Laure and Quarup

While eating dinner in Bangalore with the Google team, Quarup's coworkers kept insisting that he should take a few days off to visit the city Leh in the Himalayas. They told us that this was the best time of year to go because during much of the year it is covered in snow. After a couple hours of convincing and a few drinks, we were sold. We booked tickets online next morning.

We departed Friday evening for our long trip to Leh. Because the winds over the Himalayas become more unpredictable as the day progresses, flight only depart and arrive in Leh early in the morning. This meant we had to layover in Delhi for the evening and take a 6AM flight to Leh the following morning.

Our flight route to the Himalayas. We found it interesting that the borders in India's northern region become dashed.

Our first sight of the mighty Himalayas.

The city of Leh is in the Jammu and Kashmir region in the Himalayas, a disputed area between India, Pakistan, and China. Although there is prominent military presence, Leh itself is safe to visit and has not seen violence in recent years. Its beautiful mountains and Tibetan Buddhist culture draw many Indian and international travelers to this area during the summer.

See an even closer view of our interactive map

Our friend Manu Garg set up our accommodations at a very nice hotel (The Oriental Hotel and Guest House) owned by some of his good friends. The peaceful hotel is located at the edge of the city and had a stunning view from our room. The stunning view came at the painful price. It involved climbing four flights of stairs at 11,562 ft (3,524 m) above sea level! Quarup had to take breaks at each floor level to stop the pounding in his head. The thought of passing out did cross his mind.

Once we made it up to our room, we didn't want to leave.

Prayer flags and stupas from our bathroom window.

We were advised to spent much of the first day sleeping and relaxing to help our bodies acclimatize to the high altitude. Considering our flight arrived at 7AM, taking a nap was not disputed. Acclimatization typically takes a couple days before one's body can extract normal levels of oxygen from the thin air.

By the evening we had enough strength to explore the city by foot. We heard some people saying "juleh" (pronounced "joo-lay"), which is a friendly word in the local language that means hello, goodbye, how are you, thank you, or you're welcome.

We walked through the busy markets with many shops owned by Tibetan refugees that immigrated to India during Tibet's conflicts with communist China. As a result, Leh is largely shaped by Tibetan culture, which fortunately includes cool prayer flags, local crafts and awesome food.

The city center of Leh.

We're not big shoppers but we couldn't say no to these handwoven Tibetan wool socks.

Thukpa (a local Ladakhi soup). Quarup's favorite dish.

Momos (local steamed dumplings). Laure's favorite dish.

Next day, we hired a driver to take us to a three Buddhist monasteries; Lamayuru, Alchi, and Likir. These small communities built on high mountains are comprised of monks and nuns dedicated to preserving and teaching Buddhism. The drive to all three monasteries was long and the combination of unpaved road and unique scenery made napping difficult. With the exception of gardens in scattered towns, the landscape was mostly barren with calmness unlike any other place we had been. These mighty mountains were once the ocean floor and they still do not contain enough nutrients to sustain shrubbery. The sky was vivid blue due to the lack of atmosphere.

Driving up to Likir as the sun was setting.

View from Likir.

Finding inner peace.

The colorful prayer flags represent the natural elements and promote peace, compassion, strength, and wisdom. It is believed that the wind carries prayers and blessings from the flags to everyone around the world. Such is the all-embracing nature of Tibetan Buddhism.

Alchi prayer flag pathway. Our favorite monastery from the visit.

Laure's favorite path.

Rug's favorite too.

Tibetan Buddhists spin prayer wheels clockwise to accumulate wisdom and merit, and purify negativities.

Getting rid of any lingering bad karma.

Giant prayer wheel = the accumulation of a lot of wisdom?

On our next day, we hired a driver to take us to Khardung La Pass at 17,582 ft (5,359 m). The locals claim this is the highest motorable pass in the world; Wikipedia begs to differ. Either way, the views were amazing and it was the highest elevation either of us had ever been. At the top, we had a few cups of tea before Quarup mountain biked halfway down and got a flat tire.

Looking back down towards Leh, half way through our hour long drive up.

The best 20 cent tea in town.

No helmet! Laure's praying that Quarup makes it down in one piece.

Quarup owned the road. He caught up to a motorcycle group. He's just behind the 6th motorcycle.

