Cycling Canals in London

We had gorgeous weather Saturday and Sunday but Monday was a mix of rain, wind and sun which actually reminded me of Seattle. Nonetheless, I decided to explore the canals through London. I started off by cycling from Harrow to Alperton and hopping on the Grand Union Canal towards Paddington. It was a pleasant ride along the water, with only a few boat homes. It was quiet and I saw swans, mallards, Canadian geese and some heron. The path was paved in most places since it was next to a canal it was very flat.
There is great contrast along the canals. In some places the water was filled with rubbish and oil and moored boat homes with all sorts of things tied to them with personal gardens and junk piles close by-creating more of a trailer park atmosphere. In other areas, like Little Venice, each boat was immaculate, cafes were nearby and the water was clean with carefully maintained plants on the side. While cycling alone the canals I also saw skate parks, industrial and commercial areas, schools, and markets.




It took 35 minutes to get from Alperton to Little Venice and from there I took Regent’s Canal towards the River Thames. After about 20 minutes I arrived at the Camden Lochs. I really like Camden Town. There is a great market and square with loads of character. It is the main highlight of the journey on the canals in my opinion. After that point, there is nothing really worth noting, besides feeling the accomplishment of reaching the River Thames at Limehouse Basin 50 minutes later. Regents Canal has a more narrow path than the pre-Little Venice branch, in addition to having more people crowding the road way. Also at at least four points I needed to explore on the roads to reconnect to the canal. Every couple minutes you needed to duck under a bridge to stay on the path but by in large the canal is accessible. It was nice to not be pressed for time, to be able to stop on the way and see different places and see new areas. I hope to use the canals more as a scenic entrance into central London than the roads, though they are a bit slower. There are still more areas to explore and though they don’t compare to Venice or Belgium’s canals, I think I’ll still enjoy them. Hopefully I can bring some friends along next time.

The Lion King and Les Mis

Almost two weeks ago I went to go see two musicals in West End. I had two friends from university stop by London for a few days after teaching and doing various work in Nairobi for eight months. We had planned on seeing Les Miserables (a first for two of us) and purchased our tickets early. I was so excited to see this! Early the evening before going, they were walking around Central London and called me to ask if I wanted to see The Lion King since they found good tickets. I was ecstatic, especially when I heard how cheap they were! I quickly caught a train to meet up with them in Leicester Square and walk to Lyceum Theatre.



The Lion King was amazing! Since all the characters are animals, the performance demanded a higher level of creativity and they blew us away with the detail, precision, and artistry. The opening scene of the “Circle of Life” was overwhelming. People were using stilts, huge masks, and utilized banraku and shadow puppetry to create a full kingdom of animals. Giraffes, elephants, cheetah, monkeys, and more were walking, running, leaping, flying around. In comparison to that, I was at the scarcity of animals in “I Just Can’t Wait to be King”. Everyone on stage had training in ballet, which enhanced the dancing, choreography, and acting. The prancing gazelles, the wild river in the jungle, the grass waving in the wind, and thundering stampede I thought were exceptionally creative. Due to the superb makeup and the fluidity of movement, I found myself looking at the puppets or masks as if they indeed were the actors! My favourite character was Jafar, George Asprey did a wonderful job portraying his demeanour, displaying the mannerisms and delivering the lines. The set and stage were very well done to characterize the African Safari and jungle with Timon and Pumba. In many ways it was an excellent performance and we loved it. The singing was not as strong as I had hoped, and Simba’s voice didn’t seem to fit his character but the main area that stuck out to us as lacking was dramatic space. The dialogue was rushed at times, the line queues too clear, the timing too regimented…creating less flexibility and space for dramatic flair, for a comfortable settling of character. At least that is how it seemed. It has been fifteen years since I saw The Lion King as a Disney movie so the story was somewhat fresh. Seeing it as a musical was a much richer experience and I was glad to have some friends to enjoy it with.




