Magical India
Dec 7th, 2013, 05:58 PM
#21
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progol - I know 10 rupees is about 16 cents. I was actually getting pretty good at money conversion. What I should have written is "that custard apple would cost about $3 in the U.S." Glad you are still enjoying my report.
Dec 8th, 2013, 10:55 AM
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Oct 15 - Kathmandu
Flight to Kathmandu was uneventful. Praying for clear skies. The Soaltee Crowne Plaza is a very nice hotel. We were sitting in the open-air lobby when about 10 sheiks and their entourage decided to sit in the lobby too and chat amongst themselves. Angela wanted to take pictures of them, but I urged her not to. There is a wonderful restaurant there called Jakatori, with delicious Indian/Nepalese food. We then went to Thamel to hang out. Thamel is a bustling, trekker, backpacker Western place, kind of like Greenwich Village, without the trekkers and backpackers. I set out to buy a Tibetan singing bowl (it was the ONLY thing on my list of things to buy). I'm a natural ... that bowl was singing in a minute. Love it! On the main street, we found a very good cup of coffee at Himalayan Brew, like a Starbucks and almost as expensive. I bought two pounds of beans for my husband. And free wifi!
Oct 16
Up at 5:30 a.m. to catch a mountain flight to see Mount Everest. This has been on my bucket list for the last 44 years, when I learned about Everest in 4th grade. We had made reservations, but didn't know if our flight was going up or not when we got to the airport. As is the practice, the first flight of the morning will dictate if the weather is good enough to see the Himalayas. Ours was. Behold the grandeur … my dream was fulfilled! It was beautiful and brought tears to my eyes. Every person got a chance to go to the cockpit to see a panoramic view of Everest and its glorious neighbors. I had taken a Dramamine because I didn't know the extent of the puddle-hopperness of the plane. It was a Beechcraft 1900D, and was actually a very smooth flight. My adrenaline was pumping in the plane, but the effect of the Dramamine left me knocked out in the car and for most of the morning. I slept in between sightseeing stops. Got out, looked around, snapped a few pics, and went back to sleep.
The temples in Durbar Square are different than Indian temples -- more of a Chinese influence. Lots of teak and Chinese architecture. Very pretty.
Onto Nagarkot for the night to see the Himalayas at sunrise (hopefully) -- a harrowing nail-biting 1-1/2 lane road hugging the mountain. The road to Nagarkot is so scenic. As we ascended, we saw step farming, rice paddies, little guest houses, and villagers going about their daily business. The Kathmandu Valley from up there is so beautiful. My pictures, however, do not show the depth of the Valley from our vista. Club Himalaya is a small, nice, rustic, round hotel with a central lobby/free wifi/restaurant area. We got 1/2 hr. head and shoulder massage for $12. Wonderful strong slip of a young woman. On the rooftop to see … the clouds.
However, there was one majestic mountain peeking out above the clouds. I pointed out the mountain to a few American women living in Abu Dhabi. Within minutes, they posted it on Facebook, as Mt. Everest, only to find out it was not. Oh well it was a good laugh. Not sure how many people would know Mt. Everest from Lhotse or any other Himalaya anyway.
We awoke at 5:45 a hoping to see the sunrise behind Himalayas, but it was too cloudy. Couldn't see anything. Oh well at least I saw Mount Everest from the plane.
Oct 17
Checking out was harrowing as my credit card did not go through. Turns out it was their phones ... phew! So they did it the old-fashioned way with a paper swipe.
Back down the mountain to Kathmandu. We visited Pashupatinath Temple, and across the river we were able to see many cremations taking place at the banks of the Bagnati River. Now THAT was cough-inducing! We circumnavigated (clockwise, the respectful way) the Boudhanath Stupa, the holiest Buddhist temple in Kathmandu and one of the largest stupas in the world. There are shops and restaurants around the perimeter of the stupa. It is a very nice place to spend the day. I bought a very zen Thangka painting for my son, spun the largest prayer wheel I ever saw, and took pictures of Sadhus … who are holy men that are on the fast track to total enlightenment, so beg only as a way to sustain life. Our guide, Ramilla, said that a lot of them are fakes. Who knows! They will only let you take a picture if you pay them.
Nepal is much more westernized than the India we visited so far. The Nepalese are noticeably more East-Asian looking than Indian. One can walk around and cross the street, relatively safely. As we drive through town, we noticed hordes of people walking together with intent. Ramila said that it was the beginning of Dipankha Yatra, a holy journey that takes place in Kathmandu. Devotees walk through the journey barefooted to 131 religious destinations within 36 hours. The Yatra (journey) is decided by the astrological calendar. It takes place only when five astrological events fall on the same day. It's mostly celebrated by Buddhist and Hindu Newars. The previous Yatra occurred in 2005 and before that 38 years ago. So this was a big thing!
We went to Fire and Ice Pizzeria in Thamel for dinner. I thought the pizza was delicious, Angela thought it wasn't all that. We walked around Thamel again. I bought a pair of Nepalese-style pants for myself and one pair for my daughter and some t-shirts for the guys back home. The air pollution in Kathmandu is palpable, and my throat was dry and itchy as long as we were walking in the streets. Many locals were walking around with masks on.
I really love Nepal. It is a regret of mine that I never thought to trek when I was younger. Now I am older, and we are going on flight back to the south of India tomorrow for the last leg of our vacation. Not sure if I'll be back here again in this part of the world, as least with good enough knees to trek.
