Om mani padme hum

After 10 hours bus ride from Delhi to mountains I arrived to McLeod Ganj, tibetan colony of Dharamsala, Himachal Pradesh. After dusty noisy Delhi it was so wonderful to breath cool fresh mountain air and have more peaceful atmohsphere. In a bus I met two very nice girls, Rita from Belarus and Julia from Austria and I ended  up sharing a room with Julia in a guest house called Kunga, owned by tibetan family. We paid 100 INR each/night (1,60 EUR). I remember our first breakfast in McLeod;it was in a little place called Peace cafe, very early in the morning, sun shining brightly with an amazing view to Himalayas...there's no words to describe it, no pictures to give justice to it. Precious moment.

I made a little trekking to Bhagsu village and to the waterfalls and had a lovely cup of chai in a small funny cafe made by rocks under the waterfall. I was the only customer and had little chat with the owner, he told me that mountains are very clean at that time of the year but during the high season (april-july) it's a whole different story. "Lot's of tourist are coming and they throw plastic bottles and other trash everywhere" he said. "They think that it will all disappear somewhere. People just don't understand." Sad but true.

I had another interesting meeting in our guest house's restaurant; I had been waiting to get into toilet forever when I saw one old tibetan buddhist monk sitting in a table and drinking tea. He had his english grammar books with him, he told me that he wants to learn more english and he asked me things like where are you from, how long have you been here etc. Then he told me you have to knock on the door to get to the toilet which I did but nothing happened still. Then the monk said "Let me" and softly knocked on the toilet door with one finger-and the door opened immediately. I asked from the monk "how did you do that?" but he just smiled and laughed. Magic fingers, magic knock.

Tibetan food....oh my god, so good. Momos, thukpa, tibetan home made bread with jam, cheese cake made by milk of yak...fresh, pure natural tastes and all vegetarian. With couple of euros you can get yourself a nice dinner in one of McLeods tibetan restaurants and they have plenty of them. For activities, besides trekking, McLeod Ganj has also lot to offer;yoga, meditation, tai-chi, courses of tibetan language, music, cooking and traditional handicrafts and buddhist wisdom...you name it, they have it. Also there are plenty of possibilities for volunteering,for example teaching basic english to tibetans, working with orphan children and cleaning the mountains from the trash.

McLeod Ganj is best known as a home of his holiness, 14th Dalai Lama who has been living in exile since 1959. Julia and I decided to visit his home temple; beautiful big temple where you can see everyday routines of tibetan monks. We had been there for about fifteen minutes only when one woman came to us saying: " Do you know that HE is coming soon?" and by that she meant Dalai Lama of course. Now this is quite rare to see Dalai Lama 'cause he's a busy man and travels around the world a lot. Julia and I went outside and there were some people waiting already, standing on a line beside the street that leads to his temple; tibetans, indians, monks and some travelers. We went to stand in the line too and after little waiting he finally came with his security;he was smiling and waving and looking as lovable and kind as in all the pictures I've seen about him. Short moment with so much positive emotions and good energy. Phewww, certainly something that I'm going to remember for the rest of my life.

 One evening we went to this fund raising concert in tibetan school. What a nice and sweet concert it was; performances from Tibet, Korea, all over Europe, US, Russia...it last three hours and the warm and emotional atmosphere got me so emotional that I actually cried during one tibetan song; I looked at the happy smiling faces of audience, people from all over the world spending an evening as a one big family...

 

Daytime at the mountains were quite warm but the nights was getting colder and colder...so it was time to move again. Julia decided to stay in the mountains, I followed the sun to Pushkar, little town in a desert of Rajasthan. Rita from Belarus and couple of guys from Finland I met earlier in McLeod were heading there too. So I got back to Delhi for a day and then to Pushkar...something tells me that this trip to India is gonna be very very good. Something remarkable will happen, something that will affect my life forever. I can feel it.

I left McLeod Ganj with so much happiness and joy in my heart; this is a place

I certainly want to come back again. I'm not gonna get into deeper politics in this blog but from all the stories I've heard, all the people I've met I'm gonna put it into two simple words: Free Tibet!

Ps.This is for my mum so I say it in finnish:Se vuoristoidylli mistä puhuttiin, se on olemassa ja niitä täydellisiä käsinkudottuja raidallisia kaulaliinoja saa parilla eurolla...pakkaa laukut, McLeod Ganj odottaa :)

Delhilicious!

It was 10^th of November, 4 am local time when my plain from Istanbul hit the ground of Indira Gandhi airport in New Delhi, India. Before that, I took a plane from Rovaniemi to Helsinki, spent one night in our capital  and the following day: Helsinki-Istanbul-Delhi. I flied with Turkish Airlines like I did last year and it didn't let me down this time either, except that the flight from Helsinki arrived late to Istanbul and I had to run really really fast to departure gate-it was last call already but I made it in time. In plane I sat next to one very nice finnish lady, she was heading to Nepal straight from Delhi to work as a trekking guide. I didnt even catch her name but I wish her safe and happy travels :)

On the airport it got me, the overwhelming joy: I came back to mama India. Finally.

