India 2005

Format Issues

2008-03-16T18:16:00.001-06:00

I know this blog looks a bit messed up. My apologies - it didn't survive the transition to a new blogger template well. One day I'll get around to fixing it....=-)

Kolkata

2006-04-02T19:53:00.000-06:00

Goa

2006-04-02T19:41:00.000-06:00

Hampi

2006-04-02T19:31:00.000-06:00

Chennai - Mysore

2006-04-02T19:20:00.000-06:00

Puri

2006-04-02T19:14:00.000-06:00

Varnasi art

2006-04-02T19:05:00.000-06:00

Yoga anyone?

2006-04-02T19:04:00.000-06:00

Varnasi kids

2006-04-02T19:03:00.000-06:00

Boat building along the Ganges - Varnasi

2006-04-02T19:02:00.000-06:00

Varnasi bikestand

2006-04-02T19:01:00.000-06:00

Hanging tree - Varnasi

2006-04-02T19:00:00.000-06:00

Ganges deterius - Varnasi

2006-04-02T18:59:00.000-06:00

Pilgrams at the ghats - Varnasi

2006-04-02T18:58:00.000-06:00

Varnasi street market

2006-04-02T18:56:00.000-06:00

Cow jam in the narrow alleys of Varnasi

2006-04-02T18:54:00.000-06:00

Buffalo shit - Varnasi

2006-04-02T18:52:00.000-06:00

Hindu ceremony on the ghats - Varnasi

2006-04-02T18:50:00.000-06:00

Lisa the Queen of UNO

2006-04-02T18:48:00.000-06:00

The holy Ganges river - Varnasi

2006-04-02T18:47:00.000-06:00

Back in the USA

2005-03-15T13:08:00.000-07:00

I am back in the USA after a long flight from India.

My three hour lay over in Singapore was a huge culture shock after India.

I am camping out a Joshua Tree at the moment.

My internet access is quite spotty here compared to India so don't expect much in the way of posts. I will update the blog from Calgary once I am back on the 27th of March.

And yes the tacos are fantastic!

=-)

Vik

Life and death in Varnassi

2005-02-25T05:20:00.000-07:00

This is my third try at this blog entry - the other two vanished into cyberspace!
Varanasi continues to enthrall me. The ghats (stairs leading down to the Ganges) are busy all day with a variety of activities - people bathing, praying, washing clothes, going to the toilet!!!, all kinds of animals bathing/drinking and then a whole host of related stuff like food vendors, boat trip operators, etc...
The city seems really old - definitely the "oldest" feeling place I have visited in India. The back alleys are quite something. They are very narrow and wind all over the place seemingly at random. I have been exploring them quite a bit and , although I get lost a lot, it is a lot of fun to see what is around each corner. I have encountered several cows jams - where some cows and usually a motorcycle or vendor pushing a wide cart - get all tangled and traffic grinds to a halt. I am pretty amazed, but people actually drive motorcycles down these alleys while pedestrians, animals and cyclists have to jump to the side to let them past. At first I was a little hesitant to go too far a field from my hotel, but people are super friendly and the alleys have way less hassles for tourists than the ghats - which are where more tourists tend to go.
Speaking of ghats - I have watched several crematory ceremonies so far. They are very moving and I can sit for hours and watch all that goes on around them. There are quite a few steps from the time someone dies till they are cremated. The cremations happen 24/7 and to is rare to go there and not see something happening. I have also seen a few children's bodies deposited straight into the Ganges. They row out to the middle and drop the body weighed down with rocks into the river. Children, pregnant women, holy men, and diseased bodies are not cremated - cremation is supposed to purify the body and for various reasons these categories do not need to be cleansed. Women are not present when the cremation happens - I have been told this is because 1) women are very emotional and they feel crying and such would disturb the dead soul 2) some women (on their own or after being forced) have jumped on funeral pyres to die with their husband. The gov't has made this illegal - although I have read it still happens to some extent. Hindus believe dying in Varanasi means and end to cycle of reincarnation and direct access to heaven - so there are a lot of older people here waiting to die.
On my second day here I was given a room with a balcony facing the Ganges. It was smaller than the first room, but I figured the balcony was worth it. It was nice to sit and have some privacy (a luxury in India!!) while watching the action below. However, there was an ugly side to balcony life - there are large monkeys in the banyan tree nearby and a large aggressive one came onto my balcony and tried to get into my room twice! I had to use a chair to push him out the second time and he was not at all scared of me. This meant I had to keep the balcony door closed all the time and since the room was small that made it hot and stuffy in there. I told the hotel manager I was moving back to my old room and he offered to give me a bamboo stick to fight off the monkey with, but I declined.
My room is quite nice - it is large and there are no mozzies...=-) It is on the same floor as the room top terrace - so although I don't have a balcony I can go sit on the terrace anytime I want. The only down side is that it is quite noisy at night until the restaurant closes and then later the monkeys go crazy all night throwing around furniture and knocking over crates of empty bottles. In the morning the terrace restaurant looks like a battle went on - and it did!!! Mostly I can sleep through it all - better the monkeys are fighting each other than me...=-)
On a sad note there was an explosion here on one of the main ghats where I hang out a fair bit killing several Indians and tourists. A gas cylinder rolled into a fire near a chai stand and it exploded. I was 300m away and thought it was a very loud firework (not uncommon) - it was not till that evening I heard what actually happened. I was regularly going to a particular dosa stand to fill my dosa cravings and was shocked to find out the owner had been killed in the explosion. It is sad when I walk past his now empty stand. The city was a bit subdued for a couple days while they cleaned up the mess and held some services for the victims. 10 people were killed and quite a few injured.
My time in Varanasi & India is growing short now. Only 3 more days here and 8 more days in India. Time flies! I will definitely miss India, but I am really looking forward to getting into the desert backpacking. Two things I am craving at the moment are 1) tacos! 2) some peaceful solitude.

Wonderful madness

2005-02-21T23:51:00.000-07:00

I had dinner at my hotel last night - the food was not fantastic, but I had a funny conversation with the same guy who was on about Bengali supperiority earlier. He wanted to know if I was single and when he found out I was - he suggested I move to India. Even went as far as saying he would help me settle down here and find a wife....lol....I told him that was very kind offer, but I would have to think about it a bit.

He mentioned that he was happy because everyone in the world idolized India - his proof was that so many tourists come here. He asked me what I thought of India so far, but before I could answer he gave me four choices 1) good 2) great 3) excellent 4) fantastic....lol...I chose excellent and he seemed satisfied with that...=-)

I met another guy who would not tell me his nationality - he was on about some alternative way of communicating that broke through normal boundaries, yadda , yadda, yadda...I tried to talk to him, but he just went around in circles not actually saying anything. Nice, but a little cracked.

The ghats are really cool with so much activity. It is a little crazy at times, but the whole places throbs with vitality. I haven't been too far today as I am a lazy traveler...lol...but I plan on getting up early tomorrow and walking to the crematory ghats for sunrise. Luckily the view from my hotel's terrace is quite stunning so even when I am being lazy I can still take in quite a lot of what is going on.

I hope everyone at home had a good long weekend! Happy birthday Lair...=-)

I miss everyone, but I do not miss the cold!

Varnassi - Old Skool

2005-02-21T04:55:00.000-07:00

I don't know if I have ever seen a place that better exemplifies Socrates' famous truism..."...there is no school, like the old school..."...lol...I just arrived this afternoon and so far I think Varnassi is rad! Everything looks ancient, with winding alleyways leading back into this crowded old city. By far the oldest seeming place I have been.

My two days in Kolkata were relaxing as everything seemed so normal compared to my first visit. Sundar's brother in law got married the day before we arrived so I went to his Father-in-law's place for lunch to meet all the relatives. I couldn't speak to them, but I could tell I was being discussed in detail for a good 15mins while I sat there drinking my tea and being examined..lol...! I was also invited to the wedding dinner that night - which was delicious!

The train ride was pretty standard and I met a cool guy named Ajoy on the train. He is doing grad studies in the US and just visiting his old prof at the University here.

I was a bit concerned about dealing with the touts when I arrived as I had read about how aggressive they were here in numerous places. So I called ahead and booked a room down by the ghats. When we arrived in Varnassi a couple touts velcroed onto us, but we told them to piss off and just walked out of the station to the first major intersection and grabbed a bicycle rickshaw down to the ghats. From there I walked along the Ganges until I saw my hotel. Nobody hassled me at all. I don't know why, but I just don't seem to be experiencing a lot of the hassles people write about in guidebooks & travel stories. I don't know if it is me or if they are just exagerating to make things sound more interesting???

I am staying at Ajay's guest house which is situated right next to Rana Ghat. It boasts a 2 story terrace restaurant with fantastic views of the river and the ghats below. It also has a nice flat area for yoga - so I was sold! The room I got is nice, but I have been promised that I will get a room with a balcony facing the river tomorrow - that should be wicked. Even better - they have a nice selection of books to read so I won't have to spend my $$$ on books. At the rate I read that can be expensive.

I chatted with a couple India gentlemen who were from Kolkata and were happy to inform me wow most excellent Bengali people were and how high my caste was.

I took a walk along the ghats and found a cheap cyber cafe with a fast connection - yeah! That is like finding a jug of ambrosia - nectar of the gods...lol...=-)

Well I am off to explore a bit and track down some dinner. I have only got 11 days here in Varnassi - I better get on with it...=-)

BTW - my return flight to LAX has been confirmed for 8 March 05. I was a bit disappointed to learn my lay over in Singapore was only 3hrs - oh well you can't have everything...=-) Tacos - here I come.

Moving on up

2005-02-16T20:42:00.000-07:00

I just got back from the train station with my ticket to Kolkata in my hands - yeah! I made peace with the beach at Puri. By enjoying it from my hotel balcony it was beautiful and I couldn't see any poo...lol...there is quite a large fleet of fishing boats that cruise past the hotel in the morning and evening - it is fun to watch them as the sun rises & sets.

I spent quite a bit of time last night cruising Marine Drive (where all the Indian tourists hang out and stay in Hotels). It was a very interesting comparison between that and Western tourist areas. The shop keepers/vendors here are super chill and don't hassle anyone. I was able to walk by stores and look at what they had on offer in peace - something that would not happen in Goa for example. No one was begging - at least I have yet to meet anyone doing that in several trips there. Except for the ridiculous traffic and cleanliness, it reminded me of a busy day in Banff - okay that might be a stretch, but you know what I mean.

I think the shop keepers in other parts of India are missing the boat - I know I would have spent way more money by this point if I was able to shop in peace and browse without having to deal with a super aggressive salesman on me the second I show the slightest interest in anything. On many occasions I saw stuff that I might want, but then I figured I don't want to get into a hassle for something I may not really want. So I only ended up buying things when I was absolutely sure I wanted them - so they lost out on all the possible impulse purchases - which for me could be a lot...lol...!

I am leaving Puri Friday night so I only have two days left here. Not much of an issue since I am not actually doing a whole lot. After breakfast at the hotel I usually walk into town to use the internet for a while and then have lunch - followed by a well deserved nap and then some reading until dinner and then more reading until bed...lol...not too exciting, but I am spending loads of time with my Dad - even if we don't actually speak to one another....lol...being in the same room is pretty good for us.

I forgot to mention that Gabriel Marquez's book Love in the Time of Cholera was excellent! I have managed to read 4 books since I have arrived in Puri and will probably polish off another 2 before I go. The book store owner is quite impressed with my reading speed. Now if only there was a way to make a ton of cash reading novels I would be all over it!

