Journey is Life

Sydney is a lovely city. It has beautiful public art installations across the city. Taking a walk along the streets is the best way to explore any city. I try to walk as much as possible in all the new places to feel the place. Sydney being one of the best cities to walk due its perfect footpaths, provides more reasons to take a walk and it is all worth it. I never got tired walking on the streets of Sydney.

A few art installations which were intriguing are here for you. There is a story behind each of these pieces. These interesting installations made me to stop and take pictures.

1. Forgotten songs

A small alley in Angel place, opens up to sky with number of cages suspended and birds chirping. It was such a fabulous sight. There was queue of couples posing for wedding photography. A great framework for a memorable picture.

I took some time to realize these cages were empty. Song of birds was coming from speakers. Forgotten Songs is an audible cum visual installationof suspended empty cages in the air singing forgotten songs of birds. This art was developed by Michael Thomas Hill with a team of technical consultants in 2009. This art commemorates the songs of fifty birds once heard in Sydney which don’t exist now due to urbanization.Speakers have been set to change according to the chirping of morning and night birds.

2. Islay

Islay, QVB Sydney

As we move closer to him he says, "Hello, my name is Islay. I was once the companion of the great Queen Victoria. Because of the many good deeds I have done for deaf and blind children, I have been given the power of speech!!". Apparently Queen Victoria was fond of her dog, Islay. On his memory this bronze sculpture is installed in front of the famous QVB building with motion sensors. He asks us to pay him money.It was so funny that when he was alive he was begging for biscuits now he begs for coin to help blind and deaf children.

II Porcellino

Wild boar, II Porcellino

Staue of wild boar stands outside the Sydney Hospital. Apparently it is the copy of one in Florence. It is believed that if we rub his snout, it brings luck. I don’t know how many were lucky after rubbing his snout, but certainly almost everyone one will try. Snout color will certainly speaks of number of rubbings. We need to make small donation towards the hospital before we rub his snout.

4.Waiting

A business man reading newspaper is a statue by J Steward Johnson by name Waiting. It is located in front of Australia square building.

Waiting - News paper reading man, Sydney

5.Rhino Sculptures

Rhino sculpture

When I was in Sydney in April, there were Rhino sculptures all over Sydney.Each one was different from the other. It was an initiative taken by Tarong Zoo to raise fund for Rhino conservation program. I was told that all these sculptures will be auctioned to raise fund. When I again visited a month later I didn’t find them.

6.Eternity

Eternity

Eternity is a very significant word in Sydney. Word Eternity is written in aluminum on the path at Town Hall Square. It has an interesting story. As told by my guide, word Eternity handwritten was found everywhere in Sydney from 1940 to 1960 for 20 years. Only in 1956, it was revealed that an eccentric man who found peace in religion was writing the word everywhere and it seems it was found in half a million places on wall, footpaths and everywhere.Now, as Aussies say, word Eternity has become quintessentially Sydney message. During opening of Sydney Olympic, Sydney displayed what this word Eternity means to them by writing it in fire works.

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Sand waves

Sand dunes of Nubra Valley, Ladakh. It is a cold desert in the valley of Himalayan mountain at 10,000 sft altitude

This post is part of Wordless Wednesday

When you walk along the streets of Thimpu, you just can't miss Buddha point on the mountains of Thimpu. It will play hide and seek as we move around Thimpu city.

Buddha view from Thimpu

Located 6 km from the city, Buddha statue at Buddha point is the tallest sitting Buddha in the world. It is the latest attraction of Thimpu.

Buddha in the backdrop of blue sky

In local language it is called Buddha Dordenma. 51mt long Buddha statue will house more than 100,000 nos of small statues. When I visited, construction of interiors of the structure housing statues was going on. I didn't see any workers around.

Buddha's smile in the backdrop of blue sky surrounded by mountains overlooking Thimpu valley was such a serene experience.

Third eye made of diamond

It was me , Buddha and chilling breeze. I savored the company of both.
Pls visit Skywatch Friday for more pictures on Skywatch

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Located outside Bhubaneshwar away from the city’s hustle bustle, 64 Yogini temple certainly makes you curious. While driving through the not so good road you wonder who has built this temple here. But, by the time you visit and return you will have sufficient answer for the way it is located.

Paddy fields on the way

I had heard about 64 Yogini temple and it was on top of my list when I visited Orissa. After visiting Dauligiri, place where Ashoka won Kalinga battle and took a paradigm shift to renounce the violence and to thread the the path of Buddha, I headed towards 64 Yogini temple. After a severe rocking drive on a muddy road surrounded by paddy fields, car halted at a place where I didn’t find any gopura or Shrine to recognize it as temple.

Compound seen is the temple premises. Due to its heights it is not even seen from the road

When I entered into the temple premises, it was about 3 in the afternoon. There was no one around.My driver brought few boys one of them was in the attire of priest. He guided me to the temple.

In the entrance of the temple premises there is a small temple. May be recently built. Couldn’t make out the deity.. The temple has an unique architecture. Unlike Hindu temples, where god or goddess is housed in the sanctum sanctorum with heavy gopuras, this temple also called as Mahamaya temple is a circular temple without any roof. It is open to sky. If we observe, we can see the temple is built in the shape of vagina(yoni). I was not surprised, as it symbolizes mother goddess. The way child comes through the yoni of the mother, the material world comes into existence through Mahamaya. Mahamaya is the Yoni.

Circular roofless temple

I had read somewhere that there are only 4 Yogini temples in India and this is one of them. Height of the temple is barely 8 ft. Inside the temple along the inner wall are niches where each of the Yogini’s are installed. Each one of the Yogini’s are different with distinct feature and have different animals beside them or mounted on them. Temple is built in sandstone but Yoginis are sculpted in different stone.

Yoginis on the inner wall of the temple

The presiding deity Mahamaya is in the middle of the circumference. Priest whose family is in charge of Pooja for the temple performed pooja to Mahamaya and asked me to pay some money. When I paid he demnded for more. There was no escape. They had covered Mahamaya with red clothes and lot of vermillion covering the idol. In the center of the circular temple is a small structure- Chandi mantap which has Bhairava , a form of Shiva and Yogini.

Mahamaya, the goddess

Outer side of the circular structure houses nine deities called as Katyayinis. They serve as a guarding deities.

