More Bangkok Pictures

Memorial Day Weekend in Bangkok, Thailand

The first thing we noticed about Bangkok is that it is CLEAN! The second thing we noticed about Bangkok is that it WORKS! Both a refreshing break from life in Kolkata. We spent five days resting, relaxing, seeing the sights, eating some good American food (yes, in Bangkok!) and just basically enjoying ourselves. Should any of you find yourselves in this part of the world I would highly encourage you to take a trip to Bangkok.

Saturday
Arrive at 4 AM (yes, you read that right!) and checked into the hotel for a few hours sleep. Woke up and made our way to the Bangkok light rail station nearest to our hotel and were amazed at the efficiency, cleanliness and ease of getting around Bangkok. Walked around amazing western quality malls and bought….hold your horses…..Bing Cherries fresh from the US! You can’t imagine how good they tasted! Ended the evening at a burger joint called the Garage whose burgers, onion rings and fries were every bit as good as any burger I have had in the U.S..

Sunday
Today we begin our tourist trekking by visiting the Grand Palace and two of the key Buddhist temples in Bangkok. Truly amazing architecture, beautiful gardens and colors. After several hours of walking in 90 degree weather both Cole and I were ready for some quality pool time. Well…..I made it to the pool; Cole found NBA Basketball on the TV and was quite content. When he did make it to the pool he found me asleep, mouth wide open…oh well! That night we found (courtesy of Lonely Planet) a great American rib joint! American rock and blues…..full rack of ribs…..cold drinks…..great outdoor porch…..for awhile I thought I was back home!

Monday
As you all know Shannon is getting married in December….a dilemma as Cole doesn’t have a decent suit to wear. He does now as on the Monday of our vacation we visited one of the many tailors in Bangkok and now Cole has two custom cashmere wool suits, silk ties and custom made shirts. Then we made our way down to the river to take a long tail boat ride of the river and canals of Bangkok. It wasn’t Lake Superior but it was good to be on the water in a boat. I forgot how much I missed that! We end the day going to the movies to see Johnny Depp on a gigantic screen in Pirates but before the show it Hail to the King as they play the national anthem and everyone stands to honor the king before the movie.

Tuesday
Off to the beach we go for a day of sand and surf on the South China Sea. We traveled four hours to the small town of Hua Hin and soaked up the sun by the beach. As I was strolling along the beach trying to find a rock to take home (John understands) I look up the beach to see two large feet, heels to the sky an toes in the beach and two old Thai women hovering about. As I get closer I see that they are giving Cole a Thai massage on the beach. How much? 200 baht…..$5.00…..I join in…..great! This day ends with seafood fresh from the tank to our plate. During dinner we meet a Thai couple who now live in Worthington Minnesota. They were home visiting relatives. What a small world!

Wednesday
It’s the final fitting for Cole’s suit, some last minute shopping, one more burger before heading back to Veg and Non Veg (read that chicken) diets….Cole and I have come to believe that man was not meant to live on chicken alone; and it’s off to return to Kolkata.

Hope you can tell we had a great time. Enjoy the pictures!

As I Sit at Panera

So here I sit at Panera in Madison and I am updating my blog.....what's up with that? Well.....when you get high speed internet you take advantage of it!

I am at the end of my vacation here in the US. I have had a wonderful time visiting Shannon and Moriah. Hugs NEVER felt so good! While I have been in Minnesota and Wisconsin Cole has been to Katmandu, Nepal and a Bollywood movie has been filming a movie in the apartment above ours in Kolkata. Never a dull moment!

Below are our pictures from our trip to Darjeeling. The trip was taken end of November and only points out I need to take more vacations! The mountain peak is Kajungunga which is the third highest peak in the world > The women you see on the hillside are picking tea. What I realized while watching them is that the only thing that was the difference between me being on vacation, working for a global banking organization and the women picking tea was I was born in the US and they were born in India. With my parents background and lineage had I been born in India I would be on the hillside with them and a basket on my back. I guess an appropriate thought as I sit in Panera two days away from flying back to Kolkata.

The rest of the pictures are of the toy train of Darjeeling (a UN Heritage site), a scene from a self sustaining agriculture project near Kurseong and pictures of the guest house we stayed in near Kurseong (the guest house was a former convent).

