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Published: August 18th 2006
Palolem Beach
A piece of paradise.So, how do you define a perfect holiday? Lazing on a sun kissed beach with a bottle of Las tequilas or hiking up a mountain with adventure on mind. Well I wanted both and it wasn’t all that hard to choose a spot that offers both. Viva La Goa!!! The picturesque sea side Portuguese colony, bordering the Western Ghats of India was the place to be this monsoon.
Shimmering white sands, the swaying palms and the never ending surf were such a temptation it was hard to let go off the place once we were there. A sleepy atmosphere perfected by the locals in tune with the drowsy tourists. Everything runs a little slow here, like delayed body responses after you finish half a bottle of vodka. People eat four times a day like every one else but sleep 3 times a day. First session after lunch, second session before that night’s party and the third after the party. We can’t party all the time now, can we? First stop Palolem Beach in Southern Goa, a very exquisite and isolated beach add to that hard to reach which is very effective in keeping the trashy crowd outta there. No wonder
Picture Perfect
A fisherman's boat on the beach the majority of the crowd were imported, if you know what I mean. With a lot of disposable cash and what with the cheap cost of living in India, foreigners are attracted to Goa like bees to the flowers! And of course that’s not the only thing attracting them there. Everyone has their own ‘esoteric reasons’.
The beach itself is a stretch of about 4 kilometers silver sands fringed by coconut trees and beyond that a thick tropical jungle complete with snakes and baboons just for you. We reached pretty late in the day and had nothing much to see in the darkness, but with morning came an incredible surprise. It was heaven in the true sense; it swept me right off my feet and commented to the guys that I could live here for ever. The closest town to the beach is Margao which could be reached from Panaji/Panjim by bus or train. The bus ride could get on your nerves if you are one of those Genteeeeel men and ladies. You are better off staying in the dirty beaches of Anjuna and Calangute. The twisty roads of the ghats are very effective in inducing ‘puke-ish’ tendencies.
Leading the Pirate ship!
Illegal trip to the Canacona island. Look who's is at the helm. You don’t want to spoil you favorite Hawaii shirt now do you? Once on the beach there are a variety of pads to put up at. Expect to pay anywhere near 200 to 400 bucks for a beach front shaq and more for a more civilized place. But the shaq’s are way to go. They have everything you could ask for (for people who belong to my own strata of community that is the economy crowd). I stayed in Francisco’s hut and my friends stayed in Café Del Mar. The best restaurant on the beach, they can get you anything from Israeli hammous to Chinese Chopsuey. Good food, nice service and chilled out music what else do you need? All in all this is the place you wanna spend most of your eating time besides Smuggler’s Inn for booze and few other select local joints for Indian Cuisine.
Smuggler’s Inn is an authentic English Pirates joint with a rotting boat in the door front and the rest of the paraphernalia loaded inside the bar. You could borrow books from them if you are planning to stay a little longer. They also have a pool table and a fool’s ball
Never ending road...or rail
The famous Konkan rail line passing through Western Ghats. table too for the easily distracted types and the non nature lovers. And of course the beach is wired like Fort Knox; they got every means of communication available. Wireless comms, broadband net, mem card readers and the list goes on. So all you techno geeks can feel right at home in the jungle.
At one end of the Palolem beach is the sunset point which offers a spectacular view of the sea, and the dynamics of sunlight at dawn and dusk are simply amazing. From here you can see the length of the beach with the palms bent forward to compensate for the wind, the fishermen’s huts, the odd trekker and the beach loungers. Not too hard to climb but a little ahead is a hillock like thing and the waters hits the rocks with violent force. Scary little place in the night. I’ve been there a coupla times to do some rock climbing and to take some pictures. On the other end is Canacona Island, a small island extending about 2 kms into the sea. An isthmus connects it to the main land but it is underwater most of the time and the current is pretty strong
down here. The only way there is by a boat but if you are in a suicidal mood then jump right in mate.
First day we just fooled around on the beach and did pretty much nothing which kinda got boring after 24 hrs. So the next day in an effort to go out there and do something we hired a couple of bikes and went to Margao. And predictably we did nothing there too. The ghat road from the beach to the town is breathtaking and full of photo ops, I myself stopped so many times to click that my road mates left me and went ahead to meet me at the beach. After grabbing some grub the day was over and off went the time on a billiards table.
Next day we went trekking all over the place, made friends with some weird people, looped around for some score. And on this day I realized how good it is to be an Indian in India or at least Goa. The many peddlers and vendors literally ignore you as a non entity if you are a desi, which kind of suited me. The last thing I wanted
Waiting for the imminent!!
