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Two months in Limbo

a travel blog by Capto

Having finished 5 years of study, and with a summer free before I start working professionally, I decided I needed to do something which would shock my system. Two months in India should do the trick! These are my adventures, confessions, and general ramblings.
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Slum dogs, slum kids, slum houses

Kolkata, India

Because of the date of our flight down south, we've ended up with 5 days in Kolkata - the longest time we've spent anywhere. This was a little perplexing when at breakfast the first day, we started talking to some people, who told us there's not much to see in Kolkata! What would we do for 5 days!?

Those same people were volunteers at Mother Theresa's Missionaries of Charity. I asked if it would be possible to go down and help out for a few days. When we first started planning the trip, I'd hoped to spend a few weeks helping here, but it just wasn't going to work out time wise.

So we headed down to the induction afternoon, where they described what they do at each of the 7 houses around the city. They suggested that as we're only here for a few days, we'd get the most out of helping at one of the houses for the destitute and dying. It's a more intense experience, but that's what we were after. We're here to learn about the country and the culture, and this is an important aspect.

So we went down for a couple of afternoons. Within 3 mins of arriving, I was helping a very old (and sick) woman go to the bathroom. Within 3 mins of arriving, Glen was helping put a very old (and sick) man in a coffin. Glen wins!

The afternoons were spent mostly talking and sitting with the patients. Many of the women didn't have much English at all, but they still liked to talk. I think many of them just needed an ear and a smiling face. Many of the women were metally infirm also. But the sisters showed us ways each liked to interact, and most just liked to smile at me and play with my jewellery. My favourite patient loved to be tickeled, and every time I even looked at her she would digress into fits of laughter.

When we weren't loving on them all we were feeding them, combing their hair, changing beds (for those who didn't make it to the bathroom), or helping them put on and take off clothes. Not exactly glamourous work, but very humbling.

This house (Prem Dan) was a 15min bus ride out of the city, in an area with slums all around. This was amazing too. As soon as I took out my camera we were inundated by hordes of kids who kept following us wanting pictures, handshakes and chocolate. One cheeky kid kept asking me "chocolate? Biscuit? Rupees? Camera?". Cheeky sausage. No way was I giving her my camera! They followed us all the way to the bus stop, trying everything they could to stop us going and trying to convince us to buy them treats. One kid launched herself onto Glen's back and refused to get off. There are pictures of Glen carrying her around, and it looks like he's being all nice to the kid. Actually, he's trying to pry her off himself!

The people out there were lovely. They weren't at all negative towards us, and didn't beg or ask for anything. It was a refreshing experience, after all the begging in the city, where people make you feel awful for not helping them. Those people are however, professional beggars, who are brought into the city in the morning by slum lords, and taken home at night. They are very good at what they do, and know all the tricks.

Most of all, it seemed (though we only got to see one side of their lives) that they were happy. The kids were running around playing and laughing as only kids can. The adults were smily and gracious to us. It's amazing.


The rest of our time in Kolkata has been spend trawling the street markets (sensing the theme here?!), eating Dominoes in bed with cable and giant bottles of Kingfisher beer (yes, I'll admit it), and going to the first Indian supermarket we've seen. PS. you can buy giant boxes of Ghee here!

Last night we had our first bad meal in India. After 3 1/2 weeks of travel we've only had one bad meal. Very cool. At least the bad meal was stupidly cheap (about $1 each). We made ourselves feel better by going to the supermarket and buying chocolate, icecream, biscuits etc and feasting at home.

Tonight we fly down to Chennai, and hop straight on a bus to Madurai, right down the south end of India (that is, if our flight isn't delayed and we don't miss the bus!)


xo

Mags (frozen product)

permalink written by  Capto on January 24, 2010 from Kolkata, India
from the travel blog: Two months in Limbo
tagged Kolkata, Slum and MotherTheresa
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Chennai, India



permalink written by  Capto on January 25, 2010 from Chennai, India
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Madurai, India



permalink written by  Capto on January 26, 2010 from Madurai, India
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Madurai

Madurai, India

Ok, this is going to have to be the speediest blog writing ever. Here goes!

Madurai is a small city, with a massive temple, which people here think of as the Taj Mahal of the south. The city itself is pretty cool. Not too many tourists, and definately doesn't depend on westerners for its lifeblood. This meant we could wander the streets without being barrated for things left right and centre. The exception to this is that there are tailors everywhere, who try and sell you stuff on the street. So yes, there was a little hassle in Madurai, but far less than we are used to.

