Day 81 - Pondicherry

Made it! It only took a 1 hr bus, a 10 hr train, a 6 hour train and then a 4 hr bus - no problem. The final bus ride was possibly the most painful part, being that I was the only a)westerner and b)woman, I just cranked up the volume on my MP3 player and stared out the window, pretending that the entire bus wasn't staring at me.
We arrived about 8.20 in darkness. I hadn't booked anywhere to stay, so I pulled out the faithful Lonely Paranoid and set up shop in a phone booth. I called all the guest houses in the book, one by one and starting with the cheapest, only to be told, again and again, that they were full. Uh oh. Finally I came across one with a room, the Ram guest house. I was so relieved that I just collapsed in a rickshaw, not bothering to haggle over the fare, and told the driver to step on it ("step on what?" - sigh). The hotel is a heritage hotel; small and charming with old wooden furniture and a balcony. My room is on the compact side, and a mite expensive, but is clean and has a TV and hot water - bliss.

Had somewhat of a shock when I looked in the mirror - after 26hrs of travelling, and broken sleep, I looked like a zombie (see right for an artists impression... and I wondered why everyone was running away, screaming :-). Hot shower and early night needed desperately.

This morning I got up at 7 and went on an epic tour of the hostels of Pondicherry, by foot. They are all full - raaah. Looks like I'll have to stay with the hot water and TV, what a shame! Pondicherry really is a very nice town; wide, tree-lined boulevards and a long promonade along the Bay of Bengal. There are pockets of french culture and architecture here and there, and the town has plenty of coffee shops (that serve real espresso) and nice French/Italian cuisine restaurants. The best way to get around, epecially to the nearby beaches, is by cycle or motorbike - so my mission this evening is to find a cycle hire shop (not going to risk a scooter - eek). I was hoping to go to Auroville and visit the Matrimandir meditation room with its huge 70cm crystal, but unfortunately it is only open to visitors on Sunday, and tickets have to be booked in advance - poo. Guess I'll just have to cycle to a beach instead.

Below: The Matrimandir dome and meditation room (space age..)



Below: A Pondicherry street and the promenade

Day 78 - Hampi

Last day (ish) - I leave tomorrow at about 4 to catch an overnight train to bangalore, then another train to Chennai, then a bus to Pondicherry. I've stocked up on cold pizza (leftover from dinner), cinnamon danish and cookies - so the journey should be less painful. Well, lets face it, it couldn't be any worse than the overnight bus, for all that it's twice as long!

So goodbye to boulders, and all the kids that shout "Pen? Biscuit? Chocolate? Rupee?" and the mosquitos and to travel buddy Becca (sob - this is actually sad) and hello to the sea, french-italian cuisine and wine (yay) and blissed out yoga. Heaven.

Day 77 - Hampi

Today we were even more active than yesterday (shock horror) - we hired bikes and cycled out to the ruins in the Royal Center. The day was a scorcher (thank goodness I've adjusted to the crazy heat here), so my tan got topped up nicely. It was so nice whizzing by the banana plantations and palm trees, and catching the odd glimpse of temples reaching above the greenery, or the occasional random clearing complete with crumbling ruin. Have vowed to hire bikes more often - they are miles cheaper than getting rickshaws, and though they are all one-gear wonders, they are a great way to get around

For dinner we cycled along the ghats to The Mango Tree, a very cool restaurant on the banks of the river. We sat chatting and reading (and being bitten by mosquitos) until the sun set, then somehow managed to cycle back along the path in the dark without falling into the river/some bushes.

Our landlady is sorting out my ticket to Chennai on Friday (for a small fee of course) and on the same day Becca catches her train to Goa. Sob, alone again for the first time since I first arrived - given that I came on my own and have been here 2 1/2 months, this is quite an achievement. I'm quite excited tho, and am looking forward to exploring Pondicherri and Auroville, yay

We took some more random pictures today, just for the fun of it.../

Vittala Temple


And again...


Conquer the elephant (like the scary facial expressions?) - the elephant stables


A building in the Zenana Enclosure


Swinging from the Mango Tree, in Mango tree restaurant


Sorry... unforgivably I totally neglected to get a random picture of us on the bikes... maybe tomorrow.

Day 76 - Hampi

Hampi rocks. Lots of rocks.

We got here yesterday morning at about 10 after an all night ordeal that involved changing buses twice, random stops throughout the night and a bus that vibrated more than the naff massage chairs you get in shopping malls.

Understandably we spent most of the first day here wandering around like zombies and occasionally thumping our heads on various tables as we dozed off over our caffinated beverages. We worked up enough energy to have a wander around the Hampi Bazaar and Varaupaksha temple. Hampi is a very cool place, set amoung the ruins of an ancient Hindu empire. The scenery here is really bizarre, huge boulders are strewn across the landscape and the whole thing looks like something out of the flintstones. The temple was smallish, but had a its own cute elephant, Lakshmi - awww!

The Varaupaksha temple



Lakshmi in all her glory - cuuute!



Me, Becca and ruins



View of Hampi from the hill



Today we hung out in a german bakery and read some books (no suprise there) and then we decided to basically stop being such lazy mares and do some sightseeing. We plodded along the ghats to Sule Bazaar and the Achyutaraya temple - more ruins. It was nice to scramble ovr the rocks and explore the little ruined temples dotted infront of Matanga Hill, I felt like Indiana Jones!


Looots of columns



Entrance to Achyutaraya Temple - cool huh?



Random picture of ruins & boulders




We had Thali for lunch, then caught a rickshaw all the way round to the coracle crossing near Anegondi. The coracle was fun - it was very amusing to watch the guys crossing with their motorbikes (see the 3 dudes below).



