Wednesday, December 21, 2005

Thai cooking course, Chiang Mai


Cooking , Chiang Mai
Originally uploaded by Irit & Ophir Maor.
We took a one day cooking course to learn how to do different Thai dishes. We enjoyed it very much as you can see in the photo.

Practincing golf, Chiang Mai

We rented a motorbike and we went to explore the city. We found a shopping mall with cinema inside and beside it was this golf practice field (that you can see in the photo). We spent there, eventually 1 hour just practicing the long shots.... it was quite hard! After we went to the shopping mall and watched the new film of Harry Potter.

Ayuthaya, the old capital of Thailand

We reached Ayuthaya by train with our 2 friends from Holland. We spent there 1 day. We rented a motorbike and went to see all the old temples in town. in the photo you can see A famous Buddha head made of stone captured in the roots of the tree. the following day we continued north to Chiang Mai.

The biggest National park in Thailand

So on the way to the north we decided to visit a national park. We reached to the national park and there we found out that if we want to get to the camping site we need to hitchhike!
We didn't know how big it is....
Eventually as you can see in the picture we found someone to take us including 3 more people: Cyril & Nico from Holland and Victore from Checia.
We drove around 25km to the camping site and it's not even half the size of the park.
The next day we spent with Nico & Cyril walking to see a waterfall and than we took bicycle and paddled for 2 hours and than we hitchhiked again to the next town to continue to Ayuthaya!

The ATM

After the elephant festival on a Saturday evening we tried to withdraw some money from the ATM. but suddenly the ATM had an error and the card did not go out. Unfortunately the bank was closed the next day (Sunday!) and we wanted to continue the next day. We tried to call the emergency number that was on the ATM but they could not help us. So we had to wait till Monday!!! We had a lot of thoughts how hard it will be to get the visa card back but eventually we got it in 1 minute.... what a relief!!!!

Sunday, November 20, 2005

Elephant Festival, Thailand


IMG_6234
Originally uploaded by Irit & Ophir Maor.
We got an email from Irit's Father and it contained an article from the national geographic magazine about an elephant festival in November. No exact dates were mentioned so we looked it up and we found out that it is taking place when we happen to be in the area so we went.
We took a night train thinking that we had time till the elephant festival starts. we arrived at 6am and to our supprise it started at 8am that day. We were very glad to arrive that day beause all the good things were on that day: Parade, Elephant Feeding and Elephant talent show.
As you can see in the picture in the middle of the parade we found our selves on an elephant. After the Parade we had a chance to feed a lot of elephants with some fruits and vegtables and than to see the Talent show with the elephans.
and all of that thanks to - TATA!

Tiger Temple, Thailand

We were in Bangkok and we gave our paspports for visa to Vietnam and we thought what to do until we get the pasports back..... Kanchanaburi was decided.
We arried to a great hotel with a pool and we relaxed for a while.
We heard there is a Tiger temple near by so we decided to go. we took a tour to the temple and it was worth it. We had a chance as you can see in the picture to get really close to the tigers which are used to people from the day they were born. We also had a chance to pet some of them!

Sunday, November 13, 2005

Ocean Park, Hong Kong


Ocean Park, Hong Kong
Originally uploaded by Irit & Ophir Maor.
Ocean Park has a mix of Luna Park and ocean creatures. We went there around noon and we spent there 6 hours which was not enough. We went in the middle of the week which was nice because in the morning there were not a lot of people and we could do the rides over and over again. We also saw there two shows one with dolphins which you can see in the picture and one with Amazon birds. They also have really large aquariums with sharks and a big fish reef which are really amazing. We saw there fishes which we never seen before and definitely not at this size.
If you ever go to Hong Kong visit the place.

Hong Kong

When we arrived to Hong Kong we felt like coming into a city in the future. Hong Kong has several islands some big some small. In the main area there are a lot of high buildings. They have escalators to get from the mid level building which mostly are for living to the low level which is mostly for business.
In the picture you can see the view of Hong Kong from the peak mountain.
We also met there Tanya, Ilan's cousin, and her family (David & Josef). We really enjoyed spending time with them and having our best home cooked meal in 3 months.