The next night we went to see Les Mis, the other end of the spectrum in musical theatre. Whereas the Lion King demanded incredible creativity and dancing and lacked dramatic space, Les Mis would be complete rubbish without dramatic space and did not call for really unique costuming or set design and very little dancing. It is not fair to compare the two musicals. When one is based on a novel by Victor Hugo set in the context of the early 19th c. France it is obviously very different than a Disney movie set in Africa. I knew most of the Les Mis soundtrack and had attempted to read the novel at age 13 ( I gave up after two chapters were spent on Cosette and Maruis’ romance through mere observation of each other)… the musical was a great way to pull it all together for me. It is the longest running musical in the Broadway history. The singing blew me away. There are so many strong roles and rich characters. David Shannon did an excellent job as Jean Valjean. My favourite song of his was “who am I?” and I must admit a tingling excitement at hearing “Do You Hear the People Sing?” The rebel leader had tremendous flair and was comfortable in his role. Since I read the novel, the scenes had added depth, especially Valjean’s reaction to the priest’s mercy and Javert’s suicide. There are so many good songs, each loaded with major themes that resound in different voices! We enjoyed recalling our favourite ones. One of my friends was observant enough to note that our young Cosette was missing during our final applause…must have been past her bedtime by then:)
Les Mis has been performed all around the world and been translated into 21 languages- why? Hugo was content to have several stories interwoven into a historic tapestry-20 years after Napoleon’s defeat and the Paris Uprising in 1832. He did not try to tackle the social injustice and war with all its issues; he sought to tell individual stories that intersected each other within all of that in a way that was not limited to that context. Alain Boublil and his long time partner Claude-Michel Schönberg transformed Les Misérables into a musical theatre work in Paris in 1980 based on the lyrics of Herbert Kretzmer, selling as a concept album. Two years later, British producer Cameron Mackintosh and directors John Caird and Trevor Nunn did an excellent job analyzing the history, characters and themes to bring it to life on stage. I really do not know much about Les Mis so much of this could be off but it was an amazing musical and I definitely would love to see it again!
I love musicals for several reasons yet at the centre is its full expression of life with all its joys and sorrow, triumphs and tragedies through a feast for the senses-singing, dancing, acting, instruments, artistry and an overall creative production. Seeing two musicals in two nights was definitely a full enough experience to make me content for at least month before visiting the West End again.

Varanasi

This is the city of Shiva on the bank of the sacred Ganges. Also known as Benares, it is the place where heaven meets the earth. Dying here ensures freedom from karma and attainment of moksha-salvation. “Varanasi” comes from being between the two rivers Varuna and Assi. I stayed there Varanasi 3 days, the longest I was in any place during my time in India, so naturally it was my favourite. The airport is a long was from where I was staying with some Hindus who follow Jesus, so I was hoping my driver knew where he was going. Thankfully I connected with my friends there smoothly, heard more about their work in the city and joined in a gathering that night for singing, some dramas, and a dinner.
The next morning I walked up and down the ghats near the Ganges River, starting at Assi Ghat in the south. I stopped at one of the burning ghats to hear from one of the workers more about it. At their ghat they burn 70-80 bodies a day, 360kg of wood is needed for each body. They dip the body wrapped in white in the Ganges, pour water in their mouth five times, bring it back to shore and stack wood around the body. They walk around the pyre five times, once for each element-earth, fire, water, wind, spirit. The family will sit and wait for hours until the body is burnt, then gather the ashes and throw them in the river. Long ago, most of the ghats were owned by a maharaja or guru who purchased the land in order for their people to have a place to worship and do their ceremonies. This is how most of them attained their names and distinct character. People get up early to bathe and wash their clothes in the river. I won’t go into detail but the water is clearly not sanitary and I passed on going for a swim. Before leaving, I took a break under a tent overlooking the river to have some tea. It was a nice way to soak in my first viewing of the Ganges.
I hung out with my friends that afternoon at a nice pool in a hotel and had lunch. I felt spoiled on such a hot day to have that break. Sunday I walked for about 8 hours around the city. The journey started with a rickshaw ride to Shivala Ghat-Panchkot Court. I met a student from BHU, Banares Hindu University, which is the largest university in the country having on campus housing for all students-almost 20,000. The guy I met was studying computer science. We got to talking and he was excited to show me around the Golden Temple Market and the temple itself, which holds over 20 other temples inside. It was in the heart of the Old City, so the streets were narrow and the shops were busy. I needed to remove my sandals and leave my backpack behind to enter certain areas but having them stolen was a serious threat, so I found a small wooden box used as a locker I could pay Rs. 20 to use. They had tight security, mainly due to the mosques which were nearby. Apparently there has been some strife. After seeing the temples, he took me to his shop to look at kurta, lungis, scarves, and sarees. I searched through a large variety before choosing some and received a special discount. I enjoyed getting to know him, meeting his family, and being shown around the area. He helped direct me to Mother Teresa Guest House. It wasn’t very impressive but it was a peaceful, relatively clean place. It holds around 100 people. Mother Teresa is definitely venerated as a saint there.
From there I walked back down the ghats and met a journalist from Delhi. He was very intrigued to hear of my experience but did not give a formal interview. We talked about family, religion, and of course India. India is definitely a diverse place with thousands of languages, varied landscapes, and an ancient history. He and I walked down to Assi Ghat, took a rickshaw to BHU and parted ways. I briefly saw the university and then went to see the Sankat Mochan Mundir nearby. There were other temples nearby. It was hot, hot day so I was drinking lots of water and was glad to take a 10 minute break to sit in the shade with some tea, I could spare Rs. 5. I walked on past Vijay Cinema into more of the central part of the city. I was going to see some friends at an ashram later in the afternoon but didn’t know where so I thought I might as well kill sometime until I heard from them. When I finally called them, I found out I had several kilometres to walk. So I walked back up the ghats all the way to Gay Ghat, far in the north. As I weaved through the labyrinth of alleyways, I was reminded of the scene in Aladdin with him running from the guards over a loaf of bread. The satsung was much like what we do back in London with the dol, harmonium, tabla but they also had a new instrument to me, a shell used like a horn. I recognized quite a few of the bhajans. Afterwards we had tea and I walked back the ghats. I convinced a man, Simeon, the give me a boat ride down the river close to where I needed to go for only Rs. 80. We passed several torch light ceremonies and rituals along the way. Sadly I didn’t get very good photos. It was a long, full day but I loved having time to see more of the city’s character.
I flew from there the next day to Delhi and flew to London the next day-end of the trip. Feel free to comment and ask questions! I loved my time and would definitely go back.

