Look Out! Here comes Whitey.

When we were planning our trip away, one of the questions we were always asked was "where are you going first?" the reply, in general, received one of two responses.

Opinions on India never seem to take the middle ground, you either love it or hate it - even the idea of it, as we found out.

To .........India?! Oh............that's...uh.....lovely.

So, what provokes these extremes? Is it the climate? the poverty? the food? Now I can't claim to be an expert on this country, but I have at least in the last few weeks seen, heard, smelt and tasted things that have taken me from up on high down to fear and loathing and back again.
Of course, there are good and bad sides to every country, but I've never been somewhere where you get so much of each, and so often as part of the same package.

One of the things that I find hard to deal with here is that as a westerner, my big dumb white face becomes target number one for every tout, hawker, pimp, drug dealer and beggar in the sub-continent. Not without good reason of course. An average tourist (that is what you are, doesn't matter if you've got dreadlocks, do yoga in the morning and meditate in the afternoon with your soya bean milkshake, you're still a bloody tourist!) will spend more in a day than a lot of Indians will earn in one month. A regular in a local bar told me about an engineer from England who built a house out here. He paid the labourers 60 rupees a day (around 90 pence). This is bad enough in itself, but to get home the workers then had to give the truck driver half their wage to get home at the end of the day.

This is, however, a land of contrasts. The news tells us India is one of the fastest growing economies in the world, and from what I've seen there are a minority of Indians who are or are becoming very rich. These facts aside, the sights and sounds of daily life in the majority of places we have briefly visited do little to convince you of anything but the stark contrast between these lucky people and the rest of the population. But then again, you could argue India has always been this way. The caste system in India has existed for thousands of years, with the poor, downtrodden majority supporting the opulent lifestyle of the few, whether they be Mughals, Rajas or the British.

And here lie we, in the relative seclusion and safety of Goa, able to talk about India but not overly keen at the moment to return to the dust and the heat of travel through her. Goa is not an island (as I once believed it to be), but it certainly feels that way sometimes. The 'manana' attitude is prevalent here and the friendly locals are so laid back they are almost horizontal. Days pass quickly, and it's surprising how easy it is to fill them with the simple decisions of what to eat for breakfast, lunch and dinner and which beach to visit. It is still India, but with the volume turned down.

That said, Goa is not without its problems. The roads are still shocking in parts and the drivers are probably worse (not helped by the number of tourists on hired bikes who think they are competing in the moto gp). Corruption and petty theft is rife thanks to the influx of tourist dollars and as I've already mentioned, it is a mecca for every hawker, beggar or pusher looking to sell their wares, which edges every conversation with locals with the feeling that they may at any moment try to offer you something.

Which neatly brings me to my main problem in India, a feeling of guilt. What to do with the problem of beggars? These are very often young children, disabled or elderly men or women who know very well that I have cash on me and therefore make a beeline for my big, dumb, and by now red lobster face. Where does the money really go? Am I helping this person or feeding the problem? If I give to one what about all the rest? all of these questions are valid, but it doesn't stop me thinking that I don't have the right to feel angry for being asked for the equivalent of 5p. Nevertheless, after the twentieth open hand of the day is poked in front of your face, it is hard to smile sadly and say sorry but no, and you start to look through these people as if they weren't there.

We tried something different the other day at the beach. A very young, small girl in a bright green dress placed herself in front of us as we were walking and proceded to do go through a contortionist routine by stepping over her linked arms. after a few seconds she put out her tiny hand. Instead of giving her money we gave her a drink and something to eat. Now I'm not about to try and feed every person who asks for money so I guess this was a one-off, but what to do? Should we just try to ignore it? anyone got any suggestions?

Ok, enough of my rant.

"What have we been doing?" I hear you ask.

Well, We have moved to a new, more homely apartment, and after two weeks of feeling pretty shit due to an ear infection and the more traditional malady of 'delhi belly' I am now once again ready to face the world. We are getting more adventurous with our moped's range and just yesterday we discovered a great beach in the north called Mandrem. It was almost deserted with a minimum of hawkers. Perfect for us. We are based in a small, quiet village called Arpora, which has a few nice restaurants and bars. Just down the road is the main drag of
Candolim, Calangute and Baga, which is a bit touristy for our tastes but has lots of nice places to eat and drink. North of this Goa becomes much quieter- I think we are planning to stay in a beach hut sometime soon.

