Mumbai

Having been given a great send off at Sam and Stu's with a roast leg of lamb and two very nice bottles of Claret I went contentedly off to bed.
Four fifteen and I sprang up and showered, as I was dressing I was unable to wear the shorts I had dug out and put ready as my girth had become a bit more ample than the last time I wore them. Undaunted I rummaged deeper into my rucksack and found another pair of older more worn shorts and these fitted comfortably. Oh well I thought, it won't be long I suspect before the weight falls off me in rapid fashion.
I was ready just as the taxi arrived and whispered good bye, closed the door and left.
Heathrow terminal three, Quatar Airways via Doha. A very decent flight except that I had an isle seat and was bumped into continually. I watched Dinner for Schmucks, lighthearted rubbish perfect for a long flight. The stopover was fine and just not too long. The second leg was also pleasant enough and I watched Get low with Robert Duvall and had a few brandy and cokes.
The flight arrived on time but became delayed on landing as they were doing construction work on the airport so we sat on the plane in a queue for a while before disembarking. My bag as always was just about the last off but all intact. I had arranged to be met at the airport and driven to the hotel. As I came into the hall and looked for my name I could not find it and a mild panic crept over me. I began to look again and saw the hotel sign of where I was staying with three names on it, one being a Mr Richard Schwartz. The chap grinned at me and waggled his head and said "Welcome in Mumbai, yes you come with me to taxi". OK this must be the right one so off we went. It was now five am and we waited for the taxi. After about fifteen to twenty minutes I began to get a bit fed up and he said "traffic big problem, I phone". Anyway soon after the taxi arrived and took me to the hotel.
A quick shower and I collapsed on the bed which of course is about six inches too short. I woke up at midday and had a delicious dahl and rice for lunch. I am happy here although writing this at two thirteen in the morning shows I am not adjusted to the time difference yet.
Nine thirty and I was up and ready for action. A young Chinese girl was debating where to go and we started chatting and decided to wander about together. She was going to Colaba which is where I am having my teeth done on Tuesday and I wanted to check out because of a cheap hostel. Only two hundred and twenty five rupees and free bed bugs at no extra charge. We went out and haggled a tuck tuck driver down from one hundred to twenty rupees and set off to the station. Buying the ticket was easy enough and the train ride of forty five minutes was quite fun.
Colaba was a breath of fresh air with nice gardens, super Victorian buildings and a vibe that I liked instantly.
I found that the hostel was ideally situated near to everything and asked if I could get a bunk bed tomorrow which seems to be no problem. We then went to Leopold's cafe made famous first in the Shantaram novel and more recently by the Mumbai terrorist attacks. I quite liked it and no doubt will return in a more determined fashion later this week. After being refreshed by a banana lassie and fruit salad we went down to look at the Taj Mahal hotel and the gateway to India. Ellie the Chinese girl suggested we take a boat trip to an island with some carvings in some caves so off we went. The journey was hardly worth it as the caves were pitch black and we only had an hour to see them before the last boat back.
I now fast forward a few days and have had my teeth done and I am happy with the result. The hostel was overrun with about fifty kids in a military academy so every morning I have to shout over the wall to shut them up which they do and a constant stream of apologies follow. Sorry Mr. Have nice day etc, etc.
I have gone out a couple of nights now and had a blast meeting some cool people. One random thing happened on the first day as I was unpacking a voice said "I know you" and a chap also called Richard who I met in Morocco and traveled with for a few days was here. Small world I guess.
Anyway what to say about Mumbai? It's hot and humid and a complete mixture of everything imaginable. Old next to new. People in a hurry or just hanging around. Crooks and saints. I love the old taxis. It is the anniversary of the Mumbai attacks today so there are police EVERYWHERE. I am avoiding the midday heat and will go out for a last night on the town. I will write a bit more when I have settled in Goa. At the moment the plan is Arambol. If I don't like it there then I will move to a quieter beach nearby.

