Mumbai

The Gate of India. Built to commemorate the visit of King George V and Queen Mary in 1911.

It was still called Bombay the first time I was there many years ago, but other than the name, not much seems to have changed. Mumbai is another big Indian city, and, being such, it is crowded, noisy, and dirty. But there is enough charm in the city to keep a person interested for a while. Personally I had too much time there since I had to wait for a plane ticket out, but that is just poor planning on my part. There are certainly things for the tourist to see and do in Mumbai, but someone should tell the Mumbai government it is not a good idea to close all the tourist attractions on Monday. At least leave a museum open or something.


Most of my time was spent just wandering around, looking at city life and the architecture it exists in. The city has quite a legacy of buildings left over from the days of the British. And they have done a fair job of keeping many of them in good repair though a lot of work still needs to be done.

If I remember correctly, this is par of the University of Mumbai.

Another sight to see is the local laundry, the dobi ghats. When looking over the area you can't help but imagine how much laundry goes through that place. It was impressive seeing so many people doing so many other people's laundry the "old-fashioned" way. It makes you wonder what the effect of a simple appliance like the wash machine would have on the place if it ever became more popular in India. Think of all the people who would be put out of work.

I came in the afternoon, so much of the day's work was done.

Just a couple of caves cut into the rock that monks used for living, study and meditation.

I also saw the Kanheri Buddhist caves not too far from the city and the Elephanta Hindu caves on the island of Elephanta (formerly Gharapuri). The former were more spectacular for their location- cut into the sides of a valley and canyon wall. And the latter were more impressive for their carvings of Hindu deities and the stories being told. Be sure you take advantage of the free guide who can tell you a lot about what you are looking. It was very interesting even if my guide did seem to add a bit of his own philosophical spin to the stories.

This is actually a very large statue.

And yes, I did eat at McDonald's when I was in Mumbai. Come on, I had to go. In a country where the cow is sacred, you have to wonder what the largest hamburger chain in the world serves. Well you vegetarians out there will be happy to know that McDonald's in India does have a veggie burger. There is also a fish sandwich, and a couple of particularly Indian dishes, but the whole rest of the menu is chicken. There is no Big Mac, but the Maharaja Mac is- two all chicken patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese tomatoes, onions, on a sesame seed bun.

Every time I pointed my camera at her, she would tilt her head and go into this "shy pose."

Before I leave India, a few more observations.

Indians are greedy bastards. I am in no way suggesting that India has cornered the market on greed, but they sure do own a lot of stock in it. And this opinion certainly does not apply to everyone in the country. How do I know that "greed is good" in India? Well, there's the first hand experience of being taken for a ride, literally and figuratively, when riding in auto-rickshaws and looking for accommodations as a couple of examples, but it was also noted by just observation of things going on around me.

Not packaged, but still pricey at times.

In India, all factory produced and packaged food, and some nonfood items, carry a MRP, maximum retail price, printed right on the package. This is a good thing, too, because I expect that many shop owners would likely bleed you for whatever they could if they had their way. However, not content with what the government says they should charge, some shop owners have found a way around the MRP on some items. Cold drinks have the MRP printed on them just like other products, but when you take them to the counter to pay, the price may be 1-3 rupees higher. On pointing out to the shop owner that the MRP printed on the product said 20 rupees, I was told it was 2 rupees for cooling charge. If I wanted to pay 20, I could have a warm Coke. Needless to say, I usually wandered around the area until I found a supermarket that didn't add on a "cooling charge."

I had him sharpen my pocket knife. He did a darn good job, too.

During my time in India, the Indian auto manufacturing industry brought to market their first car for the "every-man." A compact car with a low enough price point that, ostensively, nearly everyone could afford. This might seem like a good thing, and in some ways it may be. But I, along with several environmental pundits see it as more of a negative thing. The environmental folk are decrying the move because of how devastating to the environment it would be to actually put a whole new class of Indians into the automobile.


