Blogs from Daman & Diu, India, Asia - page 3

Na een dag of 10 in Pushkar, de langste tijd dat we op dezelfde plaats verbleven (tot nu toe), hadden we het daar ook alweer gezien. We namen afscheid van de vele vrienden die we er maakten ( we verbleven in een nogal sociaal guesthouse) en arrangeerden er vervoer naar onze volgende stop, zijnde Bundi, een veel minder bezochte bestemming. We sliepen er in een mooie kamer in een heuse haveli. Dat is een zeer uitbundig gedecoreerd huis dat in een ver verleden, toen deze streek nog schatrijk was doordat het op de handelsroute lag, eigendom was van een koopman. In die tijd trachtten de rijke handelslui elkaar de loef af te steken door het bouwen van zeer dure huizen, en het was eraan te zien! We bezochten het mooie maar nogal vervallen fort en paleis. ... read more

I am on the sleepy island of Dui on the Arabian Sea. Peacocks sit in palm trees and the wedding band has been playing for 8 straight days around the clock. At the small hours of the night the drum ensemble leads with frenetic tempo and the keyboardist reaches a psychedelic fever pitch. At 6 am firecrackers startle me awake and the sleepy musicians persist with hollow dragging of their more canned instrumentals. But by 10 am the sun is beginning to scorch the concrete streets and the entire wedding party is colorful again as they pass the restaurant where I take breakfast. Every morning the same man dressed in a dapper English suit and feathered turban enters and insists we dance, "5 minute only," and if we dance well he uncorks a liter of Royal ... read more

Hello to everyone, Today, I write from the island of Diu. It is a quaint ex-Portugese place in the Arabian Sea. We plan to stay here for about 10 days to relax before preparing to split up for a month. After 3 months together non-stop, it will be a bit hard to part. India is getting easier to handle. I am beginning to "get" how it works here. I am also getting used to bus travel, which can range from overcrowded and bumpy to smooth and comfy. There is no way to tell what you might get, so you must be prepared for anything. The pictures that I am attaching are from two places. The first ones are from a small town called Pushkar. It is set on a holy lake and is where Ghandi's ashes ... read more

2006………6wks-4th CYCLING TRIP-Gujarat & Southern Rajasthan, INDIA........... On the bus back to Bhuj there were 3 Policemen, one with a full-size, "I'll shoot you if you move"-type rifle, escorting 'two male persons' that were handcuffed together. Can you image Police hopping onto public transport in Adelaide with a prisoner? Beggars have not been the presence they were in the 70s. It would be interesting to see what it's like in Delhi or Agra for a comparison. You don't see the same level of poverty to the point of starvation or ill-health either. I've seen quite a few people that are either albino or have significant areas of white pigmentation, leaving them largely white with brown spots. I saw two blind men several days ago that were leading each other at the bus station (there's a saying ... read more

We finally arrived at Diu around 10 am on January 21st. It was warm and the sun was out (Mt. Abu was very windy and cool). Diu is an island 11km by 3km which is governed by Delhi (along with Daman) and is not part of Gujurat (which allows Diu to serve very cheap beer - $1 for 24oz). Diu was a Portuguese colony back in the day and the remnants of the white Portuguese architecture still remains as does the Portuguese people. The main languages are Portuguese and Gujurati (its very interesting, and I would have never have known otherwise, but every part of the country has a unique language, and some parts cannot communicate with each other so as a result, they communicate in English). We found a super cheap clean hotel, settled and ... read more