Mysore onwards to the Fort!

Mysore is a particularly important city historically. It was one of the last quasi-recognized states to fall to the British Empire. As well as one of the last remaining states that was once dependent on Vijayanagar empire (literally means "victory place") or today known as Hampi. (I've been reading up on my history along the way from "India: A History, 1999, John Keay.)

The Mysore area had long established trade with the Middle East and even Europe and flourished under the careful development of a two successive sultans. Mysore was known to be one of the most advanced cities in Asia in administrative and development measures before it was a part of British India. Some of these advancements you can still see, such as the palace that was rebuilt in the early 1900s after a devastating fire, and the wide streets and carefully planned round-abouts. Even the history of silk production was artificially cultivated and came about under the ambitions of Sultan Tipu in the late 1800s.

I enjoyed the laid back attitude and the wonderful bazaar in the center of town. The bazaar is known for the wide array of fragrances for sale and the colorful cone-shaped mounds of powder used for paints and other ceremonial purposes. I was delighted at all of the photo opportunities.

After sauntering around the hot and semi-closed-for-Diwali Mysore for a couple days, we decided to stop over for a couple nights on the way to Fort Cochin in Ooty.

Ooty is known as a hill-station town with a bit cooler temperatures that lures the weekend crowds from Bangalore and Mysore. We arrived just after the sunset (after a 6 hour bus ride, check to make sure you are on the fast bus), and found a place to stay. It was 6 of us in all, and we found a reasonably priced place, but had to suffer waking up to the shouting of the desk clerks, cell phone ring tones, and dealing with bed bugs :( (luckily, I wasn't bitten by the bed bugs).

The food in Ooty was only sub-par, we managed to have only one decent meal and some yummy chocolates during our stay. The rest of the food was either old, microwaved, or just plain awful. It ended up being a joke of sorts that we couldn't find a decent meal, most of the restaurants were touristy and therefore had marginalized Indian and Western dishes.

We did a couple of the touristy things around town including the Thread Garden, the first time in the world that it's ever been done folks! 50 people spent 12 years making realistic-looking flowers out of thread, I bet you can imagine this spectacle. I was more impressed by the most dangerous go-kart track, the rules included strongly suggested advice to drive slow... Most of the cars were on the side of the track in pieces.

We decided to go early and catch the bus the next morning onwards to Fort Cochin with a brief stop over in Coimbatore. Two of us fell asleep and woke up with the bus completely packed with people, it's safe to assume that whatever means of transportation you'll be taking will be full. The changes in the surrounds appear almost instantly, Kerala is a bit more developed than the rest of other states. I'll have to continue about this more later...

I think this post is long enough and I have to find a means of transportation further south. Only 2 weeks left in India, and a few more after that until I am home again. November 22nd I will be back in Minneapolis. I hope everyone is doing well!

Gokarna to Mysore, Karnataka

After a nice restful stay in Hampi, I made my way to Gokarna. Gokarna literally means cow's ear, because the piece of land on which it sits resembles a cow's ear on a map. The town is about an hour and a half south of the infamous ex-Portuguese-colonized-beach-haven state of Goa. Gokarna is known primarily as a pilgrimage town for Hindus (and the occasional westerner). I took the deluxe luxury sleeper bus from Hampi, (I'm not entirely sure if there was an intended sarcasm in the terms used in the marketing), and I arrived in the wee hours of the morning. I had met a couple girls going to one of the beaches (Om Beach) relatively close to the main town and I decided that it would be best to try to share the rickshaw at 5 am with them. After an hour of being crammed into a rickshaw winding around pothole-filled roads, we made it to the beach. I promptly began looking for places to stay and realized that there were no ATMs or any other places for exchanging money near by. This meant that I would have to walk to town and I was somehow under an original impression that it would only be a 20 minute walk.

Well, 20 minutes was right, but only for the short trek to the next beach, Kudle, and then another 25 minutes onwards to town. There were plenty of decent looking deserted places to stay on both beaches. It's not quite high season yet, a couple more weeks and these beaches will both be packed. The path ends as it descends down a hill, from which the town merely looks like a palm tree grove, and right in front of the important temples in town. The temples are quite plain on the outside, and I have no idea what they look like on the inside, as non-believers/followers are not allowed to enter or take any pictures.

