some forgotten stories and thoughts...

i realised that there were a few interesting stories which i forgot to relay in my blog that i'll capture here :-)

1.  as i'd indicated, we didn't have a return ticket from umaria to varanasi.  while waiting for our train from jhansi to umaria, i waited for the masses to die down and then decided to try my luck with the local ticket counter (normally there's a foreign ticket counter but it wasn't open).  i queued with the local women and waited patiently to get to the front of the queue.  queuing in india is an interesting affair at best as you have to be pressed against the person in front or someone jumps in front and since i was the tallest woman in the queue, i was a beacon for all to know their place in the queue.  i had loads of women pushing and shoving from behind me with multiple hands resting on different parts of my back, claiming their place behind me.  it was a hot and tiring 25mins before i finally got to the front and the ticket man gave me one of those 'i'm so sorry you had to go through with that' looks before i tried to get across what i was trying to do.  unfortunately, all he'd sell me was a ticket i already had so eventually, i gave up as all the local ladies behind me where starting to get impatient and had started pushing and shoving even further.  i resigned to not buying an onward ticket from jhansi and promptly told amg she owed me a beer for my efforts!!
2.  i attended a beauty trade show in cochin (ernakulam) designed for the locals.  it had an interesting mix of items for sale from pressure cookers and pots to massage and weight-loss machines, from gym memberships and sexual dysfunction booths to make up, facial packs and spa treatments.  i had my make up done (first time i've worn make up since i arrived in india) and watched the locals interact.  it was an interesting non-touristy thing to observe..
3.  i met an indian guy in varkala who told me a fantastic story :-)  he'd met up with a canadian guy who had flags, etc.. all over his bags.  they spent two days traveling around india together and were riding a motorcycle when they got pulled over by the police to check identification.  the canadian refused to hand over his passport for some time until it was obvious the police were not willing to accept "no".  he finally handed over an american passport!!  he was so embarrassed to have been caught in his lie and apologised profusely to this india guy i met.  made me laugh ;-)
4.  i'd heard previously that traveling in the north was much harder than traveling in the south from a number of people however i was still amazed at the difference between northern india and kerala.  everything seemed much more orderly and organised in kerala but i think the most notable change for me was the reduction in quantity of stares/leers and the level of their intensity.  curiosity i'm okay with but the leers were tiring after awhile so it was a welcome change...
i will definitely have to make the trip back to india as i definitely don't feel like i've seen or done all of the fantastic things that india has to offer.  it was a busy holiday (with a bit of needed relaxing at the end) however i'm confident there's no way i would have managed to fit much more in..

hugs to all and i hope you enjoyed reading about the trip! ;-)
s   

leave your modesty at the door!!

