Next trip to India

Want to start planning for Jan/Feb. 2012.

I want to "do" the north. Delhi, Varanasi, Agra, Mathura, Bodhgaya, Dharamsala/mcleod gange, and maybe Kolkatta, Amritsar, Jaipur.

Ruminations and Contemplations on returning Home

I miss India.
I wish it was closer.
I want to go back, but I want to see more of the world.
I don't want to go to work all day every day, any more.
I want to take some pictures we did not capture.
I want to buy some things I did not think were reasonable at the time.
Now I know better what I will miss, or wish I had seen or bought when I go home.
There are people I wish I had spoken to and some I wish I had made more of an effort to understand.

I would like to go back, but doing something would like to do/learn something/contribute something while I am there - maybe connecting to people working on agriculture especially battling Monsanto. . . and terminator seeds or maybe working on who owns the water . . . I don't know who has access to water there and who does not. I guess it would be tough to really do much to help when you are from "away" and in this case far away. . . why would anything I could do make a difference? But maybe somebody can use some help. . . I am pretty sure that many houses I saw, did not have running water, but they did have TV's. . . not sure what that means except ensuring that you can grab hold of minds and hearts makes capitalism (at least in some systemic, not necessarily conspiratorial way) set up a system in which TVs are affordable and running water is not. Entertainment is affordable, but sanitation is not.

This is not likely conspiratorial - power runs everywhere I saw (understand that is not true in the north) but is not reliable . . . I have no idea how water and sewer works and even if I went back no idea how to follow up to find out. . .

Kumily to Fort Cochin, Fort Cochin to Mumbai - February 22nd, 2009

February 22nd, 2009

The road from Kumily to Kottayam.

Preview

We travelled by car, driven by our host in Kumily, Rafeeq , to Kottyam to
catch a bus to Ernakulum and eventually to Fort Cochin. The drive to
Kottyam was uneventful - Rafeeq stopped so that we could take pictures.
We tried to capture some of the height and also the tapped rubber
trees. It was not nearly so hair-raising in a car, plus on the way down
we were in the lane on the opposite side of the road from the steepest
drops.






Along
the road from Kumily to Koyttyam we went through a town that was
preparing for another one of the big rallies for the CPI(M) -- lot of
red banners and hammer and sickle flags. Note the number of women in
the one photo - wherever there was a demo or a festival women always
seemed to be in the lead. . .

























The only problem was that in Kottyam we were dropped at the bus station
as we had asked - but it was the wrong
bus station - we needed the private bus bus station - the KTSD buses
are like school buses but in very bad shape. The private ones are not
great, but do have bigger, better seats, and although not in good shape
are in better shape then the government buses which are very rusted
with holes in the floor . We had some difficulty getting a fair sized
cab or rickshaw to take us to the other bus station because the two of
us with all of our luggage just don't fit in every rickshaw - we need
one with a back that opens to put the suitcases in. . . eventually we
made our way to the right bus station which was right across from a
circus tent - I am not sure if the circus was travelling around Kerala
or if the circus is just very popular in India - we saw at least three.

The bus trip to Kottyam was also uneventful. We seemed to be on a road with
a lot of big houses - most of them apparently MD's. I did see one big
hospital on the road - and my friend Peter said that he is going for
treatment next year in a hospital in Kottyam so maybe here are a lot of
medical people there.

In Ernakulum, the bus pulled into a gas station
and told everyone to get off - it was the last stop. We had no idea
where we were, but managed to find a large rickshaw and just took it to
Fort Cochin. We went directly to Koder House - now a restaurant and
hotel with a fascinating history of a large Jewish Community that is no
longer (12 souls left apparently) Seen here -
and had 2 orders of calamari, (best we have EVER HAD!)two cokes and two
beers! It cost a bomb but we were happy. They let me use the phone to
call Walton who (as we knew) did not have space that day, but sent us
to Rossitta Woods Castle - around the corner from where we were and
that backs on to his place. I phoned them and we went round to see the
rooms - they said that they had three - one at 1000IR per night, one at
2,000 per night and one at 3,000 per night. We saw the 1000IR room,
thought it was great - it was large and had AC and cable TV! It was
clean (Indian standards) and had an OK bathroom. It was right off a
courtyard but had no window which was why it was cheap. But, I thought,
well I'll see the 2,000 room - so I went up and looked at it. It was
amazing - actually two rooms, with windows that opened wide so it felt
like a balcony opening on to the courtyard. I was impressed but didn't
think we needed it - but I said to Kevin - I think we should take the
1000R room, but you should go and see that room because it is gorgeous
- so here is what Kevin noticed right away, that I missed: It had a
bathtub!! Not the world's cleanest bathtub but for Kevin - who cares -
he wanted the bathtub - He had not had a bath (we had showers of
course) for two weeks.



Picture is courtyard of Rositta Woods Castle.











I was still sold on the cheaper room so the manager said - hey I'll throw
in breakfast and that will be including tax - "done", we said! And off
we went to the spectacular room with bathtub. Kevin said that he
preferred to stay there with his bathtub (Walton's would have been 1800
anyway) so I went to a bank machine, an internet cafe and round to tell
Walton we were going to stay there. He didn't balk as he is always
over-subscribed. That night we ate at Talk
of the Town, which was supposed to have the best Indian food. . . it was good but
not to write home about. We kept hearing about this Keralan fish curry
that was supposed to be really hot - so Kevin ordered one there but it
was not that hot and there was hardly any flesh on the fish (whatever
it was) it was all bone, and served with head on etc. While we were
eating, there was a parents night going on at the school across the
road - there were hundreds of people and kids going in and out and
although we could not see them, performances going on.