A lightning conductor sits atop a Bangalorean skyscraper with dense monsoon clouds hovering above it. was to be bothered by a drunk trying to sell a conch necklace or some sweaty Bangkok shit. In about 5 days I was approached once and only once by a lady selling some shell chains. I politely declined and it was luckily over, but had I been a white what would follow is an endless stream of personal questions and haggling of price which usually ends with me getting ripped off. Welcome to India!!! That’s a small price to pay for they are gifted down here. Doors open, robes part and flowers fall from the sky for them. Please don’t get me wrong, I am no racist but I feel sad to see that a vendor would sell dope to an American but not to a desi. There are obvious reasons of course like the former would be willing to pay twice as much for the same stuff. But you know us men, we like to crib…..
I really wanted to explore the jungle island of Canacona and made some enquiries. There were no boats and the fishermen would not take us due to choppy sea infact they said it was illegal to go there. Now that was
Fort Aguada
Nice place to visit near Calangute Beach when you are not stoned. Can spot a monitor lizard nest on the north wall if u are lucky enough. the magical word I’ve been waiting for. ILLEGAL. It was like a wildly twirling multi colored beacon calling me home. I quickly made friends with a local, asked him if he could arrange something. 500 bucks poorer and loaded with anticipation I was on the boat with the guys to the island. It took about 20 minutes to reach there and I jumped right off the boat joined by Ram and Sujith. One look at the top and Sujith immediately turned around and volunteered to sit on the boat with the fisherman. Chicken!! Anyways I took the lead and was soon replaced by the fisherman who was here many times escaping school and later on debtors. The hill was just impassable in a single word. Dense foliage covered every inch of the ground and we had to crawl many times to cover just 100 meters. At some places there was no sunlight and I felt like I was in Panama jungle or something. Then there was this fear of snakes and poisonous bugs which are quite active in monsoons. It was an ultimate test of your jungle craft and will power. With no obvious reward other than personal satisfaction our
Cafe' Del Mar
Best joint in sight. Good place to pretend as a lizard on the chair. task was to go will the leeward side of the island and make it back to the boat in about 2 hours. After toiling through the muck and bushes we finally made it to the other side and sat down for some time and took some pics. We went to the top of the island too and then started down when light started to fade. By the time we came back Sujith claimed to have eaten a snail and smoked a local beedi from the fisherman. We said bullocks and started out on sea again. The fisherman kind of grumbled a bit for staying too long on the island and I knew he would demand more money now.
About twenty minutes on some rollercoaster waves which the fisherman did not go head on but sadly traversed them diagonally to reduce the rocking of the boat we reached the coast of Palolem. We helped the fisherman to pull his boat on the shore for some repairs paid him and pushed off. The setting sun with its orangey hue as we approached Café Del Mar further heightening the victory effect. We stopped by for a couple of drinks and headed out
Me and Ram in Wildcraft
Doin some miscellaneous shopping in Bangalore. for dinner. That night it rained cats and dogs. With nothing much to do we crashed for the night.
After some enquires from our new conveniently discardable friends we found about a party at Tito’s in Calangute Beach. That was nice but what was not is the long trip to North Goa. It was on the other side of the state and we were headed out all the way in the rain to be in one party! The bitch of a problem was that we had to travel back again to south the same way to go to Gokarna, our next destination. I for one was really not interested coz north sucks; it’s pretty accessible that means lot of tourists and with them the kids, the trash, the pollution and commercialization of natural beauty. I hate crowds and you wouldn’t believe the number of people there even in off season period. Gosh!! That night we went to an Indian joint for grub and guess what’s on TV? Matrix!! We kept repeating all the dialogues and started discussing merits of all the martial arts used in the sequences which earned us a lot of stares and some pretty discreet comments
The trail to Halfmoon
Steep one out here mano. One slip and seeyall!! as well. After that we went to Smuggler’s Inn and watched the rest of the movie with the other drunks.
I was against traveling to Calangute but nevertheless we went ahead and traveled for about 10 hrs to reach Panaji and then to Calangute. A guy approached us if we wanted a place to stay, which we did. He sounded real genuine and promised that his house is right on the beach. After a long walk through a zillion lanes we came to a typical goan house and guess what? It was not on the beach. Coincidentally his name was Francisco too!!! But it was too late in the day for us to look around for rooms and the crowds on the road confirmed that we will not get any other room on the beach. We took it up and I went to hire a couple of bikes again. I wasn’t in the mood for a party so Ram and Sujith headed out to Tito’s. They came back and explained everything in great detail about all the fun they had and all that which kind of whetted my appetite.