Judaism Seminar in Hong Kong

After Gil has recommended us about this course we talked to Moshe Braverman and registered to the course. The deal was to learn Judaism and travel in Hong Kong for several days. The people we met there were really nice and warm. We arrived in the evening to the apartments (boys and girls in different apartments including us but it was really nice like that).
The course itself was presented very professionally and we think that now we understand the religious side of the Judaism. We learnt about the experience of after life, the soul, the concealed truth in the ‘Bereshit’ book, the facts that are written in the bible and other places before they were discovered in the science. It’s nice to be a part of it.
As part of the Seminar we also had some dancing and singing which was really enjoyable.

Meeting Lior in Bangkok


with Lior, Bangkok
Originally uploaded by Irit & Ophir Maor.
We met Lior after his trip to Vietnam. We only been togheter for one day, but we were realy happy to see him!

Bangkok, Thailand

Arriving to the ‘kowa sun’ road after India was a big change. Everything seemed so clean, the hotels, the streets. We got towels and new sheets in the hotel even a soap. Amazing! The restaurants, bars and shops don’t close at 21:00.
People say that you don’t have a lot of things to do in Bangkok. Well, they were wrong. We stayed for 5 days and we enjoyed every minute of it. We went to see the weekend market where you can find everything you want from small alligators to furniture and clothes. We went also to MBK which is the biggest mall in Bangkok, you can be lost easily. We also been to the King’s palace and temple was really nice, Some other temples. We saw Big Buddha statues and many more…...

India Summary

After 2.5 months we found that India can be quite amazing. India is a big country and you can spend there more than what we spent, this was just the tip of an iceberg.
What did we have in total?
The first shook of the main bazaar in Delhi…Smelly places to sleep in…. sometimes no Electricity… no hot water in some places….great views…..Buddhism course….a lot of horning from the cars and rikshas… Massage course…..Tibetan cooking course….long train rides… hassled on the streets… drinking chai… burning bodies… no wine… good meal for 2 in 10 shekels… cows on the streets…. Monkeis that are not afraid from you… squirrels… 10 people in a riksha… buses with open doors… traveling for hours in the bus and on the bus… pool in Pushkar… Commission…. Cheese burger which means vegetarian burger with cheese and without any meat…. 660cc beer bottles and no less… eating Paneer pakora, Paranta, chapatti, samosa and many more… eating Israeli breakfast with humos, warm potatoes, salad with cabbage and two eggs… meeting Tomer and Tamar without speaking with them in different places… running away from a running cows in a narrow street… eating with your hands from a leaf… making Israeli meals… buying toilet paper… requesting for “salt and PEPPER” and getting “salt and PAPER” (sometime even old news pappers)… Indian style toilets… no mirrors sometimes… ophir shaves his head… no clean sheets… meeting some good people and really thank them because there are not so many that will try to help you with out getting something back… the broken bridge on the way from Leh to Manali… meeting the Sikh gang from Mandi…. The dance of the Sikh… Being asked to be in the photos by Sikhs… hot springs… Ladakh festival… the first polo game we have been to… the golden temple and the imitated Indian golden temple… the Taj-Mahal… “Where going?” – being said by the riksha drivers and other people that think they can earn something from tourists…“Where from?”… playing cards and learning new games… meeting new people…

And maybe someday we will get back to all of this…

Saturday, November 12, 2005

Taking a bath on the streets in the early morning

We decided to reach Kalkuta only because we heard there are cheap flights to Bangkok from there. When people talk about Kalkuta they don't have a good word about it. so we reached only for 2 nights and hoped for the best.
When we arrive we found it quite nice. It's a realy big city with a lot of people. They have really good shoping malls, good markets and good restaurants. When we reached to the city we were looking for something different to do.... so we found ourselves going to the planetrium.
the show was nice. they have a lady who presents the show every time (no automatic movie or audio stream).this was really funny because she also got mad on 2 persons in the middle of the presentation because of their cellular phones.
in the picture you can see how the streets of Kalkuta looks in the early morning, washing, doing laundry and getting drinking water to their home.