The next day we walked along the kind of shore road and went to the ferry
to Ernakulum as both times we had come over the bridge by car. We also wanted to try shopping somewhere less touristy. I wanted to see if
I could get clothes and we wanted to buy presents for people. We went
through the main shopping streets - with lots of shops - like the spice
shop above.. . .

We bought a salwar kameez for Aven but not much for anyone else. Even then (for Aven) we felt ripped off as they quoted us one price and then had a higher price for what we bought -
because they said it "was a bigger size". Here's the store where we bought Aven's outfit. . .

We ended up feeling over heated and could not get a really cold drink
anywhere - just water at room temperature. We switched streets, Kevin
investigated cell phones, there were entire small "malls" selling only
cell phones - like this one - three floors of cell phone shops!
We were too hot and grumbling at each other, when I spotted what appeared
to be a sealed building. I said, "I am only guessing but that building
may be air conditioned - it looks all sealed up". There were some other
almost mall like buildings - but they were open to the air - although a
lot cooler out of the sun. We crossed the street (4 lanes) with some
difficulty, and headed in - sure enough - relief!!!! A fully AC
building and the food court was even further air conditioned. By the
time we got in there we were very fully over heated. It was a very
western mall with western goods, like leather purses and blue jeans. We
sat in a food court with Mary Brown's fried chicken, a chinese food
place, and an Indian fast food spot with Dosa's etc. We had dosa's and
they were fantastic.
They were very spicy and tasty. We had water and diet pepsi and relaxed
in the cool. There were big windows that looked outside onto the water.
After we had killed enough time in there (probably an hour) I was ready
to go, but Kevin wanted to stay in the AC so we went across the hall
and sat in the Izzaza coffe bar. Kevin had coffee I think and I had a
lemon mint seltzer drink- a little too much mint for my taste but just
fine. Kevin went and talked to someone in the mall and got the info on
where the giant silk saree store (it was advertised everywhere nearby - like for 100k!) was that I wanted to go to. . . . we were told that it was a fixed price store too
- so I was ready.

We took a rickshaw and went to the Kalyan Silk
Saree Store. It was five floors of AC women's clothes and very
impressive - their largest ready made size (Salwar Kameez style) did
not fit me, but they were very impressive. Very fancy at 1870 r - about
$50. I couldn't think, at the time, who would want one though on return
Karen said she would have loved one though she probably would never
wear it - she would just have been happy to have one. . .

Apparently some people spend a LOT of money there since if you spend over 3 Lakh -
300,000IR or something like $7,000 (Can) in 2 years, you get 15,000IR
gift certificates. If you spend 5 lakh you are "eligible for a free holiday abroad".

Anyway, we bought a lot of shawls at about 100r each! We also bought some stuff in a corner touristy store - little boxes and some bags. Then we took the ferry back to Fort Cochin.

See below: Not our ferry - but another ferry (swan shaped) that we went by
on our ferry. Ernakulum to Fort Cochin - also saw small porpoises jumping in the water.

On the ferry were a German couple who we had briefly spoken to in Goa -
all tourist roads lead to the same places! We went back to the hotel to
have a rest and plan our afternoon/evening. At around 4:00 after an
hour's rest I said to Kevin, I want to go for a walk and see some of
the buildings of historic interest in Fort C. that we have not seen -
you don't need to come - but he did, though I think he would rather
have laid around under a fan, as he always seemed to feel worried to
have me out of his sight.

We went past the church of St. Francis built - in the 1500's!!! -- by the Portuguese and then redone by the Dutch in the early 1600's. It is still in use.

While walking we passed a group of boys/young men playing cricket, and I came
very close to taking a ball to the head! We went to the Bishop's House
which is supposed to be a museum, but was obviously still used by
religious as we saw a priest come out and get on a motorcycle and ride
away in a long cassock and surplice. There was an obvious chapel and
spectacular gardens - with lawn - the only lawn I saw, or, at least,
that I noticed . . .

Mango
tree in the Bishop's House Garden - they are not ripe yet, though.

We were close to Dal Roti - a restaurant where we had previously eaten and
which had good tandoori chicken and I was in the mood for "meat". We
headed out of the grounds of the Bishop's house and out on the street
met Denis, Malaga and their 16 year old daughter who had been our
neighbours at the Rainbow Cottage in Kumily. We walked a bit with them
and we all went for dinner. We both thought that they had milkshakes at
the cafe - with the real coffee - (all the coffee in India is instant)
but we went there and there were no milkshakes! OOPS! Their daughter
was disappointed. We could not then remember where we had seen
milkshakes on the menu. They had to go back to the ferry though as they
did not have a room in Fort Cochin - could not get one calling that day
- and had to stay in Ernakulum though they said that they were very
happy with their hotel there.

