Homeward Bound!

Rocking the watersports!

Cavelosseum Beach

We've had an uneventful week in Goa, decompressing from the Indian experience before we journey home. We are super relieved that the action in Mumbai has abated, though there is still a heavy aura about us as we have spent the week considering every possible permutation of how we are going to get out of here. We have decided to fly directly from Goa to the Mumbai airport, and camp out there until our British Airways flight whisks us back to safety. The CDN government is recommending against all but non-essential travel to Mumbai, and one does wonder if intel knows something that we don't... On the other hand, the CNN IBN (Indian affiliate) was reporting today that Delhi is suspected as the possible next target for attack, which takes out our plan B, which was to reroute home via Delhi. ???
So that's where we are at. The resort in Goa has been great, with a 50m pool, a gym, and pool volleyball to keep me busy, and to try to create moments where I'm not thinking about what is going on just a few hundred km away.

This will be my last blog entry, guys - thanks to all who followed along! India has been a rollercoaster to be sure, but totally worth it - it was a journey that cannot be found in any other country or continent. Some of you may think we are nuts for coming here, and most of you probably wonder whether we regret coming here, given what has transpired in Mumbai. My answer to that, is no. The goal of terrorism is just that - to terrorize us, to instill a paranoid fear inside of us, to make us want to hide in the southwest corner of our basements and never venture outside. The closest call I've ever had was not in a 'sketchy' country - it was in London on July 7, 2005, where I found myself in Victoria Station as the bombings were taking place at other Underground stations. Is that going to stop me from ever going to London? No. Although I would not purposely journey to a place that was known to be in imminent danger, I will never let terrorism destroy my passion for travel, quench my spirit, or conquer my heart.

Safe in Goa

We are safe and sound in Goa. We arrived yesterday without event or problems (flew direct from Delhi >> Goa). Resort is great, and we have CNN (both American and the Indian CNN affiliate) on our satellite TV in our room.
So I was on the front porch working out while Deb was sleeping this morning... she woke up and flipped on CNN, after which she cried out for me to get my butt inside, and we sat mesmerized for an hour, as the impact sank in of what happened last night.
There is nothing out of the ordinary whatsoever here in Goa, everything seems A-OK. We are staying at a relatively small, non chain resort, which is preferrable to the better known places (eg Marriott, which we almost booked into), given that terrorists tend to target big-name or super expensive places. Goa is certainly a big mainstream western tourist destination, which concerns me, but I think our best plan is to stay and lay low. Where else would we go? We are on a beach called Cavellosim, which is very low key... quite some distance from the party hubbub centres of Goa.
We are scheduled to arrive in the CST Victoria train station in Mumbai (same one that was hit), on Tuesday morning. We have the day in Mumbai before our scheduled flight to London Heathrow, and we have a hotel booked there which is smack in the middle of it all, about 300m from CST station. We had also planned to visit Cafe Leopold (it's a very well known tourist spot), which is pretty freaky given that this Cafe was hit as well.
So. We will have to see what unfolds in Mumbai and make some decisions closer to our departure date. At the moment, Mumbai airport is more or less shut down, and clearly the CST Victoria train station as well. As we understand, the entire city is more or less on lock down. If it is unsafe to go to Mumbai as of Monday, then we will try to find our way home directly from Goa, via Europe somewhere. We'll keep you posted on what we decide.
Thanks everyone for your concern!! xoxoxoooo