Most of the guest houses and hostels were, well, mostly unsuitable for life other than roaches, mosquitoes or bacteria (and usually I'm not a very picky person). I finally found one, Hotel Nimmu and made my way around town. Hotel Mahalaxi did not have such nice rooms, but it had the best food in town by far (if you are ever there, try the banana lassi)! There really is not much to do here other than relax on a beach, and seeing as the sun isn't really so kind to my skin, I don't usually last too long. I did a bit of shopping and writing, and meeting some fellow travelers along the way.

I vowed to head to Mysore to meet up with some fellow Bollywood extras and continue on together to Kerala. There were no seats on any of the trains heading south, since it was the couple days preceding one of the largest festivals in India, Diwali*. Everyone is traveling home for the celebration, most people have a break from school and work for the festivities. It was just like China all over, competing with a billion vacationers for train seats!

I was lucky enough to discover that the KSTC (Karnataka state) bus starts at 6:45 am from the central bus station to Mangalore and continued onto Mysore reaching at about 9 pm. I went for it, and after 12 lovely, sweaty, cramped, and bumpy hours I made it to Mysore. I think we even hit another bus or truck at one point; I didn't pay much attention as this is quite the usual occurrence here. The bus merely backs up for the other to pass and keeps cutting around the sharp cliff-side turns (still not as scary as the Bollywood bus, it was daylight and even if it was night we had headlights). The view of the Western Ghats from the bus window was lovely. This area is one of the last areas where large stretches of the mangrove forests have not been completely decimated, and those areas that have are replaced by rubber and palm farms. The small, quaint, and relatively-clean towns where the bus would occasionally slow down so people could push on and off, were lit up with chains of white lights. This created a somewhat serene atmosphere in these hill-topping towns, which tempted me a couple times to stop and stay at one of the many hotels and home stays, but instead I pushed onwards to Mysore.

There are often so many things I would like to write about, but have not yet found the perfect adjectives to explain the real India. I have plenty of pictures I intend on uploading to this blog and showing people upon returning home, but even those lose the real olfactory and tangible sensations that India elicits. I best describe India as a country of dichotomies, meaning that often the poor and the rich are situated next to each other in extreme contrast; or meaning that there are just two things that in most countries would not have such a close association to each other. There are always surprises here, and I'm not sure much will surprise me elsewhere. Even ordering food is like Christmas, you never know what you're going to get, which as you can imagine isn't always a good thing. India is good, bad, wonderful, tiring, colorful, tasty, diverse, old, new, and every other descriptor you could think of, all rolled into an explanation of one country. Perhaps you just have to travel to one of the other diverse-mini-country-like states to experience it all.

*Sidenote: Diwali is a festival celebrating the victory of good over evil. Sikhs, Hindus, Buddhists and Jains all celebrate this holiday often with very bright and loud fireworks. (You can read the wiki article from some background knowledge here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diwali).

Slow days in Hampi

I have spent the last couple days trying to learn a bit about yoga (it's actually called yog, not yoga), bicycling in ridiculous heat, climbing rocks, drumming, meeting people, and learning a lot about Hinduism and the history of the empire that was here before.

The Royal Enclosure and Vittala temple are both spectacular, but I have to say the temple in town Virupaskha is nice, but overrun with people trying to scrape an extra couple rupees from you. Try to avoid talking to anyone in the temple unless you want to pay them, even for a shadow on the wall of an inverted image (I couldn't help but think about the Jesus potato chip story, I think it's $30k+ price on ebay.com is enough for y'all to conjure up some memories). I also bicycled from the guest houses across the river to the site of Anegundi. There isn't much to see on the other side, but the 10 km bike ride was a nice trip.