The next morning we had to change hotels as there was a tour coming into the Rossitta Woods
Castle. We thought that we were just changing to the 1000R room
downstairs, but whether they changed their mind or it was a language
issue - I do not know - but the hotel suggested another nearby and the
White Rose came and got us so we could see it and, then later offered
to come and get us and our bags but we got tired of waiting for them
and took a rickshaw. Place was very nice - We stayed at the White Rose
Hotel and were very happy with it. Goats in front of the White Rose
Hotel:

When we went to phone Mumbai to book a hotel, for the next night, a couple
of guys at a Local tourist store, where we stopped to ask "where is the
nearest phone" - let us use - in fact, insisted we use, their phone and
we had a long conversation with them about business in India and the
lack of tourists etc. It was real, and we appreciated it - both the
conversation and the phone call.

The next day we went to see the Matancherry (also called the Dutch) palace, and the Jain temple. We could not see the 500 year old synagogue because it was closed on
Saturdays. We knew that on Friday - but the Dutch palace was closed on
Fridays and we had to make a choice - I preferred to see the old Raj
palace with murals from the 1500's. It was a bit of a disappointment as
much was under construction/renovation and downstairs where the Women's
quarters and temple were, is not open to the public. When we were
coming out of the palace - a whole school ( we think) of girls was
waiting to enter - they all wanted to shake my hand and say hello - I
wish that I could find someway to visit their school or to spend time
talking to them as they seemed very curious about me! Detail of Jain
Temple below - pics not allowed in the Palace.


The next morning we took a taxi to the airport - 750R - they said it would
take an 1 hour and 1/2 but, in fact, it barely took an hour I assume
because there was little - no traffic as it was Sunday morning early.
The flight was at 7:30 and we were at the airport by 6:00. Our flight
was delayed but I think by about 1/2 hour only. The flight was
Kingfisher Air to Mumbai and it was a very easy flight - even though it
stopped in Mangalore - it was quick.

When we got to Mumbai we had quite a delay to get the bags but the terminal was very new and
gleaming compared to the run down terminal we had arrived at from our
international flight. The hotel said that someone would be waiting for
us and sure enough they were. The hotel we booked had good reviews on
Trip Advisor, and was 4000R but they said that they would pick us up
and deliver us to the airport at no additional charge. The room was
very clean - western standards clean - but was tiny. I think they
learned to do it from the Japanese! We did have AC and TV and hot and
cold running staff!!! If you called down for anything staff were at
your door immediately wanting to help. They sent up a fruit basket (an
apple and two banana's right away with two small bottles of water -
this was more than we got any where else in India but we were paying
$100!!

We tried to go to Juhu Beach - well we did take a taxi to Juhu Beach and we planned to have supper there later - the hotel referred us to a famous seafood restaurant at Juhu Beach. We took a taxi (coolcab) to Juhu - who insisted on dropping us in front of some
tourist trap store. . . we then tried to walk back to the beach but
ended up stopping first (it was very hot) at the same brand (Believe it
is from UK) of coffee bar that we sat in, in Ernakulum. It had AC and I
had a lime mint fizzy thing and chocolate cake. We got roasted there
though because they asked did I want chocolate sauce on my chocolate
cake and they asked Kevin did he want chocolate or vanilla ice cream in
his milkshake - then it turned out that sauce and the ice cream were
more than the original order! Anyway, we were able to sit in the cool.
There were young Indians in western clothes and jeans and lots of
people using the wifi. We steeled ourselves and went to the beach. But
it was just too hot - no where to sit and thousands of people - no
shade - we just turned around and went back to the street and started
to walk as there was some shade on the sidewalk. We walked by big
hotels and resorts, some gleaming, some falling down, one even
seemingly abandoned, and had a weird set to on
the street, over crossing the street and getting a taxi - eventually we
just got a taxi back to the hotel. The guy driving the taxi was high on
and spitting betel nut but we did get back OK. Then we tried to order
dinner and tried to order Thali - but they said we could have
everything else off the menu but not that and sent someone up to the
room to take our order. It was all very confusing. Eventually we went
downstairs and elected to go to the restaurant in back of the hotel. I
was not impressed, it seemed rather dirty and was very expensive - but,
my fears not withstanding, of course we had one of the best meals that
we had in India!!! Sweet stall near the hotel in an area called Santa
Cruz - location of our hotel:

Some photos above of the street in front of our hotel. They were obviously
not so "used" to foreigners as everyone wanted to say hello, and have
us take their picture.



At 4 or 5 in the morning - I have forgot now, a car was ready to take us
to the airport to get the flight to London. We had a moment of trouble
at the airport because I did not have "tickets" because it was
e-tickets and they would not let us into the airport! Turned out there
was a counter outside the airport that would print the ticket for you
but it was not check in. . . A guy insisted on helping is with our bags
and then when we got to the counter was unhappy when Kevin gave him
20-30 rupees - he wanted 100!! We didn't ask for his help and he was
wearing an ID tag - we thought he was with the airline. After that I
cannot remember waiting for the plane in Bombay.

That must have been uneventful as I have little recall of it except that the flight
seemed very, very long. At least Kevin and I were sitting together.
Even though it was a day flight - most of the Indians slept a good part
of the way. I don't know how they do that! Kevin says that they are
exhausted, but I don't think so . . . but where the capacity to sleep
when nothing else is going on comes from, I am not sure - probably from
not having stuff to whiz into your brain from computer and TV
constantly.