Katyayini on the outer wall of the temple

As soon as we enter the temple we can easily make out this temple belongs to tantric cult. There is a big platform outside the temple which I was told was once used for sacrificing animals. That explains why temple is located outside the city , outside the village almost in a place which is not easily accessible. Priest, continued to explain that even now, they are scared to enter the temple premises after dark as they believe Yogini’s go out for round during night and villagers hear some sounds. Not sure how true it is.

Structure in the centre

Mahamaya the goddess, has 64 attendants with different animal consort with them. As per tantric scriptures 64 is a symbolic number.In India, 64 has lot of significance. Even art forms are 64 in number. Tantra explains Yogini cult which worships Mahamaya. This temple is believed to be built during 9century. Since, Buddhism was at its peak during that time, this temple could also have been influenced by Buddhist tantric practices. As this temple is evidently Tantric temple, it was not known to public till 1953, when someone discovered it. It could have been intentional to keep it under wrap.

It was an experience to feel surrounded by 64 Yogini’s when I was standing inside the circular temple.

Notes

- - 64 Yogini temple is 15-20 km away from Bhuvaneshwar. It is about 8-9 kms from Dhauligiri. Morning hours are good time to visit the temple as somebody in charge of the temple will be available.

Adi Shankara was not only a philosopher and poet but he was a great explorer. After listening to multiple stories across India where he has left behind his footprints, I started wondering how extensively he has travelled.

From putting Indian philosophy on the world map, to creating beautiful hymns on God and Goddess, to interpreting Upanishads in the light of Advaitha, to build crystal clear philosophical argumentation, Shankara has done it all in just 32 years.

I always wonder probably Adi Shankara was the first trekker and Travel Guru of India. Let me tell you how?

Shankara travelled India from internet

I go to Kalady in Kerala tohear about wonderful deeds of lad Shankara. It is the birth place of this great seer. I come to Sringeri in Karnataka which still reverberates the name of Shankara. Being very closer to hometown, we often visited this place and I grew up listening to spiritual tales about sage Shankara. Sharada Peetha in Sringeri, established by Shankara is one of the great seats of learning (Peetha). Advaitha philosophy took shape here, many philosophers emerged from Sringeri spreading the Vedantic lore.

I go to Puri in Orissa, again to see his footprints. He has established another Peetha here. I go to Kashmir there is a hill named after him. Shankaracharya hill in Srinagar is one of the major attractions. I didn't like the frisking experience and high security before climbing up the hill. There is a temple for Shiva on the top of the hill. I was told it was named after Shankaracharya after visit.

Shankaracharya temple in Srinagar - Image from internet

I go to Badarinath in the Himalayas where there are plenty of places to triumph his visit. It is he who started the tradition of South Indian priest for Badrinath temple and North Indian priest for Rameshwara in South India. What an idea to connect North and South!! I go to Joshimath, again I see his Peetha there.

Badrinath temple in Badri

There is one more Peetha he has established in Dwaraka in Gujarat. Also, there is Shankaracharya Samadhi in Kedarnath which is supposedly the place where he left his body.

These are the few places I know about his visits. But I am sure there are lot many places where he walked through and left behind a tale.He travelled to spread Advaitha to as far away places as possible.

Add caption

I am amazed by the way he has traversed across India- South to North, East to West by walk when absolutely no facilities were there. Remember, he had travelled in 8^th century to these places which are considered to be difficult to access even today due to landslides, floods, dense forest and extreme weather. For me, Adi Shankara is a pioneer of trekking and most travelled Indian. Shankara was a barefooted philosopher in the real sense.

Have you come across any stories about Shankara while travelling ? Pls share.

A fresh morning, misty mountains, countryside cycling, soothing weather, once in a while drizzling sky , pottery, silk extraction, magnificent temple, elegant kalyani(temple pond), yummy organic lunch and good company... Isn't it a dreamy day for weekend ? It was the stage set for my first reintroduction to cycling after ages.Last I cycled was during my early college days. In and around Nandi hills, just a few kms away from Bangalore opens up unexplored experiences.

Nandi hills

Cycling was always been in my bucket list. But for some or the other reasons I didn't get a chance to try one. I started to realize from last couple of years that my bones are going weak. I was in an urgency to check myself whether cycle is fit for me or not. Then I found this one day trail by Unventured.For some weird reason I never had a taste to go back to Nandi hills after my first visit about 10 years ago. Unventured had an interesting trail to explore around the foothills of Nandi hills. I was intrigued. I decided to go with them.

Nandi grama(village) - PC - Unventured

Initially I was apprehensive about balancing. My whole focus for first few kms was only on balancing and to ensure I am not falling. After a few kms I started enjoying my ride and nature around me.

Fun time on the way

This trail was intended to explore the countryside by cycle. We witnessed the extraction of silk from cocoons. Wonderful are the silkworms to weave such a fine silk in the form of cocoons and clever are the human beings to extract such a fine silk from the cocoon with basic rural technology.

Silk extraction

Quiet railway station near Nandi village

We visited a pottery making unit. We tried our hands to make pots of our design and shape.It was amazing to watch the way potter was turning clay into an art as if he is playing with butter. For my hungry tummy turning clay looked like a chocolate tower!! I wish it was ...

My clay chocolate tower at potter's house

Highlight of the trail was visiting Bhoganandeeshwara temple in Nandi village. I didn't even heard about it. Such a vast temple complex which dates back to 9 century !! It has 3 temples inside. Arunachaleshwara, Bhoga Nandeeshwara and Uma Maheshwara. There is another temple on top of the Nandi hill for Yoga Nandeeshwara. Look at Bhoga and Yoga. While Bhoga is the base , Yoga is the peak.. It is very common in Hindu tradition to see god tagged with Yoga located on top of the hill and Bhoga located at base of the hill. spiritual attainment and material pleasure go hand in hand.They are paradoxical and compliment each other.
When we visited, Kalyanostava was hapepning ( In Uma maheshwara temple). It is an interesting activity celebrating wedding of Uma and Maheshwara. There is a mantap which makes us spellbound looking at the intricate work. Sculpted in black stone is no doubt a master piece. It reminded me stone cot I had seen in Banavasi.