To all that I saw on my vacation a big THANK YOU for the laughter and for the hugs. To John, what can I say, the sauna was hot, the coffee hot and I got as close to the comfort of home as I am going to until we come back. To Shannon and Moriah I don't think I hugged you both enough but I also know at some point I have to let go.

Namaste to all and back to India I go!

Merry Christmas to You!

It's Christmas Day here in Kolkata and as I awoke today (at the crack of 11 AM) I realized this is our first Christmas without our children in 24 years. Of course, this is the first Christmas EVER for Shannon and Momo where their parents are not there. We did have long conversations with Shannon and Momo yesterday (Christmas Eve for us, December 23rd for them) and they were celebrating Christmas together for the weekend. It was reassuring to know they were doing our traditional Christmas breakfast of 'sticky' buns, eggs, sausages, fruit, juice etc..... Like Shannon said, Cholestoral overload but we love it! Also nice to know all are healthy and the girls are together.

To the right is a picture of our Christmas tree. It reminds both Cole and I of our first Christmas tree when we lived in Perham. Our tree there was taller but it didn't have many more branches than what you see to the right. Notice the Duluth Pack birdhouse next to the tree. No birds yet. A couple of sparrows have given it quizzical looks but I think bird houses are a rarity here! But I digress......whether we are here or home, as Momo so wisely pointed out to me, the reason for Christmas is the same, Jesus Christ. So in our family tradition, just prior to opening presents, we recite from Luke Chapter 2.....

Girls if you read this here is my attempt at Luke Chapter 2 ......and trust I WILL do this by memory!

In those days Ceaser Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. This was the first census taken while Quirinias was govenor of Syria. So Joseph also went up from Nazareth in Galilee to Bethlehem in Judea because he was of the house and the line of David. He went there to register with Mary who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. While they were there the time came for the baby to be born. She gave birth to her first born, a son. She wrapped him in clothes and laid him in a manger. There were shepards living in the fields nearby keeping watch over their sheep. An angel of the Lord appeard to them and the glory of the Lord shown aroung them and they were terrified! The angel appeared to them saying, 'Fear not I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the poeple. Today in the City of David a saviour has been born to you. He is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you. In the City of David you will find a baby wrapped in clothes and lying in a manger' Suddenly a great multitude of the heavenly host appeared praising God and saying, "Glory to God in the highest and peace to men upon whom his favor rests.' When the angel had gone up to the heavens the shepards said, 'Let us go to the city and see that which the angel has told us'.

Merry Christmas to all but especially Merry Christmas to Shannon and Momo! We love you!

Fisherman Mumbai Harbor

 

Mumbai's 'Lake Walk'

 

Mumbai's Vista King fleet waiting for tourists

 

Bus Stop at Mumbai

 

Taj Hotel-Brad and Angelina were there when we were there!

 

Gateway of India-Mumbai

 

Muslim Women and Children, a Sunday outing and Chandrimar

 

Chandimar Architecture

 

Hyderabad Mosque-Second Largest in India

 

Views from Chandimar

 

Floating Bhudda of Hyderabad

 

Rock Outcroppings Typical of Hyderabad

 

Long Overdue Update

As someone recently pointed out to me our blog has been devoid of entries as of late. My last post dates from just after moving into our apartment. Looking back its hard to believe we have been on India soil for just over three months and have been in our apartment for two months. As we became engrossed into the process of establishing our new home we have gotten into a routine that doesn’t seem too glamorous to write about, work, sleep, shop, language study (Cole), shop some more…… The reality of living in an exotic place is that eventually you have to establish normal day to day routines or you will burn out. Also, even though we are in a city of large population (17 million at last count) finding goods is an adventure. Everything that we undertake to settle our apartment into a home takes more energy and time than it would take in the States. The progress in getting settled is measured one completed task at a time rather than several tasks completed in a day. Patience is something you develop quite quickly. Patience is practiced in every traffic jam, every shopping experience, every encounter of Indian logic (which to the western mind set is no logic at all!). Cole has a wonderful way of looking at the foibles that make up living in India, ‘find something to laugh at every day!’. Believe me there is no shortage of chuckles when you live in India. While our days have begun to take on an India rhythm we have still had a few adventures in the past eight weeks. So let’s look at some of the ‘exotic’ parts of the past three weeks.