I had to laugh last night I was the only person eating in a small restaurant. I had 8 staff waiting on me in the dining room and that did not include the staff in the kitchen. Everyone had a job and would not do anything else. I couldn't finish everything and I asked to have the rest packed up. The 7 guys in the dining room said no problem, but the packing up guy had to go out so it would be a few minutes...lol...and then they sat down and started talking and playing cards until he returned. There was the big boss who did nothing, the door greeter, the guy who gives you a menu, the guy who takes your order and yells it at another guy who actually goes in the kitchen to yell it at them, the kid who runs out to get you a Sprite, the guy who turns on the fan when you say it is hot and the guy who packs up your food...lol...they must have a wicked union! Oh ya and my whole meal including appetizers, main course and a soda was Rs. 45 or about $1USD - yet I have been the lone diner in so many places like that and they seem to do okay - go figure????

I walk most of the time just to get some exercise, but last night I decided to take a bicycle rickshaw back to the hotel - wow do those guys work hard - especially up hill as they have no gears and can't shift down! I don't mind paying 200% the going rate to those guys - they earn it for sure.

I have been doing all my own laundry in my sink or in the shower as necessary. I knew my clothes were not sparkling clean, but they weren't super dirty and more importantly they did not smell! Well when I got to Puri my dad had some laundry detergent from home which I used - I had been using my bio-degradable body wash to do my clothes as well. Wow - I was quite shocked to see the water turn dark brown when I was my first two items...lol...by the time I was done it was virtually chocolate brown. I had to rinse everything twice to get the water semi-clean. Since I only have two shirts and two pairs of pants I wash something virtually everyday and after two detergent washes things are finally reasonably clean. My next trip like this I will definitely pack a bit of real detergent with me!

For you hockey fans I have been asking around and Indians generally are not bothered by the NHL strike...lol...neither am I frankly...multi-millionaire players fighting with multi-millionaire owners for how they split up the millions they make from pushing a black rubber puck around the ice???....sorry no sympathy at all!

Napster

2005-02-14T04:23:00.000-07:00

I had lunch then a nap and I am feeling better!

We have a TV in our room and I have been able to get Animal Planet 24hrs a day...lol...it is kind of weird though because every show I have watch so far is about the the MOST EXTREME ANIMAL KILLERS!!! or some such theme where they do a review of the top ten most deadly animals on the planet. I was kinda hoping for something along the lines of "Mutual of Omaha Wild Kingdom"....lol...I guess those days are over.

Although to this point Puri has been the one place I have visited that I would not return to - there is one upside - the hotel restaurant does provide some pretty tasty meals...lol...not much consolation, but hey you have to focus on the positive.

I went for a walk on the beach this morning as the sun rose. It was neat to see Indian families on the beach - how different from the Western beach scene in Goa. The women would walk in just a little bit, but they would be fully clothed in a sari or salwar kameez (sp?) pant suit. The men would strip down to a lungi (Indian sarong for men) or wear shorts. Kids could run around in their underwear. I noticed that the vendors that were on the beach were being very chill - no high pressure sales tactics here.

Once they got wet the women would gather together and take turns changing their complete outfits while their friends/relations held up towels to maintain their modesty.

It was quite pleasant except for having to dodge the steaming turds people left all over the beach!

After dinner tonight I am going to go book train tickets to Kolkata and then to Varnassi and back.

My dad is not feeling really well so he is going to move our flight back to LA to early March. I will go back with him as far as LA and his wife will pick him up at the airport in Toronto.

I will use the extra time in the US to do some backpacking in CA and possibly in AZ & TX depending on how much time I have.

Unfortunately this means there is no possibility of meeting up with "The" Jenn in Sri Lanka...=-(

On the upside I will be sitting down to a plate of delicious tacos sooner than I expected and the fantasticality of that cannot be overstated!

Happy Valentine's Day

2005-02-13T21:47:00.000-07:00

On a happier note I just wanted to wish everyone a Happy Valentine's Day!

It seems people in some of the bigger cities (like Mubai) are attempting to celebrate this occasion while more fundamentalist groups want to see it banned. A news reporter on TV pointed out it is a great way to sell people a whole bunch of stuff they don't need and wouldn't normally want on Feb 14th....lol

I just can't believe this shit

2005-02-13T21:24:00.000-07:00

I just had THE WORST experience of my India trip to date at the temple in Puri. I am so pissed off I could scream. I was going write a scathing blog about how fucked up the whole place was, but I don't even want to think about it anymore.

If I had to choose between visiting that place again or food poisoning - I would eat some bad chicken!!!!

I know very few things for sure, but one thing I am 100% certain of is that my God isn't sort of cash.

Puri - a beach too far

2005-02-12T21:23:00.000-07:00

I made it to Bubaneshwar (2hrs from Puri) with no troubles. I had some very friendly people on the train with me and managed to get a decent amount of sleep.

I was planning on buying a train ticket to Puri at the station, but before I could do that an older man comes up to me and asks if I am "Vikram Banerjee". Apparently he has worked for my dad since he was 12 yrs old and he was sent to collect me. We made our way to the bus stand and took the 2.5hrs bus to Puri.

My father is staying at a fairly upscale hotel on the beach. You would think I would like it after all the cheap rooms I stayed in so far, but I feel really isolated on the 3rd floor very far from all the other tourist accommodations and tourist services (food, email, etc..)

I got up early this AM and went down to the beach to watch the sunrise. It was magical - there was a 20ft area of wet sand that reflected the various shades of orange from the and then the sea was a dark gray colour sandwiched between the wet sand and the sky.

My bubble was burst however, when four guys walked past me into the shallow water and proceeded to squat and shit right there...lol....Palolem this is not! I turned and walked a little further from the water to get away from them and nearly stumbled on a dead dog carcass some crows were feeding on. With a sigh I resigned myself to the fact the next few days will not be a beach paradise like Goa. However, there are lot of Indian tourists here and it is interesting to see how their beach "scene" is different from the one at beaches dominated by western tourists.

I am off to grab a shave!

Pics!

2005-02-10T23:03:00.000-07:00

Just when I say there will be no pics available till April I figure out a way to share some pics with you!

If you want to see them just go to www.gmail.com and login.

account: vikindia2005pics
pw: stoopidpw

The pics are there attached to emails.

I will still be adding pics and captions to the blog in April, but at least this way to can see some right away.

Enjoy! But, please don't sign up for any porn or send death threats to GW Bush with that account!....=-)~

Chilling in Chennai

2005-02-10T19:03:00.000-07:00

My night in the dormitory was interesting. Obviously the local expectations for privacy and being quiet at night are different than what I would expect. People kept answer or making cell calls all night and they seemed to be yelling into the phones as if they had a bad connection. I also had quite a few people walk by my "cubicle" and then come back and stare at me. I even had one guy take the book I was reading out of my hands with out asking, look it over and then hand it back after losing my page...lol..!

It is kind of weird how Indian woman have to cover up and be very discrete about showing any skin, but Indian guys run around half naked all the time. In the dorm bathroom guys would be doing all their business and just ignore the female cleaning staff.

At first I was a bit concerned I would offend them running around in just my sarong, but I got over it.

People here don't seem to have any embarrassment about farting, burping, picking noses or picking their teeth in public.

Heck as my train left Banaglore yesterday to Mysore I watch as guys here squatting and pooing right next to the tracks. They just ignore the train and did their thing.

Two things you don't have much of in India is relaxation or privacy. The only times I really can relax is in my room, but then again a lot of the time it is too hot or their are too many mozzies to do even that. I think this is why India is described as intense by many travelers as you don't get much down time unless your eyes are closed.

Similarly there isn't much privacy either. Not only are there so many people that it is hard to find a place where you would be alone to begin with. And when there are people around they will not feel shy about staring at you if they find something that interests them (ahem....ladies' chests for example) and for the most part Indians find western tourists very interesting and will stare at you until you leave their field of vision. This doesn't bug me very much, but I have met people for whom this is very irritating.

I have been having some serious cravings for Mexican food...lol...last year in Baja it was Indian food/Swiss Chalet...now that I am in India I want tacos!

trains, trains and more trains!

2005-02-10T02:19:00.000-07:00

My last evening in Hampi I went up the hill next to the main temple and just chilled out for a while listening to the sounds of the town. I noticed there was music and clapping come out of one of the temple courtyards so I went to investigate. There was a Indian classical music concert underway which was quite good. I found my self head bobbing and clapping in time to the music. I think my next trip to India I will bring a tape recorder as well as a camera - there are so many cool sounds here!

I grabbed a taxi to the Hospet train station and met a German girl there named Sabrina. She was quite friendly and it was nice to have someone to chat with for the 2hrs till my train arrived. I am getting quite accustomed to riding the trains now and have my own routine so that when I climb into my bunk I can just go to sleep. At first I had my backpack with me on the bunk, but that made it quite short and I had to sleep with my legs bent which was not so comfortable. I have become less worried about getting stuff stolen so I just leave my backpack on the floor under the lowest bunk and don't worry about it - I keep my money, documents and camera with me though.

The train ride from Hospet to Bangalore was uneventful and I managed to sleep for 4 hrs until various babies in my carriage decided to cry non-stop - those damn breeders!...=-)~

Sabrina was going to Mysore and since my train to Chennai from Bangalore did not leave till 23:30hrs that night I went with her so I could meet up with Tom (my seat mate on the flight over) who was doing yoga with Patabis Jois (SP?). The train to Mysore was super slow - taking 4hrs to go 139 kms! But, Sabrina has been eating train food for a long time and was not getting sick - so I decided to give it a try. I had a masala dosa on the train - which is like a pancake with veg curry inside. It doesn't sound so hot, but it is quite tasty!

I said goodbye to Sabrina in Mysore as she was headed to visit a Buddhist university campus a couple hours by bus outside the city. Tom and his driver/friend Ravi came and picked me up and took me back to his hotel so I could grab a shower and wash/change clothes. I can't tell you how nice it is to be able to wash up after traveling for 12+hrs. Tom took me for lunch to an Indian family's house. They provide meals to some of the yogis. I had just been thinking I wanted some dal and rice that morning - sure enough I was served 2 kinds of dal, 3 kinds of rice and some yummy fresh soy beans. This was for sure my best meal in India so far.

Tom and then went to Mysore's famous market. They had an amazing selection of fruit, vegetables, herbs/spices and flowers. I loved the smell of the flowers and the herbs/spice.

After that I went back to Tom's hotel room and we chilled out for an hour while I repacked my bag and headed to the train station. After my slow morning train I was a bit paranoid about missing my connection in Bangalore so I left Mysore at 5pm. Ravi demonstrated how to get a train ticket quickly by just pushing to the front of the line regardless of everyone who had arrived there first...lol...Indians have done this to me several times and I have just been left speechless!

BTW - thanks for everything Tom!

I got to Bangalore after only 3:15hrs this time and had a yummy meal of chicken curry at the station. They also had the first honest to goodness high speed internet connect and it was the cheapest one as well at Rs.30/hr.

My train was quite full, but I got to my upper bunk and was asleep quite quickly. There was a baby in my area, but thankfully he slept the night through.

The Chennai station was quite large and it took my quite a while to figure out where I wanted to go. I tried to get a retiring room at the station, but they were all full up. That sucked because my next train left at 9am the next morning. They did, however, have a dormitory that had spots free so I grabbed a bed there. Not very private, but my bed has a small space underneath that you can lock up luggage. Luckily my backpack is not very big and it just fit.

I had a refreshing shower and washed some clothes...lol...I am becoming the king of the shower laundry. I had just laid down when my tummy started feeling nasty - not from any food, but from my anti-malaria pill. I tried to fight it for 15mins, but eventually I knew the cause was lost and I went and threw up. I felt great after that and made a mental note to ensure I eat when I take one of those pills. I had a nice 7hr sleep complete with some crazy, but fun dreams.

I got up and went in search of internet and food. I found another high speed cyber cafe - the same company I think. It is so nice to hit a button and not have to wait 10 secs for something to happen. I answered my emails and wrote part of this blog before going out for some food.

