facts the best I can...note all this writing is purely my own persective, this is the way my eyes and heart see what I see...my eyes are but just one way of viewing what is out there...hope you are all enjoying these emails as much as I enjoy writing them. Be safe and well in your world.

January 23, 2006 5:35:17 AM

Imagine 1/6th of the population of the world on the move! Imagine a train station that has easily over 10,000 people just sitting around...waiting for their train...it was crazy getting a ticket today...surprised to get to Hanzhou and will tour around tomorrow. I will be in the city for five days...then back to Shanghai for New Years. The whole country is moving right now because during this most important holiday people will travel back to their hometowns to celebrate (chu-suk in Korea is a similar affair)...it is amazing to imagine what it must be like to photograph from the sky and see the mass of humanity around bus and train stations. Getting a ticket is a serious deal and while I was there they were selling tickets for the next day to some locations because they were already sold out...luckily there is roughly a train every hour going here and back...but that doesn't mean that they are not full! wow! The experience of China so far has been one of sheer amazement at the technology (seems that all the new products come out here and when they reach maturity then they are "cutting edge" in the West...nothing better then having a market of customers that demand so much for such a low cost, I imagine that the sheer volume makes profits good here as well)...amazed at the trafficing of human bodies; there are barracades here and there and management of huge crowds is done in such a way that crowds move smoothly and quickly, you leave out of the back of the bus (even though the back is full of people and you practically have to climb over people...and you are only two feet away from the front door HAHA!)...amazed at the price of things here, the amount of things I have never seen before, beads beads and more beads :) ... amazed at how there isn't an accident every minute that I walk the streets ... amazed with the shortness of many here, that can't seem to be bothered to help ... amazed that more people here don't speak English ... amazed everyday that I catch a glimpse of myself in the mirror HAHA, you get so used to being surrounded by everyone that looks similar and you imagine yourself the same. The touring around has been fun, I would have to come back for some years to get a grasp of the language and see more...the written language intrigues me and maybe some day I will try to work on it. For now I have a Lake to walk around and temples to visit , along with more bead shopping :) I apologize for just sending a group email for everyone but this is the easiest way to stay in touch with everyone at the same time :) if you don't want these emails then just tell me and I can remove you :) no worries. Hope all is well in your worlds...be good, have fun, and see you all in time :)

January 21, 2006 5:26:13 PM

You could party 24 hours a day here...I moved to a different hostel after Suzhou where I pay less and have more fun :) free internet, and free billiards table :) I think most of you know that billiards happens to be one of my favorite sports and I can hold my own quite well so there have been games for beers...or just staying up until the wee hours to chat. Yesterday was great, one of the guys here and I went off to the French Concession and toured the area...french colonial style buildings...and went to the birthplace of the Chinese Communist Party along with where the first congress was held...VERY interesting...I bought some great coins to commemorate my tour :) We were running rather late and decided to cab back...the fare is $2cdn for the first 3km and then about .40c every km after...on the drive was INSANE...he managed to drive at speeds through four lanes of traffic and get us through in what felt like no time, at one point he seemed impatient at a red light and started to GUN IT down the opposite lane...as the light turned green, scooters started advancing and he JERKED back into the lane WOW! within millimetres several times...exilirating! Well I am nursing last nights condition hehe...I will keep in touch. I will most likely head to Hangzhou tomorrow, if I can manage to get a ticket and fight my way through the crowds...getting a ticket here can be quite challenging...one room you line for ticket (15 counters) and another you head to this huge hall...the fight will surely be entertaining. I will keep in touch. Hope all is well in your world.

January 19, 2006 5:01:58 PM

This rain has been endless and being the wise one that I am never thought to have an umbrella with me, so I bought one yesterday...the other problem was that as soon as I went outside my running shoes would be saturated :( so I went and bought new boots, quite stylish black sudo-leather that has a lining inside...slipped them on, PERFECT $12...within one hour of walking in them the "leather" started to seperate from the sole and I am once in the same position HAHA!!! GEEZ!! Wet feet...BUT WARM! HAHA! I will be heading back to Shanghai today because the other stops I want to see are day trips and I should secure a spot for the next week in Shanghai...considering the new year is approaching quickly. All this rain has not stopped me from seeing the sites! I have walked so much that I no longer need a map HAHA!! that has to tell everyone that knows me that I have walked A LOT! haha!! The streets are beautiful here! tree lined, seperate lanes for bikes and scooters...the traffic here is unlike I have EVER SEEN! each set of lights has a seconds counter for both the green side and the red side...NOTE: GREEN MAN means NOTHING FOR PEDESTRIANS...if anything it tells you that you have a better chance of survival if you TRY now! HAHA!! IT is CRAZY, how to explain? picture chaotic order...light turns green, you have people walking, crisscrossing, horns, trucks, bicycles, scooters...and most of the time they don't hit eachother...although I have seen some heated arguments where they just stopped in the middle of the street to give the other person a piece of their mind. Other times I am walking on a sidewalk and a sense of tranquility comes over me as I see a park to my right, as I gravitate towards it...I hear "AAAHHHHH...WWWWWAAAAHHHH" as some guy in a scooter cuts between me and the garden bed to get through the gate first WOW! that was close!! The sites around the city have been beautiful...HUGE beautfully sculped bridges...some appear as humpbacks over the divide to accomodate the large boats that pass through. There is a gate at one end of the city that still stands as a reminder of what this city must have been like 1000 years ago when it was surrounded by a moat and a huge wall that could be surveyed from above. This happens to be the largest man made moat in the world...employing 100,000+ enslaved labourers to build it a millenium ago. Canals and bridges pop out of nowhere...they are everywhere...with many boats docked beside their houses. The rebuilding here is still going on, it is common for cities of late to be demolished and rebuilt to cater to Chinese tourism...Renmin Lu (the main road) is finished and they are working on the tributaries. I have to say though, that their style of building and development is quite beautiful...still retaining the tiled roof and stucco exterior. I haven't been able to enter all the places that I have wanted to see either because of the rain or the sheer expense...the average cost to enter anything is $5-9cdn...that adds up quickly...I found some great beads at the Temple of Mystery last night and am hoping to find the suppliers with some help from friends in Shanghai. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND...if anyone wants to come to China to buy a Mandarin Phrasebook!!! Although they speak Cantonese here the written language is the same, just the pronunciation and addition nuances are what make the language difficult to learn. Luckily for me there are restaurants that advertise in Korean so I have been able to order my food this way...speaking Korean to the waiter. There have been a few restaurants that speak english but they are quite rare.

Walking along the mall streets of Shanghai is an experience that is hard to
articulate...every other person near a store front appears within inches of
your face saying "you need gucci bad? watch? massage?" "you need girl,
room?" and then women walking up to you and wanting to talk, within seconds
asking to go for a drink together (this should be beside the definition of
"sketchy" in the Oxford dictionary).
Anyways...these street malls are INCREDIBLE...neon lights greet every corner
and the buzz of shoppers, buyers, and sellers is contagious...you lose track
of time itself.

Today I woke up early and took the subway off to the train station...these
stations are cool because you purchase a (flimsy plastic) card for your
trip, swipe it upon entry to the underground rail and when you arrive you
enter it into a slot in the turnstile...now the coolest thing is that at the
platform, it shows you DOWN TO THE SECOND when the next TWO trains are
coming...and yes it is accurate to the second!!
Got to the rail station and you could have swore that a riot had broken out
in some kind of chaotic order...gates restrict you from entering anywhere
you should not...you naturally funnel to the 12 ticket booths and scramble
for your guide book that has your destination written in Chinese, get your
ticket and follow the herd through to the guards checking that you have a
valid ticket THEN YOU CAN ENTER THE TRAIN STATION! find your hall number
(there were 9 halls housing 4 entrances for trains...I was 8-4)...find your
spot and wait, doesn't matter if you are front of the waiting line,there is
sure to be twenty people infront of you when it is time to get your train!
Train comes, we are called, we herd once again through bars that can be no
wider then an average westerner and check for your ticket again...you get
down to your train and they check your ticket before you board...train
travelled 147km/h for about 45 minutes to where I am now...Suzhou...then
they check your ticket again before you leave the destination station...GOD!
I can only IMAGINE what it would be like if you lost your ticket midway
through the journey! HAHA!!

Suzhou is BEAUTIFUL!!! It is China's garden city and still has some of the
original 17 canals, with the moat remaining around the exterior of the
city...although the rain has been near terrential all day I managed to walk
a lot down the main street and duck into some alleys...eventually finding my
hotel for the night (my own room with heating and tv for $16cdn) When I got
in the room the lady cranked the heat to 28C (86F) so I can only imagine
that the isolation is non-existent and the window are half-pane glass HAHA!!
something just a grade level higher then cling wrap HAHA!!!

The food is great in this region and far better then the meals I had in
Beijing...a little on the pricey side to travel around here, but always
worth it!
I bought a beer at the local shop for under a dollar (600ml) and the same
one cost twice as much in the hostel I was at in Shanghai and 6 times that
in the bar so I am sure I will be a shop drinker haha!!

I have found some great bead shops here and have spoken to a shop that is
Tibetan...one of the girls speaks good English and I am sure to get some
great things before I leave (definitely some yak bone :)

Well off for now...have to rush and get my pedi-cab back to the hotel...I
have had enough of walking in the rain for today!!
Hope all is well out there...bye for now.

Flying into Shanghai after a twleve and a half hour flight...we came in low
across the urban sprawl...but there was a sense of a little more tranquility
then your average sprawl...buildings of two and three stories tall with most
having red roofs...dotted throughout are rice fields in their winter state
resembling ice rinks (not cold enough to freeze today...but makes me think
that Chinese might find a use for these rice fields in the winter and one
day give the Canadian Olympic team a run for their money HAHA).
I met a guy on the plane experiencing his first flight out of North America
(heading to Australia in six days for an exchange program)...it was neat to
see his excitement when we got into the city...the buzz reverberating off
the buildings in "The Bund" and area that was built by British Colonialist
during last century...the architecture is European (with another area of the
city called the French Concession, dominated by the French during a time of
European trade with the east and the British and French battle for supremacy
in trade...not surprising the area of the time dedicated to the Chinese was
quite small in size...and I will have to talk later of the  difference in
architecture).

Arriving at the airport (Pudong) we took the Magnetic Rail (the only one of
its kind in the world, built by the Germans, and to this day they have not
been able to interest other countries in the purchase of these trains...the
cost to establish the infrastructure is the burden...but the cost advantage
is reaped in time). I am about to tell you HOW FAST THIS THING GOES, and for
all the sceptics I HAVE PICTURES OF THE SPEED...it is posted in each
car)...we reached top speed of 431km/h!!! I AM NOT LYING!! WOW!! It took us
no longer then 5 minutes to travel the 30 kms! WOW!!!

So on I go with my day here at the hostel, in the Bund :)

I will report back with the happenings of the days...may the buzz and
vibrations of Asia reach all out there :) Stay well.