Kevin lept off the plane so that we were at the front of the line at customs in England and hardly had to wait at all. . . Then we took the tube to the hotel buying day long tube/bus passes.

We spent the day at the Victoria and Albert Museum , had a very bad, very
expensive dinner in a pub, and went back on a long tube ride to the
hotel ( I could barely keep my eyes open as it was a LONG day.

Kumily/Thakkady - February 16th, 2009

 February 16th, 2009


We went on the "rice barge" from Alleppey - ride is pretty much a rip off, as the best of it (backwaters) can be seen (and perhaps even more) from the 10 R ferry ride that we took yesterday, for 2 1/2 hours to Kottyam. It was interesting though to see people living along the strip of land between the canals and the rice farms. . .

This little boy lived in the house we were tied up near, and the other photos are what you see as you travel the canals - houses on the small strip of land and rice fields behind. The house where this little boy (with the big smile)lived had a vegetable garden behind, and banana, coconut and mango trees.

It seems every where we go we like better than the previous place - although we did not like Alleppey or the rice barge too much (though when we tied up for lunch, after a morning's touring the lake and canals, and the crew slept for an hour - I was in a "a state of bliss".) Night was a horror though and we were tied up really close to Alleppey - we were right on top of someone's house but their kids were great, and eventually their mother invited us up to the roof of their house where we got to watch the sunset over the rice fields.

The houseboat had a small bedroom, the mosquito net did not cover the bed, although it hung up over it (luckily ours did) as we needed wide open windows on the canal, as it was so hot. At around midnight they turned the power off and we spent a very restless, hot night, with no fan. We were not impressed considering we paid 45000R - that's like a week's budget, only because lonely planet has it as one of the top ten things to do before you die - I say take the ferry and forget the rice barge! Live and learn.

Now we are in Kumily/Thekkady, up in the Western Ghats near the Perriyar Wild life sanctuary and although it is very touristy - we like it so much that we are not even going to the park today. We are going on a short, spice garden tour this afternoon. Last night there was a gawdy Christian "festival" - it seems very humorous to us to have fireworks and neon lights and bands and drummers for Jesus - and the carrying of large statues, and garlands, but who are we to judge any body's religion or celebrations?

The bus ride from Kottyam to here was spectacular -- I would say, at this point, the highlight of my trip, although I did believe that I might die. Kevin was so uncomfortable (really small seats for 3 1/2 hours!) that he could not take pictures, and so we have few, I tied, but my hands would shake, looking straight down the side of the bus thousands of feet into valleys with only the bus driver's wits and skill, and the prayer that other drivers were not being total idiots, to keep us from dying - it was really something. Both of us (we discovered in the debrief later) kept thinking about news stories of "another bus went off a cliff in India with two Canadian tourists on board" kind of thing, but at the same time it was thrilling. (Kevin didn't think so he was just in pain) sat one behind the other as it was better to have a smaller Indian sitting beside us, than each other - so couldn't talk much during the ride, over the noise of the engine working hard climbing up thousands of feet with a roar, and the (we forgot Peter and Marrissa warned us about this) loud music!!

Cannot recommend this town enough. It is if course, not humid and much cooler here (we are 900 meters up). We wanted to stay in the Coffee Inn and it looks fantastic - I called and they said they did not take reservations but "no problem", as we would arrive in a couple of hours. . . but, when we got there, it was "full." Our rickshaw driver said that he had a place - his place - very nice - and my god (not that I have one) it is wonderful. It is called Rainbow Cottage.

I have not yet seen the 400 R downstairs rooms - we are staying in a 700 R room upstairs - and it is glorious-- really clean, sparking tile, TV and balcony overlooking the jungle and neighbourhood. The brother of the owner (our rickshaw driver) is actually an eco -tourist guide (he is in the official eco-tourist brochure) but it is too pricey (R1650 each!) to take an all day safari and we are twice shy since the rice barge fiasco. For the first time this morning we were totally started awake at 5:30 by the VERY LOUD call to prayer - Allah. . . AKBAR -- we could hear two or three others more distantly which we have heard before but never thundering us out of sound sleep! It was still dark - there were stars in the sky, and the roosters started crowing. Later, there were what sounded like the angry cries of goats - I just plain like it here (perhaps it is the fact that it is much cooler, although still hot.)

Any way, this town is the India I expected, (except we cannot find thalis or a pure veg restaurant) although parts are very touristy (huge resorts - stay in tree houses and "jungle cottages" - who knows what they cost but it looks like PLENTY! - probably they are all in Euros or dollars) it has regular stores and schools, houses etc. Every one is very friendly -- our hosts at the guest house, rickshaw drivers, restaurant servers, and, there is big hoopla here leading up to the 17th when there are big rallies at 5:00 pm (for CPI - M elections) but there may be a ban (strike) all day - so we are not sure where we will be - here or Munnar - but we will not likely be able to travel that day. Either way, not a problem, as we are due back at Walton's on the 19th and taking the plane to Mumbai on the 21st, and to England an the 22nd.