Apparently my name, Rita, is a common name in India and Nepal. It means right, true, or righteous. Or in Sanskrit "empty" signifying a formless god. Not sure if that's good or bad. Either way, I took a bunch of pictures of storefronts: Rita Handicrafts, Rita Jewelry, Rita Beads.
Goodbye Ramilla. On to Kochi (Kerala)
Flight to Kathmandu was uneventful. Praying for clear skies. The Soaltee Crowne Plaza is a very nice hotel. We were sitting in the open-air lobby when about 10 sheiks and their entourage decided to sit in the lobby too and chat amongst themselves. Angela wanted to take pictures of them, but I urged her not to. There is a wonderful restaurant there called Jakatori, with delicious Indian/Nepalese food. We then went to Thamel to hang out. Thamel is a bustling, trekker, backpacker Western place, kind of like Greenwich Village, without the trekkers and backpackers. I set out to buy a Tibetan singing bowl (it was the ONLY thing on my list of things to buy). I'm a natural ... that bowl was singing in a minute. Love it! On the main street, we found a very good cup of coffee at Himalayan Brew, like a Starbucks and almost as expensive. I bought two pounds of beans for my husband. And free wifi!
Oct 16
Up at 5:30 a.m. to catch a mountain flight to see Mount Everest. This has been on my bucket list for the last 44 years, when I learned about Everest in 4th grade. We had made reservations, but didn't know if our flight was going up or not when we got to the airport. As is the practice, the first flight of the morning will dictate if the weather is good enough to see the Himalayas. Ours was. Behold the grandeur … my dream was fulfilled! It was beautiful and brought tears to my eyes. Every person got a chance to go to the cockpit to see a panoramic view of Everest and its glorious neighbors. I had taken a Dramamine because I didn't know the extent of the puddle-hopperness of the plane. It was a Beechcraft 1900D, and was actually a very smooth flight. My adrenaline was pumping in the plane, but the effect of the Dramamine left me knocked out in the car and for most of the morning. I slept in between sightseeing stops. Got out, looked around, snapped a few pics, and went back to sleep.
The temples in Durbar Square are different than Indian temples -- more of a Chinese influence. Lots of teak and Chinese architecture. Very pretty.
Onto Nagarkot for the night to see the Himalayas at sunrise (hopefully) -- a harrowing nail-biting 1-1/2 lane road hugging the mountain. The road to Nagarkot is so scenic. As we ascended, we saw step farming, rice paddies, little guest houses, and villagers going about their daily business. The Kathmandu Valley from up there is so beautiful. My pictures, however, do not show the depth of the Valley from our vista. Club Himalaya is a small, nice, rustic, round hotel with a central lobby/free wifi/restaurant area. We got 1/2 hr. head and shoulder massage for $12. Wonderful strong slip of a young woman. On the rooftop to see … the clouds.
However, there was one majestic mountain peeking out above the clouds. I pointed out the mountain to a few American women living in Abu Dhabi. Within minutes, they posted it on Facebook, as Mt. Everest, only to find out it was not. Oh well it was a good laugh. Not sure how many people would know Mt. Everest from Lhotse or any other Himalaya anyway. We awoke at 5:45 a hoping to see the sunrise behind Himalayas, but it was too cloudy. Couldn't see anything. Oh well at least I saw Mount Everest from the plane.
Oct 17
Checking out was harrowing as my credit card did not go through. Turns out it was their phones ... phew! So they did it the old-fashioned way with a paper swipe.
Back down the mountain to Kathmandu. We visited Pashupatinath Temple, and across the river we were able to see many cremations taking place at the banks of the Bagnati River. Now THAT was cough-inducing! We circumnavigated (clockwise, the respectful way) the Boudhanath Stupa, the holiest Buddhist temple in Kathmandu and one of the largest stupas in the world. There are shops and restaurants around the perimeter of the stupa. It is a very nice place to spend the day. I bought a very zen Thangka painting for my son, spun the largest prayer wheel I ever saw, and took pictures of Sadhus … who are holy men that are on the fast track to total enlightenment, so beg only as a way to sustain life. Our guide, Ramilla, said that a lot of them are fakes. Who knows! They will only let you take a picture if you pay them.
Nepal is much more westernized than the India we visited so far. The Nepalese are noticeably more East-Asian looking than Indian. One can walk around and cross the street, relatively safely. As we drive through town, we noticed hordes of people walking together with intent. Ramila said that it was the beginning of Dipankha Yatra, a holy journey that takes place in Kathmandu. Devotees walk through the journey barefooted to 131 religious destinations within 36 hours. The Yatra (journey) is decided by the astrological calendar. It takes place only when five astrological events fall on the same day. It's mostly celebrated by Buddhist and Hindu Newars. The previous Yatra occurred in 2005 and before that 38 years ago. So this was a big thing!
We went to Fire and Ice Pizzeria in Thamel for dinner. I thought the pizza was delicious, Angela thought it wasn't all that. We walked around Thamel again. I bought a pair of Nepalese-style pants for myself and one pair for my daughter and some t-shirts for the guys back home. The air pollution in Kathmandu is palpable, and my throat was dry and itchy as long as we were walking in the streets. Many locals were walking around with masks on.
