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Published: August 8th 2007
With a train late evening, and needing to make our way across the channel to the station, we left Fort Cochin mid afternoon. An ordinarily straight forward route was transformed into a rather ardous one with the house on our back, the short walk - ferry - long hot sweaty walk to the station pulled the corners of San's mouth down further down south, further than any part of her body would every travel with age! To break the misery, we sought out a place in Ernakulum where the blessed Air-Con deity existed. We found the Nescafe Cafe and it was so welcome, it was with some restraint that San did not kiss the floor . We had high hopes for the 7.45pm 'Rajahamsa Semi-sleeper' class bus, which we naively thought would be an air-conditioned oasis on our journey from Ernakulum to Mysore. Our eyebrows and eyeballs danced around our faces when we saw the bus, open windows and all. To add to our woes, we stood around in the heavy heat before the bus finally moved out of the station, 30 balmy minutes late. But this little jump for joy was to prove short-lived as 2 minutes into the journey,
we were stuck in a bumper to bumper for another 30 min. Poor Richy got the aisle seat i.e. less moving air and he sat there patiently with sweat forging little rivers down his face. Nevertheless, we managed to catch some sleep and before we knew it, we were prying our eyes open, caked with sleep looking on at Mysore waking up.
With hearts lightened at this new destination, we unlocked the boot of the bus (we secured everyone's belongings including ours with our own lock), grabbed bags filthier than us and headed for the customary accomodation search. India is to prove our naivety time and time again as it turns out that is a peak holiday season in Mysore given its cooler temperatures. After walking for an hour inquiring into a number of places, chased by touts, we finally got a room in Hotel Govardhan (whoever did their website could potentially be questioned for misleading visual advertising ). From our point of view, the 312Rs per night for our rundown but clean room was a great relief. Location-wise, its a top spot being close to the palace and several good,cheap restaurants (on-site veg restaurant, RRR hotel, parklane)
Unfortunately, during this stay (and as a result of a violent fan in the room, we think) Rich's knee played up again and for a few days activity levels were low while rest was accured and pills popped. It is now officially known as MysoreLeg. However, we managed to see Mysore pretty well, albeit at a snail's or rickshaw's pace.
The Palace was the highlight both during the night we arrived, (which was a Sunday) and during the day trip when we could tour the inner compound (The immensity and grandeur of the place has the ability to melt away the crowds that gather there making one feel like the only person there being granted a special visit by the Maharajah). On Sundays, exactly at 7pm, as the switch is flipped on and electricity surges through the millions of light bulbs drapped around the immense compund, the whole place metamorphosises into a fairyland of sparkles and twinkles. Families, couples, friends lounge on the grass, snap away at photos and kids run around playing for the one hour it lasts. We even got the few occasional request to have our photo taken by the snap happy Indians. Having arrived not
long before the site closed to day visitors and another 2 1/2 hours to the light up, we hung around with the vendors, watching the crowds and doing a little get to know you with people around. One little boy, Ramudin, selling wooden snakes particularly stole our hearts and we bought him an icecream and chatted to him for a while. A very clever little boy, he was just another example of a smart, amiable, capable young man who, only given a real opportunity in life, would take the world by storm. He was so sweet that he even bought some jackfruit, in return for the ice cream and wanted us to have some. We couldn't help but ponder about those we personally knew that simply takes these opportunities for granted and proceed to squander it time and time again. Maybe a bit deep , downbeat perhaps, but very real when you are face-to-face with it. One thing that becomes clearer and clearer is how those with little to give, reach out most generously and we can only hope that we have been able to give something good back to the people that we have met even if it is
for that mere 5 minutes.
The previous palace where the royal family stayed while they waited for REAL palace to be built has since been converted to the Jayachamarajendra art Museum. One wonders what it must have felt like to move house into something 20 times bigger and 5 million times more grand and beautiful - they weren't joking when they told their neighbours that they were going to upgrade! The museum houses works by the famous Raja Ravi Varma who had the knack of turning 2-D paintings into 3-d art pieces. What took our breath away was the Glow of Hope painting by S. L Haldankar. So stunning is this painting that it is in a little darkened alcove of its own. A picture of the picture would never do it justice so we decided not to even try (plus we aren't allowed to take pictures ). Walking there from the palace is a little adventure on its own. A time warp back to the days where cows roamed the street, where coconuts could be had for RM0.50 a pop, the smell of pee prevails 24/7 and places offering typing of letters, COLOUR Xerox!, rubber stamps - we
joked with the guy that Shell would be a potential big customer here. He smiled not having a clue what we were on about.