Priests caught in action

Interestingly in this temple there are 3 statues of Nandi which is generally seen as single. This temple is surrounded by a lot of legends .
I love legends. Let me tell you one of them. When Shiva weds Sati, whole gamut of devas go to the Himalayas. It creates imbalance on earth. Then Shiva asks Agastya to go to south crossing vindhya mountains to maintain the balance. As Agastya couldn't personally be there at the wedding venue Shiva recreated wedding scene in Karnataka at Nandi village.People beileve it is good to get married in this temple for long lasting marriage.

Bhoga Nandeeshwara temple

Then comes Kalyani called Sringa theertha. Legend says Nandi dug the ground from his horn and water gushed out. Apparently this Kalyani has water even during drought.It is one of the beautiful Kalyanis that I have seen.

Sringa theertha - Kalyani

We had sumptuous home made lunch at Silver oak farm which is at the base of Nandi hills on the way to Nandi hills by trekking

Whole experience of cycling was cool and I found it was not as difficult as I imagined. Thanks to Unventured team for motivating and being with us all the time inspiring. I wanted to give up at times, but they didn't not let me give up. I am looking forward for many more such rides with them.

Last weekend, I got to listen to two adventurous women – Biker Deepti Jacob and Cyclist Namu Kini in a session organized by F5 Escapeunder their ‘Just Go’ series. F5 escape is a brain child of travel enthusiast Malini who organizes women only travels. Just Go is their talk series on travel from seasoned travelers from different walks of travels. Every time I listen to those travel stories, I come back inspired with many more travel plans.If you are planning to start traveling with group you can contact F5 Escape for exciting journeys.

This time I was amazed to know about biking women’s world. I don’t know ABC of biking. Not even about the brands available in the market. Not sure it is my cup of tea. But certainly felt an urge to try it once. Of late I am drawn so much towards cycle that I might own one shortly.

Malini has aptly named it ‘ Just Go’. Travelling is all about leaving behind our comfort zone, fears and just starting to explore the new exciting world that each one of us crave for.

To me, 2013 was a dry year as for as travel was concerned. I could only manage to travel couple of times. Leaves and free time at work do not go together. But last year, all three were on my side. Still didn’t travel. Something was wrong with me. I was living as if someone has tied me to Bangalore, as if my itchy feet has been anesthetized, as if am an ardent mother who doesn’t want to travel causing inconvenience to family. But in reality I am not such a good person. I kept on planning for family holiday not getting common dates, I kept on planning for a child friendly holiday, not actually travelling.

Before reaching hilltop

Then it was already December, it was the time for planning and making 2014 resolutions. I decided, it ought to be travel as my first priority for 2014. But I didn’t travel on 1 Jan holiday. There were no plans in place for next weekend. I kept on planning. It was already Friday.

On Friday night I slept over thinking about the place to travel next morning. I woke up at 4 which is unusual for me. I was still pondering over the same question. All of a sudden some revelation kind of happened. I knew place doesn’t matter, distance doesn’t count. I knew it has to be JUST GO to untie myself from the pseudo self imposed restraint. I called up for a taxi, reached bus stand and hopped on to a bus to Channarayapattana and from there to Shravanabelagola.

Hari and Viha were still on bed when I called them up from Shravanabelagola at 9 in the morning.

Bahubali statue

I climbed the hill, sat on top of the hill for hours together looking at the bird view of the town and Bahubali, conqueror of anger and jealousy who is an embodiment of spiritual emancipation. Explored the small town walking through its streets, had food in local Jain bhojanalaya. Relaxed quietly in the park watching kids playing. It was still 4.30 pm. In small towns time crawls. In metros it flies at jet speed.

Shravanabelagola skyline - Coconut tress till the horizon

I untied myself from the self imposed bondage. Shravanabelagola was a good start for 2014. This year has been kind with me creating opportunities to travel every month. It’s been packing and unpacking. I am loving it. I will be somewhere in the wrinkes of mountains even while you are reading this. Wish me more travels :-)

Often people ask me ‘ how do you travel so much ?’ I tell them , you need to JUST GO

What was your Just go experience. Pls share

I had been to Nako village last week as part of Kinnaur and Spiti jeep safari. I had booked this with Ecosphere, an NGO from Spiti. Nako is a small village at the altitude of 3660mt in Kinnaur district of Himachal Pradesh. We reached there from Kalpa by evening 6. Journey from Kalpa to Nako takes dramatic turn from pine cedar trees covering the mountains to open, stark mountains with blue sky.

Our stay was booked in a picturesque place overlooking mountains and Nako lake.It was already dusk. I climbed up to the chorten next to our tents. That was the time for cattle to come back home. Small path leading to Chorten was dusty with animals rushing home. View from the top was worth taking the pain to go up. It was getting darker and colder and I came down to tent. It was freezing cold. But there were good quilts inside the tent.

Next day morning, I woke up to realize what a beautiful place Nako is and to appreciate the location of the camps I stayed. I went to see lake and village. Whole village is built next to the lake. Lake was surrounded by Willow trees. Its reflection and its fall color was adding additional charm to the lake. There is a nice walking path all around the lake. I was told that fairies live in this lake. Apparently there are foot prints of the fairies in the nearby caves, where I didn’t go.

Like any other place which is existing from 1000 years, there is a legend for this lake as well. Once, people started to fight between themselves and ‘ adharma’ (opposite of righteousness) started to grow, then a fairy living in the neighborhood was crying every day looking at this. Her tears formed a lake.

Nako is a gateway for Buddhist pilgrimages. There are plenty of Buddhist temples around Nako, which are worth visiting. Trekking is a must to reach these places. Being at the border of Tibet, inner permit is required to stay in Nako for foreigners. Apparently, some part of Tibet can be seen from the mountains after trekking.

Like any other Kinnaur and Spiti valley village, there is a monastery here. I walked through the narrow lanes of the village. It seems that the village exists from 100s of years. Typical houses closely built with narrow lanes in between. While walking, I found this man shaving the wool off a sheep.

