Travel in the Time of Corona

We’ve had an interesting journey from Delhi to Hong Kong.   Lets call it Travel in the time of Corona.  What is a simple 5.5 hour journey (or 10 hours, if you consider door-to-door time) under normal circumstances has turned out to be a 48 hour journey this time around.  Thanks to the current situation when there are limited flights between India and Hong Kong, and even they get cancelled faster than new flights are announced. 

This may be a long read, and frankly, quite uninteresting.  So feel free to drop off at this time. 

Prior to setting out for the airport though, we needed to get tested for covid and have our negative results and certificates ready.  We discovered the joys of Delhi’s “drive-thru” testing process. Hong Kong health authorities need not just the lab test results but also a certificate that the path lab is accredited by ICMR and has the ISO: 15189 certification.  Got test results, got certificate, got ICMR accreditation copy.  All check. 

Delhi - Dubai: The check-in section of the airport was busy although not even close to how it is during normal times. Check in still took time though because they need to check COVID Test results in addition to all the other stuff.  

Dubai Airport: The airport had a barren look.  Even the Emirates terminal which is usually buzzing with people was running empty! It was a strange feeling to see several cafes, duty free stores and restaurants closed (like it was at Delhi Airport too).  We requested Emirates to check us in to our next flight from Dubai to Hong Kong.  We could not do this at Delhi itself because the two legs of the journey were on separate tickets because of current travel restrictions from India to other places.  

Thankfully, Emirates in Dubai agreed to book us to HK the same evening, and very importantly, agreed to fetch our checked in bags and route them further to HK.  This was critical: had they not agreed to do that, we would have been forced to go through immigration in Dubai to collect our bags then check in to the next flight again. To go through UAE immigration would have required that we do another COVID test at Dubai airport as per their current rules for visitors from India and then go and wait in a hotel till the results were out. That would have forced us to spend a night in Dubai itself. And carry out another COVID Test in the city because the one we had done in Delhi would have gone beyond the 72 hour limit set up by Govt of HK for validity of test results.  Thankfully, none of that came to pass. 

We found ourselves a lounge for the day and stayed there for the next 12 hours!  Of course, we stepped out of the lounge every now and then, but not for long.  How much duty free shopping can one do after all?   :-)

Dubai - Hong Kong: More checking of the COVID Test result before boarding.  More checking of the quarantine hotel booking at boarding (for a minimum of 14 nights on arrival in HK). This journey had two parts. The first part was a 6 hour leg from Dubai to Bangkok.  The flight had about 80 passengers, so about a third of the Boeing 777 ER was filled. The second leg was from Bangkok to Hong Kong, with about 25 passengers. The rest had got off at Bangkok itself. No new passengers came on board at Bangkok. 

Hong Kong Airport: On our arrival at Hong Kong, we were shunted to a designated testing area.  All arriving passengers are tested for Covid. They have to wait at the airport (if the flight arrives in the daytime) till the test results are out.  However, since our flight arrived in the evening, the government arranged a hotel for us to spend the night till the results were out the next day.  At the designated testing area, we gave our deep throat saliva sample.  We were given a wristband that we need to wear at all times for the next 14 days. We had to install an app that connects to the wristband by bluetooth. The govt will call us at random intervals over the next 14 days and we will have to scan the QR code printed on the wristband with the app on the phone.  

This will keep the authorities informed of our whereabouts.  They also gave us a digital thermometer with which we need to check and records our temperature twice a day.  The entire process at the airport took us 4+ hours. Then we were shunted to the govt designated hotel for the night. Check in formalities for this hotel were performed at the airport itself. Room numbers were assigned at the airport itself. Our food allergies / constraints (eg, vegetarian) were noted at the airport itself.  On arrival at the hotel, we were handed one food packet each and sent to our rooms. Once we entered the hotel room, we were not allowed to come out till the govt department of health asked us to. 

Quarantine Hotel: The next day a breakfast food packet was left outside our door, and around 10:30 AM, we got a call from the hotel reception that we needed to check out. Then we took a cab to our designated quarantine hotel. We have booked two rooms here with an interconnecting door.  We did this because both of us will be working from here over the next 14 days and we couldn’t possibly join conference calls at the same time if we were in the same room.  We cannot leave the room at all for the next 14 days. The hotel has swag though - check out their toiletries - all inspired by rock and pop music themes.  

We can order food from restaurants in the city and they leave it outside our door.  They also allow others to leave food for us. The hotel is a mere 200 metres from our home. We intend to ask our helper to cook food and bring it over for lunch and dinner.  On our first day here, a colleague of mine arranged for sambhar, aloo and rice to be dropped over for us.  

Its been an interesting journey.  No complaints though. Things kept progressing, albeit a little slowly at times. And our expectations were in line with the situation on the ground.  So there is no disappointment or frustration.  We are thankful that we could even make the trip to India, spend an entire month there, and then make it back to HK. A lot of people came together to make this happen for us: colleagues, friends, family, random people that I don’t know but who were approached for help on our behalf by our friends… everybody helped.  Everybody wanted to help. Everybody understood the gravity of the situation.  Everybody only wished us well.  We are very thankful.  God has been kind.  It was important for us to be at home in India with Papa, our Masis, VishAanj, our family.  It was important for our sake, and for their sake.  We are fortunate we could spend this time together.   And for that, even if we had to do a 96 hour journey, we would. 

Visit the Vixabs Wanderlust page for other trip descriptions.

Bliss in Bhutan - a Heaven of Happiness

Beautiful Bhutan: where quaint and quirky is quite quotidian


We visited Bhutan in October 2016, which fortuitously was also the best month to visit, particularly due to the weather – post monsoon, pre-winter. It also coincided with the tsechu or mask festival. Furthermore, this year was special for Bhutanese – the first prince born to the (5th) King and Queen in February and 60th birthday of the previous (4th) King.

10 days in Bhutan gives you a good flavor of the country. A large amount of time is taken up in driving across the country to the different districts on pretty basic roads, but the landscape changes quite dramatically across these regions – from hilly Punakha to the sun drenched valleys of Phobjikha, and the city life in Thimphu.

