We've got Bollywood

Ok, first of all, India is no Nepal, it's a totally different beast altogether. Not only have we lost our ability to share shards of conversation with locals (there's like 20,000 different languages here and apparently you have to be able to read a person's dialect from their face to avoid insulting them) but we've lost our hold on what's culturally acceptable and expected. Nonetheless, we're having a great time our here and enjoying some pretty crazy adventures. After ten hours of travel from Pokhara to Gorakhpur, we hopped on a 30+ hour train to Bombay (only losers call it Mumbai) in a sleeper car. We had heard volumes of terrifying stories about the sleepers, from druggings and theft to crippled beggars crawling into bed with foreigners, but the whole thing was actually really easy and comfortable except for the duration. 

Max Getting The Old Ear Cleaning Scam

One problem we faced was being shaken awake by an adjacent passenger at 4:30 in the morning. "Bombay, Bombay, ten minutes!" he told us. Now, we thought we'd be arriving at 9AM or so and would be able to easily find a hotel room in the bright Indian sun, but alas, it was not to be. After a scamtastic taxi ride to the tourist district, Kolaba, we wandered through the wide, Parisian-esque streets (it's been very strange to find ourselves in a city that is so modern and distinctly European, we even have enjoyed Indian McDonalds a few times). Fortunately we found some Westerners huddled together on the street in front of the Taj Hotel (where Obama stayed last month and the site of the terrorist attacks of 2008) next to the Gateway of India who allowed us to rest our weary bodies near them. As we have learned during our months of travel, friends are plentiful even in unfamiliar places and so after starting the day alone, we ended our evening on a rooftop restaurant with 14 other people from Israel, Germany, South Africa, England, Singapore, France and the US. Just an awesome first day in Bombay.

And the fun only continued the next day. Joined by some of our friends from the hostel we hopped in a van at 8 in the morning to travel to a Bollywood set and work as extras for the forthcoming film "Ready" (there's actually a wikipedia article about this movie). Dressed in fashionable wardrobe, the Masala Ballas mulled around a giant set (apparently a wedding in Iran??) until they were needed. The scene was a big showdown between the good guys and the bad dudes which involved a lot of stage punches for the actors and repeated directions to looked "shocked" for the extras. We were involved in so many scenes and so prominently displayed (we took our job much more seriously than the other scrubs they pulled off the street) that one of the directors told us to "hide" ourselves in the background because we had been "established" in several locations within a few seconds. Eli even received kudos from multiple directors and there are whispers of a multi-movie deal in the works with Indian star Salaam Khan. 

The Big Fight Scene in "Ready" the Next Big Hit (Don't Worry, We Were Much Better Than These Sour Faced Extras)
[Not shown: the fork that becomes lodged in one of the actor's rears in this scene's culmination]

Overall, it was just an awesome experience: we received free breakfast, lunch, snacks, chai, and 500 rupees (just shy of 12 US dollars) all for only 15 hours of work and transportation. Such suckers....

Our Bollywood Debut!

Tomorrow we leave for Goa, the region renowned for its miles of unbroken beaches. It's very strange to think that we were in the Himalayas less than two weeks ago and tomorrow we will be enjoying the hot hot sun in Goa. Yes, we have seen the weather reports from Chicago: we'll drink something tropical out of a coconut for all of you.

Mumbai-Curious

After exactly 100 days in Nepal we are taking a train down south;  45+ hours of transportation ahead.
We are going to have to change the blog title now that we are going to be in India. Any suggestions?

Hindu Thin Air: The HimaPlayas Go Trekin'

Yeah, we were on top of the world.  It's hard to describe 2+ weeks in the Himalayas in a blog post, we'll do our best, but forgive us if we rely on pictures instead of literally describing the daily grind of trekking.

Joined by honorary Acclimate, Chris Garren, professional mountain climber and ranking much higher in Alpine IQ than either of us (he also had a critical piece of equipment: a watch, so that we could wake up on time to make it to the next town...), our enlarged crew was prepared to start the 100+ mile journey.