I got into my hostel early in the morning and went straight to bed, I did not get hardly any sleep in crowded plains. Room was good, big bed, free wifi and just a few steps from restaurants and shops of Main Bazar. When I finally woke up, it was almost +30 degrees and the heat hit me on the face hard but damn did I liked it!

  

I stayed in Paharganj which is in north Delhi and seemed to be quite popular among the packpackers. In this area the traffic wasnt so crazy that I expected, actually quite easy to copy after my Mumbai experience last year, but of course in these huge Indian citys traffic can be a real killer and you have to pay attention all the time. After all, I found it quite nice to walk around Main Bazaar and smaller streets of Paharganj.

And I DID walk, mostly looking for next place to eat :D I found plenty of them, area is full of restaurants, cafes and street kitchens and everything so so cheap!! I ate mainly veggie food-I'm not an vegetarian but this country really knows how to make dishes so delicious out of vegetables that you wont even miss meat or fish. 

During my three days in Delhi I ate thalis (traditional indian meal, selection of several dishes in one plate) dosas (crepe with rice and lentils and vegs but you can get them with chocolate too...) steamed nepalese momos (pastry with fillings and delicious sauce) breathtaking good strawberry and mango lassis (sweet yoghurt drinks) omelets with indian spices, some aloo paratha for breakfast (thin whole wheat bread stuffed with potatoes and spices) and loads of non-indian treats too; noodles, avokado salad, soups, ratatouille, moussaka, fruit salad...and cinnamon rolls, croissants and cheese cakes size of my head. From market I bought some bananas and apples and cashew nuts... and little hot stuffed pastries and yummy peanut cake from street kitchen-and yes, you can eat from indian street kitchen without getting sick if you choose wisely, avoid meat and make sure that your food really is fully cooked. At least I can :)

During the day I drank many cups of masala chai (spiced indian milk tea) and my favorite, ginger-lemon-honey tea where the taste doesnt come from a tea bag but from bites of fresh ginger and lemon in hot water. Mmmmmmm.

 

 

I did some calculating and I managed to spent around 800 rupees to food during three days-and that's about 13 euros :D So, this country is not gonna bankrupt me but if I continue like this, it's gonna make me fat...well, like I mentioned before, I walked a lot and did some pushups and sit ups back in my hostel so maybe I still have hope :DD

Of course I did more than just ate in Delhi. I visited beautiful Bahai House of Worship, also known as Lotus Temple beacause it's shape and Tibet House and it's museum (in both places photography prohibited so I can't share them with you). I made a lovely sightseeing with riksha (after bargaining about price for quite some time) and I met lots of nice people, locals and travelers and had some good tips for my future travels.

I'm not one of those travelers who wants to visit all possible popular sights and make sure that they have picture of each and every one of them.I enjoy more just hanging and walking around, seeing everyday life with it's little details.

 

All and all, I liked Delhi and Paharganj area. I could spend hours in one of the rooftop restaurants just looking at the streetlife; riksha drivers, indian women wearing their colourfull saris, busy business men talking in mobiles, tourists carrying their Lonely Planet India guides and market sellers constantly bothering them, dirty street kids, dogs, cows, beggers, hippies with beautiful long rastas, holy men in their orange color robes...bit chaotic but still somehow laid back atmosphere, sounds of traffic and funny hindi pop and scent of incense sticks that to me is, and always will be, The Scent of India.

I bought bus ticket to Dharamsala, up to mountains, and I'm leaving there tomorrow afternoon. The ride takes all evening and night in bumpy mountain roads but I'm sure it's gonna be worth of all the trouble. Many thanks to Rohan from Pushkar who helped me to get a bus ticket!!!

The finnish woman that I met in plane on my way to Delhi said to me ”Think about it, how lucky we are. We can just pack our things, get in the plane and see the world.” Sitting in a roof top balcony, drinking my second cup of chai and watching how sun slowly sets over Delhi I couldn´ t agree more.

 

So i pack my bags and go so far away

Sooo I´ve been spending some time up north (in Kittilä, here http://fi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kittil%C3%A4) with my family. This is the place where I was born and where my parents and my grandparents still live. I also met my friend Sanna, she´s a massage therapist and she gave me a wonderful massage to my achy shoulders and upper back....I really need some serious yoga and massage also to get my body more flexible!!Thank you Sanna for the massage!!!What a beautiful home and lovely dog she has and it was so nice to meet again after a long time and talk about life, love, men, work, hopes, dreams....and love and men and men and love :) If you are staying at Kittilä or skiing center Levi and you need a good massage, send Sanna a message via hullufinn@hotmail.com

My friend Sanna with her dog Susi (it means wolf in finnish)

Tomorrow morning I go back to Rovaniemi for one night, gonna stay at my brother´s and on tuesday I´ll fly to Helsinki to pick up my visa and indian rupees I ordered to Forex money exchange....I still have some rupees left from my trip last winter, I brought them to Finland and I committed a crime by doing that...it´s unlecal to bring rupees out of India. What a bad ass I am.