I really love Nepal. It is a regret of mine that I never thought to trek when I was younger. Now I am older, and we are going on flight back to the south of India tomorrow for the last leg of our vacation. Not sure if I'll be back here again in this part of the world, as least with good enough knees to trek.
Apparently my name, Rita, is a common name in India and Nepal. It means right, true, or righteous. Or in Sanskrit "empty" signifying a formless god. Not sure if that's good or bad. Either way, I took a bunch of pictures of storefronts: Rita Handicrafts, Rita Jewelry, Rita Beads.
Goodbye Ramilla. On to Kochi (Kerala)
Dec 11th, 2013, 07:35 PM
#24
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Oct 18.
The plane ride to Kochi via Delhi delayed by 1/2 hour. The view of the Himalayas from plane was gorgeous!!! I was climbing all over this poor young man on his first business trip to take pictures of the Himalayas. He was so patient. We couldn't see Mount Everest though as it was in the east and we were flying southwesterly.
With only 16 minutes to connect (because of the delay), we went running through the airport laden down with handbags (mostly souvenirs) hanging all over us. The airport security insisted on rummaging through everything AGAIN. Two guards escorted us but did not lift a finger to help us carry anything. They were paging our names through the airport. As Angela is lagging behind, I get to the entrance of the plane and the pilot has the nerve to say to me "You are late!" Red-faced from running, I clench my teeth and say, "Noooooo, the flight was late." Our seats were way in the back and we had to drag everything the length of the plane while all the Indian passengers glared at us like we had just assassinated their favorite Bollywood star. (I stole this metaphor from Angela … sorry Angela. It was just too good.) If you care to get into the semantics of similes versus metaphors, be my guest.
Oct 19 - Kochi
Kerala was beautiful, clean and much less populated. The Keralans pride themselves on having 100% percent literacy rate. However, there is still a high unemployment rate, but as is anywhere, education is always a good thing. We were 15 minutes out of airport before we heard a beep.
We stayed at an adorable little hotel -- CGH Eighth Bastion, the best beds so far.
You can see the Christian influence in Kerala. There are many Catholic churches along the roads. But like the eye-opening Indian decorations of Hindu idols, even the Catholic Churches have eye-opening decorations … lit-up rosary beads festooning the façade of the Church. And there are statues of Jesus and Mary EVERYWHERE. There are also many many Catholic primary and secondary schools. Our guide, Susan, she is a Christian, so no Hindu name, told us that Kerala was not plundered like northern India because the Maharajas in Kerala did not show off their wealth, so they flew under the radar so to speak.
In Cochin, the gateway of Kerala, we visited St. Francis Church which housed Vasco de Gama's tomb, but he was eventually moved back to Portugal. We visited the Dutch museum and the Chinese fishing nets. The nets are only for the benefit of tourists these days, and besides China, can only be found in Kerala. They are right on the Arabian Sea, and there are a lot of stalls where locals come to buy the daily catch.
We went into town and each bought a carry on for $12 for all our souvenirs. We learned the hard way after the airport debacle. In town at a woman's store/outfit I bought 17 vanilla beans for $10! I pay $3.69 for 2 in Fairway.
Went to cooking demonstration with Nalini Verma. We had a delicious festive Kerala meal served in the traditional way … on a banana leaf. Ms. Verma is a pleasant progressive Indian woman who delighted us with stories and anecdotes. She has two daughters, one living in NY and one in Mumbai, who she said married whoever they wanted. Her grandmother and grandfather's marriage was not arranged and neither was hers. We came away with a lovely afternoon and quite a few Indian recipes.
Although it was cloudy for the rest of our vacation, it was still hot enough to take a quick dip in the pool before we were off to see the Kathakali dancers/actors. They study for 6 years and act out Hindi stories. We got there early to watch them put on heavy makeup and take pictures. You can't take pictures of the performance for whatever reason. It was interesting for the first half hour, after that we were ready to bolt, but we had the honor of first row seats in a small theater so we couldn't sneak out.
I'm so skeptical. Susan and Scinto (our driver) had just driven us to the ATM machine. We climb back in the SUV and then Scinto starts driving through these back alleys for a few minutes. For a fleeting moment I'm thinking OK, they know we just got money from the ATMs, and now they are going to rip us off. But Scinto takes us to a truck stop, asks questions of a few drivers, and says, pick your truck, they said you can take pictures of any that you want. How thoughtful! A day before I had told Scinto that I needed to take a picture of the inside of a cab of truck. Finally got my wish.
We went to Fort Cochi Restaurant on Susan's recommendation. We ordered spaghetti with shrimp. Mushy spaghetti swimming in ketchup! Yuck! But the garlic naan was delicious and almost made up for it. Note to self -- do not order Italian food in India (except for the risotto in 24/7 in The Lalit in Delhi).
Bye Susan.
Tomorrow Alleppey houseboat on backwaters.
Oct 20 - 45-minute drive to Alleppey
Backwaters are lush and beautiful. We had a houseboat all to ourselves, including plasma TV, which we didn't even turn on, with our own private crew at our beck and call. The village life along the backwater canals is so peaceful. We saw vivid green rice paddies, women washing clothes, men fishing, ferries transporting people to work and children to school. We stopped at an Ayurvedic massage spa. Crazy! $24. I love massages but this was too weird for me - sitting naked on a chair, oil by the gallons being poured on you, massaged on a hard wooden plank till you hurt and then bathed down with a bucket of water.