 

Last photo before hitting the trail

Once on the Circuit, we settled into a very nice routine: wake up with the sun (around 6:30), eat a energizing breakfast generally consisting of porridge, and Tibetan bread (super-delicious fried bread for that good-morning burst), and start hiking, most of the time up up up. An average day of hiking was about 6-7 hours not including our midday break of Snickers and Daal Baht, and regularly changing our layers (the mornings were bitter cold, then after 20 minutes of walking we were unbearably hot, and then right around 12:30-1 it would start getting extremely cold again, so yeah, we had to constantly switch up our threads). 

FantasTrek!

One of countless Trexellent suspension bridges

Mid-Trekking-Action Shot

What a Cute Little Furball!.. and the Puppy is Cute Too

We walked through terrain of all kinds: from jungle and rice paddies, to lush pine forests, and eventually to the stark alpine desert well above the tree line. We rounded out the trek by spending a few days in Tatopani relaxing in a natural hot spring to soothe our weary muscles. We were lucky with the weather and had clear views of the most intimidatingly beautiful mountains in the world just about everyday. At night we would crawl into our sleeping bags, trying to fight the cold  in the ever-freezing guesthouses. Our hike from Besi Sahar to the top of Thorong La pass took us from 2,000 feet of elevation to almost 18,000 (not to mention several days of climbing and climbing only to descend to our starting elevation), and we did it while making lots of new traveling friends from across the globe.

We Spun a Lot of Prayer Wheels

Chris and the Annapurnas

Enjoying Into Thin Air on Thanksgiving in  Manang's most exclusive movie theater

Two hungry trekkers await their daal baht lunches

Partying with Russians at 17,800 feet

Thorong La Pass

On the way down we cleansed our bad karma in the 108 holy taps at Muktinath: That's right... we have clean slates

Then we had the pleasure of hanging out with a Sadhu named Baba at his cave

We Wanna Go Higher!!!!!!

If you didn't already know: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XaW5F9Tw7wk

Yes, it's finally happening. The Acclimates and their new/old friend, Chris, will be departing for the Annapurna Circuit tomorrow (called the Coca-Cola Circuit by one faithful follower here, but she knows who she is and is most certainly ashamed of talking smack to such wonderful boys). It's only about 2 weeks later than we had hoped to leave, and while this will mean winter temps at the top of the world, it will also mean less people to deal with: taking the good with the bad. We should be trekking for about 3 weeks and once again with have limited/nil internet access. If you miss us, check out some photos of the circuit: truly wild. We'll be back soon, in the meantime send us your extra oxygen, it's looking like we'll need it.  

Slow Days in Pokhara: an Album

Mostly, Nepali children are the ones who get beaten, but this baby is taking matters into her own hands...

So, the Acclimates have been kicking it old school in Pokhara for a week (and by old school we mean Max has been quite ill and Eli is finding yoga-savvy women to "learn" from), waiting for Eli's friend to arrive from Kathmandu (who is battling age-old custom issues, but what can you expect? It's festival season) and there's not much to report. We thought we would post some photos that deserve to be shared with the masses. Enjoy.

Us, Ama, Bua and Our Basque Friend Jesus

Max and Bua Harvesting Crops...

Happy Nepali Kids

Our Friends Before Leaving the Farm. Christoph on the Right is a Seth Shapiro Doppelganger

Our goodbye page we composed and illustrated for Ama and Bua's guestbook (there was a lengthy poem involved)

...and Max Falling Off a Traditional Nepali Swing

Max on a Traditional Nepali Swing

Okhwan Yoon, a Korean man we met in Kathmandu who has been riding his bike for ten years, visited 191 countries and will soon break the world-record for countries visited (before climbing Mt. Everest with his bike). Seriously google this guy, he's awesome. 

 

True Love

Matchbooks are a big deal over here, but some of them are a bit strange (see Fred propositioning Vilma)

Eli and Nameet, a young friend who learned balloon animals (and robots!) from an American Balloon-Artist friend of ours

Enjoying village hospitality in the form of flowers, bananas, tikas and chya

Farma Bums

Us with our Ama and Bua (aka: Big Daddy Surya)

So, coming back to Begnas Tal for the 3rd time (the end point of "What the Trek" and home to "Bumble in the Jungle," the Acclimates returned with renewed determination to discover the fabled WWOOFing farm somewhere in the hills. After a short Nepali canoe ride we set off up the road, relying entirely on locals to direct us to the farm; thank goodness for Nepalis, they just continue to be awesome and always directed us true. 