We are both looking forward to our friends arrival, Kirsty and Bez, who are here next week, so we have a few things lined up.

We have also, after much heated discussion, started to sort out our next big trip in November, to Nepal.The main point of consternation being the 39 hour train ride north followed by a 3 day, yes 3 day bus journey. We could fly but it will eat a big chunk into the budget, so we are looking at all the options- I had to bite the bullet and book a flight back from Kathmandu to keep Sarah sweet. We should have about three or four weeks in Nepal before returning to Goa for christmas. I am really excited as Nepal is somewhere I've always wanted to go since watching 'The Golden Child' as a kid - still got to work out how to get Sarah on a four day trek in the mountains, It can be done!(don't worry Glenys, this is a joke)


Bye for now......................



We took the lads from the local restaurant for a drink.......












jesus blessed the drinks apparently......













The zenith of towel sculpture "the Crocodile"




























Mai Tai cocktail in a pineapple, great but for the leak at the bottom, which meant a race to finish.


































"I can't believe it" sarah shouted. "now there are two of us." -sorry that's three with sar's cousin liam.


























The Goan ice cream van.






























our new game - hiding behind Indians























The only thing buses stop for on the Indian highway.




















Hawker's Paradise - Calangute beach


















There goes whitey.............

















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Trains, Taxis and Handpulled Rickshaws - From Matheran to Goa

Hello all, it's been a while since I last picked up a pen, but our days have been packed since our arrival in Goa, from bed to pool, pool to bar, bar to beach to restaurant and then back to bed there has been little time for any other inactivity.

It seems a lot longer than three weeks since our arrival in India and to be honest I did think we might be on the next flight home after Sarah's initial reaction to Mumbai. A little luxury in the Taj palace helped some, but things hit rock bottom in Aurangabad (contender for worst hotel in the world) and I was questioning the sanity of bringing a clean freak (four showers a day!) like Sarah to India. I think she has covered her own trauma well enough, so you can read Sar's account in the previous post. All I can say is thank god for the Lords central hotel in Matheran!

Since then, in fairness I've been doing most of the complaining, about our (Sar's) spending habits. In contrast, her nibs has been superb and much more relaxed about travelling, she even drove a moped today - 10 metres on a wobble .

More of that story to come later, but first, well, I suppose I'd better pick up the pieces where Sar left us.

Matheran was,for me, where we began to enjoy being in India. We left the Lord's Central feeling re-energised and ready for the next leg of our trip, which was set to be a bit of a bumpy ride. From the hotel we each hired a rickshaw with three drivers for the journey down the mountain in the dark (We would've liked to have taken the minature train but it only operates in the dry season). I'm sure I saw a tiger in the woods on the way, which the men jokingly assured me was impossible as they had all been shot.

After almost an hour we reached a car park and jumped into a cab (Nissan vans seem to be the standard Indian taxi) and headed for Thane station 2 hours drive away, or so we thought.
In the cab we had our first experience of the state of India's National Highway. At points I truly couldn't tell if we were driving on a road or in the middle of a quarry. The Highway seems to be dominated by trucks. These Indian trucks are a curiousity. Painted a myriad of colours, they all share a patchwork of rust and some form of instruction on their rear end to sound your horn at any and every opportunity, which your average Indian driver does happily- 'Who needs mirrors when you have a horn?'

After 2 hours of driving, and 2 hours of waiting in traffic-at one point a firework went off next to the car and I thought we were about to be firebombed- we eventually got to Thane station.

When compared to rickshaws and taxis, Indian trains are a great way to travel- except of course for the general stalls, more commonly known (for good reason) as cattle class, Where I'm sure even a sardine might feel a little cramped. Sar and I lasted around 45 minutes in these conditions and that was only by mistake. The thought of a 12 hour plus journey with my face stuck in a stranger's armpit makes me wonder how people don't lose the plot and jump off the train. who knows? maybe they do.

