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Personal Blog of Steve Baumber
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I forgot to mention that Rosemary and I went for an Ayurvedic massage, which is one of the things to do in India, other than a Yoga ashram. Supposedly you haven't really lived until you've had an Ayurvedic massage. What I know now is that you haven't really lived until the heavyset Indian man in the sweaty T-shirt with a lovely full moustache who has just given you an Ayurvedic massage, while cleaning the oil from you, gently soaps, washes, and rinses your testicles. Then you've lived. I could say that I can die now, but I think a part of me died on the spot, so I'll let the rest of me keep going. And no, there're no pictures.
posted by Steve @
1:17 AM
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12.29.2005  |
For those of you who wondered where the sidewalk ends, it's in Fort Cochin.
Christmas was lovely, and from a few quick long distance telephone calls we know that it hasn't been a snowy wonderland back in Western Canada either. So much for my wistful thoughts of home! We had a very quiet Christmas at our hut, and had a traditional Kerala dinner with a Swedish couple and a woman from the UK staying in the other cabins, graciously hosted by our guesthouse's owners Bigi and Merci.
After carefully avoiding the sales on Boxing Day, we grabbed a bus up to Fort Cochin, about 40km north of Allapey, and wham bam we're back in tourist land! Where did all these white people come from? As Rosemary put it, Fort Cochin was a scrubbed up version of India, with cafes, craft stores and guesthouses catering to western tastes. The odd shop we wandered into would have felt at home on West Fourth Ave in Vancouver.
We went to a performance of the traditional theatre of Kerala called "Kathikali", a mix of mime, sign language, masque and passion play, as the subjects are the great Hindu stories such as the Ramayana (go Rama go!), and the audience was about 95% Caucasian. Freaky!
A place like Fort Cochin brings you face to face with all the other souls that have come to India for the myriad of reasons that pull people here. It made us ask ourselves, why did we come to India? Perhaps to have the "India Experience" - some ethereal spiritual awakening in an ancient culture? To connect to a population spanning extreme poverty and vast richness? To seek out some unknown human experience or geographic wonder? To just see if we could handle the mythical "full on" India (you’re not a real traveler until you’ve been here, right)? Seeing the assortment of strangers wandering the streets of Fort Cochin, some vying to win the Most "Look at me I've Gone Native" award, some tentatively seeking, and some decidedly avoiding, makes you believe that all of it brought us here, and it's not clear what will be our lingering rewards when we leave.
Our bus trip back to Allepey and the haven of our little cabin by the canal was harrowing (again). And I thought that the last bus trip was bad! I've decided that short of passing out, the best method of dealing with it is to sit happily on the bus and treat the large front windscreen like a movie screen. No matter how emotionally engaging the image on the screen might be, you can remind yourself that it is (thankfully) not real, and that you are quite safe in your seat, clutching your popcorn (or backpack). Of course, fighting this is my keenly developed "suspension of disbelief", which I carry into any movie theatre. It was nurtured at an early age on a diet of Sho Kosugi ninja movies in the early eighties. This allows me to enjoy any movie no matter how inane the dialogue or impossible the stunts and take the images as compelling and real. So you see my conundrum. Feeding my doubt that we were going to arrive safely was also having read a newspaper story that morning of a passenger bus that was peeled open on one side by a passing "tipper lorry". It was unclear who misjudged the width of whom, but the result was a can-opener effect that spilled folks out into the highway.
We walked home last night laughing hysterically and shaking the white out of our knuckles.
posted by Steve @
12:29 AM
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Blogging has been hard to get done - must be a lot of traffic this time of year! Anyway, For those of you who question the veracity of my last Blog, I give you the one image that Rosemary did let me take…
We made it through trains and buses on our last leg of the journey south. We are certain our insane bus driver was on crystal meth considering the continuous junky shuffle he did in his seat as he swerved through early morning highway traffic – we should know, we were sitting right behind him. My only consolation was that he’d feel the impact first as we sunk our finger nails into the seat. Everyone else on the bus just slept, most likely overcome by the stress and fear. Anyway, we are safely in the city of Alappuzha (or Allapey) in the state of Kerala and are ready for Christmas! Felis Navidad (a loose translation of the local Malayalam)! We have a great place to stay, with a little cabin to ourselves that overlooks a palm tree-lined canal of jumping fish and bull frogs, and at night we sit on the porch and watch the fireflies
blink in and out along the water, and cheer on the geckos in the eaves over our heads eating mosquitoes. Luv them little guys.