We were just told the starter doesn't work so we will stay near the spa for the night. The food on boat was wonderful, but for dinner we had to eat in our room because the bugs on the boat were relentless at dusk, as there were no mosquito nets on deck. That was my only complaint about the houseboat part of my tour. The backwaters were in end of monsoon season, and it rained every day for at least two hours. Early in the morning a rescue crew came and fixed the starter. The added bonus of our "starter breakdown" was that other houseboats had to check back in at shore at 9 a.m. We didn't start back until 9:30 so it was just us and the villagers. Priceless!
Oct 21-23
On to Marari Beach Resort, another CGH Resort. Three days of pure peacefulness. CGH Earth Marari. C-clean G-green H-healthy. CGH offered a ecotour of the property…they are committed to the CGH lifestyle and pretty much recycle EVERYTHING, and I mean EVERYTHING. Our own private tour was led by a naturalist, Daniel. He took us to the Sewage Recycling Plant where they use sewage to make energy. They compost, harvest rainwater, have their own vegetable farm out back. It is really very ecological.
Marari has this gigantic pool area and we went to the pool and had drinks. There are signs that try to dissuade you from going to the beach. We were told that bands of kids roam the beach and can get menacing. We did take a walk on the beach though but it wasn't sunny. The Arabian Sea is very gray like the Atlantic, not turquoise like the Caribbean. We took 5:15 meditation from yoga/meditation teacher who has been doing yoga it for 56 years. He was a high school math teacher. And retired 10 years ago. We had three lovely lazy days -- read, took naps, took walks, did some meditation, watched the birds and a guinea hen, and talked with the chef, who should be on a top-chef TV show he was that good.
One day we rented a tuk tuk for 500 rupees to round trip us to town and wait for an hour. Where did he bring us? Right in front of the 916 district (22K gold district). We looked at a few pieces, but then just went around taking pictures.
Tomorrow flight to spend the day in Mumbai and then home.
Oct 24
Mumbai is a very busy modern city. No tuk tuks allowed in city proper. And most people dress in Western clothes.
We saw Dhobi Ghat from above. Dhobi Ghat is an open-air laundromat servicing the nearby hotels and hospitals. Hundreds of people, mostly young men, are employed and you can see them sorting, scrubbing, drying, folding the laundry of many thousands of people. It looked like hard work. I bet they always pray for clear warm weather.
Next a drive-by of Victoria Terminus, very busy, very Gothic.
We drove along Marine Drive and promenade, which is a main road that hugs the Arabian Sea. We stopped at Chowpatty Beach, and told Polly, our guide, that we wanted to have some ice cream. At first he brought us to a stand at Chowpatty Beach and ordered our ice cream or kulfi. When he (and we) saw the shop owner using this dirty disgusting rag to get our plates ready, he quickly whisked us away to a proper kulfi shop. There we had pre-made mango and pistachio kulfi, so there was no worry about sanitation. Kulfi is not that great, kind of like a "dry" ice cream if you will. I'll take Breyers over kulfi any day.
We mentioned to Polly about the Parsis and the rooftop burial. He took us to Tower of Silence, which is the proper place that Parsis go to have the body of a loved one devoured by vultures. We were only able to go into the building where the families grieve. Not allowed up to the roof, which I am sure would be kind of disturbing … to me anyway. Google Image "Tower of Silence" you can see as many pictures as you want of the top and inside.
We drove past the Dharavi slum, the same slum that was filmed in "Slumdog Millionaire." As horrible as it seems, people live there rent-free, and they can save money. There seems to be a diverse economy and people have businesses. To be honest, most of them looked a lot happier than the people I see schlepping to work on the subway each day.
Off to Mani Bhawan (which was where Mahatma Gandhi used to stay when he was in Mumbai). I was so taken with Mani Bhawan that I bought Gandhi's autobiography right then and there. I'll start it once I finally get through Dan Brown's The Lost Symbol -- it's taking forever.
Past Mukesh Ambani's (the Mumbai Billionaire) horrid 27-story "home." Up to Kamla Nehru Park in Malabar Hills, a very pretty park offering great shots of Chowpatty Beach and Marine Drive.
Polly took us to the Gateway of India at dusk. It was a sight to behold and it is gargantuan.
Our last Indian stop was Leopold's. It was high on my list of things to see because my favorite author, Gregory David Roberts, who wrote my favorite book, Shantaram, used to hang out there. He shares his time between Mumbai and Switzerland, and I'm told he's a regular fixture at Leopold's. However, tonight was not my lucky night as he was most recently there two months ago.
As the sun set we got to see the lights along Marine Drive, sometimes called "The Queen's Necklace." It was very pretty and a perfect way to end our India vacation. Mumbai is a very cosmopolitan city. Sorry we didn't spend more time there.
At the airport for our 1:30 am flight, we decided to use up the last of our rupees and each got a wonderful 30-minute Thai foot massage. We get on the plane, I take an Ambien, pop my earplugs in and my mask on. Woke after 6 hours to the incessant cawing, yes cawing, of two babies for the remainder of our flight. Angela told me the big brother was throwing empty water bottles at me, I must have really been in Ambien-land because I had no clue.
Home. Glad to see husband and my grown children. Back to work, cleaning, cooking.
