India, I haven't forgotten you

One month ago today I was standing on the rooftop of a hotel in dreary, drizzly Amritsar, admiring the Harmandir Sahib (The Golden Temple).

I'll tell you what, though I had only two days in Amritsar, and it rained the whole time and was freezing cold and dirty and generally I found nothing lovely about the city to redeem it, it may be my favorite part of the entire journey. My reasons are both simple and absurd; Amritsar was the backdrop to the movie that made me want to visit India, Rab Ne Bana di Jodi.  Silliness aside, there was something about the Golden Temple that I felt I just couldn't miss.  I only visited Harmandir Sahib once while I was in Amritsar, and flew in the face of what all the guide books advise, which is to go see it in multiple stages so that you can appreciate the sun's positioning or avoid lines or whatever insane suggestions they make that lead to someone showing up to the Taj Mahal at 6AM and not being able to see it through the fog.

No, seeing the Temple once was so special I felt I couldn't go back. I took my shoes off at the complimentary storage facility and made the long slippery walk across ice cold marble to the entry stairs.

3 shirts, 2 pairs of pants and no shoes.

Streams and streams of pilgrims visit Harmandir Sahib every year, more than the Taj Mahal sees on an average day. The contemporary temple was built in the end of the 16th century and was opened with the first reading of the Guru Granth Sahib in 1604. The Guru Granth Sahib is the Sikh holy scripture, a book compiled by the Fifth Guru of Sikhism from enlightened Sikh Gurus, Muslims, and Hindus over a number of centuries. The book reveals the wonder of God and the ways to worship and live as a Sikh. Each day a Hukam is randomly chosen by divine will and read aloud in verse at the beginning of each day. When I arrived, the Granthi (readers) were well into their readings, which can be watched live on television or online throughout the day.  I walked slowly around the Pool of Nectar, following the other pilgrims' clockwise paths. I felt entirely fulfilled and circumspect, about my entire trip and particularly this experience. No one took my photo, no one paid any attention to me, and I was left to soak up the beautiful and solemn experience of the Golden Temple.

As I try to type this up I'm realizing I can't convey how special the visit was to me, so I'm going to keep quiet on that topic. In any case not only have I jumped ahead days, I've started a month away from the last time I posted so I'd better catch you up.

We flew into Jaipur on January 10, many rehydration packs into the day, and I was feeling much better about walking, not yakking, seeing straight, etc. We checked in to Hotel Karni Niwas on Motilal Atal Rd (fun to say!) right off the main road through the city.  The hotel was nice enough, though a freezing change of pace from Trivandrum.  We did the tourist beat, visiting the City Palace and Jantar Mantar, a scientific observatory of astronomical AND astrological themes. Massive clocks counting the minutes within seconds of GMT, ways to research fortuitous dates for weddings, contracts, and births, Jantar Mantar is filled with very strange large equipment of steel and marble, but is entirely fascinating. 

But while Jaipur is a lovely cultural city, it is most famous for the bazaars. What could we do but endless shopping? Everything is available for purchase on the streets of the Old City, from grains and bangles to kitchen appliances and jewelry.  The morning of the 12th, I set out for the gem cutting district and spent a few hours looking at bags of loose stones, and meeting a store full of jewelry salesmen who knew nothing about the gems they sold. At first they thought I was a no-nothing woman looking for pretty things, but when I pulled out a bag full of gemological tools, I caught and held their attention. I showed the store manager how to use a Chelsea filter and support filters, explained how a dichroscope worked, and why I was back lighting the gems I examined. An older gentleman approached me with a necklace and asked me to take a look at the emerald on it; then went in the back and came out again with a box. He introduced himself as the owner and said he wanted me to look at something through the Chelsea filter. This is what he showed me:

A 240 carat (think golf ball-sized) Colombian Emerald that tested well under the emerald filters. I think this photo skews a bit blue, but this rock was a gorgeous green, though it had a rather significant "jardin" (sexy term for inclusions and interior crystallizations). We both oohed and ahhed at it's beauty, I may have squealed in delight, but that's between me and him...

I did not buy the emerald, but I found a few loose stones that were very cheap but were not fakes. I also managed to find some bracelets, textiles, wood carvings, and juti. I drank tea and ate sweets, we all drank a lot of beer. Jaipur was a good city to end our trip as a group. On January 13th Lizzie, Gareth, Amarilli and I escaped the city for a day of adventuring. Our first stop was Amber Fort, a red sandstone and marble creation perched on the hills of Amer. It is enormous, with four incredible courtyards and endless staircases, hallways and darkened rooms that are at once romantic and isolated.