All tourism is via travel agents but this works well. Whether going in a group or individually, tour guides are very helpful to have with you – they will plan your trip, drive you around, explain the sights, and can give you great background about the history/ culture/ beliefs of the Bhutanese people.

The itinerary we followed is as below. Absolute must dos are:

• Thimphu
• Punakha
• Paro (if you have only 3-4 days)

Phobjika valley is beautiful and different but the drive from Thimphu takes 6 hours or more given the bad roads, so should be included only if you have the time. We visited Haa Valley (western part of Bhutan) towards the latter part of our stay, and it was raining all through, so we did feel that Haa is avoidable.

A lot of the sightseeing in Bhutan is done by visiting its many valleys. And as you traverse from one valley to the next, you go over high mountain passes, cross raging glacial rivers, and see beautiful vistas. Of course, there are other ways to experience Bhutan: you could hike, trek, ride a bike, or visit far-flung glaciers or the mountains to the north. We chose the "mainstream experience", visiting the places most often visited and by a very comfortable mode of transport!


Our Itinerary

Day 1: Thimphu

Arrive at Paro Airport; Drive to Thimphu

Visit Kuensel Phodrang to see the gigantic Shakyamuni Buddha statue at a height of 169 feet. Visit the Centenary Farmer’s Market and the National Textile Museum. Stroll along the marketplace and check out cafes.


Day 2: Thimphu > Punakha

Drive to Punakha, driving through Dochula Pass (3140m) with its 108 Chortens (stupas).

In good weather, it is possible to see from the pass the Himalayas that separate Bhutan from Tibet.

After lunch at Lobesa, we had an easy 20-minutes hike to the Divine Madman's Temple (also known as Chhimi Lhakhang).

He had a very unorthodox way of teaching people, often shocking and vulgar in nature which has led to phallic symbols being painted as an auspicious icon all over Bhutan.

Finally, arrival at Punakha, with a visit to the magnificent Punakha Dzong set on an island at the confluence of two rivers.

Punakha was the capital of Bhutan till 1955. All important state and royal events are performed at the Punakha Dzong.


Day 3: Punakha > Phobjikha

Drive to Phobjikha Valley

The road was in very bad shape due to ongoing roadbuilding work taking place across large parts of Bhutan. On the way there, we saw yak, and as the altitude became higher, lichen (old man's beard) could be seen hanging from tall trees.

Visit to the crane centre.

Phobjikha Valley has a Swiss feel to it. Black-necked cranes migrate to Phobjikha Valley every winter as they escape the cold conditions further north.

Visit to the Khewa temple in the middle of the valley where we spent time with the lama.

The Gangtey Goemba is a beautiful private monastery. We stayed in a rest house next to the monastery.


Day 4: Phobjikha > Thimphu

Long drive back to Thimphu, with lunch at Wangdue Phodrang


Day 5: Thimphu

A visit to the Thimphu Dzong to see the Tshechu Festivities (Mask Festival). A visit to the National Takin Reserve. Shopping. Beautifully prepared dinner at the home of our gracious hosts and travel agents.

The Takin in the national animal of Bhutan. Among other things, we also got postage stamps printed with our pictures on them! Video of a mask dance.


Day 6: Thimphu > Haa

Visit the Memorial Chorten in Thimphu. Drive to Haa with beautiful scenery everywhere. In Haa, we went for a ride as far as the civilian road could take us to the west: we finally reached a point where the road led to an Army camp, and we turned around from there.

It was raining all through and so the journey took longer than usual.


Day 7: Haa > Paro

Our plan was to go to Paro via the Chele La Pass. However, due to incessant rain, landslides had blocked that road and so, we came back the same way as we had gone there the previous day.

The Chele La Pass is the highest motorable road in Bhutan. Check out the video at the Chele La Pass below.

A visit to a hot stone bath.

Dinner at a rural home near the Kichu Lhakhang

It was a delightful, simple, homemade meal and we loved it! The Kichu Lhakhang is one of the oldest Buddhist temples in Bhutan. A video of the temple bell there is shown below.


Day 8: Paro

Hike to the Tigers Nest Monastery

This was a superb hike and we enjoyed it! To find a waterfall at the very top was a beautiful surprise (video below)! Should do this towards the end of your visit to Bhutan as it will allow you to acclimatise to the altitude.

A visit to the Paro Dzong and National Museum.

Drive to Chele La Pass.

Since the weather had improved, and we had the time, our guide, Lakey, drove us all the way to Chele La Pass and back. The scene at the Pass was spiritually superb, with prayer flags fluttering.


Day 9: Paro > Hong Kong

Departure

Our return was delayed due to technical snags in the plane. But overall, we had a great trip!


Why was Bhutan a completely different tourist experience for us

One of the few countries where Indian passport holders benefit – no visa required and fewer formalities compared with any other nation. As a tiny Himalayan kingdom bounded on three sides by the Indian border, Bhutan and India have a very strategic relationship, and this manifests itself in practical ways also, in making it very convenient for Indians to visit Bhutan. That said, while there is a minimum day spend for all travelers, the rationale behind it is quite sound: as a small country, Bhutan does not have the capacity to cater to an overflow of tourists, so has to maintain a few entry barriers in order to ensure the quality of the experience is good. Furthermore, it appears that most of the tourist funds go directly to the people in the industry – you can be assured that your dollars are improving the quality of life of the general Bhutanese people.
In Bhutan, we felt that we were able to connect with the people at a level beyond plain tourism: firstly, our travel agent and guides – Jamyang and Sonam at GumarAdventures & Lakey Wangchuk - were very well informed, service oriented and took care of all our needs, making for a very pleasurable experience. Secondly, there are numerous opportunities for homestays and farmstays, which allows you to see how people live their daily lives. Our travel guide invited us to their home, which gave us a further peek into the lives, concerns, thoughts and general culture of the Bhutanese.
Bhutan is a small country but definitely punches way above its size in the international space. It managed to get international attention through some of its wise and forward thinking approaches to governance. Indeed, Bhutan is probably one of the few countries that truly mean what they say about sustainable development and caring for the environment, and not just now, but for many years. It is currently the only country that is carbon negative. Our guide Lakey Wangchuk in fact is deeply passionate about trash management and is doing a lot to educate the youth in Bhutan about this aspect - check out their page on Facebook. Furthermore, the wisdom and generosity of the Buddhist spirit and way of life is truly embodied in the King’s approach to governance: the 4th King set up a democratically elected government in the face of reluctance amongst his people, abdicated the throne in favour of his son (the current King), defined and constantly measures progress on “Gross National Happiness”, investing in improving the lives of the disadvantaged, insisting on development at a sustainable pace, etc. What is truly amazing is the reverence that every single person bar none have for their rulers and their government, of course more than justly deserved. For more information, don’t miss the TED talk given by their Prime Minister.

