Every year, at the beginning of April, Qing Ming Festival is celebrated. Chinese people honour their ancestors and clean the tombs of the dead.
To celebrate the festival, Chinese people decorate and clean the tombs of deceased family members
Burn fake money
Eat these delicious red bean stuffed glutenous rice dumplings (I love these things!!)
I get a long weekend here in China. This works out rather well for me, because it’s usually a few days before my birthday, so Dave and I began a tradition of getting on an airplane and exploring Asia. Last year, we hopped over to Seoul for the weekend, but this year, we decided to check out Taipei; Taiwan’s capital.
About Taipei
Now, Taiwan is a bit of a confusing and difficult subject here in China. If you ask most people in the world, they think Taiwan is it’s own country. I mean, they have their own currency, their own government, their own passports and visa regulations….it’s easy to see why some people might get confused when China claims Taiwan as its own.
We noticed many similarities right away….nice bridges over ponds…
Beautiful architecture
Street performers
As far as China is concerned though, Taiwan is a province and not a country. But, like many areas of China, Taiwan has its own culture, it’s own cuisine and it’s own customs that are quite different from the mainland.
We also noticed the differences, such as the wildlife….
Seeing children feeding birds instead of chasing them….
Rules that seem to actually be enforced
Clean and smoke-free areas
Night Markets & Street Food
We have friends from Taiwan who were very excited about our trip to Taipei. Before we left, Linda gave us one very important piece of advice: “try everything”. So we did!
He slowly cooked these little balls….turning them over and over….
This was my favourite street food of the trip! They are doughy balls with squid in the middle, topped with seaweed. Delicious!
The night markets in Taipei are exciting, lively and full of interesting and tasty food to try. There’s an abundance of choices, and my biggest regret is having run out of stomach room before I could try them all!
We waited in line for ages at this one spot, but never actually got to try the wraps they were making. They were simply too popular!
Dave’s favourite street food was the ‘beef guy’, who was flame grilling chunks of beef (something we don’t eat often in China). When we asked if we could mix flavours and get cumin, salt AND pepper (instead of just one of the three) he laughed and said ‘sure!’….an uncommon occurrence in China, where people follow orders without much room for change.
We only ate in one actual restaurant during our time in the night markets, and that was mostly just for fun. “Modern Toilet” is a poop-themed restaurant with food that certainly doesn’t look like it should be eaten! The whole place was silly, but the food was alright, and it was a good laugh, so I’m glad we stopped in!
Of course, night markets aren’t ONLY about food. We also saw street performers, movie theaters and arcades, as well as all the shopping options you could ever possibly need. I appreciated the fact that you could buy popcorn without watching a movie, because salty theater popcorn isn’t a thing in China, but it is in Taiwan!!
Dave and I trying our luck at Mario Cart in an arcade
Lungshan Temple
Our cultural stop in Taipei wasn’t planned, but it sure was pleasant! On our way to find another night market, we stumbled across Lungshan Temple. I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves.
Taiwan also celebrates Tomb Sweeping Festival, and Lungshan was buzzing with people offering sacrifices and praying to their ancestors. Incense was being burned in various places around the temple as well.
A man lighting his incence
There were several of these big metal incense ‘pots’ in use around the temple.
This one was my favourite
Flowers were also being placed all around the temple
This was probably the nicest temple we’ve seen ‘in China’. It was extremely well-maintained and the detail was stunning. I couldn’t take enough pictures!
Taipei Zoo
We weren’t planning on a trip to the zoo, but we ended up in Taipei during a rather drab and rainy weekend, so to the zoo we went!
We were pleasantly surprised by the space the animals were allowed. They seemed to be well cared for. Unfortunately, the Asian elephants looked quite stressed out, which further convinced me that they do not belong in city zoos. Our time in Sumatra also gave me insight into how Orangutans and horn bills are suppose to live….and zoos are not it!
The orangutan made me want to cry….
The African elephants were in better spirits than the Asian ones. I couldn’t actually look at the Asian ones for more than a moment, because I didn’t want to burst into tears in public…..
This guy just looked bored…..
Primates don’t belong in zoos….no matter how good of a zoo it is!
Taipei 101
The large building in the photo below is called ‘Taipei 101’. It was our last stop before flying back to Suzhou, and although I’m not usually all that impressed with architecture, I really liked this building!
Taipei is a gorgeous city, and the view from the 89th floor of this skyscraper is impressive, to say the least! Taipei 101’s observatory is definitely worth a visit!
There were two things that really impressed me about our trip to 101. First, it was the elevator ride to the observatory. To get from the 5th floor reception to the 89th takes only 39 seconds! The elevator moves so quickly that your ears pop on the way up! I’d been in tall buildings before, but Taipei 101 holds the record for the world’s fastest elevator!
