Nov 23-24 '08 My friend from the train ride, Kadri from Estonia, and I arrived in Varanasi at 7am or so and had much of two days to experience Varanasi. I'm probably coming back through though so decided to continue on with her to Calcutta where she was catching a flight to Bangalore) instead of taking my usual few days to figure things out ( or weeks as with Mumbai ). We walked down to the Ganges to see the cremation fires.. not as spooky as you might imagine though.. but odd none the less. The bodies are dipped in the Ganges before the open cremation.. the shorter it takes the better a person you were. We almost fell victum to a scam where people lead you up to a good vantage point and other volunteers tell you that it's a hospice for old women who come to die here ( which is what a lot of people do.. quickest route to Nirvana and avoid being reborn yet another time - possibly as a dog or rat or whatever bad karma you collected would dictate ). Back to the scam: they tell you they are collecting money for the wood they need to cremate their bodies. They exaggerate the cost and amount of wood needed but that's beside the point.. it's not a hospice it's just a scam that catches a lot of people because it's so unusual and deals with a generally taboo topic. Sorry.. no "bonfire" pictures.. they didn't allow that and it just seems too creepy anyways. Here I am on the rooftop restaurant of my guest house.. I think it's the tallest structure around!? No elevator though!
Nov 21-23 '08 Varanasi was a 29 hour train ride from Mumbai for under 400 rupees ($8). I took a sleeper class ticket as I don't like the aircon version.. but was tempted as aircon has electrical 110 v plugs at each "cabin" ( not really cabins.. everything is pretty open ). In this case the aircon 2nd and 3rd class did NOT have pulgins nor was it too hot so I'm glad I didn't suffer the aircon for 3 times the price! The only advantage I missed was the sheeting for the beds.. but I've got a sleeping bag liner anyways. OK.. too much about the train.. new entry!
Oct 29- Nov 21 '08 I spent about three weeks in Mumbai! I got settled in to the cheapest place in town ( within reason.. well almost ) - it was right across the street from the most expensive hotel in Mumbai ( the Taj Mahal) which in turn was only a few blocks from the edge of a slum ( but then you could almost say that about anywhere in Mumbai). The slums however are full of amazingly happy people who are overwhelmingly friendly.. they're just poor. The Taj across the street had rooms from USD$300 to $7,000 per night. My hostel was 165 rupee or about $3 - the bugs were free. I made some good friends over those three weeks and hung out with one particular old British "Keith Richards" type a bit too much (Peter). I have good reason to suspect that an undercover policeman tried to frame me .. of course, it would probably just require a pay-off so is not as alarming as it might seem - consider it more of a near-mugging by a policeman. Nice huh? I understand the U.S. pays India to keep drug offenders in jail.. which equates to an incentive to put people in jail. How the U.S. makes sure it's legit ....??? If I had indeed been framed and the cop wasn't just out to make a few extra bucks It really would've sucked to have had to wait the three years for trial! My insight into this was a South African woman who just had her trial and was released after tree years. She was most likely guilty though and despite not raising USD$500,000 to bribe the judge like others were doing her judge took mercy on her and gave her a break. She's pretty darned thankful... it was looking like 25 years... stupid mistakes.. and such a nice smart girl... needed the money for... Med School.
Gee.. a couple of guys with rifles and machine guns just walked through the train... we're not that close to Assam ( on my way to Calcutta from Vernasi)?? Assam is the trouble region to the north east where there have been some recent bombings etc.
I've put a neat video on you tube of a ferris wheel I came across at Chowpatty beach.. have a look. I'll get the link in here soon too. I've also attached a picture from my day as an extra on a Bollywood set. It was a nightclub scene complete with russian dancing girls as you might ascertain from the picture. It was a 12 hour day and we were paid 500 rupees ($10). It's a great ONCE-in-a-lifetime thing to do.
Bollywood Shoot:
Other people I met include a French kid named Florent who is trying to get a short contract with Audi here .. he and I made more than a few runs to McDonalds when they started their new brekfast service here.. mmm.. egg mcmuffin and pancake etc for $2... hey I was getting sick of Masala Dosa. Oh I bought a Chinese cell phone here that quit afer 6 days... but I think I can fix it : It was supposd to give me bluetooth access to the internet on the train... darned. Actually.. it's OK as I've had a wonderful young woman from Estonia to talk to for hours instead. But now I'm almost talking about the next entry which you've already read above.