We have a houseboat lined up for New Year’s Eve, which is a very dolled up old rice barge, looking very much like this one that floated past us yesterday.
It will be a peaceful way to say hello to the New Year, and hopefully not scare it too badly so that it’s good to us.
There is a big Christian population in Kerala, so Christmas is celebrated here as well, but with the usual India twist. There is a street market in town with more neon and streamers than you can wave a roti at. At night it is a mosh of Hindi music, fireworks, temple candles and lanterns, incense, all sweltering in the sweaty humid air of South India. Although we love our warm retreat, there is a small part of me that misses the chilly kiss of winter air this time of year. And in case you think we’ve forgotten the northern climes, here’s us sharing the cold with you at the top of the Annapurna Circuit (was it really only a couple of months ago?).
Rosemary and I want to wish everyone reading a very Merry Christmas and send a
warm sweaty kiss your way! Peace and Love to you all.
posted by Steve @
11:16 PM
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12.23.2005 |
Taking the train to Kochi tonight so we had a morning to kill in Mangalore. What to do, but head to the beach of course!
Panambur is the closest beach to Mangalore, and apparently popular with the locals on weekends and holidays. As we hiked the dusty kilometer and a half from the side of the highway where the city bus let us off, we marveled at the industrial park we strolled past, lined with trucks, truck drivers who had never seen someone as beautiful as Rosemary before in their entire lives, and the Pooja Motel. Past the yards filled with teak logs from Bhutan (ah the floors they would make) and the impressive stone walls of the Port of New Mangalore Storage Yard, until we came to the beach where there was a small hawker hut and a big pole with lights on it. And a police station. And a stray dog. And a big sign listing how many people had died each year from swimming at the beach.
Not to be daunted, we struck out down the beach thinking a nice walk by the Arabian Sea will do us good and perhaps we will come across a nice beach-side restaurant to have tea and while away the hours until our train, reading our novels and breathing the clean sea air. Then we noticed that a herd of cattle must have come through as we picked our way around the small "paddies" that dotted the receding tide line on the hard packed beach. No, these are too small for cattle, we thought, perhaps several stray dogs? The plethora of footprints and the strangely familiar "shapes" eventually led us to the inevitable alternative conclusion, which was abundantly clear when you let yourself accept it. Yes, Panambur beach is not only popular on weekends, but is also the most amazing toilet with a view you have ever seen! We marveled at the idea of a morning constitutional while looking out to the distant tankers and fishing boats, just you and few hundred of your closest friends scattered up the beach, perhaps high-fiving over your assorted ink blots after washing up in the sea. With that thought we hiked up our skirts and scampered back to the highway, grabbing the first bus that slowed down enough for us to hop on back into Mangalore. And no, there is no image to post (Rosemary wouldn't let me take a picture).
As the world turns, a shout out to Brad and Jessie who have recently shacked up in the U.S., have also purchased a table together, and have clear intentions of purchasing other household goods as well.
posted by Steve @
12:37 AM
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12.21.2005 |
So much is happening while we're gone! Ryan and Jam are getting married, babies on the way (one more that we heard about but I can't say who yet), Robin has a store, Dean is getting bigger and buffer, Marcel and January bought a table together – who knew the world kept spinning after we left? All we can do is wander in foreign countries and make big decisions like where to eat and sleep. Anyway, I can finally post an image, so here is a typical Goan day from start to finish, showing all of the exciting activities that we took part in. The best effect is achieved by slowly moving your eyes across the image from left to right. Enjoy.
posted by Steve @
7:19 AM
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12.20.2005 |
Let it be said that we gave Non-Aircon Sleeper Class train travel in India a second fair shake and we can honestly say that it sucks.
Of course, climbing onto the coach at 1am after four days on a beach sets you up to regret the close confines, the sweaty, latrine odour and the fact that somebody is already asleep in your berth. Then, after lively discussion with folks you realize you're in the wrong coach. You struggle down the narrow aisle to get to the next coach as the train is pulling out, accidentally pinning the conductor against a berth as you try to squeeze past with your backpack on, and as he shouts "Aren't you thinking?" you stumble into the right coach.