My Impressions: I love India. I love the people, I love the food. I want to go back as soon as I have enough money saved up. The Indians as a whole are a beautiful people: flawless skin, beautiful features, gorgeous shiny black hair. All the males had nice hairstyles. No skinhead looks, asymmetrical messes, or goop-inspired mohawks. And the women had beautiful colorful saris and always seemed put together. The children seemed happy, walking arm in arm with each other often, and smiling. In fact everyone seemed to be ok with their lot in life. I think that is something we can learn from the Indians.
Thank you for reading. If you have any questios for me, please post.
The plane ride to Kochi via Delhi delayed by 1/2 hour. The view of the Himalayas from plane was gorgeous!!! I was climbing all over this poor young man on his first business trip to take pictures of the Himalayas. He was so patient. We couldn't see Mount Everest though as it was in the east and we were flying southwesterly.
With only 16 minutes to connect (because of the delay), we went running through the airport laden down with handbags (mostly souvenirs) hanging all over us. The airport security insisted on rummaging through everything AGAIN. Two guards escorted us but did not lift a finger to help us carry anything. They were paging our names through the airport. As Angela is lagging behind, I get to the entrance of the plane and the pilot has the nerve to say to me "You are late!" Red-faced from running, I clench my teeth and say, "Noooooo, the flight was late." Our seats were way in the back and we had to drag everything the length of the plane while all the Indian passengers glared at us like we had just assassinated their favorite Bollywood star. (I stole this metaphor from Angela … sorry Angela. It was just too good.) If you care to get into the semantics of similes versus metaphors, be my guest.
Oct 19 - Kochi
Kerala was beautiful, clean and much less populated. The Keralans pride themselves on having 100% percent literacy rate. However, there is still a high unemployment rate, but as is anywhere, education is always a good thing. We were 15 minutes out of airport before we heard a beep.
We stayed at an adorable little hotel -- CGH Eighth Bastion, the best beds so far.
You can see the Christian influence in Kerala. There are many Catholic churches along the roads. But like the eye-opening Indian decorations of Hindu idols, even the Catholic Churches have eye-opening decorations … lit-up rosary beads festooning the façade of the Church. And there are statues of Jesus and Mary EVERYWHERE. There are also many many Catholic primary and secondary schools. Our guide, Susan, she is a Christian, so no Hindu name, told us that Kerala was not plundered like northern India because the Maharajas in Kerala did not show off their wealth, so they flew under the radar so to speak.
In Cochin, the gateway of Kerala, we visited St. Francis Church which housed Vasco de Gama's tomb, but he was eventually moved back to Portugal. We visited the Dutch museum and the Chinese fishing nets. The nets are only for the benefit of tourists these days, and besides China, can only be found in Kerala. They are right on the Arabian Sea, and there are a lot of stalls where locals come to buy the daily catch.
We went into town and each bought a carry on for $12 for all our souvenirs. We learned the hard way after the airport debacle. In town at a woman's store/outfit I bought 17 vanilla beans for $10! I pay $3.69 for 2 in Fairway.
Went to cooking demonstration with Nalini Verma. We had a delicious festive Kerala meal served in the traditional way … on a banana leaf. Ms. Verma is a pleasant progressive Indian woman who delighted us with stories and anecdotes. She has two daughters, one living in NY and one in Mumbai, who she said married whoever they wanted. Her grandmother and grandfather's marriage was not arranged and neither was hers. We came away with a lovely afternoon and quite a few Indian recipes.
Although it was cloudy for the rest of our vacation, it was still hot enough to take a quick dip in the pool before we were off to see the Kathakali dancers/actors. They study for 6 years and act out Hindi stories. We got there early to watch them put on heavy makeup and take pictures. You can't take pictures of the performance for whatever reason. It was interesting for the first half hour, after that we were ready to bolt, but we had the honor of first row seats in a small theater so we couldn't sneak out.
I'm so skeptical. Susan and Scinto (our driver) had just driven us to the ATM machine. We climb back in the SUV and then Scinto starts driving through these back alleys for a few minutes. For a fleeting moment I'm thinking OK, they know we just got money from the ATMs, and now they are going to rip us off. But Scinto takes us to a truck stop, asks questions of a few drivers, and says, pick your truck, they said you can take pictures of any that you want. How thoughtful! A day before I had told Scinto that I needed to take a picture of the inside of a cab of truck. Finally got my wish.
We went to Fort Cochi Restaurant on Susan's recommendation. We ordered spaghetti with shrimp. Mushy spaghetti swimming in ketchup! Yuck! But the garlic naan was delicious and almost made up for it. Note to self -- do not order Italian food in India (except for the risotto in 24/7 in The Lalit in Delhi).
Bye Susan.
Tomorrow Alleppey houseboat on backwaters.
Oct 20 - 45-minute drive to Alleppey
Backwaters are lush and beautiful. We had a houseboat all to ourselves, including plasma TV, which we didn't even turn on, with our own private crew at our beck and call. The village life along the backwater canals is so peaceful. We saw vivid green rice paddies, women washing clothes, men fishing, ferries transporting people to work and children to school. We stopped at an Ayurvedic massage spa. Crazy! $24. I love massages but this was too weird for me - sitting naked on a chair, oil by the gallons being poured on you, massaged on a hard wooden plank till you hurt and then bathed down with a bucket of water.