varkala beach is a cliff side resort town which i reckon exists only for foreign tourists.  it's actually set along a beautiful red cliff with a lovely sandy beach and a very rough undertow below.  i arrived and checked myself into a beautiful room and wandered along the cliff, looking for a place for lunch.  the quality of the restaurants, the shops, the beach and the number of indians who spoke perfect english made me wonder at times if i was even in india anymore!!  varkala was very clearly trying to rival goa as a home away from home resort town. 
i returned back to the hotel, put on my bathers and headed down to the beach for a dip and some sun.  truly, there wasn't much to do in varkala except eat, swim/sunbathe, have spa treatments/massages and shop so that's what i ended up doing ;-)
i booked myself an ayurvedic massage (popular in kerala) which centers around healing by pouring a load of oil onto the body; where they pour it depends upon what they're attempting to accomplish.  i booked a general massage and a facial for the equivalent of $20CDN.  the room was fairly sparse in nature with a vinyl covered massage bed and a plastic chair.  the masseuse had me fully disrobe in front of her and then she attached what can be best described as a loin cloth (i tried to do it myself however she wouldn't let me :-).  from there, i was told to sit on a stool for the head and upper body massage where i had three cupfuls of oil poured on me then onto the table for the full body (and i mean full body) where i was soaked further in oil!!  she then applied my facial mask and i lay there in a puddle of oil for nearly 30mins until i could stand it no longer and asked that we finish early.  i got washed (yes, again i was not allowed to do this myself) and then she assisted me in getting dressed.  a very different experience all up and i must confess that i wasn't overly impressed with the massage techniques applied; i'm not convinced i'd do it again however it definitely had to be tried!!  i had another swim, showered and finally felt that i'd removed most of the oil before i headed off for dinner where i was served a beer in a teapot as the local restaurateur didn't have a liquor license :-)     
i rose early and caught my 6:30am train into cochin where i randomly ran into amg at the ferry dock.  we agreed to meet at 5pm for a kathakali show on the cochin side of the bay.  i settled into a hotel, had a tour of cochin, got suckered into doing some unwanted shopping (the rickshaw driver told me he got free petrol if he took tourists into a couple of shops so i agreed to assist him) and then met up with her for the show. 
this version of the show was slightly easier to understand (there were two different characters so the story was easier to follow) however i still wasn't enamored with the form of theatre/dance that they use to depict the stories.  we had dinner together and agreed to meet in the morning to take some sunrise photos of the chinese fishing nets. 
we had a crap sunrise (again) however i did get a couple of shots and then we headed off to the airport in a taxi together.  our driver was horrible to say the least!!  in fact, he was the worst i've had since landing in india!!  he was slow, drove in the fast lane, drifted all of the place and couldn't keep a consistent speed for more than 5m...  i was happy as hell when we arrived at the airport in one piece!!
we landed in mumbai and caught a pre-paid taxi to colaba which is where we'd stayed previously.  the driver kept inquiring if we wanted to take the "ceiling" for 50 additional rupees however since we didn't have a clue what the "ceiling" was (my only guess was an express way), we declined.  i checked into a locker sized room (literally) and we went off to find ourselves some lunch. 
our afternoon/evening unfolded as follows:  lunch, walk to cinema to buy tickets, internet, walk back to leopold's for a bon voyage beer, to the hotel so amg could pack up the presents i'd purchased and then she was off to the airport. 
i was due to leave this morning however thai airways sent an email (which luckily i read) saying there were "technical issues" with my flight so they rescheduled me for this evening instead.  i was a bit worried about my connection from bangkok to melbourne as they'd not indicated that had been rescheduled however it's all been sorted and i simply arrive in melbourne 9 hours later than planned (no time for laundry or anything before bed).  i can't believe that 4wks have come and gone already!!  i must confess that i don't feel like i've finished india; another 4wks would probably be needed to finish everything!!

hugs,
s
 

it's all about timing... ;-)

