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I got up at 5am to catch a bus to Munnar (hill station in Kerala) this morning. When I got to the bus station, they said, oh the bus has been canceled today... Shesh... So I got a taxi :)
It is sooo beautufull here! About 220 square miles of tea plantation. All of it is owned by TATA. Looking out over miles and miles of tea is really quite beautufull (as cultivated landscapes go.) There are also some lovely big trees with purple flowers (I'll try and get some photos :) in the middle of the tea gardens.
The village is based around a baazar. Lots of fruits and veg, etc. There is a private tourist info office run by Mr. Joseph Iyer (sp?) who also has some really lovely cottages on his property outside of town. He's a historian by training, although he worked on Electronics (TVs, Radios, etc) for 40 something years. After he retired, he setup shop as a tourist info guy. He gets rave reviews in all the big tourist guides (Lonely Planet, Let's Go, Rough Guide, etc.) Anyway, I'm staying in a very nice (simple) cottage on his property. There is a really lovely garden with roses and other lovely flowers... How cool!
Today, I'm exploring town, tomorrow, I'm planning on heading out to visit some tea and coffee plantations.
Lots of Love!
-- Bindu
I finally got it together to publish some Photo Galleries from my trip.
Hope you all enjoy!
I'm not really in the mood to write a travel update (see my previous post.) But if I don't do it now, I think I'll forget some of the more juicy recent stuff so here goes a short (hopefully) travel update.
Had a lovely time in Goa. Good company, beaches (Vagator was my favorite that I visited), food, markets and motorcycle rides up the coast.
I took the train to Kerla because I hoped it would be even sweeter, but alas, I think my expectations were inflated. Or maybe I just haven't seen the right parts of Kerla.
I hit a woman who was begging from me... I didn't know I had it in me... Actually I pushed her, but still... She kept grabbing my clothes really hard and demanding money. Every time I shouted at her to leave me alone (I did start by requesting nicely) she would smile an evil smile, look at my crotch and lick her lips... Or say she loved me and call me her husband... Her husband/boyfriend played the good cop, he kept saying sorry and asking for money... Every time I walked away she would grab me or step in front of me... I have always thought that in such a situation I would just be incredibly clear verbally... and it would work... I was and it didn't... Yuck!
OK now that I have that off my chest, I'll tell you the better stuff. The spice and rice markets are nice, but not as "amazing" as I had hoped. You know how a trip can be made by the people you meet? Well, I met a really sweet couple from Canada in Kochi. I had a nasty belly and went to a fancy hotel for some comfort food, and bumped into this couple. We ended up talking for 5 hours. Then having dinner together the following night. They have been teaching English in Taiwan and Japan... Hmm... I wonder... (they gave me some good tips in case I want to make a go of it, sounds quite tempting actually.)
Now, I'm staying in a nice house (Dilip's cousin's shared rental) in a small village on the south east edge of the backwaters. Actually its about 1km from the backwaters,and there isn't much access. The village is about 1.5km away and doesn't have much to offer in the way of stores, but the people feel very friendly and open.
The rental is shared by some associates of Dilip's cousin. They (Jacob and Bobby) have been incredibly generous in introducing me to the local area, people, food, etc and helping to plan activities here.
I got back from a 22-hour house-boat trip this morning. Which was lovely in some ways, and a bit crazt in others (the engine broke down and took 3 hours to repair and then the captain crashed into a wall at low speed this morning and bent the front of the boat.) The food was great, the sunset and sunrise were staggering. The two guys on the boat Rajesh and Saji were very nice, although I wish we would have been able to communicate better.
This afternoon, Bobby told me about the GW's 48-hour deadline... I fear for us all.
My god I'm pissed off! I’ve known for some time that war with Iraq was a real possibility. And yet I still feel totally taken aback at the declaration today. I have hoped desperately that Washington has been strong-arming Saddam because that gets some level of cooperation - not because they want to go against the majority of the western world (including the US population) and actually start a war with Iraq.