Retracing Our Steps

We are now in the process of retracing our steps through Jodhpur and Delhi, en route to our final two destinations: Goa and Mumbai (Bombay)! We had a relaxed, uneventful train ride back to our old digs in Jodhpur last evening...
Hmm. Let me pause a moment and reflect on what we now consider 'uneventful'. En route back to our digs, 'uneventful' includes the following:
a) Jodhpur hotel boys do not show up at train to pick us up, causing a fight between rickshaw boys out front as to who should get our business;
b) colorful bargaining of rickshaw from 300 down to 100 rupees, and a hard line demand from yours truly that we ARE NOT going to their hotel, we ARE NOT stopping at a carpet shop, we refuse to be taken ANYWHERE but our destination;
c) winning rickshaw driver takes us to some other hotel anyway, and insists that yes this IS our hotel (dude, we can read...)
d) rickshaw boy feigns miscomprehension but ultimately takes us towards our real hotel;
e) two cows picking garbage from a dumpster at a street corner (as you may expect to see a street person doing at home), and what's this up ahead? Traffic has come to a halt.... it's a wedding party! The groom is on horseback, with around 200 people in tow, huge lanterns lighting up the darkness of the street, all are singing, dancing and joyful...
f) and finally, we arrive at our little oasis, where we get a sense of being back at home, with the hotel staff greeting us with hands clapsed, calling "Namaste!", with big smiles on their faces, like old friends! This particular hotel was quite special, in that it is an old manor from the 1920s, which used to house racing horses and greyhounds back in the 50s. The place still retains a very colonial attitude and atmosphere; the staff wait expectantly at the corner of the patio to attend to our every need.. and for only $30 a night! Can't beat it.
As we near the penultimate destination on our journey, I find myself entering the reflective mode that rounds out any good trip. I have seen many places, but I have to say that India has presented a raw, wild, unadulterated experience of the human condition that I doubt will ever be surpassed. There is a moment in Varanasi that keeps coming back to me (this is the city where Hindu people bring their loved ones to die, on the Ganges river). Just after Deb and I had watched the open corpse burnings in sheer awe and wonder, we were making our way through the narrow, twisted cobblestone streets, when we heard chanting from around the corner somewhere, which quickly gained in intensity. Suddenly Deb cries "Body!" and we both plastered our backs against the wall to avoid colliding with the dead woman, wrapped in a pink shroud, being carried on a makeshift stretcher, high on the shoulders of her loved ones, as they came flying around the corner, deeply engrossed in their chanting and the mission at hand, which was to carry their mother to the burning wood awaiting her. There is so much in this moment: the heightened emotions of the family settle in the air like the shroud around their loved ones; the smells of incense, chai, urine, livestock, and garbage permeate our nostrils; the Hindu paintings and colorful hotel signs painted on the wall collide with the dirty grey, brown, and white clothes of the men; and the hypnotic chanting overtakes us completely. Throw a healthy burst of adrenaline into all of this, and it becomes a moment that I will never forget: This is India.

Camel Safari!!

We had a fabulous safari day, with planned and completely spontaneuous elements! Our safari started out by jeep, and took us by a few sites en route to the sand dunes. My favorite of these was an old Maharaja graveyard (pictured below). Each grave gets its onw temple, with a huge slab of sandstone with all manner of Hindu inscriptions and symbols (including many swastikas, which are an ancient symbol of good luck - Hitler pilfered it from India). En route to the sands dunes, we encountered the usual array of road obstacles, including a million games of Chicken with oncoming traffic, and a few herds of sheep who take to sleeping en masse in the middle of the highway (or is it a football huddle? You decide.) Humans and animals seem equally fearless!
About an hour before sunset, we hopped on the camels, and they hopped with us - before we knew it, the Indian boys who were guiding us hopped on the back of the saddles with us and kicked the camels into a run! It was hilarious. The 11 year old boy with me belted out Indian camel songs at the top of his lungs the entire time, adding to the aura of the whole thing... It remains to be determined if my hearing will recover! We disembarked withtime enough to frolick in the sand dunes before chilling out to enjoy a beautiful desert snuset and a cup of masala chai.
Back at the guest house, we arrived after dark to find a real treat - an Indian wedding preparation in full swing! The niece of the hotel owner was getting married the following day. That night, there was a huge ritual/party that we were invited to attend, where the woman's family presents the man's family with coconuts split in half (symbolizes the joining of the families with an open, pure heart), with 10 Rupees (25 cents) inside each. They paraded down the road, men in bright red turbans and the women in a flowing technicolor of saris (and us in our traveler's gear!) to a huge tent where the man's family awaited us (about 200 people). The groom to be was seated at the front of the room on a platform, looking very proud and regal in his red turban, adorned with gold, and a dashing black suit. The closest male family members sat in a circle around him and chanted Hindi wedding songs in a hypnotic tone, with the men seated around the edge of the tent, and the women on the floor in the middle. Meanwhile, the bride was back at the hotel with her friends, who had abducted 1 limb each to adorn her with the most delicate, detailed, fabulous henna that I've ever seen (pictured)! It was really special to be included in all of this - the hotel owner insisted that we join, and really made us feel welcome. Again, as is true everywhere else in the world, it is the small towns that bring the most rewarding experiences, as they offer the best opportunity to really get in with the people. There is a wildly diverse array of people in this country, but for the most part, the Indians we have encountered in our travels have been wonderfully open, generous, tolerant, and helpful. They have really displayed to us their open hearts, and made us feel at home in this crazy country.

