OK, so as tempting as the beach is, I've decided I might regret not taking my chances at the ashram. So, I'll head out today for Trivandrum. A trip that will include two bus rides probably totalling somewhere around 27 hours. That doesn't sound like too much fun, but hey, how often will I be able to bus across India?? If you're interested, you can check out the ashram here.
I'll be offline for the next week or so. No worries... updates soon from a more enlightened me...
Monday, April 28, 2008
Saturday, April 26, 2008
The one-eyed seed of a tumbleweed in the belly of a rolling stone...
I continue to beat a fast track across this incredible country.
Do you wanna know something? India is LARGE. I feel like there is too much to see, to do, to feel... Trying to find a good balance of seeing what I really want to see, but not getting into so much of a hurry that I don't enjoy the journey.
Arrived in Goa yesterday morning on an overnight bus from Aurangabad. Spent the day wandering around Panjim and Old Goa and arrived at Arambol (Harmal) beach this morning. As described in The Lonely Planet, Arambol is where hippy-dippy 60's went to live happily ever after. I'm supposed to be at an Ashram in Trivandrum in a few days. The trains are booked though, and it's 2 days away by bus, and I have to say that a $6 ocean-view room is going to be hard to beat. I can do yoga on the beach right??
Do you wanna know something? India is LARGE. I feel like there is too much to see, to do, to feel... Trying to find a good balance of seeing what I really want to see, but not getting into so much of a hurry that I don't enjoy the journey.
Arrived in Goa yesterday morning on an overnight bus from Aurangabad. Spent the day wandering around Panjim and Old Goa and arrived at Arambol (Harmal) beach this morning. As described in The Lonely Planet, Arambol is where hippy-dippy 60's went to live happily ever after. I'm supposed to be at an Ashram in Trivandrum in a few days. The trains are booked though, and it's 2 days away by bus, and I have to say that a $6 ocean-view room is going to be hard to beat. I can do yoga on the beach right??
Monday, April 21, 2008
That's why a bear can rest at ease...
Despite rising rates for tourist at national parks throughout India, I am happy to report that a budget "backpacker" such as myself can indulge in 2 half-day safaris, 2 nights accommodation and full board for the duration(that means all your meals, in case you're not up on the lingo) for just a smidge over $50. It blows the budget from an average daily expenses point of view, but I suppose I could hardly say it was expensive, you know, in the scheme of things...
The safari was great. It has to be one of the highlights of the trip, and yet another on that long list of moments that have left me thinking, Who gets to do this??? And I know you're all waiting to hear the big news.... and, YES! I did see a tiger. Only one, and he was far enough away that I'll probably have to point him out to you in the picture I got. But come on, I saw a real live tiger. Shere Khan in his own stomping grounds. Oh, I finished The Jungle Book. It's probably a shame to say this, but I much preferred the eponymous Disney film. It's hard to beat, if only just for the soundtrack. By the by, did you know that all those character names (Baloo, Shere Khan, Bagheera, etc.) are derived from the actual names of those particular animals in Hindi? Not so much Prince Louie, I don't think.
Tiger sightings aside, adding another interesting layer to the safari experience was "German George" or "George of the Jungle" as I took to referring to him when he wasn't around. Self-proclaimed conservationist and lover of tigers ("tigers are my god"), George shared our jeep, talked our ears off, and in the end narrowly escaped getting smacked around a little... stories for another time.
The last few days have been full of travel... far too many hours on trains and buses, or waiting for trains or buses. I find that moving around India is yet another reminder of how very spoiled we are for space at home. There are just SO many people here, and it seems that every train car, every bus, is filled to overflowing. It's not unusual (common even) to see two grown men sharing a tiny bunk in the sleeper class compartment, and on the last two buses I was on there were easily more people crammed into the aisle than there were sitting in seats. I'm getting more and more accustomed to not having the "bubble" around me that I do at home, but it's one of those things I think will feel like a shocking difference when I return. Sure we get jostled around from time to time, and occasionally your bus is crowded, but the crush of humanity here is something that is hard to explain. I ended up in the wrong train-ticket line the other morning and I'm not even sure I can describe to you the madhouse scene that overtook the line (of only ladies!) I was in. At one point the woman behind me had worked on of her hands between me and my backpack and was holding tightly to my arm with her other hand just to prevent anyone getting in front of her in line. Imagine my disappointment after 25 minutes of this when I got to the ticket window, flushed, out of breath and sweating, and the ticket agent smiled, shook her head and pointed to her left, "Window 1, please."
