A Retrospektive from the edge of the Himalaya

Hi everybody,

being in Pokhara on the edge of the himalaya right now means looking forward to almost two weeks of hiking and looking back to one exiting week from Dehli to here. As I already mentioned last time, from Dehli I went to Chandigarh, doing my architectural pilgrimage to the city of Le Corb. In meeting Emma and James a very nice architect-couple from London, UK, I got very lucky not doing this pilgrimage alone.

Besides designing the city, the swiss-french architect Le Corbusier designed what is now the logo of the city: the open hand

The open hand is located on the Congress - Complex, entirely designed by Le Corbusier too, consisting of the High Court, with some wonderful, colored open spaces but also some infrastructural "problems"

the Secretary, (architectually interesting has been especially the ramp! Or lets say... we just were allowed to see the ramp and the roof, and the ramp was way more interesting )

and the State-Parliament. This time we were allowed to see the inside but unfortunately the "security"- a mixture from army and police didn't allow us to take any pictures.

Very interested in taken pictures although was Mr. Singh, a name every second person in the northwest of India has, but this guy was very special:

Mr. Singh has a very interesting Hobby: it's meeting tourists. Us he met first in the busstation and once again later on the day so we spent the rest of day together adding some names and pictures to his great collection.

but probably even more amazing as Mr. Singh and Monsieur Corbusiers Congress-Complex was the rock - garden, a piece of art constructed by one person over years being an increadibal wonderland. Just some Impressions:

From the Fantasy world of the Rockgarden I made my way in direction of Nepal having two stops, one of them in the not minder fantasy-like former islamic city of Lucknow where I visited a Tomb and a as well as some leftovers of the British
Since the distances in Nepal are quiet long, and the velocity to get from one point to another can vary dramatically, you spent quiet some time on the road meeting very great people. The family in the picture underneath shared their food with me
and this boy even drove me 1,5 hours on his motorcycle to the place where Buddha died just shortly before the Nepalian Border. He told me it was on his way and there was no way of inviting him for lunch ... it's really special to travel like this.

At the place Buddha died, you find a small temple with a great lying Buddha Statue being copied in many places

and of course I wasn't the only one looking for this place.
I crossed the border to get from the place of death in Kushinagar to the place of birth of Siddhartha in Lumbini, which now a days it's like an Buddhist Expo, many countries and buddhism faiths having his own temple there. (There is even a German one!!)

But just around the simple temple of the original Birth place you can find the atmosphere you connect with such a place

In Lumbini I slept in a Korean Monastory and since the Area is so big, the bike is the better choice to travel

From Lumini to Pokhara I chose once again the bus riding on the top of the roof to the top of the world where I will spent the next two weeks hiking!

Take care and with lovly greetings from Pokhara, Nepal

Boris

First impressions from India

Hi everybody!

today I had the first rain giving me the first real break on my journey through India so far. After 4 days in the capital Dehli I passed two days in Chandigarh, being 240km north of Dehli.

I hope my german folks and friends don't mind me continuing in English, but it's just easier writing in one language and goes way faster.

I just picked the pictures to load up and there are already tons of impressions and experiences to tell about. Landing in Dehli the first things you get confronted with are the crowded roads and the neverending honking of the cars and autorikschas.




The first day in Dehli I spent with an excursion group from my former university in Stuttgart. Some students will plan a new residence for the German embassador and so we got to see the german embassy in New Dehli.


where everybody was busy with the preparations for the german national holiday on october 3rd ... well maybe not everybody was that busy giving you a first impression who work is done here.


and you don't often meet the german president face to face



The next days I spent with seeing the tourist sites of the indian capital. Some of them built in the last century like the India Gate, being a war memorial for the Indians serving the British Army in WWI


or the Lotus Tempel, a tempel built by the Bahai Religion to offer a place for all religions to come together and pray.


Other "buidlings" date back to earlier dates as the fantastic Jantar Mantar, a place the used in the 17th century to observe the the sun, moon and stars.


or the Qutb Minar Complex with its 70m high tower built in the 11 century,

and being the grave of the early islamic sovereigners in India. The red fort in the center of Old Dehli was built by the moguls in the 16th century being the residence of the Mogul.


and the Humayun's Tomb the tomb one of their great Moguls.


besides all that, Dehli is also been an important domain to Mahatma Gandhi. Footprints mark the way he walked on the 30. January 1948 to the place he was shot.



During these days in Dehli I got also in touch with the indian culture today. Everywhere you meet people being happy to talk to you in English and who want a picture taken with you.

And also the markets are a great place to get in touch with the people. Being in Old Dehli a mainly muslem part of town after sunset during Ramadan was quite a sensation.


Besides Ramadan, there was also a hindu festival taken place in the beginning of october, showing all different types of food (and my stomack still works pretty well ;-)





As you see, there are many things to enjoy and so far I just went through very good experiences. Even though it is a very chaotic country, I really like it and look foward to all there is to come!

With lovely greetings from Chandigarh,
Boris