November 25, 2005 8:54:16 AM

The first of many snowfalls to come fell upon Suburbia in the last couple of nights...YUCK!!! I often wonder (generally when I come back to visit) why people settled this vast land...I guess the offer of free land to all that would farm it (giving a certain amount of yield to the government over a period of time...at which the land would be handed over to the farmer) was enough to entice the "rebels" of the "old world" to make the voayage. When the first snow falls every year I sit back and ponder what it must have been like when the immigrants came to this land...the "new world", the emoitons that must have run through their veins and the promise of vast land...a people that wanted to start new...they must have come to this new world with an idea for change...banishing the old ways, imagining that they could make this place different. The fear that many must have had...arriving in Halifax, going down the Saint Lawrence...who knew where they were going? many of them pennyless or few pennies to their name. The Indians of the land must have wondered too...why these people were here, where they came from, what would happen to the land, when they would leave for other places. I am proud to be Canadian but WHY do we have to be in such a COLD CLIMATE!! WHY SNOW? Why was I not born in the tropics HAHA!! I do appreciate the sacrifices my forefathers made but could we not have asked the Russians during the Cold War to turn up the heat on their weather machines and send all that bad weather south! The polar ice caps are melting and the poles will shift in time but it will not be soon enough :) for by this time...I will be in some other form or shape and Canada will be a tropical country. BUT...for now...I am cold, wet, and fear that the snow will only melt through the openings of my boots and soak my toes through :(

Over the past weekend I spent Saturday at the Skydome (recently renamed "The
Rogers Centre) for the 12th annual Aboriginal Festival. A celebration of the
arts, music, culture, and language of our people...our First Nations...the
people that were here long before the "settlers of the west."

It was a beautiful day of listening to throat singers (traditionally played
to pass the time away, a competition where two people stand holding each
others arms...facing each other, with only a foot or less seperating them
...the goal of the game is to look into the opponents eyes and throat sing,
trying to match the others rhythm...a battle of vocals...when one looses the
rhythm, they lose the game...each time ending in laughter that they have
been caught)
The GRAND ENTRY came...where the elders came out dressed in all battalions
and represented all military organizations...from the RCMP to the Two
Spirits...after they entered holding our nations flag and others...the
eldest dancers came in, followed by the women, then the children...some of
the dancers were called "Fancy Dancers"...dressed in peacock style
outfits...the head dress matching the size of "the tail"...bells were ladden
across costumes, the rhythmic sound of the drums played and the undertone
was a constant shuffle of metal as the bells rattled.
There were roughly 18 drums, surrounded by anywhere from 4 people to more
than a dozen...each was asked to play a specific song for the
dancers...after the grand entry came the dance competitions...fancy dancers,
men and boys of all ages (each asked to dance based on age), and women of
all ages, dancers right down to below 8!
This was followed by a drum competition...each group was asked to play a
specific song and each was judged by a panel of 4 men, I was curious to know
WHAT EXACTLY the criteria was...but left my curiousity out of conversation
with either drummer or judge, instead I enjoyed just being a part of the
sounds.
INTENSE...is only one word that could remotely describe the feeling I had,
standing only a foot behind one of the drummers and only a few feet away
from the drum (The drum may have been around 4 feet wide, a sat on the
ground...or on a stand...it would jump from side to side as the drummers
POUNDED the skin). I stood there being vibrated to the core, the songs were
almost haunting...you could only imagine what it would have been like before
the "people of the West" came. A time that only books and some elders can
truly talk about...but with time I truly believe (after going to this
festival) that their culture will survive and that it won't simply be a
"tourist show" but will be part of the landscape of their culture...it
seemed to me that this has not all been lost, but in a period of revival.
Drum on.

December 12, 2005 5:17:20 AM

Area tempature: -13C and with the windchill factor -24C! Is this fair? Yes for those who are wondering...the world does not stop in this region at such ridiculous tempatures, people armour themselves with layers as the wind off Lake Ontario threatens to cut with its knife edge winds...threatens to dig through any amount of layers. Sure there is some nastalgia attached to this hurtful cold...dressing up in snow gear at recess and rushing out to see who could get to the fresh snow first and land a perfect snow angel...but this nastalgia dies as you look at the cold from a heated house and walk outside to the needles of cold. I can only imagine what it must have been like to keep a fire burning when hydro was not available...I can almost see waking up in the morning and the bed clothes are frozen solid in form to the person sleeping with them...waking up, the person beneath the frozen blankets pushes them onto the floor with a thud! Now... I can confortably complain on the windchill factor from heated surroundings, with a hint of guilt but without a bundle of clothes protecting me from the elements. Hope all is well with everyone...I can see some of you sitting in an internet cafe in Thailand or India as you read this and laughing, haha! that's okay...see you soon :)

December 23, 2005 8:29:04 AM

The feeding commercial frenzy as people gather in big box stores to consume copious amounts of merchandise. This time of the year I have to be careful not to be consumed is this part of the holiday. What I DO look forward to at this time of year though is the family getting together, seeing my family all smile together, decorate the tree, and hope that it snows on Christmas morning (the only time you will catch Brian McIntyre wishing for snow!). To all a good holiday, may your days be merry and bright and may all your Christmas' be white :) (with exception to my friends in Asia and Africa haha) may you find a white sand beach and pour ice cubes down your back for the semblance of a chill :) Merry Christmas all. And Happy New Year.

November 12, 2005 8:31:57 AM

I am now in a small town called Radium where there are Hot Springs, the entrance to the Kootenay National Park. After spending a couple days in Nelson the drive to Cranbrook was a mixture of low lying dry roads and high altitude snow covered lanes...the giant firs were the resting grounds for large clumps of snow, more then fifty feet in the air the snow made all attempts to remain. The backdrop of this region are great hills and mountains that are capped with snow...the tree line fades and the snows begin. The drive from Cranbrook to here in Radium was breathtaking...the mountains begin to become ragged as the Rocky range appears. Small towns like Fairmont are SURROUNDED is GREAT mountains that dwarf the inhabitants, beautiful Kootenay lake feeds the tributaries before Nelson right through Radium. Looking out the cafe window here across the street the mountains seem to be painted as a backdrop above the horizon. The size seems ungodly in appearance...but they must be real, I can SEE them HAHA!!! During the fall and winter the wildlife come down from the mountains to feed for the winter...last night while driving we came across HUGE Elk, and beautiful bucks...the sheep are grazing in town now and Large Horn Rams are apparently around quite often. Doing a hike this morning before sunrise...I walked along a path that skirts the crest of a mountain here...awed by the view, I wasn't looking where I was going...as I turned back to the path I almost bumped right into A DEER! Just standing there HAHA!!! Geez I could have poked him!! I was skirting a national park campground that is closed for the season so they are surely used to many people being around but that was quite a shock HAHA!! It's like he was waiting for me to say good morning... So I did. Until next time. Off to Lake Louise today or tomorrow.

November 9, 2005 2:09:31 PM

I bought a ticket after some deliberation with the Greyhound guy here in Nelson (got here at 6am this morning)...I bought an open ticket to take me to: Cranbrook - Radium - Banff - Calgary...for $100 NOT BAD!!! I can take the bus whenever I want and go at my own pace...so the ticket is paid for and I have to be in Calgary at 6pm Monday. I stayed in Grand Forks for the day to finish painting the gallery...I have my stuff showing there for a craft fair that runs a month and a half. We have talked about plans to get a community of artists going in the north where I can buy a house on property starting at $4500...it is out of the way but I would love to help in a community where I can afford to do so...even if I just did the fair there for the summer and let someone live there for free when I am not around I would feel like I am giving back a bit...I could have a house paid off in a year and still have my place on Salt Spring. I have been thinking about property for the last few years and I can pull this off!!! I will keep in touch. Have to go back to a store here and arrange consignment for my beads...one more store hopefully...my goal is twelve stores by next season :) love you guys...keep in touch.

November 8, 2005 12:45:49 AM

I arrive in Vancouver via Salt Spring Air...I figure the best way to leave the island has to be flying from downtown Salt Spring (if there is such a place) to downtown Vancouver...the first part of the flight takes me to Vancouver airport where I sit in the seat behind the co-pilots enviously positioned in a place where I can see out the window ... but not all is right ... drop people off at the airport and much to my satisfaction I now become the co-pilot ... flying into Vancouver, skirting the treetops of Stanley Park, I had a moment of "Hey, I could do this...I could be a pilot HAHAHA!!" I was anxious to meet a friend of mine in town and got to the hostel rather quickly to rest before our meeting...we hung out the rest of the evening...when told that my plans were to go to Nelson, she said that her sisters boyfriend lives in a town called Grand Forks (looking on the map it puts me 3 hours or so west of Nelson)...we called Paul that night and he said that I was welcomed to stay there...so after 11 hours on a Greyhound and a night of socializing I sit at Paul's place...figuring I will stay around tomorrow and help him paint a new studio, make some contacts to sell some beads and see what happens. It is a nice little town, I am sure to have fun. Hope all is well...must be heading towards Calgary in the coming days...bye for now.

Residual Indian Story - Feces

April 10, 2006 6:03:44 PM
I was waiting for my boss at the coffee shop today and a friend walked by
and asked me how my trip was to India, another man overheard and told me of
a radio show he heard not long ago from the president of India talking about
the problem of human waste in India...astonished he asked me whether it was
true that people would "pee" and "poo" in public, all over the place...I
nonchalantly replied "Oh yeah, all over the place...just go when you gotta
go.
I told him that in the international airport of Delhi there are only two
washrooms! In towns people lack facilities so it seems only right they would
go outside...but when you are around train stations and heavy trafficked bus
stations there can be some terrible smells that you have to deal with...

Everyone says that India is an assault on the senses but this seemed to be
the first assault to mine...Taking trains so often in India I would find
myself rolling into towns or across the wheat fields in the early morning
gazing into the sun, feeling the warmth of the rays lighten the morning sky
and stand between the cars, opening one of the doors and feeling the wind in
my face...
Early in the morning too seemed to be when ENTIRE COMMUNITIES would dot the
fields, paths and wherever the urge arose...squatting...in broad day light,
if one was so curious the observing of the colour of the feces was all too
easy...each person squatting with a bottle a foot infront of them...used to
wash their left hand after the cleaning process has been completed :)
This event would be a laugh for me...coming in on trains to cities I would
often pick a field and guess how many "squatters" I may count...one field I
stopped at 15...these 15 were counted as follows: 1. the doers (actually in
the act) 2. the completers (doing their pants up or standing from the
squatting position) 3. and searchers (trying to find the ONE spot where NO
ONE ELSE has ever squatted berfore...like no mans land, waiting to stake
their claim)

All too often walking on the roadsides I was reminded to stick to the
pavement or very close to the side of the road to avoid "hitting" unforeseen
obstacles. When walking along paths in the fields you were sure to not
venture off...in Cambodia the problem is all to serious (land mines still
riddle the country landscape, left by the Khmer Rouge) but India was fear of
feces.

Porta-Potty's would not be a good idea either because of the amount of
people that would use them...in no time they would be full and lack of
service would have them abandoned.
"Peeing and Pooing" where one wishes to do so seems to be the way it all
works...obviously in some cities there are the rare facilities but still
more commonly then not they use whatever land is available :)

Hehehe
Until next time, use the facilities and be thankful you have them...along
with your plumbing, and your fridge and stove, and a warm house, an
electricity that does not shut off routinely. Be thankful that you are where
you are and that you have what you have.
Peace. Love light.

