Thursday, October 23, 2008

What do James Bond, Jason Bourne, and John Candy have in common?

Good news: I have had no more bodily fluids land on me since the last update. Jaisalmer was a very interesting little town on the edge of the desert, quite close to the border of Pakistan. Like Jodhpur, the city is hope to a large fort perched high above the town although unlike its counterpart to the east, the town's inhabitants still reside within the fort. The rest of the city is a maze of markets, quaint little homes and livestock. Despite camel safaris being the main draw for many in Jaisalmer, I opted for a more casual route of wandering the city and getting rest in order to kick the stomach flu.

After two nights and days here I hopped on yet another night bus south to the "lake city," Udaipur. James Bond fanatics may know this city from the wild car chases in Octopussy. I however have not seen this film so I can't say much more than that. The city is renowned for its position on a large lake and the palaces which are situated by and within the lake. The one disappointment was that the lake was quite dirty which detracted from the "romantic" setting. Although to be fair, watching the sunset over the lake from the roof of the guest house was one of the more memorable moments of the trip to date.

Opting to spend more time exploring southern India I spent only two days in Udaipur and traveled south to the Goa region by two more (and hopefully the last two) night buses with a day stopover in the city of Mumbai. Although I only spent around ten hours in the city, I was astonished at how different the city was from the rest of India. It was much more developed, less chaotic and had a very modern feel. The architecture of the city center was reminiscent of England, particularly the large and modern train station. After a day of wandering the city I caught my bus and arrived at one of the more interesting moments of my trip. Upon booking my sleeper compartment for the bus, I foolishly assumed that I booked a single. Boarding the bus I realized that the entire bus was full of only doubles. I was initially quite relieved to find that upon leaving the city, I had my double to myself. This sadly all changed about three hours into the journey at a small town where a large group of Indians boarded the bus. Now I know what you may be thinking, Indians are generally small individuals therefore I should have little trouble sharing a double with a stranger. This assumption is correct as a whole but I managed to stumble upon quite the abnormality. Rumbling down the aisle towards me was a young Indian fellow who although shorter than myself, was approximately twice my size. Similar to a previous inter-island flight in Hawaii with an abnormally large seat mate, I watched in horror as this young man walked slowly down the aisle, examining the bunk numbers and arriving at last at me. Although I may be incorrect in this analogy as it has been quite some time since I've seen the movie, imagine John Candy and Steven Martin sharing a double bed in "Planes, Trains, and Automobiles." I spent the evening crammed against the window avoiding body contact and trying to ignore the loud snoring coming from my bunkmate. Needless to say, last nights rest here in Goa was much needed.

Which brings us to Palolem, Goa. Continuing with our movie theme for the post you may recall this little beach town from the opening chase scene in the Bourn Supremacy. It's a beautiful little town tucked into a cove along the Arabian Sea surrounded by lush green forests and palm trees. Oddly enough this is the town which I have found the most tourists although I have yet to stumble upon another American this trip. I will be spending two nights here before heading north in hopes of finding a deserted beachside town to spend a few days relaxing and reading before continuing my journey south to Kerala. On that note, I am off to have a nice seafood lunch and beer before renting a kayak and paddling out into the ocean for an afternoon of exploring.

Currently Reading: "Herzog" by Saul Bellow
Currently Listening to: "Radio Retaliation" by Thievery Corporation

Saturday, October 18, 2008

Hell has indeed frozen over

That's right, your favorite lethargic friend/relative is actually posting another blog. Don't get too excited yet though. Although I should be, I will not be posting a lengthy reflection on my time in Bulgaria and what I have learned. That will come at some point when I return to America and have time to fully digest and process the last few years. Instead I will be posting up a bit of info about my travels so you can all keep a tab on me. Don't expect any erudite insight or eloquent prose (ala my brother,) instead I will simply be posting up summaries of the e-mails sent to my family. Better than nothing though right?

I arrived in Delhi last Monday afternoon after a late night flight from Istanbul. Upon arriving at the airport I found that there were no working ATMs and the twenty Turkish lira which I brought with me would not be accepted by the currency exchange. Not to fear, I found three American dollars stuffed in the bottom of my bag with which I haggled a ride into the city on a motorized rickshaw. All in all a very fitting way to arrive in India. As for Delhi itself, it is an absolute mess but with a certain charm to it. Think of Guatemala City combined with Naples, Italy and then multiply that by four. People, cows, pigs, animals, bikes, rickshaws and trash litter the streets to the soundtrack of yelling vendors and an uneccesary amount of honking.

After two days in Delhi I hopped a night train to the city of Jodhpur in the region of Rajistan. Not wanting to travel in any posh conditions I opted for the second class sleeper car which consisted of one large car with no individual compartment, no bedding or sheets provided, vendors walking up and down the hall all night, and people sitting and sleeping anywhere they could find an available spot. Quite the experience.

Jodhpur itself is a quaint little city of about 1.2 million in the central Western region of Rajistan. It is a town full of white and blue houses lining small, busy streets all to the backdrop of the majestic Mehrangarh Fort. The fort is incredibly well preseverved (thanks to the sale of bat excrement which built up over the years in the fort) and in my opinion is even more impressive than La Alhambra in Granada, Spain. My second day in the town I took to the streets and ended up playing soccer with some school children, learned how traditional Indian bracelets are made, and sat on a stoop drinking chia and talking with a group of teenagers for an hour and a half.

Yet as they say, "what goes up, most come down." I awoke in the middle of the night to a good case of stomach cramps, which is quite common for travelers in the region, that kept me on my feet throughout the night and has satyed with me the last few days. Despite my illness I decided to take a 11 AM train to the town of Jaisalmer the next morning. Although I was initially pleased to find my single seat next to the window, my excitement quickly faded as I baked in the sun the entire way and in a moment reminiscent of a certain incident involving my dad, brother, and a bottle of urine on a road trip to California, I awoke from a mild slumber to find that the child in the compartment above me was vomiting out the window. The vomit was then falling down the side of the bus and coming in my open window splashing my shorts, arm and books. In addition to the saying "what goes up, must come down," others use the saying "payback's a..." well, that's a whole different story. To wrap up we'll just go with: Welcome to India!

Currently reading: "Death in the Afternoon" by Ernest Hemingway
Currently Listening to: "Cancer and Delirium" by J. Tillman