Thursday, November 10, 2005

Chewing local tobacco

They put the tobacco inside a leaf with mint, and you chew it for 10 minutes and than spit it out.
Enjoy!

Burning Gat in Varanci


A burning Gat
Originally uploaded by Irit & Ophir Maor.
Well we came to Varanci to feel the real India and to tell you the truth we really enjoyed the city, it's like any other bit cities but with a special touch.
The burning Gat is a special experience. by the Hindus you have to burn the body in 24 hours after the death. the oldest son have to remove all his hair except a small pony tail in the back. they use 250 kg for each burial.
they don't burn kids and unmarried people, they sink it into the river.

The fucking amazing Taj-Mahal


India, Taj- Mahal
Originally uploaded by Irit & Ophir Maor.
After 4 nights in Delhi, meeting new friends, visiting temples , shoping. We decided to go on to Agra, we went by Express train (we couldn't take another chance that it will be late) and we arrived on time!
The Taj Mahal is an amazing place. and it has also good story....
once upon a time there was a king who promised his wife that he will build her something amazing when she will die. when she died he build her the tomb that you see in the photo... after that he wanted to build also a black one for his burial, but his greedy sun could not see him spend all the money..... so he locked him in jail for the rest of his life. The End.

Wednesday, November 02, 2005

The longest train ride (Jaipur -> Delhi)

It was time to go to Delhi so we thought that a night train will be the most convinient way to travel. We went on the train in the evening, set up the clock to 6:30am and went to sleep.
when we wook up we started to prepare ourselves to departure. the train should arrive at 7:30am to Delhi. But a lady told us that we are not even near Delhi. we traveled 50km in 10 hours and there is still 200km to go (10 more hours and we reach our destination).
what?
yes, you can see in the picture the shadow of the people that are standing on the train. this people are taking free ride on their private train to their village.
how it goes you ask,
well, when they reach their village they pull the emergency brakes. get down from the train and run away from the police.
But as we know already,
THIS IS INDIA, EVERYTHING IS POSSIBLE!

Friday, October 28, 2005

The best hotel in India


India, Pushkar
Originally uploaded by Irit & Ophir Maor.
We reached Rajastan by train from Amritzar. we arrived to Jaipur and we enjoyed the big city. We went to Mcdonalds and went to see a Bolliwod movie. The movie took 3 hours and the theatre was really fancy.
Then we went to Pushkar. We were recommended to take a certain hotel with a great pool. So we did it!
The hotel was the BEST one we have taken in India and it had a great pool which we went everyday!
In the picture you can see Ophir enjoying himself.....

The golden temple in Amritzar, India

We reached Amritzar and we had in our mind that we will stay for one night in the Temple (You can sleep & eat there for free) and go on. When we reached the temple we found our selves in the middle of a big celebration for one of the Sikhs guru and we were told that it is worth to stay for the big celebration the next day. So we stayed.... We met there friendly people, eager to take pictures with us and talk to us.

India, Dharamsala, Massage course

There are many courses that you can take during your stay. We really wanted to learn how to do massage and Tibetian cooking. The massage course was really good..... During the course we practiced on one another so we were really relaxed. We learnt the regular massage.
When you give a massage you start from a ear massage and then move to the feet and after you start with the rest of the body. in the picture you can see Ophir getting the nest massage ever.... he always went to sleep during the massage.

Wednesday, October 12, 2005

Introduction to Buddhism - Tushita

In the place called Maclod Ganj, located next to Daramsala – North India, the exile Tibetan government located. The area is wrapped with tibetian Buddhism way of life, and we decided to start a 10 day course to study here about Buddhism, in a course called “Introduction to Buddhism”. In the photo you can see the course mates (if you can’t see clearly, we are in the second row 3,4 from the right). The schedule is very busy … wake up 06:00, 3 meditations a day, classes, Yoga, meals, discussion groups … and even some videos. We had 2 western teachers (that were converted to Buddhism). In the first 7 days we were suppose to speak just half of the day (the other half is silence) and the last 2 days … full silence and all day meditation which was hard … I (Ophir) couldn’t suffer it too much, and I talked a bit …

Monday, October 03, 2005

Shana Tova

We wish you all a Shana Tova!
May all your wishes will come true.