I fell like I have just adjusted - so it takes two weeks to not just be fighting everything, and worrying about tomorrow - I no longer feel concerned about things - I can just go with the flow. It seemed hard for the first couple of weeks (except in Arambol Beach) but now that we have managed a bus and to find our own way to a good home
stay I am feeling relaxed.

in Kumily we went on a Spice Garden tour to Abraham's spice garden. The tour guide was a woman - fantastic - good English, knowledgeable, interested in our questions and able to provide answers. I was particularly interested in vanilla - now I understand why it is so pricey. It is the only fruiting orchid (who knew?) and has to be treated for months to capture the fragrance and essence and all the dipping and drying in the sun, and storing, and take out of storage (for an hour a day in the sun) - for weeks - is done by hand - very labour intensive process.

Fort Cochin - February 13th, 2009

February 13th, 2009

Train from Margao to Cochin was a horror yesterday but at least it was on time. The train from Mumbai to Karmali had been fine - lots of great food on offer, and not too bad - dirt wise - all things considered. But even though we were in the same class, (2nd AC) it was much dirtier. There was far less food on offer and except for the banana fritters (oh my god, good) not that great.

We stayed last night in the Paulson Park Hotel in Ernakulum - the industrial part of town - and arrived to find that although they had booked an AC room for us one was not available when we arrived. For some reason Kevin still thinks that they had one they would not rent to us, but given that AC is a lot more - it seems unlikely . It was clean enough, but basic - hotel is rather nice inside with a garden and coy pond but plain old rooms, by western standards not terribly clean room ( by Indian standards very clean. )

Today we decided we are going a little (Ok maybe a lot) more upscale - the budget tour means we spend too much time getting everywhere and miss some of the best sites ( they are touristy but that's of course what everyone wants to see.)
So we are staying in this great guest house in Fort Cohin in very touristy area but it is AMAZING - really really clean, AC, and on a spectacular garden. I feel much happier.

Tomorrow we are going on a houseboat cruise from Alleppy, then to Munnar and a tea platation and then to Perriyar animal preserve ( elephants and tigers) and then back here - we fly back from here to Mumbai on the 22nd - to London on the 23rd and home on the 24th .

Arambol, day three - February 10th, 2009

February 10th, 2009

Pretty easy here - we have figured out where to go and how, and have stopped being interested in shopping so can just say NO to all the hawkers along the street.

Today, I need money though, and there are no ATM's here - have to go to Siolim in a bus (taxi 400 R) Peter says he will go with me, but have to talk to Kevin who seems to have anxiety when IO am out of sie - though India does seem remarkably safe.

Tomorrow we have to get to Margao somehow - probably by taxi (R1200) and about 1.5 hour trip. We are spending more money than we thought but will be cheaper once we leave Goa, I think.

Still cannot understand the relationship/cost/value between things. Food and accommodation seem cheaper than "goods" -- a lot of "things" seem to cost the same here as at home and I don't think that really they should. It is like, in India, things cost what the market will bear, period.

This morning when we went to the beach they were putting a fishing boat (canoe) in the water but one guy just walked out with a fishing net and threw it out and came back to the beach with fish. Impressive - it is in this environment that one understands Francis of Assisis. Becuase it never made much sense to me in the snow and the cold - others might provide but not god, exactly - like the birds of the air. But if you live in a land where there is fish in the water, and coconut and mango on the trees. . . it seems different, though likely capitalism means that someone has the rights (and there fore others do not) to these things.

Goa- Arambol Beach - February 9th, 2009

February 9th, 2009

We left Mumbai at 6:55 in the morning - the train left right on time. I may have had some kind of reaction to the malaria pills (I have stomach upset and nightmares - Kevin nothing that we have seen/he has felt) Of all the train seats, we had one with the least leg room (a big metal box in front of us instead of other seats) and a small, very dirty window. There was an empty seat across from us but we waited to make sure that no one sat there. Unfortunately, an Indian man moved in order to be able to plug in and charge his cell phone. So we could not occupy the seat with the larger window.

Yesterday morning we left Panjim and arrived in Arambol - A beach resort village on the west cost on the Arabian Sea. There are small waves - never any big surf. We came by cab from Panjim with Peter and Marissa.

It is like any beach town - many booths lining the streets selling things - in this case not beach toys and bathing suits, but handicrafts and clothes from all over India. We still have trouble with the negotiations because, although we know they are asking WAY>> too much when we offer a lot less and they act insulted or hurt - we do find that tough. We bought two pairs of shoes yesterday for R500, one was flip flops. Kevin got shoes with "birkenstock" written on them - but they are cheap knock-offs. They started the birks at 1200 and the flip flops at 250 - so it seemed like a good deal but when I thought about it I could have got flip flops and birk type shoes at Zellers for about the same price. E.g. There are so many tourists here that they are not willing to bargain hard - it was much easier on elephanta market.

We stayed last night at the Arambol Plaza as it had AC - but it is far from the beach and Peter and Marrisa were paying R500 a night for a great room near the beach - so this morning we moved from our charmless R1500 a night with AC, but far from the action, to the non-AC but seemed to be cool enough by late yesterday afternoon - Famafa Beach resort.

The beach is soft white sand and the water is warm but even the ocean seems rather suspect, here as public spaces are for the most part dirty/dusty here, although you get used to it. It is dusty as we are the dusty end of the year - the monsoon starts in June. India is what I expected, less and more.