At any rate, I think the increase in personal space and regular access to decent public toilets (with TP!) will account for at least half the culture shock I'll experience upon "re-entry". Well, that and not being stared at at every turn. Have I talked about the staring? It's a trip. That's about all I can say. I've had a couple of conversations (with other travelers) about whether or not staring is harassment. I don't think it is, particularly when the "staring behavior" doesn't seem to violate the social/cultural norms in the place you're visiting, but that's not to say it's not uncomfortable. I have looked up from a book while waiting in the train station to find 3 groups of young men stood staring at me from about 6 feet away. There have been train trips where the same person has sat staring for well over an hour. It is sometimes difficult to resist the compulsion to look up and say, "What??!" Which seems inappropriate at best if not completely rude. And it brings up the question of whether or not you want to strike up a conversation with the "starer". It's hard to navigate all the "rules" here. In some ways it feels very similar to when I was in Turkey... I'm never really clear on when it's appropriate to "chat" and when it's not.
As usual, I feel I need to clarify and say that I don't want to imply that *everyone* stares *all the time*. It's not always hard, and there are plenty of sweet, helpful, friendly people all over this country. Like the young kid who jumped up to go check at the enquiry counter last night after an announcement was made about my train that I didn't understand, or the older gentleman who brought oranges to Tracey and I on the bus yesterday and said, "Come. Slake your thirst. You are welcome guests in my country."
The adventure continues. In Jalgoan now and off to see these caves in Ajanta tomorrow. More soon (and hopefully a picture of that tiger!!)
The safari was great. It has to be one of the highlights of the trip, and yet another on that long list of moments that have left me thinking, Who gets to do this??? And I know you're all waiting to hear the big news.... and, YES! I did see a tiger. Only one, and he was far enough away that I'll probably have to point him out to you in the picture I got. But come on, I saw a real live tiger. Shere Khan in his own stomping grounds. Oh, I finished The Jungle Book. It's probably a shame to say this, but I much preferred the eponymous Disney film. It's hard to beat, if only just for the soundtrack. By the by, did you know that all those character names (Baloo, Shere Khan, Bagheera, etc.) are derived from the actual names of those particular animals in Hindi? Not so much Prince Louie, I don't think.
Tiger sightings aside, adding another interesting layer to the safari experience was "German George" or "George of the Jungle" as I took to referring to him when he wasn't around. Self-proclaimed conservationist and lover of tigers ("tigers are my god"), George shared our jeep, talked our ears off, and in the end narrowly escaped getting smacked around a little... stories for another time.
The last few days have been full of travel... far too many hours on trains and buses, or waiting for trains or buses. I find that moving around India is yet another reminder of how very spoiled we are for space at home. There are just SO many people here, and it seems that every train car, every bus, is filled to overflowing. It's not unusual (common even) to see two grown men sharing a tiny bunk in the sleeper class compartment, and on the last two buses I was on there were easily more people crammed into the aisle than there were sitting in seats. I'm getting more and more accustomed to not having the "bubble" around me that I do at home, but it's one of those things I think will feel like a shocking difference when I return. Sure we get jostled around from time to time, and occasionally your bus is crowded, but the crush of humanity here is something that is hard to explain. I ended up in the wrong train-ticket line the other morning and I'm not even sure I can describe to you the madhouse scene that overtook the line (of only ladies!) I was in. At one point the woman behind me had worked on of her hands between me and my backpack and was holding tightly to my arm with her other hand just to prevent anyone getting in front of her in line. Imagine my disappointment after 25 minutes of this when I got to the ticket window, flushed, out of breath and sweating, and the ticket agent smiled, shook her head and pointed to her left, "Window 1, please."
