India- Happy Christmas!!

Namaste from India...

How is everyone doing? Getting ready for Christmas?? Well I'm sorry to have to break this to you, but Santaclaus might not be coming over this year, as he's been spotted soaking up the sun in Goa. Please keep this quiet as he's trying to keep a low profile, but then again, with a beard like that - good luck to him trying to stay undercover...

Yes, we've finally come to the end of the road, so to speak, and what a road it's been... With hardly any bumps or hiccups along the way, we've had a most fantastic 8 months and feel utterly privileged to have been able to do what we've done, and see what we've seen. We've discovered that we're not as hardcore as we thought we would be - we were always happy to get back on the beaten track and have a nice cuppa or a banana pancake after a few days of roughing it. We've been looking forward to the beach for months and months and months, and now that we're here, Goa is indeed one of the best spots we've ever come across. For us it's all about relaxing and trying to process the past 8 months. For others it's all about yoga and reiki and metamorphics and rebirth... There is a whole other layer to India which we are not planning to delve into - plenty of people here on a different type of trip than we've had: a journey into the SELF.

Whereas in Nepal we were pretty much ready to skip India and head straight for the beach, we ended up doing the exact opposite, and did India in style: on an Enfield Bullet (a 350cc motorbike which is still manufactured according to a 1953 design. A nice and classic look, until the word 'classic' takes on a whole new meaning when the bike starts falling apart from underneath you). Having bought it off the guesthouse manager in Varanasi, we rode across the north of India to Agra (Taj Mahal), then into Rajastan (desert, forts, turbans and handlebar moustaches) and then by train down to Goa (paradise beach).

Varanasi was a shock to the system - there was hardly a backpacker scene, it was very much hardcore India with beggars, rubbish, stray dogs, cows, donkeys (and subsequent shit everywhere) etc, noise, traffic and, of course, the Holy River Ganges. This is where all Hindus aspire to die and be cremated, as it releases them from the cycle of reincarnation and sends them straight to heaven. We took a couple of boat rides along the riverbanks where people get cremated (apart from pregnant mothers and babies - their bodies get sunk into the river) and others have their daily holy wash... The first ride was at sunset, where many people participate in ceremonies on the banks to say goodnight to their Goddess the Sun. Once it was dark, we continued on to the burning ghats, where about 16 fires burn day and night, cremating those who died and were lucky (or rich) enough to do so in Varanasi. It was all very eerie, you could actually see arms, legs and heads from underneath the flames and the whole thing turned kind of grotesque when we saw a bodyburner lift up a leg which a pitchfork, and chuck it from one fire onto the next. This is where we turned around and went back to the hostel - to have a nice vegetarian meal.... The next morning we were on the river again, this time to engage in some of the best people-watching we've ever come across: watching the hindus have their ritual wash along the various ghats (stairs that run along the river), do yoga, or meditate, this time while greeting the sun as it was coming up in a beautiful pinkish shade. When taking a picture of the sunrise, we saw a black spot right in the middle of the sun. A week or so later, when walking past an astrology office, we found out that we saw the planet Mercury passing inbetween the earth and the sun. Fancy that!!

Anyway, from Varanasi, on our newly acquired bike, we headed for Agra and its magnificent Taj Mahal. We planned to take 3 days for this and miraculously made it within this timeframe, however not without the necessary breakdowns and adventures... The road we took wasn't a very touristy one, so whereas at first we were stopping in villages to have a rest, we soon took to stopping in the middle of nowhere so as to avoid the massive crowds we were drawing. It only took us about 20 kilometres to have our first breakdown, which luckily was about 100 metres away from a garage (read: shack with tools and a grubby man), but 20 minutes and about 100 rupees (2 euros) later, we were back on the road. The next day we were not so lucky: we broke down and had to push for quite some kms before reaching anyone who had any idea about bikes. By the time we reached civilisation, we had about 200 people cheering us on and had to push through a crowd of people, pushbikesm and cows, and were the cause of a major traffic jam. Now these people don't just stop and look, they like to touch you, touch your bike, honk your horn or any other button they can lay a finger on, and won't move an inch unless you ride over their toes. At this point, Daniel had quite had enough and told everyone to FUCK OFF!!! Next thing we heard was more cheering, and an echo of Fuck off fuck off ...off...off..off going through the crowds - they were only loving it more!! At this stage we decided to head for the police station, as it was all getting out of hand. The police station turned our to be a TENT, which wasn't too promising, however the copper in charge got rid of the crowd with the help of a big bamboo stick, sat us down (by this stage there was some suspicious water in my eyes), gave us a cuppa, and sent for some apples for us to munch on... I can tell you this was the best cuppa I've ever had, and from there it just got better and better, as the policeman rang his mate the mechanic who sorted us out for about 200 rupees - well worth the money!! - and once again, we were on the road...