Back home

April 3, 2006 9:12:38 PM

This was a journey that lead me through China, India, and Nepal and back home safe and sound on Salt Spring Island. It is great to be home! It was time for me to return...there are many goals that I have for the future, one step at a time. With feet firmly planted for this market season, lots of new goods to work with and looking forward to meeting new people and travelling to other festivals and markets...change the scenery a bit this market season :) I am back online at home now and will be checking my emails on a daily basis and am able to regularly communicate again :) I hope you all enjoyed the trip as much as I did...I am looking forward to the next batch of travelling and new stories from abroad. Tentatively I am thinking of (possibly Korea and...) Southern China, Vietnam and North-Eastern India next :) we'll see. Love light.

just to say hi

What a journey this is!!!
I have to wait for six hours in Gorakpur for my train south.
LISTEN TO THIS TRIP!
Nepal:
1. Taxi to Bus stand at 6am
2. Bus from Pokhara to near Border at 7am
3. Bus from near border to border at 2pm
4. through borders
5. Cycle rikshaw to India bus at 215
6. Bus to Gorakpur arrive at 515
7. Train to Hajipur - 7 hours
8. rikshaw to other side of water to get another train - 30 minutes
9. Patna train to Gaya - 5 hours
10. cycle rikshaw to outskirts of town - 20 minutes
11. Auto rikshaw to Bodhgaya - 1.5 hours

AAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!
At least waiting this long in Gorakpur (where I am at the moment) means that
I can sleep on the train, I reserved the upper berth :) of second class NO
AIRCON! GOD when they use the aircon here it is reminiscent of the coldest
days of winter in Ontario!! picture eyes forming between your nose and upper
lip! Same as in Indonesia...when they use aircon, THEY USE AIRCON!!!

So I have three hours left now. I wrote the university to see if I could
extend my final by one month HAHA worth a try...if not, no worries...I just
have to buckle down and try to finish most of the assignment on the
plane(s).

Well I just wanted to say hi and give you an idea of the journey I am in for
HAHA!!
Wish me luck haha!!
I will be in Bodhgaya for a day or two then to Delhi by the 29th...then
April 1st at 430am! is my flight :)
love you guys.
I would love to see you both this summer. You can come as long as you guys
wish, just that I prefer that it is one at a time so that we can spend some
quality time together :)
hope you two are well and that I love you guys for your unwavering support
in my global pursuit of life itself and to allow me to form my life as I see
fit...thank you!!

back on Indian ground

EPIC is a term we rarely use when travelling but I wish to title this short
email as such.

Running out of time when you are travelling is inevitable and it happens to
all of us...the problem arises when you wish to stay longer at a place that
is of considerable distance from your departure point.

A brief list of modes of transport taken:
I was in central Nepal and it was pertinent at this point to GET MOVING
so...
taxi to stand - bus to border - clear both customs - cycle rikshaw to bus -
bus to Gorakpur - train to Hajipur (waiting 7 hours to take a 6 hour train)
- autorikshaw to other train station in Patna - train from Patna to Gaya
(waiting 3 hours to take train for 3 hours) - rikshaw to outskirts of Gaya -
autorikshaw to Bodhgaya...at this point around the 30 hour mark I slept
about 5 on the train, my last mode of transport is called an
autorikshaw...these vehicles have three wheels and are kind of like a
motorcyle but have a cab attached to it that sits (in India) about 12-15 or
more people but "seats" for about 6-8...with no seat I spent the last hour
of this journey on the roof rack. HAHA!

On the 28th I will be heading to Delhi and will more then likely be writing
a final email to close this chapter of the journey.
Through my travelling over the years I have been told to publish some of
these writings...I collected all my journals and emails over the last six
years and will do my best to start to put them together in a mish-mash of
stories as my journey has unfolded. It has nothing to do with money...I
think it would be interesting for me as well to compile the years of my
travelling. What do you all think? Want a copy? hehe.
Also, I will set up my internet website for the beads and other business, it
will be great to arrange all that I have collected and move on with the
business.
Keep in touch all. I hope you have enjoyed the last 2.5 months as much as I
have.
Love you all.

Nepal - Part 2

March 23, 2006 4:42:04 AM

I rented a motorcycle for the last two days and was able to drive all over the area and for hours out of the city into small villages high up in the mountains to see what daily life is like in Nepal...absolutely BEAUTIFUL women dressed in multi-colours have a more asian bone structure with dark skin and eyes of all colours...they smile at every chance and carry baskets on their backs that are woven bamboo and tie a rope to essential what is a headband and carry INCREDIBLE WEIGHT...often they can be seen carrying twigs and branches or foliage and greenery needed to feed their livestock. Everyone smiles here! A genuine heartfelt smile of respect and love...incredibly kind for all the right reasons :) (not for money), they peer at you from open doors, from high atop the hills and low in the valleys...and once eye contact is made their faces light up and they smile with a kind "Namaste". Pokhara (where I stay at a meditation centre) is called the "Gateway to the Himalayas"...people from all around the world come here to climb the AnnaPurna range of the Himalayas. Northern part of the city is in the valley...driving towards the Himalayas are like viewing a mirage...there are green mountains of varying heights up to about 2500m then there are the HIMALAYAS, some mountains peaking at 7500m! these look as though they are painted on canvas, adjusted through Photoshop to appear as though there are mountains beyond the green ones! Obviously to drive North from Pokhara is fairly limiting, one could drive for a couple hours but then you must skirt east or west along this massive range. There are few good roads outside of Pokhara except for the main ones leading south to India and east to Katmandu...the city of Pokhara is beautifully laid out and quite simple...the fear comes when one thinks of taking a "sideroad" by motorcycle...what is essentially a road that may have once been asphalted but now all that remains is the base of varying size rocks that fit their way to jossle you from side to side...similar to riding a bucking bronco (I can imagine) The drives around have been beautiful and have had their awe inspiring moments and touching one on one contact with locals that are just as curious of you as you are of their lifestyle and daily activities. The great accomplishment was FINDING A RUDRAKSHA tree, twice in one day, two different locations and I was able to find about 30 beads. This may not sound like much to some but these are the tears of Lord Shiva and an important bead for devotees of Shiva...you will see all of them wearing at least one mala of 54 or 108 beads around their necks used for both protection and reciting mantras. I was able to take several photos of the tree and study the leaves as well so that I am able to find them again in the wild...I was able to find some that had not left their cover yet and others that were still in their original berry form!! This is an exciting find in my search for beads and will help to bring even more power to the malas I will make with them :) I should be leaving Pokhara in the coming couple of days and will be leaving for SSI on the April 1st :) Hope all is well with everyone and I will see many of you soon :) "Find the light within and shine bright upon the world for a more enlightened tomorrow." - Brian McIntyre.

Nepal

Lumbini was a beautiful place to relax and meditate in the birthplace of an
influential man...a man that would come to change the way that people could
relate to the world, people pass through life making a difference and
setting examples to aim towards...Buddha, unlike Ghandi, Mother Teresa, and
Jesus sent a message of love and compassion to the world and a way to seek
union with God or the light within us...this journey unlike others has been
a transformative walk...a time in life when I am open to change and
accepting of what I am.
All of you on my travel log are here because at one point or another and
still to this day YOU MAKE A DIFFERENCE and have taught me in your own ways
what this world is and what we can do to be better people...each of you are
inspirational in your own way and I think of each and HAVE thought of each
of you at times during this travel...sending me love to you and all that I
can reach.

I write this email from Pokhara, 8 hours north by bus from Lumbini...
why? Well I stayed in Lumbini for a longer period of time because there was
an all vehicle ban on the roads...the battle for power occurs regularly in
Nepal between the King and the Maoist gorup (no relation to China except
that they wish to embody what Mao Zedong achieved a time ago in
China...China does not fund this movement.)
So I left the day the ban was lifted and decided to travel north because I
must return to Bodhgaya by the 26 or 27th...giving me somedays to see more
of Nepal.
So...

Pokhara...the entry point to the Hamalayan range, I stay at a meditation
centre overlooking a huge lake here, the Himalayan range can be seen in the
background and the mountains in the foreground pop through the surface of
the earth, rise to great heights, and inspire thoughts of nothing but the
vastness and beauty of what nature can produce.
I sit on the balcony of my little room and read books from the library of
the monastery, the meditation hall is lit by a skylight and the roof can be
accessed to enjoy the sun and the stars.

I will be here for at least a few more days as I have had a meeting with an
elder lama and plan to return to see him on the 24th...beyond this there are
many sights to see and I have rented a motorcycle for tomorrow to see the
surrounding countryside.
I am sure I will have more to write about Pokhara in the days to come.

This block of travelling will soon end. I will first go to Bodhgaya by the
27th and Delhi by the 29th...then my flight is on the 1st of April, when i
will gladly return to my home and friends on Salt Spring. This travelling
has been a moving experience and i am ready to return home to my home, work,
market, and beautiful family of friends :) I will see all you Saltspringers
soon :)

Love light.

The finishing of the epic Buddha's journey

March 11, 2006 9:50:12 PM

I now find my place in Lumbini, Nepal...at the point of birth...Buddha was born here in 623BC to a royal family called the Sakya clan. Siddharta's mother, Mayadevi  was on her way back from her husband's palace when she stopped for a bath in the water tank and gave birth...the pond still remains...close to a descendant of the Sal tree that she used to brace herself during birth. Siddharta's birth was usual not merely because he was born upright in his mother's rib cage, but because he was born with the ability to speak. Upon entering the world he said "I am the foremost of all the creatures to cross the riddle of the ocean of existence. I have come to the world to show the path of emancipation. This is my last birth and hereafter I will not be born again." Today the reminence of the temple and monastery remain...along with the original marker stone which signifies the EXACT location where Buddha was born! From Bodhgaya...I travelled first to: RAJGIR: The location of Vultures Peak and remain of a monastery where Buddha came to preach to the local population and meditate in the surrounding caves, he would live here for years to come. He was to say to disciples "...Yes, this is a place worthy of a mighty struggle. In truth monks, I sat down on the self-same spot still thinking: This is a place for a mighty struggle." The rock formations jut out off the flattened landscape as desert land, and flat terrain lay in sight of giant hills of rock and seem to be placed in the strangest formations...some HUGE stones, standing on the presipice of falling to the desert floor...The pagoda reached by a chairlift overlooks Vultures Peak...a place of great teaching. Buddha would stand high upon the rock and with passion and fervour he would speak to the crowds of his discoveries in his quest for freeing the world of suffering. NALANDA: 11 monasteries and 5 temples have been discovered and define the landscape of the present surroundings. Originally, reported by a Chinese traveller in the 6th century there were 108 MONASTERIES! and 108 TEMPLES! and encompassed some 10km by 5 kms...you can look over the walls that now enclose these discoveries and see over the landscape obvious remains of other monasteries and temples...funding was stopped and it was decided that excavation would be completed to save the neighbouring villages from being forced out. Buddha would come to visit this university and discuss with the teachers the essence of his knowledge...1300 teachers and over 3000 monks would live here...the first international - residential school in the world!! The main teachers being Sariputra, Nagarjuna, Padmasambava (the founder of Buddhism in Tibet) and scores of great masters that would later form the schools of Thervada, Ch'an, and Zen. Buddha was often known to debate with masters in the courtyards of these monasteries. The monasteries were all built the same, each being connected by an overhead bridge...each with 30-60 rooms...the entrance to the west would be flanked by images of the Buddha...in the centre a MASSIVE courtyard, on the outside the rooms, toilets and drainage to the east...in the courtyard lies a kitchen with fireplace for cooking during mealtimes and creating brass and copper castings during the remaining times of the day. On each side of the entrance were the teachers quarters...each with a seperate meditation chamber and an further room that stored the wealth of the monastery. KUSHINAGAR: 22 km from Kushinagar Buddha would eat mushrooms that would be his inevitable demise...he would fall victim to dysentry and fever and die here...three months prior in Rajgir he was known to say to his disciples that he would die in three months time and he wished to return close to his homeland...he must die in Kushinagar. The sadness of the place is palpable...the flowers are rumoured to not have a scent, others that were planted here have died...nature seems to be in eternal mourning. Buddha would say to Ananda (his dearest disciple and closest friend) "Be unto yourself your own lantern, O Ananda, and your own refuge. Seek no other refuge but yourself. Let the truth be your lantern and your refuge." HIS LAST WORDS "In truth I say to you, all that is created shall pass away. Continue the struggle on earth. Never falter." With love.