Next day we went to Dosa Plaza, a hotel
The infamous Om beach
Quite a sight from the top of the hill. Ram spotted a baby krait snake slithering away when I was busy clicking pictures. with about 100 types of dosas and other stuff. Good food I’d say. Then we went to Aguada Fort which used to be the watch tower cum jail for the erstwhile Portuguese rulers. Took some pics, fooled around and went to Goa central jail to see if we can lose Sujith there!!!! Too bad there were no vacant cells. We then headed out to Mapusa market to do some shopping. The dudes went for beautification for the party that night and got their hair colored and all that. Then Sujith picked up some 4 G’s worth booze from the market which actually was quite a steal. I picked up an O’Neil’s bag and some tee’s. After that we headed back to our rooms and took a nap in line with local tradition of resting well before partying hard.
The promised night was here and the weather was clear and I was light as rain. But I cribbed a lot with the guys telling what a waste of cash it would be paying for the cover charges and all the booze we would have to buy. Ram paid for the cover charge and I was in!! That was a cheap
Seedy side street
On the way to kudle beach from gokarna town. stroke but hey I wanted to travel to a lot of places, not piss it all away in a night. Mambo was awesome, the crowd was unlike anything I’ve seen before. I lived in Dubai for a couple of years and partied a lot but the crowd there is a little uptight and crazy. Locals would stab you to death if u happen to be dancing a little close to him or his lady friend. The difference was Goan crowd was carefree or rather too stoned to care about shit like that. We drank a little, a played pool a little and smoked a little. I met an old manager (not in age) of mine and met other managers from my ex office who remained pretty much as dorky as ever. I said my goodbyes even though they were in the same party and as long as I was!! Anyways it’s what I call tuning out- Here but not here. The DJ was good but played ratshit most of the time. The crowd kept dancing and that’s what he is paid for. We kept requesting songs so many times he started pulling his hair soon after but he did play
Sea Snake!!!
Plenty of them around. Supposed to be very poisnous, so watch out baby. I picked it up and put it back into water. Hope it lived... Drop the pressure in the end. Hehe. I danced till 5 in the morning and that’s when the party ended.
The other chaps were not really party crowd as you could say, sitting crouched in a corner kissing a cigarette butt and seriously nodding their head pretending to enjoy the music. It sucks but I was with them so I had to shut up and say nothing too offensive. In the end I lost it. Sujith kept cribbing to go back since 3 am and it kinda made me go cranky. I said some shit and he resumed his old post in the corner of the dance floor. Worse still there were a bunch of old fags trying to score with some babes. It got real pathetic at the end of the party where they approached each girl and asked if they needed a place to rest for the night!!! What were they thinking man??? Anyways just as we stepped out the rain started pouring as though someone flipped on a switch. Imagine a bunch of drunks struck with hot babes and old fags, I could hear the wildest of conversation in my life. I enjoyed it immensely I
Who do we have heer..... Spidy!!
Like I said - All Fours Or No Go. must admit. The rain started thinning out and we headed back to our room leaving heaven behind. Honestly I did not want the night to end, the music to flow nor the rain to stop. But it was time and we had to move on, one of life’s cruel realities.
Next day we woke up with heavy hangover from booze and exhaustion and began packing up for the next leg of our trip. Sujith had to leave that day to attend a party at his place the next day. Flight was out of question thanks to all the booze he was carrying and so was train. So we all headed out to Panaji to follow our own trails but what I wasn’t sure of was that if ram was with me on my adventure or not. Turns out he was and that was a good thing. He is a very dependable guy and is one of the four homies I still hang out with. When things get rough they can bail you out and I trust them I guess. But emo shit apart he is good company. We all bought tickets on bus, Sujith for home and Ram
Me and the greens
It was just breathtakingly beautiful, endless miles of green grass spread out infront of me like an enormous carpet. and I for Karwar in Karnataka. So began our adventure into the wild territory!!!
