DaBomb - DaCastle - DaDecision to Come Home

Hiroshima the 'A' blasted city. Was it really worth the detour, well in all heaviness sadness and reality-ness, yess!
It certainly isn't the happiest city though the A3 Wagyu beef we had was amazing and the kids had a memorable five course kids menu.
We went for the museum and amazed by what the A Bomb actually is we carried on to the part where stories of the victim is shown. Our religious roots have taken us to the Jerusalem Yad Vashem museum and somehow the atmosphere of this place reminded me of the feelings I had being there.
The kids each one on his own level went through this museum with interest and amazing quietness, much to the contrary of every other activity since months.
I think in their own way they have integrated what is shown here as something horrible.
We were told by an in utero survivor  that the Nagasaki bombing carried out after Hiroshima was done for testing purposes in order to collect and confirm data of damage done by the first A blast, will truth ever be known?!

Nevertheless sleek lines are to be seen here as anywhere in Japan.

We decided to avoid a long train ride and stopped in Himeji, a city holding a castle, the biggest wooden construction in the world. Unfortunately this one was in restoration and we saw little of its outer beauty, the inside being fairly boring!

We are tired, not only physically but mentally, tired of being on top of each other with no space to let even your thoughts roam free, tired of living out of a luggage, tired of constant restaurant food, tired of planning, tired of lack of settlement. So the obvious thing to do is to go home.
After two hundred ninety three days of traveling we decided to skip a week and come home.
Tokyo will be our last four days destination before a loooooooooooong flight.
We got here this noon and were to lazy to even get out of the hotel.
Val was going to plan what to do tomorrow but that kind of vanished with the day. Again tired of reading up and planning and preparing.
Are we complaining, not at all, this is merely the way things are.
The kids are super excited at getting home, Val is over the moon, I am happy yet have some mixed feelings.
I suppose the things that makes it easier is the current weather in Belgiumland.

Coming home from the journey we have just had brings with it excitement, excitement of some projects we have together and individually. Warmth at the idea of seeing back friends and family.
Ease at being in a familiar place and getting back to some old and instore some new habits.
I need to emphasize that the need of being with people you've known for a while and you trust is important.
And again space, Julian's space, Matthew's space, Val's space and My space.

I guess the importance of being alone is as important as being well accompanied.

This should be one of my last blog entries and I probably need to take some time to process and integrate all the movements of the last year.

This has been an amazing journey and one of the best decisions I have taken in my life, and as I have said many a time before, we were taken care of all the way.
I can't help but think of the poem/story I have read many a times before and though this one is portrayed with The Lord as the leading entity you can replace that with whatever you want. I usually find Go(o)d an excelent alternative; on a personal level I believe in 'Positive Energy' !

One night I dreamed I was walking along the beach with the Lord.
Many scenes from my life flashed across the sky.
In each scene I noticed footprints in the sand.
Sometimes there were two sets of footprints,
other times there was one only.
This bothered me because I noticed that during the low periods of my life,
when I was suffering from anguish,
sorrow or defeat,
I could see only one set of footprints,
so I said to the Lord,
“ You promised me Lord,
that if I followed you,
you would walk with me always.
But I have noticed that during the most trying periods of my life
there has only been one set of footprints in the sand.
Why, when I needed you most, have you not been there for me?”
The Lord replied,
“ The years when you have seen only one set of footprints,
my child, is when I carried you.”

--Author Mary Stevenson--

I believe that if you believe, we can achieve anything. (HR)

Kyoto - Nara - Legs

 

Our small little house doesn't really help putting aside the kids obnoxious mood, have that out of the picture, and we had a great time in Kyoto.
Cycling is the way to go given the fact that you circle from one end of the city to the other in just over an hour.
We have seen a few historic places of which to stand out the Golden Pavillion and the Fujili Inari temple.
We payed a visit to Nishiki market a place with one excellent sushi restaurant and full of possibilities to buy just about any kind of Japanese food.
We had Raw fish every day.
We cycled from one end of the city to the other finding out that Kyoto isn't that big. The weather is on our side and i will dedicate a part of this post to talk of the third word in my title, but for now although we love Japan, or the little we've seen and felt of it I suppose the order and quietness of our surroundings brings a less emotional reaction then the last two countries we visited. If in any culture shock we are it is this 'posé' still almost emotionless way that people are. A bit robotty as if programed to be kind, helpful and abiding by the rules; all excessive emotion seems to be taboo in the day to day living. It does make it an easy country to travel in. I am kind of embarrassed asking someone where to go because people literally get out of their way to bring you where you want to be if they feel their vocabulary isn't sufficient to explain it properly.
Having said that we have just been here a few days and it is to soon to make an opinion this is just how I experience it.