We loved Panjim. We stayed in the A Pousada (Guest House) and had two large rooms with AC for R750. It is a charming little town, and the people seem "real", since it is both industrial and commercial rather than tourist although there are a lot of tourists figuring out what touristy thing to do in Goa. From Panaji (Pamjim - same place two names) You can go to the beach and you can go to the hills - Ponda and the spice plantation etc.

The scene last night, was sitting on the beach while the sun set (into the haze) and the full moon rose over the palm trees. I had been too hot for much of the day so it was a real treat to get a cool ocean breeze. Getting used to toilets in India - squats (Indian toilets) at first a real difference, that was hard to get used to. Every toilet generally has running water beside it and often a hose for cleaning yourself - toilet paper (since you cannot put into the toilet but only in to the can beside it - toilet paper is a pretty dirty idea to Indians and very wasteful and an environmental nightmare. ) Having said all that I carry toilet paper and use it - but if we were here long enough I think I could eventually make the shift.

The bi-polar Norwegian currency trader we met in the bar (and who used my ipod for all the music in the bar that evening) says that within one month the U.S. dollar and the pound are going seriously into the dumper, and to make money right now (he was not selling anything - just said "talk to your broker when you get home") is to sell dollars and pounds short against other currencies like Euros . . . So I mean to check by the end of March and see if I could have made a whack of dough if I had just listened/believed.

We are also getting used to no news and not being connected. No cell phones that let us wander away from each other and easily come back together. Kevin is always worried about me and does not ever like to be more than a few feet apart! I feel perfectly safe but it is true that we will potentially be apart some time if we lose each other!

We had CNN for two nights in Panjim but there was no real news except the fires in Australia. We used an Indian laundry yesterday - machine wash! As I had been concerned about the river washing and the vats in Mumbai, it was a good idea.

Kevin is busy fixing the computers in this small internet cafe - he is in heaven and I am typing away.

Peter and Marissa are on the beach today and we will go later. I have broken my shoes(sandals) so now I have to go and try and negotiate for a pair again. Sigh. . . shopping is hard here.

Feb. 2-7th - UK, Mumbai and Goa travel

Feb 2nd - 7th 2009.

Got on the plane in Halifax and took off more or less on time . . . would have arrived on time too but, unfortunately, after worrying all week about whether it would snow in Halifax and delay our leaving (and perhaps our connection to India) the weather from Halifax was clear and fair - but not so London. While we were flying, 8-12 inches of snow was falling over England - in London the biggest snow fall in 20 years. . . so there was chaos. Initially our pilot told us, say 1/2 hour out from London, that London airport was closed and it looked like we were diverting to Shannon. Well, we thought, we are close to London - India flight not 'til tomorrow, and never been to Ireland . . . though they probably would never have let us off the plane.

Anyway, he came back on and said that Shannon would allow us to refuel, but would not service passengers (ie not let us off the plane) so he said that although British Airways had cancelled all flights, some other international flights were able to land - so he was going to risk going to Heathrow and get in a holding pattern over Heathrow until we were at a fuel level that would require going back to Shannon. So we circled London for two hours (at one point we were told that we were being diverted to Manchester, but our pilot hung in there, at least we could land somewhere if the fuel got too low.) Eventually about 2 hours later were actually able to land in Heathrow. We had been flying all night and had little sleep - but some - as the plane was not full and we had a seat between us. We had free food and blankets and pillows too. (Just too used to flying in Canada with no amenities!)

So, at Heathrow, we discovered that not just the airport,  but all of London,  was basically shut down. Schools were closed. The tube was not operating, buses were not operating. We had planned to take the tube to the hotel, but given that we had no boots we decided to take the "Hoppa" bus. (that was before we knew that tube was shut) The Hotel Hoppa was running - we did have to wait a while,  but it came and got us to the hotel - where we were able to check in right away (about noon London time.) We tried to go out to a pub but there was none within walking distance (well the hotel told us where there was one - but we met some guys outside smoking when we started to walk - they said it was fine for a drink but they wouldn't eat there and they didn't serve any "traditional English pub food" just hamburgers and things.) So we abandoned that idea and went back into the hotel where we had a drink,  and nachos and a Caesar salad - small and not to write home about. That was about 4:00pm.

By 7:00 pm luckily were asleep as we had to get up at 4:00 am to go to Heathrow for an 8:45 flight - we tried calling an Air India contact number, a couple of times in the evening and they had no info about flight delays, and the in the morning there was no answer.  So,  we got the first Hotel Hoppa at 5:00am and went off to Heathrow. There was a long line for check in at Heathrow. . . mostly Indian families. I went for breakfast at a coffee place (that was outside the actual airport departures area, and very cold) and got a grilled ham and cheese sandwich (two pieces of white bead with pieces of ham in what became melted cheese) grilled in a panini maker and a very large double shot cafe latte - which Kevin and I shared while standing in line. 

We got our boarding passes but never checked where we were sitting, and no one mentioned it.  There was no gate on the boarding passes - we were told "just check the screens for the boarding gate close to the departure time." Flight was supposed to depart at 8:45 am. Lots to do in the Heathrow airport. Huge duty free (Kevin bought a bottle of Laphroiag) It was early and we were hungry and tired, and kind of cold. We went through security without any issues at all - they seemed less officious and more good humoured than Canadian Security at airports.

