Dharamsala (McLeod Ganj)

Dharamsala o tiksliau miestukas pavadinimu McLeod Ganj, esantis uz 10 km nuo Dharamsalos pirmiausia asocijuojasi su Dalai Lama ir Tibeto vyriausybe tremtyje. Si puiki bet siuo metu laiku salta vieta kalnuose kurioje galima sutikti Tiobeto budistu vienuoliu, is viso pasaulio suvaziavusiu turistu, beveik vietiniu hipiu ir elgetu is visos Indijos.
Pats miestukas tai kokios 10 gatviu, kuriose vyksta guvi prekyba suvenyrais, knygomis Tibeto ir Budizmo tematika, vietiniais Tibeto skanestais - koldunais mommo. Bendras jausmas puikus. Vietos vienuoliai ir turistai labai draugiskai nusiteike taciau mieste tvyro sioks toks liudesio jausmas nes cia gyvena tremtiniai, kuriu salis uzimta ir apie tai visi kalba. Dar miestuke yra Dalai Lamos rezidencija, vyriausybes tremtyje ofisas, kelios sventyklos ir vienuolynas, perkeltas cia is Tibeto. Prie Dalai Lamos namu kabo skelbimas kad del sveikatos problemu jis sumazino audienciju skaiciu todel uzsirasyti reikia bent jau pries menesi. Nakti,einant gatve ir svieciant menuliui debesis galima pasiekti ranka. Cia buvau tik 24 val. todel spejau tik trumpai pajusti vietos dvasia. Viename is vietiniu video teatru, kuri sudaro 20 minkstu autobuso kedziu ir didelis plokscias TV pirma vakara ziurejau puiku filma Samsara kuris labai estetiskai pateikia ivada i budizma ir pagrindini konflikta tarp atsiskyrelisko vienuolio gyvenimo siekiant nusvitimo ir tokiu zemisku troskimu kaip seima.
Kitas dvi naktis gyvensiu traukiniuose kol pasieksiu sventa miesta Varanasi.

