religion

By Jen Hawse on Uncategorized tagged food, India, maps, performance art, religion, Water

My Foolish Indian Surprise

I knew I’d be wrong the minute I started having doubts. That’s how it always works. I say to myself, “I won’t like this new place because…” either out loud or in my mind and then, after a few days of settling in, I find my place and start to think about how I don’t want to leave. Can I tell you how many places on this journey I’ve thought, “Noo… but I don’t want to go now!” after saying, “Meh… it’ll be OK” at the beginning or even fully flat out disliking a place from day one?! It’s a pattern that I’ve begun to recognize and now take note of, but it still held true for India, and I should have known better.

We’re in India, Kerala, Cochin, Fort Kochi. This region has been a prominent spice exporter since 3000 BCE; it is ancient. Kerala is the “spice garden of India” and was an important trading location on Silk Road. For years, I’ve had an interest in maps and the ancient spice trade, so I was very excited to learn I’d be coming to one of the historical landmarks and origination points. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to find any “tours” so to speak that explained the spice trade’s history. At least I can taste the spices in person as I eat throughout the city!

By Whole_world_-_land_and_oceans_12000.jpg: NASA/Goddard Space Flight Centerderivative work:Splettederivative work:Bongan - Whole_world_-_land_and_oceans_12000.jpgSilk_route.jpg, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=35995542 — We are staying in the southeast of India and are the blue point on the coast.

Kerela, as a state in India, is one of the country’s most well educated, healthiest, religiously diverse places with some of the highest gender equality ratings to boot. There’s far less poverty here than in the rest of India, so the stereotypes that I’ve heard about begging has hardly rang true. Truth be told, it’s so similar to some parts of Southeast Asia it’s like we’ve just moved sideways, but definitely not into an entirely new dimension. Most people speak English and it’s often far better we’ve experienced in Southeast Asia. There are even two bookstores here where I’ve purchased inexpensive classical English literature short novels, The Land that Time Forgot and The Old Man and the Sea. Tis good to read real books again!

There’s not too much to do here in Kerala, but that’s OK by me. Earlier this week we did a Backwater non-mechanised boat tour, where we snaked through small canals and struggled against the winds on open waters with just bamboo sticks to move the boat downstream. Along the way we visited a traditional village where we had our lunches served on palm leaves. The food was some of the best I’ve had thus far! We also visited a small scale calcium carbonate processing “factory”, run by just a few men covered who were covered in white powder from their work, where they take spent oyster shells and naturally turn them into calcium oxide and hydroxide. In another location we witnessed how rope making is done through soaking coconut husks and then twisting the dried fiber together. The ropes are very strong and used throughout India. The best part of the day, however, was meeting fellow travelers. We had so many great conversations with interesting people and it really did refresh my spirit. One of the couples even invited Jason and I out for beers that night, which I obliged and enjoyed a beautiful sunset paired with even deeper conversation.

Yesterday, after Jason told me he wouldn’t be eating lunch, I ventured out to seek sustenance. I have to eat twice a day… it’s just the way I am. Or at least snack a few times! Regardless, I stumbled into this place called, “Upstairs Italian Restaurant”, even though I was eating at the ground floor cafe. I ordered a chai masala tea and a masala omelet and began reading my book. A man came in holding framed pictures and started asking me what I thought of them. At first dismissive, being a woman alone in India, I eventually started chatting with him after he asked the easy question of, “Where are you from?” Turns out, he’s been all over the world and lived in LA for a few years, working at a Sheraton Hotel as a chef. He’d also cooked in Rome for several years, which translated into his love of Italian foods and thus his speciality restaurant. He said every September and October he shuts down and travels. He’s interested in going to Mongolia next, or studying pastry making in England. After nearly three hours of conversation I realized I needed to head back to the homestay to get ready for the dance!

Traditional dance seems to exist all over the world and we’re lucky to have witnessed two dances thus far on the trip. First, we watched a Balinese dance that enchanted and in some ways spooked you with their rapid eye movements, intense makeup and costuming, and jutting arms. Here in Kochi, it’s much the same. Both dances come from a Hindu tradition, so they share many similarities. There are no words spoken during these performances, only music. During the Kochi performance one of the actors was permitted a tiny meep-like noise that made me nearly squeal with excitement every time he did it. It’s a performance art that I doubt I’ll see anywhere else.

On Friday, we head to Mumbia, formerly known as Bombay (India is taking the name back over as Bombay was a British term). It’s a city with 20.7 million people. It won’t be the most densely populated city we’ve visited as that honor squarely goes to Tokyo with 37.8 million people. Delhi is a solid second with 24.9 million, but we won’t be heading there. Mumbai is going to be starkly different than quite, quaint Kochi. I still have doubts that I’m going to enjoy it there, but it’ll only be for four days and then we head to Greece!

