bigpoppa
Well-known member
I too would like to know
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Tibet!
- Thread starter shanekingsley
- Start date
kurtrules
Well-known member
Sure, I will post; it's an old travelogue, I'll try to find it up and post it here. In-fact, I think I'll start moving all my old travelogues over to gtam. In the meanwhile, posting some pics of roads that I have handy, from rides in Uttrakhand, and the mountainous state - Himachal Pradesh - in India. The roads in these northern hilly states, in India, follow a similar pattern.
75% of the roads are paved, especially at altitudes under 3000m above sea level
As, you start going higher, the road starts deteriorating:
And 10-15 kms before and after a mountainous pass, there are no paved roads. Essentially, never been paved. Sometimes its a rocky path, or a broken track
And yes, if given the opportunity, definitely explore the northern states of Himachal and J&K, especially the region of Ladakh. Almost similar to the friendship highway you've covered from Lhasa-Kathmandu, except, you can do it on a bike
I feel lucky to have covered these states extensively. Though it's been many years, and I have very fond memories to cherish!
Thanks for posting those. That looks utterly amazing. I get cold hands and feet so easily that I would only be able to do that with heated gear!
And yes, post some of your old pictures and moto travelogues here - we need more of that type of stuff on here.
It gives ideas and inspiration for things to do when we can start traveling again.
And yes, post some of your old pictures and moto travelogues here - we need more of that type of stuff on here.
It gives ideas and inspiration for things to do when we can start traveling again.
bigpoppa
Well-known member
Can I ride with you next year? I'll probably be slow
Of course! Everyone rides their own pace and no worries about slow or fast. I like riding with responsible people because they also remind me to be more responsible.
kurtrules
Well-known member
Thanks. I have started to collate those threads and will post.
I've always wanted to go to Varanasi; couldn't bear the 6-700 km journey on straight roads from Delhi ?
Looking forward to your update..
The next morning we wake up early and get down to the river to grab a boat. Our guide from our earlier walking tour arranged this boat for us so that we could get over to where the sunrise ceremony is and then watch the concert there. Heading out on the water first thing in the morning was pretty sweet. It was pitch dark out and we arrive at the ceremony area and are the only ones there except for a for people setting up. Then slowly people start to arrive and the show begins. It was actually very similar to what we saw the previous night, just with way less people there.
After the show was done someone gets on a mic and gives some speeches about the history of Varanasi and the significance of the ceremony. There is no mention of any music show and everyone start leaving and packing up. The boat driver comes up to us and motions for us to come with him. He doesn't speak any English at all so we follow him thinking he's going to take us to the music show. Turns out he didn't know we wanted to hear some live music and was just taking us back to our hotel. It's a bit disappointing because we really wanted to catch some live music, but the morning is still amazing and the water was super calm at this early hour.
This person has claimed his reflective spot for the day.
This is where the previous nights ceremony was and there's quite a few people there at this early hour.
The cremation fires are just starting back up again.
It's our last full day in Varanasi before heading off to New Delhi tomorrow, so we decide that today will be a slow relaxing day of just walking around. When the boat docks our walking tour guide was there and we told him about the live music show and he says it was a mix-up and the show would have started if we just waited there, but the boat driver didn't know to wait. He is so apologetic for the mix-up and really wants to make it right for us. He says he knows of a place that has been in Varanasi for generations and they are master tabla and sitar musicians. He makes a few phone calls and says they will be able to have us come for a personal concert if we want at around 6pm. Sweet!
We then go walking around along the river and among the maze of the city. I'm always fascinated by the fact that there are these massive cows just chilling and doing their thing.
We stuff our faces again with another round of extra delicious Indian food and then meet up with our guide. He takes us over to the music shop which is about a 10 minute walk through the labyrinth. It's a really tiny shop - literally a 12x12 room in an alleyway with some signs up front. Inside they just have a mattress on the ground for sitting on, a bunch of sitars hanging on the walls and some tablas on a shelf.
The guy in the picture below has worked in this store his whole life. His Dad owned the store and they also have a production facility where they make tablas and sitars. He has been playing the tabla and sitar since he was a toddler and it's just their way of life and this is what he will do for his living - just as his father did. We talk a lot about how the type and availability of music has changed so much with technology. He's super dedicated to his craft and very open to sharing his knowledge of traditional Indian music. He's very soft spoken, but carries a big stick.