Turning the final corner we found a large field for buffalo grazing, and just above that was Surya Adikhari's organic coffee farm, filled with Westerners washing compost and worm gunk off their hands, Surya (who we called "Bua" or father) overlooking the proceedings and the boddhisattva of loving kindness: Ama ("mother") preparing a special midday meal. Shortly thereafter we were named the “American Babus” (sons) until later we received personalized names due to our awesomeness (Max = Ram, Eli = Laxama). Surya’s farm is the centerpiece of the Royal Everest Organic Coffee Cooperative in Begnas; over a 170 farms bring their beans to our farm which are weighed, sorted, washed, peeled, washed again, dried, and then brought to Kathmandu to be packaged and sold around the world (although largely in Japan and Taiwan). Surya’s efforts have vitalized the community, bringing in much needed income and making him the “most popular” man in the area, most people referring to him simply as “big daddy.” 

Besides helping with all the coffee, there were many daily chores to maintain the farming lifestyle. We awoke before 5 without the company of the sun to sweep the red clay floors, gather buffalo dung for the bio-gas tank (incredible what is re-used here: all the gas is derived from feces, rotting plants, biotically-charged liquids, pretty much anything you can throw in the tank…) and churn buffalo milk into ghee (a precise science that the Acclimates eventually came to own). After that there was morning yoga with Surya, culminating in the beloved Yoga Dance so that we might spread our love to all the world with Nepali spins and hand twirling. Then it was time for rest, complete with milk tea, card games, journaling and reading. Life was very easy on the farm; the sun shone constantly, the work was infrequent and enjoyable, the company fantastic, and Ama’s love copious. We got everything we were looking for: dirt under our nails, sweat beading on our brows, a new plethora of friends both domestic and international, and the pure sense of well-being that can only come from working the land and days spent lounging outside.

There were difficulties at times: the rat fight club/debate team grew incredibly fierce in our room when the lights went out (especially difficult the first night when we slept on the floor), the frequent tea times often disrupted our napping, a hole for a bathroom/shower, and the groups of gawking Nepalis that made Tai Chi practice quite a challenge. But of course these were merely insignificant obstacles in our Coffee Eden. By the end of our visit, we were distressed to leave our new family, but paradise isn’t forever, and so we packed up, received our goodluck-tikas from Ama, and hiked back down to the town. 

On our way home we stopped by the house of our old friend Rosnae who saved us from the jungle a month ago. She was ecstatic to see us, bringing us into her room, handing out tea and bananas, inviting her family to come meet us, and demanding that we dance for her as is the custom during festival time. [A quick side-note: there is over a hundred days of the Nepali calendar that are “festival days;” these people spend most of their time celebrating one or another of their 330 million gods. It’s really becoming tiresome and inconvenient for us.] They were sad to see us leave but it was time to return to beautiful Pokhara where we remain to this day, awaiting Eli’s friend Chris before we head out on the Annapurna Circuit. We’ll let you all know when we leave; Namaste!  

Ama Celebrates Halloween with us and our Crudely Carved Orange-O'Lantern (Which She Thought was a Dog)

The Machine; Used to Take the Skins off of Coffee Beans

Surya Addresses the Village Council on Coffee Production

WWOOFers Working on Preparing Dinner

Max In the Middle of Ghee (Butter) Churning

Our Bedroom/ Meeting Room/Accounting Office/ Library/ Rat Haven

Gone Farmin'

So we think we finally understand where this farm is supposed to be. Tomorrow we will once again head out to Begnas Tal and look for our new home. We're planning on staying there for about 2 weeks and we're not sure when we'll have internet access next. Think green thoughts for us; we'll explain all to our loyal followers soon.

