Breaking News: Sightings of Ganesh Drownings and India Beats Pakistan

Pics have now been added... ENJOY!

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Okay folks... we hate to do it to you, but we're going to have to post this entry sans pictures for now... we've already had the text written for days, and have failed tremendously to find a computer that can handle the file uploading for the pictures... unfortunately, this removes almost all of the fun from the entry, and it will no doubt frustrate the likes of Lee, Nathan, Brendan and Ken, who's frequent cries of "I'm only reading the articles!" will be more truthful this time, but serve less function of intent for once! Hope you enjoy the text... we'll keep working on pictures...!
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We have now experienced a week in India. A week of lows and a week of highs--we are starting to see their is no in-between in India. We are still relatively healthy, happy and only had one minor incident. We've read in our guide book that 30 - 70% (wide enough range?) of travelers get "Delhi Belly"...in the first two weeks in India. That seems to read that EVERYONE gets "Dehli belly", it's only a matter of time. We've managed to survive it so far and here's keeping our fingers crossed.

After a nine hour bus journey over the Sinai Penninsula and a 3am, surprisingly relaxing Egypt Air flight, we arrived in Mumbai on the morning of 19 Sept to a veritable jungle and humidity compared to Egypt. Mumbai was overwhelming--the traffic, the trash, the filth, the smells, the poverty. We stayed two nights in a hotel room that was so damp the pages of our books crinkled, but we still felt lucky enough that we had a place to stay to get away from the outside.

There are three smells in Mumbai: 1) food cooking on the street--usually roasted nuts and samosas or pakora 2) the choking, toxic fumes of exhaust from the buses and cars at every acceleration 3) the powerful and foul smell of human waste and trash.

The poverty in India is mind numbing and rips your insides out. It's impossible to fully explain the conditions people live in. Most people live in shanti communities that are just tarps draped over sidewalk walls and a few poles. The luckier ones have found aluminum to stack together to build walls and a ceiling for their house--usually along the train tracks or empty lots somewhere in the city. Our local train station had about 4 families living in it. When we got up early for our 5:30AM train out of Mumbai, we had to step over them sleeping on the wet, filthy walkway. The children that had been begging for chocolate from us the day before were all sleeping with no pants on and there was even a baby under 1 yr old. They actually looked happy the day before playing with their "toys"--a roll of film negatives and pieces of discarded newspaper. We have seen more than our fair share of people "unabashadly pooing" in the streets and men and children will stop mid-stride and pee on the walls lining the sidewalks.

We left Mumbai on a train to Aurangabad. One could never go hungry on a train in India. There are constant vendors walking up and down the aisles selling coffee, chai, chips, fruits, and anything else they can think of. There are constant stops in towns as well in which vendors walk the outside of the train selling samosas, water, and fried dohnuts.

Lachlan's minor incident (he argues with the minor part) occured in Aurangabad, almost upon arrival. He says that it's my fault--I sent him on an errand of destruction. All he had to do was run around the corner and copy the passports while I watched the bags at the hostel. He came back bleeding from the head. In typical Lachlan-style, he walked into [L is now dictating] "the jagged, twisted metal corner of an advertising billboard and opened up a very productive gash above his left eye". We cleaned it up and decided maybe we should go to the hospital as it was pretty deep. The hospital was an experience. We got seen to immediately and jumped in front of several locals. A policeman was there and kept asking L if he had a complaint as if someone did this to him. He seemed relieved when L said it was his own fault. The Dr. saw his eye and we were told to go sit on a bed. In one room, there were several beds, all with other sick individuals on them. There was no privacy and people with IV bags and heart machines strapped to them were all being seen to in front of every other visitor. The sheets looked like they hadn't been changed in a very long time and we didn't even want to sit on them. One nurse was just about to put ONE stitch in L's forehead (with our eagle eyes on the sterility of things) and the Dr. came over and said he didn't need any stitches. I was relieved just to get out of there. Overall, his cut is improving and maybe there will only be a small scar to remind him of India. L is trying to make me admit it should've been stitched...verdict is still out. [L would like to point out that the accident happened 5 days ago and it still isn't completely closed up and needs cleaning regularly.] Men are babies.

