Today we arrived in Bangalore, India's most cosmopolitian, modern city. It is a big change from the small towns and cities that we have been staying in lately. everywhere we go, everything we do seems to cost at least twice as much as it should.
We are staying in a very nice hostel on the outskirts of the city, it is run by a couple and their small son. They are all very sweet and immediatly made us feel like we were part of the City.
This morning we got off of a 14 hour bus ride from Fort cochin, where we stayed for two days. It was probably the most uncomfortable ride of my life. Today we are both very tired and our nerves are running thin. But it's a friday night, so we are planning on getting some sushi then maybe check out a few clubs.
In a few days we are heading to Mysore, then back here, where Lili will leave to mumbai.
Friday, May 16, 2008
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
i can't belive that it's almost May!
time is moving very quickly for me.
It is hard to belive that i have been in India for over a month already, and that i will be leaving my temporary home in less then two weeks!
I Have been having a very good time in Auroville, it is the perfect starting point for my trip since it is a mixture between western cultures and Indian culture.
I am slowly getting used to the unpredictable, off the walls, strange and exciting country that i am in.
Over the weekend a couple of friends and I went on a trip Inland to a city called Thiruvanamali.
To get there we had to ride an ancient, over crowded bus for roughly four hours. The entire time i was enjoying the ever changing landscapes, while my companions slept, and all the other passengers stared at the "wierd white people."
from the coast ( where we started off) we went through small deserts, grassland, some mountians, and ended up in the plains at the base of a large, sacred mountian.
About half way to our destination, we were stopped by a huge funeral procession crossing the road. We were stuck their for about 10 minutes while a partially covered dead body, accompanied by hundreds of very live bodies shooting off guns, playing drums dressed in vibrant colors made their way into the hillside.
When we finally arrived in the city, the three of up were soaked in sweat, completely exausted and starving! But as we started looking for a resteraunt, we realized that nearly all the shops were closed and the streets were eerily silent. we finally found a small stand that sold thali ( rice served on a banana leaf with a variety of sauces and some sort of chipatti bread) and samosas.
once full, we found a guest house with tiny, grimy rooms that went to approx. 400 rupees a night for 3 people ( ten US dollars) which is actually fairly expensive, and promptly fell alseep for about 4 hours.
when we woke up it was getting dark and we could hear more noise on the street. we pulled outselves out of the hot room and found that it was pleasently cool outside. Excited about the weather, we walked a few blocks to the famous temple that the city was built around. I think we ended up spending a few hours in the huge complex being blessed by elephants, monkeys and humans alike.
by 8 pm or so we'd had enough and sought out some ice cream.
before returning to our room, we got sufficiantly lost wandering around a bazaar, where vegetabe vendors were desperate to get rid of their remaining produce.
The next morning we were planning on getting up at dawn so we could climb the mountian and visit its temples and caves while it was still cool. Unfortunatly, we all ignored my alarm and didnt roll out of bed until around 7.
when we finally left it was heating up outside and we decided to get a rikshaw to the trail.
The poor driver didnt understand any english and ended up depositing us at the cities largest ashram. From there we wandered around vaugly thinging about excersize and breakfast, but, once again, most shops were closed. eventually we found a small resteraunt inside another nearby ashram.
somewhat invigorated, we finally found our way to the appropriate trail and picked up a black dog that ended up guiding us through the mountian. The gate keeper walked with us for about 1/4 mile, then demanded 50 rupees $1.25 for some oiled "meditation"rocks that he gave us.
From then on, it was an up hill journey on steps carved out of the rock wall. about half way up, we met a man selling stone carvings of ganesh, shiva, etc.. he told us that our meditation rocks were not real since they were not "iron rocks" so, free of charge, he gave us each a much smaller, more jagged chunk of the real stuff.
After what felt like forever, we arrived at a small ashram where a man in yellow was meditating and feeding the remarkable monkey population, afraid to intrude, we left to visit a cave.
