Marriage

Wow, I hate to have to break this to all of you--I received so many nice emails and generous wishes--but did you realize what day yesterday was? I'm in a bit of shock myself, actually; I was wondering if anyone was going to fall for it, but the only people to call me on it were my brother, Rob, and my friend, Misha, and even they weren't entirely sure. Eric is still single. In case you're wondering, everything in the post is true except the little part about marriage.

Here are our current plans: Anne and I are going to stay in India together until mid-May. I've decided to scrap S.E. Asia for this trip. The temperatures are just getting too hot. We will be taking a break from each other for a couple weeks starting in a few days. She'll be visiting some of the places I've already seen and I will be heading back toward the Himalayas to visit Darjeeling. The temperatures will be cooler and I will be able to start getting back in shape.

Last summer I attempted to backpack the Colorado Trail, a 480 mile hiking trail through some of Colorado's most beautiful country. To my great disappointment, I had to call it off at about the half-way point due to an odd case of vertigo. At the end of May, I'll be returning to Denver and will attempt it again a few weeks later, at the end of June. This time I won't I won't be going solo. My friend, Laura will be joining me (or me joining her). Anne will be moving on to New Zealand for a year. What will happen with us ? We'll have to wait and see...


Dad, you can exhale now.

He is alive!

Hello everyone. Sorry to have neglected my blog for so long--I realize some of you have been a little worried. I also need to reply to many of your emails...here are the excuses: I enjoy doing these entries but it takes many hours to put them together, especially with the mostly antiquated equipment and slow connections here in India. Unfortunately a vicious circle has developed: the more time that passes, the more I want to write about but then updating my blog seems more daunting and I end up putting it off, but then it gets even more daunting so I put off and repeat. There's also been a new development that I'll get to in a bit. So, to break the cycle, I'm going to send out this quick entry to give you a brief idea of what's been happening and where I am now. I'll also post an entry I've had ready for a while but didn't want to post without giving you an update on what's happening now. It's about my trip to the Taj Mahal just after Christmas--oh dear, I'm really behind.

In my last post I mentioned that I was about to start a meditation course. Literally just after that post, thanks to a broken ATM, I met someone. Her name is Anne. We soon discovered that we were going to the same retreat. The retreat was silent and the men and women segregated so we didn't really get to know each other there, but thanks to a series of interesting coincidences--that's India for you--we both ended up in Bombay soon after the course. My flight to Thailand was scheduled for a few days later and she was on her way south to the beaches of Goa, a state here in India. Finding myself rather smitten and, of late, more comfortable taking chances, I confessed my attraction. What do you know, the feeling was mutual! To make a long story short, I postponed my flight to Bangkok and we have been traveling South India since. It's been an adventure of another sort; sometimes wonderful, sometimes...not so wonderful. There is a steep learning curve going from almost strangers to spending every day together. Believe me, it's not a your usual dating experience. With the amount of time we're spending together coupled with the stress of travel, it's impossible to hide one's neuroses, bad moods and idiosyncrasies. We figure our month and a half together equals about three years in the real world (don't ask for the formula on that calculation). Fortunately, so far, seeing each other's "dark" side has taught us that we can communicate, fight fair, and admit mistakes.

Meet Anne. She's from England. This means that, even though we're supposed to be speaking the same language, half the time I have no idea what she's saying. She'll use odd phrases like, "takin' the piss" and "bugger off" which I think mean "go to the bathroom" and "have a nice day". For her day job, she teaches English (her version) as a second language. She loves to travel and has lived in Spain, Italy and Austria and speaks Spanish, French and Italian. She is also a music lover and can sing (beautifully) and play the flute (no, Rob, not at the same time).

Here we are on a beach in Goa:

Mysore:

And Hampi.

We've just visited a Hindu temple which is why we have tikas on our foreheads. It also means--you better sit down--that we're married! I know that it sounds crazy and extremely sudden, but we figure that any couple that can travel together has a good chance of making a marriage work. Obviously we would have liked to have our friends and family with us, but we were caught up in the moment. Don't worry, we'll soon be having proper celebrations at our respective homes.

For our honeymoon we splurged on an overnight trip on a houseboat or kettuvallam in the Kerala Backwaters. The Backwaters are a large network of natural lagoons, rivers and man made canals along the Arabian sea on the eastern coast of India.

The tropical scenery is tranquil and beautiful but there are also villages, temples and churches along the waterways. The locals use them as their roads and highways.

Our houseboat, the Matha, is a luxurious one-bedroom, floating hotel suite. It has a crew of three: a cook, an engineer, and the captain.

After arriving at the pier 11:00 in the morning, we were greeted by the crew, handed coconuts and garlands of jasmine. There hasn't been another moment on this trip that I've felt like more of a dork tourist, but sometimes you just have to go with it.