We left Kyoto to stay at a Ryokan in Nara. Now this place is located in Nara Park and here to prove my theory of composed and quiet, tis park is filled with deer just wondering around amidst the crowds (and crowds they are) visiting the temples, shrines and pavilions. It is normal to move around the park and feed or pet a young deer or fifty.
The Ryokan has had it's tradition for over sixty years it is in a house that is approximately five hundred years old. Our host a giggling lady, we guess in her late sixties, is so kind funny attentional, though her vocabulary in English doesn't extend over twenty and a half words.
We are shown to our rooms Tatami's on the floor, a private dipping bath and are advised to put on our robes for the evening meal.
Staying here and participating at diner and tea in accordance to the way it has been done traditionally in Japan is a must do experience. The kids loved it.

Legs.

There is something about Japanese women and fashion, short fashion, socks fashion, high heel fashion, to mention but a few.
It seems to us as if fashion is taught from a very young age. It is perfectly normal to see a kid dressed as a young adult with knee high socks in shorts and given bu that element since it is taught and seen as normal, it produces a delicacy for the eyes being.
Even Vals points out the beauties.
It seems the shorter the short or skirt or dress, the higher the heels, the longer the legs.
When the Japs are beautiful they are gorgeous and I am feasting my eyes out at the metrage of legs I see here.
High heels seem to be the standard though you find your beauties wearing chique short lace dresses wearing red Crocs too.

Fully aware of the end of our trip I often find myself with mixed feelings but foremost grateful of this magnificent journey we are having being it geographically, family wise, or spiritually.

Here's some spirituality for ya!

Japan Pics Click

Sophistication, Sushi, Soiling!

Arrival at Kansai Airport or KIX, our first Japan experience.

• KIX, built on an artificial island I am adding a picture to show the sophistication and aesthetics of the airport.
• Sushi train at KIX. Each table has a private screen with pictures you can press on and add quantity. Once your order placed it is brought to you by express lane with a separate train that stops exactly at your table. All items are freshly made and delivered.
• Heated toilet seats, they lift up automatically as you enter the toilet, water cleansing of your behind and heated wind for drying purposes. All controls are on my right I needn't come near the toilet with my hands. A special button with a music note to 'mask' windy noises with a wavy sound.

We took the train to Kyoto the kids are noisy, very noisy, the Japanese are quiet, very quiet.
The man who checks the train tickets introduces himself, takes a deep bow, proceeds to stamp the tickets and once finished thanks everyone and bows again.
We are all sitting in pairs, Matt found a button that allows a pair of adjacent seats to pivot thus allowing four people to sit opposite each other. He keeps on repeating "Maman c'est un reve on est au Japon".
The kids are noisy, very noisy, the Japanese are quiet, very quiet.
We arrive in Kyoto exit the train the stations exit is in an electronic shop.
We find a taxi that brings us to the traditional Japanese house we rented. It is small but so practical.
We wonder the streets it is seven PM, the streets are quiet, very quiet, our kids are noisy very noisy.
A little restaurant serving Yakitori and Sashimi make our evening complete.
We walk back, our kids are noisy very noisy, the streets are quiet, very quiet.
Late wake up rainy day pouring, it is over twenty degrees Celsius, we are cold, we are scared of coming back to the Belgian weather.
Another good night sleep after take away sushi.

The sun is shining, we heard about the AOI Matsuri festival, traditional parade but when we get there we can't see anything because it is to crowded so of we are to loose ourselves in Gion the geisha quarter of Kyoto.




An amazing place, we walked for about four hours amongst the old houses, spotting geisha's, looking at school kids, we are stunned by the beauty of Japanese women and the way they dress. Louboutin seems to be the standard in casual day to day dress as Nike or Puma may be in the West.
The kids are happy yet still noisy very noisy and apart from the gambling halls even the parade was the quiet, very quiet.
Looking at the Japanese or as little as we know externally now they seem calm and composed.
People have literally walked out of their way more then once to help us. Someone even proposed to Val to wait in front of the supermarket to get butter from home(the super had run out).
Kindness here has a different meaning so does helpfulness, we are in awe at the smiles and willingness to help.
We have as we did in India difficulties to find a bin yet on the contrary to India everything is immaculate.
If anything negative is to be said is that the kids are trampling my nerves like a heard of elephants fleeing fire, I am impatient and my tolerance is tested again and again.
I think we all need space! The twenty four hour, seven days a week scheme takes its toll once in a while.
This too shall pass.