When we got to the other side we discovered that the temple we wanted to visit, Hanuman temple, was still 3km away, so we got a random truck to take us the rest of the way - what a mission - and it wasn't even that great darn it. The temple was on a hill so we had to climb loads of stairs to reach the top, and the temple was very not very temple-like, more a plain white building we couldn't enter! However, the many monkeys on the way up were good for a laugh, and views back over the river and banana plantations were great.

Tada! Decending victorious from the heights



View from the top



Feeling energetic still, we walked aall the way to the coracle crossing, listening to the Garden State soundtrack on my MP3 whilst we admired the scenery and waved back at the excited school kids that passed us on their way home ("Biscuit? School pen? 1 Rupee?" can't say they didn't try, all one hundred or so of them). Back on the coracle; this time we shared the ride with 3 bikers, a business man, a boy and his grandpa, an old lady, the 2 rowers and the guy whos job it was to boss them round. We were quite worried the flimsy basket thing covered in tarred sandbags would sink - but we made it to the other side ok. 'No rickshaw waiting - crap - guess we'll have to walk the 7 km back to Hampi'. Luckily we figured out a shortcut along the river, and made it back before dark. This saved us 100R, plus we got to see the sun setting in a hundred colours over the ruins, which was priceless.

The journey so far...

Day 74 - Mysore

We are leaving Mysore today - and I'm not looking forward to it because this will be a first I had hopud to avoid: the first overnight bus... nooooo! 10 hours of sitting upright in a bus trying to snatch some sleep whilst hoping that no-one above us throws up. Luckily we've both got neck pillows and earplugs - so it may just be bearable (though I am really not looking forward to speed-peeing in bushes).

Today we went to the Mysore Mandala Yoga Shala - there was no yoga lessons (Ashtangis have a day off on full moon apparently - whatever) so Becca and I just rolled out our mats in the empty studio and chugged through the Sivananda Series in our own time. The few days break did my body good - my elbow has recovered and I aalmost got into scorpion (right) but then flipped out and hit my toe - ouuuch. Afterward we had fresh brown bread and butter, muesli with fruit salad and curd and boiled eggs from the shala's cafe - yuuum - the best brunch so far in India! On the subject of food (it is my favourite subject after all) - we are now going to go cram into Hotel RRR's packed restaurant, to delicious thali elbow to elbow with the locals (the busier the restaurant, the better the food). I hope the food is as good in Hampi! Byee!

Day 73 - Mysore

Alas, I'm already missing the german bakery in Varkala, mainly because there are no cafes or restaurants here that you can sit in peace and read your book or relax and chat. Efficiency here is the waiters watching us eat our food, whipping the plates away and slapping the bill on the table the minute the last morset is put in our mouths. Ah well, we aren't here for long. There are also limited options for breakfast and light snacks - there's dosas (pancake things made of lentil flour that come with coconut goo), and that is pretty much it. Still, it may be boring but at least it's cheap!

Today we've looked round the palace (very bling - carved wood furniture and ceilings compete with brightly coloured walls, stained glass and elaborate crytal chandeliers for 'most eyecatching' award), visited the market (the scent of spices and oils, jasmine flowers and ripe fruits - great photo op). We've also found a yoga place where we can attend the drop in lessons in the afternoon - all good fun. Have now been typing away in the internet cafe for an hour, arranging flights for when I get to australia and suchlike, so I'm getting hungry. Guess its's time for... Thali or Dosas with a nice cup of bournevita, yuuummy.

Day 72 - Mysore

Mysore - home, among other things, of sandlewood essence and Ashtanga yoga's guru, Sri K. Pattabhi Jois (guruji). We are staying at the Hotel Maurya, and the helpful staff have already told us the buses we need to catch in order to reach various places and warned us not to buy anything from the street children (verry bad boys, bad sandlewood). So far we have staggered downstairs with armfulls of laundry and dumped them in reception (haha - they can wash my mildewy clothes), eaten cheap, delicious thali until we felt full to bursting (with fingers of course), and trailed around the streets looking for the entrance to the palace (yelling at any poor streetkid/tout/guide that homed in on us).

We have many things we plan to visit here; the glitzy and grand Maharaja's palace, the big fruit & veg market and Chamundi hill (with it's 1000+ steps up to the temple on top - will I climb them? Nooo, I think not). We are also planning to visit the government-run sandlewood factory and also maybe go to the Ashtanga Research Institute and take a peep at the freaksome uber-ashtangis doing their thing (maybe Madonna will be there - she is another of Guruji's fans.) So, will probably stay for a few days before hot-footing it up to Hampi for shopping and sightseeing. Yay - we're somewhere new, fuuuun!

Below left: Mysore streets Below Centre: The Palace Right: Old man Guruji does his thing

Day 71 - Bangalore

We are now in the silicon valley of India, the outsourcing central of the east that is Bangalore. Very urban Indians wander round talking about capital and investments on their posh mobile phones and young women strut by in tight jeans. In MG road, where our hotel is located, Levis and Adidas shops vie for attention between Pizza huts, McDonalds and KFCs. There are a few cinemas that show western movies alongside bollywood classics, and many packed internet cafes and coffee shops. Yet another place that is like India in some ways, but so unlike it in others.

This morning we arrived after a 17hr train journey in Bangalore station and caught a (very expensive) taxi to our hotel. Thankfully the guy on reception had understood me on the phone, and our room was available. We have a TV (that has many channels showing many awful programs) and a balcony that has an attractive view of some grubby back-allys. After unpacking and changing, we left the hotel and went for a wonder around the MG road area. After much laughter at aformentioned shops and fast food places we eventually sloped into a great little bookshop (called The Bookworm - just in case you ever happen to be in Bangalore). I left with Q&A (Vikas Swarup) and Becca with A Million Little Pieces (James Frey). I am happy to have found these books - a little tired of the Paulo Ceulo books that constitute the main collection of little bookshops here. Whilst in the ashram I quizzed the guys on the best books they had read recently, and have been keeping an eye out for these books ever since. For my fellow bookworms (also for my own benefit, as I am bound to loose the list at some point)...

