Pictures and videos were taken with my Samsung Pocket, the only devise I carried for documenting images.
Eastern stories have coloured my everyday life since very early.
I was always so exited and very curious about Simbad adventures in deserted islands of the Indian Ocean. Aladdin, the Magic Lamp, the flying Carpet. (Man I'm waiting for Elon Musk to make a MAgic Flying Carpet! He didn't already?)
Books, Cinema and TV brought us these stories, and I wanted to be not only an audience. I wanted to be part of it.
So I gave away my old life and flyed East.
On April 2016 I was cycling into the mysteries of India crossing the border from Myanmar. This territory you probably have never payed attention to. I never did, until I zoomed in the map to discover where we should cross. Moreh, in Manipur state, was the point. This land which is surrounded by Bangladesh, Myanmar, China and Butan.
And it didn't seem India to me. Nobody used turbants. I didn't see Camels or Elefants. (Nor flying carpets!) No snakes dancing to a flute. So as faster as we could we headed east, stopped on Shillong to cross the thin passage between Bangla and Butan next, and get to Darjeeling.
No turbants in Darjeeling
This City as all mountain modern civilization, had crowded streets, and little space for cars and bigger vehicles. Lots of electric light poles and kilometres of wires hanging from everywhere, smoke and noise. This was not the India I was willing to see, but I started to realize India was a whole universe, and every corner had its own ways.
There is not may photos, mainly because I was in bed for the six days we stayed there. I got intoxicated with the water, because I had decided to drink and eat whatever the Indians did. After that, I recovered and never got sick again in my five months through India. And we left looking for turbants. We headed to Varanasi. Benares. The "oldest city on Earth" in Uttar Pradesh state.
But before we stopped to see mount Everest in the distance:
So I cycled down the mountain to jump in a train heading Varanasi, and the Ganga River.
As I stepped a foot on this mystical place, I felt a powerful energy. I cannot describe. The feeling that a lot has happened here, and the feeling of deep respect for this ancient sacred city. Colorful turbants appeard everywhere, and I felt for the first time in India. The India I expected.
By the Ganga river you can find docens of temples called "Ghats". In one of these we walked down the stairs to the river -where people have their bath, or do laundry, and we put our feet in the water. It was not so dirty as we had imagined. And it was dry season so I imagine with the monsoon it cleans up very fast too, sailing all the rubish down to Bangla.
Yes we could see and smell the dead bodies being burned and floating away. It was a strong picture, but I felt it natural. A nice goodbye for a loved one, plus all the meaning Hindus give to death, remembering us that death its right there, and its not to be feared, but taken as the natural cycle of life.
In Varanasi, you can also feel the amazing sensibility of Indian artists everywhere, devoted to their gods. Here a little Ganesha door:
You can also find cows everywhere, roaming freely in the city. And eating from the trash too! A lot of trash, which I started to assimilate as "natural" in India. It is just part of the landscape and that's the way it is.
Days ran fast and we decided to continue the trip.
Next stop: AGRA and the TAJ MAHAL
In the outskirts of the city (or should I call it a town?) y met for the first time.. CAMELS!!!! Now it felt like Aladdin would appear any time, and next day I would visit Indias' icon: The Taj Mahal.
In this time, two towers where being repared. I must say, at first I didn't plan to go visit this famous mausoleum, because we see it all the time in thousands of pictures all around, I though I already knew this, and also, its the only thing to do in Agra, there is not much more to see. Other than the hundreds of stories in every family, in every person. But in this trip, I was escaping from people. I was looking for myself.
I'm glad I changed my mind!!! Being there is a must-do, its totally absolutely worth it. Its celestial. Its marvelous. Astonishing. Its just perfect arquitecture. A piece of Art from every perspective.
Only one thing. The inside was full of people, mostly chinese tourists with guides that shouted over the other to be heard, this made a horrible reverberating noise, from my point of view UNACCEPTABLE. More if you realise this is a Mausoleum, and the Mongol emperor Sha Jahan and his wife's bodies rest there!!!!
So I decided to stay outside and meditate on this, while I observed the magnificent creation from every perspective posible. I just felt in ecstacy.
After the visit, nothing else to do in Agra for me, so, next stop:
Rajasthan
In Jaipur I met elephants. What an amazing creature. And the paintings are very cool. But still, to see them out of they habitat hurts. They are not happy. THats what I felt.
From Jaipur I intended to cycle to PAli. My city!!! I was about to finnally find myself! But I had a bad experience on the way and got affraid. Took a bus straight to Jaisalmer.
View from my room.
THe Golden Fort!
I was renting inside the Fort a room, for 40 rupees the night, about HALF a dolar. It was low season, and getting hotter. A couple of stories. Like the one I worked as an extra in a film, playing Ukulele in a dialoge with the Quartet:
The guys were having fun, they just put away smiles for the photo.