Buddha and the path

March 6, 2006 8:59:27 AM

I knew this leg of the trip would be far different than the first half which was touring the north-eastern region of India and into the forefront of Shiva's city...I sensed that Buddha's path would be of great importance to me, for 11 years I have practiced and read more on Buddhism as time went on...always feeling a closeness to him in my heart...since the arrival in Varanasi (Shiva's city) it has been a daily flow of joyful tears and an internal unfolding...a time when silence envelops you in a richness of warmth, colour, and light...an overwhelming sense of love and compassion can be felt through every avenue and dirt trail, every tree and waterway that Buddha was known to frequent. I went to the cave called Mahakala the other day, where Buddha would spend six years of his life deteriorating to only skin and bones...and would later descend the mountain to a town where a woman named Sujata would feed him, down the road he would collect a bail of Kusa grass from a local farmer and would journey on to Bodhgaya and obtain enlightenment. My days in Bodhgaya are filled with spending most of the day in Mahabodhi Temple...inclined to sit in various places throughout this holy sight, under different trees where Buddha sat and parts of the temple grounds where he paced back and forth contemplating the Four Noble Truths, the pond where he sat...imagining in all these locations of a man, in a desperate search to find a solution to human suffering...one can only begin to imagine the internal struggles that he must have been going through...you are constantly drawn to tears in places all around the temple complex, there is a powerful energy here...prayers, monks, and seekers colour the sounds and sights of the temple...Buddha is proud to look upon the seekers in life...we all try to be good people and everyone has their own reality...but one thing is certain...with love, compassion, and a sense of dignity for humanity we can all make this world a better place. OM MANI PADME HUNG. (The jewel is within you.)

Bodhgaya and the cave

March 4, 2006 1:36:09 AM

Bodhgaya is an interesting place, everything centres around the Mahabodhi Temple...the location where Buddha obtained enlightenment, an offspring of the original tree still stands today...an off-shoot was cut from an original in Sri Lanka and brought back here when the last tree died in the early 1900s. The temple is impressive and a towering stupa of over 50m defines this town...the gardens surrounding the complex are dotted with smaller stupas built by devotees from various countries...around the temple worshippers walk barefoot on marble and circumbabulate in a clockwise fashion, many with malas in their right hand reciting mantras as they continue in their meditative walk...the Bodhi tree also known as The Root Tree of Knowledge is enclosed by a sandstone fence, beneath the tree is a diamond throne which protects which is believed to be the very sandstone tablet that Buddha sat on...he would sit here for seven days straight before achieving nirvana and the answer to the entire understanding of human suffering and realizing all his previous lives, understanding the cosmos and communicating with other realms...for 49 days he would sit under a different tree for a period of 7 days, each tree would give him different insights and feelings...He would go to Sarnath from here and find his first 5 disciples. The prayers reverberate from every spot in the complex, millenia of prayers can be heard in the walls, flowers, trees, and ground...there is a sense of overwhelming awe...you enter the complex in a sort of hyper-reality and sensitivity, everything is more intimate and people are together for one reason...to understand this life we live in and overcome the burdens that are unnecessary...when you sit in the temple you can imagine the Buddha sitting next to you in his sublime state...the world is a happier place here... then as he would have it planned...AS SOON AS YOU LEAVE THE COMPLEX...BAM!!! Indian reality and the perpectual struggle of BIHAR state, the poorest state on this subcontinent...the lack of education and industry have been their downfall, in addition to their state being divided, with the wealthier southern part taking on a new state name and reaping the royalties of their riches...leaving Bihar to struggle. Buddha warned the people of Bihar to be weary of feud, flood, and fire...of which, feud is an everyday occurence in this region...bandits stroll the countryside to steal riches from vehicles on the roads and they are not afraid to hold entire villages ransom!! It only seems right that the region where Buddha travelled the most would be one of the poorest in a monetary sense...I feel that these people may have more then money, they most likely have the spirit and soul that Buddha graced upon this area...it opens your eyes to the struggles of the world and a need to find some sort of equilibrium...in time I believe we will find a balance of justice...we must for the sake of humanity...time will tell, we can only do our best to make a difference. There is a cave near Bodhgaya where Buddha spent six years meditating and waasting away in his search for the end to human suffering...plagued by his lack of answers he fast and periods during these six years would eat one grain of rice...he would later write..."In truth, O Aggivessana, if I thought " I will touch my spine", it was the skin of my belly I also took hold of...I was so wasted away with fasting that the skin of my belly cleaved to my spine. Realizing this was not the way he left the mountain cave for a village close by where he took food from a woman called Sujata (the name of the village today)...in these fields he would conceive the idea of the Middle Way. Spending a couple of hours in the cave today you could only imagine the mental struggles that he was going through in his mission to SAVE HUMANITY!! ... skin and bones are replicated in a golden statue of Buddha during this period in his life, sure to be one of the few statues of Buddha one will ever see in a skeletal form! I take all of you in my heart through my travels and every tear that is shed is for a greater happiness for all...with love and compassion...know you are all close to me...with love.

Observations

February 28, 2006 3:12:36 AM

The main streets are buzzing with action, people going all which ways...people sitting down asking for change, hawkers selling their wares, rickshaws trying to get another passenger, scooters fighting through the masses...the shops consume the sidewalks leaving the road for walking as the only option...in the evenings the streets are rammed with people...a wave of humanity with each individual having a mission of their own...music blasting, people yelling, talking, rickshaws jingling their bells to alert walkers ahead of the apparent danger behind them... I was talking with a traveller the other night and in our attempt to explain what Asia is all about I told her that I love Asia because the chaos in the public forum is the direct manifestation of the chaotic mind...for one to relax in this environment you must relax your mind and find an equilibrium. In the west, noise retrictions, traffic rules, to do and not to do signs everywhere, a stucture for a being that must find itself within this form...in the West, all is quiet in the streets as the chaos is internalize in the mind...I believe this is why so many people find an unusual peace in their Asian travelling experiences. I am often called saddhu or baba by many here which has created an interesting experience for me...Shiva devotees and I are instantly drawn to eachother in a beautiful play of facial gestures, smiles, eyes that agree, and hands folded between the eyes and a greeting of Namaste ("I see the divine within you.")...there is an overwhelming peace that we share in this understanding...without words we sit together...today I shared my meal with a saddhu who talked for a half an hour continously, knowing the whole time that he was talking about our connection and he showed me pictures of his guru...in a way i desired to speak his language but in another I looked at him and felt a connection that was not necessary to express in words...he was I and I was him. I leave some places as though I have entered another realm...I spend an hour writing and looking at emails and then upon leaving this little vortex I step out into INDIA! BAM! HERE! NOW! dodging cow paddies and every obstacles in a poetic ballet, a dance as you move forward...I have often felt blessed that I am not large in size and am quite flexible, because riding free transport boats, being on buses where the seats are only inches apart (okay, maybe a foot :) and travelling on the top berth of second class sleepers has you dreaming of having a Inspector Gadget body where you could shorten your torso like an acordion...just to have the ability to sit up straight :)

Mahashivaratri - The great night of Shiva

February 27, 2006 5:14:33 AM

Mahashivaratri - The great night of Shiva...fell on the 26th of February this year. This is a festival where from midnight to noon on the ay of the 26th the locals walked in a circular fashion along the Ganga ghats (bathing steps) and shore to the end and out to the surrounding villages and back to the other end of the ghats...in bare feet!! chanting mantras and singing hymns to Lord Shiva...the crowds were HUGE as the start of the walk reflects the eagerness, passion, and devotion for Shiva and by ten in the morning the walkers are bruised and battered limping for the duration, some in more pain then others but all with intense faith and diligence in what they are doing...this twelve hour walk is believed to bring the walker luck for the duration of the year...and inevitable clarity of mind through such an arduous journey. WHY? Mahashivaratri - The great night of Shiva - this festival is attributed to several stories in Hindu mythology but one of the more popular stories traces the origin of this festival to the churning of the Ocean of Milk by devas (gods) and asuras (demons). It is said that when both gods and demons were churning the Ocean of Milk to obtain amrita (water of immortal life), they came across many unusual substances, including the deadly poison Kalakuta. As soon as they touched the poison, it exploded into poisonous fumes that threatened to envelope the entire universe into darkness...fearful the gods asked for help from the Holy Trinity (Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva)...Shiva was the only one that could help, raising his trident he condensed the fumes and  to save creation swallowed the poison...leaving a dark blue mark on his throat. SYMBOLISM? Churning of the Ocean of Milk signifies human activity in the world. The amrita symbolizes happiness and poison represents human greed and selfishness. Shiva symbolizes the atman (self), the spiritual essence of an individual. Worship of Shiva denotes meditation and contemplation by an individual on his or her own self...symbolizing the worship of the atman within :) When the individual attains self-knowledge, he or she can live in the world without being affected by craving, anger, greed, attachment, pride, jealousy, and egoism...the seven enemies of the soul. Hence, this festival has  great importance to all Hindus, especially Varanasi...as Shiva proclaimed himself that he would embrace and protect those that live here. Today the walkers stroll the alleys of Varanasi with a limp of honour...a justice has been served for them...with love and affection this was the day of Shiva :)

Buddhas Path

Buddha was born a Brahmin prince in what was India at the time and now is
into Nepal by one hour. His objection of to his father having him live
within the walls of their empire was enough for him to flee on horse back
out of the city (leaving a wife and child) to seek nirvana and end the
suffering of cyclical existence...he achieved this in Bohdgaya and taught
his first sermon in Sarnath.

The journey to present:
Allahabad...the confluence of the Yamuna and Ganges rivers brings me to the
next step of the journey...
KOSAMBI: 64 km southwest of Allahabad is a village set on the banks of the
Yamuna river and in the time of Buddha it was a bustling trading port where
one of the local merchants built a wall encompassing the town and built
several monasteries...Buddha spent seperate periods of time here teaching
the local monks of their errors in accepting his teachings but not embracing
them in their daily actions...monks began to feud over a scuffle (one of the
monks had used the latrine and washed his hands but did not replace the
water with clean water) and the monks seperated into different
monasteries...the town was disgusted with the feud and started treated the
monks like outcasts...as time went on and Buddha left to more peaceful
grounds he returned again to bring peace to the monks.
Ashoka was the former prime minister of India and embraced Buddhas message,
erecting over 1300 pillars throughout India in a sign of the love of
Buddhism as a teaching.
What remains of Kosambi now?
I arrive to a one street town and the local police man saw me walking
towards the hills (that I felt were the remains of where Buddha lived) and
all he could say was "Why?" with this perplexed look on his face HAHA!!! I
just smiled and continued to walk SOMEWHERE HAHA!! as I walked over the
first hill a woman farmer cutting grass with a machette pointed to the
horizon telling me to go that way...across the rolling hills of wheat and
peas, tall grasses and valleys, was a temples roof top...I figured i would
head there and see what to do next...minutes later a man approaches and
takes me there with his limited English...I explain to him that I have no
food and no where to sleep HAHA!! he brings me to the temple and am welcomed
by the caretaker of the temple...we spend the day walking through the
village...a maze of mud huts, peering into the room with no furniture and
the main grinding wheel being the focal point of the house, where wheat is
shaken from the stocks and ground in a stone bowl to a powder to be made
into flat bread (called chipati).