Sayonara!

China - More Nature - Closure

As I am writing this we are a day short of leaving for Japan.
I am sitting at the desk of our fancy hotel in Shanghai, we had sushi for lunch, everybody is sleeping and I am about to wake up the happy family to go to the acrobatic show which apparently is a must do.
It feels good to be in the city and get that buzz though the last few days have been mesmerizing.
Matthew was feeling ill and I spend the last day in Yangshuo Djudj doing something he'd been speaking about since two weeks a pick nick! Rented a scooter got some bacon and eggs sandwiches and of we were the two of us.
We rode a magnificent sand/stone country road amidst of the rice fields being plowed manually and the karst mountains serenely standing surrounding it all as if protecting everything in the valley.
Djudju couldn't stop saying "c'est magnifique, t'as vus comme c'est beau".
A serious rainfall interupted our ride and we took shelter under a few trees to eat our pick nick supposed to be eaten on top of Moon Hill.
The shower ceased as we finished our lunch and a three minute ride took us to the eight hundred forty something steps to climb to the top.
The purpose of our trip, at least for Julian, being eaten already, his motivation to get to the top was lunched away as well. After a short pouting and a final bye bye I'm going up from me he finally resolved to gain his mood back and we had a great climb to the top.
Though the chase was better then the catch we had a great time.
We left on the next morning to Longcheng to see the rice terraces, I had read somewhere that they were the second biggest in the world but little were we prepared not is it possible to imagine how beautiful it is without having been there.
This is probably one of the most beautiful places I have been.
I'll let the images speak for themselves but I need to mention as a proud dad that my kids have walked for eight hours up and down the paths along the terraces, they swam in the stream and only took an short hour lunch break.


The first complaint came ten minutes before arriving back at the hotel in a humorist way; Djudj sat down and said, that's it I am sleeping now and closed his eyes in joke!

We all had a foot massage as we got back to the hotel, after an unforgettable day with images printed in our heads forever!




Shanghai revealed to be a welcomed back to 'European' standards, we are staying in the 'french concession' quarter and the alleys full of trees and terraces I know again but the one you can sit at this time, has  distinct Parissy feel to it.
The acrobatic show was amazing and a rainy day made us opt for the 3D version of 'The Avengers', in both cases the kids were glued to there seats with their mouth open and for all I can say so was I.

So there, in Shanghai thinking back on China with unforgettable memories, this is an amazing country.
There is a mixture of primitivity and modernism, of rich and poor, of followers and entrepreneurs. We are in Shanghai and seem to be in a modern rich up to date place while yesterday we were looking at plows pulled by buffaloes let alone people. There is the greatness of what the party has achieved here economically especially if you compare the status with democratic India. There is also a sense of big brother although very subtle, you can avoid seeing it if you are not attentive to it.
People thread on eggs each time the subject is touched and the look is usually more revealing then the tongue.
As in India this country is so young, it is in full development and as with every being you can only learn to walk properly by falling down a few times and mistakes are there to learn from.
The opposites between the last two countries we visited are extreme and non of them are comparable two my part of the world, again I am astonished at the differences of living, eating, driving to mention but a few and especially thinking. Qualifying any of these of better or worse, right or wrong would be unjust, it is different and I like that.
The end is in sight and one of the conclusion to draw here is that this is what makes the world so rich and this is what allows me to grow, I'll take what I feel I can work with and what suits me and hopefully grow more whole.
Excitement of being back home is growing, yet nostalgia creeps in too.

!Last China Pics!

China cntnd......

We definitely underestimated our Chinese way of traveling, hopping from place to place, from plane to plane, hotel to guesthouse, greasy food to fatty food is taking it's toll. We are cranky, short, tired and at each others throat.