I have practised yoga numerous times over the last 5 days and learned a lot about the postures and rhythms that are essential to enjoying a proper session of yoga. I met Yogi Nanda (across from the Shanti Guesthouse in Hampi Bazaar) and have had a good couple workouts. My body has stiffened a bit from sitting continuously on so many trains and buses over the last 4 months. So the yoga has been very refreshing and has shown me how inflexible I am! I practice with him in the morning and then, in the afternoon, I have been going to a free 10-day yoga camp (mostly for the locals). The yoga camp is mostly in Kaarna (the local language in Karnataka) with a few commands in English. The Yogi of these sessions has to be at least 65 years old with a body of a 20 years old. Talk about motivation!

Hampi has an impressive landscape, unlike anything else I have ever seen in my whole entire life. At a distance, it looks as if someone took granite pebbles and dropped them at random from the sky. The pebbles will balance on much smaller stones at bizarre angles and locations. I could spend a whole day staring at the landscape. I spent a half-day climbing them and trying to make my way up the highest point with a couple other resident travellers (they will be Hampi for two weeks). We endured some cuts and bruises, which were all worth it just to see the vistas. I also had perfect cell phone service in the remotest areas and none while I am in town.

I have met many people that have spent a month (or more) in this town, but my 5 days has sufficed enough for me. I am heading to Gokarna next instead of Goa. Gokarna is about an hour and a half south of Goa and is a pilgrimage town for Hindus with nice beaches on the side. From what I have heard, it is really the sort of place to sunbathe, meaning that a more conservative dress is encouraged. I have been dressing quite conservatively, but that does not stop the staring nor the many attempts of young Indian boys to befriend me. I've learned to say a couple things in the local language here, such as 'illa' (meaning no) to get them to leave me alone a bit faster. The staring doesn't bother me nearly as much as being followed or having pictures snapped of me so that boys can show off 'their' foreign girlfriend to their friends. After travelling in Hyderabad, nothing has even come close to real harassment, and I have enjoyed the more relaxed pace of the locals here. Although, I get the feeling that no one is a local here and they have come merely to start a business to cater to the foreign tourists.

I have met a lot of people here, everyone ranging from Abdul with the drum shop (and no Bittu I did not buy a drum) to my fellow Bollywood extra peers. Our story of Bollywood fame has spread and I imagine many other tourists will heed our warnings (most I am sure are still determined to get into an actual film, who can blame them when it is Bollywood!).

Okay, well I believe this is long enough and I should be heading out to catch my bus to Gokarna. India is definitely a place where it is never boring, and there are ups and downs, but in the end it all balances. Whenever something frustrates me, another thing that elicits some joy just happens to be around the corner.

Random tip: If you have problems getting a train ticket for a day train, book the lowest class and find a spot in the sleeper class cars. The seats are much larger than the space required for the people actually booked on the berths during the day, and you will only have to pay the difference of 100 rs. Or you can try the 30% extra taktal system, but booking online in advance is pretty easy. Too bad China didn't have this system!

Traversing the Indian railway system, going southward

I hope that everyone enjoyed my last email or post about the Bollywood experience.

I made my way from Mumbai to Aurangabad to visit the Ajatha and Ellora caves. I took a second class seat on the train, which ended up being hassle free, except for the beggars and men selling key chains on the train. The only hassle I encountered was when I got off the train and was immediately approached by rickshaw drivers, who were a bit overly aggressive and circling me. I managed to pull my scarf over my head and walk out of the crowd (avoid crowds, especially if you are a solo female during the late evening or night hours). I made my way down the street to a couple hotels that ended up being a bit precarious and made my way instead to a hotel that had been recommended to me. It was full, but the austere YHA hostel around the corner happened to be open with its 10 pm curfew and all. The hostel ended up being quite secure even if it reminded me a bit of the prison cells one sees on TV.

All of the caves are man made, but some are close to being a thousand years old. Ajantha caves are all Buddhist caves, but were primarily built by Hindu kings. Many of the paintings still remain and tell a great deal about the different kings, beliefs about Buddha and much other important information of the era. I joined a tour for the Ajantha caves since public bus is a bit more tricky and I thought that it would be a good way to meet some other people. The tour from the MDTC Resort was a bit too rushed for my liking and we spent most of the time following around a guide with no idea of what he was talking about. The hour on our own was much better to let the murals and frescoes sink into our memories.