Random Recommended Books

• A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving (the guy who wrote Cider House Rules) - This is the book I've just finished reading - it was great, very funny, I highly recommend it.
• Q&A by Vikas Swarup
• The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
• The Bookseller of Kabul by Asne Seierstad
• The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon
• Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
• A Million Little Pieces by James Frey
• A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry
• The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver
• The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom
• The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy (actually, I've read this too - v. good)
• One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
• Love in the Time of Cholera also by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

Day 69 - Varkala

Last day in Varkala - no rain, yaaay! We have, yet again, spent a significant portion of the day pigging our faces in the german bakery (byebye 4" weight loss). Apple crumble wins hands down...

Richard: This is delicious, this is the best crumble I've ever tasted, no really, its amazing, heyhey did you make this? What is the recipe? Wow, this is great.
Me: darn, now I want some.
Becca: (immediately) excuse me, a piece of your fine apple pie thankyou... 2 spoons...

and so on...

Apparently it's ok to stuff ourselves silly, it's Halloween!

Have booked accommodation in Bangalore (or I think 've booked it- I'm pretty sure the guy on the phone understood me, but hey, in India you never can tell). We have also contacted the friendofafriendwhoisahipproducer. Unfortunately she is on a shoot in Mumbai, but she has given us the mobile numbers of her boyfriend and another mate. So now we could be going for a meal with a boyfriendofafriendofafriend and a whole bunch of people I have an even more tenuous link to - could be funny.

Day 68 - Varkala

Great day of sunshine, sea and sand. Today was the first day since being here that it hasn't rained 90% of the time so B and me hit the beach. Bumped into Richard on the way there, he had just left the ashram the previous day and was looking a bit shell shocked so we dragged him long with us to the beach. I hired a body board and we took it in turns to have the s@$t kicked out of us by the sea (have got a really burned face after too much squinting into the horizon, and so much sea went up my nose it felt as though I had had a marathon neti session).

Yesterday we pulled ourselves together and sorted out our travel plans. On wednesday we are catching a train from Trivandrum to Bangalore - funky modern city extrodinaire. B has a friend of a friend there who is a hip producer or something, so we may meet up with them and go for a meal. The next day we will catch a bus to Mysore, another yoga heaven and apparently a generally nice place. After a few days there we go up to Hampi, a beautiful ruinous city where we can do a bit of sightseeing and stuff. After that we split, B goes west to Goa, and flies out from Mumbai on the 18th or something, and I go further east. I plan to go to pondicherry, a French town south of Chennai, to sample the bakeries and visit the Auroville ashram with its huuuge crystal. I fly out of India from Chennai on the 20th - destination Singapore.

Day 66 - Varkala

Ahh, sweet boredom. Am now relaxing once again in the german bakery after a brief bout of manic exercise this morning.

The coffee yesterday sent my caffeine-starved body into hyperdrive - and I wasn't the only one! At about 5pm yesterday both Becca and I were actually shaking with energy. We went for a brisk walk up and down the cliff path and, when that didn't do much, we actually did the entire 12 sets of Sivananda yoga postures in our room. Madness. It doesn't end there - after a disturbed nights sleep I actually got up at 6.30 this morning for a jog, then went to a yoga class! Unfortunately the class was utterly dreadful (most especially in comparison to the ones at the ashram) and Becca was practically passing out with hunger, so we made our excuses and left after a mere 5 minutes, and got some sweet breakfast. The energetic mood has now passed - I entirely blame my bout of unnecessary activity on the turbo cappucino I had yesterday, and have resolved to switch back to chai.

Ah, I also am hatching plans to create a whole new diet - I call it the India diet, or the 'lose half your body weight down the toilet' diet (sorry). To be honest I really didn't think I'd lost so much, given that I haven't actually got sick yet, but I finally got round to taking my now somewhat baggy jeans and walking trousers to the tailors this morning and I had a bit of a nice suprise, I can tell you. When the bloke got me to put the trousers on and measured exactly how much he had to take them in, each pair had to go in by 4 1/2 inches!! My god. I got him to double check, and it was right. Maybe it's the heat, or all those punishing leg raises and sun salutations at the ashram - who cares, it's all good.

Day 65 - Varkala

Aaah, sweet Verkala, how I missed thy german bakeries and fish restaurants.

Becca and I departed from the ashram this morning for the bus ride to Verkala. We are staying in the same bamboo huts I stayed in before, and have set up shop in the Sun Shine Cafe (german bakery) that it turns out we both spent a significant proportion of our respective visits frequenting. I immediately ordered a cappucino, and scrambled eggs on brown toast (eeeeeggs, real bread - heaven) and made a beeline for the bookshelf. We are now both curled up in the comfy bamboo chairs and ploughing our way through Michael Crighton books (myself Congo and Becca State of Affairs).

Think I left not a moment too soon, ashram was severly infecting my brain and turning me into a pod person (as was confirmed when we both kept bursting into 'Jaya Ganesha' on the bus, then giving each other terrified looks!) Anyway, back in normalcy so all is now good. We plan to chill here for a few days, and on Sunday a whole bunch of people from the ashram are coming to Varanasi, so we can all meet up and go to a random party or something.