There is a footpath up the steep hill to the entrance, but never one to do anything simply, I found myself skittering amongst the parade of painted elephants who carry tourists up the hill in an endless stream for $18 a ride.  Having evaded an elephantine stomping, I paid my entry and got lost in the fort.







After the fort we moved on to the highlight of the day, Dera Amer Elephant Trek! Lizzie had met owner Udaijit through a colleague, and we were very graciously attended to on our hour-long elephant ride and delicious buffet lunch.

The day was spectacular, crystal blue skies and gorgeous breezes and our only lament was that we would miss the elephant polo games happening the next day. I can't imagine the thunderous spectacle that would be. 




We returned to Jaipur for a last frantic shopping spree, and sat down to a final enormous thali dinner at Copper Chimney on MI Rd. After stuffing ourselves we rolled downstairs into the dark mod bar, where we downed Kingfisher after Kingfisher in a last show of tourist solidarity before we all parted ways.

And so we come full circle on this post, up to Amritsar and then back to the US. Why was I so delinquent in writing this last entry, well, I suppose it's for the same reason I keep a physical travel journal up until the last few days of any journey. If I write it down I acknowledge that it's over. It's more fun for me to look back at a journal and think "yeah, and what happened next?" but I know that's no way to leave anyone reading this blog.

The past month also allowed me to process my thoughts on India, which are as follows:

• I'm so glad I went. 
• I enjoyed what I saw but wish we'd done more adventuring, ie. swinging from jungle vines, riding a train in Darjeeling, lasso-ing tigers, jumping off low bridges into chemically iffy waters, eating more street food, et al.  
• The trip was equally as much about spending time with an old friend (Lizzie, though technically younger) as it was about seeing India. 
• I wish I'd taken more photos with families on my camera; now I understand why they want to look back on the white person they met. Think of the stories!
• Kerala was by FAR the friendliest state we visited, also the most communist and Christian. Huh! 
• South Indian food is a real 180 from North Indian food, which is what has been exported to the US and UK. There's no better between the two - they are simply different and I would happily eat either or both for the rest of my life. 
• As a tourist you can be exposed to the poverty and filth of India as much or as little as you want. I didn't see any horrors I have not witnessed anywhere else, though with a population of 1.2 billion people, the scale is larger.  
• India seems much lovelier in Hindi films (excepting Delhi 6, which is probably more accurate). 
• I probably wouldn't go back. 

Kochi, Tea, and Don 2 in 3D

Our group trekked out of Kannur on January 2, 2012. Our destination was Kochi, a charming seafront city with heavy Portuguese and Dutch influences. We'd booked rooms at Green Woods Bethlehem outside the Fort area, a simply pretty suburb with loads of homestay options, beautiful greenery, courtyards draped in colored lights and paper lace star lanterns. We arrived in the late evening after a boiling train ride, and a refreshing ferry from Ernakulam, the mainland port connection to Kochi.







On our first full day in Kochi, we visited the small, but ornately chandelier-ed Synagogue in Mattancherry, I took a gander at some jewelry in Gem Palace, housed in the Ethnic Passage, and then we trod on to the Dutch Palace, which was as unique as it was hot; very much so.  The building looks so little like a palace you might pass it by, but the contents are delightful. Originally built by the Portuguese in the 16th century, the Dutch remodeled the palace in the 17th, but the beauty lies in the more than 300 square feet of naturally pigmented tempera murals that depict important and sometimes cheeky scenes from the Ramayana, as well as other important texts and Sanskrit poems. Also impressive were two rooms with ornate teak carved ceilings. The tragedy of the visit was not being able to take any photos inside the palace, or buy postcards of the murals upon exiting, as there is no gift shop in sight.

We also took the touristy walk along the sea wall of Fort Kochi to eyeball the Chinese Fishing Nets and for Liz and Gareth to buy two Kingfish steaks, which were then prepared by a nearby restaurant stand. I headed to Koder House's Ela spa for a quick pedicure, which I really needed after scuffing through streets in my flip flops, and then on to the very touristy Teapot for, can you imagine, tea and a very bizarre version of cheesecake, before we made our way over to the Kerala Kathakali Centre to see a traditional dance performance. Guests arrive around 5pm and watch the four actors grind rocks into pigments, which they use to color their faces as appropriate for their characters. In the play we ultimately watched, Arjuna, a boastful archer, challenges a disguised Shiva in a deer hunt, and then a battle. When he realizes who he's been fighting and insulting he humbly begs for a swift death, which Shiva denies, and even rewards his strength and skill by giving him his Pashupatastra, an infalliable bow. It was a fascinating performance, as the actors use intricate and difficult facial movements and hand mudras to convey dialogue, instead of words. We had a late dinner and finally retired for the evening.






