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Published: March 31st 2007
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Namastee (Greetings in Hindu!)
We have been in India for a month now and our answer to the big question - love it or hate it - is that we LOVE it! The people, the sights, the vibe and, of course, the food, are all very much to our liking, and the cost ... well that brings a smile to the "Finance Minister's" face every time!
We started our trip in Mumbai (Bombay) but did not stay long, quickly heading north east to the Ajanta and Ellora Caves which are located a little off the Backpacker route. Both sets of caves have been carved out of the mountainside by chisel and hammer, astonishing feats of engineering ... and slavery! The caves at Ajanta are famous for their Buddhist rock art which dates back to 200 BC whilst the caves at Ellora are known for their Hindu sculptures. The masterpiece is Kailasa, the largest monolithic stone structure in the world. Archeaologists estimate that 200,000 tonnes of rock had to be chiselled out to create the temple and the detail is mind blowing.
No trip to India would be complete without a starring role in a Bollywood Movie and
Sue as Basanti !
It was hard to keep a straight face and pretend that there were cowboys right behind me!! Sue realised her dream of appearing on the silver screen when we visited Ramoji Film City in Hyderabad. Claiming to be the largest film complex in the world, Ramoji has got it all from an airport to a train station, from Queen Street in London (never heard of that one personally) to the Taj Mahal in Delhi. We are talking about film sets of course. During one of the tours, there was a request for a female volunteer and Mark immediately knew that Sue's hand would go up. Overjoyed at being selected, she was immediately rushed off to the nearest dressing room. When she reappeared she was dressed in full Indian regalia: sari, jewelry, head scarf and bhindi. Sue was to play the part of Basanti, in a movie which ran in Bombay cinemas for 6 years! She was asked to step into an old western horse drawn carriage (absent the horse) which was then manually rocked from side to side while Sue pretended to crack the whip and look over her shoulder. When we all shuffled into the adjacent movie theatre, the result was projected onto the big screen. Sue had been superimposed on to a moving background -
a horse drawn cart being chased by cowboys, like something out of a really bad 1930's movie. The audience, comprised of a couple of hundred Indian tourists, went mad and Sue got her 15 minutes of Bollywood fame!
Our next stop was the ruins at Hampi, which is India's answer to Machu Picchu and Angkor Wat. The difference is that at these ruins the locals have moved back in, creating a bustling bazaar and village scene. The boulder strewn landscape also adds to the ambience and with Basanti still ringing in her ears, Sue couldn't resist trying out various poses for the camera - see the evidence below.
The heat inland is pretty intense at present so from Hampi we escaped to the beaches of Goa for some coastal breezes and beach time relaxation. Goa has been part of the hippy scene since the 60s and still retains a laid back atmosphere, particularly in backpacker haunts such as Anjuna and Arambol in the north. The aging male hippy scene would also appear to be alive and well. Strolling around in g-string loin cloths, balding pony tail hairstyles and snake skin sun tans complete the look. 500cc Enfield motorcycles
are the transport of choice... now what is it they say about men, virility and powerful motorbikes? We have also heard that at the all night rave party scene, viagra is the drug of choice! We ended up spending more time in Palolem in the south, where the sea is calmer and the beach is beautiful.
As we have said, it is the people that really make India such a fantastic place to travel. Their charm, wit and welcoming nature is instantly warming and we regularly find random people introducing themselves asking "What is your country? What is your good name? What is your profession?" and most importantly, "What do you think of India?" When we tell them how much we like it there are beams of pride all round. Complete strangers have invited us for dinner and asked to have their photo taken with us. And Sue (we think it is the blonde hair) regularly gets mobbed by school children.
Firm but polite negotiation is a way of life in India and we have found an amusing expectation that everything has to receive two approvals: first, that of the "Home Minister" (Sue), and second, that of the
Kathakali performance
It took almost 2 hours for the performers to put on their make-up! "Finance Minister" (Mark). We know that we are being buttered-up but when you remind yourself that you are actually haggling over about 10 pence, it is hard to keep up the poker face. Besides, your average Indian tradesman could sell snow to the eskimos!
We are now in Fort Cochin, in Kerala, and in the past few days have watched a Kathakali performance and enjoyed an Ayruvedic massage. Kathakali means paint and dance, and the performance we saw included lots of bad background singing, colourful make-up, dynamic costumes plus a series of dance moves both Simmer and Gia would be proud of! The Ayruvedic massage was a fantastic experience, once you got over the rather undignified full body nudity that is - don't worry, no photos of that one!
Finally, we have just returned from a visit to Wayanad National Park in search of "lions and tigers and bears oh my!" well, perhaps not the lions and bears! Unfortunately, we didn't get to see any tigers, but we did see wild elephants which was a real joy. We plan to try the tiger thing again when we get to Rajasthan.
We'll tell you about the remainder of
Julie Andrews eat your heart out!!!
Sue loving all the attention from the local kids! Feeling like Maria meeting the Vontraps in the Sound of Music!!! trip in our next blog, which will probably be our last. In case you didn't know, we return to the harsh realities of life in Blighty on 2 May ... don't worry we're not expecting any sympathy!
Take care,
Sue and Mark xx
P.S. Please send us your comments. Although we often don't have time to respond, we do read them all and we really appreciate receiving them.
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Awesome!
What fantastic piccies! Does the food taste anything like the real-thing back in Brum?