There was a restaurant in the station that looked worth a try. I had another dosa - yummy, but I was still hungry. For about 2.5 weeks after my I got sick in Anjuna I wasn't very hungry, but that is past! I tried to order some rice and dal, but even though they had both they couldn't sell it to me like that. So I asked them to bring me a mixed plate of food that contained rice and dal, but I asked them to hold everything, but the rice and dal. They couldn't do that either even though I would pay for the whole thing - too expensive they said. Finally they were able to sell me some rice pre-mixed with dal and home made potato chips.....lol....I was just glad to have it.

Now I am back at the cyber cafe finishing my blog and surfing the net.

I have an overnight train to catch tomorrow and then a shorter local train to catch on Saturday and I should be in Puri around noon!

While I was eating I watched an older woman follow around the porters who were carrying large bags of rice. She would sweep up any rice that spilt out of the bags and collect it. She had a fair bit of rice already and didn't look like she was going to stop any time soon.

Earlier I saw a man and a woman whose job it was to walk down the tracks and the station and collect any poo that was on the tracks. People are not supposed to use the bathrooms on the trains while in the station, but of course they do.

You know what's dumb? The spell checker at blogger.com does not recognize the word "blog"...lol...???

I am getting quite good at using the squat toilets here. I have to say I don't mind them while traveling as I would not want to spend any extra time in a bathroom here than I had to. However, at home I get a lot of good reading done on the throne - particularly magazines. You are definitely not going to squat and read the latest issue of Bike.

So Punny!

2005-02-08T03:24:00.000-07:00

What do you call it when a God get's angry?

A Temple Tantrum....=-)~

Freeze Police!

2005-02-07T21:56:00.000-07:00

Last night I hiked up a hill near the main temple to watch the sunset - which was beautiful. I ran into a Dutch fellow who had been staying in the same huts as me at Palolem. He had an American guy with him (only the 3rd yank I have met on this trip) and we decided to hike up to the temple on the hill I found the other day - to watch the sunrise. This was cool because I was going to go alone and the guide mentioned there had been some muggings on the trail as it was isolated and dark.

This morning they failed to show up at our rendevouz spot outside the main temple. I waited for 10 mins and then I headed off on my own. After a while it was quite dark and I was a bit nervous about the possibility of being robbed since there were so many good places to hide and there was only one route to take to get to the top. I had a small folding knife and my LED keychain flashlight with me..lol...first I could blind them and then cut them...lol...as if! But it made me feel better not being totally defenseless. I also wore my trail runners so I could make a quick get away if trouble arose.

I had just crossed a small hill and a minor temple when I heard some people below me on the path to the view point. The were speaking Hindi and started to come my way. I wasn't sure what to do so my first instinct was to hide behind some bushes, but they must have heard me because they started calling out to me.."..hello...hello...hello friend...friend come here..." It sounded wonky to me and I was looking for a better spot to hide, but I didn't see any. They started coming up the path towards my hiding spot. I figured they would find me as my bush was not very big and quite close to the trail. So I started running back up the trail the way I had come and they started yelling and chasing after me. Damn - I thought what bad luck to end up as a footnote in a travel guide book! I had to be very careful as the trail was all large loose rocks - easy enough in day light at walking speed - quite another thing in the dark and running in a panic.

I made it back to the minor temple and noticed there were two western travelers sitting on top waiting for the sun to rise. I said hello and they seemed friendly so I just waited there figuring three against two seemed like reasonable odds and I had my light & knife! Just in case things went wrong I hid my digi cam on a shelf of rock behind the temple.

When the two guys got there they turned out to be local policemen....lol...who wanted to know why I as running. I told them that there was no way I could tell they were police and I was afraid they might rob or attack me in the dark. I pointed out that I stopped running as soon as there were other people around and I felt safe. I also pointed out that robbers were not likely to yell "....stop we want to rob and kill you!.." They would try and seemed safe - like being policemen for example.

They were quite suspicious and called into the main station. Then they told me I had to come with them to the station. I told them to piss off and that I was going to the top of the hill to watch the sunrise. I said they could join me if they wish and then we would go to the police station. They said no that wasn't okay - so I just grabbed my camera and started walking away from them and up the big hill. They didn't try and stop me.

I made it up to just below the top of the hill with no problems following the same stairs I had discovered on Sunday. I found a guide and his tourists lost at that point because he couldn't find the way up - great guide!! So I showed him the rest of the way to the ruined temple on top. I asked him a couple questions I had about the various ruins I had visited and he couldn't answer any of them. It made me happy I had not bothered to hire a guide.

The sunrise was spectacular! Easily one of the top 10 I have seen in my life. The colours were fantastic and the changing light bathed the ruins magically as the sun came up. I had a good chat with a few people who were clustered on top and then went back down. I didn't see the cops again.

I had spotted some ruins from the top that I had not visited yet so after a nap and some breakfast I went and checked them out. So far I have only been to ruins within walking distance of Hampi. There are several more sites I would like to see, but there is no way I can do them justice in the time I have remaining today so I decided to just leave them for another visit.

Now I am off to do some laundry and pack my things so I can catch the 8pm train from Hospet to Bangalore.

Monkey Business

2005-02-07T04:03:00.000-07:00

BTW - for those of you that enjoyed yesterday's long post - don't get your hopes up for too many more. I was in the cyber cafe for 2.5hrs yesterday - which was a record. I am at the same place today and it is in the high 30 degs C with all the people & pcs, but no AC!

In fact I was wearing shorts and a SS shirt last night at 9pm and I was still sweating...lol...summer here must be insane!

I explored another temple complex today - not much new to report on that, but there were a huge troop of monkeys in the area so I took some pics and shot some video of them. I climbed some large boulders (a la Jumbo Rocks) and found a nice shady nook where I could chill out and watch the main temple and Hampi bazaar. It was very peaceful (and cool!). After 30mins I heard some noise below me and saw a few monkeys had come over to the shady area cast by the rocks I was on. They seemed cool about me being so close so I took some more pics. Then I got the brilliant idea I would pour some water on the rocks and see what happens!

As soon as the water cascaded down to the monkeys a baby monkey bounced up the rocks like popcorn and started licking the rocks. That's when things started go wrong....lol...the mother comes up to keep and eye on her baby and the baby starts moving closer to me. The really messed up part is that the only way down was the exactly where the monkeys were - I had 20ft overhanging drop behind me and sheer rock walls on either side!

So running out of options I shoo'd the baby monkey hoping to scare it away, but all I succeeded doing is getting the mother agitated and making the baby more interested.

Yikes!

I moved as far back as I could and tried to look harmless. Eventually the baby move to the far edge of the rocks and the mother climbed back down.

Definitely a positive change to the situation, but the only way down still required I clamber down some rocks within 4ft of where the monkeys were hanging out. Oh well - I made my move very slowly all the while talking to the monkeys telling them how cool they were and that I was just climbing down so I could be on my way. I chanted a few Oms - figuring that would calm them down.

It worked - they got a little agitated, but nothing happened.

The morale of this story is don't conduct behavioral experiments with animals when perched upon some high rocks with only one way down...lol..!

The rest of the day was pretty chill. I burnt a couple of my digi cam memory cards to CDR. I will probably end up with at least 3GBs of video and pics.

I am going to go find a cold drink and some shade now till the sun starts to set - then I'll climb a hill near the main temple to watch the sunset over Hampi.

Tomorrow I have most of the day here, but I need to catch a train to Bangalore at 8pm from Hospet.

Happy Snaps

2005-02-06T07:23:00.000-07:00

Just a quick note for those of you who have inquired about pictures. I am taking lots of pics and video as well, but it is just way too much hassle to try and get them online from India. By the time I have done my work online, responded to emails and a brief post on the blog I will have been online more than 1hr - things are super slow online.

I just don't have the energy to deal with more online applications - particularly trying to send files.

But don't fear once I am at home I will illustrate the whole blog!

Check back around 15 April 2005.

Hampilicious

2005-02-06T06:15:00.000-07:00

I started the journey to Hampi at 3:30am on Saturday. I got my stuff packed and trekked across the beach to the main street hoping the taxi I had arranged would be waiting for me there - and it was! I woke up the driver and he sped me to the station. I was supposed to take the 5am train so I became a little concerned when the ticket booth was still closed at 4:50am. They finally rouse just before 5am, but nobody seemed real interested in selling me a ticket. I finally managed to talk to one guy and said I needed to buy a ticket on the 5am train to Margao - he nodded his head in agreement and then went back to sleep on his desk!

What I didn't realize (and presumably he did) was that the 5am train to Margao would leave the station a 5:45am. He must have been thinking damn tourist what's the rush??

On a side note I finally met a "dirty backpacker" (two girls actually) - you hear all about them in books and online travel accounts, but I hadn't met one before. I did start to get concerned that I was a "dirty backpacker" because I wash my own clothes and they certainly are not machine washed clean - in fact I will acknowledge they are starting to get a bit dingy. However, I had nothing to fear - I am a "Martha Stewart" backpacker compared to these guys. They were just filthy - with clothes that were stained a million times and looked liked they had not been washed in a month of constant wear. I didn't get close enough to smell them - I appreciate all life's small blessings. What is really mind boggling is that the fisherman's pants and cotton shirts they were wearing would cost $4USD to replace with new ones, and they were carrying $300USD backpacks. Go figure??

Once on the train I was super tired and kept nodding off. I was afraid that I might miss my stop. We came into a station and I asked an Indian man if this was Margao - he said no it was Old Goa. I was too sleepy to work out that Old Goa was farther North and this had to be another stop. Thankfully I leaned across a bunch of men and was able to read the tiny station sign in the dim light. Sure enough it was Margao!

The train ride from Margao to Hospet (closest station to Hampi) was nice as my car was half empty and I could sleep a bit. When I did wake up I enjoyed some fantastic scenery. The train ride took about 8:45hrs and I arrived in Hospet at 5pm-ish. Like all tourist stops people jump all over you if you have a backpack hoping to give you a taxi ride or some other such service. I have adopted the "pick & roll" tactic from basketball and it works quite well. If I get hassled by someone or I see someone moving towards me I get close to another backpacker (who preferably is really white and slow moving due to a huge pack) and walk by them closely on the opposite side from the taxi driver/guide who invariably locks onto the other tourist. This move has never failed me...lol...I feel a little bad for the other tourist, but only a little...=-)

I decided to walk to the bus stop and grab a bus since they are super cheap at 6-8 Rs. On the way a motor rickshaw guy offered me a ride starting at 100Rs by the time he got down to 50Rs I decided it would be worth it to just get there quickly and not deal with the hassle of the bus. He was a nice guy and gave me a bit of a poor man's tour as we drove.

I checked my email last night to get some project mgmt info for an ongoing project in Calgary, but I was way too tired and hungry to do very much. I had a recommendation for a guest house across the river, but I didn't feel like the hassle of crossing the river all the time so I grabbed a small room close to Hampi bazaar and the main temple.

So far Hampi has two main features - amazing ruins and an unbelievable amount of mosquitos! I have had mozzies every where I have been in India, but Kolkata there would be 5 in my room each night, in Anjuna 20 each night, in Palolem 3 each night - well here I have a minimum of 100 in my tiny room. Unlike everywhere else where they pretty much disappeared after the sun was up until the dusk, these guys don't quit because it is day time! One good side effect of this is that I am highly motivated to see the ruins and not hang out in my room napping. So far I have been really good about taking my anti-malaria meds - even though I get an upset tummy now and then,

I found a nice little restaurant and had some veg curries. Hampi is supposed to be completely vegetarian in deference to all the Hindu pilgrims that come here, but most of the restaurants serve meat to capture the tourist dollar. I have decided to respect the pilgrims and I am going to be 100% vegetarian while in Hampi. In India this isn't much of a sacrifice as more than half the menu in most places in vegetarian.