At any rate, I think the increase in personal space and regular access to decent public toilets (with TP!) will account for at least half the culture shock I'll experience upon "re-entry". Well, that and not being stared at at every turn. Have I talked about the staring? It's a trip. That's about all I can say. I've had a couple of conversations (with other travelers) about whether or not staring is harassment. I don't think it is, particularly when the "staring behavior" doesn't seem to violate the social/cultural norms in the place you're visiting, but that's not to say it's not uncomfortable. I have looked up from a book while waiting in the train station to find 3 groups of young men stood staring at me from about 6 feet away. There have been train trips where the same person has sat staring for well over an hour. It is sometimes difficult to resist the compulsion to look up and say, "What??!" Which seems inappropriate at best if not completely rude. And it brings up the question of whether or not you want to strike up a conversation with the "starer". It's hard to navigate all the "rules" here. In some ways it feels very similar to when I was in Turkey... I'm never really clear on when it's appropriate to "chat" and when it's not.
As usual, I feel I need to clarify and say that I don't want to imply that *everyone* stares *all the time*. It's not always hard, and there are plenty of sweet, helpful, friendly people all over this country. Like the young kid who jumped up to go check at the enquiry counter last night after an announcement was made about my train that I didn't understand, or the older gentleman who brought oranges to Tracey and I on the bus yesterday and said, "Come. Slake your thirst. You are welcome guests in my country."
The adventure continues. In Jalgoan now and off to see these caves in Ajanta tomorrow. More soon (and hopefully a picture of that tiger!!)
Monday, April 14, 2008
A dream is a wish your heart makes...
Well, thanks to bad weather, and cheap internet access, you all get to be subjected to my musings two days in a row. I've been wanting to write a little about the things I've been reading lately. (Other than the aforementioned The Jungle Book, which by the way, I should take a picture of... the only copy I could find was in the children's section of the bookstore here and it definitely looks like it was marketed toward the under 10 set... I'm sure I'll get some strange looks on the train).
Anyhow, I have always loved to read. Being on this trip certainly hasn't changed that, but it has presented something of a difficulty from time to time, one, because books are heavy and not the thing you want to lug around on your back, and two, because books are expensive (with the exception of Cambodia and Vietnam where you can buy photocopies of pretty much any paperback you can think of... a practice I of course agree is *wrong* but at generally less than $2 a pop was far too tempting for me to resist). I have managed to get my literary fix in Thailand and India by trading quite a few books, occasionally springing for a cheapy, and spending more time than is probably fair "skimming over" interesting reads in bookstores. Incidentally if you get a chance to read them... I really enjoyed the excerpts I read from Holy Cow by Sarah MacDonald, and Karma Cola by Gita Mehta. MacDonald's book details her time as an ex-pat in India and Mehta's skewers the whole Western fascination with Eastern religion/philosophy. I've found there is something fun about reading about the places I'm traveling in or about to travel to. There are far too many books about/set in India for me to even make a dent, but along the way I have read Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie and The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy. I'd recommend them both, although I will say that Rushdie was a little hard to read (in a way I can't really put my finger on, but I think it's that the story just has so many characters and is so fantastical). Before I left, I read Rohinton Mistry's A Fine Balance which I would also highly recommend. And to think how badly I hated book reports when I was a kid...
More recently, I read Arundhati Roy's excellent collection of essays entitled The Algebra of Infinite Justice. Please read this book. Roy offers an interesting perspective with regard to how the United States is viewed from a distance and has written several very interesting pieces about political and environmental issues impacting India. Most recently of all (although having nothing to do with India, per se) I completed Paulo Coehlo's The Alchemist. This is one of those books that I feel like I was the last person on earth to have read, but if, like me, you are far behind the times when it comes to pop-literature, READ. THIS. BOOK. I'm not saying it will change your life or anything, but you never know, it just might. It's a simply written but absolutely beautiful little story about following your dreams. It just might make you think a little bit...