And wednesday, finally, OMG, I will fly to New Delhi.

Things I have bought/made a reservation so far (besides tickets which I bought months ago):

-visa to India, 50 eur+12 eur for re-entry permission (once you leave the country, you can´t enter again at least for 2 months. I want to use my flight to Finland from Delhi of course, in March, so I aplied for re-entry permission)

- flight from Rovaniemi to Helsinki by Norwegian.com, around 52eur. Cheap. Train is about 80e or so and you have to travel all night.

-Lonely Planet India guide, 25e. I also have Thailand guide, I got it from my brother. I can´t do without those, they are heavy to carry in my backpack but really worth all the trouble.

-room for 4 nights from New Delhi, I´m staying here http://www.hotelnewking.com and made booking here www.hostels.com  I used hostels.com also last year and everything worked out just great. I got booking confirmation immediatly from my hostel and their driver is gonna pick me up from airport also. AND they can arrange me ticket to Dharamsala...and indian sim card to my phone (if you are staying in India few weeks or more, it´s wice to get an indian sim card, really really cheap). I know I´m propably paying extra for the ticket, well of course I am, why else would they arrange it to me...and I know I could propably get it little bit cheaper by booking it by myself but in city like Delhi, just finding an office where to buy it...well, let´s just say I´d rather pay little extra if the hostel can do it for me :)

Oh and hostel costs around 6 eur/night...airport transfer 500 rupees (8 eur). Not bad.

Thank you mi mamita for helping me with the bookings!!

Delhi, nice and quiet :D

It´s almost 1 am and I should be in bed by now but I can´t ´cause my backpack is not totally ready yet. I hate packing. When I have to figure out what to take with me for next five months, for two totally different climates (Himalayas and beaches), I hate it even more. This is driving me crazy every time and also I´m doing the final packing night before leaving being stressed as hell. I just admire people who can make this all easy and perfectly in time. If there actually are any people like that.

Oh well, in the end, it´s all gonna be a-okay.

Lapland is completely out of snow, it´s weird, there should be snow and below-zero degrees by now and we have none. But I kind of like this long autumn, there´s something so beautiful and melancholic in this time of the year;it´s a death of summer, beginning of winter and yet slightly promise of a spring. It just few long dark months away.

More tea, more books.

Ok now I HAVE to get my packing done and try to get some sleep!!!!More stories later...

-S-

(Delhi pic from http://www.theage.com.au/ffximage/2008/01/11/w16_delhi_s_motorists_wideweb__470x284,0.jpg)

Long long journey to go

So ladies and gents, I decided to start writing a blog about the next six (at least) months of my life.Today is October 9th and exactly one month for the moment my plane will leave from Helsinki-Vantaa airport and many hours later, land in New Delhi, India. This is my second journey to Mama India- from the first one I got back in February...more than half a year ago and it seems like it was yesterday. Time really flies!! I´m gonna travel about 5 months, I´ll be back at 25th of April. (YES, the original plan was to stay longer, until end of April but I changed my tickets couple of days ago, so I come back already 28th of March. I had to pay extra but  ´cause I really wanted to come earlier it´s ok)

On my last journey I wandered around south India states Kerala, Karnataka and Goa but this time I´m heading to north so after Delhi I´m gonna rumble to Dharamsala-and what and where is it, check out from here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dharamsala

Also this time I`m eager to see what Thailand has to offer for me. I´d love to go to Vietnam also...and to Nepal...but it´s better to search Asia little by little and save something for the next time 'cause I know there's gonna be one. Countries with so much to see and experience and with distances so long, it would be crazy to try see it all at once and to spend my forthcoming months in crowded trains. But what´s really gonna happen and where I´m really going, that can and will change along the trip so I don't make too specific plans. I go where the wind takes me :)

I hope you will enjoy my future stories and photos, hope they will give you some ideas and inspiration and that certain restless feeling when it´s impossible to stay on your safe everyday life anymore ´cause in the back of your head you just know there's so much more out there. I know you recognize the feeling and I hope some day soon You can make it become a reality.

Tomorrow is sunday so I dont have to wake up early but I certainly could use some good night sleep anyways so off I go to my bed!This oh-so-lovely Lykke Li will sing a lullaby to me..Oh and one more thing, don´t mind about the misspellings in my english, I know I don´t. If you get the point, it´s good enough, right? :D

Happened after I wrote this:quit my job, moved from Rovaniemi to Kittilä, changed my tickets so I´m coming to Finland one month earlier. You know, little things.