North of Varanasi, mes cap al nord

Com heu notat anem alternant entre aquest espai i el blog que fem a http://elperiodico.com/blogs/blogs/rutafamiliar/default.aspx per mantenir-vos informats, o sigui que ja sabeu que hem canviat un xic els plans i no visitarem el Nepal, com teniem previst. Les darreres dues setmanes hi ha hagut una vaga generalitzada i s'els va comencar a acabar el fuel i a fallar la distribucio del menjar, en algunes ciutats hi havia toc de queda establert i bastantes manifestacions. Abans d'ahir el govern i l'oposicio varen arribar a un acord i van acabar la vaga, i encara que la situacio ja s'esta normalitzant, ens va semblar raonable postposar la nostra visita fins a la propera vegada que siguem per la regio (esperem que hi hagi una propera vegada), tant per seguretat com per respecte vers els Nepalesos, ja que com extrangers segur hauriem tingut (el seu) menjar i (la seva) gasolina. Malgrat aquest canvi encara esperem avistar les muntanyes dels Himalaies i fins algun pic important, si podem visitar el park de Dudhwa, al nord de Lucknow, on ens dirigirem aquesta nit, com ve sent habitual, en tren.



Avui hem anat a Kushinagar, una ciutat a 50 quilometres (o dues hores en bus) a l'est de Gorakhpur a visitar temples budistes, ja que n'hi ha mes d'un, doncs es la ciutat on va morir "el Buddha" i sembla que encara s'hi conserven algunes cendres (que no hem vist). El trajecte, com sempre que et mous per carretera a l'India, ens ha aixecat els cabells , encara que com que el cami es tot en linia recta, aquest cop els adelantaments mentre venen cotxes i (pobres) motos de cara i la circulacio de tres vehicles en paral.lel per una via de dos carrils, no han estat tant esgarrifosos, i aixo que hem fet tota la tornada drets ja que l'autobus anava ple - en algun moment fins hi havia un parell de passatgers al sostre i tot!



Des que hem arribat al nord del pais s'ens fa mes dificil trobar llocs per menjar seguint la dieta vegetariana que portem fent els darrers mesos, ja que sembla la poblacio es mes mixta i no hi ha la majoria vegetariana que haviem trobat als estats del sud. Com que intentem menjar en llocs on facin nomes cuina vegetariana, ara hem de buscar-los durant mes estona, i com que les poblacions estan escampades al llarg de forca quilometres, a vegades porta mes estona, i com que des que varem deixar Madagascar no hem provat ni el vi ni la cervesa - ni altres alcohols- tampoc podem parar a fer una birra i reposar un xic quan no trobem un lloc per menjar. No es que haguem fet cap vot especial ni ens haguem convertit a cap religio, simplement ens va semblar que era una oportunitat massa facil per "fer vida sana" per deixar-la passar.



Avui a l'estacio ens hem pesat i seguim en el mateix pes que quan varem marxar, o sigui que l'alimentacio esta funcionant, encara que aquests dies a vegades ens hem sorpres conversant sobre el menu ideal per un apat per a cada u, o intentant debatre quines coses -de menjar- son les que cadascu troba o ha trobat mes a faltar en aquests mesos de viatge... poster com que la tornada es va acostant s'ens fa inevitable comencar a pensar en com seran els primers dies despres de retorn i sobretot, que menjarem!





You will have realised that we try to keep you up-to-date with our movements alternating our news via this blog and our other one at http://elperiodico.com/blogs/blogs/rutafamiliar/default.aspx and so you will know that our plans have changed a little and we are not visiting Nepal. In the last two weeks there has been a general strike there , fuel is running short and food distribution is becoming difficult, in some cities curfews have been imposed and there have been demonstrations. The day before yesterday, the government arrived at an agreement with the opposition and the strike ended and stability is being restored but we thought we'd postpone our visit until our next trip (if there is a next trip) both for our own safety and out of respect to the Nepalese because as foreigners we would be sure to get (their) food and (their) fuel. Despite this change, we should still be able to see the Himalayas if we visit Dudhwa Park to the north of Lucknow, where we are headed tonight by train ... as always.


Today we visited Kushinagar, a city about 50 km away (2 hours by bus), to the east of Gorakhpur to visit Buddhist temples - there is more than one. It is the city where " Buddha" died and it seems his ashes are still there (although we didn't see them). The journey, as always when travelling on Indian roads, was hair-raising although this time as the road was straight overtaking, creating three lanes of parallel traffic on a road designed for two, wasn't so scary when cars and (poor) motorcyclists were hurtling towards us. We had to stand for the whole of the return journey as the bus was packed with even a couple of passengers travelling on the roof.


Since our arrival in the north, we have been finding it difficult to find places serving the vegetarian diet we have been following for the last couple of months, as the population here is more mixed and the majority are not vegetarian as they are in the south. As we try to eat in places that only produce vegetarian food, our search is taking longer every time, and as these towns are really spread out over several kilometres, sometimes we walk a long way, and as we haven't drunk wine or beer (or any other alcohol) since leaving Madagascar, we can't even stop for a beer and rest a while when we can't find anywhere to eat. It's not that we've converted to any religion, it just seemed like too good an opportunity to pass up to live "a healthy lifestyle".


We weighed ourselves at the station today and we are all the same weight as when we left last year and so this diet is working although over the past few days we have surprised ourselves by discussing our ideal menu and which food items each one of us has missed most on the trip ... maybe it's because the end is in sight and inevitably we are thinking about our first days back and above all what we are going to eat!