A small sample of pictures....

The Taj from the Fort...

Street life - Delhi style..

The Taj..

Government transport awaits..

Spice rack...

Josephine at the palace in Mysore...

Sunrise on the Ganges...

At the Taj...

Gridlock in Hyderabad...

Fishing nets in Kerala...

The best form of transport....

The Indian psyche and road use tips..

What are the Indian people like?
They come in many varieties.... very humble and helpful (the majority), scheming (the minority in the hardcore tourist areas). Quiet and shy or loud and in your face. Very very poor, poor, middle class and rich. The 'normal' Indians (i.e. not the touts) are truly wonderful people. I have been shown so much generosity by people who have very little to give.

They are so interested in westerners, particularly the English. A lot of them simply want to be photographed with you so that they can impress their friends. But they are also very open and inquisitive - asking lots of questions about your life, job, family etc. They also have an incredible sense of humour. I've had such a good laugh with them and they are not sensitive, so I'm able to suggest they are storing beer in their flasks rather than baby milk. They love to joke with you and do not take themselves seriously at all.


It's difficult to describe how hard life must be for some of them. A lot of them live on the streets, where in the north of India, overnight temperatures must be close to zero. Some of them have have no possessions, other than the rags they are wearing and food must be very scarce as they are very under nourished. But are they unhappy? Well some of them look beaten and lost. But others look very happy - it's humbling when they give you a big smile.

They are a very honest people. I've never felt that my possessions are at risk of being stolen. I was on a train and someone dropped some coins on the floor. There were 3 ladies with a baby sitting on the floor of the very busy carriage and they scooped up the coins and offered them to the nearest person thinking he had dropped them. He said it wasn't him. They kept hold of the coins until a person more deserving than themselves appeared in the carriage and promptly gave the coins to them. Even the poor Indians look after the really poor.

Of course India is in the middle of economic boom and there are signs that prosperity is coming here. Malls are opening and many people have money to spend on western style possessions. The rich are getting richer but that creates an even bigger gap between the have's and have nots. I'm not at all convinced that this will make them happier, but who am I to judge this?!

To all the Indian people I've met - I wish you well.


Now for some fun....

10 tips for road use:


1. All rules relating to driving may be disregarded
2. Priority should be given in the following order:
Cows
Cows
3. Drive on the left, unless you'd rather drive on the right
4. Roundabouts are merely an obstacle to be driven around - in any direction which suits you
5. Traffic already on the roundabout has priority
6. Traffic joining the roundabout has priority
7. Avoid knocking down pedestrians and animals - it's bad karma
8. Use of the horn is compulsory. Often. Anytime of the day or night. Fit an ear screeching after market horn if not fitted as standard.
9. Pedestrians must not look sideways when crossing the road. You will be driven around.
10. Traffic lights - treated as a form of street decoration and to be ignored unless sited next to a policeman with a loud whistle.

Having said all of the above, it all seems to work remarkably well with little evidence of accidents!!!

My last day....

So it's my last day in India. :-(

Am I glad to be going home? Of course not. I could actually stay and do some more travelling as there is so much more I want to see. So it is fitting that last night I had no electricity in my room. I was struggling to erect my mosquito net by the light of a torch. It also started raining in the middle of the night. It's the first rain I've seen and it sure did bucket down. It's been showers all day long now but am I downhearted? Am I ekkers like! I'm dodging the showers and running from cafe to cafe, enjoying street life and reading my book.

Cappucino Indian style

Last night I went to an Indian dance show in the centre of the village and got talking to an Indian photographer who had a camera similar to mine. He was covering the show. He only ended up propositioning me!!!! I was a kittle perplexed as I was telling him how beautiful the FEMALE dancers were. I beat a hasty retreat.

I'm contemplating pushing the boat out and getting a taxi to the airport. It will cost me 10 quid for a 2 hour drive whereas the bus will cost me about 40p. It's a bit of a dilemma and will be decided by how much dinner costs me!

I will add some more pictures when I get home but that is me signing off for now.

Namaste

Another good day...

Last night I had a meal and wandered the streets in search of a bar to have beer in. I ended up in a nice hotel and got talking to an Indian/French family. An Indian brother and sister, the sister was married to a French guy and the siblings "mummy" was with them. We had a good laugh and they ended up adding my beer to their bill which was very nice of them. I think he was gay and a good candidate for George if a little old (45).

In the hotel this morning the waiter who had the phantom Indian girl waiting for me (see previous posting) was once again talking about girls and sex etc. I told him about the Viagra I had bought and he was fascinated especially when I told him it makes you good (or wood) for 3 hours (well that's what it says on the tin). He went away and told his waiter mates and they were all giggling. One of them came up to me 10 minutes later and whispered with a smile on his face (imagine a strong Indian accent) "fukeen for three hours?". I burst out laughing in the middle of reception and everyone wandered what was up. He made me write down what the tablets were called (Anagra) and went away giggling with his mates. I think they were in for a good night.

Today I got the bus to Mamalupuram. It's a seaside town with lots of rock carvings and temples. Very nice but there are quite a few miserable westerners here. I could slap them. Anyway it's not stopped me having another great day. I hired a bicycle again and saw all there was to see.

Now just 35 kilometres from Chennai. I will do that journey tomorrow morning, spend the last few hours in Chennai and make my way to the airport. I'm trying to fix up to see one of Pete's Indian mates who lives in Chennai so he can show me round the city.

Might make a post tomorrow if I get chance.

TTFN

A day in France....

Well not quite. I'm in Pondercherry and it is a very nice place. It's a town of two halves separated by a stinking partially covered canal. On one side of the canal is the French quarter. This is the stylish, clean(ish), boutique laden and arty side, frequented by white people going "Ooh la laa" and "mange tout rodders, mange tout". It's quite remarkable how French like it is and I do like it a lot.