The first day we arrived in from an overnight bus, sleep deprived and hungry. We dumped our stuff at the hotel and headed around the corner to find some breakfast. We had spotted a little place that was packed full of locals, and decided this was our best bet. Man were we right! They didn't even have menus, so we asked them to bring us whatever was good for breakfast, plus a coffee each (south Indian coffee is supposed to be amazing!). We got a dosa masala (rice pancake stuffed with potatoes and spices) and idly (little steamed rice patties with chutneys) and both were some of the best food we've had so far. Gonna like the south I think!

We went and visited the temple, the dark gloomy halls of which were brightly painted. Very cool. We'd managed to arrive on the Indian Republic Day, so there were lots of local visitors. Unfortunately we couldnt climb the south temple and see the view as you used to, because someone had jumped out recently. Ah well, we enjoyed the view from the ground.

The temples here seem to be much more colourful and intricately carved than in the north. Up there it's all sandstone and forts. Down here it's all imported stone, careful details of deities, and bright painting.


That is all for now. We're in Kochi by the beach, spending our days relaxing in the sun. We're on our way now to do a cruise through the backwaters, so I've got to run.

Oh, and the coffee here IS good!!

xo

Mags

permalink written by  Capto on January 29, 2010 from Madurai, India
from the travel blog: Two months in Limbo
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Kochi

Cochin, India


Kochi - Cherai Beach
Before I start on Kochi, I forgot to tell you guys about our taxi ride to the airport in the last blog.

We gave ourselves an hour to get to the airport in Kolkata. Turns out this was a little tight. Luckily, taxi drivers (well, all drivers really) in India are fearless. We asked him to go fast, and fast he did. He drove on the kerb, the sidewalk, and when he saw a 1km traffic jam on the 3 lane motorway ahead (officially two lanes, but nobody pays attention to road markings here), he crossed onto the wrong side of the road and drove down the far shoulder of the road... at high speed. Very cool! Kids, don't try this at home! It's something that only works in India.

Now, onto Kochi


Kochi
We took an overnight bus from Madurai to Kochi, which dropped us off at 5.30am. Glen finds it hard to sleep on the bus unless he's lying right down. I can't sleep lying down on the bus or I end up with my head out the window. But I usually manage to doze in and out and get a reasonable amount of sleep all in all. We dumped our bags at the hotel, and went for a dawn walk along the waterfront. Rows of fishermen were already hard at work with these massive nets that dip in and out of the water on a wooden crane. They waved at us and invited us over to watch, but we declined. Experience has taught us that when every person along a street is inviting you to watch them work, they'll probably end up extracting money out of you. We were too tired to deal with this, and watching quietly from the rocks was a far more appealing idea.


Kochi
We found breakfast once things started opening, and headed to explore the town for the day. There were a few bazaars and a mosque on the far side of town, which was a nice 3km walk away, so we headed that way. Kochi is a pretty touristy place, but clean, nice, and scenic. Heading back I headed into the backstreets and saw a bit more of the local area, which wasn't so clean, but equally scenic and a fantastic walk.

That night I took a cooking class with a group of others, and feasted on the proceeds. I made sure I got all the recipes, including an amazing recipe for garam masala which is miles better than anything you get in NZ. I'm, thinking another Indian feast is in order once I get back to NZ. Any takers?!

I came to India with good intentions for dressing conservatively. But those of you who know me well, know I don't deal with heat well. I die in anything which nears 30 degrees. Today it was 36 degrees, and right now (at 9pm) it's 29. That's sweltering for me. After two days of heat I gave in and bought myself a couple of summer dresses here, as do many tourists by the looks of things. So much better to get a bit of air flow going on. And the people here really don't mind. The women smile wholeheartedly when I smile at them, and the men don't pay much more attention to me than they already do. I still wear a dupatta/shawl across my chest and shoulders whenever I head away from the tourist centres. I'm ok with that decision, and I think the locals are too.