We had bagels and a drink at the bagel place and they were great. Checked out the stores and generally people watched, wasting time. 8:30 came and went, I asked a guy at an information desk, as I felt a little panicky that we were missing something and he said that in the 9 years he had worked there,  Air India never left on time. Finally about 10:00 o'clock it said proceed to gate . . . We hustled off the gate where we waited in long line and then in a waiting lounge with insufficient seats for another hour or two.

Finally got on the flight, and it took off eventually - we discovered that we were sitting in the same aisle on the plane but on opposite sides of a 747. Kevin was between two people and I was on the aisle - mine was supposed to be a window seat but this was my first encounter with the difficulties of communications in a country where people speak a ton of different languages and only the educated speak English - the lingua franca.

Even the flight attendant could not make the woman understand that her baby could not have a seat. Eventually someone who spoke Gujarati, came to the aid of then flight attendant and I took the aisle seat. Since I now had an aisle seat - I offered it to Kevin and we switched. The man sitting beside Kevin was very old and found his seatbelt a mystery - woman at the window was drugging the baby to keep her asleep (for all of a nine hour flight) and so there was little that could be negotiated.  I sat between an American woman originally from India (Gujurat) - who changed into a salwar kameez before we landed,  though she was barely accented and had been in the U.S. for twenty five years;  and an Indian dentist who was in London getting certified as a dental surgeon in Britain.  He said he did not plan to move to the U.K. it just allowed him to charge more and have foreign patients in Mumbai.

Flight had originated in New Jersey - stopped for a couple of hours in London to pick up passengers and then got underway again. The "western Toilets" are apparently a mystery to some Indian's even though the flight had originated in New Jersey and London ( so wouldn't you have been using western toilets?) and at least 5 of the toilets were closed by the time we were headed into land and the others, although open, were mostly a disaster - interestingly it was not quite as bad on the return trip.

We arrived very late in Mumbai - flight was supposed to arrive at 10:45 but in fact did not get in until about 1:00-1:30am. We had no trouble getting rupees from a cash machine, and getting a pre-paid taxi - it was more for a "big" taxi - so we opted for a small one - four wheels but not a whole bigger than an auto-rickshaw, as it turned out. It was hot, but we were not dying, although Kevin did find it too humid. It was not as hot as I had anticipated though certainly a big change from February in Nova Scotia or London.

The taxi driver had trouble finding the hotel - there seem to be no real addresses with numbers in India - everything is on a street either between two streets or sometimes with a landmark -

Anyway, eventually he found the hotel (which seemed to be signless) by asking some other cab drivers - Bentley's with the "our pick" for budget hotels in Lonely Planet. We went into an office where we had to wake people. First they said we had no reservation (but I had an email confirmation) then I pointed to my name in the book (Margaret A, rather than McHugh) and suddenly someone was hoisting one of our bags over his shoulder and walking down the street - apparently we were to follow. We did so and went around two corners and up a dark stairwell. . . the room was not AC and Kevin actually got mad. The guy in the hotel had not said too much -- and I had to register with a guy in the hall, who seemed a little shady to us - where the hell were we anyway? - and who wanted our passports. . . It was very dim, the room was very small - I sent Kevin back to the room to lie under the fan, which worked fine and got us checked in. . . Room was 1175 R - I had expected to pay 2200-2600R so it was cheap, if small and, at the time, not providing a feeling of safety! Everyone had minimal English and just kept saying - take it up with "the hotel" in the morning. So we went to our room and tried to sleep.

I cannot remember if Kevin slept - I did not, or not for more than dozing on and off for an hour or two. I was in a kind of fugue state lying on the bed, wishing I could sleep for a while - when the horns started at around 5:30 - they worked their way up to a fewer pitch by 7:00 but by then I was used to it - following that,  there was suddenly a whole lot of kid's voices yelling and I had the thought that there was a gang of street urchins outside our window - but, it turned out what was outside our window was a school - and the noise was the sound of small children, mostly, but not exclusively boys,  outside and getting into a classroom with the doors thrown open. It was very sweet.

The hotel was supposed to provide "breakfast" so we asked for that (I think it was available 8-10 am or something) and we got tea and toast - not exactly breakfast but enough sustenance to have one face the day. After breakfast we were going to go out, but as I passed the desk (which is what it now seemed in the light of day) with an obvious attendant - he asked did we want to change rooms, because they would like us to do so in the morning. We went back over to the main building and they had someone show us a few rooms with AC. Now this all seems like it would be easy, but in fact there was little English and this was all communicated with a word here or there - yes madame and follow me. . . If you have a look at Bentley's Hotel website - you will see what we were expecting at : http://www.bentleyshotel.com/picturegallery.htm We had booked a large room with AC - but that did not seem to be available and there was no sign of a "garden".

This is the actual room that we finally got at Bentley's - did have AC and a TV but was small and still not on the same street as the hotel. It was not filthy by Indian standards but was less than we expected and at the time we didn't have "Indian Standards".

We stayed three nights at Bentley's, and in the end, I felt fine about it, though I wished the staff could speak English,  and Kevin never really liked it, and did not want to stay there again.

We looked at a few other Lonely Planet "budget hotels" before we left town, and decided that we would "move up" on the return trip to Mumbai, and just pay more.