The second thing to impress me at 101 was the Wind Damper. At first, I thought it was just a big metal ball that was hanging there for show…then Dave explained…
Taipei 101’s Wind Damper
Wind Dampers are used to help stabilize very tall buildings from wind and seismic activity (earthquakes). It turns out that ‘big metal ball’ is quite a scientific feat! You can hear more about this from people who actually know what they’re talking about by clicking here. To Summarize
A weekend in Taipei is not NEARLY enough time to see everything the city has to offer, but it is a start! The people were incredibly friendly and helpful, the food was amazing and it was a modern, clean and beautiful city. There’s so much I have left to see and do in Taiwan, that I just KNOW I’ll be back before to long!
Those were an exciting and adventurous 30,000 steps!
Sardi was our guide for days 1 and 2 of our tour and he also accompanied us during our 2 day jungle trek, as he’s going to become a trekking guide himself.
I can’t say enough nice things about Sardi. He was very helpful throughout the tour and he knew so much about the jungle!! He’s still learning English so he sometimes struggled to explain things but he always tried.
He grew up in the jungle and even Bukit Lawang was overwhelming for him when he was a child. He was completely at home in the rainforest, hopping around in flip flops while Dave and I tried not to slide all the way down the mountain on our butts!!
He really made the already amazing experience so much better!!!
Horas!! Hello, Welcome!! It’s all we heard as we walked through Bukit Lawang late Friday night. People here are unbelievably friendly and the smile doesn’t fade when they know you aren’t buying anything.
Our experiences in North Sumatra have been so wonderful, and a lot of that has to do with the way we’ve been treated. Everyone is so kind and welcoming. Everyone wants to make sure we are happy in their little town.
I took this picture as we were walking through town over the weekend. People had come out from Medan for the holiday and were playing in the river. When they saw I had a camera, this family started shouting “photo!!! Take our photo!!!!”.
I’m so glad I did because I feel like it captured the feeling of this beautiful little “Gateway to the Hills”.
We can’t exactly say we’ve “seen” Malaysia at this point, but due to the layover options we had on our way to Indonesia, we were able to spend 2 days in Malaysia’s capital: Kuala Lumpur.
Kuala Lumpur is a beautiful, diverse and reasonably developed city in South East Asia. I had heard a lot about this great city from my students (several are Malaysian), so I was really looking forward to seeing the city for myself.
One thing that really took me by surprise was how delicious and spicy these tame-looking noodles were. Living in China, I eat a lot of red chillies, but green chillies aren’t used much here. Also, the little green peppers used in Malaysia are fresh, which is quite different from the dried ones I’m used to.
Long story short… If you’re going to be trying these chillies for the first time… Make sure you’ll have access to a bathroom 4-5 hours later!!!!
PS: they were totally worth it!!!
STAY TUNED!!!
I’ll be sharing a lot more about KL after our trip, but for now, I wanted to give you a sneak peak with my “post of the day”. I really loved doing daily updates in November, so I figured I’d do the same this trip. When the trip is over, I’ll be doing more in-depth about the things we did and the places we went!
Another day, another blog post! We decided to change things up and go to a Starbucks out in Suzhou New District (where SFLS is located) because I have a farewell IGCSE dinner to attend later tonight. It’s so crazy that another term is finished! Most of the department is returning next year, but we are losing a teacher or two that I wish we were keeping.
Me with some of my favourite IGCSE teachers at Nathan’s Art show.
Personally, I’m happy to be staying in the department. I really like the administration in IGCSE and next year I’ll be taking over as the grade 7 and 8 English teacher. Right now I only teach 1 writing class but next year I’ll be teaching 3, plus 3 oral and listening classes. I think it’ll be better for me than teaching Food and Nutrition and I know I’m more qualified for my new role. Plus, I still get to keep 2 of my drama classes and I’ll be starting a new Publishing and Editing elective next year (my class will be in charge of the school yearbook, the school calendar and our departmental blog!). Exciting things are in store for me in September!
Although teaching Food and Nutrition wasn’t my cup of tea, the end of the year was a lot of fun!
Neat and Tidy!
The Grade 7 IGCSE boys
My grade 7 writing class is one of my favourites to teach, and I know I’m going to miss them over the summer. These kids are very bright for their age so I decided to teach them how to write simple thesis statements in an effort to better organize their writing. Michael is a student who tends to be a bit of a downer…always complaining about how tough life is. I taught him the word ‘optimistic’ earlier this year and he’s used it every chance he could. This was my favourite use of this word:
This year I see them twice a week, but next year I get them 6 times a week, so I’m pretty excited about that! These kids never stop making me laugh! They are truly a joy!!
Tom from IG1…he may not be the most studious student of the bunch, but he’s hilarious
The IG1 kids standing outside the teacher’s locked office while Nathan and I were practicing our song for the IG2 Charity Show
IGCSE is a really cool department to be part of. Although I mostly taught in the Elite Department this past year, I took part in several IGCSE projects and I ran the school yearbook as well. All of the staff try to provide a well rounded school life for the students and I try to help out whenever I can. But my favourite thing about IG is the way they help out with a migrant school in Suzhou.