That evening, we climbed the steps of the hill next to our hotel to see Shanti Stupa, which holds relics of Buddha and is famous for its panoramic views. At the top we enjoyed tea and a beautiful sunset on the mountains.

Fresh ginger lemon tea, Quarup's favorite.

On our last day, we went white water rafting on the Zanskar River (level 3+), where we met other travelers from around the world. Our international raft included an Indian couple from Bangalore, two guys from Czech Republic, a girl from Montana, a girl from Canada, and our Nepalese raft leader. The air temperature was hot at about 35C but the water in the river coming from the Himalayas was really cold at 8C! Good thing they provided everyone with wetsuits for rafting and a warm lunch after.

Quarup was captured by another raft.

For our last night we had dinner at Chopsticks, a Lonely Planet recommended restaurant. The prices were fair, the food was excellent and the large tables with friendly atmosphere encouraged mingling with new people. We joined a table with travelers from the US and Australia. You would have never been able to guess from their modesty that they had just gotten back from a five week climbing/mountaineering expedition deep in the contested areas of Jammu and Kashmir. They had rented a couple of horses to carry all their gear and set out into the Himalayas without a guide.

On our last day we learned the Dalai Lama would be flying into Leh as we would be flying out. If only we had stayed an extra day, we could have seen him speak in person. Maybe we'll catch him on our next trip. Until then, juleh.

Last view of the Himalayas.

After one week in India, we felt we were getting the hang of things. We were getting used to the underdeveloped streets, sights of poverty, and cows on the road. We were ready for whatever Bangalore would throw at us.

Flying in India within more relaxing than flying within the United States.

The first of many personal drivers Quarup would have in Bangalore.

Thirty minutes from the airport, we experienced our first taste of culture shock. We had heard that Bangalore is the Silicon Valley of India, but we weren't prepared for how similar they are. American cars were mixed in with the motorcycles, a lot of Indians were dressed in western clothes, large malls were advertising western clothing brands, and I even saw a Santa Cruz, California "Mystery Spot" sticker on a passing car (a popular bumper sticker in the SF Bay Area). Besides the auto-rickshaws and occasional cow, we started to feel like we were back in the Silicon Valley.

Our hotel was right across the street from a new mall. Best of all, the mall had a Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf (an LA based coffee shop) inside!

Even the cows "refuel" at the gas station.

Each morning after Quarup and I enjoyed a complimentary hotel breakfast, Quarup's driver would drop him off at work and I would explore the city alone. Each day I would master skills like crossing the street (which looked more like a freeway) and haggling over fares with auto-rickshaw drivers. We would meet up each night for dinner and I would share my triumphs and failures with him. Here are a few more pictures from Bangalore.

See an even closer view of our interactive map.

Bangalore is known as the Garden city of India. Young couples holding hands and cuddling on park benches are common sites in parks.

Typical traffic along MG Road.

The ceiling of a customized auto-rickshaw. This particular driver totally pissed me off.

Fish Spa pedicure. The fish snacked on dead skin while I resisted the urge to laugh from the tingle.

Russell Market's fresh chickens.

My all-time favorite place was the KR Market. It was everything I wanted India to be; a bit exotic, a little grimy, large, and crowded. The flower section of the market made my heart skip a beat with excitement each time I visited - and yes, I went more than once. People were yelling trying to sell their goods, it was so packed with people that bags needed to be carried on top of their heads, it was hot, and the fragrant colorful flowers added to the excitement. As a surprise to Quarup (and as an excuse to buy something at the market), I bought several strings of flowers to decorate our hotel room in celebration of our four year dating anniversary. I spent four US dollars on several bags of flowers and felt pretty proud of myself. My driver told me he could have gotten a better deal - oh well.

This place was a nice change from the high end new malls in Bangalore.

Individual flowers sold by weight.

Individual flowers are hand strung and sold by the arm length.

A calm corner of the market.

Happy Four Year Dating Anniversary.

The main point of traveling to the other side of the world was for Quarup to get to know his Bangalore Google teammates. They were a lively group that wanted to show Quarup a great time and encourage him to get to know more about their country.

One of the restaurants where we had dinner with the Google team. A true hidden gem only steps away from the busy road.

Google Bangalore trying to convince Quarup to take a few days off to visit the Himalayas.

We were invited by one of Quarup's coworkers Piyush to his house for a home cooked traditional Indian meal. Piyush's wife, Shaily prepared us a wonderful spread of vegetarian dishes. 