i took the early train from cochin to alleppey with the intention of spending the afternoon relaxing in alleppey before taking my houseboat cruise into the backwaters of kerala however fate intervened in a good way :-)  i arrived at the guest house and the owner advised he had a french couple who were heading out in 30mins time who wanted company to share in the costs so i jumped in the rickshaw and we were off to meet them and climb aboard ;-)
our houseboat was massive in size and was clearly made for larger groups than ours.  i had a lovely room to myself with a massive squishy bed!!  we spread ourselves out, relaxed with fresh coconut milk on the top deck and watched the world go by in slow motion. 
the back waters are an intricate collection of small rivers, canals and streams.  many people from kerala live along these waterways, fishing, farming and etching out a life for themselves and their families.  it's a very lush, green and beautiful area of the state and no one seems to be in much of a rush.  we puttered around on the boat, had a lovely lunch, took some photos and simply kicked back which was a welcome change.  along the way, we stopped to check out a "snake boat" which is a cross between a really long rower and a canoe; it holds 110 rowers and 10 people who sing/chant out the rhythm to paddle.  every year, each village races their snake boat down the river.  the one we saw was the most recent champion and had been in use since 1972.
we docked for the evening, had dinner and listened to "western music" which was an odd collection of really old western songs with indian dance music beats mixed in...  quite an interesting sound for the ears :-)  and then we headed off to bed.
i arose early (as always) as one of the crew had advised that we'd get a good sunrise.  it was lacking in colour however it was nice to watch the world wake up along the canals and have a mug of warm chai tea.  we had breakfast and then paddled through some more narrow canals to get a better glimpse of life in the back waters.  it reminded me a lot of the mekong delta in vietnam.     
we returned back to alleppey and i settled into a guest house, had lunch, used the internet and promptly managed to get myself completely lost!!  there are two canals in alleppey and i got disoriented and couldn't figure out which way to go so i ended up paying a rickshaw driver twice the going rate to get me home :-)  (it turns out the internet cafe was less than 600m from the hotel!!)  i had a rest and then headed off for dinner in the rain. 
dinner was fantastic (and i didn't get lost :-) however it was slightly out of the way.  since it was raining i decided to take a rickshaw back to the hotel however they wanted to charge me 3x the going rate so i politely refused and stubbornly walked a third of the way home getting drenched on the way before finding a more reasonably priced rickshaw.  the difference was $1CDN however for me, it was entirely the principle ;-)  i can be so stubborn sometimes!!
i woke early and caught a local bus to kallambam (en route to varkala) which was either crammed full or moderately full (people always standing) depending upon where we were on the 2.5hrs journey.  unfortunately for me, when i was due to disembark, the darn bus was jam packed and i couldn't get my backpack through the throngs of people.  a local gentleman grabbed it and unceremoniously pushed and shoved people out of the way so the backpack could get through and i could get off.  i was dumped on the side of the road with a gesture of "that way" and the bus drove off. 
i walked up the road and found a turn off for varkala so i stood on the corner, hoping for another bus.  one arrived not 5mins later and i got on it.  there were two doors to the bus, a front door for the ladies and a back door for the gents.  unfortunately, because of the number of ladies, i got sent to the back door.  the gents on the bus then encouraged me, to the point where i was clearly told that "it'd be better for me in the front with the ladies", to move forward so i did.  it's such an interesting cultural habit; men and women are not allowed near one another!!  the ride was quick to varkala and then i took a rickshaw to the beach.  all up, the journey was about 3.5hrs in length!!
varkala was definitely a different place but that's for the next entry :-)

hugs,
s   
 

"water, water, everywhere, nor a drop to drink"...

...at least there's none according to my willingness to partake ;-) 

we woke early in varanasi for a boat trip along the ganges river at sunrise.  it was a rude awakening after the exhaustion from the last few days but these things must be done in the name of travel and experience :-)  we headed off with a couple of people from the hotel and we were aboard our little boat before 6am! 

our first stop was the cremation ghat which is where they burn the bodies of people who have passed away.  the eldest male in the family shaves his head, dresses in a white ensemble and lights the fire.  the entire family stays for the duration of the creation, crying, signing and praying.  it generally takes between 2 and 3 hours for a body to be completely burned and according to india custom, the hip of the woman or the chest bone of the man tends to be the last part to burn as they're the "strong" bones in each gender's body.  the rest of the men in the family are required to shave their heads after the cremation and all dress in black for 7 days.  priests and children are not cremated; they are simply put in the ganges river and can be seen floating downstream.  luckily, we didn't see any dead bodies on our "cruise". 

from there, we paddled down towards the main ghat where people prayed and then further along, where people washed/bathed and cleaned their teeth.  everything is done in the ganges river which is a bit disturbing considering there are dead bodies and loads of pollution in it!!  it was a beautiful sunrise on the river and appropriate photos were taken :-)  a gent from our hotel walked us back to the hotel as where we're staying is similar to a rabbit warren with all sorts of little alleys going here, there and everywhere.  he sweetly gave us the "how-to guide" to getting back to the hotel otherwise, i fear we would have spent the day looking for our hotel ;-)  from there, we headed off to breakfast at a nearby restaurant that had peanut butter (oh, the luxuries :-)  

amg and i went in search of an internet cafe at 8am however nothing was open until 9am so we wandered down by the ghats, watched the preparations for the speaking of a buddhist guru (we believe) and marvelled at the different sizes of plastic jugs you can purchase to take some of the ganges home with you (entirely for the locals!)  :-)  we found an internet cafe and i booked us both flights to bangalore and then onto kerala.  onward travel booked, we separated and wandered aimlessly for a bit and then decided to go to sarnath together.