I walked through this poor and dilapidated village and tried to imagine the
granduer that was here during the time of the Buddha...the village
inhabitants of his time would later die of a plague and woud never restore
its former glory...I wonder what he thinks of this town now.

VARANASI

The holiest of holy cities for Hindus, the abode of Shiva and the home of
the funeral pyres that burn 24 hours a day consuming 70-100 bodies in one
location and another 20ish at another location...every Hindu wishes to leave
this world in the manner of cremation on the Ganga in Varanasi.
FACTS: It takes roughly 300kg of wood to burn a body in three hours, each
body is wrapped in white cloth, with golden saris adorning the body on a
bamboo built stretcher...each body is paraded through the streets on the
same path to the pyre. The body rests one hour is then "dunked" in the Ganga
one last time before being set on the pyre. The eldest son will shave his
head, dress in white, will circle the body on the pyre five times
(representing the five senses) in a clockwise manner with grass that is
lit...he will then place the flames at the foot of the body and then will
remove himself from the area for the duration of the cremation...when the
body is burned he will return and through water on the ashes three times,
the last with his back turned and over his right shoulder, walking away and
not looking at the ashes again...the remaining ashes and remainder is thrown
into the Ganga from shore. Five bodies will not be burned: ones with:
leprocy, children under ten, pregnant women, and two I cannot remember and
do not want to misinform.

The alleys of Varanasi...within a mile or so of the Ganga is JAMMED WITH
HOUSES of all sizes, it is a maze of indescribable proportions. Shops,
people, cows, rikshaws, scooters and bicycles roam the narrow
alleyways...most no wider then two men standing shoulder to shoulder...I am
in an internet cafe that is probably 5 feet wide HAHA!! This is an assault
on any navigational skills I EVER HAD HAHA!!! It is brilliant
though...impossible to photograph with alleys turning this way and that but
I will do my best.

SARNATH
an hour by bicycle rik-shaw from Varanasi is the very location where over
2500 years ago the Buddha set the Wheel of Teaching in motion (the teaching
of the Eightfold Path and the Four Noble Truths)...he would consecrate five
monks this day and create what is known as Buddhism today.
What is believed to be the EXACT location is represented by a stupa 34m tall
(that remains...originally it was believed to be 100m)...dates from AD540
and below ground foundations date to AD200. The remains of an entire
monatery complex and main stupas and schools remain...the mediation chamber
built for Buddha remains...all in ruins but still visible.
The vibrations here are enough to bring tears to the eyes of many, the
beginning of liberation for many was first taught here.

Life has its purpose and we all have our beliefs, what is undeniable is that
when we all achieve union with this eternal truth and reality we will all
reach the same point...we will all again greet eachother at the top of this
mountain :) Believe what you believe and lets try to make a difference in
this life...affect others with love, compassion, and a sense of duty for a
better place.

Love to all.

Reminisce of the days in Borneo

February 21, 2006 3:59:48 AM

I do this at times in my travels...take myself off the track and explore where my heart wants to take me...I am in Allahabad, the point where the great Ganga (Ganges) meets the Yamuna River and the mythical Saraswati River is said to flow underground and also meet at this point...This is where Kumbh Mela is held every 12 years and the Magh Mela is held yearly...I missed the yearly celebration by three weeks but the remence of the event was clearly visible, so of the temporary shelters still stand (canvas outlays that look like you would picture a refuge camp) and spans the entire bed of the Ganges clear across the other side that is connected by temporary pon-toon bridges...the other side has temples, restaurants, and shelter with ashrams and celebrations, like an entire city and then is dismantled (I missed that) but plan to return here for the Kumbh Mela in January. I missed the Mela but not the celebrations that happen every Tuesday and Saturday at the Hanuman temple...crowds of 30-40 each surround a person carrying a flag pole of some thirty feet in height (supported by four people with ropes...live music is played with drums and chimes as people dance their way to the temple and have the flag touch the lying emanation of Hanuman (a rare site to see Hanuman reclining, if you were able to see through all the flowers offered to him) the bells ringing to signal your arrival, chanting aloud of mantra and hymns devoted to HAnuman and the tears of the devotees as the descend into the crypt where Hanuman lies... To bathe in this part of the Ganga is a warmer tempature then the north and a cloudy colour because of the sandy soil in this region...the shores of the Ganga at this time is like a desert but come the monsoon season the water will rise to the height of the Hanuman temple and will reach the feet of Hanuman before it receeds. Reminisce of the days in Borneo b/c not many foreigners come here and I feel like I did in Borneo, that I stepped into a secret doorway that reveals another part of a giant house I have lived in for years...I travel (my house) and feel that every door I open sends that much more light into the central courtyard of my life, journeys like this are bound to reveal skylights and secret passages that are bound to reveal greater parts of a house I am only now learning who the builder was :) People are astonished to see foreigners out of the loop and you immediately know you are off the track when you arrive and at least a set of eyes in every shops looks at you as though you may be the first alien sighting HAHAHA!!! I am just starting the journey that I came here to do, a book called "In the Footsteps of Buddha"...tomorrow I will head south west to a village called Kosami where the Buddha spent a lot of time preaching to a colony of monks, that started to fued and seperate...he warned them of this error and in time the entire population of the village died of a pandemic. The remains of the town are still there...I hear there is a buddhist monk who has built a temple there...I will ask to stay the night and head to Chitrakut soon to see the town where it is said that Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva were "born" here and taken on their incarnations (this is the Hindu Trinity) (creator, preserver, destroyer). The journey off the track will continue until my arrival in Varanasi (soon enough)

Indian eyes

February 17, 2006 2:21:51 AM

In the search for God we come across places and events in our lives that grab at the core of our being...you feel as though you have stepped into another dimension at times walking near the Ganga (they called the Ganges the Ganga)...the reflections of the water tell of times past where saddhus and devotees walked great distances to bathe along the stretch of white sandy beaches...large rocks pertrude from the sands and break the vision of a bleak desert...the water up here is CRYSTAL CLEAR. Standing from the walking bridge above the water, people feed MASSIVE FISH!!! bread...from this height they look like catfish but I can't be sure. Everyday the time slips by in my ever present state of mind, I sit in reflection and time melts...I think of all of you in your space and time and send my blessings, time passes, I bathe in the Ganges and bottle the water to bring back as gifts to my Hindu devotees. Saddhus dressed in faded orange cloth from head to toe walk by me in my orange cotton fisherman pants and our eyes meet...a story is told in that second, one that Hindus have been a part of for more than 8500 years! The Sanatana Dharma was the name of Hinduism then, this religion adopts and absorbs facets of all philosophies and religions and their belief is reflected in their eyes...a power that sends a shockwave to the core of your heart...they know where they are going and who will be there when they get there...I have always read various religions and have found my closest connections to both Hindu and Buddhist, what Buddhism lacks is the sense of God...it is something that is not pondered...yet the eternal ultimate reality is (a parellel in the two religions)...but eyes like the saddhus and yogis here are unlike those I have ever seen before...a window to the pure light of their souls, there is a blatant honesty there...a real, true, sense of what this world is. I feel like everyone is my friend here HAHA I must wave to everyother person as I walk up and down the Ganga. From the ashram to Lakshman Jula to Rishikesh...some saddhus walk with canes and wear the years of practice on their face, others walk with turban like cloth enwrapped in their dreads...rudraksha malas adorning their bodies, the tears of Lord Shiva and the protector of health, knowledge and harmful sins...others wear Tulsi malas (the wearer must not lie, drink,  or smoke). The weather has been impeccable!! The sun warms the mornings and afternoons and the evenings and nights are pleasantly cool. SUNSET CELEBRATIONS: Every evening a ceremony is held on the Ganga and flower offerings are given to the Ganga in the belief that prayers are answered and that the loved ones that have died will receive the message of the love that continues for them on earth. Rishikesh has an ashram that performs this ceremony with singers and young saddhus chanting that is somewhat touristy but in Haridwar (the truly sacred pilgrimage for Hindus...the real beginning of the Ganga) is where it is more real (About 1.5 hours away by rik-shaw)...I went last night and I estimate 3000-4000 people were there...both watching and part of the ceremony. The feeling of being present on the Ganga in a ceremony that has so much collective energy of prayer was enough for all to tear. Know that you were all sitting with me, viewing the scenes from my eyes and that you were all in my prayers...know that you have touched the Ganga as I have. Love you all. Not sure when I will leave, it could be a few more days yet...there is no reason to leave when you fit so well into the surroundings.

Rishikesh

February 13, 2006 10:29:59 PM

The start of the Ganges...this is where the Ganges streams clean :) and I have been able to wash in it upon my arrival and will daily until my departure. This is the typical India in my mind...prior to this I had been in the major city of Delhi (business), Amiritsar (Punjab state of Sikkism) and McLeod Ganj (Little Tibet)...actually I have to correct myself with misinformation that I wrote all before, the population is not 3000 tibetans but 43000!!!...my guidebook is old and the population has increased all throughout the valley (that population is of the entire area that is called Dharamsala)...NOW Rishikesh...where Saddhus and devotees walk the shores of the Ganges, where people line the walkways asking for change, where devotees dressed in the colours of orange and yellow offer marijuana to you as you pass (we are all warned of people posing as saddhus and may not be the friendliest people, thankfully for me I do not smoke so the temptation to join is not there), cows walking the street (they are not killed because they are believed to be the sign of nurturing and fertility...the bull is the most revered because he was the vehicle of SHIVA). ... Rishikesh... The town is divided by the Ganges and joined by walking bridge, taxis and buses drop you off on the far side and you walk across...the view from the centre of the bridge south are ashrams (hindu temples with accomodation) dotted on both sides with steps built on either side throughout allowing you to walk to the waters edge and bathe...the north side is sparcely populated with sandy beach on one side and cliffs on the other. The water is surprisingly POWERFUL here with rapids and white crested water. They all say that India is an assault on the senses...I can imagine that this is only the beginning to what Varanasi will feel like...cow dung is the biggest obstacle to walking at night haha!! the people are incredibly kind and say RAM RAM as a hello in the morning and NAMASTE as a hello later in the day. RAM RAM is a prayer to RAMA...the key to the story Ramayana (I would love to explain the Ramayana but it would take ages HAHA) and Namaste literally means "I see the divine within you." I have found my local hangout...a coffee cart that has found its permanent place with tarps above and walled on three sides by other existing buildings. It seems to me that he pushed the cart this far and said THAT IS ENOUGH HERE IS OK HAHA!!! It looks right on to the Ganges...the family is great and the chai is 3 ruppees a cup :) 6 cents :)...I hung out with the family until about 930 last night. I instantly felt at home and connected when I arrived here...the Ganges is of EXTREME importance to Hindus and you can feel the collective energy with everyones prayers reverberating from ashram to ashram and over the waters through the valleys. It is nice to see crystal clear Ganges before my arrival in Varanasi :) hehe I will keep in touch. Glad to write. Hope all is well.

