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Published: March 7th 2006
END OF DAYS….
In Mumbai again to spend our last day. We left the great town of Udaipur at 5:00am and took a flight into Mumbai where we arrived at 9:30am. We leave tonight at 2:30am so we were obligated to get a hotel room (since we don’t plan to lug our stuff around with us wherever we go), even though we won’t be spending too much time there. The hotel is called the Quality Inn, and it should rename itself because it’s far from quality. The bedroom is okay looking, and the bathroom is okay at first glance. But then as you enter the bathroom, and as you inch in, you see the lovely rotted molding is enough to make me miss being in Udaipur. The room is $90 (around 4000 rupees) a night. Surprisingly, real estate and hotel rooms aren’t cheap in places like Mumbai. And hotels.com can’t really help you here. To give you a comparison, our gorgeous hotel room in Udaipur with breakfast included was around $50 a night. But I figure with all the money we’ve saved on food and gifts, we’re giving it back to the beggars, the hotels, and the You Likers, and
Mumbai from the plane 2
And you thought L.A. was smoggywe still wind up on top. But we aren’t here in Mumbai to find a cheap hotel room, we’re here to complete our travels and of course, our shopping destiny. We leave tonight at 2:30am so we’re going to be hating life for the next day or so. The only bright spot is that the flight going back to Los Angeles is 5 ½ hours quicker than coming here because of tail winds and such. 17 hour flight here we come.
I’m looking forward to getting home to be honest. I miss drinking tap water, good commercials, cheeseburgers, my friends and family, decent sports, beggars who will work for food, healthy looking animals who don’t carry rabies, my dog and two cats, Carl’s Jr., and of course to find out who won the Rose Bowl. Luckily no one has emailed me about the game and both Danielle and I have managed to not see who won. Danielle’s dad taped the game and I’m guaranteeing a USC victory. Go Trojans!
What I will miss about India is the food, the people, how far my dollar will go, the culture, the people, how far my dollar will go, and the
carefree feeling you get when you travel. It’s such a great feeling to travel like this because when you travel, all of your worries and stresses seem to fade away. My nails are longer than they have been since the Asia trip because I simply haven’t felt the need to bite them. This is because all I have to worry about while I’m here is eating, drinking, and finding a place to sleep which isn’t hard when you’re dollar goes so darn far. It’s awesome. Wish us luck as we buy up half of Mumbai…
PEOPLE ON TRIP
I can’t say enough good things about the other people on the tour. Some really cool people that I will probably not see again. Sad, but true. Sure I’ll see Melanie, Vikram, Rachel, and the California people, but the others, probably not. But, that’s the way it is on trips like this. When you spend 16 or so hours a day with people, you’re bound to get tight, but if they live in another state, you’d see them if you happened to go to that state, but you wouldn’t make a separate trip just to see them. It’s the rule
Eric and Doc Ock in an auto ricksha
Doc is my good luck charm when I go on airplanes. I found him on the beach the day before I left for Europe many years ago. The doc has been to Asia, India, Mexico, and Minnesota. of the traveler, get close, have fun, have great memories, but remember that it’s fleeting. For example, Darrell and Mindy, two cool cats from Austin were so cool to hang out with, but they’re getting married and living in Austin. They’ve got much more to think about than to be able to keep in touch. Steve and Lena were a couple that reminded me most of Danielle and I and we got along with them wonderfully. But, they’re in Colorado and we’re not planning to go to Colorado anytime soon. We’d definitely see them if we did and vice/versa, but life and work and crap gets in the way. But the thing that life and work and crap can never take away is the memory. It’s in my brain forever. I will always remember everyone on the trip when I think about the time that I saw the Taj Mahal. Or being in Mumbai for my 34th birthday with some really great people. Darrell gave me a book when he left. It was Brokeback Mountain and in it, he wrote, “We’ll always have Mumbai.”. Funny stuff, but in a way, he’s right. With these 20 or so people, we’ll always
have Mumbai. I’m writing this journal for myself and you, but also for all of them. Thank you for a great experience fellow travellers.