After 5 hours on super dense jungle roads and insane turns on hill sides we reached Karwar. On the way we stopped by at Margao station and we almost jumped off the bus to go back to Palolem which was a stone throw’s away. Karwar was a morbidly silent town and Gokarna was worse still which was further 3 hours drive into jungle. I think it’s more to do with the hour we arrived at. The feeling of morbidity was further accentuated by all the flooded crops and farms by river water. I was asking myself if all this pain was worth it. But I was too far into it and pulling out would make me look like a fool. I could not resist the unfamiliar and walk away from all the dangerous shit that could happen to us in this unknown land. So I sucked it up and kept pushing on. We reached the village and almost instantly took a room at Hotel Gokarna which was not on the beach, infact quite far from it but it had the most important educational tool in
Shiny waters
Fishermen on their boats in Cochin early in the morning. the whole history of civilization. TELEVISION!!! Ok Ok that’s bad on a trip but we didn’t watch a movie for a week or so and we needed some workout for our brains too. It was Leaving Las Vegas that night. Awesome movie, I am gonna buy a DVD soon. After that Ram guzzled down some fenny I brought from Goa and we crashed only to be woken by mosquitoes when the power went off. The receptionist thankfully gave us a mosquito repellant, allegedly the last one, to us and we slept after much grumbling and mosquito hunting.
The next day we woke up to a whole different world. Gone are the kurta clad hippes of Goa and gone are the pesky peddlers of the beach. As if someone came here and issued a law everyone went about their business with a serious look and no one gave odd stares. It was as if it wasn’t a tourist place at all but wait a second it really wasn’t!! It still is one of those closely guarded secrets in the international community and people do not speak too openly about it to maintain the sanctity of the place. That was awesome.
Forum, Bagalore
I love the dynamics on this picture. The stationary Vs the mobile. We saw a couple of foreigners clad completely in Indian attire complete with their hair tied up modestly and bindis on their foreheads. We looked at ourselves in our Adidas and Nike outfits and wondered how complete the mutual transformation was. Here we are in a small fishing village pretending to be someone else and a foreigner showing us how we ought to be!!! As much as I hate to admit it, it was a real slap in my face.
But soon we replaced that heavy headed feeling with a heavy breakfast at Namaste Restaurant on Kudle beach. Predictably we were the only two non-whites in about 3 kms radius. That little place was something I tell you. You can get whatever you want and all in style. After a huge bowl of fruits laced with sugar and coconut strips and Cheese Omelet (I would have starved without it in Goa!!) we left for our long trek. A guy in Namaste Beach who is always in his underwear told us to go to a white thing at the end of the beach and then go “up down” to reach Om beach. The guy happens to be the owner of
the joint and he is so dressed to rescue careless tourist, or so I was told by the waiter. And the white thing happens to be a board giving directions to Om beach which was nothing more than an arrow ravaged by forces of nature. We reached Om beach in about half hour passing through some huts, crops, trekkers and trails. We encountered two English ladies coming back from Om beach and as soon as they saw us they promptly gave a big smile and said ”Namaskaram” in their distinct accent and I said an awkward hello back to them. It was all surreal for me or rather too much sensory overload. The Indianization of their lifestyles, trying to fit in by becoming one of us. What ever happened to the concept of individualism from the West? But looks who’s talking. Apart from my regional and national languages I speak two other foreign languages too. Isn’t all that in a bid to fit in somewhere else too?
Anyways the place had a decent joint to eat and hangout. Also behind the strip of palms was Om Resort hotel, a top notch place for holiday makers. They teach Yoga and
Hippie Slogan in the middle of a jungle!!
It says "Never End Peace And Love". Found it somewhere on the way to Paradise beach. meditation here and a lot of wanna be’s come to learn about the true teachings of Indian philosophy and also to get stoned. Getting there was not really hard but from here it did get real hard.
The next two beaches are Half-moon and Paradise. Very famous with the rave crowd, a place to be in the holiday season which starts from October. Endless strips of isolated beaches and the privacy further improved by the dense jungle all around you. If you like to get naked in the wild and do kinky stuff…. Gokarna is the place for you!!! No kidding, but that’s not the reason why I came here though I wouldn’t mind. Like I said before I hate crowds and I wanted Goa like place minus the crowd so here we go. And the place did live up to its name. A forty minute trek through some thick woods, clear streams, jagged rocks and slimy boulders would take you to Paradise beach- I was told. What I was not told was to watch out for is the moss that lines every rock and branch. I fell on my ass a dozen times and did not keep count
Rainwater stream.
This is where we took a dip and debated on its drinkability. In the end it was decided we are better off without drinking it. for Ram. By the end of all this I was filled with glory and pain. Nevertheless the place was indeed paradise. I could see just one fisherman’s boat anywhere that you could call near. We sat down on a high rising hillock among the bushes and Ram said “Guess what? It’s time.” It’s his way of saying that he needs a smoke.