Below are some ashram piccies from Becca's camera:

Me being drowned in the waterfall



The health hut crowd



My singing partner Veera on guitar and mad Veronica eating the guitar



Me torturing the health hut with my rendition of House of the rising sun, Veera rocking on the guitar (don't ask, wasn't my idea, blame V)



Becca and Lisa looking all glowing and stuff, the temple



The lovely lake



The usual crowd getting their caffiene fix



Sam, Lise and myself, the wooden palace (ok, so this is not the best picture of me - I'm doing that bleary-eyed face I have a tendancy of pulling when the flash goes off - but good picture of Lise, plus you can see the red smudges of Kumkum on our foreheads)



Food hall - beautiful rice and goo, and sore legs from sitting on floor - I shall miss it (not)



Obligitory naff picture of me in the temple pretending to meditate

Day 64 - Sivananda

Thought of the day: You know you've been here to long when you discover swamiji knows your name... Second to last day today - can't believe it. Will be sad to go but have begun to have vivid fantasies involving beer, pizza, coffee and chocolate cake (although not altogether!)

My urgency to depart has not been helped by the fact that we have had the squarky old lady for the last 3 satsangs. The day before yesterday I actually grabbed my yoga mat and blanket and legged it out of the temple when everyone was deep in meditiation (was feeling very rebellious, then I felt guilty so I meditated on my bed, and fell asleep). Last night I stuck it out, and sat in the back row with my fellow ashram rebels and doubters - by the end of Jaya Ganesha we were all crying with silent laughter and doubled over in the pain of trying to contain our general amusement at the hideous noise being produced and the horrified expressions of the newly arrived ashramites (it's all credit to them that they did not just run away!)

Tonight we have a silent walk and meditation by the lake - last week the was a lightning storm behind the hills so it was very oooommmm- can I be bothered to go again? Hmmm, decisions.

Day 63 - Sivananda

Hellooo

Well, haven't written in a few days - unfortunately the internet slot is only one hour (3 computers for the whole ashram - riiidiiiculous) and the power has a habit of going off for half of that!

Still getting along well here - though unfortunately the mornings are becoming harder and harder, not the other way round. Lately swamiji has been ducking out of the evening satsangs, and an old biddie has been taking his place. Old biddie is about 70, and has a the most painfully squeaky chanting voice imaginable - thus satsang becomes even more of a torture. I have started sneaking my mp3 player in and cranking it up to full blast to drown the general cacophany of sound that is everyone trying to match old biddies tune.

Lisa is just leaving now - she is going to Kovalam and up to Cochin - we have been pretty much in each others pockets for almost 2 months - so it is wierd to see her go. I've been making plans too - I'm leaving on friday with Becca from America and Celine from France. We are planning to go to Verkala, Cochin, Mysore and Bangalore before heading our seperate ways to catch our respective flights at the end of next month.

So in my last days I will aim to 1) finally get into locust(hard yoga posture thing) 2) Get another massage (I've already had one - 400R for an hour of heaven on earth - bargin!) and 3) Manage to sit through 30 minutes of meditation without fidgeting,thinking about food or counting the seconds.

Day 60 - Sivananda

Am I tired or am I tired. After writing the entry yesterday we went to a restaurant for a local dish that basicly consisted of carbs, grease and yet more grease - eew. One of the guys thought he'd be daring and order a veg biriani - biig mistake... after the first mouthful he was crying, sweating, and running to the hand-washing sink to gangle the water - v. funny.

Then we went to a huuuge hindu temple. Tamil Nadu, the area next to Kerala that we had our daytrip, is famous for its hindu temples. This particular one was amazing - 5 acres of labaryntine pages surrounded with stone carvings. Something like 50 little temples, thousands of pillers, millions of oil lamps. Tourists and travellers are not allowed to enter the temple, but because we were with the ashram we had special permission. The temple was built a thousand or so years ago - and took 600 years to build- over 30 times the time it took to build the Taj Mahal (so you can imagine how amazing it is inside). Highlights included: the solid granite music pillars that you thumped to play music, a huge cow statue that looked like it had been stolen from eurodisney, an even bigger hanuman statue that we put a garland round - then had water thrown on us, red stuff smeared on aall over foreheads, then had to walk round this statue a few times (must.. keep...straight.... face).

Got back in at 12.30, lay down, and what felt like a second later the morning bell rang - nooooooooooo! Suffice it to say that I now look like the walking dead, and actually managed to fall asleep sitting up in meditation this morning - I have been told that I snored a bit - whooops!

Day 59 - Sivananda Ashram

Escaappeee! I'm in the real world again - today is free day at the ashram, so we all piled on the bus to go down to Kanyakumari. I thought the day off would mean I could lie in - wroooong, wake-up at 5.30 as usual, leave by 6. I also thought I got out of the chanting for one day - wroooong, as soon as I got on the bus they put a CD on at full blast - yes, you've got it - all my favourite chants - starting off with the classic 'Jaya Ganesha' - aaaargh!!

You know you want to....listen to the wonderful chanting (You love it? I thought so, listen to more happy music here, and be jealous that I get to do this for hours on end, every day - huzzah)

First stop was at the waterfall - we changed into t-shirts and sarongs and shuffled out to the ledge under the waterfall. We stood there, grasping the railings, as the water hammered on to our backs. It was painful, like the meanest massage ever - but I loved it (heaven for my aching back muscles). Unfortunately our attempts to be modest failed as we emerged looking like contestents in a wet t-shirt competition - oh dear!

Next we went to an old temple - lots of wandering around in bare feet, circling random buildings with painted rocks in them, getting various coloured pastes smeared on our foreheads and sickly sweet rice goo shoved in our hands. Then brekkie down the road at a random 'hotel' (I think they confused the T with a V - else they have a veery loose definition of the word 'hotel' here) .

After eating we hopped back on the bus and along to a wooden palace. Palace was v. nice, started saying things like "I would put a sofa theeeree, t.v. theere" and so on. Unfortunately the place is an Indian heratige site ('5000R fine and 6 months harsh imprisonment' for anyone damaging the property - meep, scared much) so probably not for sale (not that I could afford a wooden palace anyway).