Camel Safari in Pictures!!

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Jaisalmer

We decided to fly rather than train it to Jaisalmer at the last minute, as we found out they had opened the airspace a month ago (it was previously closed due to border tensions with Pakistan, which is right next door). We disembarked right onto the runway in the middle of the desert, with no less than 7 military welcoming us. Turns out the airport is a functioning military base, complete with barbed wire and controlled gates. Everyone on the plane had to individually and very deliberately identify their luggage piece by piece before we could leave the airport. It was a total CNN LiveOnLocation type of experience. I have no problems with them taking safety seriously... though it was a bit unnerving when they slid a big mirror under our taxi to check for bombs at our hotel near the Taj Mahal.
The Jaisalmer fort is really cool, because a whole town of people still lives inside! (the others we've seen so far are monuments from centuries past). It's amazing to see one of these ancient places still kicking it in living color... It's very quaint and... Dare I say... Cozy inside? As cozy as India gets, anyway. The sad part is that the sandcastle is crumbling, and there are activist groups trying to get people to move out, but the people can't see past tomorrow and so refuse to go. The whole thing will be gone in 100 years or less- that's my guess, anyway, judging by the crubling walls and sketchy ceilings inside.

Can't Touch This

Our adventure continues!! We've spent the last couple of days in Jodhpur and surrounds. Jodhpur has cast us back in urban India once again, where the rule prevails: Touch Nothing But Yourself. It is quite dirty here (filth factor directly correlates with city size), but again, we are rewarded with highlights not to be missed. For one, whole sections of the Old City are painted in blue, which used to denote the social caste of religious leaders several hundred years ago (now it's more of a fashion statement, and a way to keep cool in summer). There is a fabulous fort atop a hill at the centre of the old city, (pictured - and yes here is the debut of the Pants! Niiice. Turns out this particular style originated in Jodhpur, so I'm actually very haute couture around here.) You may recall this Jodhpur Fort being featured in the news in September, when 246 people died as part of the fort collapsed (there was fear of a bomb, causing a stampede of mostly Indian teenagers attending a religious festival, clambering to get out). A palm reader takes residence in the Fort, and Deb chose to take him up on his services. He proceeded to sit us down and hork up the biggest, grossest loogie you've ever seen from waaay back in his throat, into a glass jar (just to make sure we could see it?!?!) and then go on to tell Deb what lays in her future. He concluded with: "You very fertile children into 40s and 50s this is all I read from your palm I have nothing more to say to you GOODBYE". Hmm. Interesting character!

We continue to enjoy great food, and are getting progressively experimental... for example, we've finally braved the oranges available for purchase at roadside foodstalls. This does involve an elaborate procedure of: wash oranges with antibacterial soap>> isogel (disinfect) hands >> peel orange >> isogel again >> consume. Can't Touch This!!