Simple (but clean) living and high thinking: even the most modest bathrooms in airports, hotels, shops and restaurants are uniformly clean. Décor may be basic but spotless. At the same time, the people all seem spiritually highly advanced, having fully imbibed the Buddhist way of life.

Beauty and charm in the fresh smell of the air, the eloquence of the surrounding Himalayas, the traditional façade of all buildings, the mystical charm of the Buddhist symbols: Bhutan truly represents nature’s bounty well protected and preserved.

Easy to find vegetarian food. We spent a happy afternoon soaking in the sights, sounds and smells of the wholesale markets, and ate a variety of vegetables including bitter gourd, turnips, okra, potatoes among others. They also seem to have a wide variety of locally grown rice, including red and brown and beaten rice varieties. That said, the Bhutanese use quite a lot of cheese and chillies in their cooking, which got to us after a while.

Bhutan is textile nirvana. The textile museum in Thimphu showcases the staggering variety, beauty and colour of the textiles produced. Intricate handwork, bright and vivid colours and geometric patterns characterize some of the most beautiful and high quality work we have seen in the world. The Bhutanese take full advantage of this by having the most unique style in the way they dress – men in Ghos and women in Kiras, making the act of people watching a delight here. We were lucky to be in Bhutan during the time of the Tshechu, where people were dressed in their best as they visited the local dzong to witness the mask dances: the costumes are graceful and stylish. Textiles are something to consider taking back as a memory of your visit here, and can be converted into anything you please: cushion covers, bedsheets, throws, or even garments.


PICTURES

The pictures from our trip can be viewed with this link (Tip: view in Slideshow mode).


VIDEOS

Mask Dance at Thimphu Dzong



Prayer Wheel bell at Kichu Lhakhang



Waterfall at the top of the Tigers Nest Monastery



Prayer flags at Chele La Pass




TIPS

If going via Bangkok, ensure there is enough time between connecting flights – not possible to transit directly, and visa on arrival (if needed) takes time.

Try to time your visit to Bhutan so that it coincides with the festivals that Bhutanese people celebrate.

For currency, try carrying larger, say USD100 notes and those issued after 2000. Smaller notes get converted at a lower rate of BTN56 vs. BTN65 for UD100 (as an indicative example).

Visit the Vixabs Wanderlust page for other trip descriptions.

East African Safari

This is how it all began...

Our safari holiday began when we (Vishanj and Vixabs) flew into Nairobi, and after spending a night there (with dinner at the Carnivore restaurant), flew on further to Tanzania, where we transferred into a 4x4 and with Amini, our Tanzanian driver-guide, arrived at Ngorongoro that evening after a puncture, whose repair was ably assisted and videoed by the Vix-Vin duo.





The ethereal efficiency of the Ngorongoro Crater

The next day, we set out on our first game drive - this was in the Ngorongoro Crater and in no time, we had spotted (at close range) hundreds of zebra, wildebeest, wild buffalo, baboons, and elephants.


Our first "close encounter" was with two elephants, which came directly towards our car. For one breathtaking heartstopping moment, we thought one of them was going to come at us, because it looked directly and deeply into our eyes! But our driver-guide's confidence was rock steady as we waited breathlessly for these elephants to cross the road, which they did unperturbed. As we drove around further (our 4x4 was the type where the roof can be raised and we could all stand inside the jeep and take pictures or observe the game from above the roof), we spotted cheetah and rhino too. Some time later, we witnessed an amazing fight between a pack of hyenas and 3 lionesses. The lionesses were busy eating a prey they had killed overnight when the hyena and vulture arrived and there was little that the lionesses could do to defend their food. They tried, but finally had to beat a retreat and look elsewhere. Later that afternoon, we managed to see 3 cheetahs at really close range (2 metres) while they basked in the sun. This was awesome stuff - animals in their natural surrounds, and at such close range.


Amini was a useful fount of knowledge, answering all our questions - stupid or otherwise - with patience. But equally awesome was Ngorongoro Crater itself. It was created as a result of a volcanic eruption 1.5 million years ago. So what, you may ask. So this: The entire crater is still intact with its caldera... that is to say that surrounding the entire crater floor is a 600 foot high wall of earth that forms the crater rim.. All the lodges are on the rim and look down into the crater floor. All the game is in the crater floor. It takes as much as half an hour to simply drive down from the rim to the floor. As a result of this, a majority of the animals that live in the crater never ever get out of it - the few that do (such as elephants who can scale the 600 ft wall) return back to the crater once their work outside is done. In other words, the crater is a self-supporting hotbed of life. And if this wasn't awesome enough, listen to this... the crater diameter is 18 km! We drove over 120 km in the 8 hours we were in the crater that day.
The Majesty of the Serengeti

The next day, we set out for Serengeti and got there 3 hours (and one more puncture) later - it was a dusty road and we passed through breathtaking barrenness (if there is such a term). We also crossed the Olduvai Gorge along the way - at this site, fossilised footprints of our ancestors have been found - they date back to a few million years ago.

The first thing that hit us about Serengeti is its vast plain. And I do mean VAST. Flat undulating land as far as the eye can see in any direction you choose. And grazing on these plains were thousands of antelope and gazelle of all kinds. But Serengeti is itself a huge place - 14,000 sq km, and not all of it is a plain. Our lodge was in the northern part of the Serengeti Park and it was evening by the time we got there. Along the way, we saw at close range lions, giraffe, zebra, wildebeest, and even a leopard sleeping on a tree. We were very kicked that evening: we were told that we were extremely luck to see the so called "Big Five" in the first two days of our tour!