Chengdu is the next city we are staying in a hotel in the middle of a walking street crowded with people, like ants they are carrying souvenirs going in and out of shops to roam and seek out there next present and or memorabilia. Tens of food stalls all serving local Szechuan food, greasy fried insides and outs, sugar coated fruits, not much to make us happy. I am watching my flat-er stomach inching away from its curvyness to ball-ness by the minute. The food isn't particularly contributing to our energy levels
Chengdu is a big city crowded car infested but the part we are staying at has it's charm. The kids as always are an attraction wherever they are. Our first hotel breakfast consisted of an non successful dim sum assortment that even I couldn't get by in the morning.
So after a few danish at Starbucks, yes Starbucks, we were of to see the panda's.
My favorite bear I slept with as a kid was a panda so I've always had an affinity with those creatures and seeing them alive was special to me in a sense that it awoken my inner child who was filled with joy at seeing the very creatures he held by his side for year son end.
The kids loved it and the plane and one day detour was really worth it.
A lazy morning and lunch in the busy aunts nest and of to Xiang to the Terra Cota army.
A Belgian couple from Dendermonde shared our van towards the army and being away from home for so long it felt good to speak our own indigenous language.
After calmly but firmly, without showing anger at risk of loosing face, demanding my money back for not working audio guides we found an English speaking guide that gave us some explaining about the Army. An amazing place and though not as impressive in grandeur as we would expect it is oneof the must dos,and we had a great day.
On to Beijing.
We are staying in a cute courtyard hotel,when you are here you don't even notice you are in a city of twenty million people,it is quite and remote. Once out of the alley traffic hits you the food stalls sell insides outsides lefts and rights,,I have a distinct theory about Chinese and edible animals. If it's edible it means you can eat it,''all of it''.
We had our Peking duck served with insides outsides and deep fried bones.
A walk around the city temples squares, forbidden or not guided by a young guide who's voice was getting on our nerves not to mention his explanations,let me quote a few. "China is big so you have southern China and Northern China" (I couldn't help but add' and eastern and western China),"Beijing is big, so there are many cars so there is many traffic" or "the great wall is over sixteen thousand miles long", again add a harsh cutting voice and imagine the brain sized as a pea or at least that's what it felt like(is this way of describing bad karma?).
We finished our day at a western restaurant a sister resto of the one we had found in Chengdu after a magnificent day on the Great Wall.

A five hour walk up and down climb and run to one side then the other to be ended by the skid-track down the mountain swearing at scared Chinese in my best Antwaarps who were slowing down everyone. The kids walked for five hours with only once complaining, we need nature open space and long walks, we love it.
My writings of China have been sporadic and less frequent then other countries, mostly due to the Orwell effect which doesn't facilitate my posting.

As I mentioned we underestimated this part and being on an organized trip constrains the possibilities for rest and relaxation, nevertheless it still remains fascinating.

We arrived in Guilin and got driven to a lovely little hotel in Yangshuo.
This Area is amazing, it holds an impressive similitude with  the Panga Bay in Thailand as it is a Karst mountain range, basically coral mountain that are pointing up and on land due to the pre historic lowering of the tides. Nearly everywhere you look you get postcard images in front of you.
The lush greens on the mountain, the rice fields, the butterflies the birds, it is just astounding.
We spent the first day getting wet through and through after a bamboo raft down the river and a cycle ride in the first monsoon showers. Given the high temperature it didn't really matter. The kids had a blast and so did we.

The place we were staying at got filled with Shanghai expat Germans, much to the liking of the kids who suddenly had plenty of friends to play with.
We took a boat down the river and cycled back after a local lunch for a little seventeen kilometer. All went well until Djudju stuck his feet in the wheels resulting in a serious scraping of his talon. Crying as if his foot was cut of, he finally calmed down until mum showed up where as the cries renewed louder and stronger, to an impatient dad who wanted to get on.


Matthew made acquaintance with a Belgian couple who we spent the day with going to the market.
The pictures are not for the faint at heart and I'll try and describe it to you(if you are a vegetarian you might wanna skip this part).
As we had seen in previous market this one again offered limitless photographic possibilities being portraits or most interesting or shocking depending on how you look at it, the butchers corner.
 As I've mentioned before, if it lives it's edible so avoiding to be confronted to cats and dogs we have had the opportunity to explore this markets fish, poultry and pork department.
The poultry is piled up one on the other if you want to buy a Chicken or a rooster you choose it, inspect it and then you get offered with two possibilities. Either the feathered two legger is tied up and you can take it home holding  it upside down by the legs, or, this is the interesting part, it's throat is slit on the spot, it is then deposited in a plastic bin with a lid where it can bleed to death while you can hear it's body move around the message not being passe yet from the brain down that it is dead. You then have the option of having it plucked through boiling first.
Ducks undergo pretty much the same ordeal. We saw one duck being plucked while his brother was watching what was soon going to happen to him.
The fish where being scaled alive, some didn't even bother knocking them unconscious first.