We had a funny episode following our Fort adventures last night. We realized as we were walking out of the fort that we ran ourselves down to only 150 Rupees with no ATM in sight (equivalent to $3.75 CDN!). Who does that??? What a couple of retards. Having said that, those last Rupees were enough to purchase 2 water bottles, 3 chocolate bars, and a rickshaw ride back to our hotel (with an ATM stop along the way!). Can't Touch Those Prices!!

Today, we hired a jeep and a driver, who took us out to explore rural life in the area. This was fanTAStic, as the guide lives in one of the villages himself (therefore very knowledgeable about local customs, trades etc), and he spoke great English. We had the opportunity to see a family run pottery operation and a weaving cooperative; visited a family who not only let us in to their home, but dressed me up in full traditional regalia; a UNICEF supported centre for children of poor families to eat (pictured above); and saw some wildlife (antelope, gazelles) along the way!

Equestrian and Epicurean Experiences!!

We've had 3 stellar days in Udaipur. As noted, we finally found ourselves in a town that was navigable on foot, and with some element of (shock!) pleasure. I finally had the chance to sit down with some locals and hear about their lives. I had a great convo with a tailor in town, who I approached to fix my beloved MC Hammer pants (imagine, I paid 5$ for them and already they are showing some signs of disrepair!! I will model these on blog soon, now that they are repaired and fit for display. ). The tailor's grandfather had been a guard for the Maharaja living in the City Palace in the 1930s... cool! He had some great stories to tell, which made Udaipur all the more colorful in my mind, and my heart. His passable english allowed me to get answered many of my questions about social structure and caste system, Hinduism, the educational system, and what is UP with all the horoscope talk?? Fabulous. I also had opportunity to chat with a German woman who married Indian 7 years ago, and has been living here ever since - she provides a unique perspective on Indian culture, to be sure! She is actually in the process of completing a PhD thesis on Indo-European marriages, making it an even more enrapturing discussion.

One of the highlights of Udaipur was a horseback riding adventure through the countryside, which we took this morning. I've only ever ridden 4-5 times in my life, but once I got over myself ( who's in charge anyway, me or the horse??) and built some confidence, I was off cantering as much as the guide would let us! GREAT fun... cantering feels like flying. What an adrenaline rush!! I have the potential to become addicted. Of the backdrop and the horse ride itself, I'm not sure which is the icing and which is the cake... This ride gave us unique opportunity to absorb the countryside and its people. The area displays breathtaking topography and rural life; farms intermixed with rolling hills and small mountains in the background; schools, 'rich families' with houses built of cow shit with bricks, vs 'poor families' with houses built only of cow shit; all people happy and smiling, calling "Namaste!" (hello!) and shouting out any (few) english words they knew with pride. There was a lovely lake filled with lotus flowers, which the locals were harvesting in half sunk boats. Livestock abounded, particularly goats... minus one, which the stable dog ate en route, following which he was promptly sent home with tail between his legs.

This evening's highlight was a super cooking course, attended by ourselves, an Italian girl, and a lovely Danish couple! (We've met a number of Danes on this trip, as I always tend to do... this travel bug must be in my blood.) We learned how to make REAL masala chai, naan bread, and a number of other great veggie dishes, mmmm.... sated, educated, and very, very happy!

If there is a heaven in India... Udaipur is it!!