We stayed at the Migration Camp, which had been recently renovated and all the accommodation was in independent rooms each of which was a tent. Our hosts were Anita and Peter, a South African couple with years of lodging experience and their hospitality surpassed any other place we stayed at during the safari. The Camp was close to a river, and every night, a hippo they had fondly named "Horatio" would come up from the river and sleep right next to our tent and make these bizarre noises like clearing throat! Safari Lodges in East Africa are located far from each other - and the stay package always includes meals. The lodges are always ready to provide picnic lunches to visitors so that they can spend the entire day on a game drive without having to return to the lodge for meals. Most lodges are so remote that they don't have any TV or telephone. Most communication is through Satellite Phone or Mobile Radio. We did not have newspapers as well, so it truly was Utopian. What we really loved was the way everyone totally understood us when we said some of us are vegetarian, without us having to burst into a litany of "No meat, no seafood, no sheep, no geese, etc.". Perhaps that's because of the significant population of Indians (mainly Gujaratis) there who have popularised the concept of veggie food so much, that most lodges offer a complete alternative Indian veggie set meal every day!


There is a reason the Lion is the King of the Animal Kingdom (and Simba is the appointed heir)


The following day, we set out on a full day's game drive in Serengeti - and focussed on a pride of lions that we spotted around mid morning after a disappointing start to the day. First we noticed only 2 lionesses and 2 cubs sitting under a tree. Over the next 4 hours that we spent observing them (from about 20 metres away), more of them joined... and we even spotted the lion - a big lazy guy - who was sleeping under another tree nearby. The pride was difficult to spot because of the tall grass that was growing and camouflaged them very well. Eventually there were 12 animals in that pride! Absolutely amazing and the cubs were playing with their moms and aunts all the while - cuddling, hugging, kissing etc - reminded us of Simba in the Lion King (incidentally, Simba is Swahili for lion). We went really close (like 2 metres) to this pride and it was SOOOOO good. Unfortunately for us, however, they were not hungry, and it was unlikely that they would kill that day. So we said bye-bye to them and went further.




So long, Tanzania... we hope to see you again

The next day, we bade farewell to Amini, and flew from the airstrip in Serengeti to Arusha. From there, we drove to Namanga - on the border between Tanzania and Kenya, and crossed over to Kenya by road. Another vehicle was waiting for us over there with Ismail, our guide and driver for the Kenyan part of our holiday. It was late in the evening by the time we reached our destination - the Ol Tukai Lodge in the Amboseli National Park. Along the way, we saw a big cheetah that had just killed a big antelope (however, when we stopped to observe him, he went away: we were told they are pretty private and don’t like to be seen by humans). We also saw a lot of weaver bird nests hanging from trees. And we saw a glorious rainbow - so big and so bright that there was even a secondary rainbow to be seen. In the course of this ride, we realised that a 4X4 is the best vehicle for a safari. Most vehicles we saw had been modified - better shock absorbers, sun roof etc, - and they carried with them 2 spare tyres, a spade, a heavy duty jack, and the all important mobile radio which drivers use to communicate with each other and exchange notes of animal sightings.



Amboseli... show us your charms

Amboseli is at the foot of Mt Kilimanjaro, the highest peak in Africa. Its summit remains snowclad throughout the year, even though it is located only 200 km south of the equator. The constant melting of the snow causes a lot of swamps in Amboseli, and results in a somewhat different vegetation from what we had seen thus far. While the game we saw in the drives around Ol Tukai the following day were similar, there were more hippo, buffalo and birds to be seen. And while we saw lots of game this day too, a "kill" eluded us, and the team was getting really desperate to view one.



And on to Masai Mara we go...

Early the next day, we flew to Nairobi (in another tiny plane) and joined hands with Ismail to drive on further to the Masai Mara national park. We got there towards the evening, after an en route game drive that was rather disappointing because even though we saw a million zebra, wildebeest, giraffe and antelope, we didn't see any cats let alone cats on the prowl or kill (how bloodthirsty were we getting? Actually not, we just wanted to observe the "circle of life").


Masai Mara is part of the same geographical landscape as the Serengeti, but much smaller. There is no fence that demarcates the border between Kenya and Tanzania in the Serengeti and the Mara. Animals cross over at will, and twice a year, do the breathtaking migration when billions of zebra and wildebeest cross the river to the other side in search of water. However, human beings are not allowed to cross over the same way - they need to go through a regulated border crossing. So from the Serengeti, we had to travel all the way back east in Tanzania, cross the border at Namanga into Kenya, and then drive back all the way west to the Mara (after Amboseli)! if only humans were as efficient as animals!!!

The Hunt for a HUNT!

On the last day of our safari, we set out from our lodge with the intent of going far away to a location where we'd been told we could see big game. When we were less than half way there, however, we spotted three cheetahs in the middle of a huge field. They looked the hungry type and after observing animals for the past 5 days and considering ourselves as experts in animal behaviour by now, we decided to wait and observe them. The wait lasted over 5 hours but was not in vain.


Through this wait, we ate lunch, took a loo break, even went over to the side to observe a pride of 5 lions, and took another diversion to see a mating lion pair do their adult thing. But we were never too far from the cheetahs, and always kept them in our sight through our binoculars, zoom lenses and video cameras. As luck would have it, the cheetahs killed a small antelope exactly when we took a desperate loo break (we had to go to a nearby lodge for that) and they were busy eating the hapless animal by the time we returned. But it was a really small prey, so we figured that these bandits may be hungry for more. So we continued to stalk them. The cheetahs planned their next move (they bring their heads together on the ground - somewhat like a huddle in football to do that) and decided to do the bold thing - attack a herd of giraffe that was grazing nearby. Now this is rare - cheetahs are relatively small in size and don't usually go after giraffe. But this herd had a baby giraffe too, and the cheetahs must have been hungry, so they advanced slowly towards the giraffes (crossing the dirt road right in front of our jeep). As they neared the giraffe (who had seen the cheetahs and were making defensive moves) however, a pair of hyena came limping along. And cheetahs are scared of hyena. So, our trio of rogues retraced their steps and came and sat in the middle of the field once again, wondering what to do next. At one time, we thought they had begun chasing an animal, and Ismail suddenly announced "I'm going after them... hold on to the jeep!" It turned out to be a false alarm - all it resulted in was a lost hat... Anjani's headgear flew away due to the sudden acceleration.