Back on the bus, lunch at a random Ashram (eeew, grim, we have it good at Neyyar dam). Somewhere through the meal I lost my common sense for a moment after eating a paticularly spicy bit of goo and drank some of the water (please let me not spend tomorrow throwing up).

Finally back to Kanyakumari town and the beginning of epic search for an ATM that was in order and not rejecting my card. After an hour of trudging backwards and forewards, and my third ATM, I finally got lucky - I have now got money to pay back the various people I've borrowed it from, and purchase a t-shirt that I've had my eye on for a while (it's a huge Sivananda tshirt with a lovely sketch of the man himself on the front - so hideous that it is cool, at least I hope so, else I've already been here too long!!).

Now happily holed up in an internet cafe (suffering withdrawl symptoms here) and next we go to another temple (joys) then dinner at a nice restaurant (hope nice actually means nice, I really do). Back to the ashram at 11.30, thenup again at 5.30 the next morning. Aaaaaaaaaargh.

Tomorrow is the talent contentest (shivers run down my spine at the words). We've been encouraged to take part to 'conquer our fears' and all that milarkey. Despite the fact that Lisa is a cutting edge modern drama student, and took all her clothes off infront of a room full of strangers for her show, she has copped out - her response to my teasing being 'noway - I get nervous on stage'. Whatever. So without her as my ally in shame, I've joined a couple of other nutty girls to bellow out a song. We want one that is catchy and funny, but as we still haven't decided which to sing this could all be the biggest disaster ever (Beatles 'all you need is love' is the popular choice thus far). Becca gets my full admiration as she is reading out one of her poems (she's a philosophy major, so I'm sure the peom will be really deep and intelligent - but still, the pressure!). Anyway, everyone will get my respect, however bad they are... although I have to say that if someone tries to chant 'Jaya Ganesha' as their entry, I shall personally beat them to death with their tambourine. Shall announce results in a few days.

Day 58 - Sivananda Ashram

Here I am - in the internet cafe again... just need to get back in touch with reality. The brain washing is taking hooold.... I actually banged a tambourine (to relieve the boredom) and swayed (to relieve aching butt muscles) thismorning! Shock horror. Also stepped it up in the yoga stakes - I'm attending the advanced class in the morning and evening and becoming somewhat of a freaks rubber band (though I still sweat immensely - eeew).

My body in now more mosquito bite than skin, so permenantly covered in tiger balm (no anti-histamenes available - aaargh). This does make me look somewhat jaundiced due to the orange tone of the balm, but has the added bonus effect of calming my strained muscles. (I didn't know you could strain muscles in your butt - but yes, in fact you can- darn locust position) .

Tomorrow is a free day, so I am joining in a trip to the very southern tip of India (where the three oceans meet). We are going to bathe in a waterfall (fully clothed of course - this is India afterall), visit loads of temples, and eat loads of food.To be honest, I mainly joined in to get out of a day of Satsangs, but it sounds like it'll be fun!

Day 57 - Sivananda Ashram

Hare Om

Greetings from the Sivananda Ashram (internet cafe in basement - who woulda thought?). Been here for 3 days now and beginning to feel a little spaced out. The schedule is quite exacting, and you pretty much end up trailing from one place to another in time with bells (a bit like school really), and my days are pretty much the same...

A day in the life of Blessed Katherine...

5.30 Morning bell rings, some sadist turns the light on, I groan, fight my way out of my mosquite net, fall on the floor, pull on some clothes.
6.00 Morning Satsang in the Prayer Hall. Very happy clappy, lots of chanting "Hare Rama Hare Rama" etc. - some queer souls feel the urge to clap/bang a tambourine/sway with eyes extatically shut - I just sit in a rolled up ball of scarves and cusions and try to pretend my feet aren't falling asleep/I dont find the whole thing a bit creepy.
7.30 I'm freeee! Chai chai chai! We stand in huddles, cradling our precious chai and gossiping.
8.00 Yoga - morning I am stiff, so I take the easy class. Aweeesoooome. Try not to fall asleep in relaxation.
10.00 - Brunch, main meal of the day. Delicious vegetarian meal with several different bits - we eat sitting on the floor from a metal tray - I try to eat slop with fingures and not spill all down my front (mostly fail - you know what I'm like with food)
11.00- Lecture - Interminable lecture fromSwamiji about religion/yoga etc. - wouldn't be so bad if sitting on a hard floor wasn't agony by now.
12.30 - Karma yoga i.e. chores - my chores are helping in the health hut so this is free time.
1.30 - Again, sweet chai
3.30 - Yoga - this time I go for the burn and take the hard class, generally get pushed a lot - the teaching is excellent
6.30 - Evening meal - Simpler meal - more spillages
8.00 - Satsang (again) more meditation and chanting - back is now a screaming ball of pain and "Hare Krishnna" is repeating round and round my head - Braaain-waaashing
10.00 - Shower, bed, lights out by 10.30

So, that is my day- quite busy, so the days troop by quickly. Added extras include ayurvedic Massages (I have one booked for Friday - will let you know how it goes). The lovely experience of being bitten by mossies a million times a day. A beautiful lake that you can swim in (just watch the crocodiles). The hunting groans of bonking lions, drifting across the lake to inturrupt your meditation.

Times run out, there's a queue... must dash

OM Shanti and all that jazz

Please leave a message after the tone...

Right, this could be the last message I write for a while, tomorrow we are heading for Neyyar Dam, near Trivandrum, to enrol in the Sivananda Yoga Ashram for two weeks.

Unfortunately we are only allowed out on Sundays, so you will have to hang on for a weekly update - though I'm sure it will go on at great lengths about all the wierdos I meet! (That is, unless I cannot handle the 5.30 wake-up - in which case the update may come much sooner!!)

Ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooommmmmmmmm

Day 53 - Verkala

Last day in Verkala and the weather is glorious. I've spent most of the day sat in a german bakery working my way through their book collection and getting jittery on milk-coffee.

It is still quite quiet here in Verkala - have discovered this is mainly due to an outbreak of mosquito-born Chikungunya (or chicken-gunky disease as we call it) in Kerala. Turns out the main hotspot is Alleppey - dur, guess that was why not many travellers were there, why does no one tell us these things?! Seems the whole thing is slightly exaggerated, but they are giving the full works here - mosquito coils, zappers, nets, incense, you name it. So anyhoo, when I awoke this morning with a rash on my face and upper arms, visions of being struck down with chicken-gunky disease gave me the complete be-jeebies... until I remembered I'd bought a new wrap the day before and worn it to dinner. Yeah, guess it was washed in something that I'm somewhat allergic to (poor, sensitive me), hence rash. Whew! Narrow escape (I do have a tendency toward hypochondria when it comes to tropical diseases - let me not even start about the time I was slavered on by a skanky greek dog, and the ensuing rabies-paranoia). Good news is that Chicken-gunky is not fatal, merely excessively painful and yukky... great.

Today is party night in Verkala. Each restaurant has told us, nudge nudge wink wink, that they are having a party with live music - but sssh, it's a secret. Due to strict Keralan licencing laws, pretty much no bars or restaurants have a license - cocktails come in innocent glasses (it's fruit juice - honest) and beer occasionally, and hilariously, comes in teapots. So, I can't quite see how they're going to pull off the all-night drinking without the cops noticing, to be honest. Still, I will attend - it may be amusing!

Day 52 - Verkala

Well, not much to update, apart from that this place is still lush. Finally got round to uploading a few photos...

The girls in Palolem:

Me and Lisa on a looocal bus (looking a bit ikky - it was a long day of local bus travel in hoot weather - ok?)

Cruising down the Keralan backwaters (note embarrasing umbrella to hide from sun)

Some general touristy photos:

Some more at my photobucket site

Day 51 - Verkala

It's official - we've found heaven on earth, it's in India and it is called Verkala (ok - this may be sliight exaggeration, but after the last few roach infested pits this really is nice!)

We went a bit crazy getting here from Kollam, and tried to do it the cheapest way possible - i.e. local buses. The first was fine, but it dropped us off in some random town where no-one spoke any English, and we had to catch another bus to Verkala town. Luckily we managed to find the elusive bus and haul our bags on - but the bus ride was the most humerous to date. All the ladies packed into the front whilst the men packed into the back (definite gender divide), and every time we stopped people would squeeze off, and others squieeze on to take their place. We parked ourselves and our rucksacks in the aisle, and spent the whole ride being thrown forwards or backwards like a sketch in some exaggerated old black-and-white comedy (to the great hilarity of all the cheerful ladies we kept cannoning into). By the end we were clinging, white-knucked, onto seat backs, and almost cried with happiness when the conductor finally told us that it was our stop. Then it was a rickshaw ride up to the accomodation we had randomly chosedn from the Lonely Paranoid. Needless to say said accommodation was grottsville - but across the way was the perfect Kerala Bamboo Village, with huts for 300R per night, and the rest is history.

Verkala is next to the sea, and the bit we are staying in is on a slightly touristy stretch perched on the cliffs overhanging the looong sandy beach. We are staying in a Bamboo hut in aformentioned 'village'. These aren't the grimy, tumbledown type - nooo, these are really classy bamboo huts - pristine showeroom, posh wooden furniture, little porch with a candle and comfy wicker chairs. We are also in a prime location on the cliff top, sandwiched between restaurants and beautiful little shops. In the morning we stop off at sunset cafe for their special 40R deluxe breakfast, then you can potter along to the beach, or go and sit in a cafe and read (lots of bookshops too). In the evening all the restaurants lay the daily catch out on tables infront and vie for your attention (yesterday I had barracuda, and Lisa blue marin, v. tasty indeed!).

We are here for 4 days or so, after which we will head south to Trivanandum then a short Bus trip to Neyyar Dam where we will start the yoga course.

Sod greece, I'm coming here for my summer holidays next year!

Day 49 - Kollam

Well, we're really back in India now. Kollam is a busting, friendly southern town somewhere between Alleppey and the capital of Kerala, Trivanandum.

We arrived here last night after our all day cruise along the Keralan backwaters. The cruise was nice - 8 hours of palm trees, water-side huts, women washing their clothing and thousands of ducks (saw the first Duckherd - the man was cadjoling about 100 quacking ducks down the waterway with the aid of a bag on the end of a pole). The boat was full of rich Indian tourists who took more photos than us, and a few travellers who had obviously just arrived in india (pale skin, clean clothes, dazed expressions). We stopped briefly at Amma's ashram, and breathed a sigh of relief that we weren't visiting - the 2000 people who reside on the little island do so by staying in a hideously pink block of grotty flats - not quite the twee huts we envisioned.

The boat dropped us off at Kollam Jetty at about 7, so we jumped on a rickshaw and booked into a dump (New Lacshmi Tourist home - poisonous showeroom, cockroaches as big as mice). We left the room sharpish, and wondered aimlessly looking for somewhere to eat. There are quite a few restaurants around, and they look pretty nice, but generally the moment we entered, a sea of male heads turned to look at us, at which point we invariably went "meep" and run away. We ended up eating in an airconditioned, curiously empty restaurant - All Spice (looks like Indias answer to Pizza Hut) - with the most inept waiters to date. Food was okish, but the bill was slapped on our table pretty much the second we ate the last mouthful (a strange eculiarity here in the South - I think they think they are being efficient), so we paid and left. The room was as bad as we remembered, so we turned the light off as quickly as possible and got an early night.