I tried to strike a conversation. He said though this village is Buddhist by religion, some of them follow Pandava tradition of polyandry system ( Woman takes more than one as husbands)while getting married. I was intrigued and asking more questions he didn’t answer but said I don’t know anything. I moved ahead and was capturing pictures in front of a home. Lady of the home initiated a conversation. She invited me inside and offered tea. I happily went inside. There was a courtyard with beautiful flowers and apricot tree. I politely said no to tea and instead asked for apricot. She helped me to pluck apricots and gave me handful of raw badam which she had kept it for drying. I comforted myself in front of iron stove kept for fighting cold.

Apricots were juicy and her hospitality was warm to kick start my day.

Travel tips

- Nako can be reached from Reckong Peo – It is about 100 kms from Reckong Peo. We took this route. You can witness greenery disappearing and boulders and rock formations emerging at each end every turn you take

- Alternatively it can be reached from Kaza-Dhankar- Tabo

- Roads are dusty

- There are few permanent tents available for stay with restaurant. Few home stays are also available at very reasonable price. We stayed in Kinner camps. It was neat with attached bathroom. And running water. Hot water would be provided in buckets. They use solar power.

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Kinnaur & Spiti tales - 1- Nako lake

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Kinnaur & Spiti tales - The world's highest post office

Spiti valley means not only stark mountains, monasteries and blue sky. But it has rich culture, mysteries and legends in it. On the way to Tabo from Nako, along the Spiti river we took a small detour to reach Giu village. Look at the Spiti river in this picture.Isn't she gorgeous in her turquoise blue ?

Spiti river on the way to Giu village

Giu village also has an interesting story like any other Spitian village. Our driver had told that he is going to take us to meet someone very old yet fresh. We were in surprise, when we entered a small temple where the mummy lama was kept. It is kept inside the glass chamber and worshiped by the locals. Look at this mummy carefully. It has skin, teeth, nails, hand as if holding rosary and hair. It wasn’t preserved to mummify like Egyptian mummies. No chemicals. But naturally mummified monk of more than 500 years old. Villagers believe that mummy lama is protecting their village in all respects.

How does it happen ??? Spiti is a land of Buddhist culture and religion. Obviously many monks had lived here and were into yogic practices.Even now you find monks and monasteries everywhere in Spiti. Once, famine hit the village. A monk who was meditating in a posture with his chin supported by knees and hands holding japamala(rosary) had died. May be due to starvation or he was trying to achieve nirvana by continuous meditation and starvation.This is very common in Buddhists and Jain traditions. People here believe that he had sacrificed his body to find a solution to deadly drought. After a few centuries,an Earthquake had slightly dislocated the entire region and his body was buried inside the earth. It was naturally preserved in that cold deserts I guess.

In recent years when Indo Tibetian Border Police(ITBP) was excavating the area for some construction, they found ‘him’! Apparently, during this operation, when the axe hit his head, blood came out of mummy’s nose. We can still see the mark on his skull. For few years it was under the custody of ITBP. But travelers were finding it difficult to get access to see him. Hence, recently, it was moved to the newly built temple. Carbon dating tests of the mummy lama say that it is older than 500 years ! Further studies have identified mummy as the 45 years old monk by name Sangha Tenzin of Gelugapa order from 15th century.

As we came out after seeing the mummy monk, there was a group of workers having their lunch and tea. When I tried to strike a conversation they enthusiastically welcomed me to their group and offered tea and lunch. How sweet !! by the time our group also joined me. They gave all of us tea and rotis from their lunch box. They posed and were amused by looking at their pictures in our camera.

Some were too shy. I loved each one’s smile as it was untouched by nuances of modernity just like the Spiti. When we left they didn’t forget to give their address asking us to post their pictures.

Have you come across any such stories ? Pls share ...

Other similar posts which might interest you

Kinnaur & Spiti tales - 1- Nako lake

Kinnaur & Spiti tales - 2 - Sea buck thorn

Kinnaur & Spiti tales - The world's highest post office
Kinnaur & Spiti -4 - Hike to Dhankar lake

Demul and Komic are high altitude villages in Spiti valley of Himachal Pradesh. Komic is asia’s highest altitude village with an altitude of of 14,800 ft above sea level. Demul to Komic is a trekking of about 10-12 kms passing through barren mountains. Three of us with our guide started this trek from Demul. First 2 hours was continuous upward hike. I was going slow maintaining same slow pace while my fellow trekkers were ahead of me by a km distance. We maintained the same pace through out the trekking.

It was after about an hour from Demul, when I heard roaring and all of a sudden I saw birds fluttering their wings and flying away. My legs which were striking to take a step started to sprint. It was not a easy job at that altitude. I called out for our guide. He was waiting after hearing my scream. He said that roar could be of snow leopard which is very common in this region. But he assured that they move out in night and are shy don’t worry. After this, I was trying to walk at his pace.

But after few kms again I was left behind. Now I had reached to the stage that even if leopard stands in front of me my legs wouldn’t have tried to run and my lungs wouldn’t have supported. I knew I will surrender to leopard if at all we come face to face.

I took it easy and started taking pictures and walking leisurely enjoying the beauty around. It was again a stark landscape , grey-brown terrain, stunning blue sky, wonderful geological formations and snow peaked mountains at the distance.

After 4hrs of continuous walking, started feeling hungry. But my fellow trekkers and guide were ahead of me to stop them. So, I had my packed lunch and lying down I was enjoying the soul stirring silence and blue sky, I was fast asleep and woke up when guide woke me up. He was worried that I didn’t turn up and had come back to find me. But that nap gave me all strength to walk again

As moved towards Komic snow cladded mountain Cho Cho Khanilda emerged out. I found a few fossils on the way.

After 6 hrs of trekking we reached Komic village. This is a quaint village with only 13 houses and yaks certainly more in number than people living here. It was evenings. Yaks were reaching home. It was so refreshing sight.

This trekking will remain special in my travel dairy for the quaint time spent for 6 hrs and being in intimately close with nature and for the silence that I felt there. After all it was Himalayan silence.

Similar posts which interest you -

Kinnaur & Spiti tales - 1- Nako lake

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While I post this, Berlin is celebrating 25 anniversary of fall of Berlin wall. Wish I could have stayed back to witness this event in Berlin. I had to come back to catch another flight to Singapore. But, I am glad that I was there this week to see curtain raiser for the celebrations for this big event and to feel the festive mood of the city.