Hyderabad
In the beginning of November I had the pleasure to finally see another city of India, Hyderabad. While I was only there for a weekend it really reinforced Cole’s comments upon his return from his trip to Dehli and Moussorri….’you have to get out of Kolkata and see other cities in India’. First you have to understand Kolkata. Kolkata is old, very old, 300 years old with all the infrastructure that comes with a 300 year old city. The IT wave that has rolled across India in the past ten years is finally cresting here. (Guess that’s why I am here, eh?) Kolkata still is the small village encased within a population of 17 million. Roads are fair to poor, one stop shopping is not a common occurrence, cell phones are everywhere but everything else is a works in progress. When you live here its easy to think all of India is this way, trying to be modern but doing a poor job at it. Then you travel to a city where the IT crest has washed through and you see what Kolkata will be in a few short years. Hyderabad is one of those cities, gleaming shopping malls, smoothly paved roads with lines making the driving lanes, IT parks with major corporation’s buildings gleaming in stone and glass. As I drove around I thought, ‘so this is what Kolkata will be one day. But I digress…..

Hyderabad is a city of medium size proportions for India in Andhra Pradesh. That means its population is only 5.5 million! Believe or not after Kolkata it actually felt like going from Duluth to Grand Rapids or comparing Minneapolis to Duluth. Hyderabad was the second city in India to experience the IT boom in the 90’s. To create the IT sector hub the city mayor actually cut through miles of houses and shops to create the infrastructure to support the IT growth. Even today you can see the open floors and rooms of the houses and shops that were literally chopped in half.

Hyderabad is in the southern part of India where the weather is dryer and the landscape is more like the US Southwest than like Florida. Gigantic boulders and rock formation are everywhere, very reminiscent of Utah or places in Wyoming that I have visited. It is considered the part of India influenced by the Rajasthan culture. The Rajasthan influence is what most people equate with India when they think of India, elephants, turbaned men, Taj Mahal (no, not the blues singer!), camels, snake charmers, a mixture if India and Muslim influence. Hyderabad is known as the pearl capital of India. Even though it is not near the ocean this is where the pearl merchants of India sell their wares. Consequently Hyderabad has become one of the jewelry capitals of India and the wedding capital of India. Downtown Hyderabad is filled with stores displaying ornate wedding jewels and garb. The jewelry I saw was truly stunning. If you love jewelry and you ever make your way to India put Hyderabad in your itinerary.

Since I was in Hyderabad for work I didn’t have a lot of time to explore but did find time to visit Chandimar which is an ancient gate and mosque. Across from this structure is the second largest mosque in India. As I stood on the top promenade of Chandimar the noon call to worship of the mussehein wafted across the market area that surrounded the monument and mosque, an eiree moment and a moment for a prayer of a different sort on my part.

Enjoy the pictures taken from Chandimar and try to imagine……..

Mumbai

Again another business trip…too much time consumed with work and not enough time to really explore. Cole accompanied me on this trip and had the opportunity to do the ‘tourist thing’ while I was at work. Amazingly we both came away with the same impressions. Mumbai is a major, westernized metropolitan, cosmopolitan, center. It is on the same level as New York, London, Tokyo, Sydney, Rio de Janeiro, Toronto, Hong Kong, Singapore, etc…… it’s a place that is big, a city for night life and people younger than ourselves. While Kolkata’s city motto is ‘City of Joy’, Mumbai’s city motto is ‘The City that Never Sleeps’. I can attest this is true. Traffic in Mumbai actually INCREASES the later the night progresses. That’s a statement in its self since traffic in Mumbai in the day time is the worst congested traffic I have seen anywhere in my travels.