So the young guy is playing the sitar and I'm thinking he's really good. Clearly the guy has been playing since he was a toddler. About 15 minutes later another older gent shows up and he is also lifelong masters of his craft. The guy on the left has been a sitar and tabla teacher his whole life and does large concerts. He is introduced to us by the young guy who says he is one of the best sitar players in all of Varanasi. He plays by himself for a while and I can hear that he is a true master of the sitar. The gent on the left came in about 30 minutes later and brings his own sarod, which is an instrument similar to the sitar but producing different sounds. He gets introduced to us by the sitar player who says that this guy is a true master of the sarod, which baffles me, because I already think the other two are incredible. The young guy looks over at me and says just listen to these two together - they are the best in Varanasi. Once they started playing, my wife and I were in absolute heaven. They are seem to be just jamming together, but there's a definite flow and pattern to what they are playing, so they know the precise moments to change the tempo or tone, even in a song that is 10 or 20 minutes long. I can't imagine sitting with my legs like this for hours on end.
They ended up playing music for about 2 hours. It was easily the highlight of this entire trip, which is saying something considering that we had walked the great wall of China, traveled all across Tibet with a visit to Mt Everest, drove the mountains of Nepal and then stuffed our faces with traditional Indian cuisine along the Ganges river. We left their shop on cloud nine and all night as I slept I kept hearing their music in my head.
After the show was done someone gets on a mic and gives some speeches about the history of Varanasi and the significance of the ceremony. There is no mention of any music show and everyone start leaving and packing up. The boat driver comes up to us and motions for us to come with him. He doesn't speak any English at all so we follow him thinking he's going to take us to the music show. Turns out he didn't know we wanted to hear some live music and was just taking us back to our hotel. It's a bit disappointing because we really wanted to catch some live music, but the morning is still amazing and the water was super calm at this early hour.
This person has claimed his reflective spot for the day.
This is where the previous nights ceremony was and there's quite a few people there at this early hour.
The cremation fires are just starting back up again.
It's our last full day in Varanasi before heading off to New Delhi tomorrow, so we decide that today will be a slow relaxing day of just walking around. When the boat docks our walking tour guide was there and we told him about the live music show and he says it was a mix-up and the show would have started if we just waited there, but the boat driver didn't know to wait. He is so apologetic for the mix-up and really wants to make it right for us. He says he knows of a place that has been in Varanasi for generations and they are master tabla and sitar musicians. He makes a few phone calls and says they will be able to have us come for a personal concert if we want at around 6pm. Sweet!
We then go walking around along the river and among the maze of the city. I'm always fascinated by the fact that there are these massive cows just chilling and doing their thing.
We stuff our faces again with another round of extra delicious Indian food and then meet up with our guide. He takes us over to the music shop which is about a 10 minute walk through the labyrinth. It's a really tiny shop - literally a 12x12 room in an alleyway with some signs up front. Inside they just have a mattress on the ground for sitting on, a bunch of sitars hanging on the walls and some tablas on a shelf.
The guy in the picture below has worked in this store his whole life. His Dad owned the store and they also have a production facility where they make tablas and sitars. He has been playing the tabla and sitar since he was a toddler and it's just their way of life and this is what he will do for his living - just as his father did. We talk a lot about how the type and availability of music has changed so much with technology. He's super dedicated to his craft and very open to sharing his knowledge of traditional Indian music. He's very soft spoken, but carries a big stick.
So the young guy is playing the sitar and I'm thinking he's really good. Clearly the guy has been playing since he was a toddler. About 15 minutes later another older gent shows up and he is also lifelong masters of his craft. The guy on the left has been a sitar and tabla teacher his whole life and does large concerts. He is introduced to us by the young guy who says he is one of the best sitar players in all of Varanasi. He plays by himself for a while and I can hear that he is a true master of the sitar. The gent on the left came in about 30 minutes later and brings his own sarod, which is an instrument similar to the sitar but producing different sounds. He gets introduced to us by the sitar player who says that this guy is a true master of the sarod, which baffles me, because I already think the other two are incredible. The young guy looks over at me and says just listen to these two together - they are the best in Varanasi. Once they started playing, my wife and I were in absolute heaven. They are seem to be just jamming together, but there's a definite flow and pattern to what they are playing, so they know the precise moments to change the tempo or tone, even in a song that is 10 or 20 minutes long. I can't imagine sitting with my legs like this for hours on end.
They ended up playing music for about 2 hours. It was easily the highlight of this entire trip, which is saying something considering that we had walked the great wall of China, traveled all across Tibet with a visit to Mt Everest, drove the mountains of Nepal and then stuffed our faces with traditional Indian cuisine along the Ganges river. We left their shop on cloud nine and all night as I slept I kept hearing their music in my head.
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