Soon it was time to move on again. On the afternoon of Wednesday 9th May, we made our way to Hospet, gateway to Hampi via Bangalore. This 15 hour journey (including transit time) was softened with being an the overnighter in the 2AC class. 2 standing for number of berths on each wall and AC for aircon. We were pleasantly surprised that by 10pm, a man came along to distribute fresh sheets, blanket and pillow. Being a little more train savvy now, on arrival we immediately made our onward train bookings at the empty station for our next leg which would take us to Hyderabad and then New Delhi. Indian train system is heavily used and booking are needed early for longer journeys.
We practically met Ramesh as we stepped off the train and a quick negotiation was carried out for the 14km to Hampi. He showed us to a new hostel not in the book as well as a few we requested. In the end his recommendation was spot on being newer
and cleaner than the others - Keerthana Guest House (Tel:583239) next to Rama Guesthouse. A place the owners and managers named after their eldest Daughter.
Mango Tree restaurant quickly became a favourite haunt which over the next few days. Having been around for 20 years or more, it still consistently churns out good, wholesome South Indian vegetarian fare. Its fame was recently increased by 10 notches after being featured in the papers. So many come far and wide just to have a meal or snack under the enormous shade of the mango trees. The thought of the egg curry & chappati would bring our mouths to water easily!
Since we are in the famous Hampi, we have to talk about the sights even though we may get carried over by other gustatory distractions! Ramesh (tel:9342122744) picked us up at around 8am on our first morning and took us to the more distant ruin sites, shelving our initial thoughts of renting a bicylcle given the heat, and Richy's recovering 'Mysore knee'. We visited several sites in this massive granite strewn landscape - the Queen's Bath was most memorable. One out of the way temple we visited had fantastic views
of the surrounding landscape and this is where we were introduced to the singing pillars - a feature of the Kingdom of Vijayanagara which flourished for around 200 years under four different dynasties. It controlled most of south central india in the 14th and 15th century and of which Hampi was the centre of this empire for some time. These pillars when struck by a woodern stick or hand give a specific note and collectively they were used to provide music to gatherings for weddings or the King's celebrations. This particular temple was only days before used for a local wedding - many of the buildings are still used today for this type of event - great to see although the mess generated after such use left much to be desired. Other sights that awed us were the masssive palace compound ruins which housed the Hajara Rama Temple and the grand Mahanavami Dibba, a platform 80 square feet in area and 22 ft in hight whose carvings even captured foreign ambassadors who had visited the kingdom. Ramesh all the while have been giving us snippets of background which made it more interesting than a self tour. This ended with the
most impressive 22 ft high Urga Narasimha idol, although now exposed to the elements, still stared down at us imperiously from its lofty height with its big bulbous eyes.
Given the size and number of ruins, (glancing through the Wikipedia link, the list of important ruins are about a foot long!) we wouldn't have done it justice if we didn't explore some more on foot. With all good intention and mirth, we headed out the following day to see the ruins closer to home which included the the UNESCO site of the Vijaya Vittala temple. San took a pit stop for a coffee so Rich hobbled ahead. True to sod's law, this simple action saw us misplacing each other for the next 4 hours - a relief that neither of us had come to any harm when we met up again near the guest house. Trip postphoned but we finally made it to the site on our last day. However, not wanting to fork out the exhorbitant entrance fees for another ruin out of a million others, (so what if the colossal Stone Chariot's wheel used to move?!), we decided to peak through the gates instead and also tried
to get another look from a higher vantage point, tip-toe atop a disused, no doubt very ancient, column. Frankly, the other surrounding temples, being little visited by the crowds were more enjoyable than mingling with noisy chattering, shouting, bus-herded Indian tourists. Finally, we departed Hampi with the assistance of Ramesh again and spent several hours waiting at the station for another overnighter to Hyderabad. This time, however, we didn't need to push start Ramesh's rickshaw for him and to show our appreciation, we got him a little comments book to replace his telephone cum feedback book which was threatening to disintegrate with anymore use.