These blue boxes were all around

I had forgotten about the history of Berlin wall except that I knew there was a wall in Berlin. I am not a serious student of history. But when I saw Berliners being so nostalgic about the wall I was intrigued to know more. ‘This was East and that was west ’ were the most heard phrase during my stay in Berlin this week.

Brandenburg gate.. stage installations in progress behind the gate

The fun part of any travel is that it takes you to unseen pages of history in our formative years. For those of you like me who would like to know why did they build wall between East and West Germany ? The story goes like this.

After the second world war, West Germany was ruled by US, Great Britain and France. East was under the Soviet Union’s rule. The whole nation was divided between democracy and communism. Within few years of this divide, one could see that both the sides were growing distinctly in different directions. West Germany was growing economically with its capitalist approach. But East was not making any march forward under communist regime. More youngsters were migrating to West from East Germany and East started to feel the lack of youths in its demography. So communists decided to protect East from West and they raised walls on one fine night. After that night, for next 25 years people had to be part of the nation they slept that night. Without their approval people of Berlin, became West and East Berliners. It is difficult to imagine the cold war days situation in a globalized world of today.

1961 building which doesn't have windows towards the wall. Sorry for picture quality

The border was protected with high raised walls, guarded with high alert level of security, secured with automated war equipments. Arrangement was made, ensuring no one escapes from East to West Germany. They went to the extent to close the window of the houses facing the very wall. I saw a building infront of the Wall memorial. There are no windows towards the wall for 30 feet high rise building.

Remains of the Berlin walll

Next question how did the wall fall ?

As per Berliners, the wall fell down on one fine night accidentally the way it was raised. A spokesperson from East Germany got a message to announce to the world that there would be check posts made to allow people move to both sides. However, he was not informed on the rules and regulations of this operation. While answering to the question , ‘when will that happen?’ he unknowingly answered ‘ immediately’. That’s it. Millions of People gathered at gates. Security force was confused. When they tried to get connected to officers they didn’t get any proper direction. To avoid violence, security opened the gate to create history. People from both the sides entered East to West, West to East. In this way security people protecting the gate at Berlin created history. People celebrated the unification. Some of them started breaking the wall with hammers. The wall started to crumble, and within few days people become one. Since, then the Germans became citizens of unified Germany.

Pieces of the wall is available as a souvenir to buy from the shops

The Berlin wall pieces for sale at souvenir shop

For non –Germans it is just a wall. Being in Berlin during this celebration week I can understand what it means to them. Some of them could see their family members after 25 years ! Joy that freedom brings is limitless.

Lichtgrenze

As part of celebrations, thousands of Illuminated white balloons were lit all the way for about 15 kms where wall once existed. This art installation is called as Lichtgrenze. I I was told these ballons would be released to air today between 7-7.30 pm on November 9. There was a big stage set next to Brandenburg gate. There were mock skits all over there. There were LCD screens in all major junctions showing the history of the wall. The world without walls is the vision of many thinkers across the globe. Germans did it in their own way on November 9^th

I am back from 2 week’s travel visiting 3 countries. Ever since I came, I am hogging the food as if I hadn’t had for months. Thanks to Beijing travel. I starved for few days mainly due to my poor planning.

When I visited Beijing for the first time a few years back, being a vegetarian I was clueless and anxious how Beijing would treat me. Initial couple of days I managed to ask for only vegetables in the restaurants. After couple of meals, what landed on my table forced me to turn into a fruitarian and few muffins helped me to survive. In my next visits, I ensured to carry MTR ready to eat packets.

Now, after 4 years when I had to travel last week, I didn’t want to carry food from home. Wanted to explore vegetarian food in China.I was successful only to some extent. Next time when I go there, exploring vegetarian food will be the first thing in my list.

How did you survive in China being a vegetarian is a frequently asked question from my friends. Here I am presenting 5 facts about vegetarian food and 5 tips for veggies traveling to Beijing

1. Vegetarian concept in Beijing

In China, they don’t have the concept of only vegetarian food.They have wide variety of vegetables which I will not even find in my own land where vegetarian food is a staple food. But it is just that they mix veg and non veg while cooking. It is not like India where we find separate menu for vegetarian and Non vegetarian. If you are thinking of finding some restaurants where vegetarian food is cooked separately, don’t even think so. If you ever tell someone to use separate vessels and spoons to prepare food, you will be looked as an insane person in China

You can see majority of the food is vegetables except central meat.But even vegetables were not tasting made of vegetable oil

2. Ordering vegetarian food

As language is a big barrier in China, it is very difficult to communicate in many of the restaurants unless it is upmarket restaurant. I was explaining to one of my colleagues in Beijing that I need ‘veggie food no meat, no fish and no egg’. She asked me ‘how about pork ?’ Now this made me speechless. I was told that they use Pork oil for many of the dishes especially raw salads. I found lot of improvements in the menu from my last visit. This time I found veggie section as well in the menu. Most of the menus come with pictures. So you can visualize before ordering.

These vegetables were one of my meals

3. What you order may not be served
It happened once during my first visit.My colleagues took me to a Japanese restaurant and they ordered vegetarian food for me. When got it, I suspected something not vegetarian which was used for garnishing the dish even by looking at it. When we called the waitress she said ‘it is vegetarian’. I was doubtful. So we called the chef. He confirmed that it is vegetarian dish. But as a value add he has put meat flakes into it.

Vegetables along with some or the other non veg pieces

4. Typical Vegetarian Plate
A typical vegetarian dish will have bowl of rice and either hot pot or boiled vegetables in some sauce having beans, mushrooms, wood ear mushrooms, sea weed in coastal, carrot and lot of green vegetables.

This hot pot in one of the restaurants was spicy. They used some spice which made tongue numb

5. Buddhists and Vegetarian trend

As per one of my Chinese friends, Chinese during their hard time started eating everything that crawls. Buying vegetables and meat was expensive. Now things are changing. Rich people are turning out to be vegetarians twice or thrice in a week in the name of Buddhism. There are an increasing number of restaurants across the city for Buddhists. We can even find Vegan restaurants. Go vegetarian is a budding trend

These mushrooms were there in every vegetarian dish.