But eventually, and within half an hour of the false alarm, the cheetahs did kill - and this time, we (and one other vehicle) were there to see them do that. And no sooner did they kill that they ate. And we were there to see them do that too (barely 3 metres away). And no sooner did they eat that they wanted to relax. And we saw them do that too... because they sauntered up to the other vehicle and went to sleep in its shade! Clearly, they don’t let paltry things like humans come between them, their food and their relaxation!

We felt drained - it had been a long wait in the sun, and it was the last game drive of our safari. But we felt fulfilled... and satisfied. What was most interesting about the latter part of the safari was not in seeing animals per se, but observing the interaction between various classes of animals. Like the kind of tension that was created in the entire area when the cheetahs were on the prowl. Funnily, the other animals don’t run away and keep running. They keep themselves at a safe distance, but close enough to see their predator. Perhaps they feel more comfortable in knowing about the enemy rather than having the enemy spring up from nowhere to pounce on them. It is a difficult thing to see, but is the law of nature: it looks like all the animals accept it and abide by it.

The following day, we drove back to Nairobi via Lake Naivasha and caught our flight for Dubai later that night.

Sadly, all good things have to come to an end. And so did our holiday. But we had an absolutely lovely two weeks that we will remember for a long long time.

Our pictures are organized in 4 albums… one each for Carnivores, Herbivores, Birds & Trees, and pictures from the road. Enjoy!http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8EYsmzluybNCW




Check out more travelogs on our Wanderlust Page.


Vixabs Vacations Unlimited

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June 2014

Burma Blog - Rangoon Rant or Yangon Yodel?

Burma bound
With mind sound
Travelling around
With $ and £

We were really keen to visit Myanmar (Burma) for a long while, generally because the entire Indo China region is very beautiful (Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia etc) – also, its extremely interesting to see how Indian influences have been transformed by the cultures in these places. Now that the new government in Burma has relaxed its controls and opened up the country, tourists are flocking. We took advantage of Easter Holidays in April 2013 to visit. At least 3-4 people we know travelled here in previous months, so we were fortunate in getting their trip highlights to follow. 

Yangon

Our first impressions were rather charming. The airport looked to be quite decent even though basic and small. We arrived late in the night, deceived by the sparse traffic on the roads, only to find the next day that daytime traffic can be painfully choking. 

Our hotel, the Savoy, was close to the key attraction Shwedagon Pagoda, and is done up beautifully with indigenous handicrafts and paintings and antiques. One really sweet thing is that they dress up all the statues with jasmine flowers hanging from their ears or neck or wherever space allows! The atmosphere is very laid back and colonial. They have some antique pieces like an electric fan that I really loved. 

There are other things about Burma that make it interesting for us Indians. Buddhist influence is very strong: we were told over 85% of people here are Buddhists. We have a shared history of the same colonizer, i.e. the British. And it appears we won independence around the same time, Burma in 1948 vs. us in 1947. The similarities don’t end there. Our last Mughal emperor, Bahadur Shah Zafar, was extradited to Burma by the British where he spent his last days. We saw his mausoleum – a rather nondescript building. Cant help but feel sad about what the Mughal Empire represented and what an insignificant end it came to. Similarly, Burma’s last King Thibaw was extradited to Ratnagiri in India by the British where he died, again, rather insignificantly. 

The key difference is our countries’ different paths after independence. Even though we lurched our way through the last 50+ years of independence, I think we have to seriously congratulate ourselves that we have managed to maintain the rule of law and a really vibrant democracy. It may not have given us as quick progress as China, but at the same time, we have done much better for ourselves than Burma, which started off at around the same place (lots of valuable raw material like jade, rubies, silks, etc. but also heroin and other drugs). 

I get the impression though that the Buddhists here are not as peaceful or mild mannered as our stereotypes would suggest. Lately there has been some violence against the Muslims near Mandalay. It’s the usual story: the indigenous population unhappy with the immigrants who probably work harder and smarter and therefore take away opportunities. It was also interesting that the guides don’t take us to all the places we ask them to. Is this the government’s way of ensuring that tourists only stay in the places they expect them to? The guides also seem reluctant to talk about the king’s descendants who are still living in Myanmar. But they were very happy to talk about Aung San Suu Kyi, who they refer to as “Our Lady” – never take her name. We drove by her residence. We saw her home from the backside too: there is a lake right behind: do you remember the incident wherein an American surreptitiously swam across this lake to visit her (unbeknowest to her) – and her house arrest was extended by another year as a result?

Yangon has many an interesting sight
Pagodas display The Buddha's might
Shwedagon needs time not too tight 
Cos it's a sight to behold in evening and daylight

We saw a number of pagodas and stupas which were rather sadly re-made into very modern styles. The best of all was the Shwedagon Pagoda. The inner complex was beautiful and ethereal: lots of Buddhas with different seating/standing positions and with different mudras. Because we had done the docent course in the Asia Society, we were able to appreciate the finer points of the Buddhist representation, including the Mahayana/Theravada differences, the various hand positions, the typical features of architecture in this region, the disciples names etc. The Burmese names for these are not quite the ones we know in India but very similar: interesting! Not sure if any of you have read stories with Burma in the background: I read Amitav Ghosh's The Glass Palace - these books always have the Shwedagon in the background. So over a period of time I have developed this image of Shwedagon, and I am happy to say the reality was that and even better: It feels like this Pagoda is the presiding monument benevolently protecting Yangon: you keep looking out for its silhouette at various vantage points in the city, and feel like you get this feeling of security when you can see it. Even more peculiar was what happened to me when we were inside the Shwedagon complex: our guide was really keen to explain everything but I was in no mood to listen at all. I just kept shutting down into myself and wanted to be really quiet to allow the atmosphere and experience to gently wash over me. Or maybe I had had too much of the sun and was really tired. :-) 

The food here is also very good: lots of vegetarian options. They eat a lot of rice here, not much wheat. We had a tasty thali like meal at a local joint. They give you lots of little plates of salads and cooked veggies, so we can try out many options. Severe overeating is eminently possible!!! 