The cave, further down from the ashram, on another steep stone staircase was actually a small building, built around a cave, painted completely white. I guess someone enlightened their mother by touching her forhead inside.
inside we tried not to disturb the mediating men while we painted red marks on eachothers foreheads ( including the dog.) By this time we were getting pretty overheated, and had finished off our water. So down we went on a tiny dirt trail, hoping that it would take us back to the city. Which, of course, it did. The whole time our dog protected us from the guard dogs lying around, the goats being herded, and the cows ( which, of course, didnt really react to our dogs growls.)
Back in the city, we made our way to the bus station, said goodbye to our canine companion, stuffed ourselves with delicious, fried street food, and prayed our bladders would not explode on he ride home.
So now I am back, but begining to plan my trip to kerala on May 8th. My roomate lili and I will be taking a train to the southern tip of the country, then ( in a span of 2 weeks)we will slowly make our way up to the highly cosmopolitian city of bangalore. From there she is going to Bombay. i may return to auroville or go up north to darjeeling.
time is moving very quickly for me.
It is hard to belive that i have been in India for over a month already, and that i will be leaving my temporary home in less then two weeks!
I Have been having a very good time in Auroville, it is the perfect starting point for my trip since it is a mixture between western cultures and Indian culture.
I am slowly getting used to the unpredictable, off the walls, strange and exciting country that i am in.
Over the weekend a couple of friends and I went on a trip Inland to a city called Thiruvanamali.
To get there we had to ride an ancient, over crowded bus for roughly four hours. The entire time i was enjoying the ever changing landscapes, while my companions slept, and all the other passengers stared at the "wierd white people."
from the coast ( where we started off) we went through small deserts, grassland, some mountians, and ended up in the plains at the base of a large, sacred mountian.
About half way to our destination, we were stopped by a huge funeral procession crossing the road. We were stuck their for about 10 minutes while a partially covered dead body, accompanied by hundreds of very live bodies shooting off guns, playing drums dressed in vibrant colors made their way into the hillside.
When we finally arrived in the city, the three of up were soaked in sweat, completely exausted and starving! But as we started looking for a resteraunt, we realized that nearly all the shops were closed and the streets were eerily silent. we finally found a small stand that sold thali ( rice served on a banana leaf with a variety of sauces and some sort of chipatti bread) and samosas.
once full, we found a guest house with tiny, grimy rooms that went to approx. 400 rupees a night for 3 people ( ten US dollars) which is actually fairly expensive, and promptly fell alseep for about 4 hours.
when we woke up it was getting dark and we could hear more noise on the street. we pulled outselves out of the hot room and found that it was pleasently cool outside. Excited about the weather, we walked a few blocks to the famous temple that the city was built around. I think we ended up spending a few hours in the huge complex being blessed by elephants, monkeys and humans alike.
by 8 pm or so we'd had enough and sought out some ice cream.
before returning to our room, we got sufficiantly lost wandering around a bazaar, where vegetabe vendors were desperate to get rid of their remaining produce.
The next morning we were planning on getting up at dawn so we could climb the mountian and visit its temples and caves while it was still cool. Unfortunatly, we all ignored my alarm and didnt roll out of bed until around 7.
when we finally left it was heating up outside and we decided to get a rikshaw to the trail.
The poor driver didnt understand any english and ended up depositing us at the cities largest ashram. From there we wandered around vaugly thinging about excersize and breakfast, but, once again, most shops were closed. eventually we found a small resteraunt inside another nearby ashram.
somewhat invigorated, we finally found our way to the appropriate trail and picked up a black dog that ended up guiding us through the mountian. The gate keeper walked with us for about 1/4 mile, then demanded 50 rupees $1.25 for some oiled "meditation"rocks that he gave us.
From then on, it was an up hill journey on steps carved out of the rock wall. about half way up, we met a man selling stone carvings of ganesh, shiva, etc.. he told us that our meditation rocks were not real since they were not "iron rocks" so, free of charge, he gave us each a much smaller, more jagged chunk of the real stuff.
After what felt like forever, we arrived at a small ashram where a man in yellow was meditating and feeding the remarkable monkey population, afraid to intrude, we left to visit a cave.
