Johanna's Travels: The Adventures of an Extremophile :)

“If I go to rural India, to a home where the people have to carry their water from five miles away, the first thing they will do when you enter the house is to give you water, even though there is only a little. If you go to a city, you always have to ask for water.Where there is contentment there is also compassion, whereas a lack of contentment makes for a lack of connectedness.”

Vandana Shiva

So finally I have a little time to upload all my new pictures (well, not all of them yet, but I'll start with the permaculture course ones) and to tell you about my past weeks in India. Basically they can be divided into three sections, my Permaculture course in Darjeeling, my travel to North-East India and my time in Delhi where I spent Christmas and New Year's.

Before going to Darjeeling I did a side trip from Delhi to Agra with Mark to see the Taj Mahal.
The Permaculture Course lasted for two weeks and took place in an area called “Mineral Springs” in the Darjeeling hills. To reach the venue we had to take the train to Siliguri, then a shared jeep which takes three hours up the hills to Darjeeling city and from there we were taken to Mineral Springs in cars which took another three hours. The course was conducted by Rico Zook, a long-term Permaculture instructor, Sam Dowd as a guest instructor (both from the US) and local instructors from the NGO “DLR Prerna”. All the participants were accomodated in homestays with local Nepali families.

From Darjeeling I took the train to Guwahati, the capital of Assam, where I was kindly hosted by the family of my CS friend Mohorsii from Delhi! From there I did a trip to Shillong, the capital of Meghalaya , and then I went all the way to East Assam where I was again lucky to be able to meet the cousin of my friend's friend (yes, that's how it works over here! :) ) who is studying at the Agricultural University of Jorhat herself and took amazingly kind care of me. From there I visited Majuli, the largest river island of the world and on my way back to Guwahati I did a jeep safari in the Kaziranga National Park, which is mostly known for hosting two-thirds of the world's Great One-horned Rhinoceroses.

What impressed me most about North-East India is the huge cultural variety. I've never before experienced such a mixture of different tribes, languages and religions in such a small area. In general the greatest difference to remaining India is a rather high degree of liberalism and orientation towards the west, not least due to the influence of Christian missionaries.

Then I went back to Delhi to follow the invitation of my Assamese friends for Christmas who even constructed a little Christmas tree for me even though it was their own first time to celebrate this occasion!

After being stuck in Delhi for a while due to my stolen passport and visa card (I'd been wondering when it would finally happen! ;) ) I'm now off to explore (part of) the South before my return to Europe.
During my travels I had the help of amazingly many people and Couchsurfing hosts! Thanks so much to all of you!! Thanks also to Mr & Mrs Tuli for kindly giving me shelter once more in Delhi!

I have been asked to tell a bit more about my “inner journey” since this has been going a bit short in my last entries. It is true, of course, that travelling is mostly about exterior experiences, which, at the same time, can bring about enormous changes in the interior and in one's views on life. I have learnt incredibly much during my time in this country and I do hope that I'll be able to put it into words sometime. For now I'd like to say that one of the thing's I've mostly learnt here is best expressed in a quote by the Dalai Lama. "There is no need for temples, no need for complicated philosophies. My brain and my heart are my temples; my philosophy is kindness."

With love to all of you!

PS: "Extremophile" was a word I came across in the Permaculture Course and with which I could immediately identify ;)

This curtain is having some fault in construction! :)

On the trains in India there are lists with the names of the passengers - you can find mine as well :)

This is what the berths look like in the AC 2 tier class

There are both "Western" and "Indian" toilets on the trains

Hustle and bustle at the New Delhi railway station

There's always room for more passengers in India :)

... even if they have to find alternative seats

Why bother to close the door? Better enjoy the fresh air and the view of the passing landscape :)

The "chai walla" mustn't be missing on a train either!

Passing the Agra fort

It never ceases to amaze me how much one single person can transport on a bike...

We only just reached in time to see the Taj Mahal before sunset

Only the second "New Wonder of the World" I've visited... still more travels needed :)


Advertising poster for the soap opera "Hitler Didi" - in India "Hitler" is commonly used for very strict people

Back in Delhi in a fancy restaurant...

... whose food doesn't compare with what my Assamese friends can cook :)

Mmh, a new currency? :)

Typical view: serious beauty with proud mother

Just found it funny :)

The ISKCON (International Society for Krishna Consciousness) temple in Siliguri

It can be so easy to be happy :)

There were many scenes from Krishna's life depicted in brass on the outer walls of the temple - I'm giving only a few examples here

The root stock of a tea plant can make a wonderful table leg :)

Typical Indian house construction site

Siliguri is not much less dusty than Delhi...

Having the best pasta since I've come to India cooked by my CS host Paul's wife Eltie in Siliguri

One of the decorative salads we were served during the course

The "classroom"

My homestay...

... and the view out of the door

Gibt es sowas wie "artgerechte Waeschehaltung"? :)
If laundry only had eyes...

Himalayan mountain range

Hat was von Stilleben :)

In India it is very popular to cover each and every thing, even the remote controls :)

The path between course location and homestay (about 10 mins walk)

There were also heaps of mandarin oranges trees in this area - all organic :)

Another slightly more demanding section of my daily path :)

Harvesting Pomelos... mmh... I'm getting homesick of Israel :)

Flower of a poinsettia ("Christmas Star") tree

White flowering variety of the same plant

Happy cows :)

Building an A-frame, a structure used to measure contour lines

Rico is building his in a more sportive manner :)

If you look very close you'll find the Buddha statue which must be huge in reality

This local was deaf and dumb but more communicative than anyone else :)

Amaranth plant

Flower of the okra plant

Zebra okra? :)

Making seed balls which we re-named as "seed ovaries" to be anatomically more precise :)

A short trip to the crowded Darjeeling city

One of many street dogs with her puppy


In North East India vegetarians are far less frequently encountered The meat ist just sold like this in the "open air" while we're fussing about hygiene in the West

What tells you that this is an Indian product? :)

Well, I hadn't expected that when I said a "small" honey jar will be sufficient!

No tomato, but a red eggplant variety

Did I ever mention that I adore kittens? :)

Curious class attendants :)

Vishal (from Kolkata) and Sam (from the US) building a solar water heating panel

Just cool clouds :)


After resigning from his job with an oil company via email Mark was from then on only called "Jobless Mark" by us :) (BoY = Best of Yesterday)

We had to carry our own toilet water which we could collect from a tap

Waiting for the water for the morning shower

Drafting maps for a Permaculture design for the course venue

A Nepali song whose tune is so catchy that it still immediately comes back to my mind when I read the text :)
I found a rough translation here: http://gshakya-literature.blogspot.com/2011/03/resham-firiri-resham-firiri-translation.html
In general it was hard for the locals to translate Nepali since most of the words describe specific sounds which have no English equivalent