Blogs from India, Asia - page 1979

Hello ! We are now back in Johdpur after visiting Jaisalmer and the desert on camel back! owever, I just saw a holy cow munching its way through a very large cardboard box, and it occured to me that I dont even think it is wierd anymore to see cows strolling through markets looking at the veg, laid down in the middle of roads having a sunbathe, and even walking upstairs to have a nose into the restaurants! (It's quite strange what people have as holy things - especially when they add so much aroma to the streets!) The fort in jaisalmer is full of shops and houses and restaurants giving it a wonderful old-world feel as you wander around the maze of streets trying to avoid cow pats and basking dogs. The atmosphere here is ... read more

Day 5. We met the sun that morning on a bed of clouds. An orange searing red flame; the day's orb caught between the gossamer tails of passing sky. All of us, peace-walkers in heart, felt the surrealism of reality, its magic and its unbelievability. It was a bridge, a long bridge, crossing the Mahi River which divided two districts of Gujarat. And it was Day 5, day five out of seventeen, on the Dandhi Yatra, a peace walk retracing the steps of Mahatma Gandhi's Salt March. Here, on this bridge we witnessed another morning begin. And together with the passing cyclists, lorry-drivers, and white kadhi-clad Jain pilgrims, our group of forty rediscovered Gandhi in the presence of the sun's soft smile. This was one out of many experiences that white-washed the superficial pains felt from ... read more

So we arrived at Mumbai early morning (January 26th) and jumped in a rickshaw to the train station we were to leave from to drop off our big bags. Then we spent a hour reading newspaper and drinking coffee followed by two hours at the post office which was half closed. It was Republic Day so the Sea Mail was closed but the Air Mail was open. We could only send our goods Air Mail and I still don't understand why they couldn't stamp it Sea Mail and be done with it. The whole thing took about two hours for us to send a package. Cost a little less than $100 to send goods worth just about the same. But, we were happy to unload some weight. Once that was done, we proceeded to walk towards ... read more

Shared a taxi with a French group, tried to educate me on bartering with autorickshaw drivers, obviously they didn’t know they were talking to a master. The drive to Pondicherry from Mamallapuram was short, only two hours. First impressions: Indian city with a bit of French charm. Pretty blooming trees line heritage French buildings and a smell of fresh bread and garlic linger in the air, as well as sewage and spices. Eventually found a guesthouse, everywhere was full because it was republic day. I should have stayed in Mamallapuram. Not very nice: a park-bench bed with two blankets for a mattress, stone walls and a shared squat toilet but it had an ashram ambience and great acoustics for the guitar. I could really feel those bass notes. Spent the evening understanding the layout of the ... read more

On Tuesday 24th. we woke up by the fluit whistles of the coloured birds. We tried internet at the cafe but faced with some problems while transferring the fhotos to the memory stick. We used a CD instead.Having breakfast we decided to spend the day at Varkala.In the afternoon we spent our time on the beach and at the gift stores. At the dinner we had tiger prawn and Tibetian Veg. Momo listening local Indian music. On Wednesday 25th. we took the train from Varkala to Trivandrum. It took 45 min. and 25 InR. each, and continued to Kovalam Beach by rickshaw, about 16 km. It is a fancy for us to be in the very south of India.We divide the beach in three. The light house portion in the very south, the middle portion just ... read more