While I generally agree with the environmentalists, after traveling in India, I see a negative aspect from a wholly different perspective. Where are the auto producers planning on having these new drivers drive, let alone park? Except for the area around Mumbai and maybe a couple of streets in a couple of cities, rarely did I travel on a road with more than one lane in each direction. More often than not, the shoulder was used as a second lane, along with the center line as long as you could scare the drivers coming the other way in to moving over. There is just not room on Indian roads for a whole new class of Indian drivers. Auto makers should be spending money on infrastructure projects rather than new low priced cars. Otherwise sales will come to a halt when people realize they can't actually get anywhere even if they do buy their own car.

Enjoy the photos.

Anjuna

From Panaji it was back to the coast. This time to Anjuna beach. There are several beaches in the area and Anjuna is probably the least developed for tourists, though that isn't saying much. But at least it isn't like the beach 30 - 45 minutes down the coast and around the headland. That place was thronged with Euro-tourists. Lots of overweight people showing too much flesh.

I have nothing against nudity. The "too much flesh" I mean was the extra poundage displayed when these people stuff themselves into what swimming suits they have. I have nothing against heavy people either, though it is obviously unhealthy, but, in my opinion, if you are going to go swimming, you should seriously consider getting a swimsuit that fits your form a little better as opposed to what looks good on the store mannequin. I know I am certainly no Adonis, but I have been told I have a nice but. That being said, I personally don't think it is nice enough to put on display in a thong on a beach that is populated by people more moderately dressed.

Many people seem to have an overly negative image of their own body, and that is too bad. Yet others can have an overly positive self-image of their body and that can be bad too. There is a lot more average out there in the world than people want to believe.


Besides the beach, another thing that makes Anjuna popular is the weekly flea market. Every Wednesday, people come from all over to sell their crafts, products, and old junk. There isn't that much old junk, but there are certainly a lot of interesting things to see. You could easily spend hours just walking around and looking at stuff. There is lots to buy, and if you get there early in the morning, you can get some good prices on things due to the Indian belief that they have to get that first sale out of the way as soon as possible for good luck.

Though there are lots of nice things, the problem for me is that I never really buy things unless I really need them. I rarely buy clothes unless what I have wears out. And I often pick up junk from the trash if I think it looks useful or might be able to be fixed. So whereas that carved animal or unique knickknack might look good on a mantle, I won't buy it because one- I don't have a mantle, and two- what would I really do with it once I have it? I have a hard enough time trying to get myself to buy souvenirs for family or friends. Consequently I think postcards are a godsend.

Not a lot of pictures from Anjuna- beach again. But there were some interesting rocks and a nice ruin of a fortification up on a nearby hill. Enjoy.

Old Goa

I think bus drivers in Turkey and Greece have to smoke, despite the little sign above them that says no smoking on the bus. It is probably one of those little "unwritten rules." Kind of like how in India all males must have a mustache. It seems that as long as they are able to grow one, males in India wear mustaches. No not 100%, but pretty darn close, mind you. Interesting the "rules" society imposes on us.

(Oh yes, I am in Greece now which means I am a full country behind in my posting of pictures. I'll get them all in eventually. Anyway ...)

Another reason to visit Panaji is as a base to visit Old Goa. It makes a nice day trip as the sites to see there can easily be visited from the central area where you hop off the bus. What is there to see? Uh, well, more churches and some church ruins. These churches are pretty impressive, though, almost "cathedral" in scale. The interior decorations are generally fairly impressive, too.

One of the churches is the resting place of the "incorruptible body" of St. Francis Xavier. They keep the body up on a dais and take him down to allow the faithful to have a gander every 10 years.You can actually see him a little bit up there through the glass coffin, and I have to say, his body looks pretty corrupted to me, very dried out and "mummified." I actually filed through the church when they took him
down in 1994 (On a whim, not knowing what was going on at the time.) and he looked pretty dessicated then, too. Maybe the fact that he isn't getting any worse is the actual "miracle." I don't know.

