Down and dirty in Delhi

Our last few days in Goa were waterlogged. Our beautiful ocean view was tainted by endless monsoonal rains, our room leaked (only a little) and it was amazing to watch the beach disappear. When we arrived the there was probably about 40 feet of beach before you hit the water...on the day we left the waves came right up to the restaurants and many of them were starting to tear down and close up shop for the monsoon which can last several months.

Our decision to fly to Delhi was wonderful. A 2 hour flight is much more appealing than a 40 hour train ride. We arrived last night at around 8pm. Deb was getting a little panicked as she has been dreading Delhi since our arrival. But it all has been quite smooth and not so bad. We got a prepaid taxi that took us to our hotel (which is expensive for India...but still cheap when you consider we are in a city of millions and barely baring $15/night for an airconditioned room with tv)had some dinner, went to bed. We have been out on the streets of Delhi all day...it is a crazy place but not as bad as either of us had imagined. Cows, people, rickshaws all seem to cohabitat in one place without too much confusion or anger.

Tonight we are getting on an overnight train north to Shimla and the Himalayas. It is cooler there (as Delhi was 33 when we arrived last night) and it is supposed to be spectacularly beautiful. Things are not really looking like they are going to work out for volunteering in Cambodia...so we are not sure when we will leave India or where we will go next.

Relaxing in Goa

Well it took a 12 hour train ride and a 2 hour taxi ride, but we are here in Arambol in Goa. Our room, which is costing a staggering $3.80/night overlooks the ocean. Sigh...we fall asleep at night to the crashing of the waves.

As usual, what happens with me and animals has happened here in Goa. Yesterday a dog approached our table and of course I fed it. Since that moment she has not left our side. She sleeps at the door to our room and follows us everywhere. I am trying to figure out how we could take her on our travels. We have affectionately named her Scrappy because all of the horny male dogs on the beach chase her, snip at her and bark. She gives them a good growl and stands her ground. Even as we sit in the internet cafe, she is curled up sound asleep between Deb and I. And of course you all know that I went to a store this morning, bought her some dog food and will feed her while we are here. Such a suck I am.

The beach here is ok. The monsoon has started so the water is quite rough and dirty. Neither Deb nor I find it terribly inviting and I would be surprised if either of us did anything more than just get our feet wet as we walk along the beach to our room.

India seems to have a way of making something that should be stunningly beautiful, not so beautiful. Litter is everywhere. There is a freshwater lake that sounded so inviting in the guidebook, but when we got there we saw empty water bottles, Coke cans and trash floating all around the edges and a thin layer of scum. Needless to say we didn't strip down and dive in.

On the train, we were in the berth with 2 Indian women and 2 kids. They looked quite affluent with loads of gold, gorgeous Sari's etc. As we were travelling through some beautiful countryside, the younger of the women grabbed 3 empty water bottles, a plastic dish and a bunch of candy wrappers and just chucked them one after the other out the window. I nearly gasped in horror. Such a shame that they are not educated on recycling, etc.

In some of the larger cities like Bangalore you see some 'Keep our city clean' signs and also signs like "Don't be a nuisance. Don't urinate here"...as Indian men see no issue in pulling it out in broad daylight and pissing on any wall, shrub, or sidewalk. But in general they just seem to throw their garbage on the road, or even straight into the ocean.

We have a few more days here in Arambol...we will fatten up the dog, fall asleep to the waves, eat some seafood and drink some beer...and then we will head north.

Our days in Hampi

We had heard a lot of wonderful things from other travellers about Hampi and we really wanted to come here, but we almost didn't. It meant a 4 hour busride to Madurai, a 10 hour train ride to Bangalore and then a 10 hour train ride from Bangalore to Hospet...which is not far from Hampi. But it was all worth it. Hampi is stunning. Probably the nicest place we have seen so far in India. It is just a small town, 4000 people or so. The town itself doesn't have much to offer beside some restaurants, guest houses and a few shops. It is what surrounds Hampi that is amazing. Hundreds of ruins from the 1200-1500's that cover about 13 sq km around Hampi. A temple in the centre of town...a river that winds it's way past the town, the temple and the ruins and them piles of giant boulders that look like they were strategically piled...but are too big to have been put there by anything other than nature.