One of the Blooper Pages for the yearbook. It’s mostly just Nathan and Adam making faces…but I feel that it well represents the spirit of the IGCSE staff room.
Migrant schools are for children whose parents are from other provinces but who have come to Suzhou for work. They are highly underfunded and the students don’t as good of an education. Each class in our department gets a chance to visit a migrant school each team. This means that nearly every month, my department takes an afternoon to spend time teaching students English. It’s a learning experience for everyone involved because the migrant kids get some English lessons and the IG kids get to see how lucky they are to be going to a school with the resources that SFLS has. We have Nathan (my boss) to thank for this added activity for the students. He’s been working with the migrant school for years and has won awards for the help he’s given them.
Nathan and I performing at the Grade 8 Charity Fundraiser last week
So all these little projects have really filled up my year, but none of them took as much of my focus and hard work than the Drama Festival. It took months of work, hours of writing, days of rehearsal…but in the end, it was all so worth it!!!
I was in charge of everything including writing speeches for the MCs, setting up mini shows between each play and writing and directing 4/5 of the plays at the festival this year. From sets, to sounds to costumes and script…I was involved in all of it! It was a pretty big job…
Because of my background in writing, I decided early on that my focus was going to be on writing the plays and (of course) having them act them out with comprehend-able English. Nathan ran the Drama festival last year, and with his art background there was a lot more focus on sets and props, so it was kind of cool to mix it up this year. I’m especially proud of the way each of my classes came up with their plays:
Step 1: I began the term in February by teaching my students how to write a story. First, we focused on writing good characters and making sure that their characters had depth. Then, I taught them about plot and what a good plot line looks like.
Step 2: Each class was separated into 4 groups and I gave them 2 weeks to write the outline for a play. I gave them free reign on the topics and they came up with very different stories.
The winning Elite 2 Boys group. Vasyli was intense about their play right from the start!
Tracy and Victoria from Elite 1 Girls. This class had the most difficulty choosing their play. In the end, it came down to a few votes….but even the losing teams did a fabulous job presenting their ideas to the rest of the class
Step 3: Each group presented their outline to the class and then the class voted on which play they would do for the drama festival.
Step 4: I took the winning outline and turned it into a play. I met with the students and got a better idea of what they wanted to see in their play and discussed ways that we could add characters so everyone who wanted to act could. Then I wrote the dialogue and presented it to them. Other than a few small details, the students were thrilled to see their ideas come to life on page in proper English.
One of the small performances between plays. This is a grade 8 boy from the Elite Department. He plays the piano beautifully and entertained the crowd while I organized the next play to go up
The sound guys from Elite 1 Boys. This was these guys’ first Drama festival and they were a little less organized than I’d hoped. Samuel is the kid covering his face…He’s in Grade 8 and was losing his patience with the excited boys! lol
Because of the way we did this, there was HUGE buy in from the students at the Drama Festival. Each class was so proud of their play and they all worked very hard to impress all the other students. Here’s the breakdown of each play: Elite 1 Girls Class (Grade 7)
Their play had all the usual school characters: A good teacher, a Bad teacher, rich students, poor students, hard working students, lazy students…
Julia played the teacher-villain of the play (back row on the left). She did SUCH a wonderful job. When she finished her first scene the whole audience went nuts. She memorized her lines within 2 weeks of receiving the script and she had more lines than anyone else in the play
These girls wanted to write a story with a moral, so that’s what we did. They worked the hardest out of any of my classes on their emphasis and pronunciation and the other students noticed. Although their play wasn’t as exciting as a lot of the other plays, they really shone because their speech was so clear. I am very proud of these ladies and I’m super bummed I won’t be teaching them again next year! Elite 1 Boys Class (Grade 7)
Jagger…the evil robot
Adam, Poker and Jagger arguing
Adam and his assistant, Alfred, bringing to life the good robot, Potter
One of the fight scenes took place in a restaurant. It was probably my favourite scene in the play. It was VERY well done by the boys!
This was one of the funniest plays at the festival. Adam, the student wearing the big glasses, is a Drama King! He wrote the outline to a fabulous “Robots and Mad Scientist” type play that the class voted in. There were several fighting scenes (with correlating sound effects) that had the audience in stitches and everyone loved how the Narrator was killed by the villain in the end. I was worried about this play before the festival because it seemed like the students weren’t listening to anything I was saying during rehearsals, but someone was obviously paying attention (probably Adam lol!) and they pulled it together in the final hour! It was an AWESOME play and I’m very excited to be teaching them again next year! Elite 2 Boys Class (Grade 8)
Peter (the boy with the mic) struggles with pronunciation and hates English class. Drama has given him a creative outlet where he’s learning English in a new way. He loves acting and has become quite good! Best of all…his English has improved a tonne!