Read this I found about the saint: copyright John Howley and
Spiritual Guides from here.

"While traveling by boat to China, he got dysentery and died on the island of San Chuan (Sancian), off the Chinese coast on December 3, 1552 at the age of 46, ten years after his arrival in Goa. His body was buried in Sancian and later taken to Malacca. Even though the grave was filled with lime, the body was in perfect condition. Later, his body was again removed and taken to Goa on March 16, 1554. St Francis was canonized in 1622 by Pope Gregory XV. The body was then placed in the chapel in the Basilica of Bom Jesus.

Parts of Saint Francis' body have been removed as relics. In 1554, a Portuguese woman is said to have bitten off one of his toes. In 1615, part of his right arm was taken to Rome and placed in the Church of Gesu. Part of the right hand was taken to Japan in 1916. Parts of the intestines were removed and distributed to various places in Southeast Asia. In 1890, one of his toes fell off. It is kept in a crystal case in the Sacristy of the Basilica of Bom Jesus."

There is another "miracle" in the town, too. One of the churches has a crucifix where the figure of Christ is said to have open and closed his eyes and mouth. It also causes miraculous healing for those who pray here. Well, some anyway. Looking up at the figure, I could see where the lighting and the position of viewing may make it look like the face of Christ might move, but he didn't so much as wink at me. Oh well, I wasn't praying for any miracles anyway, and I doubt the only thing I would have asked for, world peace, would be within the bounds of grantable miracles.

Be sure to visit the ruins of the old church and the museum there too. All in all it was a nice day, even though after a long walk up the hill, the last church I wanted to see turned out to be closed. The view was very nice though.

Panaji

Panaji was an inland jaunt again. It is located up an estuary that sailors of old used, as evidenced by the numerous churches and religious ruins in the area. It is actually a rather nice town as far as Indian towns go. The river front area makes for a nice walk and a walking tour through the town to see the old quarter, the churches, and the Hindu temples makes for a nice day.


The town had a modern multiplex, so I decided to see a movie. I chose a Hollywood movie since I really doubted I would enjoy an Indian movie without any English subtitles. I honestly don't remember the movie's name, so it couldn't have been that great, but it was a nice break from the 'ordinary.'


Going to a movie in India is a bit of a different experience than seeing a movie in the west. Some ads were showing on the screen as I sat down, but then not long after, the waving Indian flag appeared and everyone stood up as the national anthem was played. Not wanting to be the odd man out, I stood up too. As I did, I could not help but imagine how not well the idea of making everyone stand for the national anthem at the beginning of a movie would go over in America.


The anthem ended, everyone sat down and the movie started. A little over an hour into the film it was stopped and we were informed that it was intermission time. Again, that would probably not go over well in America. But in India, since most films are three hours or more, an intermission is almost a necessity. Consequently, they still have intermissions even though most western movies don't need them. A few minutes into the intermission, trailers for other movies started to play. While it is always nice to see trailers, the scenes of different movies kind of interrupts the flow of the movie you came to see.


After the trailers ended, the movie resumed and was interruption free until the end. In all, quite a unique experience. I hope you enjoy the few pictures of Panaji. More photos next time.

More Beaches

After Hampi it was back to the beaches for a while. Forgive me, but there are not many pictures here. I just don't really take many pictures when I am lazing on the beach. Consequently I am going to lump a couple of places together here.

The very northern end of Gokarna from the headland.

The first location was Gokarna. The beach there was typically Indian, but it stretches far enough that you can get away from the bus crowd with a short walk. But the real gem of the area is just a bit south up and over a headland. About 20 - 30 minutes walk from Gokarna is Kudle beach.

The headland from on top.

It is much cleaner and much less populated with people, especially day-trippers. The water seems cleaner than normal and the beach definitely is. It has a shallow slope so you can get relatively far out and still be within a manageable depth for anyone not quite sure of their swimming abilities. The waves are benign and only serve to a bit of sound to the otherwise peaceful setting. There are several restaurants on the beach and some of them provide primitive huts or shacks if you would rather really get away from it all and not stay in the town of Gokarna.