sarnath is 10km outside of varanasi and is an important location to buddhist as it's the site where buddha first spoke after his enlightenment in 524BC.  we took a rickshaw to the site and had a tour by a buddhist volunteer (who later expropriated a fee for his "free" tour :-)  he took us around and showed us the stuppa built to honour the site with some of buddha's ashes inside as well as many buddhist temples.  we discussed a bit about the history of buddhism and then bid one another goodbye.  

we headed back to the hotel (only getting lost in the rabbit warren twice) and then i went for a wander along the ganges river as i wanted to observe it further.  i was approached at every 50m for a boat ride and once for some marijuana :-)  i had a seat along the sidelines and watched people passing by.  it was a peaceful evening and i found a gathering of people obviously waiting for something to commence shortly.  i sat with some local women and waited patiently for just over a half hour before the show commenced.  in fact, it was a religious ceremony which they perform every night with costumes and chanting and music playing.  it was an amazing site to see as so many people were so obviously involved (read entranced) in their worship.  i would have loved to understood the songs....  i snapped a few photos and then headed off to dinner just before the ceremony ended and then headed home to bed.

i woke early with the intention of doing a yoga class for an hour, grabbing breakfast with amg and then heading off to the airport to catch our flight to bangalore.  the yoga class was quite good (i was a bit surprised), breakfast was even better and our rickshaw driver was fantastic - it was looking to be a great day!! 

the airport at varanasi was the tiniest airport i have ever been in before!!  it was clearly well used however they'd not upgraded their facilities in years (likely ever ;-)  we caught our plane to bangalore, settled into a hotel for the night and were up and out the door the next morning at 4am for our 6am flights!  our taxi attempted to increase the price and in the interest of time, i agreed to pay him an extra dollar for the ride!!  either way, bangalore was nothing more than a stopover!!  i caught my flight to cochin and amg headed to thivandum (both in kerala).  

exhausted from not sleeping well and rising early, i had a bit of a nap, secured train tickets for my onward journey and then went into cochin proper by ferry.  (i'm staying across the river in ernakulam which is less touristy).  i wandered their boardwalk, checked out the chinese fishing nets and selected my fish from those on offer at the port for dinner.  i had an early dinner and then took the ferry back to my side of the river in a rush as i was heading out to watch a kathakali performance at 6pm that evening. 

kathakali is a keralian performance of dance and theatre thrown together where the artist depicts a story from the vast repertoire known to the locals.  it's a spriritual ceremony and people often leave feeling light and peaceful.  the venue allows tourists to come and watch as the make up is applied to the artist before the show commences.  it was an intimate affair with only 5 of us in the small theatre while we watched the artist paint his face and listened to a previous dancer explain the symbolism of the colours and formation of the paint on the face.  effectively, the make up is added to enhance the artist so that they become bigger than life both in spirit and body and the colours relate back to hindu gods.  after the painting is completely, the artist is dressed and then he returns to act out the story to music, gesticulating with his face and body.  the gentleman who talked throughout was mesmerising to listen to and had many wise lessons to impart. 

i wandered back with some american girls who were staying near me and fell into bed (what else is new ;-) 

 

hugs to all!

s

 

n.b.  subject line is a quote from a poem called "the rime of the ancient mariner" by samuel taylor coleridge, written in 1797-1798.  we studied/read the poem in year 5 or 6 and for some reason, those lines stuck in my head!  i'm sure ms. phillips would be happy to know about the permanency of her teaching and i'm also sure that some psychologist could provide an interesting assessment as to why it's stuck with me for so many years :-)