The cave, further down from the ashram, on another steep stone staircase was actually a small building, built around a cave, painted completely white. I guess someone enlightened their mother by touching her forhead inside.
inside we tried not to disturb the mediating men while we painted red marks on eachothers foreheads ( including the dog.) By this time we were getting pretty overheated, and had finished off our water. So down we went on a tiny dirt trail, hoping that it would take us back to the city. Which, of course, it did. The whole time our dog protected us from the guard dogs lying around, the goats being herded, and the cows ( which, of course, didnt really react to our dogs growls.)
Back in the city, we made our way to the bus station, said goodbye to our canine companion, stuffed ourselves with delicious, fried street food, and prayed our bladders would not explode on he ride home.
So now I am back, but begining to plan my trip to kerala on May 8th. My roomate lili and I will be taking a train to the southern tip of the country, then ( in a span of 2 weeks)we will slowly make our way up to the highly cosmopolitian city of bangalore. From there she is going to Bombay. i may return to auroville or go up north to darjeeling.
Saturday, April 12, 2008
happy new year!
tomorrow ( april 13th) is the official new year in tamil nadu ( the state where i am living)
it is customary to wake up early, lay out all of your gold and jewels at the foot of your household ganesh( the god of removing obstacles) statue, and look at them for a while. no, i have no idea why, but apparently this past week is when all the good Indian husbands go out and buy there wives loads of gold necklaces, nose rings and bracelets.
it has been a few weeks since i have updated this blog, mostly because whenever i sit down to write something i draw a blank. things are so different here and i am learning a lot. however, i am starting to settle into the way of life, i am not so overwhelmed anymore.
i live in a hostel full of mostly westerners ( Europeans and Americans) and a lot of Asians ( south Koreans, Japanese, etc...) it is amazing how many different cultures are packed into a small building! I am already picking up Spanish slang, English jokes and even some Korean cooking!
it is customary to wake up early, lay out all of your gold and jewels at the foot of your household ganesh( the god of removing obstacles) statue, and look at them for a while. no, i have no idea why, but apparently this past week is when all the good Indian husbands go out and buy there wives loads of gold necklaces, nose rings and bracelets.
it has been a few weeks since i have updated this blog, mostly because whenever i sit down to write something i draw a blank. things are so different here and i am learning a lot. however, i am starting to settle into the way of life, i am not so overwhelmed anymore.
i live in a hostel full of mostly westerners ( Europeans and Americans) and a lot of Asians ( south Koreans, Japanese, etc...) it is amazing how many different cultures are packed into a small building! I am already picking up Spanish slang, English jokes and even some Korean cooking!
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
long, long day
It is over 100 degrees today, with lots of humidity. Which wouldnt be too bad, but the electricity is off at my hostel, so there are no fans.
I have been all over the place this afternoon. I got a moped! which needed gas of course, but I had no money. So the man who rented me my moped drove me to 2 villages, and finally to ponducherry before we could find somewhere that would take my card. the whole ride he was speeding on his motorcycle, on very bumpy dirt roads... very scary.
it is so wierd how cluttered and dirty the city is. the villages are very cool, with sari shops, food stands, leathersmiths, metalsmiths, cows, goats, dogs, etc... The city has that too, but times about 1,000. veeeeeeery cluttered, smelly, full of people.
I ate lunch there, it was definatly the best questionable looking vegetarian brown slime i have ever tried. I just hope I dont get sick!
anyway, I am going to head back to my room and hopefully not hit anything or steer off the road on the way.
I have been all over the place this afternoon. I got a moped! which needed gas of course, but I had no money. So the man who rented me my moped drove me to 2 villages, and finally to ponducherry before we could find somewhere that would take my card. the whole ride he was speeding on his motorcycle, on very bumpy dirt roads... very scary.
it is so wierd how cluttered and dirty the city is. the villages are very cool, with sari shops, food stands, leathersmiths, metalsmiths, cows, goats, dogs, etc... The city has that too, but times about 1,000. veeeeeeery cluttered, smelly, full of people.
I ate lunch there, it was definatly the best questionable looking vegetarian brown slime i have ever tried. I just hope I dont get sick!
anyway, I am going to head back to my room and hopefully not hit anything or steer off the road on the way.
Sunday, March 23, 2008
sweating at the solar kitchen
happy easter!
im here!
finally!