Kudle beach from above.

There is actually one more beach up and over the next headland south of Kudle beach, but there is also an access road to that beach, so it is only a little better than Gokarna and certainly not near as nice as Kudle. If you would rather not walk, there is a semi-regular boat service from one beach to the next. I think Kudle was probably the best beach in India that I went to on this trip.

The beach at Coval.

From Gokarna I took a the train to Margao and then a bus to another beach area. I think this town suffers from a bit of an identity crisis, though. On the buses and signs I would see the name of the town spelled as both "Colva" and "Coval." I would say one version to a person and they would say the other version back to me.

Not much surf here either.

However you spell it, though, this beach area is much more developed, especially for package tourists. There were obviously groups of Europeans from different regions staying at different places along the beach. Some restaurants even seemed to cater to certain groups. And a couple of Indians spoke some European languages at me assuming I was from there.

Nope, not much to eat here. He is only about the size of an American quarter.

The beach was nice, nothing really spectacular, but the long stretches of mostly white sand to either side of you as you faced the ocean did somewhat fulfill that deserted island fantasy that many people harbor- if only all the people could have disappeared for a while.

Not much of a catch in the nets, either.

There was one particular thing I liked about the beach. Along a certain part of the beach, just above high tide, The sand was very fine and soft. In fact, when you walked on it in shoes/sandals, it would actually squeak and crunch the way snow does sometimes. I thought it was neat.

I spent much of my time on these beaches trying to develop a bit of a tan so that when I got home I still wouldn't be the pasty white guy that winters in Korea seem to foster. Of course I got a bit burned, but in time, that burn served as a good base coat (as the late John Candy would say). (Note- Much of that tan has already started to fade due to being covered up all the time in Turkey. :-( )

I hope you have enjoyed the few pictures here. Yes, that is all of them. Maybe if you push your imagination hard enough, you can produce your own beach fantasy from them. maybe not.

Hampi

Hampi was my next destination of note. It seems to be fairly popular with travelers and tourists. Luckily though, the bus tours don't seem to spend a lot of time there, so things can be pretty laid back for the backpacker crowd. Hampi is a nice place to spend a few more days in one location than you might usually.

One reason is just the setting. Hampi is situated on a plain strewn with granite boulders and the occasional granite hill. Additionally, there is a nice river winding its way through the plain which feeds or is fed by streams leading to banana plantations and sugar cane fields.

The scenery alone would probably be enough to make many people want to visit, " ... but wait! There's more!" Hampi was also a large population center at more than one time and there are ruins of temples and city structures from different eras all around he area.

For some of the structures all that remains is just the impression of where things once stood, but other structures are still standing, revealing much of the glory of days gone by. The Indian government has done a good job of restoring some structures and yet leaving some areas relatively untouched for the Indiana Jones in all of us. The work is on-going though, so don't wait too long to visit or by the time you get there everything will have been rebuilt.

Another good thing about Hampi, especially for cheap bastards like me, is that you can wander around and see a lot of interesting things without ever having to pay anything. There are entrance fees to a couple of areas, but until you are ready to see those particular locations, there is a lot to keep you occupied. it can be hot though, even in winter, so just be ready for the weather.

Yes, I went into the hills with all my money and camera, alone, and I didn't meet one robber. Maybe that is because I didn't bring any narcotic drugs with me.

Again, there a re a lot of pictures here so it may be best to use the album view rather than the slide show. That way you can click those photos that pique your interest and bypass the yawners.

Indian Erotica

Yeah, that title should bring in folks from the search engines.

Now we come to the portion of my travels that the prurient among us have been waiting for. The R-rated section of historical India. No, I didn't visit Khajuraho which is famed for the erotic carvings on its temples. But I did take some photos of carvings in other places, mostly Hampi, that prove that in the past, India certainly was not as prim and proper as it may seem to be today. After all, this is the culture that gave us the Kama Sutra.

