Incredible India...
Trip Start
Mar 15, 2008
1
68
86
Trip End
Jul 15, 2009
Tiruchirappalli, Tamil Nadu, India
Monday, February 2, 2009
We had a layover in KL on our way to India, via the budget airline route complements of Air Asia. We flew from Phuket(not Fuck it) to KL, spent the night at an overpriced hotel near the airport in order to make our 7:20 a.m. flight to India. Ana's best friend Linda flew from Siem Riep to meet us that same day. She did the same flight that my mom did earlier to avoid the Thailand Angkor Wat flight mafia. They wanted 220 dollars for the 45 minute flight to Bangkok, instead she payed 60 dollars to go 4 times further all the way south to KL, only to fly back to Thailand the next day. She wanted to spend a week in Krabi, my favorite place on Earth. She is going to catch up with us in India in order to travel with us through India and Nepal.
We almost missed our flight since the airport shuttle got pulled over for speeding on the way to the airport and the customs lines were extraordinarily long.
Flights never give you enough time to adjust, the differences are too vast and instant to acclimate your senses. Needles to say, arrival in Trichy, short for something, was a shocker. India has the ability to overwhelm all 5 senses, the colors and smells alone are impossible to miss. The airport transfer was a breeze, most transportation networks seem to be centrally located in India, thus making it easy to get to the center of town.
After trying to check into a hotel, they tried to overcharge, and our initial impression of the city we decided to skip Trichy and hop on a 3 hour bus for the ride to Madurai. It was an amazing bus ride. We were exhausted and could barely stay awake, but the scenery was exceptional, lime green rice paddies like Bali, throngs of Palm Trees in red clay and Indians just living any way they can. We were in Southern India where most of the old religious cities are and tons of pilgrims flood various cities at different times of the year. Madurai is the biggest and baddest of these pilgrimage cities,
it was as we imagined. Indians everywhere being Indians, it is hard to describe unless you see it. Most Indians are very dark and slender in these parts, mostly wearing their traditional wrap, many barefoot and shirtless. All kinds of transportation swarms around inadequately planned cities creating a circus like frenzy and pace. There are stories of tourists who go straight from the airport to their hotel and decided to shorten their trip and go home, in fact we met an elderly Swiss couple who did just that. I can imagine coming from one of the most pristine places on Earth to India would be a shock, but we figured our 10 months in Asia would adequately prepare ust for the subcontinent. It has, on the whole India has been a breeze, but everyone says the south is easier than the north, we shall see.
After one day of puttering around Madurai we were prepared to leave, their big draw was under construction and we got tired of avoiding cow shit in the streets. I just read that one cow puts more CO2 in the environment than a car that drives 3000 miles and that is per day. Apparently, they belch methane, which is 31 times stronger than car emissions, as part of their eating process. We hopped on an overnight train for Verkala beach, a nine hour ride that cost 2 bucks for a sleeper. I thought Thailand was cheap, India is amazing. We have been eating like kings for about 2 bucks each a meal and you can easily get by on less than 4 bucks a day for food, Furthermore, we are supposed to be in the most expensive province, Kerala.
T he Keralan Backwaters
To rent a houseboat is at the top of everyone's to do list in Kerala, known to the locals as "Gods own country." Kerela is located near the bottom of India on the West Coast and has had numerous trading ties with Europe and China dating back to before Constantine used a young Arab to start a religion. Kerela is the richest, smartest and most progressive state in India, though our tour guide stated, "notice their dark complexion and curly hair indicating that they are of the mud digger class," when referring to some local children, I guess old habits are hard to break. Kerela is home to many different religions, including Syrian Christianity dating back to the 2nd Century. The people are beyond kind and friendly, I had heard such bad things about Indian people from other travelers, but I have found them to be the nicest people on the trip. However, the north is supposed to be a lot more confrontational in nature, so I shall reserve my judgment. Numerous seasonal workers from Nepal and Kashmir work the tourist towns, I find it odd that they can't find these workers in their own country.
