A quick stop in Delhi and then off to Varkala

 So here I was back in Delhi.  The pollution infested fog had not improved, but Patsy’s house did.  Patsy had students from Seychelles staying with her.  They were currently studying in Bangalore and had some vacation time.  So in the house we had a grand total of 5 people in 2 bedrooms.  We made it work.  The three girls shared the bedroom and the guy slept on the couch.  I got to sleep with Patsy.  

 

The first night I could have gone to a diplomatic party, but I was still feeling sick from Jaipur and I hadn’t slept well in a while.  I stayed in and slept instead.  Patsy’s house has a special aura to it.  I felt all stress and bad things melt away when I was there.  I was able to sleep, eat and not feel sick.  It was the weirdest thing.  I think its Patsy herself.  She just wants everyone to be comfortable and she brings that into her home.

 In the morning I went to the hospital to pick up my x-ray.  Easy peasy.  Then we went to the mall.  Malls are amazingly the same everywhere you go.  Except this one had security guards and metal detectors. 

That night we had dinner at the High Counselors’ house.  He cooked a traditional Seychelles meal just for us.  He was a sweet man.  He showed us a tour of his home and was easy to chat with.  Who would have thought I would meet someone so important?!

The next day was another hellish travel day.  At 3AM I woke up for my flight at 5:30.  After flying into Kochi I took the bus to the bus to the terminal and then another bus to Allepy (Where I was meeting Evey).  I had a wonderful seat on the bus, but then it broke down and we had to take the next bus.  On the next bus I had to stand with all of my luggage. blarg! For 3 hours. 

 On the bus there was an Indian guy that took an interest in me.  He was a young guy and he managed to position himself very close to me.  He had pitched a tent and I had to try and maneuver around it and his subtle humping.   This is difficult with that many people crammed together and the ticket guy constantly squeezing his way up and down the bus aisle.   Really!  I even yelled at the young guy, but I don’t think he understood English very well.  Exiting the bus was a relief and arriving at hostel, where Evey was, was even better.  I ranted for a bit, then calmed down and met Evey’s friend San.

The hostel was a welcome relief.  It was run by a slew of young guys, and who doesn’t like a little eye candy on their vacation?  We just hung out, ate good food and drank that night.  San was a great guy, a little quiet but I never mind that.  The next day we headed off to Varkala where Evey had some more friends we could hang out with.

Varkala was the perfect place to just chill out.  Evey and I had grand plans of going to an ashram and doing three days of meditation, but we quickly abandoned that plan to stay and enjoy the sun.  The first night there we headed off to the beach.  It was spectacular with cliffs all around and  a beautiful night sky.  On the beach a guy was drumming and singing.  We spent the next few days just lazing around on the beach and eating good food.  We never missed a sunset, and were always exploring the hidden beaches around Varkala.   I think I read three books while I was in Varkala, got a nice tan and managed to get myself over to the temple district.  Sometimes I am just a lazy lazy traveler.

San’s friends ran the guest house and were great company . We spent Christmas with the boys and it was very not Christmassy.  I liked it.  There were a few manger scenes set up around Varkala, but beside that it was devoid of the usual hub bub you see at Christmas.  It made it easier to forget that it was Christmas with the sun and sand everyday as well.  One thing I did not enjoy about Christmas was the lack of good internet.  I couldn’t skype my family, but had to send out e-mails instead. 

 Christmas night the boys set up a paper star to celebrate with us.  They are not Christian, so the Christmas celebrations are really just for the guests.  That night we relaxed on the roof playing music and singing.  We also headed out to a club later that night.  It was great fun, but the power got cut about a half hour into our celebrations.  I guess the cops got wind of the party, and liquor licenses are hard to come by.  The club didn’t have one.  We stayed out a bit later looking for another party.  In the end we didn’t find one and returned to the roof.

 While in Varkala we met a quirky French couple who were studying in New Delhi.  They had a month of vacation and decided a trip down south would be perfect.  I enjoyed hanging out with them.  They cooked us crepes one of the nights on the roof.  We made it into a routine.  One night I cooked, one night the boys cooked, and one night Cloe and Jamie cooked (the French couple).  Playing music on the roof became routine, as well, while we there.  I enjoyed meeting the others, staying in the guest house and the weird conversations that ensued.  A couple of times I even slept on the roof.  It was so nice to sleep under the stars.   

It was a sad to say goodbye to all the friends we made, but we had to get Evey back to work in Indonesia.  This created another long day of travel. 

Let me explain.  No there is too much. Let me sum up: 10 am leave hostel, wait 30 minutes, 1 hour train, 20 minute rickshaw to airport, wait 3 ½ hours, plane to Mumbai, wait 10 hours, plane to Colombo, waiting again for next plane for  2 hours, plane to Jakarta, arrive at airport, wait for the bus for 3 hours, arrive at Evey’s home… blah. So basically 30+ hours of transit. We were more than ready to see Evey’s house and crash.

Goodbye India, Hello Indonesia!

The Pink City, Jaipur

So the van that transported us to Jaipur was quite, how to say this, shitty.  That’s what we get for just going where the hawkers said we should go.  We did get dropped off in front of the Amber Place, which was nice.  During our few days in Jaipur we didn’t end up going there together.  I went later with our rickshaw driver Raj.  