5 tips to survive in Beijing as a veggie

1. A card mentioning ‘ I am vegetarian ‘ in Chinese is a must to carry

Get it in writing from your hotel concierge desk in Chinese that you need only vegetarian food. If possible mention all possible meats to be on a safer side for NO: no egg, no fish, no sea food, no pork, no beef and very importantly no non vegetarian oil.

2. Store some fruits and vegetables

Go to nearby super market and buy vegetables, fruits and juices as an alternative if you don’t find anything outside. You can prepare salads by yourself at hotel. I do this often. Some good supermarkets have some imported breads as well. I am a chocoholic. I can survive on chocolates for couple of weeks.

Fruit shop

3. Rice bowl

Order for a rice bowl which is available in all the restaurants. Which will be for sure meatless. I have heard people saying it has meat stock. However, have checked with many restaurants that it is boiled only with water.

4. International Chain of coffee shops

Don’t expect Starbucks, Costa coffee to have vegetarian sandwiches. But you will find some muffins and desserts ( Of course not egg less)

5. Organic Vegetarian restaurants
There are a few organic vegetarian, Vegan restaurants across the city. They serve only vegetarian food. Some restaurants have mock meat made of tofu and are delicious. Though some of them are priced high. . A meal would cost you close to 100 Yuan whereas in any other restaurants it will cost about 20-25Yuan. But they are tasty and pure vegetarian.

Veggie table - Picture from internet. I lost my pics as i lost my phone

Good planning is required before you travel in finding them in the locality where you stay. I tried ‘ The veggie table’ restaurant near Lama temple. I must food was delicious and place is clean. While searching for veggie restaurant found this link useful http://www.happycow.net/asia/china/beijing/ .

If you are a little flexible and plan well, you can explore China even being a vegetarian.

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Datong, in Shanxi province of China is located 375 kms from Beijing. It might be famous today as the coal capital of China. But, once it was the capital for 3 dynasties and has a history of more than 1600 years. Obviously, we expect the ancient city to have monuments to remind us its glorious past. It is there all over the old city, only to understand that most of this is not the original but completely recreated to bring back its past and to boost tourism. I was told that old Datong looked totally different till a few years back. There was not much left from ancient times. Datong Government decided to rebuild everything including the city wall.

Datong is a very unique city.I haven’t seen any city with such a mishmash of modern buildings and ancient architecture going hand in hand in creating cityscape. There is a total contrast between old and the new city. Old city is completely full of pagodas, temples, archways, city walls, shining green glazed roofs and typical traditional Chinese buildings. Some old lanes will give you the feeling as if you are living in an ancient past. At the same time, some old monuments with fresh appearance make you think about its age.

Yungang Grottoes

Datong is mostly visited for its UNESCO world heritage site, Yungang Grottoes and Hanging monastery. After visiting these sites I took a walk through the city. Here is Datong captured in my camera.

Datong during night

Datong during night was enigmatic due to its lighting effects. Buildings of Datong are lit on top of the roof during night. I wondered this might be statutory requirement for all buildings to have lighting running all around the building on roof top to maintain uniformity. Night skyline was amazing, I could not capture many pictures though.

Lights at night

Skyline during evening light

Nine dragon wall

600 years old dragon wall is said to be the oldest glazed wall of the country. This has nine colorful dragons on the wall. They charged 10 Yuan as entry fee. Once you enter inside, there is nothing except this wall. It shouldn’t take more than 5 minutes to see and come back unless you can appreciate each one of the dragons.

9 Dragon wall

Interesting intersections

Most of the intersections in Datong have very interesting monuments. Either pagoda or some interesting structure which stops you to click a picture for sure. I liked this structure. Clear blue Sky was serving as a background.

Structure at the intersection in Datong

Reconstructing the ancient structures

Apparently, one of their Mayors had started this work of recreation just 6 years back and now he has been transferred to some other post. So all the construction is going very slow leaving behind construction activities through out the city. This palace was under construction and glazed tiles were telling the story of recreation.

Ancient palace under re construction-Datong

Glazed tiles for construction

Traditional Chinese style buildings

Traditional Chinese style buildings have been reconstructed. Some of them looked like commercial space.May be this area is built to create shopping complex.A banner read ' available for rent'.

Re-created streets

This construction was pretty new in traditional Chinese style

Old city square

This place was bustling with locals in leisure on a fine Saturday evening. It was fun to watch them having fun. Some were dancing, some were busy in skating, some were practicing plays and some practicing Tai Chi. I spent good time here watching all the happenings and people around me

New Datong
Once we come out of the old re- created Datong, Datong looks like any other industrial city with high rise buildings, cranes and construction sites.

New Datong

How to reach

Datong has connectivity from Beijing by bus, train and by air. Flight options are very limited. I traveled by flight as I didn’t have enough time to go by bus or train. Over night train journeys are preferred I heard.

Where to stay

There are plenty of hotels available. For budget travelers youth hostel is available

Best way to see Datong

For Hanging monastery and Yungang Grottoes taxi can be hired. Best way to explore the city is by walk.

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Ever since I registered myself for the the epic challenge of goUNESCO, ticking off the world heritage site has become my new craze. Its not that I have seen many World Heritage sites(WHI). But it is so much fun to add new sites to the list.

During my recent visit to Beijing, I decided to visit Yungang Grottoes, one of the world heritage sites in North China. It is 400 kms away from Beijing and is located in Datong, Shanxi province of China. If you have already read my last post about Datong this will be in continuation to that. The Grottoes were reminiscent of Ajanta & Ellora caves in India. It looked more like Ajanta’s sibling. Yungang Grottoes are caves famous for its early Buddhist sculptures.

Yungang Grottoes. Picture taken from the West side

I hired a taxi to visit Yungang Grottoes. The road is good and it hardly takes 20 minutes to reach to the gate of this heritage site. After entering in, I headed towards the help desk to hire an English speaking guide. I never even thought I may not get one and will be left alone to explore. After exchanging some sign language and few words with the help desk lady I was made to understand that such service is not available.

Overview of Grottoes

Now, there I was finding my way to the Grottoes. I had not googled much before going there. I just knew that there is an attractive Buddha statue.

As I entered through a courtyard there was a huge wooden door which opened up into a corridor of stone pillars. They were very interesting in design. Each pillar had a base with women upholding the elephants and the elephants in turn holding the entire pillar on their back. After crossing two bridges and few monasteries I reached the grottoes. There are no direction boards. So there are possibilities of you ending up in some other direction and again walk back to the Grottoes.