There's still somebody in one of your berths, but luckily there are two berths available in the same place so you lock up the bags on the floor under the lowest berth, lay out the sleep sheets and tuck in, ear plugs firmly in place. It cuts the sound of the train somewhat, but everybody is snoring louder than the train as it roars along, and the fans are turned off because the folks on the upper berths don't like sleeping under the breeze. You try to sleep, except Rosemary is busy whacking cockroaches off her berth and the chai salesman keeps walking past shouting "Coffee Chai" and you're wondering who the hell buys coffee at 2:30am? Then at some unknown hour everyone in the berths around you wake up, grab their luggage as you try to keep track of your sandals and promptly disembark at Udupi, and you drift into unconsciousness in the blissful silence of empty berths around you.
No rest for the wicked the train soon jerks to a stop in Mangalore. Staggering off the train, your body is moving but the captain has left the bridge for a moment and nobody's steering or talking to the rest of the crew. Luckily we followed the right streets and found a good place to stay, had breakfast and crashed out for a few hours. And now here we are enjoying the sweaty heat of Mangalore!
It was painful leaving the beaches of Benaulim behind, a very quiet part of south Goa well away from the party scene of Anjun. We ate fresh seafood and burnt our shoulders and did very little. As we've said before, traveling isn't the same as taking a holiday, it's a journey of effort with many rewards, but when you pause at a place like Benaulim to take a rest from the continuous cultural and geographic download around you, it's damn nice to do nothing.
But the hell with that, it's back on the site-seeing wagon for a day or two, and then a real rest stop in Alappuzha (Allappey on some maps) for Christmas in Kerala.
posted by Steve @
2:15 AM
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12.19.2005 |
Goa has been great for the last three days - the train ride was a bit painful as we arrived at 12:30 am and taxi'd it to a resort we had booked by email. An expensive room but worth having something to arrive to! We have since moved to a much cheaper guest house and have been extremely lazy on the beach (with the pink shoulders to prove it). The Arabian Sea is lovely for a dip, and the seafood has been excellent. Posting pictures is again a nightmare, but I will endeavour to post. Running out of internet time - must go!
posted by Steve @
9:55 PM
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12.16.2005 |
We made it to Bombay with nary a scratch. The train worked out well, and Rosemary had a seat after all thanks to the waiting list. Of course, it was 8 berths away, but with the help of the coach attendant (and 50 rupees) he had us together in no time and we slept our way from Nagpur (the belly button of India, geographically speaking) to the port city of Mumbai (Bombay).
We're only here for one night, continuing our speedy descent southwards to the beaches of Goa. However, Bombay is definitely more tropical, and has the nicest feel of any city we've been to in India. The streets have street lights that the cars stop at, many of the buildings downtown are reminscent of the Raj era, the taxis actually use the meter, and there's no begging children clinging to Rosemary's arms as she tries to cross the street.
Ah, Mumbai.
posted by Steve @
4:01 AM
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12.13.2005 |
Nagpur. Picture Jabalpur, but bigger and the rooms a little more "spartan". The bus ride was swervingly uneventful (most likely due to the swerving), but every day in the paper you can munch your morning aloo puri and read about the latest round of bus accidents - most recently a bus of wedding guests who burnt to death when the fireworks on board for the festivities went off a tad early. Or the autorickshaw that slammed into the back of a parked bus at a bus stand injuring thirteen people. Rosemary says that "like" is too strong a word, and at present she will only admit that India is "interesting".
Our guide in Varanasi said "We don't drive in India, we play a video game." We hit a water buffalo the next night (slow speed, impacting mostly the horn of the bull, but left a good splat of buffalo snot on the windscreen).
We are past our stomach woes thanks to Cipro, and fearlessly drinking tea stand chai at the bus stops. Don't worry, it's boiled. Our train to Mumbai (Bombay) leaves at 8:50pm tonight, so we killed some time this afternoon at a local shopping mall (The Big Bazarre). The autorickshaw drive to the mall through the city was more interesting than the mall.