One if the evenings, San followed Keerthana to the temple for the evening Puja. With fresh flowers in their hair, faces all clean, they headed off barefeet with coins jingling in their pockets to be later 'sacrificed' to the temple. It seemed as there was a lot of waiting involved in this ritual. During this time, one couldn't help but draw similarities with the monkeys sitting nearby checking each other for fleas under the purple shaded sky. Finally, the priests turned up, then the musicians. With accompanying out of tune horn blaring and an unrhythmic
Musical stone pillars.
These are musical stone pillars. Crafted to perfection the musician would bang each with a wood stick and each makes a perfect note that resonates throughout the temple. Clever cookies.beat of the drums, the head priest chanted and shook his butler bell vigourously alongside. All this ended in 15 minutes. When Keerthana was asked the significance of the coconut, chantings etc, she replied with a confident, all-encompassing 'It's culture'. Prodded more, she stared back blankly. One wonders about the shackles of these rituals. What grated a little deeper was how Keerthana's young neighbour, Shanti, a member of of a 10 person family, 7 of of them sisters between 2 and 14 who lived 2 doors down in a wood and leaf structure, deposited the family's offering of 5 Rps without question. a mere sum that could have been better used by the family? With the wet-bottomed, hair matted, snotty faced youngest child propped on San's waist, she eyed the whole scene as the gruff priests pocketed what little this family could spare in the promise of a better (next) life with a little discomfort.
Another city, this time the bustling metropolis of Hyderabad, but the same baking heat, road lines, markers and traffic signs present only for decoration and colour, jaring horns and omnipresent dust. This was just early morning. This called for the first aircon
room of the India-SriLanka leg. After trying a few options in the lonely planet that were full, we trusted the rickshaw driver who took us to a couple more. We changed our mind on the place we wanted to go just at a tee junction and instead of turning with the traffic he said nochanantly"Oh... That's this way" and did an amazing 180 degree swing right. Our pupils dilated made the the multi-coloured throng of buses, cars and motorcycles coming at us head-on even larger than normal. Before we could adjust, he zipped across the 3 lanes, through a gap in the central reservation 50 metres up and we were on our way again. "Why go long way" he said as he eyed us from the rear view mirror with a big smile on his face. Minutes later we ended up in the relatively new and, for Indian standards, plush Santishini Hotel (they did open the front door for you!) for 900Rp including breakfast, down from 1050Rp no brekky, after a spot of bargaining.
Hyderabad like the other Indian cities had its old face and its new. The area we stayed in, near the train station, seemed to be
The Chaminar - Hyderabad
This towering structure is just next to the Mecca Mosque. Just days later (fortunately after we had left) this area was rocked by a bomb in the grounds of the Mecca Mosque. the centre of the universe for fruit, water pump and paint sales. We popped into the nearby New Empire Restaurant in serach of some meaningful grub and ended up with an old favourite of bryiani and the like. After filling our bellies and San being stared at for the whole time by a few of the facinated local men (there were no other females around), we headed for the city's own monument that made Hyderabad, Hyderabad - the Chaminar. This four pillared structure was built by Mohammed Quli Qutub Shah in 1591 and is right smack in the middle of different bazaars where a stroll through ould yield interesting finds and jewellery artisans at work. A few doors down, is the peaceful Mecca Masjid where you can stroll around barefoot, practising how to avoid pigeon poo. It is supposedly the biggest Mosque in India, being able to house ten thousand worshippers at a time. 2 days after our visit, some dingbat decides to detonate bombs during Friday prayer killing and injuring a number of people. A close shave.