Never ask directions from either Indians or Tibetans.

February 10, 2006 7:47:35 PM

Never ask directions from either Indians or Tibetans...reason being: Indians will give you directions which include elaborate hand waving and directional adjustments with their hands, while telling you how long it will take you and the approximate distance, to which you learn about thirty minutes later that they had no clue!! haha!! Tibetans on the other hand will tell you where to go and how long it will take you but the path may simply be descending down the side of a mountain with no clear path...your directions being "just over there and down!"...you realize after two hours that their ETA of one hour was possibly for a Tibetan porter in his prime!! I met a Korean guy in Amritsar and again here so we decided to share a room, we travelled from McLeod Ganj to Dharakot and Triund (recommended by Kristy, thank you :) The trip was up the entire way from 1817m (McLeod Ganj) to 2600m at Triund...it was remarkable that you would walk for ten minutes and look down to realize that your are ascending at such a rapid pace. We arrived to the base of a Himalayan range that towered the horizon (even though our elevation was near 2600m)...snow was an obstacle while hiking parts of the trail...on the walk there were two coffee shops :) and in Triund a basic accomodation similar to a rangers station. The clouds passed by and changed forms as they hit the range of mountains before us, the silence was palable and you had the sense that you were only a step away from flying along with the eagles that soared the thermals...with your back to the range you could survey the entire region of this vast area of mountains, valleys, and rice fields...dotted plantations across the mountains make you wonder HOW they decided to live THERE! The descent was targeted for Bhagsu...this would create a circle route back to the hotel...we were told, just follow the ridge to that mountain over there and go down, easy, maybe 1.5 hours HAHA!! what was not told to us was that ALL these mountains are dotted with abandoned villages and a tributary of paths that are mind boggling, they go EVERYWHERE...after reaccessing our paths, we found that we were on another mountain further from our destination...with several corrections we arrived at our destination in 3.5 hours HAHA!! Maybe next time I will try using a map and not my nose HAHA!!

From one holy place to the next

February 9, 2006 2:59:05 AM

Just the other day I arrived in Amritsar (the holiest city in the Punjab state and for the Sikh religion)...I stayed at the pilgrims site for free and was also able to get food for free. The soup kitchen was well organized off the side of the complex called the GOLDEN TEMPLE...here you walk towards a building that looks similar to a factory...a vast space with only the support columns and mats for you to walk on...designated laneways :) where people that PRACTICALLY volunteer (get paid $2 for 12 hours of work) pace up and down the lanes filling your metal plate (picture steel formed prison plates :) hehe) as they walk by...you can eat to your hearts content...the menu? "flat bread and green curry sauce stuff haha!" Anyways the temple... I arrive to the gates opposite the temple where the pilgrims accomodation is...across the street (not   10 paces) is the beginning of the marble entrance...YOU MUST ENTER BAREFOOT and with HEAD COVERED...they gave me silk to cover my head...as you walk the length of the entrance...covered in marble...maybe 30 feet wide by 150 feet long to the entrance...before you enter the complex you walk through a stream of water (you have to do this to wash your feet before entering) and walk four paces through it. The view the entire time walking towards the temple is BREATHE TAKING...a temple rumoured to have used 1300kg of PURE GOLD to cover the roof of the central temple, the entire complex is marble! the LAKE that the temple sits in must be nearly a 700 feet wide and 200 feet deep...I counted 1100 of my steps to walk around once (so that is a better idea...maybe no so wide) The temple is only accessible on one side by a walkway that leads to the temple in the middle. Reflections of Malaysia passed through my mind as I recorded the sounds of the chanting in Punjabi...the temple is open 24 hours...I spent most of 1 and a half days in the temple :) People dressed in traditional outfits would strip down to their underwear and dunk themselves into the man made lake around the temple, I watched one elder take off what must have been 10-15 pieces of clothing!! from a blanket to their traditional sword. ... From the Golden Temple I now sit in McLeod Ganj...the home of more then 3000 Tibetans and the home of His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Just like his speech in Toronto, his home and temple are modest and sensible...what is necessary and no more. The village here lies at around 2000metres with the Himalayans as the backdrop of the town (and fortunate for me, also the accomodation I chose...and am in BEAD HEAVEN AS WELL!! :) The area where I am has a central bus circle from where streets stem from it, each one leading off to another town or the Adminstrative offices of Tibet and numerous trails! The streets are close together and shops along with street sellers are EVERYWHERE...but buying here is a much more relaxed approach to the often nagging and persistent hawkers of Delhi. Here they simply put out their wares and you are free to choose. Although I have done little prospecting, the stores I have been to have the same prices. I prefer the night time here...people shuffle around with little sound and the walls seem to reverberate with the prayers of all that walk the streets during the day with their malas (buddhist rosaries) reciting mantras...everywhere you look the Tibet monks can be seen walking the streets and the elderly Tibetans clutching their malas in stride. The Dalai Lama is not here at the moment ( I missed him while he was in Delhi because I only found out after I left that he was there :( and he is now in Varanasi but I will not be there until a couple weeks from now). I must be going, but if you have any questions just ask...I think I covered the experience :) I will most likely be here for a week and will write a second part on McLeod Ganj and surrounding areas. Hope you are all well. Love and peace to all, you are all in my prayers as I do my recitations.

Ask three times and pay once

February 5, 2006 4:23:55 AM

Ah yes...the tourist mecca of Delhi (Paharjahg) this region is the area where most backpackers will find themselves while trying to get out on the next train to ANYWHERE!! but I have been blessed to meet people prior to my arrival and stay and experience a nicer part of Delhi...not the terrible stories associated with hawkers and people trying to sell you everything under the sun...but of a peaceful community where you pay the local price (25cents an hour for e-mail as well as lunch at the local stalls)...the area is called Vasant Vihar which is the the southwest of Delhi (close to the domestic airport and all the embassies (Nancy you will enjoy yourself here). I address market prices in this email. There are the opportunistic one time sellers and the people that sell here and want to be here twenty years from now. (My rule in all of Asia is ASK THREE TIMES - in three different places!) So...I went looking for beads...and knew straight away who was con and who was decent...the best price is the one who sells the same to locals as they do to tourist. I found that guy :) in a mass of other in a shop not far from city centre. Another time I went to buy "fishermen pants" that are popular in Thailand...I asked the first guy (expensive) second shop (a little less) third shop (half the price of the first)...the price is not relative so it is hard to fathom but understanding the relative nature of the market you can see that asking three times to three different stores (EVEN NEXT DOOR TO EACH OTHER!!!) will result in half the price of the guy down the road!!! Even for my Indian friends here it is a struggle everytime we hire a rik-shaw (a motorcycle taxi on three wheels)...we have been told DOUBLE the price or even TRIPLE the price that we have already paid to get to the location we are at. India reminds me a great deal of Indonesia and when I arrived in India I knew that I had been here more then a few times (you can sense it in travel...for instance, I know that I can survive and live in countries like China and Korea...but I never sensed that I was there before...India and Indonesia have been home to me before :) Delhi is dotted with historical monument (like the India Gate) that was built to represent all fallen soldiers of India (originally built to represent the ones lost in WWII but now represent all that have lost their lives for Indian independance)...there is the Red Fort that was built in 1638 by a decendant of Chingis Khan to represent the power and rule of the Mongol Hoards (a permimetre of 2.4km the wall stands 90 feet tall and encompasses a city within the walls that housed government and emperial family)... The markets here are teaming with opportunistic sellers, the one time deals, and the rik-shaws wanting to take everything you got! haha...that is the life in countries where tourism is relatively high and the exchange is also high...the relative cost is pennies but it is principle in the end...the fair will survive and rise slow over time remaining until the end...the abusers will make money now, rise fast and crash even faster. An equilibrium in an economy that deals in pennies is hard...but I see China rising in my generation and being the world power for my children and India will rise to Chinese level in the lives of my grandchildren...I can sense it...Canada and the West have valid fears in our longevity as a nation of prosperity...we really have something to be concerned about... we will soon realize that wealth of monies is not the answer but the wealth of character is what defines a nation...in time I believe that the philosophies of the nations will converge and we will see that ENOUGH money is ENOUGH and that happiness is beyond our monetary worth...a world where we can all hold hands and embrace an equilibrium of success. Sound utopian to you? not to me. love, peace, and happiness to all. From Delhi...off to the Golden Temple in Punjab. Bye for now.

Delhi

February 3, 2006 6:36:03 AM

so I have arrived in Delhi...my flight was delayed three hours so my friend came and met me about 30 minutes after I arrived and we took a rik-shaw back to his place...an average apartment that you would expect to find...with two rooms, a kitchen and bath. It is in Southern New Delhi called Vasan Vihar. It is a nice area with one of the larger shopping complexes in Delhi called Priya...I am here at the moment waiting to go see a Bollywood film at 1030pm about the region of India called the Punjab where I am headed to after here. I will head to Chandigar after Delhi then the Golden Temple where I have a friend to meet there as well...on my way to Dharamsala where the Dalia Lama resides. I figure I will be hanging around here for a few days...I have plans to meet a few friends in Delhi here so I will have reason to hang around a bit. I have a few markets to go to where beads proliferate :) And with Indian friends I am sure to get a better deal :) I will write soon, there are a lot of internet cafes in Delhi...but I am unclear about the Northern region...so as I travel the writing may be sparce. Hope all is well.

Gunsmoke, fireworks, and prayer.