Those easily offended can pass on by, but for the rest of you, cover the children's eyes or close the bedroom door and click to your heart's content. OK, honestly I doubt anyone will be titillated by these photos of carvings, but I thought I should give fair warning. You never know who may surf to your web page.



Some of these carvings are a bit worn, so if you are having trouble making out what you see, (ladies only) send me your name, age, and measurements and maybe we can arrange for a private viewing of my etchings ... uh, photos. (Wink, wink, nudge, nudge, know what I mean.)

Belur and Halebid

If you are ever in the area of Hassan in Karnataka, India, do yourself a favor and stop long enough to take a day trip to Belur and Halebid. They are easy to get to get to and you can visit both of them in one day.

The temple at Halebid and ...

The temple at Belur.

If they are such a quick trip, you may be thinking to yourself, there must not be much to see. Well, technically there isn't. There is just one main temple in each city, but each of those temples can keep you enthralled for hours. The carvings on these temples are some of the most intricate and involved I have seen in India. You wander in and around the temples marveling at the handiwork you see.

This is actually only about as tall as your hand.

There are things done on the large scale, like giant bulls and large lathe turned pillars, and things done on the small scale like scroll work and frolicking monkeys. There are even parts of the temples where you can see how the work was done due to the unfinished nature of some of the carvings. After spending some time at these places, you can easily see why writers and historians say these temples were produced at the height of their particular period.

Another small detail.

Large scale work.

There are a lot of photos here, but I think you will enjoy many of them. It may be best to choose the 'album view' and then pick and choose at your leisure. Remember though, I am only taking photos of the art that is already there.

Elephant attack!

And no, I don't know why this bull has decapitated a man and is displaying his head for all to see.

Have a look at the photos.

Mangalore

I have complained several times about bus travel in India, but I could almost as easily complain about train travel here too. It is often a dilemma trying to decide on which mode of transportation to use.

There are almost always buses going wherever you might want to go if you can figure out what is going on, but buses can be dirty, uncomfortable, and sometimes dangerous. Trains have inconvenient schedules, offer fewer destinations, and are often crowded or fully booked; yet they can be more comfortable and offer a completely different view of the Indian landscape. Actually both trains and buses can be much more comfortable if you are willing to pay significantly more for you seat. Oddly enough, though, generally neither option seems to be that much quicker than the other when heading to the same destination.

Buses can be somewhat cheaper than a similar train journey, but often the bus stations are outside the city which means you have to figure the cost of a taxi or auto-rickshaw into the equation to get where you really want to go. This can bring the cost of the bus trip equal to or greater than the cost of a train trip.

Yes, there is a third way to travel, by plane. But for me, traveling by plane would mean losing part of what I go on journeys for in the first place, the experience of traveling itself. Even if the plane itself may not be quite so, to me, plane travel feels a bit sanitized.

I hate sounding like a whiner.

Mangalore was just a pause in the journey, but I did have time to get out and look around the city. And luckily there was something to see.

This trip wasn't planned as a religious excursion or pilgrimage, but it does certainly seem like I have visited a lot of churches and temples. I think there have been so many churches because much of my travel has been concentrated, relatively, near the coast. I expect that in the days of old the missionaries themselves didn't wander too far inland, at least until they had well established flocks and churches to keep the home fires burning.

Not So Nice

It was a seven hour ride from Ooty to Kozhikode (Calicut) and it cost me less than $2 US. No, don't congratulate me on my frugality. It certainly was not a bargain. It was dusty, dirty, noisy, and bone-jarringly bumpy at times. There was some nice scenery at times, but I don't think that quite made up for the negative aspects of the ride.

Calicut was certainly not much to write home about. The guide book mentions that it is an OK city. but I would even question that rating. The few "sights" were not really interesting compared to anything else in India, and the beach ...