Kochi - Cherai Beach

Kochi - Cherai Beach
The next day we decided to head out to a beach an hour's trip north of Kochi. We ferried over to the northern island, and took a local bus from there, through tropical villiages and townships. The beach was then a short rickshaw drive away. Cherai beach is a largely undeveloped beach, with a few restaurants and things along the beachfront to grab that all important Kingfisher beer in the sun (Oh, the Kingfishers here are 600ml bottles. We've decided that two NZ beers is the perfect one!). We sat around on the beach for a few hours, and chatted to an aussie guy and two sweedish girls I'd met at the cooking class. We headed back after a swim in the bath-warm water.


Kochi - Katakali show
That night we had a fish curry for dinner. We've decided that as long as we are on the coast and are eating at a nice place, we can trust the seafood. Oh my god, it was amazing! If we weren't convinced before we had the meal, after we had locked ourselves into this deal. South India will be seafood heaven for us! I'm particularly excited to try fish Moli, which is a curry made with coconut milk, ginger, coriander and the like. Light and delicious. Afterward, we played the tourist and went to a Katakali show - A Keralan dance-theatre performance which tells a story. Ours was about a demon who disguised herself as a beautiful woman to seduce a hero but - predicatably - fails. It culminates in his threatening to cut off her breasts. Hmmm...

The next day we headed in to the backwaters to take a cruise. I'll let the pictures of this do the talking!


Kochi, Backwaters

Kochi, Backwaters

Kochi, Backwaters

Kochi, Backwaters

Kochi, Backwaters (Awesome picture Glen)

Kochi, Backwaters

Glen spent our last (half) day relaxing on the balcony of our hotel, reading, while I attempted to head into the city to try and find something to swim in. In preparation for our day at Cherai Beach, I realised I'd forgotten to bring a bikini - a fatal flaw when travelling the beaches of South India. While I managed to swim in my dress, this wasn't at all practical. Trouble is, finding a bikini in India isn't easy. My attempt failed, so I bought a couple of t-shirts from a street vendor and hand sewed one. Yep, I am now the proud owner of a Superman bikini, which says "Man of Steel" across the crotch. I think it's awesome!

We then took a local bus down to Varkarla, 4hrs south. We're spending a few days just hanging out in this very touristy, old hippy beach town, drinking beer and lying in the sun.

Thinking of all you suckers who are now (or are shortly) heading back to work. I'll have a beer for you all

xo



permalink written by  Capto on February 1, 2010 from Cochin, India
from the travel blog: Two months in Limbo
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Varkkallai, India



permalink written by  Capto on February 1, 2010 from Varkkallai, India
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Cold beer and hot beaches (hehe)

Varkkallai, India


Beer and Beach

Mosque by the seafront
Varkala is a small town which is located close to a cliff top. The town itself isn't the main attraction here - most tourists come to stay at Varkala Cliff, 6km away, where a string of resorts, beach huts, and restaurants has popped up to meet demand. It is a touristy feeling place, only really being there to accommodate beach seeking tourists, but has popped up for a reason: this place is stunningly
beautiful. The beach is a mixture of black and golden sand set beneath cliffs of stunning red sandstone, lined wtih palm trees and coconut trees. It's a surf beach, perfect for body surfing and boogie boarding (and of course there are making use of this by hiring out boogie boards down on the beach). It's one of India's most dangerous beaches though, with a stong undertow, so you have to be careful. The police kick

Varkala
everyone out of the water at sunset. If you walk to the north, the cliffs subside and there are small semi private beaches you can find. However, it's suggested that you dress conservatively on these beaches, as there's a mosque nearby - the area is a holy one. This didn't stop people stripping down when I went walking up there though.


Markets
We arrived without a place to stay, but quickly found a cute little place with basic bamboo and concrete huts. Luckily, unlike many places along the cliff front, it was a budget place which didn't charge an arm and a leg. So we dropped our bags and went out for a beer. The beer was served to us in a covert bottle, wrapped in newspaper, which we had to hide under the table. Many places here avoid paying tax on the beers, and pay off the police who patrol the cliff front. So long as they keep the

Choose your fish and they'll cook it for you
beer discrete, everyone's happy, especially us! Though it does make me feel a little like I'm 16 again. So we sipped on our cold beer in glasses wrapped in napkins, and started chatting to an older couple who were visiting from Sweeden. The woman was fascinating, being a curator in a museum. She was a strong headed and wise woman with a spark about her, who strongly remined me of my Grandma. So strange how no matter how far from home you are, there's always something which takes you back instantly.