January 29, 2006 12:18:43 AM

just getting it now

January 26, 2006 2:12:34 AM

I have started to pick up the language a bit, being able to hello, goodbye, how much, and do you speak english...those are usually the ground work for learning. I have talked to some foreigners that live here and asked them about the difficulties in the language and the major one is that the characters have no way of telling you how they are pronounced (tone, pitch) so even if you know what the character is your meaning may be wrong when it is said...the other is that 3-4000 characters are needed to read a newspaper and its said that 3000 are needed for everyday use. The way they have managed to get around this on a computer keyboard is through pin-yin...a form of typing using the english keyboard (by typing a letter you are given a list of characters to choose from and you press the corresponding number to enter that character...so in essence the number pad is just as important as the letter keys). Life is good here, it takes me a while to adapt but I could see spending a year here...the most difficult part is that there are few people that speak ANY english...not even the comprehension of yes and no...so learning the language would be the utmost of importance...at least in Korea I got on alright from the start, there was always SOMEONE that spoke English. The beauty here is unexplainable really...such grandeur and palatial (for the tourist spots I have been to)...I can only say that the rural parts outside of the city that I have seen on passing trains is quite rough and dilapidated...life is rough for rural people, I spoke to one girl that volunteer teaching for six months and said that the kids she taught (1000 kids) had no desks...only a piece of wood on sticks, chalkboards were not in all rooms, no technology (no tv, computers, etc), and some kids only go home twice a year because there village is too far from school...a change from what I have seen in "Chinese tourist China"...you can almost become detached to the thought that there are people out there struggling when you see cities that are lit up with neon and selling Ferrari's and name brand clothes. A funny observation or two: - There seems to be a KFC at almost EVERY OTHER corner!! I asked a Chinese guy about this on the train and he said that they like it because it is fast, good, and no service...just food...shite! I don't know what he talks about as service HAHA the little "diners" I have been to serve and leave with little more then a grunt HAHA!! - Traffic seems to flow in a snake like fashion, I learned very quickly that regardless of the size of vehicle in your path you just have to commit to your direction...the littlest second guess and the snake bites hehe...same with walking...I gave another traveller a tip while walking, if he needs to go somewhere fast pretend he is looking at his phone or watch and everyone will walk around him HAHA!! he tried it and it works...it seems that the only time they will go toe to toe is if they can see you HAHA!! - English is not the universal language...with 1/6th the world population it is not really necessary for the Chinese to learn another language, their market is big enough here for them to survive. - Each bus has a schedule of designated stops that are listed on each bus, typically stopping at 12 - 15 stops a round...this driver will drive this route in circles while the driver on the other side of the road (driving the same route bus) will do the same...the weirdest one yet was that I can take the Y2 (tourist bus) around the inside lane of the lake or cross the road and take the Y1 and it takes the outside lane of the lake...the funniest thing about the tourist bus is that it has a girl in the front (in uniform) telling (in Chinese) the highlights of the locations and tells passengers what stops are next...I THINK she says in there somewhere "next stop is..." but she says it so fast mixed in with Chinese that I can't be sure if I am just hearing things HAHA!!! I actually hit my saturation point of temples today WOW! that tells me that I have seen a lot HAHA!! in some of these temples there have been over 30m (90 foot) buddhas in bronze, in camphor wood, and covered in gold !!! WOW! I have seen a temple where there are 250 arhats (deciples of buddha) in a hall...each casting different with a different characteristic, and is over 6 feet in height and 3 wide!! I have seen carvings in mountain sides dating back to 1100...temples originally built in 350! The history here is palpable when you get into the country side...they seem to have done there best of tearing it out of the cities...the temples seem to sit in cities as a time in the past when there was a heart, now they feel cold and monument/museum like. Unfortunately all the temples have no heating anywhere and more concrete then you would wish to shake a stick at...the monks in many of the temples seem distracted or not happy...a different feel from monks I have seen in other countries...I wish they had cushions to just sit and appreciate the temples inside but the only ever have "pew-type" cushions for prostrating 3 times in front of the images of the buddha and disciples...3 times...To seek refuge in The Buddha (Teacher) , The Dharma (teachings), and the Sangha (the family of devotees) Well I am off to Shanghai, "temple fulfilled :)" If there is anything you guys are curious about out there, just ask...I will answer the best I can and search out the facts the best I can...note all this writing is purely my own persective, this is the way my eyes and heart see what I see...my eyes are but just one way of viewing what is out there...hope you are all enjoying these emails as much as I enjoy writing them. Be safe and well in your world.

January 23, 2006 5:35:17 AM

Imagine 1/6th of the population of the world on the move! Imagine a train station that has easily over 10,000 people just sitting around...waiting for their train...it was crazy getting a ticket today...surprised to get to Hanzhou and will tour around tomorrow. I will be in the city for five days...then back to Shanghai for New Years. The whole country is moving right now because during this most important holiday people will travel back to their hometowns to celebrate (chu-suk in Korea is a similar affair)...it is amazing to imagine what it must be like to photograph from the sky and see the mass of humanity around bus and train stations. Getting a ticket is a serious deal and while I was there they were selling tickets for the next day to some locations because they were already sold out...luckily there is roughly a train every hour going here and back...but that doesn't mean that they are not full! wow! The experience of China so far has been one of sheer amazement at the technology (seems that all the new products come out here and when they reach maturity then they are "cutting edge" in the West...nothing better then having a market of customers that demand so much for such a low cost, I imagine that the sheer volume makes profits good here as well)...amazed at the trafficing of human bodies; there are barracades here and there and management of huge crowds is done in such a way that crowds move smoothly and quickly, you leave out of the back of the bus (even though the back is full of people and you practically have to climb over people...and you are only two feet away from the front door HAHA!)...amazed at the price of things here, the amount of things I have never seen before, beads beads and more beads :) ... amazed at how there isn't an accident every minute that I walk the streets ... amazed with the shortness of many here, that can't seem to be bothered to help ... amazed that more people here don't speak English ... amazed everyday that I catch a glimpse of myself in the mirror HAHA, you get so used to being surrounded by everyone that looks similar and you imagine yourself the same. The touring around has been fun, I would have to come back for some years to get a grasp of the language and see more...the written language intrigues me and maybe some day I will try to work on it. For now I have a Lake to walk around and temples to visit , along with more bead shopping :) I apologize for just sending a group email for everyone but this is the easiest way to stay in touch with everyone at the same time :) if you don't want these emails then just tell me and I can remove you :) no worries. Hope all is well in your worlds...be good, have fun, and see you all in time :)

Shanghai - the city that doesn't allow me to sleep

January 21, 2006 5:26:13 PM

You could party 24 hours a day here...I moved to a different hostel after Suzhou where I pay less and have more fun :) free internet, and free billiards table :) I think most of you know that billiards happens to be one of my favorite sports and I can hold my own quite well so there have been games for beers...or just staying up until the wee hours to chat. Yesterday was great, one of the guys here and I went off to the French Concession and toured the area...french colonial style buildings...and went to the birthplace of the Chinese Communist Party along with where the first congress was held...VERY interesting...I bought some great coins to commemorate my tour :) We were running rather late and decided to cab back...the fare is $2cdn for the first 3km and then about .40c every km after...on the drive was INSANE...he managed to drive at speeds through four lanes of traffic and get us through in what felt like no time, at one point he seemed impatient at a red light and started to GUN IT down the opposite lane...as the light turned green, scooters started advancing and he JERKED back into the lane WOW! within millimetres several times...exilirating! Well I am nursing last nights condition hehe...I will keep in touch. I will most likely head to Hangzhou tomorrow, if I can manage to get a ticket and fight my way through the crowds...getting a ticket here can be quite challenging...one room you line for ticket (15 counters) and another you head to this huge hall...the fight will surely be entertaining. I will keep in touch. Hope all is well in your world.

Rain, temples, canals, and more rain!

January 19, 2006 5:01:58 PM

This rain has been endless and being the wise one that I am never thought to have an umbrella with me, so I bought one yesterday...the other problem was that as soon as I went outside my running shoes would be saturated :( so I went and bought new boots, quite stylish black sudo-leather that has a lining inside...slipped them on, PERFECT $12...within one hour of walking in them the "leather" started to seperate from the sole and I am once in the same position HAHA!!! GEEZ!! Wet feet...BUT WARM! HAHA! I will be heading back to Shanghai today because the other stops I want to see are day trips and I should secure a spot for the next week in Shanghai...considering the new year is approaching quickly. All this rain has not stopped me from seeing the sites! I have walked so much that I no longer need a map HAHA!! that has to tell everyone that knows me that I have walked A LOT! haha!! The streets are beautiful here! tree lined, seperate lanes for bikes and scooters...the traffic here is unlike I have EVER SEEN! each set of lights has a seconds counter for both the green side and the red side...NOTE: GREEN MAN means NOTHING FOR PEDESTRIANS...if anything it tells you that you have a better chance of survival if you TRY now! HAHA!! IT is CRAZY, how to explain? picture chaotic order...light turns green, you have people walking, crisscrossing, horns, trucks, bicycles, scooters...and most of the time they don't hit eachother...although I have seen some heated arguments where they just stopped in the middle of the street to give the other person a piece of their mind. Other times I am walking on a sidewalk and a sense of tranquility comes over me as I see a park to my right, as I gravitate towards it...I hear "AAAHHHHH...WWWWWAAAAHHHH" as some guy in a scooter cuts between me and the garden bed to get through the gate first WOW! that was close!! The sites around the city have been beautiful...HUGE beautfully sculped bridges...some appear as humpbacks over the divide to accomodate the large boats that pass through. There is a gate at one end of the city that still stands as a reminder of what this city must have been like 1000 years ago when it was surrounded by a moat and a huge wall that could be surveyed from above. This happens to be the largest man made moat in the world...employing 100,000+ enslaved labourers to build it a millenium ago. Canals and bridges pop out of nowhere...they are everywhere...with many boats docked beside their houses. The rebuilding here is still going on, it is common for cities of late to be demolished and rebuilt to cater to Chinese tourism...Renmin Lu (the main road) is finished and they are working on the tributaries. I have to say though, that their style of building and development is quite beautiful...still retaining the tiled roof and stucco exterior. I haven't been able to enter all the places that I have wanted to see either because of the rain or the sheer expense...the average cost to enter anything is $5-9cdn...that adds up quickly...I found some great beads at the Temple of Mystery last night and am hoping to find the suppliers with some help from friends in Shanghai. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND...if anyone wants to come to China to buy a Mandarin Phrasebook!!! Although they speak Cantonese here the written language is the same, just the pronunciation and addition nuances are what make the language difficult to learn. Luckily for me there are restaurants that advertise in Korean so I have been able to order my food this way...speaking Korean to the waiter. There have been a few restaurants that speak english but they are quite rare.

Gucci, Prada, Massa-ji?

Walking along the mall streets of Shanghai is an experience that is hard to
articulate...every other person near a store front appears within inches of
your face saying "you need gucci bad? watch? massage?" "you need girl,
room?" and then women walking up to you and wanting to talk, within seconds
asking to go for a drink together (this should be beside the definition of
"sketchy" in the Oxford dictionary).
Anyways...these street malls are INCREDIBLE...neon lights greet every corner
and the buzz of shoppers, buyers, and sellers is contagious...you lose track
of time itself.

Today I woke up early and took the subway off to the train station...these
stations are cool because you purchase a (flimsy plastic) card for your
trip, swipe it upon entry to the underground rail and when you arrive you
enter it into a slot in the turnstile...now the coolest thing is that at the
platform, it shows you DOWN TO THE SECOND when the next TWO trains are
coming...and yes it is accurate to the second!!
Got to the rail station and you could have swore that a riot had broken out
in some kind of chaotic order...gates restrict you from entering anywhere
you should not...you naturally funnel to the 12 ticket booths and scramble
for your guide book that has your destination written in Chinese, get your
ticket and follow the herd through to the guards checking that you have a
valid ticket THEN YOU CAN ENTER THE TRAIN STATION! find your hall number
(there were 9 halls housing 4 entrances for trains...I was 8-4)...find your
spot and wait, doesn't matter if you are front of the waiting line,there is
sure to be twenty people infront of you when it is time to get your train!
Train comes, we are called, we herd once again through bars that can be no
wider then an average westerner and check for your ticket again...you get
down to your train and they check your ticket before you board...train
travelled 147km/h for about 45 minutes to where I am now...Suzhou...then
they check your ticket again before you leave the destination station...GOD!
I can only IMAGINE what it would be like if you lost your ticket midway
through the journey! HAHA!!

Suzhou is BEAUTIFUL!!! It is China's garden city and still has some of the
original 17 canals, with the moat remaining around the exterior of the
city...although the rain has been near terrential all day I managed to walk
a lot down the main street and duck into some alleys...eventually finding my
hotel for the night (my own room with heating and tv for $16cdn) When I got
in the room the lady cranked the heat to 28C (86F) so I can only imagine
that the isolation is non-existent and the window are half-pane glass HAHA!!
something just a grade level higher then cling wrap HAHA!!!