We have been here for 4 days now (2 of which poor Deb has been ill). But we had our best day in all of India here in Hampi. We rented a scooter (for about $6). It was all very official. I gave him my name and the guesthouse we were staying in, he gave us the key and told us to be careful...if anything happened it was our responsibility...and we were off. No forms to sign, no extra insurance to buy. WE spent about 3 hours driving around the countryside, checking out all of the ruins, came back to Hampi for lunch and then drove teh 13kn into Hospet (nearby town). WE drove through several small villages, where children stopped what they were doing, ran beside us, sometimes jumped out in front of us screaming "Where come from", We had rickshaw drivers honk at us, people in general amazed to see 2 white women cruising through Hospet on a motorbike. It was wonderful. We really felt a part of India. It was also good because we were moving fast enough that even if people were interested in us, we were moving fast enough that they couldn't bother us or do anything about it.

We were blessed by the temple elephant which was wonderful as well. You put a rupee in his trunk and then bow your head, he places his trunk on your head and you are blessed. Both Deb and I were amazed at how squishy it felt when it landed on your head. Apparently he lives in the temple, bathes in the river and blesses those who come to Hampi.

Hampi is also hugely populated by monkeys. Every morning Deb and I are awakened by the sound of monkeys crashing on the roof overhead, and the sight of them hanging from the trees outside our window. The other day as we were leaving the guest room, we looked up to see about 4 monkeys hanging their heads over the roof, looking down at us with the same amount of interest as we were looking at them with.

We are leaving for Goa tomorrow on the train...if we can get on it. We are #62 on the waiting list...so we will see what happens and if Deb is feeling well enough.

Another crazy day in India

Well today is definitely one of those days that we wish we were
back home in the comfort of our own surroundings. India is making us very tired and somewhat irritable today. We are trying as much as possible to escape the streets. Lunch was cucumber sandwiches, cashews and a chocolate milkshake...anything that is without curry!

The anti-India feeling all started yesterday with our
busride to Madurai. It didn't help that we left a really cute little
place where we were staying and had met some great people....had spent our days eating amazing fruit salads, lounging in our grass hut and sitting in the watch tower watching wildlife.

So we get to the bus stand and this guy comes up and asks the typical
question that is starting to drive us mad and is making me a liar
because now I answer something different everytime someone asks 'what
your country'. My newest response is to start speaking Spanish...that usually throws them for a bit of a loop. They can't sell me anything or ask me for money when I speak spanish.

After we tell this guy Canada (I told him the truth in a moment of weakness)he starts to tell us that his nephew is missing and he is going to Madurai to the police. He opens
up his bag and takes out pictures, the police report, his drivers
license and shows it to us. Very sad. We are not sure why he is telling us all this, but he seems intent on us knowing. Then he tells me that he likes my sunglasses. When I just say thank you, he then tells me that he wants my
sunglasses and stands there and stares at me in disbelief when I
refuse. Huh?

Finally the bus comes and before it even stops people are running at
it and jumping on it. By the time Deb and I push our way on with our
bags on out back..the bus is pretty much full. A nice woman and her
husband call us over, grab our bags, ram us into the seats, shoves my
backpack in the overhead compartment (took me nearly 30 minutes to get
it out when we arrived at our destination), Deb's wouldn't fit, so she
had to put it on her lap. The seats are rock hard, there are now 4 of
us in 3 seats, Deb has her back pack on her lap, I have both our days
bags on mine. We have a 4 hour journey like this. Thankfully a bunch of people clear out at a small town that is having a festival and there are only 3 of us in the seat and we get Deb's bag off her lap.

The family is very sweet, spend 30 minutes trying to convinve us to
get off with them and go to their sister's house with them...spend the
night and continue on our journey the next day. You know me...up for
any adventure, I was ready to say yes until I found out that when we
got off the bus with them, we would have to get another bus and
journey an hour out of the way and off our path. So we parted ways when
they got off at their stop. Not without promising to write our new
Indian family.

Then we arrive in Madurai, get swarmed by rickshaw drivers, get to our
hotel/hostel and it is dismal..squat toilet, shower with a bucket.
Poor Deb is not very happy. Neither am I to be honest. We slept tghere last night and it was friggin' hot. At one point the electricity went off and there wasn't even a ceiling fan to make the Africa hot air move around.

This morning we could not find anywhere that served a normal breakfast
that was not curry, every 2 feet people are pulling on us begging for
money, there are deformities and injured people everywhere.

Today is a day where India is not our friend. We are trying to get on
the overnight train out of here, but it is sold out for days. We are
trying the 'emergency tourist' route..apparently there are seats
reserved for us whiteys...so we will see if that works. Otherwise it
is a 10 hour busride, which could nearly kill us.

The only redeeming thing about today is that we have a tv in our room
with the movie channel and we are going to go hide away in there for a
few hours before we go back to the train station to see if we can get
the hell out of here. Before we went to see the temple this morning Mrs Doubtfire was on and you should have seen the smiles on our pathetic little faces.

trying for some more photos