Vygis

Amritsar

Kelione prasidejo vakariniu skrydziu i Deli ir 6 valandu laukimu New Delhi gelezinkelio stotyje Sleeper Class laukimo saleje. Zmones miega ant grindu o tarp ju smirineja ziurkes. Zavu. Tikriausiai issirinkau leciausia traukini visoje Indijoje, nes kelione, kuri trunka 6 val., uzeme visas 14 val. Aisku jokio sildymo. Taciau daug puikiu vaizdu vagone. Trauknys stoja visose stotelese taigi ilipa ir islipa daug zmoniu kurie vaziuoja trumpus atstumus. Kiekviena karta prabudes matydavau naujus kaimynus. Daug ju buvo piligrimai, kurie drasiai galetu papuosti bet kuri Haloween arba NM kaukiu baliu.
Atvaziuoju. Mieste lyja. Temperatura kokie +12 C. Trumpos derybos su riksa ir pasiekiu viesbuti. Jau vakaras, todel skubu pamatyti pagrindini miesto stebukla - Auksine sventykla. Amritsar yra Sikhu sostine esanti karingame Punjabe regione kuris tai pat garseja savo virtuve. Sikhai - karinga tauta - daug ju tarnauja karininkais Indijos kariuomeneje. Zinomiausias Indijos Sikhas - dabartinis Indijos premjeras devintis zydra galvos raisti. Apskritai Sikhai megsta issiskirti ir kiekvienas Sikhas turi tureti penkis simbolius. Vienas ju - galvos raistis. Vyrai ir moterys nekerpa plauku (plaukuotos kojos huh...). Vyrai nuo mazumes savo kasas slepia po galvos raisciais. Antras - kardas - apginti silpna. Nors daugeliui Sikhu kardas liko tik simbolis devimas kaip zenkliukas prie galvos raiscio, as maciau daug piligrimu, kurie i reikala ziuri daug rimciau. Traukinyje man pozavo vienas toks turinti 1.2m karda ir dar 0.5m durkla. Apie kitus simbolius skaityti cia.
Sikhu religija yra Hinduizmo ir Islamo misinys. Pati auksine sventykla - nedidelis aukso lakstais dengtas pastatas esantis Nektaro tvenkinio viduryje apsuptas siena. Norint aplankyti reikia nusiimti batus, uzsideti galvos raisti (mano apsukta beisbolo kepure buvo OK, nes paslepe pakausi) ir pirmyn. Vaiksciojimas po sventykla basomis esant gal +10 C ir lyjant ikvepia. Bunant sventykloje apskritai apima didelis pagarbos jausmas matant kaip nuosirdziai zmones eina ir meldziasi. Tikriausiai atviriausia religija su kuria susipazinau iki siol. Beje kiekviena Sikhu sventykla turi nemokamus nakvynes namus ir valgykla visiems. Daug turistu cia nemokamai gyvena iki 3 dienu. Maistas, beje, auksciausios kokybes. As geriau arbata ir galiu pasakyti, kad ji skanesne negu daugelyje vietu. Daug seimu ateina dienos metu ir padeda ruosti valgi - pvz. lupa ir pjausto cesnakus. Per diena, jei tiketi Lonely Planet, svetykloje pavalgo 30.000 zmoniu.
Hinduistai cia yra mazuma ir, nors jie turi savo "auksine sventykla" mieste, ispudis visai ne toks.
Antra lankytina vieta Amritsare yra Indijos Pakistano sienos kirtimo punktas, kur kiekviena diena, leidziantis saulei, abiejose pusese vyksta veliavos nuleidimo ceremojima. Vaizdas toks. Abiejose pusese yra tribunos, kurias kasdiena uzpildo atvaziave ziopliai. Veliavos nuleidimo metu vyksta nedidelis parada kurio metu abi puses sinchroniskai skanduoja Indija/Pakistanas jega! ir pan. Nezinau ar tai taiki agresijos israiska tarp saliu, kuriu santykiai nepasikeite nuo 1948m. ar tikro draugiskumo zenklas.
Mano zinutes is kelioniu bus siek tiek "sausos" nes neturiu galimybes nukrauti nuotraukas taigi pridetu nuoroda i viena is svetimu foto

Vygis

Indija uz 35 Lt per diena

Sveikuciai,

Jau geros 3 savaites, kaip blogas buvo mires. Egzaminai, prieskelioniniai rupesciai etc. Kadangi mano draugas Paul jau tikriausiai i si bloga neparasys ir nera susirupines jo promotinimu tai persijungiu i kalba, kuri yra arciausiai Sanskrito :)
Jau savaite, kaip keliauju po Siaures Indija susiplanaves isleisti po 35 Lt per diena. Ar LT dar galima pavalgyti padorius pietus uz tokia suma?
Teisingumo delei pasakysiu tai si suma neapima bilietu keliauti didelius atstumus. Jie (aciu liberalizuotam dangui ir galimybei keliauti ivariomis gelezinkelio klasemis) kainavo apie 500 Lt. Taigi ka galima nuveikti uz 35 Lt per diena.
Viesbutis - 20 Lt (Rs 300). Uz sia suma gausite dvivieti kambari (poros sutaupo!!!) su kartais svariomis paklodemis, staliuku, kede, asmeniniu dusu ir praustuvu. Jei pasiseks kambaryje bus karstas vanduo (bent jau is ryto). Sildymo (keliaujantiems Indijos siaureje) - niekada. Miegmaisis rekomenduojamas.
Maistas. Toks gurmanas kaip as jam isleidzia daug pinigu. Valgyti paruostas darzoves pigiau. Bet kuriuo atveju Indija yra geriausia vieta vegetariniam maistui (jei liezuvis ir skrandis gali pakelti prieskonius). Bendrai maistui iseina apie 13 LT (Rs 200).
Na ir likutis riksoms, elgetoms, vandeniui ir pan.
Aisku tokia suma neapima silko, kilimu, hindu religines atributikos, sariu ir visokiu panasiu suvenyru, kurie puikiai kaupia dulkes namie, pirkimo. Kitas "postas" apie Amritsara - Sikhu miesta.