On the other side of the canal is the more typically Indian area. Litter, cows, goats, beggars, pollution, manic traffic, beautiful women, fresh fruit juice shops by the dozen, cobblers, thousands of motorbikes/scooters/cycles, smell of fresly cooked samosas and samber, people sleeping on the streets, malnutritioned dogs, officials with whistles, the odd westerner, spit (national pastime), smiling children, saree stores, market stalls, tiny cafes, and so it goes on. It is wonderful.

The waiter at my hotel is fixing me up on a hot date tonight. An Indian woman from "Manchester Old Trafford". "You come restaurant at 8:15, she will be here, she is very nice". It's just a rouse to get me into his restaurant - business must be slow at the moment. 3 weeks ago when I arrived in India I would have fallen for it. I know most of the tricks now. I can spot a hawker at 400 metres. If I don't want to be bothered being polite (and it does sometimes get tiring when it's all the time), I pretend to be French - everyone expects them to be rude!!!!! Only joking, I love the French. I actually do my Mig Pilot routine and pretend to be Russian. Seems to work a treat.

Tomorrow I'm going to another seaside place up the coast, halfway between here and Chennai. It was recommended by an Indian couple I met in Le Cafe today. They are working in London for a few years and so speak excellent English. So if you read this, Indian couple, (sorry can't remember your names), enjoy your trip back to the UK and do visit the north of England - it's much nicer than "down south"

Got to go now for my hot date - hot cos all I'll be meeting is a Vindaloo (which I've not seen on any menu yet). Lots of Paneer (cheese) though so I'm in curry heaven. Just thought - last night I was served beer out of a teapot - it's not really accepted here. It was so funny.

I'll post some more pictures when I find an internet cafe able to download from my cameras.

See ya

Mig

One for the parents...

This posting is dedicated to my mum. She seems to be fascinated with how much things cost so here is a quick cost guide to India.....

C= cheapest; E = most expensive

Evening meal - 80p for two (C); 4 quid (E) this included two beers though
Beer - 1 quid (C); 2 quid (E)
Tea - 8p
Coffee - 20p
3 hour bus ride - 1.20
6 hour train ride - 1.10
Cola - 15p
Lunch - about 40p
Viagra - 25p per tablet (I'll let you have these cheap mum, for me dad)
Internet surfing - about 40p per hour
Petrol (one for me dad) 60p per litre - I think that is expensive
Tuk Tuk - about 25p for 2 miles but varies wildly depending on how hard you bargain
Hotel waiters salary - 40 quid per month
Teachers salary - average 250 quid per month

Hope this helps! If you want to know more, do let me know and I'll ask for you.

M

Kerala - gone in a flash...

So I stayed in Cochin one night and decided to move on. Too many weterners for my liking. I got a ferry from Fort Cochin to the mainand, then a bus and taxi down to Karvala on the coast. This journey was made with a German lady from Berlin. It was a bloody nightmare day. No hotels in Karvala (again very touristy and booked up solid with Thomas Cook package holidaymakers - bloody nuisances). So we went to the train station and got tickets for Trivandrum (capital city of Kerala). We had to run across the train tracks to jump on a train which had literally just started moving. Such fun! Then got to a very basic "hotel". It cost One pound 80 pence for the night! It was clean. Went out for a meal and that was 85 pence for the two of us!!!! We then really struggled to find somewhere that would server us beer. We found a dingy, low lit bar full of whisky drinking Indian men. An ice cold Kingfisher was enjoyed.

Next day I went south to the lands end equivalent of India. Still can't remember it's name. It was ok and serverd a purpose (on the route to somewhere else). Another Indian family adopted me and fed me lunch. They were lovely. Next day I got a bus for a 6 hour journey to Madurai. This has got to be the most traffic filled city I've been i so far. After securing a hotel room, I went straight to the railway station to get a ticket for the next days journey to Pondercherry. "All trains full" was the response from the enquiry desk. "Foreign tourist quota" I replied hopefully. "All trains full" said the broken record behind the desk. This called for desperate measures. I turned up at the station at 05:45 for the 06:45 train. I bought an unreserved ticket. This means it's a free for all in 4 carriages. There were about 45,500 of the lowest class Indians wanting to share those 4 carriages with me and they had sharper elbows than me. I tried to bribe my way to the front of the queue but they just laughed when I showed them money - how times have changed in India. So plan B was hatched, a plan so cunning I would be laughing all the way to Pondercherry. I jumped into a carriage which was half full but required you to have a reservation ("All trains full" territory). The train set off and I had lots of room. The ticket inspector came and I was ready with my dumb English tourist routine. He just said the carriage would be full at the next station and I would need to try a different carriage. No money required to upgrade my ticket on this better class carriage. It was my lucky day. In the end I did have to stand for an hour or so but I was quite happy to do that and spent the time talking to an Indian teacher working in Malawi, Africa (well he was on the train actully, not in Malawi at the time I was talking to him, obviously!).

Then it was a 1 hour bus ride with Satan himself (the driver). He was a complete nutcase and I thought my return air ticket was not going to be needed on a few occasions. Eventaully I was deposited in a place called Pondercherry. It is " a slice of France in India" according to the Lonely Planet guide (my bible). It's just like France - shut! Actually that's not fair. It is the only place on the Indian sub continent that has a "siesta" in the afternoon but it's actually a very nice place and I will stay here for a few days before finishing off my journey in Chennai (or Madras as the Indians call it, and they call Mumbai, Bombay and Kolkata, Calcutta!!!!!!!).

Right, I'm off to get a curry and a beer, not neccessarily in that order. So TTFN.

M