We took our time to go to the next beach and the focus was entirely on live for the moment funda. A thousand kms from home, not a worry on mind, not a person who knows where exactly I am. I was lost and loving it. That feeling of being completely cut off and no sense of belonging was something I can kill for. Then a thought occurred to me “What if I die here?” Nobody would know where I am. Well it wasn’t that bad; I always wanted an anonymous death anyways!! He he.
So after a lengthy break and then waiting for the drizzle to stop we started out again on the narrow, winding, slippery trail to Half moon beach. On one side of the trail is this big unyielding mountain with nothing to
Rock infusions
Apparently a meteorite fell here and caused the limestone and granite to fuse giving this interesting rock formations on the otherside of canacona. I feel its volcanic activity... hold and on the other side is the angry sea battering into the rocky shore relentlessly. Quite a battle I presume coz the rock weathered like crazy. One slip and sweety is going bye-bye. Anyways we kept going and reached a real thick bush and the trail completely vanished. The next thing we know there was some crazy swinging thing up in the trees and we saw a pack of Baboons on our heads. They were as surprised to see us as we were at them. We decided not to take out our shiny new cameras out lest they snatch it out of our hands. After more impossible rock climbs and stream wading I reached the last beach. Notice the “I” part coz Ram gave up in the end and settled nicely on a rock and pulled out his cell phone to announce his unfinished victory to his mates back home. The Half moon beach was pretty small and can handle maybe 30 people. But that’s the fun part. No one would be crazy enough to make it till there apart from me so I had the beach all for myself. If Paradise beach was isolated then this was Mars!!
Candles with history
At Smuggler's Inn, Palolem Beach. I spent some lonely moments thinking of all the shit I have gone through to reach here and not just the beach but in life itself. I had some stark realizations about life and how insignificant we each are in this grand plan of life. The surroundings I was in just made me feel so humble I did not even dare shout out for Ram to come over and see more. I just lived for the moment taking all the beauty in.
On my lonely walk I spotted a dead snake, rotting and almost gone except for the skeletal system. This again spurred a train of thoughts about the fallibility of human nature and our existence in general. How everyone comes and goes and for some reason remembered by some one. How interconnected we are still how far apart we are. How busy we are in our search of personal gratification. And more shit like that. Then I decided it was time for a beer, the problem was it was about 3 hours trek away!! So I started the walk and met up with ram in about 20 mins of climbing, jumping, dropping, falling, wading and untangling myself from
Twisty's of Eastern Ghats
We raced along these like crazy in heavy rains on our rented bikes. Pretty dangerous roads though. the creepers of the jungle. Then we did more of that fun stuff for 1 hour and stopped for a drink and a smoke. Ram asked me a very interesting question- “What is the purpose of life?” The answer was quite simple- To procreate otherwise why would God give us something as satisfying as an orgasm? It makes you feel good, makes your partner feel good and makes you feel good about each other. The next thing you know you got a baby. One smart son of a gun, that god of yours, is! We discussed various other purposes of life but I still hang on to my answer. By now we were dangerously low on water and light was failing real fast. We had to finish this before night fall and most importantly we did not want to miss the 7 pm show of “Friends” on TV!!! That night I was haunted by Richard with one question again and again ‘We all travel thousand of miles from home to watch TV and check in somewhere with all the comforts of home. You gotta ask yourself- where is the point in that?’
Pretty soon we reached Om beach and
the moment called for a minor celebration. I picked up a couple of drinks and so did ram. We saw some thoroughly Indianized Yankee (presumably) dude working his skills on a tabla. His girlfriend obviously very bored of his obscure art went out onto the porch and started scribbling something in her diary. I guess she was writing “It’s the biggest mistake of my life coming here with him. He is a complete jerk, always playing that drum crap. I can’t even escape this bloody jungle by myself. What a drag! I wish I was with that dude over there in the camo’s shorts. I bet he knows that playing tabla is not very entertaining to women. I think his friend just called him Raj…..” Ok let’s not get too carried away now.
So we started out to Kudle beach and reached there without much trouble, stopped by at Namaste restaurant and enquired if they had any rooms free. Obviously they didn’t due to off season timing and all that but they will clean up some if we needed. We agreed on 50 bucks a day and enquired more about food and other basic amenities. They had them all
Suicidal fish!!