We were just told the starter doesn't work so we will stay near the spa for the night. The food on boat was wonderful, but for dinner we had to eat in our room because the bugs on the boat were relentless at dusk, as there were no mosquito nets on deck. That was my only complaint about the houseboat part of my tour. The backwaters were in end of monsoon season, and it rained every day for at least two hours. Early in the morning a rescue crew came and fixed the starter. The added bonus of our "starter breakdown" was that other houseboats had to check back in at shore at 9 a.m. We didn't start back until 9:30 so it was just us and the villagers. Priceless!
Oct 21-23
On to Marari Beach Resort, another CGH Resort. Three days of pure peacefulness. CGH Earth Marari. C-clean G-green H-healthy. CGH offered a ecotour of the property…they are committed to the CGH lifestyle and pretty much recycle EVERYTHING, and I mean EVERYTHING. Our own private tour was led by a naturalist, Daniel. He took us to the Sewage Recycling Plant where they use sewage to make energy. They compost, harvest rainwater, have their own vegetable farm out back. It is really very ecological.
Marari has this gigantic pool area and we went to the pool and had drinks. There are signs that try to dissuade you from going to the beach. We were told that bands of kids roam the beach and can get menacing. We did take a walk on the beach though but it wasn't sunny. The Arabian Sea is very gray like the Atlantic, not turquoise like the Caribbean. We took 5:15 meditation from yoga/meditation teacher who has been doing yoga it for 56 years. He was a high school math teacher. And retired 10 years ago. We had three lovely lazy days -- read, took naps, took walks, did some meditation, watched the birds and a guinea hen, and talked with the chef, who should be on a top-chef TV show he was that good.
One day we rented a tuk tuk for 500 rupees to round trip us to town and wait for an hour. Where did he bring us? Right in front of the 916 district (22K gold district). We looked at a few pieces, but then just went around taking pictures.
Tomorrow flight to spend the day in Mumbai and then home.
Oct 24
Mumbai is a very busy modern city. No tuk tuks allowed in city proper. And most people dress in Western clothes.
We saw Dhobi Ghat from above. Dhobi Ghat is an open-air laundromat servicing the nearby hotels and hospitals. Hundreds of people, mostly young men, are employed and you can see them sorting, scrubbing, drying, folding the laundry of many thousands of people. It looked like hard work. I bet they always pray for clear warm weather.
Next a drive-by of Victoria Terminus, very busy, very Gothic.
We drove along Marine Drive and promenade, which is a main road that hugs the Arabian Sea. We stopped at Chowpatty Beach, and told Polly, our guide, that we wanted to have some ice cream. At first he brought us to a stand at Chowpatty Beach and ordered our ice cream or kulfi. When he (and we) saw the shop owner using this dirty disgusting rag to get our plates ready, he quickly whisked us away to a proper kulfi shop. There we had pre-made mango and pistachio kulfi, so there was no worry about sanitation. Kulfi is not that great, kind of like a "dry" ice cream if you will. I'll take Breyers over kulfi any day.
We mentioned to Polly about the Parsis and the rooftop burial. He took us to Tower of Silence, which is the proper place that Parsis go to have the body of a loved one devoured by vultures. We were only able to go into the building where the families grieve. Not allowed up to the roof, which I am sure would be kind of disturbing … to me anyway. Google Image "Tower of Silence" you can see as many pictures as you want of the top and inside.
We drove past the Dharavi slum, the same slum that was filmed in "Slumdog Millionaire." As horrible as it seems, people live there rent-free, and they can save money. There seems to be a diverse economy and people have businesses. To be honest, most of them looked a lot happier than the people I see schlepping to work on the subway each day.
Off to Mani Bhawan (which was where Mahatma Gandhi used to stay when he was in Mumbai). I was so taken with Mani Bhawan that I bought Gandhi's autobiography right then and there. I'll start it once I finally get through Dan Brown's The Lost Symbol -- it's taking forever.
Past Mukesh Ambani's (the Mumbai Billionaire) horrid 27-story "home." Up to Kamla Nehru Park in Malabar Hills, a very pretty park offering great shots of Chowpatty Beach and Marine Drive.
Polly took us to the Gateway of India at dusk. It was a sight to behold and it is gargantuan.
Our last Indian stop was Leopold's. It was high on my list of things to see because my favorite author, Gregory David Roberts, who wrote my favorite book, Shantaram, used to hang out there. He shares his time between Mumbai and Switzerland, and I'm told he's a regular fixture at Leopold's. However, tonight was not my lucky night as he was most recently there two months ago.
As the sun set we got to see the lights along Marine Drive, sometimes called "The Queen's Necklace." It was very pretty and a perfect way to end our India vacation. Mumbai is a very cosmopolitan city. Sorry we didn't spend more time there.
At the airport for our 1:30 am flight, we decided to use up the last of our rupees and each got a wonderful 30-minute Thai foot massage. We get on the plane, I take an Ambien, pop my earplugs in and my mask on. Woke after 6 hours to the incessant cawing, yes cawing, of two babies for the remainder of our flight. Angela told me the big brother was throwing empty water bottles at me, I must have really been in Ambien-land because I had no clue.
Home. Glad to see husband and my grown children. Back to work, cleaning, cooking.
My Impressions: I love India. I love the people, I love the food. I want to go back as soon as I have enough money saved up. The Indians as a whole are a beautiful people: flawless skin, beautiful features, gorgeous shiny black hair. All the males had nice hairstyles. No skinhead looks, asymmetrical messes, or goop-inspired mohawks. And the women had beautiful colorful saris and always seemed put together. The children seemed happy, walking arm in arm with each other often, and smiling. In fact everyone seemed to be ok with their lot in life. I think that is something we can learn from the Indians.