I fear that this war will fuel major religious fanatics the world over (Christian and Muslim initially) to commit atrocities upon atrocities. The issue for me is fear. I fear what will happen to the world in the next few days. My god, how must the people in Iraq be feeling right now? As most of the world sits back and watches yet another war with massive media coverage, we become desensitized to collateral damage. Why? Because we fear thinking about the mothers, brothers, children, grandparents, cousins, uncles of the devastated… Because we fear our lust for victory… Because we fear that our moral position stinks… How many innocent people will we kill this time? How many guilty people? Who’s really guilty here? We, as a world, loose even more of our humanity inch by inch with this one.
Tonight I pray for peace. In my heart of hearts I wish that we could fire the negotiators (the ones that actually make the decisions) that have failed rather than the innocents that elect (or put up with in this case) the negotiators. I’m trying not to visualize a procession of the dead Iraqis and Americans that will not come home after this struggle… the thing is, I can’t… The procession feels endless…
It's been too long! So much to report and yet another full day... at least a day away from the computer... full with the beach and swimming, and poi, and motorcycle rides up the coast to find a restaurant run by a German lady :)
My last few weeks in Pune were quite intense, had short and sweet relationship. Worked on my friend, Dilip's, internet cafe and had my last two wisdome teach pulled, one at a time, one week apart. Also tried to go for a tandem Paragliding flight a few times (with Dilip) but the wind wasn't right.
After being in the commune (resort) for a while I definately started feeling how much I create a daily schedule... I started getting very bored...
I took a bus from Pune to Panchgani (sp?) for a few days at an realy sweat Eco Camp... Tents overlooking a beautifull ravine! It was quiet a magical experience. I got to the bus station early and hoped to get an earlier bus, but that didn't happen so I ended up sitting arround for two hours watching the life of a metropolitan Indian bus station... Heh... Then 3 hours on the deulux bus (yeah right)... And get to Panchgani... I started on the 10 minute walk to the camp, halfway there someone calls my name. A paraglider I had met a few weeks before was driving into town in the Eco Camp Jeep for grocaries... So I hitched a lift to camp and we caught up with good home made chai on their porch (what an amazing view!!!) The wind came up and we rushed off so I could have a tandem flight... WOW!!! It was amazing... It wasn't very long, but was enough to pique (sp?) my interest in learning to Paraglide... Afterwards, Gerard (french tandem pilot who took my up) invited a bunch of us to dinner at a fancy local hotel... Or should I say the fancy local hotel... He had given the managers free flights and in return they gave everyone dinner and a movie... James Bond in comfy leather couches... Somehow, not very Indian... but it was a blast...
The next few days were relaxing... The trip to Goa was a bit of a fiasco... Took a Taxi for 3 hours over the mountains to Khed. Then waited for two hours for my train. No trains went through the station until the exact time of my train. I was so impressed with the timelyness that I got on the train... Ooops... wrong train. Four hours later on the slowest train in the world I got off at Ratnagiri, so that I could call the cab driver I had booked so he didn't drive the 1 hour to pick me up and then not find me... Wasn't sure if I would have to stay there overnight or not. Ended up getting a ticket for 6:20pm... The train finally arived at 8:20pm... Shesh... The rest of the journey was short and sweet... I slept the whole way :)
Spent the night in Panaji and then came to Candolim. Have been here for a couple days... More levels of relaxation... Playing poi on the beach. Eating yummy food. Went for a lovely moonlight walk on the beach last night... Then the moon dissapeared... not sure how that happened. At first it was bright white and then it just got oranger and oranger (is that a word :)... Then it was gone... The stars were still out, and we could still see the lights of the boats out on the ocean... It was back when I woke up in the middle of the night...
I have some pictures, but am finding it hard to find somewhere where I can upload them. Will keep trying to get them posted.
Tons of love to you all!
-- Bindu