A bunch of these weeny fishes kept swimming against the flow of a stream and dying. Saved quite a few but they insisted on dying. Weird crap. and it was quite cheap. But he finally told us he had no TV and the idea of staying with Namaste was right out of the window. Besides we had to share the same washroom with ten other hippies. Not that I mind but hey no TV is just blind injustice, alright. We went back to Gokarna town and looked for a place to eat. Ended up in “Down town bar” which supposedly offers “Chines” Cuisine. We just chucked and settled for some “non chines” food and a beer. That night we watched The Mummy Returns and ram guzzled down more of my fenny. I remembered to buy more of mosquito repellant keeping in mind the previous nights duel with the fighters of the night.
Next day we woke up a little late, had some breakfast and headed out to an internet centre to check mails and all. I wanted to transfer all the pictures from my memory cards to a CD coz they were already full now. I got it done at a “Digital” photographer’s place and it costed me a bomb. Since we whiled away the whole day doing nothing I thought I might as well do
Growin' off the wall.
These ferns weren't just content with conquering the earth as the first plant to grow on this planet but went on to occupy walls too. some research on our further travel opportunities. And in the midst of all this burnout of valuable time and resources I wondered if I could go to Lakshadweep Islands. Located about 560kms off the coast of Cochin, it’s the ideal summer escape. If Goa was heaven I do not have words for Lakshadweep. A group of islands fringed by coral reef lagoons extending about a kilometer into the sea and beyond that is the marina blue waters of Arabian Sea. The islands are perfect I mean, with a vibrant beach life and natural beauty, located in international waters you could get any damn thing you wished for. I pitched my idea to Ram and he was a Go!!
I found out that there is a schedule for ships leaving to Kavaratti from Cochin on net and its fare. The problem was one had to be in Cochin to buy or find out anymore of details. They did not even have a telephone number for god’s sake. The original plan was to go to Yana from Gokarna and then to Bangalore, but this new off the shelf ideas have forced us to alter our plans a little. We sadly had
Aha!!
Notice the past tense, I guess for the last holiday season. Wonder what they are serving this time... to drop Yana from the itinerary and head out south towards Cochin. The next day we were on a bus to Mangalore after much trouble with the Kannadiga board signs and schedules, a cop helped us through all that. The ride this time around was a little comfortable and the roads were not half as terrifying as the ghats. We saw a nice little town called Turtle Bay somewhere on the Konkan Coast and told each other that some day we will be here to explore more of this beautiful state.
After 6 hours of bus ride we arrived in Mangalore and the first sight of Pizza Hut made our hearts flutter but time was of essence and we had to make further arrangements to travel down south. We found out that the best way to do that was by a train and off we went to the train station on an auto rickshaw. We bought two unreserved tickets for Cochin/ Ernakulam in about two more hours’ coz they were all full. But we knew Indian system quite well, once in the train you pay a fine and the Ticket collector would get you a berth by midnight. We
Harry Potter here we come!!!
Poor ol' harry can only manage himself on a broom stick but we folks in India have perfected the art of flying. We can handle a double ride on a pencil and place for more!! counted on that and hopped on to a 12 hour ride. The berths were given eventually and slept for most of the time and I tried reading when I couldn’t sleep no more. Once in Ernakulam we landed in a local restaurant and had “Idiyappam” a staple dish. Rice noodles as they looked like were supposedly imported from China along with the Chinese nets of Malabar Coast. I found it hard to believe coz I’ve seen those nets in even some remote south east villages too where there was no Chinese or infact no oriental influence at all. Further more they are not used in China at all where they were supposedly invented. All in all it sounded like a lot of crap.
Dozen enquiries and some hand signal communication with the locals confirmed that we were supposed to go to SPORTS Office, Willington Island, Cochin. An auto took us there after winding several similar looking streets. And guess what? We are too early. Its 6.30am and the office does not open till 10am. So we pulled out our smokes and killed time talking with the watchman about his weapon and where he is from and all that mumbo
A lone flower.
The only kind of wild flowers I have spotted in this season down here. jumbo. For some reason he kept discouraging us to go till the islands. He gave reasons like monsoons, the upcoming storm, rough sea and off season period. But they were precisely the reasons for us to go. To experience what most run away from, to see the sea in all its fury, to catch some rare moments on my camera and to escape the crowd. Somehow he did not find the answers satisfying and asked us again not to go there. Finally the counter opened and we got in line to buy a couple of tickets. After some waiting it was our turn and I really did not look forward to hear what he was about to tell us. The seats were open only to locals of the islands and not for visitors and tourists. That’s kinda hit me in the stomach. After all this non-stop traveling for 24 hrs through rain, muck and trash here we are, and this guy was telling me we cannot enter our own country??? As amazing as this may sound they have their reasons as they explained to me later on. Apparently the islands are smack in the middle of an international waterway and anybody going there from mainland or entering mainland from the islands are strictly screened on security grounds. Something I could sympathize with but denying me entry was just too much.