Shaily, Piyush, and their son.

Shaily giving us a tour of her kitchen.

Laure couldn't take her eyes away from her plate long enough for a photo.

Our friend Sidharth from Delhi connected us with a friend Nikhil and his fiancée Natasha. On our last two nights in Bangalore, we went out on double dates to some of Bangalore's delicious local restaurants. We had a great time chatting about traveling and sharing stressful stories about wedding planning, which is a universal topic among young couples. After three weeks in India and cruising around town with new friends, we started to feel like locals.

Gulab jamun for dessert. There was always something new to try.

At Bangalore's local favorite ice cream shop, The Corner House.

After dealing with the Agra traffic, we were on our way to Jaipur, Rashistan.

Our driver rode his ass.

See a closer view of our interactive map.

See an even closer view of our interactive map.

There are two popular stops between Agra and Jaipur: Fatehpur Sikri, a giant abandoned city and Chand Baori, one of India's largest stepped well and only below ground temple. We chose the lesser traveled sight and saw the well. It’s located in a rural village not far off the highway with no one trying to sell you souvenirs.

That white dot on left is Quarup.

Once at the Royal Heritage Haveli Hotel in Jaipur we were ready to relax and we couldn’t have chosen a better hotel to do that in. Our room was gorgeous! No sooner that we arrived in Jaipur, the monsoon rains arrived too. Good thing our awesome hotel offered a delicious set dinner menu.
By the time we dragged ourselves out of the hotel room, the rainfall had stopped and the sun was quickly drying up every last puddle. It was getting hot - and fast. By the time our cab driver got us to our first stop, Amber Fort, it was very hot. We bought the audio tour and a couple bottles of water. The audio tour wasn’t worth the two bucks but the water was.

Making friends on the way up to Amber Fort.

Too bad we gave up on the boring audio tour before it was over because we'll never know the significance of this beautiful room.

No, we don't need an elephant's help to get up this hill. We live on a steeper hill than this.

We arrived at 1PM and joined Belinda and Cathy (two Aussies) to learn how to care for elephants. We prepared their lunch while Rahul's mom prepared our lunch at her house. We also painted an elephant's trunk in the traditional style, went on an elephant ride, and gave an elephant bath in a local swimming hole. Here are a few more photos. Our day with Rahul and the elephants lasted for almost 8 hours and it was fantastic... no, no, it was ele-FANTASTIC.

Lunch is served.

Perfecting the wrapping of the elephant's nutritious lunch

Almost two hours of feeding.

Rahul's mom's delicious homemade lunch.

Laure learned to climb up the trunk.

And so did Q. We're ready to join the circus!

Testing our artistic skills on a moving canvas.

Believe it or not, turbans keep you cool and comfortable in hot weather.

Royal treatment.

Bath time for the elephant...and us.

Saturday we hired a private driver for the day and visited several of Jaipur's sights. We saw Jaipur City Palace (yawn), Jantar Mantar Observatory (interesting), and Hawa Mahal "Palace of Wind" (beautiful), all before lunch. We took our Lonely Planet Guide book's and Rahul's recommendation and stopped by Ganesh Vegetarian Restaurant for lunch. It's located on the roof of a few tourist shops in the old city and worth the extra effort to locate the stairs up to the roof. It was delicious and best of all it was very cheap.

Laure found the little bit of shade under Jantar Mantar's sundial.

Exploring the interior of the Palace of Wind.

The no-frills, open air kitchen at Ganesh Restaurant.

You'll have to trust us that the food at Ganesh to die for.

Before returning to our hotel to enjoy the pool, we stopped by Ladli. It's a non-profit organization that provides street kids with education, vocational training, and in cases of family abuse or forced prostitution they offered housing. We learned about the street kids being left behind as India races ahead to become an advanced country.

Q meeting the talented young lady that made several of the cards we bought.

Before heading to the airport, we made one last stop, Galwar Bagh, a.k.a. the Monkey Temple. With the a local young local kid tagging along we bought some nuts, which we handed out to lucky monkeys. Just as we're ready to head out, the kid informs us of his "helping" fee. We reluctantly give him half of his asking price of four US dollars. As we're walking out somewhat annoyed, a little girl (with the encouragement of her dad) puts her hands together and whispers "namaste" to Laure, whose heart melted instantly.