Unusually for me, I  managed to read a wonderful travelogue called “The Trouser People” by Andrew Marshall as I travelled through Burma. The book gives a very good sense of the culture here. And the choice of words and descriptions are very poetic and evocative: a real treasure. Funny too!

Another thing that's everywhere is "Burma teak" furniture. Remember how, while growing up in India, people used to refer to Burma teak in hushed tones as the Real McCoy? Out here it's so casually used in furniture. Solid pieces: beautiful!  If I could, I would've carted back some pieces for sure.

Another similarity with India (in not such a great way) is betel leaf chewing. People keep eating this and spewing out gobs of red stained spit - marking a number of pavements and walls. Chee!

A third interesting thing that's everywhere is that girls put turmeric/sandalwood like paste (thanaka) on their cheeks and walk around. Apparently keeps them cool. I saw some having gone really overboard and covered their whole face with it: they look like strange and non fearful ghouls: skinny bodies, grinning faces with this weird mask.

  I also like the way everyone here wears the national dress rather than pants. Both men and women wear longyis which looks exactly like our lungis. But thankfully I don't see them making it "half mast"...

Yangon is very charming
When the sun is rising
Yangonese are very polite 
In the day and in the night

You can see our pictures from Yangon in our album here. 

Reporting from Inle Lake

After a short flight, we're at Inle Lake without a doubt 
Haven't quite begun checking the place out
At the resort we've only just checked-in
And saw this huge umbrella (with a tiny one snuck-in)
 

On March 31 we set off very leisurely from Yangon bound for Inle Lake. We sat in this really small plane with just around 20 seats. Very efficient local bus like operations by Air Mandalay. Flight was a hopping one, so spent just 20 mins to board a few of us at Yangon and then we were off. Within an hour we were at Heho, which is the airport closest to Inle Lake where we were headed. The airport is really cute and small, almost like a shed. Reminded us of another airport we saw at Kerry in Ireland many years ago. Most of the local travellers didn’t even have a carry bag on board. Just a newspaper or some other small effect – so they literally walked out of the plane and walked away “into the sunset” while we had to wait for all of…two minutes for our bags. Even our pee took longer than this!!! We bundled ourselves into the car and we were off.

A quick note about the cars here: all seem to be Japanese made. We saw Toyota models that we haven’t seen anywhere else in the world. I was very impressed that the cars on the roads all look quite clean and non-dented despite the amount of dust here. Also the ac in the cars work very well and all of them had bottled water to welcome us. The drivers are really quaint. They wear pristine white full sleeved shirts on top and a longyi bottom. I read in my book that Burma used to be left hand side of the road like India (British influence I suppose) so all the Japanese cars they import have right hand drive. Suddenly one of the generals was told that it was astrologically bad for his government for left hand drive and so overnight they changed to driving right side of the road. Don’t know when this happened, but we noticed that drivers are not too adept with turning and overtaking with a right hand drive car and driving on right side of the road – all confusing. (if you remember, in India we drive on left hand side of road, and driver sits on right)

After a 45 minute drive on a one track road we were at our resort on Inle Lake, appropriately called…Inle Lake Resort. This is a typical resort in Asia: has a nice spa, nicely appointed rooms with balcony overlooking the lake, four poster bed with mosquito net in colonial style, and people dress up for dinner etc. we lounged around and relaxed and went to bed early since we had an early day next day. 

Next day was April 1^st. We got up bright eyed bushy tailed at 5am to take a boat down the Inle at 7am. So early in order to visit the local market before the other tourists got there. There are a number of villages around the Inle Lake composed of many houses and buildings built on stilts in the water. Feels like an Asian Venice! We take the boat right upto the house or building and then climb up some makeshift stairs into the building. 

There is a five day local market that keeps moving from one village to another around the lake. The day we decided to tour the lake, the market was at the southern most tip village, so we got a good excuse to have a long ride of about an hour on the river, with a gentle breeze blowing through our hair and the fishermen still out for their daily catch before the sun became too hot. The fishing is a little strange: the fishermen stand on their little boats, one foot on an oar which they use to paddle or turn the boat this way and that, while their hands are occupied with their fishing nets. They look a little like those freak tall men on stilts that we used to see at our school circus. What was really considerate was that our boatman used to slow down and reduce the engine noise everytime we passed these fishermen: so respectful of one another’s professions. Quite impressive. 

The market was what you may expect: started off being a market for local produce and the locals, but over time, it appears that it became more lucrative to sell touristy stuff like jewellery and trinkets rather than agricultural produce. Nonetheless, it was interesting to see the kind of things being sold – not much by way of meat. There was a whole paan stand. Lots of papads – but these were thali (big) size. They were also selling Indian shampoo. Jaggery, tamarind, other spices most of which we are familiar with. We took photos of the sellers: many of them wearing fully black costumes but an extremely colourful headgear on which they carry wicker baskets of produce. Lots of cute children, some of them manning stalls too. We had carried some nuts and some pens, so we distributed them here and there. 

Then we boated (drove? Floated? Steered?) to our next destination on the lake: just like in Laos, there is a lot of cottage industry that thrives in the area. Textiles, silver, paper etc. is made in small home run factories around the lake. We visited a textile factory: can you believe it – they make textiles out of lotus stems! We saw the process: laborious indeed. You need kgs of stems to make one small thread. Better them than I is what I said…We also visited a silver factory. Burma traditionally had silver mines but I think they have all been used up over the years, nonetheless there is still a bit of silver smithy going on here and there. Quite skilled workmanship. Piece de resistance is a male and female fish which they manage to construct so that they move like they are swimming, with their fins moving vertically and horizontally respectively. 

An entire ecosystem is Inle Lake 
It's rural beauty simply takes the cake
Here, fabric and silver villagers make
From weekly markets, produce they take

We had lunch at Inthar Heritage House, to which is attached a Jumping Cats Sanctuary. Burmese cats are dark black or brown, but they weren’t jumping at all. All were sleeping or curled up here and there in complete torpor trying to brave the heat. But the lunch was great. Salads and starters made out of unusual veggies like spring onions and green tea leaves! The restaurant also had interesting paintings and artefacts. The owners were probably people of curious interests: there were lots of books about cats and herbs in the shelves. 