The teeth, cheeks and eyes,basically the skinned face of the pigs were displayed gloriously on one table next to the pigs boneless 'faces' on the other.
The most interesting part besides the most esthetic pictures I've probably taken was the kids reactions.
Their view is one of a different approach all together. Their is some kind of compassion as far as the stacking of animal goes but when it comes to bloody teeth, eyes, teeth and so on their view is one of wonder and amazement rather then disgust and revulsion like mum. A skinned face with bulging eyes triggers a woooow have you seen that cool rather then a yuck!
We left the market and crossed the river to cycle back being charged the white mans' fee of ten yuan one way instead of one yuan both ways. On the way back my bicycle caved in the wheel got stuck and Djudj and I had to be picked up.
we ended the day with a light show performed by six hundred something people and choreographed by the same choreographer who did the opening ceremony for the Beijing Olympics for a perfect closure to a wonderful day.

We are four planes away from home and though dreading the weather after a year of light clothing I must admit I feel some excitement at the fact of settling for a while.I feel a bit like a horse who reeked the stables and gets his mind set around that and only that. I think we all definitely want to see Japan but at the same time it would be OK if it should end now.
There are major plans on both end of the couple to alternate parts of our live and progress to something greater. Having been out of context for almost a year, and on top of each other surely fed the spirit and allowed time for introspection and confrontation, willed or forced.
I suppose the challenge of any resolution is the putting into practice despite the daily routine creeping back in place.
Talks are going around about warmer living alternatives, having lived 'outdoors' for almost a year, we are dreading the Belgian weather more then anything, at least this is one of my big fears.
Exploring the where and how and when is a new adventure on it's own.
This is the last bend before the final straight to home..........

 

Pictures of China here

Mainland

We are in the train it is eight in the morning.
The station is clean.
The train is clean.
The toilets in the train are clean, they have an electronic eye to flush so you don't have to touch with your hands.
There is toilet paper.
The handle bars are gold color and shiny.
The train left on time and arrived early.
We got mineral water free of charge.
It is packed with people but it is quiet.
All this quite shocking after India.
Djudju went to sit next to a Chinese girl a year older and is playing games with her on her moms iPhone. Matt is reading up on Japan.
A long trip ahead of us train, two planes, and a taxi.
Our first transfer from the train station went smoothly and although we apprehended so far organization has been impeccable.
Before I go on I must be clear about the fact that basically we contracted a company in the UK to organize our trip on China and asked a friend (Lolo), to review it, we haven't really looked in to the details of it.
As a result we are landing at Shangri La, it is freeeeeeezing, and after taking a few steps down and breathing heavily I checked my altimeter and noticed we were at three thousands four hundred something meters.
We weren't prepared for that at all, anyway we got picked up at the airport by a cow boy Chinese and dropped of at a serene looking hotel with excellent accommodation if not that the rooms were freezing despite the electrical heaters.
We slept in adult/children pair.
The next day we went to explore breakfast. A first taste at the salty manto's revealed nothing promising so we went really local into the habits of people here and got some dim sum and noodle soups at a local little shack.
The kids soon realized, so did we, that not spicy here has a distinctly different meaning then what we are used to.
We had to find Djudj something else. Tiny mandarins and some weird looking bread did the job.
Bus three took us to a temple overlooking the valley and a first encounter with the local Tibetan architecture and clothing.
What a change with India, first of all it is cold, it is clean, but people are, though very friendly, not as welcoming.
Having said that our blond curly one has a stunning effect on the Chinese population. Everyone grabs him to take a picture and when they see Matt's green eyes the effect isn't much different.
The next morning we got dropped of at the local bus station for a much dreaded seven hour bus ride to Dali.
Four white people in the whole bus, 'we'.
The bus ride was quite smooth if you think away the narrow roads, the guy behind me spitting sunflower seed peals on the floor then half way through the ride jumping to the window to puke 'em out. And the Karaoke the whole bus was singing along at.
Ordering food at noon break was quite an experience. No one speaks English not even yes or no so it was a matter at pointing and theatrically hand signaling what we wanted. It turned out to be quite good though I am not quite sure what we ate.
Again the pick up from the crossroad we were dropped off at was impeccable.
Jim is quite a character he is a guy who opened up a guesthouse a few good years back and offers a more Western service to his guests. A menu with steak, and spaghetti kind of made us all happy.
Jim took care of us for the next two day, the kids liked him instantly.