We managed to get train tickets yesterday that will cover us for the next few weeks of traveling - Mumbai to Goa to Kerala and back to Mumbai after New Year's. Wonderful what a little planning will accomplish for us. We have accomodation in Goa, now to firm up Kerala (and its romantic backwaters) for Christmas/New Years.
Next stop Bombay, home of Bollywood! And me without my headshots...
posted by Steve @
3:28 AM
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12.12.2005 |
We are now in Jabalpur, slowly making our way south towards the sun, and, yes, if you are traveling in India it's a good idea to book train tickets in advance because otherwise you might get stuck in a place like Jabalpur for a few days when you'd rather be sipping lassies in Mumbai. Which is why we're still in Jabalpur. Not a bad place, but it ain't real pretty either.
We have now come up with a combination of a bus ticket to Nagpur this afternoon, tomorrow we have a single sleeping berth on an overnight train to Mumbai (which the ticket people at the railway station tell us we can share), and we're on a waiting list to get south to Goa from Mumbai (which the ticket people say has a good chance of getting us a seat or two on the train we want).
Part of the difficulty is that we hadn't planned out exactly what we wanted to do, and arrived in Jabalpur without an exiting ticket. Most of the trains passing through here originate from somewhere else, so it's pretty difficult to "get back on". However, yesterday was an intense day of guidebook-page-turning fury that has hashed a decent travel schedule for the next few weeks to get us over the Christmas season (which is also a busy holiday time here in India). Now we head to the train station to see if we can actually get the tickets we'd like and we should be set for a while!
We have just finished a few days at Kanha National Park, a large forest reserve for a population of about 128 tigers, and all the deer they can eat. Apparently this area was the jungle that inspired Kipling to write "The Jungle Book". So we booked ourselves into (where else) the Mogli resort! This is definitely the winter low season, and the lull before Christmas, as we were the only people staying there. Well, us and the 24 employees, all young males who (like the rest of India) enjoying watching us eat, walk, smile, scratch, etc. Okay, mainly Rosemary, which is why she's getting a little tired of it all (and every now and then wonders where the women are). Which is a digression, but it is quite evident that women are not openly present during the day except in very select situations. Walking to and from places on the street you will pass mainly men walking, gathered at tea vendors, running the businesses (even the sari stores) and generally hanging out. Women are in the home, and don't seem to be a visible presence outside of it. Just our perceptions, but it seems grounded in reality.
Anyway, Kanha was a fantastic change from the cities we have visited. To be in open spaces breathing fresh air was almost worth the trip. But of course the real reason was to see the animals and maybe catch sight of a tiger or two. The best we got of the latter was a "pugmark" or paw print, but we were able to see several kinds of deer, a wild boar, birds, guar (wild bison), peacocks, monkeys and of course the forest itself. A Sal forest is not the lush tropical jungle I imagined we'd be in considering the image I had conjured up from the Jungle Book. It is much drier, and the open portions are very reminiscent of the African Serengeti! The evenings in the park were freezing, and we awoke to frost each day. We spent a day hiking on our own along an established nature trail, and the next morning on a jeep safari to see the bulk of the park and look at the animals. It's hard to be back in the city, but there's a lot of India left to see!
For those wondering about photos, there are several "ifs" preventing a photo post: IF we find a high speed connection, and IF the computer has a USB port, and IF the computer can read from the camera, and IF the software they have let's me reduce the size of the photo and IF I can then connect to my website then we get a picture posted. Not all "ifs" show up at the same time! There's a lot of Windows 98 here, older computers, slow or intermittent connections and many computers don't even have a CD drive to grab some of the photos I have archived onto CD, so there we are. Be patient, something's gotta give sooner or later...
posted by Steve @
10:14 PM
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12.10.2005 |
We're keeping hydrated and rested, and we've got Cipro, but we've just been hoping to get through this without it. A good round of "Dehli-belly" should toughen us up for the long-run. Rosemary thinks being sick is being sick and not helping anything. I actually enjoy high fiving as we swap places in the bathroom. I guess that perspective is everything.