This was only day two of our riding adventure, and I won't go into each and every breakdown (and subsequent adventure) we've had; suffice to say there were many. And the traffic... Anything goes in India, the main rule being: small gives way to big. Except for when you're a cow, then you can do what you want as anyone who comes close to killing you in an accident goes to jail for 2 years. And considering cows don't give way, don't use their indicators, don't honk their horns (even though they've got two of them) and basically are in utter denial of any traffic rule at all, it really is thanks to Daniel's exceptional riding skills that we are still alive to tell the tale... Then there are camels, pushbikes, monkeys, tractors, enormous walking bushes (which on closer inspection have two skinny legs on flipflops sticking out from underneath), elephants, and trucks who've decided that your side of the highway is better than theirs and come straight at you - fast. I'm sure you can imagine that after this utter madness we were glad to reach the desolate desert roads of Rajastan.

On the way there we made a quick detour to Sariska Tiger Reserve, for our last chance to spot a tiger! Whereas our 2003 Lonely Planet said there were around 40 tigers there, when we made it to Sariska we were given the devastating news that anno 2006 all tigers have been poached. Worth 10.000 USD a tigerskin these poor animals are basically just sitting ducks, and the number of skins we saw for sale in China (some just on the streets piled up on a trolley) far exceeded the number of tigers that should have been in Sariska today. I seriously have no words for this horrible trade - the chinese spend fortunes on tiger teeth, tiger penises (when they can't get it up themselves they rely on a dead tiger to do it for them), and of course the skins.

As far as Rajastan is concerned - the place is beautiful. The desert is not so much the sandy-duney type, it's more shrubs and small trees all around. Every day is different though, sometimes kind of villagey, then just camels everywhere, then just nothing all day (except for some great chai (tea) shops who manage to pop up just when you're dying for a cuppa). The major cities all have forts; in Jaisalmer we stayed inside a one for 4 days, and in other places we just went to visit for the day. Udaipur was probably the prettiest city, with a massive lake in the middle with islands-turned-into-hotels in it. Very romantic. Rajastan, or really all of India, does fantastic sunsets; it really was our favourite time of day - every day. Once again, the pictures will do the talking; have a look after and you'll see what I mean.

We've now arrived in Goa, after putting the bike on the train for the last 1800 kilometres. Of course the bloody thing went missing for days when the loading guys failed to put it on our train. When picking it up we then had to pay a fine for every day the bike had been in the 'care' of Indian Railways... Usual story.

We've been doing a fair bit of riding around, trying to discover different beaches to go to, and are spending a lot of time just on our own beach with a group of about 12 people. Some of them we've met along the way as far back as China (and made rendez-vous here at Palolem beach for Christmas), others we've met over here. It's nice to have an instant group of friends, and we're currently all fanatical about Secret Santa (lootjestrekken) - we had to draw names 5 times in order for it to be a proper SECRET Santa, and we're all lurking around the shops making sure no one sees us buying anything...

As far as Indian culture goes, there is too much of a gap to bridge to make any stay in this country entirely stress-free. You can't help but struggle with the day to day realities of poverty, the utter pointlessness of the caste system and the sheer frustrations of being told blatant lie after blatant lie every single day.

Being in Goa, which has strong portugese ties, life is a lot easier. We've become champion bargainers, and you'll probably catch us arguing over a few cents at the local supermarket when we get home. Our days revolve yet again around the 3 basic questions of life: 'where do we eat', 'when are we going for a swim', and 'are we sticking to the freshly squeezed juices or is it time for a beer'. We've managed to let all the stress float away on the blue waters of the Arabian Sea and are enjoying our last weeks of a life that's been a magnificent mix of lots of leisure and a little labour...

For now, let me wish all of you a lovely, lovely Christmas holiday, and a brilliant 2007. I hope you've got dreams to plan, and plans to dream of... Enjoy!!!!

xxx
Dan & Kris

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