Luckily for us, we had the comparative luxury of a 2nd class AC cabin to rest our travel-weary heads. By now it was around midnight and we had planned to sleep through and arrive in Goa ready for the next day. Unfortunately, in the opposite bunks were a group of right-on, soap-dodging, would be hippies straight out of university. Who mistakenly thought they could play their newly purchased bongos - If you think my words are a little harsh you should have heard what Sarah wanted to put! Don't get me wrong, I regard myself as somewhat of a pacifist, but that does not give me the right to ramble absolute garbage all night whilst playing the bongos with less rhythm than David Brent. Still, I think I must have got my own back, as I'm pretty sure they didn't get a wink of sleep due to my snoring when i did finally drop off.

We arrived in Goa on the morning of the 2nd of October, which incidentally was the date of Mahatma Gandhi's birth and a National holiday / DRY day, i.e. no beer for me! The weather had decided to get in on the celebrations and absolutely chuck it down with the last of the monsoon rain. As a result we got soaked at Tivvim station whilst trying to sort a cab to our hotel in Arpora. Our first impressions of Goa would have to wait as we couldn't see more than six metres ahead in the downpour. The rain lasted out the weekend, so we enjoyed lazing in the room (twin beds again!) until monday morning when we had our first full day of sunshine. Our hotel in Arpora is great and we have sar's parent's friends, Sheelagh and Keith, to thank for sorting us out with a deal on the room. We are going to be based here for the next five or six weeks while we find our feet and explore Goa.

So far we have visited a spice plantation, a tomb and cathedral in Old Goa, frequented a few fine dining establishments and generally got into the swing and slower pace of life in Goa. After paying through the nose for taxis we decided (with a fair bit of encouragement from me) that hiring a moped was the way to go. We got a great deal (thanks again to Sheelagh and Keith) from a Goan chap called Peter (christian names are very common in Goa, due to the Portugese rule). I wouldn't say Sarah took to it like a duck to water, but she got stuck in without complaints, and although I dont think she will be doing any of the driving (think first time you rode your bike without stabilisers) at least we are free to get where we want to go with me at the reigns.

After being without the internet for some time, we have bought a dongle (Sar still laughs every time I use this word-dirty mind I think) so we can now be in touch anywhere we go, when the bloody thing works of course.

Right, that's enough from me, I'm off for quick beer and a dip in the pool....

Due to a bit of manic spending on arrival we are now on a budget. Saturday night is our one night of extravagance. This was our seafood platter(we didn't think it was going to be so big) in what has become our local haunt Honey's. Lobster, pomfret, and tiger prawns..... throw in a few mojitos and a number of beers and even a dessert - £25 quid! Bargain!

Sarah trying to hide from the camera again!




The cleaners love to make things out of towels and leave them on our bed. A swan, flower, a fish and ... 2 chickens (not sure about the chickens). It's a surprise everytime we come back to our room!

The waiters from the hotel restaurant

The view from our room at Lagoa Azul Hotel and a view of the hotel and pool

Our Moped, Sar on the back, me at the helm.

This is an actual photo of us together!

Guess the spice?? Lots of people use this everyday?

Inside Bom Cathedral, Old Goa. The tomb holds the remains of St Francis Xavier.


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Matheran - eventually, my saving grace!!!

Train was delayed in Aurangabad for well over 2 hrs so didnt leave there until 1am! Not fun waiting in a Indian Waiting room, which was meant to be for people in the higher class train passengers however it was gross and there was loads of bugs about!!
This time we were in 2AC, I was just about to drop off to sleep and within minutes my curtain flew open and the Indian train conductor is standing over me wanting our ticket which freaked me out a bit. Got off to sleep though and woke up at 8am so didnt really bother me, I was just glad that didnt wake up needing the toilet - couldnt have faced the Indian toilet in the middle of the night (to be fair they are some of the better ones on the train).


Due to the train being really late it meant that we only just made our connecting train in Mumbai (with about 30 secs to spare, however we couldnt find our correct seats - we knew it was only a passenger train and there was no 2 or 3AC so we knew it would be seated so just jumped on the nearest carriage as a bloke with a little boy said it would be okay to get on there. BIG MISTAKE.