13 Apr

By Jen Hawse on Asia, Photolog tagged architecture, Buddhism, Cambodia, hinduism, Pictures, religion, Southeast Asia

The Wats of Angkor in a Picture Post

Cambodia’s Angkor Wat complex is a dream within a dream. Offering endless opportunities to wind your way through history and discover a world from 1,000 years ago. Angkor Wat is the common name for the structures, with Wat meaning Buddhist Temple in Cambodia, Laos, and Thailand, but there is far more than just one Wat to explore.

According to UNESCO:

Angkor, in Cambodia’s northern province of Siem Reap, is one of the most important archaeological sites of Southeast Asia. It extends over approximately 400 square kilometres and consists of scores of temples, hydraulic structures (basins, dykes, reservoirs, canals) as well as communication routes. For several centuries Angkor, was the centre of the Khmer Kingdom. With impressive monuments, several different ancient urban plans and large water reservoirs, the site is a unique concentration of features testifying to an exceptional civilization. Temples such as Angkor Wat, the Bayon, Preah Khan and Ta Prohm, exemplars of Khmer architecture, are closely linked to their geographical context as well as being imbued with symbolic significance. The architecture and layout of the successive capitals bear witness to a high level of social order and ranking within the Khmer Empire. Angkor is therefore a major site exemplifying cultural, religious and symbolic values, as well as containing high architectural, archaeological and artistic significance.

The park is inhabited, and many villages, some of whom the ancestors are dating back to the Angkor period are scattered throughout the park. The population practices agriculture and more specifically rice cultivation.

I don’t want to talk too much about our time there, except to say if you’re wanting to have your breath taken away at an affordable rate go to Siem Reap. The people are kind, the food is delicious (just… be careful 🙂 ), and there is plenty to do and fun to be had. Beers are as low as $.50 for a draft. The city is lively and filled with tourists. We met some great local characters who never seemed to be without a smile. While Cambodia is still raw from the Khmer Rouge genocide that ended just 38 years ago and led to the deaths of an estimated 25 percent of the total population (around 2 million people), the spirit of the people is ever resilient and they fight on.

Click on any picture to blow it up and see it in greater detail. This is my first album, so hope you like it!

13 Dec

By Jen Hawse on Asia, City Review, Travel Philosophy tagged asia, beaches, beer, guesthouse, holidays, malaysia, religion, travel

Paradise Muddled — Losing and Finding My Place in the World

If there’s one thing life is exceedingly good at it’s being in flux. Change is constant. When on the road, change is more omnipresent than going through the routine of life at home. True, holidays, birthday, weekends, all of these break up the mundane, but when you’re existing in a new city, country, and timezone on a rotating basis you’re faced with change in a new sort of way. While often positive, change can throw you into sadness when you were happy with the ways things were or refresh you when you’re so f’ing done.

It’s been just under three months of straight traveling and, I’ve got to say, I’m tired. It’s not from the constant motion, that is something that I strangly embrace better than sitting idly. I’m a mover, not a sitter. I’m simply tired of being away from home. The holidays are hard for everyone, whether you’re a fan of your family or trying to find the first ticket out of town. For me, I’m missing the normalcy this time of year brings. Cookies, christmas trees, holiday parties, wrapping presents, silly sweaters, they’re all reasons to love December. Being without them this year means Jason and I will be most likely losing weight during December instead of gaining it. There’s a plus!

This is my first year away from home during the holidays and second year without my dad, ever. His birthday is New Year’s Eve, so the holidays were even more special to me because of this. I loved having Lauer’s cake with him before heading out for a night with my friends. I can’t describe the guilt I feel for being away from my mom right now. The importance of family is even more greatly magnified in it’s absence. Being away feels unnatural. No matter where in the world I am I’d feel this way, so Malaysia or otherwise, I should be home for the holidays.

The irony in all this is, the last place we stayed was emphatically our favorite thus far in terms of feeling homey. Langkawi, Malaysia, had so much to offer that extended beyond the food and beaches. In Langkawi, we met people that we really connected with. We made six(!!) new friends at our guesthouse! More than anywhere else we’ve been, for certain. These are folks that we are looking forward to keeping in touch with and who are sharing journeys much like ours. The guesthouse itself was really conducive to people meeting and spending time in the commons area. Beers from the vending machine were $.50 (best price on the island!) and there was coffee, tea, and food on demand 24/7. So, you could basically stay up all night drinking and making friends, which we did on three separate occasions, and had an amazing time doing it.

One of the couples we met are world travelers from Britain who are going from Southeast Asia to Asia to South America on a year long journey. They’re our age, which was pretty refreshing when most of the folks we’d met thus far were in their early twenties. Nothing wrong with early twenties people! I have made plenty of friends 10 years younger than me and love the general positivity and freshness of that age, but meeting people our age on their “gap year” was a welcome surprise. We are so grateful that we met you all Hannah, Paul, Charlie, Aggy, Kate, and Mike Willy Holder! I’m sorry we didn’t get a few pictures together! <3 <3 <3

Beyond the people, although it’s quite difficult to go beyond people, Langkawi was small enough for us to feel comfortable renting our first motorscooter while big enough to give us a variety of activities. Going to the beach everyday is enough, but there was far more than available. I can tell you immediately from getting to the guesthouse I thought, “I wish we had booked another week.” Malaysia has very high vice taxes, because it’s a muslim country and muslims don’t drink, so while the true price of alcohol is rather cheap here the tax is exorbitantly high. Langkawi is a duty free city, meaning it’s tax exempt. If tax wasn’t included our beers would cost $.50. Today, at the store, the beers priced at about 2.00 each, or $12 for a 6 pack of crappy beer. This was the same thing we found all over Malaysia. Even if a bar or store wants to charge less they can’t due to tax regulations.