The food is great in this region and far better then the meals I had in
Beijing...a little on the pricey side to travel around here, but always
worth it!
I bought a beer at the local shop for under a dollar (600ml) and the same
one cost twice as much in the hostel I was at in Shanghai and 6 times that
in the bar so I am sure I will be a shop drinker haha!!

I have found some great bead shops here and have spoken to a shop that is
Tibetan...one of the girls speaks good English and I am sure to get some
great things before I leave (definitely some yak bone :)

Well off for now...have to rush and get my pedi-cab back to the hotel...I
have had enough of walking in the rain for today!!
Hope all is well out there...bye for now.

Home at last...thank god almighty I am in Shanghai at last :)

Flying into Shanghai after a twleve and a half hour flight...we came in low
across the urban sprawl...but there was a sense of a little more tranquility
then your average sprawl...buildings of two and three stories tall with most
having red roofs...dotted throughout are rice fields in their winter state
resembling ice rinks (not cold enough to freeze today...but makes me think
that Chinese might find a use for these rice fields in the winter and one
day give the Canadian Olympic team a run for their money HAHA).
I met a guy on the plane experiencing his first flight out of North America
(heading to Australia in six days for an exchange program)...it was neat to
see his excitement when we got into the city...the buzz reverberating off
the buildings in "The Bund" and area that was built by British Colonialist
during last century...the architecture is European (with another area of the
city called the French Concession, dominated by the French during a time of
European trade with the east and the British and French battle for supremacy
in trade...not surprising the area of the time dedicated to the Chinese was
quite small in size...and I will have to talk later of the  difference in
architecture).

Arriving at the airport (Pudong) we took the Magnetic Rail (the only one of
its kind in the world, built by the Germans, and to this day they have not
been able to interest other countries in the purchase of these trains...the
cost to establish the infrastructure is the burden...but the cost advantage
is reaped in time). I am about to tell you HOW FAST THIS THING GOES, and for
all the sceptics I HAVE PICTURES OF THE SPEED...it is posted in each
car)...we reached top speed of 431km/h!!! I AM NOT LYING!! WOW!! It took us
no longer then 5 minutes to travel the 30 kms! WOW!!!

So on I go with my day here at the hostel, in the Bund :)

I will report back with the happenings of the days...may the buzz and
vibrations of Asia reach all out there :) Stay well.

Snow falls on Suburbia

November 25, 2005 8:54:16 AM

The first of many snowfalls to come fell upon Suburbia in the last couple of nights...YUCK!!! I often wonder (generally when I come back to visit) why people settled this vast land...I guess the offer of free land to all that would farm it (giving a certain amount of yield to the government over a period of time...at which the land would be handed over to the farmer) was enough to entice the "rebels" of the "old world" to make the voayage. When the first snow falls every year I sit back and ponder what it must have been like when the immigrants came to this land...the "new world", the emoitons that must have run through their veins and the promise of vast land...a people that wanted to start new...they must have come to this new world with an idea for change...banishing the old ways, imagining that they could make this place different. The fear that many must have had...arriving in Halifax, going down the Saint Lawrence...who knew where they were going? many of them pennyless or few pennies to their name. The Indians of the land must have wondered too...why these people were here, where they came from, what would happen to the land, when they would leave for other places. I am proud to be Canadian but WHY do we have to be in such a COLD CLIMATE!! WHY SNOW? Why was I not born in the tropics HAHA!! I do appreciate the sacrifices my forefathers made but could we not have asked the Russians during the Cold War to turn up the heat on their weather machines and send all that bad weather south! The polar ice caps are melting and the poles will shift in time but it will not be soon enough :) for by this time...I will be in some other form or shape and Canada will be a tropical country. BUT...for now...I am cold, wet, and fear that the snow will only melt through the openings of my boots and soak my toes through :(

Aboriginal Festival

Over the past weekend I spent Saturday at the Skydome (recently renamed "The
Rogers Centre) for the 12th annual Aboriginal Festival. A celebration of the
arts, music, culture, and language of our people...our First Nations...the
people that were here long before the "settlers of the west."

It was a beautiful day of listening to throat singers (traditionally played
to pass the time away, a competition where two people stand holding each
others arms...facing each other, with only a foot or less seperating them
...the goal of the game is to look into the opponents eyes and throat sing,
trying to match the others rhythm...a battle of vocals...when one looses the
rhythm, they lose the game...each time ending in laughter that they have
been caught)
The GRAND ENTRY came...where the elders came out dressed in all battalions
and represented all military organizations...from the RCMP to the Two
Spirits...after they entered holding our nations flag and others...the
eldest dancers came in, followed by the women, then the children...some of
the dancers were called "Fancy Dancers"...dressed in peacock style
outfits...the head dress matching the size of "the tail"...bells were ladden
across costumes, the rhythmic sound of the drums played and the undertone
was a constant shuffle of metal as the bells rattled.
There were roughly 18 drums, surrounded by anywhere from 4 people to more
than a dozen...each was asked to play a specific song for the
dancers...after the grand entry came the dance competitions...fancy dancers,
men and boys of all ages (each asked to dance based on age), and women of
all ages, dancers right down to below 8!
This was followed by a drum competition...each group was asked to play a
specific song and each was judged by a panel of 4 men, I was curious to know
WHAT EXACTLY the criteria was...but left my curiousity out of conversation
with either drummer or judge, instead I enjoyed just being a part of the
sounds.
INTENSE...is only one word that could remotely describe the feeling I had,
standing only a foot behind one of the drummers and only a few feet away
from the drum (The drum may have been around 4 feet wide, a sat on the
ground...or on a stand...it would jump from side to side as the drummers
POUNDED the skin). I stood there being vibrated to the core, the songs were
almost haunting...you could only imagine what it would have been like before
the "people of the West" came. A time that only books and some elders can
truly talk about...but with time I truly believe (after going to this
festival) that their culture will survive and that it won't simply be a
"tourist show" but will be part of the landscape of their culture...it
seemed to me that this has not all been lost, but in a period of revival.
Drum on.

wind chill factor

December 12, 2005 5:17:20 AM

Area tempature: -13C and with the windchill factor -24C! Is this fair? Yes for those who are wondering...the world does not stop in this region at such ridiculous tempatures, people armour themselves with layers as the wind off Lake Ontario threatens to cut with its knife edge winds...threatens to dig through any amount of layers. Sure there is some nastalgia attached to this hurtful cold...dressing up in snow gear at recess and rushing out to see who could get to the fresh snow first and land a perfect snow angel...but this nastalgia dies as you look at the cold from a heated house and walk outside to the needles of cold. I can only imagine what it must have been like to keep a fire burning when hydro was not available...I can almost see waking up in the morning and the bed clothes are frozen solid in form to the person sleeping with them...waking up, the person beneath the frozen blankets pushes them onto the floor with a thud! Now... I can confortably complain on the windchill factor from heated surroundings, with a hint of guilt but without a bundle of clothes protecting me from the elements. Hope all is well with everyone...I can see some of you sitting in an internet cafe in Thailand or India as you read this and laughing, haha! that's okay...see you soon :)

Well it is that time of year

December 23, 2005 8:29:04 AM

The feeding commercial frenzy as people gather in big box stores to consume copious amounts of merchandise. This time of the year I have to be careful not to be consumed is this part of the holiday. What I DO look forward to at this time of year though is the family getting together, seeing my family all smile together, decorate the tree, and hope that it snows on Christmas morning (the only time you will catch Brian McIntyre wishing for snow!). To all a good holiday, may your days be merry and bright and may all your Christmas' be white :) (with exception to my friends in Asia and Africa haha) may you find a white sand beach and pour ice cubes down your back for the semblance of a chill :) Merry Christmas all. And Happy New Year.

The foothills of the Rockies

November 12, 2005 8:31:57 AM

I am now in a small town called Radium where there are Hot Springs, the entrance to the Kootenay National Park. After spending a couple days in Nelson the drive to Cranbrook was a mixture of low lying dry roads and high altitude snow covered lanes...the giant firs were the resting grounds for large clumps of snow, more then fifty feet in the air the snow made all attempts to remain. The backdrop of this region are great hills and mountains that are capped with snow...the tree line fades and the snows begin. The drive from Cranbrook to here in Radium was breathtaking...the mountains begin to become ragged as the Rocky range appears. Small towns like Fairmont are SURROUNDED is GREAT mountains that dwarf the inhabitants, beautiful Kootenay lake feeds the tributaries before Nelson right through Radium. Looking out the cafe window here across the street the mountains seem to be painted as a backdrop above the horizon. The size seems ungodly in appearance...but they must be real, I can SEE them HAHA!!! During the fall and winter the wildlife come down from the mountains to feed for the winter...last night while driving we came across HUGE Elk, and beautiful bucks...the sheep are grazing in town now and Large Horn Rams are apparently around quite often. Doing a hike this morning before sunrise...I walked along a path that skirts the crest of a mountain here...awed by the view, I wasn't looking where I was going...as I turned back to the path I almost bumped right into A DEER! Just standing there HAHA!!! Geez I could have poked him!! I was skirting a national park campground that is closed for the season so they are surely used to many people being around but that was quite a shock HAHA!! It's like he was waiting for me to say good morning... So I did. Until next time. Off to Lake Louise today or tomorrow.

travel plans

November 9, 2005 2:09:31 PM

I bought a ticket after some deliberation with the Greyhound guy here in Nelson (got here at 6am this morning)...I bought an open ticket to take me to: Cranbrook - Radium - Banff - Calgary...for $100 NOT BAD!!! I can take the bus whenever I want and go at my own pace...so the ticket is paid for and I have to be in Calgary at 6pm Monday. I stayed in Grand Forks for the day to finish painting the gallery...I have my stuff showing there for a craft fair that runs a month and a half. We have talked about plans to get a community of artists going in the north where I can buy a house on property starting at $4500...it is out of the way but I would love to help in a community where I can afford to do so...even if I just did the fair there for the summer and let someone live there for free when I am not around I would feel like I am giving back a bit...I could have a house paid off in a year and still have my place on Salt Spring. I have been thinking about property for the last few years and I can pull this off!!! I will keep in touch. Have to go back to a store here and arrange consignment for my beads...one more store hopefully...my goal is twelve stores by next season :) love you guys...keep in touch.

As the Greyhound Wheel turns...

November 8, 2005 12:45:49 AM

I arrive in Vancouver via Salt Spring Air...I figure the best way to leave the island has to be flying from downtown Salt Spring (if there is such a place) to downtown Vancouver...the first part of the flight takes me to Vancouver airport where I sit in the seat behind the co-pilots enviously positioned in a place where I can see out the window ... but not all is right ... drop people off at the airport and much to my satisfaction I now become the co-pilot ... flying into Vancouver, skirting the treetops of Stanley Park, I had a moment of "Hey, I could do this...I could be a pilot HAHAHA!!" I was anxious to meet a friend of mine in town and got to the hostel rather quickly to rest before our meeting...we hung out the rest of the evening...when told that my plans were to go to Nelson, she said that her sisters boyfriend lives in a town called Grand Forks (looking on the map it puts me 3 hours or so west of Nelson)...we called Paul that night and he said that I was welcomed to stay there...so after 11 hours on a Greyhound and a night of socializing I sit at Paul's place...figuring I will stay around tomorrow and help him paint a new studio, make some contacts to sell some beads and see what happens. It is a nice little town, I am sure to have fun. Hope all is well...must be heading towards Calgary in the coming days...bye for now.