We also did the odd bit of shopping on our final day, to stock up on supplies and moved on This
The spectacular white marble Birla temple
This spotless place was an oasis in the busy, messy Hyderabad city. spotless place was an oasis in the busy, messy Hyderabad city.to the Planetarium and Science Museum both built by the Birla (a wealthy) family. The science centre is pretty crap (having not been maintained since inception 8 years before) but the planetarium was a bizzare experience - involving an ancient version of an 180 degree dome screen which was announced with more pride than the machine could call for these days. Nevertheless, it was informative suff about the constellations to be viewed from various parts of the world. The fact that there were people clambering in late after the show, talking in full volume with others shushing to shut them up only added to the comedy. Across on the next hillock, sits the glowing white marble of the Birla hindu temple. Our impromptu visit provided us with a great vantage point to the whole city as well as an overall great trip. The fantastic sight of the temple with its crisp design solely of the clean marble and some fantastic carvings and inlays. We closed the day with a decadent visit to the the IMAX cinema at the cineplex and even indulged in a Macdonald's. Yes, sometimes, crap can be
Arches.
Maybe we have a skewed view because of the low international tourist season and local school hols at the moment, but India has a huge internal tourist market! seen as a treat. In true Indian style the cinema goers were out in force (that these people love their movies is an understatement!!) but IMAX still had a few slots - and this was a weekday! We had a great fun watching Deep Sea in 3D, a great fix after being out of the tropical ocean for so long now.
Once again, on the move, up at 5am for our longest train ride yet - Hyderabad to Delhi. We found the 22 hour journey was prolonged somewhat on arrival at the station by a 8 hour delay. We toyed with the idea of going back for a rekindled snooze but in the ended waited in the station and did a spot of internet. We watched the countryside change as we chugged along being fortunate to meet 3 male school principles who were off on a lads holiday in the cooler climate of a hill station in Uttaranchal. We chatted and drank whiskey and spent an ice-box cold night under the covers.
In a word New Dehli station is the biggest (close to 20 platforms), busiest zone of chaos on the planet. It is
also probably the biggest public piss pot in any city in the world and the smells hit the nostrils like a sledgehammer but people still lie around napping, eating, drinking, nonplussed, as they wait for their trains. Thankfully, where we stayed was walking distance and we headed there without the customary haggling for rickshaw rates. Pahaganj, is far from glamourous. The smells of insense mingle with drying out cow pats, human piss and rotting fruit. Home for some, charming for others but generally two notches above slummy. We did get a place in the decent Vivek Hotel (Tel: 51541435) which is currently renovating its rooms and giving itself a facelift. Once again we treated ourselves to aircon. This place was well equipped with internet and a great roof top cafe (Sam's cafe) with a healthy choice. Nice to street watch in the evenings from that height and take in some spectacular lightening storms. In the evenings we feasted in the many culinary locations provided by Connaught Place (this area commands one of the highest rentals in the world, rivalling Hong Kong and higher than Singapore but in the dark corners, it still becomes a public toilet or a betal nut
juice aim) and for the first time had Tandoori lamb and chicken (United Coffee House continues to deliver!)
Where we stayed saddled Old and New Delhi, the North and the South.These two areas could not be more constrasting. Old Delhi consists of the beautiful Red fort in its big vast gardens and the large Jammu Masjid surrounded by beggers of varing poverty, body disabilities and neverending pungent scents of evaporating piss and overall grime. The South houses wide clean avenues, grand parliment house, posh bungalows. We happened to head there to do some sari shopping from Nalli's (thanks to a recommednation by Poh's friend) and we were glad that we did not leave with a picture of a grimy Delhi speckled with the bright colours of people's clothes. We left with a better Ying and Yang. Certainly, Delhi is not a shy city. It is loud, it is crass, it has attitude but yet search a little and you find its gentler quiet side. Its a city that doesn't care whether you like it or not becuase regardless of what you think, it is home to 13 million people and proud of it!
Before we knew it, it
Stunning architecture
This is 15th century inside the fort compound. was time to head Northwest to meet our new relies - Parents of Ritu our cousin-in-law.
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anonymous
non-member comment
Coconut, flowers, incense are relatively inexpensive offerings to the gods. They signify purity and all that is good in nature. In some other cultures offerings would include sacrificing some animals. Hiduism as a religion and culture in general avoids shedding blood. Most Hindu festivals (though not all) are celebrated with vegetarian foods (even houses where meat eating is relished). Not everything is measured in terms of money. The temple priests are generally very poor people dedicated to serving the gods. The only income they get is what is given to them during the puja ceremonies. The mantras chanted during the ceremony are basically sanskrit (being considered the language of gods) shlokas invoking gods blessings and praising the gods.