The following day I met up with a friend I had eaten with the previous day at a nearby restaurant. She is also a solo female traveler (I am actually quite surprised by the number of solo women travelers I have met so far). We headed to Ellora on our own, which was incredibly easy and managed to miss the crowds since we headed out at 7 am. The buses run almost constantly, and I think that they even start before dawn. By 1:30 pm we were done and made our way back to town for a much needed siesta, meal and Internet downtime.

Hyderabad

I am presently in Hyderabad (also referred to as Secunderabad) and waiting to see if I will make the evening train to Hospet JN, which happens to be the nearest station to the touristy and legendary Hampi in Karnakata, India. There really isn't much to see in Hyderabad other than the wonderful bazaars, Charminar, museums and food.

The museums just happen to be closed today (Friday, due to religious significance) and I had a less than favorable experience in the Nehru Tribal Museum. The museum itself was fine and informative, but the young man who followed me the entire time and proceeded to harass me (even when I asked him to not follow me around) was not. I ended up yelling at him and a tour guide and security guard stepped in and kicked him out. I guess one thing I don't understand is that the very few men who do cause problems here do not treat their own women like that, and I don't understand how it is somehow more acceptable when directed towards foreign women. The museum staff was embarrassed and horrified at his behaviour. I am dressed very conservatively, even in a relatively benign kurti (tunic top and baggy cotton pants with a scarf). But overall, I have to say I am quite surprised at how safe traveling around India is, especially since I had hear so many stories and warnings from everyone. My guard is still up, but I don't feel endangered.

I have not seen too many foreigners in this city, due to the untouristy nature of the city. The city is fairly wealthy with the technology industry supplementing plenty of high paying jobs. Rickshaw drivers have been quite accommodating in using the meter and providing quasi-fair prices, and the overwhelming majority helpful with directions and the like. But I am ready to head to the supposedly beautiful and serene Hampi for some sightseeing, bouldering, yoga, some more good food, and much needed fresh air.

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So you want to be a Bollywood star??

So many of you might have heard that I was to be an extra in a Bollywood film. Well, the truth is I was an extra in a Bollywood-produced-TV Series-in-its-3rd season. Recruiters often hang around South Mumbai, also known as Colaba, looking for foreigners to partake in Bollywood films. They pay a small wage, but most are more excited about participating than the money.

The recruiter (Imran Giles) lied to the 31 of us backpackers about what we would be doing, where we would be going and the fact that it wasn't even a movie. We hadn't realized until we were on a bus for nearly 3.5 sweaty hours up a foggy mountain 50 km away from Pune in Lonavala and saw the Bigg Boss Season 3 signs. Bigg Boss is the Indian version of the US TV show Big Brother. At least, we were there for the season premiere. When we arrived, no one seemed to have idea of what we would be doing. We were waiting for costumes and make-up, but apparently that was a false promise and we all showed up looking exactly like dingy and scruffy backpackers not dressed for the cooler temperatures of the mountain.

After a brief snack, water and chai we were ushered after the six thousand Indians into the entrance way for the contestants. There was a red carpet rolled out along with rails lined with hundreds of people leading up to the door for the stage area. We could not figure out the exact role of having 31 foreigners cheer for hours for these people, who ended up being not even B-list Bollywood stars, comedians, and a German model (that dreams of being a star here in India). The closest one to looking familiar was one that I was pretty sure was Professor Snape from Harry Potter (in reality he was a fashion designer). Since we had no idea of what was planned or going on, or that if we had known that we would be standing for 5 hours cheering, most of us would not have signed up. It started raining tremendously hard, and we were warned that we would have to spend the entire night there and leave in the morning. Most of us were less than pleased upon hearing this announcement.

I was determined to get on camera since I was there and I would make the most of it. We laughed so hard at the absurdity of the situation and made each other laugh. There were plenty of jokes about becoming a YouTube star by doing something absurd down the red carpet in front of the cameras, but then thought becoming disliked by a billion people and getting kicked out of the country outweighed stardom. We were the worst extras I think in the history of Bollywood TV. Most of us were freezing, upset, complaining to our wrangler, disappearing for the occasional chai and crackers, cigarette or bathroom break. We also looked like bums that they found on the street, maybe they regretted not giving us costumes as promised. Finally, the last contestant came down the red carpet and we thought we were home-free. Instead it was time for a curry rice dinner and the to the bus.