Elephant pillers

These Buddhist caves were built on the cliff of Wuzou mountain which is on the bank of Wuzou river during Wei dynasty during 5^th century. There are 53 caves in Yungang Grottoes and in total 5400 statues. It is one of the protected relics of China. They are the first stone carved caves of China. Yungang caves are said to be the combination of Chinese and Gandhara art. They say that there were 5 Indian monks who were part of the team of sculptors in the early period of cave construction. It spans from east to west for about 1 km.

We need to cross the bridge to reach Grottoes

All statues are carved in sandstone towards the cliff. While upper body of the most of the statues are in good condition, lower body of most of the statues are in bad condition. When Wei rulers moved their capital from Datong to Laulong, these caves were left unattended. Apparently all the caves had roof and housed in wooden structure. Wooden structures were destroyed during war and weathering effect has taken out roofing for some of the caves.

Typical cave of Yungang Grattoes

Cave 16 to 20 are identified as the early caves. They also call it as as Tan Yao caves named after the chief artist. Five Buddha statues in these caves are said to be symbolizing 5 emperors of Northern Wei dynasty. Buddha of cave 20 is an iconic statue of not only Yungang Grottoes but even Datong’s. Outside of the caves exists 1000 Buddha sculptures. It is the only cave which is completely open to air. Buddha of cave 20 is one my personal favorites.

The Cave 20 was under some restoration work and I couldn’t get scaffolding free picture. The 5 Buddha statues are said to be influenced by Indian Gandhara art. Buddhas eyes are carved in detail with eye pupil embedded in black stone. This has made the face look more livelier. Long ears almost touching the shoulders are the dominant feature of the statue. This is said to be the master piece of early Buddhist sculptural art of China. This Buddha has dignified facial expression. Doesn’t he ?

Cave 20 My favourite Buddha

Other Buddha statues of Cave 19 to 16 are Maitreya Buddha, Bodhisatva and Trikala Buddha. All have arched roof and an opening on the second floor where Buddhas face is visible and it looks like he is peeping through the window.

Smiling Buddha peeping from the window - Early caves

Cave 1,2,5,6 ,7,8,9,10 and 11 to 13 are considered to be middle period caves built between 471-494 A.D. They have less influence of Indian art and represents more of Chinese art.

Cave 5 and 6 housed in wooden structures

Cave 5 and 6 were different from other caves with colorful paintings and statues. These caves still have wooden housing. They have two chambers. Buddha statue in cave 5 with sitting posture is known as great Buddha. It is 17 ft tall. This is the tallest Buddha of Yungang Grottoes. As the cave is not so wide we can’t take pictures of entire Buddha statue. Photography was not allowed in these two caves and I didn’t observe the sign board. I had taken few pictures by the time I was warned.

Paintings on the wall of cave 6

Cave 5 - Built during middle period . It reflects more of Chinese art. Look at the face and clothes of the statue

Caves to the west of cave 20, and other small caves towards east are built after 494 AD. These are more of niches and they are very small caves. Statues in these caves are more of Chinese in nature, characterized by long thin neck and narrow shoulders. Cave 37 is a pagoda cave and has pagoda at the center and multiple Buddhas are carved in rows on the surrounding walls.

Long neck and narrow shoulders of third phase caves

Pagoda cave 39

There is museum after these caves which houses many statues from caves and excavated items of 5^th century.I couldn’t go to the small grottoes towards the East side. It started snowing . I had wasted enough time in watching other stuff than Grottoes. So had to return.

You need one full day to appreciate the beauty of the grottoes and to soak in the calmness of Buddha all around. It was worth traveling all the way from Beijing.

Travel tips

Most of the travel sites I checked suggested for one day. When you travel next, plan for at least 2 days in Datong. You need a day to explore Yungang Grottoes
Entry fee to Grottoes is steep price of 120 Yuan/person. Yes it pinches. But worth it
Plan to hire an English speaking guide from Datong itself. Like me , you may not find anyone in Yungyang Grottoes
If you want to explore it by yourself, you can make a note from official website Yungangand take a print with you. You can appreciate the caves better
There are no sign boards or direction boards once enter the protected area. Carry a map with you
There is a lot of walking as Grottoes are spread along a km. You will end up walking about 3kms. Walking shoes are adviced

Which is your favorite World Heritage site site ? Pls share

Himalayas are the treasure holders of nature’s marvelous work. It is home to pristine lakes which are not easy to access and makes it much more alluring for the travelers. I was fortunate to see Chandrataal lake this summer.Because of its crescent shape,it is also famous as moon lake. It is located in the higher altitudes of Spiti valley of Himachal Pradesh near Khunzum pass.

Chandrataal at its best

The lake owes its charm to its surrounding mountains, its colorful slopes and of course sun who does all the magic.Crystal clear water reflects everything surrounding the lake. While mountains around makes the lake surreal, the sun and the sky make it luminescent with hues of blue.

First view of Chandrataal

As soon as you get the first glimpse of the lake for sure you feel it is ethereal. It looks like someone has carved this piece of heavenly body from some mythological story and dropped it on the earth. For sure you will feel that this place is meant for fairies to live.

Your imagination is not far from the truth as there are many fairy stories around this lake. According to a story, Yudhisthira the elder brother of pandavas of Mahabharata entered heaven from this place. Indra king of heaven, sent a chariot to take him to heaven from Chandrataal.

Reflections

Another fable from Spiti is my favorite story.

There lived a lazy man called Gangpa who was a good flutist. One fine day he comes to Chandratal, to escape from his daily chores and starts playing the flute. The fairy of Chandrataal would fall in love with Gangpa for his music and she will confesses her love towards him. And asks him to stay with her. Gangpa, though already married forgets everything after seeing the beautiful fairy and starts living with her. When the winter steps in, the fairy asks Gangpa to go back and return during next summer. Gangpa, unwillingly goes back. Before saying goodbye, the fairy reminds Gangpa to keep their love affair as top secret.