Nearly there

OK, so here I am with three weeks to go before I finally pack my bags and head off to India again. I want the time to fly by until then and then stop as opposed to the other way around. Five months away to most people is a long time but to me it's short as I remember last time it took me two weeks just to strike up a conversation with anyone other than waiters and hotel staff. India is big in every sense and I am trying to make sure I am mentally prepared as it will be in some parts both manic and stressful. I have about a week or two planned in Mumbai where I will be getting my teeth cleaned and whitened. I am not a fan of cities in general so I will make my way as soon as I can down to Goa to spend Christmas on one of it's beaches. I hope to avoid the Russian Mafia, package tourists and 'Brits on the piss' in equal measure. I guess I will have to put up with the young, rich, middle class gap year students as this will undoubtedly make up most of the other travellers I will encounter. The rest of the time is pretty flexible. I hope to meet up with a few of the people I met last time if at all possible. In March I plan to go to Nepal where I will do a three week hike of the Annapurna circuit.
The other day I bought a new camera and It's great. I spent £200 on it but reasoned that It would be a waste to be in such an amazing place and not to be able to record the things I will see around me.
This morning I carefully bought my travel insurance. I say carefully as last time I unwittingly only had three months cover on a five month trip. At least this time I am covered for the whole time I'll be away.
I have no interest in being here in the U.K during the winter so I am living in a sort of limbo waiting for those jet engines to blast me to India's warmer climes.
Although I confess I am not much of a writer and my grammar is bad I am determined to write this blog as a kind of diary. I'd love some input from you all and suggestions of things to see and do from those of you who have been to India before.
Wish me luck.

Acid

My first acid trip was taken back in the summer of '93 in Golders Green North West London in the garden, or, that at least is where it began, of the traveller dos house where I began my break away from wife,religion and South Africa.

It was a beautiful day one that England occasionally throws at you from time to time and the house occupants were pretty much all there. Kiwi Glen with his moustache and stove pipe jeans, James with his moods and wavy long hair, me with my eye patch and various other reproachable miscreants of either gender who occupied Ambrose Avenue at that time.

It was a Sunday and I was working that evening as a security guard at the Barbican centre. Having never done acid or any research into it before I had no idea it was a twenty four hour commitment but oh boy I was about to find out and HOW!

Glen came swaggering over grinning at me and with outstretched hand offered me a tiny bit of cardboard with a bit of Bart Simpson on it. Ere Richie boy 'av one of these they're great. OK I said and swallowed the trip with a sip of cider.

I then decided to sit down and roll a joint as I wanted to come up on the acid through a familiar high trying to bring reason and good judgement to a whole new dimension. In the middle of this one of the girls went past and stuck some poppers under my nose. Well the top of my head opened up and became momentarily one with the cosmos although my senses returned fairly quickly and I managed to complete the joint.

The sweet smell of the skunk permeated the garden and soon I had a small circle around me all expert students in the art of spliff politics. I had my few tokes and passed the joint. Suddenly I noticed as I passed the joint that my arm kept on stretching for about five feet like one of the fantastic four. Cool I thought, freaky but cool.

I walked away from the circle and as I kept walking the sound of everyone there stayed with me as if I had a set of earphones on. It was really odd I went into the house and the same group of people were still talking to me. I sat down and tuned into the music and that really lifted me into another world. Suddenly I was sweating so off came my shirt and then I was part of everything and everything was a part of me. I went to the bathroom and looked at myself in the mirror. My body was moving and my head kept changing shape. I was not freaked but fascinated by this and stared at myself changing shape for ages.

I suddenly remembered I had to go to work and it was already four in the afternoon. I was now really high but I still tried to get myself ready for work. Of course by now loads of people were also tripping and knew I had to get to work, well I had a few spectators watching me try to get dressed one or two I think were even trying to help me as I was finding it nearly impossible. Trying to put my tie on completely defeated me.

Somehow I pointed myself in the direction of the tube station and walked the fifteen minutes or so all the while hearing noises from far away and not the ones that were surrounding me. I suddenly found the pavement fascinating and kept declining invitations to live just underneath it. I was sure there was some secret entrance there and I promised wholeheartedly that although I did not then have the time I would return to discover the pavements secret in the future.

As I sat on the tube I remember seeing the floor disappear and watched the tracks whiz past trying not to fall through the floor.

As we approached Kings Cross I saw what appeared to be panic on the platform. Oh my god I thought there had been a bomb explosion and people were in a blind panic. I saw an underground employee help an aged woman in to the carriage. I noticed the public that were in the carriage with me seemed to give not one bit of notice. Well I thought how callous people are and as I could take it no longer I stood up and announced" Doesn't anyone care?" Obviously no one did as the bomb had only gone off in my head and not on the Kings Cross platform. Luckily as I had now attracted some strange looks my stop came soon and I got off telling myself to be quiet and formulate a quick story to get the hell off work as there was no way on earth that I was going to do a twelve hour night shift with the thoughts and hallucinations that were running through my head.

I arrived at the building and clutching my stomach ran into the entrance hall past the security guards into a little side office where I lay on the ground until one of the guards came in. Oi, mate you all right? Nah, terrible stomach pains must be a dodgy take away I ate. Better get yourself off home then. Don't worry we will get someone to cover. Thank god, I picked myself off the floor and stumbled out. Just as well really as the walls were melting in a lava like fashion.