Initially the carriage looked okay, there was only a few people on it including the man holding a boy - he seemed friendly - we then looked down beneath out seats and realised that people we sleeping underneath - started to feel a little bit uncomfortable but it was okay. The train stopped at the next station and then loads more people jumped on, it became very packed and people were staring at us. The man with the boy started to babble to us but as it was in Hindi we ignored it. He then started demanding money - Andrew told him no in Hindi but he kept on asking - Andrew repeated no in a firm way, I think that some of the other passengers told him to leave is alone so he left eventually - was a bit scared at this point. The girl sitting opposite told us that we were in the wrong carriage and that it is unsuitable for us here and that we should be in the reserved carriage which is further up - we still had over a hour to get to our destination so I said to Andrew that I was getting off at the next stop and would either wait for another train (which actually you cant do as you have to book a day in advance regardless) or try and find our proper seats before we took off again. Suddenly I felt a hand nudging me from under the seat - I just couldn't stay in that carriage any longer - felt super uncomfortable. Luckily we had enough time to get to our booked seats and a nice Indian group helped us, got approached by a beggar again asking for money but just ignored them and they went away.
Sorry if I sound hard hearted but you have to just ignore them otherwise you would end up with no money and it gets a bit annoying after a while as it is constant - people begging for money, people not asking but telling you to give them money, people demanding a tip - all just because you are a foreign tourist!!

Arrived in Neral Station. As Matheran is up in the 1000m up in the mountains, you have to get a taxi up a very windy road to the Matheran station and then take another mode of transport to get to the town. Matheran has banned all automobiles - there are no cars, no auto rickshaws - the only way to get up to Matheran town is by horse, cart pulled by people or a by foot with a porter carrying your bags. There is a train to take you to Matheran itself however in the monsoon season it is not operational.
When we arrived at the station Andrew arranged for what we thought was horse drawn cart to take us up - the bloke took us to it and it turned out it was just two horses!! For those of you who dont know, I am allergic to horses (fur in general) and can't go anywhere near them or by people who have touched horses (as Kirsty Owens will tell you)!!! So we had to politely decline and we got a single rickshaw to take me up with all the lugguage and Andrew would walk. It is way up hill so you can imagine it was fun going up on wooden cart pulled/pushed by 2 indian men for about 40 mins - they are so fit they must do it 100 times a day!! Andrew did help though then it got steep and he was dripping with some serious sweat by the time we got to the top.
We have taken the Rough Guide to India with us - ideally we wanted to stay in Lords Central Hotel but we couldnt get through by the telephone we booked another hotel on their recommendation. Hotel looked okay on arrival - we were due to be in a A/C Deluxe room.. OMG what a complete shit hole, nevermind the Aurangabad hotel being bad this was disgusting, it had blood splatter across the room from people squashing mosquitos, a serious damp smell which permanantly filled your lungs, appalling A/C which just circulated dust - I could not even envisage staying her for 4 days. I couldnt get my breath due to the change in altitude, I had to sleep in Andrews silk sleeping bag as I didnt want to touch the sheets. I just cant explain how horrible it was - I kicked up a bit of a fuss and stated that I really wanted to change hotels - we went to look for Lords Central and arrange to go back the next day to view their rooms, although immediately I felt comfortable when I was there. I had a really bad nights sleep and couldnt wait for it to be the next day. Being in India seemed to be going all wrong and I had started to hate it, even after only being there a week. I didnt want to go home, I just wanted to leave the country and go somewhere I liked that wasnt filthy with rude people!

The next morning came and before Andrew had even woken (I am normally the last to get up) I was showered and changed and ready to go and view the rooms at Lords Central Hotel.
As we were on a budget I just asked to see the regular room as there was no way I could persuade Andrew to stretch to the 5000 rupees per night for the valley view. However the bloke was open to doing a deal (years in purchasing must have paid off - I have become a right cheeky bitch when asking for things!!) so I didnt even bother looking at regular room and got a valley view for 3000 rupees with all food included. It looked beautiful, even if it was a bit cloudy, I knew that Andrew would be really happy with the view and also the fact that it had a pool so just got it regardless. Checked out of the nasty hotel and went to stay in Lords Central overlooking the valley - on a clear day I have read that you can see Mumbai, which is about 1.5 hours away (although unfortunetly this was not possible during our stay - v. cloudy).


All we have done for the last 3 days is:-
* drink beer (dont do wine, cider or martini in India so have had to start drinking Beer with sprite, quite nice actually especially when it is boiling hot),
* eat lovely food (mixture of Indian and Continental - which after not really eating for a week was good
* played scrabble in the day
* played gin rummy in the evening
* learnt how to play chess on the huge board in the garden
* even thrown in a game of badminton

You dont get stared at in Matheran, the people are very friendly, there is not too many people up there and there most importantly there is no motorised transport, so no beeping of horns - it was very peaceful, it was great. I am so glad we changed hotels otherwise I would have hated it which would have been a shame. Me and Andrew have realised that we don't need to stay in the best hotel or the cheapest hotel just for the sake of it, it just needs to be clean and comfortable and we are happy.

