Liquor destroys country, family and life
Trip Start
Apr 20, 2004
1
5
21
Trip End
Mar 30, 2005
Chennai,
India
Saturday, May 22, 2004
Firstly I have to say that you have my apologies that once again most of you will receive this mail on Monday morning as you settle in for another fun week of work. To be brutally honest the only time I now know what day of the week it is, is first thing in the morning when i am taking my malaria medication. The days and weeks have started to blend into each other. It has been over two weeks since we updated the travel pod but we wanted to make sure that we kept you in the loop.
We are currently in Chennai which is India's fourth largest city and has the air pollution to prove it :) I have to say I would recommend the wearing of a surgical mask to anyone who comes to visit here.
Since we left Goa I have decided to put together a section on the nightlife that we have encountered in Kerela and the state we are now in called Tamil Nadu
ahhh isn't that lovely...
. It will be briefBars and Nightclub section (rant)
You may have noticed that this travel pod update is oddly named. I can assure you that in this mad country that I thought the name was quite apt. On every bottle of beer sold in this state the sentence that I used for the title is there in Bold on the label. Not only is this written on every bottle but I am finding that beer is as rare as hens teeth. For anyone looking a party holiday or even a holiday where you can have a beer with your dinner the south of India is not the destination for you.
Ok there are some bars. However there is a slight issue with these as they are an all male affair and they only have toilets for men (as naturally only men go to bars) which is in turn limiting Roisins capacity to drink. In truth we haven't had any problems and I haven't even been asked for my photograph in a bar yet though i am still granting photo shoots to random Indians that I meet on the street.
Try to picture this. Every bar and I use the word loosely you walk is packed to the gills with Indian men who stare as you as you locate a seat. It is actually fairly funny when you get used to it. Last night we spotted a place that looked fairly good on the outside so we popped in for a beer. It was hilarious:) When we went in there where 100 men all drinking beers and listening to rave music. Then the music changed to Def Leppard and Johonny Cash. What a night of culture. I think it made up for missing the eurovision for Roisin
Auto In Goa
. On the walls of this particular establishment in several locations where signs written in bold NO DANCE PLEASE. This just added to the fun as all around the patrons where bouncing about like jack in the boxes on speed on their chairs. Then at 11PM on the dot everything closes. Then you have most restaurants where you would imagine that you could order a beer with your food. Not a bloody chance every time I ask for one here and I have all but given up they stare at me with the realisation in their eyes that they have just met Satan or that I am just a very confused westerner. I have not been able to ascertain which it is but have more evidence to suggest that they think that I am Satan rather than a confused westerner.
Now to some of the places that we have been too over the last few weeks. Kerela is an absolutely fabulous place and one of the highlights was a four day stop in a pace called Varkala. This is beach resort where accomadation and restaurants run along the top of cliff. It was absolutely fantastic and not even the fact that the electricity constantly went out could put a dampened on it. It was a real paradise and somewhere I would love to come back too before it becomes too developed.
Backwaters of Kerala
Another real highlight of the Kerela trip was the backwater cruise. This was absolutely incredible as it was a beautiful sunny day which was really welcome as it had rained for several days previously.
After Varkala we headed to the very south tip of India (cape Kaymuari), more to say that we had been there rather with a purpose of seeing anything in particular. Here the Indian Ocean, Bay of Bengal and the Arabian sea. It was nice and it was funny to see all the fully clothed Indians jumping in to the sea. We also got to see our first holy men here. These are guys who gave up all their responsibities in life, i.e wife family job etc and go on a life of pilgrimage. Sounds like an easy way out to me but I am told that they are sincere.
After Cape Kaymuri we went north to Chennai where we both where sick for four days straight. I wont go into the details you guys all have good enough imaginations. Suffice to say the positive aspect was that we where both sick at the same time.
Hi All, Roisin here now, i am giving martin a rest from typing for a few minutes.
Beach at Varkala
So I am going to tell you about the last place we visited - Pondacherry. This is an old french colonial town, definitely the nicest place we have been to so far. Most signs were still in french! We stayed in an old house, which had big open verandas, where we were served tea in the afternoon and played cards - i felt like i was in that film - passage to india! While we were there we visited a number of local sights, one being an Ashram. This was located outside the town, and basically it's a community were people go to think/meditate their lives away! it was all a bit moon really, you have to surrender you passport when you join, and you have to work for at least five hours a day everyday (even sundays). They have built this huge crystal globe shapped thing which they all worship everynight (organised religions are not accepted). Anyway, I tried to pawn Martin off on them, but they were having none of it - they 5 hours work would have killed him anyway!
so from here we are heading to darjeeling in west bengal. we are leaving on Monday, and will arrive wedensday afternoon, its a long way to go for a cup of tea, but we hope it will be worth it!
As soon as we recover from our marthon 42 hour journey, we will be in touch with another facinating update.
bye for now,
Roisin and Martin.