Prior to Langkawi we spent one week in Penang, or colonially known as Georgetown, another tropical island in Malaysia, but without the remote and extensive beaches. It was more of a city with resorts dotting the coastline that weren’t easy to get to, so we mostly stuck with the city center. Penang is hip. The street art is rich and abundant. You can tell they encourage creativity here. Another huge plus, this place had the best Indian food I’ve ever had! Truth be told, I wish I had just eaten Indian food the whole time I was there because I foolishly thought I’d find more Indian food in Kuching and Langkawi and have yet to find the right stuff. Nothing beats fresh, properly cooked naan bread. Nothing! And this stuff was cheap. I’m taking under $2 per meal. We had Indian food for Thanksgiving, because I’m not a huge fan of turkey anyway and, as they say, when in Malaysia!

Before Penang we were in Malaysia’s capital, Kuala Lumpur, or KL locally. KL was a true melting pot of the poorer, former Malaysia and the rich capitalism that’s coming to take hold. The Petronas Towers were the world’s tallest building for a few years and are still a symbol of progress in Malaysia. There is no qualm here in their embrace of fossil fuels. They love dinosaurs and have erected statues of oil molecules and have dino parks throughout the city. Corporate sponsorship is not hidden nor frowned upon like it is in the US. Petronas actually means Petroleum in Malaysian, so their state capital’s symbol to the world is the Petroleum Towers. To each their own.

Perhaps this embrace of petroleum is the reason why walking was fairly dreadful in KL. The city is not intentionally built for pedestrians. We were at the central transit station trying to get to the closely located major tourist destination, the botanical gardens, and it took us over 30 minutes to walk what should have taken us under 10. That’s because there is no proper civil engineering in KL and roads are basically thrown on a map wherever they’ll fit, which forces you to take taxi’s. We are not great taxi takers, we would rather slug through a stupidly difficult walk instead of succumbing to the several dollar charge that is an unnecessary taxi ride in our minds. So, we slugged and dangerously dodged cars and were pretty unhappy with the structure of KL.

On the bright side, the Batu Caves, just outside of KL, were the first place either of us had encountered wild monkeys and provided a great get away from the city. After about an hour on their subway we arrived to find history, beauty, and some interesting creatures surrounding us. The caves are 400 million years old and the Hindu temples here were originally built up in 1891. The main golden Murugan statue that greets you at the base of the 300ish steps is 140 ft tall. During our visit Murugan was under construction, but c’est la vie. Upon summiting the cave entrance we were handed a bucket of rocks, each, as our way of “paying” for entry. This wasn’t necessarily required, but the construction worker at the base of the caves said, “You been here before? No? You take this”. So, we walked up 300 steps with a bucket of rocks! Builds character!

Today, in Kuching, we’re laying low. This would seem like a great thing for me right now and my weary traveling bones, but in fact it’s making me a little crazy. We planned it this way, but I don’t sit idly well. Jason, on the other hand, is a fantastic sleeper and sitter. He doesn’t mind days in front of the computer, coding or watching movies. I panged with guilt and frustration over this, whether at home or away, but especially during the most delicate time of year that is the holidays. So, since we arrived, I’ve read one short book and am about 1/3rd of the way through a 2nd along with beginning French lessons via an app again. I might pick up on German too, what the hell! While the guesthouse isn’t perfect it’s great for the price ($16.50 per night in total) and the staff are immensely kind to us.

Since I was a child I learned about Borneo and filed it in the, “I’ll never get to go there” category. Well, I’m here, Kuching is on Borneo, the oldest rainforest in the world and one of the most biologically diverse places that exists. Granted, we’ve seen zero biodiversity as of yet, being in the little city of Kuching, but it’s our goal to go out and explore the rainforest very soon. We hope to see some hornbills and proboscis monkeys in person, while avoiding alligators and vipers, oh my! But, while we’re not jungle trekking, we’ll be laying the lowest we’ll have been this entire trip and having lazy days walking around the quaint waterfront, talking to the guesthouse staff, and generally relaxing. Maybe it’s a good time to adjust some habits, pick up some new ones, or let go of old ones that don’t serve us any longer. Resolution time is coming!

Miss you all! I am thinking of you during the holidays. The holidays don’t mean a thing if it’s not for your friends and family that make them special. I love you and thank you for making my life special and meaningful.