By this time, the sun and the food had got to us, and we slept most of the way back to the hotel. We relaxed at the bar, went to a nearby hillock to watch a rather lovely sunset, and then I came back to the spa for a foot reflexology treatment followed by dinner at our hotel and another restful night. 

Inle Lake Day 2

Was a day of extremes. We began the day in a very relaxed way with a full body oil massage in the hotel spa. We then decided to be adventurous and took a boat to the north part of the island as planned. We hired bicycles and began riding on the dirt track. Initially it was great fun. We were headed to a winery for lunch and wine tasting but on the way saw a notice saying “Farmer’s ShanVegetarian Food” pointing to another dirt track leading into another village. Intrigued, we cycled for 10 minutes and came upon this shack. It was literally a hut with a big deep freeze. We were the only guests. We decided to be brave and have our lunch there. The menu consisted of just one option for lunch, and two options (beer and water) for drinks. There was only one lady and a child. She began pounding spices after we came and our hearts sank: how long was this going to take? Amazingly, she put together a wonderful meal in 20 minutes. Soup with veggie like gourd/winter melon floating, tomato salad, fried mixed vegetable, tofu curry and rice. We were so glad we stepped off the beaten track to enjoy this. Her kid was also very cute with the customary “thanaka” (that sandal like paste) on her cheek: we distributed some nuts and played a bit of hide and seek with her. I remember also making the comment that little girls engage with people around a little more than little boys, who are normally bent on taking apart (ie destroying) whatever they can get their hands on…

We then went onwards to the winery and tasted their “Red Mountain” wine. Red wine I think is difficult to make, but their white and rose wine seemed ok. We had a rather average banana pancake dessert and were quickly on our way. We were looking for a resort that was highly recommended by Fodors and my friends who had already been to Burma. This was the Inle Princess resort, which we had tried to get a booking for but failed. We thought we would go there for tea. So we cycled. And cycled. And cycled. There was no resort for miles and miles, but in the process we got quite an overdose of heat, dust and grime. The so called road was a marked contrast to what we had been used to seeing in Yangon. One track, muddy in most parts rather than well concreted, so even though traffic was not huge, the few buses or tempos or bikes that were plying on the road were churning up the dust quite significantly.

The Red Mountain Winery is Inle's hidden gem
It's wines and grapes will please Sahib & Mem 
It's only a short cycle ride away from town
The views it offers are the jewel in the crown

After a fruitless quest of 2 hours we returned tail between legs, to the town we borrowed the bicycles from. Luckily the hotel (Viewtop) where we had taken the bicycles from, had good bathrooms, so we spent about half hour cleaning ourselves, rehydrated ourselves with lots of lemon water, and then had dinner in the restaurant upstairs. We were so tired by then that we could hardly do justice to the food, even though the dishes were quite interesting: a novelle take on “Shan” (a tribe here) cuisine. We took a taxi back and literally crawled into bed and that’s all I have to say about that. 

Our pictures from Inle Lake are in this album. 

Reporting from Bagan

From Inle to Bagan we have made our way 
From lakeside to a place where Pagodas hold sway
Tomorrow, I think, will be a busy day
Looking at heritage up close - bricks, mortar & clay

The next day we sat in another small plane and very efficiently transferred ourselves from Heho Airport (Inle Lake) to Nyaung U (Bagan). We flew via Mandalay. The flight barely took off before it had to land again – only 25 minutes to each destination. We had decided to skip Mandalay because we heard it wasn’t as great as the other destinations, and later, we heard there were some tensions there between the Buddhists and Muslims, so in hindsight, this was probably a good decision. Though for those of us who have read Amitav Ghosh’s “The Glass Palace” Mandalay will always have a romantic association as the truly exotic Orient. It’s probably a boring Asian industrializing city now, so better instead stick with our dreams. Though having said that, I haven’t been too unhappy with Yangon: unlike capital cities of Vietnam and Cambodia, it still has quite a bit of charm and lack of “development” – possibly because Burma was rather closed to the outside world until pretty recently. Also, thankfully the government was not communist, so they seem to have allowed traditions and cottage industry to surivive. In fact they have built many Buddha statues and temples too: admittedly some of them are a bit too “modern” for our liking, but at least its not some monolithic squat ugly square construction spoiling otherwise magnificent views. 

Enough of my tirade. Our first impressions of Bagan – took our breath away. Any visitor to Burma MUST visit Bagan. Its like the earth just decided to sprout monuments every few seconds. Felt a bit like Siem Reap in Cambodia. Lots of brick like pagodas (or stupas) and temples all around. Our resort was only 20 minutes away from the airport. We freshened up and had dinner in the hotel itself. Another marvelous meal: we had a thali/bento box type arrangement with different vegetables/salads/curries and rice, walked around for a wee bit before making it another early night. 

The following day, we arranged a guide and car through the travel desk of our hotel. We started off early at 8am to avoid most of the sun. Great arrangement: sight seeing until 11am, then visiting a lacquer factory, then siesta for four hours after lunch and more sight seeing until sunset. This day was a special day in the village around our hotel: there were some tiny tiny kids (6 to 10 yrs) being “initiated” – not sure if its like the Brahmopadesham equivalent that we are familiar with. Anyway, it’s for boys and girls who are each bedecked and made up and made to sit on a horse and taken in procession with loud live music accompaniment. They parade around the village and then go to the monastery for their initiation rites. The guide told us they are given the choice to be a monk/nun or return to normal life. The blaring music was through big speakers on a hand drawn cart with a picture of the Buddha on it: reminded me a lot of the god processions through the streets we used to witness in Madras when we went there on holidays.