After eating I slept really well after the long day traveling - I woke at one point and was totally freaked out my the super loud buzzing of hungry mozzies right next to my ear. Luckily my mosquito net has no holes or I would have been done for.

I got up and decided to check out the main temple. It was really cool, but there were a lot of tourists and every shrine had people demanding money if you wanted to have a look, what was worse though with all the hustle and bustle you couldn't really take some time and contemplate what you were seeing. I did luck out on my way back towards the gate I saw an old sign point down to some dark stairs. It actually looked at bit scary as the stairs descended to 4ft high door below the temple. Feeling a little adventurous I went down there and found a shrine to Shiva that seemed forgotten by everyone. There were no offerings, but the shrine had been cleaned recently. I sat cross legged in front of it and took some time to appreciate the effort someone had put into the room. It wasn't as dark as I had thought because there was a small sky light that illuminated things nicely and allowed for a refreshing breeze. Sounds from the busy temple above echoed down to me. I spent a relaxing 30mins there - definitely the highlight of the temple for me.

Andy Warhol says everyone will get 15mins of fame. So far I have had about 5mins with three TV appearances and one magazine article, but I think I burnt through the remaining 10mins today. I was just about to leave the temple when an Indian man asked me where I was from - I went through my usual long explanation that I was born in Kolkata, live in Canada and that my mom is swiss and my dad is Indian - I have to repeat this at least 10 times each day! This guy was totally stoked that I was sort of Indian and lived in Canada. He called over his friends' and suddenly I had 50 people milling about me. He was the only one who spoke English so he would ask me things and then translate for everyone else. They tried on my sunglasses and everyone thought Oakleys were very clear - they also liked my watched and asked how much everything cost. I have stopped telling Indians the truth about prices for things at home it just blows their minds and I think it puts walls up between us because they think I must be super rich. Even when I said the sunglasses were $30USD and the watch $20USD - they nearly fell over.

It was kind of fun, but then things got weird. One guy thrust a piece of paper and pen at me - I wasn't sure what he wanted until the translator said he wanted my autograph...lol...I proceeded to sign 20 autographs - a squeal went through the crowd when they saw my name was Indian - "...very good name...very good name...!!!" I then posed for 10 photos and shook all 50 hands. It was surreal. After they finally moved on 4 or 5 more people shook my hand - one guy admitting he only shook my habd beacuse assumed I was a celebrity when he saw how the other people reacted.

I felt a little like David Hasselhoff at the Munich airport...lol....=-)

I spent the rest of the morning and part of the afternoon exploring the ruins. It was a lot of fun, but without the proper historical & architectural background one ruin starts to look pretty much like another. I did find something cool though - I spied some steep rough stairs in the side of a hill disappear amongst the rocks. I started climbing and after 15mins I was at this super old temple all in ruins on the top of a hill with a spectacular 360 view of of Hampi and the remaining ruins. As per normal there were zero tourists up here - it seems a universal rule that if you want to get away from the crowds just sweat a tiny bit and you will have solitude.

For anyone who has been to Joshua Tree you will be amazed to hear that Hampi looks just like Jumbo Rocks! - just with the addition of a beautiful river, palm trees and the ruins of many temples! I spent quite a while chilling on some rocks enjoying the spectacle of tourists below me.

I met several more groups of Indians who were extremely friendly once they found out where I was born and what my name is. I was discussing with one guy how much it cost to travel and live in India. He blew me away by telling me his monthly budget in Hampi was 1000Rs...lol...my daily budget is 1000Rs - although I try and spend around 600-700Rs most days so I can buy souvenirs and have the odd expensive day of luxuries. Quite a contrast!

By 2pm I was out of water and it was well over 30 degs so I decided to grab a shower back at my room. Since I have no sink in my room I came up a new way to wash my clothes. I just wore everything in the shower and soaped up as I would if I was naked and then rise everything out the same way. Once they were clean I took them off and showered for real.

I would have hung out in my room, but the mozzies made that undesirable so I wandered around and did some yoga by the river. I saw my first elephant and got a video of it as it walked past. I also watch a monkey steal a mango from a fruit vendor and then run up a tree. He sat on a branch just out of reach and ate it while the vendor cursed him - the monkey just bared his teeth and gave out a few"...OOO...EEE's..."

I stopped in a restaurant for a snack of veggie pakoras before getting online, but now I am hungry again so I will sign off and go get a veggie thali for dinner.

One funny thing the dial up connection in Hampi is faster than the cable connection in Anjuna or Palolem - keep in mind faster is relative - it is still dead slow!

Even funnier a dutch guy was just here picking up his train tickets. He was totally stoned and after getting the tickets he asked the guy where he should go tomorrow in Hospet to get the train....lol...the Indian shop owner looked at him and said..."...the train station...!" He then suggested the guy smoke less dope tomorrow so he would not miss his train!!! The dutch guy gave him a sheepish smile and agreed that was a good suggestion.

India - never a dull moment!

Gmail

2005-02-05T04:49:00.000-07:00

I just got 50 invites to give away for Gmail. If you want a Gmail account email me at threeohm@gmail.com.

You get 1Gb storage, 10MB attachments and it actually works fast all the time - unlike hotmail and it is completely free.

It is still in beta testing so the only way to get an account is via these invites from existing account holders.

PS - I made it to Hampi, but I am too tired to write anymore. I still need to find a room & eat and it is 6pm.

Here is a quarter call someone who cares!

2005-02-04T05:19:00.000-07:00

I laughed my ass off when I read this article - like anyone has sympathy for Microsoft. Especially when the issue is monopolizing a specific market segment.

http://www.wired.com/news/mac/0,2125,66460,00.html

Not so fast there mister!

2005-02-03T22:25:00.000-07:00

I have been getting along quite well in India, figuring out how much to pay for stuff, how to bargain, what to expect and such. But just when you think you know what is going on India reminds you she isn't that easy!

I went to book my tickets to Puri yesterday and found all the trains were booked till around 24 Feb. Since I am paying in rupees I can't try and get some of the tourist quota seats they save for foreign travelers. After puzzling it out I found that I could get to Puri on 12 Feb if I went via Margao, Hampi, Bangalore, Chennai & Bubaneshwar!!! It is a bit of a long trip, but it means I get 3 days in Hampi which is rad and I might be able to get to Mysore for a day - still trying to figure that out.

You really have to stay flexible here. If you need to do certain thing s in a specific order at precise times - you'll get an ulcer!

I am going to stay in Palolem one extra day and then take a cab to the train station in Chaudi at 4am. I will take two trains and be in Hampi by 4pm - a short train ride by Indian standards.

I had breakfast today with a Brit that is convinced the Tsunami was not caused by an undersea earthquake. He believes there was a nuclear detonation that caused it and the movement of the plates was a result of the nuke. I couldn't understand if he meant the explosion was a) a planned nuclear bomb test, b) an accidental nuclear bomb explosion of some sort c)a nuclear reactor exploding or d) somehow the result of dumping nuclear waste into the ocean. He seemed to be talking about all of them and when I said "...wouldn't there be a lot of radiation we could detect?..." He closed the discussion by very emphatically saying.."...Exactly!!!.."...lol...it was very entertaining. Let me know if you hear anything about this possibility.

Coast to Coast

2005-02-02T23:17:00.000-07:00

I was talking with my Dad today and his health is not great. I think the pollution in Kolkata is exacerbating whatever health issues he is already experiencing. He has decided to go to Puri - a beach town on the East coast 600kms from Kolkata and asked me if I would join him. So instead of going to Hampi tomorrow I will make my way right across the country (again!) and try and get to Puri by Monday or so. - will defintely be another long train ride(s).

I think this will mean that Hampi & Mysore are not going to happen. I am doubtful I will cross the country once again to get to them, but it is possible. I think I will redirect myself up into the mountains North of Kolkata to see Darjeeling and possibly Manali. I will still make it to Varnassi as that was one of my prime objectives aside from Goa.

I guess I will just have to see how things are when I leave Puri and make some plans from there.

I found a Mexican restaurant in Palolem - as much as I would enjoy some Baja food I just can't bring myself to try their Indian interpretation of Mexican food - go ahead call me a culinary coward - I can take it!...=-)~

Oh ya I almost forgot the da vinci code is a terrible book. Give it a wide berth and definitely don't pay for a copy. I almost want to sue the author and publisher for the time I wasted on it....lol...okay maybe that is going too far! I am on to the LOTR so no worries about a good read there.

I have to go do some laundry and figure out how I get to Puri from here.

Got crabs???

2005-02-02T06:30:00.000-07:00

I sure do! I love hanging out in the surf and watching all the many varieties of crabs do their thing. It is like having your own 360 deg 3D discovery channel! The only thing missing is the narrator's voice telling you all the useful factoids about these cool little guys.

One strange thing is that I have found several larger crabs (3-4" and the same type) on the beach just outside the surf each day. They are alive and apparently uninjured, but they barely move and don't try and defend themselves or run away. I don't know what is up with them. If they stay like that they will either die because of the heat/drying out or because a bird will eat them. I have tried putting them in the water, but they don't react and stay all stoned - weird.

I have also been doing some research on flies. India doesn't have a ton of flies, but definitely more than you would deal with on a patio in Calgary. Anyway I obviously don't want them in my food so I have been observing how they react to being shooed away. It seems one shoo just makes them evade, but they are still locked on to the target of my food. They seem to be saying it easier to evade and come back to my food than to go elsewhere. So I put forward the theory that multiple shooing attempts rapidly one after the other may make the fly figure it wasn't worth the energy to land on my food and get the fly to move away and start his food acquisition subroutine all over again.

So far my findings are that about 4 shoos seem to do this about 75% of the time. This tactic is only useful if there is another source of food nearby and the people there don't shoo the fly away multiple times like I am doing. I am not 100% sure that my theory is correct, but I will continue with collecting empirical evidence. If anyone at home with a fast internet connection can add any useful info to how flies deal with locating food and dealing with being shooed away send it to me.

I have been reading books here like mad. So far I have read:
- 1 science fiction book
- 1 fantasy book
- 1 WWII spy novel
- 1 science book about Darwinism/evolution and genes
- 1 fictional humorous travel book

I am currently reading the da vinci code. I had read some terrible reviews from literary critics so I didn't buy the book, but I found a free copy here so I figured I would see for myself - so far it is not fantastic, but not bad either. I have a copy of gabriel marquez's love in the time of cholera in my pack for the trip to Hampi and I found a copy of the LOTR's two towers. I wasn't going to bother with it at first because I couldn't find the rest of the books in the series, but I later decided it was most likely my favourite part of the story so why not.

Tomorrow is my last full day in Palolem and I have many little things to do so I am ready to leave for Hampi on Friday.

Nothing "hot" about it!

2005-02-01T07:34:00.000-07:00

Hotmail sucks the big one. It is barely functional. Please use my gmail account (threeohm@gmail.com) until further notice or don't expect much in the way of a reply to your msgs.

WWF

2005-02-01T07:22:00.000-07:00

I had a surreal experience tonight. I went out for some tandoori food and while I was waiting for my meal to arrive I observed the whole restaurant staff gather around a TV and intently watch some US WWF wrestling. They were totally into it - gasping and cheering as various people pummeled or got pummeled.

I was grinning from ear to ear - it was so funny (and sad) to know wrestling has infected the Indian subcontinent.

Motorcycle Madness

2005-02-01T07:07:00.000-07:00

I have been riding a lot of motorcycles and scooters since I have been in India - well a lot compared to the last three years in Calgary - ie. more than none. I have really been stoked by how much fun it is - especially in less scary traffic situations. I think a bike is in my future - not likely in 2005 for $$$ and logistical reasons, but hopefully in 2006. Luckily I have saved all my bike related clothing and such from my last one so I won't have to reinvest in all the gear.

Palolem - life's a beach

2005-01-31T08:01:00.000-07:00

Getting from Anjuna to Palolem took me about 3 hrs on Friday morning. I had to take 4 buses and 1 taxi to get here, but I never had to wait more than 60 secs for a bus - in fact one bus I had to run after and some guys helped pull me aboard! The whole thing cost less than 100 Rs which goes to show how afford able travel is in India.

Palolem is beautiful - probably the nicest beach I have ever been to. I have seen nicer ones (South Pacific & Caribbean) in magazines, but never seen one better in person. It consists of a wide sandy beach about 1.5kms long in a long crescent shape with palm trees all along the back.

I am staying in a small hut on stilts about 50m from the beach - I get to go to sleep hearing the surf. There is a small restaurant/bar attached to the huts I am in. They play psy and also chill music like morcheeba. I spend my day hanging out on the beach - reading (I am averaging a book a day so far!) walking, beach combing. We have a beach volleyball court right in front of us and there is a sunset game each day from 4-7pm. Frisbee is super popular as well.

Unlike Anjuna this place is packed and has not seemed to be affected by the Tsunami scare. Also interestingly there is not much topless bathing going on here - in Anjuna it was the norm - here it is the exception. The men here are also not sporting the tiny jewel sack bathing suits that were common in Anjuna.

I have great news - I went for a 9km bare for run on the beach Saturday AM and I had no IT band pain or irritation. This has been plaguing me all of the late summer and fall 2004. It is so nice to be able to run and not feel any pain.

It is very hot here each day - getting to 30+ deg C every day. It was raining and cool this morning for the first time, but by 1pm it was 30 deg C and sunny.

I am pretty much living out of my surf shorts and a sarong. There is not much use for any other clothes. In fact I had my first shower since I got here Sunday - only because I figured I should have one. Being in and out of the ocean all the time you don't get very dirty or stinky and since you'll be back in again right away there doesn't seem to be much point in getting squeaky clean. One bummer common to all beach life is that I have sand every where! You just cannot get rid of it. I guess it is a reasonable trade off for all the awesome beach fun I am having.

The sunsets here are fantastic! I have taken way too many sunset pics because they are different virtually each day.

I will probably leave on Friday and head to Hampi, but I could easily spend a month here without thinking about it.

Oh ya I bought some Indian toilet paper and to be honest it isn't that bad at all. People have been tell me some tall tales about how bad it is....lol...I guess next time I don't need to bring 32 rolls with me!

32 Rolls of Pillowy Softness

2005-01-26T05:44:00.000-07:00

I brougth 32 rolls of toilet paper with me to Indian. Partially because everyone warmed me the paper here sucks and it is not alaways easy to find and partially beacuse I had a huge duffle bag that was mostly empty and it was good padding. I didn't hardly use any in Kolkata because I was unable to go #2 almost the whole time I was there.

I could only take 5 rolls with me as I am carrying a small back pack and after less than two weeks on the road I have already used 3 up! I am going to have to stock up on the Indian stuff and just make the best of it. I have considered doing the Indian thing and using my hands, but I am not ready for that quite yet!

I guess I will have to go crazy on it when I get back to Kolkata...=-)~

Another sunset

2005-01-26T05:36:00.000-07:00

I just watched another beautiful sunset in Anjuna!

Today is an Indian national holiday so many things are closed. I went to the flea market and had a look around I wanted 2 things, but one was ridiculously over priced and the other I couldn't find. I did end up buying some devil sticks for $8USD. I will leave my hula hoop here with someone. It was fun to have, but even a travel hoop is kind of big to lug around. The devil sticks are much more portable.

One funny thing I have noticed at the flea market is that the vendors didn't hassle me even 30% as much as the white tourists. I am quite brown now and my clothes are a little grubby as I don't have many and I wash them my self in the room sink. I have also the mastered the slow head shake that says..."...don't even bother..." It is quite effective!

There was another daytime hilltop party so I went and danced for 6 hrs. It wasn't nearly as good as the Sunday party, but still alot of fun and I got see a bunch of familiar faces.

Now I am going to get my stuff together and then go to bed early.

Tomorrow I have to hit the post office and mail back all the stuff I bought here.

The end is in sight

2005-01-24T23:33:00.000-07:00

Only three more days left in Anjuna. I definitely had fun here, but I am ready to move on. I met a Dutch guy who had just been to Palolem and he said it was more laid back and cheaper than Anjuna. He stayed in a hut right on the beach - which is what I will try and get for accommodations as well.

They had a full moon party last night, but there was no way I could muster the energy to get out of bed at 3am when it started. After sleeping a lot yesterday afternoon and all last night I feel great.

I have a few things to finish off in town. I want to check out the Wednesday market again and mail off a few things I bought to my Dad in Kolkata.

My roommate, Mike, was supposed to leave for Palolem yesterday, but instead he ended up staying another day. Anjuna seems to be hard to leave for some people - others can't wait to get out.

Dazed and Confused

2005-01-23T21:33:00.000-07:00

OMG...I was just at the most outrageous party(ies) I have ever seen in my life. It started at midnight on Saturday at a place called temple. It is a wide open sandy area near the beach with a (guess what?) an old run down temple behind it. As usual it was full on psy mayhem on the dance floor all night with about 800 people in attendance. It was a good party, but not super unusual.

However, what happen next blew my mind. The party moved to a place called hilltop at 8am. I went home had a shower and changed clothes before heading to hilltop. At hilltop is this massive compound with a huge sound system. They started again with hard fast full on psy - which I am starting to actually really get into. There were about 100 people max there when I arrived around 8:30am and it was the usual sketchy Sunday day after party scene like at Shambhala where people are tired and just shuffling around the dance floor. But as the day progressed the party grew and grew to about 1000 people and they went off like maniacs. I mean I have never seen people dance for so hard and for so long after being up and dancing hard the previous night. I was dancing harder than I have ever danced before and it was weird with so many people going crazy everyone was feeding of each other's energy and things kept spiraling out of control. The party went till 10pm and by the end people were dancing harder and faster than they had been that first night. It was just unbelievable. I had sooooo much fun.

I had a about 8hrs sleep last night, but I think I need to go have a nap!

In the groove

2005-01-22T01:46:00.000-07:00

Wednesday night I headed to Nine Bar with Mike, three UK'ers (Chris, Rachel & Charlotte) and one French/Spanish guy named Dadu. The bar was insane they play full on psy really fast over a huge system for 3hrs to a crowd of about 500. At 10pm sharp the music stops (local by-law). So I danced like crazy until they shut things down.

Then we went to another bar to play pool until the party started at midnight. There were rumours the party may or may not happen so we went over to the Bamboo Forest (the location is exactly like it sounds) and the party had just started. The others are not huge psy fans so they decided to go somewhere else and drink till more people showed up. I have pretty much given up beer as not agreeing with me at the moment so I decided to stay with 50 or so people already at the party. The music was more full on psy - mixed reasonably well. I danced my butt off till 5am when I had to sit down and rest. It became apparent to me I was not getting my wind back so I just grabbed a cab home and went to sleep. The others had returned at 4am and stayed till well into the afternoon. I would like to tell you more about the location, but it was pitch dark and I left before sunrise so I didn't see much except for a few trees and the speakers!

Overall the party was a lot of fun and it was good to dance. My back had been sore from my stomach woes and it was finally feeling better Thursday. I got to use my hula hoop and flags at the party - which was cool. On the downside people were not very friendly and the music was quite repetitious throughout the night. I kept thinking "....hey you already played that track..." Young men and boys came around the dance floor all night trying to sell water and snacks, which was convenient when you wanted something and a drag when you didn't.

I have to say that the more I see of parties outside of Calgary the more impressed I am with the Calgary scene (particularly the psy parties). I will likely hit up a party on the full moon. Other than that I am taking things quite slow and getting to bed early every night.

I am really enjoying the beach while listening to music from the beach shacks. My favourite time is from 3 to 6pm because the sun isn't so deadly and I can watch the sunset before walking back to town.

My stomach is doing well, but I still have not got my appetite back fully.

Melanie asked about the place I am staying. It is called the Anjuna Beach Resort. However, it isn't really near the beach and it isn't really a resort. It is a small complex of three buildings with about 20 rooms. It is clean and bright. The only downside is the bathrooms are cool and dark so the mosquitoes congregate there waiting for us. They have a small restaurant and they will do your laundry if you like. I am paying 350Rs a night and sharing it with Mike. We could get cheaper rooms in town, but not nearly as nice. Since my share is 175Rs ($3.50USD) I am cool with it. I is also a nice 30mins walk to the far end of the beach, which is perfect for me to get some exercise. My room not only comes with a bed, but it features complimentary frogs (who live in the bathroom walls and come out at night), lizards, ants and of course mosquitoes - it is a complete eco-system in there.

I have decided to stay here till next Friday and then I will head to Palolem (southern Goa) for a week. After that Hampi for a week, Mysore for a week, Varnassi for a week and then back to Kolkata for 1 March. I will see what my Dad is up to and want to head to Darjeeling for a week and maybe Puri for a week. By then it will be just about time t o fly home.

Well I am off to book some train tickets and hit the beach for sunset.

Sketchy Thursday

2005-01-20T01:47:00.000-07:00

I made it to my first party last night. I will tell all tomorrow as I have spent several hours on the net doing work already today and I need a nap now.

Yes even in paradise you have to work. With laptops and broadband connections working in Goa or working in the next office building in Calgary is pretty much the same thing. Kinda cool - kinda scary.

On the rebound

2005-01-19T05:47:00.000-07:00

Whew! My stomach is getting better. That was 24hrs of amazing badness, but I am 1000 times better today - which means I only have another 100 times better and I will be normal...=-)~ The sunset last night was beautiful - it definitely made me feel better and I had a decent night's sleep.

I actually managed solid food this afternoon - some pineapple pancakes on the beach. I tried to have some toast and scrambled eggs this AM, but in my hyper alert state I noticed some mould on the bread and that was that for breakfast. I think that might be the place that made me sick - so we are definitely steering clear of it from now on.

Tonight we are going to an organic place called "Bean me up"...I am going to have some rice and lentils. Hopefully all will go well. The sad part about this whole episode is that I won't be digging into my plates of curry with the same gusto for quite a while.

Mike and I are going to head to a party on the beach tonight and dance a bit. This morning I didn't hold out much hope that I would be up for it, but I spent a lot of time walking on the beach today which definitely helped.

I went to the famous Anjuna flea market in the morning. It was a lot of fun checking out the various stalls. I think I saw them all, but the market was so big I kept getting lost. I ran into Mike at the flea market and he had rented a scooter so we took a trip into Vagator and spent the day at the beach. Vagator beach is even more relaxing and empty than Anjuna beach - I didn't think that was possible! I am either sticking around here for another week or heading down to Palolem on Sunday - haven't decided yet. If I do stay I will likely move to Vagator.

I hope all is well in Canada - I noticed it was above freezing in Calgary!

Not so hot mail...=-(

2005-01-18T05:26:00.000-07:00

Hotmail is seriously messed up at the moment so if you want to email me can you send copies to both my hotmail account (for archiving) and to my gmail account (threeohm at gmail dot com)

thanks!

The darkside of my stomach!

2005-01-18T05:02:00.000-07:00

Wow - I don't know what it was, but something went seriously wrong with my tummy last night. Mike and I were thinking of going to a bar and seeing about a party, but around 9pm we both started feeling strange and within 2hrs we were really sick. Mike seemed to have the worst of it last night, but I am still not feeling great 20hrs later. We didn't eat the same things so we are having trouble figuring out what set us off. I didn't vomit or have diarrhea, but it felt like my stomach and intestines were in a greco-roman wrestling match all night. I am sore all over and still a bit queasy - all I managed to eat today was some water and an orange juice. The worst part is that I had been following all the standard techniques for staying healthy - I guess this is just part of traveling in India.

I won't bore you with any further details. I am at an internet cafe down by the beach so if I can keep myself together I will wait here for the sun set. Hopefully I can sleep tonight.

Sleepy in Anjuna

2005-01-16T22:35:00.000-07:00

I spent yesterday checking out town and the beach. It seems like a nice place with tons of eating and drinking options. I asked a shop keeper if the numbers of tourists was low compared to usual levels. She said it was less than 50% of a normal year. The tsunami is one reason, but numbers were low even prior to that. Regardless I am happy with the situation as there are many places to stay and prices are cheap. Also it has made this place very relaxing - which is not exactly what I was expecting. I had planned to head down to Palolem for some chill beach time, but I think it actually may be busier than Anjuna. I am hoping the Aussie girls I met on the train email me from Palolem so I get the 411 on how it is at the moment.

We had another delicious dinner and went to the Shore Bar last night for a beer and to see what was up party-wise. There were two psy parties last night in Vagator (3km away), but I was kind of tired so we ended going to bed at 10pm...lol...you know you are getting old when you choose sleep over going to a party.

There is going to be a party down on the beach on Wed from 10pm till sunrise - so I think we will check it out as the location is beautiful.

I had my first "western" food so far in India this AM - scrambled eggs and toast. Apparently you can't get chicken curry and naan at 10AM!

Well I am off to hang out on the beach, do some yoga and listen to some psy - I know it is a hard life, but someone has to do it!

Goa

2005-01-16T02:34:00.000-07:00

Well I finally made it to Goa and so far things have gone well. The train was pretty slick and much nicer than the one from Kolkata. The AC was on all night which I didn't love, but they provided blankets so I was not cold. I met a couple Aussie girls on the train who were fun to chat with - it has been a while since I had a long conversation in English! I also met a Canadian - Mike from TO. He got off the train with me and we grabbed a taxi to Anjuna. The hotel I booked from Mumbai turned out to be very nice and since we are sharing it my cost is only $175 Rs/night. Anjuna has been a blast so far - pretty girls, sun, surf and yummy food - not to mention it is at least 30 degs here.

We took a long walk down the beach and I bought some fisherman's pants & a cotton sheet to lay on the beach as well as for yoga. Tonight we are going to hit a night club and check out some psy action. Just about every place we have been has been playing psy. The funny thing is there does not seem to be that many people here at the moment - not sure if it is the Tsunami or some other reason. The place is way less crazy than I had imagined.

Tomorrow I have a rough day of lying on the beach planned as well as eating some more curry and having a fresh squeezed juice or two. I also want to see if I can track down some info on any parties happening while I am here.

Night Train to Mubai

2005-01-15T22:18:00.000-07:00

The big day finally arrived for me to take the train to Mumbai. The train left the Howrah Station at 19:30hrs. So I did some laundry at Sundar's place and hung it up to dry in my room with the fan going like mad. My father assured me it would not dry in time, but little does he know about the wonders of synthetic clothing! Everything did dry by 4pm and we took a bicycle rickshaw to the station - I thought it was funny how this was not possible on Monday when I wanted to book a ticket!

The station was bustling and we killed a few hours sitting watching the crowds do their thing. We had a delicious meal at the station restaurant - chicken biriyani and then I had another chicken curry and rice since it was a 34hr train ride. Sundar showed up 1 hr before my train left to give me some biscuits and grapes for the train.

The train ride itself was uneventful. I had the top bunk which stays deployed all the time so I could leave my stuff there and go have a nap whenever I wanted. I slept for at least 20hrs as my bunk was more comfortable than my seat. The car was comfortable all day and most of the evening, but between 2am and 6am it was cold enough I was having trouble sleeping. I only have a small airline blanket with me - so I put on some running tights and a jacket as well. The rest of my travels will be in southern India so I am hoping I won't have any further cold nights.

All day long vendors and people begging for alms came up and down the aisles. I had change and was able to give money to people finally! One very funny thing is on three occasions transvestites got on the train and asked for money. If I understand things correctly they basically shame men into giving them money by hanging around them and clapping their hands and singing. The men get embarrassed and give them money to go away. The first one worked me hard, but there was no way I was giving money to someone just for wearing a sari. I think after a while he/she got the message and moved on. The other two didn't even bother me. One young man came down the aisle with only small stumps for arms and twisted legs - so he could only shuffle. I went to give him money and realized he had no way to accept it so I put it in his pocket - very sad..=-(

The train got to Mumbai a couple hours late and my carriage completely left the train. Only after the train pulled away did I realize I was not at the central station, but at a small outlying one called Dardar. It turned out to be no big deal as I took a 5Rs local train the rest of the way. It ran with the doors open so I got a good view and it wasn't as crowded as I had heard these trains can be.

At the Mumbai central station I took a day room, which I share with two, other people for 336Rs and had a shower. They had full running water, but I have been so conditioned to conserve water that I just got wet then turned off the water while I soaped up and turned it back on to rinse.

I called ahead to Anjuna to get a room for my first two days in Goa and hit up an internet cafe to put this post up and check my e-mail.

Next I need to get some food as I only ate biscuits and grapes on the train. I have been told not to eat train food, but it is awfully tempting and I might give it a try the next long ride have to take.

Then I will wander around as I have a lot of time to kill till my 11pm train to Goa.

Of note is the fact I only saw 4-6 tourists in Kolkata and maybe another 4-5 here is Mumbai. I am assuming that will change when I hit Goa - although some people have said the Tsunami may keep some travelers away.

Travelling by myself has been a lot of fun so far. Without having a local guide who speak the language things take longer and there are misunderstandings, but I am learing tons of new things each day.

The God Father of Kolkata

2005-01-14T22:18:00.000-07:00

I went over to the central reservations office in Kolkata to buy my train tickets and when I arrived I was greeted with about 60 Indians jockeying for 3 tellers with no discernable line-ups being formed. It looked crazy, but I figured I have to learn to do stuff the Indian way and get used to it. Just as I was about to enter the fray Hindol grabs my arm and takes me one room over where there are 3 tellers serving 3 foreign tourists. As a result it only took 5 mins to get my tickets, but I had to pay in foreign currency and show my CDN passport. Strange system - if you tried to implement that in Canada the locals would freak out.

My ticket from Kolkata to Mumbai (about 2000kms) cost $12USD 2nd class no AC. Since they were fully booked in that class from Mumbai to Goa (900kms) I took 2nd class with AC and the fare jumped to $30USD. To put the awesome value of the Kolkata - Mumbai ticket in perspective a day bed (shared room with 2 other people) in the Mumbai CST station costs $7USD.

After getting the ticket Hindol and I ran around town doing errands for his work for a couple hours. Once we were done we grabbed some lunch - delicious chicken curry w/ nann and some chicken kebabs. Lunch was a whopping $1.50USD each.

We has some time to kill before we had to be back at the office so I asked if we could go and have a beer - thinking it would be a nice way to spend an hour. Little did I know I was setting in motion a complex series of events! Hindol said okay, but I could tell something was amiss - he called Sundar on his cell and afterwards tells me Sundar will pick up some beer tonight and I will be able to drink it at his apt. I am not sure why the big deal, but I said okay and I tried to convey that I didn't really need a beer, but I don't think he got my message. When we get back to the office there is some major discussion about the beer and I again try and let them know I don't really need one and I would prefer to forget about it - no dice. Suddenly Sundar's boss Mr. Basu tells me he will take me to his gentleman's club for a beer. My protests are dismissed and we head over to the club. The club building is about a 5min walk and 10min bus ride away. It is 110 years old and looks to have been quite impressive in its day. It could probably hold 600-800 people for a dance or 500 for dinner. In the middle of the massive room is one table and four chairs with one overhead light on. The room and furniture are clean, but in a dingy way that can only be appreciated in person. The club is called the Rangers Club and is for male member only - except for special events when wives are allowed. Mr. Basu orders me a Kingfisher and has a whiskey and water. The beer is good and no one talks for the first 20 mins.

Mr. Basu then starts talking to me about Canada and my life. One of his business partners joins us and Mr. Basu translates everything I say into Bengali for him. They get excited when I them I am not married and I confirm I am not promised to any girl in Canada (they check this last point three times to be sure). He asks me if I would marry am Indian girl - what a loaded question. I say yes IF it was someone I was in love with and was interested in the same kind of lifestyle I was. I am pretty sure all he heard was yes as he had a very animated conversation with his business partner outlining my financial situation and who they could set me up with. Thankfully they dropped the subject for the moment.

He than asked me about where I would travel in India and gave me many tips and cautions. I pointed out that I have traveled a lot without incident and that I was an army officer so I would be fine. Mr. Basu looks at me very seriously and says "...your father is known to me and so I have a moral duty to him to look after you...what you do elsewhere is not my concern, but when you are in India I have you on my conscience..." He went on to say that I should call him at home if I have any troubles at all and no matter where I was in India he would..."...send a man..." to correct the situation and bring me back to Kolkata if necessary. With the dark room, single light, smoky air and 5 staff waiting on his every wish - the whole moment seemed like the Indian version of the God Father.

I have to say that although I have found the over protectiveness of everyone here stifling at times, I cannot fault their kindness. In fact I don't think I have ever been looked after so well any where.

Sundar showed up an hour later and we went home on the scooter - after a couple beers the ride was super fun.

Mo' Kolkata

2005-01-11T22:51:00.000-07:00

It is funny how quickly you get used to things. The scooter ride into Kolkata this morning seemed much less dramatic than yesterday - even though traffic was worse. I am going to get my train ticket today and check out a Hindi film. If all goes well I should be on a train to Mumbai by 7:30PM tomorrow.

Some Kolkata moments:

- water in the apt does not run continuously. It seems to be on during the morning, but not in the afternoon. It is on about 50% of the time in late evening. So Sundar's family collects water when it is on in plastic buckets for cooking and washing. We generally take a "bucket shower" around 8-9am. I started using a whole bucket (25L), but now I am down to half a bucket as my technique improves. Although it is not as refreshing as a hot shower back home - you feel clean and satisfied afterwards.

Kolkata Redux

2005-01-11T05:57:00.000-07:00

Wow - I just had the best afternoon going all over town with Hindol a co-worker of Sundar's. He was released from work as my tour guide and he took me out for lunch and some wandering around the city. When I get back from travelling he is going to take me out for some more Indian food and we will be hitting up a hindi film and nightclub - I can't wait.

Lunch was a yummy chicken biryani that cost a whopping 45RS or $0.90USD. I have been breaking all the hygiene rules on this trip so far (drinking tap water, brushing my teeth with it, eating unpeeled fruits from street vendors) and I added a couple new ones to my list by drinking fruit juice from a street vendor and drinking untreated water at a restaurant. Will they be any tummy troubles - stay tuned and find out...=-)~

I visited New Market and checked out all the shopping possibilities - besides some textiles I don't think I will be buying a lot of stuff here.

BTW - checked the weather report in today's newspaper and it said no rain for yesterday even though it poured all night...lol...it is good to know weathermen get it wrong even when they are reporting the previous day's weather.

I have been taking my anti-malarial meds and had upset stomaches the first two days. Yesterday I was fine so I am hoping that my system is learning to deal with it. Having a queasy stomach for two hours everyday would not be fun.

Sundar's boss just let me know that it was quite impossible for me to train around India on the train by myself. I would have to deal with cabs and get hotels on my own - far too much for me to cope with. He insisted that I sign on with an organized tour that would take me around the country. I had to press the fact that I would be just fine and I wanted to set my own schedule. Not to mention I really wasn't going to 75% of the tourist hot spots in India (a la Taj Mahal, Delhi, etc...) He finally gave in with a sigh that said "...you'll be sorry...." People are being super nice to me, but it is almost to the point of ridiculous.

Oh well I better jam - I have a deadly scooter ride back to Howrah in the dark to enjoy.

Fortress Kolkata

2005-01-10T23:20:00.000-07:00

Well I finally made it to Kolkata. Jet lag hasn't been much of a problem since I think I just ended up losing a day as I traveled. I am staying with my father for the moment in a small apartment he shares with a family of three. The apartment is only about 500 sq Ft and with two servants and a couple of guests it gets pretty crowded during the day. I have to say so far the lack of space and privacy have been the most difficult things to deal with on the trip and I am looking forward to traveling on my own.

I haven't seen very much of the city yet as everyone is being hyper protective of me. I am suffering from a big case of the "...you can't do that..." or "...you can't get there from here..." syndrome. Apparently India is way too dirty and dangerous for me!

I am actually staying in Howrah which is across the Hoogley river from Kolkata. I need to get to the Howrah Station to book my ticket on to Goa and take the train. So far all my attempts to get there have failed - apparently you can't take a rickshaw, taxi or bus there. You can take a local train, but no one will clue me in on how to get there since it is far too dangerous for me to use. I was thinking it is kind of like being in jail when I realized it was a jail! I wanted to go for a walk this morning while everyone was asleep and found out the doorway had a set of bars that was locked with a huge pad lock - too funny!

Anyway I solved the whole problem by letting my Dad know that I was packing a backpack and leaving on my own the next day one way or the other. So he agreed to take me to the station to get a ticket on Wed and I will leave on Thurs. Not exactly super speedy service, but apparently that's the way it goes in India and I am trying to compromise a bit. I can't wait to hit the beach and get some sun! I brought my travel hula hoop and I will take it to Goa. From watching the girls at moontribe and NYE - I have a lot to learn.

I am writing this from my Dad's friend's office. His name is Sundar Gopal Roy and he took me on a scooter ride across town to get here. I think it was the most dangerous thing I have done ever! I got some video of the ride which I hope conveys the total madness of Kolkata traffic.

The one good thing about house arrest is that I am getting time each day to do yoga. I have learnt to do it while a 3yr old kid is screaming in my ear and while a servant is mopping the floor around me. I was going to wait till I had some private time and open space, but then I realized that was never going to happen! I am reading BKS Iyengar's Light on the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali. It is a great book, but I feel a bit insufficient to the task. I will have to do yoga for a few life times to get anywhere. One good thing that has come from reading the book is that I have made the commitment to do some yoga everyday - come hell or high water. Even if it is only one posture or some breathing exercises.

I was asked what I wanted to eat the first day I was here and of course said chicken curry and aloo gobi. I was taken to the market that is literally next to the building I am staying and was allowed to pick out my chicken - which was killed and skinned in front of me. I thought it would be pretty gross, but they managed to make the whole thing fairly clean and elegant - well as elegant as snapping the neck of a chicken can be! Talk about fresh food.

I did have one bad experience so far. I was wandering around the market and two small girls came up to me begging for something - I assume money - I couldn't understand them. I had just been to the ATM and had a pocket full of $500RS notes - worth about $10US each. I kind of freaked out they looked pretty rough and I wanted to give them some money, but I didn't want to pull out a wad of $500RS' and I didn't have anything else on me. They kept saying the same thing over and over - which I didn't understand. I tried telling them in English I didn't have anything for them, but they just kept begging. It was heart breaking and I did the only thing I could think of - starting walking fast away from them. They tailed me for a block and then gave up. I feel like an asshole. What is $10USD to me really? On the other hand if I hand out $10USD to everyone who asks I will blow my budget in the first week. There is a quote I like that goes..."...you are, what you do, when it counts..." I am not sure what this incident says about me, but I don't think it is good. I am going to try and make sure I have some small bills and coins on me in the future.

On the way to Howrah from the airport I saw many people sleeping on the side of the road - some under a thin blanket and some with no coverings at all. It was about 12 deg C my first night here and I was cold as I only had a sheet and a super thin blanket. I was getting pretty cranky until I remembered the people sleeping on the road and I stopped my whining! Last night we had torrential rains for hours and hours. I couldn't help thinking of those people.

Trying to understand all this is very difficult. I have decided that accepting one's karma is much easier than understanding it. I am going to accept my life as best I can and not try to figure out India in one go.

One funny thing I noticed is that the local paper does not have a weather forecast for that day or the next day. Instead they tell you what the weather was the day before...lol...I bet they are correct 100% of the time.

Another funny thing is I was given a tour of my Dad's printing company by one of the few English speaking employees. He asked me at one point if I liked Canada - I said yes. He said he heard it was nice there, but that life was way too fast for him. This is super funny because although you can't get anything done in India quickly - life is crazy fast like a video game on speed - well at least when you leave your house.

I have had some peaceful Zen moments here though. While at the printing company I was in an office with my dad and his brother Sukumar. Nobody was talking or moving for like 30mins - we were all just spaced out. I was starting to suspect they had fallen asleep or this was some kind of CIA mind game. Finally I asked if we were going to be leaving soon and my father seemed surprised I was in such a rush.

Speaking of spaced out I have seen lot's of people taking naps at work. This one guy would put his head down on the desk and pass out every time no one spoke to him for 5mins. Apparently I am not the only one who needs a nap at work...=-)

Well I better jet as I am tying up the only computer in this small office. I am off to New Market to look around and do a bit of shopping. I am pretty stoked for my scooter ride back to the apartment tonight - I bet it will be more ridiculous than any acid trip.

Singapore Sling

2005-01-07T22:53:00.000-07:00

I am still in the Singapore Int'l airport - did I mention how great this place is? Free high speed internet, free lan games (Halo2 etc...), clean, modern waiting areas with super comfy seats....LAX could learn a thing or two from these guys.

The exchange rate is pretty good at 1.6 SD to the USD. Lot's of shopping, but nothing of interest to me - having a small backpack is a great way to save $$$ - there is no point buying something you have to carry around with you the whole time.

Ther best part though is that I have already had two separate meals! I had a BBQ noodle bowl at one place - yummy! And then went directly to another restaurant and had - papadams, veg biriyani, aloo gobi, two kinds of dahl (sp?). All of which was $7US w/ a drink. I tried to score some naan, but they didn't want to sell it a la carte - only with certain dinners???

One odd thing so far is that all the advertising aimed at women has used white western models even though the majority of the women around me are Indian or Asian - seems strange to me. Also all the signs are in the local language and English - most people at the airport speak English - making it quite painless to travel.

Well I have 4.5hrs till my flight - I think I will settle in for some Halo2.

So I ran into Tom - my flightmate yogi and he let me have shower in his airport hotel room. That was super nice since it cost him extra to add me to the room. I feel like million bucks and am super glad I packed some extra clothes in my carry on luggage. Well I can't complain about how this holiday is starting. Meeting a cool person off the bat sure put me in a great mood. I will definitley have to repay his kindness when I visit him in Mysore. It is great how yoga not only is good for your mind & body, but it connects you to wicked people all over the world.

Okay well I found out that the airport spa gives free 10mins massages to anyone with a boarding pass and they also have a wicked koi pond in the airport. So much to do!

Another round or exploration has uncovered a free movie theatre, an outdoor roof top garden, free wireless broadband access and Bombay Saphire is offering free martini tastings. If you ever have to have a long layover this is the airport to do it in. I think I may plan a two day layover on the way back so I have enough time to take in everything!

Time Travel

2005-01-07T21:34:00.000-07:00

Well by my watch it is 21:30hrs 7 Jan Calgary time, but I think the local time here in Singapore is 12:30hrs 8 Jan. I have no idea - how long I have been flying, but it feels like forever. On the brightside Singapore Airlines - rocks! Big seats, wide isles, great entertainment, good food and fantastic service. I have zero complaints about the flights so far. I need to kill 6hrs here and then about 4hrs in the air and I will be in Kolkata.

I am stoked to be on the move, but I would kill for a shower and 5hrs horizontal!

Well I am off to find some noodles - I have a craving to satisfy!

Oh ya - I met a cool guy next to me on the plane over. Tom is a registered nurse from CO USA heading to Mysore for 3 months with Patabis Jois (sp?) doing ashtanga. I think I will pass through Mysore in Feb to see how he is doing and check out the yoga school.

namaste,

Vik

Moontribe & NYE

2005-01-05T11:25:00.000-07:00

Three Amigos!

Wow - that holiday went fast. Joshua Tree was beautiful and kooky in a Dr. Seuss sort of way. Moontribe was a blast - wonderful location and great music to dance the night & day away. We also made a cool new friend in the desert - hola Sonja!

We spent NYE in a forest near LA dancing to some crazy psy trance - Treavor was fantastic as usual.

The drive home to Calgary sucked as we had a bit of a storm to deal with, but it was nice to be back home for a couple days. Thanks to Dwayne & Anna for doing all the driving!

I only had enough time to do laundry and tie up some loose ends before I leave for India tomorrow. I can't believe I am finally leaving after all the time spent thinking about this trip. The -23 deg C weather has certainly not made me wish I was staying in Calgary.

Have a great winter - my next post will be from the other side of the world.

Jumping through hoops

2004-12-20T20:30:00.000-07:00

Travel hula-hoop

I built some hula hoops recently and even made a travel version that breaks down into 4 smaller sections.

I think it would be super fun to have a hula-hoop in Goa, but I am not sure I want to lug it around the rest of the time. I might take one and give it away when I am leaving Goa.

I will decide last minute whether to hoop or not.

If you want to make a hull-hoop check out Jason's site and for cool decorative tape check out Identi-tape.

BTW - if you have ever tried a kid's hula-hoop and found it difficult give these ones a try. They are bigger and heavier which means they are much slower.

Pokes & Pills

2004-12-09T15:26:00.000-07:00

Ouch!

I had my travel clinic appointment today ($40 for a consultation in addition to any vaccinations you receive). They recommend the following for India:

- hepatitis A & B ($45 & $25)
- tetanus (?)
- Typhoid ($30)
- Polio ($45)
- Influenza ($18 - free to people at high risk or living with high risk people)

If you are traveling to rural areas they also recommend:

- Rabies ($125)
- Japanese encephalitis ($110)

I was up to date on everything. But influenza & polio. I didn't absolutely need either, but since the polio adult booster is good for the rest of your life and the influenza shot is cheap I figured better safe than sorry.

They also recommended taking an anti-malarial medication. One of the following:

- Mefloquine aka. Larium ($1.12/day): you only take one pill per week, but there are some serious psychological side effects possible that could ruin your trip. Do some research and if you decide to go with Larium try it at home before you leave to see how you react to it.

- Doxycycline ($0.7/day): you must take one pill daily, but the side effects are limited to some gastrointestinal upset, photosensitivity and yeast infection.

- Malarone ($5/day): you must take one pill daily and side effects include: nausea, vomiting, and headache.

With all these medications you must take them for 1 - 4 weeks after leaving the malaria risk area to allow time for the incubation period to pass. All of these treatments seem to be equally effective so it comes down to convenience, cost and side effects.

Since I will need a 100 day course of these drugs I went with Doxycycline. It is inexpensive and I don't generally have any stomach upset with antibiotics.

In addition to this they suggested I get a short course of Ciprofloxacin (500mg twice a day for 3 days) in case of traveler's diarrhea.

I had to sit in a medical centre for 90mins to get these prescriptions from a doctor (the travel clinic staff are all nurses) and I still have to hit a drug store to get them filled.

If you want to visit a travel clinic before your trip make an appointment early. I had to wait three weeks to get in, since the Christmas season is a peak travel time. Don't wait till the last minute.

If you want to save time and money you can research the required vaccinations and malaria treatments, and then go to your doctor who can administer them. It is also possible to buy pharmaceuticals without any prescription in India. You could buy a week's worth in Canada and buy the rest in India at a considerable savings. If you go this route just check on a traveler's bulletin board which types of anti-malarials are commonly available.

Beyond drugs and vaccines travelers in India should:

- avoid mosquito bites as much as possible
- use DEET repellents (I don't personally - I can't handle the idea of coating my skin in DEET)
- wear long sleeve shirts and pants in the evening when mosquitoes are out
- use a mosquito net at night
- wash your hands often
- only drink treated water (check that the bottle is sealed)
- don't drink anything with ice cubes in it
- only pasturized dairy products
- wash and peel your own fruit
- eat hot fresh food and avoid any food that has been sitting around

I updated my travel insurance policy to cover me in India. It cost an additional $140 on top of the $70 I pay annually for coverage for my US trips. If you are Canadian your provincial health insurance will cover you anywhere in the world, up to a maximum of what the treatment you receive would have cost at home. So for travel in the US you need additional coverage for places like India and Mexico, where medical services are cheaper than Canada so you could get away without extra insurance. The downside is that you have to pay your medical bills first and then submit them to the government for reimbursement. Also additional coverage gives you benefits like free travel home if you get ill or injured. Whatever you do think it through and make sure you understand what will happen if you need medical treatment. If you get extra medical insurance read your policy thoroughly - there is lots of fine print that could be important to you later.

Essential paperwork

2004-12-08T14:01:00.000-07:00

Visa, passport, plane ticket and guidebook.

I received my passport and Visa back from the Indian Consulate in Toronto. I also got my plane ticket which was purchased in Toronto for just under $2000.00CDN taxes in.

Getting a visa is not a problem if you are a Canadian citizen. Just make sure your passport is valid for the entire duration of the visa (6 months for a tourist visa). You can check out the regulations regarding visas at the Indian Consulate-General website and download the necessary forms as well. If you don't live close to a consular office you can mail everything in. To be safe allow a week for processing and a week or more for mailing. One thing to be aware of is that the visa starts the day it is issued, even if you don't arrive in India for weeks after that. This means you 6 month tourist visa may only be valid for 4 or 5 months by the time you enter the country.

Less than a month to go!

2004-12-08T11:54:00.000-07:00

brrrrr!

I was pretty excited to leave for my India trip back in October and November (when it was +10C to +20C), but now that it is -20C my motivation to be somewhere warmer is off the chart. This will be my 4th winter spent traveling someplace warm and I have never felt badly because I missed a Canadian winter. Don't get me wrong, I love Canada - I just love it best from April to November.

Only 2 weeks till I leave for 12 days in sunny Southern California (my India holiday warm up - [pun intended]) with Dwayne & Anna. Then 3 days back to sort myself out and re-pack before my Singapore Airlines flight leaves for India.

Ask the experts

2004-11-25T08:05:00.000-07:00

Jo-Ann and Jeff

Planning a trip to the other side of the planet is a lot easier these days with the help of the internet. There are so many travelogues available online it is almost mind boggling and google will let you know about every guidebook that could possibly be of use. Want to know the precise weather conditions in Bangalore at the moment? - no problem! In fact I would almost have to say there is too much information at hand, sometimes it is conflicting and you just don't know who is right.

I generally trust information from people's personal websites, but since you don't know the people it is hard to tell if they are over cautious or under cautious. Maybe they are poorly informed or easy to get irritated. All of which will colour their experience traveling. Additionally, travel information that is out of date by a year or perhaps many years, may no longer accurately reflect your destination.

I am really lucky because my good friends Jo-Ann (3 months in India) and Jeff (3 weeks in India) just returned from India. I have been able to ask them all sorts of obscure and inane questions, and look at their fabulous pictures. Having just been in India it is like getting the ultimate guidebook update. Although it is a bit expensive I highly recommend sending friends to your destination in advance of your trip so you can get the most up to date information. Jo-Ann (bless her soul) was even willing to accompany me on my trip as a tour guide for free - well as long as I paid for her plane ticket and traveling expenses. That is a true friend indeed. Not only did these two stalwart adventurers successfully navigate the challenges of Mother India, Jeff also proposed at the Taj Mahal at dawn - and perhaps more importantly Jo-Ann accepted! Congratulations!

Check out Jo-Ann's blog (She was in India Sep/Oct/Nov 2004).

Packing List

2004-11-24T22:25:00.000-07:00

All my stuff!

For you gear freaks (like me) here is what I am bringing:

Luggage

- Backpack (35L)
- Small daypack (14L rolled up in main pack)

Clothing

- Travel pants
- Shorts x 2
- Tank top x 1
- T-shirts x 2
- Long Sleeve T-shirt
- Thin soft shell jacket

Shoes

- sandals
- trail runners

Other

- baseball cap
- sunglasses
- Socks x 3 pr
- Underwear x 3 pr
- Bandana x 2

Toiletries

- T-brush & paste
- gel body wash
- Razor x 2
- Travel towel
- Nail clippers
- tweezers
- lipbalm

First Aid

- Mini- F/A kit
- Tylenol
- Imodium
- Eye drops

Electronics

- Digital camera
- Charger
- Extra battery
- Extra memory cards (512MB x 3)
- Power adapter plugs
- Cables

Gear

- LED key chain light
- small folding knife

Books

- Rough Guide India
- Notebook + 1 pen & 1 highlighter

Paperwork

- Passport
- Visa
- Medical insurance
- Important phone numbers
- Spare document info

Money

- VISA & AMEX cards
- Traveler’s Cheques ($400USD in $50's)
- Cash $100USD (in $20's)

Miscellaneous

- Flags(poi) x 1 pair
- Silk sleeping bag liner
- Safety pins
- Drain stopper
- Rubber clothesline
- Duct tape
- Mosquito net
- Eye shade
- Ear plugs
- lock for room or locker
- Zip lock bags
- Water bottle sling
- money belt or neck pouch (not sure which??)

Delusions of Grandeur

2004-11-23T11:12:00.000-07:00

My faithful travelling companion - Mr. Back Pack

It seems actually trying to put all the things on my packing list into my backpack was a lot harder than I had anticipated. In fact it was totally impossible! I momentarily thought about using a bigger pack, but that wasn’t the right direction to go in. So I listened to Scot and ruthlessly (for me) went through the pile of gear on my bed and selected the critical items. The end result is about 30L of stuff in my pack weighing 15lbs – much better!

Two things that were difficult to give up were all my books (except for my guidebook) and my music. Scot had even suggested I ditch the guidebook, but I just couldn’t. I don’t know enough about Indian history to travel around knowledgably without it. I am not concerned about accommodation or food recommendations, but I think I will really appreciate having some history and cultural context for the places I visit – and should it not prove to be worth its weight I can always give it away enroute.

My first thought was that having music with me was essential, but after a bit of reflection I came to the conclusion that it was not critical and it might be better to let India provide the soundtrack for my travels. It would be quite easy for me to insulate myself from what is going on around me by putting on my head phones and burying my head into a book – which is not what I want to do.

Looking at my small backpack I know that by bringing less stuff I will have more room for India on my travels.

Flags, rags and small bags

2004-11-09T13:13:00.000-07:00

moontribe FMG Sept 2004

I have downsized my luggage for this trip three times. My plan is to take a 35L backpack for my travels around India. I kept going smaller and smaller because I know how much crap I am tempted to take with me and how little I will enjoy carrying it. The only trouble now is the hard choices I have to make so everything will fit. I have all the clothing worked out, toiletries and such. What remains is the "fun" stuff that will keep me entertained. I definitely want some books and so far I have whittled it down to: The Rough Guide to India, Light on the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali by BKS Iyengar and a translation of the Tao Te Ching. I am not sure if I can fit all that in my pack, but I will try - worst case I am dumping the Tao Te Ching - my apologies to Lao-tzu. I will bring my discman and 20 cds full of MP3s - so about 50 albums worth of music. I can strap my yoga mat to the outside of my pack so that doesn't take up any room and it gives me something to sleep on if things get rough. Finally I will bring along a couple sets of flags - they pack really small and India seems like a country where whirling neon fabric around in the air to music would fit right in. One day soon I am going to have to try packing everything and face the reality that I have way too much stuff to fit, and I will have to make some more hard choices. After all what is more important underwear or CDs???...=-)

I am not sure what to do about the things I will want to buy along the way. There won't be any room in my pack, but I am hoping I can mail stuff back to my Dad in Kolkata. I will bring a couple duffel bags with me, to leave in Kolkata, so I can haul all my loot home. If you have any special gift requests let me know.

Maximum Cow

2004-11-09T09:54:00.000-07:00

I just finished a couple excellent books that I thought someone might be interested in. Maximum City by Suketu Mehta is a fantastic literary exploration of Mumbai (Bombay). He investigates the Bombay underworld, the bollywood movie industry, the sex trade and the religious life (and strife) of this fascinating city. He is an honest observer who is critical about his subject matter (and himself), but also exceptionally compassionate. He returned home to Bombay, the city he grew up in as a child, to see if you can ever really go back once you are an expatriate - a question that I ponder more and more as my trip grows closer.

http://www.suketumehta.com/

A less serious read is Holy Cow by Sarah Macdonald. She backpacked around India in her early twenties and hated it - vowing never to return. Fate, however, had other plans and she found herself back in India to join her fiance. She documents her travels and experiences - focusing largely on her attempts to understand India's various religious/spiritual communities. This book is easy to read and in turns hilarious and sad. I really enjoyed her perspective on love, spirituality and the sacred space many of us have found between speaker stacks.

http://mostlyfiction.com/adventure/macdonald.htm

I have copies of both these books I can lend out - just let me know.

Joshua Tree - you gotta love it!

2004-11-02T11:53:00.000-07:00

Vik at Joshua Tree 2004

Sorry this pic has nothing to do with India, but I like it a lot so I posted it here. Although I will be visiting Josuha Tree in December just before heading to India, so I suppose there is a tenuous connection!

BTW - if you have never visited Joshua Tree I would highly recommend it. The landscape is fabulous and has plenty of opportunities for hiking, scrambling, climbing and general outdoor mischief.

Click on the title of this post if you want more info.

My First Blog

2004-11-02T11:17:00.000-07:00

Well I guess this is the first post in my spanking new blog. I have resisted the blog in the past and was planning on continuing my anti-blogging stance, but Jo-Ann's blog (http://www.jeffmarvin.com/jobo/) was so much fun to read that it convinced me I had to accept change in my life.

I also really liked being able to track down her blog from whatever computer I was on at the moment. That was really useful!

If I can find computers with compact flash card readers on them I will even be posting pics from the road.

General Trip Info:

6 Jan - 27 Mar 2005

I will be starting and ending my trip in Kolkata where my father has an apartment.

I plan on getting an India Rail Pass and traveling to Goa for the full moon at the end of January. From there I will work my way South till I run out of land and then start back up the middle of the country on my way to Agra, Allahabad, Varansi and finally Kolkata for my return flight.

If you want to email me I will be checking atomicjunk@hotmail.com regularly - now that hotmail has increased my storage to 250MB feel free to send me your witty comments, pictures, music, etc...

On my way back to Calgary I will be hitting up the March 2005 moontribe FMG. If any of you want to meet up for a little dancing under the full moon in the mojave desert - just let me know and we'll work out the details.

http://www.moontribe.org/

BTW - I will be documenting the planning and preparation I do for my trip in case it is helpful for somebody who is going to travel to India. If you just want to read about the trip itself, skip to Jan 6, 2005.