-Open bracket- In the few days we have been here China delivered exactly what I expected, Large plains and Valleys, overwhelming greens and yellows, in short nature and space beyond sight end and an emanation of peace.-Close bracket-

An amazing one and a half hour trek to visit the Yi minority village, a local market, and some amazing 'Chau Zao' style cuisine on the first day. Another market and boat ride and an amazing sighting of the cormoran fishers on the second. We picnicked on the boat, Jim brought two rows of six dim sum looking containers stacked with some more of that delicious food.
Lijiang with it's UNESCO protected old town gave us a wonderful afternoon to follow our four hour car ride,
which reminds me, we stopped for a break in the middle of nowhere on a full house parking. The toilets at the back of a huge indoor market selling spices and teas,dried lizards and mushrooms but mainly jade jewelry, a most bizarre location for such a huge commercial place.
Back to Lijiang, small alleys very touristic mainly Chinese people and again curly blond being the center of attraction.
A magnificent view from a rooftop terrace, below a soon to be opened winery where Matt sat down behind drums which revealed to all of us his new found sense of rhythm.
A wasted day at the Tiger Leaping Gorge, beautiful yet too exploited to our liking, especially after a two and a half hour car ride up. Djudj and I went for a walk and found a play ground with rental electric cars, he had a blast.
A relaxed next day in Lijiang roaming the streets. Matt found a pole he could stand on Julian and him took turns standing on it as a statue keeping as still as possible, this all on a main walking street. Every maximum two minutes someone walked by taking pictures of them. The kids were just standing doing nothing but generated such an interest by they being different it was stunning, they felt like stars, snap here snap there, they got quite good at posing and fake natural looking smiles.
In conclusion besides the yak meet and avoiding the worms, thank God for picture menu's, ordering food or for hat matter expressing anything isn't that obvious. People do not understand a word sometimes not even yes and no so thank God for theatrics and for my new English-Chinese-English app. on the iPhone.
People here are much warmer then we expected though some of them deserve a price in Ice king or queens, but mostly everyone is pretty helpful.
On to Chengdu and the panda's.
Oh oh did I mention the eleven fingered temple keeper??? ... !!!

Mainland China Pics 

HK - Is this Civilisation?

One should wonder after being here for five day if this really is civilization.
We arrived here and what a culture shock yet again. I felt like coming back to a civilized country.
Val was shocked by the fact that men were actually talking to her, and when she asked a question that males were actually talking back to her and not to me.
In the taxi from the airport no cars were driving towards us on the highway, no horns, clean water, no trash.
Coming from India we actually were in culture shock at the modernity of the place.
The rush outside, people more people walking the streets, malls and malls with every haute couture make packed together, watches, gold shops, restaurants, coffee bars.
A vibrant city.
We are staying in a very design hotel, the kind that uses an ipad where you sign on when you check out.
Great Sushi, great food every where a feast to the pallet, especially given where we were and the food we got the last two month.
The kids and I spent an afternoon together shopping for shoes and stuff we needed that Matthew has outgrown. The people trying to sell you fake watches are mostly Indian and their reaction at Matt speaking Hindi was stunning, all in awe and laughing away.
.
The kids had a blast at DisneyLand Hong Kong, we couldn't stop laughing at the un-understandable explanation in English given by this young HK girl fol followed regularly by a giggle that makes me smile as I am writing this.

So here we are back in the civilized world, spending, eating, shopping, having fun, is it was so difficult to adapt to the dirt, the difference of being, the crowd, the touchiness, the food, the hawking, the bargaining and it seem so easy to get back to civilization and the way things are around here.

One thing is certain it seems the values here are different, it seems that essence here is missing.
I can't help but find myself thinking about the kindness and the spirituality I have discovered in India, the acceptance the peace of mind and kindness of people in India. The contrast is immense in every aspect but the feeling of peace of mind and true values is without parallel back in the old country.
Kowloon is one big shopping mall, a feast for the rich and wealthy, decadent in abundance of consumption. I gladly took part in it and loved the shopping and the looking for things I didn't really need, but I remain hungry for the kindness and the welcoming of India.

To quote an Indian who was buying something at the pharmacy here, he was getting a completely normal answer from a Hong Kong city girl, this could have been in any modern dense populated metropolitan city in the West, (imagine it with an Indian accent), "Why are you answering me so angry". This summed it up for me, it wasn't the content it was such the closed way she was speaking vs the openness and welcoming we had experienced.
On our way to mainland China tomorrow morning for what is going to be a long day of travel, I am looking forward to the nature at the foot of the Himalaya.