Vasyli is my star. He was so dedicated to the play that he was spending all his free time practicing, to the point where he didn’t know know HIS lines…but everyone else’s too! One day we were waiting for the auditorium to be unlocked, and he spent the time entertaining the whole class by doing the entire first scene…he played all 4 characters and had us all laughing up a storm.
These were easily the most hardworking students at the Drama Festival. Not only did they participate more than any other class with the writing of the actual play, but they were practicing in their free time and they added so many things to the play that weren’t in the script. They OWNED this play and it was a huge success at the festival.
A brilliant calling card
These boys spent the entire scene like this. They did pretty well to not move, but when they inevitably did, it just added to the fun!
Detective Echo being interviewed by a reporter. William (on the left) is such a humble kid. When I asked him to play one of the leads he looked at me shocked….this kid is a brilliant actor! I don’t know how he didn’t think the class would want him in a lead!
Mike is another one of my favourites in this class (I laugh as I write this because they’re honestly all my favourites). He’s so careful about his pronunciation and vocabulary. He cares such a great deal about everything he does. Such a cool 14 year old.
The Drama Festival was SUCH a success!!!
The story line was very funny and although it wasn’t originally suppose to be a comedy, we were all glad it became one. It was a detective story about a murderer who’s calling card was to leave high-end underwear on his victim’s heads (the underwear wasn’t part of the original script but when I told them they needed to have something memorable in the play, that’s what they thought up….middle school boys are hilarious!!).
No matter how many times I saw that play performed, I laughed every single time. I loved watching them from the side of the stage…I’m so proud of these kids!!!
IGCSE (grades 7-9 co-ed classes)
The plays’ protagonists: Heisenburger and PJ. Tiffany played Heisenburger and did SUCH an incredible job with her lines!
Suzy as PJ…a student in love with socks
Discovering the perfect recipe for candy
The IGCSE play is the one I’m personally most proud of, because I wrote it all myself. The students were in the middle of their IGCSE exams during the festival so they didn’t have time to help as much as I would have liked. Still, they worked hard at remembering their lines and bringing their best actor-selves to the stage.
The end-of-play fight scene)
The heroes of the play: The janitor and Chef
The Blue Candy inspired by Breaking Bad (I used dyed coconut shavings!)
The play was called ‘Breaking Bad: Candy Crush Edition’ and it was based on the television show, only instead of crystal meth, the students were selling a special type of candy that was addictive and high in sugar content. Because the play was set in IGCSE, the kids LOVED the issues brought up (the candy starts as a distraction to break ‘the homework system’ that’s keeping them all prisoner). Best of all, 3 teachers (myself included) made guest appearances in the play. Isaac, the Economics teacher. does body building on the side, so he came out and raged at the students for misbehaving, even breaking a meter stick in the process. Adam’s socks were stolen for candy and I was found crying in a hallway because of all the ants that the candy had attracted into the Food and Nutrition kitchens. Students and teachers alike loved the play and I think it was the perfect way to end the festival. Even Mr. Rehan, who prides himself in being quite serious, sent me a message after the Drama Festival was over saying: “Thank you. In my 2 years at this school, this is the first time I found something so entertaining”. Win for Marie!!!!
Adam playing himself…a stressed out teacher who’s socks have been stolen
So that’s been my spring term! Lots of projects and lots of hard work…but all worth it!
(I am truly looking forward to next year’s Drama Festival already!!)
I love my life in Suzhou. I’ve made some incredible friends and adopted some awesome cats. I’m working at a great school in a well-run department where I am respected and valued. I have opportunity for growth here in Suzhou, both professionally and personally and I’ve even been able to focus more on my health here, going to the gym and being more careful with my diet. I’ll be 30 soon and I need to stay healthy so that my 30s are as rockin’ as my 20s were. Still, today I’m not feeling much love for the Venice of Asia. Perhaps it’s the smoggy weather or maybe I didn’t sleep very, but China is getting on my nerves today!
It didn’t feel great being outside today. I took an underground tunnel most of the way home
This morning Dave and I met a friend for breakfast, and as is often the case with Michael, we got into a discussion about what it’s like living in China. Michael’s still on his first year here and he is still noticing some of the things that Dave and I have learned to ignore and his perspective on life here always reminds me of the things that foreigners live with on a day to day basis out here in the orient.
A Frequent theme in my blog
And all things considered, there really isn’t very much that we need to worry about. China is safe and the people here are kind and friendly, the countryside in this country is diverse and stunningly beautiful and the expat community is quite large so it’s easy to make friends in Suzhou. But, as is the case anywhere, China (and Suzhou) has its problems…
The Great Wall of China
Gardens in Suzhou
Rural Guizhou
The Li River, Guangxi China
The LongJi Rice fields in Guangxi
The Sun and Moon Pagodas in Guilin
As I mentioned earlier in this post, I’ve been going to the gym. I’ve been pretty good about going 3 days per week and although I haven’t lost much in the way of weight (I think I’m building muscle), I’m becoming noticeably more toned and I’ve been slimming down. I’m very proud of the way I’ve been looking lately and I feel good about doing something positive for a body that has treated me pretty well so far in my 29 years. But I’ve gotta say…as much as I love working out and feeling energized, it is EXTREMELY difficult to love Chinese gyms!! Where should I start?.