We took this photo with our friends from Introduction to Buddhism course.

India, Daramshala


India, Daramshala
Originally uploaded by Irit & Ophir Maor.
Ophir ...... the new look!

India, Mandi


India, Mandi
Originally uploaded by Irit & Ophir Maor.
Mandi……1 day that we planned which turned into 2 days and almost 3 days. Mandi is a non touristy city which has a lot of sikh population. During our stay we bumped into a group of young people (some of them were sikh) and they insisted that we join their party. After having dinner and disco they insisted again that we join them to a near by lake and we agreed but because of the weather we decided to decline and go to the next city.

India, Manali


India, Manali
Originally uploaded by Irit & Ophir Maor.
We stayed in Manali area for 5 days.
We went on a trip to a near by village Vashisht going through Mano Temple in old Manali and Vashisht waterfalls. We entered also to the Vashisht hot springs which the Indians consider as a hot bath for free. Later on we reached to Naagar which is one hour drive from Manali to start a trek with some people we met. To the trek we didn't go because of the weather instead we ran out with a lot of people we met a long our trip, which was quite funny!
In the picture you can see us dressed with the local customs.

India, Broken Bridge on the way to Manali

So we ordered a bus to Manali.... the trip started at 5am and for few hours we thought everything is ok, but than there was a flat tier. They fixed it quite fast and we went on.... after 16 hours drive we reached a small village and we slept for the night. The next morning we got up and of course nobody told us that until the flat tier will be fixed we are not going. Meanwhile there were rumors about a broken bridge on the way. We asked the driver about it and he said "No worry". After 4 hours drive, we reached to the broken bridge. In the picture you can see that they already taken some parts from the bridge. We crossed it after persuading the police that it’s on our on sake. Finally we made it to the other side and got to Manali!!!!!

Saturday, September 17, 2005

India, Ladakh - Leh Festival

We stayed in Leh for the Ladakh festival and it was worth to wait. The festival has started on 1/9 and lasted for 15 days. We stayed for the first 3 days.
The festival has started with a great parade; all villages in the area walked with their local customs and played some music. There were also some other groups like camels, yaks, polo players, monks and one of tourist that were going for a 2 months trek with camels. Ophir helped them to carry their post. The parade ended in the polo ground where a lot of people waited for it (also the locals). They have danced some local dances and than asked from the audience to join them.
We have been also to a mask dance in Phayng monastery (30 minutes drive from Leh). It was a 2 hours of dancing, which at first most of the people were tourists but in the end you could also see a lot of locals. The dances are done by the local monks of the monastery and it is done with rich customs and fancy masks.
The Last event that we have participated was - The Polo game. For us it was the first time to see such a match.... and it was really great. 2 teams, 5 players on horses in each team and the purpose is to hit the ball on the ground with a wooden bat and to make goals.
...Click on the photo to enter our photo site for more photos!

Friday, September 16, 2005

India, Ladakh - 'Baby' Trek

So after we adjusted to the alltitude (3500 meter - for us it took 3 days) in Leh, we decide that we are ready to do an easy trek. We took the bus to Likir - Ophir on the roof with other israelis and Irit - in the bus with some locals eating appricotes. we stayed for the night and played yatzee game with Alex & Martina. In the morning we went to the Likir's gompa (monestary), which was really nice! than we started the trek to Yangtang village. On the way we climbed a mountain, asked people how much time to the next village Sumdo. we got answers: "to Sumdo one hour and to Yangtang 2 hours". it took us 3 hours to get to Sumdo village, which has 2 houses!!!!!!!! (and they call it a village! and mark it on the map!), no guest house and ophir was feeling quite dead! we stayed for the night and hoped for the best, because the only person who knew english went. Evatually 2 danish ladies came and it was quite nice. We also tried to help the locals with their field working but with no success. The next day we continued to Yangtang, 2 hour walk and we rested for the day, realy hard climb! the next day we decided to make the trek shorter and we went down a long the river next to Yangtang back to the main road.
In the picture you can see our 'Rujum' (pile of stones) to mark the way for other people who will come this way! Irit is putting the last small stone.