When I recovered from my scary moment on the route to PAli, ready to cycle again I packed everything and let ourselves (me, the bike, the ukulele) spin down the streets of Jaisalmer out to the desert.
First morning I waked up with this hunchbacked friend eating my toes!! What a moment! I felt in those desert days the escence of life, the core of it all around this existance is the present.
Presence.
I cycled till the sand desert, stopped to have my daily fresh dahi paneer and peanuts. Dahi: yogurt was so important while cycling in the desert under 40 degrees heat. At this point I was thinking if it was not necesary to change Bike for Camel. But I couldn't afford having a camel. sO, continued in my rolling little home.
The farthest I could get to, was this hut at the End of Indias Desert. Away from the muslim village called Chatrel. On the other side of the dunes was Pakistan.
The gypsy women from the Rajasthani desert, are the strongest women that I met till now. I wanted to help them emptying sand buckets and couldn't lift that weight. I just had to watch them. The women on the photo smile. But the sand bucket one did not.
This painting is on some wall around the city Bikaner. I started to go north, as many people recomended me, as the heat goes up, I should go up too, to the Himalayas again. So after a difficult decision I was set to the Punjab first, and to Himachal Pradesh.
Arrived to Amritsar, the city of the Golden Temple of the Sikh people. In all india, now and then you realize how strong is English influence. Here a taxi cab, looks like parked in streets of London.
The golden Temple was a nice visit, I didn't bring my camera. I just wanted to be present. Sikh religion has little more than 500 years, did you know? Punjab state is very rich, its an infinite plateu of farms. I didn't expect to see so much food thrown away in India.
And this is an officer in the border way to Lahore - Pakistan.
Its a whole ceremony they do every evening when they close the gate to cross to pakistan. HINDUSTAN!!! HINDUSTAN!!! HINDUSTAN!!! There is a big Tribune and Indians shout out loud to Pakistan, like if it was a football match. I thought if this happened some where else a big hecatombe would occur. Not here, Pakistan side seemed cool with the Indian patriotic exaltated songs.
From Amritsar I cycled to Chandigarh city, and I found this little village where people build airplane models on top their houses. Its their will of flying away to America so big!!!
Chandigarh doesn't look India at all. Its a totally western style city. The thing is it was designed from scratch by famous Arquitect Le Corbusier. Everything so clean and organized. Not India!!! Anyway, my last stop by bike. After this I would take a bus to start to ascend the Himalayas, and not pedaling!
Next Stop: Shimla
Arrived at sunset. The river reflecting the colors let us see it like the vein it is, circulating the waters of the Himalaya. It was fresh. It was clear. It was Shimla.
Same as the Ganga, the riverbed was dry, with not abundant water as it comes in snowbreak times. So, the little temples were on reach. I cycled all around this moon like landscape.
My red pebble "mala" tied up to the back of my cyle, was my protection in the trip. Everything went smooth like it should.
My next stop: Manali
As you may see, this is my name. I was named like this here, after introducing myself to the audience I was singing, I presented myself as Pali, and someone in the audience liked the rhyme and shouted up: PALI MANALI!!
Thats right sir! Pali Manali I am!
Manali is divided into two sections: New Manali and Old Manali. Being this last one upper on the mountain, thats where I stayed for many weeks. In the mountain. Smoking sweet "charas" (hashish) and feeling the great spirit of nature.
One day, getting lost around as I love to do, I encountered this:
And here I revindicate this beautiful symbol and its significance, beyond the other unfortunate symbol we all know which was inspired in this one. The evolution of the Universe. The holy shape of evolution.
Here the holy shape of evolution in this crucked arched huts way up high in Old Manali. Very folkloric.
Here a female toilet. I love this art. I think is the bathroom at "Born Free Cafe" in Old Manali.
This is all for Manali, time was hurrying me up, so I decided to go further into the Himalayas.
Final Stop: Spiti Valley
The Buses riding in and out of the valley, did it at such a speed in the rusty roads on the hillsides that left my guts in my throught. I thought of coming down in the middle of nowhere for conserving my life, but didn't and am still alive!!!
The little village you see in the next picture is "Kibber".
I walked out of it up-mountain by myself, and experienced the hostility of the Himalayan. In a couple of hours I got extremely hot, extremely cold, wet, and struggled with strong freezing winds. The weather was so changing. I admire humanity. It adapts to the most fierce conditions.
In Kibber I ended my search. I was not the same person that crossed from Myanmar six months before.
I had a little talk to the horns over the water, made a promise, and started my way back to my home land. But not to my previous life.
Hope you enjoyed my trip!
Thanks for your upvotes!
(... and don't forget TIPS are always welcome and a good practice to do!)
PD: If you read up to here and you tell me in what picture is my bike laying on the ground, you win a TIP.