I have even ended up with a bit of a tan after being in Matheran, got quite burnt - you didnt realise it hitting you as it felt cool up there. First the sun was in, then it was out - Andrew was forever having his t-shirt on, then having to take it off as it was too hot - he ended up with the back the colour of a lobster!!!




Um... I didn't quite make the 5.30 sunrise walk which Andrew arranged for us (nb: he locked me in the room, said he would be gone for about a hour then turned up 4.5 hours later!! I started freaking out as I as stuck in the room and got a bit claustrophobic). He said that the walk was great though walking through a Indian forest in the pitch dark freaked him out a little as his overactive imagination was seeing leopards and tigers around every bend.

I have had a lovely time - very chilled and relaxed now and Matheran had showed me that India can be special and it restored my faith a bit as I was that close to making Andrew rearrange all of our plans and change country.
I think that you have to allow some time for re-adjustment. I will hold lovely memories of this place and would definitely go back in the future, hopefully you will be able to see how lovely it is from the photos.

I was interested to see how I would feel going back to everyday India... The next part of the trip was to go and chill out in Goa and I was really looking forward to see what Goa has to offer...

p.s. I have forgotten to mention how brillant Andrew has been so far in the trip - for the first week I didn't carry my bag as it was way too heavy (I told him at the time to let me have one on rollers!! - which I have seen people travelling with so it wasnt such a stupid idea after all). He had carried both his and mine bags in the hot weather everywhere, which equalled about 40kg (told him it would be a good workout for his guns!! LOL). He has looked after me when I have been poorly, getting me anything I needed and donated his pillow case and silk sleeping bag - all to make sure I am as comfortable as possible and make the trip easier for me. He is definetly on too many good boyfriend points at the mo!! Surely he must do something to mess it up soon.. hehe. xx































One of many deserted mansions in the forests around the town.














Hillside Flowers















Horses on the main drag- Matheran . Note for kirsty: all horses are well fed and look happy.
















Andrew and Momhi - The hotel owner, a really nice guy who could talk for India.Andrew is not happy with this photo as said he was having a fat day!






























Sunrise view from our room. Not a bad way to wake up!
To be continued....














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Out of the frying pan.....

Jalgaon & Aurangabad

Left Mumbai from Victoria Terminus/CST (where some of Slumdog was filmed), like most things I have seen in India so far it is run down and quite grotty which I was disappointed as I was looking forward to seeing this building as it had looked a beautiful building from the outside.
There is a class system in India on the train - 1st class, 2AC Sleeper, 3AC Sleeper, Reserved Seating, AC Chairs and General. We were travelling in 3AC, to be fair it was great and we had no issues whatsoever, very comfortable.
We were seated across from a nice Indian family and we chatted to them along the way and played with the children - they watched in amazement as we played travel scrabble (note for chopper: world scrabble tournment now in place, sar currently in the lead - 5 games to 4!! Get in! sure you can imagine Andrew thrown a few strops as he is being beaten by me, especially with him being the English teacher - HA!).
We were heading to Jalgaon which was about 7 hours away by train. Stayed in a small hotel which was very cheap but lovely, the owners were very proud of his room and he helped us with the following journey to Ajanta caves, he was great. We only had about 6 hours sleep as we had to get up at six the next day however got up and the electricity was off (which has become a regular feature of Indian life) which meant that I could not dry my hair or straighten it - arghh!!!! We had to get a bus to Ajanta for a couple of hours - what can I say other than it was pretty f**king scary!!! Indians drive like nutters, drive so fast especially round corners, on various side of the roads, overtake when there is clearly another bus direct in front about 5 seconds away - I found the best solution for this is to not look ahead and it was all good! Finally got to the caves, got surrounded by this India men who followed us down, told us what to do, very helpful, they gave me a present (which I gave back in the end because I think it would have caused us more trouble as it turned out they were shop owners and so started to hassle us to buy stuff and look in their shop - Indians do not get the meaning on NO, I know it is there livelyhood but it gets pretty annoying you must have to say NO about 100 times, I think that they think they can persuade you if they ask you enough times!!