Today we had brekkie at the Indian Coffee House (for a taste of real india). We were undecided which room to sit in : The dark 'Ladies only' room? The empty middle room? Or (as we finally chose) the 'Ladies and their Families' room? Now we are leaving to pick up our bags. At 11.50 we are catching a local bus to the beach town of Verkala, which sounds very nice by all accounts - can't wait!

Day 47 - Alleppey

Here we are in Alleppey, base for boat trips across the Keralan backwaters (right). The train journey wasn't all that bad after all. We got to the station about 11pm and spent a couple of hours waiting for the train (suprise suprise - it was running late). The station was empty but for a few Indian guys, and a young english couple travelling to Cochin. Luckily the little station shop was open, so we sat sipping chai and watching cricket with the station master.

The train came about 2 (by which point we were a bit jittery due to excessive amount of chai) and we practically had to run up to our carridge and leap aboard as the train barely stopped moving. The carridge was quite clean, and although it felt like we were on a prison train (bars), we could open the windows for fresh air. The train was full of families and a bunch of schoolgirls, a few guys too, but it felt like we were less of an exhibit than on previous journeys. We both slept well, and woke late the next day. Across from our birth there was another travelling couple, a family with a cute kid and a straaange man who insisted on chain smoking throughout the trip and kept whistling and clicking his tongue when he wanted to get someone's attention. The aisle was a steady stram of vendors, beggers, sweepers and performers ("CHAICHAICHAI", "cOOOOOOFFEEE", "CUTLEEETSS" - by the end we started fantasising about throwing chai seller, who went yelling past every five minutes without fail, out of the window with his darn tub of chai). At one point crazy man bought 2 bottles of foul smelling perfume from the perfume seller and proceeded to spray himself, his bag and everything in sight - from whence the fans spread the hideous smell carridge-wide - and I thought the cigarettes were bad! Luckily our window was a fire escape, so I was able to pull the bars up and hang out, gasping for air.

We got into Alleppey in total darkness at about 7pm. It must be quiet season at the moment, before even leaving the train we had several offers of rooms. At the station we were immediately offered a bargainous rickshaw ride into town - it did mean that the rickshaw driver tried to pursuade us to go to several hotels on the way (from which he would probably receive commission) but we stuck to our original plan - the Koralam Hotel (felt a bit guilty that the driver missed out on his commission, so left a nice tip - everyone is happy). The room was cheap, but spacious and with a shower that actually works, reliable power and (shock horror) a full length mirror. After a month of just seeing my face I wince at my bad tan lines, and grin cbecause it looks like I've lost a few pounds and am generally a bit brown (if somewhat freckly).

We went for a wonder, looking for a restaurant, and grinned at each other when it occurred to us that we were back in the real india - a sea of rickshaws, bicycles and inquisive Indian faces. No touristy cafes serving alternative cuisines, aried breakfasts and beer, no multitudes of Israeli pot-smoking travellers in skimpy clothing - it was kinda nice. We gave up on finding a restaurant so late, and headd back to the hotel restaurant. It vaguely resembled a canteen, and the fact that we received no cutlery. All I can say is it's a good job we practiced eating with our right hand. You try tearing chipatti only using one hand, or eating rice soaked with goo and getting it all in your mouth in a dignified, precise manner - its exceedingly tricky!

Good sleep, we left our room (dripping washing strung everywhere and fan on full blast) at about 11. Took us about an hour to find a cafe, then we had to resign ourselves to the fact that we would not be getting any muesli, fruit salad, or even toast. Chilli omlette, two cups of tea, water - grand total - 35p. We are now on a mission - book ferry to Kollam for tomorrow, explore, organise.

We want to stop off to visit one of Indias few female gurus, Amma, also called the 'hugging mother', whos darshan (blessing) consists of hugging thousands of people every day in mammoth hugging sessions. She apparently hugs for hours without sitting down, eating or going to the toilet. I fancy a hug (and apparently if you make a wish whilst she hugs you, it will come true - worth a try!!)

So that is the plan for tomorrow - we have to make sure that she is in residence first (she tours for 8 months a year).

Update: Nooo! Amma isn't here! What a shame. She is now on a tour of Europe and the USA - can you guess where she is at present? London, that's where!

London, Great Britain
October 10 -12
Crystal Palace National Sports Centre, Ledrington Road, Crystal Palace. London SE19 2BB
* Info: Shanker Nair, Tel. int +44 207 603 6868 (6 pm to 9 pm),
eMail: shanker@amma.org.uk
http://www.amritapuri.org/yatra/europe.php

So, if you around, give her a hug for me!

Day 45 (still) - Palolem (still)

Been hanging around in the same cafe for 7 hours now, 4 more to go! In my boredom I've sketched a picture of my wonderful indian style (click on it to see it in its full, time wasting glory). Très chic.

Below: Goodbye to skanky goan beach dogs forever - huzzah!

Day 45 - Palolem

Last day in Palolem...

We're all packed up and waiting to go. Lisa and I have seats booked on tonight's train in the grottiest sleeper carriage possible of the Netravati Express train, which leaves from the nearby station of Canacona at about midnight, and arrives in Alleppey, Kerala at about 5pm. The fact that we are travelling in said grotty carriage is entirely due to our bad organisation - yesterday morning it suddenly occurred to us that we were meant to be leaving the next day. "Oh bugger" was the general reaction. We quickly dashed to the ticket office and sent someone to get a ticket. An hour or so later our tickets arrived... and we realised that they were for Sleeper Class - non-airconditioned, grotty sleeper class, with prison bars across the windows (see picture)... where we will spend 20 hours being stared at, or reduced to tears by the condition of the train's toilets. Fab.