To get clarity of things we headed to the main office and had a chat with one Mr. Bijju. He gave the same lines as the watchman and the man at the counter and we repeated our story but to no avail. It got so bad that we even offered to stay onboard the ship for the entire trip not even getting down on the islands. They could not accommodate us in anyway till November, that’s when they start their trip down south. That was real disappointing but just to make us leave smiling he promised to make further enquiries in an office at Marine Drive. That obviously did not materialize and we knew it the moment he said those infamous words “I’ll get back to you.” He explained that visiting Lakshadweep is a lengthy process involving police enquiries from our local station and arranging a trip for us which could take about a month’s time. No wonder I never met anyone who’s been to Lakshadweep before. So for all you backpackers out there here is a caution- Lakshadweep is not for us types. Andaman is a better bet any day. Equally enchanting and more tourist-friendly it is an ideal escapist retreat. We could not make it anyways to Andaman coz of Tsunami cautions and the mild tremors becoming norm de rigor. Besides we had to travel to the Eastern board of the country till Chennai to get a ship for Port Blair and we were kind of running low on cash.
We spent the day looking for a place to stay and cribbing about all the shit that happened and enquiring about good sedans and SUV’s for North Dakota on behalf of a friend. We took a ferry to Marine Drive from Willington Island and fooled around the city of Cochin. After some contemplating on our options we decided to go north again via Bangalore. We went back to the train station to get tickets and we were told we had to go to the other station for that. So we left and finally bought tickets to Bangalore again on waiting list. I kept wondering who the hell is traveling so much in this pouring rain. Anyways we had about 4 hours to kill and I witnessed Ram’s hidden talent for identifying train engines. He gave me the model numbers and run down of spec sheets for each of them which kind of freaked me out and I dozed off pretty soon with all his help.
The train arrived and we noticed that it was as dirty as it can get. Apparently it was coming from Kanyakumari and Cochin was just a stop over enroute to Bangalore. That evaporated any chances of us getting any berths for the night. Ram began getting ready for the inevitable long night in the cold corridor of a train but somehow I had a feeling that we can get through this. I have learnt a new language during my time in Dubai, the language of money. Something everybody would understand and I knew administration officials in India were much more fluent in this than anywhere else in the world. A drunken ticket collector came along and noted us with an exclamation on his face. He looked at our backpacks and watches and soon his expression changed to that of recognition of an opportunity. Opportunity to make cash!! After some haggling he settled for 600 bucks for 2 berths and we crashed for the night.
The following morning was touch down. We headed to Ananth’s place, one of Ram’s many Bihari friends living all over the world. His gang was great and looked after us real well. We took his bike and headed out to explore the city, not that it’s our first time. Infact I was here just 3 weeks before with another friend of mine. Doing a lot of backpacking, I am. Oh yes! Last time around I went all the way to Hosur in Tamilnadu on a bike. We stopped by at Forum, Bangalore’s premier hangout zones. We munched on a Mc Maharaja at McDonald’s fooled around some and headed out to Whitefield where the majority of software firms were concentrated. On the way I spotted Wildcraft store and stopped to pick up some much needed supplies. They had no stock of whatever I asked for so we just picked up a couple of karabiners and a duffle bag. With nothing to do we went back to Forum and did some window shopping. Turns out stuff is cheaper back home than in Bangalore. We decided to watch a movie and dropped the plan. Then we decided to go to “Firangi Paani” a pub and dropped that too when the doorman asked if we had a table booked. Then we thought we should go to Purple Haze another pub but dropped it too when we saw it was raining cats and dogs. So we came back to the original plan of watching a movie but by that time tickets were all sold out.
Not our day, we realized and headed back home with a bottle of Royal Stag for the hosts. Turns out they brought beer for us too and we all sat down and had dinner. After a long discussion of all the innate defects of Indian bureaucracy which denied us entry to Lakshadweep and taking vows to go back and try our luck again we fell asleep. Next morning I woke up to the beats of Trance from Ananth’s room and I was hooked immediately. He let me copy some music to take it back and I provided some visions of party life in Dubai. We went out to get some grub and I met an old friend of mine from school days. I still do not remember his name but we spoke like I met him last night!! After that we picked some books on a roadside shop. A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking and Why Men don’t listen and Women can’t read maps by Allan and Barbara Pease caught my eye immediately. Coincidentally I was reading Why Men Lie and Women Cry by the same authors lent to me by Shabaz. The books did live up to the hype that was created.