Oct 24-28 '08 Goa was promoted as a great beach hangout area. I didn't find it so great but did manage to enjoy myself anyways. I was told the south beaches are much nicer than the north ones I visited. It might've been the death of a young woman last spring that dampened everthing. I enjoyed walking along the rocky coastline between beaches. After a dinner movie on the outdoor projection screen I made some fast friends with a couple (who weren't a couple... just a friend who came out to travel with his friend whom had been in Africa for a year )from the U.S.. I traveled with them on a trip to the Portugese 'Old Goa' townsite ( incedentally the only garbage-free place I've seen in India thus far ) and an overnight sleeper bus journey to Mumbai.
I'm quite behind on my blogs.. Oct 20 to 23 Hampi After Bangalore I hopped on a train to Hampi and it's ruins. They are numerous, quite spread out and remind one of Ankor Wat in Cambodia but don't compare in age or majesty. They are worth a visit though and I enjoyed a few days wandering around. I've made a 3-d composition with which to cross your eyes for those of you interested in trying. The top composition is of the river temple and the bottom is from a central hilltop looking back over another temple. Then there's me in front of the Royal Elephant stables used back from the 1300 to 1500's.
Well, I´m definitely deep into the travel now. I wasn´t going to take on India and China in the same trip.. but it´s been awhile since China and I seem to have found my second wind for the umpteenth time.. oh and the cheap flights form Singapore didnt hurt either. So now I´m doing what I hadn´t imagined back in January... wandering around India on my own with no real plan other than to sight see. For some reason showing up in a new city/town with no idea where to stay doesn´t phase me - I arrived in India at 11:45pm in Chennai expecting to stay overnight in the Airport ( the internet made it seem high tech and new - but I think that´s the proposed new airport ) so was a bit put off when getting through baggage/cutoms etc and finding myself pushing away taxi touts on the streetside! I was happy to find the domestic terminal next door had a nice big waiting area for which I could pay a small fee to enter. Had a great meal at the airport and waited for the next morning to brave the mass transit ( ie cattle car.. no, seriously ) to the center of town and the foreigner/backpacker only accomodation. Chennai was not the easiest introduction to India I was later told.. but I kept my cool hoping I could escape to a western style shopping center to steel myself. The western style shopping center was in its third phase and only a few years old going on 50. Like Asia.. things here get built and then ignored into disrepair. In many cases they dont even get fully completed before they are left to rot over time. That should be a reminder not to fully pay for anything here or in Asia before it´s been completed or you´ve reached your destination! I´m now sitting in my hotel ( first time I´ve had a tv in my room in a long time.. for 310 rupees or about $7/night ) before going to hop on the 10pm overnight bus north of Bangalore ( Hospit.. on the way to Goa ). I still haven´t recovered from all my overnighters ( KL->Singapore, Chennai airport, Chennai -> Bangalore ) and I´m off on another one. It´s a bus though so maybe I´ll feel secure enough to get some sleep this time.
A few notes after the fact... Almost missed a flight... Just in time is becoming my motto... I went camera shopping in Jakarta and then barely got back to my hotel in time to get to the airport. Not a good idea when it´s the last day of your visa and you are in a country that will throw you in jail for a 10 day overstay. Daily penalties up until then are about $30USD a day and a chance for the immigration agent to make you miserable. When I got to the airport shuttle bus I realized the trip to the airport was a long one and that I hadn´t given myself anywhere near enough time! I got off the bus and hopped in a Taxi before realizing that wasn´t going to do it either.. my only hope was a delayed flight and sure enough.. it was 30 min delayed! I still had to run but ended up with 5 minutes to spare before boarding commenced. Revisit Rabies - When I initially researched rabies ( having being bit by a mouse in Bangkok ) I read that in north America most of the rabies deaths are from people who were bit by a bat but didn´t realize they had been bit as teh incisions are so small. Just recently it clicked that when I was in Seattle I had woken up with what I thought was two small spider bites on the back of my neck... very neatly spaced and tiny. Now I realize there´s a good chance it was a bat bite as there were plenty of bats ( vampire bats??? ) around the area! I´m not sure what freaks me out more.. the idea of being bitten by a large spider or a bat. Anyways.. I´m sure glad there was no rabies in that bite.. that was almost 10 years ago!