We decided against renting a luxury houseboat and opted for a homestay. The boats are quite nice, but we felt the cost wasn't justified in our situation, we had not come from the hectic north and did not need the time to relax. We took a guided walk and canoe ride through the backwaters. The boatman sang folk songs as they paddled us through their village under the night stars, it was a surreal experience. The backwaters are a unique place, where tons of islands are connected by rivers, some natural and some connected using canals. People live on the numerous islands and get around on boats. They grow rice in the middle of the islands and coconut trees on the outside of the island. They have lived the same way for hundreds of years and they seem to be quite well off. The caste system in Kerela was used historically more as a division of labor than a social stratosphere, I guess less harsh than other areas of India. They use coconut trees for everything, including as a natural filter for rain water. The landscape is stunning; fields of neon green rice fields mixed with flocks of bright white egrets, dense forests of coconut trees reflecting into the numerous rivers and canals; 20 different kinds of banana trees, bright flowers matched only by the vibrant colors of the fashion worn by the locals centered around their beautiful and genuine smiles. Kerela is truly "Gods own Country."
Hampi:Boulders and Temples
We took an overnight train to Banglore, the IT capital of India. We planned on getting a train to Hampi that same night, but the train was full so we had to spend the night. Banglore represents modern India with many locals dressed in western clothes and shunning their ancestry. They are young, upwardly mobile and trying to live the American dream. They date before wedlock, live on their own, take vacations, and eat out at expensive restaurants, that said it is still India. Bangalore is the outsourcing capital of India and was the inspiration for Friedman's Pulitzer Prize winning novel The World is Flat. It was a relevant and interesting place to spend a couple of days, we ate at a Macdonald's that doesn't serve beef, chicken all around. We found the best book store that we have seen on the trip and each bought around 6 books, regretting that we had not bought more.
We took another overnight train, upgrading to the AC class, three times the cost, but still only 11 dollars for a 10 hour ride. The AC class was a lot nicer, cleaner and quieter, probably worth the money. Hampi is a country town, the nearest train station is 14 km away in the dusty poverty stricken town of Hospet. It was only 2 bucks for a rickshaw ride into Hampi and then we had to take a 1 minute ferry ride over a small river.
The terrain in Hampi is amazing, it reminds you of the Flintstones, but with fields of neon green rice paddies and coconut trees. It is the second largest UNESCO Heritage place in the world, there are around a hundred temples scattered about the countryside. It looks like someone dropped millions of boulders and large rocks all around Hampi, some forming mountains of boulders, The locals used these boulders to make tons of intricate Hindu temples, many mixed with Islamic architecture motifs. There are cows, monkeys and dogs everywhere. Some monkeys scared the shit out of me on the way to some restaurant. We were walking through some banana farm, not a bad place for a monkey to make his home, and we spotted a huge monkey posing like the famous Rodin statue, so human like when another huge monkey came at us full throttle. I wasn't sure what to do, but as I contemplated doing a flying kick to ward him off it became clear that he was chasing the other monkey and cruised right passed us. A long chase ensued as the dominant one chased the other up and down numerous trees. The restaurant is situated on a hill overlooking the river valley where cows and water buffaloes graze while they enjoy their symbiotic relationship with the white egrets.
Our hotel was located at the foot of some beautiful boulders adjacent to a field of rice paddies. We spent the first day lazing and reading away on our outdoor rope swing beds. The next two days we tackled the temples, heat and boulders. There were so few people and we were able to hike up the boulders for some amazing views of the valley. After 3 days we hopped on an overnight bus to Goa. Travel in India has been a breeze, easy and cheap, not sure why everyone says it is so difficult, maybe things have changed in the last 5 years, they have seen unprecedented GDP growth.
Goa
Goa consists of numerous beaches on the West coast of India. We started in the south at one of the more developed beaches called Palolem and stayed in the quiet area of Patnem, about a 20 minute walk away. This area has an island feel with great bungalows right on the beach with tons of beach chairs and rope swing beds to laze the days away. Goa is not the rave, drug paradise that is used to be, but there are still enough venues to pass the nights away. The first night we were here we went to a headphones club. After 11 p.m. everyone puts on wireless headphones and dances to the music. The sound is fantastic, but it takes some getting used to as the place is silent when you take your headphones off, but you are in your own world when they are on, but somehow connecting with everyone around you who is listening to the same music. The club was located on a point right on the beach surrounded by boulders overlooking the ocean, quite a setting.
We found an amazing Italian restaurant, easily the best one that I have ever been to in Asia. Linda and Ana said it was on par with some Italian joints in New Jersey, Linda being from Nutley(home of the Sopranos), high praise indeed. We ate their every night save one. It was very comfortable staying on the beach, everything had a perfect view of the ocean. Apparently, most of the bungalows are only up about 4 months a year, they take them down for the monsoon and then put them back up as the hordes of European tourists flock to India to avoid the harsh winter.