Well, as per usual, I seem to have rambled on far longer than is absolutely necessary. I'm going to close this with a few thoughts from Coehlo and Roy that have been rattling around in me head for the past few days.
Sweet dreams...
Anyhow, I have always loved to read. Being on this trip certainly hasn't changed that, but it has presented something of a difficulty from time to time, one, because books are heavy and not the thing you want to lug around on your back, and two, because books are expensive (with the exception of Cambodia and Vietnam where you can buy photocopies of pretty much any paperback you can think of... a practice I of course agree is *wrong* but at generally less than $2 a pop was far too tempting for me to resist). I have managed to get my literary fix in Thailand and India by trading quite a few books, occasionally springing for a cheapy, and spending more time than is probably fair "skimming over" interesting reads in bookstores. Incidentally if you get a chance to read them... I really enjoyed the excerpts I read from Holy Cow by Sarah MacDonald, and Karma Cola by Gita Mehta. MacDonald's book details her time as an ex-pat in India and Mehta's skewers the whole Western fascination with Eastern religion/philosophy. I've found there is something fun about reading about the places I'm traveling in or about to travel to. There are far too many books about/set in India for me to even make a dent, but along the way I have read Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie and The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy. I'd recommend them both, although I will say that Rushdie was a little hard to read (in a way I can't really put my finger on, but I think it's that the story just has so many characters and is so fantastical). Before I left, I read Rohinton Mistry's A Fine Balance which I would also highly recommend. And to think how badly I hated book reports when I was a kid...
More recently, I read Arundhati Roy's excellent collection of essays entitled The Algebra of Infinite Justice. Please read this book. Roy offers an interesting perspective with regard to how the United States is viewed from a distance and has written several very interesting pieces about political and environmental issues impacting India. Most recently of all (although having nothing to do with India, per se) I completed Paulo Coehlo's The Alchemist. This is one of those books that I feel like I was the last person on earth to have read, but if, like me, you are far behind the times when it comes to pop-literature, READ. THIS. BOOK. I'm not saying it will change your life or anything, but you never know, it just might. It's a simply written but absolutely beautiful little story about following your dreams. It just might make you think a little bit...
Well, as per usual, I seem to have rambled on far longer than is absolutely necessary. I'm going to close this with a few thoughts from Coehlo and Roy that have been rattling around in me head for the past few days.
The soul of the world is nourished by people's happiness. - Paulo Coehlo, The Alchemist
The only dream worth having is to dream that you will live while you're alive and die only when you're dead.
Which means exactly what?
To love. To be loved. To never forget your own insignificance. To never get used to the unspeakable violence and the vulgar disparity of live around you. To seek joy in the saddest places. To pursue beauty to its lair. To never simplify what is complicated or complicate what is simple. To respect strength, never power. Above all, to watch. To try and understand. To never look away. And never, never, to forget. - Arundhati Roy, The End of Imagination
What do you want to be your epitaph? 'Paulo Coehlo died while he was alive.' Why this epitaph? Everyone dies when he or she is alive. 'No... this is not true.' -Paulo Coehlo, from the afterword of The Alchemist
Sweet dreams...
Sunday, April 13, 2008
It's just your jive-talkin' that gets in the way...