ERIC BRAM, BOLLYWOOD STAR
I had mentioned previously that a friend from my college days at Stony Brook in Long Island, NY is now a famous Bollywood actor here. I had mentioned that I was able to grab tea with him during my first stop in Mumbai for about 45 minutes and see him for the first time in nine years. I called him the minute we got in because I wanted him to meet my wife, to meet his, and to spend some quality time together. Luckily, lwe were able to meet Vinay (after a full day of getting ripped off and not finding a Gandhi statue (see below)) at the set…
SHOPPING VENTING
I said this before. But don’t wait until the last day to do your shopping. Because you get torn between just wanting to get it over and not wanting to get ripped off. I had this lame-ass Gandhi statue in my hand and just couldn’t buy it because this statue looked more like my grandmother than the
icon that freed India from England. And the guy wanted $20 (900 rupees) for my 6 inch Grand-ma. Sometimes you just have to cut your losses and hope that one of your friends, who reads your obnoxious journals, will become inspired to travel to India and pick you up a wooden Gandhi that at the very least looks like Ben Kingsley.
BACK TO ERIC BRAM BOLLYWOOD STAR
…After shopping and doing our last Sphinx imitation in the shower, Vinay had his driver pick us up from the hotel and we spent about an hour getting to the set which was way the hell out there. You don’t want to drive in Mumbai if you can help it which is why the well off usually hire drivers to drive their cars or take taxis to get them around. Vinay is in a Saturday Night Live type show here in India and is pretty famous since I could tell when I first saw him that people would pass us and whisper something to their friend. Sure they may have been talking about the incredible looking short jew, but I tend to think they were whispering about Vinay who is short,
kite festival
It was the big kite festival the day that we left but isn’t jewish as far as I know.
We finally got to the set and it was unlike anything you’d see in Hollywood. No studio type setting, no limos, no trailers, and no craft food service. It’s basically in a run-down building that houses these different sets that they strike (tear down) after they tape the segment. Show business is a whole different beast here. There are no agents here (wow, I like India), but there are also no residuals, and no unions which is why you can have sets and working conditions like this. Apparently, this “studio” didn’t have air conditioning until this past year, and you do not want to be in Mumbai in summer. Now imagine being in Mumbai in the summer, in a stuffy building. That would suck big time. Now imagine being in Mumbai in the summer, in a stuffy building, with hot lights beating down on you. That’s what Vinay had to go through before they finally got air conditioning. Because there are no agents here, an actor has to act as his own agent and like the beginning days of Hollywood, has to hustle to get work. Vinay had to struggle around
women empowerment
Strangely enough, many auto rickshas have this written on them. Mumbai for awhile but eventually through hard work, he is making his mark and it couldn’t have happened to a nicer guy.
We got there late because of the Mumbai traffic and I missed my chance to be a star because Vinay was going to let me have a cameo in one of the sketches. Damn the Mumbai drivers who kept me from my dream. We were able to watch one of the segments that I’m sure would have been hilarious to me if I spoke Hindi. The actors here work extremely hard here and work 5-6 days a week and pump out 4 shows a week! They get the scripts the day they shoot it and just don’t have time to rehearse so like good guerrilla film-making, they just do it. The shows are usually aired right away and they’re then working on the next one. It’s crazy, but when you have smaller budgets, it has to be done like this.
After the taping, Vinay and his wife took Danielle and I to a Kashmir food place. Kashmir, if you don’t know, is the area of land between India and Pakistan that the two countries keep fighting
over similar to the Gaza strip fighting between the Israeli's and Palestinians. Vinay’s wife is actually from Kashmir and it may not be the safest place to raise a family or a tourist hot spot, but damn, they sure know how to cook. The food and setting was incredible. The table is on a land-locked Kashmir boat that we had to take our shoes off for. We sat on pillows and ate the food with our hands and had a great time catching up. It’s amazing to think that nine years had past since we had seen each other since we were kidding each other like we did when we were back in college, except with less hair. We smoked strawberry out of hookah pipe and had great dessert to end the evening. I didn’t want the night to end but realized that I will be back in India someday. Sure the poverty and dirt bring you down, but the brightness of this country completely outshines the dark spots. After some nice goodbyes Danielle and I took a much needed nap for a couple of hours before our meeting with Korean Air and of course, the Korean Air stewardesses. I
Eric smoking strawberry from the hukkah pipe
This is at the Kashmir restaurant that was delicious can tell, they missed me.
FINALE
On flight 487 on the way to Seoul, South Korea. Took a Sonata (not expired) and should be fading off to a fitful sleep soon minus the hallucinations (damn). Just watched a Reese Witherspoon and Mark Ruffalo flick that was pretty good. Not sure the name, but at least it’s better than Red Eye. That’s one thing I’m not looking forward to seeing when I get back is, Rachel McAdams. Wow, it’s extremely weird to think that it’s over. The three-week trip has been reduced to 10 or so more hours.