Playing With Fire and Climbing Even Higher

We have done some awesome stuff over the last week. We got our India Visas and made some new friends in Kathmandu. We came back to Pokhara and went on a camping trip in a picturesque spot with some Dharma friends that overlooked valleys to the north and the south and with the Himalayas staring down at us. Life is good.

Spitting Fire in Durbur Square

Our French Friend Camille Spinning Poi

Overlooking the Peace Pagoda from our campsite

Max sleeping outside as the Himalayas are lit by sunrise

Max, Eli and Benedict (the coolest guy in Germany) enjoying the view

New friend Max preparing to take the quick route back to Pokhara...

And there he goes.

Sunrise and Hills

Fishtail Mountain; No one has ever made it to the summit... yet

Dashain in the Membrane

Sargent Stinkeye prepares to enjoy his meal

So a few nights ago the Kathmandudes went out for some Tongba, a traditional Tibetan hot alcoholic beverage; basically a wood mug filled with millet that you add hot water to from a big thermos until you’ve had enough (it’s awesome). A man about our age came by our table and invited us upstairs to where the cool Nepalis sit on the floor in front of long tables and drink heavily. Upstairs we met his friends, most of whom worked “security” which we eventually surmised meant that they were part of the Kathmandu Armed Police Force. After plenty of tongba and cross-lingual shanenigans, they invited us to Dashain, the biggest festival of the year, at the police headquarters. We obviously agreed to go to the police station’s private party; we couldn’t pass up this unique opportunity. 

            When we got to the front gate of the police station at first we were deigned entry, but we just needed to explain to the guards that we were friend of the force and we were welcomed in. I think we were the first whities to ever be invited to this party because we were besieged with paparazzi-esque photography, and immediately welcomed by all the higher up beaurocrats and officers.  We felt like Brangelina, Obama, and Justin Bieber rolled into one (or two). 

The 2nd in command offering something to the commander (our friend) in front of the police in attendance

Police, friends, and family

            As the food started to come out the soldiers took their formation and listened to the chief of polices commands. They also invited us to be the first people to dig into the feast of epic proportions, for which we broke our pledge of being vegetarians just to be polite (and the tandori chicken looked too good to pass up). The food was spicy and delicious, and we got to sit at the table meant for the elder officers and other VIPs, meeting the highest officials of the Election Commission and even sharing a glass of Orange Crush with the Commander of Police.  We stuffed ourselves while having a stimulating discussion about the pros and cons of westernization in Nepal. Then the young officers that had invited us took us into the canteen where we consumed large amounts of whiskey in a short time in preparation for the dancing that was about to commence. As night fell, Indian techno pop music got pumped up and the chairs were cleared from the eating area to open up the dance space. 

            One thing you have to understand about Nepali culture is that male relationships are different than in the states. It is quite common to see male friends holding hands with interlocking fingers, lazily placing their palms on the inside of each others’ thighs, or to see two perfectly hetero friends dancing with each other in a manner that would only be seen in certain bars in San Francisco. What I’m saying is that there was not a single woman dancing the whole night, yet there was as much bumping and grinding as in a normal dance club.

Eli showing the Nepalis how we do

It was really gay, and by that I mean fun! There was a lot of holding hands and dancing in circles while one person showed of their best moves in the middle.  Things got a little crazy but we both got multiple compliments on our dancing abilities and everyone under the tent wanted to get close to us (even though we weren’t accustomed to the vigorous jumping and spinning of Nepali dance). Even the commander had to join in the revelry to show us his moves to great cheers. Let’s just say no matter what we do in Katmandu we won’t be getting arrested anytime soon, the police even said they would “excuse” us from anything outside of murder (we were explicitly told we can “tease” all the girls in Kathmandu). Our original friends who had invited us to the party took us out afterward for a night cap, which meant sitting on boxes in a liquor store and drinking more whisky,  before they walked us safely back to our hotel because they had to go on duty. Waking up the next morning we could barely walk our legs were so sore. God we love this country!

Us and our original friends (constables and a captain) finishing a bottle of whiskey  in a liquor store.Eli and Max are displaying the best in Nepali fashion: the taka-tupi