One of my least favorite things about traveling are those times that it feels like everything is a negotiation. This certainly isn't unique to India, but it's something that comes up quite a lot here. Rarely is the price-given the actual price, and it is the rare transaction that occurs without some conversation to decide how much money should actually change hands. This is often complicated by the fact that I'm not really sure what the value of a particular service or goods really is. Sometimes this is frustrating, as when the autorickshaw driver quotes you a fare you know to be a good three times over what's typical. Sometimes it's laughable, as when the teenage boy at the snack bar at the railway station looks up as if deep in thought when you ask him the price of a package of crackers and then tells you in all serious, "80 rupees" before you notice the clearly marked "8 rupees" price marked on the packet. (Even he laughed when I pointed this out.) I know there's a balance here (and in so many other places) between paying a "fair" price (whatever that might mean) and being/feeling ripped off. There are times I have caught myself starting to argue over what amounts to a few cents and felt pretty embarrassed. I wonder what it will be like though to return to a "fixed-price market" after all these many months of traveling through places where there is little you can't bargain for? On the one hand I think it will be a relief to just know the sticker price (however inflated or ridiculous) is the price, but I wonder if there won't be times that I'm tempted to say, "Come on, seriously. What if I buy 3? Discount?"
I don't mean to imply that this bargaining never works in my favor either... when Tracey and I arrived in Darjeeling on Friday, we went wandering around looking for a room. We stopped at a place that looked well out of our price-range and decided to just check "for a laugh". The woman told us she had a double room for 1300 rupees (about 30 dollars). "Oh, we were hoping for something more in the 500 rupee range," Tracey says. "It's her birthday tomorrow!" I chime in (this was TRUE, by the way). The woman looks at us for a moment, and says, "Let me check." After a few minutes she comes back to the door and says, "OK!". OK. Huh. Go figure. So we scored on a sweet room at the Highlander Inn that would have a spectacular view of the Himalayas if the clouds would ever clear. I guess you can't have it all.
Spending a few days in the misty mountains of Darjeeling sipping tea and walking up and down hills before heading to Jabalpur on Wednesday night to visit Kanha National Park, supposed setting of Rudyard Kipling's "The Jungle Book". In true cheeseball fashion, I have bought a copy of the book to read on the train on the way there. Fingers crossed that I see a tiger, please.
New pictures up at flickr too, if you're interested.
More soon!
I don't mean to imply that this bargaining never works in my favor either... when Tracey and I arrived in Darjeeling on Friday, we went wandering around looking for a room. We stopped at a place that looked well out of our price-range and decided to just check "for a laugh". The woman told us she had a double room for 1300 rupees (about 30 dollars). "Oh, we were hoping for something more in the 500 rupee range," Tracey says. "It's her birthday tomorrow!" I chime in (this was TRUE, by the way). The woman looks at us for a moment, and says, "Let me check." After a few minutes she comes back to the door and says, "OK!". OK. Huh. Go figure. So we scored on a sweet room at the Highlander Inn that would have a spectacular view of the Himalayas if the clouds would ever clear. I guess you can't have it all.
Spending a few days in the misty mountains of Darjeeling sipping tea and walking up and down hills before heading to Jabalpur on Wednesday night to visit Kanha National Park, supposed setting of Rudyard Kipling's "The Jungle Book". In true cheeseball fashion, I have bought a copy of the book to read on the train on the way there. Fingers crossed that I see a tiger, please.
New pictures up at flickr too, if you're interested.
More soon!
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
There's such a lot of world to see...
A quick note from Varanasi. I am hoping to at some point be able to upload some pictures, but the internet connections here are not so good, and it seems a shame to waste hours fooling around with a computer when there is so much to see!
What an incredible place. As I got ready to step off the train yesterday morning, the man who had been sitting next to me, giving me a quick rundown of Hindu deities, smiled a huge, bright smile and said, "Welcome to the holiest place in India!"
I'm staying here with Ute, a friend of my friend Mandy's. It's great to have a nice (ahem... not to mention free!) place to stay. Ute works with developmentally disabled individuals at a vocational training center, which I was able to visit today. The adults and teens (whose diagnoses range from autism to mental retardation to CP) work on general "life skills" and some basic education as well as learning to make handicrafts which are sold in a variety of free-trade shops and help to provide them with a small stipend.