I feel like i have been flying forever. my first flight to chicago was only 3 hours, but to england it was 8, and to india it was over 10!
i met some nice people on the way though. an older couple from germany thought i looked like there daughter, and kept me immensly entertained for hours on my flight to england. I also met a nice college student from maryland who hung out with me at the england airport. the best though, was the woman from england ( origionally from new delhi) who was visiting her parents in chennai, almost the entire flight to india she, her daughters and american husband gave me tips about india, gave me phone numbers of her friends around pondicherry, and finally, at the chennai airport, she introduced me to her father and sister and gave me their address in chennai in case i got into trouble.
I got to chennai around 1 am, they almost detained me because I didnt have the exact address of the place i am staying. But, i talked my way out of it, thank god!
my taxi drivers ( yes two, for some reason they sent too many people) were waiting right outside in the pouring rain.after i picked which driver i would use I began a 4 hour ride to auroville, maybe a bit longer because my driver stopped for a snack on the way.
we woke up the poor guy who had to sleep outside out the hostel to await my arrival, he showed me up some stairs into a clean, but very minimal room.
when i got to my room, i proceeded to sleep for almost 24 hours!
My roomate is a nice girl named lily, in her mid 20's i think, who is a biology teacher here.
today i have already had a great breakfast at my hostel ( free everyday) biked around some of the community, met lots of people and of course, tracked down the internet cafe. and its only 1 in the afternoon!
tonight I will be going to a hungarian culture night, where i will learn traditional dancing, eat traditional food and watch hungarian cartoons. A woman from my hostel is putting it on.
it is very hot and humid here, with cows, flea ridden dogs, flies and a millian mosquitos!!!!!!!
i am covered in red dots! the mosquito repellant does nothing!
but at least there is very little malaria here!
im here!
finally!
I feel like i have been flying forever. my first flight to chicago was only 3 hours, but to england it was 8, and to india it was over 10!
i met some nice people on the way though. an older couple from germany thought i looked like there daughter, and kept me immensly entertained for hours on my flight to england. I also met a nice college student from maryland who hung out with me at the england airport. the best though, was the woman from england ( origionally from new delhi) who was visiting her parents in chennai, almost the entire flight to india she, her daughters and american husband gave me tips about india, gave me phone numbers of her friends around pondicherry, and finally, at the chennai airport, she introduced me to her father and sister and gave me their address in chennai in case i got into trouble.
I got to chennai around 1 am, they almost detained me because I didnt have the exact address of the place i am staying. But, i talked my way out of it, thank god!
my taxi drivers ( yes two, for some reason they sent too many people) were waiting right outside in the pouring rain.after i picked which driver i would use I began a 4 hour ride to auroville, maybe a bit longer because my driver stopped for a snack on the way.
we woke up the poor guy who had to sleep outside out the hostel to await my arrival, he showed me up some stairs into a clean, but very minimal room.
when i got to my room, i proceeded to sleep for almost 24 hours!
My roomate is a nice girl named lily, in her mid 20's i think, who is a biology teacher here.
today i have already had a great breakfast at my hostel ( free everyday) biked around some of the community, met lots of people and of course, tracked down the internet cafe. and its only 1 in the afternoon!
tonight I will be going to a hungarian culture night, where i will learn traditional dancing, eat traditional food and watch hungarian cartoons. A woman from my hostel is putting it on.
it is very hot and humid here, with cows, flea ridden dogs, flies and a millian mosquitos!!!!!!!
i am covered in red dots! the mosquito repellant does nothing!
but at least there is very little malaria here!
Sunday, March 16, 2008
pre-trip
It is hard to belive that in less then one week I will be half way across the world!
Very scary, but also very exciting!
I will try my best to post things on here regularly, and I would really love to here from you ( im pretty sure i'll be getting a bit homesick.)
I am almost done shoving my most of my wardrobe and probably the equivalent of an entire pharmacy into my suitcase, after that i will be completely ready!
wish me luck. :)
-Astrea
Very scary, but also very exciting!
I will try my best to post things on here regularly, and I would really love to here from you ( im pretty sure i'll be getting a bit homesick.)
I am almost done shoving my most of my wardrobe and probably the equivalent of an entire pharmacy into my suitcase, after that i will be completely ready!
wish me luck. :)
-Astrea
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)