Got to the caves however I was starting to feel pretty rough with a upset tummy/sicky feeling which is pretty much guaranteed for anyone visting India. This does not equal a good time when you have left the luxury of your hotel and a western toilet - Indian toilets are vile - squatting hole, with no toilet roll and they stink!!!!!
There was about 19 caves in total (great!!) - I managed to get up to see one and then I just chilled and waited while Andrew had a wonder round.
One nice thing which happened whilst up in the caves was that a load of Indian girls were visting from a school and they kept on staring - you start to get a bit paranoid after a while!!! Anyway they carried on the tour of caves and I was waiting outside for Andrew, they came along and continued staring so I decided to say hello, they giggled and said hello back then about 10-15 girls just gathered round me just as Andrew came from the cave; just looking and giggling (it finally clicked that they hadnt seen white person before) - they said something in Hindi and then all of a sudden their teacher took a photo. Bless, Andrew has got to send a copy of the picture he took to the girls also which you can see within the blog.

Got a 3.5 hour bus to Aurangabad, again pretty hair raising, Andrew road shotgun up by the driver and I think that he may have shat himeself a few times!!!! LOL
Got to hotel - got ripped off by a rickshaw driver again - he told us the hotel was quite far, however what we later found out on way out is that he just drove us round for 15 minues - but in the scheme of things it still only cost 65p!! Apparently the rickshaws just double the price for a tourist, got onto it now though so are more confident in how much we should be paying - you live and learn.

Hotel was a shit - sorry for the swearing but it is the only way to describe the place. We got put in a awful room so asked to get moved and so we had a much better room. Staff we rubbish and no manners with the aim to rip us off I think. The receptionist was dealing with a query I had and he burped right in front of my face - with me not feeling very well I was nearly sick!
The plan was that we were meant to go to Allora caves but it just didnt happen due to sickness and still being jet lagged. Aurangabad was so awful that we didnt leave the hotel and decided to leave early to our next destination. I dont think that it helped that we were both poorly at this stage, so everything mutiples when you are ill anyway. BUt I was getting to the stage where India was losing its appeal..... I was praying that the next place was going to be good.

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Mumbai - What can I say?

Well as Andrew promised, here is my take on things in India. However, I am afraid that my literary talents do not stretch as far as Andrew's and therefore my ramblings will follow in the vain of Adrian Mole and Bridget Jones!!! (personal favourites of mine)

What can I say? it has been a interesting first couple of weeks....

1st stop - Mumbai

I am going to be completely honest in this blog and all I can say about Mumbai is that I hated it and hope that I never have to go back!!!
The smells, the heat, the noise (cars honk at every opportunity), the mass of people, the poverty, seeing people sleeping in the streets everywhere, people staring at us, people hassling you for money, getting ripped off by taxi drivers - i had a massive culture shock and can't believe that people live in such conditions, it was a bit of a eye opener. One thing that will stay in my memory forever is that me and Andrew were walking down the back streets to our hotel and we were nearly at the doorstep of our hotekl and then I saw this man on the street crouching down, at first I thought that he was praying and then I saw poo coming out - he was having a shit on the street!!!! Urghh, it is making me sick just writing it out!!!! It was the single most disgusting thing I have ever seen in my life!!!

Although good points in Mumbai were that our hotel was lovely and very central - the Gateway of India was only ten minutes walk down the road and that I managed to persuade Andrew to go out to the Taj Palace for a meal (for people who know Andrew is Mr Budget these days and he gives Captain a good name!! sorry Tim LOL). This is where the attacks took place on 26/11, this was a beautiful hotel however at over £250 per night there was no way we could have stayed here (although it would have been delightful) and so we blew the equivilent of about 15 decent meals and drinks in India on one night (so thank you mother, it was a lovely bday present and our nicest evening in Mumbai).

Didn't really get to do much sightseeing in Mumbai as the jet lag seriously set in, also due to the heat we could only spend a few hours and then we had to come back to the hotel room for the A/C.

I decided on leaving Mumbai that I dont really want to visit any more cities!! Guess I must be a country girl at heart after all!!

I am hoping at this stage that I like what the rest of India has to offer......

Victoria Terminus













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