I enjoyed the rest of my time in Delhi, and the Taj Mahal in Agra was every bit as spectacular as I'd hoped it would be. In Varanasi until Thursday evening and then it's off to Darjeeling for tea, and perhaps slightly cooler temperatures. It's HOT here, especially after a few surprisingly cool days in Delhi.
More soon!!
What an incredible place. As I got ready to step off the train yesterday morning, the man who had been sitting next to me, giving me a quick rundown of Hindu deities, smiled a huge, bright smile and said, "Welcome to the holiest place in India!"
I'm staying here with Ute, a friend of my friend Mandy's. It's great to have a nice (ahem... not to mention free!) place to stay. Ute works with developmentally disabled individuals at a vocational training center, which I was able to visit today. The adults and teens (whose diagnoses range from autism to mental retardation to CP) work on general "life skills" and some basic education as well as learning to make handicrafts which are sold in a variety of free-trade shops and help to provide them with a small stipend.
I enjoyed the rest of my time in Delhi, and the Taj Mahal in Agra was every bit as spectacular as I'd hoped it would be. In Varanasi until Thursday evening and then it's off to Darjeeling for tea, and perhaps slightly cooler temperatures. It's HOT here, especially after a few surprisingly cool days in Delhi.
More soon!!
Wednesday, April 2, 2008
Surrounded by the sound, sound, cattle in the marketplace...
And there are. Cattle in the marketplace, I mean.
Have arrived safely in India. The plane ride from Bangkok to Delhi was perhaps the most luxurious thing I have experienced on this trip so far. I flew Thai Airways, and had what was easily the best airplane meal of my life. I laughed to myself at how ridiculously excited I was when the beverage cart rolled down the aisle and they were serving a decent chardonnay; WINE! Wine that tastes good! Wine that is FREE!! :)
But here I am... on the subcontinent, as they say. I feel as if I'm just dipping my little toe into the huge pool that is incredible country. I think I'm ready to take the plunge.
I can't think of any other place on this trip that I've heard more about before I arrived; so many warnings, and tips, and horror stories. Maybe it's that whole glass half-full/"little Mary sunshine" thing I have going on, but I will say that given my first impression (having admittedly spent less than 24 hours here), it's better than I expected. Yes, it's dirty, and hot, and crowded and the traffic is atrocious, and the "elegantly furnished" (as per their business card) hotel room I'm staying in leaves a little something to be desired, but I'm glad I'm here. Managed to use the Metro, the prepaid auto-rickshaw service, purchase train tickets at the railway station, and visit the Red Fort and the Jama Masjid, which has the distinction of being the largest mosque in all of India. Busy, busy day. Off to Agra on Saturday to see the Taj Mahal before continuing to Varanasi.
Will post updates and pictures as I can.
Have arrived safely in India. The plane ride from Bangkok to Delhi was perhaps the most luxurious thing I have experienced on this trip so far. I flew Thai Airways, and had what was easily the best airplane meal of my life. I laughed to myself at how ridiculously excited I was when the beverage cart rolled down the aisle and they were serving a decent chardonnay; WINE! Wine that tastes good! Wine that is FREE!! :)
But here I am... on the subcontinent, as they say. I feel as if I'm just dipping my little toe into the huge pool that is incredible country. I think I'm ready to take the plunge.
I can't think of any other place on this trip that I've heard more about before I arrived; so many warnings, and tips, and horror stories. Maybe it's that whole glass half-full/"little Mary sunshine" thing I have going on, but I will say that given my first impression (having admittedly spent less than 24 hours here), it's better than I expected. Yes, it's dirty, and hot, and crowded and the traffic is atrocious, and the "elegantly furnished" (as per their business card) hotel room I'm staying in leaves a little something to be desired, but I'm glad I'm here. Managed to use the Metro, the prepaid auto-rickshaw service, purchase train tickets at the railway station, and visit the Red Fort and the Jama Masjid, which has the distinction of being the largest mosque in all of India. Busy, busy day. Off to Agra on Saturday to see the Taj Mahal before continuing to Varanasi.
Will post updates and pictures as I can.
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