Thank you for reading. If you have any questios for me, please post.
Dec 12th, 2013, 04:32 AM
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I must say you have provided a great TR here, one that echoes your enthusiasm and love for your experiences. However I would like to point out a couple of things.
First of all Air India gets at best mediocre ratings per sky trax. Go to www.airlineequality.com to see their reviews which are spotty.
As for Indians being content with their lot in life I must disagree. Thursdaysd makes a good point and I think you got a look at things thru escorted tour guides. Don't overlook the horrible poverty you can see and do be aware of what you can't see immediately which is rampant corruption throughout life there. My niece came to the USA for a visit last yr. and even though she had applied for her Indian passport for over a year she had to pay a 10k "fee" or really a bribe to get it in a timely manner. A friend of mine bought a condo in Delhi some years back and went through an incredible ordeal involving escalating fees time and time again, delays upon delays and finally a letter saying he must be there personally to close on short notice or forfeit it all. I could give many more examples but I don't think its necessary. India is ranked by a UN "country happiness" survey way down there. Denmark is #1 BTW.
Glad you had a good time and if you go again be very careful about what you eat. My wife and I have been to India 7 times as she is from there and all her family is there. Once I came home with typhoid and recently she was hospitalized 5 days in BKK from a terrible tummy bug she got while in India b4 arriving in Thailand. Again be careful. JM2C.
First of all Air India gets at best mediocre ratings per sky trax. Go to www.airlineequality.com to see their reviews which are spotty.
As for Indians being content with their lot in life I must disagree. Thursdaysd makes a good point and I think you got a look at things thru escorted tour guides. Don't overlook the horrible poverty you can see and do be aware of what you can't see immediately which is rampant corruption throughout life there. My niece came to the USA for a visit last yr. and even though she had applied for her Indian passport for over a year she had to pay a 10k "fee" or really a bribe to get it in a timely manner. A friend of mine bought a condo in Delhi some years back and went through an incredible ordeal involving escalating fees time and time again, delays upon delays and finally a letter saying he must be there personally to close on short notice or forfeit it all. I could give many more examples but I don't think its necessary. India is ranked by a UN "country happiness" survey way down there. Denmark is #1 BTW.
Glad you had a good time and if you go again be very careful about what you eat. My wife and I have been to India 7 times as she is from there and all her family is there. Once I came home with typhoid and recently she was hospitalized 5 days in BKK from a terrible tummy bug she got while in India b4 arriving in Thailand. Again be careful. JM2C.
Dec 12th, 2013, 04:50 AM
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http://unsdsn.org/files/2013/09/Worl...013_online.pdf
India ranks 111 BTW. The Scandanavian countries and Switzerland all are up there.
India ranks 111 BTW. The Scandanavian countries and Switzerland all are up there.
Dec 12th, 2013, 04:58 AM
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Dec 12th, 2013, 05:28 AM
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I understand thursdaysd and jacketwatch about the poverty AND the rampant corruption ... have you read "Behind the Beautiful Forevers"? 'Nuff said. But all I can say from an experience point of view (and my tour guides went out of their way to find the kind of experiences we wanted) is that in general people seem to go on and do not look downtrodden. Not once did I hear a person raising their voice to another. They seem calmer. Like I said, I see more miserable people riding the NYC subway system when I go to work every day. Indians are not afraid of hard work. Seems like there are more hard workers in Indian than in the U.S. What is happiness anyway? Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!
Dec 12th, 2013, 05:48 AM
#31
"do not look downtrodden"
Outward expression and inner feeling may have no connection. The smiling American may be miserable and the dour Russian ecstatic, inside. While it's true that a belief in karma <i>might</i> tend to reconcile someone to a bad lot in this life, that doesn't mean they're happy about it. I certainly can't look at the slums in India, the people living on the streets under a tarpaulin, the rampant beggars and touts, and conclude that the average poor Indian is happier than than the average subway-riding New Yorker. But I defer to jacketwatch's much greater knowledge.
Outward expression and inner feeling may have no connection. The smiling American may be miserable and the dour Russian ecstatic, inside. While it's true that a belief in karma <i>might</i> tend to reconcile someone to a bad lot in this life, that doesn't mean they're happy about it. I certainly can't look at the slums in India, the people living on the streets under a tarpaulin, the rampant beggars and touts, and conclude that the average poor Indian is happier than than the average subway-riding New Yorker. But I defer to jacketwatch's much greater knowledge.
Dec 12th, 2013, 05:52 AM
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I know but one experience with an airline does not account for how all experiences are. Just be aware of how they as well as all airlines rank overall and if you go again you may want to see how your air carrier choice ranks before you spend the money. Its up to you. BTW if you care to click the link you will see lots of reviews, all from fellow passengers and about half do not recommend Air India.
"Indians are not afraid of hard work." I would just say its not advisable to make a blanket statement that covers over 1 billion people. Why do you think there is corruption? It does not come from a strong work ethic.
I guess happiness is what is in the eye of the perceiver. It seems to change with experience.
Cheers, Larry.
"Indians are not afraid of hard work." I would just say its not advisable to make a blanket statement that covers over 1 billion people. Why do you think there is corruption? It does not come from a strong work ethic.
I guess happiness is what is in the eye of the perceiver. It seems to change with experience.