I discovered, while writing this blog post, that Powerhouse is a chain outside of just China.
The Equipment: Although there are about 20 treadmills at Power House, they only have 6 eliptical machines, 1 stair master, 10 bikes and some weight side to side machines that kind of make you feel like you’re skating. Now, I have no problems with the treadmills…there are more than enough and they are in good shape…but I also don’t use treadmills very often because they kill my knees. So that leaves 20 cardio machines that I CAN use…except 8 or 9 of them are almost always broken. The ones that AREN’T broken are such poor quality that they always feel like they’re about to fall apart underneath you. Out of all the elliptical machines, only 1 of them accurately tracks distance and calories…1!!! It’s the same with the weights and the resistance machines. Many of them are missing pins so you can’t adjust the resistance without first hunting down a pin from some other machine. Plus, nobody puts their equipment away after they use them, so there are random weights just hanging around on the floor…a little bit dangerous…
Standard Operating Practices…
There are 4 machines down just in this shot alone…
Sanitation: This is a big one. There are no towels or spray bottles anywhere at Power House so people don’t clean their equipment like they do in Canada. I can’t tell you how often I get onto an elliptical and realize that the handles are covered in someone else’s sticky sweat. I bring my Norwex towel with me to help with that kind of thing, but it’s still pretty gross. The bathrooms are also pretty dirty. People don’t flush their dirty toilet paper in China (something about the sewage systems not being able to handle it), so the garbage cans are full of that dirty toilet paper. It smells awful and the cans get emptied so rarely that the entire hallway around the bathrooms and change rooms stinks like urine. Not pleasant…
The biggest problem with squatters themselves is that it’s sometimes hard to control where your pee ends up….so most of the time, it ends up on (at least) the bottom of your shoes, and you end up tracking it out of the bathroom…
The People: This is the worst part of going to the gym. I can’t even tell you how many times I haven’t been able to finish my work out because someone is sitting on a machine I need, texting or checking their WeChat accounts…it’s infuriating but I often feel like I’m the only person who cares. This kind of thing was especially bad in January and February, when all the New Years resolution memberships started up. Girls (the worst offenders) would hop on a treadmill and spend 10-15 minutes going back and forth between stretching (on the machine!!) and taking selfies to post on WeChat. This isn’t a huge gym, and while there are plenty of treadmills, that can’t be said about any other machine in the building. Yesterday I gave up after waiting 5 minutes for a guy to get off the crunch machine I wanted to use to target my upper abs. And that one elliptical machine that works…the one I mentioned before…people hog that machine for 50+ minutes…some of them hardly even breaking a sweat they are going so slowly because they are too busy enjoying their favourite TV show on their cell phones.
And most of the time, people aren’t just taking short breaks between sets…they literally use the equipment like public benches…
And this is where the title of this post comes in…a lot of these problems are annoying but forgivable. After all, I know my standards are high…I’m lucky and I was born in a wealthy country where I have the luxury of having problems as shallow as ‘not having cold enough water’. I also know that the sewage issues in China are complicated and that not everywhere in the world is as sterile as North America (it’s weird coming home for visits by the way…everything feels too clean…the whole country feels like a hospital). There are absolutely things that can be explained by pointing out cultural differences…and foreigners who have been here for a while are always quick to point out that you’re being judgmental for getting upset about some of the things we deal with here in China. I always feel bad when someone says that to me, because I try very hard to be understanding of cultural differences…
A picture depicting the difference between line ups in North America, vs the way it’s done in China…I even learned to embrace this in Guiyang and Xiamen (it’s not to bad in Suzhou). I put aside my Canadian upbringing and learned to push my way to the front, just like everyone else…
But this morning, when we were having breakfast with Michael, he said something that really rang true with me during my work out today: When can we stop pretending that EVERYTHING is about culture? How many things can we blame on cultural differences, really?? When does Culture become an excuse?
The Chinese think that drinking cold water is bad for your stomach…so even at the gym, you can only find hot water, or room temperature. At Power House, one of the options is suppose to be cold, but it comes out warm enough to steam up my bottle, sooo…
I don’t think that the selfie taking at the gym is forgivable just because I’m in China and “things are different here”. I also don’t think people have to leave their equipment all over the place for others to trip on. And I definitely don’t think that a gym like Power House, who claims to be the ‘western gym’ and charges western prices, has any excuses as far as buying terrible equipment is concerned. None of these things are cultural…they’re just people being inconsiderate of others. And maybe it’s my Canadian background…maybe it’s just my upbringing…but I really have very little patience for inconsiderate people. Wouldn’t the world be a better place if everyone just paid attention to other people’s needs and tried to be more aware of the world around them?