Other than that, Aurangabad was uneventful, slightly better than Mumbai, and we took a day trip to Ellora Caves. See picts for that one. The one pict we don't have is the share jeep ride on the way back from the caves. In a jeep that would usually hold 11 people total, the driver managed to shove in 26 people, some literally hanging out of the open back door. This also included their bags. We kept thinking "there is no way anymore can fit", but he kept calling for more passengers and wouldn't leave a drop-off point until we were bursting so he could make more money. We kept thinking of the headlines that would've been written were two tourists such as ourselves to go tumbling over the edge of the cliffs we were driving speedily along.


Left Aurangabad on a bus to Pune. The old bus was rattling along the potholed streets at such speed that our butts literally left our hard seats on several occasions. Of course we had the back row of the bus and our stomachs felt like they were being ripped out. It was also a bit nerve wracking to see a bus, much like ours, overturned on the side the road at one point.

Pune is a bustling, more Westernized city. We decided on our second day to have a "Western Day". We put on our one good outfit and went to the amazing movie theatre that rivaled any theatre we've ever been in. Bourne Ultimatum just came out in India so we saw that--excellent! We had two boxes of popcorn, sodas and got into the movie all for $8!!!!! AMAZING!! It more than helped us escape mentally for a few hours and relax. Interesting note: before the movie started the Indian flag appeared on the screen and everyone stood and sang the national anthem.

We found out that India was playing Pakistan in the final game of the Cricket World Cup. We kept asking around for a good place to watch it, but everyone said they were just watching at home. We had almost given up when we found a pub-style bar that was packed with 20 and 30-somethings. The game was excellent, a real nail biter, and we even had beer on top of it (the first beers since the cunningly cooled ones in Egypt). We sampled a local speciality--a rose flavored beer on ice. It was interesting, but not what I would call beer. It tasted like perfume or Turkish Delight. Everyone was watching the TV with intensity and a DJ in the corner would blare thumping, pumping dance music every time there was a good play for India. The music got louder and more frantic the closer it was to the end, when eventually, there was only music. Everyone would get up and dance and hug during the good plays. L held out his hand for a high five once to the table next to us, but they didn't seem to know what to do. So it was one of those moments when you're just left standing there with your hand in the air looking dumb...hehe. He did get several hugs later on though. India won in the end and the place erupted in cheers and shouts of, "Go India", "F*** you, Pakistan", and our personal favorite, "Kashmir is OURS!". We got two free glasses of champagne from someone and walked out into a crazy street. Teenagers on motorbikes were shouting and honking, waving flags behind them enough to rival America. Some even had homemade drums that the passenger would bang on going down the road. A group stopped on one corner as we were walking past and started dancing in the street and baning on their drums. L got to join in and dance with them. Girls aren't supposed to dance in India (not with guys anyway). The atmosphere on the streets was almost as good as when the Cardinals won the World Series...almost. :)

Pune is a big city that has excellent festivals for Ganesh (the Hindu elephant god). Our last day in Pune was the last day of the 10 day Ganesh charturthi. The city was filled with small communities having parades. School children played instruments leading a float of blaring music and an "altar" of Ganesh , women put on their best saris, and men threw pink powder at each other. We happily walked through neighborhoods watching all the action and then joined in ourselves, dusting pink powder on each other and dancing in the street. We got lots of smiles and laughs from everyone as we walked back to our hotel. It wasn't that good of an idea since we were just about to take an overnight bus and had no shower. We left Pune with pink colored clothes, dust in our hair, and looking like perfect fools. On the 10th day, everyone drowns their homemade Ganeshes in the rivers so our bus didn't get too far too fast without getting delayed by townspeople on bridges tossing over decorated elephants. 12 hours total on the bus and we didn't get much sleep. Arrived in Goa to the capital city of Panaji. It's a quiet little town with loads of backstreets and a slower lifestyle.

Haven't taken too many picts in India so far. It's far too depressing. However, there are good things about India as well and hopefully, you'll enjoy those photos more.

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