What I would recommend for you when you eventually get to India is to break up the trip. Stay in South Korea for three days or so and then take the flight to Mumbai. I really didn’t enjoy the 22 hour flight coming to India and needed some kind of break. Trust me, you will too. Also, bring Boggle with you, it’s like oxygen, you’ll need it to survive any long trip. I also wouldn’t do a tour group next time. It’s just too orderly. I would make a compromise. Do a week-long tour group and then spend the rest
of the time doing what you want to do and going where you want to go. Just make sure you don’t go to the tourist traps. Go to the restaurant where you see Indians eating and not where you see Whitey’s like me. Also, bring your tolerance and open mind with you wherever you go.
But my main advice to you regarding traveling to India specifically and a third world country in general is to just go. Travel. Do this while you still can. While you’re still young. Sure, Europe is great, Australia is nice, Japan is incredible. But you can do all those countries when you’re 70 or 80. To go to a third world country, you have to be in decent shape because it’s hard travelling and you don’t really want to bring your kids and nice clothes with you. Many of you will you say you can’t afford it, or you can’t take the time off work and I understand and sympathize with that. But how many people actually do have enough money to afford a long trip like this or can get the time off work. Not many. The Euro’s really have it right when
they have 6 week holidays as opposed to our two week allotment. Yes, financially the U.S. may be a stronger power than Europe, but I’m sure they tend to enjoy life a little more than we, who always strive to be richer and richer and richer. But if a third world country is not your bag, then just travel. Drive across country or go to Europe. As the swoosh says, Just Do It!
Why is this my philosophy? Because many of you have said to me, “I wish I could do a trip like this.” Well, you know what? You can.
RELIGIOUS TIE-IN
Some Christians think that they will go to heaven when they die if they are good Christians even if they are not happy with their lives here on earth. Some Muslims believe that they will get 99 virgins when they die as long as they’re good Muslims even when living and accepting poverty and terrible living conditions. I truly admire their faith. Brett Butler, the ex-Dodgers center fielder always stands out in my mind when I think about faith. He seems like a really nice guy and while he was playing, he contracted cancer.
He kept on speaking about faith and how he’ll accept what God has in store for him. I so wish that I had that much faith. If I had cancer, it would be tough for me to rely on faith. Personally, I’d be sipping chemo-therapy like it were Chai tea and doing everything that I’ve always wanted to do. I would love to have enough faith in a higher power to accept mediocrity in this life, because I know in the next life, I will be rewarded for this suffering. The entire Christian faith is based on Jesus Christ suffering for the sins of man and then being reborn into splendor. However, I am no Jesus Christ and I don’t have enough faith to believe this 100%. I am not god-fearing. Who ever came up with that term and why is it considered a good thing? If I were a god, would I want my flock to fear me? Anyway, I tend to be a pessimist and Jesus was the ultimate optimist. I have thoughts like; What if there is no heaven? What if the 99 virgins are all butt-ugly, or worse, 99 Rachel McAdams!!!! I want there to be
Mr. Pathak
Hey buds, let's party. a heaven and virgins and cheeseburger trees, but what if there isn’t?
Therefore, I believe that you have to embrace your time here on this planet and enjoy every second you have alive because you never know when some loser in an SUV in the carpool lane is going to smack you into the center divider. My credo is the old tried and true; Do onto others as you would want done onto you. What I’m trying to say is, don’t say you’ll go to India when you can afford it or you’re ready, because who is really ready and who can really afford it. It's like having kids, who is ever 100% ready for them? Danielle and I weren’t ready financially, and couldn’t really afford to go to Asia and India for four months in the past 1 ½ years, but we did it and we’d do it again in a second. Yeah, we’ll be paying it off for the next year or so and it sucks, but not ever going at all sucks a whole lot more. Go to India. Go to China. Don’t go bankrupt, but go to these places while you can because there will
be money and jobs and the USA waiting for you when you get back. Don’t be the workaholic. Don’t be married to your job. Don’t be afraid to travel. Meet people from other countries. Marvel at the differences and embrace the similarities. Don’t be 80, finally be financially secure, and be too old to go where you want. I’m not saying to blow your wad on travelling, but I’m not saying to save it all either. Just enjoy this life as much as possible and if you heed this advice and ever make it to India, barter hard, eat well, write a travel blog, and pick up a Gandhi statue for your good buddy Eric Bram.
Namaste,
Eric
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