Here's a picture of me on board wearing a lungie, common attire for men in South India, especially in Kerala. The guys in the shop where I bought it were in hysterics teaching me how to tie it on. Most men wear it folded up exposing the knees, but it then looks like a diaper to me. You'll see me with it in that configuration in a bit, though.

The trip was basically us puttering around the waterways. We stopped at a local church for a quick tour and again while the crew served us lunch.

It was a traditional Keralan meal and some of the best food I've had in India.

We resumed our puttering until late afternoon when the crew tied up the boat for the evening at the side of one of the canals. Our cook took us on a short walking tour along the canal and rice paddies, ending up on the shore with a local family that lived near our boat. Our crew seemed to know them pretty well and I'm guessing that this was their usual stop. They're a really sweet family and, as the sun went down, we ended up in the their home going over the young daughter's English lessons with her. Notice how my lungie is folded into "diaper mode."

At one point Anne returned to the boat for something and the rest of the family disappeared (happy to have a baby sitter, I'm guessing). I was practicing numbers with the girl while trying to keep an eye on their son, about four, I'm guessing. The little rascal was continually putting himself in mortal danger by climbing up on furniture and rickety chairs. My multitasking skills were being taxed and was anxiously waiting for Anne to reappear when I felt what seemed to be my lungie returning to its full length position. I look down and see that, no, my lungie had actually come completely undone and was standing there in my "low rise" undies. Thankfully I was able to wrap myself up before the adults returned and caused permanent psychological damage to the children.

We felt a bit odd to be in our host's little shack, lit up by a lone kerosene lamp while our luxury craft was docked outside, but if there was any resentment I didn't feel it. Everyone seemed to be enjoying our company. When they tried to teach me numbers in the local language, Malayalam, we all had a good laugh at my horrible pronunciation. I still struggle with the monetary and material gulf between me and, well, most of the planet, but I don't think wallowing in guilt does anybody any good...for now, I just try to be grateful.

After another delicious meal by candle light, Anne and I soaked up the peace of a gentle night. There were so many lovely sounds of nature that I made a game of trying differentiate as many as possible. There is something about a quiet night on a boat that makes me feel like I'm right where I need to be.

The next morning after a beautiful sunrise and breakfast, we puttered back to where we started.

It was very romantic and a perfect way to spend our honeymoon within a honeymoon.

Well, I know this is big news and I hope all is isn't too much of a shock...

India's Icon

Agra is the city that the Taj Mahal calls home. I spent Christmas day in Agra. It was a nice day. I have no complaints, but Agra itself isn't anything to write about, so that's all I'm going to say. Sorry Agra, you have no one to blame but yourself.

The Taj Mahal, on the other hand, is worthy of all the hype. C'est magnifique!

Here's the history (short version):

The Taj Mahal was built by the Muslim Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan as a mausoleum for his favorite wife, Mumtaz Mahal. She died giving birth to their 14th child at the age of 39.

I think it was exhaustion.

Heartbroken, he began construction soon after her death. It took about about 20 years to complete and was finished in 1648. Today it is considered one of the world's architectural marvels and made the recently compiled New Seven Wonders of the World.

My original plan was to get up early to see it at sunrise to avoid the crowds and get the good light. Unfortunately, after dragging myself out of bed, getting dressed and walking outside, I discovered a completely overcast sky. I wasted no time getting back to bed.

The clouds disappeared by late morning (at least that's when I ventured out again) so I stood in a long line to join thousands of tourists, mostly Indian, to catch the Taj in the afternoon light. The Taj Mahal is by far the most expensive place I've visited in India at 750 rupees or about $21. In India, as in many developing countries, there are tourist prices and local prices. I have no problem with this, but it's funny how much I've adjusted psychologically to how much things cost here. I rarely make the conversion to dollars anymore and I remember thinking, oh my god, 750 rupees, that's outrageous. Of course, in India it is outragous, but it's good to keep things in perspective. In case you're wondering about the Indian price: 10 rupees or $.25.

Here it is:

From the mosque that flanks the Taj:

The most beautiful and intricate carvings and tile work is in the room at the center of the Taj Mahal. This is where you can view the cenotaphs of Shah Jahan and Mumtaz Mahal. Their actual graves are in a room below, but it is off limits. Photography is prohibited in the main chamber (although this seems to have interpreted as optional by many) so I only have these details from just outside:

It was a lovely day and I spent a few very happy hours visiting the Taj. It also brought an unexpected pleasure: you have to remove your shoes. I was wearing sandals so my bare feet got to travel over the cool, white marble polished smooth by the feet of millions. I don't know why I like it so much. Perhaps it brought back childhood's sense of adventure or perhaps it made it more intimate or both or who knows.

When Shah Jahan fell ill in later years, his son seized the throne and placed his father under house arrest in Agra Fort. It still stands and is also a major tourist attraction:

Of course house arrest meant more like palace arrest:

And so Shah Jahan lived out his days in Agra Fort with this view of his precious Taj: