TravelStream™ news feed for member timmy on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/timmy en-us Copyright ©2009 TravelPod.com Sun, 20 Mar 2005 04:59:44 -0500 http://www.travelpod.com http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/timmy/india2004/1107162660/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/timmy/india2004/1107162660/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/timmy/india2004/1107162660/tpod.html Sun, 20 Mar 2005 04:59:44 -0500 A three month excursion to India

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Mumbai, India

My apologies for anyone who was reading my blog... for the final month of my journey it wasn't simply a matter of being slack... but due to budgetary restraints I found I had less and less to write about.

For what it's worth I travelled from Ooty to Calicut by bus. As if the bus journey was long and bumpy enough, I then had to walk along the road for quite a while as every hotel i found was apparently booked out. Or maybe they just couldn't be bothered checking me in at that time of night (11pm).

Next to Kochi (Cochin) by train, I stayed at Ernakulam Junction at the Durbar Residency near Jos Junction. Very reasonably priced and with spotless rooms, hot water, cable TV etc I cannot recommend this place enough. Oh, and there's a Pizza Hut right acros the road!

Travelling south once again, I caught a train to Varkala. Arriving once again at night, I selected a hotel from the Lonely Planet - as you do - and caught a rickshaw there. This was the Blue Marine Guest House on the cliff tops. The room was very bare. Just a single bed, plus a second bed (which didn't have a mattress), a mirror in the cold-water-only bathroom, and not so much as a rubbish bin apart from that. Not feeling like wandering around in the pitch blackness to check other hotels I took the room. The mattress was hard and lumpy and the pillow may have actually been a sandbag. Having left behind such a great hotel in Kochi I was not very happy.

In the morning I took a look around the area. In the clifftop area there is nothing but very basic hotels with attached cafes. Only one hotel had TVs and it was expensive.

Feeling a bit grumpy and sorry for myself I decided to ditch Varkala altogether. If anyone reading this is interested I would recommend the hotel run by the French woman. I had a chat to her and whilst I didn't look at her rooms, it was cheaper and I suspect nicer than the Blue Marine so check it out.

I caught the first train out - although admittedly I should have perhaps looked for accommodation in the town and given the place a second chance. It wasn't until I after I'd left Varkala that I got an email from my friends Justin and Lyndzey saying they were in VARKALA. Goddammit. I'd have loved to have caught up with them again.

Next stop: Kollam. Went for a walk to see the beach. No sign of it on the map in LP... but "Beach Road" suggested the way to go. When I got there I was greeted by large signs saying the beach was very dangerous and that 14 people had drowned there. I could see why. It's a beach of very coarse golden sand, which drops off very sharply. It is littered with ice cream wrappers although the day I was there it was deserted. no wonder Kollam is not a beach resort.

From here I caught a backwater cruise to Alleppey. It was an eight hour trip, but to be honest it was very slow going. Was like a very slow, wide river with a million palm trees on either side. I liked the statue of Jesus atop one of tghe local churches as we left. He was holding a large cross with one hand and waving with the other. I wish I'd got a photo of "cheerful Jesus" as I dubbed him.

Another highlight was a group of Indian men on one bank who broke into song for out ferry as we passed. That was kinda cool.

I chatted to a few people on the ferry and when we arrived in Alleppey we were accosted by hotel touts vying for our custom. I chose one from the photos a guy showed me, and me and two of the women I'd met went along there. Upon arrival it turned out they only had two rooms available so I ended up sharing the night with one of them, an Australian whose name I'm afraid now escapes me.

There wasn't much to see in Alleppey so that one night was enough. I was also thinking that I didn't have a lot of time left so I returned to Kochi for a few days. Back to my "luxury" room. Comparatively, that is.

It was then that I started to have difficulties buying train tickets back north to Goa and Mumbai. Even though Indian Rail has some tourist quotas it often doesn't help. I ended up at the Internet cafe searching the IR website for departures. Some of them had huge waitlists, even for the more expensive AC classes. Eventually I found the most likely services and then went down to the station to buy my tickets.

I travelled back to Margao and out to Colva Beach where I'd stayed earlier. Hotels had, by now, ramped up their rates for the season. I was a bit surprised as I didn't think they would increase them until mid-December. So I just looked around at likely candidates and stayed at a hotel that I could afford. It was nice and I'd recommend it if only I could remember it's name. Sorry! Another reason I should have written this sooner.

I kept a pretty low profile as I really had to save what was left of my money for my shopping, which I was leaving for the last part of my journey. You don't really want to lug tonnes of souvenirs around for three months, do you?

So after a week or so it was back to Mumbai by train once again. Arriving at 6am, I thought maybe I should see if there was any accommodation in the area around the railway station, just for a change from Colaba. The places I tried were all full. It was pretty incredible to see the number of people asleep in the streets. Whilst I'd seen it many times before, it hadn't been at night (or this time of the morning) and the number in this area was quite incredible. Guys who have their roadside stalls slept on top of their stock, while others slept on the footpath as rats scurried around them. Quite an eye opener, there were hundreds of them (guys, not rats).

Failing to find a hotel, I caught a bus down to Colaba and returned to the Maria Lodge, this time staying on the second floor. A few days of shopping for gifts for my friends and my Indian experience came to an end.

Highlight of the trip was seeing the wild animals in the Nature Reserve on the bus ride up to Ooty. I regret not taking some day trips around the area (and there were plenty on offer) as it really was beautiful there.

Hope I haven't bored you silly.

Love to all,


Alex (Timmy)
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/timmy/india2004/1100522220/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/timmy/india2004/1100522220/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/timmy/india2004/1100522220/tpod.html Mon, 15 Nov 2004 07:55:04 -0500 A three month excursion to India

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Ooty, India

Mysore was quite a nice city. It was here I met Justin (Australia) and Lyndsay (Canadia) who were a cool couple who had met whilst teaching in Taiwan and are now touring around for a few months like myself. It was Justin's 27th birthday so we celebrated by buying some firecrackers and skyrockets (as it's also Diwali) and armed with some beer and chocolate went and had a picnic in the park in the evening. Went for a look at the palace in Mysore and although it's not particularly old (1914) it has a certain opulance with beautiful atrium style ballrooms and courtyards... the first thing that occurs is what an awesome party venue it could be (especially with cool lighting) although I'm sure it was home to many a celebration in its time.

Mysore zoo was also a nice excursion for a couple of hours. The animals are well kept and mostly in reasonable enclosures. A few of them looked a bit bored and frustrated, but I suppose you get that at any zoo.

Caught a bus to Ooty which travels through a national park. The driver stopped at a few places where we could watch a herd of spotted deer at one point, a group of five wild elephants grazing right next to the road, and a large group of black faced langurs (monkeys) which happily bounced right up to the bus and even climbed in through the driver's window and door. Very cool.

Ooty itself is a nice little town located on high (2500m) hills, which makes it a bit chilly, particularly at night. You know it's cold when you see Indian men wearing beanies and walking around with their hands in their pockets!

Next stop is probably Calicut, but there are some strikes happening and I couldn't get a bus today. If I can't get one tomorrow I'll probably try another bus to Coimbatore and then travel to Kochi from there.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/timmy/india2004/1099987500/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/timmy/india2004/1099987500/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/timmy/india2004/1099987500/tpod.html Tue, 09 Nov 2004 03:15:46 -0500 A three month excursion to India

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Mysore, India

Hospet turned out to be a pleasant little country town. I took a day trip out to Hampi to see the ruins. The countryside is strewn with *huge* boulders, many of them balanced in seemingly precarious piles (although I was told they don't fall down, and have been there a very long time). I found a very informative guide who explained much of what I saw. There are some very involved stories spelt out in the stone carvings so I was glad to get an explanation. This was a half day tour and by that stage I was getting weary, and could feel I was once again sunburnt, despite my sunblock. Unfortunately I'd lost my hat in Mumbai, so my face and neck were quite red.

I was going to return to Hampi for the other half of the tour, but I realised I was too burnt to consider another half day in the sun. Perhaps I'll return there again one day.

From Hospet I caught a bus to Bangalore. Bangalore had markets very reminiscent of Kuala Lumpur. Stayed two nights and then travelled by train to Mysore when I am now. Haven't had a look around yet but there's a large palace in the city and a zoo to check out, so I'll report back on that next time.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/timmy/india2004/1099986300/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/timmy/india2004/1099986300/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/timmy/india2004/1099986300/tpod.html Tue, 09 Nov 2004 03:04:28 -0500 A three month excursion to India

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Hospet, India

I should know better than to accept offers of hotels from rickshaw wallahs by now.. but no, every now and then I think "well, I'll just take a look". So it was upon my arrival in Pune. He had a brochure from this hotel which made it look very nice, and he told me he'd show me this hotel for Rs.10. However when we got there I didn't even get a chance to look at a room as they were full. i told the driver to take me back where he found me, which he did, only he drove straight past in order to take me to a second hotel despite my protests (you see, they don't just get the Rs.10, they also get a commission for an inflated price the hotels charge for these referrals). As he stopped for traffic, I jumped out of the rickshaw and told him I wasn't going to pay as he was wasting my time. A little harsh, perhaps. Suffice if to say he was rather miffed, and a bit shocked.

Ended up at the Hotel National, opposite the train station. Judging by this area I decided I didn't even want to stay in Pune. However I couldn't get on the train I wanted and ended up stuck for another night. Then I was able to get a train ticket back to Goa and onward to Hospet, which was a relief. Or so I thought.

In the morning I'd stopped by at the station and checked the display boards and ascertained my train was to leave from platform 4. At least I thought so. The sign flicked from English to Hindi just as I looked at it so I might have been wrong. Anyway, standing on platform 4 a good half hour before departure another train was there which soon departed. Then another train arrived which also turned out to not be going to Goa.

It was only then that I asked so discover that my train was sitting on platform 1 (you see I'm accustomed to dealing with Sydney's Cityrail, so had just assumed I was right and the train was late).

By the time I had battled my way over to platform 1 (I think you can finish this sentence).

I tried to exchange my ticket for the next day but could only get a 50% refund. Not only that, but because it was now less than 24 hours to departure I was unable to buy a reserved ticket and I was still stranded in Pune.

As a last resort I tried to find a bus out and ended up booking a seat to Hubli. The sleeper bus was booked up but I got a "semi" which is the coach version of a La-Z-Boy recliner, not bad, actually, and 1000 times better than 2nd class on the train.

Hubli was nothing special, but rather ore pleasant than Pune. From there I travelled to Hospet, again by bus, although just your average reclining coach seat this time.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/timmy/india2004/1099553040/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/timmy/india2004/1099553040/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/timmy/india2004/1099553040/tpod.html Tue, 09 Nov 2004 02:44:55 -0500 A three month excursion to India

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Pune, India

Getting around has sometimes proved a bit tricky without advance planning. Trouble is, it's hard to plan ahead when you don't know how long you'll want to stay in any given place. After staying a night in Margao in order to catch a 7am train to Hospet and Hampi, I duly arrived at the train station only to discover there is no Friday service (despite my research hinting otherwise) so stuck with all my baggage and not knowing quite what else to do I caught a bus back to Colva so I could regroup and work out plan B. Decided to return to my original plan and do an inland route to Hampi instead from Mumbai. This wasn't to be one of my greatest decisions as it turns out, for several reasons.

You see, you can't buy a ticket for travel on a train less than 24 hours in advance. All you can do is buy an unreserved "platform ticket" an hour before departure. I did this for the overnight train. Being unreserved, you can't select what class you want, so you are only guaranteed 2nd class (the worst class). In a best case scenario you can jump into the class you really wanted and find a spare seat, and wait for the conductor to come through and pay for an upgrade. If there's a seat, that is.

So it was, an hour or so into my journey in 3A, that I was told that there was no seat available, but "just stay there". Six hours into the journey, after I'd downed two Temazapams and was in deep snoozeland in my comfortable upper berth, I was rudely awakened by the conductor and an annoyed Indian man whose bed I was occupying. And so it was I was uncerimoniously kicked out from 3A and had to make my way down to 2nd.

2nd is not the most comfortable place to be on a 12 hour journey. Every last seat was taken, some guys had found a spot on the overhead baggage racks, whilst others were squeezed onto the remaining floor space. This was to be my fate for the next six hours. Squeezed into a space about 40cm square, with people climbing over me each time we reached a station, and with a rank smell emanating from the toilets wafting through each time someone opened the doors. Feeling very dirty and somewhat violated I eventually arrived back in Mumbai.

This time I stayed at the Sea Lord Hotel. This is immediately below the India Guest House, as mentioned in Shantaram. It was as I checked in here I met Julie, a 39yo fellow Sydneysider. She was part way through a round the world trip and I hit it off with her quite well so we spent a few days together.

We did a trip to Elephanta Island on the ferry, which was pleasant enough... although for me having already seen the much superior Ellora caves is was a bit of a let-down. We also visited Chowpatty Beach where the head and neck massage wallahs targetted us and wouldn't take no for an answer.

After a few days here it was again time to move on so I caught a train to Pune.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/timmy/india2004/1098255300/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/timmy/india2004/1098255300/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/timmy/india2004/1098255300/tpod.html Wed, 20 Oct 2004 03:50:49 -0400 A three month excursion to India

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Palolem, Goa, India

Still in Anjuna, I met Steve and Jenn, a friendly and down-to-earth young couple from Nottingham. My having been in Anjuna for over a week and still not ventured down to Paradiso's twice weekly parties did not escape their attention, so when I mentioned they might have to drag me down there, the thought had clearly already occurred to them. Anyway they were really great and had had just three weeks off work to tour through Nepal and India -- not nearly enough time, of course -- getting engaged along the way (something they'd both secretly planned beforehand. Great minds really do think alike).

Still being fairly quiet in Anjuna the party was a fairly low key affair, but the location of the club - several levels in a cliff face overlooking the beach, surrounded by palm trees is pretty serreal, and I'm sure the mid-season parties must really go off.

Steve and Jenn flew out the next day, and a day later I decided to relocate to Palolem after all. It turns out Palolem is the most happening place I've yet visited... and to think I wrote it off earlier because it looked like it might be too quiet. Still, it's early season and the roadside stalls which had been disassembled for the monsoon are being reconstructed and so new stalls and shops open on a daily basis.

Over the last two weeks I have become something of a lazy traveller. Actually I feel like a bit of a cheat coming to India then hanging out in Goa, which, for all its charms, could be a tropical resort anywhere. I lie on my bed and look out through the window at the palm trees and I'm a shifty person who's dodged the authorities and escaped to Central America. Palolem, however, is the busiest place I've been to in Goa. Dozens of beach huts line the beachfront. It'd be picturesque but for the blue tarpaulins draped over them all. Some places have made an effort by placing palm leaves over the tarps to hide them, but the remaining ones make for an overall impression of beachfront slum rather than tropical paradise. In any case I found myself a nice clean room with attached bathroom (cold water only) but it has the necessary ceiling fan and TV... and at only Rs.300/night it is having a beneficial effect on my budget so I have been a bit loathe to move on. The restaurants here are head and shoulders above the few in Anjuna and Colva. There are dozens to choose from and all have extensive menus with seafood being the local specialty, but also other Indian and international foods. So yes, I can see why people come to hang out here and never leave.

I love the local animals. From my balcony I watch the cats having their afternoon naps under the palms, while pigs and chickens wander around them snuffling and pecking away without drawing any reaction. The dogs are everywhere too, and they sometimes get a bit stroppy with each other, but it seems that all the wildlife lives together in harmony. It pretty much sums up the whole feeling of Goa.

However I will catch a bus to Margao tomorrow and the 7.30am train to Hospet and Hampi on Friday, assuming I can get on.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/timmy/india2004/1097131080/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/timmy/india2004/1097131080/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/timmy/india2004/1097131080/tpod.html Sat, 09 Oct 2004 01:29:12 -0400 A three month excursion to India

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Anjuna, Goa, India

After a few nights in Colva, the hotel filled up with a busload of young Indian students. I could hear the guys yahooing it up in the pool late at night and again in the morning. As I had breakfast, I asked one of the waiters if they were a sports team or something as they were all guys. But he told me "the women are very shy. They are staying in the room". So it seems even young Indian women are still quite oppressed. Interesting to see the Sikh guys swimming with their turbans on. Actually I was perhaps more surprised that one of them did not have his turban on, but his hair was still neatly tucked into the tight front top-bun thing they do. When I was talking to Sonny and Damon on the train from Aurangabad, I asked how long his hair was, and he told me it came down to his waist.

I ate at the Sea Pearl Hotel's restaurant, ordering the Kingfish. They showed it to me before they cooked it. They offered a large or small one, so I opted for a small one, which turned out to be about 45cm from nose to tail, fried in butter with garlic and served with salad and chips. And it was divine. Between that and a large beer the bill came to $6. Mmmmmmm.

The receptionist told me that I would have top move to a more expensive room if I wanted to stay longer due to the large booking, so I decided maybe it was time to move on. I got a lift with a rather surly rickshaw driver to Benaulim, the next beach along. He was most unhelpful, dropping me at the beach -- away from the actual village -- and refusing to take me to any of the hotels. I'm not sure what his problem was. So I walked to the only hotel ion the area and found a room there. It was the Hotel L'Amore (!)

If Colva had been quiet, Benaulim was positively comatose, so the next day I got the hell out of there, catching a bus from Margao to Panaji, then another to Mapusa, then a third to Anjuna Beach. It sounds like a hassle, but the buses run frequently: I never waited more than a few minutes between them, and the most expensive one was Rs.15 (45c). Good but sometimes crowded way to get around. The seat pitch sometimes leaves a little to be desired -- sometimes there's as little as about 7 inches between the front of your seat and the seat in front! Probably just as well Brett isn't travelling with me in that regard, as well the beds are single and my feet almost always reach the end of them.

Stayed at the "White Negro" Hotel (I have no idea so don't ask). It was reasonably pleasant with mainly friendly staff. The hot water in my room didn't work, but I put my hand-held element to work so I could heat my own water in the bucket they always provide in the rooms with no problem.

As I was waiting for a bus into Mapusa on Monday, two women on a scooter pulled up alongside me and asked me if I'd like to be an extra in a beer commercial to be filmed on Thursday and Friday, paying Rs.700/day with lunch etc included. So I thought what the heck and agreed. I was supposed to meet them somewhere near the Starco Bar at 7am (along with 20 or so others on their list). I got there at about 7.10 which I thought was pretty good but maybe I was too late, or couldn't see where exactly I was supposed to be, but never mind. There'll be other opportunities. I'd rather do Bollywood anyway.

Checked out the Anjuna flea market which happens every Wednesday. Lots of nice shiny jewellery, colourful souvenirs etc, and certainly many things I'd liked to have bought except for the having to carry them thing. Looked at some nice cushion covers which I thought Dad and Joan might like (i.e. not hippy ones but ones which would suit their lounge suite) but they only had a very large size which wasn't right. Never mind.

Haven't decided whether to stay in Anjuna beyond Saturday or not. Might take a peek at Vagator Beach (next beach to the north) this arvo and see if there's a hotel I like, without being weighed down by my bags. Currently I'm at the Villa Anjuna, which is a quite upmarket resort-type hotel with pool. My sunburn has disintegrated into a mass of peeling skin flakes. So much for that. I still have to give it more time until it fully repairs itself before I let the sun on me again.

Met three girls from the UK, Louise, Becks and ???. Had finished the book (Shantaram) which Annie gave me to bring along which I really enjoyed, and was telling Louise about... then gave it to her because she was quite interested. She insisted on giving me a couple of hundred rupees for it despite me telling her it wasn't necessary. They were off to Palolem today after a rather large night out at a beach party. Becks was recovering after a possible rohypnol drugging. She'd been with a local guy, then just about passed out and her friends took an hour walking her back to the hotel (only a short distance) whereupon they kept her awake and alert until she came out of whatever it was. She'd taken an E so it could have been something in the pill but the fast way the effects came on and then wore off suggests to me it was something else. Louise said she'd spent several hours in a trance-like state. Anyway I'd given Palolem a miss after Benaulim as I thought it'd be even quieter... but Louise reckons it shouldn't be bad as she was here earlier than this last year and it was good. So if I make it down there in the next two weeks I'll be sure to look out for them.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/timmy/india2004/1096097640/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/timmy/india2004/1096097640/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/timmy/india2004/1096097640/tpod.html Sat, 09 Oct 2004 01:25:42 -0400 A three month excursion to India

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Mumbai, India

Have spent a couple of days looking around Mumbai. Don't want to buy anything as I'll only have to lug it all around with me until December, so I'll try to keep it minimal until then, and if I still have money at the end I'll have a bit of a spend up.

Like my previous experiences in Delhi, it's impossible to leave my hotel without touts trying to sell me just about everything. I've lost count of the number of times I've been offered hash and/or heroin. It becomes very tiring very quickly, and it detracts from being able to really experience the local environs.

On my first morning I saw some filming taking place beside the Gateway of India. not sure if it was a commercial or a Bollywood movie. I'd like to see if I can get a part as an extra in a Bollywood one, but that will now have to wait until December.

Mumbai is just seeing out the end of the Ganesh Chaturthi festival. I tell you, of all the religions I reckon Hinduism is one of the coolest ones. They have hundreds of gods, and pretty groovy ones at that. (A rat with an elephant's head??? Very cool.) During this festival there are nighttime parades and fireworks, with lots of drums. They came past my hotel late last night with a cart featuring a huge Ganesh with sparkly lights etc being towed by two buffalo. Compare that with Christianity and a single, faceless god and boring church sessions and dreary hymns... Kind of weird that the Christian God who said 'thou shalt not bow to idols', must have figured at some point he was losing market share, introducing Jesus purely so his people could have a statue of a guy on a cross to be their idol. Hardly worth celebrating, if you ask me. I want a religion where people really get into it. Not that I want a religion, but if i did, this would be top of my list I reckon. Too bad I'll miss John Saffran's inevitable take on Hinduism, I guess.

[edit] I received an email from Abhi in Mumbai who tells me Ganesh has a rat AS A VEHICLE and an elephant's head.(barring the head, ganesh is four-handed like any
other Hindu god, and has a human-like body, albeit obese), so thanks for that, Abhi.

Anywho, I'm off to Aurangabad by train tonight. Found it really hard to locate a travel desk to organise my ticket... and after he did, I discovered he'd charged me almost double the actual Indian Rail price. *note for future, check price first before buying.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/timmy/india2004/1096531200/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/timmy/india2004/1096531200/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/timmy/india2004/1096531200/tpod.html Thu, 30 Sep 2004 04:43:38 -0400 A three month excursion to India

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Goa, India

Feeling a bit caved-out after Ellora, I decided to give Ajanta a miss, even though I understand they are different as they feature intricate paintings or frescos in addition to carvings/statues. Had originally planned to travel by bus to Pune, but was getting a bit sick of the cities and just wanted to go to the beach. Best way to get to Goa was to get a train back to Mumbai and another one to Goa. This was to be a 7 1/2 hour trip to Mumbai, arriving half an hour before the Goa train left. Well, that would have been nice but unfortunately the Goa train was delayed leaving by 2 1/2 hours which meant a three hour wait at Mumbai's CST (central) railway stattion.

The first half of the journey I sat with a nice Indian family who didn't speak English, which was fine as I could listen to my discman to pass the time. We exchanged smiles and offered each other some food. The kids wanted to hear what I was listening to (Max Most Wanted CD), and I gave the mother a KFC refresher towel when she got her hands all black on her peanuts, which were wrapped in a cone of newspaper. For the latter half I was joined by two Sikh guys, Damon and Sonny. They were aged 33 & 31, but were both going on eight. They were childhood friends, both doing BComs in Mumbai. They both fooled around with each other like little kids, teasing and punching each other in a lighthearted way. Quite funny to see guys interacting like this. Was interesting talking to them though, and quite easy as their English was excellent. After the usual line of questioning about whether I had a girlfriend they asked "Do you like girls?" and when I laughed and said "What kind of question is that?", Sonny later commented that "Damon is just my friend", so they had obviously realised I was gay and wanted to make their position clear. It was sweet, and it was nice to know that even though we didn't talk about it, they didn't care. Towards the end of the journey Damon taught me a greeting to use with Sikh people (i.e. Punjabi language) as he said it's more appropriate than using the Hindi 'namaste'. I got it down pat, and then forgot within 15 minutes. Probably just as well, because the was they were joking around on the train, heaven only knows what it was they'd taught me to say!

After seven hours in second class (crammed in four people per three seats, with absolutely no lumbar support) I thought the best thing to do was catch a cab back to my Mumbai hotel and pay them some rupees for two hours so I could lie down in some comfort while I waited. However the taxi drivers assumed I had just arrived in India and wanted to charge me Rs.250 for a trip that should be Rs.40 on the meter. I laughed at them and told them not to take me for a fool, however they still wanted Rs.80 (about A$2.40) but on principle I thought bugger it and went back into the terminal. It wasn't the money, just the constant hassle of people trying to rip me off all the time: it does get very tiring after a while.

Sitting on the floor, waiting out my time with hundreds of others, eventually an Indian man came along and started talking to me. He came across as a bit dodgy so I was a bit wary of him... and eventually the topic of whether I was married or not came up... then he was asking about girlfriends, and then asked me how many times I'd had sex! Ugh. I told him I didn't want to discuss that and I think he got the message because he excused himself and wandered off. What a sleaze.

So I was very happy when 1.30am rolled around and I was able to board the train. Even better as I was only on a waitlist (16th on list).

This train was better as it was 3-tier AC (air conditioned). Climbed into my top berth and slept as long as I could. Even though this was supposed to be a 12-hour journey, which was already running late, rather than make up time it ran an hour later, arriving in Margao at 2.30pm, exactly 24 hours after leaving Aurangabad.

Caught a rickshaw to Colva Beach and looked at a hotel the driver took me to, then a second, the Star Beach Resort. As we pulled up outside, I thought the driver must have made a mistake. It looked much too slick to be a Rs.400 hotel, which is what I'd told him. But no, for Rs.400 i now have a beautiful, clean, fan-cooled room, with 24-hour hot water shower, flushing toilet, and 60-odd channels of pay TV. My *balcony* overlooks the swiming pool, and beyond that to the undeveloped area of palm trees as far as the eye can see.

Let's just say I don't have plans to go anywhere else just yet. Have started reading the book Annie gave me. Went for a swim. The beach is beautiful as well but the area nearest the hotel is crawling with touts, and besides I'm not really a beach person anyway. However there are restaurants on the beach so I'll probably have an evening meal down there tonight.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/timmy/india2004/1096443480/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/timmy/india2004/1096443480/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/timmy/india2004/1096443480/tpod.html Thu, 30 Sep 2004 04:00:31 -0400 A three month excursion to India

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Aurangabad, Maharashtra, India

Caught the overnight train from Mumbai to Aurangabad, chatting to an Indian family enroute. Arriving in Aurangabad at 4.30am, I was accosted (as is usual) by a tout on the platform, who offered to take me to a hotel which sounded like it suited me. The room was grubby but acceptable, and at that time of the morning I wasn't too fussy so I took it. My driver was trying to lock me into a tour to the Ajanta caves in the morning, but I knew I'd be too buggered for that. Had a good sleep in, and thought I'd go for a wandfer to get an idea of the area, only to have my driver pounce on me yet again, trying once more to get my business. I wandered along the street and realised I was in a non-tourist area so there was nothing to see. Some more rickshaw drivers tried to attract me, and in the end I relented, thinking I'd at least look at some other hotels. I'd discovered that the shower and toilet cistern at my one had not functioned for many decades.

My new driver was Villas (pronounced Willis) and he was a genuinely friendly guy (something I'd rarely say about rickshaw wallahs). He took me to the Hotel Indradeep, which was much cleaner and had functioning facilities (in fact, this was the best hotel since my arrival). I paid Rs.500/night (A$15).

I pretty much slept and relaxed at my new hotel in the afternoon. Turned out the other driver I had spurned was Villas' brother! Oh well.

Next day I went with Villas to see the Dautarabad Fort (sp?) and Ellora Caves. Took a long trek in the late morning sun to the top of the fort and back. I could tell I was overheated, so it was no surprise to see my very red face in reflection in the rickshaw's rear-vision mirror upon my return. I never got sunburnt in India before, something i put down to the increased air pollution, so this was to be the first time.

Next we were off to Ellora. The caves are very ancient and represent different religions, Jain, Hindu and Buddhist. Many of the Buddhist ones are similar, large square cute halls with smaller rooms at the sides and one at the end featuring a large Buddha. They were all carved straight out of the cliffs. Other caves were quite spectacular, featuring different incarnations of Shiva, etc. As I looked at the last cave it began to rain quite heavily. I returned to Villas and we headed back to Aurangabad, stopping first for lunch. Just in time, as it happened, as the rain became a massive thunderstorm with the troad turning into a muddy river. Guess the monsoon's not quite done yet.

Travelling by rickshaw is fun. It's bumpy as hell but with the breeze in your face it can be lovely. With the rain in your face, less so.
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