A Day in Agra

It was last minute but I decided to go ahead and see the Taj Mahal. I left the station at 7:15am to Agra, arrived three hours later and paid for a taxi for the day. Automobiles are not allowed closer than ½ mile so I walked the rest of the way. I went in the West Gate into a beautiful square with ancient Mughal buildings. The Taj Mahal was magnificent but very different than Indian architecture. It was built by a foreigner, a Muslim, and it is flanked by two mosques. As a Muslim, he would not allow any images to be made, so it appears very plain with only Arabic calligraphy and some flowers to accent the white marble. This may seem boring to many but after seeing so many temples filled with images and intricate carvings that made your eyes tired with how busy they were, I enjoyed the Taj’s simplicity. The emperor built it as a memorial for his second wife. His fake coffin is in the middle of the Taj Mahal. It took over 20 years to complete. The central structure is made of translucent white marble which is why people talk about the different colours seen at different times in the day. The marble is also carved with flowers and inlaid with thousands of precious stones. The cornelian stone is red but when it receives light it glows as orange for a period of time. At night the Taj looks like a pale blue or even purple depending on the light of the moon, by morning the sun creates a golden glow. The gardens, pools and fountains around the Taj are also quite nice. As I promised to a customer from ASHA, I fed a cow for her. It was frustrating that I did not have much space left on my camera so I had to prioritize when taking photos that day.




Agra was the capital of the Mughal Empire and the emperor and his family lived inside Agra Fort. It was well fortified, had over 20 palaces inside and is one of the few forts still in use day by royalty. I enjoyed walking around inside because it has so much character after centuries of war, repair, additions, and renovations. We were not allowed to access certain parts of the fort. It is right next to the river Jamuna and you can see the Taj Mahal from it. There were temples and mosques inside and some gardens, which looked very British in their layout. Though it was wonderful to see, I was glad to take a break from walking around and return to the taxi.