That day we did pretty much nothing but laze around and listen to some Trance and Lounge. After a little huddle we decided that after 13 days on road its time we head back home and tell everyone we are alive. So after some fooling around in the city we went to buy tickets back home. But guess what? No tickets. We tried in about 4 places and they all were either sold out or priced exorbitantly high. Finally we paid 500 bucks each to travel in the driver’s cabin all the way back. It was fun actually until I found out that we were sharing it with 6 other people excluding the driver!! I tried staying positive and rough it out for one night, after that a real bed with warm crisp sheets awaits us at home. All I had in mind was a real bed; it’s only been a mirage for the last two weeks. The drive back was hard and uncomfortable but I could not ask for an apt ending for all the travels we have done. All the fun we had, all the shit we have been through and all the disappointments that were replaced with elation of our adventures. On thing I could never forget for life was the view out of the wind shield blocked out by five other chaps who decided to rough it out like me further obscured by the rainwater dripping down the glass. The reds of the passing traffic tail lights and yellows of oncoming traffic fused to form an bizarre combination of shapes and forms all stirring a billion thoughts in my already fatigued mind. It was dizzy and cramp and sultry. But I have been there and done that, which is all that matters to me.
Half way through the journey the driver stopped for dinner break and some drunken passenger said something that vaguely sounded like “There space for one inside.” You could imagine how high my heart leaped and I immediately told Ram that he could have it. He felt grateful and disappeared into the bus. After an hour of travel I knew it wasn’t the wisest decision of my life to let Ram have the seat. Here I was in a broken seat with a maniac driver for company and four others dozing off in every corner of available space. It didn’t take long to justify my right on the seat inside and pat myself on the back for my selfless act by offering the seat to Ram. 10 minutes later I realized how wrong I was. I opened the cabin door to let out a passenger to answer nature’s call and saw Ram seated on the floor. He looked at me, gave a weak smile and looked around him as though asking “And you though you were miserable?” The rest of the journey was all guilt and remorse. During that time I realized the concept of degrees of pain- what ever amount of pain you are in, there definitely is a degree of pain higher than that. (Does it qualify for a Nobel?)
After 3 more hours of travel we stopped for another break and I met ram. Ram came out pulled a bottle of Royal Stag from his bag, took a swig and said “This is what will get me through the night!” with a wink. That was a good thing coz he is unlikely to remember that shit next day!! Anyways it made me feel better and also reiterated the point why I still hang out with these dudes. They can handle shit as well as I can and I know it. Just to console myself I do have to remember that the 5 chaps in the cabin stank like pigs without the AC, the window was open and could not be closed so I was almost an ice cube by the time I reached home, the co-driver (yes, they take turns driving in a 6 hour shift.) kept pushing his legs into my stomach all through the way and the damn seat was as good as not being there. Ram on the other hand got to be in an air-conditioned coach, got to watch a Hindi movie and did not have to worry about the vicious fleas from the bus cleaner’s hair!! Lucky freak. The bus stopped one last time before entering the city and we discussed out plights in great detail over a smoke before hopping on to the bus. One good thing that came out was I took a ton of pictures from the bus and some experience that I will always keep with me. Like they say ‘Shit Happens, I can’t Stop’. Learn what you can and try not repeating it. After some crazy traffic dodging the driver brought the bus to a stop in the city and we hopped off right into a restaurant to have some much needed nourishment and tea. I joined Ram on an auto and got off midway and took another auto to my own place.
The trip has come to an end but it did not register to my mind till much later. I was still in that nomadic mood. Hopping off from one place to another trying our luck, looking for adventure, pushing the envelope has become a way of life for me and I did not want it to end. So I decided I will keep working to supporting one true aim in my life, to keep traveling and to keep learning the ways of life, the old school way. I am sure I will pursue it, a life time of travel, coz right now I am planning a trip to Horsley Hills with another friend of mine. Watch out people coz u never know, the next person you will meet in some god forsaken corner of the world could be me. Keep rolling!!!
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nandu
non-member comment
hai buddy....
dude, i kinda feel soooo jelous that i am not on those trips.... haa ha.... so, however, ur having a gud time in india....... nice 2 c that.... keep in touch buddy..... vil b cummin 2 hyd in nov- dec.... Veni, vidi, vici. (I came, I saw, I conquered) Nanda Kishore Reddy.D