Another example of this behaviour..some one took off with the school kitchen’s mop over the holiday. There was a water issue in the kitchen and the only way I could get the water out of the mop they left behind, was to take it outside and step on the mop to get the water out…People take things from that kitchen all the time and leave messes as well. I don’t know if they just don’t realize that SOMEONE has to clean it (that someone being me), or if they just straight up don’t care…
So those are my thoughts today. Living overseas can be very hard some days, and although it’s gotten ions easier for me since moving to Suzhou, there are still thing here that tick me off. I guess I still have not succeeded in becoming the Super Wizard that I long to be… a Super Wizard who is annoyed by nothing and can aparate to Canada any time she wants to go to the gym or meet her gorgeous new nephew, Zachary.
Thank goodness I have these 3 to keep me sane!
There’s still more about India on its way! Thanks for checking in!!!
Varanasi (also called Banaras or Benares), is easily the craziest place I have ever experienced. If you take regular India, which is already astoundingly crazy, and add another factor of about 10, you have Banaras!
This is the closest I got to the river. I originally had plans to either go in, or to at least touch the water….those plans changed once I arrived and smelled the Ganges…
Located in the North Eastern state of Uttar Pradesh, Varanasi is the holiest sight in all of India. 3 million Indians and 200,000 foreigners flock there every year to see the holy Ganges and the many ceremonies celebrated there. And it isn’t only the Hindus that find this place holy. Jainism, Buddhism and Shiekism are all linked to Varanasi as well, and about 25% of the city’s residents are Muslim, so there is a great deal of cultural diversity. Best of all, is that all these cultures seem to come together in a peaceful way. That, in of itself, might be a miracle!
Preparing to bathe in the holy river
Our first time walking down the Ghats, I spotted this bit of grafitti. Sadly, during our second trip down this way, I noticed that it had been covered by flyers advertising a sale…
Cows and boats…typical sights in the ghats
There were plenty of boats being fixed as well
We walked along the River Ganges several times, people watching, animal watching and enjoying the old buildings and colourful scenery. Hindus believe that to die in Varanasi is very auspicious (lucky/holy) because it means that you will no longer have to reincarnate, and instead you will find Nirvana. Many people die and are cremated here and certain Ghats (areas of the river with steps leading into the water) are specifically reserved for that purpose. We saw several cremations taking place, which was both fascinating and a little horrifying for our sheltered western eyes. To the locals, this was business as usual, and there were children playing cricket in the neighboring ghat, where the smoke from the cremations blew into…
Cremation costs are based on the type of wood and the amount of wood that is used in the process. Salesmen in the area will urge you to come up onto a big alter for a ‘better view’ of the cremations, and then request that you help fund the funeral once you go to leave. Frankly…watching a body be cremated wasn’t something I wanted to experience, so the idea of ‘getting a better view’ wasn’t exactly on my list of priorities…
One of several cremation sights
Walking along the river at night was especially interesting. In addition to the cremations, there is a ceremony every night where people send out little floating candle offerings. This year hasn’t been great for tourism in India, so when we were there, there were probably more salesmen than tourists. The big seller on the banks of the Ganges: boat rides. Everywhere you go, people will be asking you a 1 word question: “boat?”. Depending who you speak to, a boat ride along the Ganges can cost anywhere from 100 rupees to 1000 rupees. The official price is suppose to be around 250 (according to government regulations), but just like everywhere else in India, the salesmen in Banaras just can’t help but try and soak you for that extra money…
Boats sit on the Ganges while spectators watch the ‘special’ ceremony that is done every night…
On the banks of the Ganges
Plenty of people also tried selling us hash, opium and even Colombian cocaine (doubtful). And of course, there were always beggars around, with various ailments..some real…some badly faked. It is considered specially good to give money to beggars in Varanasi, but it’s very unwise to do so as a foreigner. If you give to one…not only are you encouraging a practice that the government condemns, but you’re also opening yourself up to being mobbed by 30 other beggars in the area. I had it happen to me in China, and it was scary! It is very hard to give in when you are being asked by children…so hard…but it’s much better that they take on jobs instead of relying on begging. Especially with India’s growing tourism industry and the jobs that are being created with further focus on sanitation in the country, there will be more and more jobs opening up for these people in the future.
See here: urinals. Of course, nobody uses them. Instead you see people peeing up against the walls everywhere…the smell is terrible in some places…
There is hope for Varanasi though…trash bins are being placed all along the ghats. Now the struggle the government faces: getting people to USE them…
There is also life away from the Ganges’ Ghats. This densely populated city has a population of about 1.2 million residents. When you add in tourism, there are some very full roads. Varanasi is also quite poor, so the infrastructure leaves something to be desired. In an alley barely wide enough to fit 1 car, you’ll find Tuk Tuk’s, rickshaws and cars all weaving around each other, while pedestrians and people on bikes try to get out of the way. And of course, there is livestock everywhere as well. We saw plenty of cows, goats, pigs, chickens and even a few horses walking the roads of Banaras. Considering that the holy city is larger than the capital of my home province (Winnipeg, Manitoba), the variety of animals in the streets is surprising to anyone just arriving in India.