Vygis

Yellow-Blue-Pink: Jaisalmer

Yellow-Pink-Blue resembling famous movie trilogy by Kieslowski and describes three distinct Rajasthani cities which each has a dominant color. This is probably the shortest of my post or rather the invitation to explore the yellow color of Jaisalmer.

PS The shadow of your obedient servant is in the middle

Liberalised skies

Many peole argue that the best way to experience this big country is to conquer vast distance in the general train compartment (either seating or sleeper depending on the time of the day). This is the place where one can observe how the majority of Indians travel. However, for students like, who are busy with classes and submission great help comes from liberalised aviation sector. With airlines popping like mushrooms one can get a good deal from Delhi to Mumbai for, say Rs 1500 (25 Eur) one way. Of course general rules like advance booking apply. I now some of you intend to visit India shortly therefore provide here the list of the most popular airlines. Some of them do not cater to foreign nationals, some do not accept foreign business cards but studying their offers can give one a good overview on locations covered and prices. My sure bet so far was Spicejet, which I has no problems to purchase online so far. So plan your trips, save your money and get ready for the Indian experience.
http://www.spicejet.com/
http://www.airdeccan.net/
http://www.jetairways.com/
http://www.airindia.com/
http://www.indian-airlines.nic.in/
http://www.jagsonairline.com/
http://www.airsahara.net/
http://www.flykingfisher.com/
http://www.goair.in/
If you still intend to travel by train (which I highly recommend too) I suggest to read excellent info on the railway system and then try to get used to the official website of the Indian Railways. You will this info when buying tickets in the stations anyways.

Selling to the Indian consumer

Ever wondered how local companies and foreign multinationals sell to the Indian consumer. Except of raising middle class which accounts for 200 million or so people, the great majority of Indians still earn basic salaries. Many of them are daily workers meaning that every morning they do not know what will be the catch at the end of the day. As a result they will buy only at the end of the day and only what they need for that day. Additionally, only about 5% of the trade in India is organized meaning the country is sprawling with small retail shops and street vendors.
How Coca cola or Procter & Gamble can adopt their global strategies to sell in a vast yet often poor market in the country which will host the biggest world population b y 2020? One obvious answer is to produce locally. It is correct but it not enough. The true answer is small packages and intensive distribution. While Europe markets “get more for less” economy packs Indian trade sells cigarettes individually even if package of 10 is available. I fell sick and visited a doctor who prescribed me a medicine to be taken for 3 days only. Guess what I got from the pharmacist? Exactly the amount of tables I needed for 3 days. They even cut a strip of 8 for me.
Apparently this requires quite different business thinking. Whoever is interested to explore a topic more should read a book “Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid, Eradicating Poverty Though Profits” by CK. Prahalad. I also attach the link to the particular book’s chapter talking about the needs and approaches to these markets.