Once we arrived to the bus, noticed that all of our stuff was still there. They wouldn't let us bring our stuff with us to the shoot and forced us to leave it on the bus. I called the family I was staying with to let them know that we were just leaving and that the rain would slow us down. That's when the driver noticed that hey there aren't any headlights. This was a bit scary as we noticed the dozen or so signs that said "dangerous monsoon rains, drive slowly" and the thick layer of fog and low visibility. The driver and others worked for a half hour on the lights, but no luck. We drove around the set area trying to figure out what to do, and every time we stopped the thousands of stranded Indians looking for a way home noticed the bus full of foreigners and tried many times to get a ride (a tiny bit scary at the time).

The lot of us had a discussion whether to spend the night or go, after demanding a new bus (no luck with that). We were promised a convoy style of transport, where the front bus had headlights (and no tail lights) and the back seemed to have both. I managed to sleep a couple hours and would wake up to everyone screaming for their dear lives for the driving to stop, slow down, or pull over. My heart raced as I could not see more than a meter or two in front of the bus out of the front window. We managed to make it off of the mountain in only 2 hours (only 30 minutes to get there originally), and onto the expressway. The driver hit a retaining barrier and my heart just about leaped out of my chest. This adventure deceivingly seemed to get better and then much worse. We made it to a road stop for food and drinks and decided that it was best to wait another 40 minutes for the sun to come up. Once the sun peeked in the sky we got back on the bus and headed straight and quickly for Mumbai. Our driver only nodded off once, and woke up at our screams as we b-lined right for the edge of the road.

I made it back safely at 7 am (instead of the promised 2 am) and yes I was on TV a couple times in my T-shirt, Tevas and fisherman cropped pants. I'm not sure I have ever laughed so hard or experienced so many emotions in such a short span of time. I guess this was a nice introduction to India, because the rest will seem like a breeze. I am thankful I am alive and have both of my kidneys. I'm not sure I am cut out for Bollywood movies.

Jai ho Bharat - Welcome to India!!!

I think India really gets a poor rap as a place to travel to. I don't think it is really as intimidating as people may assume or expect. People will stare, but that isn't much of a problem, as long as you don't give people the opportunity to steal from you by being careless with your things or too trusting on the given prices. I also think I lucked out by having friends here who could take me around and show me the city. I am staying in Dadar-East which is on the edge of the city proper, but only a 15-20 motorbike ride from South Mumbai. I am loving the bird's eye view from my my friend's apartment, and I am able to see almost the entire living and breathing city in the distance.

I wouldn't even think to drive a motorbike or a car around in India, because the rumors are quite true about the chaotic nature of the traffic. But my friend informs me that Mumbai has the best roads and the most orderly and behaved traffic in all of India. I suppose I will learn more about this firsthand when I start traveling around in a couple days. I really have enjoyed the rides on the motorbike to South Mumbai and around Dadar, because I have really been able to see a lot more than I think I would have been able to without such convenient transportation.

I have visited Chor Bazaar (thieves bazaar), Crawford Market, the Gateway of India, Taj Hotel, Colaba Causeway, the CS Museum of Indian History, Marine Drive, a few more beaches, and plenty of little stores and restaurants. I think it may actually take years to savor and really see all of the nooks and crannies that Mumbai keeps hidden. It's absolutely never boring in India.

I am venturing out on the train today. I thought that I would be heading to Goa, but due to the torrential rains and flooding, I am heading to Ellora and Ajantha first. These cities are best known for their carvings in the caves of Buddhist, Hindu and Jain rock cut temples. I will be staying in Aurangabad and making my way in the wee hours of the morning to view the caves in emerging daylight.

I was so excited and happy that I was able to meet up with an old friend from my exchange in Milano, Italia in Mumbai. She is traveling around and visiting family for quite a few months. We had a lot of catching up to do only in a few hours, but I really enjoyed seeing her and the fact that we have maintained contact over such a long span of time and distance.