India has not been as shocking as I was expecting at any stretch, but Rosemary would rather not go back to scampering across the busy streets of Kolkata. It has been harder on our health than travelling in other countries - the pollution in Kolkata was very heavy and even after sleeping in our room with the window closed we would blow black-particle-laden snot out of our nose in the morning. This stomach upset has not helped either as we edge into day four. I tend to accept that it's part of being here and almost everyone that we know who have traveled to India has dealt with illness somewhere along the way. I feel that it's best not to let it affect your spirits even though it colours your perception (and enjoyment) of everything else.
Varanasi, perched on the edge of the holy Ganges (or Ganga) is hectic, but we haven't spent much time at the ghats yet. Ghats are stairways leading to the river, often with a temple on or near them. This is where folks come to wash in the Ganges to receive forgiveness of sins, and also where bodies are cremated (and sometimes released onto the water). If you are wealthy then you can afford a "proper" wood pyre, which takes about three hours. Others may opt for the cheaper (but less traditional) electric crematorium. Death is a business here, and funeral pyres are going 24 hours a day here on several of the busier ghats. It is believed that if one dies in Varanasi you skip the reincarnation cycles in the wheel of life (the Mandala) and go straight to Nirvana. The Mandala is one of those beliefs that cross over between Hinduism and Bhuddism with a few alterations in the artwork.
Feeling poorly, we have retained a guide to get us around which has insulated us from the touts and sanitized the effort of getting around the city. I think it lessens the raw experience, but Ravi (our guide) is a great help with a lot of information, and today spent three hours with us in the Muslim quarter of town to help in buying silk. Probably not "local" prices but there's always what it cost them and what it's worth to you and trying to end up somewhere in between. I feel we did, and paid less than what we've sussed out in the other markets.
Last night we boated past the ghats on the holy Ganga. Tomorrow we will take a boat to watch the sunrise on the holy Ganga. As the feacal count in the river is 1 million times more than what is healthy (and considering my current internal impurities exceed acceptable limits) I have decided to forego a dip and let my sins rest on me for another turn of the wheel. Doesn't my dousing in the Kali Gandaki in Nepal count for something - it was the holiest river in that country!
posted by Steve @
6:59 AM
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12.05.2005 |
T'was the night before taking the train to Varanasi,
And the only thing stirring was our poor little bellies.
Rosemary was heaving into the porceline friend,
While Steve's tummy troubles came out the other end.
The train leaves at 7:10 tonight,
With gravol and immodium we'll fade out of sight.
Shouting "Goodbye Kalkota, and thanks for the germs,
"The smoke and the noise and the difficult turns."
Last night was awful, today has been tough. I hope tonight goes better.
posted by Steve @
12:52 AM
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12.03.2005 |
Kathmandu, Darjeeling, and now Kolkata (Calcutta to you hipsters from before independence). If I ever have to name drop at a cocktail party of resonant cities one must simply have to visit I got some good ones (insert funny little winking smiley faced emoticon here).
It feels a bit surreal to continue to put a real face and feeling to these places that evoke romantic (or frantic) notions. We'd been told how "full on" India is, and how you have to be ready for the extremes of humanity, and to one moment love India, and one moment hate it. I mean, we watched "Born into Brothels" for goodness sake! The reality as always is one third what you expect, one third what you experience, and one third what the fates decide to give you. Our train ride from New Jalaipurgi to Kolkatta was a relaxed overnight in a dusty sleeper car, where we rocked to and fro in our sparse open berths two bunks folded down from the side of the train with no curtains or divisions to them. Other than the odd mishappen beggar, the chai boy, and the toy/office supplies salesman wandering the aisle it was fairly uneventful until the two transvestite men in saris poked me awake this morning, but before I could appreciate what 10 rupess would get me Rosemary told them to go away from the top berth. They giggled on their way and called her rude.
We shared a taxi with a civil engineer from Greenland to Chowranghee, the heart of tourist Kolkata, and found a reasonably clean hotel (for a cost), and have weathered our first day here without any untoward feelings. Perhaps, for now, this is our current impression - it hasn't embraced us with charm, beauty or welcoming sights and sounds, but it hasn't kicked us in the shins and spat in our cereal either.
We are planning our time here with a little more attention to the need to hone our wanderlust to a few places and decide how to best cross the vastness of the country.
Good internet here. Will post some images tomorrow...
posted by Steve @
4:47 AM
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12.01.2005 |
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