Nepal Trek

I took a 4 day trek in the mustang region of nepal. The first day we arrived in Jompson via airplane. We met our guide and now long time friend Sering, who not only saved us from the perils of mustang, but laughed at us and with us the whole time; lightening sprits and making the hard moments more fun and the down time more entertaining.

We then walked up the mustang valley to a town called Kagbeni, strolled around the almost 700 year old village and saw a turf war between two cows. The second day we climbed almost 1200 meters (3960 ft.) in about 4 hours. This limit pushing climb brought us the the sacred town of Muktinath, where the 3 holiest rivers for hindus begin as one glacial run off. The third day we climbed another 1000 feet, or more, to a pass around 15000 feet. If you stop and sit still and quite, in this pass, time stops with you. It was truly untouched and untainted, by the progress of time. One might say it was serene, but I don't think that any word does it justice. That afternoon we began our decent traveling through Muktinath past Kagbeni to a small village about 2 hours from Jompson. The decent put us along some hair raising cliffs and steep trails no more than a foot wide with 500 foot drops on one side and loose rock on the other.

After a much needed night of rest at the Hill-Ton,

we walked the final few kilometers to Jompson. That afternoon we decided to walk even more and see the town just below Jompson, Marpha, and then walked back up to Jompson. Needless to say, we were all very exhausted by the end of this trek. Today we flew out of Jompson early in the morning, changed planes in Pokhara, and are now in the lap of luxury at the Hyatt Kathmandu. Here are some beautiful mountain pictures that only give an inkling of the majesty and size of these powerful pieces of rock.

On a side note, sorry to those who have been following my MobileMe gallery it filled up quicker than I thought and the internet here has generally been too slow to be uploading more than 20 pictures at a time. For those who are wondering I now have taker more than 1700 pictures this trip. I promise you all that by the end of the coming week all photos will be available on MobileMe, and I will be available starting monday via telephone, and in person if you are in the boston area, for the first time in far too long. For the last time, From Nepal and India, with LOVE!

Not Much Internet In Nepal

hey yall the internet in nepal is the harder to come by than italian food. I am half way through my 4 day trek. Tonight I am in Muktinath the highest point on my trek (15000 ft.) Today I thought I was going to die as I climbed up almost 4000ft in 4 hours. Altitude sickness sucks. I cannot post pictures here, but I promise when I get out of the mountains I will share the breath taking vistas with you. I CANT BELIEVE I ONLY HAVE 3 DAYS LEFT AND THEN I BEGIN MY JOURNEY BACK TO AMERICA. I hope to see you all soon and as always, From Nepal and the Himalayas, with LOVE!

Bodh Gaya

Bodh Gaya, the Place where the Buddha became enlightened. I visited many temples, including the Maha Bodhi Temple. This is where the original Bodhi tree, under which Buddha first became enlightened, resides. It is estimated that this tree is about 3000 years old. This picture doesnt make it seem quite as old as the previous statement does, but its really not that big. It does however look like the best climbing/napping tree in the world. (dear csw administration, please note that trees are meant to be climbed and napped/read in. If you have ever read the giving tree you would know that with moderation trees are here for us, climbing included. We should most definitively plant a Bodhi tree on the quad. (seniors maybe that should be our gift????) All csw students who read this, please organize a tree-in before social norms make it unacceptable to climb trees.) the other pictures in here are of various monuments and temple in Bodh Gaya. Plus a cool trashcan I found. (yes the penguin is a trashcan)

Sarnath

Sarnath is where the Buddha gave the first teaching of Dharma. It is only 8 kilometers outside of the busy/hectic/headache causing Varanasi, and it was truly peaceful and serene. I visited Deer Park, the actual sight of Buddha's first teaching after becoming enlightened. It is said that all 5 monks, who heard his first lecture on the dharma, became enlightened upon hearing the final words of the talk.

I also visited the Tibetan Temple in Sarnath, which was filled with beautiful colors, as well as, beautiful souls.

Varanasi Ghats and Recording

In the morning I took another walk along the Ganges and visited many Ghats. Once again there was beautiful light and people everywhere.

In the evening I recorded 4 Ragas with a new friend named Deobrat Mirshra (sitar), his nephew Prashant Mishra (tabla) and a friend of theirs Pawan (tampora)

Varanasi Ghats at Sunrise

Ghat: A descending Stairway, which leads to the river and is used for bathing.

This morning i woke up at 5 am and walked from Assi Ghat where I am staying to the Main Ghat in the center Varanasi. Along the way I saw many cool things, including: Sadus, child hustlers who sell flowers, graffiti, gorgeous light from the sun, and religious ceremonies, just to name a few. Here are some of my favorite shots from the morning.

Faces of India pt. 2

Taj MahLAME

Note to travelers. the Taj Mahal is the quintessential tourist trap. they charge way more if your white and its really not that spectacular. if you want to see the beauty of the Taj get a MOFOIN' postcard. In person, I dont think that the 7 wonders of the world are all that wonderful, at least compared to the national geographic pieces on them. that is my bottom line.

here are a few cliche pictures of the Taj and some cool photos of kids I met in the train station.

2 Day Festival for the God RAM

The last two days have had sooooooo many amazing sights and sounds that i cant find time to write a real post. I am leaving Vrindavan today to see The Taj Mahal and then take an overnight train to Varanasi. Here are a few cool shots of the Festival of Ram. Check out all my photos and a video or two at http://gallery.me.com/azschwartz

Recording In Vrindavan

Today I met with my friend Bittu, a classical Indian musician, who comes from a long lineage of Indian musicians. He brought me to his home, where his whole family greeted my dad and I with food and drink. After the more than cordial welcome, we went upstairs to his room where we recorded music all morning. His father (Papa Bittu) and He are two of the most renowned classical vocalist in all of Vrindavan.

They also arranged for a few other musicians to come and aid their singing and musicianship.

The music they made was beautiful and filled everyone within an earshot with total bliss.

(as you can see from my face)

In the afternoon I met with a friend of my dad, Deva, who is also an Indian Musician. He sat in our Hotel (?) room and played us some beautiful songs about the gods Ram and Krishna.

The rest of my day will be spent mixing and mastering the tracks I recorded today, if I can manage to stay awake.

Until next time...RAM RAM

Faces of India pt. 1

Neem Karoli Baba Ashram

This morning I walked from my hotel(?) to Neem Karoli Baba's Ashram. On my way I passed trough the oldest and poorest parts of Vrindavan.

I saw for the first time how most of India lives. Passing along the river I saw people bathing at the local Ghats and all the garbage/sewage that pours into the Ghat.

Recently there was a project to erect and overhead highway that would connect Delhi to Vrindavan. This overhead highway was planned to go right over the holiest Ghat in all of Vrindavan and therefore the project was put on hold. The consequence of this is a great juxtaposition of the new construction popping up all over India and the oldest of old.