Cheers, Larry.
Dec 12th, 2013, 06:11 AM
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Or ask Indians why they rate their own country this way. Again I don't want to rain on your parade but this sort of reminds me of my impressions of India the first time I went. It was all new, exciting and so different. In subsequent visits this veneer wears off and you become are of other realities.
Thursdaysd you are correct. I have seem the slums, the tarpaulin roofs, a beggar laying down and seemingly dying in the streets of Delhi, rats in the food markets and on and on. Over time you notice these things too. This is part of my reality. Again, JM2C.
Happy travels. Larry
Thursdaysd you are correct. I have seem the slums, the tarpaulin roofs, a beggar laying down and seemingly dying in the streets of Delhi, rats in the food markets and on and on. Over time you notice these things too. This is part of my reality. Again, JM2C.
Happy travels. Larry
. For me the 2nd time was when I got typhoid.
Dec 12th, 2013, 09:48 AM
#36
I noticed the first time, but I was there for ten weeks and traveling almost entirely by train. Not to mention walking round towns on my own. Different perspective, I suspect.
Glad you enjoyed India enough to write a great TR, and to go back. Despite the poverty and the hassles it is a fascinating destination.
I seem to remember having a typhoid vaccination....
Glad you enjoyed India enough to write a great TR, and to go back. Despite the poverty and the hassles it is a fascinating destination.
I seem to remember having a typhoid vaccination....
Dec 12th, 2013, 10:58 AM
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You can get a booster so if you get typhoid the severity of it will be less but you can't prevent it, not yet at least. The booster is oral now, used to be injectable but the las time we took it it was like a bit sickening so we've skipped it ever since.
Dec 12th, 2013, 12:57 PM
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Great report, LifeGirl58. Thank you for your uplifting and pleasant report.
I am glad you enjoyed your trip to India. As I have said before, what is not to like about India . It is a microcosm of the world-- it has everything-- the good, the bad and sometimes the ugly too. But that is life.
Just because Indians tend to be self critical doesn't mean that they are bad or good-- just too realistic.
Corruption exists in many, maybe all countries. That is the nature of humankind. The kind of corruption travelers see, I have seen it in Austria, and France (Paris). The kind of corruption one sees in normal living exists differently in different countries. In the US, for example, it's called campaign contributions-- very civilized (?) and institutionalized, but corruption nonetheless. When one wants something done in a short time, one pays extra fees in the western world --either to a private party, or lawyer to expedite the work. When you go to a football game, you routinely pay people to park your car who don't run an official parking garage( on somebody's lawn). They have entrepreneurs like that in India too -- but in India it's called corruption. No problem to pay a freelancer in the US, but it called corruption in India . Perhaps jacketwatch, your opinion is based on such stories. (Not saying there is no corruption in India , btw).
LifeGirl, I agree that people in India seem to be calm and happy with their life. Just because we have this notion that one needs a lot of money to be happy, one should not assume that poor people must be unhappy. We met many people in India , poor and dirt poor, who smiled and looked genuinely happy. Perhaps money smoothes the path, but it's no guarantee to bring happiness in life.
BTW, why all this negativity on this forum ( not from you, LifeGirl). This is getting to be a Europe forum(?).
Again, a well written report, and I am glad you thoroughly enjoyed your trip to India . With your positive outlook on life, I am sure you will enjoy your next trip to India too.
I am glad you enjoyed your trip to India. As I have said before, what is not to like about India . It is a microcosm of the world-- it has everything-- the good, the bad and sometimes the ugly too. But that is life.
Just because Indians tend to be self critical doesn't mean that they are bad or good-- just too realistic.
Corruption exists in many, maybe all countries. That is the nature of humankind. The kind of corruption travelers see, I have seen it in Austria, and France (Paris). The kind of corruption one sees in normal living exists differently in different countries. In the US, for example, it's called campaign contributions-- very civilized (?) and institutionalized, but corruption nonetheless. When one wants something done in a short time, one pays extra fees in the western world --either to a private party, or lawyer to expedite the work. When you go to a football game, you routinely pay people to park your car who don't run an official parking garage( on somebody's lawn). They have entrepreneurs like that in India too -- but in India it's called corruption. No problem to pay a freelancer in the US, but it called corruption in India . Perhaps jacketwatch, your opinion is based on such stories. (Not saying there is no corruption in India , btw).
LifeGirl, I agree that people in India seem to be calm and happy with their life. Just because we have this notion that one needs a lot of money to be happy, one should not assume that poor people must be unhappy. We met many people in India , poor and dirt poor, who smiled and looked genuinely happy. Perhaps money smoothes the path, but it's no guarantee to bring happiness in life.
BTW, why all this negativity on this forum ( not from you, LifeGirl). This is getting to be a Europe forum(?).
Again, a well written report, and I am glad you thoroughly enjoyed your trip to India . With your positive outlook on life, I am sure you will enjoy your next trip to India too.
Dec 13th, 2013, 03:48 PM
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Had been to Nepal in the 70's but was still shocked by the conditions of work in India on our recent trip. To see a young boy..possibly man..on his hands and knees cleaning the marble corridor floor with a large rag in my middle range hotel full of western tourists brought a tear to my eye...However I can say I did notice the absence of any sign of the sex industry that seems to flourish in Cambodia and Thailand..Am I right in thinking this seems to be something India's religious fervour seems to have protected it from.