And if you think I must be exaggerating about the state of Varanasi’s roads, I will provide proof of the mayhem. This is a combinations of several videos I took while visiting the holy city.
A picture of the ‘back seat’ mentioned by the tuk tuk driver. He insisted that he could fit all 3 of our suitcases…us…and him (plus 2 back packs). Something tells me that wouldn’t have been a pleasant ride…
If markets and the River aren’t what you seek in Varanasi, there are also plenty of temples to see. According to Wikipedia, there are an estimated 23,000 temples in Varanasi, ranging from small shrines to massive stone structures. We didn’t go into any this time around because we’ve seen enough to last us a lifetime. Instead, we walked the busy streets and spent an afternoon at a small cafe near Assi Ghat. Open Hand Cafe was wonderful…playing English music (the Dixie Chicks!!) and serving excellent coffee. Best of all, they sell items made by disabled women and children, who are unable to otherwise create income on their own. With fixed and fair prices, it’s an excellent place to make purchases.
Although this pack seems well fed, there were way too many skinny dogs in this city! I saw one with a rat in its mouth and I caught myself cheering for the pup! My joy that he was getting a meal trumped my disgust at the dead thing it his mouth…
A beautiful building down by the river
Varanasi is thought to be one of the world’s oldest continuously lived-in places. Some of the buildings sure look old….
In short, in Banares you will experience everything from fully visible cremations to near death experiences on the road to people claiming to be selling Colombian cocaine. No matter what your interests are…Varanasi has something for you!!!
And always remember…you may think you’re cool…but you’ll never be as cool as these guys!! (they were probably about 14 years old…)
We’re home now…but don’t worry! I’m not done writing about India just yet! Stay tuned for my posts about the Taj Mahal, our night in the desert and our final days in Delhi!
We are sitting at The Mark Cafe, a 2 minute walk from the River Ganges, and it’s Valentine’s day. Dave and I have a habit of spending the most romantic day of the year in foreign countries, and although this Valentines day has probably been the furthest thing from Romance that we’ve seen, it’s been interesting in its own right. I’ll be writing about Varanasi, or Banares, next time though. For now, I’ll be writing about the mayhem that is Mumbai.
The Mumbai Skyline
Mumbai, formerly called Bombay (during the Brittish rule of India), is a port city on India’s west coast. It’s the home of Bollywood, the world’s largest open-air street food market and is also India’s most populous city. There isn’t a whole lot to do in Mumbai, so we didn’t stay very long, but a day and a half was ample time to see the sights that deserve to be seen.
Like this really cool McDonalds!
Their Big Macs here don’t have beef in them (because…well…India), so instead they have jalepeno peppers and chicken
What makes Mumbai so remarkable, as far as I’m concerned anyway, is its architecture. Because the city has been under both Portuguese and British rule in addition to its Hindu and Muslim history, there are so many interesting buildings to see!
This old Colonial-era building has been turned into a train station
There isn’t a lot to see inside…
but the constant flow of people coming in and out of the station is really something to see! Mumbai is one of the most densly populated cities in the world…and at this station, that is not surprising…
One of the difficulties of being in Bombay though, is the security…
There’s some ugly history here. Some fundamentalist Hindu groups have caused problems for the Muslim population (killing over 1000 Muslims in 1992 and 1993 during riots) and in return, Muslim fundamentalist groups have bombed popular tourist sights and other places of interest in Mumbai. There has been peace in the city now since 2011, but as precaution, there are metal detectors going into every shopping mall and every tourist sight. Even going to Starbucks, means having your bag searched, being patted down and walking through a metal detector. Scary stuff…
This is the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel. It was one of the places that was bombed during one of the bigger attacks in Mumbai
Security going into Starbucks…
But not all of Mumbai was scary…like every city in India, they have an abundance of farm animals running through the streets….Also, the taxis here all have funny designs on their ceilings. They’re quite nice actually, as far as taxis go. And everyone uses their meters so HAZZAA!!! No arguing required!!
Funky ceilings
A crow sitting on a cow. He was originally sitting on the cow’s head, but he flew away before I could get a good shot…
A cow in the middle of a sidewalk in Mumbai…
My next post will be about the most insane city I have ever visited…stay tuned for my post on Varanasi – Home of the River Ganges.
This weekend was a little exhausting, but still managed to be a lot of fun! I think I’m FINALLY getting over my 4 week cold (the joys of teaching my little germ infested monkeys!), and I finally got to participate in the school’s cooking activity Sunday night! I made deviled eggs, Guiyang style. I substituted paprika for La Jiao and boy were they a hit! I had a couple of hecklers in the front row (kids can be so cruel!!) telling me they smelled bad and were going to be gross, but BOTH of them tried coming back for thirds, so I was pretty pleased with myself!!