Kausani: Kingdom of spiders and friendly people

Given my current study workload I should be writing to you about branding of Indian iced tea in Germany (the topic of the paper I am sleeping with for the last 4 days). But, since I mentioned branding, I have to live to my brand promise i.e. updating my friend on my experiences in India. Therefore this post is about Kausani in Uttaranchal region, which I visited almost a month ago.
Kausani was the final destination of our five day trip to Uttaranchal. Referred to as Switzerland of India the place is the closest spot where one can enjoy views over the Himalayan mountains both right before the sunset and right after the sunrise. But our small international team has another reason to visit Kausani too. The reason is half a day trekking from Kausani to Baijinath. The whole trip is about 10 km descent. It is not mentioned in the Lonely Planet guide which gives us the good feeling of being alone all the way.
5 am in the morning and our alarm clock wakes us up to catch the first rays of the sun to enjoy the Himalayan views. We go to the hotel terrace along with the whole Kausani village and, for an hour, enjoy the sunrise taking pictures and drinking tea. However the biggest “job of the day” is still ahead. We pack and start descending to Baijinath. We only know the final destination and have no map. The only piece of knowledge we have is that there is a trail parallel to the road. Luckily we pass several villages and ask for the way along. After about half an hour we reach the first village and the wonders start. People leave their houses, everybody says namaste folding their palms the Indian way, little kids give us flowers, women give us fruits. Never in my life had I seen so friendly people. We continue our trip and rich the river valley where we encounter shepherds’ kids. The fun starts. They keep asking us to take pictures posing in front of us in the most professional way. After the picture is taken everyone rushes to see it on the camera screen. This is the biggest entertainment for them. In general, if you travel in India you will often come across poor Indian kinds which will be greeting you and asking to take a picture. Make sure to show it to them afterwards. Also make sure you hold your camera firm not because they might steal it but because you will be attacked by at least 5-10 of them all at once. I personally prefer to have candies or small change in my pocket I can give if the case comes. But be aware. Once you give to one you have to give to everyone else too.
Five hours are over. We arrive at Baijinath where people are no less friendly then in the mountains. Quick lunch, visit to the 10th century temple (official purpose of the trek), polite refuse to spend the night in the house of the generous local patron of students and we head back to Nainital to take the night bus to Delhi.
I invite you to mentally make the trek my seeing the pictures I took along the way.

Sudden discoveries

Have you ever found yourself in a location you like so much but never planed to visit nor were aware of its existence just a couple of hours ago. Well. Let me introduce Raniketh to you. We visited it during our early October trip to the Uttaranchal region in the North of India. One hour by plan to Delhi, seven hours by train to Kadhodam, one night at the foothills, breakfast at 6 am and we are ready to board the jeep to hit the road for our final destination Kausani (which I will cover in my next post). We stand at the road side, jeeps come, drivers shout the destination, jeeps get full and they depart. No schedules, no receipts. That’s the way to travel in the mountains. After five minutes of waiting we learn that Kausani is not reachable directly thus we either have to change at either Alamora or Raniketh. Friendly appearance of the driver and smaller charge make it easy to decide and we embark on 3 hour journey. I found myself crammed in the back with 5 people occupying 4 seats. The jeep ascends bendy roads moving at 20 km an hour, driver continuously switches his attention between the brakes and the signal while I regret I was born or, at least, had breakfast that morning. Three hours of torture and we get off at Raniketh just to get the next jeep. However the day is young so we decide to explore the main street, get some water and depart in ten minutes. What one thought to be a short introduction turns out to be half a day stay enjoying mountain views, meeting people, playing with children, taking photos and just wandering around.
Ranikteh is a place where the density of population gets back to the standards we are used to. People are not spoiled by tourists and no one pays attention to the three wandering backpackers. As banks are closed we approach local jeweler to change some rupees into smaller notes. The result of this exercise is that we have the a new friend we spent one hour sipping tea and contemplating over the similarities of world religions with. The rest you will find in the photos by visiting this link

Shubh Deepavali (Happy Diwali)!

Diwali preparations

Diwali – the Hindu festival of lights – is here at last. Considered to be the most important yearly festival Diwali celebrates the return of Lord Rama after killing the Demon the festival symbolizes the victory of good over evil. Although the temperatures are around +35C these days it feels like Christmas. Sound of burning firecrackers adds to the general traffic noise, entire city is lit up, people buy sweets and greet each other. Our dorm prepares to celebrate too. Managers of tomorrow do not mind smudging with some hands-on work. The decoration has started this night with a few dorm artists making the frame for Ganesha rangoli (sand base picture to be covered with color powder). Rangoli is made for goddess Lakhsmi (the goddess of prosperity) to come to the house. In addition our dorm mates promise a lot of light and decorations all around the dorm (you see your obedient servant making hangers for oil lamps as contribution).Diwali is predominantly family celebration but those who stay on campus try to recreate it here. Tomorrow I will buy some sweets as someone might drop and I need to be prepared.