Advertisement
Published: August 20th 2008
Edit Blog Post
We rejoin the weary travelers as they disembark the long train ride from Goa to Kochi (Cochin).
With Goa still fresh in their hearts the new sights of the Portuguese influenced port of Kochi begin to dazzle the eyes. 16th century Chinese style canti-levered fishing nets, a legacy of Genghis Khan, Portuguese seafront fort and churches, and the most amazing seafood markets with fish so fresh they need use no ice, all combine to thrust you into a magical space that begs to be savored. And savor it we did! We strolled the waterfront taking in the sights, bought tiger prawns the size of a small lobster, calamari, tuna and more. There were people delighted to take you and your fresh purchase directly to a restaurant and prepare and serve them to you at a table with a delightful view. We enjoyed Kochi a great deal but after six days it was time to keep moving.
Onward toward Pondicherry, a former French colony on the eastern coast of India. Getting there entailed a labrious two day train ride. As we have previously mentioned it was Hindi holiday season, on which we were unable to purchase tickets
ahead of time with a confirmed seat/bed. What this means is we have to board the train on "standby" then find the conductor, hoping that he will be able to assign us a seat for usually a small fee. Assign us a seat he did. Our first seating assignment was one bunk that we could share until 11 PM, so we curled up together to wait for the next time we needed to move. Over the process of the long train ride we ended up moving to four more locations, luckily after the first move we each had our own bunk... Sure beats the floor....Yeah!!...lol Crazy train ride for sure.
We reached Pondicherry to find a beautiful French influenced provincial town. We searched a while, then, finally found a reasonable place to stay and began to explore. Beautiful architecture and culture was everywhere. During day trips on a scooter we explored the non-religious but highly spiritual Auroville, designed in the shape of a galaxy, really amazing concept, which after twenty years in development was still only a third complete. However the central meditation center is a sight to behold. Back in the town of Pondicherri, there was an
artsy place which we ate several breakfasts at and one evening John played music in the bar upstairs followed by great conversation about religion, world politics, and traveling till the wee hours of the morning. Really a fun time for all was had.
When it was time to move on we headed for the bus station with our bags into another skin toughening experience of trying to actually purchase tickets on one of the busiest days of the year for a local bus... Queues don't mean much to people in that part of the world. We boarded the bus, north, and made our way to Mahalibalipurnham with only a couple laughably unsurprising mishaps, such as let people sleep on your leg, and people-frog off the bus as quickly as possible, we were quickly settling into our room. The town was built on the coast around a complex of temples built centuries ago. The shore temple in particular was in a spectacular location. Most of the following day was spent exploring these sites.
Soon enough We hopped on a flight from Chennai toward Delhi for our last destination in India. Delhi is an insanely large highly populated
city that gives no quarter for those whom are unwilling to surrender to its noisy, busy, pushy ways. In a city with that many people the usual pleasantries and courtesy are tossed out the window. However once you surrender and realize that you do just have to push your way through the crowds, ignore the pushy salesmen, and haggle over everything like your life depends on it, It reveals itself to you as an amazing gem of culture, antiquity, and beauty. Of course it didn't hurt to blast Alanis Morissette's song, "Thank you India" through your head more than a few times! "Thank you, Alanis, and thank you silence!"
We shopped in many of the old bazaars, explored the sights of old forts and ancient alley ways, and also relaxed in the wonderful air-conditioned comfort of our hotel room.
One of the must see sights required a special day-trip on a train... The Taj Mahal. The night before was a marathon work night on the Nepal segment of our blog which ended approximately 3:30 AM, fully aware we needed to arise at 6:00 Am to be ready for the train... At 6:45 already late we snapped awake.
Central meditation Chamber
Inside this dome is an all white chamber in pure silence with an enormous crystal lit by a sun reflecting mirror as the light source... Running from the hotel we immediately began bargaining for a ride to the station, and found a driver who said "no worries I will get you there on time". He raced like a madman through the empty streets and screeched to a halt in front of the station at the time stated for the train departure. After receiving a handsome tip, he shouted after us "platform five!" Racing through the station and over the pedestrian bridge we spotted the train pulling away from the platform. We pushed ourselves harder and Justice reached the first door and grabbed the handles to board but was stopped by a full doorway. John sprinted onward to the next door and managed to do the same. Looking along the side of the moving train to make sure the other was aboard we forced our way on board. John actually had to step on the shoulder of a man who refused to move leaving a footprint on his white shirt. We made our way to the aisle and met worried eyes, our faces both broke into a smile of relief. Justice, being at the furthest point had to make her way forward to meet up before
we continued the push through the five cars to our reserved seats, during which "people surfing" was invented. Unbelievable how insane that experience was. So, the day was fantastic, with a wonderful visit to the Taj Mahal and a fun time traveling around Agra. We arrived back to our hotel very late and passed out from exhaustion...
Spending a couple more days in Delhi to finish our last minute gift shopping, we began to get excited to return home and see our family and friends. India had been an amazing experience however we were ready to leave. There were things to take care of at home to prepare for our upcoming wedding in Mexico and a bit of home life was very welcome. As we stood in the airport waiting for our delayed plane we reveled in our time in this strange and wonderful country. It will be remembered forever. Thank you India!
And so our intrepid travelers travel homeward for a brief stop at home before venturing onward to destinations yet unplanned. Stay tuned boys and girls, same bat time, same bat channel, for the next installment of.... Where are they now...
Advertisement
Tot: 0.108s; Tpl: 0.014s; cc: 12; qc: 59; dbt: 0.0594s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.2mb
Courtney K. Mallory
non-member comment
what memories
too funny you guys. i've been to pondicherry, mahalbalipurum, and auroville - thanks for putting up the pictures and bringing back some old memories. when i went to auroville the crazy golf ball globe was still white with the steel frame visible. as you walked to it, and up the winding ramp inside, guides in all white maintained strict silence. yeah, it's a cult. did they let you inside the big crystal room to meditate? they are (or atleast used to be) very selective. me and my buddies definitely did not make the cut. love you guys!