Will post in a few days if I survive the ordeal...

later: have investigated the situation on the wonderful site that is seat61 - seems all may not be as bad as i thought afterall... will keep fingers crossed

Day 43 - Palolem

Well, we are in Palolem now! Arrived last night...

Our last day in Arambol was great (espite cruddy weather) . I did some shopping - bought some new clothes (so I could finally ditch some particularly old, ragged ones, india is hell on clothes!). We also had a most glorious dinner in Mouth of Buddha restaurant - I had king prawns (yuuuum) , quickly finished them then watched in amazement as Anna consumed the most enormous red mullet imaginable. The others also had delicious food, and we stayed late, drinking coffee and chatting to the guys on the next table. It rained all the way through dinner (again) so we practically had to wade back to our apartment, pull our sodden clothing off the line (where it had sat about 3 days without drying even the teeniest bit) and set our alarms for an early start the next day.

To get to Palolem we caught a grand total of 5 buses from the very northern-most beach of Arambol to the Palolem in the south (Yes - 5 buses! Personal record, and it was so cheap and easy - grand total waiting time was less than 2 minutes, and the whole days travel cost about 80p - got to love the Indian public transport!). All not peachy in paradise though - we left behind rainy Arambol, only to arrive in Palolem in torrential rain (been raining for 5 days apparently).

Initially had a bit of a rush to find accomodation - all the beach huts have been torn down after not one owner applied for their licences so no beach huts for us("even the man driving the bulldozer couldn't be bribed" the owners say in tones of horror and disbelief, seems it is usual to not apply for licences, but bribe local police instead!) . We've got a couple of cheap, clean rooms a minutes walk from the beach instead - Lisa and Julie even have a TV, what luxury!!

Thankfully the rain cleared up about 10 this morning, so most of my day has been spent turning slowly crimson on the perfect beach. Bliss was interrupted every five minutes by someone trying to sell us coconuts/sarongs/jewellary/massages, and a reeeaally creepy Indian bloke who asked us if we would sleep with him (in more explicit terms), was rejected (most definately and descriptively) but proceeded to stand and stare at us from mere feet away, oblivious to threats of bodily harm/police/large rugby-playing boyfriends. Eventually I borrowed Anna's digital camera and took some close-up pictures of him until he ran away... with me, yelling and still taking pictures, chasing after him (much to amusement of other tourists and people rebuilding huts).

Tonight we are going to an nice cafe to try some Goan dishes, then maybe drinks on the beach. I keep meaning to get up early and jog along the beach - Bourne style - but somehow cannot manage getting out of bed before absolutely necessary! Will try tomorrow. Also have to upload photographs from the girls cameras, I keep meaning to but keep forgetting. Maybe I'll remember later - I'll make sure to include one of the guy being chased down the beach (hehe).

Because I feel I haven't added enough envy-inducing photos lately, here are a few....

Day 40 - Arambol

It's raaaaiiiining

Anna and I ran out of our room at about 10am after waiting an hour for the rain to stop, and finally giving up after our stomachs started growling in unison. Anna took the stairs first, but when she hit the corner she carried on in a big slide and disappeared off the edge! (I did the same thing yesterday in less slapstick style - have a swollen, black elbow to show for it)

We shouted at the guys running the hostel, and they got so scared they all ran to scrub the steps. And we limped/ran to the nearest cafe.

About an hour later the other girls joined us. We waited for the rain to stop...

... 6 hours later we were still waiting. We have just decided we need to leave the cafe for a bit, so ran to internet cafe. But will be going back I'm sure.

Aging hippie says the rain only started yesterday, and may go on for a few days ("will be raining everywhere, don't bother going south to escape it girls" - rats). My tan was coming on so nicely... and I really did fancy swimming, and watching wierdo wander around like mud people. Maybe it will stop tomorrow!

Day 39 - Arambol

It's my biiirthdaay! In Arambol now (it's raining - ick), staying in some apartment hugging the rocks to the north of the beach. It is very cool here - full of huppies, Isrielies and generally very chilled out, scruffy travellers.

I celebrated my birthday in style last night - wonderful, fresh fish biryiani, coffee and desert at shivas, beers at Starco (now that place was wierd - veery shady, but funny). We met a german girl and Belgian guy and all went to Paradiso, the club next to the beach. Now that was really funny! We walked straight in, and into a wide terrace area packed with small stalls selling chai, chocolate and cigarettes - strange. The floor was vibrating with the techno music from downstairs. Despite not being great fans of Techno (in Anjuna the only acceptable music is either Techno or Bob Marley - I know which I prefer) we trooped down the stairs to have a look.... and immediately burst out laughing. The place was rammed full of guys and they were dancing like nothing else I've ever seen - the Indian blokes were shaking their thing with full dedication and confidence, all the other blokes were trying unsuccessfully to copy them, or just jumping up and down completely off their faces. Anyway - it started raining, so we couldn't go back upstairs for chai - so stayed to watch the hilarious dancing. At one point we got found by one of the little guys working at the hostel, and he spent about an hour showing us his crazy moves (amusing picture to follow). We turned down offers of drinks, drugs and dances 'til the cows came home, and finally left at about 2 with our ears ringing.

This morning we dragged ourselves out of bed, packed and went for a last yummy brekkie at Shiva's before catching a bus to Arambol. It is nice here, despite current pants weather. Tommorrow we plan to walk to a small cove with apparently white sands and clear sea - there is also a lake surrounded in yellow mud, which aformentioned aged hippies smear themselves with and wonder round in the nuddy (much to amusement of Indian tourists and locals) - 'parrently it is good for the skin - anyway, should be an amusing sight!

Thanks to everyone who wished me happy birthday - hope it's not raining with you too!