My driver Saneer took me to some specialty shops sponsored by the government. I went to a textile place known around the world for their high quality, handmade Persian rugs. I looked at all their varieties but didn’t have Rs. 30,000 to spare so it was a short visit. The next place I went worked with marble, inlaying precious stones. They worked with three colours of marble: black, white and green. I was amazed at the intricacy of carving the marble, shaping the stones and setting them to create a smooth, polished surface-all by hand. Technically this was not a place to bargain, so I hesitated at first when I entered their shop of marble carvings, boxes, animals, etc. But when I found a small box that I like, I gave in a bargained for it-paying half of his original price. As we drove to the market, I had a chance to speak with Saneer more. He has been driving the cab for tourists for 11 years, is 33 and has four children-10, 9, 4, 1. He told me about the kids’ school, his new home, and the history of Agra. I enjoyed getting to speak with him. I decided to walk around the market on my own and let him return home early. The market was not impressive, so I walked to the train station. On the way, I decided to try cycling a rickshaw to see how different it was. The young driver was surprised at my request and said I did alright. Those drivers must have iron legs to earn a living off of that job! At the station I spoke with a few Indian families and one student in particular was excited to speak with an American. We shared a drink while waiting for the train discussing school, religion, cricket, girls…an interesting conversation to say the least.

Old Delhi, a train to Ferozpur, an afternoon in Amritsar

I joined some friends in Delhi, washed some laundry, ate lunch and went out to Old Delhi to see the Red Fort and Chandi Chowk. The fort was nothing like the small little forts of the old western movies in the States. The Red Fort, like most forts throughout history, was a fortified town. Thick walls kept enemies out but inside they had palaces, homes, a water supply, gardens-everything you need and want in a place to live. We could see remnants of British colonialism in certain sections. Outside the fort we took some rickshaws into Chandi Chowk through an immense maze of shops. Our two drivers did amazing navigating through 1000s of people in tight alleyways filled with shops and I was surprised to not hear anyone yelling at them. The buildings around us were centuries old and people still live in and operated business out of them. The stands were organized by product type: spices, jewellery, kurtas, sarees, etc. A bag of pepper broke up as we entered the spice area so we all we coughing for about 5 minutes. We stopped at an ancient Jain temple and had to wash up before entering. Our rickshaw drivers had much to say about Obama. It made me realize that no matter how much the media can control something; it takes charisma to captivate people to the point that a rickshaw driver in Old Delhi becomes impassioned.

Our train “Punjab Mail” to Ferozpur was 90 minutes late; we left at 11:30pm. We had a 3 level sleeper right next to the cabin door so it was noisy and a guy was selling chai and food all night walking down the middle. We spoke with the Indian family next to us. They have been to London several times and know people in Southall. They joked that there were more Punjabi in London than Punjab. I actually slept alright on the top bunk. We arrived at 7:30am. Ferozpur is a small city very, very close to Pakistan and filled with 1000s of soldiers. After a brief nap, we had breakfast. We celebrated out friend’s grandson’s birthday mid-morning and then visited a church. I knew some of the songs they were singing in Hindi. It was very hot while we were there, so we retreated indoors for a few hours when it was really intense. In the evening we visited a woman who was training other women in her village to design and make blankets, sarees, wall hangings, etc. It had started as a hobby for her a few years ago and now is sponsored by a local NGO that operates a bank. They have helped start a program for women in that village. We spoke with her and took some photos since there are other groups in India we know of and support through ASHA that make and sell handiwork. What they were making in her village in the Canal Colony was very nice but took a long time to make.


The next day we took a cab ride to Amritsar and passed miles and miles of wheat on the way. Punjab is the breadbasket of India and people were busy gathering it all. And we also saw big batches of marijuana growing, but refrained from taking any. We first stopped to see the site of the Jallianwade Bagh Massacre, where hundreds of Indians were shot by the order of a senior British officer in 1919. It was a beautiful memorial and serves as a lasting reminder of British atrocities in India. From there we walked to the Golden Temple, the mecca for Sikhs. Most of those who came were Indian, I only saw a few white faces. We were in Sikh country. The Golden Temple is in the middle of a huge pool of water with one narrow ornate bridge leading to it. The water is sacred and many were bathing in it. I saw very few women in that place. On our train ride back to Delhi, I enjoyed talking with a Sikh man and hearing more about his faith and the significance of the Golden Temple to him. Though he lives in Delhi, he makes a trip there every month! We had excellent service on our train and arrived well rested into Delhi that night.