So what were my best memories of my week in Mumbai? Top on my list was the vast expanse of the Indian Ocean I could see everyday as I walked along the sea walk. I had forgotten how nice it is to look out across a body of blue expanse and see all the way out the horizon. The ocean walk in the bay reminded me of Duluth’s lake walk and I enjoyed it everyday I was there. My second best memory of Mumbai was the fantastic sea food you can enjoy at a location on the ocean’s edge. We feasted on prawns the length of my forearm and lobsters as long as my arm, crab as big as a plate……all for very reasonable prices. My third best memory of Mumbai was tied to a novel I was reading at the time. A friend at work had recommended I read the book Shantaram which is situated in Mumbai. During my walking tours with Cole I was able to see some of the actual locations described in the book. It’s always memorable to link locations with the images you create in your mind with reality.
Tomorrow Cole and I leave for our first vacation in India since arriving here. A whole week without work and with no agenda for getting acclimated, organized and established. We are journeying to the hill country of West Bengal to visit Darjeeling and Kurseong. These are ‘hill stations’ that were established during the British Raj era of India so the inhabitants of Calcutta (now known as Kolkata) could escape the heat of the summer months to the foothills of the Himalayas. If we are lucky and if the mists and clouds are kept at bay we should be able to see the highest peaks of India. Temperatures will be like those in Duluth in November and I can’t wait to feel some cold, clear, pine scented air. While everyone else says, ‘get out of India to somewhere that works’ we want to explore our temporary country. Hopefully we have great adventures to report.

Puja 2006

What do you call a festival in India that’s like a combination of Christmas, Fourth of July, New Years, the State Fair and a Rolling Stones concert? In Kolkata you call that festival Durga Puja. Breaking apart the words, Puja means prayer, Durga is a Hindu goddess. Durga Puja is a festival that celebrates the goddess Durga whom the Hindis believe defeated the evil god Shiva. For four days at the end of September devout Hindis believe that Durga visits the city of Kolkata to give her continued blessings. The ‘puja’ season actually begins at the end of August when the pre puja shopping begins. People save year round and spend it all during the month. All shopping areas are packed with people on the weekends buying presents for all members of their family. Puja shopping is like having every day from the end of August to the end of September like shopping the day after Thanksgiving. Everyone is out trying to find that perfect gift or puja outfit. All the retailers are conducting Puja sales and the billboards and newspaper ads all promote pre Puja sales. In the Lifestyle section of the newspaper, articles are published on this year’s Puja trends with articles on traditional foods, traditional dress and articles on how Puja is celebrated through out the area.

The cooking and the shopping are only a small part of the Puja preparations. The larger preparation, and the one that has the most significance, is the building of the Puja Pandals. In mid August, late at night in the empty streets of Kolkata you can see old and young Indian men pulling hand carts full of bamboo 15-20 feet long. They are bringing their carts to public areas within the city to build bamboo structures that are two to three stories tall. Once the main frame of bamboo is erected and held together with jute rope the artists begin building their framework of ornamental display that turn a bamboo scaffold into a detailed and ornate replica of a Hindu temple found in greater India. It is amazing the work that is put into these structures. As the four day festival nears the goddess display is created depicting the battle Durga had with Shiva.

Then comes the actual Puja celebration that lasts four days. As Kolkata approaches the four day fete everything starts slowing down. Very little work is done. Want something delivered? Wait until after Puja. Want someone to come to your flat to fix something? No problem, as long as you can wait until after Puja. All Kolkatans that have moved from the city come back during Puja to spend the holiday with their families. Extra flights are scheduled into the city. Extra trains are routed to Kolkata. It’s hard to believe that a city of 17 million can hold more people but it does! Traffic, which was congested and slow before, now goes to a crawl.

The four day holiday begins, each day having it’s own significance. Farmers are brought into the city from outlying villages to act as drummers before the goddess. Children perform plays in front of proud parents and grandparents. Families gather at their smaller, local pandals and sit for hours sharing their Puja food specialties with family, friends and neighbors. During the festival thousands of people visit the most ornate and popular Pandals. The local paper and city officials conduct a Pandal judging contest with the winnng Pandal earning prize money for their neighborhood. This year at one large Pandal display 80,000 people visited in one day. (No that is not a typo!) When I tried to describe this to Momo on the phone I asked her to imagine the whole city of Duluth going to visit Canal Park to see the Lift Bridge all on the same day. The Puja ends on the fourth day with the devout taking the goddess to the Hooghly river to submerge the idol and send it on its way to the Bay of Bengal. Then everyone collapses from the exhaustion of the four day fete.

While this was interesting to watch and observe and the pandals are truly a work of art our hearts can only be saddened by the knowledge that all this activity is devoted to a statue that cannot save or give a lasting foundation of joy. While Kolkata is named the City of Joy this holiday Puja was a stark reminder that Kolkata’s joy is like the city, built on sand.

Interior of Ballygunge Pandal

 

Pandal in Ballygunge at Evening