The next day we deemed a beach day, and I'm sorry to say that both Glen and I got burnt, despite wearing lots of sunscreen and reapplying. Ah well, I guess it was bound to happen given how fair I am and how strong the Indain sun is. So we spent the next few days in and out of the sun, putting on more sunscreen (too) regularly.

I'm afraid there's not much more to say in this blog; there's only so much I can write about lying in the sand, reading, and body surfing. Glen started and finished a book in a day - a first ever for him. I got some battle scars from body surfing and getting dumped in the strong undertow. The surf threatened my handstiched bikini, but the addition of some elastic I'd been carrying with me worked a charm. I avoided any unnecessary nudity thankfully.

Tonight we catch a train back up the coast to a little, relatively undeveloped beach called Gokarna - Gabes' favourite while he was here in India. From there we're heading to Goa via the inland ruins of Hampi. So we've got about 3 more weeks of beaches and temples, with a half week diversion inland. I dare say that if I avoid getting burnt again, I might even come back with a tan! Now THAT's a shocking prospect for me, with my fair, dutch skin.

Xo

Mags

permalink written by  Capto on February 3, 2010 from Varkkallai, India
from the travel blog: Two months in Limbo
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We're in Paradise. Literally

Gokarn, India


Om Beach
We took a train up to Gokarn, and arrived safely after a day's travel. After battling touts who wanted to charge us 400 rupees to get to the beach, we landed in the sand with our heavy backpacks, and set out to find a place to stay. Backpacking on a beach in barefeet... in the dark. Only in India. Well, possibly not ONLY in India, but it was an experience none the less.


Still mornings at Om Beach
We got a beach hut at a little place called Dolphin right on the middle point of Om Beach. Om beach is so named because it looks like the Om symbol - kind of like the number 3. They set us up in a hut with a sand floor, walls made of woven palm leaves, and a bamboo skeleton. It had a fan, light and powerpoint, so everything we needed. They rebuild these huts every year after the monsoon. Not very soundproof, but they're right on the beach, and I woke up to the sound of the surf every day.


Sunrise at Om
Gokarn is still a pretty undeveloped place. It's got about 7 restaurants along the whole beach, and each one has a selection of these coco huts. Other than that, there are no shops or anything, and there's only (recent) road access to one end of the beach. I doubt it'll last this way for long though. Apparently Varkala was like that 10 years ago, and now look at it! We've spent our days on the beach, reading and swimming. Despite piling on layers of sunscreen and keeping to the shade except to dry off from swimming, I've managed to get burnt almost every day we've been here. Sigh. But I'm looking scarily brown for me! My fair dutch skin is slowly looking a normal shade of tan. Who would have thought!


Walking to Paradise

Paradise Beach
Glen and I went for a walk south along the hills and beaches, and ended up in a place called Paradise Beach. And man, it really is paradise down there. There's no road, so you can only get there by the small track (which requires you to rock hop a good distance) or by getting one of the local fishermen who sit around Om Beach to drop you down there. There are two restaurants which rent huts or hammocks for people to sleep in. It's only a tiny beach, about 20m across, and bordered by boulders. But it's beautiful. The pictures I have just don't do it justice. The atmosphere there was amazing too - some people seem to stay the entire tourist season, and know the locals well. Wish we'd found the place earlier, and spent a few nights there. Sadly, time was running out on us, so it wasn't worth the effort of getting our packs down there. Still, we passed on the word to people arriving in Om Beach.


Paradise Beach
The food here is awesome too. We heard on our first night that the place to eat was called Dragon, situated at the far south of the beach. They had fresh fish brought in that afternoon, cold Kingfisher beer, and an old charcoal bbq. We got grilled tiger prawns, and kingfish tikka. Amazing. Soooo good. And you could never replicate it back home, because half the flavour came from that bbq.

Today we head inland to Hampi on an overnight bus which we've repeatedly heard is death. People have told us that it's like travelling 13hrs down a very unkempt dirt road. They've told us that their bus has crashed on the journey (and that this seems to be unnervingly common). They've told us to take the train at all costs. Still, the trains were booked out, and everyone says that Hampi is worth it. So we're getting the overnight bus tonight. Needless to say, we don't expect to sleep.