Well let me tell you about the beach. The main beach area is a typical Indian beach, generally dirty. There is some "development" there in the form of carnival rides and such, but overall it is not very appealing. But perhaps my impression of the area has been colored by the rest of the beach.

I thought it would be nice to take a walk up the beach and get away from the developed area. As I started walking up the beach, I could not believe how much crap there was on the beach, and I don't mean trash. Human feces was practically rolling in the surf. Apparently the whole long stretch of beach is nothing more than a toilet. People drop their loads, wash them selves in the surf, and walk away. It was actually pretty disgusting, and I have seen some bad things in my travels around the world. Come on, even cats will bury their shit.

Now some of you may be saying, give them a break, it is the ocean after all. If they were taking a dump in the ocean, I wouldn't have as much of a problem with it. But it was on the beach. Piles between the water's edge and high tide, and logs rolling in the waves.

Makes you think twice about wanting to swim at the beaches in India, doesn't it? But don't worry too much. I didn't seen anything quite like this at any of the other beaches I visited in India. So my advice to you is to avoid Calicut if you can, and if you can't, just get in and out as quick as possible.

There are only three photos from Calicut in this set and they don't even show the city. One is a list of all the possible discounts available for train tickets, the next is a political poster for one of the parties in Kerala (In the north they seem to prefer Che over the communist trinity.) and the third is of the guy who fixed my sandals.

The other photos are of the Wayanad area back up in the hill country a bit. Supposedly there is wildlife in the park area there, but I only saw some monkeys, deer, and the side of an elephant. And the elephant wasn't even actually within the park. (It was just his side because he was off in the distance in the forest and I couldn't quite see his head for the trees.)

Have a look at the photos if you want.

Udhagamandalam

To get away from the dust and the heat (well, the heat anyway) my next stop was Ooty. Yes, the name given to it by the British is much easier to pronounce. It is located up in the hill country, the Nilgiri range of the Southern (Western and Eastern) Ghats. The British of colonial days turned it into a retreat, their own respite from the heat of the plains.

The Nilgiri are sometimes called the 'Blue Hills'.

It was nice to be in a different environment. It was cooler; there were different trees, I was hoping for more pine but they were mostly eucalyptus; and things just took on a different air.

Before arriving in Ooty, something kept nagging at me from the back of my mind. The name sounded awfully familiar and not just because I read about about it in the guide book. Then the second day when I went to the botanical gardens and saw the entrance, it hit me. I had been here before, 13 years ago. On my last trip to India, I believe this was as far south as I had gotten. I had gone to Ooty before and completely forgotten about it until right then.

The more I walked around the city, the more I began to remember things. I think the reason I didn't remember the first day was because the town has changed, a lot. I remembered a lot more tea plantations. Most of the tea plantations seemed to have moved further away from the town. Now the plots are lying empty or a lot of vegetables, mostly carrots, are being grown in former tea plots. The town has more buildings, too, but nothing really looks very new.

One of the tea plantations still in the valley.

It is OK that I was visiting the town again. I was actually rediscovering it all over again. And I did a few things I didn't do on my first visit. On Christmas eve day I climbed up the highest mountain in southern India, Doddabetta peak at 2634 meters (8640 ft), and hiked back down a roundabout trail into the valley of Ooty.

A pond along the trail down.

And on Christmas day I took a bus to Kalhatti falls, ate my lunch (yes, peanut butter and crackers) in the presence of some beautiful nature, and then walked the 11 km back to town. It was a Christmas celebration of a different kind.

The falls from the bottom. I have a view from the top, too.

Thrissur

Thrissur (Trichur) was not much to write home about, but I do have some pictures of a couple of churches there.


And an elephant.


I guess the people in Thrissur must be pretty special (or pretty evil) if they have to bring in holy water by the tanker truck.








Note: Just for the sake of clarity, I am actually traveling in Turkey now, but I still have some photos of India yet to post.