In Mubai we elected not to go on a "tour" as we could not figure out how not to get "ripped off" and we only had a few days and I had some things I wanted to see. . . not the Dharavi slum (which has tours!) nor the big fields of washing. . .    You can see a great story on the Dharavi slum though, in National Geographic at : http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2007/05/dharavi-mumbai-slum/jacobson-text

We went to markets and to elephanta island, and we walked around Colaba - touristy area in the south of Mumbai that got shot up in November 08.

The gateway to India in Colaba and location that boats to Elephanta leave from.

Ferry to Elephanta Island - 9 km but takes an hour and you can see Mumbai (thourough the haze) just

goes on and on as far as the eye can see. 

Gives you the scale of Elephanta - a huge temple completely excavated and carved out of solid rock.  The Portuguese shot it up badly and the locals were very big on the British who drove out the Portuguese and who may not have shared their religion but at least appreciated "art".

We had a great time in the train station as it took hours of waiting to get through the line at the "tourist quota" train station.    The trains are always booked but they have special tickets for tourists - called emergency tickets or tourist quota - if you are from outside the country you can always get a ticket it seems.  They don't queue for things much in India and the "foreigners" soon learn that too - so I was bossing then line as kevin says - making sure that everyone got their turn fairly and in order!  In order to buy train tickets (which you have to do in cash) you have to prove that you got the cash from a bank machine or bank in India - so you have to keep your receipts - technically they can always ask - but we were never asked except that once int he train station in Mumbai.   You do have to give your passport to everyone - to use a phone, the internet, buy a train ticket, a cell phone, or check into a hotel and they will write down all of your information in triplicate - they have an astounding bureaucracy , few computers and many pieces of carbon paper!

One tip for Mumbai - Lonely Planet said to ask for the meter in a cab - but the taxi meters end up being 1-3 rupees and clearly that was not right - so the driver would pout on the meter but would then ask for 200 or 300 rupees - we knew that both were wrong - turns out there is a fare card that translates those few rupees into what you should pay - most auto-rickshaw rides were around 25-50 rupees, but we paid a lot more until we figured it out.  After we had it figured out some cabs would not take us "on the fare card".   There are larger air conditioned taxi's called cool cabs - hard to find (basically  cannot flag one on the street, they are parked outside expensive hotels and at the airport.) - and the one that we booked to pick us up on Friday morning and take us to the train station "forgot us", and left us scrambling for an auto rickshaw or small cab on the main street at 6:00 am!   It all worked out though.

We arrived on Wednesday morning in Mumbai and Friday morning we left to take the train to Goa and to meet up with Peter and Marisa.

Packing Day 2 - January 31st, 2009

January 31st, 2009

It is much harder than I anticipated to decide what to put on an IPOD for a month. Gonna' have to live with it . . . so try to imagine myself in different settings and what I might want to listen to - not completely relying on my mood of the moment. It is tough.

Our packing music includes a lot of Beatles and Bob Marley. . . but we are taking Arcade Fire and Broken Social Scene, Johnny Cash, Neko Case, Youssou N'Dour, Gord Downie, Tom Morello, Jennifer Warrren, Leonard Cohen, Amy Winehouse, Sarah Harmer, Natalie Merchant, Janis Joplin, Caribou, the Hidden Cameras, Tom Robinson Band, Tandava, Jackson Brown, Jefferson Airplane, Moby and Shaggy, Joni Mitchell. . . the Beatles and Bob Marley, of course, . . . and more. . . lots more.

There are also two books on the IPOD - Nuala O'Faolain and Alice Sebold so I can lie back and relax with my eyes closed if I want to on the plane or on a train (though I plan to be looking out the window on the train.)

Issues with the furnace this morning and we are waiting for a "technician" - of course that would go before we leave the house for a few weeks in the freezing cold!

Doing laundry and still trying to decided what to take and whether we have the right bags, and wallets, and do we have tickets and passports (Visas are in the passports) and money ( I figure everything else is replaceable or purchasable.)

One more sleep before we try and sleep on a plane!

The packing - January 30th, 2009

January 30th, 2009

So we have booked the plane tickets (months of checking prices online) and a hotel en route in London, booked a hotel for the first three nights in Mumbai, got the shots (Hep A, typhoid, tetanus) taken the oral vaccine (Cholera/travellers diarrhea), set up auto bill payments, I have cancelled most of my myriad of email newsletters, updated the wills, notified the insurance company and got someone to look after the house, notified the neighbours and sent a vague itinerary to family and friends, gone crazy at work trying to hand off follow ups and make sure that no one will be confused about my work while I am gone.

Now with 60 hours to go we have to organize the house, organize and fill the ipod, return movies to the video store and books to the library, figure out what to pack, get rid of stuff from the fridge, figure out where to leave the heat set, and what to pack, and by 8:00pm on Sunday roll out the door with everything in hand and ready. I don't feel one bit of excitement - it is like it is not real, or that I will simply not be able to go. . . it is just more work, and stuff to organize. I think I will go through the motions and will feel the relief of going only when I am at the airport.

There is a little snow predicted for Saturday, but none for Sunday (always a worry) I feel anxiety that there will be something wrong with our tickets or reservations, but we have credit cards and the ability to make most crises of that sort, disappear (short of earthquakes, other natural disasters or war and insurrection) just because we are privileged North Americans, in the world.


Guess I will go get on with it.