Back in home, Gangpa will be terribly missing the fairy. When his wife starts irritating him for his irresponsibility towards the family, he says ‘ you are no good for me. Chandrataal fairy loves me so much, wish I could go back to her.' By the time he came to his sensesit was already uttered. He has revealed something he promised to keep it with himself. Broken, shattered Gangpa, cursed himself for his loose talk. He repented all through.He spends rest of the winter contemplating about the fairy and reaches Chandrataal even before summer begins.

By hearing Gangpa’s flute fairy comes out of the lake in tears and says , ‘ you spoiled everything’ and hands over a small baby. It was the ugliest he had ever seen in his life. Then she walks back in to the water. The baby dies in his arms within couple of hours. He reveals his story to entire village. They all decide to build a chorten for fairy's baby. Thereafter, Gangpa tries to live a happy life as a responsible person. As it was born to a fairy, though it was dead, brings good fortune to Gangpa and his family. My guide told me that Gangpas’s family members still live in the village near Kaza.

Chandrataal lake is the origin of Chandra river which is the tributary of Chenab river which is one of the 5 rivers of Punjab.

Chandra river originating from the lake

Though it takes a long drive on bumpy, narrow , treacherous road to reach the lake and walk for a kilometer or more to see the lake, but the magnificence which awaits you there is still worth it.

Walking on the green grass along the moon shaped lake enjoying the serenity was one of the best moments of my life.I jumped here for my signature picture.

Me jumping with joy

Why don’t you plan your travel to Spiti in the next summer ?

Travel tips

Chandrataal is on the way to Kaza from Manali about 125 kms from Manali. At Batal, need to take a deviation and travel for 14 kms to reach Chandrataal.
Camping is available a few kms away from the Chandrataal.
They say that full moon night is the best time to camp near Chandrataal

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I just realized that, this whole year I have been visiting monasteries after monasteries. My husband says, I can right a good about Buddhist monasteries if I spend some on that. Latest to my bucket is Hanging monastery of Datong. Early this year I was surprised to see Tiger’s nest monastery in Bhutan which is perched on top of the cliff.

Hanging monastery.It blends so well with the cliff

Now, the hanging monastery of Datong has made me spellbound by the engineering technique they have used to build a monastery right at the cliff of the mountain above the ground level. This ancient engineering marvel built in 5th century is 1600 years old.

Monastery from the base

Hanging monastery is 60 kms away from Datong in Shanxi province of China. It is located on a canyon, 75 mts above the foot level of Mountain Heng. This temple is very unique as it is dedicated for 3 religions – Buddhism, Taosim and Confucianism. We will see many statues representing all the three religions.I didn't capture the picture with three of them as I didn't recognize others next to Buddha in the picture below On one side of Buddha, we can see Laozi of Taoist teacher and on the other side is Master Kong Zi of Confucius.I strongly suggest to get a guide from Datong to appreciate it better which I didn't do.

Buddha in the centre . Other bronze color statues next to him representing Taoism and Confucianism. I have cropped them while taking picture

Statues in the monastery

If not for its colourful roof, it blends so well with the cliff that you need to stare at it for few seconds to identify the structure. We need to climb up a few stairs to reach the monastery.

Landscape at the foothill of the mountain

Frozen stream

The stream at the foothill of the mountain was mostly frozen and water falls and small water streams around the lake were all frozen to snow. There is an entry ticket for 30+100 =130 RMB which I felt was very high. I don’t know why is that break up. Couldn’t figure it out.

Entry to the monastery

Monastery has many small corridors and steep steps, which will take us to all the 3 storeys. There are many rooms. I didn’t count though. All are very small in size but comfortable enough for worship.

Though there were signs showing ‘ photography is not allowed’ there was no one to stop you from taking pictures.

Steep stairs and rickety wooden poles

Hanging Monastery

Anyone visiting the monastery would wonder what technology was used to build this ancient structure at such a dangerous location. What I understand is wooden crossbeams were half inserted into the rock as the foundation, while the rock in back supports. We don’t see any main supportive structures only body of the structure is seen from outside. The rickety wooden poles are good enough to make you think twice before you decide to take stairs.I was told these wooden supporting poles are provided as a secured feeling to the visitors than actual support.

By the way, whole temple is built with only wood. Incredible indigenous technology.

Travel tips

It takes 1.5 hours to reach Hanging monastery. I hired a taxi and paid 360 RMB for covering both hanging temple and Yungang Grottoes.

What are your favourite monasteries ? Pls share

I was in Sydney mid of this year. Such a lovely city. I am yearning to go there again. I was going through my Sydney album and found these pictures. These were taken when I went out for ferry ride. They say, ferries are the best when it comes to authentic Sydney experience.I bought a combo ticket for Torong Zoo and 24 hour hop on hop off ferry for $40.

I started from circular quay.My first stop was Torong zoo. The cable car ride inside the Torong Zoo offered a good view of Sydney. By the time I took a tour of the Zoo and came out it was already 1pm. Though, ferry ticket can be used for 8 destinations. Practically it is not possible to go there unless we plan it well. Ferry schedule was something I couldn’t understand it easily. Nevertheless, I never count how many sight seeing places I visited. I love to explore and leisurely experience the place.

I didn’t have any plan for my next stop. While I was choosing my next destination, a ferry arrived. Next minute, yours truly was there inside the ferry. After 15-20 minutes, ferry stopped as captain’s announced the stop ‘Watson’s bay’.

Hungry to the core,I was so happy to see many restaurants adjacent to the harbor. But didn’t find anything vegetarian there. They were sea food restaurants.Later, came to know that Watson’s bay is famous for seafood and it was once fishermen’s village .

I walked towards left side of the bay in search of food. After a km, found nothing to eat but a beautiful beach. Now, I had time till ferry comes back. So, started walking in the opposite direction. Found some steps and information board mentioning that place as GAP. GAP is an ocean cliff facing Tasman sea.

I was so happy to find this place accidentally. It is an amazing vantage point which offers Sydney’s bird’s view.Walking along the cliff was so relaxing. I decided not to hop on the next scheduled ferry. So continued enjoying the views. Lovely veg roll,cone of ice cream, GAP park bubbling with locals having leisurely time made my afternoon a memorable one.

My hop on hop off ferry ended with only 2 stops. Absolutely no regret as Watson’s bay filled up all the gaps.Few more pictures on my way back to circular quay..

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