In Bagan, the day has unfolded with a tranquil dawn
On the banks of the Irrawaddy this lovely morn
Pagodas silently tell the tale of times gone
But like all things in life, Time moves on

Then we started our sightseeing in right earnest. We began with a stupa to see panoramic views, and then visited a number of temples.  There are over 3000 monuments to see, but our guide had chosen the following:

Bulethi Stupa - for its panoramic views

Shwezigone Stupa – served as a prototype for most other pagodas including Shwedagon in Yangon

Gubyaukgyi Temple – has pictures from Jataka Tales! Modeled after Bodh Gaya I read

Htilominlo Temple

Ananda Temple – most holy, to me, most beautiful, seemed to have the most Indian influence. In fact, the Indian government has donated USD3m for its restoration. But Ananda does not mean what you think it does: apparently it is derived from the Sanskrit word “anantapinya” which means “endless wisdom”. Also Buddha’s first cousin and secretary apparently

Dhammanyangyi Temple

Shwesandaw Stupa for sunset views

We had our fill of Buddha statues. Buddha sitting, Buddha standing, Buddha reclining, and with different mudras (bhumisparsha, vitarka, abhaya etc. – ask us if you are interested). Indeed, we actually started educating the guide about Buddha representation! One interesting aspect we learned was of comparison between Indian and Burma version of the Buddha. Skip this table if this sounds like Greek and Latin to you, but very useful in case you do visit Burma.

	Indian Style	Burma Style
1	Ears don’t touch shoulder	Ears touch shoulder
2	Fingers are not all same length but more representative of reality	Fingers are all same length and many times joined up
3	More chubby overall	More slim overall
4	Hair and head bump (ushnisha) is like jackfruit	Hair is more slicked back
5	Eyes look downcast	Eyes look ahead
6	Can see knees	Cannot see knees
7	Use thin robes	More heavy robes; Mandalay style even more decorative than Bagan style

We also visited a lacquerware factory to see how it was done: lacquerware is everywhere in Burma: large cottage industry, and some really beautiful artistry done very painstakingly. Not surprisingly, most of the artists are girls: needs patience and ability to work with minute designs – perhaps guys don’t have that kind of patience?

We went to another wonderful vegetarian restaurant called “Moon Restaurant” for lunch. This seems to be an institution. Once again we had very exotic food including tamarind leaf curry with peanuts, papads with guacamole, papaya salad, green tomato salad etc. likely we will return there for another meal. There are two other veggie restaurants that have set up in competition around this one, can you imagine! Repeated dinner at our hotel out of laziness. Hopefully we will have more initiative tonight. 

Burmese food is a culinary delight
Tea Leaf Salad is just so right
Green Tomato salad & Tamarind curry
We ain't forgetting that taste in a hurry
Eggplant Salad with peanuts is yum 
Green tea with sesame makes us go mmm
The accompanying coolers are slurp slurp 
All in all, it's really tasty! Burp Burp!

A word here on water and rest rooms. Very thoughtfully there are earthenware pots like matkas placed everywhere along the road even in remote villages for the general public to slake their thirst: haven’t seen this anywhere else. Very socially aware populace it appears. On washrooms: we keep visiting them with some dread, but although some are rather basic, they have been maintained quite spotlessly clean. Oftentimes I feel a nation’s culture is exhibited by the state of their toilets…

Our picture album from Bagan can be viewed here.

On Mount Popa 

To Mount Popa we went and climbed steps aplenty
Prayed to deities for a world less argumenti
You may wonder: What?!? Why so senti??
Maybe it's the Myanmar effect, please dont be offendi 
 

My personal view of this is it was an anticlimax. Particularly compared to the beauty and the history of the rest of Bagan. We started off quite early to this mountain which was supposed to be formed out of a volcano. Its around 40km from Bagan, so we took 1.5 hours. The climb up to the top involves 777 steps which sounds substantial but isn’t. The only problem was that we had to remove our sandals and walk since its considered holy. But because they allow a lot of monkeys to run amok, there is a lot of junk in the form of peanut shells, monkey poo etc to look out for. In fact, that is one of the issues in Burma: all the temple and pagoda watching comes with dirty black feet, so wet wipes are a huge help. Just plan for a relaxing pedicure after your trip!

It seemed to be a cloudy day, so while the views from the top looked promising, truth be told we didn’t see too clearly or visibly. Nonetheless, we had the time and were glad of the exercise. Makes us feel less sinful when we hog all this lovely food. From there we went to a Mount Popa Resort for lunch which was really average compared to all the yummy food we have been accustomed to here. It was good to sit out al fresco though. We are trying hard to do as much outdoor dining as we can given the lack of it in Hong Kong.

Came back for our customary siesta. At 5:30pm we set out again for a boat cruise down the famous Irrawaddy River to view the sunset. It is all that the books promise and more. Not too many tourists, so apart from a few luxury liners parked along the shore, ours was one of maybe 10 boats in the river. The boatman took us to a point in the middle of the river, switched off the engine, and then we had 20 minutes of silence in the middle of the Irrawaddy, the setting sun on one side,  the silhouttes of the pagodas and payas on the other, and the gentle swish swish of the water lapping against the boat, with a few birds flying in formation back to their nests. Was a very meditative moment for me. Very restful indeed. 

We came back onshore once the sun had set and set off to another restaurant we had heard about called Star Beam café where we had amazing French baguettes and mint lemonade apart from the traditional Myanmar food like eggplant salad and tea leaf salad. Walked back to the hotel past the ghostly temple structures: lovely evening walk.

Next day was agenda less. We wanted to get as much of our fill of the pagodas here, so went out for a walk again this morning to see early morning scenes of Bagan: the people walking to work with tiffin boxes (indian style) in the hands or on their heads, devotees going to the temple for early morning prayers, sellers of thanaka, flowers and other small items for the temple, and horse cart drivers looking for passengers: as always its really interesting to see a city come to life.

We flew out to Yangon and Hong Kong over the next 24 hours. It was a wonderful trip and I highly recommend Burma as a place to visit before the tourist hordes become too much. Perhaps we could have squeezed it in 6 days but spending 2.5 days at each place made it truly relaxing. Burma reinforces our love of the Indochine region including Cambodia, Vietnam and Laos: glimpses of things we find familiar, and yet different. A perfect holiday. 

And here's a glimpse of our Faces of Myanmar

Visit the Vixabs Wanderlust page for other trip descriptions.