I don't remember much about the return journey except thinking When I came out of the underground that I had been in it for twenty four hours.

When I arrived back at Ambrose Ave the house was empty as everyone had gone down to the pub. Autopilot took over once again and I found myself there with everyone from the house in full swing. A cheer went up in recognition of my adventure and a pint was suddenly in one hand and quite soon a nice girl was in the other.

All in all a wild experience.

Agra and the Taj

So leaving Varanasi Amy and i set off on the night train a mere 12 hour journey.

We settled into our bunks and had a cup of chai and chatted away.

The night passed and i woke to Amy drawing my attention to a young Indian chap who seemed very groggy even for an early morning. Well apparently he had been drugged and had all his stuff stolen. He was lucky to have his brother with him but it was unpleasant to see. I had slept with my valuables under my head so nothing of mine went missing.

We arrived and caught a rickshaw to our chosen hotel and i felt the excitement of being in another new place. We thought our rooms OK and settled in. I went up to the roof garden and there she stood the beautiful Taj Mahal in all her glory.

Pictures are on face book for those not already reading this from there.

We wandered around the market to get a feel for the place.

While on the train we met a nice Finish couple Kai and Eve who we hooked up with to do a day tour starting at six am. This was definitely the best time to go, nice light and less people.

It is a wonderful building constructed by Shah Jihan in the mid 17Th C as a monument to his wife who died giving birth to their 14Th son. The poor guy was overthrown by one of his sons and thrown into prison where he could only look at his creation. The story has a sort of happy ending though as they are both buried side by side.

I love the building and its intricate marble decoration but i love the idea of a monument to love even more and now i have seen it and as a hopeless romantic it is one i needed to cross off my list.

Unfortunately i left my wife a year ago almost to the day and then broke up with a hopeless relationship a few days ago so felt a lot of mixed emotions...........AND then the ****! hit the fan and i got ill so off to hospital i trundled and spent four days recovering with i may say excellent medical care. Thank god for insurance.

I was off to Kathmandu but need too much strength for the mountains so am recovering fully in Delhi while deciding on my next move.

Varanasi

Varanasi, wow! What an assault on the senses after the Shanti, chilled out South Varanassi confronts you on all fronts. This city has many faces but to make it understandable to those who have never been will be hard but i will try and leave you with my impressions.

I met a young girl from England also doing the long haul trip from Hydrabad and we were next to one another so we palled up and went into Varanasi together as we decided to go to the same place. We were taken by rickshaw to the main road then thinking we were at the hostel or at least close by Amy got out to check the room out and i stayed in the rickshaw. After about 15 minutes i asked the guy why she was taking so long, the driver who stayed with me while his friend took Amy replied "many street no problem Varanasi holy city nothing bad happen here".

I relaxed. A moment later a lovely French girl went hurrying past i caught her on the way back in a blind panic, she had lost her husband poor woman i offered support and she disapeared with a look of dispare. I hope it all worked out ok for them.

We eventually got to the hostel through a maize of tiny sterets and checked into our rooms. It was morning so we went up to the roof and were greeted with a terrific view of the river. We stayed in Manikarnika Ghat the main one for burning and we could see the smoke rising continually and the smell of sandalwood insense permiated the thick air. There were also piles of logs stacked along the streets crammed next to rows of tiny shops sellying everything including the best lassie i have yet tasted, yum!

We wandered around and were so close to the river at least i knew i could find my way back.

We were imediatly approached by a chap who started explaining the whole burning ritual. From our view point we were perhaps fourty feet from about six wood fires where we could see the burning process but were not allowed too close. We were warned not to take pictures as this would be "very big problem". I will not go into the whole ritual but one interesting fact was that holy men and a few other types will not be burnt because they are already pure.

Everywhere we went we were approached by young and old "you come look my shop, no buy just look". I ended up buying a scarf i did not want just to get rid of the guy. So Varanassi was my first experience of real pushyness and it is a *******! Pain in the arse.

I met up with a nice crowd and we hung out together going across the river and exploring the ghost of a town with a museum showing old carriages and weapons of the former Marahajas. Did not expect much but was pleasantly surprised but apart from us all nearly dying of thirst that was it for the other side.