 We spent a bit more time in Kochi, enjoying lovely Keralan hospitality, before jetting off to Alleppey for what proved to be a highly entertaining over-nighter on a houseboat. I like boats, but 24 hours spent staring at one another was a bit tedious for my adventuring soul, so I was quite please to hop in a taxi and speed off to Kumily's hilly tea plantations for a 3 night break from the hot coastal visits.

Kumily/Thekkady/Periyar, three towns within 3 kilometers of one another are perched high top tea covered hills inland in Kerala. We stayed at Green View Homestay on Green Wood's owner Sheeba's recommendation, and we were thrilled about the entire experience. Green View offered in house booking of everything you could want to do in the hills. On our first night, Lizzie and I booked two spots for the cooking class they coordinated, which was offered by the fabulous, warm, generous family that runs Campfire Cafe. If you do only one excursion in Kumily, it should be this cooking course. Owner and master chef Shernil is as friendly as you could ever imagine, he welcomed us and 15 others into his home/cafe, where we prepared nine Keralan dishes and enjoyed his family and other travelers company for a long and enjoyable night of cooking and eating. All for 350 INR, which is less than 7 USD, an amazing price tag for all you can eat. We liked him and the food so much we came back the next night!





We also tuk-tuk-ed around on a fun tea, coffee and spice tour, as well as a wonderful nature walk at the Periyar Tiger Reserve. On that three-hour hike we saw a mouse deer, loads of monkeys and a wild elephant! We'd come to the furthest point on our hike, a remote lake somewhere in the interior, and after having our photo snapped by our guide, Lizzie points to the water's edge squealing "Elephant!" to which our guide squealed "RUN!" Apparently solo elephants are typically young males who get angry easily and hate the color red, so as we tore away into the bushes, the guide ripped Jamie's red backpack off his back and threw it away from us. I was very glad I hadn't worn my red hiking shirt.We watched him from a patch of high reeds for awhile before heading back to the bamboo raft launch.



Our Sunday in Thekkady consisted of a Jungle Safari, which was touted as an all day excursion including a 40 kilometer jeep safari through the preserve, a 3 hour hike, 1 hour plantation walk and boat ride, 1 hour of some other tour as well as breakfast, lunch and afternoon tea. The Gavi EcoTourism group that offered this day-long adventure is located outside the park, and if you can imagine your neighbor charging you $40 to come look at the lake in his back yard and eat two meals, then you have vividly captured this experience. The guides Gavi offers are "tribals," which seems both highly offensive and counter-intuitive to hosting a bunch of westerners around a hike. Our guide wore his best skinny jeans and bright aqua plaid shirt for the occasion, but didn't speak a word of English and had only been on the job 3 days, so instead of taking us hiking through the jungle, he walked us along clearly marked paths and then made us take the paved road back. We asked for more hiking, but apparently 1 hour was all we got. The upshot is we were ready to leave by 2pm, instead of 5pm!

I scheduled an Ayurvedic head massage at Mayura Ayurvedic Center after that downer excursion and found it a great mood lifter. The boys wanted pizza, so we went to Chrissie's Cafe for dinner and brought along some Kingfishers to complete the meal. Next day was a travel day, so we retired early.

That gets us to Trivandrum, after a bus/train combo, and this was mostly a layover until our flight to Jaipur on Jan 10. We got ourselves some cheap hotel rooms without AC, which is not advisable, and sat in the India Coffee House trying to figure out what to do with ourselves for the next 8 hours. My winning suggestion was to see Don2 in 3D, which just happened to be playing down the road from us at 6:30pm. Lizzie and I decided not to tell the guys that there wouldn't be subtitles; we figured the plot would explain itself.  As a huge Shah Rukh Khan fan in general, I was thrilled about the movie. I'm perhaps biased on the issue.



Don2 is a classic story of gangster who turns himself in to then bust himself and a friend out of Sri-Lankan prison, then forming a team of criminals to help him steal the bill molds for the Euro from a Zurich bank, while a comely Interpol agent chases him around in daring car chases, a sexy dancing scene and then enlists his help to catch the criminals he was working with who double-crossed him, though it was all really a triple-cross, or maybe quadri-cross, because he wins in the end.  My only complaint was the terrible porcupine wig the director made him wear throughout - it was atrocious.