India, Ladakh, Leh

We arrived to Leh, after 3 days in the beautiful Kashmir area. The Ladakh area is a desert like but it has really high mountains with snow. It has also rivers from the melted snow. We came in the middle of the high season, that means that almost all the guest houses were full. After more than 10 guest houses we found Fatima's guest house. After meeting a nice couple Caroline & Eric we were invited to dine with them and Fatima's family. We promised to make something so we did Israeli Salad (which was a great success) and mashed potatos. Fatima's family made a Ladakhi dish with boiled vegtables and 'kuftaot'. In the picture you can see the way of cooking....you can find Fatima on the left, Noshin sitting om her and her daugther. The way to cook is: down on the kitchen floor is where you cut and arrange the food and you stand only next to the fire. after this night we promised to cook for them another israeli dish.... Shakshuka!

Friday, August 26, 2005

India, Kashmir- Sunamarg mountain

After 1 day in the 'Sticky' Delhi we flew to Srinagar in Kashmir area (North west of India). We spent 3 nights in a boat house on Nageen lake. Kashmir area is very green with mountains surrounding it like a ring. We have been in 2 mountains each for one day trek. First, Sunamarg mountain which has glacier on top which the picture was taken on. Second, Gulmarg mountain which has a view to the K2 mountain which we have not seen because of a bad sight. We had a private driver and a local guide, Mustaf, this is quite helpful because of the sensitive situation over there. We met there 2 English weman that taught us a new game called Yatzee (with dice).

Thursday, August 18, 2005

Delhi, First station


Lotus Temple, Delhi
Originally uploaded by Irit & Ophir Maor.
Lotus Temple, Delhi.
First day in Delhi, we landed safly around the morning. we found out the the time diffrences between Israel and India is 3.5 hours (yes, and a half).
We booked a hotel (they call it hotel ... ) in the Main Bazar in Delhi, it's the main market street. and after some hours of sleep we went out to tour the city a bit.
This picture is from a Bahai Temple called the Lotus Temple, very impessive. We found out that the Bahai Temple in Haifa is very famous as well.
in the after noon we booked a flight to the north of India, in the region of Kashmir (North East).

Friday, August 12, 2005

We are on our way...

it's the last hours here in Israel!!!
going to eat something with our family and than the airport... meeting friends... and finally flying!

We can not imagine how it will be like, But we are sure that we will miss you all and ofcourse that we will have some fun!

Keep checking this Blog and don't forget to post COMMENTS!!!!!!

We will try to post some intersting stories....

Bye Bye
Irit & Ophir

Tuesday, August 09, 2005

The Wedding!


Wedding - Dancing
Originally uploaded by Irit & Ophir Maor.
So we got married at 29/6/2005.
We had a lot of fun... thanks to our family and friends!
the day started at 10am. we went to a local restaurant and ate breakfast. we got back home. than I went to my parents house and Ophir went to do his stuff.
At my parents house i got dressed and ready for the event.
Ophir came around 15:30 and we went to do the pictures before the event around 16:00. Ophir was very happy that someone was tracking him with a camera and possed a lot of funny faces.
than we came to the wedding hall and meet our family.
than the 'hopa' ... dancing.. eating.. dancing again ... eating again.. and than it finished. so fast...
it was too short but we were very happy like we have never been before!

Thank you all for being their for us!

bye bye
Irit & Ophir

Saturday, June 25, 2005

All the Friends at Paintball


All the Friends at Paintball
Originally uploaded by iritgr.
at 17/6 our friends have decided to arrange for us a bachelor party at the paintball in Beit-Berel.
we had a lot of fun, war wounds and afterwards a peace agreement that included a barbeque dinner.

Monday, June 13, 2005

Irit & Ophir (That's us)


IMG_0514
Originally uploaded by iritgr.
Hi All,
it's monday night. Ophir is tired, we just watch the 3 last movies of the Star Wars. in just about two weeks we are getting married and than we are going to start planning our trip around the world. We can't wait!!!
we are planning to get started with the trip in august.
so that's it for now. i also should get to bed, tomorrow is a work day.

bye for now
Irit & Ophir