 We met Raj in front of the amber palace.  He was great!  He liked to sing a lot, and could take us any where we wanted.  We ended up hiring his service for a few days, and did not regret it.  I’m so glad we met him. 

So the first order of business when you get to a new place is the guest house.  Raj dropped us off at a pretty nice one.  We had wifi, hot showers, a balcony, food… I liked it.  The next thing was a tour of city provided by Raj.  Of course he gets a bit of commission if he takes us to specific shops.  I don’t mind this so much.  You gotta do what you gotta do.  Before he took us to shops and what not, we just drove around.  We saw the Pink Palace and the swimming pool of the royals. 

Then he took us to a fabric shop, because we needed to get our saris fitted.  The shop was nice.  I wished I had a house so I could fill it up with all the things… this was a continuous theme for me in India.  If only I had a house, or if only I had space in my bag.  India is so cheap, when I get a house I will go there to decorate and just generally shop.  This shop had beautiful quilts, sheets, wall hanging, pashminas, scarves, door hangings… anything that was made out of fabric.  We also got to see how the block printing was done and the detailed embroidery work of the wedding garb that is so popular in India.   I always enjoy seeing how things are made.  So I took a few pictures.  

After our fabric stop Raj took us to monkey temple to watch the sunset.  He warned us to only have one guide, but little did we know out guides would be children.  The kid that claimed us, jumped right onto the rickshaw before we even parked.  He was nice, but there was a lot of bickering between him and the other children. :/  This irritated me a bit, but I understand, everyone got to make their own living.  So we wandered up to the temple, bought some peanuts to feed the monkeys and just enjoyed watching the little guys run around and take peanuts from us.  On the way up we saw a snake charmer.  Evey and Leo both held the snake, and Leo even pretended to be snake charmer for pictures.  I didn’t feel any inclination to hold the snake.  I’m not scared, I just didn’t care enough.  Weird.  Usually I like weird photo opts.  We went up the top, watched the sunset and then headed back to the guest house.  We arranged with Raj to pick us up in hour, so we could see some of the night life.

That night Raj had arranged a special treat, hanging out with the locals.  We started the night just hanging out in rickshaw and drinking with Raj.  He took us to get more beer and an omelet as well.  While we were hanging out we met his friends, played music and did improve karaoke.  After that little bit of fun we got to meet his family.  The women were all singing, I got to sit with them and listen for a little bit.  After that we went to Raj’s house had dinner and met his niece and cousin he takes care of.  He also made us some dinner. It was very unique.  We headed back to the guest house and I realized that it might be the last time I saw Leo (he headed out to Mumbai in the AM).  We said our goodbyes and promised to keep in touch, then headed off to bed.
 

In the morning Evey and I just chilled out, ate breakfast then went to the airport to drop her off.  She had a flight down to Kochi to meet up with some friends she met in Thailand.  We had already decided I would meet her after another day in Jaipur and a day in Delhi (to get my x-rays).  

On the way back from the airport Raj took me to get some tea from one of the locals, and also a curry filled pastry, then we headed out to the Amber fort.  This place was nice.  There were a lot of hawkers, como la India, but I didn’t mind that too much.  When I’m by myself I like to chat with them.   I feel like I get a bit of everyone’s perspective and story this way.  Sometimes this is awkward when they want you to look at wears and you know you don’t want to buy any, and they get disappointed.

 Inside the amber palace was pretty cool.  The main event was the hall of mirrors.  It was just beautiful; there were so many inlayed mirrors and precious stones.  I just loved it.  The rest of the palace was like a game.  There were a lot of twists, turns and darkened staircases.  I wished someone else was there with me, so we could play hide and seek.  Sometimes I just want to be a kid.  I had a hard enough time getting un-lost by myself, imagine putting Evey or Leo into the equation.  We would have never left because we would have always been looking for each other. 

One interesting thing I noted was that the Indians loved my sari.  I always try and blend when I travel, but it was very usual for a westerner to dress like an Indian.  I had a few people take pictures with me and lots of people say I looked good.  I love saris I wish they were appropriate for everyday wear.  

After the Amber palace we headed to the spice shop.  I didn’t really need spices, but I got suckered in and bought marsala tea (chai).  It was a world of smells in there.  I don’t think I have ever been somewhere more pungent.  I was amazed at everything they had, but traveling always restricts what I can buy.

Next was the guru.  I’m not sure what to think of this part.  I had no idea what a guru was, I just went because Raj was adamant that this guy would change my life.  He said people often cry after they see him.  I was skeptical, and gave everything he said a grain of salt.  The guru said some general things, and some things that made me think he was judgmental.  I didn’t like him in the end.  I thought he was pushy and arrogant.  He said he doesn’t give two shits about tourists, but he felt like he needed to help me.   After I left Jaipur every person I met that went there saw him.  He is full of shit.  He owns a jewelry store, and at the end of our session he told me what precious stone I should buy to meditate and help me center myself.  I didn’t buy one.    

 The last thing Raj and I did together was the maharaja tombs.  It was very nice and deserted.  Rather appropriate for a cemetery. 

 Raj dropped me off for my beauty sleep and said he’s come back in the morning to take me to the bus station.  We left bright and early and I almost missed the bus.  It was way nicer and cheaper than the bus we booked down.  Live and learn.