See ya'll on the other side!

permalink written by  Capto on February 8, 2010 from Gokarn, India
from the travel blog: Two months in Limbo
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Rocks, rice and religion

Hampi, India

We survived the bus trip to Hampi without much trouble. We were delayed by 5 hours due to traffic jams, but considering we were afraid for our lives, we were relatively impressed with the trip. On the way we met a Michael and Andrea; Swiss tourists, who are travelling in the same direction and have a similar time frame as us. When we arrived in Hampi we found a guesthouse with two huts, and bargained ourselves a better price for two huts and four nights. They've turned out to be great travel companions, with a similar attitude to us - very relaxed, not needing to see everything possible, and enjoying the quieter back areas. Most importantly, they felt the same urge as us to grab a beer to escape the heat of the day, as soon as we'd found a room. Perfect!

Hampi is different from anything we'd imagined; when we caught our first glimpses in the morning we felt like we'd arrived in Bedrock from the Flintstones. The place is littered with mountain upon mountain of boulders between 3m and 50m high. Moko and Spooner, you'd both be in bouldering heaven. If you imagine you're an ant, they feel like piles of gravel. But more surprisingly, the land is fertile, with rice paddies, banana plantations, and the greenest grass we've seen nestled into the low lands. It's a place of such contrast it really catches you off guard. Yet again, India has completely changed. It's a small city, mostly based around the ruined temples which litter the landscape - the Jordan of the South. We stay on the far side of the river, accessed by a small ferry (a dinghy, which some entrepreneurial Indian has set up, costing 50c a pop to cross - very pricey by Indian standards). That side has a single line of guesthouses and restaurants along the river sitting right beside the rice paddies. It is so quiet, with very few cars and hustle. At night the frogs sing deafeningly in the rice paddies.

On our first full day we went on a walking tour of the temples, which took most of the day. We hiked up to a temple on the highest hill, which gave us a view of the entire area. We realised for the first time how these mountains just keep going on forever. I swear, there are more rocks here than in the rest of the world combined. At the main temple (which unlike the others, still stands and is in good use) we went to see Lakshmi the temple elephant. Unlike most of the other

Blessings from the elephant
elephants we've seen in places like this, she looked healthy and pretty happy all considering. She was trained to take money which people held out for her, and swiftly put it in her master's bowl, and tapped the giver on the head with her trunk in blessing, all in one surprisingly quick and fluid motion. Many people brought her bananas too, which she ate in one bite. I wish I had a video of it. It was very impressive.

That night we went to a restaurant which an Australian guy we'd met had recommended to us for the chicken kebabs. Glen and I have been vegetarian except for fish on the coast, but have been getting increasingly adventurous with our choices. We decided that as the Australian was still standing, we'd take our chances. Very glad we did. Those kebabs were better than anything I've tasted in NZ.

The next day we hired bikes and did a tour of our side of the river. We biked through a little village to the lake which is supposed to be safe for swimming (despite the sign which warns us of crocodiles. Apparently there are only crocodiles in the river, or so the locals comforted us). We jumped in the small rapids caused by the reservoir dam, and sat by the lake to dry off, constantly berated by locals trying to sell us cold beer, chips, cookies and chai. Entertainment came in the form of a few locals who tried to copy us, but whose swimming skills are particularly lacking. They struggled back to the nearby lake shore, and we realised how important those swimming classes we had in school were.


Lesson: Don't try to withhold bananas from monkeys
We biked to the monkey temple, and climbed to the top - some 800 steps in the blinding heat of the day. On the way up we followed a couple of Russian guys who were stupidly taunting the monkeys with bananas. They'd give them half a banana out of their bag of 20, and try and keep the rest. These monkeys are pretty aggressive however, and know that bananas come to them in plastic bags. The Russians found themselves overwhelmed by monkeys grabbing at them, and so utilised a stick to scare them off. This didn't work for long


Monkey temple
The ferry between the town and our side of the river only goes until 6pm. This means that we have very little to do in the evenings except eat at a nearby restaurant, most of which show movies. Our favourite has a good supply of beer, better chai, and a projector screen. We haven't tried the pizza yet, but I think pizza, beer and movies might be the plan tonight. Tomorrow night Michael, Andrea and I head to Goa. Glen still has a month in India (compared to my 2 weeks and Michael and Andrea's 3 weeks), so will spend a little more time in Hampi. So it's tomorrow that we part our ways as I prepare to head home.

permalink written by  Capto on February 12, 2010 from Hampi, India
from the travel blog: Two months in Limbo
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Pololem, India



permalink written by  Capto on February 14, 2010 from Pololem, India
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