We arrived in Udaipur on a night train from Rathambore this morning. The train was uneventful... it arrived an hour late, meaning we were left in the train station at midnight to fend for ourselves...(A note on comments received on my clothing choices from some of my 'viewers': when it is midnight and you are the only pale faced women amongst a platform of men, with 20 sets of eyes staring you down intently, it pays to look fugly!) We had to share our sleeper berth with two morbidly obese Indian men, but thankfully they didn't snore or smell, and they left us very quietly sometime in the wee hours of the night.
Udaipur has turned out to be an absolute dream. A small city of only 350,000, it is much less overbearing, and the people/touts are much less aggressive in selling their wares. There are no buses, fewer cars, and smaller streets, meaning that risk of bodily injury on the street is stepped down a bit. The best part is that the city is seated on a beautiful lake with 2 old Maharaja palaces perched on islands in the middle, and our hotel has a rooftop restaurant from which to enjoy it! We savored a tremendous sunset over the mountains, and watched the sky turn pink, and the palaces light up like a mirage. Great shopping too - I have now expanded my Indian clothing armamentarium to a wicked pair of MC Hammer dance pants (pictures pending, yes do hold your breath, they are the bomb) and a not so fugly pair of black pants that will not show the India on them for quite some time!! ahahaaaa

Sunset views from the roof top patio of our hotel

Wildlife... some invited... some not!

Sorry for the absentee blogger... internet access was sketchy in Rathambore Park (RP) (not that I'm complaining...we were in the middle of rural 3rd world after all!). RP was amazing.. and YEAH!! We saw a tiger!! Let's just get that out of the way. He wasn't as up close and personal as we would have liked, but we can't complain - we met a guy who has taken 36 safaris and still hasn't seen one!! Also on the checklist were: crocodiles, peacocks, parrots, langoor monkeys (only found on the Indian subcontinent), mongoose, wild boars, 300kg deer... very, very cool, and all in a Laura Croft Tomb Raider environment, created by a fantastic fort ruin from the 900s.
We decided to 'rough it' in tents at RP... tents complete with cement floor, shower, and choice of heat or a/c. Luxus as this may seem, the outdoor phenomenon was made very real by the company that we had in the tent with us!! On the first morning, picture this: I wake up, yawn and roll over languishingly, rested and relaxed.. To find deb crouched in the corner of our safari tent, flashlight in hand like a weapon. She says "good morning, I don't mean to alarm you BUT..." a mouse had skittered across right above our heads INside our tent 2h prior, and deb had been on vigil ever since!Ick. This is one reason why 30,000 people die of rabies in India every year.
Now, a word on the next bit of unwanted 'companionship': we went on a tour through this fantastic fort noted above, which is inhabited by a few people still (who the government are sadly trying to toss out), but also hundreds of these langoor monkeys (medium size, about 40lb I'd say, see pix). They are totally used to humans so they let you get pretty close, and one even may be tricked into thinking they are cute! As we explored the fort in the company of a wonderful family from Delhi, one of these Scheisters comes galloping along, and reaches out and takes a swipe at the unsuspecting little 8 year old girl in the group! Thankfully, it didn't break skin. We get over this mini attack, and not 5 mins later, her 15 year old brother has THREE of these little ****ers hanging off his arm, thinking he's got food!! No big deal for him though- he's been bitten by rhesus monkeys twice before, at home in Delhi.!! And THEN, as we are walking away and think we are safe, another one comes charging down the path full tilt at us. Being the responsible adult I am, I scream and reflexively jump between the 8 and 15 year old for cover!! I was so embarrassed... The kids were both taking this far more in stride than me. This is another shining source of rabies deaths in India.
The third unwelcome visitor came the following night in our tent (this one is not known to carry the big R, I don't think...am I obsessed?). As we were preparing for bed, Deb reaches up and grabs her sweater off the hanger, followed by the loudest ear piercing scream I've ever heard her make (I remind you we've been hanging out for 30 years)... next thing I know Deb is hiding behind me, pacing side to side in a very PostTraumaticStressDisorder kind of way, and there is a lizard on our bed wearing Deb's sweater! The cycle then went as follows: lizard shifts, deb screams, I scream, we wait for someone to come to our rescue, no one comes. Ultimately I had the wherewithall to take a picture of the event (it's not every day a reptile tries your clothes on for size!), upon which it scurried away and spent the night up in the corner.
Aaah.. India.

Ranthambhore National Park Pictures

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