Concluding India

There is quite a bit to be said about the furtherings of our travels but one thing remain constant, the kindness of the people and that special quality they have.

I’ve met a few people who described it in different ways but I guess this one is to me what describes it best. Take the amount of people there are here on let say a market place and put them any where in Europe on a same size place sooner or later the Europeans will start pushing, shoving, elbowing and chances a fight would start here or there are within reality thinking. Here in India everything just seems to flow and mingle and fit. One may claim it is due to the habit of things, people here are used to it. I prefer to view it as a more spiritual equilibrium, people are in acceptance and respect of who they are where they are. I am not taking away the differences caused by the casts and the wealth nor any injustice nor corruption yet at risk of repeating myself again and again, people here seem resigned to where they are today.

Our driver has continued taking us to many a place in Rhajastan and frankly we are getting tired of Temples, Forts, Drought, and Dirt.

Having said that we have seen beautiful places, Agra was on our maybe list.

As in everything we got contradictory opinions ranging from I cried when I saw the Taj Mahal, to don't go there it's not worth the money. Anyhow Agra would be our last destination of our Rhajastan tour (for the 'piereke justs' I know it is in UP).

The Taj revealed yet again to be one of those wonders of the world you need to have seen, we were amazed by it especially knowing the story behind it, despite our french speaking guide rattling his rap and more interested to show of his french then explaining what it was all about.

We were now ready for our twelve hour, third class sleeper train to Varanassi...or are you ever ready for that. The reactions we got on Facebook after posting about that were everything but encouraging.

Our driver dropped us of in the train with our luggage, I secured the luggage to each other by means of two cable locks I had brought, and Val beckoned me to get the cotton sleeping bags out.

To accentuate our train adventure we were divided, Val and the kids, me alone.

A quick description of the third sleeper class is needed for those of you who haven't traveled India.

You have a wagon as in any western country, space management is different here.

One compartment holds six beds, three left three right.

A corridor separates the six berths for a one bed row in the length where two bunk beds are present.

No doors only curtains.

Val went to bed after killing a few roaches, the kids were already fast asleep.

I climbed up on my upper bunk and tried to catch some zeez, which I succeeded in waking up every hour. My neighbors struck up a conversation at one in the morning for about then minutes and the woman across the whole had what seemed to be a full cooking equipment of brass pots and pans fall on the floor around three AM. Other then that I was awake at four since the train was arriving at five thirty. We woke up the kids at five to be ready on time and time was definitely on our side since the train had over three hours delay. Was it horrible? Let's just say it wasn't the most pleasant experience I had, but I wouldn't flinch if I had to do it again, mind you I'd look into other possibilities first. Vals story is less positive then mine. Would she do it again? Ask her!!!

To top up the arrival at eight thirty instead of five we got picked up by a guy who led us to a tuk tuk, one tuk tuk, claiming it wouldn't be a problem to fit us all in and the luggage.

We took an extra tuk tuk and after an hours drive amongst coal trucks and a craze of queues we finally got to the hotel or so we thought. Another walk in the narrow old Varanasi alleys and fifteen minutes later we got to the hotel. Was our room ready? Well not quite, luckily our stomachs were empty enough to have a long meal on the rooftop restaurant of the guest house we finished at the same time the room was cleaned, Varanasi clean hasn't got the same significance as our clean, still to tired to even argue, clean enough! The view from the room on the Ganges river was stunning, the river isn't quite as wide as I thought it would be. We all laid down for a well deserved siesta.

 

 ---My Varanasi Experience---

Varanasi was once described to me as Jerusalem times ten and I must say this place holds this unexplainable energy you find only in certain places around the world, Jerusalem certainly being one of them.

There is something that cannot be explained rationally; there is a feeling, a flow of something. I strongly believe that each and every one of us emits a certain vibe, a certain currant, an energy that can be felt even physically. I know I’ve entered places where a couple just had a fight and fell the heaviness physically of the remains of this vibe people left there. Well a similar kind of energy can be felt in Varanasi, a beautiful harmonious, peaceful feeling. A very powerful stream of positivity, acceptance, Love, faith and acceptance. A colorful feel being literally seeing it or emotionally feeling it. This place has had body’s burning and according to the people here souls transiting for centuries on end.