We dined at a 5-star hotel buffet after the film, which naturally gave me food poisoning. That plus a boiling hot night meant I was sufficiently weakened for our 10 hour travel day to Jaipur. Spectacular!

Christmas and New Years on the beach

I woke up early Christmas morning, as sunlight swept through the window across my face. I looked over at Lizzie, sleeping peacefully. Amarilli and Fionn were also sleeping, as were the rest of the travelers on the overnight bus to Hospet, Karnataka. Santa wasn't able to stop by our speeding chariot overnight, so when everyone woke up I offered my own gifts: dried cherries and mangoes for breakfast. Lizzie gave me half of her energy bar and we toasted to Christmas.






Hospet is the drop point for tourists going to Hampi, a boulder-filled landscape along a trickling current. Scattered across the wide landscape are many temples and ruins, and modern day Hampi Bazaar is a tourist trap nestled right in the middle of it all. Amarilli had remembered it as a tranquil spot off the beaten path, when she first visited a decade ago, so we were all surprised and more than a little disappointed to find ourselves in what Lonely Planet calls a "traveler's ghetto"; a sea of tye-dyed, dreadlocked hippie wannabes. We went across the stream by boat to the neighboring town which was supposed to be a bit calmer, but found it equally built up and catering to an impressive community of Israeli travelers on their year off after military duty.

We persisted, if somewhat crankily, and did manage to find a lovely Guest House (Hema's) and had a fine time. Hema's offers a limited amount of bungalows with a single comfy hammock swinging off the front porch, and has a scenic dining area overlooking the boulders and grasslands. We spent a lot of time lounging around, soaking up warm weather, sunny breezes and reading in our hammocks, but our second day in Hampi we did  venture out on rented bicycles to explore the landscape. Lizzie and I hoofed it up to Durga Temple, where we listened to a school of children chanting in a large classroom, and watched monkeys scurrying through some ruins. We met back up with Amarilli and Fionn in Anegundi at Hoova Cafe for chai and a chat, before cycling 15km back to Hema's.






On the 28th of December we boarded a bus from Hospet to Mangalore, en route to picking up Lizzie's boyfriend and another friend and continuing to Kannur for some beach adventures. Lizzie and I rather unfortunately were stuck in the last sleeping compartment at the very back of the bus, on the upper level behind the wheel well and found the ride to be more like a dangerously unsafe roller coaster than a bus. As there was no guardrail to prevent Lizzie from falling out, she tucked in against me when we even on the bed itself. Because apparently the drivers to Mangalore consistently pursue off beaten paths to that city and we were repeatedly and painfully thrown around our compartment ceaselessly throughout the journey. Literally airborne. We'd either go up and apart, my knees and hands slamming into the metal bus and windows, Lizzie towards a steep fall out of the compartment. It was pretty brutal, I have to say it's the worst ride I've been on in my extensive bus journey experience.

We stumbled into Mangalore, battered and sleepless, only to find a deeply unpleasant town full of misogynist hoteliers. Disconcerted, Amarilli, Fionn and I headed out of find a taxi to Kannur, while Lizzie fled to the airport to await Gareth's arrival. Only four bumpy hours later, we three travelers were deposited on Thattoda Beach, not sure where we would stay or how long. As we paid our driver an older gentleman came up to us and asked us to follow him. We did, into his very small beach front resort, Satin Sand, where he showed us two beautifully simple and airy suites and said we could have each room and full board for 2,000 INR per night. An absurd bargain to be sure. We snapped them up, and then later asked for a third, as I splashed out for my own room instead of sharing with Lizzie and Gareth. The couple arrived a few hours later and we rejoiced in our good luck as we watched the sun set over the Arabian Sea.



Satin Sand is our New Years Eve home, and we went big, sabering and drinking two cases of Kingfisher Blue, enjoying a spectacular meal consisting of King fish, dal, curries, rice, salads, raitha, a yummy homemade cashew chutney, ice cream, and my own contribution: a pineapple cake I bought that morning in town. It was admittedly, not very good, but I'd also bought a kilo of ladoos, so we went to town on them whilst drinking the night away. At midnight we cheered on the other guests and all the local Indians who came to hang out at the Satin Sand bonfire, and we ran to the beach for a midnight dip while the occasional firework exploded overhead. 






It's been a deliciously lazy week of beaches and bicycles, reading and laughing, but I have to say I'm ready for the next adventure.