Last night we all went out to the German bakery and the Westeern food we had was amazing, i had a chicken scnitzel that was excellent, well anything would taste great after dosa or paan all the time. I had a massage on the Ghat steps it was teriffic. I got up and was so relaxed, just as well because later that night we all went together to watch and take part in a festival and the nasty side of the city emerged as one of the young girls was being followed and seriously harassed by this creep of a guy. I won't say what i overheard him proposition her but suffice it to say i had to be held back from attacking him. We retreated back to the safety of the hostel to relive the experience and have a few beers. So, a holy city? Definitely! Seedy as hell after dark? Sure! So now i am sitting here with an hour and a half left before i take the night train with Amy to the good `ol Taj in Agra. Can't wait.

Will update pics in a day or two but i have had a great time, oh yes i also took a couple of yoga and meditation classes and loved it. My guru was cool.

Hampi

So here i am in yet another magical place or so it seems on the surface....Beautiful temples, an adorable elephant Lakshmi who i got a blessing from yesterday. She put her trunk on my head, holy men, but wait! Hello where you from? You want photo? Come i take photo of you, shanti,shanti. Thank you R's50 thank you and off they go for other new unsuspecting arrivals.

I went to post a parcel at the "post office" this morning after i woke early to walk amongst the ruins. It is beautiful in the early morning and really apart from the evening the only time to do it as it is getting close to 40 degrees. So i arrive at the "post office" at 9am and wait, and wait. Eventually someone who worked at the "post office" arrived but had no key. A few moments later the big man arrived and the office was opened. I was then told to wrap my parcel. I was taken down a dingy alleyway to where a woman started sewing a bag for me. She even sealed the corners with wax, well that's the first cloth parcel i have ever sent. That cost me R's50. Returning to the office i eventually realised after being asked for my passport details that the parcel would assuredly arrive sometime in the next two weeks "for sure", we'll see.

I booked my ticket to Varanasi and leave on Sunday night and arrive on Wednesday morning going by train and sleeper coach, you can guess the journey will be grueling. I have put some pics on Facebook but it is hard both from the point of view of security as they are paranoid after the Mumbai attacks and technically as the computers abilities vary enormously. While I'm on the subject it is very hard to get into a writing flow, for example this key board doesn't print H's unless you hit the key about 10 times. So check facebook for pic's and I'll add when i can.

I'd love some interaction on my blog so comments and suggestions are welcome.

Little Israel

Starting this is almost impossible because i have just had one of the best weeks of my life and how the hell do i describe what i have experienced?
After we left the Ashram as a group of five we headed for the hill stations and went to three of them. We loved Munar the tea plantation as it was so scenically beautiful with tea bushes as far as the eye could see. We did a bit of hiking there and found a nice lake and the next day hired a rickshaw to take us around for the day. All these places were at least two sometimes three bus rides away but always worth it in the end.
OK, so we went to this high station and as soon as we arrived an old and familiar sense woke inside me and i literally sniffed the air with excitement, I felt after two weeks on the road that i wanted to find somewhere to chill and experience India at it it's best pace, slow!
So we found a nice room and checked in for the night.
We were up quite early the next morning as we wanted to explore as much as possible of this exciting place. We walked up into the forest and found a great view point overlooking a huge valley below us. We were taking a well earned rest and as we were admiring the view a young Swede also named Richard appeared carrying a copy of Jack Carouak's On the road. He sat down and chatted to us for a while and then wandered off leaving us some interesting information that the real place to stay was not Kodai but in the hills where we were. We were on our way to replenish our water bottles at the nearest chai stall when Gilhad appeared this was the sign, he took us to a free cottage in a beautiful position with a great view. The only hardship as with all the houses was the enormously steep climb and to make things more fun there were a few rocks to negotiate as well. Almost immediately i got the picture. Everyone just wandered from house to house and amazing things happened. People got together and sang, danced, discussed philosophy and we all captured an energy that is as old as time itself, all i can say is that i cried when i left not because of the physical beauty of the place but the human interaction that i crave on a deep and meaningful level i found it again after so many years.
It is a place that a lot of Israelis go so of course i felt right at home and totally loved and accepted by everyone. One really weird and wonderful thing that happened was that i was invited to the Sabbath diner, yes there was a little Jewish missionary there and it also happened to be Purim a Jewish holiday when it is a commandment to get arse holed. What a great law hey?
I will talk about this experience over a Glass or two of wine with those of you that wish to here my story it also has some Russian mafia involved or ma by it didn't not sure I'll ever know the answer to that one, hehehe, what a week!
So now i am in Bangalore and on my way to Hampi tomorrow which i will tell you all about soon enough.
I cant get pics up now but i have some fun ones to put up soon which I'll put on Facebook.