We took the kids to the ‘Burning Ghats’ after giving it a lot of thought and there was nothing really shocking about what we saw. Having said that the graphic description I am about to give is even when I think about it quite startling but being there and experiencing it on the spot had nothing shocking to it.

The families first bring there wrapped dead relative to bathe in the Ganges the bodies are laid to dry and then burnt. We saw some bodies burning a skull sticking out or an arm blackened and burnt sticking out but this was perceived by us as a ‘normal’ thing. I cannot explain the ease of acceptance of what we saw being it us or the kids, there seemed to be something beautiful about the whole ritual. Perhaps the most shocking thing were the dogs roaming the fires for left over but even then it seems Varanasi had it’s spell on us and it didn’t move us the way I thought it ‘should’ move us.

I suppose the guy making hamburgers with his hands, taking cow shit he had collected to roll them into patties to be used as a coal replacement for cooking or fire was more shocking to us then anything.

The ceremonies in the evening where hundreds of people gather to watch and pray with the priests and the ‘Brahmins’ providing a colorful pallet of sari’s in front of the Ganges, repeated today, every day, come rain or shine, as they have been repeated since years and will be repeated for many more to come.

The river itself that seems to purify itself through some mysterious process, the cholera bacteria does ‘NOT’ survive in the Ganges.

The pilgrims being convinced and sincere or just out to get by easily dressed in color with there faces ornamented in varieties of painted designs begging for a few rupees or pausing in front of the camera to ‘earn’ there meagre donation.

The cows on the stairs or in the narrow streets. The constant need of watching where you put your feet down.

The stream of people along the riverbeds, in the streets, on little boats on the river. The homes where people are waiting to die, are coming to die here by the Ganges in Varanasi the holy of holies in India.

Val and I where on the same wave length throughout our stay here, we could have stayed a lot longer but Varanasi really isn’t a place where kids can be entertained more then a few days. The filth is like nowhere I have ever seen, the streets are narrow and packed, and the heat is bearable between five and nine in the morning and from six onwards in the afternoon.

I cannot describe in writing, thoughts or words the feeling that reigns here, you must be here amidst the crowd, on the Ghats to know what I am talking about and feel the power that resides here.

This place is one of the most beautiful places I have been to, ironically it is also the most dirty place I have been to.

Here again I fall in the cliché of quoting contradictory things about India.

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We left Varanasi with a hunger for more and a feeling of we had enough (I know another contradiction) towards Goa.

Not much to report here apart from a beautiful hotel, great food, a wonderful beach, a kids corner and the kids being taken by the gourmet restaurants Chef to the kitchen to ‘help out’ in the mis en place. What did we see of Goa well ... nothing!

A short flight back to Mumbai a Passover seder with Chabad, Matthew singing ‘Ma Nishtana’ and ‘Echad Mi Yodea’  in front of everyone. A bit Long, boring, bad food but excellent company led me to the much awaited next day to meet Maarten and David.

It is so welcome to have close friends even for a short period when you’ ve been on the move, away from home for so long. It  was a day of talking and enjoying each others company, I had been longing for that since the day I left, I knew it was in the stars it just had to come together.

As I said to D and Maarten we have been taken care of so far, nothing in our trip has happened by accident, everything seemed to have it’s reason in order to bring things to a smooth passage.

We took an early tour of the biggest slum in Asia, yes the one where Slumdog Milionair was filmed. Val and I were expecting the sights we had seen in Rajasthan but this was similar yet something else.

The garbage and smells and poor sanitary installations were one thing but the amount of people packed together in such a small surface was amazing.

We walked through the tiny dark alleys, looking at two, three story high rooms of three by three meters were families of God knows how many were living side by side and on top of each other. I can’t remember what the density of the population was here but when we were told we flinched. It might be worth looking it up, the population density of Dharveti slum.

Again here the acceptance of once faith, of once place is amazing.

Whether it’s the kids playing on the piles of shit, or the adult carrying it’s oversize load of plastic on his head, there seems to be a peace.

India is a country that has brought me so many different feelings.

My hate and repulsion I sometimes experienced in the beginning of our visit here has been changed into a genuine appreciation of the people, this country holds life in every form people really live here. And though I have seen but a fraction of India I know I’ll come back for it holds a beauty that I have never fell before.

I must insist on feeling here because it is certainly not the most beautiful place I've been to but again it is probably one of the places that has moved me the most. And for that I am grateful.

Namasté.