The event involved all of the teachers cooking western dishes for the students; A brilliant marketing activity on the part of my boss! Not only did the kids learn some new words, but they got to taste western food they’d never heard of before. A full western experience!My sous-chef, Maggie, and I. She is a teacher at the JinYang branch, and she is lovely 🙂 Behind me, you can see a fellow Canadian Lao Wai…I keep telling him his face is going to get stuck that way….
As much as we would have loved to spend another weekend in another corner of Guizhou province, Dave and I opted to spend this Monday and Tuesday recovering our health and tackling the daunting task that is ‘cleaning our kitchen’. We still haven’t gotten around to cleaning it since we moved in a month and a half ago. It took nearly a week to get the rest of the place sanitized, and we needed some pretty heavy duty degreasers to get the layers of filth off the walls, so until now, we’ve just kept the door shut and avoided that room.
Of course, cooking on Sunday made me miss having a kitchen SO much that we’ve decided to make that our project tomorrow. So here I am, doing the next best thing to actually traveling: writing about traveling!
After a gorgeous and relaxing night in Zhenyuan Ancient town, we set off for our River Cruise Tuesday morning. A van picked us up at the hotel at 8:30am and we traveled to the Wuyang River dam with 2 other couples (both Chinese), which is located about an hour from the Ancient town. The road there was bumpy and pretty scary at some points, but we got there in one piece, perhaps thanks to our Chinese friends in the van, who continually told the driver to slow down because they didn’t want the Lao Wai to think badly of Chinese roads or drivers! One of them spoke English, which was great. I’m very proud of the amount of Mandarin I can speak (Dave told me about a month ago that he was SHOCKED when we got here…all of a sudden I could speak a 3rd language!), but it’s so nice getting a bit of a break now and then as well!
The dam where our cruise startedThe pagoda where our boat docked
We were the only La Wai on the cruise, which was both nice and a bit of a nuisance. It was nice being the only westerners because so many of the people we’ve met on cruises in China have been very closed minded and extremely judgmental of the Chinese. But on the other hand, because we were the only light skinned occupants on the boat, we became a tourist attraction ourselves. Although the views from the boat were terrific, people seemed to be more interested in snapping photos with US…instead of with the scenery. We obliged for a few people (the ones who had been in the van with us), but then hid away from the crowds, where it was warmer and where we could enjoy the views, just the two of us 🙂
The most famous rock formation near Zhenyuan.Beautiful Guizhou mountains, and our boat’s flag 🙂
Roughly 3 and a half hours after the van picked us up, we were dropped off at our hotel, where we had to check out. The hotel’s owner was kind enough to hold our luggage for us while we walked through the ancient town once more. This time, we viewed the south side of the Wuyang River during the day time, which turned out to be just as beautiful of an experience as it was at night!
The gorgeous pagoda we’d visited the day beforeSteps lead into the water all over the ancient townMy favorite shot of the whole trip. I nearly dropped my camera in the river while taking it…but it was worth the scare!This was the first time we’d felt sunshine in about a month. We were so excited that I quickly snapped a picture! The sun is a wonderful thing!!!We had supper on the other side of this bridge the night before. Like I said…just as beautiful as during the day 🙂
Eventually, we found the old city wall, that was built around 2000 years ago, and has since been restored. As the sun shone down on us, we walked along the clean path and enjoyed the gardens and the sounds of the river.
We took the north side of the river back to the hotel and enjoyed such a contrast in environment! After our serene walk along the old wall, we were met with the hustle and bustle of a Chinese city.
The archway leading back into old townA construction site. Notice the lack of any safety gear…Chickens…they’re everywhere. Today, in Guiyang, we saw a woman carrying a live on in a bag over her shoulder…oh China!There were children playing under this mess of wires. I can’t help but cringe, and wonder what the stats are on random electrocutions due to an insane lack of safety regulations in the country!
Squatter toilets for sale!! Get your squatters here! On discount, today only! Get your squatter toilets here, ladies and gentlemen, you won’t regret it!!
Still, as we wound our way down alleys and smaller streets during our final hour in Zhenyuan, we enjoyed unique sights and absorbed all the ‘new’ we could. There’s nothing quite like traveling, and I feel so incredibly lucky to be in a situation where I can just pack up for the weekend and experience something like Zhenyuan Ancient Village. I’m living the dream 🙂
Another one of my favorite shots from Tuesday. This was the view between two random buildings on the way back to the hotel. Just beautiful.An alleyway we explored, in search of a hostel we’d seen a sign for. We have every intention of returning to Zhenyuan (there’s so much we didn’t have time to do!), and although we’d love to stay at the same place again, a traveler knows that back up plans are a must!I can’t be certain…but I’m pretty sure Bowser is waiting to fight me on the other side of this door….unfortunately for him…he has NO IDEA how many hours I spent learning how to defeat him in my youth!!!
Thanks again for tuning in, and check back soon! I still have so many posts to write!
